Complaint Review: Lauren Blackwelder Frank And Me Two-Bird Clothing - Bend Oregon

Hi all, my name is Lauren Nicole Blackwelder, Two-Bird Clothing, Frank and me llc, Shopfrankandme, however you would like to word it. I started Two Bird Clothing a few years ago, and we make fun childrens clothing from recycled vintage materials incorporated into new materials. Its pretty cool, and it is well....sleeping right now. I am in the process of re-vamping the line and making it truly fabulous! Frank and me is the dream child of mine and came about in 2007 to help make ends meet in a rough and tumble world. Frank and me has had a great deal of success and I urge you to visit www.frankandme.etsy.com and check the feedback as well as the fun items I make. I am a stay at home mom who sews super fun baby stuff with a little help from my busy tot. I don't let him operate any machinery, but he does love to sit on mom's lap while I sew away. He has a few pairs of safety scissors that he is pretty sure cut fabric along with mama. I am working on launching our main website shopfrankandme.com so please keep checking in to see how that is going. I have been avoiding this site for quite some time, because I don't want to perpetuate bad karma and the demeaning of another person. I try to live my life honestly...I work hard, I teach my son to do the right things, I love my family, I'm not the bad person that another person may think. I am a college graduate (I actually got to walk with my one year old in the audience...it was a pretty proud moment) I ended up with a degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in German. (Not sure where I get to use that, but it was a lot of fun, hard work) I tried a few other majors along the way...I studied nursing for a while, but it was too emotionally taxing, I tried pre-law for a bit, but my advisor was pretty blunt with me by saying, "you don't have the grades for this honey" But, I didn't give up...I kept at it and made it to the end, baby in tow. I'm not a drug dealer, I'm not a heathon (did I spell that right?) I'm not a sweat shop in some third world country. I'm just a soon to be middle-aged mama, sewing in my spare time to help us save for the nice things in life. I have always been honest with my customers and I have always offered solutions in cases of miscommunications and hardship. I haven't had a single person with a complaint to me or my company through my site or due to my workmanship aside from this obvious one. It is hard that during a time where our new president is asking us to stand together and help one another, that some people don't see the message clearly. I have made multiple offers to clear up this misunderstanding from repairing the capes that were "odd sized" to making them new, to sending more to remedy this, to simply begging from one mom to another not to make our lives more difficult than they already are in this year of financial turmoil. I have a feeling that this message will be forwarded on to the complainant....and I really hope it does....because while there are strong-willed people in the world...using that to harm another person is not right...and I hope that anyone reading this will see how damaging to a person's name, life and business....a vendetta can be. I'm not accusing anyone of being anything or anyone that they are not, I'm simply saying, I have a small business to run, a child to raise, a family to keep and a home to keep afloat...and I hope that when my name is googled, as I'm sure it will be when I eventually get into physician assistant school...that people read every single word that the complainant types, as well as every single rebuttal, because there is a lesson to be learnt here.....you can't always win, you can't always be right, and no matter how much you try to protect yourself, your business and your family....there are people out there that you just can't make happy. Please read this and come out of it knowing that (I'm not a very versed writer) (that probably comes with having a wacky two year old climbing all over me and growling like a dinosaur in my ear) but really....don't judge people by what you hear or read....examine the entire situation and make your own decisions as to what is right and wrong. Thank you so much for reading such a long winded rebuttal.....I hope this clears the air for those who are confused? If you have any questions at all, please please visit my site at shopfrankandme.com and go to the contact page, I would be more than happy to answer anyone's questions. You can also convo me on etsy at www.frankandme.etsy.com Thanks everyone for your continued support, I love you all! lauren....and frankman

