When is a Helpful rating NOT a helpful rating ??

When there are enough complaints against it so it would seem !!

I was recently barred from Ciao due to the fact that I had given out too many helpful ratings. Due to a number of complaints against those ratings Ciao saw fit to terminate my account...permanently they said ! Bl**dy ludicrous I said !

I sent tons of E-mails to Ciao abuse asking for an explanation as to why they felt this was so...all were ignored, I seriously think I was consigned to their junk mail file for a while. The principal of the whole thing enraged me to such and extent that I refused to lie down and play dead. I then managed to get hold of the Head of Media's E-mail and appealed to him, also explaining that not only was the handling of abuse reports in shambles but that the state of the site as a whole was in decline.

I recieved an immediate reply...*Shock horror*. As a result Ciao abuse have now re-instated my "permanently deleted" account and have also been asked to investigate any further abuse reports thoroughly before acting rashly.

A small victory but a victory nevertheless. I only wish that my comments regards the state of the site as a whole have been taken on board. Only time will tell.

The most ridiculous point of all of this is that, if enough people complain about their H ratings then they will be rescinded. Does this not make a complet mockery of the ratings system ??

In the meantime if anyone wants the address of the Head of Media, or indeed his direct telephone number please contact me on Ciao.(unfortunately you cannot message me on here due to another ludicrous situation)


Averilla

To think there are members out there having a go at others for not doing enough reading and rating, and have a moan when they receive a H rating on one of their own reviews!!!

I've learned months after joining not to look into ratings. I used to be a bit annoyed by the SH ratings that I would get but since then I've turned 21 and I'm not too bothered. Anyone who cannot accept a H rating should stay off the internet never mind Ciao.

I've been on Ciao for just over 4 years and I don't think they've ever responded to any of my emails.

And that is a major bugbear with me. When my 11yr old son is in trouble I always give him the chance to explain his actions. Ciao, it would appear, do not believe in the right to appeal, nor do they believe in fair play !!!

All's well that ends well.....and we'll all be watching the situation.

I just hope that whatever cages were rattled have a long lastng effect and that any abuse reports in future are investigated fully before any kind of action is taken.

That should also mean that dickheads who make these reports deliberately and maliciously have action taken against them.

At least the excellent Ciao magazine gave helpful advice on the abuse rocess which showed it to be robust, reliable and something we can all sleep easy over, oh and the interviews with active vibrant members were ground breaking as well.

I'm just surprised you actually got a reply from them!!!! How on earth a helpful rating could be considered as abuse is anyone's guess. Lets hope things do improve on the site although I won't be holding my breath. Lisa x

Yes well it is no surprise that they are like that, the same sort of thing happened when they 'permanently deleted' me in match 2006.... I had to argue with them to get my account back.

Though having said that was your 'deleting' more down to your attitude to people rather than your use of the H rating? Seeing as you have a tendency to just dole out H's to people you don't like or are arguing with?
can see that their point could make perfect sense if they looked at the number of reviews where you are the only one to have given an H rating for it, which happens an awful lot.
Yes it could be argues that that is your opinion but it could also be seen as you trying to get into arguements with people which seems to be your main aim on Ciao these days.

Sorry Simon (Ailran) but I feel you post is a bit too personal. I do not try to involve people in arguments at all, sadly when some people get a Helpful rating when they have a majority of VH and Es they think I am being nasty. I am not, I rate as I see fit and fairly, if I feel a review is lacking in something but is still Helpful to the consumer then I will rate it H, too many on Ciao over-rate and give their pals E ratings. I NEVER set out to intimidate people by giving them H ratings as you suggest and your mere suggestion indicates to me that maybe you yourself do not understand that H is actually a good rating. I personally feel that people get too het up under the collar with H ratings, I have no problems with receiving them.

And as for just doling them out to people I dislike, why, if I what you say is true, would I give them a H, should I not be giving them SH ???

Why should it matter that on many reviews I am the only one to issue an H, it IS down to personal opinion, and we are ALL entitled to our own opinions are we not ?

The whole tone of your posts would infer that I should be rating with the hordes of sheep raters...why ?? ...Oh, of course, that would make me more popular wouldn't it !! Well I am sorry but I don't care about popularity or points, I look at reviews from a consumers point of view and not from a dedicated , community spirited Ciaoer....is that so very wrong ??

You only have to look at my own rating to see that I give out a lot of 'low' ratings so I understand completely that an H is a good rating. In fact if you go by ratings alone I rate more harshly than you do % wise, especially with SH rates... but somehow dont seem to end up in loads of arguements with people. Thats says as much as anything else really in my eyes.

You do make me laugh with your line about if you disliked people you would surely rate them SH not H... of course you wouldn't because you know that that would be picked up and there would be no..' but that is a good rate' comeback to any complaints.

I agree with you completely that too many people over rate, expecially with friends on Ciao. No doubt about it.. it is something that really bugs me and I have mentioned that to people before.
The same things with a friend giving an E so hat it stands out is the same with you giving an H. In my opinion... mine only... you do it for the same reason.. you want to be noticed, and/or cause trouble. You enjoy arguing with people too much to it seems to me.

Again I agree completely with your last paragraph, the views you put forward there are what Ciao should be about. I dont care about popularity and rate as I think I should. You'll find some of the people I get on best with have H and SH rates from me.
If you stuck to doing it just on Ciao then I might just be inclined to think that what you say is true.

There is a time and a place for personal accusations such as yours and this is not it. I am happy to have an intelligent and sensible debate here but this site is not the place for profound accusations such as yours. Seeing as you are asking, I do not start any arguments with people whatsoever and as I have said I do not intend to intimidate with my ratings, sadly there are a select few among the community who have made it their aim to get me deleted, thankfully Ciao have finally seen sense.

The whole point here is that people should learn to accept H ratings as good ones and NOT go running to the abuse team everytime they receive one.

And your last sentence does not make any sense whatsoever. I do stick to doing it on Ciao alone, I haven't rated on any other site for months !

Yeah, agree with Averilla - accusations as direct as that are not what this site is about. Please refrain from doing so.

Averilla wrote:

The most ridiculous point of all of this is that, if enough people complain about their H ratings then they will be rescinded.
Averilla

Non. The most ridiculous thing is that you wanted your account back!

Non !! I wanted my money back !

Averilla wrote:

And your last sentence does not make any sense whatsoever. I do stick to doing it on Ciao alone, I haven't rated on any other site for months !

Who said anything about rating on other sites. I'm sure you know exactly what I mean. I know that if I said anything more than that would be going too far on this site.

drewboy wrote:

Yeah, agree with Averilla - accusations as direct as that are not what this site is about. Please refrain from doing so.

Shame that really especially as I kept it as nice as I could, even agreeing with a lot of comments. Still that is the downside of this site really. You dont want anything other than people be all nice too each other and not have anything like a proper discussion about how people act with them..

I have deleted this post. Av

Actually if you look my first post was exactly about that and you are the one who deviated it away from that subject... go back and look if you need to remind yourself.

I also dont see any nastiness... the only thing I've really said is that you like to have an argument. If that isnt true why are you arguing with me now?

Take it elsewhere guys. Regardless of what either of you do or do not think, this is not a site to be used to air personal issues.

Sorry Drew

Ummm surely everything on here is a personal viewpoint on different issues??

A personal viewpoint is not the same as a personal issue.