How do you handle unresponsive creators?

Long story, short version. Last year I bought a vehicle called the Wutend Rongulo from the shop of a respected content creator in SL. However it had issues with the then new H4 physics engine so I didn't use it much and forgot about it. Recently I found it in my inventory and decided to see if it had been updated. It used an automated update system so it didn't seem like that'd be an issue. Only it turned out that he'd upgraded his update system and older products like mine would need a manual update from him. This was all detailed on his store's website. So I IMed him the required info, confident I'd quickly get an update because in the past I'd contacted him regarding something else I'd purchased and he replied within 24 hours. Only this time, nothing. So I waited a week or so, then decided to IM him again. Still no response.

At this point I thought perhaps his IMs were being capped and so I wrote a note explaining all this, again giving him the info he required and sent it to him. He was offline but accepted it soon after. I waited. For 2 weeks I waited for some type of response. Again, nothing. At all. Now I was livid. Did he think I was trying to scam him? Why the utter lack of any response at all? The truck I bought from him promised "free updates, forever" and I could clearly see that the version for sale in his store had been updated. So I wrote yet another notecard, once again giving him the info he required and politely noting that I still had the original box (with full contents, as it was all copy/no trans) should he like to see it to further prove that I had in fact purchased it. I sent the card to him, he was offline but accepted it an hour or so later. Only, once again, no response!

So I ask you, residents of SL who have more experience in these matters than I, how would you handle this situation? Because I am truly out of ideas and patience here.

I delete their products and never do business with them again.

Have you verified that you have not accidentally muted the person in question?

That aside, about all you can do is either keep trying, or give up. If their shop has an update group or something like that, you could join the group and keep an eye on the member list to see when the person comes online then just IM them when you know they're online. Keep at it until they respond, or until you decide it isn't worth it.

-Atashi

Yeah, I verified that he wasn't muted, my mute list is actually clear. Also, I did join his store's update group, there aren't any notices and watching to catch him online feels a tiny bit stalkerish to me. (Granted not as much as using a scripted online monitor which is how I would do it if I was going that route.)

As for deleting what I already purchased, I won't go that far but I certainly will never spend another cent there and will try my best to ensure none of my friends do either. I know from personal experience that dealing with customers is often annoying but they've given me their money and they deserve my attention, to just repeatedly ignore one... Ugh!

It might be one of those people who doesn't log in that much these days. Very common with content creators.

Another thing to check: see if your IM's didn't cap, also. I've sent many a response via IM, only to have it never make it to the destination.

Check the profile for email addresses, vacation notices, and stuff like that. Another tactic is to find a friend of the creator online, and ask if the person you are trying to find is off playing Warcraft or something a lot lately.

Des

did you actually read the OP ?

you said he's got a website...

check there for a "contact me" link, or a "customer service" form or something. You also might take a chance emailing [email]hisSLfirstname@hiswebsite.com[/email]. I know that when I can finally get my website up and running, that will be the first email address I create.

I get maybe, 1 or 2 IMs a day while I'm offline, with perhaps a couple of group notices thrown in as well so I am pretty sure my IMs aren't capped. They all go to my email address as well so even if by some odd chance they were capped I'd still see them in my inbox, wouldn't I? As for his profile, there's no mention of vacations or anything like that. Just the usual picks regarding how he handles his store business and such. As for his website, I checked everywhere and if there's a contact method listed on there other than "IM me in SL" I certainly can't find it.

Hmm. I apparently did miss a line above, too ~ missed the part where he accepted your notecards. Curse work distraction!

Not sure what to say ~ maybe keep asking is all I can think of. Rarely are people hostile or unresponsive unless they have a reason.

So it's "very common" content creators don't log in much, huh?

Bet they never fail to log in to check on how much they've made in lindens.





Instead of all these BS excuses some of you have put down in their defense why not say what many of us already know. That non-responses from these content makers is extremely common in sl. This isn't new.


Don't sugar coated.

Speaking as a fellow content creator, it could just be plain-old burnout. It stops being fun after a while...

Speaking also as a fellow content creator, ok, custom scripter that is usually too lazy to actually take on any work but also has friends that run successful businesses that definitely have to deal with a lot of customer requests on a daily basis; I know people get burned out but by the same token if you're running a store and have customers that require service, it's still your duty to handle that. If you don't want to do it personally, fine, lots of places employ customer service reps to do it for them. But what you don't do, or certainly shouldn't do, is repeatedly ignore a paying customer for over a month for no apparent reason whatsoever, especially when all that is required is to drop a freaking boxed version of your updated no trans product on them. It takes, what, a minute to pull up a profile from an IM and drop a box on it? It certainly would take less time than I've spent writing IMs and notecards trying to get some resolution to this.

