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Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Nov 28, 2012 3:22:56 AM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse What can be done if a member continuously posts wrong prices? I dont see any report buttons on the site and I couldnt find anywhere to contact a mod. How do you contact mods? I have proof that a certain member is posting false prices and it's really bugging me. :P

Cityscape

Sophomore Author
British Columbia

Posts:160
Points:135,230
Joined:Apr 2009

Message Posted: Nov 28, 2012 3:22:56 AM

Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse

What can be done if a member continuously posts wrong prices? I dont see any report buttons on the site and I couldnt find anywhere to contact a mod. How do you contact mods?

I have proof that a certain member is posting false prices and it's really bugging me. :P

REPLIES (newest first)Ignore Short Messages

Gas_Buddy Champion Author Maryland Posts:25,984 Points:3,036,015 Joined:Aug 2004	Message Posted: Dec 23, 2012 8:17:42 PM Ignore Gas_Buddy Report Abuse Mandrake: "In our county...a diesel price is added but the station doesn't offer diesel. Some stations only offer Regular and Diesel but postings are happening for Mid and Premium. Maybe uh... making it up to score easy points?!" Actually, re-read what you wrote. Some stations have regular, not diesel (I presume they do have premium). Other stations have regular and diesel. What you may be seeing is not (not necessarily, that is) making it up to score easy points, but rather some drivers simply assuming that they're seeing regular and diesel prices whereas others assume they're seeing regular and mid-grade or regular and premium prices. As long as there's no consistency in what a driver is seeing as he/she's driving down the street and making a quick scan of the prices, and not necessarily being able to determine if a second price (the first being for regular), if a second price is for premium, or diesel, or mid-grade, or non-ethanol, or anything else, you can and will have non-intentional posting errors. I'm not saying that there aren't members posting prices for points, but if you're going to post prices for points there are easier ways to do it, and ways that won't "give you away" as making them up. A member can simply make five quick regular price posts for one station and no one else will be the wiser.
Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Dec 23, 2012 5:58:21 PM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse I like Browncoats idea of graying out types of fuel that are invalid at particular stations.
Browncoat1 Champion Author Grand Rapids Posts:1,864 Points:1,071,865 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Dec 20, 2012 9:40:26 AM Ignore Browncoat1 Report Abuse You would think it should be easy to have the app grey out the fuel types that aren't at an individual station. Of course, you can't even do that on the main website, but if the master station list shows no diesel at a station, you shouldn't be able to post that price there. In a perfect web and app world, I guess.
Mandrake All-Star Author Alabama Posts:502 Points:2,213,305 Joined:Apr 2004	Message Posted: Dec 19, 2012 5:18:00 PM Ignore Mandrake Report Abuse In our county, I've observed a marked increase in the number of postings where for example, a diesel price is added but the station doesn't offer diesel. Some stations only offer Regular and Diesel but postings are happening for Mid and Premium. Maybe uh... making it up to score easy points?!
drewspuppa Rookie Author Michigan Posts:4 Points:159,280 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Dec 17, 2012 10:16:15 PM Ignore drewspuppa Report Abuse Again, just to make it clear, I'm asking for an app improvement: If the mobile apps had a brief note on each reporting page that stated: "Please only report the posted cash price." and "Please report discounted prices in the comment field." it would help get correct prices reported. Incorrect entries due to misconduct is a completely different issue.
Snowchoux Champion Author Missouri Posts:1,003 Points:145,635 Joined:Sep 2012	Message Posted: Dec 12, 2012 11:52:28 AM Ignore Snowchoux Report Abuse I put in the wrong price this morning for a station. I had put in 5 stations, so I just re-entered that station with the correct price and it took. I hope that took care of the problem.
