False Advertising

[Paul Hexem]

So recently I bought a project in world with a mesh label on it. Rezzed it, and it was sculpts. Sent messages to the creator in world, and through his website. No response.

So, I AR'ed it. No response.

I found his listings on the marketplace. Found reviews complaining about the same thing- mesh label on the image, but no response from the creator.

What's strange is that this is a fairly large and established creator here in SL, complete with his own sim, yet he's blatantly making all this false advertising on his products. Worse, there's no good category to flag his MP listings, and even after my AR, nothing's changed at his in-world store.

What gives?

[Trinity Yazimoto]

Well, in RL there are laws to punish merchants who cheat (althought that some still does and have no worries about it), but sadly, there are any laws in SL (except the TOS that have nothing to do about this), and so no laws to force merchants to be honnest... Astonishing but still...Like sm1 in LL trust firmly that everyone is honnest....or maybe its just bec they dont care...

You still can leave a bad review, you did ared already. except that and maybe a lil word of mouth, im afraid you cant do more :smileysad:

 

ETA : sorry Gadget, i just reread your post and yes, lol, you cant leave a review, but you still can add a comment on a bad review there to add your opinion aswell :smileyhappy:

[Rya Nitely]

This is the problem with purchasing inworld. You can't review the item to warn others. It's the best tool that a customer has (when not abused) - here and in RL. I can see how you would trust an established creator though.

I suppose the safest thing to do before buying it inworld is find the item on MP and see if anyone has reviewed it.

Another reason why people don't like shopping inworld.

[Trinity Yazimoto]

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Rya Nitely wrote:

 

Another reason why people don't like shopping inworld.

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And you can exactly say the contrary when pp complain about having purchased via the Mp and have recieved nothing but an empty box, or all sorts of other scam like copyboting stuffs.

Neither the MP, neither inword shop are a garantee against dishonnest pp. But usually, if a merchant have a presence inworld, at least, you know this person is really inworld and not a fake.

honnestly, review are a small compensation for all the scams that happens from the mp. and imho not a great system, bec customers, on their side, use often in a silly way and bec merchants, on their side, doesnt agree for accepting the rules of the review game as soon as they get a bad one. 

I m still trusting more a purchase i do inworld, while i have always a lil stress when i do a lil purchase from the mp bec a lot of things can happen that i m not expecting (and its same in RL).

being able to leave a bad review wont fix Gadget pb like it obviously didnt fixed the other pps who left a review pb. 

And you prob can apply your sentence to yourself, but i know a looooooot of pp who still prefer shopping inworld.:smileyhappy:

[Rya Nitely]

I almost always make my purchases inworld, just like you

But I do look at the MP listing first. Only time I use MP is if, for example, I want another one of those lovely willow trees that I already bought inworld.

I was talking about reviewing the item. If you get cheated inworld you can't do that. And reviewing is at least some action, if only to warn others.

[Trinity Yazimoto]

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Rya Nitely wrote:

I almost always make my purchases inworld, just like you

But I do look at the MP listing first. Only time I use MP is if, for example, I want another one of those lovely willow trees that I already bought inworld.

 

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yes on this point, i agree with you. MP is a great catalogue... you save a lot of time using it this way. and then you just have to tp to the locations you saw as interesting in the MP.

For me both are complementary. Using the bad inworld search is a pain, and tping from a place to another for hours is also boring. This is where the MP have a great utility. Used as a catalogue for you can compare items at first is indeed something really great. And on top, you can have more complete descriptions about the items there (for the ones who have, of course lol).

but in the end, i really feel more reassured when i purchase inworld. but still the 0 risk doesnt exist anywhere, :smileywink:

[Trinity Yazimoto]

on another hand... you cant review inworld purchase, but trust me there are other way to hurt a bad merchants.

word of mouth works really well, and if you have groups or blogs, you can also make a bad advertising about a merchant that scammed you... 

[Pamela Galli]

Give us a hint.

[Ciaran Laval]

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Gadget Portal wrote:

So recently I bought a project in world with a mesh label on it.

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What do you mean by Mesh label? I've seen sculpts that mention Mesh, but they have been around since before we had Mesh.

[Paul Hexem]

I was looking at it. The creator has a lot of full perm, prefabricated (hint hint) sculpts, sounds, and textures. And since mesh, he's been releasing full perm mesh.

The products have his name/logo on them, in the corner of the image. Since releasing mesh, he changed his logo to include the word "mesh" on his mesh products.

I'm looking at it, and I see that he's been lowering his prices. So he's been updating his older product images, and using that same logo. That says mesh. It's not so bad on the marketplace since he seems to write 'sculpt' in the description, but in world, you wouldn't have that benefit.

[Trinity Yazimoto]

well, if its the one i think it is since you gave us a big hint, ive looked carefully at his vendors and for most of them, they say "sculpt" in the pic, or others have the word "map" what means there are maps for sculpts too. I admit, the logo itself is can cause confusion and about this point, im with you, but well, when i have doubt i search the item in the MP to see the description. And if i dont find it or the description isnt enough for make it clear to me, then i ask the creator, and if no answer, then no purchase.

I guess this merchant want to make profit with the trend about mesh and so changed his logo and brand name.. yes its confusing...indeed. But well, to have an idea about what an item is, ones need more than a logo or a brandname... its not enough for having an idea about the item. 

After having been trapped like you several times, im now really carefull before buying something.

[Rya Nitely]

He should rebuild them using mesh. I've been doing this with many of my items.

Only time I use the word MESH on an image that isn't mesh is when I say 'see mesh version in related items'. Like my medieval ruins.

 

[Deja Letov]

I wonder could it possibly be that some merchants are putting mesh on their listings if it's partial mesh? I know there are many builds that are using sculpts and mesh, perhaps maybe they are listing mesh because it's the new hot thing, and it may not be 100% mesh. I have several builds that are a combination of mesh and sculpts, and I don't really know who the merchant is so i'm just thinking outloud here.

[Rya Nitely]

These items have been around since Xstreet days. You can tell by the ratings.