Need for Arbitration Panel

I purchased a twenty five hundred Linden item from a retailer a couple of months ago. There was a problem with the item and I contacted the retailer asking for some assistance. I'm not looking for a refund, I'll gladly return the item in exchange for the correct item. Two months, sixty days, several instant message and at least two accepted note cards, still NOTHING from this person.

You can see from my transactional logs I indeed spent twenty five hundred Linden with this individual. Second Life needs some arbitration panel where people who have legitimate claims can bring there case to be heard and adjudicated. It's incredibly frustrating having no way to resolve this situation. It pisses me off to no end wasting twenty five hundred Linden on something that as it is now, worthless to me.

Consider me mad as hell - Klaus

Whether SL needs arbitration or any kind of legal system is a hot-button issue that can (and will) be argued for years without any momentum having been achieved.

Right now about the only thing that you can do is "public shaming" via naming the merchant, but you cannot do that on these forums. There are other forums in which to "name names", but I doubt it's a very effective tactic and often doesn't give the merchant an opportunity to appropriately defend themselves.

In any case, sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience.

.

An attack against the retailer would be conceding the problem is beyond remedy and hope. Once you cross the threshold, you can't turn back. I would prefer a resolution to my problem over the emptiness of verbal vengeance.

As a reply to the messages: Second Life Business Bureau is trying to make a system of mediation and/or arbitration work, as well as negotiating with LL about a kind of a "legal system". But the process is complicated: SL has a few things that differ from RL, one of them being not a state with a democratic and proper legal system. Perhaps some by-laws or rules and regulations, combined with the TOS and conduct code of Second Life, can make a bit of a difference.

Until then, you can file a complaint about this merchant at Second Life Business Bureau: the complaint will be investigated and will lead to an attempt to mediate or arbitrate between you and the person you claim as being a fraud. But it's up to you to decide: we have the experience that an abuse report to LL doesn't work quite well (*understatement*).

Kind regards,
Chester Capalini.

I am in the process of building a Justice Center and contacting SL legal institutions about what kind of space would be best suited to the needs of SL arbitrations/mediations. Such organizations would have rent-free space for dispute resolution activities -- so that we can have a centralized location for dispute resolution.

I think that, in the absence of some kind of governmental control (which involves coercion of all citizens to conform to a standard of behavior), voluntary organizations and self-regulation is the best hope.

The Second Life Business Bureau, if it works, could be a great example of such a process. Businesses could commit to SLBB arbitration/mediation as a condition of joining -- and the SLBB could then certify the business. People who want formal protection could then choose to shop only at SLBB certified businesses -- at least for big ticket items.

This would let us "vote with our feet" against shady business owners and business practices.

Beathan Vale