The Facebook debacle & other issues

On 8/23/2022 at 9:14 PM, belpita said:

When you think about it, isn’t it very unusual to allow returns in the doll world? Can you return things to Volks, for example? 

It's not. I had a Sailor Jupiter wig that fell apart and Volks sent a replacement when I let them know.

I also had a fullset doll from Rosen Lied arrive with the wrong wig and they told me to keep it and just sent me the correct one.

I've had Soom send me improved leg parts for their Faery Legend line even though I had received my doll over a year ago prior to that and had no complaints. They told me they just sent the improved parts to all who had ordered so that everyone could enjoy their dolls.

None of these companies flamed me or humblebragged about their kindness on social media either 😉

ya know, i was just thinkin, if these dolls are marked to kids. then what happen's when if, ( celestia forbid) a parent finds out about the dark jokes CJ posts about smd?"   ik most kids know who chucky is at this point.

Edited August 26, 2022 by DollyDearest

3 hours ago, DollyDearest said:

ya know, i was just thinkin, if these dolls are marked to kids. then what happen's when if, ( celestia forbid) a parent finds out about the dark jokes Shoe's posts about smd?"   ik most kids know who chucky is at this point.

Honestly, with all his weird talk/euphemisms about poop and boobs, it's not much different from having a 4 year old in the house. 😑 God help me...

1 hour ago, Katsudon said:

Honestly, with all his weird talk/euphemisms about poop and boobs, it's not much different from having a 4 year old in the house. 😑 God help me...

yesh.   

16 hours ago, bbotss said:

It's not. I had a Sailor Jupiter wig that fell apart and Volks sent a replacement when I let them know.

I also had a fullset doll from Rosen Lied arrive with the wrong wig and they told me to keep it and just sent me the correct one.

I've had Soom send me improved leg parts for their Faery Legend line even though I had received my doll over a year ago prior to that and had no complaints. They told me they just sent the improved parts to all who had ordered so that everyone could enjoy their dolls.

None of these companies flamed me or humblebragged about their kindness on social media either 😉

Ah, no, I meant returns as in "I changed my mind". 

Returning a faulty product or getting a replacement for it should be standard, I agree. Without snark or banning as a side effect.

2 hours ago, belpita said:

Ah, no, I meant returns as in "I changed my mind". 

This also depends on where in the world said doll company is located, I suppose.

In Europe a company is legally required to give you a 14 day cooling off period to change your mind about a purchase:

If you bought a product or a service online or outside of a shop (by telephone, mail order, from a door-to-door salesperson), you also have the right to cancel and return your order within 14 days, for any reason and without a justification.

This does require you to send the item back in an unused state, but it allows you to take the doll out, inspect it, go like "Nah, not my cup of tea", and send it back.

So any Europe based doll shop would have to take your doll back for whatever reason, but since both Volks and Smart Doll are Japan based companies this law doesn't apply to them specifically.

On 8/11/2022 at 5:59 PM, Sebby said:

Off topic: But omg I'd love a bodybag for my dolls tbh. Those black ones with a little label on how they died or something. Hmm... Maybe I'll have to see if I can find some suitable fabric for it. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChNg9otJxUF/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Off-topic

This person makes body bag carrying cases on Instagram. I remembered this comment when I saw them. Figured I would share.

Back to lurking in this thread I go.

On 8/9/2022 at 1:10 AM, Monty said:

I do think its a better idea for some people to not get carried away with bloating the discussion with pointless one-liners that contribute nothing, as it makes it easy for the diehard fans to point at this thread and label it a bunch of trolls

Sorry it's taken awhile to address this. I needed some time to reflect on some of the content, and some real world stuff caused some delays in staff discussion.

--

I'm just as guilty of being snarky from time to time as anyone, so it's not like I can really criticize any individual snarky comment. I do agree that an unending stream of them crosses the line from humorous observation and into harassment, even when the comments don't violate the rules individually.

I think folks also need to be careful of the use of nicknames like "Shoe Child." If Danny were my co-worker, and I continually referred to him as that, HR would smack me hard for harassment. This isn't the workplace, but the conduct is still what it is, and we do have a rule against harassment. I usually try to use CJ or Culture Japan so as to make it about company & policy. I know it's hard when so much of the nonsense comes from him, under his personal accounts, in the guise of being business, but if you're saying something that needs to hide his name behind a derogatory nickname, then it probably shouldn't be said. 

