HAY GUYS JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED THE BIG SIGNS:
Elika’s having computer trouble, lots of it, and has been for a while. She can’t log into SL. She can’t access much, but if you send her an email she’ll get back to you when she can… because WHEN has Elika ever forgotten about her customers?
And no, the CS reps don’t really know much more about the situation than we do.
Sounds reasonable to me…
I’m not even sure what the windmill being tilted at is here…
hahahaha read SLU
Basicly some customers are dignuses who dont seem to realise THEY ARNT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD
I feel for Elika, I have had this happen to me too! Unfortuniately I was only able to resolve it by buying a shinny new “all singing all dancing” PC!
Re-read the post and hit the link at the top.
No offense, but I find it hard to believe that Elika can’t get her pc fixed or get a new one what with all the money she makes on SL, and I’m not the only one who thinks that.
OMG that is ridiculous. A computer is expensive and it’s not like she probably only lives and breathes ETD and SL.
Where is all the common sense these days? Poor girl.
I’m sorry, but I read through that thread on SLU and I can’t believe the amount of business owners who say “It’s just a buck, get over it.”
I won’t comment on Elika’s situation since I dont know it. I think posting a sign like she did is fair way to warn customers, and her reputation is good enough that I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.
But…
I don’t fault the OP for being pissed about having to wait over a month for a delivery. She doesn’t know, nor should she be expected to know or care about the storeowner’s personal situation. She paid her money, so she deserves to get what she paid for. Simple as that. It doesnt matter if its $.67 or $67,000.
Really, its not about ETD at all, but its about the attitude of many store owners on SLU that “its only a dollar, so get over it.”
Try this in RL: Get a job in a convenience store, and as you’re ringing people up for little things like gum and candy and sodas, randomly charge but dont give someone something they paid for. Then when they complain, say: “Its only a dollar. Get over it.” See how well that works out in the real world.
Christiano compares the situation to a vending machine eating your dollar, and suggests that you just feed in another dollar. But have you ever actually *seen* vending machines that eat dollars? They tend to get kicked, and hard.
Here was an interesting exchange that I found very revealing:
[/quote]
Joshua Nightshade: I like to laugh when I get demands and threats from people because SL borked their $0.67 avatar and they can’t wait a few hours for me to get home from work to login, check transaction records and resend.
Bams: I’m not talking about someone bitching after a few hours. I’m talking about weeks without response from the owner. This is obviously not the same situation.
Joshua Nightshade: It’s the same level of entitlement off of the same amount of money.
Do me a favor and pls don’t buy my avatars, kthx
[/endquote]
And somehow Bams came out as the bad guy?
Here is a business owner mocking a customer’s sense of entitlement for simply wanting what they paid for and that’s perfectly ok. But the OP is an asshole for having a toilet mouth.
Hey Joshua, if someone has PAID you money for something, they don’t have a level of entitlement. They actually *are ENTITLED* to receive what they paid for. The Store Owner has an OBLIGATION to deliver. It doesn’t matter how small the amount of money is. That’s just basic business.
And speaking of “entitlement”, just what is so special about your virtual doodads that you are “entitled” to even $.67 for them? The fact that you don’t respect that some stranger took $.67 out of their pocket and gave it to you for a copy your digital tchotchke makes me wonder if you even deserve that much.
Never forget that people are paying us very real money for things that nobody actually NEEDS. To belittle that by saying “its only a dollar”, as if you are so certain your stuff is worth so much more, is extremely arrogant and its an insult to every customer.
Here’s some more doozies (the thread was full of them. Its too bad it was locked so soon):
[/quote] It’s not our damn fault your hair didn’t deliver, and certainly not Elika’s. She’s BUSY, get that through your head. [/endquote]
Are you really serious? If the business owner doesn’t take responsibility for her products, then who should? Linden? puhleeze! As store owner, if you are accepting money for your goods, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure it gets delivered. Imagine if your new Dell laptop got lost in shipping and they just said “Sorry, take it up with UPS”. They wouldnt remain in business very long.
[/quote] I’m sort of excited that today I learned: If you have a business in a virtual environment that requires a computer capable of accessing said virtual environment to actually participate in the running of the business, having your computer quit working is a “bullshit excuse.” [/endquote]
It would kind of be like being a cab driver and having your cab break down. Except in this case, you’d still be taking fares but not actually taking anyone anywhere.
[/quote]
I see a couple of things:
1) there is no guarantee of service in SL. You can demand it all you want, but it may not be there.
2) the purchases typically are a few dollars worth. It is not a big deal. You can’t compare $250 and 250L as you have above.
3) Shop owners in SL cannot be compared to RL. No one should share their password or full permission virtual items.
4) Shop owners are allowed to put RL before SL. This is a natural right.
5) SL is not real. We can imagine that it is real but it is not. The whole or any part of SL can dissapear at anytime. You have no rights.
[/endquote]
Sorry, but the second you accept real money, you ARE a RL business, even if you’re only selling demon penises for $.50 each. Delivering on a purchase is NOT customer service, its fulfilling your obligation to your customer. Since when is simply delivering a product considered going “above and beyond”?
What I find really interesting about all of this is the huge double standard. When the issue is about our precious Intellectual Property, then all of a sudden SL is all srs bizness. “This is people’s livelihoods!” “You’re stealing the food from baby’s mouth!” But when it comes to something as basic and fundamental to business as delivering on a purchase, well then “its only 2 bucks. Get over it”
No wonder there are so many people out there who think that all of us store owners are greedy fuckers.
RL interrupts SL all the time. I can understand being angry over it, but it’s seriously “buyer beware” over there right now.
