Gumtree Fake Feedback and Reviews

LThe Human Torch on 26/12/2019 - 16:36
Last edited 26/12/2019 - 18:41 by 1 other user

Can anyone tell me who the people are on Gumtree who are going out of their way to give sellers bad reviews / feedbacks?

How the scam works: they enquire ( starts off sounding legit) then they ask more questions ( usually stupid ones) and once you have both had 4 responses each within the same conversation Gumtree allows both parties to review. The person enquiring is a made up user so any review for them is irrelevant but legitimate sellers get bad reviews for no reason.

I can only imagine the reason behind this is that there must be some sellers that are making up Gumtree user names to give other sellers bad reviews. Anyone with similar experiences ?

General Discussion

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Comments

  • mbck on 26/12/2019 - 16:52
    +2

    Can you just…stop responding if you realise thegre weirdos?

  • The Human Torch on 26/12/2019 - 17:05

    It can sometime take 3 or 4 responses to work out if someone is legit ie:
    “Is this still available”
    “Are you negotiable on price”
    “Is there any damage”
    “Do you offer delivery”

    There’s 4 questions and if you respond to each one then Gumtree allows them to review.

    I actually tried ignore one peanut and they just started sending personal comments.

    • payton on 26/12/2019 - 17:09

      could try posting those details on the listing itself next time and tell them to read the description.
      Copy & paste the same details on your listings

      I actually tried ignore one peanut and they just started sending personal comments.

      o rly? What did they write? :P

  • The Human Torch on 26/12/2019 - 17:49

    Those questions are just an example ( and yes they are in the description) but when people are trying sell things legitimately and you’ve actually got people going out of their way to get 4 responses to leave bad reviews it’s just bizarre behaviour, I know of at least 5 people that it’s happened to.
    They will start asking things like “is that ……….in the background for sale?” “Sorry, it’s not” I was asking so I can buy it and throw in the bin” weird thing like that.
    I just say txt me if you want more info but that’s when it usually goes silent!

    • skid on 26/12/2019 - 20:03
      +4

      The "txt me" can be your first and only response. Avoid the whole Gumtree messaging system because it's dodgy.

  • Ughhh on 26/12/2019 - 18:48
    +2

    If the buyers second question is stupid or something that is already answered in the listing, I question whether it's worth dealing with someone who's this challenged. Most of the time it's not, chances are, even if the sale goes through, they'll expect warranty from you.

    • Zachary on 27/12/2019 - 16:26

      Maybe they're testing you or wanting to make sure the ad is correct as of time of contact….?

      • The Human Torch on 28/12/2019 - 06:58

        It shows how long you’ve been a member, past sales etc so it’s not that, it’s a simple concept: sellers of similar things create fake users, they contact other sellers via the fake user, message about an item, enter into a conversation and then leave a bad review, In other words it’s people trying to discredit the competition.
        It’s easier to spot now as you get the same name appearing now and then and there are certain sellers that have ZERO reviews so you know it’s them behind it.
        People say just ignore which a majority of the time you do but it takes up time and you have to make sure it’s actually not a fake enquiry etc

      • Ughhh on 28/12/2019 - 11:05

        Maybe they're testing you

        It's really the other way, by asking stupid questions, you've failed the test/screening; especially if the ad is still new.

        • The Human Torch on 28/12/2019 - 18:47

          It has zero to do with anyone testing anything, it’s just a scam to give bad reviews to people who sell similar things to the person using a fake user name, I’m not trying to work out why or if it happens, I know it does for a fact, I’m sure I know who it is and I definitely know how they do it, I just simply wanted to see if anyone else had the same experience, to be honest I think it’s a NSW thing!

        • Zachary on 31/12/2019 - 12:01

          Well yes that may be true I suppose, but anything can happen within hours of the ad posted and it could be sold but the poster either forgot/forgets/don't care to take down the ad and then gumtree would be riddled with already sold listings that just haven't been taken down until 30 days is up which obviously they won't bother relisting since it's already sold.

  • FireRunner on 26/12/2019 - 18:55
    +3

    Does anyone even take Gumtree feedback seriously?

    • brendanm on 26/12/2019 - 19:20
      +2

      This, gumtree is full of morons, you can quickly figure out for yourself if a seller or buyer is legitimate. I've had dealings with "1 star" people who were fantastic.

  • The Human Torch on 26/12/2019 - 18:57
    +4

    I was just tying to get feedback from anyone that has experienced a dodgy review before and it’s also a heads up to others that may not know the Gumtree system of 4 responses = a chance to review someone.

    • Bargainbeth on 26/12/2019 - 23:06
      +1

      Facebook is similar. I can't recall the number of responses but a short convo and then youre able to rate.

  • The Human Torch on 26/12/2019 - 19:06
    +2

    I think most people don’t really take too much notice but it’s also the fact that someone is messing with your business / income eg; if you had a mechanics business and people were making up reviews on yelp, google etc would that not p…s you off ? Some people (not me) rely on gumtree as a second income so when some goose sits behind a keyboard and tries to effect their business just because they’re in competition then that’s pretty sad.

  • MS Paint on 26/12/2019 - 20:34

    I can't view reviews on the android app. Is it only an option on desktop view? I only ever use the app.

  • The Human Torch on 26/12/2019 - 21:10

    Put a shortcut on your Android device browser and sign in and when you get a message you can see what their reviews are, that’s how I recognised one user (by his reviews) that kept messaging me on different items at different times. I then just deleted his messages straight away.

  • Associatedozboygsl @ Gumtree on 27/12/2019 - 08:16

    the four question you first listed could { and probably should} be covered in the add.

    • Any thing on 27/12/2019 - 08:28

      If you read the ops comments you can see they have stated that those details are already in their ad.

    • The Human Torch on 27/12/2019 - 15:50

      Yep already in the initial description, just showing how easy it is to sucked in the a short exchange.

  • affable on 27/12/2019 - 08:48
    +2

    My wife just setup a brand new Gumtree account to get around the single listing restriction in boating, and straight away it said "Gummie since 2017". Great for fraudsters to setup legit looking accounts.

  • JIMB0 on 27/12/2019 - 08:58

    I'd rather give it to charity than sell it on gumtree.

  • OzHunterNSW on 27/12/2019 - 09:00

    I have reported many scammers to eBay, and I still see these people scamming.

  • WilliamPowerfish on 27/12/2019 - 11:36

    You need to send one letter in Facebook, and you can review the other party.

  • Diggins on 27/12/2019 - 20:08

    the review system on gumtree is so stupid. gumtree was perfect the way it was lol

  • 4892 on 02/01/2020 - 05:55

    This works both ways. A few notorious bad sellers have now got "highly rated" and a heap of good reviews all of a sudden after they were slammed when the rating system started. I wish there was more requirements to leave a review than what it is set at but I don't think GT really cares.

    • The Human Torch on 03/01/2020 - 22:23

      I actually noted that the seller who I’m 99% sure is behind the dodgy practise has zero reviews even though they sell a heap of things! I think they just start a new user under same name with different email address so it’s a clean slate for reviews.

  • The Human Torch on 01/02/2020 - 07:42

    Update (if interested ) their dodgy user was deleted and they started a new one James, at it again by trying to get you to have 4 messages each in same conversation to leave a feedback, they are so thick that it only takes 2 messages to work out they are dodgy.

  • sharkatron on 16/08/2020 - 16:48

    Just came across this thread - can anyone point me to where I can see my ratings as both a buyer and seller? I'm having some difficulty locating it on the site.

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