Agreed, I've been getting increasingly uncomfortable with in particular what appears to be armchair diagnoses of Danny Choo's supposed "issues" so to speak and I find that incredibly disrespectful regardless of what he's done, since it not only is very personal towards him but also belittles others' personal struggles by making such comparisons. I haven't felt like I could say anything because of the sheer momentum of this thread lately, I understand it's very messed up how awful he has treated people as well but at some point it really does seem to cross the line of needless sniping. I know I've been looking at this thread lately thinking that surely if nothing else he can use this as ammo to claim to prove anyone with criticism are "haters" and an outsider looking in without the context (which I very much do appreciate people making comprehensive lists of, I think that's a good idea to make the issues clear) would probably agree with him.

9 minutes ago, Starwaia said:

Agreed, I've been getting increasingly uncomfortable with in particular what appears to be armchair diagnoses of Danny Choo's supposed "issues"

Glad I'm not the only one to be uncomfortable with this. I think it's one thing to talk about his behavior, but it's absolutely crossing a line to speculate that it's trauma from parental neglect or something like that.  

I get people want to let off steam, but I think this thread would be significantly more productive if people stayed in the lanes of "legitimate criticism" and ''factual accounts of events". Anything else is unconstructive and potentially off-putting for anyone trying to educate themselves about DC and why people are so critical of him and the brand.

If I were a certain kind of SmD collector and stumbled into this thread and saw some of the comments left, it would be very hard for me to take this as anything more than "a group of DC haters hating". 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Mizuumi-no-Otome

Hm. This particular thread to be a place to chat, blow off a little steam, and criticize some of the dumb things we've seen. I've enjoyed a few of the one-liner jokes myself. However, I'm not a fan of the armchair diagnoses. I suspect it comes from a place of kindness. People are trying to extend Mr. Choo a little grace - "maybe there's something wrong with him?"

*shrug* Maybe he's just a jerk? That's my operating theory. Jerk behavior; therefore, jerk. 

But yeah. Let's not do the armchair psychology thing please, because those of us who do suffer from mental health issues may be dismayed when said issues are used to explain bad behavior. I believe that my mental health issues may be an explanation, but are never an excuse, should I harm others. I am accountable for my behavior, and I hold Mr. Choo to the same standards that I hold myself to. 

 

There is one other thing I would like to add, and I do appreciate this discussion, as I think it shows the maturity and thoughtfulness of this group. 

As we all know, we cannot control the owner of this business. The converse is also true - he cannot, and should not - control us. If Mr. Choo is upset because people are making jokes at his expense - well sir, I'm sorry, but that's one of the unfortunate realities of being a public persona. So long as we remain respectful (don't attack him, don't attack his employees, don't doxx him, leave his kids out of it, keep our criticisms to his frankly bizarre business practices), I don't think it's fair to us to put a "jokes/one-liner comments are off-limits" rule on this discussion.

Just my two cents.

Not that anyone asked, of course. 😉

what happened?   am in trouble?  sorry if did or said anything dumb    forgive me 

1 hour ago, DollyDearest said:

what happened?   am in trouble?  sorry if did or said anything dumb    forgive me 

No one is in trouble, we're just pointing out the need to focus on the hobby aspects of these things and not make it into something personal. 

 

2 hours ago, MaleficentMrsofEvil said:

I don't think it's fair to us to put a "jokes/one-liner comments are off-limits" rule on this discussion.

No one is forbidding the occasional humorous observation, but we need to make sure occasional doesn't turn into a pattern of behavior that's abusive.

 

6 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

No one is in trouble, we're just pointing out the need to focus on the hobby aspects of these things and not make it into something personal. 

 

No one is forbidding the occasional humorous observation, but we need to make sure occasional doesn't turn into a pattern of behavior that's abusive.    

 

Thank celestia.   Thought my wierdness got me in trouble or something.

2 minutes ago, DollyDearest said:

Thank celestia.   Thought my wierdness got me in trouble or something.

No, but we all need to consider whether or not something is contributing to a discussion, or if it is just snark for snark's sake. 

I am also sorry for probably contributing to the armchair diagnosis. It is definitely coming from a place of kindness, especially since I had some personal revelations in real life about people behaving in a similar way to DC and with similar-sounding backgrounds. For me, it was more "thinking out loud" trying to understand all the contradictions I see.

But I will refrain from doing that from now on. 

I was actually coming here to share something I think may contribute to the increasing number of rules to buying an SmD. In a group on FB I saw someone ask "what doll is in the Universe package?". This is one of those randomised lucky bag products that were recently launched and it has an extensive text explaining what may or may not be in the bag. Obviously, this person did not read that text. If this is the typical behaviour of those customers who do chargebacks because they are dissatisfied with the product once it arrives, I can kind of understand the annoyance from DC. 

