Live SDA Charity event at MAGFest

2010-03-04 12:49:27 am

Yoshi's eggs are at my mercy!

Just a heads-up everyone: I'm almost done with the MAGFest photos and commentary and stuff.

....

Yeah, yeah ... go ahead and insult me for failing hard for ~70 days straight. I've been busy! Community college sucks, having 2 jobs sucks, ebaying shit like there's no tomorrow sucks (Well, not really, just the whole "create ~40 auctions at once over a 4-hour period" thing does), your mom sucks, and the commentary will most definitely not suck when it's done!! Smiley

Rakuen

2010-03-04 01:42:34 pm

Weegee Time

Quote from t r i - h e x:

your mom sucks

She has a condition! T_T

ZenicReverie

2010-03-04 04:45:17 pm

Waiting hurts my soul...

Ebaying instead of using the Trading Post? I guess you need the money huh?

trihex

2010-03-04 11:52:40 pm

Yoshi's eggs are at my mercy!

Quote from ZenicReverie:

Ebaying instead of using the Trading Post? I guess you need the money huh?

It's a business. My opinion of the Trading Post (for me, personally) is the same as the Casual Speedrunning section -- entirely pointless. The Trading Post IMO is only useful for finding rare or nostalgic games and getting a "warm, fuzzy" feeling knowing that another SDA'er will cherish and enjoy it as much as you did/do. The stuff I get from buying trades off people at GameStop will never fall into the "rare/nostalgic" category so bothering with Trading Post isn't worth it. Also, selling on eBay steadily builds credit. If you check my eBay account, I've gone from sub 50 transactions to almost 150 over the last two years. 140+ transactions at 100% positive feedback with 20+ of them being in the last 3 months is strong credibility. So I attract higher bids. Smiley

ZenicReverie

2010-03-05 04:02:56 pm

Waiting hurts my soul...

Quote from t r i - h e x:

Quote from ZenicReverie:

Ebaying instead of using the Trading Post? I guess you need the money huh?

It's a business. My opinion of the Trading Post (for me, personally) is the same as the Casual Speedrunning section -- entirely pointless. The Trading Post IMO is only useful for finding rare or nostalgic games and getting a "warm, fuzzy" feeling knowing that another SDA'er will cherish and enjoy it as much as you did/do. The stuff I get from buying trades off people at GameStop will never fall into the "rare/nostalgic" category so bothering with Trading Post isn't worth it. Also, selling on eBay steadily builds credit. If you check my eBay account, I've gone from sub 50 transactions to almost 150 over the last two years. 140+ transactions at 100% positive feedback with 20+ of them being in the last 3 months is strong credibility. So I attract higher bids. Smiley

I suppose if you're trying to make money, then the trading post really isn't the way to go.

[quote="t r i - h e x"]
[quote="ZenicReverie"]
Ebaying instead of using the Trading Post? I guess you need the money huh?
[/quote]

It's a business. My opinion of the Trading Post (for me, personally) is the same as the Casual Speedrunning section -- entirely pointless. The Trading Post IMO is only useful for finding rare or nostalgic games and getting a "warm, fuzzy" feeling knowing that another SDA'er will cherish and enjoy it as much as you did/do. The stuff I get from buying trades off people at GameStop will never fall into the "rare/nostalgic" category so bothering with Trading Post isn't worth it. Also, selling on eBay steadily builds credit. If you check my eBay account, I've gone from sub 50 transactions to almost 150 over the last two years. 140+ transactions at 100% positive feedback with 20+ of them being in the last 3 months is strong credibility. So I attract higher bids. :)
[/quote]
I suppose if you're trying to make money, then the trading post really isn't the way to go.

nate

2010-03-05 07:24:10 pm

sda is serious business. just don't try to remove the "serious."

mikwuyma

Edit history:

mikwuyma: 2010-07-07 02:24:16 pm

2010-07-06 11:06:48 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. I bumped the classic first marathon topic.

In total we raised $11,105, not too shabby for our first marathon! The total tally is below:

Chipin Total: $10,531.64
Paypal donations that weren't covered by the chipin because of that donation button we had: 574.34

Actually, it was 11,105.98, I hope you won't be too hard on me for stiffing CARE 98 cents. Wink

Now I'm sure you're thinking, "uhhh Mike, the marathon's been over for 6 months. Why are you going over this now? We're already planning next year's marathon."

Well that's because I wasn't able to put the money in CARE's account until today. Yes, you read that right, today.

Before you go, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!?!" As any normal, sane person would. Or thinking I'm a lazy bum, listen to the story I have to tell. It's all real, as much as I can't believe it myself.

The short version:

Paypal restricts my account because I suddenly make over 10k in 3 days. They say I need to get a letter from CARE proving that I raised funds for them. CARE takes me 6 months to send me a letter. After seeing the letter, Paypal takes a day to free my account.

The real story (i.e. the REALLY LONG version):

Warning Essentia, there are a couple of words here and there you might not like, just warning you.

NOTE: Any file I mention is attached to the bottom of this post.

On January 5th, two days after the marathon (or I guess one if you feel like picking at semantics), I'm ecstatic over how successful our marathon was. All that effort put into the marathon was finally worth it. I decide to check my paypal account to bask in my glory, and I see a notice telling me that Paypal noticed I was receiving donations for charity, and my account is restricted until I give them proof. Also, if I want more details I can look at my email.

