Second Life Sucks .com

The reason why Linden Lab is so abusive is because there is no recourse for whatever they do. I have contacted five different agencies to ask for help and none of them will be able to get Dante Portland reactivated. I will cover each case, but what I have learned is simple, Never do business with Linden Lab. You may create a free account and log into Second Life, but never spend money with Linden Lab. The people who run Linden Lab are dishonorable and in cases of dispute, they have no functioning customer support.

Visa Doesn’t Help
On April 5, 2012, I called Visa Corporation at (800) 847-2911 and reported that Linden Lab had deactivated my account on Second Life.com because I was disputing a charge with them. They confirmed what I read online that it is a violation of Visa’s Terms Of Service for my account to be deactivated while there is a dispute still pending. When I contacted Visa Corporation again asked them about the status of my dispute, they told me that the matter was closed, despite that no resolution was indicated.

To move forward on this matter, they gave me an address for the Office of the President of Visa, to which I wrote. The reply that I got was that Visa does not handle disputes with merchants and that I should take my complaint up with the issuer of Linden Lab’s merchant account. I called back Visa support and asked them how I would know who issued the merchant account for a specific vendor and they told me that this would be difficult information to find, and could give me no information as to how to track this down.

What I have come to understand is that since Visa does not uphold its own Terms Of Service with its merchants, Linden Lab is empowered to violate them with no fear of consequences. Violations are free. Customer support staff costs money. There is no reason why Linden Lab is motivated to handle disputes with its own customers.

My Bank Doesn’t Help
When I asked my bank for help with a specific merchant, they said that there was nothing they could do. They said that they have no control over specific merchants and they have no way to address violations of Visa’s Terms of Service. They told me that refunding a specific payment was all that they could do to help me.

It is shocking that Visa Corporation does not maintain a complaint system that allows customer complaints to be reported to the banks who issue specific merchant accounts. If merchants are violating Visa’s Terms Of Service, there should be a reporting mechanism so that the issuing bank can track these complaints and take steps against merchants who are in violation, like Linden Lab.

The Federal Trade Commission Doesn’t Help
One recommendation from Visa’s support staff was that I contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and issue a complaint. The phone number that they gave me was (877) 438-4338.

I called the FTC and filed a complaint against Linden Lab. The person on the phone was attentive and asked me standard contact information about myself and Linden Lab. He also asked me for the date of my transaction with Linden Lab.

At the end of our phone call, I asked if the FTC would address my specific concerns regarding the deactivation of my account by Linden Lab. The man told me that the FTC did not address specific customer disputes with a vendor, but that they would investigate if they got enough complaints. From his answer, I gathered that Linden Lab was under little risk of prosecution for wrongdoing, and I was no closer to having Dante Portland reactivated.

The State Attorney General Doesn’t Help
Another recommendation of Visa’s support staff was that I contact the State Attorney General’s office. I did make a phone call to the Attorney General’s office in California, where Linden Lab is located, and I told them that I wanted to file a complaint. The woman there told me that she would send me a form to fill out in detail and that I should return it to them.

Like with my conversation with the FTC, I asked if the State Attorney General’s office would address my specific complaint with Linden Lab, and similarly, I was told that they did not handle specific customer claims. Like with the FTC, what I was told was that if enough people complained, they would file a class action suit against Linden Lab. Again, this filing would bring me no closer to having Dante Portland reactivated.

The Better Business Bureau Doesn’t Help
The final suggestion of Visa’s support staff was that I contact the Better Business Bureau. Like the State Attorney General’s office, they told me that they would send me a form that I could fill out and send back. The only information that they wanted was my address and they said I could fill out the information about Linden Lab on the form when I filled it in.

Like everyone else I talked with, I asked them if they would address my specific concern regarding my deactivated account with Linden Lab. What I was told was that the Better Business Bureau has no judicial power and that what they would do is try to contact the vendor and attempt to reach a resolution. I told the woman that my bank was not able to reach anyone at Linden Lab to settle my credit card charge against them. The woman told me that if the merchant could not be reached, this would be a negative mark against the company and that anyone who looked at the Better Business Bureau web site would see my unresolved complaint against them. I asked her how long these complaints would stay active on the Better Business Bureau web site and she said that they would be up for only a period of three years. Again, I feel that this approach will provide little help in getting the one thing that I want accomplished, getting Dante Portland reactivated.

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