Rated X wrote:I agree that refunds should have been an option. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the money was already invested somewhere else. No guarantee he keeps a bank account of thousands filled with emergency money. Same thing goes for Frenzy/Rumble since he has crazy prices. Imagine someone sending an e-mail asking for 2 grand back out of the blue ?
My issue is TFW2005’s stupid “you must answer your private messages” rule. Ive received PM’s on both sites from regular members inquiring about my sig, clarifying things I mis-stated, asking where I bought something, etc. (in other words, non-business PM’s) I always answer back because I’m a friendly guy. But what if I’m not friendly ? Why should I have to be ? Is there a rule that says I must communicate with total strangers through PM’s that I don’t feel like talking with ? What if I (me Rated X) were to let my TFW2005 inbox fill up with non-business e-mails ? Would I get banned ? I’m not running a business. Maybe the mods wont get any complaints and I will never even get reported. If they don’t ban me, then that means TFW2005 has a bias against people running a business and holds them to a higher standard than regular members. That’s where things become unethical because there singling out business owners. If my PM’s are truly “private” shouldn’t Maiden Japan’s be too ? Very reminiscent of the alleged IRS scandal on the news currently. Targeting a particular group for personal reasons.
I've been following the feedback thread on TFW2005. As far as I see, no one complained about MJ not responding back about regular PMs. Its all complaints about private messages in regards to people's orders with him. The scenario is not a mod and his friends targeting MJ and singling him out. I know the mod himself and some of MJ's customers are mine as well. And strangely, from what I've seen, some of them have been more patient with MJ than they were with me, and I've never had orders take longer than 7 months, depending on the product.
Anyways, the issue that triggered the mod to get involved is because numerous customers of MJ posted he was not responding to their PMs for simple updates. Most just want an update, some have had urgent requests, like address changes. Some people even went as far to contact him by facebook and email to get an update, and they posted they had no luck. Thats what triggered the ban. You are right, MJ doesn't have to reply back to non business PMs. No one does. I've sent him PMs when he first started, and never got a response, which were not about orders. But when money is involved, he should reply always. From what I gather, there are easily over 10 people over on TFW who have orders over $400, that they are waiting on. Thats easily $4,000 MJ got paid over a year ago.
MJ's last update estimated he would be done with all orders in 13 weeks or so. I think that time has passed, and he hasn't posted any sort of update since. The only new info people are getting is when some gets a shipping confirmation email, or if their order simply arrives.
From my point of view, as someone who runs a business like MJ, I think he should at least post an update every 2nd week, on his facebook club so people know things are still in the works for their order. Its true, answering a ton of emails and PMs would take time if he truly is busy. Making a single post at this point is easier, and would get the word out still. I think with how he has the new "factory" made versions of his kit out, he really owes his customers better communication. It took more emails to organize that, then it would for a quick update to a customer.
To end, I did get a chance to meet MJ at Botcon 2011. I have a lot of respect for the guy as a fellow artist, and am truly jealous of his sculpting and painting skills. I'm happy I was able to own at least one set of his upgrades.
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