Lasher Oh

No matter how meticulous and contentious a person is with their listings, carefully selecting the correct category and placing only relevant keywords etc - a frustrated bad mooded LL marketplace team reviewer can always find a reason for delisting it if they wish. Sometimes for the most pathetic petty reasons based on biased subjective evalutions. A bit like a policeman who pulls you over on the highway can always find something wrong with your car if he wants. For sure the auto reason you will be given is that it was misplaced in the correct category but not quite as correct as the category they would prefer you to put it in but refuse tell you at the time of delisting. It's all to do with to the 'known unknowns' I blame Donald Rumsfeld for setting the trend. ^L^

Got to agree with that Darius - Display Names 'in world' are bad enough and causing more than enough confusion and problems for business owners. For instance my partner who eeks an SL living from organising Wedding and Collaring ceremonies has been climbing the walls from day one with naming issues for invites and certificates. Mr xx Resident will marry Miss xyz Resident etc etc. The dumb thing is that Display name were meant to make life easier for folks who wanted to share a name after a wedding. But I digress - Back to Marketplace - including a transitory fleeting display name in a marketplace transaction record is not only folly, data space wasting nonsense and confusing, but is also bleeding barking mad! However at the end of the day there are two good words that sum up the whole debacle 'effing stupid' ^L^

Over the years I have observed that LL are consistent with only one thing . Mainly that when it comes to introducing something new they seem to actively go out of their way to find the most difficult clumsy inefficient methods possible. For example - Just look at the arcane set of group tools we have had to live with for years. Or even Viewer 2. It's as if there is some secret 'make it tough' committee that sits and reviews each new proposal and assess it for ease of implementation. If looks simple and easy than it fails the test. And is sent back to the workshop to find a more awkward confusing way of reaching a solution. "Can't make this game too easy you know." says the Fat Controller Linden. So when it came to replacing the magic boxes all it needed was to create a Magic Folder in our inventories. Then just decant contents of magic box into Magic Folder. Simple - done dusted tested and rolled out. But nooooooo, Fat Contoller Linden says that it can't possibly be that simple - "why not make it so we can deliver folders that are already opened so they don't need to do what is traditional practice - mainly rezz a box" He says "Then we can have fun telling them that everything is now turned on it's head and we do it different from now on. Like it or lump it" "PLUS we can spice it up a bit by giving the merchants the run around by requiring them to create new folders for all their stuff - that will get them racing around a bit - hee hee" Looking over the top of his glasses with his beady eyes "Off course all our buddies who were selected for the beta test will have a head start just like they did when we launched the new marketplace." Then with a sly smile he asks " Don't you think that perhaps just creating a Magic Folder is a bit basic - can't we do something like remove all the content from that same folder and put it somewhere else where they will have to jump through lots more hoops in order to make changes if they dare" Cheers all round the the table "Brilliant" shouts the team that's bound to win us extra gold stars from the 'make it tough' committee. Fat Controller Linden then rubs his hands and says 'Now all we need is someone who is incapable of writing understandable instructions and then we can bury them in some hidden corner of that useless wicki - Shall I have go?"

We could do with a whistle blower for this one - where's SLicki Leaks when we need them? ^L^

Has Brooke got the boot? ^L^

Here's the latest in my partners words... Quote.... Fingers Crossed Ok i called again and this time i talked to a guy who actually was helpful. He told me anybody NOT using viewer 2 will have this issue. First, you have to use firefox browser. and when it asks for the THREE digit security code from the back of your card, you have to put a zero in front of it which actually makes it a FOUR digit code. Of course that's not noted on the website. You have to be psychic in order to know to do it. I was able to buy lindens so we knwo my payemnt method is now working. So we just have to hope they'l lmake another attempt to take the tier from my account. .... End Quote

Must be some wired crossed Nyll - we are not trying to buy Lindens we are trying to pay our monthly tier to Linden Lab but they don't seem to want the money. Mind you I must agree Virwox is a splendid service :-) Your sugestion of depositing US dollars into her account is a long winded convoluted solution to what should be a simple procedure and would in my opinion only let them off the hook and encourage LL to maintain their crap service which Rodvik openly admits falls way below par. Thanks for the advice though - I'll watch out for that tumbling sky :-) ^L^

