Why do Customers like to do this to Merchants?

[Lukeh Ghost]

I've had a couple of new products which are good and I like but a customer will rate it 1 star due to it being undelivered or delivered slowly?

 

I understand people have delievery problems on th marketplace but there are reseources for peopel to go to which normal says "items normally are delivered within 8hrs, otherwise you will be refunded in 24hrs."

Why do users not read up on why it's delivered and because they have the problems they give the product a 1 star review? That a kick in the shin for merchants no doubt as we have to put up with seeing a 1 start review tarnish the possibilty of a full 5 just because they have problems with the marketplace.

 

Anyway main focus of this post was more of a question to customers why do you do this to us merchants, instead of contacting us inworld because we don't get told of a review but a message in world or on profile walls we get?

And Merchants how do you handle this situation does this bother you as much as it does me?

And Linden Labs is it possible to put a little text above the reviews saying "Do not leave complaints about undelievered or Not recieved items as this isn't the merchants fault and stop acting like it's ebay!" (last section optional)

- Lukeh Ghost

[Ry0ta Exonar]

Add your comment on that review and flag it, then LL will remove it.

 

 

[Griffin Ceawlin]

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Lukeh Ghost wrote:

Why do users not read...

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I'm not a merchant, but... Laziness? Stupidity?

 

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"... stop acting like it's ebay!

"

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Don't you sometimes wish it was like eBay, and you could leave feedback for buyers? :smileywink:

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Customers don't care about you, they only wanted what they ordered

Customers don't read directions, instructions or warnings

Customers find it easier to give a one star review than it is to go through a big hassle to get what they ordered which they shouldn't have to.

Unfortunately, this is normal behavior for customers in SL, and in RL.  The problem is not the customers the problem is The Marketplace and until LL decides to fix this, then it will continue.

My understanding is that  If you resolve the problem and/or the merchandise was redelivered, you can flag the review and LL will remove it.

 

[Jennifer Boyle]

Amethyst got it right.  Customers want and expect, rightly, that their purchases, for which they have paid, will be delivered promptly.  When that doesn't happen, they get angry.  Wouldn't you?  They don't care whose fault it is; they just want the stuff they paid for.

[Zhoie Zimermann]

I actually spoke on the phone with LL and confirmed, about a year or so ago, that reviews do not get removed unless they are abusive. Unless they have changed their rules, i dunno. I had a similar unfair review tha had nothing to do with the quality of my product and they would not take it down, no way, no how. 

 

 

[Zhoie Zimermann]

Lukeh, it bothers me as much as it bothers you, Many consumers read the reviews and it could prevent them from buying our product if someone prior to them left an unfair review. What sadnens and upsets me are consumers that buy our products, don't read the instructions or are not very versed in SL at all, and assume the product does not work, then post this for all to see on our listing. Sure, we can post a comment but it's not very visible, this fact I have posted in form about previously. It's in small letters and you have to click on it to see what it says, really not visible at all. 

Well, ,there is not much we can do about this fact. LL called it freedom of speech that consumers should be able to post anything they want as long as it's not abusive. The fact that someone who didn't read the instuctions or didn't get their purchase, both of which are not our fault, can affect how much money we make in future is very upsetting. 

[JohnMiddlefield]

How many customers do you think ever read reviews or look at ratings? Very, very few.

[Piraiyah Novikov]

I know your pain.

As a full-perm sculpty seller I often receive bad reviews because I only delivered "rainbow textures", or, despite having a big fat "1 PRIM" text on both the product image, the product info AND description text, customers expected the sculpty to come in several parts. Or the time I got a 1-star review because the product apparantly wasn't suitable for furries.

There's a lot of unfair ignorant reviewing that isn't objective nor reasonable, and most of the times it would have been avoided if they read the description. Sometimes you just feel that you're on the receiving end of their need to take a dump on somebody on a bad day.

Sometimes I contact the buyer and try to have them change their review by spending lots of time editing the product so it fits their expectations, and sometimes I just remove the product if it gets too ugly and I realize I can't have a comprehendable discussion with the buyer.

