I'm having reservations about whether or not to post this publicly, because I'm afraid it will make me look like an ass (although I probably am anyways), but I'm more concerned someone here may be taken advantage of so I feel I must say something.

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First, I must say that I do not fault anyone for wanting cuttings.  We all want cuttings, and many of us swap and trade freely, charging nothing (or simply shipping) to one another.  We all started somewhere, most with very little and built up collections over year(s) of hard work and building up the community, sharing facts and experiences, etc. 

It is bothering me the manner in which a new member "Aeilee" is aggressively approaching others publicly & privately asking for cuttings.

It started pretty innocently like so many others we see from time to time - a single thread at the GW forums asking for cuttings in exchange for seeds.  There may have been multiple Within a couple of weeks, it came over here to F4F.  First, there was one thread asking for cuttings.  4-5 days later, a new second thread asking for cuttings appeared while the other one was still at the top of the forum, so I mentioned "have some patience, one thread to request cuttings is enough" and so on.

Then the PMs started.  Two figfriends of mine with decent sized collections got PMs from this person (unsoolicited) asking for cuttings, same message as the two threads on the forum. 

Then I got a PM myself. 

In chatting with others, I found three others who got the exact same PM.  About 30 minutes ago, I got a message from a member I respect asking if I knew why this person was PM'ing them, the details and behavior was really strange.

After I got this unsolicited PM from Aeilee to beg for cuttings, I responded to Aeilee's 2nd "want cuttings" thread on the forum to say, "Please - stop PM'ing me and others you don't know asking for cuttings".

So Aeilee deleted the entire thread.

Last night, a third "want cuttings" thread popped up from Aeilee.  I commented, "Here we go again ... be careful, folks".

So, Aeilee deleted this other entire thread also.

The behavior is bothering me.  You know nobody here, you spam the forum with threads asking people you don't know to dish out parts of their collections, and any time someone challenges you or warns others, the thread is instantly deleted to prevent anyone from knowing that someone here at the forum suspects you're up to no good. 

Amen

Were these pm's through fis4fun and were they ailee's?

Got PM'ed twice through figs4fun and yes it was aillee.

Hey listen-I'm a nice guy so what I am about to say is not to be taken lightly!

I am new to this whole forum and fig growing experience. I appreciate all that have helped and will repay in turn. Whether I bought or received in trade does not mean anything to me, all will be sent something in kind. This is a hobby that I enjoy but actions like this piss me off.

I am a young guy who unfortunately had to retire early. I will not bore any of you with details. Those in the NY tri-state area may remember me from the 2005 summer. I was splashed all over the NY newspapers. If you want you can look up my name from the avatar for the details or I can bore you later.

In a nutshell, I am a retired NYPD Detective that was shot in the back and head with a sawed-off shotgun holding Double O shells.

I don't have time or patience for this BULLSHIT!

This is harassment in the true sense of the word. I said I would send cuttings in the fall to this person for NOTHING, but this was not good enough. This person then PM's me that their friend took a rooted cutting out, put it in water for a day, and then sent it to them. BALLSY, NO?

I kindly said that I was new and that I didn't want to give up any at this time. I would still send them some in the fall or spring, signing it- Good Luck til then!

An hour later I get a PM stating the same friggin thing as the original. It looked like one of those automated email services.

Guess what- Now you get NOTHING!

People on here are friendly, generous and make nice. Some use  this obsession as their business, some use it to generate supplemental income. Some use it as research and some may actually use figs as a hobby for fun-LIKE ME!

I like to joke around as some have, fortunately or unfortunately, found out.
But make no mistake. I will not tolerate any crap that I find demeaning, unwarranted, unsolicited, or disrespectful to me or to others.

Dominick

Dominick,

First of all, Sorry to hear about what happened to you. Good thing is your are still here with us. I assume you have a family?
Hope your future is brighter!

We here are your extended family. Most of us at least.

I tried to stay out of this issue but can't help but to give my 2 cents.

Like Jason said and yes, we do communicate by email and have done so about this person in question.

We do find it kind of bazaar for this person to delete his/her posts every time things start to go South for him/her.

What is this person trying to hide?

If it were me, I would stand up and defend myself and not think for a minute to delete anything.

I have given cuttings many Many times to people in this and the other forum and not asked for anything in return.
But if there is one thing I hate is for a person to bug the heck out of me for cuttings.

Please let me make myself very clear; THIS PERSON HAS NOT CONTACTED ME! Hope it stays that way too.

It is o.k to do it once and wait for my response, and I do respond.

But it almost seems this person wants to get a "BIG HIT and RUN" sort.

I hope my 2 cents made sense.

OH yeah everything is great and thank you. Look at this way after all that, the worst thing I have is seizures. If I at least gotten shot in the face, it could have improved my looks! ;-)

I posted pics on Sterlinggold thread of my set up and it felt like it was not an hour later I'm getting PM's every 10 minutes trying to get cuttings. Tell me that wasn't related.

Dominick

Yes, the ones I spoke of above (the vast majority) were.

