Rude Busness people

A fellow designer friend of mine recently had a small problem at a mall she was renting at and IMed me for advice and to warn me of the rude behavior she received from a mall owner.
Having owned the Promenade Mall now for over a year and a half and rented out space at countless malls for my own Clothing Designs I found the treatment My fellow Clothing designer received to be absolutely appalling. Especially since My friend is one of the nicest people I know in Sl she has rented from me and i have rented from her for along time. and I have never know her to be anything but kind and sweet.

here's what happen and keep in mind this is about a fairly run of the mill Island mall with noting really fancy about it and a single outside wall of of a corner stall about 5 meters high and 10 meters long

MY friend asked the mall owners girlfriend if she could ask her boyfriend (the mall owner) if he could remove a wall from her stall to make it more open like the rest of the corner stalls at the mall.

the girlfriend replied saying no the wall can not be removed and he would be happy to give me a refund she was sure.

My designer friend said ok well most malls like this would do it but if you wont, I will take the refund. So my friend IMs the mall owner and says "hi i just wanted the outside wall removed to be like the others and since you wont can i get a refund please"



he replies the next day with the refund -L$20 and the following in a note card.




also keep in mind the other 20 or so spaces he's referring to were not front and center like the one my friend had rented and the rules he refers to make no mention of removing walls

When I read that I was just blown away. And thought that this was truly rude behavior on the mall owners part.
remember the mall is really quite plane. In my time here in Sl i have seen mall owners do far more for there renters then simply remove a small dividing wall.
I cant help but think that this mall owner will not be in business very long.

Oh well just thought I share this with you all.

Yea I know this may seem petty even on my part for posting this but I find Rude behavior from any one weather they are a mall owner or a customer of my own to be completely unacceptable.

It just seems that there are or were so many more ways that mall owner could of responded that would of at least been polite. even if he was not willing to remove the wall.

That's hilarious...and sad. Unless you're God's gift to SL, you can't afford to treat customers that way. Even then? If you do, people will secretly plot your demise.

I really dislike it when malls just pick up and leave without giving you a refund. One instance that really bothered me just occured over the weekend. Apparently the owner's friend IM'd me that my rent was late. I told this person I get capped often or lose messages and that I really appreciated the IM. So to make sure it wouldn't happen again, I paid up for a month. Two days later my stuff was returned with no refund.
I guess I just need to deal with it as there are worse things than losing 200L.

Hello Crucial. Yours is not the only experience with rude mall owners. Some of them seem to feel that they can buy some land and ride roughshod over their tenants and the surrounding land owners just because they bought some land and built a junky looking mall. Duh.

All this over L$20? That's almost exactly a nickel.

~Ulrika~

no its all about the crude and rude behavior on the mall owners part the money is trivial

And from the way I read it the mall owner kept 20L of the money that was refunded. He said he didnt need her renting or her L's..... If he didnt need her L's why keep any? ME, MY, MINE.... sound like a big ego to me! ( whoops was actually I, I, I MYSELF)

Absolutely. I think you make an excellent point, that we all should be kind to those with whom we share this virtual world. I'm sorry I went off topic with the realization that L$20 is a nickel. The point here is that business owners and artisans should maintain a level of professional courtesy. I hope your friend finds a new place to do business that's a little more professional.

~Ulrika~

It seems members are so rigid and greedy now that they have forgotten all sense of play and friendship. Recently my partner and I were browsing in a store which, like many long term members, is something we rarely do. The reason for this is because we can pretty much make anything that we want, and after all this time in SL our inventories are filled with more items than we could ever need.

We were playing around joking with one another enjoying our little adventure. Specifically we were playing with a very popular animation that my partner Abramelin has made in which one member can kick another member in the ass. By the way this is a very popular item and is very, very funny.

Sadly, the owner of this store was such a rigid tight ass that she had no sense of humor. She messaged me to warn me to stop playing around with my partner because "no violence was alllowed in her store." I replied back asking if she really thought our playing with one another was violence because actually we were both laughing and having a great time. Apparently she just was such a tight ass she had to reply back that the playing was against the rules.

This was particularly astonishing since the store was filled with all kinds of sexual torture devices that any thinking person would constitute violence, and in her store some items were geared toward extreme sick violence.

It seems some "content creators" take themselves so seriously they lack any sense of humor or ability to play. Or maybe she is so unhappy with her own life that she could not bear to see a couple who were laughing and enjoying one another's company so throughly.

After she carried on we left and she lost potential customers. To me it seems like she really lost something much more important than that.

That's not just rude, it's stupid. Not only has he lost what might have been a long term renter, he's lost any potential renter she talks to.
If you're so in love with your build that you can't so much as move a wall thats bad enough, but if you're prone to getting all pissy when even asked to go out of your way, then you're not someone who should even be in a customer service oriented business. Sounds like he needs to go build somewhere quietly and avoid human contact.