I don't remember too much what I did, but I remember yelling, "Oh shit", really loudly.

Now for those of you who don't know, getting your account restricted by Paypal initially doesn't mean much, but after a week you can't do anything with your account except receive payments (that you can't do anything with because paypal won't let you transfer them to your bank account!).

After I get over my initial reaction, I look at the email Paypal sent, and I have to send 6 things to them, including, but not limited to an organizational summary, a copy of my fundraising license, and a subordination letter from CARE. I'm thinking to myself, "This is way too much for me, I need to explain my case to Paypal."

So I call Paypal on the phone, and after waiting for a few minutes with an automated voice system that's half-deaf, I speak to a representative, who looks at my case and says, "oh, you just need to send us the subordination letter that proves you raised funds for CARE." Now for those of your curious, below in quote code was the subordination letter notice. This notice is actually important, because it actually becomes relevant later in the story.

Quote:

6. Subordination letter on official letterhead from Cooperative for
Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) signed by an
officer/director/trustee of the parent organization clearly stating that
you are an authorized fundraiser on behalf of the parent organization.

After talking to Paypal, I'm relieved. All I need is a letter from CARE, which should be easy because SDA raised over ten thousand dollars for them. I thought CARE would write 10 letters for me.

Oh how wrong I was.

So I email Cherae, my contact at CARE (her title being "Key Markets & Engagement", and no, I don't know what that means), and tell her I need a letter from CARE so paypal will free my account. She said she would get on it right away. I don't see a response from her in a couple of days, so I start calling her (she gave me her number before the marathon in case if I needed anything), because I usually got quick responses that way. Well, I try calling her nearly daily for about a week straight, and then I finally catch her a week later.

Do you remember when I said during the marathon that CARE provides disaster relief? Well guess what disaster happened in the middle of January? THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE.

So once she mentions that to me, I figure, fair enough, CARE is going to be busy dealing with the Haiti earthquake right now, so I'll just have to wait two or three weeks until the earthquake news calms down a bit.

So now it's February, and I decide to try contacting Cherae again. I'm calling her about two to three times a week, but I get nothing but her message machine. In the middle of February, when I announce my trip to Europe, Breakdown says I should try to find someone else in CARE because my contact isn't responding to me, and I need to get this sorted out before I go to Europe. So I figure, that makes sense, I should try to find someone else in CARE. So I call CARE's headquarters in Atlanta and I'm forwarded to someone named Ramona. She seems very impressed that I know Cherae (bad sign), but if I email her my correspondence with Cherae and Paypal, she'll try to do what she can for me (also a bad sign).

So I wait two or three days, and realize I just wasted my time. So I try calling CARE headquarters again, and now I'm talking to someone named Romelia, who is CARE's constituent services specialist (again, don't ask me what that means). Anyway, judging from my emails, She gave me the same shpiel as Ramona about contacting me later, except she actually contacted me later! And this is how the conversation went.

Romelia: Well Mike, we'll see if we can accept your donation once our legal team makes a decision.
Me: Huh?

"Excuse me if I'm being rude, but why does your legal team need to decide whether to accept my donation?
Romelia: something something tax receipts.

No I don't remember the conversation all that well, but it was over 3 months ago, give me a break. And speaking of 3 months ago, judging from my emails I was in contact with Romelia starting on February 22nd. On March 1st, two days before my trip to Europe, I decide to ask her whether the legal team has responded yet. The next day March 2nd, she says they haven't yet.

Well so much for getting this ordeal settled before I go to Europe. I figure I should just relax and forgot about the whole thing while I'm in Europe, then focus on getting things done with

But I couldn't even avoid CARE while I was in Europe.

When I was at BWI airport, I saw a big fat ad for CARE while walking to my flight.

And in Berlin...

I decided to visit the Brandenburg Gate while I was in Berlin because it was one of the more majestic things to see (and I only had a day :(). So I go to the closest subway station, Alexanderplatz, and immediately as I walk out the station, a girl from CARE international confronts me asking if I'm willing to donate. I clench my fists, walk in silence, and during the entire 30 minute walk to the gate, instead of enjoying the sights, I'm muttering "fuck CARE" under my breath. Fortunately, Brandernburg Gate was pretty enough to take my mind off of CARE. Cheesy

So after a relaxing vacation in Europe, I come back and see there is no email about the legal team. So I ask Romelia whether the legal team has come to decision, and she says they haven't yet. Now, I'm no legal expert, but I'm sure it doesn't take over a month to decide whether someone's donation should be accepted or not.

Anyway, on April 14th, nearly two months after Romelia told me about the legal team, we're finally approved! The only thing I have to do? Call Cherae.

...

A nice touch I noticed is that the number Romelia gave me was wrong. One of the digits was off, I know this because I already had Cherae's number on my cell phone, and checked it against the number Romelia gave me. I decided to try anyway, because this time someone else gave me Cherae's number. Well, unsurprisingly, I received no response.