drewspuppa Rookie Author Michigan Posts:4 Points:159,280 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Dec 11, 2012 3:57:19 PM Ignore drewspuppa Report Abuse I had to dig around to find out what "kind" of price to report so that it is NOT wrong. We really only want the normal CASH price and NON-DISCOUNTED price. That gives a great comparison idea of where I want to go to for my gas purchases. I can add $.10 for credit or figure my discount at various stores that have member discounts. But we need a standardized basis to begin with. I regularly see a reported price that is only an hour old and $.10 higher than posted at the station. Obviously, the GasBuddy posted the credit price. If the mobile apps had a brief note on the reporting page that stated: "Please only enter the posted cash price." and "Please post discounted prices in the comment field." I realize that screen real estate is at a premium on apps, so use only one of these messages at a time and rotate them on a regular basis. With this idea more people will gradually start entering the correct/useful price because they will learn without digging like I did.
Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Dec 9, 2012 2:25:55 AM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse Bruce: I did contact the mods. The user posting false prices stopped posting for 5 days and now he is posting a bit again but seems to only be posting correct prices. And thanks!
Bruce1224 Champion Author Cincinnati Posts:1,253 Points:235,325 Joined:Aug 2012	Message Posted: Dec 8, 2012 5:18:32 PM Ignore Bruce1224 Report Abuse Cityscape, I want to confirm what others have said, that it's worth sending an email to the moderators about false posts (refer to Don's message on 11/28). I've reported numerous false diesel posts recently. I don't always receive a reply from them, but they may be contacting the perps without letting me know. I haven't found cases yet where people report false prices after I've contacted the moderators. I do verify what the station sells before emailing the mods, by calling the station directly to confirm the MSL is correct if I can't remember from seeing the station. In a couple of cases I've updated the MSL to show that the station actually does sell the diesel or grade posted. I've noticed the MSL is more accurate or more complete in some areas than others.
kwzh Champion Author San Jose Posts:20,659 Points:3,684,560 Joined:Jul 2001	Message Posted: Dec 8, 2012 3:13:59 AM Ignore kwzh Report Abuse Posting bogus diesel sounds like a quick way to score points and/or whichever app award applies to it. But what would be the motivation for reactivating a closed station's MSL entry? That takes actual work, and surely isn't the path of least resistance for any point-scoring goal.
Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Dec 8, 2012 1:11:43 AM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse Browncoat: ha, you know what I "love" even more?!? People posting prices for stations that are closed!!! Sometimes even going into the MSL to reactivate them. :P
DiannaFan Sophomore Author Utah Posts:175 Points:207,210 Joined:May 2012	Message Posted: Dec 7, 2012 9:02:10 PM Ignore DiannaFan Report Abuse Browncoat, I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that that's on the list of improvements that are in the works. It's a good start.
Browncoat1 Champion Author Grand Rapids Posts:1,864 Points:1,071,865 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Dec 7, 2012 9:29:25 AM Ignore Browncoat1 Report Abuse What I love (note the sarcasm in the word "love") is when people post prices for non-existent fuels. There's a station near me that has never had diesel fuel, but it doesn't stop these long-time members from posting diesel prices. I think the mobile app needs to be able to not accept gas prices if the Master Station List doesn't have that grade of fuel at a particular station. :)
Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Dec 7, 2012 6:16:30 AM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse Browncoat1: I did actually report him to the mods last week. And he actually hasn't posted any prices this week!
installer All-Star Author San Diego Posts:941 Points:479,275 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Dec 6, 2012 10:47:41 AM Ignore installer Report Abuse I see some occasionally, but they mostly seem to be posting credit card price and not cash price. Rarely but still there are some that are a key stroke error or just lazy. I make errors too but try to correct them. I do look at what is reported to see if i screwed up.
Browncoat1 Champion Author Grand Rapids Posts:1,864 Points:1,071,865 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Dec 6, 2012 9:20:35 AM Ignore Browncoat1 Report Abuse Cityscape, Report the offending user to the moderators, and they will take care of it. This happened last spring around here, and the "wrong pricer" was warned by the GB mods to stop or they would be punished. It worked here. No harm to try.
Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Dec 6, 2012 6:32:52 AM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse jrsva: I've seen a user keep updating the same prices around town for weeks without checking the prices, by the end of it the prices for that station were so much more expensive then everywhere else! I'm pretty sure he was using the mobile app.
