Does this question promote violence?

October 7, 2005 11:22 AM

Cleanup in aisle 25154... do we really want to be suggesting assault in an ask metafilter thread?
posted by SpecialK to etiquette/policy at 11:22 AM (42 comments total)

It's intresting to think of metafilter as a huge store with thousands and thousands of aisles. I estimate that such a store would be about 200 miles long.
posted by delmoi at 11:26 AM on October 7, 2005

No one "suggested" assault. The poster included it among the options he was considering, and he clearly wasn't kidding. People replied with their opinions.
posted by cribcage at 11:28 AM on October 7, 2005

"do we really want to be suggesting assault in an ask metafilter thread?"

Of course not! Everyone nos threats are reserved for the gray!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:29 AM on October 7, 2005

That's it Flo, it's on!
posted by Pollomacho at 11:32 AM on October 7, 2005

I thought the firebomb bit was a joke.
posted by mathowie at 11:33 AM on October 7, 2005

I estimate that such a store would be about 200 miles long.

and a real bitch to mop.
posted by jonmc at 11:34 AM on October 7, 2005

It was an aside out of frustration. Its not like he said, "can someone teach me how to make an undectable firebomb so I can get back at this guy who scammed me for $7K?"

If it were a legitimate threat of violence then that might be something to discuss. This was frustration speaking. And I fully understand it even though I was only scammed for $200.
posted by fenriq at 11:38 AM on October 7, 2005

I estimate that such a store would be about 200 miles long

We're on MetaTalk thread 10301, MeFi thread 45713, and AskMe thread 25167. Including deleted threads, if each thread were 50 yards long, the site would be about 2300 miles long, or about the distance from New York to Las Vegas.
posted by blue mustard at 11:38 AM on October 7, 2005

I removed the stupidest joke "beat his ass up" comments, and I think everyone was pretty level headed in explaining why any sort of revenge was a bad idea all around.
posted by mathowie at 11:41 AM on October 7, 2005

What if we had multiple floors and more than one row of aisles per column? Would there still be a lot of crap mixed in with the good stuff?
posted by Pollomacho at 11:43 AM on October 7, 2005

Pollomacho: "That's it Flo, it's on!"

Oh, bring it, Pollomacho! Trying to match wits with me is like bringing a knife to a tinfoil hat fight!

Wait. Maybe that didn't work out the way I meant it to...
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:43 AM on October 7, 2005

I don't get the problem. How Paypal would not refund the money is beyond me. Then again, it's also beyond me how someone could spend $7,000 on a huge package like this, rather than buy it retail and have a warranty.

That said, if I got scammed for $7,000, I'd think about violence, frequently, but wouldn't put it in print. That shit makes you culpable.
posted by Busithoth at 11:52 AM on October 7, 2005

*starts making book on the Manly Chicken and Precipitated Florence*
posted by loquacious at 11:52 AM on October 7, 2005

My comment wasn't meant as a joke - I do think he should consider that as a viable option.
posted by rocketman at 12:09 PM on October 7, 2005

I've noticed that there are quite a few folk here who seem eager to recommend violence as a response to problems. I prefer withering sarcasm, myself.

Honestly, how whacked-out crazy naive do you have to be to spend seven grand buying an unseen item from an unknown person? I mean, really.
posted by Decani at 12:11 PM on October 7, 2005

and by the way, what good does it make you to firebomb somebody's house? you'll still be 7,000 dollars short, for fuck's sake
posted by matteo at 12:30 PM on October 7, 2005

Honestly, how whacked-out crazy naive do you have to be to spend seven grand buying an unseen item from an unknown person? I mean, really.

People still fall for Nigerian scams. At least this one seemed a little more plausible than that!
posted by Pollomacho at 12:32 PM on October 7, 2005

The poster included it among the options he was considering, and he clearly wasn't kidding.

Er... what makes so completely sure?
posted by Stauf at 12:34 PM on October 7, 2005

From the thread: "Matt could catch serious shit if something happened as a result of your idiotic "advice"."

Is this true or did it come from out of the poster's rear end?
posted by jaysus chris at 12:40 PM on October 7, 2005

jaysus: The second thing.
posted by mendel at 12:45 PM on October 7, 2005

matteo writes "what good does it make you to firebomb somebody's house? you'll still be 7,000 dollars short, for fuck's sake"

Karma man.
posted by Mitheral at 1:05 PM on October 7, 2005

Karma Man!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:10 PM on October 7, 2005

People still fall for Nigerian scams.

They are not "Nigerian scams", James Earl Ray. They are "Unsolicited Electronic Monetary Loan Petitions of Non-Specific Cultural Origin".
posted by dhoyt at 2:47 PM on October 7, 2005

That joke made me thirsty for OK Soda.
posted by gigawhat? at 3:22 PM on October 7, 2005

Criminal Violence should never be suggested...especially that someone might do in public. He sorta hints that someone he knows might think of implying about violence (but not actually fucking someone up.)

But, seriously WTF, this guy asks for help...and look at the thread.

How to prevent it in the future was not his question
How hard would it have been to use google a little, and help out?

Ugh...all the escrow and identity and 'how I handle it when I buy stuff from ebay.

It doesn't matter. This guy got ripped off. Help him.
posted by filmgeek at 4:00 PM on October 7, 2005

I don't get the problem. How Paypal would not refund the money is beyond me.

I know what you're saying, Busithoth. What the hell is going on here? Someone steals seven thousand dollars from you, and no-one with any authority want to do anything about it because it happened through EBay? If I was running a real-life store, and someone came in to buy a Mac off me and I loaded some boxes of sand into their car, I'd expect the cops to show up at my door within the hour. Christ, I've never been scammed on EBay but it makes me want to pull my account out if principal.
posted by Jimbob at 4:12 PM on October 7, 2005

I don't get the problem. How Paypal would not refund the money is beyond me.

you have obviously never dealt with PayPal.

