In a large post on Facebook, Heartstrings Nursery felt a little heat and finally replaced all other artist pictures with her own work....oh wait, I take that back.
And I take that back again.
She HAD removed other artist pictures but has already, just a day later begun to put them back on again, but now she has changed the page again and is using her own pictures except for pictures of Pin Lau's (by permission) and is offering links to prototype pictures on all other listings.
And I take that back again.
She HAD removed other artist pictures but has already, just a day later begun to put them back on again, but now she has changed the page again and is using her own pictures except for pictures of Pin Lau's (by permission) and is offering links to prototype pictures on all other listings.
~Heartstrings Nursery~
~This will be much better for her business and the reborn world~
Atta-girl Bette!
I wish you well in your new journey!
XXOO
~This will be much better for her business and the reborn world~
Atta-girl Bette!
I wish you well in your new journey!
XXOO
Posts
I am writing today to share my heart regarding some events that have transpired over the past few months.
ReplyDeleteMy sister, Bette Lambert, who owns Heartstrings Nursery, a small internet-based business, has been the victim of some vicious lies and defaming comments scattered across various sites on the internet. While I truly believe that modern technology has enhanced our day-to-day lives, it has also become a breeding ground for individuals to do and say things they never would in a face-to-face setting. I feel strongly that this is what has happened to my sister.
All of her life she has had a natural, gifted artistic ability but has never been able to fully utilize it until she discovered “reborning” dolls. She did one for herself before she ever gave thought to starting a business and she finally found a career niche in her life that truly brought her joy and fulfillment. She put her heart and soul into the creation of each one and felt a personal connection to the “new mommies” who would adopt them. It gave her a reason and a purpose to get up every morning because she felt she was doing something that not only brought joy and happiness to herself, but also to others.
With the discovery of the recent posts discrediting her, she has been truly heartbroken. Bette has always been an honest, hard-working person, who would never take advantage of anyone or do anything illegal or unethical and has never had a business affiliation with any other reborn sellers, regardless of what anyone has so stated. These events have taken their toll on her emotionally, physically and financially as her business has now been directly affected by these postings. It seems to be so easy for people to sit at their computers and, with a few strokes of a keypad, defame or possibly destroy the reputation of someone they have never met or with whom they have never even had contact.
If the motive of whoever is behind the postings was to eliminate or, at least, hurt the competition, they have succeeded and, in the process, taken the heart out of someone who finally found the one thing that they thought they would be able to find joy in for many years to come.
I have cried many tears for my sister as I have had to stand by helplessly and watch her lose what she worked so hard to achieve when she has done nothing to deserve it. There is plenty of room in the marketplace for talented artists who run an ethical business and anyone who is trying to take advantage of people and misrepresent themselves needs to be exposed. This, however, is not the case with Bette and what has happened to her is unjust and wrong. Regardless of the outcome, her reputation in the e-business community is permanently marred, her heart is broken and her joy in her work is gone. She is resilient, and a very kind and forgiving person, and she will carry on. But I felt the need to bring to light the effect that these particular internet activities have had on a gifted artist and a wonderful person.
I truly hope that whoever is behind these postings will reconsider whether they really want to bear the weight of the consequences of their actions. They may never know the full extent of their actions; nevertheless, the irreversible damage will be there as a direct result, whether it was done through ignorance or premeditation.
Please think before you post. You may never know the effect your words will have on the life of another.
Hello Terri,
DeleteThank you for taking the time to write. I will respond to this as soon as I have a few more moments than I do right now.
Be back in a while...
Debbie
Hello again Terri,
DeleteAgain today, I find my time to be very limited so I will just get to the main points of the matter with no real time to grace what I post with big words or legal terms. It is what it is.
NO ONE wants your sister to not be in business and give up the art that she enjoys.
EVERYONE wants her to stop using other artists pictures to promote her work. It is unethical and wrong from a business standpoint and is misleading to customers. You both know that.
