Sunday, June 8, 2008

Merlot and email

Did you ever hear that little quip that goes, "Merlot and email do not mix"?

Well, in rereading my last post, I begin to understand that there may be some truth to that. God, what an annoying, aggravating ass I have become. What a bitchy, boring, butthead I sound like sometimes. What a silly, snotty, sourpuss I am. What a whiny... O.K. I can't come up with anything that goes with whiny, but I think you get the picture.

And just so you know - it wasn't Merlot that affected my ability to behave rationally, it was Pinot.

Due to a pact that I made with myself early on in this blogging process, I can't remove the post. I can only apologize, take responsibility for my actions and move on.

Here goes. My name is Laurie and I am a Wine/Blog offender.

O.K., feel better now. And, in the hopes that I can do something kind in return for my pathetic ramblings of a few days ago, I am going to forward some info that I hope you jewelry makers will be able to make use of.

There is a seller/buyer on Etsy who has allegedly made fraudulent claims about the beads she sells. She claims to make her own beads from her studio in Milan. Her name is U*** and her Etsy store is no longer in existence. It was closed by Etsy for reasons related to what I'm about to tell you.

In fact, Ullja allegedly does not make her beads, or at least not many of them. In fact, Ullja allegedly buys the beads of other lampwork artists, using various ID's on eBay, as well as buying directly from individual artist's sites and then resells them on Etsy, claiming that they were handmade by herself in her Milan studio. Allegedly, she is currently under investigation by Etsy and possibly the FBI(?) for fraud. Definitely, she has been permanently banned as a member of the SRA, which is an independent artist's registry.

Just a few of her known eBay ID's are gerbera28 (previously posted as gerbera31, which is actually unconfirmed), cocinella31 and ullja31. Her website is currently only posting her own beads, as far as I know. She has, as mentioned above, been removed from Etsy.

I know these things because, in addition to dozens of my lampworking friends who were allegedly ripped-off by this cow, she purchased my own beads and then allegedly resold them under the Ullja name. I saw them with my own eyes. Allegedly, that is.

Also, if her studio is in Milan, it must be Milan, Texas because Texas is where I mailed her my beads.

I am allegedly finished with this post now. I hope you found it helpful and interesting. Now, on to the Merlot. Er....Pinot.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, thought you might be interested to know that Ullja has posted on this website and linked to your blog. (Which is lovely, by the way.) She is trying to shut you down.

http://business-law.justanswer.com/questions/195z0-hi-name-ullja-kuntze

Don't let her scare you. You told the truth. She does not have "clean hands." Etsy has shut her shop down. You have done nothing wrong.

In case her post disappears, I am copying it here. I also have to wonder, how dumb does she have to be to post her full name on a site that blocks customers names for privacy reasons?

"Hi there, My name is Ullja Kuntze,there is a malicious act in websites and blogs to defame me and my online business. I like to report these acts to web providers of these people. what kind of letter I can write? Is it possible for you to write me a sample of letter? here I give you the link:http://themermaidtale.blogspot.com/ I will be happy if you can write me soon. Thanks
Customer (name blocked for privacy)"

Anonymous said...

(waving at Laurie)

I've allegedly read your post. ;-)

And I'll stand up and say that what SHE said is allegedly the truth!

Allegedly.

Mermaid Glass said...

Thanks for you support. She does not scare me. If I'm officially requested to remove the post, I'm sure that I will, although I don't consider it malicious, just true. I am less concerned with her than with the impact her actions have had on the hundreds of honest, hardworing people who struggle in this business.

I'm happy and proud that such a large group of independent artists joined forces and stood their ground on this issue and have succeeded in stopping (for now) what has been going on for quite awhile.
Keep the faith!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for helping to spread the word about the Ullja debacle! Glad it lead me to your beautiful website - love your beads!

creativehaven said...

She just got busted on Artfire too! I'm so happy today!!

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately she is still open for business with both her bakery reopening and her "beads". She has an amazing if fishy amount of sales from the same 60 pics listed . Allegedly handmade beads are allegedly unique but every one of hers looks the same to my eye. AF is erring on the side of caution but does have a process of review for blatant alleged bad sellers. So if any of you have proof of sales that she resold, I bet admin would love to see it.

I was not directly harmed by her vicious lies and theft but it tarnishes the whole community IMO

Judith said...

Laurie, thanks for posting this. The Ebay name actually rang a bell ... and yes, she's one of my customers. Not quite sure what to do about it, but thanks for disclosing the name, so I can be extra careful.

Anonymous said...

She is back on Artfire and posting in the forum:

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?mop=modload&name=Chatterbox&file=viewtopic&topic=14514&forum=1

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?mop=modload&name=Chatterbox&file=viewtopic&topic=14749&forum=1

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?mop=modload&name=Chatterbox&file=viewtopic&topic=14976&forum=1

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?mop=modload&name=Chatterbox&file=viewtopic&topic=14994&forum=1

Tricia said...

Is she still selling on eBay? Did I get that right? Because I had my own horrid experience with eBay as trying to be an honest seller. eBay has their "written" policies. But, they do not follow them at all. Sellers would get booted off eBay, then somehow come back using different id's or maybe they used a friends id? I don't know. But, I refuse to sell on eBay for all the fraud I witnessed in just 3 months!I reported it and everything. If the seller made eBay money, eBay turned their heads. So, we all need to look out for her. She could get back on eBay under a new name. I buy beads from etsy for my shop. I'm glad she's off there...wouldn't have wanted to buy from her! thanks for posting her info..

Mermaid Glass said...

I haven't blogged about her recently, because it's really just a waste of my time. However, she is currently hounding beadmakers about their tax id numbers and business permits. She has been removed from Twitter and a couple of other blog sites but she is back on Etsy and is buying/selling under different id's. Keep your eyes open, that's all I can say.

Anonymous said...

Apparently as of today she still does have a Twitter and a Wordpress

http://ullja.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/amalfi

went anon because I don't need to be harassed by her either.

Anonymous said...

WOW!! This U*** person has some pretty serious mental issues, along with some awfully horrible morals (or lack of). It's disturbing to see all these great artists putting hard work and time into something they love, just to see such a pathetic individual take this from them. She's breaking some pretty serious federal laws (I won't point them out, as it's only a metter of time before she hangs herself with them), and I would be surprised if she didn't end up behind bars, or in a straight jacket (that probably depends on the jury LOL). Hopefully she is no more very soon, and you guys can continue forward with your passion of making the world brighter and better without hassle.

Anonymous said...

I agree with merlot and email. :) Anyway, This Ullja chick sounds like a sociopath. She probably got put thru the ringer for a tax ID or something and now feels like she is the tax ID enforcer of America. She is the first bakery I have ever heard of that states "fully licensed and insured bakery." She has serious issues and needs to go on A&E's Obsessed and learn to let go. I am thinking with all the time she spends harassing other people she probably doesn't make the cookies either. Who has time for baking when you are so busy being obsessed with other ppls tax IDs? – Also posting anon due to psychopath Ullja

Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree...how the time to bake cookies. I just got a call from the sales tax office! I'm posting anon. this time. They were really nice. But, thought odd that I had just posted. Maybe paranoid, but she' wasting a lot of time on me. I made one sale? I'm a newbie. And, I pay taxes. Weird?

Anonymous said...

Yeah!! Mermaid rocks!!!
The truth will prevail!!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Yeah!! Mermaids ROCK!!
The truth will prevail!! :)

Anonymous said...

Yes the truth will prevail...it always does...in the end.

Anonymous said...

there is a repository of information about Ullja at http://ulljas.com

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