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Reversed Harrassment?


HisaDrug
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Alright.

This post will be a mix of rant and a lil bit of ha-ha.

It's cool that a customer is upset with a mediocre product to their liking. They have the right to ask for refund or A/S to get back their money worth. But what do you do if they overdo it to rip you off. Or even threaten you to report when they don't get what they want outta you. Intention wise, it's been a minor problem for me along side my everyday business. Some of the customers I've had really abused the kindness and generocity to get what they want. Some are very crafty, too.

I can't tell you enough how many times I've got reported just because they didn't get what they wanted and I wouldn't believe their lies, such as lies that what a teenager would pull to get more allowance, sorta thing. It's just ridiculous. They buy one thing and twist it as if they got the other so they can get what they wanted outta me. Ok, sometimes I do it with my one eye closed for the sake of customer care, but when it's being abundant I will disagree. And yea, I get reported as the outcome (by lil kids) (who have bipolar disorder) (maybe).

 

 

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You aren't alone in this, it happens to most merchants.  Unfortunately some customers will try anything to get something for free by getting a refund.

The best defense is to have a policy that all sales are final and that you don't give refunds. Make sure that your policy is published in you MP store and even made part of your item description.  Most merchants have this policy.

If a customer complains about something, of course do what you can to correct the situation especially if it is a mistake you made.  But stick to your guns about the no refunds and never refund unless the item is returned to you (no copy items therefore can't get refunds).  You can always make an exception if you really feel that it is appropriate.

Don't worry about getting 'reported'.  LL views this as a resident to resident dispute and won't due anything.  The exception is they may act against a merchant when there is clearly gross fraud involved.  If someone flags your product and it's pulled you can always file a support ticket and fix whatever issue LL had or get it relisted on appeal.

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Don't loose your valuable time on quarrel with customers. Give them what they want when you consider their question as reasonable. Or refuse when you feel abused. When they start narring, just mute them. You must get rid of the emotional **bleep** between you and your customer. When think in terms like 'I don't believe those lies', you create a conflict. Between you and your customer, but also for yourself. Because you can never be 100% sure, even when all of your intuition screems that a person is not honest with you, there is still a little chance you see it wrong. And that makes you 'playable' for the fight seeking customer. 

You can change your point of view on the matter. A non satisfied costumer is not only asking you something, he is also giving you something: an idea to improve your product. It might not always be a useful idea for the specific product that the complaint is about, but at least you can consider it for future products. A complaint is a free advise.

Ofcourse it is flattering to hear "I really love your so-or-so product", it boosts your ego. But it does not give you any insight in what else people want. The 'what else' is what you can learn from people who expected something else from your product then you gave them. That is worthful information for your business. Focus in these kind of interactions with your customers on that information. What is he telling you that is useful for future products, or for an update of the product?

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you for the very insightful feedback on the subject.

Yes, of course I accept harsh criticisms and negativity into my positive outcome of my future creation. I do appreciate them taking time and talking to me about it. However, my target audience for my creation is relatively young. Maybe it's got something to do with my constant confrontation with the customers. Some are ridiculously immature being around the age of 15 and stuff (yea I know shyt). Combine that with no editing skills, being novice about SL, etc would end up wasting my time on reading their offthewall accusations. Most times it has nothing to do with the product. They would involve their own mates and you know the kids stuff.

Other than that I handle customer service pretty well. Just I wanted to know how other veteran merchants deal with unpleasant confrontations. And I'm glad to know I'm not alone.

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Some people start off with report threats when they're unhappy with the product instead of asking for an exchange or A/S. They usually calm down and apologise later on as I'm helping them but geez it becomes so repetitive I feel like I need an assistant to take care this thing.

About Scammers. I have at least 2-3 a month sending me a fake receipt in order to get a freebie. Thankly I save all my transaction records. Also there are scammers who claim that they have bought from me and the product magically disappeared from their inventory. I'm not sure if it's a universal thing they pull to get stuff, I get that alot, too. Lastly, they claim that they made a mistake purchasing the similar item. They get very upset that they wanted the other one but can't due to being broke. I compensate them sometimes if they have bought from me in the past, but yea, I shouldn't.

