***Calling the owner of PriceScope!!!***

[TitanCi]

Mr. Holloway???

Anyway, how come as your awesome, regular registered users we don't have the ability to private message one another?

 

[Karl_K]

little too much to drink tonight?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Titan, I will certainly let the owners speak for themselves, but when I came here almost 7 years ago, we did have PM's. But I understood they eliminated them for many reasons, partly because apparently people were being contacted by all kinds of diamond dealers (not necessarily PS vendors) which was against the rules.

The new Pre-loved forum under Pricescope Cafe does give people the ability to list items they want to sell on other sites such as LoupeTroop, DiamondBistro, or ebay, and people can contact them through those sites. That has been a great addition to the forum!

 

[Dougsgirl]

I have been on forums before where you didn't have access to the Private Messaging until you had a certain number of posts and were "approved". It would be certainly helpful on a site like this one where members may want to communicate off site, or meet up in person, but they are not allowed to post any contact information in the forum.

I can certainly see DS's issue... I wouldn't want "solicitors" contacting me via private message. But what about the option of sending another member a "friend request" (I've seen that on other forums too) and only your "approved friends" can send you Private Messages. They would have to first have a certain number of posts to be approved by PS, then be approved by YOU. Therefore... no spamming.

 

[TitanCi]

little too much to drink tonight?

Karl - nahh, that's reserved for the weekends, not hump day! BTW, isn't Garry Holloway the owner of the site?

I brought it up because there were times I wanted to PM a member or something like that, then saw Yssie's thread to call on Gypsy and thought that it was just never established. Then another member and I were thinking the same thing, so I thought perhaps we should be able to.

DS - I can see how that can be PRETTY annoying having vendors PM you for stones and this and that. So I can respect that!
It's never been an issue really, just something I've wondered since joining!

Dougsgirl - great point! Like for instance, if I wanted to say ask for someone's opinion on something (i.e. a stone) without the whole internet world knowing (read: snatching up said stone) then it would be a great thing to have!

In that case.. carry on, PS!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Titan, I think this question has been asked since the new owners took over, but I believe Andrey is the owner or one of the owners. Not sure how many there are! Hopefully someone will answer the question on the status of PM's.

 

[Dougsgirl]

Titan, I think this question has been asked since the new owners took over, but I believe Andrey is the owner or one of the owners. Not sure how many there are! Hopefully someone will answer the question on the status of PM's.

DS... Isn't it almost 2:00 am where you live?? LOL
West Coaster here... I'm about ready to refill my wine and turn on Alphas on Netflix.

 

[Ella]

It is something we have considered thoughtfully and will continue to consider. Until we can bring them back in a way where consumers can feel safe from marketing and aggressive conversations we are holding off.

 

[mandasand]

There is always the ability to turn off the PM feature on your account, so I don't see why it would be a problem. The PMs could also be reported if inappropriate.

There are PMs on TripAdvisor and Yelp. If I ever get PM'd there, it is usually someone asking a question about something I posted, not a means for chit chatting away from the forum. At least, that's my experience. I would not mind having a PM feature here at all. I think we should poll it!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Titan, I think this question has been asked since the new owners took over, but I believe Andrey is the owner or one of the owners. Not sure how many there are! Hopefully someone will answer the question on the status of PM's.

DS... Isn't it almost 2:00 am where you live?? LOL
West Coaster here... I'm about ready to refill my wine and turn on Alphas on Netflix.

I stayed up waaaay too late! I am a night owl and thankfully didn't have to get up early this morning!

 

[Maisie]

There is always the ability to turn off the PM feature on your account, so I don't see why it would be a problem. The PMs could also be reported if inappropriate.

There are PMs on TripAdvisor and Yelp. If I ever get PM'd there, it is usually someone asking a question about something I posted, not a means for chit chatting away from the forum. At least, that's my experience. I would not mind having a PM feature here at all. I think we should poll it!

I joined PS in 2006. PM's had already been stopped way before I found PS. From what i've read over the years the situation surrounding private messaging had been very messy and not very nice for some members. I can imagine it would be a lot of work for the admins to keep checking up on nasty or soliciting messages.

People have always been able to find each other on different social networking sites. I don't know that I would like PM's to be reinstated here.