here's text word for word of a correspondence with frank and me llc, lauren blackwelder harassing me with fake copyright and patents on october 6,2008. please note that she went from owning a full patent, to owning a pending patent, to owning no patent, to complaining about an imaginary problem. harassment- pure and simple. also she goes from 'representing' frank and me to just being plain old lauren blackwelder. LAUREN: Dear Sirs or Madams, I am writing on behalf of Frank & Me llc and the patent of which such business is holding. The patent clearly describes the blankie cape as having a breakaway safety mechanism in which the blankie cape is constructed with. The shape as well as the double sided design of your capes is infringing upon such patent and this letter is to serve as a notice that you have been notified of such infringement and in pursuant of such notice, we ask that you willfully remove such items from your site so that no legal action is required. Etsy admin has been notified of this current situation and we look forward to a response in a timely manner. Thank you, Frank & Me LLC MRS HUGHES: please send me patent number and description. thank you kindly. i have searched all patents registered and have found none and also have not used the same exact pattern. thanks. LAUREN: The patent number in question is EFS ID 4061609 and is registered with the USPTO in regards to the enclosure that you are using with your play capes. Thank you. MRS HUGHES: searched and it does not exist. the only patent that does include those numbers is for an inhibitor for platinum catalyzed silicone rubber compositions. perhaps there is a patent name you can supply? the patent information i am searching is up to date until 4 days ago. it is HIGHLY unlikely that Frank and Me LLC or lauren blackwelder have a patent. patents take YEARS to get and lauren only started working late last year if not early this year. and frank and me llc was only a valid business for a month or two. also the closure is not new or valid for patenting as looped pull away closures exist everywhere. this is tedious. furthermore LLC's owners are held personally financially liable once fraud or negligence has been established. i maintain my true desire to speak with lauren's legal counsel or meet at arbitration here in san francisco. i realize she got served her papers by the sheriff last week. LAUREN: I apologize, I sent the incorrect number the application number is 61102871 and will become available in PAIR when the processing is finished. Products are protected from 12 months of the date of initial creation and you will find in my sold items that blankie capes with the enclosure has been in use and sold from the date of January of 2008. The item in concern once again is the enclosure of which you are using. the patent is a utility patent on the blankie cape. Thank you again, Frankandme MRS HUGHES: first you said you hold the patent and that is has a registered number, now you are saying you have 'applied' for a patent and have an application number. neither number works as there is no patent on a loop closure for capes. there won't ever be because there is nothing original about it. please let me know when the patent is real and fully processed, in the meantime you have no such claim. thanks again, the closure is not the same as frankandme. LAUREN: I will keep you posted. regardless, copying is shunned here on etsy and admin has been notified. Its just too bad that you have to copy other people instead of thinking for yourself. I'm not too concerned, my over 800 customers know who the original creator is and who the phony is. have a great sunshine day of happiness! frankandme MRS HUGHES: lauren nicole blackwelder please leave me alone unless you have a REAL issue. i really have no interest and little time for your repeated and relentlessly pathetic lying. furthermore, contrary to your misguided belief, frankandme did not invent capes. the cape is of my own shape, emblems, colors and sizes. the capes are made with my own design and specifications. etsy abuse has also been notified of your harassing people about fake copyrights and patents that you do not hold. and you were already warned about your silly forum post. nobody who would buy one of your "blankie capes" and "burpies" would ever confuse them with anyone else's on etsy. so this whole fake series of emails has done nothing but proven, again in writing, that you are a liar who will say anything when you feel insecure about something. you don't have a copyright on designs, because one can not copyright a design. you do not have a patent and have only perhaps applied for one. design patents can't be on the EHS so i would guess that even the application portion is a lie. best, tedda see you soon

