What's your worst shopping experience?

[Clem Marques]

Share your worst shopping experiences here. I'm curious.

Here's mine:

I was finally upgrading one of my old alts to mesh, and he needed a nice-looking skin for his body. I found one that suited my needs and got the demo for it. I tried on the demo, and it looked absolutely perfect. The skins were sold in packs of 3 shades, two light ones and a dark one should be included in the set. I wanted the lightest one, as it matched my avatar's head skin perfectly.

I checked the item's reviews, and there were a few. One from 2021 said that 2 out of the 3 skins didn't work, and a review from 2022 described the same issue, but that person claimed that the problem had been fixed by the creator, and that all skins worked now. I hesitated for a moment. Those skins were exactly what I needed to achieve a certain look, and all of them worked in the demo, so it seemed safe. I bit the bullet and paid a very expensive price for that set. I won't specify how much it cost, otherwise it'd be easier to find the item...but it was a significant amount, above average for a body skin.

Excited to enjoy the new appearance, I unboxed the skin from my "received items" folder, and quickly added it to my avatar. And sure enough, then came the major disappointment: the issue was not fixed at all. 2 of the skins were completely invisible/didn't change the avatar's appearance at all, only the darkest shade worked (BOM). So I paid for 3 skins and got 1 - and not the one I needed. I was mildly annoyed by that, especially considering how much the item cost. I found the creator's profile, and there they proudly stated that they only offered customer service through discord. Which to me seems quite absurd as well. Why should I be forced to go out of SL to solve an SL-related issue? If I didn't, there would be no customer service at all. That's just shady.

I downloaded Discord, created an account, went through the hassle of figuring out how that all worked (not tech savvy at all.) And finally managed to get in touch with the creator. They had a server with a ticket system there. I created a ticket, and very respectfully described the problem, and asked for help. So far so good. The creator replied several hours later just asking me what my inworld name was. I answered. Then there was no response for another day. I sent a question mark. One of the store's workers said he'd send the skins to me when he got online. Then yet another day went by and nothing, after going through all that hassle and being very respectful. 3 days have passed and I still don't have the skins, nor do I have the L$ I paid for a product I did not receive. They've had 3 years to fix this issue, and still haven't.

I understand that SL creators/store owners are not always professional, and that mistakes can happen. I'm patient and tolerant as a customer, but this is just ridiculous. The MP is a "buyer beware" market, for sure, but it shouldn't allow items like this, that are not as advertised at all and lack proper customer service. Especially at that price. I absolutely hate leaving negative reviews on the MP and do it very sparingly. But I might have to do it in this case.

Any thoughts?

Your turn

P.S. No "naming and shaming" please

Edited September 8 by Clem Marques

[Ceka Cianci]

Mine was spending 10K on landscaping things from my favorite store, while on the market place, then cashing out and waiting and waiting and waiting.. Then going back to the MP to check my history to see if the things were sent.. Which they were sent..

Then checking my received folder, not there, so I opened another inventory to see if they would show up there and they didn't..

Then redelivered them again, rinsing and repeating all of the above like 4 times, 5 different relogs..

Finally, after an hour of messing around, I happened to look up and seen, I was on one of my alt accounts on the MP.. LOL

You wanna talk about a head desk that hits so hard that it reaches the back of your head..

I was so mad at myself, not just for blowing 10K on the wrong avatar.. But just all the time I spent on being really freaking stupid.. hehehe

[Clem Marques]

5 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

I was on one of my alt accounts on the MP.. LOL

Oof!! A 10,000 L$ mistake... damn 

[Midnoot]

I don't have a particular worst one, but creators who refuse to refund double purchases in a world where the stock is infinite, there's no shipping costs, damaged products, or ANY extra cost. Whether it was simply a mistake, or because the marketplace broke that day and didn't show the first purchase, etc. Doesn't matter. There is NO reason to deny a refund other than greed and i'm done with your store after that.

[Ceka Cianci]

34 minutes ago, Clem Marques said:

Oof!! A 10,000 L$ mistake... damn 

Ya, you would have thought I would have learned from it, but it took like three different times of doing that before I started checking to make sure I am on the right avatar before I even start to shop.. LOL

Not all of them were 10k purchases,  but they did kill some time before it would hit me  that, I bet I'm on the wrong avatar again!! \o/  hehehe

[Anastasia Loxingly]

Insane car creator kicked me from their group and banned me from their store due to attributing anonymous comments someone else made on a gossip site to me.

[Clem Marques]

28 minutes ago, Midnoot said:

I don't have a particular worst one, but creators who refuse to refund double purchases in a world where the stock is infinite, there's no shipping costs, damaged products, or ANY extra cost. Whether it was simply a mistake, or because the marketplace broke that day and didn't show the first purchase, etc. Doesn't matter. There is NO reason to deny a refund other than greed and i'm done with your store after that.