On 8/26/2022 at 3:51 AM, belpita said:

If this is the typical behaviour of those customers who do chargebacks because they are dissatisfied with the product once it arrives, I can kind of understand the annoyance from DC.

AFAIK, no one here objects to fraud prevention for the purpose of protecting his business from being ripped off. What people here object to is the way his system just conveniently seems to block people who are critical on social media. 
 

IMO, and I've said this before, Danny as Influencer is a central part of his business model. If you want to buy SmartDolls the influencer aspect of Danny comes along as a package deal. Upset the influencer, then you can't buy SmartDolls from him.

That said, as long as his influencer stuff is a part of his business, it opens Danny and his business up to fair criticism directed at either side of his operation. 

11 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

I think folks also need to be careful of the use of nicknames like "Shoe Child." 

Yeah, I'm not fond of "Shoe Child" as a name to be honest. I get the joke, just 5/10 pun harder. Hoping it's okay that I tend to use just "Danny" for when stuff comes from him (instagram posts, customer interactions with his name on it) and "Culture Japan" when it's related to the company itself. 😥

4 minutes ago, Katsudon said:

Hoping it's okay that I tend to use just "Danny" for when stuff comes from him

The distinction is saying "Jack made a mistake when he did __________."

AND

"Jack is a bratty little jerk wad."

The former is ok here and the latter is not. 

Saying "Shoe Child is a bratty little jerk wad" doesn't magically make calling someone bratty or a jerk ok. 

On 8/26/2022 at 12:51 PM, belpita said:

Obviously, this person did not read that text. If this is the typical behaviour of those customers who do chargebacks because they are dissatisfied with the product once it arrives, I can kind of understand the annoyance from DC. 

But his annoyance should not affect others in the degree that it does.
I've never seen another small doll-company react as he does, and I know they get their fair share of people who do not read too (just take a look at stores with Q&A boards).


It's easy to drift towards armchair diagnosing when his actions are often just so baffling. But indeed, it shouldn't be theorized about.

On 8/26/2022 at 3:51 AM, MaleficentMrsofEvil said:

Jerk behavior; therefore, jerk.

This I like!

Edited August 27, 2022 by Yumeiro

12 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

No, but we all need to consider whether or not something is contributing to a discussion, or if it is just snark for snark's sake. 

idk   who was being snarky?     I am just weird not snarky.  but thanks for clarifing

15 minutes ago, DollyDearest said:

idk   who was being snarky?     I am just weird not snarky.  but thanks for clarifing

Generally comments meant to disparage, even when it's subtle. You could also say derogatory, snide, belittling, throwing shade, or speaking in innuendo, instead of calling it snark.  

Taken individually throwing subtle shade at someone can seem minor, but collectively over time comments like that can reasonably be taken as harassment.

If a comment is intended to cut a human being down or make fun of them as a person, then it should be reworded instead of posted. That's based on the forum Guidelines. 

Bad ideas, bad products, bad policies, are all fair game for biting criticism. 

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Generally comments meant to disparage, even when it's subtle. You could also say derogatory, snide, belittling, throwing shade, or speaking in innuendo, instead of calling it snark.  

Taken individually throwing subtle shade at someone can seem minor, but collectively over time comments like that can reasonably be taken as harassment.

If a comment is intended to cut a human being down or make fun of them as a person, then it should be reworded instead of posted. That's based on the forum Guidelines. 

Bad ideas, bad products, bad policies, are all fair game for biting criticism. 

okays I understand the defineniftion   but i ask who said what?  i didn't notice any comments with these ideals in them idk    but i will be sure to step lightly

7 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

The distinction is saying "Jack made a mistake when he did __________."

AND

"Jack is a bratty little jerk wad."

The former is ok here and the latter is not. 

Saying "Shoe Child is a bratty little jerk wad" doesn't magically make calling someone bratty or a jerk ok. 

Oh no, I meant more like "Danny said [thing]" as contrast to "Culture Japan said [thing]". Especially when the Smart Doll insta is under his name. Not to call people stuff for the sake of it.

1 hour ago, Katsudon said:

Oh no, I meant more like "Danny said [thing]" as contrast to "Culture Japan said [thing]". Especially when the Smart Doll insta is under his name. Not to call people stuff for the sake of it.

Those are just examples of: yes you can talk about Danny by name as long as you aren't being insulting.