What's happening with ABC's X-mas raffle? (update 05/24/12)

[ButtercreamDream]

If you do a google search for ABrownCrayon, her facebook comes up.  I've left her 3 messages there, including one tonight, but she has yet to respond, and she's definitely online.  Her last posts were 2 hours ago.

I messaged her via email through the tp, at etsy, and to her youtube channel tonight as well.  She's bound to get at least one of them.  If she doesn't respond, then I think it's safe to say that she probably isn't going to.

I'd suggest that people look her up on facebook and drop her a line as well.  This is getting ridiculous :/

[hikari_amaya]

I think that's a good idea, especially for those who were involved

[tootie_tails]

Even though she has scammed people I don't think it's a good idea random people from here go after her on websites outside the arena. But yes, those who are owed stuff, definitely contact her! I know I would.

Her facebook does come up if you google ABrownCrayon, it was pretty obvious too so very easy to find.

I checked it out and while she is too busy to make good on the arena, apparently she does have time to push for an other charity organization.
At least she doesn't promise to give people prizes this time. I guess she still cares about the reputation of her irl name...

[ButtercreamDream]

I got an update from Robin (ABrownCrayon) via email.  I'm posting it with her permission.  I've removed the one bit concerning drugs as per arena rules, but I think the rest is ok.

"hey, I'm not ignoring.. it's just that I don't have a good enough explanation and don't really know what to say. Things have been really hectic. I got married last month and ten days before the wedding found out I was pregnant. (Good timing, Nick..) Then we went on our honeymoon, and I had a series of Doctory stuff afterwards. I'm still way behind on wedding stuff, there is still junk piled all over the basement from the ceremony and reception, I haven't done thank-you cards yet and I haven't even packed up and sent my dress to be cleaned/preserved as I paid for a year ago. I just started going through the wedding photos last night, even! I have two jobs, but just put in my notice at the first one (that I hate) last week. This Sunday will be my last day there. My little bit of spare time has been spent hoarding second-hand baby stuff. The only thing I'm really doing is checking my email sporadically and commenting on facebook over my phone. I just found out YESTERDAY that one of my best friends was in a car accident early last week and didn't know because I wasn't checking my facebook news feed. But on top of all that, I can't really access my pony collection.

See, my husband (that's still so weird to say..) and I are trying to get a house. In the meantime we're living in his parents' basement. A few items from my collection are in the basement with us, while the majority is boxed in a spare bedroom upstairs and the remainder is in storage. Three or four of the items are downstairs in the basement, safely in a cupboard with a printed list of addresses and names. Pretty much everything else I need, including my packing materials and empty boxes/envelopes are in that bedroom. In ..freaking FEBRUARY, Nick's younger brother's best friend's wife (yeah..) kicked him out and announced she was divorcing him. He had nowhere to go so they asked if he could stay here on the couch here for a few nights. I'd seen this dude once in passing and really didn't want to have to pass him in my PJs in the middle of the night trying to get to the bathroom, so *I* suggested we set him up in the spare bedroom. I mean we had an extra mattress and box spring against the wall, and even an empty dresser I hadn't filled with my seasonal clothes yet.. and it was just three nights, so what's the problem? So we scooped all the loose pony stuff up and tossed it all in mixed bins, thinking I'd sort it later, in a few days.

Yeah, he's still here. The bedroom reeks of strange man sweat, feet and *edited for content*. The stupid mattress on the floor is blocking EVERYTHING I need. I'd have to get past a mountain of smelly dirty college boy laundry and hopefully not knock over his giant stupid flat screen just to get to the most accessible bin. I've already gotten in one fight with him (because the ****head decided to shrink all my best shirts that were in the washer by drying them on high, and then acted like he did some favor) and as a result was told to stay off the top floor of the house completely to avoid drama. This is like living in a dorm where the Dean tells you you can't switch rooms because it's a learning experience in tolerance. I don't know what to do, because I can't get to any of my damn stuff and I can't have him get it because it's somewhere in 11 different storage bins that I have nowhere else to put and the stupid hours he keeps between his work and multiple girlfriends only brings him home late at night, hours after the in-laws go to sleep on the other side of the wall. He's never off when I am. He's rarely home when I am, and usually is getting ready to leave or I'm sleeping. I'm ready to beat this guy, and even though he's holding a large, very valuable pile of my belongings hostage I can't do a damn thing about it because it's not my house.

I didn't want to ship out just a couple items because I didn't want to be a jerk to others whose stuff I can't get to. Plus I can't get to any of my packing material, which is also super frustrating. AND all the POs here are either 10-3 or 9-5 and I'm almost always working those hours. I'm stuck and time just keeps rushing by and every time I think about it and realize it's halfway thorough May and I haven't sent out stuff from Christmas yet it makes me want to do some shots (which I can't, because I'm pregnant, of course). Meaghan (MyHatBarks) did a fantastic job of organizing everything for me, but that only went so far when I can't GET TO most of the things.

It was never my intent to scam or deceive anyone, which I hope is obvious considering this was a raffle based on the honor system and toys-for-tots donations that I personally dropped hours of my time and $200 into, but I still feel like a complete jackass. Ugh. I have to go to the doctor Thursday, but not until noon so I'll try to get those few that I have downstairs out into the mail that morning. I don't know what the heck I'm going to do about the others, though. I'm almost tempted to buy them on ebay and have them sent to those individuals, except it wouldn't be the exact same items in the same condition with the same descriptions. :/ I don't have the names here on hand but I do know downstairs I have the 2011 SDCC poster, newborn Yo-Yo, a plushie Blossom and something else. Tootie Tails? I think that was it. Oh and the Celestia/Luna set MIB from Target. Everything else is upstairs.


if you like you can copy this long email to the arena to let them know what's up, just be sure and edit out my angry rant cuss words so you don't get busted. Last thing I want is to get you in trouble..


