An Update to you know what......... long..........

[Laurabearz]

I am somewhat pleased to update you all on the status of Bug and I’s “situation”. The items have now been returned to us. But as I have said from the beginning, it was not the missing items that upset us, as much as the totally unacceptable and bizzare behavior of the DISer, and the twisted mind games they pulled on Bug and myself, but esp to Bug with everything she has been dealing with…

The last contact we had from the said DISer was on Dec 12th (or maybe the 15th) when they said they would return the items to us ‘right away‘. Bug and I waited and waited… after about a month we started sending reminders… that went UNREAD and were NEVER EVER answered. Ever. She completely and totally ignored us. What conclusions were we to make?

So with that said, Bug and I feel that our story can serve as a cautionary tale about trust. And people making you think one thing about themselves when they are really clearly something else.

This all started because Bug and I needed to come up with a plan to get the boys (and ourselves, admittedly) the DLR Halloween/Holiday Quest items. We knew this would be a huge boost to Slink’s moral as he was in over his head with his Chemo Treatments/ surgeries etc… Ebay prices are crazy So we hatched a plan…

We decided the best way to go about it was to find a trusted DISer to send tickets too, to get both Halloween and Christmas quests, then return the tickets to us and we would then either sell them to get our money back (the original plan) or, as it turns out we had decided to donate them to the big raffle for Slinks School. But that is neither here nor there. We ended up sending cash, for timing reasons (and major stupid thing.. yeah yeah we know, but dumb isn’t a crime)

Now this person, in return for helping us out, would not only really be helping us lift Slink’s spirits but they would receive all the other regular in park quests TWICE using our SEVEN tickets (Once when they did the Halloween Quest in Oct then later after the holiday quest before returning the tickets to us, that’s 14 FULL sets of park quests) . Plus I believe, but could be wrong, that we mentioned as part of the deal, we would also give them some of the WDW holiday quest… or maybe bug and I at that point had planned on surprising them with it… but Regardless this person was willing to do this for us…

It soon became apparent that we picked the wrong person… and the series of bizarre mind games she likes to play began…. WAY Too much stuff to go into HERE… but rest assured it was horrid to go through… She hemmed and hawed about turning over the Halloween Quests and the holiday quest….. well.. Trying to get that from her took WEEKS..

Finally After weeks of jerking us around we did finally get the holiday quest from her. BUT It entailed a lot of kissing up, begging, and jumping through her hoops, but at that point we were willing to do anything to get slink the quest items...

Now Bug and I were faced with getting our tickets back… As I said at the beginning of this post, her last contact with us was mid December when she said she was going to return the tickets… We waited and waited… nothing…. . Couple of weeks go by and we send a reminder with the address again.. Nothing didn‘t read it didn’t reply… and ALL OTHER MESSAGES we sent WENT UN READ and not a single reply. NONE.

Well here it is close to 2 months after she said she would send us the tickets back, she never read or replied to ANY message sent from us since the middle of Dec.… What would YOU think?

So I make my plea on the DIS….

And we got the tickets back today. Interesting how that works isn’t it?

Then low and behold today… She decides to reply to us, and that was pretty much just to state that she sent the tickets to us before I had made my post on the DIS, last week…

Well Post MARKS don’t lie, and they were mailed AFTER my post on the DIS, but regardless of that, wouldn’t you think at this point, she could have sent a message letting us know they were on their way? OR Wouldn’t you think there would be an “Im sorry for taking so long to get them back to you, and making you worry so much?
Nope. Just a PM saying she sent them BEFORE my post on the DIS…. Which, as I stated before… postmarks don’t lie.

Bug and I did not show the best judgment in making this arrangement (duh) but our intentions were good..

So that’s our story. Two dumb ladies hoping to brighten their lives and the boy’s lives totally let down by a friend. Yes, we got the quest items and the tickets back… but we also had to put up with more garbage and bizarre mind games than we ever thought was possible in order to get them… AND We both feel that she would have continued to drag this out indefinitely, had I not posted it about it.

So I guess that’s it. Bug and I feel the moral of this story is not everyone is who you think they are so be careful with whom you put your trust, and most importantly... you never really know who is on the other side of that screen.

Bug and I would like to thank everyone who have supported us this week. It means a lot to us.

 

[Dagny]

Laura, as I sit here and read this, I am completely amazed and disgusted at the same time. Honestly, I missed the first post and quite frankly, I am glad I did. Words can't even describe how sad I am that this happened in our community.

I am very glad you got your tickets back. I can't even imagine what you must have been going through over the last couple of months. I know that being out over $400 on park passes would have sent me into orbit, especially if I called this person my friend. This person should be ashamed of themselves... absolutely unbelievable

 

[mking624]

((((Laura))))

I'm so happy everything is finally finished. Don't call yourselves two dumb ladies. You were not dumb, you both were so awesome to do something like this. Someone just decided to stoop to a low level and take advantage of it. That just makes me sick. It really shows you the character of a person, doesn't it?

ETA: Since they are park tickets, there is no way for you to check if they've been used or not unless you're at the park. Are you sure the tickets are unused (if tickets are used, they become nontransferable and you cannot sell or give them to someone else)? Because I would absolutely hate for something to go wrong there....

 

[California_Dreamin]

I am glad you got the items. Like it has been said, you are NOT stupid..at ALL. More people should have a big of heart as yours

 

[BusyBeaBee]

Glad to know it is resolved.

