The Facebook debacle & other issues

1 hour ago, littlebirdzoom said:

Can we please (kindly I guess) talk about the fact hat Danny outright asked his fans to essentially bully people in the SMD appreciation group? 

Do you have some link or screen shot? 

25 minutes ago, forged_in_mess said:

Do you have some link or screen shot? 

Also literally everyone is all "YES BLOCK THOSE CRYBABIES" without....paying attention to the fact that this is literally him weaponizing his fanbase to people who....I honestly question if they exist. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by TithorArgentus

 

Here you go. I'm kinda shocked too, but mostly confused. I read it on a few comments too: if the complaints are on private messages, how is anyone on the group supposed to "give them a bollocking"?

As far as I've seen, people disappointed in their pebbles just sell them? They might say they are disappointed on the sales post, but it's not unusual to say why you're selling on a sales post.

Also, if it's true, I think Culture Japan should just have a premade email response stating that they agreed to the terms of purchase, or just ignore them because they should have read the product page better.

Take a page from your own book Danny, those customers deserve no sheeps from anyone.

To be honest, I have zero sympathy for anyone who bought one of those blind boxes and then complained they didn’t get what they wanted when the entire product description is telling you not to buy it. That’s on them, and I can’t even fathom dropping so much money when there’s a chance you won’t like the result. I don’t even buy a random 500 yen trading figure if there’s too high a chance of getting a character I don’t want. But I also don’t really know why he’d complain about his fans complaining - he’s the one that cultivated this manic fanbase that will buy anything he sticks in the mirai store, after all. And he’s also the one that keeps nudgenudgehinthinting that people NEED to buy a blind box to get certain dolls, and from what I’ve seen a disturbing mount of buyers are buying them specifically to get one of those SSRs, to use gacha terms. If he didn’t want such a dramatic fanbase, maybe he shouldn’t be so dramatic himself with release methods, utilising FOMO etc.

What does concerns me about those words is that it could inspire some fans to harass people who are merely peacefully selling dolls they didn’t want, just because they might mention in their post that they weren’t happy with what they got - whether they voiced this directly to Danny or not. Whether that’s the intended message or not, ‘weaponising’ a fanbase already proven to be uh...loyal, is a worrying look. Especially when, from what I read here, it seems that a good deal of people are actively relying on second hand items either to get a doll they want (Or at all, for the banned people) or get things no longer available. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Monty

I also have zero sympathy for people who complain about not getting the doll that they wanted from a blind box. It's clearly stated in the product description that it's random and that they don't look at your purchase history. So them being unhappy with their purchase is entirely on them.

Also, it's really not that hard to resell a brand new Smart Doll. You always have people looking for Smart Dolls and in my experience, they tend to sell quite quickly if they're in very good/perfect condition. So those people could easily get their money back ........ and try again for a blind box 😛

Honestly, I personally haven't seen anyone complain. I've seen "hey my pebble was ____, but I already have he, so i'd like to trade!", but....honestly nothing negative. I legitimately feel like Danny is fabricating these endless "customer complaints" he gets in his inbox that he says are about literally everything all the time. People say one thing and he takes it to an extreme. "I miss the anime sculpts!"= THERE'S 2000 EMAILS IN MY INBOX COMPLAINING ABOUT SEMI-REAL DOLLS LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT ALL THE LICENSED DOLLS I'M MAKING 

 

The issue is his weaponizing of his fanbase. He's telling people to go harass others. He's encouraging harassment of his customers....by his customers. I'm not sure how that's okay, and i'm not sure how literally everyone in that thread seems to be okay *with* it. 

34 minutes ago, TithorArgentus said:

I legitimately feel like Danny is fabricating these endless "customer complaints" he gets in his inbox

food for thought... on average this thread manages almost a week of peace and quiet before spiking again with schinenigans like this ...

 

But well ... what can you do... but basicly saying "Go forth my lovely little minions, and kick these complaining people in the nuts" is a real charmer, thats for sure.

