~~NOTOC~~
====== Voting Guidelines ======

^ {{http://www.ozbargain.com.au/files/images/vote-up-btn.png}} [[help:voting_guidelines#positive_vote|Positive Vote]]  ^ [[help:voting_guidelines#no_vote|No vote]] ^ [[help:voting_guidelines#report_button|Report button]]    ^ {{http://www.ozbargain.com.au/files/images/vote-down-btn.png}} [[help:voting_guidelines#negative_vote|Negative Vote]]       ^ 
| **The deal is good**   | **The deal doesn't apply to you**    | **Incorrect title**| **The deal is not the cheapest available**|
|    | **You are associated with the poster**    | **Incorrect description**| **Issue with product** |
|    | **You are a competitor of the poster**    | **Out of Stock or Expired**| **Issue with retailer**|
|    | **You dislike the OP's avatar**    | **Should be posted to forums**|
|    | **You dislike the RRP of the product (not the actual price)**     | **SPAM**|
|    |     | **Duplicate**|
|    |     | **Misspelling**|
|    |     | **Incorrect URL or Coupon**|
|    |     | **Error with Deal**|
===== Positive Vote =====

  * Vote positive if you feel the deal itself is good, this encourages the poster to share more deals and informs the community about the worthiness of the deal.

  * Refrain from voting when it's not a good deal but has a funny picture or coupon, good description, you like the poster or any other element that is not related to the deal itself.

If you are associated with the poster or company **DON'T VOTE**. Friends, family, employees, shareholders, media relations, developers, contractors, affiliates, marketers and similar are not to vote on related deals. Infractions will lead to account bans, store bans and the post being removed.

===== No Vote =====

  * If the deal doesn't apply to you or you aren't interested in the company. You may also choose to leave a warning about the business or deal via a comment only.

  * If you have any association or relationship with the business or the dealings related to the offer, do not vote.
(eg employee, owner, marketer, website developer, supplier, in a relationship with someone in the business)

  * If you have any association or relationship with a competitor's business or organisation, do not negative vote (or negatively comment).

  * If you have been asked/encouraged to vote by someone, do not vote.

===== REPORT Button =====

The //Report button// is an additional tool provided to all members to assist in quickly identifying inappropriate posts and comments.

The Report button can be found underneath each deal, forum post and comment. You will find a number of reasons that you can choose such as:

  * Duplicate
  * Sold Out
  * Expired
  * Affiliate/Referral
  * Illegal/Inappropriate
  * Insufficient Quantity
  * Not Available to New Zealand
  * Sockpuppeting
  * Spam
  * Targeted Offer
  * Title/Description
  * Other

For more complex issues, use the [[https://www.cheapies.nz/forum/10041|Talk with a Moderator forum]].

===== Negative Vote =====

 **Purpose:** 
  * To let others know about issues with the deal, merchant or product.

 **Result of negative vote(s):** 
  * If there are more negative votes than positive, the deal is hidden on new deals page & categories page for visitors and users with default settings.
  * All comments by the user who cast the negative vote are highlighted with a negative vote symbol.
  * If the negative votes are cast against a deal posted by a rep, this will increase the time period between their next subsequent post.

 **When negative votes are revoked:**
  * The community casts a number of negative comment votes to any comment by the user casting the deal votes.
  * A moderator deems your vote to be invalid as it doesn't conform to voting guidelines (see below for a list of inappropriate negative votes that moderators will revoke).
  * You are a competitor to the business the deal is for (this will also lead to account and/or store bans).
  * If too many negative votes are revoked for a user, this will result in the loss of negative voting abilities for up to 90 days.

 **If you spot an invalid vote (from the below list):**
  * Use the //report// button to notify a moderator (see below for a list of inappropriate negative votes that moderators will revoke).
  * Try not to take negative votes personally.

===== Appropriate uses of negative vote =====

  * Cheaper price elsewhere
    * Ideally, mention store, URL and price include shipping (if applicable).

  * Issue with product (For example:)
    * It does not work the way it should
    * It has been recalled

  * Issue with retailer (For example:)
    * Previous purchases were not received or the shipping time exceeded what was expected. 
    * Issues arose which were not rectified in a satisfactory or timely manner.

===== Inappropriate uses of negative vote =====

**Any negative vote that falls into the following reasons will be deemed invalid and revoked by a moderator. Negative votes for other reasons will not be removed.** 

  * No attempt to explain a negative vote.
     * Because the purpose of a negative vote is to let others know about issues with the deal, the merchant or the product, we require that you explain the issues in an accompanying comment.

  * Negative votes accompanied by these trivial comments and no explanation are invalid:
     * "Not a bargain", "What is this"
     * "Agree", "Same", "Ditto"
     * "SPAM"
     * "I don't like this deal", "I don't think it's a good deal" 
     * "No deal", "Not a deal", "How is this a deal"
     * "No Thanks"
     * "Not much of a bargain", "A mere promotion"
     * "Advertising", "Marketing"
     * "Weird looking website" (Nothing to do with the deal)
     * "What's good about this"
     * "This is an awful deal"
     * "Here for the comments"
     * "Meh", "Yeah, nah"
     * "Commenting just so I can neg"
     * "Neg"
     * "lol"
     * +1
     * ?
     * Emoji

   * Problems with incorrect and missing information in the deal title and description are resolved by editing the deal post. Negative votes are inappropriate because these problems are not issues with the deal itself, the merchant, or the product. The following list of common problems should be [[https://www.cheapies.nz/wiki/help:voting_guidelines#report_button|reported to the moderators]] for revision.
     * Request price in title.
     * Request shipping cost.
     * Request mention or removal of RRP.
     * Complaint about SPAMMY title.
     * Complaint about misspelling and bad grammar.
     * Incorrect deal link or coupon.
     * Request //Freebie// tag.
     * Request //Targeted// tag.

   * An issue with the poster.
     * Disliking poster's avatar.
     * Disliking poster's comments or deal descriptions.
     * Disliking poster's username.

   * Deal expired or product out of stock.
   * Duplicate deal.
   * Should have been posted in forums or competitions.
   * Pointing out that the product is a grey import.
   * Requiring Facebook/Twitter to access deal.