Website Improvements
Other
This website has really good potential but it seems to me there needs to be some improvements, I hope the admin will allow this discussion and potentially join in
Firstly a lot of deals are shared from sellers on Amazon with 0 reviews and 0 feedback. Why is this allowed? There is a risk people can get scammed or ripped off.
There should also be a vote down button, it seems a lot of deals get loads of likes when the price is not good at all. Just look at the recent Amazon chocolate box deal £20.98 quid for 27 chocolate bars, you can buy 80 bars for £20 from pound shops. Yet this "deal" is on the main home page. Even though people are well intentioned there shouldn't be any harm saying it's a bad deal. A lot of the time another user might be able to comment a link to another website with a much better price.
Sometimes items are shared but there is literally no stock anywhere apart from a store 200 miles away, it should state it on the post where the stock is. For example one deal was from Argos, I clicked on it and it was out of stock for delivery and collection. The nearest store was over 4 hours away!
I think these changes would make the user experience much better and most importantly stop vulnerable people getting ripped off.
Agree with the vote cold but with the store location then that’s a no some people are in hiding from violence or don’t won’t to stat area they from. Amazon sellers who are prime I only buy off Chinese sellers I try to avoid unless good feedback. That’s same with eBay.
Disagree with the location issue. The person is not saying where they are from, they are simply saying where the item for sale is located e.g. Dunelm Cardiff. It saves users having to go on the website, put in there postcode and to find it's out of stock.
Tid996 If an item is only available in a certain store surely it should be disallowed as being 'a local event/availability' as some local competitions are.
lilyflower I completely agree, It should be localised. The amount of times on the home page I see the most liked deal and yet it's out of stock everywhere...
Tid996 Why should the original poster sit and check all locations to see who has and who hasn't got stock, if there's stock in the nearest store to the O.P. that should be enough to go on, in the past there's been many good deals posted from Argos but sometimes they're not available near me, that's not to say there isn't stock, nor would it be enough for me to vote the deals down as a bad deal considering not everybody buys all the deals, so it's up to us all individually to check, I also think that a vote down button would be abused by the likes of yourself and also the trolls who seem to be on the site, simply because you either weren't interested in the deal or there's no stock near you.
I didn't say the original poster should check every single store, I said they should put on the post which store they found the deal at if it's not available for delivery . Either that or the admin should check it.
What is the point in posting a deal if it's out of stock and there is literally only availablity in one store e.g Inverness Scotland ? Literally helps no one and wastes people's time. On your second point about faslely accusing me being a "troll". Anyone with any common sense will realise not every single post is a great deal. Sometimes there are far better prices from different websites. The vote down would show the general user that it is not a deal and there is potentially a better price else where. Go and look at hot UK deals, it works so well and people save a lot of money. Go and post on there and call them trolls and see the response you would get. The whole point of me posting this discussion is to look a ways to get people real deals and not just junk posted from Amazon all of the time. A lot of people comment on deals "great deal thanks for sharing" just to get the points up. pato
pato exactly take bm for instance you and I both know what that store and shoppers are like will empty shelves but it gives others a idea what to look for in their local. The 10p and 50p will be gone within five minutes shop open. Argos if no stock near you check their eBay.
I can this chat getting closed just like all other debates on this topic
It'll probably get closed because people can't take Critism, the only way to improve things sometimes is to listen to users feedback. I'm not here to have a go at anyone or the admin team. Especially not here to call people "trolls" I just want to see the best user experience and see people get the best deals. Ann1984
Tid996 Firstly, I never accused you of being a troll, read that bit again, secondly, your point about the Argos deal, it doesn't matte how far away the stock was as it was still available, I will agree that the poster could say where it was that they found it, but that still gives you the same problem, if you're genuinely interested in the item, you'll still check it out and find no stock near you and because of that, it'll be a no deal to you and a down vote, so without the down vote button nothing changes, that's the way it should be kept.
Either I miss read it or you edited your post either way. The stock issue, it wouldn't get downed because it's only available in one location. The whole point of the vote down option is because of the price. if the post clearly tells me where it is from e.g. Inverness Scotland I would still give it a heart if it was a good price, not because of the location. pato
Well sorry if I have miss read it, either way I wouldn't abuse the vote system. The issue at the moment is every deal with lots of hearts looks like a great deal. E.g. the current Amazon multichocolate box 27bars £20.98. it currently has over 50 hearts, yet a lot of comments (including me) realise it's a rip off. From the outset you are only seeing "hearts". If you saw dislikes or even broken hearts you would realise it's not a good deal of price. On the flip side if you saw a deal with lots of hearts and no dislikes you will see it's a great deal pato
Tid996 I'm in total agreement that the price for the chocolate bars was high at £20.98, I've just had a quick check and can see that the price has increased to £23.69, which of course is a bigger rip off, as for the hearts, I think someone touched on this before when they said that because something was on the first page, the posters who are only harvesting points click on these deals and they seem to get more and more likes when better deals are on pages 5, 6 and further apart and never get hit on. maybe they have a point.
