Stop leaving 1-star reviews on items you didn't receive!

[Aili Panthar]

You shouldn't use the review section of a Marketplace listing to leave a 1-star review to complain about items that didn't get delivered. I see this all over SL Marketplace and I had it in my own store too. This is abusive behavior. People will surf the Marketplace, see that an item has a 1-star review and decide the product is crap. You should only review things after you receive them!

It is frustrating to not receive your item, but 99.9% of the time it is a delivery malfunction, it's not like the seller is deliberately trying to rip you off. You have every right to be frustrated, but that is not an excuse to be vindictive toward the sellers on the Marketplace.

If you don't get your item you have to contact the store owner via notecard (don't use IM- IMs get capped, notecards do not) and include your transaction details (date of purchase, name of items, and your name). Marketplace sellers have no idea if there is a malfunction in deliveries unless you notify them. Yes it can be a pain in the butt if you ordered things from 10 different sellers but it's the only way it can be resolved.

[Sassy Romano]

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Aili Panthar wrote:

If you don't get your item you have to contact the store owner via notecard (don't use IM- IMs get capped, notecards do not) and include your transaction details (date of purchase, name of items, and your name). Marketplace sellers have no idea if there is a malfunction in deliveries unless you notify them. Yes it can be a pain in the butt if you ordered things from 10 different sellers but it's the only way it can be resolved.

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Actually, this is not the correct process.  The correct Marketplace process is to submit a support ticket.  Contacting the Merchant is an option but depending on how the failure occured isn't necessarily the right one.  If the Marketplace shows as "delivered" but nothing is received and the merchant has received funds then yes they may redeliver but not if the transaction has failed elsewhere.

I also prefer IM's NOT notecards.  Notecards cannot be acted upon until I log in, I have to notice they are there.  IM's on the other hand, when sent to email (why wouldn't a responsible merchant do this?  I have never understood the pushback) can be acted upon from where ever I am without having to log in.  I can offer assistance and don't get into the equivalent farce of sending "notes" to each other.  IM to email all the way thanks.

IM's to email do NOT cap however because I appreciate that some merchants haven't caught up with this yet, or choose not to for some reason, I will usually send both notecard (cluttered local inventory) and IM.

[MissEmily23]

A lot of merchants edit there reviews (some how) anyway. Numerous times I see a product with 17 reviews (or more) to find when I look at the review that all there is  4 1/2 stars. So I presume that the merchant is rating themselves and in an attempt to cover there tracks they delete the review and just show the bolstered star ratings.

 

Also if the merchant can edit their review and don't remove the "I never got it" I presume that merchant is no longer active and doubtful they can correct a "I never got it" situation (if it happens to me).

[Claireschen Hesten]

i see a lot of 1 star reviews for such things if i see something i might like to buy, i guess these reviewers just don't bother to contact the merchant and some people will even comment the review and mention to contact the seller. sometimes if i do look at a product that is just rated 1 star the only review the product will have is for an item not being received as a buyer this is off putting if i see the item is rated 1 star there's a good chance i may not look at it 

@ missemily both as a buyer and a merchant i can't edit a review i leave nor can i edit a review a customer has left some reviews have been carried over from the old XstreelSL and are just star ratings because back then we could leave a detailed review or give the product a star rating unlike the current system where you must leave a written review in order to star rate 

[bee Baroque]

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MissEmily23 wrote:

A lot of merchants edit there reviews (some how) anyway.

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that is not possible.

what you are seeing are the remains of the way reviews/ratings were on xstreet. you could rate a purchased item there without having to leave an actual review. these got carried over when the new marketplace opened. that is why you are seeing way more ratings than reviews.

a merchant can request to have an abusive review removed, but we are not able to edit the reviews our customers leave. that would be something, huh

[Dresden Ceriano]

The ideal situation would be for the merchant to place a short statement in their profile stating which way they prefer customers to contact them.  If they don't, then sending both might actually be the best idea... a notecard with a full explanation and the transaction information; then an IM saying you had an issue and sent a notecard describing it.

