Technically, this post should be headed “Mar’s mutterings” because I’m not a happy bunny. Granted, I may be taking this way too seriously, but if there’s one thing I can’t stand in SL it’s merchants who add me to lists and groups without my knowledge, with the purpose of spamming me with IMs. If there’s another thing that I think is a dubious practise at best, it’s bribing people for Marketplace reviews with the promise of freebies. That said, onto the post.

I was slightly peeved to find myself being sent an Object IM yesterday by someone from whom I purchased a couple of cheap items on Marketplace a few weeks ago. Since I was offline, the message went to my email address, and – oddly – it ended up in my Spam filters there. On clicking it (normally I don’t click into spam, but this was clearly an in-world message) I saw the following message at the top from Gmail:

Why is this message in Spam? It’s similar to messages that were detected by our spam filters.

I clicked ‘find out more’ and lo and behold, one of the reasons that what would normally pass for any old Object IM from Second Life (we all get tons of them, from Midnight Mania messages to group notices etc) might end up in Spam was the following:

Behavior of other Gmail users, such as many people reporting spam from a particular sender.

This doesn’t surprise me, as – on teleporting to the location of the object when I logged in today, I was immediately sent another Object IM. Followed, one minute later, by another. These IMs came, first, from a welcome mat (although I didn’t touch it; I’m always flying when I teleport, and the mat was on the floor) and, secondly, from a Marketplace Magic Box that had been renamed to include the owner’s Marketplace URL. I was also sent two notecards: a welcome one, and one containing information about the subject of the Object IM.

Hop behind the cut to see why I get so bloody annoyed about this stuff.

Merchants, take note: these tactics make me NEVER want to buy from you again.

The items I purchased were two sets of rings and nails, for 99L each. The Object IM was as follows (store info redacted and URLs broken, as in all honesty I don’t want to give this place any positive publicity). If you’ve received the same IM or any other contact from this merchant, then the greeting at the end of it will confirm who it is:

[08:09] [STORE NAME]*FREE SKIN= hxxps://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/[REDACTED]: [REDACTED]* FREE skin called [REDACTED] available, read the notecard how to get it, and a picture of our new design [REDACTED] => hxxps://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/[REDACTED] I heart you =) [REDACTED]==

Let’s take a look at the notecard that tells me how to get this free skin, shall we?

*** How to Get your F R E E Skin – [REDACTED]*** VIP-Gift
**[REDACTED]** an extra VIP-GIFT for you for Easter 2013 is ready, for anyone who leaves a review with one of our [REDACTED]** designs products on the marketplace.
it will be personally sent to you on April 1st 2013 (no, this is no joke)
[REDACTED]marketplace, but you can get 1 [REDACTED] skin for FREE, all you have to do is write 1 review in the month March and I will sent you the [REDACTED] Platinum Skin on April 1st.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
HOW TO WRITE A REVIEW:
Log in at the [REDACTED]** designs marketplace => hxxps://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/[REDACTED]
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
go to the [REDACTED]** product that you bought = clik under picture ‘reviews’= clik ‘write a review’ = give stars and write something = done, now you will receive the FREE [REDACTED] skin on April 1st 2013.
*[REDACTED]* new young trendy designs, only for sale at marketplace
Thank you =)
I do not speak English very well
Please sent mail and patient please, I use translation
-I heart you-
-[REDACTED]-

Interesting. Let’s check out the Marketplace store, shall we?

Five items. 218 reviews. I guess bribery seems to work for a lot of people. Not with me, and here’s why:

If I want to be in your group and receive your messages, I’ll click to join your group. If I want to be in your Subscribe-O-matic and receive your messages, I’ll click to join your Subscribe-O-matic. If I want to review an item I’ve purchased from you, I’ll review it.

I will not be prodded, poked, cajoled, or bribed. Your Magic Box is now muted/blocked. YOU are now muted/blocked.

-I don’t heart you-