Issues with Auria/shortie/jem/Aki

...Eh....?

I don't know what to say- I offered this person my sympathy, andit never occured to me that they might not have been telling the truth....

I feel wierd now, and I can't quite bring myself to be convinced....

:cry:

 

Oh, dear. . .

While I don't want to jump to conclusions about whether this person is or is not intentionally scamming people, that's an awful lot of conflicting evidence right there. I sincerely hope the Henna the dog is not suffering -- I was going to donate some money for her surgery, but now I see that there's no guarantee that that's what it would be used for.

 

Wow....ok. This is making me sick.
Maybe Aimee should ban her from DoA?

 

O_o I agree with you, WickedStitch this is just....

Wow, I'm shocked.

 

This has actually relly upset me- maybe I give people the benefit of the doubt too often????

Ok- I'll be backin a bit, I think I'm going to cry.... How can anyone lie like this????????????

 

After having to deal with having a pet of 15 years die of cancer, her puppy (who is 9 but still a puppy!) add a ripped achilles to a long list of leg woes and then my chinchilla get sick within the space of a few months, Auria's story really got to me and so I paid $137.50 for a $21.50 sofa in good faith that the money would help her and her dog out.

I just don't have the words really. If any of this is true I feel utterly disgusted and betrayed

 

I thought it was all suspicious... :\

 

This whole ordeal makes me want to vomit with rage.

If you have a sick pet that needs surgery, you DO NOT buy hundreds of dollars worth of dolls. End of statement. Living things, especially a beloved family pet, come before inanimate objects. Whether or not she intentionally scammed people, she still put dolls in front of a sick animal, no matter how you spin it.

You disgust me Auria.

 

this is one of those things that can get so emotional it gets people either over saccharine or overly nasty. you go all mushy trying to save a pet, then find out there's suspicions of fraud and want to tear hearts out.

i'd vote for the middle ground; don't be taken in by the sob stories that roam the internet, and politely request your donation back.

here's the thing; times of stress we want what we want to feel better - chocolate, a dinner out, a doll, to make stuff, to break stuff, whatever. and no one has the right to be bitchy about what someone does with their own income. and yeah, even putting off an optional surgery! because you can get into judgemental nit-pickery TOO fast; i'd give up FOOD to have it done NOW! etc making heat of someone else's decision. so just devolve and stick with the point for just a sec=

however, everyone has the right to be amazed if a donation for hardship is used for a luxury. not even a percieved luxury {dinner out instead of store-bought} but a doll - a real non-essential item.

no one who has all the basics in hand and can buy luxury items should have paypal donations made, a website advertising their "hardship", and be pimped as a worthy cause. that's just misguided. it soils the field for anyone who needs help, really and truly.

maybe she THINKS the dog fund is separate from the doll buying fund.
...it can't be. the concept is bizarre. i find the sigs in support of this fund disgusting and vapid considering the posts wanting to buy in the same forum.

 

Ok, we all know how it is to be addicted to BJDs, but this is unbelievable if it is true. That is a very unfortunate way to go about raising money for doll purchases.
I don't want to be mean about anything, but how can someone pray on the sympathy of others to fund an addiction?
They are expensive and if we don't have the funds, SAVE MONEY! That's the only honest way.
And if the story is true about the pet, then why leave such suspicious trails? I mean I love animals, I have 5 cats, so I truly have sympathy for hurt pets, but would never involve them into anything in this manner.
That's all I have to say. I just had to put my two cents in.

 

Been following this for a while. I too am sickened. It's posted in a comment in the LJ, but I'm going to repost it here for general info. (If no one minds.)


General FYI: "Henna has been a patient of Banfield Pet Hospital since April. She was not diagnosed until SEPTEMBER. Further, she was diagnosed with something called CruciateTear, NOT ACL.

