Should be careful when you order on Future Fashionista!!

[Contessa]

Megs & Vlad, you're both very genuine, moral, and upstanding people. You give people the benefit of the doubt but also stand behind and support what is just.

I don't believe for a second that the PForum was in any way involved or could have known about this individual. I think this is more of shock than anything....coupled with huge disappointment on many levels.

Your actions and continued support is one of the main reasons I prefer this forum to any other. Thank You

 

[gga]

Thanks for the posts, Megs and Vlad. I won't speak for everyone, but I can't imagine blaming anyone but myself and Elana for this mess as it concerns me. Nobody forced me to buy, and while I met her through here, I can't imagine blaming a place for meeting up with and believing someone who misrepresented herself. I based my decisions on my own faulty reading of Elana and her character, not yours.

 

[lanasyogamama]

I agree, I don't think anyone blames Megs or Vlad, I'm sure they're just as hurt as the rest of the people that dealt with and trusted her.

 

[Stophle]

I have to echo what the others have said. I don't think anyone here holds Megs & Vlad or the Purse Forum responsible, in any way, for what's happened.

Even if you had endorsed Elana and her business (which you haven't), what is an endorsement but a recommendation based on past positive experiences? Many people have had many successful transactions with her, with no problems. No one could have predicted this would happen, certainly not after being such a contributing member of the forum and having done countless deals with people on it.

When purchasing things on the internet, we all take a risk. You can't know who is on the other end of the transaction and no amount of positive feedback in the world can prevent someone from suddenly disappearing with people's money for whatever reasons, even legitimate ones. All we can do is try and use payment methods that offer us some kind of buyer protection to guard against these frauds, but even that isn't guaranteed.

I'm still just so sad about all of this. I was really looking forward to buying a strand of her pearls someday. I'm a little heartbroken over that no longer being a possibility. It seemed like you got excellent value for the price.

 

[HauteMama]

I have to echo what the others have said. I don't think anyone here holds Megs & Vlad or the Purse Forum responsible, in any way, for what's happened.

Even if you had endorsed Elana and her business (which you haven't), what is an endorsement but a recommendation based on past positive experiences? Many people have had many successful transactions with her, with no problems. No one could have predicted this would happen, certainly not after being such a contributing member of the forum and having done countless deals with people on it.

When purchasing things on the internet, we all take a risk. You can't know who is on the other end of the transaction and no amount of positive feedback in the world can prevent someone from suddenly disappearing with people's money for whatever reasons, even legitimate ones. All we can do is try and use payment methods that offer us some kind of buyer protection to guard against these frauds, but even that isn't guaranteed.

I agree. No one could have predicted what might happen in this situation. I ordered from her and endorsed her business because, like stophle said, what is an endorsement except a recommendation based on past experience? I had a relatively good experience, although given the shipping time and lack of communication I have to wonder in hindsight if something wasn't beginning to go wrong even then. But I count myself lucky for only having ordered pearls.

Thanks to the forum for doing all that is possible to protect members from businesses like this, but there was no way anyone could have predicted what might happen.

 

[DiaDiva]

I'm feeling quite sick right now as I'm one of those who have bought numerous pearl strands from her. In fact, I'm wearing all of them on my avatar! I've never had them appraised and don't know what to think. I just checked her personal FB page and feel tempted to call her out there. Has anyone contacted her on her wall there?

 

[Longchamp]

Big Thank you out to Megs and Vlad also from me.

I belong to a watch forum and if there are any shady dealings. the administrators are right on it and thus it lessens the likelihood of repeat behaviour.

One of the administrators on the watch forum "got taken" by a schiester and that really put the kabosh on the seller. And I agree w/ others who said con artists are nice people to gain your trust and then they swoop in on their victims, and laughing all the way to the bank. If they weren't nice...would you be so ready to buy from them? They're out there everywhere and I am always leary, as have been burned myself.

Thanks again M and V for maintaining a very reputable and fun forum.

 

[alliemia]

I'm feeling quite sick right now as I'm one of those who have bought numerous pearl strands from her. In fact, I'm wearing all of them on my avatar! I've never had them appraised and don't know what to think. I just checked her personal FB page and feel tempted to call her out there. Has anyone contacted her on her wall there?

i don't think it would be wrong of you to do that. if it's the only way you can get in contact with her, then do what you have to to get her attention. hopefully you'll get a reply.

 

[CobaltBlu]

I'm feeling quite sick right now as I'm one of those who have bought numerous pearl strands from her. In fact, I'm wearing all of them on my avatar! I've never had them appraised and don't know what to think. I just checked her personal FB page and feel tempted to call her out there. Has anyone contacted her on her wall there?

I think that if you received your merchandise and your transactions were OK, that it is not necessary to "call her out" unless you have reason to believe that your pieces are not what they were represented to be.

In this horrible sad confusing trainwreck, it seems that the pearls at least are not as questionable as the diamonds. Perhaps it would be best to ease your mind by getting an appraisal rather than posting on her FB, or at least do not post until you know more about your own purchases.



I know this is really upsetting and appalling, and many of us are angry, some are confused, hurt, furious, sad, there are unarguably many feelings. And we have no resolution because Elana is not responsive, either because she is not willing or because she is not able, for whatever reason. I am not defending her, not in the least.