By this time I was nearly ready to give up, but I had an idea. I had to visit my financial advisor (cliff notes: I'm poor because I don't have a job, the money I saved up from working I need now), and I figured she might know a way to contact CARE/liberate my funds from Paypal. So after I meet up with my financial advisor, one of her co-workers who works at the office actually gets in contact with Cherae. I have no idea how she does this, but I'm not going to question an ambivalently good thing.

So fast forward to May (only 4 months since the marathon now!), and Cherae tells me I have to sign a legal agreement saying I agree with CARE's terms. I say this is okay, and then I see the legal page. And it turns out it's CARE's logo page. Now this might not be a big deal to you, but I saw the page at least 10 times before the marathon, because Cherae gave me the URL so I could use images from CARE's website to promote our marathon. I gave the link to Arkarian so he could use the image on http://speeddemosarchive.com/marathon/.

I remember asking Cherae whether there was anything I needed to do in order to be approved by CARE when they accepted us back in November , but she said, no, all I had to do was send the money to CARE once the marathon was over. So basically, I was going through a process that should have been done back in November.

BTW, if you're trying to guess what this site is, well care's site is http://www.care.org/, and I was giving arkarian access to CARE's logo, so he could post it on our marathon page.

Cherae tells me to fax the agreement now that I've signed it, so I fax it on Sunday May 9th through Office Depot. I know this date because I sent an email the next day to Cherae telling her I've faxed the document. Instead of getting a response from Cherae (who is actually responding to my emails now), I get an automated response telling me she's attending a conferences in...

...Washington DC

Yes, the area that I live in. If I needed to define irony, I would just mention this. And no, I didn't walk up to her and ask what's up.

So I visit Breakdown the next weekend, partially because I need to be in Pennsylvania to help family members move, but also because we want to plan the next marathon. Yes, we were planning the next marathon even before Classic Games Done Quick was truly over. How devious of us! Aside from getting my car shot up (true story, ask Breakdown), we get a lot done discussing the next marathon, all while wondering how convincing CARE to send me a letter was taking so long. At this point you would think I was the one asking for over ten thousand dollars.

So now it's May 24th, two weeks after I send the fax to CARE. I ask Cherae whether she's received my fax, and she says she hasn't, and tells me to scan the signed agreement and send it to her. Now I'm wondering why I wasted four dollars sending a fax through Office Depot. Sad

Well this time she gets the letter, and says THANKS! Then a couple of days later she sends me this email.

Quote:

"Hi Mike,

Our legal team said the agreement you sent me can be used for PayPal. Try this and let me know if it's sufficient."

I thought I was already approved by the legal team, it only took me nearly two months. And two, what does "this" mean? Did Cherae mean to attach something to the email I wasn't seeing? Was there a document I missed? Or is she talking about the pdf files of the signed agreement that I just sent her. So I ask if she attached something to the email, or if she means the pdf files she just sent.

She then tells me, the pdf files. Now for those if you have a good memory and have kept up with this whole clusterfuck, you would know a signing an agreement on CARE's end wouldn't mean anything, because I needed a signed letter from someone with aurthority, according to this notice from paypal.

Quote:

6. Subordination letter on official letterhead from Cooperative for
Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) signed by an
officer/director/trustee of the parent organization clearly stating that
you are an authorized fundraiser on behalf of the parent organization.

It's good to know that CARE was paying such close attention to my case.

Finally, Cherae says she'll fax me a letter herself. I'm wondering where I'll find a place to get it faxed at first, but eventually I come to my senses and realize it will be easier if she just mails me the letter. I give her my address June 8th, but I get no response (the theme of this entire charade). So on June 17th, I send another email asking whether she received my address, and I get an automated message telling me that this CARE's workweek and that Cherae will be unavailable at the moment. So I wait until the week is over, and on June 21st, I ask whether the letter was sent. Of course it wasn't, so Cherae sends the letter the next day.

If you're surprised it took about 2 weeks for CARE to send me a letter after I had been approved, then you haven't been paying too much attention to this story.

So I finally receive the letter on Thursday, and scan not only the letter, but the envelope too (see the attached CAREenvelope.pdf and CAREletter.pdf), just to ensure that I have proof that Classic Games Done Quick was approved by CARE. Now looking at this letter, you would think it would take them about 20 minutes to send, at most.

I rejoice, but I only have the letter from CARE. What if Paypal won't accept CARE's letter anymore? I figure I should celebrate my minor victory for now, especially since there was an upcoming beer festival, then worry about it next week (last week going by current time).

Now that the beer festival is over, I sober myself up, go to the Paypal site, and see they want me to send them a voided check and tax documents proving I'm a non-profit. I figure calling Paypal again wouldn't hurt.

Good call, after sitting through about a minute or two of an automated voice system, I get in contact with an actual representative, who looks through the computer records and says yes, all I need is the letter from CARE. Phew! The representative even tells me where to upload the the file, and tells me it shouldn't take long to process. Well, he wasn't lying, because the next day I check my Paypal account, and I get a notice saying my account is FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Yes, that's right, Paypal took a day to process my appeal, after CARE took about 6 months.

However, this story isn't quite over. Once I freed my Paypal account, it still took me a couple of days to transfer the funds to my bank account (this is true with any Paypal transfer). Once I saw the funds were in my Paypal account today, I decided to finally end the whole thing. This is what I was waiting for, to put the funds in CARE's account. Anyway, this whole thing was for charity, right?