Henna is having a surgery wednesday called TPLO, and it will cost 1500 to 2000. and the dog should NOT have gone to the ren faire or to Omaha. Further, the clinic says they DO do payment plans and Henna could have gotten one had Andrea asked."


Being an animal lover with FAR too many pets, it literally makes me ill that a pet owner who claims the dog is "beloved" to her... would abuse her through NEGLECT while going on shopping sprees for dolls. Asking for money for her poor injured dog out of one side of her mouth, and offering to spend that same money out of the others.

I just hope she gets what she deserves, and that the poor dog is taken care of in the end, like she should have a long time ago. My main concern is that Henna may have permanent damage from lack of treatment. :/

 

That is sad Ishamael, it is so horrible when nice poeple gets used...
I hope it is some kind of misunderstanding.

 

This is what is upsetting me- if the dog is ill, it needs to be treated!

And if the dog isn't ill, then that's just mean....

 

Didn't she also say that it cost $3000 for the vet bill? And like, $5000 w/o the pet insurance?

 

I hadn't seen this before.

This is sick.

 

Save Toby is a joke.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/savetoby.asp

 

Exactly. I just mentioned that in the LJ so that it can be added to all of the info. I think she lied about the cost to leech more money from people for her doll fund and still have money for the surgery, quite honestly.

 

Thanks for the reassurance on that.... but as a joke it's kind of even more sick...

 

That's pretty sick
Wow, I know a lot of people who are despreate for the doll that they love, but not so desperate (and twisted) to do something like that. I hope that Henna does eventually get surgery

 

you mean how it's emotional extortion?
i agree, only wasn't Toby actually a JOKE?

(eta; i was slow! sorry Hadriel, hit me with the rubber mallet of "And furthermore, justice!" and call me a snob.)

while asking people for money you don't need and spending "Save my doggie" funds on pretty stuff you want is just demented.

can everyone with those horribly extortive sig banners change them to "Fund my dolly", please? a little honesty would go a long way.

 

This entire thing is entirely sick. Those who were scammed out of money, do not feel bad - It isn't your fault, you were unaware. Everyone who worked hard to get to the bottom of this I feel very proud for - everyone did their best to get to the bottom of it.

I really do hope this gets resolved, and if this truly was just a way to raise money that she realises that putting animals at risk and using people's sympathy is not the way to do it.

 

It did stand out to me as a bit odd that someone would clearly state in a sales thread that they used some of their puppy's surgery funds to purchase a doll in hopes to make money selling clothing to replace the money they spent.
Bad bad bad.

 

Wow,
that is so sad. I had to sell some stuff before to pay for my chinchilla's surgery. It ended up costing like half of what I thought it would, so I was able to buy some new stuff to replace it relatively fast. But I don't think I ever stated that it was for my pet in my selling threads, maybe PM's.
Anyways, I just think it is sad that people use their poor animals as a tool to gain peoples sympathy so that they will buy stuff from them.

 

Far Cry I second your post: I am assuming the vet clinic knows what they are talking about?

~quote:"Henna has been a patient of Banfield Pet Hospital since April. She was not diagnosed until SEPTEMBER. Further, she was diagnosed with something called CruciateTear, NOT ACL.

Henna is having a surgery wednesday called TPLO, and it will cost 1500 to 2000. and the dog should NOT have gone to the ren faire or to Omaha. Further, the clinic says they DO do payment plans and Henna could have gotten one had the owner asked."

Just in case anybody doubts this please feel fre to contact the vet clinic yourself and ask questions.

 

Is it just me, or are all the threads/posts she said this stuff in now missing?

 

> > > > > > > > >
That's all I can say about this woman. She even lied about what illness the puppy had. > >

 

Yes, she has deleted pretty much all of them. BUT..., the plot thickens!!! they have been saved...

 

Glad to hear it. A record should definately be kep of all this...