But I am also not comfortable going into her personal sites when I am not a party to a transaction in question (though I am curious about my own pearls at this point)

Anyone who is awaiting a refund, or has had an appraisal that gives them concern of course should take every course open to them for restitution.

PF Admin has taken the proper steps to distance themselves from this member and to remove any trace of what could be taken as an endorsement of her business.

But for those not directly affected, or for those of us who have made purchases and do not know if they made good buys or not, it feels--to me--that the prudent course is to ascertain that before taking any action.

We honestly do not know what happened to Elana, and does any of us really want to be part of a mob of angry villagers just for the sake of it?
She is being pilloried across the internet and honestly, we really don't know what happened to set this chain of events in motion...


Make no mistake, I fully support those who have had proof of transactions gone horribly wrong, and hope that there is some explanation and restitution, the latter for sure. I would not counsel any of them against contacting her in absolutely any way they can.

But I dont think any of the rest of us need to do more than take our business elsewhere, remain vigilant, and hope for the best for all involved in this mess.

 

[CobaltBlu]

P.S. DiaDva, your pearls look gorgeous and I really hope that everything checks out.

 

[onegirlcreative]

P.S. DiaDva, your pearls look gorgeous and I really hope that everything checks out.

yeah, they do. they are simply stunning on you!!!!

 

[Megs]

Thanks all . I just thought I would clarify some things that people asked or I saw people asking.

I got a few messages with people asking questions about this/our working with Elana in the past. Fact is, we did post a few posts on PurseBlog about FF. None were paid for - I actually just liked the items.

But I understand how some people may think that we worked more closely with Elana. That is simply not the case.

Japster has been banned from the forum. I had really hoped that when I first saw this thread (which is the first I ever heard of this), that Japster would come to the forum that she has been a part of to rectify her wrongs. But seeing people talk about their items being completely different from what they asked for, we decided there is absolutely no reason to have this person on our forum at all.

If you see any other links/threads promoting the FF business, we will delete them. Just let us know.

I TRULY hope those that are waiting for items/money get that figured out and those that thought they paid for one thing but got something else have some recourse (I have no idea what that would be).

This is such a disheartening/maddening situation.

 

[bluejinx]

Has anyone tried contacting elana through herr blog? It seems to be regularly updated.

http://eretzelana.typepad.com/eretz_elana/

 

[Julide]

I think that if you received your merchandise and your transactions were OK, that it is not necessary to "call her out" unless you have reason to believe that your pieces are not what they were represented to be.

In this horrible sad confusing trainwreck, it seems that the pearls at least are not as questionable as the diamonds. Perhaps it would be best to ease your mind by getting an appraisal rather than posting on her FB, or at least do not post until you know more about your own purchases.



I know this is really upsetting and appalling, and many of us are angry, some are confused, hurt, furious, sad, there are unarguably many feelings. And we have no resolution because Elana is not responsive, either because she is not willing or because she is not able, for whatever reason. I am not defending her, not in the least.

But I am also not comfortable going into her personal sites when I am not a party to a transaction in question (though I am curious about my own pearls at this point)

Anyone who is awaiting a refund, or has had an appraisal that gives them concern of course should take every course open to them for restitution.

PF Admin has taken the proper steps to distance themselves from this member and to remove any trace of what could be taken as an endorsement of her business.

But for those not directly affected, or for those of us who have made purchases and do not know if they made good buys or not, it feels--to me--that the prudent course is to ascertain that before taking any action.

We honestly do not know what happened to Elana, and does any of us really want to be part of a mob of angry villagers just for the sake of it?
She is being pilloried across the internet and honestly, we really don't know what happened to set this chain of events in motion...


Make no mistake, I fully support those who have had proof of transactions gone horribly wrong, and hope that there is some explanation and restitution, the latter for sure. I would not counsel any of them against contacting her in absolutely any way they can.

But I dont think any of the rest of us need to do more than take our business elsewhere, remain vigilant, and hope for the best for all involved in this mess.

I have been a lurker on this thread, this statement I do feel I must comment on...I do think that because she was such a well known member, people feel even more hurt. If she had been any other internet jeweler I think you would have seen less interest and comments. But because she was so involoved in the Forum I believe that it was magnified...So I do not think that the level of emotion expressed on both sides is out of line...Sorry:shame:just my 0.02...

 

[merika]

I have been a lurker on this thread, this statement I do feel I must comment on...I do think that because she was such a well known member, people feel even more hurt. If she had been any other internet jeweler I think you would have seen less interest and comments. But because she was so involoved in the Forum I believe that it was magnified...So I do not think that the level of emotion expressed on both sides is out of line...Sorry:shame:just my 0.02...

Respectfully contradicting you, but there don't seem to be any 'both sides' on this thread. There are a bunch of angry, upset and unhappy buyers and people who are angry, upset and unhappy on behalf of those who have been cheated. There are also a bunch of people who are worried they might have been cheated but not want to know by how much.

Some people advise somewhat precipitate action and other people suggest action after obtaining proof of fraud from an impartial third party. That's the only difference I see.