here's text word for word of a correspondence with frank and me llc, lauren blackwelder harassing me with fake copyright and patents on october 6,2008. please note that she went from owning a full patent, to owning a pending patent, to owning no patent, to complaining about an imaginary problem. harassment- pure and simple. also she goes from 'representing' frank and me to just being plain old lauren blackwelder. LAUREN: Dear Sirs or Madams, I am writing on behalf of Frank & Me llc and the patent of which such business is holding. The patent clearly describes the blankie cape as having a breakaway safety mechanism in which the blankie cape is constructed with. The shape as well as the double sided design of your capes is infringing upon such patent and this letter is to serve as a notice that you have been notified of such infringement and in pursuant of such notice, we ask that you willfully remove such items from your site so that no legal action is required. Etsy admin has been notified of this current situation and we look forward to a response in a timely manner. Thank you, Frank & Me LLC MRS HUGHES: please send me patent number and description. thank you kindly. i have searched all patents registered and have found none and also have not used the same exact pattern. thanks. LAUREN: The patent number in question is EFS ID 4061609 and is registered with the USPTO in regards to the enclosure that you are using with your play capes. Thank you. MRS HUGHES: searched and it does not exist. the only patent that does include those numbers is for an inhibitor for platinum catalyzed silicone rubber compositions. perhaps there is a patent name you can supply? the patent information i am searching is up to date until 4 days ago. it is HIGHLY unlikely that Frank and Me LLC or lauren blackwelder have a patent. patents take YEARS to get and lauren only started working late last year if not early this year. and frank and me llc was only a valid business for a month or two. also the closure is not new or valid for patenting as looped pull away closures exist everywhere. this is tedious. furthermore LLC's owners are held personally financially liable once fraud or negligence has been established. i maintain my true desire to speak with lauren's legal counsel or meet at arbitration here in san francisco. i realize she got served her papers by the sheriff last week. LAUREN: I apologize, I sent the incorrect number the application number is 61102871 and will become available in PAIR when the processing is finished. Products are protected from 12 months of the date of initial creation and you will find in my sold items that blankie capes with the enclosure has been in use and sold from the date of January of 2008. The item in concern once again is the enclosure of which you are using. the patent is a utility patent on the blankie cape. Thank you again, Frankandme MRS HUGHES: first you said you hold the patent and that is has a registered number, now you are saying you have 'applied' for a patent and have an application number. neither number works as there is no patent on a loop closure for capes. there won't ever be because there is nothing original about it. please let me know when the patent is real and fully processed, in the meantime you have no such claim. thanks again, the closure is not the same as frankandme. LAUREN: I will keep you posted. regardless, copying is shunned here on etsy and admin has been notified. Its just too bad that you have to copy other people instead of thinking for yourself. I'm not too concerned, my over 800 customers know who the original creator is and who the phony is. have a great sunshine day of happiness! frankandme MRS HUGHES: lauren nicole blackwelder please leave me alone unless you have a REAL issue. i really have no interest and little time for your repeated and relentlessly pathetic lying. furthermore, contrary to your misguided belief, frankandme did not invent capes. the cape is of my own shape, emblems, colors and sizes. the capes are made with my own design and specifications. etsy abuse has also been notified of your harassing people about fake copyrights and patents that you do not hold. and you were already warned about your silly forum post. nobody who would buy one of your "blankie capes" and "burpies" would ever confuse them with anyone else's on etsy. so this whole fake series of emails has done nothing but proven, again in writing, that you are a liar who will say anything when you feel insecure about something. you don't have a copyright on designs, because one can not copyright a design. you do not have a patent and have only perhaps applied for one. design patents can't be on the EHS so i would guess that even the application portion is a lie. best, tedda see you soon

