Purchase Rip-off.

[Alyssa Quicksand]

Hello, I do hope I am posting in the correct forum, if not I do so humbly apologize.

On 2013, 3 31 I paid L$1,600 for a purchase in world for a product that was never delivered from the terminal. As per the sites instructions I emailed the seller of this that same day. After a few days I contacted the person in world and have yet to get a response. I talked to the owner of the Sim the store is located and was informed this person is never on SL anymore however his things are still out.

I am not a premium member of SL, and do not know if creating a ticket would help or not is why I am coming here seeking advice on what my next step is. Am I out of my money because of the 'risk of purchase', if so then this would leave anyone the grounds to create an alt and rip off anyone at will and be protected from this. L$1,600 isn't a lot of money to a lot of people but it is to me, I saved several weeks for this.

Anyone have an idea of what can be done?

Thank you so much for your time! =)

[Jessenia Bellic]

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Alyssa Quicksand wrote:

Hello, I do hope I am posting in the correct forum, if not I do so humbly apologize.

 

On 2013, 3 31 I paid L$1,600 for a purchase in world for a product that was never delivered from the terminal. As per the sites instructions I emailed the seller of this that same day. After a few days I contacted the person in world and have yet to get a response. I talked to the owner of the Sim the store is located and was informed this person is never on SL anymore however his things are still out.

I am not a premium member of SL, and do not know if creating a ticket would help or not is why I am coming here seeking advice on what my next step is. Am I out of my money because of the 'risk of purchase', if so then this would leave anyone the grounds to create an alt and rip off anyone at will and be protected from this. L$1,600 isn't a lot of money to a lot of people but it is to me, I saved several weeks for this.

Anyone have an idea of what can be done?

Thank you so much for your time! =)

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Sorry, but there isn't anything you can do. LL will not get involved with disputes like this. The old  adage "Buyer Beware" applies here. Sorry, you lost your lindens. It truly sucks. :-(

[Alyssa Quicksand]

Thank you for your reply.

This is what I had originally thought, and commented about anyone can do this and rip off a plethora of people in SL since LL does not care about problems like this. This person is known for doing this, and LL seems to turn their heads on it meanwhile this person profits.

It's disappointing but yes I totally had an idea this was the answer I was to receive. Thank you so much again for your reply.

[Madeline Blackbart]

Yeah unfortunatly people do this allt he time adn unless it's not as advertised it can't be shut down. I think you might be able to flag it for something couldn't hurt to attempt to flag and see your options.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

She bought in world not on MP so she can't flag it.

[Sephina Frostbite]

It sucks that it happens. I sometimes wish we could name names on here but I do understand why we aren't and we shouldn't. However if I am ripped off all my friends will know and I am sure they will pass it on. Word of mouth still holds as the highest form of advertisement. That's why I never slander people unless I know for sure that they are scamming people. I am still hoping to see my custom work I have been waiting on for. I hope also it isn't a scam. I feel your pain there.

[Alyssa Quicksand]

Yes it was purchased in world. All I could do is AR this but know nothing will come of it. I've talked with several people that have purchesed from this individual and have met the same results, If only I knew then what I know now it would of saved me that money. I won't slander his name in a public forum but indeed, word of mouth to my friends and perhaps friends of friends may save them money. It's horrible that this person has what seems a legit store, and some small things there do get delivered so this may his 'excuse'.

All I wanted to do was purchase my wife a surfing wave without breaking the bank so to speak. =(

 

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Sorry this happened to you.  Apparently from what you say the person must be paying their tiers on their store or the estate owner would have returned their things by now.  Maybe the estate owner can tell you when the next due date is, or you could find the rent or tier box and see yourself.  This may give you some idea when they may come in world next.  Hopefully they would respond to you then.  To be sure, I'd send them another notecard a few days before that date.

You could also try ARing the store owner for fraud.  Put on the ticket what the landlord said about them not logging on anymore.  There is a chance LL would refund the money from the merchants account if they haven't cashed it out yet.  They may not, but it is worth trying.

 

[Kenbro Utu]

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Alyssa Quicksand wrote:

I've talked with several people that have purchesed from this individual and have met the same results,

 

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Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

You could also try ARing the store owner for fraud.  Put on the ticket what the landlord said about them not logging on anymore.  There is a chance LL would refund the money from the merchants account if they haven't cashed it out yet.  They may not, but it is worth trying.

 

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I would add, get these other people to send ARs as well.  If there is a chance of something being done, or this being seen as a clear case of fraud, then having multiple ARs would bring it that much closer.  A single episode would probably just appear to be an isolated SL failed delivery, which LL will disclaim responsibility for.

