Anyone who trusts Mark Timms or Evan White PR for anything, make sure to read this entire thread. They seem to be scam artists. MyBowlAd also appears to be a scam. www.MyBowlAdIsAScam.com

In this thread, you will see Mark Timms and Evan White from MyBowlAd all contradicting themselves and each other. Really, it's hysterical how much fun it is to see these people caught in their lies, trying desperately to get out while VFTW exposes them for the crooks they honestly seem to be.

FuelMyBlog, who was affiliated with this contest only in name, has issued Smartie a public apology for trusting MyBowlAd. We love FuelMyBlog, you guys rock. You are a class act and we thank you for helping Smartie.

The South Carolina chapter of Public Relations Society of America is also GREAT!!

(Edited to add more search words so this can get higher on Google search results so people know how much Evan White sucks and no one else falls for his scams:

Evan White, Evan White PR, Evan White public relations, evan@evanwhitepr.com, 509.995.9105, Hitch50, Wii Weight Loss Plan, Mybowlad, Snorgtees, Oneredpaperclip, Jodygnant, Intransit, Areyoumywife, Fuelmyblog, Whoaretheseguys, 3daytest, Oneweekjob, Cangooglehearme, Ego TV, EgoTVOnline, Face Lift Concepts, Holdmyrecord, PGAHereICome, The 1 Second Film)

mybowlad

I love vigilante justice!

We also need to include the mybowlad people in our western showdown.

I vote for incredible amounts of hate mail ( politely of course) and a posting here describing the unfortunate events on our main page.

Second part is entirely up to the grand wizard of our VFTW vigilante squad. Dave

Before we get up a busload of folk, we may want to wait a few more months until it is well established that mybowlad didn't happen.

Whoah don't be bashing fuelmyblog. It's not their fault, guys. Mybowlad guys are the ones supposedly providing the prize and ignoring my emails, nothing more has happened there. But it is not the fault of fuelmyblog ok? They ran the contest but the onus is on mybowlad to pony up. The ones who will be chased with pickaxes by the few suckers who have given them money and if the ad doesn't get made &;; aired, will want their money back. I am very low on their list of priorities, I doubt they'll be able to afford dick.

Smartie,

Before you let FuelMyBlog off the hook so fast, be aware that Evan White, one of the three guys behind MyBowlAd, is also the Director of PR for FuelMyBlog as per the FuelMyBlog FAQ page:

http://www.fuelmyblog.com/index.jsp?l=faq

Since there's a tie-in between the two oufits, right now I don't see how FuelMyBlog can escape all liability if this turns out to be a fraud.

ETA: Evan White's other tie-ins from the EvanWhitePR website linked off MyBowlAd:

http://www.evanwhitepr.com/

Apparently his concept of PR is mostly self-promotion.

I suspect Evan suffers from delusions, look at the crap sites he's manages PR for. His 'title' is not much chop, IMHO, as fuelmyblog is not some monolith of income and traffic. If Evan is providing any 'PR' I doubt any money has changed hands, it's probably in exchange for the link on his crap site. Seriously, don't go beating them up, it's not their fault, ok. They ran a crappy contest badly, yes, but it's not their responsibility to ensure that mybowlad come thru with the goods.

Fuelmyblog is in the UK, small site with aspirations, more of a community of freelance and unpaid writers.

Mybowlad is in the US. They're the ones suffering from dotcom madness that they can make an ad by selling tshirts to raise a couple million bucks. And the ad is about filming said tshirts.

I used to work for a couple dotcoms back in the days when I worked in IT. They sold vapourware and hot air and had no income or revenue streams. Smells like the same bs, to me.

AO - realistically, Mybowlad have sold about $75,000. Of that money, they'll have to hand that back if this ad doesn't eventuate. And I imagine they've offered SOME form of payment to the lame attention whores who are the 'stars' of this mess. So me being way over here, I factor very low on their list. They could give a shit if I was in it or not. I draw no eyeballs, no freak factor or curiosity, I am not a brand name that would pump up their advertising dollars in any way.

Mybowlad are the ones who owe me the prize. But I really doubt it will happen because they just do not have the money.

So because they ran a contest that they did not bank in advance to fund, we can't hate on them and dogpile them with " How dare you run a contest and not pay" mail? Hate mail is free you know.

They should have known there was an up front cost, and they should have limited the contest in some way if they were unable to pay regardless of the outcome.

I just don't see what bashing fuelmyblog will achieve. FMG are just some family business trying to get their site noticed. From an email of theirs:

Chasing them won't do dick. Tis the dickheads at Mybowlad who are the ones who owe me the prize.

Plus I am already out $300 in getting a new passport and relevant paperwork for id. And wasted an enormous amount of time chasing said paperwork.

While they may not be responsible for you prize, it is their responsibility not to run crappy contests badly. You?re much more generous than I?d be. I wouldn?t dogpile them but I wouldn?t absolve them either, especially where they are linked to MyBowlAd via Evan White.

I was not talking about Fuel my blog, I was talking about dogpiling mybowlad.

However if fuelmyblog cannot in all honesty claim that the prizes they helped promote were fairly awarded, they chould not longer run contests from that internet firm. That is a responsibility they CAN live up to.

I just think it's pointless to go after FMB for being incompetent boobs. I've already told them they should (in future) implement some T &;; C and set out the terms very clearly etc for contests. They covered their own arses with that email.

And I am over here - not the UK or US. Any legal action would be far more costly than the $5000 AUD this trip would cost MBA.

I'm telling you, that link is merely a link. I really doubt any money changed hands. FMB don't pay their writers, they just give them exposure. Same with the link.

Tis MBA - they're the idiots here.

