The Facebook debacle & other issues

On 5/4/2019 at 5:23 AM, Mothiraffe said:

I'm also a somewhat long-time follower of Mr. Choo's work, and I concur that something really has changed with him. He really is a different person than he once was. People do change (or rather, life changes us,) but... somewhere along the way he went from an idealist to a cynic, and I can only assume it was the stress of his business endeavors that did it I think Danny had a great many ideas and genuinely good aspirations, too. I remember when once upon a time, he promoted a custom DD Miku- only to rejoice with everyone when Volks announced an official Miku was coming down the line. Not to... cast aspersions, but he seemed like a happier person then.

 

I've also been following Danny since 2013-2014 and yeah, it's clear that life has changed them. I think it might be a combo of health issues and the stress & struggles of running a business. He often mentions that sh*t hits the fan more often than you think with suppliers and what not. I know that Danny often gets sh*t for his broken promises : no limited dolls, everything in stock forever, robotic Smart Doll, Pocket Doll, etc. and I certainly get the frustration.

There are a couple of clothing items that I wish I had bought back in the day if I had known that they'd only be available for such a short time, like the blue or pink yukata tops and the red hijab/turtleneck set). I'll always be mildly annoyed that Danny cancelled the Twilight/Moonlight/Kurenai sculpt without proper warning. He took them down, saying that they'd be seasonal and then a year or so later, states that they're never coming back. But I also understand that sometimes you can start off with the best intentions and stuff just doesn't work out as you plan.

As for his customers, I think he might've underestimated how demanding and critical they can be. When he first released Mirai and Kizuna, most of the people who bought these dolls, were fans of Danny's website and the characters themselves. They were mainly excited about getting a doll of his characters. As his business grew, so did his customer base and that also meant people who weren't a fan or familiar with Danny and his characters. At first, I assume that this was just the BJD/Dollfie Dream communities who couldn't help but compare his work to Volks and would ask him questions from a BJD-point of view. Danny once got annoyed with me for asking if Twilight/Moonlight/Kurenai were the same sculpt 'cause to him, same sculpts don't seem to matter.

Given that Danny often mentions that his customers are first-time doll owners and that apparently 40% of these customers are kids, I think that he and his staff get a *LOT* of questions/complaints about people who are not familiar at all with vinyl or ball-jointed dolls e.g. staining, breakable joints, etc. and that having to deal with that all the time has worn him down. Unfortunately, Danny seems to take it out online at anyone who even dares to utter the slightest criticism or ask a 'to-him' stupid/unimportant question

Anyways, I would really like to know if Danny ever replied to Baldylox. I really hope that he did, considering how big of a supporter Baldylox has always been of Smart Doll.

 

 

Edited May 5, 2019 by Eiko82

On 5/4/2019 at 12:02 AM, AyaToyBox said:

 

Edited May 21, 2019 by salica

So Kitsooni (one of the people that was banned from purchasing and had all the screenshots on IG) deleted all of their SS and posts about being blacklisted. When they were up, the captions mentioned that she'd leave the posts up until she was removed from the blacklist.

Has anyone heard from her about this, about whether or not she was taken off the blacklist? 

24 minutes ago, Serena-Hime said:

So Kitsooni (one of the people that was banned from purchasing and had all the screenshots on IG) deleted all of their SS and posts about being blacklisted. When they were up, the captions mentioned that she'd leave the posts up until she was removed from the blacklist.

Has anyone heard from her about this, about whether or not she was taken off the blacklist? 

I’m really curious about this too. So far we haven’t heard anything about anyone being restored. I’d feel a lot better about Danny if I knew he was making good on this with people. 

I read through K-2s entire photo story thread last night, and they really are beautiful dolls; this whole thing is just such a shame. Just going by sculpt alone I’d probably want all four of the ones K-2 has plus a Mirai and a Kanata. 

Not like I really need more dolls. XD

Edit: Actually unless I am mistaken his Trisha is a Kanata. 

Edited May 7, 2019 by BeyondTime

32 minutes ago, Serena-Hime said:

So Kitsooni (one of the people that was banned from purchasing and had all the screenshots on IG) deleted all of their SS and posts about being blacklisted. When they were up, the captions mentioned that she'd leave the posts up until she was removed from the blacklist.

Has anyone heard from her about this, about whether or not she was taken off the blacklist? 

 

No, she hasn't. She mentioned that in one of her Instagram stories that she was going to take it all down in order to move on but that she hadn't been unblacklisted. 

...