Thanks Paper Doll it's good to know that some folks do actually get some service out of these people well done. As for my partners problem all she needed to do was upgrade her 'payment' card info (not credit card) - nothing major no surgery required and as I explained before, the process she has gone through since Thursday is... Live chat X 1 = No Assistance - file a ticket they said. Telephone chat x 3 = Can't Help, file a ticket she is told - and try changing browser (that doesn't work either) To put the icing on the cake the PAID TO BE UNHELPFUL telephone support guy warns her that if the tier isn't paid by Tuesday our group owned mainland which we have supported for nearly 5 years will be frozen and no one will get access. She had also placed a ticket right away with no response eithe other than the autobot reply, and when she telephoned AGAIN 4th time to ask that it be marked urgent she got nothing but a vacant response. Being a lot more polite than me I'm sure she would have asked the suport people nicely to help her out - instead of checking into her details and helping her all they have done is telll her they can't do anything for her. We deliberately decided that her account would carry the major tier because she lives in the States and SL is based in the States e would likely avoid the endless international billing problems that LL are prone to. But hey tomorrow is another day..... closer to them freezing us out our business. ^L^ 

Thanks Ariel - Yes she has submitted a ticket but to date the only response she has had is some crazy email from them about not accepting gift cards - no idea what that was about! She's very savvy with internetty things and refreshed cookies on all her browsers and even downloaded Firefox for the first time. Still no joy with the website acknowledging the new card. We've tried resetting, leaving things over night adding a new browser - none of it seems to get through to the ridiculous billing tools LL are running. I had similar issues with them 4 years ago I would have thought they could have fixed it by now. She even called support to ask them to to upgrade her ticket status to 'Urgent' no prizes for guessing what the paid to be unhelpful bozo said. Here we are wanting to give LL our money but their system doesn't want to take. Meanwhile we have live concerts booked and paid for this week and staff who depend on us for their SL income. All we require from LL is that their systems work - and if they can't get a simple billing process to function smoothly... well... expletives not allowed here! ^L^

My partner carries the main tier fee cost for our mainland group owned parcels. Recently her bank reissued her card with a new number. No problem just change the details online..... Nooooooo that is way to simple and obvious. The LL borked system refused to acknowledge the changed details! So then followed a trail of distressing contacts. Live chat X 1 = No Assistance - file a ticket they said. Telephone chat x 3 = Can't Help file a ticket she is told - and try changing browser (that doesn't work either) To put the icing on the cake the paid to be unhelpful telephone support guy warns her that if the tier isn't paid by Tuesday our group owned mainland which we have supported for nearly 5 years will be frozen and no one will get access. We want to pay! We can pay! We have offered to pay right there and then but support keeps telling they cant help and to go away! Anyone else had such trouble with billing. My partner is at her wits end and has tried everything so far - any advice welcome! ^L^ Edited for typos typos typos

Thanks Ceera - That was very helpful :-) ^L^

The easiest simple solution to this problem and that of gaming ratings as well is to get rid of the whole ridiculous rating system. Would save a lot angst and a whole lot of time for over stretched commerce support teams. Ratings good or bad should always be taken with a pinch of salt. I preferred the xstreet model where we could at least enter into debate and discuss the item. It gave customers a chance to vent and merchants a chance to explain. Dropping that was yet another of the great marketplace 'improvements' that were dumped on us. I'd like to see an 'opt in to allow ratings' tick box on the new listing page. That way those merchants that love collecting their gold stars could do so and those and those who don't give a toss about them wouldn't need to be bothered. I know neither my sugestions have a snowflake in hells chance of coming to fruition alternatively I'd happily live with ratings being removed from the search drop down filter. ^L^

Does anyone know what happens to group owned main land if the major stakeholder decides to leave SL and stop paying their tier. Is the land auromatically taken away from the group it has been deeded too or is there some other kind of arrangement to deal with such a scenario. Sorry if this is a topic previously raised but LL group information is woefully inadequate and difficult to decypher. ^L^

LOL so very true Ziggy. Commerce Team Office Hours were a real crazy mish mash , carnivals of chaos and a bit of a freak show on the side. I loved them just for the shear anarchy and spectacle of it all. Some of the best entertainment I've ever had in SL. I'd even be prepared to pay an entry price if Brooke so decided. I miss them. However I was under the impression that the commerce team had decided to replace the OH's with secret little tête à tête involving a hand chosen elite few. Not sure if that ever happened either. ^L^

Oh come on Ralphy it's not even full moon yet! Those little green and yellow capsules in the medicine cabinet are great for calming you down - have you stopped popping them this week? Why not take a little trip over to AVN and see what a freebie less economy really does for a grid. They should welcome you there with open arms with your kind of mindset. ^L^

I reckon I will need to place a disclaimer on all my mesh garment listings, stating that they are not related to 3D Mesh, hopefully that will deter the trigger fingers of irate flaggers who were looking for works from the new mesh kids on the block. Looks like this should be a training topic for that listing review team we are told exists. ^L^

