And that includes SL, where I am about to take up my virtual trowel and hard hat again. Also, I am giving something away... read on (cackles to self about marketing ploys).
Chests? Well, I threw a hissy fit over SL recently and need to get something off mine, so here goes.
Now, I am usually good about checking Marketplace deliveries, and always good at checking SL notecards and IMs (which I receive by mail if I'm offline). In fact I check SL mail every single day including when in odd parts of the planet, because I believe very much in customer service.
I am not good at checking reviews on the Marketplace as I rarely get them. I also, naively, presume that if somebody didn't receive something or have something they want fixed, they would get in touch with me rather than send crap reviews.
However, I got two lately.
One was my own fault as I forgot to make some parts of a set modifiable (as in I slid the wrong version into the box). And got an outraged review about wasting money (6L) because she couldn't put extra anims in it, so it had to be trashed.
Uh-huh.
Did she contact me, though?
Nope. I just went through my mail and notecards again.
One-star review.
OK. I would gladly have sent her a new set AND removed the landmark giver out of the box holding the set that she disliked (I thought I took it out of everything), but nope. Negative review. Nice.
The second, however, was the typical OUTRAGE ONE STAR BECAUSE NOT DELIVERED review (of the woodland retreat, shown above).
Did this person send a notecard or IM me, either?
Nope.
Did this person PAY for it? (50L).
Nope (confirmed on the order: "not paid").
But, of course, it warranted a one-star review. Because the delightful person decided it was my fault. I re-sent it with apologies, meaning she (he?) got it for free.
No comment but apparently the person is, I quote "not often around". Uh-huh.
And this... this sort of thing is why I am trying not to get disgusted with SL and why, I confess, I have been around less.
The bitchy, judgemental, unpleasant pettiness.
However, it is a new year. And I still love building, negative reviews and all. And Vent du Sud... is part of me.
Sooooooooooo... if anyone wants a Woodland Retreat then please yell and I will send you one for free. In fact, if anyone wants to review ANYTHING of mine on the Marketplace I will send it for free because money is not what drives me.
It doesn't have to be glowing, just honest), but it would be really, really welcome.
(Lots of pics of the Woodland Retreat) on the Marketplace page, but basically 51 prims and ... well... one star HURTS).
And with that, I am going to take a deep breath and try and get to grips with SL.
EDIT: I sent the person the Retreat AND another house and got this...
"first and foremost..it is up to you to know when your deliveries take place...ppl always inevitably "place blame" somewhere else and "apologize" afterward..(read your note)..I really don't care who is at fault anddon't care that you aplogize..(the timing is all wrong)..i have better things to do than try and locate information on how to contact YOU..btw..i bought another house because the holidays were upon us (me and my fiance)..and we needed a location to celebrate with fam and friends....WO!..so your apologize could have been saved along with the little nasty tinge of attitude..the review (it seems to me) was on spot!"
How hard IS it to look up my profile and see that problems can be raised either by IM or notecard? Too hard, obviously.
7 comments:
Hi Ari,
I can feel with your woes there, so please don't take this the wrong way, but: Why do you bother with "selling" things at all? I mean, it's no secret that there aren't big bucks in selling things for 1 L$ or (at the most) 50 L$, but it creates this customer/merchant relationship which makes some people feel entitled to customer service (also known as bootlicking) for their $0.20 purchase. I'm not saying this because I'm a sucker for freebies, but because I had the same things going for myself when I was trying to "sell" stuff in SL, and finally decided the problems weren't worth the $4 per month I made with it, so I just give stuff away for free and haven't had a single complaint ever since.
You have a point but it helps with the tier, even at token prices.
I am just sad that the negative reviews have made my Marketplace sales plunge, and once again, it really did help with the tier or even to splurge on some textures now and again.
Another point, Vanish (and don't take *this* badly) is that people tend to equate free with clunky crap, and even though I am perfectly aware that this does not always apply. So the 1L and 50L seemed like a good idea at the time.
I am honestly in two minds whether to quit with Vent du Sud, and possibly SL. I don't MIND the customer service part and have met lots of great people through their questions or queries...
... but I do mind the fact that somebody can screw up my (small but necessary) income through sheer nastiness.
I am much too sensitive at the moment, I know it. But 2011 was a crap year and this has not got 2012 off to a good start.
Just stopping by to give you a hug. I really like Vent du Sud. And the things you sell. Even though I have never told you about it. Or spoken to you before. *ahem* *hugs*
Oh, Ari, that really sucks.
Your stuff is amazing. The online world is so chock full of nerd entitlement; people seem to fail to realise that being an arsehole isn't a right.
Hell, it's not even a privilege.
Hi, Ari! I wanted to let you know that I'm using one of your Tidewater Cottages and put it on my blog.
Hugs and hope to see you soon!
Ossi
I forgot to give the link: http://ossianblog.tumblr.com/post/15380160087/talk-about-product-placement-standing-outside-my
(I know I'm wearing the wrong shoes, but I didn't feel like redoing the whole picture.)
"First and foremost..it is up to you to know when your deliveries take place.."
Well that is plain nonsense. In any reasonable view of the world, RL or SL, it is up to the person who didn't receive the goods to notify the person sending them that they did not arrive. What a stupid little petty person.
I never look at just star ratings on marketplace anymore - I look at the reviews, and find that about 30% of the time they are by dumbasses complaining that the item wasn't delivered, or who didn't read the product description properly.
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