Tid996 there has been many of these chat topics including removing points for chat. I created a chat on bm bargain hunting explains whice days items gets reduced when website updates prices etc which now is long down the line do to ?v? Chats but members are getting clever and asking random stuff or posting in the news today etc same one 2 chats a day why not have one and update in comments everyday. 
I should start reporting these.
Tid996 Hi I just came here after seen this topic couldn’t stop my self I read all comments too but when ever I post mostly Dunlem deals I added with store pics those with stock availability but users still reported my deals When my deal went expire one day right second day someone else posted gone well no one point at least they were very happy with purchase second my recent NIVEA MEN Protect & Care 48h Anti-Perspirant Spray 150ml Only 49p been reported so many times lots Off heppend there still in expired deal I decided not add any pics with stock availability you’re can check please. after reading user comment (why I am keep un expire my deal LD should take notice these kind of words your can read there)I add in store availability Pics .but my deal went expire because I didn’t listen they block me for unexpire that deal.i am very disappointed now I decided have some rest For while then see if I can post anything other then I am off. up voting and cold voting it’s totally LD founders decision what ever they decide will be appreciated have a good day 
pato As deal posters are effectively getting "paid " for posting a deal they should at least check there is stock of the item they are posting ? Otherwise they may just as well click and paste Argos "clearance " offers at random where there is often no stock anywhere .
But that's what they do anyway 
.
that's just one example and yes I agree with you, it's such a shame potentially we all miss out a real good deal because it's buried in later pages when on the first page or two it's full off over priced deals. The issue is the hearts bring the deals to the front pages. If we had a dislike option these deals would not be on the front page, hence my ornginal point about the disliks option@pato
People have to make their own informed decision whether an item is a good price or not.
That's true but the issue is there is no option for users to say it's not a good price other than the comments. Hence why every deal looks great because it gets only the "hearts" and no visual dislikes.
Some people post anything random just for this points, and in turn the genuine deals get overlooked.
And the best way to enable people to make that informed decision is to allow them to take into account downvotes as well as the (paid for) likes. As things stand you can't trust any of the deals.
@doct 
I agree that apart from rewarding members with five points for "liking"a deal, such a system is not going to be taken seriously by anyone either here or on any other site - I doubt any person actually contemplating purchasing is going to take any real notice of how many people like a deal. It is almost suggesting that people cannot decide for themselves.
I disagree that deals that are not available at all stores are not useful, it only take a potential customer a few seconds to find if the item is available near where they are, or how far they would need to travel to purchase, very often those deals (usually stock clearance) are some of the best deals - to those who can take advantage of them.
Yes that is a fair point about customers potentially finding a good deal close to them. I just don't see why if it's highlighted on the home page why can't the location be added to the title.
You can actually report the comp to add information to the title if you want to and if/when approved you will see the change on screen.
It's because the number of places the item may be available at can be numerous and the locations can only be found by any potential purchasers checking, on most deals the locations will reduce. When the item is no longer available at any location the deal is expired.
In a similar way different sizes or colours can reduce and I feel most of us have no objection if our required size or colour is not available. Tid996
Let's be honest here, there are many crap 'deals' on here and a lot of the genuinely good ones unfortunately get overlooked. I think the downvote option would be a great addition. Also, points should only be rewarded to posters if they get a certain number of upvotes and a very limited amount of downvotes. For example, if you post a deal which generates 10 or more downvotes or no more than 4 upvotes then you don't get the points. There are certain members on here who abuse the points system by sharing anything that's going, regardless on whether or not it is actually a deal.
As for the Amazon suggestion, this again is abusing the points system. I personally would not share a deal if it has under a 3 star rating nor one which doesn't have any rating or reviews at all.
With the stock suggestion, whilst it is indeed up to the individual to check whether or not a certain item is in stock at their local store, some people do not have time to check or just can't be bothered. LD is after all here to help others so this would helpful.
Your topic is ill thought out and rather cheeky from a relatively new member who has hardly posted anything. Yes you are entitled to your opinion but many of us have a strong loyalty to the founders of this site who always play fair and reward well. I refer you to my much longer comment on the topic very similar to this by another non contributing member.
Not really cheeky, it's a matter of opinion. Some people agree some don't, maybe some of the long loyalty members feel the same way. I have been a member for a while and check "deals" on a regular basis. Just because I don't have as many contributions doesn't mean my opinion is cheeky of invalid. As you can see from the comments above some other "loyal" members who actually have more contributions than you agree with me on certain points.
Whether people contribute or not is completely irrelevant. What's at stake here is the reputation of the website. As things stand, with people earning money effectively for posting deals and for liking deals, it's wide open to abuse - and that shows. Many of the deals aren't remotely deals - they're just overpriced fake deals put on there in many cases by the sellers!