 

[Dancing Fire]

IMO,w/o PM function it hurts PS traffic cuz members go on FB to contact each other.i never had any problems here nor other forums with PM.

 

[TitanCi]

^True about the other social networking sites, but that would mean that people have to be REALLY close (I am sure plenty of members here are super close friends) for them to allow their personal lives on, say, Facebook, to be revealed to other members.

On other forums, I keep PMs related to the content of the forum... so that should be the case here, and if anyone violates that then they should be reprimanded for it.

I've been fine without it... but curious to why we don't have it, and now I know!

 

[chrono]

I was around during the days of PMs and loved it. It allowed me to talk to other members to ask questions that I did not feel comfortable asking publicly, while maintaining that PS anonymity. I also frequent other forums with the PM function without any issues. That said, I did read about members abusing this system, using it to harrass other members privately. Going through FB means either using a fake name (which FB wants to out you) or you'll have to use your real name. I am an intensely private person and feel strongly about protecting my personal information and family, keeping it separate from hobbies like this, so FB isn't the right place for me to chat with other PSers.

 

[canuk-gal]

^True about the other social networking sites, but that would mean that people have to be REALLY close (I am sure plenty of members here are super close friends) for them to allow their personal lives on, say, Facebook, to be revealed to other members.

On other forums, I keep PMs related to the content of the forum... so that should be the case here, and if anyone violates that then they should be reprimanded for it.

I've been fine without it... but curious to why we don't have it, and now I know!

You could read the myraid of threads written on PS about it......

 

[TitanCi]

^True, but it never crossed my mind that PM was EVER a part of PS. Hence, "now I know"...

 

[yssie]

Yeah... I'd probably figure out other ways to contact the handful of PSers I want to "find" and haven't yet and then turn it off. I think most PSers who want to communicate privately have found other venues so I don't see many upsides - planning GTGs is the big one!

I don't have FB but I know there's a private PS FB group (not the public page) and I know it gets pretty nasty sometimes, I wouldn't want that sort of drama in my inbox, and since I also know that I wouldn't want to be PM'd by certain members, any vendors, newbies, people looking to sell stuff, people looking for idle chitchat or gossip... there's nothing left that I can't get elsewhere now.

Well, just my 2c.

 

[ruby59]

Someone mentioned it somewhere above, but restrict private messages to pricescoper's with either a minimum amount of posts or who have been part of the community for a certain amount of time. Also, provide a way to block members with whom you do not want any contact with.

 

[kenny]

If they bring PMs back perhaps vendors and appraisers could be denied access.
That would put an end to them trying to privately sell to someone coming here seeking products or services.
I feel trade members initiating contact with customers for profit on PS is wrong and will quickly turn this place into a noisy third world bazaar.
Besides, vendors are already easy for us to contact.

One other concern is security.
After all, this is a DIAMOND forum and this is the Internet.
Someone may end up the victim of a robbery or worse.

I believe PS would eventually win any court case that might result, but that would not stop a unethical and litigious member (or their heirs) and their lawyer from trying to sue PS and hoping to settle out of court for some big bucks.

 

[Laila619]

I would think PMs hurt traffic because no one feels the need to post as much.

 

[TitanCi]

^true.. I can see that happening. Then the main players will have their inbox FLOODED with .. hey what do you think of this...? LOL!!! Not cool!

 

[webdiva]

It could be turned off for Trade Members and inappropriate PMs can be reported - I don't see it being different than reporting posts. It really inhibits the sense of community to not have PMs. I'll play along with whatever the PS owners decide, but I'm also a professional in the internet marketing/forum/website space and want to emphasize that PMs should exist to foster that sense of community. I don't see it being abused on other forums. Functionality can be customized by a coder, something that can certainly be afforded judging by number of the affiliate links and probable revenue coming in from clicks to sites like JA and BN, etc. Something for them to discuss.

 

[Dancing Fire]

If they bring PMs back perhaps vendors and appraisers could be denied access.
That would put an end to them trying to privately sell to someone coming here seeking products or services.
I feel trade members initiating contact with customers for profit on PS is wrong and will quickly turn this place into a noisy third world bazaar.
Besides, vendors are already easy for us to contact.

not if they offer me a 50% discount..

 

[Christina...]

