FA Server Times and Auctions

[traci anne]

Am sure many of you have seen the issue with FA server times not matching comment/note times.
Don't believe this is beware worthy, but definitely something I thought I would throw out there since this has been happening to a lot of people. (And it really is a complete bummer.)

In this example - http://oi60.tinypic.com/kal0ll.jpg
The auction end reflects 8PM Server Time.
Now, I am in EST timezone, so the server time in itself matches my own timezone.
Yet when I comment, it shows up with an incorrect timestamp - like the comment was made an hour late, even though the comment was on time.

Example - http://oi61.tinypic.com/24n46ya.jpg

Now, I addressed this with the artist, or tried.. They don't speak English well, (Spanish I believe for Uruguay) and this was the response I got.. http://oi58.tinypic.com/sorfy8.jpg

(No I didn't screen shot my bid time, the bid was made at 7:35PM server time, I messaged the person I was going in with, we gathered our info, and sent it on over. I clocked out for lunch at work so I could make the bid on time, and since I am in EST the clock out was same time as by bid.. )

Now I honestly didn't expect my bid to be hidden since it was made 25 minutes before the end of the auction. Hence.. why I didn't take a screen shot of it. I never ran into a problem with the artist before.. Really was in belief they were honest, so I didn't think I should have to.. And without the screenshot for that, then I really didn't think it was AB worthy, yet they did note me they purposely hid my winning bid..

My real question, I suppose, is what is the best route to handle this so they don't do the same to others?

Comments

[arphalia.livejournal.com]

Doesn't seem like the artist is doing it deliberately.

I've seen the issue of FA's time stamps being brought up before (in FA journals) and it appears there is something wonky about the daylight savings time adjustment. Not sure I could explain it too well, but perhaps someone here can.

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

Please correct me if I am misunderstanding, but wouldn't this be solved entirely by going by actual timezones? I do that for all my auctions, I don't even look at server times.

Edit: To clarify, I mean for the artist. The artist should go by timezones to make it easier on clients and bidders

[traci anne (from livejournal.com)]

They don't understand well enough for me to explain it. =/

[magedragonfire.livejournal.com]

Hmm. If it was off by an hour, here, I'd say there was likely something going on with the daylight savings adjustment.

It may be handy in the future to clarify with the artist going in about timezones and DST, just to make sure you're all on the same page.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

There is no such thing as "FA server time". The time the site displays can be adjusted via your account settings. It's most likely a lack of knowledge on how FA works on part of the artist rather than a personal slight against you.

It's best to host auctions with specific time zones listed, as setting FA's time to your time zone is not a guarantee your timestamp will be correct either.

[klippybluefox.livejournal.com]

Correct me if I'm wrong- but if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the website, it says Server Local Time: [time].

That happens to line up with my timezone so I can't confirm, but that's what I assumed server time was, as opposed to the times on submissions.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Yeup, that one reads by my time zone set in the account page. It also is inaccurate. I had pages loading at 6:09 central time (my time zone) when it was 6:15 central, and all comments were posting at 6:15 central.

Edit:
Okay, I played around with it a bit. It still reads at 8:00 pm even after I changed my time zone to Pacific, but it's still minutes behind what the time actually is when you post on the site. Yeeaahh, I wouldn't use "server time" for anything, especially an auction.

[traci anne (from livejournal.com)]

It's more of not everyone knows about this glitch, so those artists who aren't intentionally trying to do bad, are. And explaining so all understand to keep an eye out and make people aware to at least use a different means like an actual timezone as suggested on the thread.

[kattotang.livejournal.com]

I'm in EST as well, and have FA set to reflect my own timezone, however the time in comments and such are always off by an hour, and the server time doesn't match up either. So yeah, like others have said, FA's time thing is just really screwed up.

[adzuki.livejournal.com]

I think doing bids by server time can be a bit screwy since it can be out of control and the time in comments can not line up with the server time.

I tend to do my auctions based on my time zone so people can at least look them up

[ramthedragon.livejournal.com]

Oh this is good to know since I do have auctions based on FA Server time and had no idea about these timestamps not always being accurate.

On another note I am friends with this artist and I am most certain they wouldn't do something like that with sheer malice or such, but I will let them know about the auction times so they can rectify it.

[matsiwolf.livejournal.com]

Never had this issue....

Check http://www.furaffinity.net/controls/settings/

make sure your time zone is set correctly and that you have DST selected if needed.

[sawblade5.livejournal.com]

Also don't be afraid to ask the seller what time zone they're in and remind them that FA server time is based on their time zone setting. I am sure they'll help you out there.

[kamilamutt.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I could help?
I speak spanish as my main language, if you'd like me to translate anything so maybe I can explain to the artist why this might be troublesome for themselves and for other customers, please feel free to PM me anytime!

[starcharmer.livejournal.com]

Yep, it's always off by an hour for me despite the fact that I have my FA settings set correctly.

Since I use a countdown clock and my own timezone, this has actually only ever been a problem for me when I've fallen asleep and woken up to find there were more bids before the auction ended and FA's time stamp says they were made after the cut-off.

But since I know about this issue, I'm able to figure out the time they had actually posted the comment and it works out.

I'm not really sure what you can do in this case, though. Kinda seems like everyone else had better advice than I can come up with, haha.