Allowing downvotes would help people sort the wheat from the chaff - and nobody has yet managed to come up with any good reason why it would not be a good idea. I use this site less and less now because it simply can't be trusted. I thought initially it was better than HUKD, where I post a lot, but now I see it as a timewaster.
doct but if you were a regular follower of chat then you would see we have gone round in circles for years over the pros and cons of this and that, we never get anywhere due to the simple fact that you can please some of the people some of the time but never all of the people all of the time.
Lynibis It's allegedly a deals website, and you shouldn't need to have be a regular chat follower to expect it to provide what's on the tin - deals. It could have been trialled. It hasn't. Not difficult to guess why not. I'm out - I'll stick to a deals site where I can have some faith in the deals. Not a site where people make money out of posting deals, and post purely for that purpose.
Morning Tid996 
Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. It's obviously never nice to hear someone discouraged by Latest Deals but it's incredibly valuable to hear honest feedback. We always hoover it all up and do our best to improve 
Our approach with Amazon is to be as open as possible - allowing both new and old sellers. We want to give new sellers a chance and we've also found that the new sellers are often the ones with the best discounts (launch promotions, etc). Because Amazon's customer service is so good (I'm not personally aware of a situation where a member has lost out and not been refunded by Amazon?) we felt this was a reasonable approach to take. We are however very open to feedback on this (as we are with everything!).
Re: a down vote button, I've just replied to another topic on this so please forgive the copy/paste!
"We've often considered having an ability to down vote a deal but have always ended up concluding that we prefer having likes and instead encouraging people to leave a comment if they feel the deal isn't good value.
The idea behind asking people to comment is to avoid anonymous, unsubstantiated down votes - a complaint we heard from people using similar platforms, such as hotukdeals. We felt a comment that articulated the point e.g. "This isn't a good deal, it's available at Argos for £10 less [link]" or "The RRP looks made up, it was half the price 10 days ago" is far more valuable. And the hope is that if people comment then other members will see and perhaps decide to withhold their like.
We are of course always still open to feedback on this approach and we'll always take steer from the community as to how Latest Deals should work.
I think a change in the pipeline - to experiment with removing points for liking posts - should help improve things quite a bit. I know we have some passionate members on this particular subject but I'd kindly ask that this post stays on topic - about introducing a down vote option - as opposed to the likes for points stuff (where change is coming, I promise 
)"
Re: stock - I understand the frustration but unfortunately haven't yet worked out a way to resolve this in a sensible way. Argos for example - someone may spot a deal that's available for delivery/collection to their postcode and want to share it on Latest Deals. There's no easy way to get a list of all the stores that have stock (I don't believe?) and so I feel it would be unfairly onerous to ask someone to create this list when sharing a deal. That said, we do have a rule against sharing local deals (as we generally want deals available to everyone) and if stock were only in one specific store a post may be removed for this reason. If you have any ideas as to how we could improve this please shout!
I hope that helps provide some context or rationale as to why things work the way they do but please do continue to feedback as, just because something works a particular way, it doesn't mean it has to keep working that way!
Thank you Kelsey for replying to this post in a constructive way (unlike some) much appreciated. I understand how much work you guys put in. Even though to some my intentions might seem bad it's just a couple of observations and suggestions. Over all the concept of the website is superb, Thanks for taking the time to read through and reply 
Regards
A downvoting system is essential if this site is to maintain any credibility. I'm already considering reporting it to consumer bodies, watchdogs and regulators because of the number of fake deals being promoted by sellers, and actually paying people in points for likes is ludicrous in terms of integrity.
This was a good site, but it's being abused, and if the siteowners value their business it has to be trusted. It's certainly not trustworthy as it stands, but a downvoting system to try to weed out all the fake deals would help.
Latest Deals is already used by over 1m consumers.
Latest Deals has a Trust Pilot score of 4.8 STARS (Excellent)
There isn’t a credibility problem.
If you want to complain to consumer bodies, watchdogs and regulators I suggest you understand the following details first to avoid wasting their time:
- Latest Deals is an online forum where the consumer community post deals they have seen listed elsewhere online, or in the shops, to help each other
- Latest Deals is not a retailer
- Latest Deals does not sell any products itself
- Latest Deals does not handle any client (consumer) monies
- When a consumer buys a product that he/she has seen on Latest Deals the ‘deal contract’ is between the consumer and the retailer selling the product (and not with Latest Deals)
If you have a problem with the deals posted on this site by consumers, the appropriate place to complain is to the retailer itself and/or to the marketplace platform (such as Amazon or eBay) that is hosting the deal on behalf of 'Other Sellers' / Retailers.
So basically blackmail. Put in a downvote and I won't report? Maybe your anger and energy would be better spent hammering the social media sites that allow trolling, swearing, racism and all the other things that harm folk, this site doesn't.
And before you say same to me as to bzortead I do not use the deals, have only ever purchased one and do not post very often because unless it is a good deal I won't bother. I am here mainly for the chat and competitions and I think I and many others would be very upset if someone set out to do harm to this site, it is just plain spiteful. I don't think you would get far as no one gets their arms twisted to buy and we are all grown ups and hopefully know our own minds.
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