here's text word for word of a correspondence with frank and me llc, lauren blackwelder harassing me with fake copyright and patents on october 6,2008. please note that she went from owning a full patent, to owning a pending patent, to owning no patent, to complaining about an imaginary problem. harassment- pure and simple. also she goes from 'representing' frank and me to just being plain old lauren blackwelder. LAUREN: Dear Sirs or Madams, I am writing on behalf of Frank & Me llc and the patent of which such business is holding. The patent clearly describes the blankie cape as having a breakaway safety mechanism in which the blankie cape is constructed with. The shape as well as the double sided design of your capes is infringing upon such patent and this letter is to serve as a notice that you have been notified of such infringement and in pursuant of such notice, we ask that you willfully remove such items from your site so that no legal action is required. Etsy admin has been notified of this current situation and we look forward to a response in a timely manner. Thank you, Frank & Me LLC MRS HUGHES: please send me patent number and description. thank you kindly. i have searched all patents registered and have found none and also have not used the same exact pattern. thanks. LAUREN: The patent number in question is EFS ID 4061609 and is registered with the USPTO in regards to the enclosure that you are using with your play capes. Thank you. MRS HUGHES: searched and it does not exist. the only patent that does include those numbers is for an inhibitor for platinum catalyzed silicone rubber compositions. perhaps there is a patent name you can supply? the patent information i am searching is up to date until 4 days ago. it is HIGHLY unlikely that Frank and Me LLC or lauren blackwelder have a patent. patents take YEARS to get and lauren only started working late last year if not early this year. and frank and me llc was only a valid business for a month or two. also the closure is not new or valid for patenting as looped pull away closures exist everywhere. this is tedious. furthermore LLC's owners are held personally financially liable once fraud or negligence has been established. i maintain my true desire to speak with lauren's legal counsel or meet at arbitration here in san francisco. i realize she got served her papers by the sheriff last week. LAUREN: I apologize, I sent the incorrect number the application number is 61102871 and will become available in PAIR when the processing is finished. Products are protected from 12 months of the date of initial creation and you will find in my sold items that blankie capes with the enclosure has been in use and sold from the date of January of 2008. The item in concern once again is the enclosure of which you are using. the patent is a utility patent on the blankie cape. Thank you again, Frankandme MRS HUGHES: first you said you hold the patent and that is has a registered number, now you are saying you have 'applied' for a patent and have an application number. neither number works as there is no patent on a loop closure for capes. there won't ever be because there is nothing original about it. please let me know when the patent is real and fully processed, in the meantime you have no such claim. thanks again, the closure is not the same as frankandme. LAUREN: I will keep you posted. regardless, copying is shunned here on etsy and admin has been notified. Its just too bad that you have to copy other people instead of thinking for yourself. I'm not too concerned, my over 800 customers know who the original creator is and who the phony is. have a great sunshine day of happiness! frankandme MRS HUGHES: lauren nicole blackwelder please leave me alone unless you have a REAL issue. i really have no interest and little time for your repeated and relentlessly pathetic lying. furthermore, contrary to your misguided belief, frankandme did not invent capes. the cape is of my own shape, emblems, colors and sizes. the capes are made with my own design and specifications. etsy abuse has also been notified of your harassing people about fake copyrights and patents that you do not hold. and you were already warned about your silly forum post. nobody who would buy one of your "blankie capes" and "burpies" would ever confuse them with anyone else's on etsy. so this whole fake series of emails has done nothing but proven, again in writing, that you are a liar who will say anything when you feel insecure about something. you don't have a copyright on designs, because one can not copyright a design. you do not have a patent and have only perhaps applied for one. design patents can't be on the EHS so i would guess that even the application portion is a lie. best, tedda see you soon

here's text word for word with a correspondence of frank and me, lauren blackwelder harassing me with fake copyright and patents.

Mrs Hughes/Tedda, I am a long time customer of Lauren's shop Frank and me. Lauren has never slighted me, cheated me or otherwise abused me as a customer. Her merchandise is quality boutique merchandise! I have capes for all 4 of my children, they all are unique and fit perfect! I also have bibs, burp monsters, changing monsters, chewies and lots of other QUALITY things made by Lauren! One of a kind means made by hand and not mass produced in a factory. Lauren is being the practical business owner and you come off as an immature brat with a bad case of sour grapes. I have been to your "site", I was hardly impressed, your items were mediocre at best and beyond over priced!! Tutu's that look like tulle threw up all over those poor children. I intend to give your business and you the word of mouth treatment you deserve. I hope that Lauren and Frank sue you for defamation of character for the inflammatory statements you have made here! Sometimes jealousy can be poison, you should remember that!