[Alyssa Quicksand]

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Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

Sorry this happened to you.  Apparently from what you say the person must be paying their tiers on their store or the estate owner would have returned their things by now.  Maybe the estate owner can tell you when the next due date is, or you could find the rent or tier box and see yourself.  This may give you some idea when they may come in world next.  Hopefully they would respond to you then.  To be sure, I'd send them another notecard a few days before that date.

You could also try ARing the store owner for fraud.  Put on the ticket what the landlord said about them not logging on anymore.  There is a chance LL would refund the money from the merchants account if they haven't cashed it out yet.  They may not, but it is worth trying.

 

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Thank you, and I had contacted the Estate Owner, she informed me that there was nothing she will do. That she won't refund money owed me by him.

I did AR the store. Just a waiting game on that aspect. I've all proof of the Email sent to said person, IM, Notecard and Transaction History.

[Alyssa Quicksand]

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Kenbro Utu wrote:

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Alyssa Quicksand wrote:

I've talked with several people that have purchesed from this individual and have met the same results,

 

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Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

You could also try ARing the store owner for fraud.  Put on the ticket what the landlord said about them not logging on anymore.  There is a chance LL would refund the money from the merchants account if they haven't cashed it out yet.  They may not, but it is worth trying.

 

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I would add, get these other people to send ARs as well.  If there is a chance of something being done, or this being seen as a clear case of fraud, then having multiple ARs would bring it that much closer.  A single episode would probably just appear to be an isolated SL failed delivery, which LL will disclaim responsibility for.

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Thank you for your reply!

Yes I have asked for them to send as well. it may not help us directly however may prevent this from happening to others.

[Arwen Serpente]

Alyssa, I'm sorry to hear about this issue. I have a longshot idea for you - some of the vending systems that Merchants use inworld have redelivery stations where you can request a redelivery without the intervention of the Merchant (assuming the item is copy, no transfer). The system I use (Casper) allows customers to access their purchase history from any redelivery station inworld. It takes you to a webpage with all of your purchases (from all stores) from that system and you can "redeliver" by clicking a button. Maybe that's possible for you. It's a longshot, but maybe (fingers crossed) that will be the case for you.

[Pamela Galli]

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Arwen Serpente wrote:

Alyssa, I'm sorry to hear about this issue. I have a longshot idea for you - some of the vending systems that Merchants use inworld have redelivery stations where you can request a redelivery without the intervention of the Merchant (assuming the item is copy, no transfer). The system I use (Casper) allows customers to access their purchase history from any redelivery station inworld. It takes you to a webpage with all of your purchases (from all stores) from that system and you can "redeliver" by clicking a button. Maybe that's possible for you. It's a longshot, but maybe (fingers crossed) that will be the case for you.

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This was going to be my suggestion as well. If the item is copy I would say there is a good chance the vendor has this option. 

[Czari Zenovka]

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Alyssa Quicksand wrote:

Yes it was purchased in world. All I could do is AR this but know nothing will come of it. I've talked with several people that have purchesed from this individual and have met the same results, If only I knew then what I know now it would of saved me that money. I won't slander his name in a public forum but indeed, word of mouth to my friends and perhaps friends of friends may save them money. It's horrible that this person has what seems a legit store, and some small things there do get delivered so this may his 'excuse'.

All I wanted to do was purchase my wife a surfing wave without breaking the bank so to speak. =(

 

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I'm so sorry this happened to you.  This puts a new perspective on the theory that having a presence in world is more protection than buying from the MP.

[Ilyra Chardin]

I'm sorry that this happened to you.  I had a similar experience quite a number of years ago, trying to buy a boat from an in-world store.  I never heard back from the seller, never got my purchase, and consoled myself with the fact that 1000 lindens equals roughly $4 US.  But I never went back.  I never bought anything from that sim again.  You can certainly do the same, and if enough of your friends boycott that particular market, it should certainly have an impact.  I think that people who rent out space for shops and earn in-world income from that should have skin in the game, too.

But that’s my two cents (L$5)

[Aluviel Nakamura]

ok so this person completly ripped you off and your worried about putting their name on here after all you went through to try to track them down? I personaly would like to know who they are so I can avoid them. 

Would it be too much to ask the name of the item? 

[iCade]

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Aluviel Nakamura wrote:

ok so this person completly ripped you off and your worried about putting their name on here after all you went through to try to track them down? I personaly would like to know who they are so I can avoid them. 

Would it be too much to ask the name of the item? 

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Naming and shaming on this forum is against the Forum Guidelines, might want to read those again.