Complaint Review: Stephanie Stover

Stephanie Stover (Stephanie Casanova) is harassing, spamming, falsely acusing of wrong doing, publically and maliciously tries to defame our organization with misleading representations and is attempting to extort a 90% overbilling of our company.

Stephanie Stover (Stephanie Casanova), (http://www.tipsforcostarica.com/about-the-authors.xhtml ) the former amateur wrestler turned blogger/spammer, from Canada now resides in Costa Rica. In July of 2009 she solicited our blog (CRV) through facebook to assist us with writing blog content and SEO services. She agreed verbally that CRV would own the content that it paid for and CRV agreed to allow her to also use the same content in her book "Tips for Costa Rica" that she was intending to publish.

She is now claiming that Blogs that CRV paid for and rightfully owns are solely hers, which was never the agreement. She has no proof what-so-ever to substantiate her claim, and CRV doesnt even repost or republish her content anywhere other than on the original blog. Her problem with CRV began after CRV asked her to publish the blogs in English and Spanish. CRV paid her to translate the blogs, which were done poorly enough that our in house people had to spend a significant amount of time editing and rewriting. When she said she was going to charge more for her translation services than a blog even costs we simply did the translation of one blog one time that CRV owns and had full rights to do so. CRV Paid for the blogs and owns the content and is free to use it as agreed.

That sent Stephanie Stover (Stephanie Casanova) over the edge and began a bizarre and incredibly unprofessional series of spamming our pages, cyber-bullying, threatening to (and carrying out) send out malicious press releases, and contacting other publishers and people unrelated to CRV and even attempted extortion. She claims that even though CRV paid her to write the blogs that CRV does not have the right to translate the blog and calls it copy write infringement. Unfortunately, for Stephanie Stover, CRV bought and paid for the blogs and wholly owns the material. (As an aside, we took down the one blog in question purely as a professional courtesy a few days after she started her barrage, even thought we did not have to, in order to keep goodwill and have Stephanie Stover part with CRV on good terms.)

We sent no less than 14 requests to schedule a phone call and speak with Stephanie Stover who refused to discuss our differences (because she says she doesnt trust us) and try to resolve her issues in a live conversation. One time she said she would be willing to have a call on a recorded line. This being completely uncustomary and worrisome that she would use a recording improperly edited against us taken out of context, CRV chose to pursue a simple normal phone call without recording which Stephanie again refused. CRV is still willing to discuss her matter if she will simply pick up the phone and call.

Stephanie Stover (Stephanie Casanova) was paid to get CRV 50 links to other websites per week for her SEO services. After a review of the links CRV found that a full 90% of the links were never established. Stephanie Stover (Stephanie Casanova) agreed to establish these links, not simply request them, therefore CRV paid for links that were never connected. CRV should have received 750 links, instead we received less than 100. In conversations with Stephanie Stover (Stephanie Casanova) we mentioned to her that the links were not established and she said she would check on them and get them established and that was the last we heard. They still are not established.

She then overbilled CRV by close to 90% (all of $190). When CRV protested and said that we did not agree with her bill and needed to discuss it she said the bill was final, she would not discuss it, and that if CRV did not pay it she was going to issue a press release defaming the company. She didnt understand that this is called extortion. She was unwilling to discuss this with CRV, all she had to do is call as we were unable to come to a settlement via e-mail.

Stephanie Stover (Stephanie Casanova) then Violated an in force agreement that bears her signature dated November 9, 2009, where she agreed not to Compete with CRV in selling Tips for Costa Rica that ultimately CRV helped underwrite its production by paying her to write blogs that became some of its content. She agreed not to market Tips for Costa for less than $14.95 on other websites, and violated the agreement by selling the book online at http://www.lulu.com/product/e-book/tips-for-costa-rica/5538446 lulu.com for $12.50, which she has since taken down. Since discovering this violation, CRV immediately stopped marketing her book.

In approximately three months of marketing the underwhelming Tips for Costa Rica and Costa Rica for Canadians CRV only sold 1 copy for $14.95. In an e-mail dated December 3rd, 2009 to Stephanie Stover (Stephanie Casanova), CRV explained that we sold one copy of her book where we would owe her $7.50 and we purchased one copy of her book which she earned $14.95. Therefore she owes CRV $7.50. We explained we were willing to waive this, as a gesture of goodwill, in order bring closure to her matter. She insists that CRV is lying and demands an audit of CRV. We are talking about one e-book here, for a $7.50 commission that she has been paid double ($14.94) for already. We cant imagine that any real audit would cost less than $5,000 and be a complete waste of time and totally intrusive to the rest of our business.

We have attempted many times to work with Stephanie Stover to resolve her issue and bring closure to this matter; however, she refused to come to terms without an audit. This is completely inappropriate and unreasonable and CRV simply wont agree to it. All Stephanie needs to do is call CRV without some unreasonable request such as an audit, recording phone conversations, or threats for more extortion, and her issue can be resolved.

Stephanie Stover (Stephanie Casanova) violated her force written agreement; she falsely, publically and maliciously tries to defame our organization with misleading representations such as this. She engages in overbilling, cyber bullying, spamming and extortion. Again through all of this she wont even pick up the phone to try and resolve this matter and thinks that her public display is somehow productive and a professional way of conducting business. As always, CRV leaves the door open to productive, reasonable discussion. Pura Vida, The CRV team.