Statement regarding the raffle

[Bralo20]

Friends,

 

It is with deep regret I have to make the following statement. It will be short and will only contain facts and figures.

 

A couple of weeks ago I was informed by Vic, the administrator of this forum, that there was an issue with the "Grand Prize" (and the consolation prizes too) which was offered during the raffle. Apparently it appeared that Jane (here known as Cheerfuljane) who offered the Grand Prize disappeared from the forum and from Facebook. But it got even worse, Jane did collect part of the raffle money on her personal account due to some issues with the CF2 account (at one point the account got locked and the address was changed to Jane's personal address to let the raffle continue) when the raffle was going strong. Jane collected close to 1,000 USD on her personal account which was intended to be transferred to the CF2 account. At the meeting the winner was announced and we all expected that Jane (who was donating most of the Grand Prize) would get in contact with Genni to sort things out for her prize. I personally asked Jane to contact me when she required my part of the deal (I was also going to donate part of the Grand Prize) but I lost track of everything and everyone since when I landed back in Belgium I was confronted with a seriously ill father who was transferred from home to critical care in the hospital on the day that I arrived home. My father spent over 6 months in the hospital while floating between life and death during the first month. I had other issues to deal with and expected Jane to contact me when she would arrange to give the Grand Prize.

 

Unfortunately, Jane is gone... She's gone from this forum, she never sent us the money she collected, she never came through with the Grand Prize she offered...

 

This put us in a very tough position... The forum doesn't have the money to cover the expenses of the Grand Prize and thus I have to announce that we cannot hand over the Grand Prize, just because we don't have the prize itself and because we don't have the funds for it. Since I agreed to fund part of the Grand Prize and since I am a man of my word, I am willing to keep my part of the deal. I'll contact Genni in the following days to see what I can do for her.

 

I hope that everybody can understand this and doesn't blame me or the rest of the team for what has happened. Nobody is to blame for what happened and I would appreciate it very much if everyone would think the same about it. The whole team worked very hard for the meeting, we put thousands of (personal!) dollars into the meeting and I think it was a success. This success was the work of the full team and I am very proud that I was able to work with them, if another meeting is organized in the future I'll be more then happy to work with the team again. It was a true honour!

 

To give you some idea of the costs of the meeting:

 

Logo design: 199 USD

IT setup (website, database): 600 USD

Badges, Lanyards, ICDFM banners, badgeprinter: 3,300 USD

Gift bags: 350 USD

Administrative cost (phone, fax, etc...): 50 USD

Meeting room: 400 USD

 

Total cost of the meeting (which was paid by the organizers personally, not a single USD from the raffle was used nor did we got any sponsor): 4,899 USD

 

There is still one thing left: The money collected during the raffle was going to be sent to Céline Dion for her foundation. Until this point this haven't happened because we weren't sure if we should wait until it hits our goal of 5,555 USD and we are still waiting for the money that Jane collected to be transferred into the CF2 account. Now that we are sure that the money which Jane collected has to be considered "lost" we'll have to move forward and thus we will make out a check for 3,865 USD to Céline Dion herself. We hope to get a picture with Celine and the check when this happens.

 

To conclude this statement I would like to express our sincere apologies for what happened. I hope that everybody understands how tough this situation is for us, the organisation of the meeting and the raffle. We have never ever, even not in a million years, expected such an ending like this.

 

On behalf of the ICDFM 2011 organisation,

 

Stijn Verbeeck

[Bellamy]

BTW, Jane asked me to remove her profile from our forum on May 5.

Hi BellamyLong timeCould you please delete my profile. I am not going to be apart of the Celine world any longer. Please don't take it personally. I love this forum and it's members but I have many other things I need to focus on right now. ThanksJane

And then on May 26. A friend of Genni asked me if a rumor about I died was true. So I asked where did she get that. Then she told me this:

 

Genni was in touch with Jane for a while, then Jane stopped responding to Genni's emails and PMs. She recently responded back telling Genni that she couldn't follow through with the prize. She told her in May that you died and you were the "travel agent". So I looked on CDF because I was shocked to hear such horrible news about you. Then I saw that you had just recently posted something and I left you a message.

That's bullshit. I'm not a travel agent. Jane offered the grand prize herself. That's how we knew that Jane was lying about the prize and won't fulfill it.

[tim123]

That is utterly disgraceful and not honest thing for someone to do. Now it is only my assumption but money Jane collected was properly used for her benefit to attend Celine shows or other matters. I have to be honest but that is one reason I was skeptical of donating simply because 1. don't know who person is 2. will money be submitted for the cause.

case closed re: the 2nd one. Does anyone realize the results of this? I for one may look further into posting and reading from the actual Celinedion.com site at least we don't have to fund it and have to read day after day of so much negativity on here. I don't post much but when I come here it is expected to hear some news not rambling of how fans want Celine to be or not to be.. some of you need to get a life. Celine isn't thinking of us 24/7 which is normal. She has family life and is entitled to it ... if she wants to talk about family than she has every right to. I support her 100% . In my book she is a phenomal person

Enough said!