I'll talk to you guys soon, and hopefully you'll see some packages early next week.

-Robin"


So there you go.  I don't mean to sound like a b****, but I'm still frustrated.  It sounds like a whole lot of excuses.  I'd have more confidence if anything at all got sent out.

[edited an inappropriate word  ~ XX Ringlets ]

[lemontwist]

I'm sorry but that sounds like a whole crap load of excuses that, if it were me, I would easily find a way around. Just because it's not her house, doesn't mean she can't ask the parents or the husband for help, or just be nice to the guy for a minute, or just go in when he's not there considering she said he's almost never there when she is anyway, and I highly doubt the guest bedroom door has an outside lock on it.

She can easily get more materials to send if she doesn't find them in the mess. she can send a friend or her husband to the PO if she can't get out at that time, or have a service like UPS or Fedex or whichever one does the thing where they'll show up and pick up the boxes and send them for you. Or she really could order the same items online and have them sent out, I think at this point most of us would rather just get the items, as long as they're at least in similar condition.

I fail to believe any person could be so busy that they have absolutely NO time to do something they're obligated to do. As far as I'm concerned this isn't something that you put off for your free time, this is a task that you need to make time for because people put money into it and are relying on you to pull through your end of the deal, even f you aren't the one that received money from it.

Besides, if she had time to type out that mile long list of rants and excuses, she could definitely have time to work it out.

If it matters at all, my address is changing in under two weeks, so if she does pull her life together and send out those things she has access to, know that she'll probably need to get an address from me. I doubt anything will happen by then but it would be pretty comically tragic if she did end up sending it out, only for me to have moved out of state a day before it arrives.

[tootie_tails]

Sorry Robin/ABrownCrayon, but at this point none of that is of interest for the raffle case. Every single member here has a heartfelt story like that if you would ask them, and yet that doesn't stop them from fulfilling their obligations.

Yes you are scamming and deceiving people and a wall of text doesn't change anything.
And you think it's perfectly ok to do that because you did it for a 'good' purpose? Well next time you want to pretend you care about a charity, do it somewhere else, not on the Arena.

I'm sorry you have a life and everything, indulge in your selfishness as much as you want but do it *after* you have sent people their stuff!

[babylofty]

She'd be wise to invest in a storage unit, and get all her stuff sorted out there.

[Snapdragon]

I think these excuses would be a lot more meaningful if this was the first time this had ever come up, or if it was the very first time she'd been accused of scamming people out of money/items... which it isn't.

I think everyone understands that things happen in our lives, things we can't anticipate or plan for, and sometimes it makes us fall behind in our "to do" list. But when you have it happening regularly, it should be a sign that you are not cut out to do events that require a lot of planning and time. Or at least, not until you get your life in order.

[cloud_weaver]

I think it would be different if it wasn't already nearly June.  I completely understand how busy things get with marriage and kids, but why couldn't this have been finished up in January or February??? 

[ButtercreamDream]

I don't know if ABC is reading this thread, but I haven't responded to her email yet.  I feel like I'm speaking for the group, and I'm not sure what to say. 

For those who participated, can we agree that we'd rather have whatever she can find sent out asap, rather then waiting for her to find everything?  Or would you rather wait?  Personally, I would feel better if anything at all got sent out.

[DevlishSmooch]

I don't know if ABC is reading this thread, but I haven't responded to her email yet.  I feel like I'm speaking for the group, and I'm not sure what to say. 

For those who participated, can we agree that we'd rather have whatever she can find sent out asap, rather then waiting for her to find everything?  Or would you rather wait?  Personally, I would feel better if anything at all got sent out.

 

Definately.  She should send out whatever she can get to now.  Yesterday would be better.

[bluerose9978]

I don't know if ABC is reading this thread, but I haven't responded to her email yet.  I feel like I'm speaking for the group, and I'm not sure what to say. 

For those who participated, can we agree that we'd rather have whatever she can find sent out asap, rather then waiting for her to find everything?  Or would you rather wait?  Personally, I would feel better if anything at all got sent out.

 

Definately.  She should send out whatever she can get to now.  Yesterday would be better.

I second that. Any attempt at all is better than no attempt.

[ZettaMomo]

I would much rather see some items get out rather than no items get out.

[ABrownCrayon]

On my phone at work so please excuse typos.

After my email to buttercreamdream it made me realize how retarded it all was that I haven't been able to touch my own  stuff in months.. So I talked to Nick and got him to talk to his dad, who gave the guy upstairs an ultimatum, so we were able to go in and perform a pony bin rescue operation. Pregnant me was exhausted and passed out as soon as we finished, so I didn't get to go through things yet. If I'm still aware this evening I'll try, otherwise it'll be next week.


Here's what I have today. No names etc because I'm at work on my phone but I do have a stack of receipts.


To Ontario: LC731981761US.   (customs)


The rest are USPS delivery conf

To zip 97413: 0311 3360 0000 9055 7280

To zip 48708: 0311 3260 0000 9055 7273

To zip 20878: 0311 3260 0000 9055 7266

To zip 19808: dc# 0311 3260 0000 9055 7259

To zip 43055: dc# 0311 3260 0000 9055 8058

some first class some priority based on size/box. If any #s don't work its probably a typo on my part. The rest will be coming soon.

[cloud_weaver]

I'm glad you were able to get to your stuff and get things going.  ^-^  Best of luck with everything, and congrats on the new baby.