"My "keyword spam texture" still hasn't been flagged, even though it very conspicuously uses the word "mesh" in a searchable way." LOL I'd help you out and flag it for you Josh but I just can't bring myself to flag anything. Would be breaking my habit of a lifetime. Don't snitch won't snitch :-) What it does prove to me is that if keyword flagged items are, as claimed, actually reviewed by a humanoid before they are arbitrarily removed then that self same 'person' might as well be a bot, because from what I see, time and again is an over active trigger finger removing items without so much as a hint of explanation as to why apart from the auto generated message sent out once the remove button has been pressed. To be honest I'd prefer it to be an auto response because the thought of someone actually deliberately making such dumb decisions over there in Linden Towers is a touch embarrassing. I feel sorry for them really. ^L^

Has anyone else had trouble with items being flagged because they included the word 'mesh' in their keywords in relation to fishnet and webbed clothing. Now that Mesh as a 3D visulisation feature has been intoduced it would appear that some folks out there feel that the legitimate use of the word elsewhere should now be considered an offense. ^L^

I wish the Labbies and Labbettes would at least tell the general public that they have screwed up I've already had a bunch of irate group members poking my ass with their pitch forks demanding to know why my group is liberating their 1 linden's for group liability ^L^

Not even Einstein with a team of top flight mathamatical analysts to back him up could accurately figure out how SL group transactions are calculated. LL couldn't have devised a more complicated system if they had tried to. ^L^

Thanks Brooke - All my duplicates have gone now, so that's good :-) BUT (dontcha just hate the buts) my inventory total items still says "Total items: 1440"  and I could have sworn that it was only around a 1,000 before the fix before this last fix to fix what you guys broke before. I think that might be bad. Doesn't it mean some bit of the database is still screwed? *sigh* Maybe someone will open a jira about this bug too - I won't because the Dementers lurk in there waiting to eat my soul. ^L^

Not for the first or the last time either I'll go against the grain of the thread. I love auto greeters. I find them an essential part of the customer support process. Took me a while to find the one that was just right, flexible and easy to customize. Now I can say hello to all my guests even when I'm not there and I can point them in the direction of key corners of the sim, with a pop-up teleport board saving them hours crawling through the lag swamps when the grid is running slow. An auto greeter often also tells them there is a group. Thus saving guests from having to play an annoying time wasting game of hunt the group join poster. It also helps inform customers of special deals and promotions which is no bad thing because believe me no matter how well crafted a written poster is and how well placed it is near to or beside a landing point - most folks in SL don't take time to read. I've lost count of the times the customers have IM's me complaining that I didn't have a poster announcing this or that only for me to TP in and show them that they were standing right next it. "Aw my camera was pointed the other way" is the usual refrain "why didn't you make it "bigger than 3 metres" or smaller so "I can see what it says when I satnd back" When a business owner goes to the trouble of setting up a greeter that has 'useful' resources attached. It sends me a reassuring unsaid signal that they are serious about business and want to help me find my way through new environment. If I liked the place and return to the sim second time around I just mute the greeter. No hassle easy done.My own greeter even offers a mute button for folks convenience. I know a lot of folks hate them and find them the work of the devil himself and consider them to be unholy spam. However there are just as many who appreciate their value as a means of customer support and communication. And if a potential customer doesn't like the way I've set up shop and they decide not to come back, that's their personal choice it's a big world and you can't organize your store in a manner that will please every single person. So my answer for you is to do what you feel is right for your business and your customers and that could very well include an auto greeter or may prefer to offer your guest the silent treament :-) ^L^

@ Josh & Couldbe - Thx for the evening giggle :-) *takes deep breath holds nose and plunges into the murky waters* ^L^

Since the last set of fixes - which really fixed my inventory by doubling each item in it, I've been hanging off adding new products waiting for the 'borked all clear' sirene to sound. Halloween and Christmas is coming and considering the current marketplace status, with reports about new listings not showing up and changes to existing listings causing problems. I'm getting a little concerned. I haven't seen any posts from the commerce team about fixes but I've been out of the loop for a few days. I'd try looking in the jira for clues but that place is the SL equivilent of Azkaban prison and saps my will to live. Is there any news I have missed or are we still hanging out in rumor land. Is it safe for me to get back in the water yet? ^L^ (edited a typo or two)

''All listings that have been flagged are reviewed by a Linden Lab employee with a Linden last name before the product is unlisted from the Marketplace.'' LOL and the band played ''believe it if you like''