Thursday, November 06, 2008

When Round Robins Go Bad

Two years ago or so, I was in a round robin yahoo group. The leader of the group started a new group about every 15 minutes and apparently she joined in all of them. Apparently she was the only one who knew that you couldn't join nine million round robins and keep up with your commitments. Little by little people became disgusted as their robins failed to make their ways home. Eventually, the group was disbanded, and many half-finished robins were sent around the globe to their respective homes. Except the 50 (fifty) (5-0) held hostage by the group leader. She promised she would get them all back to us. Promised. I waited a while and then sent a priority envelop to her so that she could return my three pieces that she had. Allegedly she never received it. This woman had a post office box and yet her mail went astray so often, you would have thought it was in another dimension.

At any rate, I started thinking about those missing robins again and decided to google her. People, she is out there carefree as can be! She is on Linked In, on Facebook, on mySpace, and has two, possibly three, blogs! She should be hiding from me, but she's not. How outrageous!

I read her stupid blogs. Not a word about stitching. So there she is in Utah, listening to heavy metal and watching football and not stitching. So does that leave those 50 (fifty) (5-0) projects languishing in Rubbermaid tubs in her basement? And if so, why not just send them back to their owners?

At any rate, I haven't written her name or linked to her stupid blogs because I'm still thinking about whether I could approach her to get my things back. My best bet probably is to show up on her doorstep one day. But I'll probably start with an e-mail.

22 comments:

mercy said...

This group wasn't the RoundRobinCrazy group was it? I lost I think 3 RRs on that group thanks to the owner who stole them all...one even had my original patterns :-( Every time I think of it I get so grrrr...thanks to her I've never joined a RR again.

Anonymous said...

This happened earlier this year in a RR I was particpating in. Luckily it was only two pieces that were hoarded by one lady. None were mine but I still feel disgusted and sick that someone could do something like that.

I spent many hours stalking the person who did this, and I too found her new blog and details. But I was never sure what to do with them.

The rest of the RR group are replacing the lost pieces for the two women, but it'll never be the same.

It was also decided that the RR piece for the lady who stole the pieces was to be cut up and not sent back to her. So there was some small justice.

I hope yours and the other fifty pieces are returned.

(I am curious to know what people do when they steal RR's. Do they put them up on the wall and display them?!)

Courtney said...

we should make a map so whomever doesn't send out SAL stuff, we can find the closest stitcher to drive to their house and get it!!

Nic said...

I think I can guess who you are talking about ... the experience has put me off round robins for life, I lost a big project and OOP chart amongst other stuff.

Anonymous said...

I really don't get people like this. I could never take someone's stitching and then lie about having it, I would take no pleasure from having the piece at all. Sorry this happened to you - I'd love to see her face if/when? you did decide to turn up on her doorstep....;)

mainely stitching said...

What a horror story!!! I don't get it, either. When you show up on her doorstep, make sure The Dude is filming the whole thing and then you put it up on You Tube and link to it in your blog. Okay? That's PAYBACK! That's setting the record straight!

Cheryl said...

That's terrible! I really dont get it. Nearly had a mess up in the RR im in but fortunately all pieces were re-sent on eventually. This situation doesnt sound good though, i'd be mad too!

Kitty Couture said...

Holy cow! Fifty?
Hope you manage to rescue those 50 lost RRs... Sounds like a quest for the HG. Seriously, this is food for a short story, or even a novel.

Katrina said...

It's terrible! No good suggestions on getting your pieces back but I would definitely 'out' her. I've had it happen in a couple groups I've been in, most recently this year. Persistence and naming names as a last, last resort is my course. You know you can't imagine that someone would do it so you try to give them the benefit of the doubt as long as possible but there's a limit. The same with exchanges, I have been a couple exchanges where ladies didn't fulfill their commitments and I watch them on the BB and always privately let the organizer know about my experience with them.

Hope you have some good luck getting your pieces back!

Donna said...

This is why even though I see those lovely RR pieces on blogs, I don't join in. I, too, got burned in the early days of my being on the internet using AOL 2.0 or whatever it was. I do have one successful RR, but I had some friends who were honest about their inability at the time to get to this project. I finished it myself. So it went 50/50 for me and I decided that it wasn't worth losing something I wanted.

Coni said...

I'm channelling my inner Tony Soprano as I type this...you want I should go have a chat wit' her? Forget being nice...what this stitchy bloggy world needs is an "organization" that will act as the "enforcers" of RR's, etc. No fuss. No muss. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I e-mailed our MIA stitcher about round robins the other day but did not get a response.

dd

Ruth said...

That sucks, but then, you already knew that.

Good luck!

Annemarie said...

We all know that sometimes life gets in the way and that not all of the participants will be able to stick to the deadlines (I'm notorious that way), but that is never an excuse to just KEEP the RRs. As long as you keep communicating there is not a stitcher in Blogland who will not understand. This woman has fifty RRs, you say. Well, go ahead and mention her name, because you and your group are never going to get any of them back.

Anonymous said...

I have never joined a RR because I hear stories like this, and I would not want my hard work to get lost in "Limbo"

I think it is okay to out a person like this. She might not RR anymore, but if I don't know who she is or what kind of person she is I might maybe set up a trade with her and never get my trade, etc.

If she was a bad ebayer I would want to know. I think this is the same. There are a lot of us message board and blog reading newbies out here that don't want to get burned.

Edgar said...

OMG - you know what happened to the RR and the restitch of pieces. The stitcher who KEPT (ie stole) the 3 missing pieces and disappeared a few moths back... is now in the last couple of weeks back posting around AND stitching up a storm - If I lived closer to her I would hop on my broom and descend of her like the furies from hell !!!!! I am still fuming - can ya tell? But all that said I still like RR's and am in 3 going on now.

Anonymous said...

Hmm, I think you should tell the FBI!!!!

Actually that is so infuriating I think I would be phoning her everyday. Just to harrass her!

Rachel V said...

You probably could file a police report for stolen property, actually. Sorry you had such a bad experience. :( I've never done an RR before but I have had one pretty horrible exchange.

Lelia said...

Honestly, that person needs to crawl back into the woodwork & not come out.

needs a lesson in playing nice

What a loser

Most stitchers are generous and go above and beyond the guidelines

stinks when one sour apple gets mixed into the apple basket & spoils it for the group

Aussie Stitcher said...

I haven't joined in any RR's or exchanges as I am nervous about being able to fulfill my part. I think you need to take some action with this person, perhaps collectively and put some pressure on her.

Tracy M. said...

Sounds like B. from RRC yahoo group! I lost at least 3 round robins (including patterns, full kitting of over-dyed floss, etc.) through there. I did get two mine back finished before the group went bust, but never did get my other RR's back from the owner. The kicker was I'd stitched on all of hers of course. That was a great group of stitchers, none of which were a problem (that I know of) except the owner. Wow, wonder if you and I were slated to be in any RRs together? I'm pretty sure I never stitched on anything for you.

Michelle said...

I feel for you. As Katrina and I both had the same experience with our RRs this year, and later come to find out that miss "I'm having difficulties right now" was apparently planning her wedding. Ugh. At least she did eventually send the stuff back, but I can't imagine what goes through someone's head. I hope you get your stuff back, and I'm here to help stalk/threaten if necessary!