I am going to try to keep this story short. Ohhhh and it is so not a short story.
Back in December 2008, I was contacted by this “company”(and I say that loosely) to come on board with them to be their cooking personality. It was a huge web community that was going to be launched with big names like Dennis Rodman, he was going to be their travel person for the site. Anyhooo, I was asked to do the cooking “How To” videos. They said it was an opportunity to make “life changing money”. So I started right away making videos. I think in all I did about 130 cooking How-To videos. Well, things started smelling fishy to me along the way. The site was supposed to be launch in Feb, then it got pushed back to March then April then May and so on and so on. Then the lies started compounding upon one another. Scam this, fraud that, fake names..yada yada yada!! Then my contact said the “company” has fallen apart and the project is NO MORE(IN A ONE LINE TEXT MESSAGE). Speaks volumes for their character huh?
Needless to say I was PISSED OFF. I had nothing to show for my hard work. No tapes, no videos. After months of calling and getting the run around, I finally got my tapes back today. But guess what, 10 out of 130 were edited. Are you kidding me? Only 10 were edited after months of filming?? 120 of them are still on 8 mm tapes, unedited. And the quality of the tapes are bad..so bad. There are only a few worth showing you. One is my trussing a chicken video.
I will try to get more up if I can. Most of them are in a file format that would require me to go to a production studio to have them all corrected and that equals $$$$$$
So, lesson learned. Work with reputable people. Do your homework. Get a lawyer!!!!!
Yes, I realize I pushed my hair away from my face and then touched the chicken. Shoot me.K
I actually did this video a second time after I realized I had touched my hair. But the corrected video is on the 8 mm tape. Remember I was dealing with a bunch of non professional people, that didn’t look for errors. Sorry if my hair touching offends anyone. Wait, wont the oven kill any of my hair cooties?????LOL
I got scammed..LESSON LEARNED!
August 26, 2009 ·
Ah…that sucks! Sorry that happened to you.
That is awful!!! Did you film these videos yourself or did they send someone to do them? I can't believe you are 'losing' 120 of them – so much work! 🙁
I've never trussed a chicken before – I'm glad I know how, and more importantly WHY it's a good idea! 🙂
What a horrible thing to happen to you. How awful. You worked so hard and invested so much time. What ass&*()^%!! I am so sorry.
Wow. What a disappointment, to say the least. 🙁
That is horrible, I am so sorry.
I also wanted to thank you for guest posting while I was gone. It was great not having to worry about anything.
Thank you Thank you.
So sorry, go kick them in the arse!! Get revenge, you know you wanna.
Oh wow, that's terrible. So sorry that happened to you. Hate that you lost so many hard-worked hours!
Oh Leslie 🙁 I am soooo sorry this happened to you. Like you said, lesson learned. There are always people out there ready to screw others to make a buck.
Ugh! I'm so sorry you had to deal with that! 🙁 But at least you were persistent and didn't let them get away with all your footage.
You definitely deserve better, a TRUE sweet deal will come your way I'M SURE!!!
Ahhh Les, I'm sorry, but it was a Lesson learned! Call it a LIFE Lesson, instead of a mistake. You are a trusting honest person and you didn't think someone was gonna work you over!!! Stinks to be you, but you learned and you are a little more SAVVY for the next time!
God had a Plan, and they will GET theirs! NO doubt about it! I know your mad but don't harbor bitterness, that's not what you want to be about! Those crappers!!!
How is Nelson Jr?
Hugs Les!!! I love ya!
Leslie
LeslieVeg@msn.com
http://leslielovesveggies.blogspot.com/
Those people sucks!!! Don't worry dear talented as you are, you'll definitely make it big in the future 🙂 but hold on to your patience for there will be more irresponsible people like them on the way!!
I'm so sorry about happened. I hate people like that. It wouldn't hurt if they told you right away..
🙁 How terribly frustrating!Great lesson though thanks for sharing.:)
You said the right thing, Always make sure things are legitimate!!One thing I think is important to me…You pushed your hair back with your hands..then touched the Chicken again, before you washed your hands. I must say Yuck!! Estelle
AW what a bunch of *^&^%$(*&^s. UGH! I'm so sorry. So much work! Jerks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That does suck! I just had a guy offer to do all the work and film my cooking videos, edit them, blah blah blah and now he has canceled on me twice in a row when I booked the kitchen, and hired camera people and others to show up and emailed me, no phone call, emailed me to say he had to go out of town, and we would have to do it later…sorry for your experience…its disappointing when people out there are not what they say…
I second Julie!
~ingrid
Wow, thanks for sharing your story Leslie. What a time waster for you…I feel so bad. Sometimes crappy things happen for a good reason, so hopefully something good will come back around to ya. (hugs)
Oh no! That's terrible!
But just know that everything happens for a reason (although its hard to look at it that way), so hopefully something bigger and better will come your way 🙂
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!
