Land on private sim revoked

I purchased a parcel of land on a new Sim at the beginning of June with bad gut feelings but thought that "Friends wouldn't rip friends". The piece had no covenant and the owner asked that I pay through Paypal, which I did immediately. I had no use for this land but because my friends had over extended themselves by purchasing the entire sim, I thought I would help out.

Two days after the payment went through, the owner transferred the land to me, only to revoke it back the next day. I queried this for several days before the owner answered and asked me to come and buy it back, this time having to agree to a covenant. I wasn't so keen on this but what could I do? The payment had already been made. I tried to file a dispute with Paypal so that the owner could have their land back and I my money and all would be square. Paypal cancelled the dispute because the goods were virtual. I have tried to email them a number of times and received no response.

In the covenant I agreed to when I had to buy the land back the first time, it said that adult animation (aka sex balls) left in the open were not allowed. I hosted a yardsale for some friends and a couple of them put some down. That is the only time I have ever received a fast reaction from the owners. So, when the Paypal thing failed, I put out a bunch of balls in an attempt to use the owners covenant against them. It stated that breach of this rule would result in 3 warnings, after which the land would be reclaimed and only the full purchase price would be refunded. This didn't happen.

After I put them there, the owners returned them. When I tried to go back to my land, I discovered that I had been banned from the Sim and the land had been reclaimed once again. I received no money back from the owners. I also found that they had changed their covenant to say that if land was reclaimed, the plot owner would only receive what the Sim owner got once it was resold, less any tier fees and any other charges incurred by the Sim owner. This was not in the covenant when I signed up for the land.

I tried a number of times to contact the owners, but received no response. I got no warnings. I sent them a notecard last week asking them to abide by their own rules and to return my original purchase price as per their own covenant but I've heard nothing back. The new tier for this land is due in a couple of days and I don't know whether to pay it and hope that the owners, who were once friends, will be decent and fulfill their obligation, whether I can report this to LL somehow or if I should just write the $200+ that I lost in the purchase down to being scammed.

Anyone have any advice for me please?

It is so hard to advise when only one side of the story is known though it does sound like a hard lessons being learned by both of you with neither really being intentionally evil (though trying to break the covenant kinda puts you in a weird position).

What I would do is arrange a time to chat with your friends and get it all sorted out. The best outcome is you keep your friends and sort out a good solution re: the land.

Good luck.

Never PAY for Private Island Land, you can RENT IT with no purchase fee up front from any of Anshe's 600+ sims. NEVER EVER pay for 'rental' land

If they've banned you and reclaimed the land, I can't see paying tier.

...this is why I won't own on a private sim until the day when the server side goes open source and I'm able to just buy my own server and plug into the grid.

I feel for ya, man, but it goes to one of my main rules in business in both L's...

"Don't trust anyone you can't punch" (i.e. someone you can't physically see)

As I understand it, you can revoke paypal transfers for virtual items and there is nothing anyone can do to stop you.

I've heard of a case where a paypal payment for TBUX (there.com dollars) was revoked inside of a 180 day window (6 months!)

That was a scam, but the point is, with paypal, in some instances a revoked payment can reach right into the seller's bank account and take cash back.

Nonsense. It just depends what your looking for. There are, indeed, many situations where paying for the land is perfectly acceptable.

Consider this a very pricey learning opportunity: always listen to that nagging voice that says "something is not right".

I agree with you. I already have a piece on an island sim and the sim owner is fantastic. It doesn't cost me any more than mainland, I'm protected from casinos and malls and the like and I have every privelage I would have on the mainland.

I know we're not allowed to mention names if we're talking against someone on here, but can we praise someone using their name? I would totally recommend this guys' sims if you want to buy an island plot.

Excellent advice. My biggest problem in both lives is that I'm too trusting. Hopefully I'll keep this lesson this time.

Nonsense. There are scammers selling space on islands, but there are also plenty of honest people too.

(such as me)

Estate land has worked very well for me; again, it is who the Estate Manager is that makes all the difference.

I have just phoned Paypal for the second time and there is nothing they can do. The operator said that Paypal basically "wipes its' hands" from transactions for virtual items. He said that if I could find out exactly what has happened in other instances, I might have more footing with them but as it stands now, there is nothing they can do.

Interesting.

As little as 2 years ago, I'd heard of a case where money was recovered (wrongfully!) through paypal and due to the states involved, one had a six month revocation allowance policy - something akin to a credit card fraud stop-payment.

I'm no expert, but as I understand it, even with credit cards unless there is a point of sale signature and a receipt, the onus is on the seller to prove that the transaction was valid, and paypal (so I heard, via the distress of my scammed friend) backed that up to the hilt.

Maybe I should have just told them that it was an unauthorised transaction?