A magically, disappearing shop space!

Ater looking around quite a bit, I rented a small, cheap shop a few nights ago just to have a retail space to sort of play with / explore the retail aspects of SL. The owners are in a different country and it took a couple of days to get the group invite and start setting up my shop. Not that big a deal because I'm not really in a huge hurry with this. I'm not looking to make millions, just learn more about what the options are and how things work. I set up a few of the things that I had already put together and had lot's of fun accessorizzzing! Was no where near ready to actually open the doors but was looking forward to playing around more and maybe throwing a "grand opening" this weekend.

Last night, I got home from work, logged in, and my shop was gone. Actually all of the shops around me were gone. I turned on the property lines and realized that the entire plot that used to contain my shop and my neighbors shops, was nothing but empty land. I did notice a small sign in the middle of the plot advertising a realty company that was not the one I rented from. :|

I sent an IM off to the property manager I had rented from, who was off line at the time, asking what happened and requested a refund of my 2 weeks rent since I really only had possession of the property for a few hours. Several hours later, a group notice went out talking about how the property had been "stolen" from him and he was working with LL to get it back. No word about refunds, or anything else really useful.

My 2 weeks rent was less than $2 USD. I'm not really worried about the money or looking for recourse or anything like that. Mostly I'm just a little cranky that I have to go through the process of finding another shop. I'm picky and it took me awhile to find this one!

But, I am wondering if this is something that happens often? Should I just sort of expect it from the next place I rent? If I had spent a significant amount on rent, would there be any recourse? Is there something else I should do besides contact the owner/property manager and request a refund? Is it appropriate to request a refund from the people I actually rented the space from?

Thanks!

I've not had that happen to me yet, I think you've just been unlucky. I've had malls close but both refunded my rental payments.

Unfortunately it does happen alot and I am begining to think it is a scam of sorts going on. I rent alot and in the past 3 months have had this happen to me many times. I rent a place, set up, and then go back to either change out vendors or add more rent and its gone. So then you wonder how long has it been gone? Did you get any worth from your time and money spent?

It is not just a conspiracy theroy either... person builds a mall, 50 spots at 500L a week 4 week min. that is 100000L he has made around $375US. And I know people will say why did she even tell how cause someone will do it. Well cause it is happening already I just want to show how easy it is to scam this way. But I also know there are many legit mall owners who wouldnt think of cheating anyone.

I usually make a note of the person who owned the rento when I rented and will IM that person and most times I get no response. Because of this I will only rent places that allow 2 weeks minimum because it might not be alot of $US but it does start to add up especially if it is a 4 week min.

It is very frustrateing more so than the money is the time it took to set up to have it gone so quickly. I am begining to believe it is several people that are doing it and getting new alts each time so I also don't rent from newbie mall owners either.

I've gotten to know enough landowners that when I finally do decide to get around to opening shops I don't expect this to be a problem. Probably a good idea to get to know who you're leasing from better.

Since the group sent out a notice I'd presume it's not a scam. Sounds like they failed to pay their tier to whoever they were renting from. If it was a scam I would think they would just vanish forever.

Regarding Gayla's comments. Even though I don't think it applies here, it does sound like a very easy scam. Something to watch out for. Again, another argument for getting to know your landlords.

If you're shop hunting, try Boootiful Creations. Booo Doolittle is a wonderful gal, and trustworthy. I've also seen 3ring Binder advertisign shops

It's also possible that they were trying to flag the spot in yellow on the map to attract customers and maybe mispriced it and had it grabbed by a landbot.

Which brings us to another tip.. if the land is set for sale, no matter WHAT price, don't rent from them. I'd actually found a nice little plot of land, with some really nice looking builds at scarily low price for rent.. so, I check the land to see who the landowner is. Well, the land was set for sale, which explained the extremely cheap rent!

*shrugs* If they weren't intending to sell the land, then they shouldn't have put it for sale, period. That's what ads are for!

Anyone else have locations (names etc) of good spaces? Id love to visit a few more, search is driving me batty lately.

It is so sad to read that this appears to be a problem that is slowly growing in SL. I am sure there are many more of us out here who are honest and would not scam anyone who pays rent to us. I have a few shops to rent at Aswang. The rent is low and you can rent from a minimum of one week up to eight weeks and can renew any time. (IM me for the LM if you are interested).

I am an artist and rent shops elsewhere as galleries for my paintings. So far, I have had no problems whatsoever with any landlords/ladies and have always been able to rent from them for a minimum of one week. When I was very new, I rented one shop as a gallery and again had no problems, and in all that time since, have certainly never come across the problem the OP has mentioned.

Dont lose heart! Most of us are decent, honest, and just trying to make a nice life for ourselves here in SL without any hassles.

I agree completely, but you see a lot of landowners setting the land for sale. I don't visit shopping areas that are set for sale - figure it will be hard to take care of issues or return for anything else.

O.O

People actually rent at malls that charge that much with a 4 week minimum?

Thanks for all the responses! As much as I'm glad to know it's not just my dumb luck, I'm kind of cranky to hear this may be some type of scam!

I've decided that I'm not going to let it get to me. I've been thinking about it since last night and I realized today, as I bought my second Dr. Pepper from the vending machine at work, that I'm out about $1.50 and that's just not worth stressing about. I also decided that I'm not going to let this one experience turn me off from my latest project! I just need to keep it all in perspective and not take it so personal.

I came home, pulled up the classifieds and found the shop I've had pictured in my head since I started my search! I spent less than it would cost me to buy lunch out for a couple of days and have three times the space as the magically disappearing shop! I paid for 5 weeks so I can take my time and not rush into anything. Now that I have more space, I better get busy making more stuff!

yes this does happen, had it happen to me which is why I stopped looking for places to rent and just keep one or two remote shops

if you are still looking for a shop, send me an im
I have built a city and am looking to fill the stores and apartments

if anyone reading this decides to rent there and rents for 2 weeks, send me an im in game and tell me you saw this forum post and I will give you 2 weeks free. (so total will be 4 weeks for the cost of 2)

(if you do not hear from me in the next couple days forgive me, today is my birthday and will be going out to dinner soon, so not sure when I will be back around hehe)
RL birthday

Oh yes Wildfire and 500L a week is about average. You can find some for 300 but lately I have seen alot of 600L , 800L and higher a week which is another of my peeves but hey it's their mall so I just won't rent there. And what is really crazy you only get 50 prims. Yesterday I saw a place it was 500L for 5 prims . And there is a few that are 1500L a week and its because they have alot of real traffic and great sales, but sales have dropped there too but rent hasnt :/.

IMO with the way sales are down and people not really out there shopping as much you would think the mall rents wouldnt be so high. But they just keep climbing and they will as long as people will pay it

I have a couple times tried to get designers to band together and not rent so that they would lower prices but it didnt happen So I go to see how much the space is and if its a decent rent with prims I rent if not I move on.

Happy Birthday Rhaorth !!!! Wishing you many more

I have one place that is rather expensive I am considering but at the same time its possible that due to the theme and what I saw going on its worth it but the price is only about 300/week hehe

I usually start cringing when it gets over 150 per week. If i see a place though I dont rent right away I go back a few times that's why I think I may not get scammed. If its very empty I might wait awhile usually a long while...

I rarely rent at true malls though they never really worked for me. I find builds with 10 stalls at most that serve another purpose. They seem to work better but finding that perfect place can be kind of hard.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RHAORTH!!!!