I wonder if it would be possible to select specific posters that you would be willing to accept PM's from....similar to a FB friend request. I also liked the idea of being able to turn the feature on and off. Truly, since I've been posting there have only been two occasions that I've wished to contact a member outside the forum and I was able to do so, although PM's would have been much more convenient. I can see where there would be a need for strict guidelines and as someone else mentioned a 'report' option. I guess under the right sort of circumstances I wouldn't mind seeing PM return.

 

[kenny]

I feel trade members initiating contact with customers for profit on PS is wrong

not if they offer me a 50% discount..

 

[Dougsgirl]

I will repeat myself...

I used to be active on a different forum (also dealing with potentially sensitive or personal information) and you did not become a "member" until you had X number of posts. But the caveat was that no one was allowed to tell you how many posts that was! If you were interested and active, eventually you received "member" status. At that point, you were allowed to view the private threads and photo albums, etc. And also send friend requests to other members.
The PM feature was a wonderful asset, and was only allowed to "approved" members.

As a side note... I also would LOVE it if PS instituted a "Like" button or a "thumbs up" button so you can show your agreement or appreciation of a post, even if you don't want or need to comment on it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[chrono]

I used to be active on a different forum (also dealing with potentially sensitive or personal information) and you did not become a "member" until you had X number of posts. But the caveat was that no one was allowed to tell you how many posts that was! If you were interested and active, eventually you received "member" status. At that point, you were allowed to view the private threads and photo albums, etc. And also send friend requests to other members.
The PM feature was a wonderful asset, and was only allowed to "approved" members.

The downside to this is that newbies or those who post just to ask for a one time advice without plans to remain active on the forum are unable to use this PM feature if done that way.

 

[Regular Guy]

I will repeat myself...

I used to be active on a different forum (also dealing with potentially sensitive or personal information) and you did not become a "member" until you had X number of posts. But the caveat was that no one was allowed to tell you how many posts that was! If you were interested and active, eventually you received "member" status. At that point, you were allowed to view the private threads and photo albums, etc. And also send friend requests to other members.
The PM feature was a wonderful asset, and was only allowed to "approved" members.

As a side note... I also would LOVE it if PS instituted a "Like" button or a "thumbs up" button so you can show your agreement or appreciation of a post, even if you don't want or need to comment on it.

Just my 2 cents.

+ 1

BTW, like Chrono, I valued PMs, so wold vote to have them, though it's not a big deal to me.

I'd be ok with having people using PMs only if they've written here already a lot. Then again, easy for me to say. I've written here a lot (though not lately...hope everyone is well!).

Ira Z.

 

[ruby59]

To answer above, for newbies who want to use the PM button, there could be a list of prosumers who are willing to open their private messaging to those types of questions. Next to their names there could even be the area in which they have the most expertise (such as dreamer - old cut diamonds). This will help alleviate one or two people getting slammed, and questions will go the person who will be most able to help them. And of course, they will have a button that will allow them to block unwarranted messages.

As far as the thumbs up and down buttons, that was used on another forum I visited. Unfortunately, it turned into a likeability contest where the rating was based on the person, not the comment.

 

[oldminer]

A PM system would diminish the quality and variety of responses on the public forums. Advice that might be given is criticized here when it is wrong, or biased, but in a PM the recipient would not get the benefit of occasionally widely differing viewpoints and a more full understanding of the subject. Just because you have a simple question, does not mean the answer is simple. It might be, but it might be quite a controversial topic.

Also,the requirement to publicly state your thoughts puts a certain social pressure on particpants to reflect on what they have typed before hitting the submit button. If a forum like this is to succeed, there are many steps and rules of decorum and ettiquette(sp) that keep things pleasant, and highly useful to participants. Pricescope enjoys a unique position on the web in the diamond arena. There may be competition, but nothing comes close to the diversity of experts and the knowledge base.

The prevention of creating direct sales pitches via PM or phone call is a good thing for most everyone most all of the time. The most highly knowledgeable professionals who particpate here can all be readily contacted by Pricescope participants, but there are many private individuals here who likely would not welcome unsolicited calls. I think having no PM aqbility enhances the amount of give and take on the forum. That's one of the best features of Pricescope and I'd hate to see it lose some of the content.