Just a few words of wisdom I live by!
-Mini Baker 🙂
Wow, that really stinks! I know this does not mean much coming from me, a stranger, but my boyfriend does freelance video editing in our home on the side (he works at NBC full time) and may be able to help reformat and/or edit your footage. His rates are less than what a bigger company would charge, since he has no overhead and less experience. That being said, he does a very good job and could provide lots of examples of his work along with references. If you are interested at all, feel free to contact me.
You are too sweet to have this happen to you. Perhaps something wonderful will come from the experience in a way you don't expect.
Also, glad you liked the glittered silhouettes. But, if you do it, it looks soooo much better without the glass. The glass just hides the sparkle too much.
The mere fact you actually got the videos BACK is amazing. Perhaps you should send on of the better ones to the Food Network? I can think of a few people there I love to see YOU replace….LOL
Personally, I don't mind your 'hair cooties' BTW.
Oh gosh…sorry to hear about that.
ugh i am SO sorry to hear that people did not respect your time, energy or hard work.
p.s. – you are beaaaautiful!
What jerks. It's so sad that there are such dishonest people out there. UGH.
Cute video – you are really good on camera. I don't care about the hair. Thanks for teaching me how to truss a chicken.
So sorry to hear that!
It is so awful when something you are excited about falls apart!
Your hair cooties don't bother me 🙂
I am so sorry, what a let down. I guess the biggest lesson is to go with your gut, no matter how perfect a situation is on paper.
How awful! What a terrible thing to happen, but you'll be super careful now. Other opportunities will come your way, I believe. Just be careful!:)
What?! That's crazy! I hate ppl like that!
how dirty! it's horrible that people can do that kind of stuff, i'm so sorry!
Awww…..that sucks. But at least you DID get your tapes back–that's what really counts!!!
As for the hair thing, I'd be more concerned about potential chicken bacteria put into your HAIR, rather than worry about a chicken that's going into an oven. But I wash my hands like a lunatic when cooking. *shows chapped knuckles to prove it*
I am really sorry to hear that… I would be so, so angry. I hope that there will be some silver-lining out of it, like maybe one of the 10 videos you actually got back will land you an even bigger deal.
What comes around goes around—you worked hard and followed through with your committment to them, something good will surely come back to you in the long run.
The other people, they will suffer in the long run for lying and stealing (your time, etc) from honest people.
so sorry ! that's awful: I literally got chills reading this
Goldie said what I was thinking…I too was more worried about the chicken cooties ending up in your hair. Uggh I hate the smell of raw chicken almost impossible to get rid of and lingers like forever on your hands but I digress. It's good of you to share this lesson so that others aren't burned and finally….that's exactly why the company went out of business while you on the other hand will keep on going 🙂 Take heart
That sucks! It's a good thing you were able to get out of it though :). Oh, lawyer? My hubby will be one in two years, lemme know if they give you any more trouble ;).
I'm so sorry to hear about your "scammed" experience. I enjoyed your chicken trussing demo.
Sorry to hear that. What a bummer!
I'm so sorry. All that time and money down the drain would be so disappointing. I know that a real opportunity will come your way soon though – you're so great on camera!!
Thats so annoying and insane. Yuck!
I can't believe it! That sucks! Glad you didn't have to actually give them money or anything like that though!
Your hair doesn't offend me btw! haha
Love your blog!
xox
tanya
I am sorry to hear about that awful experience!! It's really sad there are people/companies out there like that. I could only imagine how disappointed you were when you found out it was a scam after all the work you did!
sorry to hear that which is very awful!! feel very sorry for ye!
You poor thing! I'm so sorry to hear that!
Oh Leslie I am SO sorry!!!! I cant believe that, how sad! And all that work you did!
As for the touching your hair and chicken, we all do it in the secret corners of our kitchens 🙂 haha
I am so sorry that whole scam thing happened to you. You could totally do this on your own though! I love the idea
don't mess with my sister!!!!!!!!!!!
Ohhh, this story just makes me ill. In all of my months of working I haven't even completed that many videos, I know the amount of time this must have invested!
So fun to watch this though! I do stuff like lick my fingers and people will call me on it. It's not like you {or I} are in chef's coats serving this to customers, so I'm pretty sure home cooks touch their hair or scratch their arm or lick their fingers {gasp!} when cooking!
I wouldn't worry about it, but I totally feel you on being frustrated that they are not perfect, especially when you corrected your mistake and they edited it in anyway. Sucks.
I totally think they should have a very basic how-to show on Food Network -not always doing recipes, but doing the basics to familiarize people with what different cooking techniques or terms are. I think this could have been a fantastic idea, so much interest out there for it if it would have been run properly. Such a shame!
At least you have the experience? It's a pretty pitiful silver lining, but still, I'm sure you learned a lot about the in's and out's of it all. And on-camera experience is worth it's weight in gold!