A lot of merchants, especially some that comes from less privileged parts of the world, actually depend on the marketplace income. A little less cool/bad attitude and a little more constructive criticism wouldn't hurt anyone. =)

A big thanks to all customers who contact inworld instead of retreating to unfair reviews. You are the best! =)

[Spica Inventor]

I totally disagree there. The reviews make a big impact on sales. If they didn't, so many Mercants wouldnt be 'begging' for them all the time or getting their friends to fake a 5 star or two for them. ;-)

[Spica Inventor]

Well its probably a teenager thing. Kind of similiar to when those naive peeps who have alot of growing up to do naturally give you basically a good review and at the same time 'reward' you with three stars out of five. hehe ;-O

[Nataly Moonwall]

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Jennifer Boyle wrote:

Amethyst got it right.  Customers want and expect, rightly, that their purchases, for which they have paid, will be delivered promptly.  When that doesn't happen, they get angry.  Wouldn't you?  They don't care whose fault it is; they just want the stuff they paid for.

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Not agree with this. I have had problems with ítems not delivered from marketplace and instead get angry i just sent a polite notecard to the merchant explainning the issue. then merchant has resent the ítem and problem solved. People leaving bad reviews due ítems not received are just idiots, they can take the time to write the bad review instead give a chance to the merchant sending a notecard or IM...so, there are "customers" and "customers". For these stupid  people i would say: delivery issues are NOT FAULT of the merchants, do not pay with them your frustration for delivery failures of the MP system!

[Princess Verwood]

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Nataly Moonwall wrote:

Not agree with this. I have had problems with ítems not delivered from marketplace and instead get angry i just sent a polite notecard to the merchant explainning the issue. then merchant has resent the ítem and problem solved.

People leaving bad reviews due ítems not received are just idiots, they can take the time to write the bad review instead give a chance to the merchant sending a notecard or IM...so, there are "customers" and "customers". For these stupid  people i would say: delivery issues are NOT FAULT of the merchants, do not pay with them your frustration for delivery failures of the MP system!

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You are the idea customer that we'd all like to have each time a issue arises. Truth is that not every customer thinks in this manner. The one's who do leave the "I didn't get my item" reveiws probably figure it is the merchant themselves who is keeping the item hostage instead of the fact that the Marketplace just didn't deliver it.

[JohnMiddlefield]

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Spica Inventor wrote:

I totally disagree there. The reviews make a big impact on sales. If they didn't, so many Mercants wouldnt be 'begging' for them all the time or getting their friends to fake a 5 star or two for them. ;-)

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I do not doubt that some merchants are concerned about reviews and stars, but that does not necessarily mean that reviews and stars have an impact on sales. I shop a lot, or used to shop a lot on MP, until it became so borked. When I did, the only time I turned to reviews was when I was unsure about a product in that it was what it was presented to be; and that was not very often. Ask most shoppers if they ever check reviews, and you will receive a response like this: "Reviews? Where are those?"

[Spica Inventor]

If the stars are substandard such as 3 or below, then the reviews are checked almost certainly by THE BUYERS every time. You may not be all that concerned with how you throw your money around, but the vast majority are. And as I hope we all know,  fraud in S.L. is much more commonplace than in R.L. , so it stands to reason. ;-)

[JohnMiddlefield]

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Spica Inventor wrote:

If the stars are substandard such as 3 or below, then the reviews are checked almost certainly by THE BUYERS every time. You may not be all that concerned with how you throw your money around, but the vast majority are. And as I hope we all know,  fraud in S.L. is much more commonplace than in R.L. , so it stands to reason. ;-)

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The fact is, I don't throw my money around, and rarely has any MP merchant been dishonest in any way. I am more concerned about the permissions given by the merchants, than the star ratings that mean absolutely nothing in most cases.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

I don't often buy from the Marketplace, preferring to see what I'm buying in an inworld shop instead (even if it's just a picture; those pics on Marketplace are too small, most of the time, for me to see what I'm buying). But, like Spica, if an item on the Marketplace has few stars (and, being right under the price, it's very easy to see how many stars the item has gotten) I know that I should perhaps investigate further before making a purchase. And no, a bad rating that is clearly related to delivery issues doesn't sway my decision-making.

[Pamela Galli]

It would be fascinating if we had any data at all on this sort of thing -- what affects sales in general, reviews in particular.  What effect do bad reviews really have? I suspect one thing -- ppl may click on them more often just to read the negative review(s) indicated by the stars.  There is something in a negative review that piques curiosity more.

