cooling_dude
Bye Bye's for the PPI
Posts: 2,853 
Likes: 4,298
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Post by cooling_dude on Nov 7, 2016 1:25:34 GMT
Is it just me, or is anyone else getting 8 or 9 series of these b*g***s in a row so absolutely negating ANY chance of purchase? In fact it is another reason that I am shifting cash away....I just don't have time for this nonsense. ...One I can cope with but these series of barriers are ridiculous especially living in a rural area and only mobile wifi. I am certainly not a BH, but have a good 5-figure sum on SS. They don't seem to be beating bots/neo-bots. Many moons ago, SS had a trouble with BOTs, where it was impossible for any mere mortal to invest in the SM. Everybody was outraged, so SS introduced Google Recaptcha... which assumes everybody is a BOT and makes it impossible for any mere mortal to invest in the SM...  The fact is, the current issues you have is with the Google Recaptcha code (not SS), which simply determines that you are a bot if you repeat a certain process (which we all do on the SM). SS was simply trying to fix the unpopular BOT problem. A couple of quick notes & tips... > The primary purpose of the SM is so that us investors can exit quickly; for this purpose, the SM works very well. Once you have invested your pot of money, I'm guessing you would prefer to have a 'quick exit' available  > Try your luck with the SM, but bide your time with pre-funding (don't be in such a hurry to invest your pot!) > With the SM; turn off Adblock, rotate browsers, and simply take a short break (google determines repetitive bidding as BOT behaviour). With these tips, you should get several free go's before the dreaded pictures appear. > When trying your luck on the SM, timing is important ; just after midnight, the day before a big loan is released and the hours (and days) after a loan (particularly if it is big) is released Unfortunately, it is simply a case of supply and demand; to many investors and not enough loans (a problem I'm having with trying to invest with MT ATM). There are other platforms; FS have many loans you can invest in, but unfortunately they don't have the simplified and 'quick exit' SM.
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Post by geraldine1210 on Nov 7, 2016 7:06:23 GMT
One 'rule' that seems almost set in stone is this:
You see a few not bad, small parts on SM.
You think "I might as well scoop up these morsels".
You ask and you are given.
No nasty captcha.
Then.....
Up comes THE loan. The one you have been waiting for. The amount available makes it even more desirable. It is that rare loan that requires the fastest possible finger.
You pounce...
Up comes the dreaded captcha.
Not even a simple 'click on grass'.
It will be one of the dreaded number tortures. Up they come again and again.
You finally pass muster as a human being.
By that time the loan is long since gone.
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am
Posts: 1,495
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Post by am on Nov 7, 2016 9:29:15 GMT
One 'rule' that seems almost set in stone is this: You see a few not bad, small parts on SM. You think "I might as well scoop up these morsels". You ask and you are given. No nasty captcha. Then..... Up comes THE loan. The one you have been waiting for. The amount available makes it even more desirable. It is that rare loan that requires the fastest possible finger. You pounce... Up comes the dreaded captcha. Not even a simple 'click on grass'. It will be one of the dreaded number tortures. Up they come again and again. You finally pass muster as a human being. By that time the loan is long since gone. You're better off than I am - I get the Captcha every time.
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nick
Member of DD Central
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Post by nick on Nov 7, 2016 10:06:08 GMT
One 'rule' that seems almost set in stone is this: You see a few not bad, small parts on SM. You think "I might as well scoop up these morsels". You ask and you are given. No nasty captcha. Then..... Up comes THE loan. The one you have been waiting for. The amount available makes it even more desirable. It is that rare loan that requires the fastest possible finger. You pounce... Up comes the dreaded captcha. Not even a simple 'click on grass'. It will be one of the dreaded number tortures. Up they come again and again. You finally pass muster as a human being. By that time the loan is long since gone. If you are faced with one of the torture captchas I have found that reloading a new captcha will default to the more usual picture ones which will probably to late to make the bid you had intended, but should stop you being offered a number torture for a good while.
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hantsowl
Member of DD Central
Posts: 672
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Post by hantsowl on Nov 7, 2016 10:10:16 GMT
One 'rule' that seems almost set in stone is this: You see a few not bad, small parts on SM. You think "I might as well scoop up these morsels". You ask and you are given. No nasty captcha. Then..... Up comes THE loan. The one you have been waiting for. The amount available makes it even more desirable. It is that rare loan that requires the fastest possible finger. You pounce... Up comes the dreaded captcha. Not even a simple 'click on grass'. It will be one of the dreaded number tortures. Up they come again and again. You finally pass muster as a human being. By that time the loan is long since gone. I also get the captcha every time, but have found a way to minimise the impact of the 'repeated' pictures. If numbers appear I immediately hit the refresh icon at the bottom left of the captcha window. This gives a different set of pictures. The same with houses if the first selected changes to a different house which indicates multiple entries. If signs appear and after selecting the first the green button shows NEXT rather than VERIFY I immediately select that rather than all the other signs. The next window is then a solvable one with no multiple entries. I have found this helps reduce the time spent filling in captcha's and occasionally I even manage to pick up a few scraps.
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fasty
Member of DD Central
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Post by fasty on Nov 7, 2016 10:20:23 GMT
I also have had the captcha on each and every occasion I have tried to buy on the SM. Very frustrating!
