I wasn’t planning to post anything today, because I’m not feeling too well. But while doing staggering amounts of nothing and reading meaningless stuff on the internet I came across a bunch of blog posts that compelled me to write this.
Having started Double Expat only recently, I’ve been blown away by the welcoming nature of the blogosphere. Each person I’ve interacted with is extremely friendly, and I’m dead sure if we were to meet in person at any point, we’d get along like I get along with my friends back home… both homes.
If you’d asked me yesterday whether I would pursue a business transaction with my blog friends, I’d have said “Hell yeah!” But after reading these stories, I really don’t know.
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| Image taken from here |
A fashion blogger (who has since changed her blog to ‘invite only’) allegedly scammed Lord knows how many people out of 1000s of dollars over the past year.
How it worked is, she ran a personal shopping service and charged people to find them items that were available only in the US. She then shipped them overseas so the buyer didn’t have to pay exorbitant shipping fees.
When GOMI ran a random story about her last month, a bunch of people complained that she had taken money from them and not fulfilled her end of the deal. By the end of the week they had more complaints than comments! Bloggers who didn’t want to unnecessarily malign one of their own had realized they weren’t the only ones conned.
You can read about one particularly horrendous experience here.
Needless to say, I am appalled that someone would do this. Apparently her readers – now her victims – are up in arms and already contacting the authorities. Good on them! Some have gotten their money back. I hope everyone does.
But this incident raises serious doubts on the principles of ‘mutual trust and understanding’ the blogging world is built on.
What about you? At what point would you take your relationship with a fellow blogger beyond the realm of comments and emails? If a transaction were to go sour, how long would you wait before outing someone you think you know well? And do stories like this worry you enough to not buy from fellow bloggers?
wow! very interesting post and very important topic raised. I do think this raises a serious question on blogging , but at the same time like any other industry there are all sorts of people in the blogging. I talk to lot of fellow bloggers on a personal level and find them extremely trustworthy and nice. As far as buying is concerned I have not done that and probably would stick to known retailers for that...
ReplyDeletehttp://weddingonthecards.blogspot.com/
and following you now..didn't know I wasn't :)
ReplyDeletehttp://weddingonthecards.blogspot.com/
I am always wary of dealing with people online.. but blogging has changed my outlook to a large extent.. like you said its an extremely welcoming community and i've gotten to know quite a few people whom i can really trust...
ReplyDeleteBut when it comes to buying i stick to people whom in know very very well or well known retailers... luckily haven't faced such problems so far..
I read about the scam too ... but I would probably stick to retailers then individuals.
ReplyDelete♡ from © tanvii.com
very interesting and useful post.. we talk to many people in the blogging world and till this point i have not faced any issue like this. Even i have shopped just once from the other blog and that i got on time.
ReplyDeleteAs many of the online shops do not ship to India, i order them to my friends place and get them shipped from them instead of going for some blogger.
P.S. Have been reading almost all your posts. So following you.. :)
Sovina - Following you back! Yes this really is a case of 1 bad among 100 good people. It's just sad that people's hard earned money was on the verge of being gone forever just because of 1 person's bad judgement.
ReplyDeleteChandana - Makes sense. I buy a lot of stuff online but even now, I think 10 times when I hit the "pay" button on eBay.
Tanvi - It was quite shocking. Makes you question what kind of people are out there.
Swati - Thanks! Following you back. Even I've never had a problem. But I'm going to be extra careful from now on.
Hello I came upon your blog through some other random blog I was surfing, and I must say you have me hooked, loved your writing style...
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good post, I hadn't heard of this blog or about the scam, yes one has to be rather careful when dealing with unknown people, like you I've been quite lucky so far and all of the people I've chosen to interact with have been kind, gracious, and genuine, but yea, sometimes regular interactions with people on their blogs and our own can give us a false sense of security and lead us to believe that we 'know' them , whereas we may not know them at all, I'm just glad I've been lucky thus far, thanks for sharing this information...following you now... :-)
Apparently I'm not up to speed with what the kids are doing these days, because this is the first I've heard of this story.
ReplyDeleteI'm horrified.
I've made some pretty close friends through blogger, and because of it, I'm almost willing to think anyone in the blogosphere is as sweet and nice and honest and heartfelt as they are.
It's always eye-opening to realize it is still the real world and not everyone is who they seem on the internet.
I hope everyone involved in that case gets their money back. What a nightmare! And I hope it scares other scammers from trying something like that in the future...
PS. I posted this on facebook. I hope you don't mind!!
ReplyDeleteInteresting perspective, especially for a non-blogger. Hope you get well soon...
ReplyDeleteAS
It's the first I've heard of this. Some dodgy folks ou there
ReplyDeleteVery interesting questions. I am usually cautious while dealing with people online. I don't share my name and other details very easily. But its hard to decide at what point to cross the line and become offline friends :)
ReplyDeleteAnjali - Thanks and welcome aboard! I totally agree with you about a sense of 'knowing' someone. Luckily I've now learnt pretty early on what problems can arise with that attitude :)
ReplyDeleteJennifer - I hope they get their $$ back too. Anthropologie isn't cheap and to shell out that kind of money only to not get anything in return is tragic
AS - Thanks. Much better now :)
Kavery - You bet :)
Pepper - True. Although my name and other little details are shared, I'm always wondering "have I typed too much?" when publishing a post!
Interesting post. I wouldn't trust anyone with money. Not unless it's a NGO. Her readers fell prey to this scam. Story of sad morale.
ReplyDeletethis is the first incident I've heard! but yeah! we need to be extra careful when we are dealing with individuals who we've met only thru the internet...
ReplyDeletegood post!
ReplyDeletestumbled upon your blog while blog hopping! love your recipe posts!! especially "Rotini Marinara with Oven Roasted Veggies"....looks yummm!!
Kiran - Yeah. Most people said the same thing. Sad :(
ReplyDeleteJahn - Thanks and welcome to the blog! I think people were surprised not because it was a stranger on the Internet but someone they considered a blogger 'friend' and trusted. But luckily they're getting their $$ back now.
Sounds really scary. I have bought a few things from a fellow blogger and I was lucky that she was really nice!
ReplyDelete