Need input regarding shop owner behavior

Please PM me with the name as well.

Thanks.

The attitude simply was uncalled for.

However, I too suffer from Chip's complex of wanting to be available to help and very friendly, but if I ask if someone needs something, they just run away! So, I have a policy, make myself available by IM or email. Usually, it's just an item that didn't get sent on, or some other form of misunderstand, but hey, this is a NICE change from what I used to deal with in RL customer support!

Also, one of the things I found is that if you can sound cheerful answering the phone, it takes a pretty hard hearted person to be a jerk to you! Works in SL too!

Edit: I think the closest I've ever been to frustrated sounding to any (without good cause), was during the weekend, when everything kept going wrong. I wasn't in my shop, though and all I said was, "I'm so sorry, I'm having a really bad day right now, because none of the changes I'm making are sticking. I'm going to log off for a bit, before I get really entertaining in my creative cursing."

I also stunned a person by responding to an IM via the reply in email, letting them know that I was offline, but I had got their message and would be on the next day to help them properly.

I'm glad it's not just me!

I kinda have the opposite problem. There are lots of times when I just need to fly in and take care of one thing real quick, and if someone is there I forget to say hello because I'm only there for like a minute. Normally though I say hello and ask if they need anything. Never felt like that scared people off; the couple times people have tp'd immediately after that without saying anything, I figure they were looking for the landmark to teleport to and didn't notice me. I have had the reaction Rocky mentioned, that to some people it's like meeting an SL celebrity, which amuses me; how is it surprising to meet someone in their own store?

I know what you mean, Rocky and Johan. In many cases, though, I don't really think it is quite like celebrity - it seems to be more of admiration for your work, and maybe for some, wondering how anyone could do that.

coco

Hee--not just you. I used to run over if I saw someone in my shop (my workspace is overhead). I'd do the "let me know if you have any questions" bit, and yes, most of the time they would run off!

But really, although I make enough to pay for SL and my graphics programs, I am fair certain I make less than minimum wage in SL. So why do I run a shop? Because I like chatting with people and sharing creations. It gives me a HUGE charge when someone sends me a snapshot of themselves in one of my outfits or vehicles. Really, it's about the customers--if you don't like people, maybe you ought not be a SL merchant.

I've been running my little shop for a few weeks now, why aren't I a celebrity yet?

When noobs are polite and friendly (not hounding for sex etc), helping them out can be loads of fun. I find I get a nice, warm fuzzy feeling from doing somthing nice for someone and I get to be up on my high horse a little bit too, passing on all the little nuggets of wisdome I've picked up in my time in SL.

However, I havn't been anywhere near my little shop for a while now. Even in SL, running a business can get stressful when things are't going your way. Snapping at someone for asking what you might see as a pointless question is understandable if you're under alot of stress, lets not condemn someone for what is most likely a one off mistake

Vale

I can see why the store owner was annoyed. With the mass influx of noobs the amount of potential customers with questions has increased greatly, but then so have sales so it is to be expected. Obviously if I am approached by a customer with a question I will answer whist remaining polite and helpful. But im still annoyed that i've been taken away from my building. I put up a large sign/billboard a few months back, basically a FAQ in an attempt to answer peoples questions and to provide basic information about both my product and the game (i.e. how permissions work, how prim counts work etc). Since then, my IM's have dropped to almost zero and im still seeing an overall growth in sales month on month. If I was you I would create a note card with your customer feedback and send it to the store owner. be polite and keep your criticism constructive. I would also include a link to this thread for their reference. A long time ago i got such a note card from someone who had lots of complaints, images are large and wont rez, text in store was hard to read, i should offer this product etc or should do this differenlty. When I received it I was not impressed, but after a while I took the criticism to heart and looked at my business again in an effort to address these issues. They were right. The worst that can happen is the store owner gets aggitated and responds to you but you can just mute them, knowing you have done a good deed for the day, even if the store owner doesn't realise it yet.

Being too helpful has it's downsides- I once spent so long helping a new person figure out what she wanted that another customer basically IM'd me to say my CS sucked and she was telling all her friends so.

I also had someone who hadn't so much as picked up a free skybox from my store cuss me out because he didn't like how my vendor was set up, and then later because I wouldn't rewrite my whole house control system to work with some door script he found. That kind of thing is pretty tiring. Of course he was a "big developer" and was going to tell all his "big developer friends" not to do business with me. That kind of spiteful blackmail approach I have no time for at all.

It's true that nobody reads the signs, but I answer the questions all the same- I may smile and say they can confirm that on the vendor display . It's also true that far too many,eg, fashion sellers don't state the permissions and clothing layers on their products either, so given that I don't like to bug people, I usually just save my money instead. So it's worth remembering that someone asking a question, is someone interested in spending money with you.