this is a direct copy of some email correspondence. i would love it if people who have not read the entire situation would refrain from commenting. if you spend hundreds of dollars on something, your order should be correct. if it is not correct, it should be selling entity's sole responsibility to fix the problems. i did not want a refund, i wanted her to fix the capes at her own expense. also, i have all emails where i design the capes, she agrees to make the capes, she agrees to take my money, asks for more money, cuts too many capes and asks for money again, agrees to not include her cheapo labels, and so much more. i am so tired of the childishness. please note below how she will change her story to reflect whatever lie she wants to tell: From: "lauren blackwelder" [email protected]> Date: Sun, Aug 10, 2008 6:49 pm To: "[email protected]" [email protected]> okey dokey. The only thing is that you can't have anyone else make the capes in the shape that I have cut because I copyrighted the pattern and the system that I use to enclose the cape. But, if the person who uses fabric that I send back doesn't use it for my cut capes,then that is alright. The ones that are already cut will have to be cut into smaller pieces to protect the pattern copyright. sorry. so let me know you want me to send back the scraps or hold onto it until you can pay for the capes here. I hate to sound like a snob about it, but I have to protect my designs. Lauren From: "lauren blackwelder" [email protected]> (Add as Preferred Sender) ? Date: Tue, Aug 12, 2008 1:14 pm To: "[email protected]" [email protected]> crafter mommy here, how can I help you? On 8/12/08, [email protected] [email protected]> wrote: so wait you are not just a simple crafter who sews from the mind without patterns? are you a crafter mommy who sews by hand with her 2 year old or are you a business owner who is responsible for the quality and consistency of their product using patterns and copyright? -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: the other lie among many From: "lauren blackwelder" Date: Tue, August 12, 2008 9:57 am To: "[email protected]" oh, and make sure my paperwork says my business name correctly. Frank & Me LLC From: "lauren blackwelder" Date: Mon, August 11, 2008 5:30 pm To: "[email protected]" Tedda, I have no contract with you, I am someone who did a favor for you. take me to court. You'll just lose. I have no patterns, I am a crafter who works from the mind. I never told you I have a pattern, and what is this $50 dollars in shipping? None of my items look the same, that is why I sell ONE OF A KIND ITEMS on a crafting website. On 8/11/08, [email protected] wrote: did you make the right colors? no did you make the right sizes? no did you make the right pattern? no did you immediately offer anything? no and now you want me to pay an ADDITIONAL $50 in shipping when you botched the whole order? are you serious? you originally said you didn't know what to say and that you were done with it. that doesn't sound good and you still won't take responsibility for the order or your mistakes. why did you change the pattern? you didn't clear it with me and it is not what i ordered. i really don't understand why you would do that. also, you keep mentioning your family. they have nothing to do with this lauren. i am not dealing with your family, i am dealing with frank and me/lauren blackwelder. i am not going to bend over backwards when i had nothing to do with the mistakes. the offer i made is more than fair because in the end you can't really pretend the the numbers, colors, or pattern are right. they are not and any judge will see that. i am not only out the money i paid you, the fabric i sent you and the shipping costs, i am also out the original money i would have made had you done the order properly. and i will be out the travelling costs once this goes to court. those will be the damages flowing from the breach. please just send me your address or contact information for a lawyer because there is no disputing the details of the order versus the items that you sent. if you won't take them back, fine, but you are going to either have to give me a partial refund, or have to pay for all the damages flowing from the breach. whether you have a refund policy that fulfills refunds or not, you are required by law to satisfy your end of the contract. i am so confused as to why you don't understand that. especially if you were pre-law. you were supposed to make the correct number of capes, the correct color and sizes with the correct pattern. this is not about petty little differences in the capes, this is about 21 unusable capes. so simple and if you couldn't do it, you should have said so. send the address please. thanks, tedda

Don't convo with Lauren Blackwelder on her etsy site. She will take your money and run. If you try to order customized blankies and burpies -she will just send already made items and not return your money. WATCH OUT for ShopFrankandMe.com, Lauren Blackwelder, and her etsy shop!