 

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HisaDrug wrote:

Alright.

This post will be a mix of rant and a lil bit of ha-ha.

It's cool that a customer is upset with a mediocre product to their liking. They have the right to ask for refund or A/S to get back their money worth. But what do you do if they overdo it to rip you off. Or even threaten you to report when they don't get what they want outta you. Intention wise, it's been a minor problem for me along side my everyday business. Some of the customers I've had really abused the kindness and generocity to get what they want. Some are very crafty, too.

I can't tell you enough how many times I've got reported just because they didn't get what they wanted and I wouldn't believe their lies, such as lies that what a teenager would pull to get more allowance, sorta thing. It's just ridiculous. They buy one thing and twist it as if they got the other so they can get what they wanted outta me. Ok, sometimes I do it with my one eye closed for the sake of customer care, but when it's being abundant I will disagree. And yea, I get reported as the outcome (by lil kids) (who have bipolar disorder) (maybe).

 

 

What is their complaint?

Just a helpful tidbit of info.. You really need to link your demo items to the actual product.. Not a single one in the 4 pages i went through was.

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Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

    What is their complaint?

    Just a helpful tidbit of info.. You really need to link your demo items to the actual product.. Not a single one in the 4 pages i  went through was.


 

 They have no legit complaints. That's the thing.

 For demos, It's too much work to include the demo on very single product page especially when I release the new item in every 3-4 days. You can just search the demo by the lowest price they all show up at once. I find that more convenient for the regulars who keep up with new releases. 

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HisaDrug wrote:


Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

    What is their complaint?

    Just a helpful tidbit of info.. You really need to link your demo items to the actual product.. Not a single one in the 4 pages i  went through was.

 

 They have no legit complaints. That's the thing.

 For demos, It's too much work to include the demo on very single product page especially when I release the new item in every 3-4 days. You can just search the demo by the lowest price they all show up at once. I find that more convenient for the regulars who keep up with new releases. 

 

I didn't ask if they were legit, i asked what they were.

You have to link demos to the actual product.. Its one of the rules. It doesn't matter if it's convenient to your regulars.

 

Disallowed Actions

  • Creating Demo Product Listings without linking the Demo to the Full Version of the product.
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HisaDrug wrote:

...

 For demos, It's too much work to include the demo on very single product page especially when I release the new item in every 3-4 days. You can just search the demo by the lowest price they all show up at once. I find that more convenient for the regulars who keep up with new releases. 

Not everyone finds your products by going to your store.  In fact I suspect that most see your products for the first time by doing a general search or browsing the category and they don't necessarily sort by low to high price either.  I rarely do.

If I don't see a link for a demo when I expect there to be one, then I assume there is none and pass the product and the store by.  If you can't take the time to make the link, which takes just a few seconds, why should I take the time to search for one?  How many customer's who think like me do you lose because you can't take a few seconds to link a demo?

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Your targetgroup is "ridiculously immature, has no editing skills or is being novice about SL"... that is a target group that will cost you time anyway.

There are several possible ways to approach this. You can help every single customer who has a question about your products. That will take a lot of time. Or you can think of ways to cut down the time for customer service. You can for example write a good FAQ for your products, and put it in notecard that you include with the product. Or a 'how-to-use' notecard. Or you can have a website where you explain the use of your products. Write it all in simple language.

Attaching demo version is also a way to cut down your customer service time. It will give your customers the possibility to try before they buy. When they are not satisfied with the demo, they will not buy and they will save you the harrassment.

Do not feel burdened to miss some buys, because of demo's. You can better have no buyer, then an unsatisfied buyer who is taking your time, and is telling all his friends not to buy at your store, to start a fight with you or to hang around in your store telling other customers not to buy (and all other kind of molest they can think of).
In the time it takes to handle these kind of customers you might as well make a few new product. 

 

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Madeliefste Oh wrote:

Your targetgroup is "ridiculously immature, has no editing skills or is being novice about SL"... that is a target group that will cost you time anyway.

