Seraphim had just started decorating one of her awesome rentals in the Maine development, had literally only hung two pictures, when she received notification she had been evicted from the rental! As she read the eviction notice in disbelief, she received a second notification saying she had been evicted from her other recent rental in Maine, as well. There was no explanation. These notices were followed by an avatar paying the one months rent she had payed for each rental, minus one day for each, into her account… still, no explanation.

Seraphim immediately IM’d the avatar, asking why she had been evicted. He sneeringly replied that there had been a mistake, the places were not, as advertised in their rental vendors, L$50 a week, with 200 prims, but L$2500 a week, with 1000 prims, and that Seraphim should have known the prices were wrong, and contacted him before she rented the properties.

Seraphim has previously rented several properties, and currently rents one… she rented all these properties using the ubiquitous SL rental vendor in front of the property, for the sum the vendor asked… that’s what they are for, isn’t it? She’s never had to contact the owner and ask if the vendor is asking the correct price… what point is a vendor you can’t rely on? Whenever she has had to contact an owner, the interactions have always been pleasant/reasonable. She has never had a problem… till this happened.

This incident is pure wrong on several levels. Firstly, Seraphim did nothing wrong! She payed one months rent, the sum asked, in advance on both properties, thus conveying her desire to rent the places for at least that period, and to be part of what seemed a lovely venture… she did this in perfectly good faith… presumably, a new community, advertising itself as wonderful and inclusive and wanting people to commit to it, would value such an indication of commitment. Secondly, the little man Seraphim was evicted by made the mistake/s in pricing, not Seraphim… to evict her with zero explanation, then, when she requested an explanation, to actually imply she was at fault… this is appalling people skills for someone attempting to start a happy community!

Thirdly, what a repulsive piece of lack of good will! Couldn’t the little man have, first, contacted Seraphim, and explained his mistake, perhaps giving her some options? Could he not have then, because of Seraphim’s obvious good faith, at least given her all her money back? Could he not, in short, have acted as though he gave a rat’s ass about her obvious desire to rent there? Instead, he evicted her without explanation/warning, then blamed her for believing the advertised price… Donald Trump would be a better PR person for this venture!

Seraphim is just one avatar in SL, she does not have much influence, but this little big-man has completely turned her against the Maine community venture… those bizarre clouds she first noticed there were an omen of the hidden ugliness in the place… the place is clearly about making fistfuls of Lindens, and absolutely nothing about creating a genuine community… it looks good on the surface, but with people like the one Seraphim just dealt with running it, how can it be anything but expensive real estate with no soul?

In RL, there is no way Seraphim could have been evicted for paying one months rent, at the asked-for rate… of course, SL is not RL, but it’s economy is supposed to follow basic RL rules of engagement, tiny little despots shouldn’t be able to behave like this. If you pay for a service, the seller should not be able to simply snatch that service back because they made a mistake, especially with zero explanation. Seraphim does not hold much hope, but she has contacted LL, asking if she has any recourse against being evicted with no explanation for doing nothing wrong. She suspects LL will not help, and this does tend leave a bitter taste.