 

Not to bash you Lily, you know I'm on your side, but NO. Please DO NOT call the vet again. I called them this afternoon and explained the ENTIRE situation and told them that since they helped us so much that they would not be harassed by anyone else. Erica was pretty horrified when I told her that Andrea was claiming ACL. I was told that ACL and cruciate are two different things - This came from the vet, not me.

What is written above came from me, directly from what I was told on the phone. If someone has questions, please come to me - Do not drag the vet into this further, they have done us more then enough by assisting not only me but the other member who called. It's our turn to show courtesy now.

 

And it seems Auria has linked her LJ to her siggy which has new info via her "sister". I do not know if it is indeed her sister or not as the post is listed as "Anonymous".

http://www.livejournal.com/users/auria/46015.html

 

This email came from Auria's friend, who posts on LJ under the "enginoshouzoku" ID. I contacted her and told her some of the reasons that people were suspicious of Auria's claims, and she wrote me back. I'll just let her reply stand on its own.

 

Er.... I don't think anyone here would sell a doll in 'horrid shape' for $600. Maybe the seller can attest to the doll's condition here and on the LJ as well? I mean honestly, I feel sorry for the poor Nono being called 'horrid'.

 

Sorry, I should have been more specific. What I was trying to say, and it came out totally wrong, is that our posts if need be, be verified with a very simple phone call to the vet. That's what I meant.

 

I know :3 But I didn't know if everyone would so I specified more.

 

First off, I have nothing vested in this situation other than not liking to see people get scammed.
I know that the first thing that comes to mind with a budding seamstress is "I have to get one of those!" but when I started out in the BJD community, I was unemployed, poor as a church mouse and certainly did not think I could ever afford a dollfie.
I sold some household stuff, used clothing and a few collectable toys to make enough to buy a dollfie PATTERN BOOK and GOT A JOB.
I took that $45 investment (which at that time was a lot) and 9 hour work days, coming home only to sew at night and turned it into a full on BJD division of my prexhisting human clothing company.
I did not buy a dollfie with money I didn't have and I didn't have children or an injured pet.
She certainly could have made better choices.

 

I've read all that and understand it.... but it still seems a bit out of sorts to me. And now she's going around just deleting everything.... If I was her, and I thought I had done nothing wrong, I would fight for my right to be heard- not delete everything and hope it blows over.

I hope, whatever the truth is, that she will not make errors of judgement like this again, for everyone's sake.

 

Yes, the seller certainly CAN attest to that. I sold the doll in PERFECT shape. Her seams were sanded, I'd sueded her, she was clean, and her nails and toes had beautiful french manicures. I even sent her out with FREE CLOTHES. A sweater, a dress, pants, and a skirt!

I haven't said anything before, because I felt a bit guilty for selling her, after a kind soul went very far out of her way to help me get her. but I was assured she'd be loved, and so I let her go in order to get a doll I've wanted for a year now. She also was certainly not $600. I sold her for $550.

 

That's what I thought. This friend is totally in on the scam, I mean really, they all had to 'fix' the doll?! Frig. I keep getting more and more pissed about this.

 

I have no doubt this is true- if the doll had been in a bad way, then I'm sure we would have heard about it before now.

As for the friend being in on the scam- I'm not sure. I may be too willing to see the best in people, but if this person nows very little about dolls, then it could be easy for some-one to convince them that it needs 'fixing up.'
Mikos gets dirty all the time, and looks horrible, but that doesn't meen he's 'in a bad way.' This person may well beleive what she has written.... even if it clearly not true.

 

I know the people that actually "fixed her." they restrung her because she was a bit floppy. That's it. She even wiped the faceup I'd done, and did a new one. This is how she looked the day I sent her out.

 

Fair enough. She's a beautiful doll, by the way.

 

I can vouch for Minda. I saw the doll... she was beautiful and pristine! She had a gorgeous face-up too.

 

Yes, she's beautiful, and I really did love her..but when the chance came along to get my Hound, which I thought I'd never be able to afford, I took it.

