The Facebook debacle & other issues

Additionally, certain limited models are sometimes for sale on the Volks Japan website, as Ranka and Matoi are currently:

https://ec.volks.co.jp/category/0105/

...

- This is all very annoying.

- But I still kinda hope the California shop is open by the time I go next year.

- And now I kind of want to get a SmartDoll and write a story about it having a torrid Romeo-and-Juliet-style love affair with my DD for shenanigans sake (because unless Volks puts out a DD boy body I am getting a Smartboy at some point).

I didn't unfortunately read all 9 pages of this but as an  ex-member of the "good" fb group, i wanted to put my words in. I left ultimately when the drama about the girl with the boots happened and I saw that was posted in this forum post too. I personally talked to that girl behind the scenes and Danny and the FB group itself really blew that thing WAY out of proportion. She and I talked for about two-three weeks during all of that, and I felt so bad for her. Everyone seemed to be attacking her by what Danny wrote, which honestly was a big lie at the most, and at best, a gross over exaggeration of what actually happened. She didn't want to send back the doll, Danny refused to do a partial refund. he MADE her return the entire purchase to get a refund for the boots. It wasn't due to the shame and the bullying, she already had talked to danny before posting that on the group. The official email from their customer service was to send back the ENTIRE ORDER, because they would not partially refund if she only sent back the boots.
She only did the refund through paypal because that's the policy paypal has. It wasn't a scam and what's worse, Danny ASKED HER TO DO IT. and then on IG, turned around and made it seem like she did this behind her back. Because she used paypal to pay, it was quicker to request the refund through their system and have Danny approve it. This would cover the shipping charges that Danny was refusing to pay, which was against paypal's policy. I realize this is a little hearsay because i'm claimming what she claimmed Danny said, but she sent me screen shots during this time. So few people believed her and was on her side, I don't blame her!!!!

I tried to defend her, while staying very calm, in the group, and suddenly i was a scammer too in the eyes of that group. Anyone who speaks ill of the company is immediately banned and painted as someone no one wants to do business with. I stopped follow danny on all social media after that. I still have my SmD, but I won't be buying anything directly from the company. Which is a shame, because the company does produce good looking products. Danny just gets on a god-complex and can't separate himself from his company, separate himself from his social media, and can't separate that people can have disagreements without hating. Danny just wants to get rid of all traces of people who disagree.

I want to say i can't believe that he personally canceled people's orders from the other FB group, but honestly, after being first hand to that drama, i can believe it. I don't trust Danny's IG anymore.
I am going to go back and read more fully, but I wanted to get this out of my system because it just upset me so much how much mob mentality ruined culture japan.

Sorry to double post, I didn't realize I couldn't edit my posts like you can on DOA. I was able to read the full thread.

On 4/23/2019 at 10:45 AM, Yumeiro said:

I think that is reaching a bit. They have the right to protect themselves from fraud, and are upfront about it.
Yeah, the timing is a bit bad. But going around with pitchforks looking for issues, well... you'll find them in anything.

This was in regards to the fraud posting. this 100% had to do with the blacklisting and canceling.

On 5/1/2019 at 3:10 PM, Eiko82 said:

 

Was that the story of the girl who complained about the weathered shoes and Danny told her to return the whole doll? If I remember correctly, she complained about how one shoe was more weathered than the other. When she contacted Culture Japan, Danny told that if she was unhappy, she had to return the whole doll. He wouldn't just give her a new pair of shoes. She stated several times that she was perfectly happy with the rest of the doll, just not the shoes. I remember quite a few people offered to trade/buy the shoes from her. 

Less than 24 hours, Danny posted on his social media about his Wabi Sabi philosophy which was most likely caused by her complaint. She decides to return the doll out of shame due to all the fuss. Afterwards, I think that I read somewhere that she opened a Paypal claim, claiming the item was 'not as described' and that she complained about other things like tiny birthmarks on the body. I think that situation was one of the reasons that's all items in the store have that disclaimer when you check out nowadays.

 

The reason i feel so strongly about the fraud disclaimer being linked to the blacklisting is the Wabi-sabi disclaimer was built WITH the girl with the boots. Danny asked her for her input the entire time (i don't remember how she felt about it, i remember commenting it was really weird and passive aggressive of Danny), but he did the disclaimer within 32 hours of the whole blow up over that event. He redid a massive portion of his website including drop downs for that one event. you can bet your money he did that fraud disclaimer ONLY because of the blacklisting. I'm really glad the OP and him got on good terms, but honestly. Choo is a charismatic person and he acts nice in person. So I believe he chose to be nice, but people are definitely blacklisted, canceled, publically bullied and lied to by Choo. I agree that he needs a PR person to take over social media. gonna stop digging up old threads 😘

37 minutes ago, ultrapandachan said:

Sorry to double post, I didn't realize I couldn't edit my posts like you can on DOA. I was able to read the full thread.

