5 simple habits of successful Strainly users

Strainly is a community. We want you to be safe and look after each other. You also have a role to play in ensuring that Strainly remains a safe place for everyone.  We give you tools for that.

You can interact with each other in 3 ways on Strainly:

• Follow each other using the “Follow” button on each profile
• Contact via private messages using the “Contact” button under member’s name if you simply want to ask preliminary questions (see below screenshot)
• Request after selecting the needed quantity if you actually need the offered item (see below screenshot)

These 5 simple rules should keep you away from bad experiences:

1. Always pay attention to the status displayed at the top of the conversation within your Inbox. When you send a request to someone, the default conversation status is “Offered”, meaning your request is pending decision from the other member.

2. The provider has 7 days to accept your request, after which, your request will be automatically declined with the “Not this time” message. If you can read “Waiting for [Member_Name] to accept your offer. As soon as [Member_Name] accepts, your transaction will be completed“, YOU SHOULD NOT SEND ANY MONEY, as you won’t be able to leave any feedback to the provider/seller later on. Plus, it shows that members did not consent to complete any transaction, making any assessment of the situation a lot more complicated for us. Any Request that has not been “Accepted” by the provider, remains a Conversation and does not allow to leave any feedback to each other. Before sending any money or engaging in any type of transaction, always make sure that the other party ACCEPTED your request.

3. Because we make explicit consent of both members necessary to move forward, your request may also be REJECTED. In that case you would see the status “Not this time” in the conversation. Remember, providers have 7 days to accept your request, after which it will be automatically declined, showing a “Not this time” status.

If you eventually agree to complete the transaction (provider changed her/his mind), make sure to initiate a new request, since any rejected request won’t allow you to leave feedback later on.

4. Again, wait to see the status “Accepted” before sending anything to the other member.

Avoid carrying on conversations outside of Strainly. Don’t follow someone asking you to communicate directly via emails or Facebook or Instagram. If something wrong happens, we won’t be able to support you for conversations occurring outside of Strainly. If for whatever reason, you feel more comfortable communicating outside of Strainly, make sure that your request was accepted (see #2) before doing so, as you would at least be able to leave a feedback to the other member later on.

5. Always wait to receive your shipment before leaving feedback to the other member. You may also decide to wait until your equipment is installed, your seeds germinated or your clones inspected and transplanted. If something goes wrong and you need support, click the “Dispute” button.

By following these simple rules, you drastically reduce the chances of  having a bad experience. Second, you allow us to identify and block a member representing a risk for the community.

Strainly is entirely free, so there is hardly any benefit from going around the workflow we’ve put in place to protect you. We let you assess which communication means you are most comfortable with, reminding you nevertheless, that the traditional social networks and popular email providers do not offer any better privacy than Strainly… as you probably already know.

Thanks for contributing to making Strainly a safer place!