So I start filling in my personal information for the payment, putting in SDA and the marathon as my honorees (check CAREpayment.pdf). And then I saw the payment line. I didn't feel too easy putting over ten thousand dollars on my debit card, so I looked for other options, and as soon as I clicked on that I saw this line.

"Select how you would like to make your donation: Credit Card, PayPal or via Online Check"

My natural response? Go outside run around screaming for 2 minutes, run back inside, punch some walls, and just go BATSHITZANIA. Then scream some more and drink myself stupid, which I'm still doing. Lips Sealed

Now I'm wondering why before the marathon started, Cherae told me CARE didn't have a Paypal account, because they had their own online payment system set up. I'm also wondering why Cherae CARE didn't have time to accomodate their online system for us, especially if they had paypal, considering the reason why I used my Paypal account in the first place was because I thought CARE DIDN'T HAVE A PAYPAL OF THEIR OWN TO USE FOR CHIPIN.

Now in their (very poor) defense, when I clicked on the drop down menu, there was only an option for credit card and online check, but no Paypal option. Instead, there was a blank space in the top option. If you doubt what you see in WHYYY.jpeg and CAREpayment.pdf, then just go to http://www.care.org/, click on Donate, donate online and click on the payment options.

BTW, I didn't go with serious in WHYYY.jpeg because it just seemed too obvious.

After I finally calmed down, I sent the money to CARE, and simultaneously felt awesome for persevering to finally donate to the charity we promised to give money to, and depressed for putting in all that effort into something that will hardly be credited. Well, at least I have proof I donated in CAREreceipt.pdf

I never would have expected it would be so hard to give over 10k to a charity.

I think if you look up pyrrhic victory in the dictionary, you'll find this mess as the definition. Screw Kirby, this is the most epic yarn I've been in. Yeah, I went there. Also having some drinks for victory helps too.

Now if you read through any of that, you might be going GRRR PAYPAL IS EVIL CORPORATION. Hold on there, while I'm not a big fan of what PayPal did, I do understand and respect why they did it. My PayPal account is an account that maybe moves 1000 dollars a year, and most of that is from paying for MAGFest registrations. Suddenly my account receives over 10k in three days, which looks pretty suspicious. All that Paypal wanted was proof that I was actually raising money for CARE and not trying to con anyone.

Furthermore, dealing with Paypal was incredibly easy. The representatives were friendly, and they even had records from back in January on their computer when I dealt with them in June. They kept their word when they said all I needed was a letter from CARE.

Now if you're wondering why I didn't make this news public until now, since a lot of forum members would have helped. Actually, I believe that, except if this news leaked before I made the donation, and someone who wasn't a huge fan of our forum caught on, then there would have been a huge shitstorm.

If you're wondering why I still stuck it out with CARE after all this time, it's because we promised our donations would go to CARE during the marathon, and I'm not one to back down from our word. Maybe CARE doesn't deserve our money, but I don't feel right deceiving people about where our donations went. I'm just glad I saw this whole thing through.

Do not view this as "fuck charity, let's make the next marathon raise money for SDA". No, let's just be more careful about the next charity we choose. If the charity has its own Paypal account (that it will admit to), then this mess could be avoided entirely. If it's a smaller charity, then it will be much easier to get a proof letter than it was from CARE. I'm honestly liking Kareshi's idea of helping a smaller charity that needs our money more.

P.S. You don't know how much you miss having a free Paypal account until it's locked.

Frezy_Man, I'm sorry I couldn't buy the Wii using funds you would Paypal to me.

spacoina, I'm sorry I couldn't paypal you when you finally hit the Magician Lord bounty, despite how awesome you are at the game.

UraniumAnchor, yes, this is why I didn't respond to your request for chipin progress for a whole week when you requested it.

And yes Flip, this is why I said a couple of days ago, you would find out why our next marathon wouldn't support CARE.

P.P.S. If I go insane and postal, you guys will know why. Cheesy

Tri-hex: You really suck if you can't upload pictures faster than this. Tongue

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. I bumped the classic first marathon topic.

In total we raised $11,105, not too shabby for our first marathon! The total tally is below:

Chipin Total: $10,531.64
Paypal donations that weren't covered by the chipin because of that donation button we had: 574.34

Actually, it was 11,105.98, I hope you won't be too hard on me for stiffing CARE 98 cents. ;)

Now I'm sure you're thinking, "uhhh Mike, the marathon's been over for 6 months. Why are you going over this now? We're already planning next year's marathon."

[b]Well that's because I wasn't able to put the money in CARE's account until today.[/b] Yes, you read that right, today.

Before you go, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!?!" As any normal, sane person would. Or thinking I'm a lazy bum, listen to the story I have to tell. It's all real, as much as I can't believe it myself.

The short version:

[spoiler]Paypal restricts my account because I suddenly make over 10k in 3 days. They say I need to get a letter from CARE proving that I raised funds for them. CARE takes me 6 months to send me a letter. After seeing the letter, Paypal takes a day to free my account.[/spoiler]

The real story (i.e. the REALLY LONG version):

Warning Essentia, there are a couple of words here and there you might not like, just warning you.

NOTE: Any file I mention is attached to the bottom of this post.

