UPDATED: Wronged Customer or Fraud and Cyberbullying? : You decide

Hi Everyone,

As some of you know, I've been the victim of Cyberbullying on Kindle Boards and Tumblr. To investigate this, KB has said that I need to put the evidence online.  So, here it is.

First up is Blanche King who made the following untrue statements about us on Kindle Boards on 22 Nov 2015 http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,227136.msg3165183.html#msg3165183:

"Flurriesofwords on fiverr: ($5) This business misrepresented its product. It promised to advertise in 2 blogs (one in the US and one in the UK), facebook, and twitter (the two latter ones allegedly have 35,000 followers.) It turned out that the two blogs are actually one blog with two URLs; the followers for both are the same people. Upon asking for proof of their facebook and twitter post, the seller refused. I got a refund, but not before a "mysterious" review on my book. This business was investigated by Fiverr's Trust & Safety team. This business is now closed.
edited to remove WHOA link, and commentary beyond basic facts.  PM me if you have any questions.  --Betsy/Ann "

The link originally provided (which was subsequently deleted by Kindle Boards) was this:  http://genegeter.tumblr.com/post/111588672835/flurries-of-words-or-flurries-of-hate.  We will provide the evidence refuting this too, in a subsequent post...

But first, please be aware that Ms. King edited her comments several times before this.  She originally referred to this site as a "scam".  Also I didn't close the service until 27 Nov...

Hmmm....

Obviously, the KB discussion obviously no longer says this either.  Partly because I objected and partly because it has undergone further edits (as shown on that site).  However, the above is a direct quote from Blanche King as posted on KB on 29 Nov.

So, does she have any legitimate complaints?  What's the evidence?

Well, here is the proof that her ad ran.

and here is the proof that it ran on Twitter

and here is the proof that it ran on Facebook

and here is proof that it ran on Pinterest

and here is the proof it ran on G+

Now, here is the exchange on Fiverr.  Apologies but it is in several pieces.  You will see that she started off abusive and confrontational. Never once was she civil or businesslike.  Her behavior got so bad that I actually cited the Cyber Harassment and Cyber Stalking statutes at her (she evidently is in California).

Now, I will admit to being perplexed about what she wanted because usually people want a change to an ad when they require a modification on Fiverr.  So I kept asking how she wanted the ad changed.  When I realized that she wanted proof of my followers, I was stunned.  Clearly that's not a part of any gig or service (especially since you can just look yourself--duh!). 

Note how she misrepresents to Fiverr about what I said.  Note too that she doesn't ask for proof that the ads have run but rather proof of my following.  You can also see how she is very abusive and continues to badger me to agree to mutually cancel the gig AFTER I've already provided the service and she's benefited from my ads. 

Anyway, she made the above and other defamatory posts about this service and cited to Gene Geter as a source (remember him above?)

Well, here's some proof that the two of them are in cahoots. 

Makes you wonder about the connection and real reason for Ms. King's behavior.  More on Mr Geter later...

Now, KB did step in to some degree.  However, that didn't stop Ms. King.  On 30 November 2015, despite being warned by KB to stop targeting me and Flurries of Words, Ms. King put up a long thread claiming, amongst other things, that I was harassing her with emails and demands that she take down her negative comments about Flurries of Words/me.  She seemed to be trying to elicit sympathy. There were seven responses when I first caught it. I immediately reported it to KB and the thread was locked and taken down within moments.

So, was there any validity to her new claims?  No. None whatsoever. I have never attempted to contact her.

Ms. King, on the other hand, sent me a long, rambling email (also on 30 Nov) of nearly 500 words.  Interestingly, in it she admits to having received the service I offered via Fiverr and to a connection with Mr. Geter.  Hmmm....

I briefly responded to this email, asking her to desist in her cyberbullying behavior and to not contact me in any way in the future.  That has been the extent of my contact with her.

Oh, and I just got word that Fiverr is going to reimburse me for the service I provided to Ms. King...

So there you have it.  Is it evidence of a wronged customer or fraud and cyberbullying?  You decide....

YOU DECIDE: Innocent Victim or Cyberbully? The Case of Gene Geter

Hi Again,

I mentioned in a previous post that I would provide evidence regarding the false and malicious claims  made by a certain Gene Geter in his Tumblr post (which was subsequently cited in Blanche King's cyber-bullying post over in the Writer's Cafe on Kindle Boards).  As a reminder for those of you who didn't follow the link (or if it has now been deleted), here is a screen capture of what he said:

Now, I didn't know this post existed until today.  If I had, I would have addressed it sooner.  Notably, the links he provides don't work. Hmmm... 

Of course, the other elements of his story don't hold true either.  There's no need to take my word for it.  As promised, here's the evidence:  

As mundane as it may seem, this Geter chap first booked an ad on Flurries of Words back in 2012.  Here's the email.  To my knowledge, he had no complaints.  However, one thing to make careful note of is the account from which the donation is coming.  It will be very important later.

Flash forward to 2015.  Geter again writes to order another ad. Here is the whole thing in it's entirety.  Apologies that it is in pieces but that was the only way to screen capture it and show that there has been no tampering.

Now, note here that only the USA and UK links are discussed.  That's because Flurries of Words NEVER guaranteed inclusion of India, Australia or Canada ads in its service description.  Moreover, Geter never provided links for these countries. This will also be important later.  But I digress.  Here is the rest of the exchange.

Now, you can see that Geter made several strange requests for changes to the ad--all of which I made.  Note his rather bizarre reason for wanting me to change the originally posted review.  But, as the exchange shows, I didn't question it.  I just did it.  This is just a little bit different from what Geter says in his Tumblr post, isn't it?  Hmmm...