I so hate that! Three times in the last few months I've had malls just vanish on me. Two of those times my stuff wasn't even returned, I had no clue until I went to go pay my rent and found the place gone. So without knowing exactly when they closed, I dont even know how much I should have been reimbursed and wasn't. Now if I can get away with it, I pay only two weeks at a time unless it's a long established place or someone who shows me a policy and an attitude that says I'll get my money back.

I've been renting out spaces to people for I think about five months (just recently expanded yay ) and I know that I couldn't just keep someone's rent like that, the guilt would get to me. lol

I sympathize with the mall owner, and he wasn't really rude, just a little frustrated.

Poor guy!

That was plain out rude.. He has the right to refuse to remove the wall, but geeze.. just say it's our policy to not rearrange stalls and show them to a nice corner booth. If they don't want it, refund their money.

I would suggest posting that you don't re-arrange stalls though. People in SL don't realize what one business or object does, does not mean another business or object does the same thing.

I have a few people who buy one our our products and IM saying they're trying to do such and such and why isn't it working when nowhere on the object does it say it will do that. I politely say. I'm sorry our product does not support that feature, would you like a refund? We get lots of referrals from people I've given refunds to. So I loose that nickel.. OH NOES..

as mama always said stupid is as stupid does

and He indeed loose a long term renter my clothing designer friend rents in many malls and knows many many other designers.

Sure what he did was rude but i can see the frustration that Starax brought up.

I also think the renter was a little bit rude too.

Why go to his girlfriend with the initial request instead of him directly? Who knows, to him that could have been the point of irritation - the renter circumventing rather than go him directly with the request.

It's very much the same in the Real World these days. Customer Service seems to be a forgotten, or soon-to-be-forgotten, skill. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've been treated rudely in stores or at resturants or over the phone, and the times I've finally had to resort to threats and loud displays of frustration, to get anything done.

I remember a time when bad customer service was the exception and would be so very noticable. But now it is the rule, and great customer service is the refreshing suprise.

It's children acting like children, or adults with no social skills.

Your friend is better off finding out what these people are like before she setup her shop there and became a captive audience.

Take your business elsewhere, and dontcha worry yourself about rude people. The economy will take care of them eventually.

Troy

PS. Thanks for relating your experience, I think the community needs to see themselves in the eyes of others. Lately, I see a lack of this ability -- to be able to see what other people see in your words and actions.

I just remembered an encounter with another SL prima donna whom I thought was incredibly rude. Not too long ago I decided to look at some flex prim hair to see what creative styles members were creating. I visited one store where I decided to purchase an item which as I stated previously I dont frequently do now.

I paid the vendor for the hair and there was some malfunction where the vendor did not deliver the item. After checking to make sure there was no fake alpha prim scam etc going on I messaged the owner to inform her the vendor was not delivering the items.

I tell you this woman gets my vote for rude arrogance. When you message her you get a reply saying dont message her you will be automatically blocked. Then when you read her profile its filled with arrogant garbage about how NOT to speak to her and warnings about being blocked for the terrible infraction of daring to speak to LA PRIMA DONNA.

Her profile also included complicated instructions about how to click on this and then that and open this window to access a group in order to leave a message for her, none of which worked when I tried it.

The only method left for contacting her was to pass her a note, which I did. In the note I let her know that her customer service sucked and told her that her vendor did not deliver my item and that her bizarre system for daring to communicate with LA PRIMA DONNA failed to work as well.

Her reply? None, except to edit her profile to include a comment about how she deserved to have fun in SL and not be bothered. What an ass.

I believe it was because the GF was the one who was the contact yet had to keep going to him for the answers The Renter kept being told I will ask my BF when he comes on tonight and let you know and then when the gf said I'm sure he will happily refund you.... she IMed him and asked for the refund the Renter didnt think it would be a problem let alone she get a really rude note too.

I don't see what the frustration he could have had. True it's his mall and he can have it the way he wants and if he didnt want to move a wall that is ok but sending a rude note like she got was uncalled for! And if he didnt need or want her L's then why keep any??

And I wonder how you think the Renter was rude not haveing been there or involved in the situation? All she did was request a wall be removed how is that being rude... Renters do it all the time it isnt something new to sl so hmmm rude I dont see how she was

People have bad days but that is a poor excuse to be sarcastic and rude to anyone.

Being a fairly big business clothing designer my self I find that behavior completely and utterly reprehensible. Some one with that kind of attitude I can assure you will piss off a great many people.

I personally go out of my way on my profile to encourage people to call me if there is a problem.

I sell 100’s of items every day and get very few calls for customer service or problems.

So I can’t even imagine why she would have such a policy other than that she is just a bitter bitchy person.

I agree. Most of the customer-service messages I get are either suggestions/requests, which I always appreciate, or people who didn't notice something was No Transfer and wanted to give it as a gift, which I'll always help with.

