I am looking for advice. After clearing with the model that she would make a particular custom, I sent her, via paypal, the money she requested.
After missing two dates that she said the vid would be up by, provided everything went according to plan, she simply stopped responding to any communication.
Without being rude, I sent messages asking for updated ETAs and offered for her to cancel the vid by returning my money. I have gotten no response. She, or someone managing her account, has been online multiple times since her last message, and she has uploaded multiple vids since then.
The last message I received from her was 17 days ago stating the vid would be up that night. I've had no communication from her since then despite my messages.
She is a prominent member of this community, so I am afraid of a backlash should I post her name. Regardless, I am at my wit's end. And all of this is made more strange considering that I have ordered vids from her in the past.
I am out a sizable sum of money and sending messages to a void. Have I been scammed? Any advice?
"Message" means the UMD messaging system, the same system the model and I have communicated via for the previous videos.
Furthermore, when one is out the amount of money I am out of, yes, checking email as well, including spam, is standard procedure, given that I would love any sort of response being out the cash.
Having been scammed myself by a very well known member of the community who is no longer here, if this turns out to be what you suspect, I would say have no hesitation in exposing her. You might not get your own money back but you will be helping others not fall for the same thing. When I found out my own custom model had been doing the same thing to others, I was even more upset that nobody had said anything or warned anybody.
Mighty interesting how Gia/Skylar have setups that look identical to the ones Chris used. Same pies, same lighting, same backdrops, same slime, same looking girls... almost how eerie what a massive coincidence this is. Fortunately, Chris has been run out of these forums, but it's just so very odd that this legitimate girl shows up and makes material that's basically the same as his stuff and then the rumors of them scamming people on customs emerge.
Enigmahood said: Mighty interesting how Gia/Skylar have setups that look identical to the ones Chris used. Same pies, same lighting, same backdrops, same slime, same looking girls... almost how eerie what a massive coincidence this is. Fortunately, Chris has been run out of these forums, but it's just so very odd that this legitimate girl shows up and makes material that's basically the same as his stuff and then the rumors of them scamming people on customs emerge.
1) I want to make clear that I am in no way accusing anyone of scamming. When I say "I fear I am being scammed," this is exactly what I mean. However, this may not be the case.
2) The admins are doing their best to get in contact with the model via those who know her personally.
3) I won't say more than the admins have given me good reason to believe I may not be being scammed.
I have received messages from people guessing as to the model. One guy seems to be in the exact same situation. So this issue is a bigger than just me. In the interest of the model's privacy, I am not naming her on these forums until I have more info as to what is going on or unless I get no response from admins or others in a reasonable time frame.
I'm sorry to hear you've had this problem. Unfortunately it goes the other way too sometimes with the model not getting paid although I suppose in the end the model can just not release the material if they don't get their end if the deal. You unfortunately can't do that as bring the client you've had to pay out in good faith upfront.
Have you tried approaching the model/producer and being very explicit about how unhappy you are? I'd try that. Giving the model the benefit of the doubt there are countless genuine reasons why your shoot might not have been done yet but she needs to know how unhappy you are and understand that if there are genuine reasons she needs to communicate them to you.
If you try that and still get nowhere then why not name and shame, for your own personal satisfaction and to warn others. If you get a poor or no service I don't think there's anything wrong with saying so assuming you've given lots of chances for the problem to be resolved prior to that point.
Good luck and I hope you at least get your money back.
"Have you tried approaching the model/producer and being very explicit about how unhappy you are?"
Most certainly I did in my last messages.
"If you try that and still get nowhere then why not name and shame, for your own personal satisfaction and to warn others."
Why not? Mainly because I am working with the admins right now to see if we can get this resolved. I now have some reason to believe that no scam is happening. Trust me, should this not be resolved in a timely manner (the next week or so), I will warn others.
"Good luck and I hope you at least get your money back."
i would say before you out a model, you are doing the right thing. contacting people who could possibly get in touch with her. something serious could have happened. outing a girl when something that could not be helped happened could be devastating. we have all seen some girls get totally and completely bashed on here to the point they leave. you are doing the right thing by contacting admins. maybe, if she has worked with any other producers, ask them if they might know. if no one turns up with anything after atleast a month, that is the admins and all....then i would DEF. start to take some measures.