There are several possible ways to approach this. You can help every single customer who has a question about your products. That will take a lot of time. Or you can think of ways to cut down the time for customer service. You can for example write a good FAQ for your products, and put it in notecard that you include with the product. Or a 'how-to-use' notecard. Or you can have a website where you explain the use of your products. Write it all in simple language.

Attaching demo version is also a way to cut down your customer service time. It will give your customers the possibility to try before they buy. When they are not satisfied with the demo, they will not buy and they will save you the harrassment.

Do not feel
burdened to miss some buys, because of demo's.
You can better have no buyer, then an unsatisfied buyer who is taking your time, and is telling all his friends not to buy at your store, to start a fight with you or to hang around in your store telling other customers not to buy
(and all other kind of molest they can think of).

In the time it takes to handle these kind of customers you might as well make a few new product. 

 

Agree. At some point your whole approach to business is to try to anticipate all the ways someone can POSSIBLY misunderstand something, and even then, they think up new ones. Ones you could never believe anyone could misunderstand -- I could write a book.

So yes I have a FAQ webpage, product websites, other help webpages, help notecards, and Picks and Profile, detailed information on Marketplace listings, all devoted to minimizing the time I must spend on Customer Service. It does help! But. Just yesterday I had to explain to a 2006 account that if you buy a table individually instead of the boxed set, the chairs do not magically arrive.   (Her advice was to sell only sets, no individual pieces.)

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HisaDrug wrote:

You should probably contact the other thousand of merchants who do the same.

By the way how is this related to the topic I posted lol

Just because some merchants choose to break rules, doesn't make it ok for others to do the same. Believing you should be able to break the rules, because thousands of others breaks the rules, is going to make people question other aspects of your business as well, including customer service issues. That's a natural reaction, so it is actually relevant to your topic, because it is potentially a contributor to the problematic concersn, questions and commentary you seem to be getting. Very few things in business are irrelevant to the business itself.

I am sure many, if not most, merchants receive the same kinds of commentary, questions, and concerns that you have received. Whether or not it is justified, is situational. You can choose to handle the issues in whateer way you wish, however you will never find a happy solution that gets rid of them entirely. Some people are ignorant about things, and I mean that in the true sense of the actual definition, not a character judgment. Not everyone communicates their opinions, or concerns, in the best manner. THat is human nature, and part of doing business. You can opt to continue to offer advice, refunds, exchanges, whatever have you, if you so desire. You can also decide to use your own discretion as to which, and what, you will offer your customers. Making things as simple as possible for your customers by providing as much information as you can, can be vital to receiving even less of the "harrassment" that you seem to be receiving. However, it won't remove all of it, that's an utter impossibility in the business world.

Me, I deal with things on a situational basis. I help, inform and educate when and where possible. I also offer refunds, exchanges, fixes, whatever else have you, on a situational basis too. If I find that a particular customer is being over the top, or defamatory just to be thatw ay, I typically opt to take the high road, explain as I can, and then end the communications, period. No one HAS to put up with such things....but sometimes we choose to. There could be any number of reasons why one would choose to, but they're all individual, and they're all a willing choice we do, or do not, make. I don't let those who have tried, through whatever means, to sour things or drive me bonkers. I end it before it gets to the point that I would consider harrassment. I take the good, with the bad, and I deal with both accordingly. I never let either affect me in a negative way, though. It is what it is, and only you can decide how it is going to affect you. It can be a royal pain in the butt to deal with people like that, but, again, it's still a choice as to whether or not you will put up with it. I don't let those negative situations have any affect on the rest of my business, my sl experience, or my other customers.  I have found that dealing with things on a situational basis, is the best option for me. For others, it may likely be an entirely different story. Only each individual can decide though.

