Any way of blocking customers?

[petad]

Hi

I have had someone with a US IP address (I back traced it to New York) visit my site several times and put in total over 170 items into multiple baskets over a short period of time. I don't for a second belive that they are genuine. Is there any way to block an IP address for your site?

Also, is there any way to empty the baskets? Thet have not registered, so I can't take over using remote control.

Any pointers appriciated

Pete

[Rich]

This is a feature we have considered in the past, but have purposely chosen not to include so far. One particular reason is that IP addresses are frequently not unique. AOL users, for example, pass through a US-based proxy IP address. Were you to ban an AOL user, you might inadvertently ban thousands of potential customers from your site.

Also, users with dynamic IPs (the majority) can change them simply by logging out of their ISP and then logging back in. This makes blocking IPs a time-consuming task - and it's ulimately a battle that can't be won.
By the sounds of it, the IP in question is a "bot", possibly visiting on behalf of a "shopping directory" network or similar. It can't really do any harm, and will most likely cease visiting after a short period of time. The shopping basket table in your database is "cleaned" on a 3-monthly basis, keeping things moving along smoothly. This takes place automatically, behind the scenes.

[petad]

This is a feature we have considered in the past, but have purposely chosen not to include so far. One particular reason is that IP addresses are frequently not unique. AOL users, for example, pass through a US-based proxy IP address. Were you to ban an AOL user, you might inadvertently ban thousands of potential customers from your site.

Also, users with dynamic IPs (the majority) can change them simply by logging out of their ISP and then logging back in. This makes blocking IPs a time-consuming task - and it's ulimately a battle that can't be won.
By the sounds of it, the IP in question is a "bot", possibly visiting on behalf of a "shopping directory" network or similar. It can't really do any harm, and will most likely cease visiting after a short period of time. The shopping basket table in your database is "cleaned" on a 3-monthly basis, keeping things moving along smoothly. This takes place automatically, behind the scenes.
Thanks Rich - I realised the problem with IP addresses not being unique, so didn't hold out much hope. Interested to hear that AOL customers come through as US based sometimes, which explains a lot.

Pete