Sunday, September 21, 2008

Classified Nuisance

Classified is a cheap and easy way to get two intersted parties together. Many websites provide a platform to place adverts of services offered for free. But what happens if this website is not designed properly?
There is a site called www.dubaiclassified.com where one can easily set up an account and place ads. Now you will ask - so what's the problem? Well the problem is that anyone - yes anyone, can set up and account on your behalf - with your email id, and start posting adverts - in your name. And well you start recieving all the enquiries on your phone!
What we thought was a prank by someone has become a permanent nuisance for us 6 months later. I clearly rememebr it started on our anniversary in Feb this year and till date we (read my H) recieves numerous calls for sharing bed space, car pool, house rent, car sale, and many other possibilities. He gets calls in the middle of the night asking for such services which are being changed by the impostor everyday.
To solve this issue, we have written to the website people numerous number of times but have recieved no response whatsoever from them. The site displays people's email ids freely, so any tom dick and harry can come and lift your email id and start sending you junk mails daily. So that's another set of junk we recieve daily. We are now seriously contemplating on approaching a newspaper and get this nuisance sorted out.
How can the site not have a way of verifying the user's email when signing up? To make matters worse, when you use their passwrod reminder feature(which means they send you the password on your email) also doesn't work. So what does one do?
Do you have any suggestions for me? We are sick and tired of answering people that we are not offering any rooms for sharing, no car pools, no bed space, no fridge and furniture on sale@!!@!

6 You Spoke:

Reflections said...

sheesh...wht a nuisance:-o. I'm sure Dubai Classifieds will have a call centre where u can complain abt this.
I mean come on...this is like harassment. Either the person who put the ad up has a Du connection with the same number or DC themselves are using old info to fiull up their pages.
COMPLAIN!!!!!!!!!

DeeplyDip said...

@reflections: That's the point I am trying to make here - they have no numbers, the emails are never responded to, no details about the owners of the company - nothing!
The other flaw is that I can go and register under your name, with your email id and phone number! There is no verficiation mail going out to the person. Moreover, the password info remainas with me. So I can keep chaning listings on the website and people will keep calling you! Absolute harassment I agree.

Maddy said...

First of all thanks for visiting my blog and prompting me to post another painting.

I am sorry to hear the hardship you go through. I would suggest, for any of the classified you can create a temporary e-mail account and you can use it just for that purpose.

DeeplyDip said...

@maddy: Thanks for posting another painting. Just commented on it :)
As for the classified - I agree with you totally. My issue here is that someone else is playing a prank on my H. i.e. he/she has registered under H's email id and phone number and we are being harassed with numerous phone calls. We did not post any ads on the site ourselves!

my space said...

this is bad...i donno the procedure..hp u find a way out soon

DeeplyDip said...

@my space: havent been able to figure out a way as yet...it's annoying...

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