 

[BriarRosie]

Laura, as I sit here and read this, I am completely amazed and disgusted at the same time. Honestly, I missed the first post and quite frankly, I am glad I did. Words can't even describe how sad I am that this happened in our community.

I am very glad you got your tickets back. I can't even imagine what you must have been going through over the last couple of months. I know that being out over $400 on park passes would have sent me into orbit, especially if I called this person my friend. This person should be ashamed of themselves... absolutely unbelievable

I did see the first post, but I echo Dagny's sentiments. I can't believe this
went on for months! I'm glad your nightmare is over, now. I too would be
livid if someone I trusted did that to me.

 

[AbsoluteAwesome]

It's great that you got the items back! Still shocked that someone on DIS would do that.

 

[Laurabearz]

Glad to know it is resolved.

Has it been resolved? We got out 'things' back true. But resolved... not really... Why did this take months to settle? What kind of person cuts off all contact and leaves people hanging for MONTHS and not one single I am sorry it took so long to get back to you?

I cant even begin to wrap my head around it all.

 

[tinkryansmom]

To Laura and Bug -

I was so sick and saddened to hear about what had happened. I don't know you personally but have both talked and played pirates with you both.

I am glad to hear the person stepped up and did the right thing. I am glad you were able to get the items back and your tickets as well. I also hope the smile on Slinks face made some of the torture worth while.

AceEllabelle and CaptAceKing

 

[mking624]

BTW, thanks for letting me hang out in your room tonight!

 

[cat_herder]

I'm glad it worked out for you in the end but I'm sorry it took too long for you to get your things and tested your trust. Tales like this should be able to post the name of the person so other people don't have to go through the same thing.

I have to admit I have thought about doing the same thing as bears and bug but wasn't sure who to ask. Now I don't think I will ask anyone.

 

[caribbound]

I've also considered sending my extra kid's tickets to someone for the new seasonal Mickey items. But the risk of losing the tickets in the mail or picking the wrong person seems too great. They will probably make their way to ebay.

 

[aliceblue]

I have to admit I have thought about doing the same thing as bears and bug but wasn't sure who to ask. Now I don't think I will ask anyone.

Which is exactly the reason for her cautionary tale, I think.

Laurabearz, I'm so glad you finally got your items and tickets back, although I'm sure the sting of disillusionment must be taking away from the enjoyment you would have had.

Personally, I cannot imagine entrusting such a task to anyone but an extremely well-trusted friend in real life. Even that would not make this plan fool-proof. Friendships have been known to disintegrate over lesser matters, and this is, well, a rather huge responsibility to ask anybody to handle. I know I would feel nervous doing this for someone else, even with every intention of fulfilling my end of the bargain. Too many things could go wrong.

None of this is in any way an excuse for the other party's behavior, of course; just saying that I think arrangements of this kind are always frought with peril.

As much as we grumble about the difficulty of trying to get certain items in trade, there's a lot to be said for dealing in virtual objects exclusively. Yes, it still is a kick in the stomach to get scammed, but I can't imagine how much worse it must feel when money has changed hands.

 

[threeboysmom]

So sorry to hear this, Bearz and Bug. Wow!! Unbelievable. Reading this story made me SICK. I am so sorry you were put through all of this.

 

[Dashzap]

Bug and I feel the moral of this story is not everyone is who you think they are so be careful with whom you put your trust, and most importantly... you never really know who is on the other side of that screen.

A good moral. But please don't lose faith with all over the horrible actions of the few. Most people will do the right thing given the chance. The bad apples exist, so maybe don't risk vital things, but there are good people out there.

 

[MizBubble]

I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I've often thought about seeing if someone who lives by a theme park could get me quest items and I would pay them, but like cat, I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon. I would ask my best friend who goes to University of Central Florida, but she doesn't quite understand VMK lol. But again, that's incredibly frustrating to have to deal with all of that. And with everything that DIS' new favorite Community Leader has gone through, I'm sure his mom didn't need that, on top of everything else. It's terrible that you tried so hard to do something special for him, and someone took advantage of your compassion. So, a special little warning note to people like that: It's called Karma. Just wait for it. In the words of Justin Timberlake (lol), what goes around comes around. We've got your backs, Bearz and Bug!

 

[cteddiesgirl]

I'm happy to hear that you did get your stuff back.

I'm still saddened by what this person did, though. The very least the person could have done was say "I'm sorry".
It truly takes a sad, sad person to do this. Especially to people who are already going through a trying time.


Hugs to you all.

 

[BusyBeaBee]

Has it been resolved? We got out 'things' back true. But resolved... not really... Why did this take months to settle? What kind of person cuts off all contact and leaves people hanging for MONTHS and not one single I am sorry it took so long to get back to you?

I cant even begin to wrap my head around it all.

True, the person should have upon arriving home mailed you everything!! And not played the mind games. Maybe resolved was the wrong word. sorry

 

[tolkien7]

Thanks for sharing the story - I think it is an important lesson for all of us about trusting Internet friends (and you are not dumb!). So sorry that you all had to go through this! But I believe in karma, so there is no doubt in my mind that this terrible person will get EXACTLY what she deserves...

 

[disvaclub92]

I am glad you got your passes back. Just very unfortunate you two had to go through this.

But let me get this straight. The holiday quest was redeemed in Dec., clearly the passes should have been sent in December. Was this person actively playing on VMK during your time trying to get the passes? If not, then clearly I can understand that maybe there was a real-life issue going on. But if they were active in the game, there is NO EXCUSE whatsoever for this to occur.

It is a shame that this had to impact our DIS family. We have such a good family here, now we have to watch our backs.