I feel your pain, man. I paid $120 for something and asked for a refund 2 months ago. Then she did her "shut down" and was supposed to be back in operation 8/1. This is just freaking great news.

I know we don't usually talk about other dealers... i'm not entirely sure what they sell. But I looked at the site and it says "The Mithril Armoury is temporarily closed. We plan to reopen at the end of July. All existing/open orders will be filled per product availability and by ..."

I don't know what this means exactly. But from the sounds of it... they may be closed till the end of the month before they re-open.

It's always better to go with a site that you know you can trust and that wont suddenly disappear like that without warning. I do hope that your items are given... for no money should ever be wasted.

Thorin wrote:I know we don't usually talk about other dealers... i'm not entirely sure what they sell. But I looked at the site and it says "The Mithril Armoury is temporarily closed. We plan to reopen at the end of July. All existing/open orders will be filled per product availability and by ..."

I don't know what this means exactly. But from the sounds of it... they may be closed till the end of the month before they re-open.

The site says this for you now? Right now? Whenever I go to it there is absolutely nothing there, page cannot be displayed. I know it used to say that, but I get nothing now.

This site was reliable and she was good at updating you on the status of everything. Now it just seems like she has jumped ship and stolen everyone's money. It would be nice to get a list of everyone that she screwed and see how much that comes to and get the police in her city involved.

Okay, now that an admin has posted without closing the thread, I might aswell say somthing. I bought there eowyn raffle ticket and ended up winning the sword, and now Im in the same position as you guys (though im only out 5 dollars). I have posted on the "Tolkien online forum", which they sponcer(ed), asking what happened. I also know that there is a member on these forums that knows the owner. If I find any news, ill post it

~wormtongue

Grima Wormtongue wrote: I have posted on the "Tolkien online forum", which they sponcer(ed), asking what happened. I also know that there is a member on these forums that knows the owner. If I find any news, ill post it

~wormtongue

Excellent, Grima thanks for posting. If enough of us stick together, hopefully we can get this resolved to where everyone is happy.

Got a response from her this morning, anyone else? I'm sorry to hear that things aren't going well for her business, but that doesn't give her the right to spend our money.

I am and will continue to be issuing refunds for all orders; it's all a long

story, but TMA is now closed with no hope of reopening. I tried to keep

things going, but it proved to be impossible.

Please look for a refund around the first of September.

So sorry and thanks for your patience!

Ginger

Sir Tristram wrote:I received that response as well, but when I responded with another question...I got nada in return!

I was told by two others that received refund checks from her already (in June) that they both bounced and they have yet to get a refund after that! :thumbsdow

That's NOT cool. They could take her to small claims court for that. Those 2 people probably had to pay their bank the NSF fee which makes even more $ that they've been screwed out of. She told me she would mail my refund check the first week of September, but what's the point if it's just gonna bounce? That will only make things worse. She told me she really only owes people about $6,000, which in the grand scheme of things is not the end of the world, and not worth going through bankruptcy as some people have irresponsibly recommended for her to do. It can be paid rather quickly if she will just sit down and manage her money.

Brego, you said you know her and it's not in her nature to "take the money and run". Well it doesn't look good at all on her part when her customers have to hunt her down by trying every email address out there. She should be courteous enough to the customers who have put their faith in her with their money to e xp ect communication and updates on how their transactions are progressing. What she's done is really, really bad ethics by not sending out any word at all. Just think of those people who may not visit these types of boards, wake up to see her site gone and all contact info vanished and/or bouncing back to them?

I don't want it to sound like I hate her or anything, because I don't. It just really bothers me how she is handling the situation. NOT professional at all.

Brego wrote: I'm just tying to give her the benefit of the doubt but I know it's tough when we hear about refund checks bouncing but those folks shouldn't get charged for NSF. Since it's a 'third party' check the bank would hold it while trying to cash it in. Ginger's bank would charge her for NSF which in turn only exacerbates her problem of trying to refund everyone.

I even called the BBB in Georgia; not to complain but to try and find out the status of her business; if that was possible. I kept getting handed off to various call stackers and after 20 minutes of transferring never spoke to a real person; talk about frustrating.

In any case we're all waiting together so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that this all works out.

