Answering Fanmail!

For those who have been reading OSC for awhile, you’ve probably seen the Recipes & Copyright Law post I did a couple weeks ago.  Since then, I’ve been finding and receiving quite a few nasty comments regarding OSC (and myself).  The comments themselves really don’t bother me – they’re just petty and juvenile. What does bother me is that the consultants who left comments (both here and as part of the CP forum in question) have never once offered polite advice on alternative methods of advertising or expanding the business. They appear to get off on scolding people. That’s what disturbs me the most.  They’ve never asked how long I’ve been with the company in question, they’re apparently just so bitter that they attack first, and ask questions never.

As I said before the comments haven’t bothered me, but they have been bothering my husband. He’s been goading me into responding to their comments and I have been doing my best to resist.  I’ve had enough; he’s convinced me to respond to some of the more obnoxious personal attacks and comments that are floating out there. Rather than tithe to their site (do I really want to associate with them?), I’ll just answer here. They are of course free to respond (if they can do so politely), and it won’t even cost them $5!

Note: I’ll be using the abbreviation CP rather than my employer to keep from giving some of these girls “the vapors”.


From esavvymom:
This is CLEARLY a consultant who purposely has created several websites for business.

Actually, had you been savvier, you would have seen that while I’ve been a consultant for 2 months, this site has been up since October 2007 (and in various other forms since 2004). You see, CP was intended to support OSC, not the other way around. As I’ve discussed in my copyrights post, at the time it seemed like a good idea – I wasn’t aware of how backwards the policy was, and have hence removed the links.  I’ve actually used this same method quite successfully with another site and business and could not imagine that a company wouldn’t want people linking to their products.

From wadesgirl:
The other thing I find funny is that she is using PC recipes but isn’t giving them credit.

In my haste to take down everything CP, I accidentally removed those as well (sed is an unforgiving tool). Corrections have been made, and attributions are now as they should be. Next time, rather than gossiping about it, just be polite and let me know. It’s real easy – just hit that little reply button thingy and say “I think you forgot the attribution to CP for this recipe.” Presume accident before malice – you’ll get farther in life.

From ChefBeckyD:
And in those recipes – every PC product is a link back to her website.

And these have been changed to now point to a comparable product on amazon rather than supporting your employer. Don’t you feel good about yourself now? As a bonus, had you checked this for yourself rather than following the herd, you would have seen that I had already changed this (or maybe you just had it cached). You just cost CP positive exposure as well as bolstered the negative stereotype. And don’t give me the “I’m just enforcing corporate policy” line either, that’s not your job and it’s a cop out. You girls purposefully go out of your way to harass people, plain and simple. Sadly, this is the type of insanity I was trying to avoid. The referral fees I make on my other sites far outstrips what I’ve made in profit for CP in my first two months, so I guess it’s OK to use amazon for OSC since it’ll make administration easier.  It’s a shame, really, since I’d like to see CP succeed.

From DebbieJ:
I hope she gets shut down soon.

Why so much spite? Did I personally hurt you in some way? Are you upset because I was trying to open a pre-existing reader base to our employer’s products? Now, thanks to you guys, I’m sending them to comparable product.  Good job. I’m not even allowed to say “Contact me if you’re interested in buying these products!”

From pcChefJane
So have any of you reported her to HO? […] You would think if she got caught for one way, she would know the rest are “against policies”!

Actually, I contacted the Home Office as soon as I someone had mentioned that I was in violation to obtain clarification on the policy. Once I confirmed what was allowed and what was not, I moved quickly to clean up the site.  In the information age, it still boggles my mind that CP is afraid of hyperlinks to their website. If you’d like, I can send you a copy of the email I sent them, since there seems to be some paranoid doubt that I did send it.

From esavvymom:
The thing that bugged me is that she doesn’t just have ONE site – but that main one. FB site is just a side – thing really. The one with all the recipes is what killed me. Why bother? She has a PWS site for goodness sake! Use THAT.

OK, there are several levels of FAIL here. The “recipe site,” as I’ve stated before, has been here looong before I became a consultant. As for “why I bother?”, have you used the PWS site? For lack of a more eloquent description, it really sucks. Look around this site; tags, categories, reviews, links to helpful articles, comments, integration into social networking sites – I’d love to see you emulate half of the stuff I do here with the PWS site. Their site is a toy and is obviously geared for the technologically unsavvy. If you’re used to tweaking stylesheets and php classes, their simple text box is very restricting. The fact that I can’t link to it make me question why you would think I would put that much effort into it?  My readership loves OSC (from the feedback I’ve received), why should I have them change to something that is half as useful?