You can edit your posts, there is an edit button in the bottom left corner. 

Thank you for the information but I don't see it, the bottom left of the post only has the quote and multi quote option for me. the top right has report post bottom right is "thanks" and of course to the far left is the member information, maybe it's an option i have to turn on? or you can only edit it for so long after posting?

You can edit your own posts at any time.

However, maybe post editing is one of the features that only becomes active after you become a full member (after 30 posts, 14 days)? I don't know and don't have a way to check, but I suspect that might be it.

Edit: Here's what I see in my own posts; Edit just to the right of Quote:

Edited December 20, 2019 by cfx

Cfx is right, it is one of those functions that will be available only after you become a full member. At the moment, you can edit your post If you do it immediately, but If you read 9 pages of posts first, the edit button certainly is there no more.

This is all incredibly disheartening. Due to health issues and other disasters I've been out of the loop on dolls for quite some time now (I don't think I've made a post since the migration!), but I had always hoped to get a smart doll boy once things settled down. Looks like that won't be an option now, and not just because he's apparently decided to phase the standard models out.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Suzuna

(Thought this belonged here, as there's some arguing in the comments.

A bit condescending, but at least he's being more upfront about the products?)

I saw the post that started this. The customer emailed support about the wig because there were wefts that were thickly knotted that showed through the wig and what looks like excess material on the wig cap that made it bunch up so it didn't look right on the doll. The customer sent the wig back to have it checked and was told there was nothing wrong with it and that they should have read the disclaimer but was given a refund and basically told to buy wigs elsewhere. 

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by jenlovesdolls
adding in something

What's the deal with the potato chips?

I have to say, I agree about hot glue, I am not sure there is a good reason to do that except maybe to reduce costs.

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

What's the deal with the potato chips?

The only thing I can think of is the British slang expression "all that and a bag of chips" which I'm not sure makes any kind of real sense, but those pages upon pages of disclaimers maybe could be referred to as "all that."

I guess the expression has a similar meaning to our "everything but the kitchen sink."

Edit: I'm apparently wrong and it's in reference to an anime I am unfamiliar with beyond having watched a bit of it years ago and dropped after finding it wasn't for me.

Edited March 16, 2020 by cfx

1 hour ago, BeyondTime said:

What's the deal with the potato chips?

I have to say, I agree about hot glue, I am not sure there is a good reason to do that except maybe to reduce costs.

I could be wrong, but the potato chips reminds me of death note...so I wonder if there will be characters coming from that series because he is alluding to an upcoming new doll?

Edited March 16, 2020 by jenlovesdolls

Danny has mentioned Death Note before, and Light Yagami is known for his dramatic potato chip eating scene.  Almost certainly the upcoming announcement.  Even if I were interested, the weird thigh issue on the SmD body of late would put me off buying one.  

I feel less and less interested in ever buying another SmD every time Danny goes off on one of his rants.  I don't believe the customer is always right, but sometimes the customer is right.  Volks has issues, too, but we've seen them change and grow, in part due to our feedback.  Not as quickly as we'd like, but at least tan DDs and the male bodies are a thing, even if getting them outside of Japan can be a hassle.  

I must have missed it, what's the thigh issue?

Spoiler

@Jezrah: I think the comment on thighs is referring to this particular post. I put the image under a spoiler just in case.

Mr. Choo's explanation regarding the boy's thighs can be found ➡️ here.
 

Quote

If you think others would be disappointed with the shape of the thigh then please share this post with them so that they too can avoid disappointment. 

Lol... I think the above excerpt is very....unnecessary? Why even bother to include it?

Edited March 16, 2020 by Subaru

6 hours ago, Galvatim said:

Not as quickly as we'd like, but at least tan DDs and the male bodies are a thing, even if getting them outside of Japan can be a hassle.  

I think one thing about businesses where the creative staff are the owners, you aren't just suggesting that the company change a product, you're telling the creative staff to change their vision. That's just a harder sell, and it's something people may take personally.

 

3 hours ago, Subaru said:

Lol... I think the above excerpt is very....unnecessary? Why even bother to include it?

I like being snarky as much as the next person, but he tends to push the boundaries of acceptable snarkiness.

Edited March 16, 2020 by BeyondTime

 

5 hours ago, Galvatim said:

Danny has mentioned Death Note before, and Light Yagami is known for his dramatic potato chip eating scene.  Almost certainly the upcoming announcement.  Even if I were interested, the weird thigh issue on the SmD body of late would put me off buying one.  

I feel less and less interested in ever buying another SmD every time Danny goes off on one of his rants.  I don't believe the customer is always right, but sometimes the customer is right.  Volks has issues, too, but we've seen them change and grow, in part due to our feedback.  Not as quickly as we'd like, but at least tan DDs and the male bodies are a thing, even if getting them outside of Japan can be a hassle.  