Edited June 6, 2020 by AmaFromEU

Hey guys, I’m the one who made the big IG post. I have not been un blacklisted yet and I have a big feeling I won’t be, due to actually sticking up for myself and Danny not wanting to admit he’s wrong 😕. The last message I sent him was a long respectful message asking to sort this out, haven’t even looked at it. Although I do own 5 smartdolls I am choosing to not support his company anymore. (I will be keeping my dolls tho bc I’m not letting him ruin those for me) 

16 minutes ago, Kitsooni said:

Hey guys, I’m the one who made the big IG post. I have not been un blacklisted yet and I have a big feeling I won’t be, due to actually sticking up for myself and Danny not wanting to admit he’s wrong 😕. The last message I sent him was a long respectful message asking to sort this out, haven’t even looked at it. Although I do own 5 smartdolls I am choosing to not support his company anymore. (I will be keeping my dolls tho bc I’m not letting him ruin those for me) 

You and your Smartdolls will always be welcome here.

30 minutes ago, Kitsooni said:

Hey guys, I’m the one who made the big IG post. I have not been un blacklisted yet and I have a big feeling I won’t be, due to actually sticking up for myself and Danny not wanting to admit he’s wrong 😕. The last message I sent him was a long respectful message asking to sort this out, haven’t even looked at it. Although I do own 5 smartdolls I am choosing to not support his company anymore. (I will be keeping my dolls tho bc I’m not letting him ruin those for me) 

I was the one that commented on your post earlier, nice to see you here! I'm so sorry this all happened. I'm really thankful that you put it all out there for us to read and learn about what was going on, I'm sure that must have been really difficult, I know SmD stans are relentless.

You're incredibly brave for sticking up for yourself friend, even if it's horrific that you were put in this position in the first place -- and I appreciate that you spoke out and let people know what was happening, too, because I think it needed to be said and talked about. I hate that Danny's put the whole community in this position, honestly- if anyone gives you trouble, they're... ignorant of how shite this really is. If you can't be critical of something you love, that's not healthy. I support you choosing to no longer purchase their products, but if you ever see something you spite-want, I'm sure the community would love to help you get it so you can flaunt it to his face in the most passive-aggressive fashion. After all, what's he going to do? Ban everyone who follows you in case they might be a "mole"? That would be a business catastrophe.

You're a good person and you didn't deserve the treatment you received. I hope that you will get a legitimate apology, as unlikely as that is. You deserve more than that, but that would be a start.

14 minutes ago, Mothiraffe said:

You're incredibly brave for sticking up for yourself friend, even if it's horrific that you were put in this position in the first place -- and I appreciate that you spoke out and let people know what was happening, too, because I think it needed to be said and talked about. I hate that Danny's put the whole community in this position, honestly- if anyone gives you trouble, they're... ignorant of how shite this really is. If you can't be critical of something you love, that's not healthy. I support you choosing to no longer purchase their products, but if you ever see something you spite-want, I'm sure the community would love to help you get it so you can flaunt it to his face in the most passive-aggressive fashion. After all, what's he going to do? Ban everyone who follows you in case they might be a "mole"? That would be a business catastrophe.

You're a good person and you didn't deserve the treatment you received. I hope that you will get a legitimate apology, as unlikely as that is. You deserve more than that, but that would be a start.

I really appreciate you saying all that! ;_;  Many people are willing to help me purchase through the site, which is very sweet of them. I do have at least one more purchase to make from the site (hopefully I can find it secondhand first) then I’ll most likely be done. Thank you again for the kind words!! 

Just in case you aren't aware, Mandarake sometimes has secondhand Smart Dolls; currently they have a Kanata and Chitose:

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/listPage/list?categoryCode=020114&keyword=smart&lang=en

3 hours ago, Kitsooni said:

I really appreciate you saying all that! ;_;  Many people are willing to help me purchase through the site, which is very sweet of them. I do have at least one more purchase to make from the site (hopefully I can find it secondhand first) then I’ll most likely be done. Thank you again for the kind words!! 

Of course! I hope you can get the doll you want, friend. You deserve them. ^^

2 hours ago, cfx said:

Just in case you aren't aware, Mandarake sometimes has secondhand Smart Dolls; currently they have a Kanata and Chitose:

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/listPage/list?categoryCode=020114&keyword=smart&lang=en

They come up on Yahoo Japan Auctions and Ebay, too. If you're comfortable PMing me who you're looking for, I'd be glad to help in the hunt! For me personally... I really want to get Oceana, but other than her, most of the dolls I want are already discontinued. (Tea Chitose and Moonlight.) I don't know if I'll be able to justify getting more after all that's happened, which is SUCH a shame as I really do love what SmD, the dolls, represent. It's just such a shame that the company making them has turned out so rotten 😞

Well, I'm not sure it's an update or not but here goes.