STUFF LIKE THIS SUCKS FOR US GIRLS WHO REALLY DO OUR CUSTOMS AND KEEP IN CONTACT. just in case anyone else sees that, i WANT you to see that. It makes our customers, or new ones so leery that it is sometimes hard to work with them. They are, understandably a nervous wreck about handing over money for us to do what they want and what we want....and some will never order again and making someones fantasy come to life is really fucking fun. it ruins it for everyone. I make sure to get on here and contact my customers just to let them know the PROGRESS. Luckily, us girls have a great track record. we have people who will vouch for us and give us outstanding feedback. Just dont let this one bring you down. I really hate it for you, I hope you get what you need back....i really do. Not all of us are like that! I promise! but, just make sure something didn't happen that could not be helped. Once again, going to admins, you are doing the right thing. It is very noble of you. it really is kudos, my friend and i hope you find what you are looking for
Jayce these are my thoughts exactly. I want neither to fuck over anyone's reputation nor income over what could be a mistake, especially considering that the model has done two previous customs for me, both of which were amazing.
WAMprincess said:Unfortunately it goes the other way too sometimes with the model not getting paid although I suppose in the end the model can just not release the material if they don't get their end if the deal.
WAMprincess said:Unfortunately it goes the other way too sometimes with the model not getting paid although I suppose in the end the model can just not release the material if they don't get their end if the deal.
What has that got to do with this?
Just passing the comment that sometimes the same thing happens the other way around, and said in the context of a lot of other comments I made directly relating to Guardeds situation. I don't think it's an unreasonable observation to make in the circumstances. Did you actually read my entire post?
WAMprincess said:Unfortunately it goes the other way too sometimes with the model not getting paid although I suppose in the end the model can just not release the material if they don't get their end if the deal.
What has that got to do with this?
Just passing the comment that sometimes the same thing happens the other way around, and said in the context of a lot of other comments I made directly relating to Guardeds situation. I don't think it's an unreasonable observation to make in the circumstances. Did you actually read my entire post?
I'm sorry Guarded. I don't want this thread to turn into a conversation about something else. I just thought the comment about my previous reply was uncalled for. Once again I really hope you can get this resolved and it doesn't put you off commissioning things in future because you can get something quite brilliant out of it if it goes well!
This is why I think that just as important it is to report a problem with a custom, it is important to also post when someone has done an exceptional job on a custom or has provided excellent service and communication. That is why I posted the results from both MaxandStar and Serenity Sweet. Both provided fast, excellent service and a great product. If we are going to report problem makers (which is the right thing to do) we should also let models know that excellent service will not go unnoticed!
To all who are getting a bit heated in this discussion, I think this is not only acceptable, but expected. This is why I was a bit hesitant to bring this up. So go ahead and vent, but please allow others to do so as well.
Wherever money is concerned, emotions are close at hand.
Here's the plan:
If I hear nothing by Friday, then I will go ahead and call it a no go and post the model's info. This is unfortunate, as it will likely anger her and ensure that I receive neither the money nor the vid.
If, after that, the model refuses to find a way to get in contact within another week, then I guess I will do my best to hurt her financially somehow: post my customs I have gotten from her up on tube sites or some such.
If this is a threat, so be it. But, damn, it's been almost a month since I paid and like 20 days since I've heard from her. Furthermore, based on your messages I am receiving, I am not alone with this issue or with issues with this model.
With all of the above stated, I should mention it seems as though she has not responded to any messages in quite a while, which is puzzling, considering that her account was logged on very recently. Moreover, she has uploaded multiple vids since replying. This means either she is dodging me, and others, or she has some sort of account manager.
If she has a manager, then fine, but she should still communicate to paying customers or have the manager do so. To hang a customer who has already paid out to dry while ensuring that new vids get uploaded in order to maximize profits is quite shady.
Why am I saying all this? Simply because I hope that someone, anyone, who knows this person will contact me and fill me in. If this person is said account manager, then even better.
I'd just add there is a chance you have not actually been communicating with the particular model that you thought you had.
In the thread I linked to earlier it seemed to have been the case that an old forum regular, "Chris" - a guy who is strongly suspected to be a repeated scammer of this forum, may have been running Gia's website. The same may well have been true for another model, Skylar. There is no absolute proof, but there is a striking similarity between the background wall used in shoots.
In that case, it was *possible* that the people who were being scammed thought they were corresponding with Gia may have been corresponding with Chris.
I'd therefore caution against posting any more info than the model's screen name. This may have been what you were planning anyway, but if not, bare the above in mind!