@Aili: Unfortunately, nothing will stop people from leaving 1-star reviews for situations like this.  Since I'm not a merchant, I know little about the steps you are able to take to rectify it when it does happen. 

Such as contacting the person that left the message, try to resolve it and hope they come back and change it or the merchant could leave a comment on the low review themself, stating the obvious.  I'm not sure if the latter is possible with the Marketplace review system, but it seems like if that isn't, it should be changed so that it is.

The one good thing is that the smart shoppers who actually read the reviews will see why the low review was given and not give it that much consideration... I know I wouldn't.

...Dres

[Dakota Linden]

Greetings!

Failed deliveries are technical issues with the system and not the fault of the Merchant.

Therefore any reviews that complain about products that are not received will be immediately removed from the Product Listing when the review is reported.

Reviews should be used by buyers to leave information regarding the product itself.

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Writing-item-reviews-on-the-Marketplace/ta-p/954941

If any user is aware of Reviews that are reporting Failed Deliveries you may report the review using the Flag this Comment link that is located beneath every review comment.

 

[Dresden Ceriano]

Thanks Dakota, that's great to know.

...Dres

[Yoki Enoch]

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Sassy Romano wrote:

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Aili Panthar wrote:

If you don't get your item you have to contact the store owner via notecard (don't use IM- IMs get capped, notecards do not) and include your transaction details (date of purchase, name of items, and your name). Marketplace sellers have no idea if there is a malfunction in deliveries unless you notify them. Yes it can be a pain in the butt if you ordered things from 10 different sellers but it's the only way it can be resolved.

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Actually, this is not the correct process. 

The correct Marketplace process is to submit a support ticket

. 

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Now that is a hoot and a half. The correct process is to contact the merchant. LL support is NOT the place to go for anything involving failed delivery of items on the marketplace, unless one wants to wait forever to only be told to contact the merchant

.:matte-motes-nerdy:

 

[Darren Scorpio]

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Sassy Romano wrote:

Actually, this is not the correct process.  The correct Marketplace process is to submit a support ticket.  Contacting the Merchant is an option but depending on how the failure occured isn't necessarily the right one.  If the Marketplace shows as "delivered" but nothing is received and the merchant has received funds then yes they may redeliver but not if the transaction has failed elsewhere.

I also prefer IM's NOT notecards.  Notecards cannot be acted upon until I log in, I have to notice they are there.  IM's on the other hand, when sent to email (why wouldn't a responsible merchant do this?  I have never understood the pushback) can be acted upon from where ever I am without having to log in.  I can offer assistance and don't get into the equivalent farce of sending "notes" to each other.  IM to email all the way thanks.

IM's to email do NOT cap however because I appreciate that some merchants haven't caught up with this yet, or choose not to for some reason, I will usually send both notecard (cluttered local inventory) and IM.

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I want to hug you for this comment. This is also how I feel about being contacted by customers, NC's only clutter my inventory and sometimes clutter so much I may never get to see them. IM's to email do not cap. 

 

@Aili, I agree there needs to be more done to make buyers aware that most failed deliveries are not the fault of the merchant and that even though money was taken from their account the merchant was not paid. Most people are unaware that the money gets refunded to them within a few hours. 

[Sassy Romano]

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Yoki Enoch wrote:

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Sassy Romano wrote:

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Aili Panthar wrote:

If you don't get your item you have to contact the store owner via notecard (don't use IM- IMs get capped, notecards do not) and include your transaction details (date of purchase, name of items, and your name). Marketplace sellers have no idea if there is a malfunction in deliveries unless you notify them. Yes it can be a pain in the butt if you ordered things from 10 different sellers but it's the only way it can be resolved.

---

Actually, this is not the correct process. 

The correct Marketplace process is to submit a support ticket

. 

---

 

Now that is a hoot and a half. The correct process is to contact the merchant. LL support is NOT the place to go for anything involving failed delivery of items on the marketplace, unless one wants to wait forever to only be told to contact the merchant

.:matte-motes-nerdy:

 

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Read the processes documented by LL again.   Including Dakota's write up above.  The merchant is NOT responsible for failed deliveries, LL is and I have had faster response from LL support than some merchants.

