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Originally Posted by tcp2
The BOI has gotten me back $3,500 from two separate transactions that I would have never seen without the ability to publicly air the issues involved. I find the accusations posted to often be off base and borderline libelous. People then pile on who have no skin in the game. If there is away to limit the posts to factual points that are verifiable it would go a long way towards making the BOI more palatable to all. I know this is a nearly impossible request but the ability for unsubstantiated posts to take on a life of their own really tarnishes the BOI. One of my favorite sayings of all time: " rumors are how all true stories start".
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Yes, that is pretty much an impossible task. There is no way to limit posts to factual points. And quite frankly, it may be entirely possible that the BOI would not have worked for you had other interested parties not put in their two cents to show that a lot of people were looking in and taking note of the circumstances.
I've had people strongly recommend that I limit BOI threads to simply a complaint, and then a single response from the person or business being complained about. Seriously? Just give everyone a single shot at making their point, and then the last person posting having the final word on the matter? All some bad guy would likely say is, "No, that is not true. You are lying." and that is the end of the conversation? No chance to offer further proof, and no chance for your peers to express opinions that could be influential to the outcome.
Yeah, I know in a perfect world both parties would just tell the truth this would be easy. But in this imperfect world, often people have to sift through the lies to try to figure out the truth, and many times that means pointed questions and sometimes even pushing one or both parties off balance enough to get them to slip up and actually blurt out the truth in anger.
Does it get raw sometimes? Sure. But I would bet anyone who gets ripped off an comes to the BOI about it is most certainly FEELING pretty raw about it.
As for members posting libel, yes that is a concern. But who is to say what is true and what is not? I'm certainly no private detective and surely not a judge. My attempting to act in such a manner by filtering posts made would be extremely dangerously stupid of me to do, because that certainly would pile a bunch of legal liability right down on my head as a result. There are just things a person cannot do in an environment like the BOI without getting into a lot of legal hot water. Believe it or not, exactly how I am running the BOI is absolutely the safest way legally I know how to do it.