There was a deal posted last night by a new user:
Vinnies is having a 50% off storewide sale from 9am – 2pm Australia Day
It gained 111 votes despite no real evidence that the deal was on. We were contacted by the acting Marketing Coordinator at Vinnies to say that there was never such a deal.
She advises that
The deal "will not be occurring in any of our Vinnies stores. For accurate store information customers can check out http://www.visitvinnies.org.au
that's the big issue here isn't it?
Well I don't know what motivates people to post fake deals but maybe they thought they'd get away with it somehow and this was motivation? I just thought it was odd that a deal can be pulled and a user put in the penalty box but the badges remain.
Of course fake deals, especially for a charity, are awful, didn't think I needed to say it..
Maybe its just me, but I highly doubt someone would do that just get a fake badge on the internet. And its not like anyone cares about badges on this site anyway.
WHAT?!?!
Nobody told me they were fake!!!
It's something that's under consideration. We would like to talk to the OP first.
The OP's badges have been revoked.
Instead of unpublishing the deal page, it is better to put a correction/annoucement on that deal than a new posting in the forum so that more people can find it out. Just a suggestion.
Good idea. We have made a correction to the removal reason and pointed it here.
Perhaps a system where either A) Users who are subscribed to the post would receive an email stating the false claim, or B) a small banner at the top of the screen window stating the deal was false - so everyone can see it
Those 2 things already happen(ed).
How far along did the thrift shop lyrics get to?
I'm pretty sure they just wanted to read all of the posts by people who walked in and tried to buy stuff half price at a vinnies.
Mega Trolled lol
111 votes was the real joke in all this.. was anyone really going to go and buy some second hand shoes or an old scratched up TV cabinet?
The furniture at my local opp shops (Melbourne) are good but priced more than used furniture on eBay. The stores near me are run as competitive retail store. 50% off would have been well worth it.
Maybe the stores vary in quality. In the few times I've found myself in any of them I've shaken my head and wondered how they even sell anything due to the price + quality.
Op shops around my area charge ridiculous prices as they seem to research things before pricing them. I am all for giving to charity but just shake my head at prices they try and get for donated goods.
I must admit when I clicked through to the site and saw nothing official when it was posted, I just went meh and moved on.
If people here were a little more open to constructive criticism of a deal without flaming a person for actually questioning, I might have questioned it also, but its just not worth getting involved sometimes (and you can look quite silly when a deal IS legit and you have questioned it)
I never have once trusted a deal on here unless there is photo proof, or a link to an official page/tweet etc with reference to said deal.
Will the OP have their badges revoked?