She needs to do her work with joy, use her own pictures of dolls that she has made in the past, even if they are not the same sculpt she is advertising, and stop using other artists pictures. It is misleading to potential customers as, even though she states in her listings that the work is not hers, customers get excited about a new doll and often fail to read the full description. They THINK they are getting a doll on the same artistry level as the prototypes, that may even be that same doll, but find out different in the end. Dolls are emotional purchases and we artists need to realize that and make our listings as pure as we can so that customers know exactly what they are getting.
And, it is wrong to use other artist pictures. Plain and simple.
As for relating her to other artists, Bette's behaviors indeed are similar to others who claim to live where she lives. There is a strong similarity. And there is no slander and libel in stating a feeling or a hunch.
If you want to encourage your sister, encourage her to do the right thing and stop trying to manipulate me and any others that you have written to into believing that we have been slanderous, libelous and hurtful.
Bette's business has taken a toll not because of anything said on the internet. Because of the misleading listings, the people who have recently asked for a refund knew not of this blog, did not know each other and were simply dissatisfied customers because they thought they were getting a doll like the pictures in her listings. How would you feel seeing those pictures and getting something else instead?
Her business will be just fine if she simply does the right thing. The doll community, as a whole, is forgiving as well.
Take care,
Debbie
I hear ya Debbie. This lady actually wrote me a threatening letter telling me that I better never mention her name (which I never did) or bad mouth her (which I never did) I just spoke the truth because I saw your pics as well as other top reborn artist proto type pics to sell her work. That is NOT how you run a business, and it leads to people thinking they are getting something that is her work....only to find that her work is not anywhere near the pics she has up. Im so ticked she thought it ok to outright threaten me, and call me.....a cyber bully. Now that...... I find funny. Hopefully if enough people turn her in for copywrite infringment she will get the hint'
ReplyDeleteI too received threatening letters from Bette, stating legal action against me. Sad that in order to keep her business going, she has to resort to threats to keep people from commenting on her.
DeleteNo where did I see anyone stating anything other than the truth or their opinions in Bette taking money and when the buyer saw the doll was not like the pictures they had seen when they ordered, they wanted a refund. If that is hurting Bette's business, then it is Bette that needs to stop and look at what she is doing to herself. Are people not able to voice their dissatisfaction with a business? I wouldn't want my business to be built on threats to keep customers quiet. From the sounds of it, there have been more than just a few that have received threats from her.
I am saddened to hear of all of the people who received these threats. To me, that is cyber bullying!
DeleteThere has not been lies told. Customers are the ones who generated this last upset with Bette's business, not me or any other artist. I just found out about it by visiting a page on Facebook.
Customers are important to all of us. We need to make sure the customer knows what they are getting.
One of the very first things I learned as a reborn artist, is to never use someone elses photos. I have been reading a lot of the comments about this, and I do have to say that if Heartstrings Nursery chooses to use pictures that belong to other artists, including prototype pictures, that she needs to listen to the folks who own them and have asked for them to be removed. She should have NO issues, with using her own photos, to sell her own work, but the way it looks, and I'm not saying this to be disrespectful, you are protraying your work, to look like the pictures that you have on your Etsy store wall. That is very confusing to folks to purchase from you expecting to get what they see in the pictures, only to be let down because the work is not the same. Thats the way I see it. I would try to use your own photos, and maybe put up pics of just blank kits, and add that those could be custom made. No one is trying to bash you, but you need to undertand that what your doing is wrong. What if it was one of your pictures that someone else used to sell a doll? You would have a fit. Most artists would, because it is morally wrong. I hope that you take this into consideration before making any more accusations about name calling etc, which I find untrue. The only thing that was said....and I quote "No one has the right to take other folks pictures to sell their own work". I dont see that as name calling or a threat in any way. It is what it is, and it is the truth. I hope she changes, because shes setting herself up for more drama, which theres more than enough of that in the dolly world as it is, we dont need anymore
ReplyDelete