Boats and Outboards error?

alexm · 12 May 2007, 11:20

Their ads don't seem to show the date they were posted any more? Anyone else got this problem?

This is really annoying as some of the ads on there are years old (which isn't surprising because every time I have used it to sell something I have been unable to delete the advert afterwards due to errors!)

It's free I suppose... so mustn't grumble!

alexm · 12 May 2007, 12:41

Just had this response:

Quote:

Hi,

Thanks for your email. This is not a bug, we have omitted that feature from our website at the moment

Kind Regards,

Internet Support
www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk

I have replied:

Quote:

Hi,

Thanks for the response. Does this mean the dates will be replaced at some point? As I’m sure you are aware, many of the adverts are long expired so being able to see whether an ad is recent or not is vital, especially when searching by keyword as you can’t even guess the age of the advert by how far near it is to the top of the page!

Thanks,

Alex

alexm · 12 May 2007, 13:24

Reply:

Quote:

Hi,
Thanks for your email, I have no information as to when this feature will be re-introduced I'm afraid.

Kind Regards

Lee McCartney
Internet Support

Nos4r2 · 12 May 2007, 13:24

I find the best way to remove an ad is to edit it with the word 'sold' as the only text. When they moderate it they remove it.
Either that or email them.

codprawn · 12 May 2007, 13:38

I used to love their site but I have noticed lately it has become very slow and full of bugs.

alexm · 12 May 2007, 14:44

Do you think they have removed the listing dates because they are embarrassed that 50%(?) of the ads are over a year old?

When I sold something on there I did the same as you and edited the ad to say **SOLD** because when I clicked the 'delete ad' link all I got was errors... it still took them a good couple of months to delete the advert!!

I can imagine that most people wouldn't bother to edit it unless they were still getting plagued by callers!

Boats · 12 May 2007, 16:49

Hi,

I work for BoatsandOutboards and thought I should come on here to explain the situation.

Over the last few months the website has been getting a massive amount of traffic and we have been working on our servers to make the site faster, part of this involved making some upgrades and this is why there have been a few bugs recently, we are working on these pretty much full time at the moment.

We took the decision to take the age of the advert after a lot of complaints from people trying to sell their boats that felt it was not helping them by having the age. Some boats do not sell very quickly such as wooden boats. We are going to introduce much more advanced features to enable people to search by age and much more in the near future.

The website is basically free to use and we have to try and make it work for those people who do spend money with us but I see the usability issue as being just as important so we sometimes have to compromise.

The other problem we have is people do not always delete their adverts but even so these expire after a while, many people do renew their adverts and this is why there are boats that have been advertised for some time.

I know things are not perfect but we are slowly getting there with the issues on the site.

Kind regards

Stephen

alexm · 12 May 2007, 17:34

Stephen,

Many thanks for taking the time to post the explanation... it makes much more sense than "I have no information as to when this feature will be re-introduced" so I'll stop moaning now!

Alex

Biggles · 12 May 2007, 17:39

And if Stephen comes back on here.

I would like to add that www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk is an excellent service. I can't think of any other trading web site boat or otherwise, that provides such a good web sales service. I wish him and his team all the best for the future.

NR.

codprawn · 12 May 2007, 19:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

And if Stephen comes back on here.

I would like to add that www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk is an excellent service. I can't think of any other trading web site boat or otherwise, that provides such a good web sales service. I wish him and his team all the best for the future.

NR.

Couldn't agree more - it is such a good site it's a shame to spoil it.

Boats · 12 May 2007, 22:01

Hey guys,

Thanks very much for the kind words and understanding, you have a friendly forum.

If you have any questions, complaints, ideas etc then do drop me a line through the forum here or through our own website or at one of the boat shows we are attending this year. If you are RIBEX tommorow please drop by our humble little stand and have a chat with Binny or Charlene.

Thanks again.

Stephen

codprawn · 12 May 2007, 22:18

How about some links between the 2 sites?

Boats · 14 May 2007, 09:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

How about some links between the 2 sites?

We already have reciprocal links between the websites, but I would happy to see what else we can do to help each others websites out???

Cheers

Stephen

Chris · 16 May 2007, 16:11

I have just tried to look for an engine on here and am really frustrated with calling people to be told the AD was months old and they have already sold the engine.

Basically without some way of knowing the age of an advert this site is useless to me, sorry.

Chris

Nos4r2 · 16 May 2007, 16:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris1573

I have just tried to look for an engine on here and am really frustrated with calling people to be told the AD was months old and they have already sold the engine.

Basically without some way of knowing the age of an advert this site is useless to me, sorry.

Chris

Yep, had the same when I was looking for a new boat. I ended up shouting 'well why don't you take the f**king ad down you cretin' at one village idiot (who also thought that a SIB and a RIB are the same thing....)

nik · 16 May 2007, 18:37

Why dont they have a system where the advert automatically lapses after a set time. If not sold, then re-advertise, its free.

Boats · 17 May 2007, 07:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by nik

Why dont they have a system where the advert automatically lapses after a set time. If not sold, then re-advertise, its free.

The system is there, people renew their adverts after a certain time. It's a case of people being lazy in canceling their adverts I am affraid. It is very dificult to please everyone.

Pete7 · 17 May 2007, 07:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boats

The system is there, people renew their adverts after a certain time. It's a case of people being lazy in canceling their adverts I am affraid. It is very dificult to please everyone.

Agreed, but the "canel advert" doesn't work at the moment which isn't helping maintain the accuracy of the items for sale. It used too, what happened ?

Pete

John Kennett · 17 May 2007, 08:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boats

It's a case of people being lazy in canceling their adverts I am affraid.

If it was actually possible for an advertiser to delete their ad then I might agree with you. Perhaps B&O should take a bit more responsibility instead of blaming their "lazy" customers!

John

Nauti Buoy · 17 May 2007, 08:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boats

The system is there, people renew their adverts after a certain time. It's a case of people being lazy in canceling their adverts I am affraid. It is very dificult to please everyone.

Hi

I had for sale an SBS trailer and my Parker Rib, I have tried to cancel both and can't. Pain in the ares cos I keep getting email after email from the site asking if either is for sale.