I agree. And from a visual standpoint, Eiji's overall leg definition looks terrible. His neck is too small for his head size, too. 😬

7 hours ago, Subaru said:

  Reveal hidden contents

@Jezrah: I think the comment on thighs is referring to this particular post. I put the image under a spoiler just in case.

Mr. Choo's explanation regarding the boy's thighs can be found ➡️ here.
 

Lol... I think the above excerpt is very....unnecessary? Why even bother to include it?

Wow. Neither of my SmD boys have ever had their legs look like that, whether they were kneeling, sitting, or wearing tight pants. Although it may be possible to pop them back into shape with heat if they were in the right shape when they were first cast, I would've been concerned, too, if it were my doll looking like that.

Wha.... what happened to that Eiji's legs??!?!?  That looks horrible. And Danny's response???? It's not that hard to admit that the product is flawed and give the person a refund or something. Just when I thought Danny was getting better he comes back with this... some people just don't change do they. 

Edit: So I went and read the post about the thigh issues and at least if there is a problem you'll be refunded(but at the cost of a full return - _ - ). But that response is really uncalled for.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Mame

On 3/16/2020 at 8:45 AM, jenlovesdolls said:

What will happen once all the new licenses come out and people that aren't familiar with these types of dolls buy them and complain about something because they didn't read the 567 pages of disclaimers? He will be alienating a whole lot of people. New customers will be put off, and some old ones, such as myself will be left contemplating whether or not I want to continue to buy from and support a company with an owner who treats customers like this.

I have a sarcastic sense of humor and I agree with most of Danny's philosophies but sometimes he goes too far with his snark, especially as a business owner, and I feel like he has done this so many times that I am really getting put off about it. I agree with the MANY people that have stated he needs a PR person, he really does because his comments and the way he responds to things is NOT professional in the slightest. 

 

 

I'm an older customer, and I'm officially put off. The person who made the post about the wig never said anything negative about Danny, but Danny grilled them on instagram and used their 'ignorance of wabi sabi' on the Chitose Multiverse sales page. I've NEVER had a CJ wig look like that. And why does Danny feel the need to constantly berate Volks? While I know that his company has high standards for quality (usually), I think wabi sabi is starting to get used as an excuse. I don't like the road that this feels it is going down. I didn't post in the thread, but I was disgusted by people attacking the person who never said anything negative about Danny and paid for shipping both ways. I'm done. I'm honestly at the point where I am going to have to do some long thinking on whether or not I even want my Smart Dolls anymore. I'm sure that my viewpoint is extreme, but I will not support a company that treats customers with contempt as "You are so lucky that I all you purchase from me!" With the staggering economy due to COVID 19, Danny better get an attitude check. People are going to be less likely to spend that kind of money on luxury items especially given how he treats customers.

More vague condescending-ness, plus extra documentation on returns (which could be a good or bad thing).

(I would avoid SmD because of all this...but I realllly want Gemini. I think if I have problems with the wig/body/anything I'm just going to sell them on the secondhand market instead of trying to return them. I also want to take a look through that rejects bin...)

I'm so fed up with this. First Danny makes snarky way over the top comments, then a huge incident happens ( i.e. the "Voolks" one from a few years back, the face book incident), discourse happens, people move on, the cycle continues. And with no signs of stopping because it doesn't look like Mr. Danny Choo is going to change. Unless someone tells him face to face, he NEEDS to stop with this "flawless, God like complex", to be held accountable, not only for his behavior, but also for some of the flaws in his products and NOT blame it on wabi-sabi. It's really sad to see something he was so passionate about turn out like this. As for myself, there are still a few products I want to get from SmD, but after that I'll probably be done buying from them. At the end of the day we all just came here to share our love for these dolls, not fight or be angry. But anyways, I'm going to ignore this topic as it's causing me much more stress then it needs to. Have a great day every one! 

This is so embarrassing lmao. I think Danny makes incredible products, but listening to consumer critique is kind of essential to running and maintaining a brand. At this point it seems like every item has 2-3 disclaimers, because Danny can't simply say ''It looks like we messed up on this one, let us exchange the item for one that you'll be more happy with''.

If you need to make an entire 6-page essay every single time a customer gets a defective item, instead of handling it professionally by offering a refund/exchange or simply providing them with an explanation as to why the product is the way it is (privately), to me it does nothing but give the impression that not only is the product of low quality, but that the company has no intention of helping if I get a defective item- beyond yelling 'that's the way it's supposed to be'' and making 3 posts calling me out and/or blocking me from purchasing ever again.

If I were to go on a site and have to read 7 different disclaimers before ordering something, I would immediately come to the conclusion that I'm wasting my money on a poor quality product.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Some times, Danny, a defective product slips through the cracks and needs to be fixed. It's really not that serious and it's very easy to rectify. 

This almost gives the impression that he's training his customers not to speak when they have an issue.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Serena-Hime