Duty to replace?

Hello

As we all know, there have been issues for weeks now where people buy things and they dont get their purchases.

I get a lot of requests for replacement and I always send them because its a known issue, because it happened to me more than once. I check on my account transactions and if there's a purchase, I replace without further thought.

Today I got an IM from a person demanding me to give him what he bought 10 days ago, he said he had IMd me before and that I didnt respond (crashing on loggin could be the reason) and threatened me to report me to Linden Lab if I didnt replace him on the spot.

I really got pissed off because I dont like to be threatened and told him to go ahead and report me to LL or to apologize for his tone and get his things, he then said his alt was an sl mentor and threatened me again, told him I was the one reporting him to LL for harassment.

My question is....... I do replace, but do I have a duty to replace? my items are transferable but non copyable. Dont mean by this to simply close ears to other customers with their lost purchases, but do I HAVE to replace this man what he claims to have lost? Is it my fault that the asset servers have been messy??? I dont doubt he didnt get the things, but his approach made me mad, he wants LL, ok, go to them to get the things.

Ya know - with an approach like that I don't think I'd be replacing what he's asking for. I'd more likely be droning on and on about finding a place to buy manners. Is his name Chaos?

I've only had it happen once this past week, and I got a replacement with no hassle. Which means, of course, I will shop there again, and recommend others.

My aunt Mily gettin PO'd???? hehehe seriously ignore the twit

Nothing in the ToS/CS _requires_ you to replace things your customers lost, even if it wasn't their fault.

Rude behavior should not be enouraged. I'd be tempted to AR him for harrassment, especially since he pulled that mentor stuff, but I think you can just mute or ignore him without feeling guilty.

edit: and I wish more creators were so willing to replace things that SL ate. I bought a Light Waves sculpture and had the sim crash right after I rezzed it. The seller never even replied to my very-polite note asking for another copy.

After 10 days with only one IM, which is questionable anyway, I'd lean towards thinking that he's trying to pull a fast one, and his tone would push me much more that way. It'd be 50-50 whether or not I'd accept his story and supply the item.

Good, I hope you also AR him for abuse of the Mentor group including the chat/IM log.

You do not have a "duty" to replace items. It is simply good customer service to do so. But with an attitude like his, I'd just mute him and ban him from my store (if I had a store).

For all you know, he sold it and wants a freebie. That kind of pushiness isn't always part of a con game, but it's certainly one of the tactics swindlers use (pressure intended to distract the mark).

You're under no obligation to replace things SL ate.

Ten days is a long time. If he can supply the transaction info, and you aren't selling 'no transfer' items, I'd give him another copy just to keep the customer sedated.

I'm imagining him typing this in all caps with horrible typos. I think he's shopped at my place too. I always replace items, even though most items are transfer and I know I might be getting burned....if my transaction history shows they bought it and they said they IM me within that day or two then its no questions asked. When I get the ones who IM me two weeks later then I ask when they found out it was gone...I'm usually suspicious about those ones, thinking they gave it to someone and are trying to get another one free. Even though suspicious, I still send it to them.

I've gotten a couple rude ones like the one you mentioned above, both times they were fairly new players and blamed the non delivery on me scamming them. I sent them a link to the LL blog and explained the asset server issues, sent them a new one and let them know some store owners might not of responded to rude remarks like theirs so to keep that in mind in future non-delivery incidents.

I figure sending it to them and eating the loss is better than reading a post titled "SMOKE GORDONSTONE RIPPEDD ME OFFF. ARRGGHHH!H.

Mentor-related "abuse" should be reported to one of the VTeam Lindens (Amber, George, Blue, Lexie or Mia) since in this case it's a breach of the mentor guidelines, but not a CS/TOS violation (harassment might work, but it seems a stretch personally).

Even if you do file an AR, report it to one of the VTeam Lindens as well.

(A notecard that you fill in much the same way you'd file an AR and dropping it on one of them is fine )

I had a nasty one like that. He made sent a rash of rude IMs and ARed one of my vendor prims because SL was having transaction problems and I SLEEP AT NIGHT OMG. I was very polite and helpful, telling him how I assumed he must be new here, how IMs often get capped and about using notecards, how many shops here are run by one person who might not be online 24/7 because people do sleep now and again, and how honey draws more than vinegar.

Learned that from a eetsy bitsy old lady who could make you feel about an inch tall. She was an evil, EVIL woman, but she sure knew how to get people to behave themselves.

I did as adviced, contacted the VTeam and got support, they will review the chat logs and do whatever they do
Response from Blue Linden was inmediate, wow, they really are doing their thing! It feels good to know LL is giving help when needed.

Yes, I will keep on replacing lost items to customers, yes I will believe when they tell me they didnt get them, but yes I also expect people to treat me with the basic education and will NOT take rudeness as its not my fault what is happening now with the asset servers.

Thank you for your advice to all that answered to my thread.

*Smiles*
Mily

Let us know how it turns out.

Sleep? What's that?

I don't sell anything; but if I did, and one of my "customers" approached me that way, I would give him his money back and thank him for shopping elsewhere from now on. I sure wouldn't give him the item.

Wow! I think the phrase "I have a cheesecake" is probably more threatening.

> VTeam Lindens

That's excellent.

> Sleep? What's that?

oh sweet sweet sleep!

can i just point out that in many previous threads that the advice is to be patience and give a retailer time to reply, they may be on holiday etc etc. so 10 days isn't a long time to wait.

I like that approach.

On the other hand, it's generally wise to fly under the radar of assholes. That is, ignore the abuse, deal with the situation, and move on -- simply because it can be a real headache if you piss off someone with really bad judgement and a little skill in the harassment arena.

That's the trouble with Transfer/No Copy items. He might well have sold it and been looking for a freebie. Giving him his money back essentially lets him make money and encourages him to do it again, IF that was what he did.

Personally I like Copy/Mod/No Transfer better to buy, because if there IS an issue, the seller can replace it without a second thought, because getting another copy is no biggie. I know that doesn't work for all types of product, but it does solve some ofd this sort of issue.

Rude customers? You have that delicate balance of paying him to go away and not to write something bad about you, but encouraging him to do it again, or just telling him politely to go away because he was so rude and risking that, but not letting them "get away with it".

It's a tough one.

I agree, Kal, and that's one reason I sell copy/mod/no-xfer. (Another reason is it's safer to sell 'mod' that way. There are other reasons, some good and some lazy, i.e., that's what I'm used to.)

An advantage to xfer/no-copy is that you can offer to trade the xfer/no-copy version for the opposite, with no fear of being swindled. If I was a more serious merchant I might go that way. So far I've had very few requests for xfer versions. None I can remember at the moment, but I don't trust my memory!

I've noticed that many creators say on their profiles how to contact them. Some even say they will only respond to a notecard with the customer's name on it. I will look to see if a designer has that stated, I think it makes it much easier to get a hold of someone.

I also like seeing signs in their stores explaining what to do if there is a glitch in delivery, I really like getting a notecard with the instructions. This can be really helpful for the newbie who's going 'transaction history, where is that and how to get it to this owner ?'

I know not every product needs to be offered (no copy, modify, no transfer), but depending on what it is or the approaching holiday/birthday/anniversary/graduation/etc, having something posted saying you will deliver the gift for them is good customer service. You could put out a sign with a notecard form to fill out for delivery.

If a store has (no copy, modify, transfer) versions available at a higher price, I figure that is fair of them. The choice is mine, pay the higher price for the transferable version or have the owner deliver it for me.

Rude gets you nowhere, keep it up and you can get banned from that business. And no business owner has to put up with it, that is what Mute is for. All you can do is go by your instincts, case by case.