 

[Griffin Ceawlin]

That sounds like a survey that would actually be useful (for merchants, anyway), as opposed to the type that usually gets posted in the Forum. Maybe even one that LL could find useful and worth undertaking. I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you, though. :smileyvery-happy::smileysad:

[Amethyst Jetaime]

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Zhoie Zimermann wrote:

I actually spoke on the phone with LL and confirmed, about a year or so ago, that reviews do not get removed unless they are abusive. Unless they have changed their rules, I dunno. I had a similar unfair review tha had nothing to do with the quality of my product and they would not take it down, no way, no how.

 

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Don't believe everything live chat says,  I've known their answers to questions to be flat out wrong from time to time.   My understanding is that they will remove a failed delivery review unless they stopped doing it now because there are so many failed deliveries they can't keep up with them all.

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Zhoie Zimermann wrote:

Well, ,there is not much we can do about this fact. LL called it freedom of speech that consumers should be able to post anything they want as long as it's not abusive.

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Reviews are just opinions and everyone is entitled to voice their's.  What I look for is what they give as a reason for the opinion.  "A Don't waste your money this is bad" review is useless unless they say why - such as "seams don't match".  I pretty much ignore the "didn't get it" reviews unless they actually say they tried to contact the merchant in world and after waiting a long time got no response.  Even then I don't blame the merchant, I do however think about what their customer service is like.  A merchant should log in once a week to check for messages, IMHO, or if they have to be absent for a long time, put something in their profile about it and when they expect to return.

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Zhoie Zimermann wrote:

The fact that someone who didn't read the instuctions or didn't get their purchase, both of which are not our fault, can affect how much money we make in future is very upsetting. 

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From my experience managing and owning businesses in RL, I can tell you that this the exact same behavior of a percentage of customers in RL too,  It wouldn't be realistic to expect these people to act differently  in SL.

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Nataly Moonwall wrote:

Not agree with this. I have had problems with items not delivered from marketplace and instead get angry I just sent a polite notecard to the merchant explaining the issue. then merchant has resent the ítem and problem solved. People leaving bad reviews due ítems not received are just idiots, they can take the time to write the bad review instead give a chance to the merchant sending a notecard or IM...so, there are "customers" and "customers". For these stupid  people i would say: delivery issues are NOT FAULT of the merchants, do not pay with them your frustration for delivery failures of the MP system!

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I think a lot of people, if not most, understand this and take the time to try to resolve it without leaving a bad review due to non-delivery too.  If this were not true you'd see a lot more bad reviews than you do as the MP is notorious for failed deliveries.

 

As a consumer, I generally will right a great review I the product is outstanding in some way,  I also will write a bad one if its clearly inferior or I had a horrible experience with a product and tried to resolve it with the merchant without success giving specific reasons why I feel as I do..  I don't do this to ding a merchant, but to let others know so that they can decide on their own if they want to spend the money.

 

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Pamela Galli wrote:

It would be fascinating if we had any data at all on this sort of thing -- what affects sales in general, reviews in particular.  What effect do bad reviews really have? I suspect one thing -- ppl may click on them more often just to read the negative review(s) indicated by the stars.  There is something in a negative review that piques curiosity more.

 

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This would be great.  Maybe we could get one of the numerous students to do this in return for asking us to do their work for them by answering questions here instead of actually logging into SL.  Seems a fair trade to me.

 

 

[Jez Ember]

LL have removed delivery failure reviews whenever I've flagged them. I don't flag them until spending time (a lot of it sometimes) attempting to educate the customer in question and have them change the review of their own volition. I've never failed to motivate a customer to do so, but often they lack the technical ability (there's a button called Delete, you have to be logged in, is it really that hard?).

As much as these reviews get under my skin, much of the blame lies with LL and their unreliable and confusing product. I wish I could drive every sale in-world (where I basically never get delivery failures) but sadly 75% of my customers continue to shop at the MP (often while standing right next to an in-world vendor). As far as I'm concerned LL provide the MP service and charge us for doing so - they should provide the support to customers with failed deliveries (whether it actually failed or the customer got confused by the SL inventory system). Of course they can't because there are SO MANY of them.

JE

[LuciaRiley]

Yeah, this is pretty much us customers. I've been into your shoes because I used to work retial until I lost my job. I hated it so much... Anyway, I did have an issue and waited the 8 hours though..