If you are finding that your dealings are having a negative impact on how you handle other customer service issues, other customers, or your sl experience as a whole, it might be a good time to take a look at the things you are or are not doing already, and see if perhaps things need to change. SOme people like to opt for an all or nothing method. THey either help everyone, or they help no one. Though I have personally found that those people are few and far between, I know they exist. I don't personally think that's a good policy, and it would never work for me, but maybe it works for them, who knows. I do know that making policies clear, and making the buying(and owning) experience as easy as possible on your customers tends to work better than just assuming they know what's what. Taking the demo thing as an example...you said you don't link the two because you believe the methods you use already are sufficient for your repeat customers. I can understand why you might believe that (ignoring the fact that it is against the rules for a moment here). However, you have to wonder if this is the best approach for your business as a whole. What you believe serves your current customers the best...and the ability to see beyond that and think of what will serve your whole customer base, including potentials, the best...are worlds apart. I think the latter is a better option, personally, and it is what works for me, but maybe it's not what works for you, I don't really know. I find the same thing to be true when it comes to CS policies, though. Serving only one particular collection of customers may not be the best approach.(ie, the all or nothing approach) because it DOES actualy make you lose out on potential customers. You wouldn't likely ever feel the loss, because it is not a customer base you've felt, so how could you miss something you didn't know about. But I still believe it affects your bottom line, to some degree. Just as I believe how one handles CS issues, and even harrassment should it ever come to that point, can affect the bottom line of a business.

Then again...I could just be nuts when  take things as a situational matter, and not a global matter. It certainly wouldn't be the first time I've been accused of being nuts, lol. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I do not envy your situations.  Difficult choices often appear when dealing with an unsatisfied customer, but the choices can be simplified with a set of firm guidelines for the merchant and the customer.  

Always meet the quality standard implied by your product marketing images

Always assume the customer has a valid complaint and is truthful, until you know otherwise

Always be consistant in your TOS and actions

Always be very clear in all marketing as if you are targeting a first time buyer

Always remember a good customer service story reaches TEN ears, a bad story will be shared by ONE HUNDRED

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HisaDrug wrote:

You should probably contact the other thousand of merchants who do the same.

By the way how is this related to the topic I posted lol

You mentioned being reported by your customers... This is a legit issue and they can flag "report" your items and they will be pulled.

But hey, if you want to be the immature one and not follow the rules..

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  • 1 month later...

First of all, you are not God.  You do not own LL nor do you own the virtual world we are in.  You open a shop, you need to deal with customers.  You will never find satisfied customers.  You need to tend to them and make sure you make them happy in every way you can.  This is part of a real business.  I own a business in real life.  I listen to my customers no matter what.  Whatever your product is, you need to carefully explain in detail the description.  If you fail to place one description, they reign terror upon you.  That is something you must deal with.  Do not cower in the corner and cry about it.

Last night this happened to me.  A product I purchased from a trusted creator stiffed me.  When I asked for support and gave him a bad review, he banned me from his sim, product updates and disabled my products.  He wasn't even refunding my money back until I asked for it.  You do not have the right to ban, insult (which he did) or argue with your customers.  You simply ignore irrate customers and handle the nice ones.  Just because it's your business does not give you the right to treat customers like crap.  You will be reported.  There is a better business bureau in the real world and there is one in Second Life.  

You walk into a real life clothing store or electronic shop, you don't get banned for not liking a product.  Just remember, you're not God.  I suggest  all creators take a business 101 class.  Because you think you are talented in crafting does not mean you can run a business.  Too many immature people behind SL's market.

I wish I was back in 2003.  LL actually cared about us.

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Where do you get these ideas? There is no BBB in SL. Yes, a merchant does have the right to ban anyone he wants, and no, LL does not get involved in resident disputes. There is nowhere to report merchants. You can leave any kind of review you want, but dont be surprised when the merchant fires you as a customer. Like it or not, thats reality.

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You mean virtual reality.  In reality, it never happens.  In video games, you have paying customers crying about the game yet the company sits back and says "hey, they're paying customers.  Until they truly break the rules, let them pay".  You have electronic companies which in most cases everything is an object in SL.  You are telling me in the real world I'm going to Ford and tell them I hate their cars and I will never drive one again; they will ban me from all ford stores?  Come on, be realistic.  You speak of a 15 year old's mind.  I own a business, I know what the real world is like.  

In the real world, you can lose one customer.  In SL, you can't afford to lose one let alone throw bans.  You are not a multi million dollar company.  That unhappy customer will come back and purchase from you.  Bad merchants ruin the experience of others which ruins SL itself.  This becomes a LL issue.  No customers, no money, no virtual players.  

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