knightsofgotham.com

[Manic Street Creature]

Sorted

[Abductorenmadrid]

Wow, got to admit I was surprised to see the title of this post. I've never really gotten that involved with the video side of the Superheroine world but of course am aware of KoG here at the site. Certainly the first part of your posting seems to sit more with my impression of his setup than the second and can only hope your issues have accidentally fallen through the gaps by mistake rather than by intentional misdeeds. Bear in mind though that while the title of the thread might be justified in your eyes it may be upsetting for him, particularly if he is doing his best to pull together assets for your order - I hope you get some communication going soon!

[Manic Street Creature]

Deleted

[Manic Street Creature]

I have changed the title slightly

[TIEnTEEZ]

That is odd. He was very active in these forums for a while, but now that you mention it, I haven't seen any posts from him in a while.

But after the kinds of experiences I've had, it would not really surprise me if someone who seems active and reliable suddenly pulls a vanishing act. It's happened to me before. :-P

Hopefully, he's just on vacation or something.

[Manic Street Creature]

Yeah he has said he's done posting in this forum but will continue to read. He's focusing more on the sleepy and vampire stuff, which is fair enough.

i wondered if you may post a reply TIEnTEEZ, I indeed know what's happened to you (with someone I may have mentioned in this thread) and am hoping the same hasn't happened to me, (it would be out of charachter for knightsofgotham i think). I don't post here but I do read a lot of what's posted. I'm the shy quiet type :-)

[xxxwarriorxxx]

He is in the process of moving to Arizona. Lots of backups from what I have read on other forums. He is very good at responding- I am sure something is just taking precedent to his movies and responding messages. I am sure he will get back you-- if it is one thing KOG has, it is really excellent customer service.

[tallyho]

Yeah this doesnt sound like him at all. I wouldn't fret just yet. I think there are contact links at the bottom of his posts. Maybe try those- jusdt search in an old releases thread
As stated, he has said he is pulling back from the SH stuff and would just drop by once in a while.
He doesnt seem the sort to stitch anyone up so I think this may have just fallen through the cracks

[flash]

He is pulling up stakes and moving to the southwest in the near future.

[KnightsofGotham.com]

Yeah, Ive been swamped with stuff.
And I dont post here anymore for private reasons I wont go into here. I still have roughly 5,000 emails unread and every day it grows.
I've been swamped with customs editing and updating stores but also dealing with planning a move to Tucson Arizona in 2 years (it was supposed to be one year but Evangeline wants to go to Diana Knights wedding so theres that as well)

in regards to those customs.....
I guess its time to let the cat outta the bag completely even though i wanted to try to keep it hushed for reasons

We were working with Keri Spectrum at the start of the year.
She released her limits and agreed to shoot full nudes, explicit sexual content, and other content that she wasnt doing with any other producer.

when i announced this people jumped on the wagon and ordered customs.
because she didnt do these things before and was exclusive to our store she raised her rates. they commun ities I shoot content for didnt care and soon enough I had several thousand dollars in customs alone.
She asked for an advance. we had done this before and it never had issues so we advanced her some money.
We shot 2 full days.
customs were edited and delivered.

She saw the money and loosened her limits even more. to the point where the only thing she didnt do was penetration sex with men.

We announced this and get several thousand in customs again.
She again asked for a sizable advance and since we had no issues the last dozen times we shot with her we advanced her money
they were shot edited and delivered.

We then planned a three day shoot where she would stay here and we would spend an extended weekend shooting.
this time for three days work I got roughly $6K in customs.
Again she asked for a sizable front and like before we gave it to her because she had always been good and reliable and faithful.
We spend $1K in costumes and props as well as a new light for chroma key work

then she had a family issue and pushed the shoot 2 weeks.
then her daughter was sick and she pushed back three weeks.
then it was planned and set and all was great and I didnt hear from her 3 days before the shoot when I sent an email asking to confirm.
then 2 days before i sent twitter messages and facebook messages
then the day before I called and no one picked up.
the day of the shoot came and went.
two days later Im working with a model thats supposed to see her and I tell her to call me and tell her why.
the next day i get a call from her.
her phones been off, the other phone was returned, her laptop is broken and she has no way of getting in touch with me. at this point the customs are almost 2 months delayed. I tell her that in was dissapointed and she doesnt take that very well. long story short she doesnt come and Im stuck with a large amount of that $6K either invested in props and custom made wardrobe that cantr be returned and money fronted her that she now needs to give back.

