Complaint Review: Irene Byron - Internet

Irene Byron of makeuptalk.com, a popular forum for make-up buyers to review services, tried to blackmail me and coerce me into giving her ridiculous amounts of money to thwart the bad reviews her hired moderator named Zadidoll and others not employed by Irene.

 She promised on the phone all the negativity would diminish as she has done for other companies and she specializes in SEO for beauty companies like StarBox (according to her).  She said if I didn't choose a ''plan'' she would allow the slander and damage to my business to continue.  She said if I did choose an expensive plan to market my brand new company she would allow the following thread to continue in the forum which is quite cruel and not to mention not true in any way, shape, or form.  Here is the thread:http://www.makeuptalk.com/t/128791/red-carpet-box/180.

Here is the options she laid out to me to choose to ''end my distress''.

It was a pleasure speaking with you yesterday! I think Red Carpet Box would be a great fit with our community of beauty enthusiasts since sample subscriptions are the number one topic on our forums. I have outlined some options per our conversation and just to let you know you are free to upgrade/cancel given a 30 day notice at anytime, and payments can be made monthly. These are just a few ideas I put together, but please let me know if you have any feedback as I'd want to provide the most compelling campaign for you. I have included the specs for the MakeupTalk Holiday Gift Guide for your reference, and please let me know if there is anything else you need. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

$350 monthly ($4200 across 12 months)
Insiders Program on MakeupTalk (dedicated showcase page, albums, and direct access to our community)
Sponsored Contest giveaway highlighting products and generating buzz around Red Carpet Box

$500 monthly ($6000 across 12 months)
Insiders Premier Program (premium sponsor unit, dedicated showcase page, albums, direct access to our community + increased SEO)
(1) Featured Content promoted on MakeupTalk Homepage for 1 week (Content provided by Red Carpet Box)
(2) Sponsored Contest giveaway highlighting products and generating buzz around Red Carpet Box
Sponsor Logo (10% SOV) 150K impressions monthly
Featured in MakeupTalk Holiday Gift Guide
_______________________
1.8MM Sponsor Logo Impressions

$750 monthly ($9000 across 12 months)
Insiders Premier Program (premium sponsor unit, dedicated showcase page, albums, direct access to our community + increased SEO)
(2) Featured Content promoted on MakeupTalk Homepage for 1 week (Content provided by Red Carpet Box)
(2) Sponsored Contest giveaway highlighting products and generating buzz around Red Carpet Box
Dedicated Social Group on MakeupTalk with customizable sticky notes (alert groups subscribers of any promos, sneak peeks, etc)
Sponsor Logo (15% SOV) 225K impressions monthly
Featured in MakeupTalk Holiday Gift Guide
________________________
2.7MM Sponsor Logo Impressions

I did not buy her program and her employees are calling all my contacts to threaten my business as well.  They also shared private emails I did not give authorization to share and explicitly informed them that sharing emails without consent is against the law.

 I have emailed Irene and called her but she refuses to talk to me now since I told her I was not a fool being a law student.  She became very angry and hostile and she hung up on me as I was trying to rationalize with her that as a new small beauty company that I am, I did not want nor need her SEO and other services offered. 

Her employee who goes by the pseudonym ''Zadidoll" on facebook shared emails between she and I.  Zadidoll also wrote to a web service company that I was breaking the law of some sort with the testing phase of my website.  She wrote an email to Colourbox of Denmark to this effect and I had to defend myself to Colourbox who wrote me back a very kind email.  Here is the email she sent to the agent of Colourbox concerning me and my website: 
On Oct 1, 2012, at 8:18 AM, Anja Musiat wrote:

Dear Red Carpet Box
It has come to our attention that you are using a Colourbox image on your site with a watermark. Please let us know your customer number, so we can help you get the correct image without a watermark.

Please note that using an image from our site without a license is illegal.

Best regards
--
Anja Musiat - Communication and Customer Service
Colourbox, Hammergyden 75 Stige, DK-5270 Odense N, Denmark
Phone: +45 70 20 33 15
http://www.colourbox.com

Here is my response to her allegations and she did not deny it nor did the agent deny it was her (Zadidoll).  Dear Anja,

We were only in test mode to see if the image would suit.  Of course we don't a watermark on our logo box!  We are fully aware and we know that a certain person on a forum contacted you to bash our company and even go so far to say we are not encrypted but she does not understand that encryption is only necessary when you purchase and paypal will encrypt all purchases automatically., but I am NOT taking orders at the moment!  We just developed the website not long ago and we have SO MUCH to deal with and it was not our intention to not comply. 

If you look at redcarpetbox thoroughly, I am sure you will understand that this website is in test phase only, has no ability to make purchases at this time and is still in development.  We also own a legitimate public company called www.discountcoupons.com.  Ms. Zadidoll as her strange name implies has caused me multiple problems and has not shared the truth because she is not familiar with web site development.  I will have our webmaster make this a priority ASAP to rectify the Colourbox logo and image.  Ms. Zadidoll or whatever her real name is belongs to a forum of women who are bashing my company and I just got started. 

Look up makeuptalk under google and then find the category REDCARPETBOX where she has maliciously wrote against my company many times without a purchase of my goods.  After we have chosen the final image for our site we will contact all companies involved and purchase the image chosen.  As stated again, it is in development and test phase only with no capability to purchase and we will not put up payment choices, etc. until our image is finalized.  I'm sorry for the confusion and my attorney is being contacted.  Because we are using paypal only when ready to take purchases, it is fully encrypted by Paypal. 

Here is the link when you hit the subscribe button now on our page and here is proof of encryption:  https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr   Zadidoll, you do not have to encrypt an entire site, only encryption is necessary when making a secure purchase through paypal.  I suggest you keep out of my business, you know nothing of website or development of websites and you are quite ignorant of the subject of website encryption, and also using a Colourbox image during test phase of a website.  It is common.  Colourbox, I will be in touch.  All the best.  Thank you for your email.  Zadidoll, stick to what you know about cheap cosmetics  and  about my business or websites or even me:  You are ignorant and please stop because you posted on your forum yet again.  My lawyer has been copied.  

Thank You For Your Email and Best Regards,

Here is the kind email Colourbox wrote to me only and not to her:  Dear Patricia
Many thanks for your prompt response. I can see that your site is not ready yet and understand that you have used an image as a place holder. However, we are of course obligated to follow up on suggestions of improper use of our material which is why we have contacted you.

I hope we can tempt you with some images when the site reaches that stage in its development.

Best wishes

They are now encouraging members of the forum to file paypal disputes with me and they are keeping the merchandise sent to them!  Our policy is they must return any items not satisfied with but one girl on the forum who bought from me called Dior Adora did just that and encouraged others to do the same paypal fraud.  One member even said she was going to keep the sunglasses and file a dispute anyway.

I know this is wrong and I have contacted Irene Byron and her employee known as Zadidoll to cease and desist interfering with my business and they laughed at me multiple times when I informed them I now had to hire an attorney to keep my business safe.  I have a brain tumor and I created this company to create some joy in my life and instead I have been harassed mercilessly and the postings of my company will not go away unless I pay their fees of the above mentioned ''programs''.