 

I never got a reply on my first email from Danny.  I sent a second email 2 weeks after the first and after a week, I still haven't gotten a reply to that.  So I hit him up on Twitter 3 days ago with basically the same thing that was in my email.  Still no reply.

 

I have no idea if he is ignoring me, thinking of what to say to me or just deleting my messages.  I have no clue.  Not knowing sucks.  I'll send him another message on Twitter tomorrow as well as on Instagram.  Those will be my last messages to him.  If I get no replies then my last resort is to try and place an order online at the Mirai store.  I want some of the newer smooth busts and a hand pack so hopefully I can get that to go thru.  If it doesn't go thru then I'll know where I stand.  I just hope it doesn't come down to that.

 

 

Billy

57 minutes ago, baldylox said:

Well, I'm not sure it's an update or not but here goes.

 

I never got a reply on my first email from Danny.  I sent a second email 2 weeks after the first and after a week, I still haven't gotten a reply to that.  So I hit him up on Twitter 3 days ago with basically the same thing that was in my email.  Still no reply.

I recommend trying with a different email, he may have you blocked. If I were going to ban dozens of customers I would probably block their emails on the mail gateway to preempt a flood of emails. 

Gateways can be configured to just drop the message instead of bouncing it back, so on your end you might never know the mail wasn’t being delivered. 

Edited May 11, 2019 by BeyondTime

Oh no, I'm really sorry to hear that Danny is ignoring you, Baldylox. That is really not cool. If you send a message from Instagram, you should be able to see if he reads it. I really hope that he will respond to you.

Danny continues to disappoint... Its a shame really since I was hoping to get Destiny when she gets a Cortex version (and nowhere else does elf ears...).

I love his dolls, truly, and I love his company. He set a precedent when he came out with Tea and Cocoa as standard; no more 50 shades of beige. When he developed Valiant, and made special parts for the amputee girl. I vaguely recall seeing a wheelchair prototype on his insta? His company is definitely doing the vinyl animetic side of the industry good. 

I do not love him though. He needs a PR manager desperately, soomeone young who understands social media and customer relations. And to learn to seperate business and pleasure. Seriously, its not hard to manage two instas; I do it myself. This whole debacle as it was so aptly titled is yet more proof of that. There are a surfeit of issues with Danny's social media presence, and I hope it doesn't come back to bite Smart Doll in the behind because more than just him will suffer for it. 

Pardon me for being dramatic, but this sort of thing really boils my blood. Afaik I'm not affected by any bans, blacklists etc. I rarely use Facebook, but I've engaged with his Instagram a few times just to comment that I like a particular product or w/e. 

I've been staying at a hotel that's pretty close to the Mirai Store and I've been very tempted to go have a look. Actually I was on my way there, but was already too tired and gave up lol. Now I'm sure I'm not going. Danny's attitude is awful. I stopped following him on social media almost a year ago because of the Dolpa thing, but I guess I was still hoping his behaviour would improve. Clearly he hasn't and has only gotten worse. 

Maybe this is a bit dramatic, but he basically betrayed his supporters and I find that unacceptable. I feel awful for anyone he's hurt and the people who work for him. It really sucks because the tea and cocoa options mean a lot to me and many others. I wanted to support that and the actual artists and staff behind SmD. To me, it's not worth it if it means I have to enable/tolerate the founder's crappy treatment towards customers. 

2 hours ago, SakuraRose said:

I've been staying at a hotel that's pretty close to the Mirai Store and I've been very tempted to go have a look. Actually I was on my way there, but was already too tired and gave up lol. Now I'm sure I'm not going. Danny's attitude is awful. I stopped following him on social media almost a year ago because of the Dolpa thing, but I guess I was still hoping his behaviour would improve. Clearly he hasn't and has only gotten worse. 

Maybe this is a bit dramatic, but he basically betrayed his supporters and I find that unacceptable. I feel awful for anyone he's hurt and the people who work for him. It really sucks because the tea and cocoa options mean a lot to me and many others. I wanted to support that and the actual artists and staff behind SmD. To me, it's not worth it if it means I have to enable/tolerate the founder's crappy treatment towards customers. 

That's the whole issue I'm facing right now. The people working under him make great stuff and I want to support them without supporting Danny. He's just so entwined with his brand it makes it impossible. 

Edited May 13, 2019 by Swanmay

I have an update on all of this if anyone cares.  😉

 

Early this morning I got a reply to a message on Instagram.  I wasn't sure who it was from until I picked up my phone and opened the notification.  It was Danny Choo.  He had replied saying he had not gotten either of my emails and had been extremely busy as of late and apologized for getting back to me at such a late time.  