[spoiler]On January 5th, two days after the marathon (or I guess one if you feel like picking at semantics), I'm ecstatic over how successful our marathon was. All that effort put into the marathon was finally worth it. I decide to check my paypal account to bask in my glory, and I see a notice telling me that Paypal noticed I was receiving donations for charity, and my account is restricted until I give them proof. Also, if I want more details I can look at my email.

I don't remember too much what I did, but I remember yelling, "Oh shit", really loudly.

Now for those of you who don't know, getting your account restricted by Paypal initially doesn't mean much, but after a week you can't do anything with your account except receive payments (that you can't do anything with because paypal won't let you transfer them to your bank account!).

After I get over my initial reaction, I look at the email Paypal sent, and I have to send 6 things to them, including, but not limited to an organizational summary, a copy of my fundraising license, and a subordination letter from CARE. I'm thinking to myself, "This is way too much for me, I need to explain my case to Paypal."

So I call Paypal on the phone, and after waiting for a few minutes with an automated voice system that's half-deaf, I speak to a representative, who looks at my case and says, "oh, you just need to send us the subordination letter that proves you raised funds for CARE." Now for those of your curious, below in quote code was the subordination letter notice. This notice is actually important, because it actually becomes relevant later in the story.

[quote]6.  Subordination letter on official letterhead from Cooperative for
Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) signed by an
officer/director/trustee of the parent organization clearly stating that
you are an authorized fundraiser on behalf of the parent organization.[/quote]

After talking to Paypal, I'm relieved. All I need is a letter from CARE, which should be easy because SDA raised over ten thousand dollars for them. I thought CARE would write 10 letters for me.

Oh how wrong I was.

So I email Cherae, my contact at CARE (her title being "Key Markets & Engagement", and no, I don't know what that means), and tell her I need a letter from CARE so paypal will free my account. She said she would get on it right away. I don't see a response from her in a couple of days, so I start calling her (she gave me her number before the marathon in case if I needed anything), because I usually got quick responses that way. Well, I try calling her nearly daily for about a week straight, and then I finally catch her a week later.

Do you remember when I said during the marathon that CARE provides disaster relief? Well guess what disaster happened in the middle of January? THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE.

So once she mentions that to me, I figure, fair enough, CARE is going to be busy dealing with the Haiti earthquake right now, so I'll just have to wait two or three weeks until the earthquake news calms down a bit.

So now it's February, and I decide to try contacting Cherae again. I'm calling her about two to three times a week, but I get nothing but her message machine. In the middle of February, when I announce my trip to Europe, Breakdown says I should try to find someone else in CARE because my contact isn't responding to me, and I need to get this sorted out before I go to Europe. So I figure, that makes sense, I should try to find someone else in CARE. So I call CARE's headquarters in Atlanta and I'm forwarded to someone named Ramona. She seems very impressed that I know Cherae (bad sign), but if I email her my correspondence with Cherae and Paypal, she'll try to do what she can for me (also a bad sign).

So I wait two or three days, and realize I just wasted my time. So I try calling CARE headquarters again, and now I'm talking to someone named Romelia, who is CARE's constituent services specialist (again, don't ask me what that means). Anyway, judging from my emails, She gave me the same shpiel as Ramona about contacting me later, except she actually contacted me later! And this is how the conversation went.

Romelia: Well Mike, we'll see if we can accept your donation once our legal team makes a decision.
Me: ??? "Excuse me if I'm being rude, but why does your legal team need to decide whether to accept my donation?
Romelia: something something tax receipts.

No I don't remember the conversation all that well, but it was over 3 months ago, give me a break. And speaking of 3 months ago, judging from my emails I was in contact with Romelia starting on February 22nd. On March 1st, two days before my trip to Europe, I decide to ask her whether the legal team has responded yet. The next day March 2nd, she says they haven't yet.

Well so much for getting this ordeal settled before I go to Europe. I figure I should just relax and forgot about the whole thing while I'm in Europe, then focus on getting things done with

But I couldn't even avoid CARE while I was in Europe.

When I was at BWI airport, I saw a big fat ad for CARE while walking to my flight.

And in Berlin...

I decided to visit the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate]Brandenburg Gate[/url] while I was in Berlin because it was one of the more majestic things to see (and I only had a day :(). So I go to the closest subway station, Alexanderplatz, and immediately as I walk out the station, a girl from CARE international confronts me asking if I'm willing to donate. I clench my fists, walk in silence, and during the entire 30 minute walk to the gate, instead of enjoying the sights, I'm muttering "fuck CARE" under my breath. Fortunately, Brandernburg Gate was pretty enough to take my mind off of CARE. :D

So after a relaxing vacation in Europe, I come back and see there is no email about the legal team. So I ask Romelia whether the legal team has come to decision, and she says they haven't yet. Now, I'm no legal expert, but I'm sure it doesn't take over a month to decide whether someone's donation should be accepted or not.

Anyway, on April 14th, nearly two months after Romelia told me about the legal team, we're finally approved! The only thing I have to do? Call Cherae.

...

A nice touch I noticed is that the number Romelia gave me was wrong. One of the digits was off, I know this because I already had Cherae's number on my cell phone, and checked it against the number Romelia gave me. I decided to try anyway, because this time someone else gave me Cherae's number. Well, unsurprisingly, I received no response.