jrsva Champion Author Virginia Posts:9,863 Points:1,614,950 Joined:Jan 2006	Message Posted: Dec 6, 2012 12:13:06 AM Ignore jrsva Report Abuse We all make a typo from time to time; hopefully, most of us notice it and make a correction. Those mobile awards are the greatest incentive for fraudulent price posting that GB could possibly have thought up. I think very few are wilfully posting incorrect prices but those chasing silly awards may copy prices others have posted without seeing the actual signs, so these may not reflect the most recent changes. Not reading the signs carefully is another source of error. Some stations post a kerosene price at the bottom of their main sign and these often get posted as diesel. Other stations have various creative ways to confuse the casual observer. Read the fine print while spotting prices.
Snowchoux Champion Author Missouri Posts:1,003 Points:145,635 Joined:Sep 2012	Message Posted: Dec 5, 2012 10:22:48 AM Ignore Snowchoux Report Abuse I have posted a wrong price from time to time. I don't like when it happens either. The last one I posted wrong was caused by me hitting the wrong number and hitting enter with checking the post.
Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Dec 4, 2012 5:23:41 AM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse Scoutmaster: I actually think some of the mobile awards are useless. And some of them make it especially tempting to post prices without seeing the station, like the commuter award.
scoutmaster Champion Author Pittsburgh Posts:81,372 Points:3,255,570 Joined:Mar 2003	Message Posted: Dec 4, 2012 5:09:29 AM Ignore scoutmaster Report Abuse "I wonder why someone would post wrong prices." To get points and/or to earn those lovely useless mobile awards.
Karisholman Veteran Author Nevada Posts:281 Points:170,410 Joined:Oct 2012	Message Posted: Dec 4, 2012 12:34:08 AM Ignore Karisholman Report Abuse I wonder why someone would post wrong prices.
Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Dec 3, 2012 10:46:38 PM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse Gas Buddy: I understand your point and I do not in general recommend baiting people, a lot of it for the reasons you give. However I set the bait just before this user came on (he often comes on at a certain time) and removed it just after he updated it. So the false price was listed for a very short time. I'll continue updating accurate prices, maintaining/updating the Master Stations list(s) as needed and everything else I do. This user does post inaccurate prices fyi, not just update my prices.
TxJeans Champion Author Tampa Posts:3,562 Points:371,005 Joined:May 2004	Message Posted: Dec 2, 2012 8:11:49 AM Ignore TxJeans Report Abuse Seems like the answers to the question are already in the thread and that this can be closed as answered.
Gas_Buddy Champion Author Maryland Posts:25,984 Points:3,036,015 Joined:Aug 2004	Message Posted: Dec 1, 2012 3:12:25 PM Ignore Gas_Buddy Report Abuse Here's the problem with Cityscape's baiting suggestion: What if another person posted a "bait price" just to "catch" someone and Cityscape didn't know it was a "bait price" and went out of his way, however slightly, and found that someone posted a false price. I doubt that Cityscape would appreciate that he was an innocent though unwilling participant in another person's "bait scheme". What might be better for Cityscape to do is to continue the regular and accurate price posting he's been doing over the years. The worse that happens is "the other member" reposts the accurate "bait prices" that Cityscape posted.
Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Dec 1, 2012 6:46:42 AM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse Don: Yes that makes a lot of of sense! If you typed out every email from scratch I'm sure you could probably spend all your time doing just that! :) The email I got was strange though because it told me to send an email reporting the user, which I had already done in my first email! I went an changed some of this other users false prices to the correct ones today. :)
Don Moderator	Message Posted: Nov 30, 2012 4:50:11 PM Ignore Don Report Abuse The emails are generic sounding because certain responses for certain situations are "canned". We go through a lot of feedback regarding users posting wrong prices to the sites and apps, in order to save time on typing out each response individually, we select one out of a number of suitable responses. Emails are still being physically read by us, some replies will come from catalog of responses that best suit a certain situations. These messages are still edited and modified where necessary as well. (If you can imagine, there's a lot of typing involved when communicating with a community like ours, this makes it easier on our wrists and fingers as well!) edit - I would not recommend reporting false prices in an attempt to "bait" another user to update the same inaccurate info - if you observe a member posting false prices, please report them to us. -Don [Edited by: Don at 11/30/2012 4:53:09 PM EST]