And it’s not like you can miss the signs. You REALLY CAN’T miss the signs.
Oh, I’m not faulting Elika at all. I totally understand that these things come up. I’m faulting the pooh poohing of the whole thing just because its only a couple dollars.
I just don’t think the OP was at all unreasonable in her rant. If its true that its taking her over a month to reply to delivery issues, then that’s something I want to know.
While I can certainly understand being bummed at not getting something that was purchased I think Bams came off looking rather unhinged because she was disproportionately upset and overreacted to some, in my opinion, very reasonable initial posts that simply disagreed with her.
The asset server fails quite often and transactions get dropped. It’s the nature of the beast and shop owners have to compensate this with their time (and time is money) to go through all the nondelivery notecards, double check transaction records, and drop the inventory on people. When you’re dealing with as much volume as Elika probably is, it’s likely a significant chunk of her day when the asset server is being especially naughty.
The thought that shop owners have to be tied to their computers 24/7 to immediately respond to customer issues for less than a price of a can of soda per item is ridiculous. I don’t go into McDonald’s expecting the same level of service for my $2 hamburger as I would get for a $300 meal at Robuchon. You get what you pay for.
RL issues will trump an SL store. If one has the luxury to have the free time sit on SL every waking hour, that’s fantastic for them and their customers, but the reality is that most people have to also balance a career, family, and other RL obligations with their SL. (God forbid someone wants to go on vacation for a couple of weeks and be *gasp* without an internet connection!) This should not prevent them from running a virtual shop if it’s what they choose to do. As long as it’s resolved at some point, people should learn a little patience.
It’s not like Bam or her friend will never get their hair and/or a refund. The sign clearly states that Elika will resolve all the issues as soon as she can get back online, I don’t care to speculate on the whys or hows of her technical problems. In the grand scheme of things, yeah it sucks not to get what you bought the second after you paid for it, but is it really worth one’s time to go cursing at strangers on a message board for 11 pages over it?
I would hate to be Elika and have to come back to all of this – positive or negative. I imagine the return to business, alone, will be staggering, but then all of this board and blog stuff would just be depressing.
Whatever it is keeping her away, I hope all is well (or getting there) in her world!
I agree that Bams came unhinged and basicly sank herself, but if you read the thread, that only really happened after Joshua’s reply which I quoted above. Up to that point her comments were actually pretty calm and on-topic. And his reply wasn’t reasonable. It was snotty and dickish and designed to goad her into a side argument, which it did quite well.
I went to ETD the other day and chanced it and bought some hair and had no problem. If I had well I would’ve waited to get it back. It’s good she put the signs up. HOWEVER, I’ve never heard of a pc problem that can’t be fixed for over one month!!! This is really quite extraordinary from a technical point of view. I would like to know who made her machine and/or who is doing maintenance on her pc so that I can avoid using those companies in the future.
If you ever read the second citizen forums before they closed down last year, you’d already know that josh is a major dickhead, there were pages and pages of his dramah pretty much every day
Hey, hey. No specific-people bashing, Arwen. Bad.
Well atleast theres a warning, but all They has to do is use a friends computer for a few hours to update the situation. is your second life that much a secret? Giggle
oh and thank god I read this, cause I tped to the store the other day wanting to buy something. Thank god I had to pee and signed off giggle
What’s up with the giggling? o.O
I hear ETD Isle is closed?
I was there yesterday and it was indeed closed. I went to the next sim and cammed over and there were no hairstyles left in the store….what’s going on?
thas very silent hmm maybe she has shut it due to this sort of thing of people going “weres my hair baitch” cant be that nice
Yeah, I’d shut my sim down too if people couldn’t read the signs.
Well that is good to know that something is being done. I don’t think a business should be allowed to stay open and take money from people if no one is there to respond to and help their customers if there is a problem. I do however think a group msg could have been sent as to what is going on and when or if it will be back, instead of just closing down without a peep.
Oh shit- I hope Elika is okay.
Why does elika always close down her store and pretend something is wrong and then when she reopens theres all this new hair and new hair textures? Why not just say “Hi, ETD will be temporarily closed while I work on new styles!”?
@Joshua Nightshade: “Joshua Nightshade: It’s the same level of entitlement off of the same amount of money.
Do me a favor and pls don’t buy my avatars, kthx”
Wow what a little bitch, I dont know who you are but i myself will be sure to stay away from your shop if i am ever in the need of an avatar.
Heh this exchange came to my attention today.
First, the “don’t buy my avatars” comment came after the person it was directed to “textually assaulted” myself and anyone else who thought that RL trumping SL was a reasonable assumption. It wasn’t directed to anyone in general but in reference to someone specific.
Secondly, SL is a hobby for me and many other content creators. The majority of us have real day jobs and do not derive significant income from SL. I don’t work for any resident in SL except from those who deliberately contract me for such. The products I sell don’t approach near to real-world values on similar work. By buying anything I sell, nobody has also purchased the ancillary rights to demand any aspect of my time or attention. I still go out of my way to help people and address concerns, but not because I HAVE to. It’s because I like to conduct myself as I wish to be responded to and to do otherwise would be bad karma. But people in SL seem to believe that they’re purchasing content on par with what they would get walking into a RL clothing store and it’s unreasonable and I make no apologies for anything I said in that thread, however out of context they were taken here.
Respect and politeness will get you significantly different responses in both SL and RL. Harassment and rude threats over something less than a dollar that was created in someone’s spare time doesn’t endear them to helping you out. So few people get that concept.
Josh;
This just tells me you don’t read SCD enough. <3