Mrs. Hxxxxx, I ran across your Frank and Me article after running a google search on the new business, curious to see what type of exposure the store was receiving. Having purchased multiple times from FrankandMe for my 18 month old, I have to say I've had a completely different experience - in fact have found Frank and Me to be a very enjoyable company to buy from! What I do find interesting, however, is that while you refer to FrankandMe's owner as a fraud and hypocrite, you continue to carry her products on your retail website, and in multiple places on your site and blog refer to them as the "coolest capes EVER!". Or that in another search result for FrankandMe you say you're "all for mompreneurs" and in the same paragraph belittle new home based businesses for not knowing every aspect of business law, when in fact returns/refunds are completely at the discretion of the company and not subject to state law. I'm sorry to say that while I agree that there can obviously be a bad experience here and there and is worth sharing, I doubt you'll be taken too seriously or be successful outside of your Indie circle when you refer to your designers/suppliers as "d****es", as referenced on your blog. I would encourage you, to use your words, to stop acting "childish" and keep your lawsuits your own business. This forum is intended to warn people of detrimental products or companies, not to complain and vent about poor experiences or petty gripes. I'd also like to point out (and have already done so to the Ripoff Report webmaster) that you have violated the Terms of Use on this site and placed the owner and her family at risk by displaying their personal information. I'm sure your malicious behavior and intentions in doing so will serve you well in your upcoming case. Jennifer Redwood City, CA

This lady is a crank, put the seller through hoops of fire and then turned her in. Something is wrong with customers like this. She is still selling the capes on her website with the maker's LABELS TORN OUT. That is copyright infringement and not allowed in the USA. Does this lady really think she'll win in court? Can SHE afford to take this woman to court in the woman's state? I don't think a lawyer would touch this and certainly if one did, the courts would throw it out as frivolous. Good luck "Mrs Hughes" She has a huge following on her site. A concerned citizen

I am a former and continuing customer of Frank and Me. I myself have had no problems and Mrs. Blackwelder was quite professional. After reading your story I more than anything find you to be the unreasonable one. She has clearly made it known on her site that she doesn't give cash (paypal) refunds. She has had HUNDREDS of happy customers (myself included) and I think she does work quite hard, and has done a lot as a very small business my herself. She also has good quality items for sewing them herself. I think this is a sad way to let out your frustrations. I also find it quite rude if not unsafe to have posted her PERSONAL INFORMATION on this blog. How would you feel with your personal phone # and your address was so readily posted. If you have children in your home like I do I would be quite upset. Also, filing a lawsuit for what I'm going to assume is not a large sum of money is a waste of both of your times! I am more of an advocate of hers now that you posted this.....so thank you Mrs Hughes. I'm going to do some shopping. Mrs. Richards

I ordered 21 capes from Lauren Blackwelder of Frank and Me on 7/15/2008. I specifically ordered: 4 large & 3 small turquoise with lightning 2 large & 2 small orange/blue with exclamation point 2 large & 2 small yellow/red with star 3 large & 3 small lavender with lightning. I received: 6 small turquoise 2 large & 2 small orange/blue 2 large & 3 small yellow/red 2 large & 4 small lavender. In addition to these obvious and indisputable color combination and size mistakes, she changed the pattern and closure (which she has copyrighted) to one that does not function properly -without consent. the new capes are over 7 inches smaller around the neck and won't fit a child or serve the purpose they were meant to. I had a previous order that was almost completely correct. Though she will say she makes one of a kind pieces, she agreed to my order, in writing, took my money and had clear instructions and quantities. These new capes are all wrong in the same way. They all have the same defective dimensions. I tried to resolve this with Lauren Blackwelder of Frank & Me LLC or shopfrankandme.com. Her solution was for me to buy more capes from her. I asked her to take them back or give me a partial refund so that I could pay a manufacturer to fix them and drop the price for my clients down considerably. As is the capes will not sell because they are nonfunctional. This is not a matter of petty inconsistencies, but severely inaccurate order fulfillment. Lauren Blackwelder says she is just a simple crafter, yet has incorporated and runs her own business. She won't stand behind her product or fill orders properly. She won't take full responsibility for repairing the problems she creates and mistakes she makes that harshly impact another's business and livelihood. She told me that if I tried to send the capes back she would mark "return to sender" on the package and charge me again for shipping.