At this point, it is important to note the date of the last parts of the above exchanges: 14 February 2015.  Yes, it was Valentine's Day and, like most people, I went out with my significant other for the rest of the day/evening (go figure) after I had dealt with Geter's previous two modification requests that day. Obviously, I didn't pick up on my email until the next morning.

But not Geter though.  He was away at his keyboard taking issue with the link I used for the India market.  Mind you, this was a free extra, so he really had nothing to complain about but that isn't the point.  If you look at the last two posts, you will see that Geter clearly expected another same day response (ON THE EVENING OF VALENTINES DAY).  

In fact, rather than waiting until I responded, Geter sent the following (also on 14 February 2015)

That's right.  He opened a PayPal claim THE SAME DAY.

But wait, there's more...

Even then he couldn't wait for me to respond.  He had to do more...

Yep, you guessed it.  He escalated the claim to a dispute.  Now, I don't know why PayPal words it that way but these lovely little treats were waiting for me when I got up in the morning.  Needless to say, I was getting a little concerned about the mental state of this particular individual.  I mean who sits at their computer all day firing of emails and expecting the recipient to continue responding within minutes several times a day?

To make the long story short, he continued to do things that I found frightening and creepy.  So much so that I asked him to stop and cited the relevant cyber stalking and harassment statutes to him (sound familiar?).

Rather than taking stock of what he was doing, Geter simply parroted it back to me as you see above.  

Now, I provided all the information to PayPal that I have provided to you just now.  As you know, they found in my favor   But the PayPal saga doesn't end there.  See below:

Yes, rather than accepting the facts and PayPal's determination, Geter attempted to get a chargeback through his credit card.  He claimed that it was "unauthorized use".  

Now remember that email from back in 2012 and the account that the donation was coming from.  It was the exact same one used for the 2015 ad.  Interesting...

What conclusion can be drawn from this?  Well, the evidence seems to suggest that Geter was either lying to his credit card company to attack me OR stealing from a female relative over a long period of time.  What does this say about Geter's word?  Hmmm....

The good news was that PayPal wasn't buying it either, as you can see:

Yep, they found in my favor AGAIN--which was about the time that Geter made that cyber-bullying post on Tumblr I showed you at the beginning of this post.

Now, he did that several months ago.  Why should I care now?  Well, let me show you.

These screen captures show the reach that his cyber bullying and libelous post has had.  Several people have re-blogged and liked it.  Every time, Geter's claims are spread further and further.  And remember, he mentioned me by name.  This is libel, plain and simple.  Moreover, he's posted his rant on several other sites for download--too many to list here.

In my opinion, bullying of this type should not be permitted.  The evidence strongly suggests that Geter has been posting and spreading falsehoods about me for nearly a year (and let's not forget that post over on KB from Blanche King that cited Geter's Tumblr post which was put up days ago).

But you've seen the evidence.  You decide.  Is he an innocent victim or a cyber bully?

Wronged Customer or Fraud and Cyberbullying? : You decide

Hi Everyone,

As some of you know, I've been the victim of Cyberbullying on Kindle Boards and Tumblr. To investigate this, KB has said that I need to put the evidence online.  So, here it is.

First up is an author who made the following untrue statements about us on Kindle Boards http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,227136.msg3165183.html#msg3165183:

"Flurriesofwords on fiverr: ($5) This business misrepresented its product. It promised to advertise in 2 blogs (one in the US and one in the UK), facebook, and twitter (the two latter ones allegedly have 35,000 followers.) It turned out that the two blogs are actually one blog with two URLs; the followers for both are the same people. Upon asking for proof of their facebook and twitter post, the seller refused. I got a refund, but not before a "mysterious" review on my book. This business was investigated by Fiverr's Trust & Safety team. This business is now closed.
edited to remove WHOA link, and commentary beyond basic facts.  PM me if you have any questions.  --Betsy/Ann "

The link originally provided (which was subsequently deleted by Kindle Boards) was this:  http://genegeter.tumblr.com/post/111588672835/flurries-of-words-or-flurries-of-hate.  We will provide the evidence refuting this too, in a subsequent post...

But first to this author (who undoubtedly edited her above comments several times before the discussion was locked because I didn't close the service until 27 Nov)...

Here is the proof that her ad ran.

and here is the proof that it ran on Twitter

and here is the proof that it ran on Facebook

and here is proof that it ran on Pinterest

and here is the proof it ran on G+

Now, here is the exchange on Fiverr.  Apologies but it is in several pieces.  You will see that it got so bad that I actually cited the Cyber Harassment and Cyber Stalking statutes at her (she evidently is in California).

Now, I will admit to being perplexed about what she wanted because usually people want a change to an ad when they require a modification on Fiverr.  So I kept asking how she wanted the ad changed.  When I realized that she wanted proof of my followers, I was stunned.  Clearly that's not a part of any gig or service (especially since you can just look yourself--duh!). 

Note how she misrepresents to Fiverr about what I said.  Note too that she doesn't ask for proof that the ads have run but rather proof of my following.  You can also see how she is very abusive and continues to badger me to agree to mutually cancel the gig AFTER I've already provided the service and she's benefited from my ads. 

Anyway, she made the above and other defamatory posts about this service and cited to Gene Geter as a source (remember him above?)

Well, here's some proof that the two of them are in cahoots. 

Makes you wonder about the connection and real reason for Ms. King's behavior.  More on Mr Geter later...