Garden Watchdog

Hi Dave,
I was just over at the Garden Watchdog looking up a company to check their rating. When reading the complaints, I wished I could see a pic to know if I could live with the problem since I wanted a plant they offered a lot. A picture is worth a thousand words they say if it is the quality that is in question. .

I know it would require someone previewing the pics before they were posted and also more space, but I was wondering if this was viable option for just the people leaving negative feedback.

Thanks,
Kelley

Well, it is certainly doable, but we have never been asked this before. I have mixed feelings on it.

Terry?

Dave

Not a bad idea actually, since opinions vary so greatly when disappointed. What one person considers a small size or a unhealthy plant for the price or availability, someone else may see potential, again based on price, availability or guarantee/warranty.

mg and woofens (we were on the phone together while I was writing this, lol)

As a vendor, I personally wouldn't mind this either. It would give me an opportunity to see a problem, and address it specifically, if I wasn't informed directly by the customer.

Chris

Borrowing trouble, maybe - but if we do it, we'll have to keep an eye on the photos. There's no telling what some ticked-off customer might decide to post as a means of expressing their displeasure with a company.

Terry,

Could it be "on approval", similar to images uploaded to Plant Files?

I just found the site and it kept me from making an expensive mistake I think. What a wonderful reference! Some pics might be useful but I sure got the message without them.

To be honest, I'd rather not queue them up and place anyone in the role of "reviewer". While I can see where some people might abuse the photo upload, if we proceed, I'd prefer to put really stern language in the guidelines and react to those that ignore the rules than to put us in the role of judging what's suitable or not. (That would likely lead to vendors asking us to review and remove photos they dispute.)

Ugh. Maybe I'm just in a cranky mood. (Woke up early, no hot water - long story.) It's an interesting idea, and I'm not ready to reject it out of hand, but I think we need to give it some more thought before we decide if it's a go or no-go.

Those are great points, Terry.

I'm sorry, but the answer for now is no. We'll continue the watchdog the way we have.

Dave

Just an idea. Thanks

Kell, I suppose if you had a question about someone's experience, you could contact them by dmail.
Just a thought.
Sharon

Kell, thanks for the suggestion - I'm guessing we'll continue to "chew around on it" a bit.

I'm sure you can appreciate that we already get asked to mediate/arbitrate disputes between vendors and Watchdog users as it is. For a lot of reasons, that's a role we can't and won't play, so I'm a little leary of anything that carries potential for even more disputes.