By this time I was nearly ready to give up, but I had an idea. I had to visit my financial advisor (cliff notes: I'm poor because I don't have a job, the money I saved up from working I need now), and I figured she might know a way to contact CARE/liberate my funds from Paypal. So after I meet up with my financial advisor, one of her co-workers who works at the office actually gets in contact with Cherae. I have no idea how she does this, but I'm not going to question an ambivalently good thing.

So fast forward to May (only 4 months since the marathon now!), and Cherae tells me I have to sign a legal agreement saying I agree with CARE's terms. I say this is okay, and then I see the legal page. And it turns out it's CARE's logo page. Now this might not be a big deal to you, but I saw the page at least 10 times before the marathon, because Cherae gave me the URL so I could use images from CARE's website to promote our marathon. I gave the link to Arkarian so he could use the image on http://speeddemosarchive.com/marathon/.

I remember asking Cherae whether there was anything I needed to do in order to be approved by CARE when they accepted us back in November , but she said, no, all I had to do was send the money to CARE once the marathon was over. So basically, I was going through a process that should have been done back in November.

BTW, if you're trying to guess what this site is, well care's site is http://www.care.org/, and I was giving arkarian access to CARE's [b]logo[/b], so he could post it on our marathon page.

Cherae tells me to fax the agreement now that I've signed it, so I fax it on Sunday May 9th through Office Depot. I know this date because I sent an email the next day to Cherae telling her I've faxed the document. Instead of getting a response from Cherae (who is actually responding to my emails now), I get an automated response telling me she's attending a conferences in...

...Washington DC

Yes, the area that I live in. If I needed to define irony, I would just mention this. And no, I didn't walk up to her and ask what's up.

So I visit Breakdown the next weekend, partially because I need to be in Pennsylvania to help family members move, but also because we want to plan the next marathon. Yes, we were planning the next marathon even before Classic Games Done Quick was truly over. How devious of us! Aside from getting my car shot up (true story, ask Breakdown), we get a lot done discussing the next marathon, all while wondering how convincing CARE to send me a letter was taking so long. At this point you would think I was the one asking for over ten thousand dollars.

So now it's May 24th, two weeks after I send the fax to CARE. I ask Cherae whether she's received my fax, and she says she hasn't, and tells me to scan the signed agreement and send it to her. Now I'm wondering why I wasted four dollars sending a fax through Office Depot. :( Well this time she gets the letter, and says THANKS! Then a couple of days later she sends me this email.

[quote]"Hi Mike,

Our legal team said the agreement you sent me can be used for PayPal. Try this and let me know if it's sufficient."[/quote]

I thought I was already approved by the legal team, it only took me nearly two months. And two, what does "this" mean? Did Cherae mean to attach something to the email I wasn't seeing? Was there a document I missed? Or is she talking about the pdf files of the signed agreement that I just sent her. So I ask if she attached something to the email, or if she means the pdf files she just sent.

She then tells me, the pdf files. Now for those if you have a good memory and have kept up with this whole clusterfuck, you would know a signing an agreement on CARE's end wouldn't mean anything, because I needed a signed letter from someone with aurthority, according to this notice from paypal.

[quote]6.  Subordination letter on official letterhead from Cooperative for
Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) signed by an
officer/director/trustee of the parent organization clearly stating that
you are an authorized fundraiser on behalf of the parent organization.[/quote]

It's good to know that CARE was paying such close attention to my case.

Finally, Cherae says she'll fax me a letter herself. I'm wondering where I'll find a place to get it faxed at first, but eventually I come to my senses and realize it will be easier if she just mails me the letter. I give her my address June 8th, but I get no response (the theme of this entire charade). So on June 17th, I send another email asking whether she received my address, and I get an automated message telling me that this CARE's workweek and that Cherae will be unavailable at the moment. So I wait until the week is over, and on June 21st, I ask whether the letter was sent. Of course it wasn't, so Cherae sends the letter the next day.

If you're surprised it took about 2 weeks for CARE to send me a letter after I had been approved, then you haven't been paying too much attention to this story.

So I finally receive the letter on Thursday, and scan not only the letter, but the envelope too (see the attached CAREenvelope.pdf and CAREletter.pdf), just to ensure that I have proof that Classic Games Done Quick was approved by CARE. Now looking at this letter, you would think it would take them about 20 minutes to send, at most.

I rejoice, but I only have the letter from CARE. What if Paypal won't accept CARE's letter anymore? I figure I should celebrate my minor victory for now, especially since there was an upcoming beer festival, then worry about it next week (last week going by current time).

Now that the beer festival is over, I sober myself up, go to the Paypal site, and see they want me to send them a voided check and tax documents proving I'm a non-profit. I figure calling Paypal again wouldn't hurt.

Good call, after sitting through about a minute or two of an automated voice system, I get in contact with an actual representative, who looks through the computer records and says yes, all I need is the letter from CARE. Phew! The representative even tells me where to upload the the file, and tells me it shouldn't take long to process. Well, he wasn't lying, because the next day I check my Paypal account, and I get a notice saying my account is FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Yes, that's right, Paypal took a day to process my appeal, after CARE took about 6 months.

