re: the relative merits of a forum post versus the Watchdog.
Pros to forum posts:
1) You can have back-and-forth conversation, ask questions, and solicit advice from fellow members.
2) In a forum, it's a relatively small group you're speaking to. (But never forget that thousands can be reading/lurking, or stumble upon your post months or years later.)
Cons to forum posts:
1) Back-and-forth conversations can lead to arguments if you have strong opinions for and against a particular vendor.
2) A "mob mentality" can form against a vendor. Even a single negative comment can stir a vendor to weigh in and defend themselves, usually resulting in self-promotion or a flame war--both of which will ultimately land at least one poster in hot water with admin.
3) Forum posts are permanent, but they tend to fade away, and newer posts eventually push the older ones off the first page, and further into the recesses of history. Random comments are scattered here and there, making it difficult for someone to form a true picture of a vendor's reputation.
4) Overly enthusiastic members (sometimes acting at the behest of overly aggressive vendors) can be perceived as "shilling" for a vendor. That ultimately leads to friction among members and/or other vendors, and it lessens the helpfulness of a forum if a high percentage of the posts seem to be nothing more than "plugs" for a particular vendor. When two vendors become pitted against each other, a forum can turn decidedly nasty. (I suspect that's why other gardening sites used to absolutely forbid the mention of ANY commercial vendor, even though that would make a lot of gardening conversations nearly impossible.)
Pros to the Garden Watchdog:
1) It's a free feature, so it has a much bigger audience you can help educate by sharing what you know. Conversely, you can learn a lot from others' reviews when you're considering buying from an untried vendor.
2) It can be searched and browsed by company name, location, category, etc. It's much easier to find a summary of a vendor's history in the Watchdog than culling through forum posts.
3) Vendors can respond/rebut to feedback without turning it into a flame war. Other customers can also give their opinion of the vendor without turning it into an argument between members who disagree about a particular vendor.
4) The Watchdog is a powerful force in the mail order gardening world. We hear frequently from vendors: good vendors praising the feature and thanking us for the free word-of-mouth; bad ones pleading with (or trying to threaten) us to make their feedback go away.
Cons to the Watchdog:
1) Charges of unfair criticisms are always difficult. In our guidelines, we encourage posters to try to work things out with a company before posting a negative review, and if they are being critical, they should remain factual and constructive. Even with that, it's sometimes hard to get posters to understand and accept responsibility for their words, or get vendors to understand that we can't censor and "vet" comments for them.
2) It's not a venue for dialogue between posters, so if someone has a question for the vendor, they should contact the vendor. If they have a plant ID, where-to-buy, or what-do-I-do-with-this-plant question, the forums are definitely the best place for that.
