reBourne: Buyer Beware or Just Plain Oversight? You Decide

A post over at Shopping Cart Disco got my panties in a bit of a bunch today. As with the last post over at photoLIFE suggested, I am pretty annoyed at terrible customer service. Like… remarkably annoyed by it in fact. I won’t reblog the whole thing, or repost the entire chat log — you can head on over to SCD and read up for yourself if you want the whole backstory and the reason behind THIS particular post. But here is what I WILL quote, black and white, clear as day, and jawdroppingly as possible (the whole conversation is actually much longer and again, can be seen over at SCD, but HERE is what really wadded my undies):

[16:55]  Danny Bourne: better spend your time rezzing the latest version instead then More fun the re then here with me Collen ( I DO appreciate your constructive comments thought, seriously, or I would not even bother updating my prefabs )
[16:56]  Colleen Desmoulins: wow, you’re being really defensive Danny, I dont like that one bit. I didn’t imyou to argue or anything like that. I thought I was being pretty nice about the entire issue.
[16:57]  Colleen Desmoulins: I didnt im you tod eman my money back, I even sent soem of my friends to buy which they did.
[16:58]  Colleen Desmoulins: taking 9500 for misaligned prims and horrible texture work is unfair.
[17:01]  Danny Bourne: call me defensive,…you are being offensive,,even cvalling my texture work horrible, lol, , Have fun in the new version, I enjopyed making it and I hope you will like it alot also.
[17:01]  Colleen Desmoulins: I wont be using it. Goodbye
[17:02]  Danny Bourne: cunt
[17:02]  Colleen Desmoulins: lol..wow really?

Now, anyone that knows who Colleen Desmoulins is (the talented creator behind The Loft (SLURL) furniture and prefabs) knows that she’s a remarkably talented, honest, fair and kind-hearted person. The few times I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with her, I have never been given any other impression. She’s a bit quirky too! Which I think is fun. I have absolutely no doubt that, as a content creator herself who has built her business name in prefabs and furniture in Second Life, was doing nothing more than offering objective constructive criticism in her communication with Danny.

Danny Bourne, the man who owns reBourne (SLURL), is the less well-known guy, currently feeling attacked, belittled, and cornered by the overnight flashmob that has taken his hard work and put it under the microscope while he claims innocence. Okay. Fine. I get that you feel cornered, Danny. I won’t excuse the use of the word “cunt,” but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and run with your claim that it was an emotional outburst.

Now… for those of you that have absolutely no idea what’s going on – I’ll sum up for you. Kenzie Craven of Kenzie & Co. (SLURL), another respected content creator with years of experience under her belt, purchased a prefab from Mr. Bourne and was less than satisfied, citing claims (and snapshots) of misaligned textures, prim seams and gaps in the build. When she asked for a refund, she was denied due to the fact that the build is no-transfer. To the best of my knowledge (though I may very well be wrong) there was no offer to amend the build nor exchange it made by Mr. Bourne either. It is speculated that, after multiple pressing IMs, Danny has “fixed” the problems in the build. Read the full story over at SCD.

Taking that into account (I’ve already established that reBourne’s likely not a place that will ever get my Lindens, simply for calling a paying customer a cunt – cornered outburst or not), I decided to at least give the guy the benefit of the doubt, head over to the store, and see for myself what was going on in his rezzed demo homes. I took a look at 3 houses: The Manhattan Loft (single version), The Red House, and his latest prefab, The Asian Dojo. Here are my findings (again, these pictures are of the REZZED DEMO homes). I did my best not to look “too closely” or to “nitpick”. I simply tried to show what I, personally, look for when deciding to buy a prefab. Some pictures below might be able to be clicked for larger size.

THIS IS A *VERY* PICTURE HEAVY BLOG POST. And my cuts aren’t working soooo… I apologize in advance. >.<

The Asian Dojo – $5500L ($21 USD)

First, I will say that the Asian Dojo is actually quite a lovely build. The textures used are remarkable and the attempt at creating atmospheric lighting is very well handled. However – for $5500L, I would expect problems such as these to be nonexistent:

The Red House – $7500L ($29 USD)

I imagine this was an earlier home build for Danny. Again, the textures used are nice, but the number of texture misalignments are not “oh I can just ignore that”-able for $7500L.

Note: There are multiple instances of this texture alignment issue with the floor texture, all around the house.

The Manhattan Loft (Single Version) – $7500L ($29 USD)

I believe that this was the original skybox in question over at SCD (correct me if I’m wrong though — I couldn’t get to the KingSize one as the teleporter was down when I was at the store an hour ago). If I am right, then these pictures come from the demo home that has been modified since the incident occurred. Again, I tried not to look “too closely” and checked only for things that I personally would look for when looking-to-buy.

Woo! That was a lot of pictures.

To Sum Up…

I have no doubt that Danny Bourne’s got an eye when it comes to knowing what textures to use and how to make his builds look realistic. It is clear he puts a lot of time and effort into his work, and is proud of what he does. However, neglecting to fix the GLARINGLY obvious problems, expecting people to pony up $5500-7500L, and then not even offering to mod it or exchange it for them if they are dissatisfied — that is unacceptable. Not mentioning that the build does not come with furniture is also a no-no. This is real money you are dealing with, and with real money comes real responsibility. If you are not willing to ACCEPT this real responsibility, then content creation is probably not the best field for you to be in. No one likes to feel like they have been cheated.

And just for the record: calling a paying customer a cunt, whether you are frustrated or backed into a corner, or not – is the FASTEST way to get yourself put under a microscope. Ultimately, the people that buy your products can and WILL make or break your business in SL. Word travels fast in these Internet times — as I’m sure you’ve noticed over the last day or two. If you intend to continue building a name for yourself and your business, I suggest you brush up on your customer service skills and grow a thicker skin.

I, by all means, encourage everyone with doubts or speculations to get over to reBourne (SLURL) and decide for yourself if they are builds you’d like to purchase. Like I said, the guy is not without talent. However, while I am on the topic of prefabs, let me suggest some of my favorite ones – perfect texturing, excellent prim counts, and flawless customer service in my experience. Not to mention oodles of scripted options in some of them! (OMG the Xeniversity Canal Street Loft is *especially AMAZING*…)

The Xeniversity Canal Street Loft (SLURL)
Price: $2000L
Prim Count: 119
Review post by Gorgeous Yongho of JuicyBomb

This little baby’s got touch texture change for the window scenery AND the walls. Not to mention FLAWLESSLY rendered lighting.

Ravish Tyne’s Lodo Loft (XStreet / SLURL)
Price: $1500L
Prim Count: 121

There are more pictures on Xstreet of this one. I fangirled this build AGES ago, and it is still EASILY one of my favorites. Multiple window choices, scripted art displays on the walls, removable lighting, and copy mod (EASILY made bigger).

The Contempo Modern Skybox from Pre-Fabulous (Xstreet / SLURL)
Price: $995L
Prim Count: 298 fully furnished (furniture included)

I lived in this skybox for a good long while and can vouch for just how awesome it actually is. The windows and shades are also scripted for privacy! And the FURNITURE IS INCLUDED! Seriously, for a skybox of this quality and furniture included at $995L, you really can’t beat it.

The Cube Skybox (Xstreet / SLURL)
Price: $4999L
Prims: 140-190

I lived in this skybox for a long while too, and it is DEFINITELY one of my favorites. The floors are reflective, there are multiple choices of window scenery, and there is a VERY cool tucked-away cubby behind the bookcase! The textures are also gorgeous… flawlessly baked and rendered. Very cute, very romantic home.