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Post by supernumerary on Nov 8, 2016 11:02:18 GMT
I also get the captcha every time, but have found a way to minimise the impact of the 'repeated' pictures. If numbers appear I immediately hit the refresh icon at the bottom left of the captcha window. This gives a different set of pictures. The same with houses if the first selected changes to a different house which indicates multiple entries. If signs appear and after selecting the first the green button shows NEXT rather than VERIFY I immediately select that rather than all the other signs. The next window is then a solvable one with no multiple entries. I have found this helps reduce the time spent filling in captcha's and occasionally I even manage to pick up a few scraps. I will try to remember all this, when I am hitting the keys on the keyboard...
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twoheads
Member of DD Central
Programming
Posts: 1,089
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Post by twoheads on Nov 8, 2016 18:30:45 GMT
I also get the captcha every time, but have found a way to minimise the impact of the 'repeated' pictures. If numbers appear I immediately hit the refresh icon at the bottom left of the captcha window. This gives a different set of pictures. The same with houses if the first selected changes to a different house which indicates multiple entries. If signs appear and after selecting the first the green button shows NEXT rather than VERIFY I immediately select that rather than all the other signs. The next window is then a solvable one with no multiple entries. I have found this helps reduce the time spent filling in captcha's and occasionally I even manage to pick up a few scraps. Well I never spotted the recaptcha refresh thing... too busy trying to do a quick solve! This helps a lot.
Thanks hantsowl
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mikes1531
Member of DD Central
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Post by mikes1531 on Nov 8, 2016 22:09:44 GMT
Well I never spotted the recaptcha refresh thing... too busy trying to do a quick solve! This helps a lot.
A lot depends on how fast your internet connection is. Sometimes I go to a loan's page trying to buy an available part and find I have to sit waiting for the 'I am not a robot' box to appear so that I can tick it and then wait a bit more for the Captcha to appear. When that happens only slowly, there's no point in asking for a different Captcha because by the time that would appear the buying opportunity probably will have been taken up by someone else. Sometimes you just can't win! 
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twoheads
Member of DD Central
Programming
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Likes: 1,192
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Post by twoheads on Nov 8, 2016 22:27:49 GMT
Well I never spotted the recaptcha refresh thing... too busy trying to do a quick solve! This helps a lot.
A lot depends on how fast your internet connection is. Sometimes I go to a loan's page trying to buy an available part and find I have to sit waiting for the 'I am not a robot' box to appear so that I can tick it and then wait a bit more for the Captcha to appear. When that happens only slowly, there's no point in asking for a different Captcha because by the time that would appear the buying opportunity probably will have been taken up by someone else. Sometimes you just can't win! I am rather rural in connection terms; out of reach of openreach if you like; I don't! I suppose it's similar to another blogger whom, if I recall correctly, uses a mobile connection and has had similar difficulties. I also suffer the often damnable wait until .......eventually....... the captcha appears ...... then solve ASAP. Very annoying when the captcha is so slow. Only get about one in ten of the investments I attempt.
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sl75
Posts: 2,092
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Post by sl75 on Nov 9, 2016 8:04:28 GMT
You mean, there were people who didn't buy as much as they wanted of all the loans that were widely available during the couple of days after that (nearly) £8M loan went live the other week?
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adrianc
Member of DD Central
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Post by adrianc on Nov 9, 2016 8:20:44 GMT
You mean, there were people who didn't buy as much as they wanted of all the loans that were widely available during the couple of days after that (nearly) £8M loan went live the other week? Not every loan was widely available... My shopping list looks something like "Unicorns, Loch Ness Monster, Lord Lucan".
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greatmarko
Member of DD Central
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Post by greatmarko on Nov 19, 2016 10:25:49 GMT
You're better off than I am - I get the Captcha every time. SS are regulated by the FCA. Principle 6 of the FCA Handbook states "A firm must pay due regard to the interests of its customers and treat them fairly" (See: www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/PRIN/2/1.html) Given the inconsistent behavior of the 3rd party Captcha solution SS have chosen to implement, whereby some investors are forced to solve a Captcha every single time when others only have to solve them rarely, it's not a "level playing field" for investors as those who do have to solve Captcha's are being unfairly penalized. The behavior of Google's Captcha isn't consistent enough to ensure that all SS's investors are "treated fairly". If SS insist on using "Captchas" to combat bots surely they should implement a Captcha solution whose behavior is consistent for all investors, otherwise, could this not be legitimately flagged up to the FCA?
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adrianc
Member of DD Central
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Post by adrianc on Nov 19, 2016 10:29:04 GMT
Given the inconsistent behavior of the 3rd party Captcha solution SS have chosen to implement, whereby some investors are forced to solve a Captcha every single time when others only have to solve them rarely, it's not a "level playing field" for investors as those who do have to solve Captcha's are being unfairly penalized. The behavior of Google's Captcha isn't consistent enough to ensure that all SS's investors are "treated fairly". If SS insist on using "Captchas" to combat bots surely they should implement a Captcha solution whose behavior is consistent for all investors, otherwise, could this not be legitimately flagged up to the FCA? Is it inconsistent? It's perfectly consistent if the Captcha uses the same algorithm to determine who gets a captcha and who gets a free pass. I get a captcha every time - because, I suspect, I use an adblocker on this machine for most of my browsing, so google see "odd" browsing behaviour. On other machines, I don't use an adblocker, so I don't always get a captcha. That's consistent.
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SteveT
Member of DD Central
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Post by SteveT on Nov 19, 2016 11:21:32 GMT
I very rarely attempt to buy anything on the SS SM so I very rarely find myself asked to solve a Captcha. But if I go on to make 3 or 4 purchases in succession then Captcha quickly kicks in to check that I'm not a bot. Entirely consistent and entirely fair, IMO.
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