NOTE 1=
The emails I sent to 3rd place whom Kro have suggested on their group that made her feel threatened - make your own mind up
This whole Kro thing is really giving me a headache now. I was going to forget the whole thing, shrug my shoulders and put it all behind me, but it seems that in the several days since I was banned from the Kro facebook group (and all my friends who voted) Ruairi browne has posted a long thread on the group (a) illegally posting my personal emails to him and (b) twisting my comments (again) and (c) posting slanderous comments suggesting that I was threatening and intimidating the girl who came third.
So for the benefit of anyone who has read this hugely sanctimonious diatribe and would like to hear my side of the story I am posting the full emails that i sent to the girl in 3rd place (and the long appeal that I sent round to a few other people as well.
Make your own mind if you think they are threatening or if perhaps Ruairi is twisting everything or she is just being overly sensitive, perhaps not quite understanding that I was just trying to get to the bottoms of things in a polite way.
I also have the full transcript of emails between me and Ruairi/Kelly that led top this misunderstanding that he has taken far too seriously. It is really too far and boring and I really don't care if anyone thinks I was being a whiny bitch. Like everything I seem to say to this guy he just takes it totally out of context and twists it against me. At the end of the day I won 2nd place and he has no reason not to award it to me.
The first email was sent when I was wondering what was going on and it looked like Kro was going to shaft me, the three other were sent after I was told that I was not getting the prize and subsequently banned from the group. 4 short emails appealing for some sort of sense from someone in all of this, but getting no reply, just slanderous accusations behind my back.
hey there
Do you know what is happening with the competition? they don't want to give me the holiday, they want to give it to you. Ruari emailed me yesterday asking to buy it from me to give to you, and I haven't heard from her since. I just wanted to check what is happening from your side? I suspect they might have given you the holiday and are trying to renege on the deal.
Enjoy Your Holiday
I'd like you to know though that Kro refused to give it to me, even though i won it fair and square. They have insulted me, slandered my name, banned me from their group and invited me to get my solicitor to write to them if I don't like it.
This was removed from the thread that was created. I hope you find what you are looking for in Portugal, spare a thought for me in cold rainy scotland when you are there.
Auction the holiday to raise money for Japan
I wanted to go as much as you did.
I am going to ask Kro to instead auction this holiday to raise money for japan. I think that is not only fair, but a nice thing to do, and i would like your backing.
Are you in?
So!
You really going to take the trip then and not say anything. Do you think that is fair? I never agreed to it, they have screwed me over big time. I am going to speak to lawyers I have decided. They are not getting away with this.
**********
I also sent this email to a few people who voted for either her or Monkia, can't remember, and I posted it all over the group to let people know what Kro had just done>>>>
I would like everyone to know what Kro have just done. I am the guy who won 2nd prize, the holiday in Portugal, fair and square and I want everyone who took part in the competition to know what they have just done. They are not going to give the prize to me.
Ever since I mentioned the fact that I was unemployed and couldn't afford the flights, and that it was not clear in the first place they appear have done their level best to get out of the deal.
I posted something on their wall today following several days where they tried to fob me off with smaller prizes that are of no worth to me, and then offering to buy the holiday from me to give to 3rd place. I decided to take the trip and at first I thought about auctioning on ebay to raise money for the Japan tsunami appeal but was told it was non transferable. So then I decided to offer it to a friend to which they agreed.
So then I hear nothing from them for more than a day, and it's all starting to look a little like they are trying to get out of the deal because they wanted to give it to 3rd place.
So i post a thread on their group and there's a bit of a drama, and I say to them just make sure you stick to the deal, but somehow in all of this I become the as***le again and it al culminates in them banning me from the group, and refusing to give me the prize, which was the point I was making in the first place.
Apparently it is all my fault now for complaining all the time. Did I? I don't remember that, I mentioned a couple of things in the course of the competition, and the response I found to be a bit unhelpful and slightly condescending if I am honest, so i just forgot about it and tried to be a good sport like everyone else.
I won the 2nd prize fair and square, and now they wont give me anything. They have invited me to write to their solicitor now, which I find laughable.
I'm really pissed off about the whole thing, after all the work I did on the photograph and then subsequently adverspamming their company to all my friends on the internet for 2 weeks... all for nothing in the end.
Well, I don't know what I will do. I just want you all to kno what they have done. I am not an unreasonable person, or a troublemaker. They have been extremely rude to me over this matter.
Here is the final posts on the thread I started that has now been deleted.
NOTE 2=
Photography competition dramaz (part 2) (see also part 1 I posted yesterday)
by Stuart Seaton on Tuesday, 22 March 2011 at 13:19
For the benefit of all my friends who were IP banned from KroItSolutions, here is the google cached version of the comments taht have been made about me behind my back, without the opportunity for me to riposte, and some of which is down right illegal and slanderous.
If anyone can't see this because it has been removed, email me and I will send you the copy I saved.
So.... yeah OK I admit that I did say a few things about other peoples entries at the start when i realised that most of the entries weren't following the rules of the competition, that I had tried hard to stick to- because I know a lot of these photography competitions can be quite strict. But Ruairi is not giving the full story and is twisting my comments.
I did say somethings at the start when I joined the competition late that 3rd place had not entirely followed the rules because there was no kro logo in it. He replied saying it was just a bit of fun and I replied with the following comment, which he seems to have very conveniently omitted from his diatribe.
"The most important thing to me is the personal satisfaction I get from creating something interesting. And it's also nice to hear positive feedback from people. Be nice to win a wee holiday in the sun for a few day though as well... :)"
A friend of mine then later made a comment on her photo, to which Ruairi responded "will you guys get over yourselves!" (note the plural of "guy"- like what did I have to do with my mate making that comment? Nothing...) and I intervened in the spirit of good sportsmanship and said that "I like it"- which I do! (or did- I have since changed my mind after what has happened)
You cannot see that comment because he deleted it, as he has every comment I made and then gone on to twist everything i said.
Regardless of whether or not i did say a few things about the prize not including the flights, that is no reason to do what he has just done. It is illegal and immoral.
To re-iterate from me previous note, with regards to the rather more serious slanderous allegations he has just made about me threatening the girl in 3rd place- this is complete and utter nonsense. Here are the 4 emails i sent her simply trying to get to the bottom of things. Make your own mind up about them.
1. hey there
Do you know what is happening with the competition? they don't want to give me the holiday, they want to give it to you. Ruari emailed me yesterday asking to buy it from me to give to you, and I haven't heard from her since. I just wanted to check what is happening from your side? I suspect they might have given you the holiday and are trying to renege on the deal.
2. Enjoy Your Holiday
I'd like you to know though that Kro refused to give it to me, even though i won it fair and square. They have insulted me, slandered my name, banned me from their group and invited me to get my solicitor to write to them if I don't like it.
This was removed from the thread that was created. I hope you find what you are looking for in Portugal, spare a thought for me in cold rainy scotland when you are there.
3. Auction the holiday to raise money for Japan
I wanted to go as much as you did.
I am going to ask Kro to instead auction this holiday to raise money for japan. I think that is not only fair, but a nice thing to do, and i would like your backing.
Are you in?
4. So!
You really going to take the trip then and not say anything. Do you think that is fair? I never agreed to it, they have screwed me over big time. I am going to speak to lawyers I have decided. They are not getting away with this.