However, this story isn't quite over. Once I freed my Paypal account, it still took me a couple of days to transfer the funds to my bank account (this is true with any Paypal transfer). Once I saw the funds were in my Paypal account today, I decided to finally end the whole thing. This is what I was waiting for, to put the funds in CARE's account. Anyway, this whole thing was for charity, right?

So I start filling in my personal information for the payment, putting in SDA and the marathon as my honorees (check CAREpayment.pdf). And then I saw the payment line. I didn't feel too easy putting over ten thousand dollars on my debit card, so I looked for other options, and as soon as I clicked on that I saw this line.

"Select how you would like to make your donation: Credit Card, [b][u]PayPal[/u][/b] or via Online Check"

My natural response? Go outside run around screaming for 2 minutes, run back inside, punch some walls, and just go BATSHITZANIA. Then scream some more and drink myself stupid, which I'm still doing. :-X

Now I'm wondering why before the marathon started, Cherae told me CARE didn't have a Paypal account, because they had their own online payment system set up. I'm also wondering why Cherae CARE didn't have time to accomodate their online system for us, especially if they had paypal, considering the reason why I used my Paypal account in the first place was because I thought CARE DIDN'T HAVE A PAYPAL OF THEIR OWN TO USE FOR CHIPIN.

Now in their (very poor) defense, when I clicked on the drop down menu, there was only an option for credit card and online check, but no Paypal option. Instead, there was a blank space in the top option. If you doubt what you see in WHYYY.jpeg and CAREpayment.pdf, then just go to http://www.care.org/, click on Donate, donate online and click on the payment options.

BTW, I didn't go with serious in WHYYY.jpeg because it just seemed too obvious.

After I finally calmed down, I sent the money to CARE, and simultaneously felt awesome for persevering to finally donate to the charity we promised to give money to, and depressed for putting in all that effort into something that will hardly be credited. Well, at least I have proof I donated in CAREreceipt.pdf

I never would have expected it would be so hard to give over 10k to a charity.

I think if you look up pyrrhic victory in the dictionary, you'll find this mess as the definition. Screw Kirby, this is the most epic yarn I've been in. Yeah, I went there. Also having some drinks for victory helps too.
[/spoiler]

Now if you read through any of that, you might be going GRRR PAYPAL IS EVIL CORPORATION. Hold on there, while I'm not a big fan of what PayPal did, I do understand and respect why they did it. My PayPal account is an account that maybe moves 1000 dollars a year, and most of that is from paying for MAGFest registrations. Suddenly my account receives over 10k in three days, which looks pretty suspicious. All that Paypal wanted was proof that I was actually raising money for CARE and not trying to con anyone.

Furthermore, dealing with Paypal was incredibly easy. The representatives were friendly, and they even had records from back in January on their computer when I dealt with them in June. They kept their word when they said all I needed was a letter from CARE.

Now if you're wondering why I didn't make this news public until now, since a lot of forum members would have helped. Actually, I believe that, except if this news leaked before I made the donation, and someone who wasn't a huge fan of our forum caught on, then there would have been a huge shitstorm.

If you're wondering why I still stuck it out with CARE after all this time, it's because we promised our donations would go to CARE during the marathon, and I'm not one to back down from our word. Maybe CARE doesn't deserve our money, but I don't feel right deceiving people about where our donations went. I'm just glad I saw this whole thing through.

[b]Do not view this as "fuck charity, let's make the next marathon raise money for SDA". No, let's just be more careful about the next charity we choose. If the charity has its own Paypal account (that it will admit to), then this mess could be avoided entirely. If it's a smaller charity, then it will be much easier to get a proof letter than it was from CARE. I'm honestly liking Kareshi's idea of helping a smaller charity that needs our money more.[/b]

P.S. You don't know how much you miss having a free Paypal account until it's locked.

Frezy_Man, I'm sorry I couldn't buy the Wii using funds you would Paypal to me.

spacoina, I'm sorry I couldn't paypal you when you finally hit the Magician Lord bounty, despite how awesome you are at the game.

UraniumAnchor, yes, this is why I didn't respond to your request for chipin progress for a whole week when you requested it.

And yes Flip, this is why I said a couple of days ago, you would find out why our next marathon wouldn't support CARE.

P.P.S. If I go insane and postal, you guys will know why. :D

Tri-hex: You really suck if you can't upload pictures faster than this. :P

Attachments:

2010-07-06 11:43:29 pm

1-Up!

RAGE

Axel Ryman

2010-07-06 11:52:24 pm

We all scream for Eyes Cream

Quote from mikwuyma:

Screw Kirby, this is the most epic yarn I've been in.

I found something to include in my Sig now. Cheesy

I say the next marathon we raise money for the Mike Uyama Founda-*shot*

Tigger77

2010-07-07 01:58:24 am

I survived MIKE-Fest 1

Another proof for "there is no easy mode for Uyama"
even GIVE AWAY 10k is hard as a Contra run Grin

btw: good job man

Pootrain

2010-07-07 02:44:28 am

train kept rollin

Good job for sticking with it. I never would have thought it would be so hard to give 10K away. Roll Eyes

MatrixTN

2010-07-07 02:46:10 am

You got a deletion wish?

Do we dare ask for a "golden s---brick" count from you Mike?

