Undisclosed Modifications... has this happened to you?

I would definately want to know about the eyes and probably want to see pictures.

 

Oh yeah, I'd post pictures of what one unmodded looked like, if I was selling him. Luckly, I got no plans to sell him.

 

Why don't we see more of this kind of feedback in the feedback forum? Really we don't have to be kittens and rainbows if we're being honest and polite about a transaction. If someone sold you something that was less than the perfec that they described it to be then you should not feel that you have to grin and bear it and leave pretty feedback.

Part of the problem is that no one seems to be getting held accountable for their shonky actions in this hobby, unless they're really bad and notorious for abusing the trust of many. But the problem with the general lets sweep it under the carpet and not say anything mean culture is that it allows folk to feel that they CAN 'forget' to disclose flaws. The more peopel who actually leave honest feedback about undisclosed work the more likely it is that sellers will actually be more honest in future. At the moment there's just no incentive to fess up about damage.

And yeah.. like someone else earlier in the thread said. Having a go at opening eyes and leaving gouge marks and file scrapes aroud uneven and oddly shaped holes is not a mod, it is damage. A mod is a finished and completed job.

 

I actually did this to someone recently - by accident. The mod in question was out of site- I'd wired her internally, including drilling a hole to hold a head wire. I'd completely forgotten about it, so I didn't mention it to after I'd sent her, when I remembered. The other mod I had done to her eye sockets so the eyes would sit better was mentioned from the beginning. Sometime people simply forget mods have been done, or didn't know they had been because the doll was like that when they bought it.

Of the dolls I've bought, as far as I can tell the mods have always been mentioned. One I would rather she hadn't been modded, but it was the actual head I wanted - one with a history.

The only "undisclosed" thing was as another person mentioned here, a good dose of perfume, which like her, I am alergic to.

 

But the not knowing because it was like that when they bought it is part of the whole undisclosed mods thing. They're not to fault, but obviously someone sold them the doll and didn't mention mods.

I don't mind wiring or seams sanding (though it better be done nicely!) things that do not alter the appearance of the doll. But once you start getting into sanding facial features and changing eye openings.. how could anyone forget they went at their doll with a dremel?

 

There are a lot of reasons, some I already listed. Another being that people don't want to make a scene, name the seller and have their name dragged through the mud all because their concept of "mint" is different from theirs. Sometimes everything else the seller does is perfect, and you don't want to get revenge on them or turn other people off them.

 

If bad feedback was simply about getting revenge then I'd think the reasons for leaving it were way wrong. Just the mere fact that you're even suggesting the word revenge there shows how leaving bad feedback is perceived as an unsavory thing to be doing. And that is much of the problem.

I find it highly unlikely that everyone who has held back from leaving bad feedback has done so because they didn't feel the need to get revenge, more likely that they didn't want to be seen as being nasty or ungreatful.(yes we seem to have this culture of compulsory graditude revolving around doll sales too) But that is where it all fails the community.

 

I have to say, I sold Armeleia this doll... and *I* thought it was a small scratch over the eye... I disclosed it... and I think I included pictures (it's been a long time) and I would have happily taken more had she asked. I wasn't trying to hide anything.

What pisses me off about this comment is that she says it was "intentional"... the scratch happened on accident... just like I told Armeleia it did, while removing old eyelashes.

I thought the scratch could be easily fixed, as did several other people who saw it, so that's what I said about it. It's fine if you get a doll with an unexpected mod or damage and want to complain about it, but it's totally NOT cool to MAKE UP things like "the damage was intentional" especially if the person does tell you there's something wrong with the doll from the get-go. If you're so worried about it (which of course you have every right to be) GET MORE DETAIL ABOUT IT.

I'm sorry, but I described it as I viewed the damage (and the way several other people I showed the damage to viewed it), and when it comes to things like scratches, it's hard to tell... I'm not a professional doll customizer, so I described it like the people around me and I saw it. If you want more detail in an auction, ASK FOR IT... and then if the seller won't give it to you, get suspicious... I would have happily taken more pics, removed the faceup, whatever, but none of that was asked for.

Your disappointment, however, does NOT give you the right to make things up about the seller. Especially when they would have happily worked with you to show you, pre-purchase, everything they could about the scratch.

 

Yes if no one gossipped and made trouble for the sake of entertainment then negative feedback would be a good thing, but people just can't help themselves in most situations. It often ends up doing more bad than good, and then people forget why the negative feedback was left in the first place.