From PamperedLinda:
she must have a lot of spare time on her hands to do all this

It’s not that I have a lot of spare time, it’s the fact that if I do something, I don’t like to do it half-assed.  A business is only as successful as the effort that is put into it – as a consultant, you should know that.  OSC has a reputation for being a great source for recipes and useful information to make cooking and baking easier.  Why wouldn’t I want to merge these two very similar businesses? And yes, this was a business long before I joined a certain company.

From GingerTanney:
I can’t believe people can get away with that.

Get away with what, exactly? Trying to remove the stigma of being a CP consultant?  It’s amazing to me that half of the people I talk to have a negative image of CP consultants to begin with, saying they’re pushy and overbearing. It’s taken a lot of effort to separate myself from that stigma, and you girls come in and shoot it to hell. Nice job.

From Janetupnorth:
I reported all her links a few days back.

That reminds me, I would like to thank you for not supporting a fellow coworker, for not bothering to find out if I was new and hadn’t understood the policy, and instead went directly to the HO to tattle.  It’s appreciated that instead of giving me the chance to fix this, you felt the need to be petty.  I hope it made you feel better about yourself.

From legacyPC46:
Wow. She truly doesn’t understand the legalese. I get that ingredients are facts, but how those items are put together is the creative process which is covered by copyright. (Uh, that’s my interpretation…I could be totally wrong…but for now, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)

So the ingredients are only copyrightable, but not how they are mixed together… Did you even read the links I posted? It’s exceptionally clear about what is and is not covered.  In order to get the recipe correct, there is a precise, factual way of mixing the ingredients.  Without that, you wouldn’t get the end result.  Also, I find your comment about me not understanding the legalese ironic since you go on to admit you have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.

From PamperedLinda:
(along with a nasty bra-strap photo).

Naaaaa, you girls aren’t being catty at all! This is totally about following rules and procedures, and not about personal attacks on fellow coworkers – and at the end of the day, we’re just that, coworkers.  Thanks. I’m glad you could keep it on a civilized level. I sincerely hope you treat the people you meet in person better than strangers online.

From tlag1986
It is nice to see that she has finally seen that she is not in control!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahh, quite the opposite – unlike PWS, I am in total control of OSC. Then again, this was never about control, it was about spreading the brand to my readers. Since this is obviously frowned upon, this site will only refer to products for sale on amazon.com. If I were a higher level person in the company, I’d be raining fire and brimstone on you guys for costing CP positive exposure and bolstering a negative stereotype of our consultants.  If someone had just said that I couldn’t link to the PWS site or state what I do, I would have taken everything down, but kept the references to their products.  Now I’ll get to spread the word about Oxo, Farberware, Pyrex, Wilton and Anchor – all of which can be found through my store at Amazon.

From Chefann:
It’s like she thinks the copyright statement HO puts on all their recipes is just there for giggles.

Actually, it’s quite common for businesses to put pointless, non-binding notices on documentation – it’s cheap and most people don’t know any better. Let me explain – they can slap a copyright on the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme, but that doesn’t mean it becomes theirs.  From a legal perspective, recipes are not covered under copyright law – same thing with phone listings in the yellowpages. We’ve been over this; please try to keep up.

from pamperedlinda:
do you think she’s Smarter that a Fifth Grader? LOL […] I bet she’s a real bi-atch in person. […] I’m sure HO is watching her by now.

Again with the personal attacks?  I don’t think I’m the one they should be watching. You’re actively and purposefully making personal and hateful remarks against a fellow coworker for no discernible reason. Grow up.  You’ve voiced your concerns about what I was doing, but it’s been fixed for a while – why do you continue?  Does harassing and gossiping about another human being make you feel better about yourself?  For all the hateful remarks that you and others have made, I’ve never once responded in the same juvenile way.

from etteluap70pc:
Her disclainer[sic] is actually kind of comical. Notice how she actually contradicts herself and the law… Not to mention for someone who is so disdainful and insulting to a company’s policies she shure[sic] is promoting them alot![sic]

First off, where do I contradict myself? I’ve read it several times and had a few people with more knowledge about copyright law than myself take a peek and not see what you’re getting at. Please, don’t keep me in suspense.

