• Home
  • About Us
    • Testimonials
  • Store
  • Fundraisers & Events
    • Private Events
    • Host a Party
  • FAQ
  • Contact us

Our Emmys Experience: One Year Later

9/30/2012

4 Comments

 
Picture
We took some time off from the blog to focus on business, but also because we had a consuming issue we were attempting to resolve.

Many of you wrote asking about our Emmy experience last year. As we recently passed the one year anniversary of that experience, we are now ready to share our thoughts about it.

When originally contacted by Off The Wall Promotions, many representations were made via phone, email, and of course, there was a basic contract. We were excited for being found and asked to have our products in the Emmy bags, and the news of this coup (per our pre-event press releases) led to increased interest and orders. Much as it does with every promotion we’ve run since opening our business in 2005.

The odd thing about this one, though, was there was no interest, no spike in traffic, no calls – nothing – which occurred from the night of the actual Emmys and going forward. This has never happened to us.

Like other vendours who’d participated in the Emmy event, we sent emails and pinged OTW’s Facebook page when photos from the event weren’t forthcoming in a reasonable period of time. Those Facebook posts were deleted or hidden, and responses via email started to describe how busy principals were with other shows and they would ‘get back to us’. When the photos finally arrived, they were comparatively minimal as compared to other OTW published events, and gave little indication that our popcorn actually made it into the swag bags or were delivered to celebrities. We ended up speaking with several other vendour participants who shared the same experience as ours. To boot, we later learned OTW had decided to include similar products from vendours within the same celebrity swag bag. In other words, out of thirty vendours chosen across the country and a wide range of options, OTW included more than one popcorn and whoopie pie vendour in the same Emmys bag.

To make a really long story short, we ended up filing a complaint with Better Business Bureau and opening a dispute with our credit card company. OTW made several false claims, and attempted to fall back on its contract as an excuse versus the spirit of the law. Inundated with paperwork, our credit card company eventually threw its hands up in the air and issued us a partial goodwill credit to simply accept that we were bilked of several thousand dollars by OTW.

Though we had also been promised a certificate and sample tote bag once the above matter was resolved, we still never received this from OTW, either.

If you have free time on your hands and feel like doing a Google search, you will find many companies which have written press releases about their selection to participate in an Emmys event. You may even find a mention on their website. However, what you will rarely see is a post-event follow up or photos on their site about the experience.

It’s embarrassing to be taken for a ride when you’re intelligent and savvy, and I suspect many other participants don’t want their customers and friends to know they were had. Also, since it is exciting and flattering to be selected for inclusion in an Emmys gift bag, some business owners have decided to take the press and run with it – even if they never received post-event interest or orders. Fair enough. However, we also have a duty to warn others so they are not taken advantage of, particularly small business owners who have the most to lose with very personal investments of time and money.


4 Comments
Richard
9/30/2012 15:36:05

I saw your post on Facebook and couldn't believe it. A shame people can't just do the right thing and are getting away with it.

I hope this doesn't discourage you from continuing to create that delicious popcorn. Good luck to you and Charles!

Reply
Dee Coppola link
9/30/2012 22:56:38

Shameful and deceitful behavior. Is there any penalty for them? Wonder how many others were duped? My hat is off to you for speaking up and taking a stand.

Reply
Doña Keating link
10/1/2012 20:18:03

Richard and Dee,

Unfortunately, they will indeed get away with this unless someone decides to take them to court and lose thousands more in attorney fees. The Attorney General's office was interested, but only if the other companies came forward and joined us in filing.

We struggled with the idea of going public with our experience, but decided to do it because we would have wanted to know if prior vendours had been subjected to this.

Thanks to both of you (and the many others we received via email and private Facebook message) for the uplifting comments. We are moving onward and upward.

Reply
ruggies-reviews.com link
7/13/2013 03:17:56

This is ridiculous! But hats of to you for showing real courage to speak against them! Even though you have to spend a lot going to the court in the concerned matter I think if it is done they won’t have the courage to repeat this!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Popcorn Chef

    Author

    You are likely to hear from a number of members of the Popcorn Chef team.

    Archives

    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    November 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    Categories

    All
    18000 Fans
    32nd Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards
    7000 Facebook Fans
    A Cozy Kitchen
    All Things Popcorn
    Artisan Night
    Bainbridge Grand Old 4th
    Beachbooty Jewelry
    Caption Contests
    Carter
    Chocolate Caramel Corn Cake
    Chocolate Kilimanjaro
    Chocolate Popcorn Bowl
    Chocolate Popcorn Cake
    Choosing Our Flavours
    Christmas In The Country
    Emmy Medley
    Find Us At Local Events
    Free Popcorn Tasting Party
    Gift Tins
    Gordon Elementary Auction
    Groupon
    Groupon Deal Of The Day
    Happy Holidays
    Happy Thanksgiving
    Holiday Hours
    Holiday Orders
    How Popcorn Chef Started
    Inaugural Bremerton Summer Brewfest
    Kidimu
    KiDiMu's 3rd Annual Party
    Kitsap Wine Festival
    Monster Mushroom Kernel
    Moolala
    Name Our Bar Contest
    New Popcorn Flavours?
    Octo-graphic
    Off The Wall Promotions
    Olympic High School Football Fundraiser
    Our Facebook Page
    Our Groupon Store
    Our Vignette On "i Heart Kitsap"
    Over 19000 Fans
    Popcorn And Politics
    Popcorn Cake
    Puget Sound Storm
    Review Us On Facebook
    Rodika Tollefson
    Rodstol Lane Farm
    Seattle Groupon
    Shipping Sweet Flavours In Summer
    Snickers Caramel Popcorn
    Sound Brewery
    Spicy Baked Caramel
    Spicy Caramel Bacon Popcorn
    Stockings For A Cause
    Stocking Stuffers
    Stocking Stuffer Tins
    Sweet Pea's Kitchen
    The Reptile Man
    Tollefson Creative Solutions
    Troops In Afghanistan
    Turtle Corn Bar
    Twitter Page
    Unity Earth Concert And Indulgence Festival
    Valentines Day
    West Sound Business Expo

    RSS Feed