I have five metre tall signs telling people about the extra viewing platforms with the teleports right in plain view but they all still congregate (and argue and then I guess leave having a bad experience) at the first one. I'll figure it out some day.

I know what people mean when they say it's kind of cool to see a store owner and also about the feeling bugged by sales people. I always thought it was nice to see the owner of a store when I visited- a nice reminder someone real worked on all that stuff, not just an empty warehouse, but I'm like Chip- in RL I hate being latched onto by salespeople so in SL like the second thing I say after "Hi!" when I wander round my store, is "Don't mind me"

So I try my best, but I'm also not a faceless employee in a sharp suit, so I tend to not respond well to rude behaviour. Likewise there's a limit to how much you get to push someone around for the sake of a 30c virtual thinger.

A very good reason not to cuss out a customer for "not reading the signs" (besides being rude) is that a *lot* of my customers are not native English speakers- and I'm genuinely reminded of my own shortcomings when people from Germany, the Netherlands, France, etc speak English for my benefit.

I don't want to help customers. I can't be bothered to take customer service requests by IM or directly in chat, and I certainly do not see any point in showing people where stuff is that they can buy from me.

... Therefore, I don't run a shop!

However, I absolutely love playing tour-guide whenever I notice I have new visitors at my place, showing off all the crazy rides I've created. Just Search for megabux - start at the Sky Platform for giant slides, then explore the other rides, both on the rooftop and inside.

Yeah I've noticed that too, the influx of other europeans into the game recently is massive. I am curently working on providing information in a variey of european languages in addition to Mandarin in an attempt to support customers further

Hmm, not to play devil's advocate role here, but I agree that the shop owner reaction was pretty rude and uncalled for, anyway picking up the torches and burning him/her at the stakes seems too much to me.

We all have bad days and I don't think I have to add anything more. Should I learn the name of that shop owner, what would I do?

If he/she's someone I don't know, I would take a look at the shop. If I like the stuff and the price is right, would I buy there? Definitely, yes.

If he/she's someone I know, then he/she may be someone I already dislike. Or maybe someone I like, or someone I'm neutral to. Anything goes, but it would take more than one negative report to modify a neutral/positive stance.

Sorry for the mess, I don't know if you'll see my point, I'm in a hurry now

I see your point, and I fully agree. In this case, as in most similar cases, the best thing for the displeased customer to do is simply not shop there, if it was that offensive. A polite notecard, as was previously suggested, to the shop owner isn't a bad idea either, you never know - You might just make a new friend. I don't necessarily agree with the idea of spreading bad publicity around about the shop owner. If this is standard behavior for this person, they are handily tarnishing their own reputation, and don't need your help doing it.

Alternatively, perhaps they were just having a bad day, and had reached the peak of their frustration. It isn't appropriate in either case, but neither is retaliation, and let's face it, this is an issue between two people, and that's where it should be left. Telling all your friends and acquaintances what a terrible experience you had really just amounts to "getting even". It doesn't solve anything, and it doesn't add anything positive to your own experience or reputation either.

*giggles* we should start a group!

I love spending time in my shop and meeting the people who come by (and ive met a few very special friends that way), but I hate being pestered or watched when im shopping so im very carefull to keep put of my customers way

Are you absoultely sure the person who was being rude to you was the shop owner? I ask because I've heard of people posing as shop employees and owners and then being rude to customers. It's very easy to create your own group with tags that say you're the store owner of a particular store. The only way to be 100% sure that it was the store owner is if that person is listed as the creator of the objects.

In a similar vein, I once fiddled with my land a bit and forgot to turn autoreturn back on, couple of hours later I was IM'd by a customer saying someone was setting up a little freeby reselling stall right next to the rez point and had placed gambling machines next to my lucky chairs, I challenged him as he was doing something in the main body of my shop with a stream of particles from him to a product box (I can only presume he was placing invisi prims).

Lucky for me, a few customers spotted him straight away and informed me.

Are you willing to post the text, or better yet send it to me in-world? That might be a good idea for any store.


Oh yeah, I say that a lot too. In particular if I'm going to be moving stuff around, I don't want my customers to be alarmed.

Virrginia Tombola who posted previously is a PERFECT example of someone who "gets it." The other night I made a mistake in a purchase. It was My mistake. I IMed her and she cheerfully fixed the problem. She now has a VERY loyal repeat customer!!

WOW I am shocked at the response! Thank you everyone for your input and I have considered all sides.

People have IMed me for the shop name, and I am answering the masses of people who did so. AS I said though, I won't post the name here, I am not a griefer and don't want to be thought of as one.