I've spoken with two members that are on both forums who received emails (instead of a PM at the forum), but I don't know if it was email through this forum or GW - Aielee is a recent member on both. 

If it's just a matter of me not understanding a behavior of a new member or maybe a language barrier, I don't want to make anyone look bad, help me understand and I'll dump (delete) this thread just the same so as to not tarnish anyone's new reputation.  I just know I must be misunderstanding something (or) this person is actually out to do what someone said above, "hit and run".

Since I posted this, I got emails from another to say they've also been contacted by Aielee in the same way because of something they posted here.  It's not isolated... this person is blindly harassing a lot of members right now, and I'm speaking for most them when I say, "it's getting old, fast".

Yeah it smells just like the Hudson River...Fishy!

Yeah that worm p.m.'ed me too looking for cuttings I basically told her to go stand on the end of a canoe!!!!! Some people have nerves of steel!!!

She e mailed me too forgot to mention that too

For any unsolicited fig-twig request, it being email or PM, first-ask/make-sure you

Jason,
She contacted me on the 21st and I sent her cuttings from two of my varieties. Apparently, she is receiving them at a Canadian address. She did cite a response I had made to another member of this forum in which I offered him cuttings and she asked for some too.

@Dominick,
So sorry to hear about your injuries. Glad you are recovering and wish you all the best. I hope the animal that did that to you has nothing but misery and pain the rest of their life.

Hey Tom I could use some money

My bank account is 000Sucka

You give me 5,000 and I'll send you a a check back for 1,000 since you overpaid!

Thanks Ruben! Got married the next year. Talk about new meaning to a Shotgun wedding! haha

The funny thing about is that if this person was not so persistent, they would have gotten FREE cuttings for nothing, postage paid. That's why it seemed so ridiculous the more and more I thought about it

Dominick

I got the same request  from Aiee with a Canadian address when I offered cuttings to a new member in Nashville, TN.  Sketchy information!!!  All of us have had kindnesses shared and want to pass it on, but sometimes one feels taken advantage of.  I hope this individual is legit.

Y'all, we need to pray for people like that.  I wish them the best.  

Amen !!! God smiles on the kindness of good people.

Sorry everyone. my English is pretty bad. I am not that kind of person. I have stopped because it was not right. I am not trying to be rude or anything. I hope this thread can be deleted because i am not that kind of person, and i will prove it to you satellitehead! No momre requests!

This thread was started at 8:01 am and by 12:27 there have been 18 responses.
That's gotta be a record .
I think I would reconsider my approach if I were you ..
Bad etiquette cannot be lost in translation.

John.

P.s ( you're giving us Canucks a bad name )

You say your from Nova Scotia?

Been there many times.
Your English is not bad. You're Acadians ( most of you ), so it gives you this sort or Cajun accent. Other than that, your English is English, With a few French. And no disrespect to the French friends.

I'm sorry for feeling this way. I am a Christian, I'm not saying this makes me superior. But I'm supposed to be loving and trusting.

But you made it difficult for your self here.

Not saying you need to go away, but you need to Chill ( relax ) and let thing fall into place on there own.

I did not build my collection on my good looks ( exaggerating ). I built it on earning the trust my fellow figsters have in me. O.K., so I paid for most.

But to jump back to the top.
Please don't use this language barrier as an excuse. You are only hurting your credibility.

BTW, your spelling isn't bad? So if you can spell then you can speak it.

I wish you luck in your endeavor

I also just got a pm last night and almost initiated the process, I suppose I still might send them if aielee came here to explain what's going on. But, thank you Jason for keeping me from getting burned. This is odd behavior. And how can he afford to heat that greenhouse but but not pay shipping? wish I had a greenhouse.

I did some business on ebay this winter and it does irk me a little that they should get a cut, I think if anyone should get a cut it's Jon since he brought everyone together, did all our homework and pays the bandwidth. But I also think Herman does very well in the auction setting and he deserves it for all the help he has been to all of us in the northeast. Has anyone ever held an auction in the forum here?

Dominick, thank you. I'm a vet so I understand that the guys who go home different, or not at all, saved the rest of us. If you and your partner had not confronted that guy he probably would have killed somebody. I am sorry I did not look at your profile the other day when we were talking, really sorry. May you live to see a hundred thousand warm sunny days and pick a hundred million ripe figs!

aeilee , do you mind if I ask how old you are ? is your greenhouse maybe a family members ?

I am a 13 year old kid who is interested in gardening and growing figs. i live in Nova Scotia but i am from Lebanon, when they grow figs everywhere. i just want to grow figs like i did in Lebanon when i was really young (i am still young). Thank you rafed, i think i speak good English but my friends say i have an accent. I am sorry for the odd behavior and i have stopped (: Sorry hoosierbanana, i hope you forgive me from this odd behavior. 

Hey I don't want to be the morality police, but maybe you should have had a little help on here with your approach by someone a little older.

People take this very seriously and do not appreciate it when they feel taken advantage of.

Too many people have scammed others, lied, pretended to be friendly and stiffed people on cuttings and plants

TRUST IS #1!!!
___________
Dominick
Zone 6a-MA