Complete location rule?

Could someone clarify the rules about how your location has to be listed in your profile? When I initially joined the site, I had mine listed as "Central Florida." Then awhile back I got a pm telling me I had to change it to my complete city and state, which I did. Since then, I have seen other members that do not have the complete city and state listed. Mine has been the way it is now for long enough that there's not much point in changing ,but I am curious as to what the rule actually is. I probably still have the pm...I'm terrible about deleting things.

Originally Posted by FireStorm

Could someone clarify the rules about how your location has to be listed in your profile? When I initially joined the site, I had mine listed as "Central Florida." Then awhile back I got a pm telling me I had to change it to my complete city and state, which I did. Since then, I have seen other members that do not have the complete city and state listed. Mine has been the way it is now for long enough that there's not much point in changing ,but I am curious as to what the rule actually is. I probably still have the pm...I'm terrible about deleting things.

City and State are required to use the classifieds.

Originally Posted by Dennis Hultman

City and State are required to use the classifieds.

Those not using their correct location or it is missing are addressed by the moderators privately for the most part but feel free to utilize the report a post button because we may not see every post.

Originally Posted by FireStorm

Could someone clarify the rules about how your location has to be listed in your profile? When I initially joined the site, I had mine listed as "Central Florida." Then awhile back I got a pm telling me I had to change it to my complete city and state, which I did. Since then, I have seen other members that do not have the complete city and state listed. Mine has been the way it is now for long enough that there's not much point in changing ,but I am curious as to what the rule actually is. I probably still have the pm...I'm terrible about deleting things.

The rules for using the classifieds has changed since you joined the site. Sorry, but that does not exempt you from being required to comply with those new rules. We require an accurate location in your profile. The reason behind this is that one of the common ploys that scammers will use to try to obscure anything about them is to list a false location. So we HIGHLY recommend that people considering doing business with anyone here to make sure they know who they are dealing with.

That means:

1. Do not send funds nor merchandise to anyone who wants you to send to someone other than the name they have listed in their profile here.
2. Do not send funds nor merchandise to anyone's LOCATION if it differs from what is listed in their profile here.

Obviously, we also require REAL FULL NAMES in the profile as well for the same above mentioned reason.

It's not foolproof, of course, but I believe these common sense safeguards will GREATLY limit the scammers from being able to pull a scam on you. Or at the very least will make certain that such scammers get identified QUICKLY and therefore shut them down by identifying and listing them on the BOI.

Of course, in order for this to work at all, we have to require such information be placed in the profiles of anyone engaging in the classifieds here. Otherwise, there is no point to the above listed method of trying to keep the rocks uncovered that scammers will try to hide under.

Yes, I know some people are reluctant to put such identifying info on a website, and I am sorry about that, but those are the rules of the road here. If you want to be anonymous, then this just is not the place for you to do business.

Originally Posted by WebSlave

The rules for using the classifieds has changed since you joined the site. Sorry, but that does not exempt you from being required to comply with those new rules.

I wasn't complaining about having to list my full location, and I sincerely apologize if I came across that way. What I was really wondering (and maybe I didn't write my initial post very well) is whether the policy was sitewide or just for the classifieds. Somehow, ever since I got the pm, I've been under the impression that it was a site wide policy, so I've always wondered why some users just listed a state. It turns out that it is probably because the don't use the classifieds, so my question is answered.

Again, I don't have a problem with having my full location listed...my hobby has grown to the point that I have a business name registered to my real address, as well as F&W permits, so if someone wanted to find my info they could. Heck, I even have a Facebook page now...

Anyways, thanks for answering my question, guys.

It was made a sitewide policy, at the same time that it was made a requirement that everybody had to have their name in their profile; but we are primarily enforcing the location rule in the classifieds. Quite simply, that is the area in which one's location is most important - a false location should make one consider a transaction with more caution; and, sadly, there are people that will send money without getting basics like name and location. We can't police everything here - nor do we want to - but when people are crying out for protection against scammers (and not exercising basic common sense) this at least arms them with basic information for comparison/confirmation.

I've no problem at all with listing my full location, it's already given out on this site in a few places, but you know I actually have my county listed now instead. :eek3:

I didn't change it for any shady reason - I just live in the city of Orange, which is in the county of Orange, and I get tired of the "Orange, Orange" confusing people. You'd be surprised. It's always "I know what county you live in, but what's the city again? No I already heard you on that, Orange, but what city!?" Drives me nuts... It's even caused some paperwork mistakes in the past.
Also the county is fairly well known, so I figure it gives people a good idea right off the bat of where I am before they even get my full address.

I'd prefer to keep it this way, it is my true location, but I don't want to get dinged or anything later on either. Is this something I'm going to have to change back or is my county acceptable here?

Originally Posted by ~Just Curious~

I've no problem at all with listing my full location, it's already given out on this site in a few places, but you know I actually have my county listed now instead. :eek3:

I didn't change it for any shady reason - I just live in the city of Orange, which is in the county of Orange, and I get tired of the "Orange, Orange" confusing people. You'd be surprised. It's always "I know what county you live in, but what's the city again? No I already heard you on that, Orange, but what city!?" Drives me nuts... It's even caused some paperwork mistakes in the past.
Also the county is fairly well known, so I figure it gives people a good idea right off the bat of where I am before they even get my full address.

I'd prefer to keep it this way, it is my true location, but I don't want to get dinged or anything later on either. Is this something I'm going to have to change back or is my county acceptable here?

If you post in the classifieds without listing your city and state, there is a real good chance that one of the mods will ding you. A county covers too broad of an area to be considered as an accurate and true representation of your location. What we are looking for is what would be printed on a FedEx delivery label concerning a city and state.

BTW, you would be amazed at how many new registrations I get where people believe I am asking for "county" instead of "country". There is no requirement to list a county in your member profile. And actually "country" is only required when your location is outside of the USA.

And another BTW.... Some people will put in a zip code for that field when they register. That is not acceptable. I know I don't know intuitively where a zip code is physically located, so I presume most other people will not as well. And, of course, quite a few people will put their phone number in that field, which invariably gets their registration application rejected.

That may depend somewhat on who is looking at it.
Here is a post I made back in 2010 when this was being discussed in this forum:

Then they would not be in compliance with policy, and would be subject to whatever repercussions there might be. My profile initially said Upstate NY...I changed it to NY's Capital District when the rule for posting a valid location in the classifieds went into effect. At that time, while it was noted in several posts by Rich, the announcement posted in the classifieds did not state that the city was required...and Rich responded to some questions in a manner that suggested that using a defined geographical area would be good enough. While many people outside of NYS might not be familiar with the Capital District, if it is googled, the first hit is a Wikipedia entry.
Now that the policy is clearly defined, and explicitly indicates that City and State are required, I have entered my city. (I wouldn't notify people of the new policy & expect them to comply if my own profile didn't meet the standard)

Initially, in the discussions within this forum, Rich granted some leeway for well defined geographical areas - ie, Bay Area, Orange County - but, at that time, the announcement of the rule simply required "a valid location"...now the wording defines City and State, so listing your county would likely be seen as not meeting the requirement.

Alrighty then, that certainly makes sense!
So I just changed my location to be in accordance with the most recent wording~

Thank you both for taking the time to thoroughly answer my question!