This was brought to my attention yesterday:

http://cataptromancer.livejournal.com/224351.html?thread=1393503#t1393503

I’m posting this against my better judgment because I thought her potential customers might want to what little regard she has for us and for the community. Do you really want to send someone hundreds of dollars when they’re obviously gouging you for a profit?

This is something that I’ve been keeping to myself for eons, so eat me if anyone thinks its crass for me to post my thoughts on it in my own LiveJournal. Here’s the irony: her bestest buddy Lisa, who owns Atropa’s Cottage, posted the most incredibly false and insulting review of BPAL on MUA. This, after threatening to /sue/ the members and administrators of the bpal.org board for libel and slander. She neglects to mention that she herself owns an oil company, and that her review is nothing more than an attempt to enlist shady business practices in order to slam another company.

That, in itself, is disgusting, but it is neither here nor there. Let’s get to what’s relevant, now that I’ve set up the scene:

In her post, she accuses BPAL of making all their money on eBay sales. Darlings, all of our auctions start at the original cost of the bottle, and as everyone is well-aware the proceeds of those auctions have gone, almost entirely, to charity: various rescue and conservation organizations, the CBLDF, disaster relief and the Native American Elder relief fund. Even if that weren’t the case, there have been a whopping 100 or so auction since our inception, and believe me, that is NOT going to pay our staff’s wages, our rent, insurance, bills up the ass, restock, whatever.

After having to choke this down, I see that her best friend, Missanthropy, is selling off our discontinued and LE oils at an EXHORBITANT price on eBay. Many people have done similar things in the past, and honestly, I really don’t care, but… even though I’ve developed a thicker skin in the past few years, and I really don’t care much what people say about us, I DO have a problem with someone posting unfounded, vitriolic garbage about my friends and loved ones on LJ and the BPAL forum. I am EXTREMELY disgusted that someone that tried so hard to be part of our community is now not only so derisive of the people she called “friends”, but is also perfectly comfortable with trying to profit off of the people she holds in such little regard. How ugly, how petty, and how vulgar in its profiteering. It is especially galling that this occurred AFTER Lisa’s rant about us. In all truth, our customers make more on aftermarket sales than we do, and I have no problem with it. What I have a problem with is hypocrisy, crass behavior, and nasty business practices.

– – –

Oh, well. Guess Missanthropy realized that her venom was going to cost her some sales. Her snark was deleted.

If you’re going to insult our customers, insult me, insult the store and rave like a screeching, breath-holding, tantrum-flailing infant, at least have the balls to stand up. If you’re going to talk shit about me, about my livelihood and about my friends, you had best have the balls to step to me, and not delete all your venom every time someone calls you on your bullshit. Coward.

– – –

As of 1/22, I have chosen to edit out one single word from this entry. I am making no apologies, and that word was chosen carefully and with intent. I never say anything carelessly. However, it seems that some people, for whatever reason, cannot read anything beyond that one single word, and I will not have a single expletive mar everything else that I have been forced to write. It is absurd to me that one word would cripple anyone’s ability to read anything but that word, but alas… I do have a flaw in my personality that causes me to constantly give the world at large way too much credit.