Ok. That really sucks about the BBB.
All I know is that when someone wrote us a bad check my bank penalized me because of it and that was not cool. I just assumed that this was the same with this situation. Maybe it wasn't. I just hope when she mails these checks out in September that she has enough in her account to cover them all.

Sir Tristram wrote:I hope that we get the checks to begin with!

Me too, but the check is a virtually worthless piece of paper and huge hassle if it doesn't have the $$ to back it up.

Hey everyone,

I'm in the same pickle as everyone else here, as I am owed over $1000 in refunds from the Mithril Armoury. I've done business with Ginger for over two years now and never had anything but excellent service. I do agree that she could be handling the diplomatic side of this a whole lot better, but financial difficulties of this sort tend to send people into a panic mode that makes them behave out of character. I've been in contact with her throughout this whole thing, even as recently as yesterday, and she continues to give me her reassurances that I will be payed back all of my money, and I believe her. It may take time, but I am confident I will see that money again, because when it comes down to it, and as was mentioned here by someone else, she is simply not that kind of person. She did inform me that she does not consider bankruptcy a viable option for her and is not even considering it, but does plan to pay everyone back... all that she asks for now is a bit of our patience and faith.

I realize this can be a tough proposition when your hard earned money is at stake, but I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for now. I was just as alarmed as you all were when the website and email contacts went down, but I was able to get a hold of her after and sort things out amiably.

I will post here again if I receive any further updates from her.

Updates anyone? 1st of September past, did anyone get a refund? or any other emails?

~wormtongue

I was just about to ask if anyone had seen anything from her since we are into September now. I got the same information about the August paycheck a couple weeks ago.

My report is the same as Brego's. Since there was no Sept. 1st refund in sight, I contacted her regarding legal action. I was told that it would be basically pointless for two reasons: first, she is waiting on a loan that will repay all of the money that is owed to TMA customers this month. Second, and if that loan fails to come through, bankruptcy will indeed be her only option, at which point all of us will be listed as creditors under her business and the bank or court will be handling it then. So, under the law, we will get our money one way or another.

Got an email from her today. Looks like she is filing for bankruptcy, the reorginization kind. She's supposed to meet with a lawyer on Tuesday to file the papers and get a payment schedule set up by the court. Just wanted to keep everyone posted with the latest.

I got the same mail, though I am not sure if it is bankruptcy, since not only does she not use that word, she also makes mention of the fact the she will likely be allowed to keep her house, and that her financial record will remain clean. As far as I know, bankruptcy would not allow for either of those two things to be true, but then again I could be wrong. Whatever the case may be, she seems confident that she is on track to paying us all back, and that gives me hope.

In the US, there are 2 kinds (at least) of bankruptcy. Chapter 11, also called reorganization, lets you shield your assets, like your residence, and the court sets up a pecking order for repaying your debts. Chapter 13 is liquidation--then your assets are sold by the court. What either of these does to your record, I don't know.

Before anyone wonders, I don't know any of this from personal e xp erience. It's merely what I pick up from the news, things at work (I work for a regulatory agency where our "clients" sometimes take bankruptcy to get out of paying penalties to the State), etc.

Valkrist wrote:I got the same mail, though I am not sure if it is bankruptcy, since not only does she not use that word, she also makes mention of the fact the she will likely be allowed to keep her house, and that her financial record will remain clean. As far as I know, bankruptcy would not allow for either of those two things to be true, but then again I could be wrong. Whatever the case may be, she seems confident that she is on track to paying us all back, and that gives me hope.

Olorin1 is right about the types of personal bankruptcy. And in the US if you file for any type of bankruptcy it will be on your record for 7 years. She probably doesn't want to mention the word bankruptcy because we have all been telling her not to file for such a small amount owed. Whatever. At least we got an update.

Well, I did say I could be wrong and that I wasn't sure, did I not? Whatever the case, I'm just encouraged by the fact that she is keeping us posted and that there seems to be a glimmer of hope on the horizon for us.