I tell clients and start pulling our own money to refund people but things are getting bogged down.

we have to stop hiring models to use that money to pay back customs and now our income is starting to suffer.

So we ask her to start paying back the money she fronted and I thoink we all know how well that turned out.

Now she has done the same to her custom clients and anyone whos in the wrestling industry knows exactly how badly she screwed everyone there.

Now because of her our sterling reputation is tarnished and we dont know how long it will take to repair (a good name is spent years developing and a night to ruin)

I have contacted all the clients saying that there would be delays in delivery and refunds.
I might not have gotten everyone obviously but Im still sending refunds as money comes in.


And before the trolls come out to ask how im moving to Tucson if i have thousands to refund let me clear that up right away.

Im going to need a doctor. Im going to need an eye specialist im gonna need a diabeties specialist.
I need to sign up for medical insurance, I need to find where all the stores are and where the hair salons are and the nail salons
Where can we shop for groceries? where is there a costco?
Im going to need high speed internet for work.....which companies offer it and where do i have to search for a house to fall in that service?
whats the difference between AC and evap?
how am i going to get all our furniture across country? what will that cost? who's reputable?

Am I going to need a car?
where is there a reputable dealership? wheres the DMV? where can I get car insurance?
i can continue because there are literally 200 more questions. moving is not about money. its about changing an entire life and trying to figure out where everything is and how to setup a new life.
yes money is needed and by the time I need the $24K i need to move I expect the refunds will be all handled.

As for OP......
Im going to PM you now. I dont usually spend any time here and to be honest I wouldnt have seen this is another producer wouldnt have called me on my phone to tell me this thread was here. As I mentioned earlier for personal reasons I dont post here anymore and those who know me know exactly why that is.

[DrDominator9]

Straight-forward and honest as usual. Your reputation is better than you think around here KoG. Best of luck with everything, man. Really!

[Abductorenmadrid]

Straight-forward and honest as usual. Your reputation is better than you think around here KoG. Best of luck with everything, man. Really!

I was going to say the same thing, particularly as everyone's first thoughts were that this was not KoG usual way of doing stuff. I wish KoG the very best in getting back on track and hope everyone can get a fair resolution out of what has seemingly been exceptional circumstances.

[KnightsofGotham.com]

I have sent OP a private message here and will make it a point to check back in 2-3 times a day until I hear back and we can get thins resolved.
I should say publicly that Im sorry for the delays this has caused both in delivery and in refunds.
non-producers wont be able to appreciate this statement but things can easily snowball and turn into a major issue.
while yes we still owe several thousands in refunds until that fronted money is returned I have to issue refunds out of pocket which means i have less money to hire models which means less movies going up which means less money to offer refunds and hire models, etc. you can see how being put in this position can screw a person. this isnt the first time its happened. it happened last year with Samantha and Kymberly jane.
Samantah had an injury at NYCC that made it impossible to shoot and we had flown them both up for customs and that took months to clear out and just as we are getting back into a groove Keri fucked us and put us out in abad place having to issue refunds again.

Thats why I have all but stopped doing customs except for customs with Evangeline (I know where she lives)

until we are 100% out of the hole Im not taking any more customs that require me to purchase customs and props from the clients custom payment because if things go south i will have to refund the prop and costume money and we cant afford to get into a hole deeper than we already are.

So to OP Im sorry you were left out and I hope to rectify this as soon as possible.
to everyone else Im sorry this had to be made a public issue as i was trying to save Her reputation but its gotten to the point where my reputation is starting to take a hit for her actions so it had to be done.

I dont really feel like i threw her under the bus since this was all her doing... it more like she laid down in the path of a bus with the emergency break off and then pulled a cord to release the break.
she kinda did it to herself and i cant protect her anymore.

I definitely wont be working with her anymore.

[TIEnTEEZ]

Well, it's nice to see someone in this industry acting responsibly. It sounds like you are at least trying to refund the money your clients paid you for customs that they aren't going to get, now.

Some producers out there (whom I shall not name, but I'm sure pretty much everyone knows who I'm talking about) use getting ripped off by a performer as an excuse to then rip off their customers. Which is an absolutely horrific (not to mention illegal) business practice.