As a merchant, if I have not received the funds, why would contacting me be the correct process?  Marketplace Linden is the intermediary in the process, LL is responsible for the delivery.  Please try to understand the Marketplace process before commenting and giving misleading information.

[Darren Scorpio]

Dakota, first I want to thank you for actually taking the time to read through this forum. In regards to failed deliveries there needs to be more done to make buyers aware that most failed deliveries is not the fault of the merchant. Most people never see or never read the big notice left on their purchase history. The fact is that people DO NOT look at marketplace history, instead they look at their transaction history and all they see is that their money was taken and that makes them mad. Why can this not be changed? The most rational thing to do when taking payments is for the system to take money from an account only when a successful delivery has occurred, this would stop people from getting angry at merchants for no reason.

[Sassy Romano]

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Darren Scorpio wrote:

Dakota, first I want to thank you for actually taking the time to read through this forum. In regards to failed deliveries there needs to be more done to make buyers aware that most failed deliveries is not the fault of the merchant. Most people never see or never read the big notice left on their purchase history. The fact is that people DO NOT look at marketplace history, instead they look at their transaction history and all they see is that their money was taken and that makes them mad. Why can this not be changed? The most rational thing to do when taking payments is for the system to take money from an account only when a successful delivery has occurred, this would stop people from getting angry at merchants for no reason.

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It can't because at present, the marketplace web side sends a message to the magic box to perform an llGiveInventory which is non transactional and has no return event.  Meaning, the script that is doing the delivery doesn't know that it was actually received, only sent.  If the recipient has muted the merchant, the box or other issues then MP wouldn't know without additional activity and that will be coming soon with direct delivery which should remove these problems.

[Darren Scorpio]

I hope so

[Pamela Galli]

Posting a review is not the correct way to contact a merchant about a perceived problem!

As we speak I have a one-star review written by a non-English speaker who did not read the notecard and did not contact me about a simple thing.

It is not correct for customers to use a review as first contact of the merchant -- and NO they do not always change the review after the merchant contacts them and fixes whatever they thing is wrong.It is hard to believe that these reviewers have not discovered IMs as a way of contacting people in SL.

Therefore:

* Since it can be verified that there has been no IM contact before the review report, these should also fall into the category of reviews that are deleted.

* Since we don't get emails about reviews anymore, a review can sit there for quite a long time before we discover it, which makes it a very poor choice of means of communicating with a merchant and should be discouraged.

[Jennifer Boyle]

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Yoki Enoch wrote:

Now that is a hoot and a half. The correct process is to contact the merchant. LL support is NOT the place to go for anything involving failed delivery of items on the marketplace, unless one wants to wait forever to only be told to contact the merchant

.:matte-motes-nerdy:

 

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Wrong.  When I had multiple failed deliveries several weeks ago, I submitted a ticket and the stuff was delivered in less than 48 hours.

[Chelsea Malibu]

Here is all I have to say:

DEATH TO THE RATING SYSTEM!!

[Yoki Enoch]

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Sassy Romano wrote:

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Yoki Enoch wrote:

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Sassy Romano wrote:

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Aili Panthar wrote:

If you don't get your item you have to contact the store owner via notecard (don't use IM- IMs get capped, notecards do not) and include your transaction details (date of purchase, name of items, and your name). Marketplace sellers have no idea if there is a malfunction in deliveries unless you notify them. Yes it can be a pain in the butt if you ordered things from 10 different sellers but it's the only way it can be resolved.

---

Actually, this is not the correct process. 

The correct Marketplace process is to submit a support ticket

. 

---

 

Now that is a hoot and a half. The correct process is to contact the merchant. LL support is NOT the place to go for anything involving failed delivery of items on the marketplace, unless one wants to wait forever to only be told to contact the merchant

.:matte-motes-nerdy:

 

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Read the processes documented by LL again.   Including Dakota's write up above.  The merchant is NOT responsible for failed deliveries, LL is and I have had faster response from LL support than some merchants.

