Community Chat

[ECBG]

I would pull up the email where you spoke to the lady about October, and take it from there. 

[lovesrecess]

The vet deserves to know this vendor is dishonest. I would caution her about accepting any in-kind donations from her again. I would leave her out of any future fundraising events unless she wants to make a cash donation  (no checks or credit cards!)

[beach-mom]

@SXMGirl - You've gotten great advice. Here's what I would do in that situation: I wouldn't let it go. You have proof that you were going in October. (BTW - when is October "winter?") I would first talk to the vendor's friend, who is an employee at the veterinary clinic, and tell her what happened. Her friend made a commitment she is not honoring. Get her take on things. If she is surprised her friend would do that, I would again email the vendor and tell her if she can't accommodate you now, you would appreciate some other dates to choose from. Then resign yourself to going another time. Even if it's not ideal, you can turn it into a nice getaway! 

After you have resolved it with the vendor, then I would tell your veterinarian what happened. She deserves to know, and if the vendor doesn't work with you to resolve the situation, she will know (as others here have said) not to accept that person's offer to donate a stay at her property for any charity event. 

Good luck!  

[elated]

I think you need to go back to the vet who was in charge of the fundraiser. You bid on a vacation rental that was offered. You later learned the donor was dishonest and probably had no intention of following through on this donation.  The vet needed to check out the people that are offering services or other products. I think it was very generous of you to help but you shouldn't have to argue with the donor. It is the vet's responsibility to either refund you or make sure you are given your vacation rental.

IMHO, this is probably not the first time this scammer  pulled this deception. Don't just let it slide. If you want to donate money to the vet without any benefit, then do so but don't let this happen without any repercussions for the scammer. Wishing you well for being a good person.

[sunshine45]

how much did you spend to get this rental? is it worth it to go to court?

i would definitely get in touch with the vet, let the vet know what happened.

i would also ask the person who is supposed to be renting to you what the dates are on 2021 that she has available and lock down the dates if you can.

we had an issue similar to this, but it all worked out eventually. we have a beach home that we auctioned off a vacation week for. the family who won the auction took forever to commit to a time period and in the meantime it was getting rented quickly with less and less dates available to choose from.

[Venezia]

I have to agree with those who advise you to inform the vet of this situation.

Sorry, "donating" a prize for an auction and then not fulfilling that commitment, is fraud.  There is no way this vendor should be allowed to get away with that and the vet needs to know that, in future, she must ensure that all auction donations are legitimate and will be honored.

I agree that I would let the vet keep the money paid for this non-vacation rental, but she must be made aware of it.  She should be the one to communicate with the vendor at this point, to ask why she is not providing the prize you bid on and won.

How do you know that this vendor has not done this to others or will do it again in the future, if she is not called to account?  It's fraud.

[Venezia]

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@Sushismom wrote:

Did you give her dates in October when you first contacted her? Or did you just give her "October"? It sound like you did the latter instead of the former.

And if you did the latter, why would you wait until almost October to get in contact with her again?

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Heard about the COVID-19 pandemic?  That has made many people have to delay plans or wait until now to make any?

And in any event, how is this the OP's fault?  All she did was bid on an auction item in good faith.  Blaming the victim seems a bit harsh.

The vendor has booked this place for the next year???  Sounds like she had no intention at all of providing the prize she "donated" and gets a tax write-off for.

[speedy girl]

Could you ask the owner about what month Will work for her, if October won't? Don't let her off the hook, she should certainly honored what she promised. 

[Sushismom]

Well, of course I've heard about the pandemic. But what this has to do with it I have no idea. Nor did I blame the OP. I was just trying to gather information instead of making my decision based on nothing.  

One thing I do agree on is that the vet should be made aware of this immediately. 

[SXMGirl]

Thank you all for your replies.  I have decided to send her an email since I cannot get into the facility.  I have posted it below and would appreciate any thoughts on my wording.  I realize that it is long, so do not feel that you must read or respond.  I just would like some feedback.  Thanks!

Good morning.  I hope that you, your family, and your staff are doing well.

In February, you held a fundraiser for your charity, and I was the winning bid on the beach house.  The vendor has chosen not to honor her donation.  Unfortunately, situations like this often reflect poorly on all involved.  I know that you would never expect this to happen when you do such good work, both at your clinic and for your charity.  However, someone in your employ arranged this donation.  Keep in mind that you had several big-ticket items such as landscaping and flooring.  Having vendors refuse to comply is not good for any business.

I personally donated one month of a full membership to the local YMCA.  If they had refused to honor this, I would want to be informed and would make it right.  Whoever set up the beach house is really responsible for doing the same.

I was happy to donate and would have done so without the beach house.  However, this donation came with the promise of the beach.

While I have no idea how you would like to handle this, or even if you do not want to take care of it, I know that you realize that this is unprofessional.

While we have no idea what the new year will bring or if you will even be able to hold another fundraiser in the coming year, you need to be diligent in which vendors you choose for donations.

If you would like to discuss this, please give me a call.