 

OT: I don't blame you- Hounds are so lovely!

Its a shame this lovely doll got caught up in it... and it's a shame overall, really...

 

I'm glad the dog is ok, and I'm glad this has been cleared up. Especially the part of the "bad" doll she bought baffled me. DOA has a very good reputation for stopping things like that, and I do believe she would have said something when she recieved her instead of waiting.

What I think is that she regretted it, and that regret turned into negative emotions and "flaws" with the doll.

I was one of the ones who tried to find out what really had happened since I found this whole thing very fishy, mostly because there were a lot of contradicting messengers about when the dog had been injured, as well as a lot of money on the line. The letter from the friend clears up most of the issues I had with the poster, although I don't appreciate the comment about the doll she bought, nor that she spent money on luxery when it should better be spent on the dog.

But what this boils down to is someone who spent her money carelessly, not an intentional scammer. Yes, she should have turned down the money given to her in my opinion, but I can understand very well why she didn't. I am glad I have not been in the same situation as her, because I believe it is hard to prioritize when so many things demand founds.

 

I still think a dog's operation out-weighs the need to buy a doll- even if it *is* going to be used to model outfits.

I love my doll- Mikos is trully my angel- but if my pet needed the money, I would not go out and invest/spend it on something else.

I still do not understand why she felt the need to delete everything, and why we are only hearing testimonials from her friends. Like I said before, if this was me, I'd be defending myself.

But that's just me- I fully appriciate that eeryone is different, and deals with things in different ways.

 

As far as I'm aware, Auria's currently out of town and so isn't here to defend herself.

I still don't know what to think about all this....I want to give her the benefit of the doubt as I don't like the idea of being taken for a fool but I've still got a niggle of doubt in the back of my head =/

 

Ahhh- I didn't pick up on the fact she was away- sorry.

But then... who has removed all her posts from here? Is it the moderators?

 

The moderaters deleted a lot of her posts from DoA because we were calling her on possibly being a scam artist. They stated that she's more than welcome to repost her thread trying to sell the Nono, but that she has to leave anything about her dog out of it because it has nothing to do with selling a doll. They said her saying "if you love puppies, you'll offer more" or something like made it sound like she was trying to use the dog to make people feel sorry and pay more money than the minimum.

That could be wrong, I'm just recalling it off the top of my head. If it is incorrect, feel free to post what really was said.

As far as LiveJournal goes, she deleted many of our posts before she left. She also seems to have given her friend (the one that wrote the email up there) access to her LJ and has made all new comments screened, so we can't see them and they could be deleted before we ever get to.

 

Thanks Far Cry- that clears things up for me.

I hearby retract my criticism of Aurura for deleting her posts here on DoA. Sorry to have got it wrong, folks!

 

Just a quick note, she is away in Omaha with her father and the dog. The vet already said that the dog should not have been taken to Omaha for the Ren Faire in the first place.

And I'd seen Minda's Nono in person as well... I have pictures of my Lady Sylvie hitting on her. She was in pristine condition, ESPECIALLY for an old-skin old-style bodied SD10. They have problems with standing, but she never seemed floppy to me or in need of any sort of repair. However, if the doll was too floppy for the owner, then that's understandable.

Anyways... When this was first pointed out to me I was outraged and started finding the weird trail of posts. After the "investigation" I thought perhaps that I was over-reacting due to having had a bad day. BUT upon looking at all this again... I'm still mad.

When there's a living thing COUNTING on you, you can't afford too many bad decisions.

Anyways, I just hope this serves as a good example to everyone on DOA that this is not the place to bring your home problems... that's why you have LJ. If Auria had never mentioned her doll here no one here would have ever known. We may be crazy emotional sap-sucker doll-people... but the kind of people who will get all gushy about helping an animal without even thinking about it or asking for proof are the same kind of people who, when finding any sort of proof of misdoing will get EXTREMELY pissed. I'm glad that the friend and vet have cleared things up, but I'm equally glad that Auria won't be back. It's hard enough to be in this hobby without knowing there's someone who'd make that sort of mistake hanging around.

