This page has been set up as a receptacle for tape trading complaints. Recently, on the GYMN-L listserve, people posted complaints they had about the tape trading world in general and I thought it would be a good idea to post those complaints here. I have asked (repeatedly in some cases) that people do or not do some of the things that are on this page. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. In any case, I thought it a good idea for tape traders to have the opportunity to read some of these no holds-barred complaints. If you see yourself in some of these, you might want to think about changing your tape trading methods.

If you would like to contribute something to these pages, please e-mail me. I will accept all complaints big and small. I will not attach any names to these complaints. You need not limit your comments to the categories I have below. You may comment on anything and everything concerning tape trading.

Without further ado...

Lost in Cyberspace

1. When people don't reply when you contact them about a trade.

2. Negotiating a trade with someone to never hear from them again

3. When someone writes to you about doing a trade, you write back, and then they don't write back for a few weeks and by then you've given up on them.

4. When people contact you about a trade & leave only their first name (and of course, you have to search names & e-mail addresses to figure out who they are).

5. I HATE it when people dont respond to my e-mails it gets REALLY ANNOYING!

6. When someone you are trading with emails you several times per day telling you that they're done with your tape and thinks that if you don't respond to their message within a couple of hours that you are ignoring them. Sometimes I am too busy to check my email every day, so please be patient. I check my mail regularly, but please understand that just because someone doesn't get back to you in a hurry that it doesn't mean that they are ignoring you and don't get annoyed with that person. Some people, as I said earlier, just don't check their email every hour.

7. Trading w/ people, and then months afterward, you keep getting chainletters from them because they know your email address. Trading is one thing, but it's annoying to keep getting chainletters!

8. Include a copy of the last e-mail sent to you because sometimes a person will send out so many e-mails that they don't remember what they asked a particular person about.

9. When you contact someone about trading and throughout the entire correspondance you try to be jovial and polite, and the other person is completely rude and demanding.

10. It is helpful to me that if someone e-mails me asking to trade, they should list the items in my wish list that they have, or at least something on their list they think I might be interested in.

11. When you have it listed on your page that you will not trade for costs and someone e-mails you about it. Then, a few months later they e-mail you again, hoping you have forgotten, even though it is still listed on your page that you do not trade for costs.

    Labels and Rating Systems

12. When people don't have the sources of their tapes on their list.

13. Receiving tapes that you already have because someone mislabeled the original source of the tape.

14. Receiving tapes that aren't labeled and you have to guess what is on them.

15. When people do not include the entire name of a meet; such as a year on their e-mail and you have to search for a resemblance of it in your collection.

16. Seeing a rating system that marks tapes as good and excellent when you actually couldn't pick the gymnast out from the background when you watch the tape.

17. When people say they have "nationals" and assume that everybody knows they mean "US Nationals"

18. When someone sends you seven tapes, all labeled "Gymnastics" on the spine, so that whenever you want to know which tape is which, you have to pull each tape out.

19. When someone sends you tapes that are labeled on top, but not on the spine, and then keeps the labels for themselves so that you can't label the spines either.

    Tape Desires

20. It really bugs me when you look at someone's tape list and you see all these great tapes but they don't have a list of tape desires!!!!!!!!!!

21. When someone has a list full of tapes you really want badly and is missing some of the meets that you do have. You think, Great! I can get that meet I really want. Then you get to the bottom of their list and it says not to contact them unless you have something on their "wish list" which is full of obscure stuff that, of course, you don't have.

22. I HATE when someone doesn't update their page and you see something you want from them and then you look at their tape desires and they want something you have. You're thinking "Cool, now I can get that tape I want" but then they write to you saying they already have it.

    Tape Speed, Sound, Tracking and other TV type stuff

23. Arranging a tape in SP and getting tapes in SLP and hearing "Are you sure you want me to retape it for you in SP?"

24. When someone will only trade in SP speed.

25. When a person will only accept SP speed tapes and doesn't say that on their pages, and when you contact them, they don't say that until later

26. Traders who don't know how to use the tracking feature on their VCR and your tape ends up unwatchable because of it.

27. When people cut out parts of the competition when they try to cut commercials only.

28. Tapes sound like crap when playing it on a Hi-Fi VCR while everything is hooked up to a stereo broadcast system.

29. When you receive a tape and it has no sound. Please inform a member if a speci fic competition or exhibition has no sound, before you tape it for them.

30. When the person recording the tapes, leaves the display on the TV. Then, when you go to watch your tapes, you have the date, time, tape speed, and various in formation on the screen the whole time, blocking out quite a bit of the picture.

31. When you don't receive your tapes on new tapes, but on old ones that have been taped over before.

32. When someone doesn't know how to make a copy and starts zapping the video remote control and your tape comes with Tom and Jerry cartoons,a Michael Jackson video clip,a soccer game,a michelle pfeiffer movie and some tv shows instead of gymnastics.

    Costs

33. That people are so adamant about not making tapes for costs.

34. When someone e-mails you begging you to trade tapes for cost when you say on your list not to contact you unless they have something specific you want.

35. Please don't take advantage of a person by charging them more than $6 for a tape under normal circumstances! It really aggravates us! :)

    Sending tapes

36. When you negotiate a trade say in March and the person is too busy to make the tape until June, but they don't tell you that and they don't answer your e-mails for about a month or two, then after you have retaped over their request thinking they disappeared they e-mail you saying your tape is ready and where is their tape?

37. I hate the fact that a good number of people in this club actually lie about when they have sent the tape out. Waiting 4-6wks(seriously speaking) for a tape to arrive after yours has been sitting and collecting dust on their book shelf is REALLY annoying. C'mon guys, what are you thinking? There are only so many excuses you can use. Remember boys and girls, YOU NEVER GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION.

38. When someone says they've sent the tape and it should be there any day now, and you finally get it 2 weeks or more later!

39. When someone emails you to let you know that they will be sending your tapes "tomorrow," and so you send their out and as of two weeks later you haven't received anything, and they stop answering your emails.

40. You shouldn't e-mail more people for trades, if you don't have time to make tapes in a reasonable time. Some people are e-mailing many people at once, and then can't track of what they're supposed to be taping for who! It's one thing if someone e-mails you, and you explain than you're busy and it will take awhile for you to do a trade. But the person who initiates the trade shouldn't start coming up with excuses; that's just inconsiderate.

    Misc

41. When someone wants 6 meets and wants to know every single competitor in the meet on each apparatus.

42. When you are completely honest to the person you're trading with about how much time is left on the tape, and offer to send them more competitions to fill the extra space, and surely enough, they send you tapes with blank hours of space on the end. GOD THAT MAKES ME MAD!!!!

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