Edited October 26, 2020 by finnleo

Honestly I kinda don’t blame people for buying into the “pebbles”, especially the he pebbles since Danny limits the releases on the boys so much.  If I had the funds I would have been tempted but I don’t think pebbles are available to new customers lol
I second having never seen anyone seriously complain about not getting the pebble they want in the groups I am in.  At most it’s just people trading or selling their pebbles because it’s not to their taste and maybe a throw away line about the doll being such...  I agree that at most the actual complaints and demands are likely just one or two people and not a flood of negative emails Danny has to deal with on a daily basis

 

Seeing him overreact like this and encourage his fan base to attack fellow members is honestly super upsetting...  but I’m not sure what I should expect from him anymore because he’s always pulling stuff like this 😕

It sucks, I love the dolls and have a handful of characters I want to shell in Smart Doll sculpts but the childish way Danny continues to act and run the company is just sigh

It feels like Danny isn't too happy with people reselling their pebbles and this is just another way of trying to "control" what paying customers do with his products. People might be less willing to post a pebble for sale if the Danny fans are going to start pointing fingers and make passive-aggressive posts about wabi-sabi and how one shouldn't have expectations when buying pebbles, yada yada.

Also, does anyone else read Danny's post as a not-so-subtle threat? Because I do. He's essentially saying "Bully those who aren't happy with their pebbles, otherwise I'm gonna take pebbles off the menu and no more blue dolls for anyone."

I have so far only seen 1 person who openly spoke out about how she was disappointed she got a pebble Clarity and put her up for sale. But she did write that she was aware of what she was getting into when ordering a pebble. Just that she was disappointed.

I don't like the way he phrased it (a bollocking? wtf), and honestly I wouldn't mind if he removed the pebbles entirely. The whole thing just reeks of laziness and opportunistic behaviour, capitalising on fomo and gacha gambling on his smart doll sheep crowd. 

There was a lady on youtube, (and instagram and facebook so on) who made it very clear she was absolutely unhappy about getting a cinnamon clarity instead of semi real blue singularity. Definitely she's at fault for expecting the SSR gacha to be the one she gets, but some people can't help but gamble. Its why mobile phone gacha games have laws in Japan to restrict gambling (and there's the whole issue of mobile game addiction). TBH if people can spend $5000 to win a SSR for genshin impact, Danny must be thinking he can do it too. If so far the only way to get the continuously teased blue girls is via pebble, then some people are going to take that risk, fail and be unhappy. 

Does anyone have a link or a name for that person who was so disappointed in her Clarity? She's the only example anyone brings up when talking about supposedly hateful reactions to receiving the wrong pebble. I'm curious but also if you have any other example I'd love to see it too. So far it's only her everyone talks about... And the famous "emails" we can't see. 

I'm wondering - if there are e-mails about people complaining, maybe they're from younger fans who aren't mature enough to deal with the disappointment rationally and/or parents/obnoxious "Karen" types who feel like they're entitled to get what they wanted regardless of fine print? I mean, I currently work in retail and I've had a customer walk out on me just because we didn't have any little paper envelopes to put our gift cards in...so these people definitely exist.

The problem is, the fanatic's attacks aren't going to hurt the entitled adult fans who should know better, they're going to bully the younger fans who are sensitive and adult buyers who aren't happy with what they got but are dealing with it like normal people. You don't deal with unruly customers by weaponizing your loyal customers; you smile and nod and send them on their way, accept that some people are just like that and it has nothing to do with you, and don't take it out on the next customer because odds are they're going to be a decent human being.

(btw, DChoo did say in a recent post that blue Singularities were ready to go, so they'll probably be up soon? I guess?)

 

There was nothing hateful in her post though, more like her expressing her disappointment at not getting a semi real girl.

As for the "many emails" that Danny supposedly receives from disappointed customers, screenshot or it didn't happen. The pebbles are limited in quantity, so just how many is many?

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by bbotss
Blocked out names for privacy.

Thank you for the screenshots. I went and read her whole post and... It's not hateful? She's just disappointed, and entitled to her own feelings. She's very polite and understands it's a random doll, and that the chances of getting what she wanted were very low. If anything, I found some of the answers she got more rude and upsetting than her words.