 

He then asked where I was located and if I could, would I like to Skype with him.  Of course I said yes and we proceeded to talk for close to an hour.  We talked about the Facebook thing, the reactions, other issues he's been dealing with and a few things I'm not at liberty to discuss at the moment.  😄

 

He was VERY open about everything and told me that there was no way I'd been blacklisted from buying at his store.  I asked about others having issues and he said that he did indeed blacklist a few people who had been giving him issues from *before* the FB thing.  He wasn't happy about the Nazi image of course.  He did say that he and Lisa from the SmD Lovers group talked and it was left completely up to her for doing the mass booting from her page.  When I told him I was one of those people, he apologized and said if I wanted back on then I should PM Lisa and tell her about our chat.  He also said a few others who got booted had nothing to do with the "Nazi page" as it was being called and that some of them had been let back on the SmD group after talking to Lisa.

 

I made sure to let him know my side of things and he was fine with what I had to say.  He also admitted that he is now going to be stepping back from dealing with things like this and focusing on "more important" aspects of his social media and business.  I did not ask about an external PR department because I didn't want to sound rude or pushy to him.  He was being really open with me on things and I was pretty happy about that.

 

After we cleared the air on all that, he told me that there were no issues with me or anyone else purchasing from him from here on out.  There is no blacklist other than about 4 or 5 people who had been doing some really questionable things online.  He asked that I not go into details because he wants it behind him and he doesn't want anyone learning from what happened and trying to replicate it again.  Let's just say that order numbers will no longer be displayed with a listing of items purchased for screencap sharing purposes.

 

He mentioned the credit card thing too and went into a little detail on it.  It seems a few people had been using fake cards to try and buy things from a couple of select countries, Canada and the US among others, and that caused a lockdown for a bit.  The system they use has been updated now so issues with cards shouldn't occur like they were.  There were also some people making orders, then cancelling them and then re-ordering with the same card a day or two later.  That threw up red flags to the software as well but it should be taken care of now.

 

We chatted about Cortex for a bit ( we are going to see stuff SOON 😄 ) as well as other things he asked me not to repeat.  The entire time we talked, he was at his home and seemed to be in good spirits.  There was nothing odd or weird about how he acted with me or with anything he had to say about the FB issues.  He genuinely sounded like he has figured out that he needs to be less vocal when it comes to people giving him sh*t online and to just let it go.  We talked about my work, things he was thinking of getting into and ideas for his new store here in the US.  He has some great ideas and I hope some of what he mentioned to me becomes reality because it'll be really cool if it does.

 

So in conclusion, Danny and I are cool.  The air is clear between us and things will go back to normal.  I thanked him for his time and for getting back to me and for how open he was with me.  He thanked me as well, for being a friend and being open with him on how I felt and what I've seen happening.  I really do think he's looking at things a little differently now and I hope it works out for us all.  

 

 

Billy

Thanks for the update! The thing is if I’m still blacklisted I’m very confused on what the “bad things” I did before getting blacklisted were? 😕 

I am extremely happy to see how the thing has been sorted between you guys.

It is so nice that he actually took enough time to talk to you "in person" and sort things out.

I still think that he should probably leave the social media managing / customer service to someone else, but in a certain way, it is also nice to see that he steps in first person to deal with this kind of things.

1 hour ago, baldylox said:

So in conclusion, Danny and I are cool. 

That's a bloody relief to hear, so I take back the bad things I said about him.

1 hour ago, Kitsooni said:

Thanks for the update! The thing is if I’m still blacklisted I’m very confused on what the “bad things” I did before getting blacklisted were? 😕 

You might try contacting him, since it seems to have worked for Billy.

Edited May 26, 2019 by BeyondTime

3 hours ago, Kitsooni said:

Thanks for the update! The thing is if I’m still blacklisted I’m very confused on what the “bad things” I did before getting blacklisted were? 😕 

I did not go into specifics with him on individuals so I can't say what he meant or if you were included in that group or not.  I'd approach him on PM's via Instagram as he seems to post more there and interact with people more often there than he does in other places.  Sure, he took quite a while before he got around to answering me BUT he did get back to me and apologized too.  Your thing may be a misunderstanding, it may not be, I have no clue.  It won't hurt to ask him so that's what I would do.

 

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

That's a bloody relief to hear, so I take back the bad things I said about him.

Yeah, I'm glad too.  I made sure to tell him that I would post about this wherever I had made posts of my own just to help clear things up and put the info out there for people.  Hopefully things will change for the better and we won't see this type of thing happen again. 

 

 

Billy

It good to see some growth here and that Danny has decided to take a step back from social media. Honestly, it should definitely free up some time for him to develop his new ideas! Hopefully there will be a resolution for some of the blacklisted people....