The following rules are for negative reviews or PSAs only, effective from the 28th of August 2017.
1. Negative review threads must be accompanied by tangible evidence of the transaction and any relevant transfers or artwork where appropriate. Please attempt to provide as much documentation as possible.
- FOR EXAMPLE: If you are a user who has not received a paid service, please try to provide screenshots of the original commission order, approval from the artist, your payment receipt, and evidence that you have since attempted to contact the artist.
- FOR EXAMPLE: If you are an artist who has experienced a chargeback, please try to provide screenshots of the original commission order, the completed (watermarked) artwork, the original payment and the following chargeback, and evidence that you have since attempted to contact the client.
2. Negative review thread REPLIES must contribute constructive details or information to the thread. Basically, please make sure your replies are useful.
- ACCEPTABLE REPLIES
- "I have also had issues with this artist. I purchased a commission from them on XX/XX/XXXX and have still not received a response from them despite several attempts to contact them. Here are screenshots of my transactions: [links to screenshots of the original commission order and payment]" [Acceptable, provides information.]
- "This user showed activity on their DeviantArt account on XX/XX/XXXX, maybe you will get a response if you try contacting them there." [Acceptable, provides information.]
- "I am the thread creator and am still waiting on a response from the user in question." [Acceptable, provides an update.]
- "I am one of the named users and would like to give my account of these events: (explanation, including screenshots)" [Acceptable, provides information.]
- PLEASE DO NOT MAKE REPLIES LIKE THESE:
- "After reading this thread I will not be giving this user my business in the future." [Not informational.]
- "After reading this thread I think this user did nothing wrong." [Not informational.]
- "I'm friends with this user and I'm sure this is a misunderstanding." [Unless details or screenshots are contributed, this does not contribute any tangible information.]
- "I've dealt with this user before and always thought they were suspicious." [Unless details or screenshots are provided, this is also not informational.]
If you agree with the thread creator but have no tangible evidence to contribute, we encourage you to send your support or condolences to their PMs or profile comments.
If you disagree with the thread creator but have no tangible counter-evidence or statements to contribute, and are also not a party who is directly relevant to the thread, this forum is not the correct place to place your thoughts.
3. Please do your best to keep posts tone neutral and related to business transactions. If we see posts in the future making personal attacks or unnecessary commentary we'll be removing them. This ensures that the thread remains uncluttered and also makes it easier for relevant parties to respond when they may otherwise feel discouraged from coming forward to resolve the issue.
The primary purpose of this board is to provide public transparency and encourage honest business practices - not hostility. We'll be looking into reviewing these rules and the board's functionality if replies continue to be more detrimental than helpful.