[Visitor]

Im going to need a doctor. Im going to need an eye specialist im gonna need a diabeties specialist.
I need to sign up for medical insurance, I need to find where all the stores are and where the hair salons are and the nail salons
Where can we shop for groceries? where is there a costco?
Im going to need high speed internet for work.....which companies offer it and where do i have to search for a house to fall in that service?
whats the difference between AC and evap?

Having done this, Google is your best friend for most of these questions since Google Maps will let you see where they are and help you figure out how to get there.

There are several companies with high speed internet service and they overlap for most of the Tucson. Century Link and Comcast are the major ones and they bundle with other services.

Get AC (air conditioning) since during July through October the humidity is too high for evaporative cooling to be effective especially once it gets over 110 and 50% humidity. Heat pumps are AC/heating.

[batgirl1969]

I am going to miss KoG and the cool pics always posted and I will never forget how we probably passed each other at NYCC and I missed out!!!

[hiddenevil]

Really saddened to hear you've been messed around KoG. When we discussed my custom, you were on the level and always approachable. I would still like to think we can work on something some day, when life is back to normal.

All my best buddy!

[Manic Street Creature]

Thank you knightsofgotham. Now that I know the full situation I am sorry for any further stress i may have caused with this thread but I didn't know what else to do at the time.

You had always been very responsive beforehand (to the point where it was pretty much a response within about 10 minutes!) so I think that may have added to why it seemed weird you weren't responding now, but yeah it all makes sense with what you've said. I can only hope that things get better for you and you don't get burned again.

With regards to Keri, to be quite honest, if she's blatantly willing to steal money from you and not give it back then she doesn't deserve any goodwill from you. That you were willing to keep it quiet says a lot about your good character.

[KnightsofGotham.com]

Well....Im glad this is done and cleared up.
As i mentioned earlier I had wanted to avoid outing her since she has enough on her plate already and doesnt need any more help from me to feel overwhelmed.

I will add as an extra that I would prefer if the admin keeps this thread open until OP can verify that the refund went through with no issues and we can step away from this matter with all parties getting what they want
(op can have his well deserved refund with my apology, and I can have the matter of this issue resolved with our company name intact.
I have already made it clear that come the 6th of November (when clips4sale send their payments) I will be sending either a 75% refund or a 100% refund depending on how much money comes in.

I am glad this was able to be resolved.

[tallyho]

Given the amendment to the original post, do the main parties want this thread removed? (KoG and Manic St Creature)

[KnightsofGotham.com]

Given the amendment to the original post, do the main parties want this thread removed? (KoG and Manic St Creature)

I would prefer to have it left up so that when this is sorted out it can be done so in public for all to see, also as an extra level of protection for OP. if I dont come through he can just come back here and let everyone know I havent.
I dont mind OP doing this to get my attention. Im glad he did because there are always errors, always issues. there are always mistakes that are made and doing the right thing is the only way to keep a client. Sure i could say screw it and walk away and not have to give OP a refund and since im pulling away from the heroine universe its not like it would hurt my bottom line.... but its a matter of respect. about trust, and about word of mouth.


Personally I would prefer that this thread stay up to keep everyone in the loop as to how this plays out so in the future no one can say I screwed anyone over
and to give OP a guarantee. If I dont follow through I will be put on blast.
I think thats only fair.

people work hard for the money they use to order customs, there should be some protection for them.

[tallyho]

Thats cool. Sorry to hear about all the aggro, hope things come good for you and good luck with the move when it does happen.

[Dogfish]

Well, it's nice to see someone in this industry acting responsibly. It sounds like you are at least trying to refund the money your clients paid you for customs that they aren't going to get, now.

Some producers out there (whom I shall not name, but I'm sure pretty much everyone knows who I'm talking about) use getting ripped off by a performer as an excuse to then rip off their customers. Which is an absolutely horrific (not to mention illegal) business practice.

One of the biggest problems for anybody involved in this sort of thing is that even though this is a perfectly legal industry it is treated like a grey area and persecuted by a lot of financial institutions, so everything becomes that much less safe for the finances of everybody involved.