As a merchant, if I have not received the funds, why would contacting me be the correct process?  Marketplace Linden is the intermediary in the process, LL is responsible for the delivery.  Please try to understand the Marketplace process before commenting and giving misleading information.

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In the past, I have tried what you defined as the correct process. The scenario I gave was exactly what happened. Unless LL's support has improved by 1 million per cent, and actually takes control of what goes on in SL regarding delivery of items from the Marketplace, then what I said still stands. The factors behind failed delivery are many and varied, and usually LL has no control and/or interest in what goes on in the Marketplace.

[Yoki Enoch]

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Jennifer Boyle wrote:

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Yoki Enoch wrote:

Now that is a hoot and a half. The correct process is to contact the merchant. LL support is NOT the place to go for anything involving failed delivery of items on the marketplace, unless one wants to wait forever to only be told to contact the merchant

.:matte-motes-nerdy:

 

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Wrong.  When I had multiple failed deliveries several weeks ago, I submitted a ticket and the stuff was delivered in less than 48 hours.

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Then you were extremely lucky. LL support gives not a darn what happens in the Marketplace. In fact, it cares little for any of its customers. One month follow up is extraordinary service for LL support, even it your estate sim goes down.

[Toysoldier Thor]

 

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Chelsea Malibu wrote:

Here is all I have to say:

DEATH TO THE RATING SYSTEM!!

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I agree with you.  I wish LL would just remove the entire rating system from SLM.  Its not accurate, its not effective, its gamed and provides customers that are gullible enough to believe the rating systems with an often incorrect perception of the product being rated....

ANDDD...

If LL would trash the rating system.... it would simplify the SLM that much more and give this supposedly overworked team more cycles to focus on developing and deploying more of their own internal wish list of SLM features that Mechant and Customers both didnt ask for.

 

[Ishtara Rothschild]

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Dakota Linden wrote:

Greetings!

Failed deliveries are technical issues with the system and not the fault of the Merchant.

Therefore any reviews that complain about products that are not received will be immediately removed from the Product Listing when the review is reported.

Reviews should be used by buyers to leave information regarding the product itself.

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Writing-item-reviews-on-the-Marketplace/ta-p/954941



If any user is aware of Reviews that are reporting Failed Deliveries you may report the review using the Flag this Comment link that is located beneath every review comment.

 

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Thanks, that is good to know. Especially since I filed a ticket about such a review in the early days of the new Marketplace, and was told that the ratings and reviews were meant to reflect both the product and my customer service, which is why it wasn't removed.

PS: What about ratings without reviews? If a disgruntled customer doesn't bother to write a review and just leaves a 1 star rating after a delivery failure, we'll never know why.

[Dakota Linden]

Hello Ishtara,

It is no longer possible to leave a star rating without actually leaving review comments.

On the old Xstreet SL Marketplace it was possible to leave the ratings without comments.

 

[Pamela Galli]

Dakota, it would be simple enough to put some kind of info up when someone starts a review, stating something to the effect that:

* reviews should not involve delivery problems, as these are not done by the merchant

* merchants should not be negatively rated for customer service if the customer has never contacted them

 

These things are only fair. A merchant should only be held responsible for what he has control over; we can't control deliveries and we can't handle customer problems if they do not contact us.  It is not right to be negatively reviewed for things we have not done wrong.

 

[Ishtara Rothschild]

Ok, that is a sensible solution  Thanks. Btw, I like Pamela's idea. A note describing how to proceed in case of delivery failures would improve things even more.

[Pamela Galli]

Yes those are just two of several things someone ought to know before posting a review.

It is just not right that we are being held accountable for things we have no control over -- that our sales are being affected by people who do not know what reviews are for and/or do not know how to contact a merchant and/or do not know what merchants are and are not responsible for.

How hard would it be to put a notice in a little box? It would save countless hours and grief for merchants and customers, and not penalize our sales for something we did not do wrong.