The only other complaints or requests I've gotten have been things that resulted from either my own (most often) or SL's mess-ups, which I need to know about to fix them. (Wrong price, wrong items, wrong permissions, etc etc...) I always appreciate the customer responses, good or bad, because it allows me to make something better or to know what's working.

As a merchant in SL, I think it's the wrong attitude to take that you're doing anyone a favor by making anything. They're under no obligation to pay you or thank you for that service, though of course, it's always nice to hear the feedback and/or to be paid for the service.

Your customers are your livelihood. Without them, you'll be another broke artist with a chip on their shoulder. You don't have to set things for Sale to be the latter, so don't bother if you don't want to deal with customers.

Wow. You let her know there was a malfunction with her equipment. I would think a thank you would be in order. I'm amazed how some people manage to sell anything sometimes. I hope she at least gave you your money or the merchandise.

I did not say her request was rude and did not mean to imply it. By the inital post I read it as she went to talk to his girlfriend rather than just speak to him directly. My comment on the frustration was if he felt he was being circumvented from the process which he, as the land owner, is responsible for. Sort of like if I went to your mother to ask if you would do something for me rather than just ask you myself.

Sorry, did not realize that from the initial post. Ugh, then that is just bad customer service from the start! If you are the landlord you need to be available for your tenants; not make them go a round about way to get any message to you.

well some designers HAVE to redirect their customer support elsewhere (i do , i have a forum just for it and a group with a load of helpfull persons), i know a designer that actually pay a customer service group to help her customers. as for the rudeness in the profile, i am sorry but there are two problems:
A: if not written in caps peoples don't bother to read it
B: if you give instructions most peoples think they personally don't have to follow them (and IM you anyway).

I can understand this, because heh, if you get IM over IM, nothing get ever done.

And for the customer support, if some customer could feel a bit less "i am everything", because honestly in RL you pay for customer support, and i don't think the cut for customer support on items in SL is anything comparable to RL customer support wages.

Customers, please be a little kind too as many designers in SL are here to relax too.

I am a little fish in a big pond and i know it.... having said that... here goes



**customer service farming** I'm aware that it becomes necessary at some point to outsource customer service.... fine... i have no problem with this... but.... i believe that the hair maker in question has some finer points of human relations to work on...

what comes across as a "screw you" profile, could ***Easily*** be made into a "thank you very much for your interest in ____________. Due to the sheer volume of products sold, it has become necessary for me to hire customer service help. They are a great group of pople and you can get in contact with them by _________________. again, thanks for your interest and your business."


what i just typed took me about 15 seconds ... what is in the profile that i believe to be the one mentioned probably took him/her half an hour to think through and complicate.


You can say exactly the same thing two ways... nicely or rudely. The choice is ALWAYS yours.


***the original post issue*** I own a mall.. and i have done MUCH more than move a wall to accomodate a customer as good as the one that this happened to (yes i know her well). I have very very few rules in my mall and STILL my rental rules sheet is long and wordy... i want to make sure that folks know what they are getting into when they rent from me. I have gone to the mall in question and looked... and the space in question IS a corner spot and it IS differnt than the other corner spots... the request made was not an unreasonable one. Given that, even though it was a reasonable request that made asthetic sense to grant, he has a right to make his land look and feel as he chooses!!!! but refering to my other paragraph... he has a choice.... nice or rude... the choice was his... he made it. Now the folks involved have choices to make as well, and they will.


In the end, sometimes the nice guy loses. It's a fact. Not a pleasant fact, but a fact. However..... sometimes, the nice guy also wins.


The person to whom this happened has handled themselves throughout the ordeal with grace and dignity and those of us who call her friend are even more proud now to know her than we already were.

It's so easy to judge who's the bad guy or not in this forums. I wish I could say about the mall renter being a horrid person and all but I haven't heard his side of the story. Only one side so far. I own a huge shop in Caledon with extra space and I have a few friends who share space with me, but I've also turned down people, rather politely in my opinion and yet be accused of being a rude selfish bitch. And lets face it, misunderstanding happens a lot between renters and tenants, customers and shop owners.

I'm not even going to argue about it being okay to bitch at your customers. No, it's wrong. 'Nuff said. But I'm not going to automatically assume that person A is a horrid person and all that. I'd like to get the whole story first before passing judgement. You never know what could have happened, like example the BF getting the information from GF coached in a different way. I mean it's a whole world of difference from:

"Hon, there's a bitch in stall A who's complaining about her space. She wants that wall in her stall out asap or else she finds somewhere else to rent."

Or

"Hon, there's someone who's asking if you could take down the wall in her vendor space. If not she might consider leaving and asking for a refund."

I'm not saying it did happen but it can, and it has for some people. Sometimes the misunderstanding happen in the way statements was given in the beginning. We may not mean it that way but it may have be understood or comes out differently.


I guess what I'm saying is that misunderstandings happen. However judging a person or a situation without really understanding the whole situation doesn't really help things at all and in fact just makes it even worse.