One of the Moderators jobs is to check on new posters who try to advertise here. They are contacted to see if they would be interested in advertising in the mag or on ads on the site. If they aren't, they can still give advice and participate but not use it as a business venture. If they try to hustle business, their posts are deleted. By inclusion on a list here, they are getting free advertising that compete with those that make the site available on a free basis to all of us.
In my opinion there are no iron-clad guarantees, and no way to protect everyone, from everybody, everyday. I think anyone can have a bad experience with a great vendor......whether the fault lies with you, them, or it's out of everyone's hands, things do go wrong from time-to-time. How both sides deal with the issue and try to resolve it, should play a role in determining the rating of the company/individual, as well as determining how much weight one should assign a "rating" given by the customer/user.
In the end, I think it still falls back on the user to determine if the product or service offered by a vendor meets the requirements at hand. A list of suppliers, and a rating system are helpful beginnings, but should not be the only criteria used to make a decision.