If that's really the one that sparked this post and callout well... I'm confused. Can't people sell their pebbles anymore because it's not the doll they wanted? Is that it? What are we supposed to do? Keep a 500$ item you do not want or get bullied?

That's the same lady I'm talking about. Outside of her, I've seen maybe some offhand remarks about how they didn't like their pebble so its up for sale. And what is wrong with that really, selling off something you don't like?

I don’t even read her posts as really seriously upset, it’s more like self depreciating humor dolled out to counter the embarrassment as she admits she spent $500 and got a pebble she didn’t want. 

She even posed the doll cutely in the photo she showed, so she can’t have been all that upset. It’s more like: You’re cute but not my thing, so off to that “shady place on the dark web called eBay.”

Edit: One other thing I notice is her request to identify a sculpt makes pretty clear that her unhappiness does extend as far as making her not like smartdolls. I really think her comments about “being ruined” and “wanting to cry” aren’t intended to be taken too seriously.  

 

I've seen lots of pebbles go up for sale, and we know from Danny's attitude that he doesn't really like it when anyone buys or sells these dolls from anyone other than himself. He more just tolerates it (somewhat). But the pebbles have presented a unique opportunity for a lot of people to get their hands on a smart doll, with a large variety, secondhand.

If you know you're going to get bullocked (? what does that even mean) for a mere sales post then you probably wouldn't post it. One has to wonder if this isn't a way to bully people into keeping their pebbles to limit the secondhand market.

But that would be crazy. Right?

(Insert tin foil hat emoji)

Also, it kind of bugs me that he says they don't check your purchase history, when what he means is that they will only actually care about your purchase history if you are an influencer. He does check first to be sure that you aren't a first time customer, but the influencers are the ones that are more likely to get the rare pulls.

9 minutes ago, sunlightandtea said:

we know from Danny's attitude that he doesn't really like it when anyone buys or sells these dolls from anyone other than himself.

One has to wonder if this isn't a way to bully people into keeping their pebbles to limit the secondhand market.

And keep in mind that he asks others to do the bullying for him.

23 minutes ago, sunlightandtea said:

If you know you're going to get bullocked (? what does that even mean) for a mere sales post then you probably wouldn't post it. One has to wonder if this isn't a way to bully people into keeping their pebbles to limit the secondhand market.

Giving someone a bollocking - telling someone off, usually harshly or rudely. ie: "you f***ing c*******er, selling your smart doll on the second hand market is a d**k move"

XD

59 minutes ago, sunlightandtea said:

If you know you're going to get bullocked (? what does that even mean) for a mere sales post then you probably wouldn't post it.

 

3 hours ago, LuluChan said:

Can't people sell their pebbles anymore because it's not the doll they wanted? Is that it? What are we supposed to do? Keep a 500$ item you do not want or get bullied

From the original post he isn’t asking people to give a bollocking to people selling, only to those who complain. He was wrong to say that either way.

Selling can be done anonymously through eBay or even our own marketplace. 
 

1 hour ago, Yumeiro said:

 

But... but... but...  that involves unpleasant things, like confronting your own past. 
 

Now that didin't take long. 🙄 Danny has updated the Pebble product page. She Pebbles are available again, by the way.

Only The Brave was always only for the previous customers, right? Or was I mistaken? Well, now it certainly is. (And no, Danny, I am NOT used to buy peach pebbles for over 500 USD! XD XD Sorry, I just find all of this so very hilarious sometimes.)

This product is only available to Smart Doll owners who have previously purchased from this store. The reason is that some newbies previously bought this item and didn't get what they expected - even though I already asked everybody not to buy.

If a newbie buys this product then their order will be canceled and refunded.

Selling beach pebbles for over 500 USD to a newbie is evil but Smart Doll owners are used to it so yeah.

29 minutes ago, Lynn said:

Only The Brave was always only for the previous customers, right? Or was I mistaken?

I believe you are correct, this has only ever been for previous owners.