scoutmaster Champion Author Pittsburgh Posts:81,372 Points:3,255,570 Joined:Mar 2003	Message Posted: Nov 30, 2012 6:14:42 AM Ignore scoutmaster Report Abuse The e-mails say basically the same thing so yeah maybe they are generic. That has happened here as well, Cityscape. I've done the same thing and the results were the same. [Edited by: scoutmaster at 11/30/2012 6:16:51 AM EST]
Cityscape Sophomore Author British Columbia Posts:160 Points:135,230 Joined:Apr 2009	Message Posted: Nov 30, 2012 5:32:15 AM Ignore Cityscape Report Abuse Furball & Scoutmaster: Do you always get a generic sounding email from them first? Cause I did what you all said and I got a generic sort of email. I have not gotten anything yet relating to this user.Unlike Dianna, I know this user is posting without seeing the prices. I set a trap tie him... About an hour or 2 before he comes I posted a false price for a station that was noticeably high. He came on and updated the false price! He keeps posting inaccurate prices and updating stuff without seeing the prices.
kwzh Champion Author San Jose Posts:20,659 Points:3,684,560 Joined:Jul 2001	Message Posted: Nov 30, 2012 4:17:07 AM Ignore kwzh Report Abuse DiannaFan, I would post it to the local forum, asking other members who might be in that area whether the price is correct or not. Our local forum in San Jose already has a topic dedicated to that.
bytebug Champion Author Orange County Posts:26,399 Points:4,125,580 Joined:Oct 2001	Message Posted: Nov 29, 2012 11:00:49 PM Ignore bytebug Report Abuse >> I'm not near any of the stations in question so I can't confirm anything Then leave it alone. The only way you can legitimately question a price is if you see that it is wrong by personally observing the correct price.
DiannaFan Sophomore Author Utah Posts:175 Points:207,210 Joined:May 2012	Message Posted: Nov 29, 2012 10:51:14 PM Ignore DiannaFan Report Abuse What should we do if we have a suspected problem but aren't sure? Here's what I'm seeing right now. User wildjoe1 posted 3 of the lowest prices in the state of Utah within 3 minutes of each other. 2 of the stations are in Draper and 1 is in Brigham City, which is 76 miles away. The Draper stations are also significantly lower price than anything else being reported. It's possible the prices are correct and joe just didn't put the correct time stamp on them (which is only minorly important) or they could be bogus. I'm not near any of the stations in question so I can't confirm anything, but it smells off.
scoutmaster Champion Author Pittsburgh Posts:81,372 Points:3,255,570 Joined:Mar 2003	Message Posted: Nov 29, 2012 10:43:04 AM Ignore scoutmaster Report Abuse What Furball said. I always get a response stating the member has been contacted.
Furball Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:1,465 Points:292,955 Joined:Sep 2003	Message Posted: Nov 29, 2012 10:16:56 AM Ignore Furball Report Abuse I'd like to say that reporting the idiots DOES work. The mods have gotten back to me each time to let me know that they'd been warned and encouraging me to report them again if they didn't mend their ways.
Don Moderator	Message Posted: Nov 28, 2012 12:27:24 PM Ignore Don Report Abuse Cityscape, You can contact us by visiting the Website Feedback area of the site. Under Email Category select 'Incorrect Prices'. Be sure to let us know the username of the poster, the station details (station name, address, area, state/province) and approximate time posted, so we can look it up and bring it to their attention. There are also feedback areas within the mobile apps that you can use to submit the same info. -Don
Zimcity Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:65,425 Points:3,694,035 Joined:Aug 2001	Message Posted: Nov 28, 2012 10:06:34 AM Ignore Zimcity Report Abuse To PM the mods: 1. click on the envelope next to Inbox: on the top right of the page 2. click on the Create Message link 2a. Select the GB Moderator address (it should already be in the To: box). 3. Select Incorrect prices from the pull down list of categories. [Edited by: Zimcity at 11/28/2012 10:09:11 AM EST]
scoutmaster Champion Author Pittsburgh Posts:81,372 Points:3,255,570 Joined:Mar 2003	Message Posted: Nov 28, 2012 6:59:43 AM Ignore scoutmaster Report Abuse If you are 110% sure they are false, zero out the prices and put the reason you are zeroing them out in the comments then send a PM to the mods. [Edited by: scoutmaster at 11/28/2012 7:00:56 AM EST]
WR-INC Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:39,504 Points:3,626,285 Joined:Dec 2002	Message Posted: Nov 28, 2012 4:44:44 AM Ignore WR-INC Report Abuse Put your cursor over Help, on the far right side of the upper bar. Then select Contact Us.