mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@soh.maryl wrote:Why would eBay hire/train/pay anyone when they have the Boards and the Mentors working for free?
An probably giving more accurate replies than the paid eBay CS reps.
It is important to remember that the majority of Ebay members never come to the threads / Community. There is plenty of need for CSRs available for members.
@powell-memorabilia wrote:
@soh.maryl wrote:Ever since this program was introduced, have wanted to ask: What's the advantage of asking a question of a Mentor over just asking your question here? More qualified people? A guarantee that the answer will be correct? Not carping, just wondered.
I don’t think that there is an advantage. If you have ever seen some “ask a mentor” posts, the replies are sparse and definitely not better than what one would see in a free-for-all board. The mentors are great, but the wisdom of the crowd is much better, IMO.
I don’t really get the benefit - a badge? Honestly, it seems like a bit of a vanity play. Having mentor status doesn’t allow you multiply your efforts - it just gets a badge in your signature.
Plenty have poked fun at the labels we get - rockstar, visionary, etc. - and for good reason. They mean absolutely nothing - good advice is good advice, even if from a newb.
The badge in the signature line is a NEW thing, only about a week old. The Mentor's program has been around for years. The badge in the signature line is optional and not a requirement. There seems to be more made out of it than was ever intended, most likely because so many don't understand the Mentor program or what it about.
The Ebay page regarding Mentors is pretty inclusive of what the program is. It isn't a Secret Society, it is merely buyers and sellers with a good knowledge of the rules for this site that have a desire to help their fellow members when a question or problem comes up.
The program is simple, not complicated. Some are seem to want to make it out to be something it isn't nor was it ever intended to be.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Mentor-Program/Community-Mentor-Program/td-p/31654137
None of us have ever held ourselves out there to be more important than any other member, at least not that I've ever seen.
As to the labels everyone has, the Mentor's have been trying to get Ebay to get rid of them for a long time. So far no luck with that, but we will keep trying.
@soh.maryl wrote:How much assurance does "Ask A Mentor" really offer?
Have seen some experienced eBayers (including myself) give misleading information here.
We all have given incorrect or incomplete information from time to time, we aren't all perfect, we are after all mere humans and mistakes are made. When it happens to me, I acknowledge it, apologize for my error and learn from it.
Ask a Mentor forum is pretty busy, so much so we often don't get to all the questions. So while you may not find it important for you, clearly others do.
@buyselljack2016 wrote:
@soh.maryl wrote:Ever since this program was introduced, have wanted to ask: What's the advantage of asking a question of a Mentor over just asking your question here? More qualified people? A guarantee that the answer will be correct? Not carping, just wondered.
As posted there are many knowledgeable/helpful such as yourself here on the "open" boards, but also those that just repeat the same misinformation week after week.
An advantage of asking on the "mentor" board is that it filters out nonsense/spam/eBay hate/incorrect info replies that are of no help to the person with an issue.
Responses on the open board can sometimes get the person into a deeper hole than they already are.
From reading this thread it even appears that some do not even know what the "mentor board/mentor program" is.
As mam posted............................. just too many questions there that sometimes they just don't get answered. I looked one time a while back and there were many names on the "mentor list", but lots of "inactive" mentors.
I wander to the mentor boards from time to time and see unanswered posts. Often things that can be answered easily by many of us, but just too many for the active "mentors" to handle. They help, but they also have a life.
I agree with you except for the Green Statement of yours.
The AAM [Ask a Mentor] board doesn't filter out nonsense, incorrect info replies, negative remarks about Ebay automatically. The posts need to be reported just like any other post does on the open forums. I'm not sure where you got this from.
@soh.maryl wrote:Ever since this program was introduced, have wanted to ask: What's the advantage of asking a question of a Mentor over just asking your question here? More qualified people? A guarantee that the answer will be correct? Not carping, just wondered.
Because for some things, we know the right people to ask and maybe get a better answer.
@mam98031 wrote:
@gator08041971 wrote:Typically, forums that have community helpers aren't restricted from complaining.
Its just that you need to be careful how you complain. lolThat is NOT true. You are making assumptions about something and it is simply are not true for the Ebay community.
