Taber Lacie Photography

Sorry for the late response to this complaint as I did not realize this had been submitted until a few hours ago when I checked my mail. The letter I received today from Revdex.com included a complaint about a contest I had held on my Facebook fan page. The contest was basically a "best love story" contest where I asked people to send me their love story with a photo of themselves with their significant other. The grand prize was an uncut diamond ring, $500 off of a wedding package and a free session. Out of the people who entered, I picked 10 finalists and entered the next stage of the contest, the voting stage. The way to vote for someone was to "like" their photo [which was posted to a special album on my Facebook fan page] and at the end of the contest the person with the most votes would win the grand prize. I also had 2nd and 3rd place prizes as well as giving all non winning contestants a discount on a photography package that they may use over the next year.
A few days after voting had begun it was brought to my attention that one of the contestants was either creating fake pages to generate more votes or someone she knew was. I told this contestant those likes were not going to be counted as votes and that if this continued that the contest would end, winners would be drawn at random and she would be disqualified. I also made a public announcement on my fan page letting everyone know that this was not allowed and what the consequences of this behavior were. Another day or so went by when the contestant mentioned above sent me a message stating that another contestant's boyfriend had sent her a harassing message. I asked her to send me a screen shot of the message at which time she did from her phone. The message stated that they would like for this person to take herself out of the contest because her story was obviously "fake" and "pathetic". It also stated that this individual planned to create fake pages to gain more likes on their own photo. The person who has filed this complaint is the father of the contestant who is dating the man that had sent the message to the other contestant. After receiving this message, I talked to the contestant and informed her that due to the actions of her boyfriend that the contest was now going to be drawn at random. The contestant responded by saying she was in tears and was very upset with my decision. She also stated that she believed this message was fake and I could look at her boyfriend's inbox on Facebook to see he had never sent this message. However, it is extremely easy for an individual delete a message from their inbox so I did not accept that evidence. At this time this contestant was in first place, where as previously the contestant that was messaged was in first place. A public announcement was also made on my fan page that stated due to the actions of others and a harassing message that had been sent, the contest would now be drawn at random and the necessary people would be removed from the contest.
As promised, I ended the contest earlier than anticipated and I drew three names out of a hat, excluding the contestants mentioned above. As a consolation prize, the contestant mentioned above DID have the most likes on her photo, so I honored her with a free session regardless of her/her boyfriend's actions. She did not however receive the uncut diamond ring or the $500 off of a wedding package. She had sent me a message and stated it was not about the prize and she did not want anything. This had angered a few people but she had worked hard to gain all the likes she did plus she brought a good deal of attention to my business and I felt that it was fair to her. The winners of the 3 main prizes were announced and from there rude comments were left by friends of the affected contestant. I also received several messages from the removed contestant's boyfriend claiming he had never sent the message, that his girlfriend was very upset, and he ended with uninviting me to their future wedding for being a "bad friend", as he stated. At first, I tried to respond to everyone professionally to notify them of why I made my decision but I was only left with more rude comments and messages. After a few hours had passed and rude comments were continuously left, I made the decision to delete the inappropriate comments and block the people who were harassing my page/me. I am "friends" with this person on Facebook and this contestant made a status stating that she was very upset and felt mistreated. This person also stated in this status that people were welcome to "unlike" the page they had liked. She did not mention the name of my page however she had shared her photo from my page and a link was left on her wall just a few posts down. Comments under this post then led to the defamation of my business and myself. There was never one mention publicly from this contestant that stated any wrong-doing was done on their side of things or that they had even been accused. From the complaint received, it appears as if the individual whom submitted this also did not know about the harassing message that was sent. 
In the complaint it is mentioned that they would like for me to honor my original contest rules to determine the winners. After the fake pages were created and the harassing message was sent, I feel that it was fair to all other contestants involved [whom had expressed to me their disappointment with others cheating/acting childish] to disqualify those who participated in the unnecessary behavior mentioned above. As a business owner, I did not feel that it would be fair to those who participated in the contest with good behavior to let those with bad behavior win one of the 3 main prizes. Since then, the 1st place winners of the contest have received the uncut diamond ring and have scheduled their free session.
Attached to this e-mail is a screen shot of the harassing message sent. I also have attached the conversation I had with the contestant who had received the harassing message. If needed, this contestant stated she would be willing to submit a statement of what happened along with contact information.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to get this issue resolved as soon as possible. If any more information or evidence is needed, please notify me and I will be happy to cooperate.[redacted]
Taber Lacie Photography - Website: [redacted] - Phone: [redacted] - Facebook: [redacted] or [redacted]

The first file is a copy of the email sent to the 10 chosen finalists outlining the contest rules/operation. The second file (Taber5) is one of several Facebook posts encouraging people to vote by liking the posts. The third file (Taber) details her intended actions after being made aware of the...

fake pages created to boost likes on one contestants' page (an action that was not immediately taken despite further activity). The fourth file (Taber2) is her post one day before the contest was to end, in which she states her intent to no longer abide by her original stated plan to determine the winner according to the number of likes/votes.  The final file (Taber3) is her announcement of the winners. All comments on her Facebook page following the winners' announcement asking for reasoning on the change or stating dissatisfaction with the process were promptly removed and the posters blocked. 
 
I sincerely appreciate your prompt reply, and feel free to contact me with any further questions.
 
 
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