Ok, here is the latest update: she has indeed filed for bankruptcy, Chapter 7 to be precise. Papers were signed today and will be filed by her lawyer tomorrow. The court hearing will take place 30 days from now, at which point she will begin repayment of her debts, and that includes us. How and why? As she e xp lains, this is Chapter 7, not Chapter 13. The difference is that the monies owed to us, her customers, were not put down as exempt and C.7 sets up a consolidated payment plan to debtors, whereas C.13 erases debt and would have left us out in the cold. So, no matter what the courts decide about her personal assets, she will still be legally obligated to pay that money to us, and she says she fully intends to.

The catch is, she cannot begin to pay us back until after this hearing. She urges us not to file any legal action of our own, as such processes will be bulked with her other debts and thus become exempt from her responsibility. In other words, it sounds like if we do that, we are actually decreasing our chances of seeing our money back because it will be superseded by the bankruptcy case. Not only that, you will be owing legal fees of your own on top.

Again, she seems very sincere in all this and is doing her utmost to reassure us that we will be paid back in full when it becomes possible to do so. The fact that her debts to us were not filed as exempt are a good sign of that.

Keep your fingers crossed, and I guess the next update won't come until a month from now.

No problem, and thanks for the advice, it is most welcome. I, for one, am still willing to believe she is being sincere. I have known her for nearly four years(in and outside of the Mithril Armoury,) and never once in all that time and in all of our past transactions did she give me cause for mistrust and dishonesty. Granted these are unfortunate circumstances that lead people to do some desperate things, but I believe in her character and integrity. I do have some measure of compassion for people whose lives can get messed up like this, and yes, it sucks to be out some money as a result, but I haven't given up on her yet.

Of course. I get what you are saying perfectly, and am not discounting the possibility that this may come to a bad end. I too am a cautious person and do not give out my trust easily. One thing to bear in mind though is that if we dont' afford others a little bit of faith and hope in them from time to time, then this world becomes that much less appealing to live in.

Just wondered if anyone has had any updates recently? It was mid October the last time I heard anything. Supposedly 30 days after her last email was when the courts would decide her fate.

I had a couple of mails from her this past week. The court thing was settled just this month, and she maintains her pledge to pay what she owes back to her customers. I will post here if I receive anything.

Valkrist wrote:I had a couple of mails from her this past week. The court thing was settled just this month, and she maintains her pledge to pay what she owes back to her customers. I will post here if I receive anything.

Again, she is not giving those who she owes money to the respect they deserve! ALL her customers should be getting updates, not a select few. The last email I received from her on Oct 11 said that her court date was approx 30 days from Oct 12. As soon as that court date was passed we should have received an update, or if the court date was delayed we should have received an update. I think we all have been more than patient with her. All we request right now is to be kept informed of the proceedings. Is that so difficult????

I don't disagree with you in the least. I think everyone is entitled to be kept up to date. I suspect she's been in contact with me more than anyone due to the fact that we've been friends for a few years, but that still does not make it right. That doesn't mean I've received any money while you have not though. The best I can do is keep you guys updated for now.

I dont think that, at least judging from the situation she is in, that she has the time to update everyone. I mean... how many people does she owe money to? If she says she will pay everyone back.. and it is now in the law system, i'm sure you will get your money back. Of course its not fair... but we can't e xp ect that she be able to keep in touch with everyone on a regular basis.

Yes, I agree this could have been handled better, and we all know about the 'carbon copy' function that email has. However, not having ever been in the difficult position that she has gone through, I hesitate to judge too harshly. I can't personally recommend that anyone wait any longer if they wish to take action because I feel some people are well past that.

Something else to bear in mind in this situation that is unhappy and unpleasant for all involved, while again keeping in mind that I am not an e xp ert on bankruptcy:

Since she has gone thru bankruptcy, the court is now in control of her finances, and as there are likely not enough of those to pay everyone she owes money to (else, she wouldn't have had to declare bankruptcy to begin with), you guys may get SOME money back, but I doubt you'll get everything you're owed.

People like buying online because you can get better prices, but there still remains a lot to be said for conventional brick-and-mortar retail. It's there, you see it, you pay for it, it's yours. No waiting on something to come after you've ordered it, not to mention being able to interact face to face. I'm extremely leery of shopping online, and tend to restrict it to entities with established reputations. I did some research on BBB before I ordered from them the first time, since I'd never heard of them before.

Valkrist, have you heard anything from her lately?