Blogger Events & Scary Bloggers





I have been signing up like crazy for various blogger events and I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea. After having an extremely strange experience with T. H.  I realize I made a huge mistake.  At least without being familiar with this particular blogger.

 I have participated in one event in the past and I was pleased, but things were done differently. I received a confirmation email along with future instructions.

 I recently signed up for several events, one that is starting in one day. Since I haven't received any confirmation I sent the host a email stating my concerns..here it is:

 Coachlicious Campaign Message

Hello, my name is Lisa from Featured Product Reviews. I believe you put together the Coachlicious Campaign. I signed up for this on 7/23 and I haven't received any correspondence and I can't help but wonder if this is legit. It would be really helpful If you could provide an update and assure me that I'm included in this campaign. Thank you.

 I was hoping to have my fears allayed. She emailed me requesting that I join the Facebook group noting that's where I will find all the information. Next thing I know there's this big write up about how she is being accused of being a scam and underneath she posted: ‎

 "‎Lisa Smith here is the post for your question concerning this giveaway being fraud!"

Say whaaat?!

 I copied and pasted my email, which only mentions my fear of the event being legit. Apparently she didn't like that I left evidence that her accusations were unwarranted and this apparently riled her up even more. Here's the correspondence:

Name withheld:  "‎Lisa Smith here is the post for your question concerning this giveaway being fraud!" 

Me:  Excuse me I never said it was a fraud, I was worried that this may be a scam. Big difference. Please don't put words in my mouth. This is only my second event and it's done a little different, the last event In which I received confirmation letting me know that I was included in the event along with additional instructions. Calling me out and then putting words in my mouth is really not cool.

Name withheld: "exact words "question concerning this giveaway being fraud!" I was not the first person you asked and I am happy to confirm that it is on hand. You said via email you could not find it - the tag allows you to find. Seriously?!?!?"

I sent this email originally to the blogger I thought was in charge, here are my exact words:

I signed up for the Coachlicious Campaign and haven't received any correspondence which different from what I'm accustomed to with these campaigns.   So now I'm a little worried that this may be a scam.

Can you please update me?

No one should think that this email expressing my concern is out of line, since there have been reported scams in the past where bloggers have put down money for a bogus campaigns.  This is in no way accusatory but rather expresses concern.   I'm also confused as to why I didn't receive a response to this email that appears to have been forwarded.

If she had the time to dedicate an entire thread to this subject why not simply respond to the forwarded email?  Communication is so important.  If one prefers to avoid direct communication then perhaps provide newbies a modus operandi so that we know what to expect.

As I mentioned there are scams out there, and everyone participating in these events should be aware and concerned, if the blogger running the event takes umbrage to this fact, then that's tough.  
The response I received was not only unprofessional, but really infantile.

It's really perplexing to me that she had the time to post an entire thread on the subject of my misquoted email,  but chose not to respond to me personally.

Name withheld:  "Note scam and fraud are the same"

Me:  Here's is the exact email: Coachlicious Campaign Message Hello, my name is Lisa from Featured Product Reviews. I believe you put together the Coachlicious Campaign. I signed up for this on 7/23 and I haven't received any correspondence and I can't help but wonder if this is legit. It would be really helpful If you could provide an update and assure me that I'm included in this campaign. Thank you.

Perceiving this to be an accusation concerning the campaign being a fraud demonstrates a clear reading comprehension problem on the part of the reader.

Name withheld: "‎Lisa Smith then you were referred to the group where you said you couldn't find anything! So I said I would tag so you could. Which I did."

  The tags were attached to personal attacks.  Wouldn't it stand to reason to tag the actual information in regard to the campaign.   What exactly was the point of posting an unwarrented thread basically attacking me, after all I simply requested info regarding the campaign.  Would that of been too difficult?

I honestly felt like I was back in grade school. I can't comprehend a mentality that would respond in this manner. I had a simple question that was posed appropriately, why not just answer it instead of creating a thread for the sake of belittling a perfectly legitimate question.  

What can I say, I'm not clairvoyant.    Wanting to know if a particular event is on the up and up is a legitimate concern and if a blogger running the event has a problem with that then something is amiss.   Remember these events require posting the event, advertising and or a fee.  You as a blogger have every right to be concerned that it's being followed through.

For a blogger hosting these events, this type of reaction is really disturbing and cause for pause.

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12 comments:

M'ris said...

sounds like a poorly managed campaign, which, legit or not, is being run by someone with little to no online/community management skills. If I were you, I'd bail. There's no way the payoff is worth the headache.

lisa said...

I did bail. I host giveaways and have often received similar types of emails from concerned winners that haven't received their wins. My reaction is to allay those fears, I couldn't even fathom reacting in such an unprofessional manner.

Anonymous said...

That was really unprofessional! Bloggers can't be too careful, I really hate entering those events.

Trisha McKee said...

It amazes me how people behave. That was unnecessary and a bit scary. I've seen some bloggers respond to comments on a sweepstakes site and although I was not involved, I made it a point to not involve myself in anything they were involved in. Of course, I have to add, I have come in contact with some wonderful people, informative, cooperative bloggers. Sorry you had that experience.

micheal said...

So this is what goes on in the blogging world. It probably is a scam. There's a saying "those that protest too much."

lisa said...

Thanks all! I learned my lesson, you just can't be too careful. For bloggers like myself don't be too trusting.

Unknown said...

Lisa I signed up for the same event and I believe one of the requirements in the sign up document was to join the Facebook group. In the group information about the event has been posted several times. Not trying to stir up controversy, but this would have alleviated your fears from the start.

lisa said...

I did join the FB group, however, perhaps I'm blind, but I didn't see any info regarding the event. In the end, even if this was the result on incompetence on my part, that's still irrelevant. This was handled totally unprofessional. As a blogger whom is extremely busy myself I couldn't fathom the level of unprofessionalism.

Susan P. Cooper said...

Hi, From Triberr. All I can say is HOLY COW!!! That is too amazing and allot scary. It just goes to show you that it pays to ask questions and find out just what is what. Thanks for the head up. :-), Susan Cooper

lisa said...

Thanks for stopping by Susan, your welcome:)

Rachel said...

No...you are right. Should you have used a different word then "scam" sure...it may have been better. But your used to better customer service to begin with. And she went off on you in a completely unprofessional way.

But in that IS the difference. I really wish more bloggers would realize that a blog is a business, and a business is only good as its customer service. But many bloggers still see it as a hobby or a side thing. Being catty, snotty, rude, calling out, or {in my case} ignoring problems completely on a paid campaign; is ridiculous. But even our forced response to not "name" anyone so that we don't catch the wrath of an ingrate bully. Quite frankly, we live and learn. And honestly, how hard is a group email w/an HTML code cut & pasted from a Google Doc?

My philosophy? Keep your head up, maintain integrity, and let Karma be the bitch.

lisa said...

Thanks Rachel, good observation and philosophy!

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