sent someone lindens in-world and need refund?

[kawaii01123]

Hi.. so I found someone on the forums who was looking for work as a mesh creator about a month ago, I contacted them in-world through IM's discussing what I was requesting from them. I was told it would take them 5-7 days to complete and that I was to pay L$2500 for them to begin work and pay another 2500 when finished. There was excuses as to why they didn't have any progress shown from busy with holidays (understandable) to equipment failing, etc. I kept my cool about it all while wondering how long I'd have to wait for replies from this person when I would ask about any sort of update after no word for days to a week.

So here I am today almost a month of waiting and have yet to see any updates for the last 2 weeks now since they last contacted me asking if i'd like a refund or wait till the next sunday (2 weeks ago) for him to have it completed. I sent them a IM letting them know waiting till sunday would be okay, fast forward 5-6 days later after that sunday.. no word from them. I send 2-3 more messages telling them in less they have some sort of work to show of my request, then I'd prefer to just take my refund and have no hard feelings.. well here I am still to this day with no word if they're really having issues IRL or not but it's crazy to not at least reply back a simple reply in that time frame.

I was wondering if there's anything I can do in order to get a refund of my L$2500 that I sent to them in-world? I still have all our IM's saved if that would help at all..

[Rolig Loon]

As others have said, there's no way to enforce an informal contract between SL residents.  The best any of us can do is try to limit risk, as you have, by being as clear as possible about our expectations at the outset and then paying on installments until the work is completed. It's all a system of trust between strangers. In your case, the fortunate side is that your total loss is about $10, which amounts to the cost of a light lunch in RL.  I know it's not just about the money, but perhaps that helps a little.

[Alwin Alcott]

13 minutes ago, kawaii01123 said:

I was wondering if there's anything I can do in order to get a refund of my L$2500 that I sent to them in-world?

otherwise than ask the person .... no other way to get it back

of course you can send a ticket to support but LL will most likely see this as resident to resident issue, and not get involved in that.

Edited January 19, 2018 by Alwin Alcott

[kawaii01123]

ah.. well that sucks, is there anyway to protect myself better from this in the future? I was thinking use paypal directly to the creator, then have paypal help as a middle man but most people prefer linden transactions it seems.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 hour ago, kawaii01123 said:

ah.. well that sucks, is there anyway to protect myself better from this in the future? I was thinking use paypal directly to the creator, then have paypal help as a middle man but most people prefer linden transactions it seems.

Only agree to Pay a little up front, then more for each stage of completion. Require proof of progress for each payment whether pictures showing work in 3D modeler if what you asked for, or partial mesh builds delivered to you showing progress. 

[Love Zhaoying]

4 hours ago, Rolig Loon said:

your total loss is about $10

Just a thought..if OP expected to get something customized in mesh for that much..perhaps expectations should be reset? The only makes who would accept that offer are either "newbies" learning, or else maybe..scammers who do not plan on doing the work at all.

[Rolig Loon]

30 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Just a thought..if OP expected to get something customized in mesh for that much..perhaps expectations should be reset? The only makes who would accept that offer are either "newbies" learning, or else maybe..scammers who do not plan on doing the work at all.

I admit, that thought was in my mind too.  Of course, the OP didn't say what sort of mesh item he was hoping to get.  Certainly, L$5000 is a very low price for a mesh avatar or a car, but even I might agree to make a customized mesh outhouse for that amount -- and I'm neither a newbie nor a scammer. (Not that I'm offering.  Just sayin' ....  )

[Alwin Alcott]

45 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Just a thought..if OP expected to get something customized in mesh for that much..perhaps expectations should be reset? The only makes who would accept that offer are either "newbies" learning, or else maybe..scammers who do not plan on doing the work at all.

just guessing... might be connected to this post from OP earlier

 

[Rolig Loon]

1 minute ago, Alwin Alcott said:

just guessing... might be connected to this post from OP earlier

Ah... I didn't spot that one. It does look likely, doesn't it?  If so, the price might be reasonable, although still less than what I suspect a good modeller would charge for one-of-a-kind rigged mesh.

All of that is beside the point, of course. Regardless of the price, the OP entered into a verbal agreement that is really not enforceable.  Whether the creator is a genuine pro or is a newbie or scammer, the result is the same. The OP is probably out of luck unless he/she can work out a settlement directly with the creator.

[kawaii01123]

yeah I was looking to get a underwear model mesh, I'll keep the advice for the future! Thank you all, I'll still try to keep an eye on seeing if I can catch this guy log in some time later or if he ever happens to reply back to me.