Agree Talon....this person has your note (several times), and can verify easily that you have the original box and are a legitimate customer....it would take them all of 5 minutes tops to update your item and be done with it. It sucks that they haven't. I'd feel sick to leave a customer hanging like this, but I can't answer for this guy.

I'd say the next step may be to use his business group, and politely join the group chat and ask the general population there what the modus operandi is for getting an update. Then explain. See what transpires.

does this person sell the product on XSSL? Maybe a politely worded message in 'item discussion' will help?

My past experience from observing people trying to get assistance in store update groups is that they're lucky to get any useful responses at all, most of the other customers never seem to know any more than the person asking the question but I will give it a shot later today when hopefully more members are around.

As for xstreet, yeah, this truck is listed on there and I'm seriously wishing I'd bought it from there instead of his store for 2 reasons. First it'd give me "has purchased this item" tag status should I post a comment on that page and secondly, their transaction history goes back to the time I purchased the thing whereas SL's transaction history only goes back a month or so. Given that I bought the truck early last year, having an actual verifiable transaction record might have been enough to have avoided all this to begin with.

Um. They do not need to log in to look at their lindens. Just go to the website to look at transaction history. And account balance.

I guess I need to paint the entire picture for some people to grasp what I meant. Not hard to read between the lines. Really, it's not.

You are saying all they care about is the money. I'm saying they do not even need to log in to SL check their money balance (though do need to log in to website). Or to turn it into cash.

I'm sorry you're going through this, Talon.

The items I build and sell are inexpensive, most way under 100L. If I get a note or IM, however, about something regarding my products, I try to get back to the person ASAP.

What really amazed me is that two separate people seemed surprised that I got back to them and one actually said, "Most creators don't reply."

I wonder if it truly *is* "most" don't reply. Each time I got back to the customer it ended in them asking to join my group.

Goes back to customer service going a long way.

that does suck Talon.. maybe that particular item he sold hundred times and he is getting over a hundred complaints and just quit answering them.. who knows

Send him another note, directing him to this thread in the SL Resident Answer's Forum. Tell him this thread is about him, and as of yet, you haven't named names.........

that sucks Talon... and I know how it feels.

quite awhile ago I made a couple purchases from a very well known games maker... they did not work as they should have (not rezzing specific pieces, giving errors etc)

well I tried contacting the creator, and he did get back to me about one of the games, sent me a new copy, which of course did the same thing as the other (with me doing nothing other than rezzing it, and getting immediate errors, on land that had no restrictions at all)

so I contacted the creator again and never heard from them again (and they had a website with a forums, which I also posted in, and so did others, apparently I was not alone) AND his forums ended up being spammed with sexual related link spam and was (to my last knowledge) never cleaned up

So yes, I know how it feels, I learned the lesson to the tune of 10,000Lindens.
Never will shop there again (if they are even still in business)

Well, I tried his group's chat channel. As expected no responses from any other customers, only a friend of his replied basically to let me know this guy is still active and his store is operational. Which I already knew, since I was at his store yesterday. lol. As for this product selling so much he's swamped with complaints, I doubt that many people are buying a truck modeled after the so-called "Hack car" which was on the cover of an Information Society CD. (Which ironically is pretty much the reason I thought it was cool enough to buy to begin with.)

As for sending a note pointing him to this thread, I suppose that's a good idea; it can't really hurt, he can't ignore me any more than he already has, after all. Although in terms of naming names, while I've been careful not to do that I have provided the name of the product and noted that it's listed on SLX so technically I suppose that's enough for anyone interested to go find out for themselves. Not that I am encouraging that, naturally. Ah well, we'll see what happens, thanks for the ideas and support you guys, it's been quite helpful.

Safest is to rub them gently about the chest or flanks. If that doesn't work, grab them by the scruff of the neck and give them a little shake, that usually wakes them up.

Well I sent him yet another notecard explaining, once again, the situation and pointing him to this thread. Surprisingly, he was apparently online as he accepted the card. A few hours later and guess what, still no response! I'm starting to take this personally! A friend actually told me "maybe he has some sort of problem with you?" Which makes no sense because other than contacting him about this and one other product in the past I've never encountered him before! At this point I'm utterly unable to understand just WTF this guy's deal is.