I fully agree with you on that. If it happened to me, they'd lose a customer.

[Danielle Atheria]

*Bites her lip* trying not to name names but i went into a popular makeup store in SL and saw that they were also selling eyelashes which i've been wanting to experiment with to see if they were better than the Lelutka set provided. Purchased the item and went back to my SL house. Unpack and nothing was in the folder. Deleted redelivered and tried again. Empty folder. Reached out to the designer and no response months later. The eyelashes in question are still for "sale"

Same store was a friday sale and had the lipstick colors i like pink Burgandy etc which is rare to have both in the same pack. Again opened the item it was all pink. Reached out to designer again did not contact me or try to resolve but did replace the picture instead with what as actually in the pack. I dont shop there anymore although i like the quality but i dont like being misled either.

[brodiac90]

Not so much what the merchant did or didn't do but what happened while shopping. I was at a kid's store simply minding my own business when I was approached by a 1 day old account male avi who started IMing me with suggestive stuff. The tamest was probably the the opening, "You look beautiful," but it quickly turned even nastier / more suggestive etc. Safe to say I blocked, reported and got out of there pretty sharpish. 

[Love Zhaoying]

2 hours ago, Anastasia Loxingly said:

Insane car creator kicked me from their group and banned me from their store due to attributing anonymous comments someone else made on a gossip site to me.

Wow! Rumor / Gossip shopping nightmares were not on my BINGO card.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Having a guy dressed as an angel all up in my IMs trying to save my soul while I was shopping at a good hair sale.

[WeFlossDaily]

Being harassed while shopping.

It's fine to say hi and to try to strike up a conversation. But occasionally I run into ppl with what I consider hostile political and/or religious views.

[Janet Voxel]

I’ve noticed there’s been a rise of products not being in the folder, fatpacks not being fatpacks and advertised bodies not being included even when it says “other bodies coming soon”. In fact, I don’t even buy a product when I see that because I don’t trust people enough to send out the update.

I usually send a nice notecard that something is missing. I’m a creator, so I’m know when you have 20 things on the floor mistakes happen. But when they don’t respond they go on a “do not buy” list. The list has gotten really long over the last couple of years.

[Rowan Amore]

Still haven't gotten the creator to acknowledge or fix the missing triangle in this skirt.  The CSR tried it on her Maitreya and saw no issue.  I told her it was the Reborn size.  I also sent several photos to.show the issue.  I'm stuck with a fatpack I can't wear.  🙁

Yeah, I know it's only one tiny triangle but what has been seen cannot be unseen.

[Lyric Demina]

5 hours ago, Clem Marques said:

I bit the bullet and paid a very expensive price for that set.

I hope you leave a review that details all of this for future buyers!  What an awful experience you had.

[AmeliaJ08]

I think the worst was probably one of those "up next" machines that simply delivered nothing and took my money, owner never responded.

One thing I run into a lot is "Maitreya Petite" listed in description but not in package. It's basically always because of a mistake in copy/pasting item details and I've always been refunded, one time I actually got the petite size sent to me though! I am surprised at how often it's simple packaging mistakes or script errors, I know some people are very prolific in how they release but you'd think at least each size would be tested to be working or present.

On this topic though - and I can't speak for other bodies but it has happened a few times - there is the Petite size but the fit is atrocious, almost like it was either some other petite body or someone just guessed with the rigging. Of course demo everything. Some friends have shown me other egregious rigging errors as well so I guess it's quite common, it has often been some of the bigger, established brands where you'd expect them to be experienced.

 

 

[Janet Voxel]

50 minutes ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

On this topic though - and I can't speak for other bodies but it has happened a few times - there is the Petite size but the fit is atrocious, almost like it was either some other petite body or someone just guessed with the rigging. Of course demo everything. Some friends have shown me other egregious rigging errors as well so I guess it's quite common, it has often been some of the bigger, established brands where you'd expect them to be experienced.

You’d be surprised how many creators are using bootleg kits.

[Faithless Babii]

After dropping notecards to various store owners asking what the land impact is for an item they are selling and not receiving replies - I don't shop their stuff. Sale or not - an item is useless to me if it turns out to be ridiculously high prim.

I now view anything that doesn't have it prim count listed as suspect.

Actually, I did ask one designer of well known backdrops why he didn't list the prims and even though he never responded to me - he does now add a disclaimer on his items saying something to  the effect of "this item might be high land impact" . (They always are lol)

[ValKalAstra]

I haven't had that many bad experiences. Most creators have been incredibly kind in responding to an inquiry. One ignored my inquiry about a missing fat pack hud but it was in a retired heavily discounted bundle so I didn't make a fuzz. Although it's a pity, the other colors look nicer!

