Customer Servivce?

If you have your store of items for sale... and say you have sold 100's of a certain creation with no problems.. then you get someone who says they bought one of your items months ago (no longer in the transaction hsitory) and it dissapeared... Being that the item was perfectly functional and has no proof of ever purchasing one, and you have no idea if this person, sold or gave it away to someone else... what do you do?

Well..it's pretty self explantory..if there is no record of it..there is no evidence..therefore it cannot be resolved unless the purchaser printed out an account history report at the time or one can get it through Linden Labs history account records.if that's even possible. I would check to see if there is a way to retrieve the report through [email]support@secondlife.com[/email]

Giving your customers what they want will only bring more business in the future.

It's a difficult situation though, I would give them the item. I would also keep a record of the person's name, so if the same situation arises again with the same person, you know there is a possibility that someone is trying to take advantage of you.

If it dissapeared thats not your fault or your problem so I would tell them ...I'm sorry but months have passed and I don't replace items that are lost or missing due to inventory or upgrade bugs.

I suppose the logical thing to do would be the second option, but if you're just starting out then you might not want to do so (as I am just starting out).

Basically, when you have a new business, I figure you have to bend over backwards to please the client and generate a good business reputation. Then after everyone knows who you are, you can afford to not give someone an item and risk neg rates or whining -- because you have plenty of other customers.

Yes, I am a wimp.

If I had sold hundreds with no problem then I wouldn't even bother starting a poll, 2 threads and a forum discussion. I would just "replace" (in quotes since we are not sure that this person EVER owned the item in question) the item and move on with my life. It's simple, with no drama, and nobody needs to get involved in your business.

This discussion has been around before.

I agree with Princess Medici.

Champie

I am sorry Champie, I am not aware of any other discussions, I am however familar with people taking advantage of such customer service to get free items... and if this were a $50 item I wouldnt even question it, but being that I have no record, nor does this person, and the item was $800 ... I am a bit concerned and would like to know the opinion of others.

Considering that it costs you nothing, what in the harm in just giving them another one? I have never understood people who make someone jump through hoops just to get a replacement. If they are trying to scam a free copy, oh well, again nothing lost.

I experienced this with a certain maker of anatomical attachments. Mind you, this player has made a complete fortune off of these things. I had a friend who started playing SL, and she spent a fair amount of money buying one of the interactive female attachments. After buying it, she could not find it, and had spent $800L on it, which is a lot to a new player. She asked me to sign into her account to see if I could find it. I did, and it was not in her inventory. I imed the creator while still on her account, and the machinations I had to go through just to get a replacement of the damn thing made me really angry. I think it is poor customer service to question someone that much.

Sensual - I figure that if someone rips me off by telling me they bought a product that did not work or they did not receive when they didn't actually buy the product - then it's on their head not mine. I'd rather give them something they did not earn than risk not honoring my committment to a customer who did pay for my product.

SL has been pretty unstable at times and it's very possible that they could have been in a SIM that went down just as they made a purchase and for some reason never got the merchandise. Or - they might just have a complete black hole of an inventory and cannot find the item. Either way - I'd replace it.

BTW - If I spoke with other merchants and discovered that this person was sponging off the good intentions of SL merchants by lying like this - then I'd make sure I let all the SL merchants that I know aware of the problem and I would not replace anymore items for that individual.

Hmmm you have to remember though ...this person has had the item for months and now it has dissapeared....thats a linden problem.

If one of my items dissapers from everyones folders tonight and they all want a replacement should I give it knowing that they had the item ...used the item...and now through no fault of my own they lost it?

Another thing to add to this paticular situation, he said he lost it months ago when he made the purchase, but is barely contacting me now... again there is no history of this transaction, had there been I would have no problem replacing such items... matter of fact I have no record of this person even coming to my store or purchasing ANY items as far back as the history allowed me to view

Exactly, its a tough situation ...

*contacts everyone that easily replaces items, so I can cover my Christmas list* (KIDDING!)

I think that if the person lost the item months ago, then no go. They can purchase the damn thing again. They should have contacted you when they discovered it was missing.

I have heard of purchasing things and having them not show up in your inventory -- it has happened to me -- but I have always contacted the seller right away.

Methinks this person is pulling your leg.

If the item has disappeared, what is the harm in replacing it? It costs you nothing except a few moments of your time to drag something from inventory to a profile. I have had items disappear from my inventory for no reason at all, or stop working, or a variety of other reasons. I have found most merchants are very nice about replacing it - I don't understand that hesitation to replace it. A customer losing an item is from no fault of your own, and if there were costs involved in replacement I could understand, but there are not.

This is true. I suppose it's pride itself in not wanting to be had.

As someone who has repeatedly tried to take advantage of Lo, I can vouch for the pride she takes in not being had



Hi Lo

I've replaced all kinds of things but have never had someone have anything dissapear. The mere fact that something has dissapeared when they knew they had it suggests a problem and LL should be notified of it. Personally I have had things dissapear from my inventory and have never once thought to ask for a replacement because I knew it wasn't the makers fault.

The problem is there is no history of the transaction, and it was from MONTHS ago.

The item was fully functional, it wasnt an item that stopped working, you can't compare the two..

Hi panda! I am suffering from severe SL withdrawal. DSL got cut off. Money sucks.

*hug*

Awwwww

Too bad the Internet is too big to shoplift.

Let me know if you need any help with your shop while you are gone. I am an absolutely adorable salesman

Come back soon!

Where can I find one?

No, it doesn't cost money to hand them a copy, but it costs in other ways. In the end, it's not about the money. It's a matter of principle.

What is the harm in replacing it? The harm is that word would get around quickly that this merchant gives out freebies if you just claim that you lost the item. I would say that it depends on who's asking. If it's someone I know or whose reputation I know, I'd be much more likely to hand out a "replacement" to them than to a new user or someone I've never heard of.

Rumor has it that they hang out and drink beers on an empty mountaintop in Quat called PANDALAND

Or I could just rent him out to you, Sensual.

There are a number of flipsides to this... I'm also aware that being a good judge of character helps. For example, if an established veteran of SL who was not a friend but who claimed to purchase an item from you came to you for a replacement, would you take his/her/its word over that of a newbie who had just come into the world a few days, perhaps weeks ago?

Building trust over time is important, and I am also aware that certain oldtimers in SL grow concerned and perhaps even xenophobic in a way that is not altogether irrational by the rapidly expanding community.

In many cases, though, time does tell. It isn't unlikely that someone pulling a "scam" on one merchant to get ill-gotten gains would try to pull it somewhere else too, and hey, virtual word can get around fast.