WAMprincess said: Just passing the comment that sometimes the same thing happens the other way around, and said in the context of a lot of other comments I made directly relating to Guardeds situation. I don't think it's an unreasonable observation to make in the circumstances. Did you actually read my entire post?
It's a completely irrelevant comment to make of absolutely no concern to the guys problem. Just words for words sake.
Did you actually read the thread or did you just have to post words?
There's some nice examples, but my favorite is:
guarded said: In the interest of the model's privacy, I am not naming her on these forums until I have more info as to what is going on or unless I get no response from admins or others in a reasonable time frame.
Followed by
WAMprincess said: If you try that and still get nowhere then why not name and shame , for your own personal satisfaction and to warn others.
If this is anything to do with the usual suspect, the admin have some details I have provided that I hope are up to date enough to help.
Since you paid through PayPal, I believe as long as it's within 60 days, you can initiate a chargeback.
I order a lot of customs and also have been a paypal merchant for over 10 years. When you click to dispute the transaction she'll have I believe 10 days to respond. If she responds, she must remit some kind of proof that she delivered the video. If not, they'll reverse transaction and you'll get refunded.
This is not without some small level of risk. You cannot use paypal for anything adult or fetish related, so when communicating with them it'll be important to simply say it was a custom video without going into any fetish-related details.
WAMprincess said: Just passing the comment that sometimes the same thing happens the other way around, and said in the context of a lot of other comments I made directly relating to Guardeds situation. I don't think it's an unreasonable observation to make in the circumstances. Did you actually read my entire post?
It's a completely irrelevant comment to make of absolutely no concern to the guys problem. Just words for words sake.
Did you actually read the thread or did you just have to post words?
There's some nice examples, but my favorite is:
guarded said: In the interest of the model's privacy, I am not naming her on these forums until I have more info as to what is going on or unless I get no response from admins or others in a reasonable time frame.
Followed by
WAMprincess said: If you try that and still get nowhere then why not name and shame , for your own personal satisfaction and to warn others.
If this is anything to do with the usual suspect, the admin have some details I have provided that I hope are up to date enough to help.
Well when you run UMD you can decide what goes on the forum can't you? But that will be the day I stop posting on here anyway! In the meantime you'll have to accept that sometimes people say things that you find irrelevant and (shock horror!) you're not the oracle on what is and isn't relevant discussion (which is what a forum is all about). You're something of a hypocrite as your first response to my comment was "words for words sake" too. Maybe it makes you feel big to have a pop at someone hiding behind a forum profile name. I think it's sad.
Sorry once again Guarded but I'm not going to sit by while some try's to belittle me.
WAMprincess said: Just passing the comment that sometimes the same thing happens the other way around, and said in the context of a lot of other comments I made directly relating to Guardeds situation. I don't think it's an unreasonable observation to make in the circumstances. Did you actually read my entire post?
It's a completely irrelevant comment to make of absolutely no concern to the guys problem. Just words for words sake.
Did you actually read the thread or did you just have to post words?
There's some nice examples, but my favorite is:
guarded said: In the interest of the model's privacy, I am not naming her on these forums until I have more info as to what is going on or unless I get no response from admins or others in a reasonable time frame.
Followed by
WAMprincess said: If you try that and still get nowhere then why not name and shame , for your own personal satisfaction and to warn others.
If this is anything to do with the usual suspect, the admin have some details I have provided that I hope are up to date enough to help.
Well when you run UMD you can decide what goes on the forum can't you? But that will be the day I stop posting on here anyway! In the meantime you'll have to accept that sometimes people say things that you find irrelevant and (shock horror!) you're not the oracle on what is and isn't relevant discussion (which is what a forum is all about). You're something of a hypocrite as your first response to my comment was "words for words sake" too. Maybe it makes you feel big to have a pop at someone hiding behind a forum profile name. I think it's sad.
Sorry once again Guarded but I'm not going to sit by while some try's to belittle me.
Noise is irrelevant to this topic and continuing to bait him like this will only muddle up this thread. I would strongly suggest that if you have a serious problem with Noise that you either contact the forum admins or at the very most make an entirely new thread about this subject in the Off-Topic forum where it would belong.
However here and now we are discussing the possibility that the original poster was scammed and it would be best if the discussion stayed true to that topic and didn't venture off on tangents about whether Noise is or isn't a bully.
Hopefully Noise ignores your comments and does not respond.