Paypal WILL NOT refund your money if they have to lift a finger to get it. PayPal pretty much can only take money from your PayPal account, or *possibly* an associated bank account (i'm sure someone else can confirm or deny this). If there's no money in the PayPal account, they send you a form letter that I'm sure will look remarkably like the following one I got just a few months ago:

"After careful review, we have concluded our investigation of the Buyer
Complaint described below.

We have decided in your favor, however, we were unable to recover any
funds from the seller's account. As stated in the PayPal User Agreement,
recovery of funds associated with a Buyer Complaint cannot be guaranteed.

We will make our best effort to recover the funds in question if they
become available in the seller's account in the future. Please be
assured that we will also take appropriate action against the seller's account,
which may include limitation of the seller's account privileges."

Or, in the short version:

"you got jacked. we don't have your money, so suck it, pal."

This is the second time PayPal has told me as much.

Then they advise you go through EBay's dispute process, which consists of a wizard that SENDS YOU BACK TO THE PAYPAL FUCKING COMPLAINT SYSTEM.

So yeah, when sending money through PayPal that's more than you'd like to lose, use a credit card and consider escrow services.

sorry for the derail, but hopefully that would explain why this is a problem.
posted by fishfucker at 4:33 PM on October 7, 2005

Honestly, how whacked-out crazy naive do you have to be to spend seven grand buying an unseen item from an unknown person?

My first ever ebay transaction was a $1k+ sale. He got his item just fine, and seemed quite pleased with his decision.

Scams are the exception, but it's a risk that needs to be factored in whenever dealing with an unknown agent.
posted by I Love Tacos at 4:55 PM on October 7, 2005

You people are too frail and spineless. Someone who scams you for $7,000 deserves a rigorous ass beating. Whether or not the guy also chooses to sue him, I encourage wanton fisticuffs, and in spades.
posted by xmutex at 5:06 PM on October 7, 2005

This is going to happen in these situations. Guys is pissed threatens somthing, etc. #1 should just issue a general disclaimer somewhere on the site. CYA and let the verbal fists fly. It's always good to vent anyway, better than actually following through.
posted by snsranch at 5:24 PM on October 7, 2005

I know someone who will whack the guy for just $7K. Iwill accept payment via PayPal.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:34 PM on October 7, 2005

Anyone know where I can pick up $7K worth of sand?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:48 PM on October 7, 2005

do we really want to be suggesting assault in an ask metafilter thread?

Only if it also includes an offer of cash payment of $500 Cdn dollars.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:14 PM on October 7, 2005

Flo, you can pick up about two tons here.
posted by delmoi at 7:31 PM on October 7, 2005

you have obviously never dealt with PayPal.

Well, fishfucker, I have had an account with Paypal, and it was nothing less than a complete clusterfuck for me. Every week they'd require me to reenter information (I'd contact them, not some 'phishing' bullshit) to gain access to my money. I grew wary of letting them hold more than $50 at a time, and when I sold something using it, Paypal refused to give me my money faster than $100/week, unless I'd subscribe to a higher pay level subscription service, where they'd let me at whatever was left.

I felt lucky after reading paypalsucks.com testimonials, but figured that a $7,000 transaction would merit insurance/extra services.

As for the OP, I can't think of any good recourse, honestly.

as far as Matt's potential litigious danger, should anything happen between the two, you're crazy.
posted by Busithoth at 7:33 PM on October 7, 2005

It's always good to vent anyway, better than actually following through.

Actualy, research shows that catharsis actualy increases agression and negative feelings. Now Revenge on the other hand... That will probably make you feel better.
posted by delmoi at 7:35 PM on October 7, 2005

as far as Matt's potential litigious danger, should anything happen between the two, you're crazy.

There's always a risk of a lawsuit. Getting sued in Ohio or wherever would not be fun, even if he ultimately prevailed.
posted by delmoi at 7:36 PM on October 7, 2005

Yeah, there's always a possibility for a lawsuit for just about anything.

"I know someone who will whack the guy for just $7K. I will accept payment via PayPal."

Do you take credit cards? Seriously, it seems like I've read about people being paid in the single-digit thousands for a murder. Does that seem, er, rational to you? Way, way too much risk for a mere 7K in my opinion.

Speaking of which, it's sort of odd, although completely human, for someone to ask in public whether they should assault someone else. Or talk about it. Years ago, I was actually at a party in the very bad side of town (not the one I live in now) where a knife fight occured and two guys went to the hospital and the other guy(s) took off. A friend of the wounded-a big scary, drunk guy that everyone else was obviously afraid of-arrived and found out who the attackers were and where they lived and started saying how he was going to go over there and kill him(them, I don't recall). I was thinking, okay, this is a bad situation, so I took the guy aside and told him that he had just told about forty witnesses that he was about to go commit murder. I told him that wasn't very smart and maybe he should consider waiting, say, six months or so and he probably wouldn't be connected to it. He thought that was a grand idea, cheered up, and went around telling everyone how smart he thought I was. I've sorta figured that he didn't go through with it; but if he did, well, what the hell.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:03 PM on October 7, 2005

EB: I shoulda knifed that dude when I had the chance.
posted by xmutex at 8:14 PM on October 7, 2005

If you had, you would'a gotten caught because the police showed up an hour later and were kicking ass and taking names. Seriously. And, yeah, there was a knifing, but this was a very different version of the police than I'd seen at my previous white middle-class parties.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:55 PM on October 7, 2005

"...at my previous white middle-class parties."
...with knifings.
posted by klangklangston at 10:54 PM on October 7, 2005

Good point. But still, if you'd been there you'd know what I mean.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 12:32 AM on October 8, 2005