Oh there was one bad experience and even that was mild. Was in a store with a friend and we were trying out demos with me ultimately deciding to buy something and showing it to my friend.

Suddenly I got instant messages demanding to know how I had gotten that item. It was the owner that seemed to have watched us. Confused, I replied that I had bought it. It went back and forth how it wasn't showing in the system.

Until finally, yup they had set a wrong filter in their overview. They weren't aggressive or anything but the whole experience felt like a sudden inquisition.

[Anastasia Loxingly]

36 minutes ago, ValKalAstra said:

It was the owner that seemed to have watched us.

That's kind of whack that the owner is obsessively monitoring their transactions to track every person that enters their store.

[Rick Nightingale]

3 hours ago, Janet Voxel said:

You’d be surprised how many creators are using bootleg kits.

Which is ridiculous given the real kit is easy to get (took all of two days for me, and I'm just an amateur), despite the rumours to the contrary. I really think many 'creators' (I strongly dislike using that word for people who make 3D assets, including myself) can't even be bothered properly skinning any more and just put out half-finished goods. I guess enough people don't know/care and buy anyway.

5 hours ago, Rowan Amore said:

Yeah, I know it's only one tiny triangle but what has been seen cannot be unseen.

We've seen quite a few products with holes in like that, or mesh seams that don't meet, or things like buttons that aren't weighted properly and move differently to the clothes (or don't move at all). I tried a demo of an expensive outfit from one very well known creator who's at most of the big events. It had a gapped seam, even more obvious a hole than yours. I really wanted it so messaged the seller expecting such a blatant error would be fixed. The response was "no-one else has complained and I won't be fixing it". No sale, not ever at that store again.

---------

My own worst, or at least the one that sticks in my mind the most, was a skin. Back in the days when I had to count every L$ (and sat in those silly camping chairs to earn them), I wanted a pricey skin. My first non-freebie. It was on the MP, with the list of all the extras (beards, different skin tones and tan effects, etc) but I went inworld to the very well known shop instead. A shop I bet everyone here knows and the brand is still running after all these years. I found the skin advert, same one as on the MP and same price, and bought it. Most expensive thing I had bought and would buy for ages.

It was missing almost all of the 'extras' that should have been in the box.

Multiple, polite messages by IM and NC to the creator and store manager went unanswered, even when they were online. After a month I gave up and never darkened their door again. I still get an angry feeling if I hear their name.

Edited September 8 by Rick Nightingale

[Rick Nightingale]

1 hour ago, Anastasia Loxingly said:

That's kind of whack...

It's a good example of the sort of extreme, unreasonable paranoia a surprising number of sellers seem to have about their stuff being copied.

[MillyWH]

Luckily I've never had a really bad experience with any store owner. I've had the harassment issue....one time an avatar started IMing me and just chatting but it turned into hitting on really quickly. He had asked where I lived and I gave the general geographic region and he replied with "oh! I live in Small Town right next to the one I live in." 

 

I have gotten banned from a store group and another fashion related group.  The store group the mod was being a total ass to someone and I called them out on their behavior and would not let it go that they were being rude and mean and I got banned.  The other group was having a hunt and I asked a question and got a reply that I later realize was an automatic reply but I didn't realize it at the time and made some negative comments and got banned for it.

Now there is a jewelry store that I haven't shopped at in ....15  years or so (from my first avatar). The owner was incredibly rude to a friend of mine and I just have never wanted to own any of their jewelry since then.

[Arwyn Quandry]

I've had so many more positive experiences than negative shopping! The only negative I can really think about wasn't even really a shopping issue but a blogging issue. I used to write a very small personal and fashion blog where I did a lot of opinion pieces. When the Teen Grid was going to be merged, I wrote about how LL needed to clean up MP because so much adult content wasn't tagged correctly and took a few screenshots of adult items with G tags. 

Well, the creator of one of those items, a really massively big name sex bed maker, took deep offense at his improperly tagged item being used as an example and sent me some very nasty IMs. I think I was banned from his store as well, not that I'd ever shopped there. To this day, any time his name comes up in conversation, all I can think of is how rude he was! 

[Stephanie Misfit]

Bought an expensive item on the marketplace, it was not in the delivery box, just some textures. I sent IMs, notecards and emails, and redelivered the item without success. This is an active merchant on the marketplace and in world events, so it was not a case of a merchant being gone from SL, it was just outright shoddy customer service.

I have had harassment in stores from other customers, too. The big hair stores seem to be the worst for this. I had one guy hassling me to have a baby with him, of all things.