Secondly, I know that this will be hard for you to understand, but there are some people who can hold two conflicting opinions in their head about the same thing at the same time – I love CP products, but that doesn’t mean I like or agree with their internet policies.  I’ve already sent in feedback regarding possibly updating what I see as an outdated policy – if you cared about the company, you’d be joining in updating the policies with me rather than tearing me down…unless you think the internet isn’t a good place for selling things or for promoting what (I think) is a great product.

from Koima:
She’s actually correct that recipes can’t be copywrited[sic].  […] However, she’s still posted a lot more than PC policies allow and she is in a contract with them.

Finally, a voice of reason! As for the second part, this is why I’ve went out of my way to follow the rules about linking to my PWS site and mentioning CP once I found out I was in “violation”.  Just because I can’t link to their site, doesn’t mean as a longtime customer, I can’t tell others that I love using their products or making their recipes.  I still strongly disagree with their internet policies, but I’m hoping they’ll take a more 21st century approach to it when they update their policies and procedures in the future.

from pamperedlinda:
From the parts of her personality that she has shared….I think she strives to have them [undies] in a bundle

Again with the personal attacks… Please, seek help. You’re not well. I’ve never done anything to you, yet you stalk me, report me, call me names… I find it funny that you’re the one who complained that I had a lot of free time by examining a site I’ve been working on for years, yet you’ve put this much effort into being so nasty towards someone you don’t even know, someone who’s working towards the same goal as you – selling CP products.  Who has too much free time?  And of the two of us, who is the one that has been making personal attacks against someone they don’t know, haven’t tried to get to know or even bothered to help?  Who is the one that has their panties in a bundle?


And that’s enough from that thread. Maybe I’ll answer some more from other posts if I feel like it, but I doubt it.  These ladies have wasted enough of my time.

Seriously, the ladies in this so called “consultant help forum” really need to re-examine how they discuss the actions of other consultants, especially the ones that could obviously use a hand rather than be torn down. As a new consultant, I’m not as familiar with the company policies as some of these so-called chefs- I admit that (and as a side note, if you can only make a dish using the specific equipment mentioned in the recipe, are you really a “chef”?). So why wouldn’t they think of helping the newbie rather than reporting her? Why harass her and try and bring her down instead of supporting her new venture?  I can only surmise that it’s how they get their jollies.

The company is all about making their products as innovative as they can, so why was it so wrong that I try and do the same thing when I try and sell them?  Because I made the mistake of trying to do things the new way and not go the conventional route?  I understand there are a lot of people who are afraid of the internet, but it’s the future of interpersonal communication.  I’m surprised these ladies don’t understand that since they are members of a forum.

Speaking of their forum, for those who are interested, that particular forum is using vBulletin, and has an annoying “You’ve exceeded the maximum number of posts you can view as a guest” message. The fun part?

Bypass Annoying Forum Post Viewing Restrictions

Just a note to all those people who thought their forum was impenetrable and strictly consultant only viewing – it’s not. I debated even mentioning it until I saw the supposed owner of the forum had join in the festivities. By the way, that is not my site, and the post was made long before I became a consultant.  It’s a known work around for the type of forum you’re using, so don’t blame me that nonmembers can view everything you’ve been saying. I’m just spreading the knowledge (I know, how dare I!) – after all, that is why I use the internet – spreading information. It’s a shame someone can’t figure out a way to make money doing that…

February 16, 2009 · jackie · 5 Comments
Posted in: News

5 Responses

  1. Allison Serna - February 16, 2009

    I love what you said in response to those negative nans!

    And the info about how to bypass the annoying forum posts, I just did that on my computer so i can continue to watch the forum, and yet not pay the $5

    Hugs being sent your way!

    Allison Serna in California~!~

  2. morgajel - February 16, 2009

    Honestly this is much nicer than I would have been. I’ll just have to find other ways to amuse myself at their expense.

  3. Sandra - February 17, 2009

    Hi Jackie, Great responses.

  4. friday - February 18, 2009

    What a riot! I love your responses! I always wondered just how well these ladies could POSSIBLY be doing in their businesses. They have so much time trolling the internet for people to attack. Thank you for this!!

  5. Nikki - March 1, 2009

    I agree — you’re way too nice!

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