Quandary.

I have quite a quandary on my hands currently. You may remember my last post talking about the BoobieThon Fundraiser I am doing for the first two weeks in October? Well, that tank was a full perm mesh product I bought on SL Marketplace. It was my first mesh purchase and I was eager to play around with the new tool, as I have just recently been able to SEE mesh for the first time.

When I purchased the tank, I found some things I didn’t particularly agree with so I wrote a mediocre review of the item. Here is exactly what I said:

This is my first full perm mesh purchase. There were no instructions included with the package. I also found the texture maps to be painfully fuzzy. Trying to line up any sort of detail wasn’t worth the time. Overall it was a good “lab rat” to test on, but I am a bit disappointed with the provisions.

I gave the item 3 stars and entitled the post “Okay“. (I am telling you this now, because the builder has since removed the item completely from SL Marketplace.)

Admittedly, this graphic was created to get you to read the full blog post.

 

When I logged into Second Life next, I was greeted by this message from the builder:

Hi Maris, Thanks for buying and trying the Mesh ladies vest tank top fashion template, i am sorry for the experience you had with it i returned your 200 L$ , i like you to know that i am selling fashion kits templates and my customer line is texture makers for mesh clothes, this top sold almost 1000 and it is for sale on the marketplace with 100s of different textures. no-body has reported problem about the uv maps or textures yet, anychance can you please delete the review and send me snapshop of the problem so i can fix it. also at the future you can ask for demos from me when you decide to buy a clothes from my store. or you can ask for a refund directly when you cant texture or you dont like the item.

My name is Marls, but that’ s okay. Everyone messes that up. I felt it was weird that she had preemptively had given me my money back and directly asked me to take down my review. I thought for a long time about what to say in reply. I had no intention of taking down my review, since it was neither bitchy or incorrect. I was giving simple honest feed back. This was my reply:

While I understand your forward behavior to pay me back and ask me to delete my review. I kindly decline.

I thought it was understated and simple – and I paid her back the $200L for the purchase of the item. I do think it was forward of her to just assume I would take back my words. I felt like she was trying to buy me out of my own opinion. Suddenly, I felt I was in this weird alternate universe – or maybe it was just an election season?

When I logged in this evening, I received this openly hostile message from the builder:

Forward Behavior ? You are leaving negative feedback without contacting seller, when seller offer refund and help aswell on top, you are declining, you are very ill intended person , i returned all your lindens 600L$ back to your for all the items you purchase, please keep away from my store, they dont meet your quality expectation so again plase dont buy again from me. always remember not to buy from meli imako. and delete my items since i returned your lindens and i am taking my licence back for the items. Good bye

I have no idea where this came from? Suddenly, I am a midst some weird cat fight that I had no idea would even start! I thought I was allowed to have my opinions? I thought that was the point of “reviews” on SL Marketplace?

Now, I have no idea what to do. My product is up at the BoobieThon Fundraiser and I don’t really want to take it down. This woman has “taken back” the rights by paying me 3 times what I paid for the original mesh AND I can’t find how to send in a ticket to Linden support!! I don’t want to be in bad with the Terms of Service, but at the same time… This is fucked.

Am I just being a bitch?
Should I just take down the product?
Please let me know your opinions.

I am open to hearing them, sincerely. I will gladly take down my fundraiser item if this blows up into I am being a total cunt. I’m totally okay with that. But if this feels as weird to you, as it does to me, lemme know. I feel like I just entered some weird ass twilight zone.

 

Feel Your Boobies Foundation!

Yep. Boobies. Second Life is having its fifth BoobieThon and VAUGHAN’S is happy to participate! The event is running October 1 to the 13th! Here’s the TP to my stand: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Winterfell%20Laudanum/214/208/22

100% Proceeds go to FEEL YOUR BOOBIES!

Here’s more about Feel Your Boobies from the founders:

The Feel Your Boobies Foundation focuses on one simple mission (and we have since 2004): using media and other unconventional outreach to remind young women to ‘feel their boobies’. Over the past few years, provocative breast cancer slogans have become more popular…and while we’re all about a good chuckle, we’d like to make sure our supporters know that we’re more than a funny slogan. Feel Your Boobies® is a call to action that reminds you about a habit that can increase your chances of early detection and potentially save your life.

Why focus solely on the use media to spread or message? That’s simple. Since 2004, this campaign has run out of our Founder, Leigh’s, home in a small town in Pennsylvania. With a shoestring budget and a few dedicated volunteers and workers, Feel Your Boobies has reached an international audience with its message and saved lives (read our testimonials!). Media (social media specifically) makes this possible. With over 300K “likes” on facebook and more than 1 Million Cause supporters…we’re certainly making waves from this tiny PA town.

Why focus primarily on young women? For women who are pre-mammogram age (under 40), “feeling your boobies” is one of the primary ways to get to know your body and detect changes in your breasts. Even as you get older, this habit can help in making sure you identify a change in your breast as soon as it occurs and bring it to your doctor’s attention. Should the change be breast cancer, early detection is the primary way to increase your chances of surviving this disease.

Their focus on the use of social media and unconventional methods as well as their focus on education and prevention makes this a perfect charity for a community of people who come together from all over the world in a virtual space.

We hope that you will join the fun – and the hard work – again this year to raise money for BoobieThon in SL 2012. Please notecard either Serra (Serra Anansi) or me (Eva Bellambi) in world if you would like to volunteer to create or host an event during this week of fund-raising. Whether you can volunteer in that capacity or not, please do plan on attending several of the fun events during the week (a preliminary list of events may be found below), bring friends, and bring your spirit of giving.

Let’s educate men and women about breast cancer and about how they can save their own lives by the simple act of feeling their boobies at least once a month.

See you there!!
Eva Bellambi and Serra Anansi

Here’s a FULL listing of all the events:

October 1st through October 12th
Two week long Merchant Market

October 7th through October 12th
Art Auction

Monday Oct 1st, 7-9pm
Opening Night Party @ Heart of Skye (Gaia and the Fae theme – music by Icarus Ghost) 

Wednesday Oct 3rd, 7-9pm
BoobieThon at the Blue Mermaid, Caledon (Salmoe’s Dance of the Veils theme – Music by Magdelena Kamenev) 

Thursday Oct 4th, 5 – 7pm
Poetry Slam at der Hut

Friday Oct 5th, 6-7pm
Placement of last year’s art consortium piece in New Toulouse 

Friday Oct 5th, 7-9pm
BoobieThon at the Steelhead weekly dance (Pink theme – Music by Fuzzball Ortega) 

Sunday Oct 7th Time to be determined
Art auction opening event, RoHaus

Sunday Oct 7th, 1-2pm
Chess Match @ Chess Garden

Friday Oct 12th Time to be determined
Art auction closing event

Saturday Oct 13, 12-2pm
BoobieBall (Theme: Garden of Eden – Music by Mistress of Ceremonies Gabrielle Riel) 

Saturday Oct 13, 6-8pm
BoobieBall (Theme: Garden of Eden – Music by Mistress of Ceremonies Gabrielle Riel) 

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! Remember to FEEL YOU BOOBIES every month!
Love and Nipple Kisses,
Marls