ETA - however, I would appreciate assistance writing an email to MBA which I'll CC to FMB, detailing how they should be Fedexing me plane tickets within the week. Because my attempts usually end up with me writing FUCKING CUNTS a lot. Which may not get me far.

I'll help you Smartie, just PM me and I'll ghost write it and you can edit.

Thanks Magooish ;) hugely appreciated! Anyone else wanna pitch in with some appropriately directed hatred?

Actually, hell, let's post it on here and brainstorm it - anyone can add in bits n pieces

Quote "Smartie":

Thanks Magooish hugely appreciated! Anyone else wanna pitch in with some appropriately directed hatred?

Actually, hell, let's post it on here and brainstorm it - anyone can add in bits n pieces

There are abominations of nature here called L.L.C.s etc. that shield scumbags charlatans from justice usually. On a more personal level folk tend to be much much more reasonable. Get [/b]names. We can go from there...

Bibulus, what's LLC?

I've have only had dealings with Evan White, aka www.evanwhitepr.com and evan@evanwhitepr.com

And he cces his (very) few emails to

Mark Timms carolinafilm@gmail.com

Robert Howie robert@roberthowie.com

Who are the other two MBA ppl, I think?

ETA - thanks to the kind assistance of Insane, I've sent all these guys AND MBA the following nice email:

Here, before you do that, here's the letter I promised you:

Hello Evan,

This is Smartie, your FuelMyBlog Contest winner. Remember me?

I wanted to follow up again regarding the trip and what dates I need to reserve. Time is running quite short for me at this point. I've already gone and spent $300 on a passport, so I hope you're still planning on keeping up your end of the deal. If something has happened where the case is otherwise, I would appreciate knowing that for sure.

Please let me know ASAP what I should be planning for.

Thank you.

if they ignore this or give me some crap, I shall unleash the Power of the Worsters.

An LLC is a limited partnership where in the "officers" can absolve themselves of any personal financial responsibility under the law for the lack of profit on the part of the limited corporation.

Or something like that.

Lots of people use them to shield their personal assets from the misjudgements of the corporations they created. So while mybowlad may be a losing proposition, the partners/ officers are not individually legally obligated to live up to the promises of the monstrosity of a limitd corp. have made.

Love America, land of the brave and home of the finanically skeezy.

( happens everywhere, not just here.)

Quote "Smartie":

Thanks Magooish hugely appreciated! Anyone else wanna pitch in with some appropriately directed hatred?

Actually, hell, let's post it on here and brainstorm it - anyone can add in bits n pieces

If you want to group write here, no problem. I'll start tomorrow am with something and maybe in the interim some will post other ideas for you to float .

Ah LLC - we call it Proprietary Limited here or Pty Ltd. So the individuals cannot be held legally or financially responsible for the actions of the company.

I know Evan has a Crackberry as he sent me one brief email once via it. I don't know which state he is in, or time zone, but I imagine he's read that email now. As to whether he responds is another question, he completely ignored my last email.

Meanwhile, cool, let's start working on draft one of 'The Revenge of the Worsters'. Legally speaking, I doubt I have much grounds to work off, due to the appallingly amateurish manner in which this contest was run. But public shaming may be beneficial.....

I think we should retitle this thread :

Smartie's trip ripoff, revenge of the worsters!

Smartie,

You are thinking in terms of civil action. I agree that your costs would probably exceed any settlement/satisfaction you would get -- again in the assumption they don't make good on the prize.

But you may also want to think in terms of criminal action. There's a thing over here called Wire Fraud (or Internet Fraud in the new millenium). It basically makes it a U.S. federal crime for someone to use the internet in furtherance of defrauding you.

This is one of the ways they go after Nigerian check kiters for example.

Now you haven't sent these folks any money, but they have still induced you to spend time and money in the belief that you have won their contest -- not to mention your efforts to participate in the contest itself.

I don't know for sure what would be involved in getting criminal action started, or whether any of the states or the Feds would take it seriously. But if and when it gets to that point, it costs you not a whole lot more than an email to forward the details to the various States Attornies General in the states where the three stooges and their lawyer apparently do business. And see what happens.

Make it clear that your circumstances make it impractical to pursue civil action, and that the only way this conduct can be addressed is if it is taken up, on your behalf, and on behalf of other victims unknown (their other contest winners), as a criminal action.

Since MyBowlAd (and FuelMyBlog for that matter) stated no terms and conditions on the contest, they have left themselves open to absolute liability. Frankly I find it amazing that they've convinced a lawyer to be part of this whole MyBowlAd project.

In addition to the wire fraud statutes, there are almost certainly Code of Business statutes in each state (and in many large cities) which address the illegality of running a fake contest or knowingly promoting a contest when it is evident in advance (or should be evident) that the prize can not actually be awarded.

And I understand you feel no ill will towards FuelMyBlog, but frankly they are just nuts to "manage" a contest with no due diligence as to whether it is legitimate. I would think any action that might get started against MyBowlAd and its principals, would probably take a hard look at FuelMyBlog's culpability too.

AO can you be my lawyer? You're fabulous and SO informative! I have NFI what the legal standing is there, or even if there's anything authorities could do here. Here you need a permit to run a contest, which is issued by state or federal government depending on the scope of the contest. And to run it, you also have to state t &;; c of the contest, advertise the drawing, outcome etc. No idea what the laws are in Europe or the UK in regards to running contests.

I agree FMB are stupid to have run this in this manner, but I don't believe it's been malicious, just naiveté on their part. So I don't feel like going after them for their own silliness.........yet.

Shall see if I get a response from Evan or FMB or any of the other ppl in the next 24 hours. After that, well, then we brainstorm the next step?