[TIEnTEEZ]

Well, it's nice to see someone in this industry acting responsibly. It sounds like you are at least trying to refund the money your clients paid you for customs that they aren't going to get, now.

Some producers out there (whom I shall not name, but I'm sure pretty much everyone knows who I'm talking about) use getting ripped off by a performer as an excuse to then rip off their customers. Which is an absolutely horrific (not to mention illegal) business practice.

One of the biggest problems for anybody involved in this sort of thing is that even though this is a perfectly legal industry it is treated like a grey area and persecuted by a lot of financial institutions, so everything becomes that much less safe for the finances of everybody involved.

I'm not sure that's true about a legal gray area. Unless your custom involves child pornography or something like that, it's perfectly legal in the U.S. - at least as far as I know. Many credit card companies and banks won't deal in porn at all, so I guess you have a point there. I used to work for the largest credit card processor in the world and they simply wouldn't do business with anything evern remotely related to the sex industry. Adult video stores, adult book stores, adult toy stores, strip clubs, etc. were strictly taboo. The argument is that those businesses are inherently unstable and unreliable, which could be true, I guess, but it also rings of maybe a excuse to be prudish.

I think the bigger problem is that there SEEMS to be less incentive for producers to behave ethically in an industry like this because they can get away with more. I've been ripped off a few times, and by some produces who seemed really reputable and safe. In all cases, I could have pursued the matter more aggressively by, say, taking legal action. But I didn't do that - not because of any legal gray areas, but because it would be too much effort and also embarrassing.

The last time someone disappeared with my money, I was able to contest the credit card charge, so I got my money back without having to deal directly with the producer. But there's a pretty strict time limit on doing that and even so, it was somewhat embarrassing because I had to talk to a bank representative on the phone and explain what I ordered and what happened. I basically told them I ordered something online and wasn't very specific about what, but they asked and I has to tell them it was a video. They didn't ask for any specifics about the content of the video, but the very nice woman I was speaking to went rather quiet for a second and I am pretty sure we both knew I was talking about porn.

Of course, rationally, I don't give a flying fuck what some bank rep I'm never going to meet thinks about me, but that few seconds of disapproving silence was mildly unpleasant nonetheless.

Porn producers aren't typically big corporations with dozens of employees and a chain of command. Most of them are basically 1-man (or woman) operations. So it's not like McDonald's where if you get a dead cockroach in your hamburger you can complain to the manager or go public and hurt their reputation.

In addition to that - and I'm probably going to take some flack for this - a lot of the people in the porn industry aren't exactly the most upstanding, forthright, reliable, and mentally stable people. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all of them are completely fucked in the head, but I think the percentages of people who are, let's say troubled, are higher in the porn industry than, for example, your average furniture retailer.

[Manic Street Creature]

As an update, the majority of this has been paid back already.

Many thanks to knightsofgotham for getting this sorted so swiftly during a difficult time.

[Abductorenmadrid]

As an update, the majority of this has been paid back already.

Many thanks to knightsofgotham for getting this sorted so swiftly during a difficult time.

Glad this has been resolved for you (for the most past at least).

[merkin1964]

Hi Everyone,

Longtime lurker and haven't posted in a long time.

I just noticed this thread this morning in looking through posts I had missed. I had the exact same thing happen to me with Knights of Gotham, same experience and everything. Ordered customs before, great service, always responsive, etc. I had paid for a custom with Kymberly Jane, Samantha Grace and Evangeline but, due to circumstances beyond the producer's control, it never happened. I understand. Shit happens.

I was promised a refund on many occasions. I was even sent emails from their newsletter indicating that most of the customs had been refunded. I was always patient and told them that there was no rush and they could refund whenever they had the money. That was some time ago. I have tried many, many times to contact them through email, Twitter or any other medium I could think of and have never received a reply.

I am very pleased that the original poster of this thread had his issue resolved. I am hoping that this message reaches them and I might have similar luck. I completely understand they were in a tough spot but at the same time I do not appreciate them taking my money and giving me nothing for it. I hope this can be resolved.

Thanks for listening (or reading!). Have always loved this forum and the supportive community.

[flash]

"Get AC (air conditioning) since during July through October the humidity is too high for evaporative cooling to be effective especially once it gets over 110 and 50% humidity. Heat pumps are AC/heating."

DITTO on that from a fellow desert rat.