And I know it's probably cruel, but even if things turn out ok it's for the best she'll be gone from this board, because I honestly don't think I could ever say a kind word to her after this, and I'd be hard pressed to stop myself from saying something mean.

 

Agreed and well said, as usual, MagicToadstool. Thank you for all of your help with this issue, I know we all appreciate it more than you know.

 

This happened on private membership board i belonged to in the past. Again things were fishy and people investigated and found the person to be a fraud. Anyway the people who defend her saying she would never lie, etc, have not once realised the simple solution to clearing ones name and setting things straight would be to simple make restitution and return the donations. If your honest and made bad choices, sell your dolls and return the paypal donations , they can be retroactivated and make things right.

 

This just sickens me how can anybody do this to a being they're supposed to love? I can't understand how they could let their dog suffer like this.. it makes me cry I can't believe she would do this to anybody, just because we're strangers doesn't mean she can do this to us...

 

You know..this whole situation just makes my stomach turn. I also have a puppy. Just turned 4 in Oct. And he has epilepsy(sp?) since the age of one. Not just little seizures either. He will have 5 in one day..once a week. If you dont stick valume up his bum, he will not come out of the seizure. Therefore, someone ALWAYS has to be at home with him at all times. Which of course is me. Our dog is part of our family. People ask..Why not just put him down? Jeeze! Why not just put down your child?? This dog is a happy and otherwise healthy dog. Just has a bad day once a week.

He takes pills 4 times a day. 8am, 3pm, 8pm, 11pm. Wich is also my duty to give him. Sorry..here is his pic!

See how cute and healthy he looks?
Anyways, my point is.. the pills cost over 400 a month, each valume packet costs 75 dollars. And sometimes we have to take him to the vet is he wont come out of the seizure..1000 + depending if it happens on the weekend or when they are closed. Judge LOVES to have them on the weekends at night lol.

Whew.. Sorry..I am just so upset about this..
My point is.. I would NEVER buy a doll over my dog! Let alone 2!! I do webset work for very little money. I NEVER beg people for donations. Or make them feel bad to give me more money. This is actually the first time I have ever talked about it. And I am planning on making doll clothes as well. But also would never ask people for money other then what they are buying. Nothing more, nothing less. Ugg.. I just feel sick about the whole thing. But I wanted to put people's minds at ease. Not everyone is out to make a buck =/
Sorry..Longwinded. I just HAD to write here =/

I do hope her dog gets the surgery he needs =/

 

Kristyn, very cute dog btw. sorry to hear he has problems, anyways...I wasn't really part of this, but it has angered me tremendously, that someone would think so little of their dog. I have a cat, not exactly the samething...but I won't not put the cat funds towards a new doll...not ever! what was she thinking?! I mean yeah, that's great she's out of town...it's still no excuse for what she's done. Her friend may be trying to dig her reputation out of the hole she dug herself into, but in plain truth and honesty here...she can't dig herself out once she is in too deep. nobody will believe her. plain and simple...I might be a little mean in this post, but then again so is the person who decides buying a doll renders more of a priority then saving up for the dogs surgery. I have nothing more to say on the matter, except I hope and pray she doesn't pull this again...or else, the mods will really ban her. or did they already do that? not sure...

my $0.02 cents.

 

I'm so sorry about your doggy, I know how he feels I had seizures too, but thank fully medicine cured me. My best wishes to you and your doggy.
I completely agree with you! there are people out there who are in more need than she is, who don't stoop so low as to ask people to pay for their responsibilities, it's just wrong, it's like quitting you're job and expecting the taxpayers to pay you for sitting on your bum all day long doing nothing when you could be out making money to keep yourself out of trouble... how can anybody disrespect so many people and be able to get away with it?