 

My FS threads are always ridiculously long because I try to mention every single thing about it that makes it different from default, eg small stains inside the headcap, tiny scratches, light sanding.

I'm always worried I've forgotten something....I try very hard not to though.

I'd be annoyed if I recieved a doll with mods that weren't mentioned.

 

Yes you are quite right, we should simply continue to be all rosy and nice and allow others to sell broken and dammaged dolls, because it would be oh so wrong of annyone to dare to say something that might be perceived as nasty about someone else.

If your doll has damage you should not be allowed to hide behind the artificially sweet atmosphere of the forums here. A scratch here annd there is fine, but some of the mods are total horror stories. If you're buying what you think is an unmodded head and find the eyes are altered, the nose is sannded etc then that is because someone aomewhere along the line abused the trust of others and lied about their items.

 

I have to agree with Pirate Wench. I traded a Pristine Cutie Cory +$100 worth of extras last year for a "slightly damaged" Customhouse Irang.(All she told me was that the mouth had been attempted to be modded) but in actuality the doll was VERY badly damaged. Her eyes had been modified and there were GASHES (not scratches) on her arms and legs. I don't even want to imagine how they got there. But on her lips it was even worse.AND what's worse she was VERY BADLY YELLOWED, her hands started to look green and I had to bleach her with flouride and sand her hands. I must admit that it was my mistake for trusting her pictures (which were very badly photographed) In the end, I really did bond with this girl but it made me very sad to look at her so I had to sell her. I didn't get more than $250 for her but I'm glad to know she's being loved regardless of her damages.

 

But did you leave feedback? or did you feel that you'd be shunned as being a nasty vindictive person if you did. I'm just really disturbed by the fact that the stories only ever seem to come out when someone finally gets brave enough to say, hey this isn't right. Then suddenly a whole heap of similar stories come flooding out. Even in this thread, it's not the same seller, but it is the same situation and there are plenty of me too's here.

Every single time we've had a seller or buyer featuring as a sticky on the feedback forum it has been one incident that someone has spoken up about, but you can bet as soon as the ice is broken there'll be at least 4 others who all had/are having the same kind of trouble.

I also think people have to get away from the mentality that they are enntitled to recoup back the purchase price on a doll and accept that if they broke it, dammaged, modded in an unattractive way that they will take a loss. It's not their right to make profit or break even when the goods are not in their original condition. And it's definately NOT their right to break even by neglecting to mention dammage.

 

Lots and lots of really horrible situations arise in the marketplace when too many people lie down and accept poor treatment. Faceup artists allowed to accumulate doll heads and not send back product, sellers with modified dolls not discolusing details (I've been a victim of this twice).

There is NOTHING bad about leaving bad feedback, in itself. It is your word choice, your decorum, that determines how vendictive the feedback actually comes across as.

If you do nothing, the seller continues their bad habits. The feedback system is designed to help those on the marketplace determine a seller or buyer's actual habits. If their bad habits are never disclosed, they continue with them.

Basically: If the seller doesn't disclose mods or damages, they are wrong. If you don't disclose the seller's bad habits, you are enabling.

 

I bought a beautiful boy last year. And I was offered a free face up, to look like a certian character. And when he arrived, to make him look like a certian character she had sanded his lips...I still love him. Just a little upset that his lips look wonky now. It was a nice jesture, I just wish I had been told about it before hand.

 

Yeah, a faceup and a facial mod are definately not the same thing.

 

It looked as though it was made with the tip of an Xacto blade - I don't see how it could have been anything other than intentional, and I'm not sure how it could have happened when removing eyelashes. I wasn't trying to call you out, and indeed I've never mentioned the name or the damage in public. I am not "making anything up." I'm not angry about it, otherwise I would have mentioned it to you after I removed his faceup. But because of this mark, the doll has a painted scar over his eye that the character does not.

The doll is very well loved and is in the care of my best friend, but I don't feel it qualifies as a small scratch. At any rate, I don't wish to drag this out in public, especially since it happened well over a year ago. Even if I was upset about it, I'm over it and no part of my comment would have lead anyone to believe it was you, had you not replied to it. Few people even know that I owned that doll, as it passed almost immediately into Junket's hands (being that Isao is her dream doll).

 

No it was around the time when there actually weren't personal feedback threads. Either there was a good feedback thread or no feedback at all.
Around december of 2005.
But at least I learned something, and now I check what I buy very carefully.
Bella