I am glad to have the support of fellow SLers on this issue.

I hope to see all of you in world. IM me if you ever want to talk.

All of us have been new at onepoint or another and we all have been helped by people. I am thankful that I had some friends on THERE chat who talked me into coming here and they helped me immensely, giving me items and money and then Off I went, and i dont think i ever found my way back to them me and my dang rubber necking at everything.

anyway as a merchant, I have helped a pretty good number of people along, sometimes I may be busy but I always try to help in the small ways, and some of my best customers today are the ones I helped in some small way and who remember the way i treated them with kindness and ALSO respect.

Anyone who does not provide you STELLAR service shouldnt be shopped from again.

I must note that you only quoted the first half of what i said and that the rest of my post explained how i agree this particular shop owner did the wrong thing. I agree with you that some shop owners go out of their way (bend over backwards) to help newbies. I honor them for that. it shows they have what it takes to face this crowd. I on the other hand do not have the will to face it. I just want to do my part of make SL look good and earn something for it. i do help customers, but i created a FAQ section in my web profile to answer many questions i get asked. Usually nobody reads it but it's there.

This gives me something to point them at though. I never treat a customer badly, nor have the intention of doing so. I understand how it is to be new. I was once new myself. While i may have picked up everything within my first week in SL, i don't expect ALL people to be as capable. Being a busy person most of my SL, and having a relationship too, i can't always be here to help. I try when i can, but that isn't promising much.

In some cases since i created a vendor system, my name is marked on that vendor as it's creator. Some newbies tend to check who CREATED the vendor instead of who OWNED it. This can be confusing for them since their new. They probably think that whoever created this stuff is also who made the vendor. So i have to deal with other merchant's wares a lot. I usually tell the customer to go back and recheck that vendor and IM the owner about the problem. I had a plan of making a vendor system which is only 1 script that you drop into a link of 3 prims that you own and have it shape those prims into a vendor unit, but i doubt many people would know how to use it.

Hi Khilah,
I am sorry to hear about your bad shopping experience, there isn't much you can do about it, other than never go there again, and tell your friends what happen, anything else could get you into trouble.
Being a shop owner myself, helping and acknowledging my customers, new and old is the number one key to success, especially in SL...
Good luck with your future shopping experiences =)

As a shop owner myself I am sorry that happen to you. IM Kaylonni Horsefly and I will give you a landmark to my shop Friends & Family Creations. Stop by anything and I will answer all the questions you have. If I don't have what you are looking for I can create it or help you find it elsewhere.

I started into the shop business in January and have been very pleased to have met some good friends who were shopping. We all know that sometimes LL's servers are screwy and objects aren't always transferred after the $ is paid. It happens with land quite often. Can you imagine not making things right for your customer???

I started the shop because some buddies thought my cowboy hats I made for myself were cool. I started selling them as a sidelight to my furniture store, but now, the hats make up 90% of my sales. I have been fortunate to have a number of repeat customers and I will go out of my way to make a purchase right and enjoyable for the customer. Now none of my hats are over 50L so price isn't generally an issue, but it always intrigues me how impressed some customers are when you cheerfully give them a refund if they are unhappy with the product.

Back in early February, I marked down a number of items in my furniture store. One of those was a lamp that was common to seeral areas of the store. While reviewing my transactions, I noticed that I had not priced the lamps equally even though they were identical. I then proceeded to cull through my transactions list to find all of the customers that had bought the lamp version that was priced 5L higher than the others. I then paid each of them 5L and followed up with an IM apologizing for my pricing error. My time and the 40 or so L's were very worthwhile and I gained alot of future sales from that.

The point is....... customer service works, both in RL and in SL.

I can sympathise with Yiffy.

Way back when I was paying SL (rather than the other way round) I never once took any attitude that I should be treated like royalty because I spent 20 cents in someone's boutique. I considered (and still do) the creators to be artists, craftspeople, not faceless sales staff. OK I generally didn't IM anyone more because I'm not pushy and I tend to just shrug or fix things myself, but the point is I didn't have some attitude that I should expect to be waited on and pampered like royalty for the bestowing the honour of a few hundred L$ on something.

I do what I can to be pleasant and helpful, but I don't take well to bullies or liars, and I answer so many IMs about building that I should hold classes or something. So by all means exercise some consumer power, and don't give money to people who are clearly rude or obnoxious, but I wouldn't personally bust someone's chops because they like to spend their time quietly creating things, then put them in boxes for sale. Same as I don't go to the local pottery or craft store in real life and start throwing my weight around- I respect the artisan too much.

You're not usually buying some factory manufactured widget from some corporation- you're dealing direct with the creator themselves in almost all cases.