Arrow

2010-07-07 04:37:54 am

Now a hit show on the CW

Did you guys consider Child's Play? Seems like it would be the most fitting charity given the nature of the marathon, not to mention that we would get shout outs on Penny Arcade.

Emptyeye

2010-07-07 06:01:16 am

Talk to the Hand

Mike can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't seem very likely since we've discussed this before. Unless his view has changed in the last six months, Mike feels that Child's Play, while a fine organization, is just treating symptoms rather than doing anything to actually end disease/poverty/etc.

(Note that, having spent extended periods in a hospital for about three months, albeit at an older age than Child's Play targets, I do not agree with this philosophy.)

Kharay1977

2010-07-07 06:37:41 am

Quote from Emptyeye:

is just treating symptoms rather than doing anything to actually end disease/poverty/etc.

I so hope that isn't true. If it is his true opinion on the matter... well, not going to voice what I think about that in here, it would only serve to get me banned, probably. And no, it has nothing to do with Child's Play in particular.

About the PayPal/CARE story: WTF? Bureaucracy at its best!

ZenicReverie

2010-07-07 07:30:26 am

Waiting hurts my soul...

Quote from Emptyeye:

Mike can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't seem very likely since we've discussed this before. Unless his view has changed in the last six months, Mike feels that Child's Play, while a fine organization, is just treating symptoms rather than doing anything to actually end disease/poverty/etc.

(Note that, having spent extended periods in a hospital for about three months, albeit at an older age than Child's Play targets, I do not agree with this philosophy.)

I haven't spoken with Mike in-depth on this, but his initial reasoning expressed to me was that Child's Play was too close to video game culture, and that giving to that charity for the first marathon would have been too inclusive.

mikwuyma

2010-07-07 09:00:32 am

My feelings on The Demon Rush

I have to say, I felt like I was in a Kafka story once I was finished with this mess.

Tigger77: I <3 you

pootrain: That's what I thought...six months ago.

Axel Ryman: I have no problems with raising money for the Mike Uyama foundation. Grin

Child's Play: What Emptyeye and Zenic said.

Kharay1977: Why would I ban you? If I banned everyone who had a disagreement here, I think the only person left would be Essentia. She's just too nice to disagree with anyone.

Kharay1977

2010-07-07 09:10:28 am

Quote from mikwuyma:

Kharay1977: Why would I ban you? If I banned everyone who had a disagreement here, I think the only person left would be Essentia. She's just too nice to disagree with anyone.

I've been banned for less from other places. Wink

My ban from phpBBHacks.com and phpBB.com is now in its 8th year. *grin*

And, nothing wrong with being left with just Essentia, to be honest. Wink

Essentia

2010-07-07 12:19:07 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

Quote from Kharay1977:

And, nothing wrong with being left with just Essentia, to be honest. Wink

Hmm, no more drama...but I would be so lonely! Sad

Great job, Mike, for sticking with it this entire time. I was wondering, did you happen to ask the TSG guys if they had any trouble like this with their marathons?

Kharay1977

2010-07-07 12:52:18 pm

Quote from Essentia:

Hmm, no more drama...but I would be so lonely! Sad

Mike and Essentia sitting in a tree...

do I really need to finish the rhyme?... Wink

spacoina

Edit history:

spacoina: 2010-07-07 01:27:18 pm

2010-07-07 01:00:17 pm

Big congrats Mike, really glad to see you persevered through all of this shit and delivered, you're a man of your word.

Also, it was fun for me to read all of that and suddenly understand the stuff you told me about in the past 6 months a lot better (eg your PayPal not working or the beer festival a few weekends ago) Smiley

edit: oh yeah Mike, don't worry at all about the bounty Wink

Sir VG

2010-07-07 01:20:51 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Quote from Kharay1977:

Quote from Essentia:

Hmm, no more drama...but I would be so lonely! Sad

Mike and Essentia sitting in a tree...

do I really need to finish the rhyme?... Wink

If you do, there will be drama with Essentia then...

mikwuyma

2010-07-07 01:30:28 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

BTW, I was just talking with mike89, and if the charity we choose for this marathon doesn't have a Paypal account, and doesn't want to bother setting one up, I can just ask for a proof letter in advance, and show it to Paypal before or after the marathon so we can avoid the trouble I went through in the first place. If the charity refuses for some reason, or takes forever to write the letter, then that's a sign I don't want to pick that charity.

Essentia: I never asked TSG if they had troubles with charities or Paypal. IIRC, Phil said Britt handles all of the money, so I'm not 100% sure if he would know, but it can't hurt to ask him.

spacoina: Yeah, I felt really lame telling you I couldn't use my Paypal account.

Kharay77: Marathoning? Tongue

Kharay1977

2010-07-07 01:41:01 pm

Quote from mikwuyma:

Kharay77: Marathoning? Tongue

Hey, if that takes your fancy, who am I to tell you otherwise? Just... pick a different charity this time?... Wink

tjp7154

2010-07-07 01:50:42 pm

#Casual

Quote from Lord_VG:

Quote from Kharay1977:

Quote from Essentia:

Hmm, no more drama...but I would be so lonely! Sad

Mike and Essentia sitting in a tree...

do I really need to finish the rhyme?... Wink

If you do, there will be drama with Essentia then...

Yeah, do that and you'll have a "Dent on" your face in no time.