You haven't replied to my earlier question asking what you think is not true about that statement. I'm still looking for an answer, because I have an issue with this.
I made no assumptions at all.
If you are a community Mentor, you still have the right to complain about a feature or problem. Maybe how I worded the first one was bad, now that I am re-reading it though, so I can see the confusion that might have caused.
But if you are a community Mentor, you also probably need to be careful how you approach complaining about something. You can't blow a rant like others might that would make you look unprofessional.
So.
What about those two things is not true??
These are universal things I see on lots of forums, both where I have been just a member and others where I was in a position similar to being a mentor here. I have in fact overseen a forum before as a director, which meant I had control over day-to-day operation of the forum. Believe me, its not worth the stress. lol That was a site with over 60k members ranging in ages from 10-30. (a popular fansite at the time)
And those that helped out the community often were better speaking with their posts and usually kept their emotions in check and treated others with respect. In that sense, is what I'm talking about.
So yes, a Mentor could complain about something they don't like/agree with, as long as they reign in their emotions and post rationally as expected.
*shrug
@buyselljack2016 wrote:You seem to have missed my point, or I did not make it clear enough.
My meaning by that is that such are "filtered" by the fact that only "chosen" members are allowed to post there. A "prefiltering" process 😂 that keeps such posts from being made.
Whoops I did misunderstand. I thought you were talking about the actual posts by members seeking an answer to a question or some other assistance.
@inhawaii wrote:I shouldn't be a mentor.
I'm too sarcastic.
Awe, but there was a time when you weren't. I remember. We had a lot of great conversations. It has only been the last few years that you turned to sarcasm as your preferred way of posting. You use to give some great advice.
@gator08041971 wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
@gator08041971 wrote:Typically, forums that have community helpers aren't restricted from complaining.
Its just that you need to be careful how you complain. lolThat is NOT true. You are making assumptions about something and it is simply are not true for the Ebay community.
You haven't replied to my earlier question asking what you think is not true about that statement. I'm still looking for an answer, because I have an issue with this.
I made no assumptions at all.
If you are a community Mentor, you still have the right to complain about a feature or problem. Maybe how I worded the first one was bad, now that I am re-reading it though, so I can see the confusion that might have caused.
But if you are a community Mentor, you also probably need to be careful how you approach complaining about something. You can't blow a rant like others might that would make you look unprofessional.
So.
What about those two things is not true??
These are universal things I see on lots of forums, both where I have been just a member and others where I was in a position similar to being a mentor here. I have in fact overseen a forum before as a director, which meant I had control over day-to-day operation of the forum. Believe me, its not worth the stress. lol That was a site with over 60k members ranging in ages from 10-30. (a popular fansite at the time)
And those that helped out the community often were better speaking with their posts and usually kept their emotions in check and treated others with respect. In that sense, is what I'm talking about.
So yes, a Mentor could complain about something they don't like/agree with, as long as they reign in their emotions and post rationally as expected.
*shrug
Sorry I didn't realize I needed to respond. My comment that you took exception to was specific to Ebay, which tells everyone that I wasn't speaking to anything other than this Community.
If I offended you, I'm sorry. There is no need for that at all. So I apologize if I made you feel that way.
Nope, when I disagree with something regarding Ebay, I simply disagree and describe why and how I see the situation at hand. However my natural way of talking is not like many of the other posters that resort to name calling and the such. I simply don't see any need in that to get my point across.
"You can't blow a rant like others might that would make you look unprofessional." IDK, I've been know to be pretty darn vocal when I disagree with something, however IDK what you mean by "blow a rant".
"And those that helped out the community often were better speaking with their posts and usually kept their emotions in check and treated others with respect. " Oh I get accused of not being respectful from time to time. Some people absolutely hate to be asked a question or asked for more details about their issue. Some see this as an attack on them instead of the need for more details to better help them with whatever issue they are facing. Some just want you to blindly agree with them.
"So yes, a Mentor could complain about something they don't like/agree with, as long as they reign in their emotions and post rationally as expected." Whether you are a Mentor or you aren't, everyone should be civil with each other in the Community, it is in fact one of the rules of the Community. I personally don't have my "emotions" enter my posts very often. It usually doesn't serve the conversation well.
