In Latin, this means “Let the buyer beware”. Sadly, this lesson is usually one that we must learn the hard way.
I consider myself a seasoned shopper here in Second Life. I have an extensive inventory, filled with clothing, shoes, hair and jewelry from many of the best designers in SL. I have purchased textures, gadgets, furniture and art. I have purchased many, many things. Occasionally, there is a glitch in the SL asset system. Stuff happens. If this rare glitch does happen, I send a note card to the creator. I do this rather than send an IM, because many times, IM’s are capped. If the creator is on line, I usually hear from them within moments. If they are not logged on, I will hear from them within hours. I have never had to contact a creator more than once to have a problem rectified.
On December 21, 2007, I went to Earthtones Muse location – owned and operated by Lucas Lameth. I made a purchase of a necklace and earring set selling for 299L. I was excited about attending a holiday party, and planned to wear this with my ensemble. After making this purchase, I purchased four additional items. When I checked my inventory, I found that the four additional items I bought had been delivered to my inventory, but the necklace earring set had not been. I logged off and cleared my cache. Still no jewelry. I logged on the SL website and located the transaction, which I copied and pasted to a note card, and dropped this note card to Mr. Lameth. I had hoped that I would hear from him before I had to dress for the gala, but I did not. Disappointed as I was, I am always prepared, I simply went to plan B, choosing another necklace/earring set to wear that evening.
24 hours later, I have 299L less in my account, and nothing to show for it. I sent him another note card, including the same information as before.
Another 24 hours go by. No necklace, no earrings, no word from Mr. Lameth. Another note card sent. This time, I sent a duplicate request to his associate and partner, Manna Rosewood.
Another 24 hours pass…Yadda yadda yadda. Now, I am getting grouchy.
Christmas comes and goes. The day after Christmas comes and goes. No jewelry, no contact from the creator. I am logged on late…and a little blue window on the lower right hand corner of my screen appears! Mr. Lameth has accepted my inventory item!! He’s received all my note cards!!! At long last, this problem will be taken care of!!!!
Well, I am here to tell you…to date, I have not only NOT received the item that I purchased, I have not heard one solitary word from Mr. Lameth or his associate Manna Rosewood. I am no longer disappointed, I am no longer grouchy. I am downright pissed off.
This is the worst service I have ever received here in Second Life. I would rather be here telling you about Mr. Lameth’s jewelry, but instead I am advising you to reconsider purchasing anything from this creator. Not because of inferior quality, because of inferior customer service. It makes no difference how wonderful your product is if you cannot or will not deliver it to the customer.
Allow me to share what I found on Mr. Lameth’s profile:
”Hello, please drop me a notecard if you have questions or concerns about anything you've purchased from EARTHTONES. I'll help as you as soon as possible and if I don't respond I did not recieve your message. Please try again!”
Now, from Ms. Rosewood’s profile:
“*Questions or Concerns regarding EARTHTONES may equally and welcomingly be addressed by myself*”
Well, been there, done that, again and again and again. All I have to show for it is an entry in my account transactions that deducts 299L. Let Mr. Lameth show me an entry in his that show he delivered.
So, I will close as I opened this blog. Caveat Emptor.
3 comments:
If your notecards have been recieved there is no excuse for this bad customer service.
Last night I bought a pair of shoes from FNKY which never appeared in my invent I left it until i was about to log off to be sure they were not just delayed, I took a screenshot of my transaction history put it on a notecard along with a description of the problem, within 2 hours I received inventory from Funk Schnook, no questions asked and an apology for the delivery problem. Thats customer service!
A lot of shop owners could learn from him, this shop included!
Many thanks Mr Schnook.
That's a sucky situation we all get stuck in at times. I like to think that it's simply a case of someone on the other end having a bad day, or forgettign they recieved the notecard, or whatever...but then, I like to see the good in everyone, so...
I had a similar situation a few months back in which I bought a no mod outfit. Well, that's ok..except it was made for a stick figure and looks dumb on even my tiny SL thighs (which are still too big for the skirt)
Sent notices to the creator, and the owner of the store. Twice. No response. In this case I'm *hoping* it's jsut a matter of my notecard getting lost (at least int he case of the store owner) because I've never had any trouble with her in the past, and her store is VERY popular, but... it's annoying.
i hapen to know lucas lameth, and he hasn't been in Second Life for a long time now due to his time being spent in another game. he is in my friends list and a fellow group member in filipino. Please don't think this is bad customer service on his part, just gotten carried away on another game other than SL. i am sure he will get back to SL when he remembers.
Earthtones has long been widely known in sl. I'm sure lucas won't sacrifice what he has worked hard to establish to ignore your plea for help.
as for manna rosewood, i cannot vouch for her.
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