Steve's situation is unfortunate but it is just one case and LAMP cannot police and adjudge all of its members' dealings.
As LAMP won't stand behind their promises below (they basically didn't want to know), a fraud that happened through their website (poster listed for sale not nearly as described), not a small fraud at that (it wasn't a $40 poster),
LAMP dealer endorsement is worthless in my opinion, appearing to be a con - a money making exercise taking money from dealers, but not in the interest of the poster buyer, especially the newbie for whom they attract.
Rich has it right... honesty and excellent service is simple really...
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Quotes from the LAMP site:
On the LAMP site:
"ALL of our LAMP Dealers stand for Reliability, Honesty and Integrity."
To be a LAMP dealer, and display the LAMP logo, dealers must:
"Sign the LAMP No-Misrepresentation Agreement."
More:"DEALER acknowledges that he/she does not engage in selling practices that are unfair, deceptive, misleading, or which misrepresents any aspect of LAMP, or which unfairly misleads or induces an unwilling customer to make a purchase."
"DEALER agrees to accurately describe each item and to guarantee that the merchandise is AS DESCRIBED. Without limiting any other remedies, LAMP may suspend or terminate your access to sell on LAMP if LAMP suspects that you (by conviction, settlement, insurance or escrow investigation, or otherwise) have engaged in fraudulent activity in connection with listing items for sale on LAMP."