Edited July 7, 2012 at 08:38 PM by tim123

[Bellamy]

That is utterly disgraceful and not honest thing for someone to do. Now it is only my assumption but money Jane collected was properly used for her benefit to attend Celine shows or other matters. I have to be honest but that is one reason I was skeptical of donating simply because 1. don't know who person is 2. will money be submitted for the cause.

case closed re: the 2nd one. Does anyone realize the results of this? I for one may look further into posting and reading from the actual Celinedion.com site at least we don't have to fund it and have to read day after day of so much negativity on here. I don't post much but when I come here it is expected to hear some news not rambling of how fans want Celine to be or not to be.. some of you need to get a life. Celine isn't thinking of us 24/7 which is normal. She has family life and is entitled to it ... if she wants to talk about family than she has every right to. I support her 100% . In my book she is a phenomal person

Enough said!

First, this forum never required anyone to fund it. Second, free speech.

[jacwar58]

I'm a bit shocked at reading this news. I knew Jane, after meeting her in the UK. She was kind enough to take me with her to the filming of An Audience with Celine Dion.

 

I noticed recently that she'd disappeared off Facebook but had no idea why. Her husband and family are still on it.

 

I can't believe that this was a calculated attempt at fraud by her and would like to believe that there is an explanation for what has happened. After all, it's theft at the end of the day.

 

What about the people on this forum who are friends with Jane in the USA....do they have any knowledge of what's happened? Maybe someone could get a message to her to ask for an explanation so we can have an understanding of what's gone on? I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt incase we're not aware of what's going on in her life, but at the end of the day what has happened has let a lot of people down,

[takeachance]

Thanks for sharing what happened guys Its really really awful. I cant believe she did that as I thought she was a very honest member. I never bought a raffle ticket that time as I didnt like the idea of donating to Jane so to speak. I never expected shed run off with my money, but I just didnt know her at all and I dont know much about the internet etc so I was put off sending my money to Jane. I am really glad I didnt now obviously. But i feel really really bad for those that did buy tickets. Jane was someone people trusted.... You know she seems so lovely on the A New Day Dvd.... youd never expect her to do this..... I dont know how people think they can get away with bad stuff like this in life. You may get away with it for a while, but it will always come back and bite you in the #ss.Its a pretty big deal what she has done I also cant believe she told someone Bellamy had been...... I dont even want to repeat it, its such a horrible thing to say.....

Like did she not think that HELLO everyone knows Bellamy is alive and kicking on this forum......

To Tim 123 , good luck if you wish to post on the celinedion.com. forum. I am sorry to say but, that forum over there has got some serious issues......Its terrible....So good luck with that and see you back here when you realise how very crap and bad that forum is......

 

I am interested in this.....Did Genni get her prize? I thought she had got her prize and had been to Vegas? and even had a meet and greet with Celine ? or was this a personal trip and nothing to do with this prize?????

If its the case she hasnt recieved her prize , well that is really awful.....

Edited July 7, 2012 at 10:19 PM by takeachance

[angelil78]

This is extremely sad!

 

I put money to the raffle and was so happy for the person who won first prize.

 

I was there for the meeting on March 15th 2011 and everyone who made this day happen did such a great job and I came up to Jane and thanked her for her part of it.

 

I don't care for the money I spent on the raffle. It was just a few $$ but for her to take off like that, I can't understand it and I also feel sorry for the people who won at the raffle.

 

There might be some explanation to what happened and why Jane has left with the money, our money but we deserve to know it.

 

 

Also, to blame this forum for what happened is not right!! The meeting was organized by few people from the forum yes and it was a fantastic meeting but Jane is not the forum! She's just one person that visited and took part in the conversation. So blaming the forum, you might as well blame yourself!

[angelil78]

I've heard that Jane in no contact with any of her Céline Friends

[Edwin]

I'd really like to hear Jane's side of all this. I still have hope that she used to money to pay for something that was meeting related. Unfortunately just disappearing like that just makes you look guilty.

[angelil78]

I'd really like to hear Jane's side of all this. I still have hope that she used to money to pay for something that was meeting related. Unfortunately just disappearing like that just makes you look guilty.

 

Agree with you on that. I don't want to stay something bad about Jane, but I do want to know what happened.

[Edwin]

Call me a chump but I've still have faith that there's a reasonable explanation. Too many unknowns from her side for me to really be convinced one way or another. Good luck wherever you are Jane.

[genbidi1]

My name is Genevieve Buckingham. I was the 'winner' of the raffle. Here's what happened:

 

Over the past few years, I have dreamed of going to Las Vegas to see Celine Dion. In March 2011 there was a raffle for a trip to Vegas to see Celine Dion which included airfares, accommodation, show tickets, limo transfers and spending money. I thought this was my only shot at going so I threw everything into winning. I won.

Over the course of time between March 2011 & now, I tried to contact the person in charge of running the raffle, Jane. Every time she assured me that I had to wait until 90 days before I wanted to go (which was the 22nd May 2012) to book. So I waiting. During this time I had to defend the prize to parents, my other friends assured me it was real. I even managed to get Jane to call mum in August 2011.

The reason why I wanted the trip in August was because there was meant to be a fan meeting. That crumbed in late 2011. Everyone who was planning to go in August for the fan meeting was devastated but, I thought I would still go in because my friends were still going.

In January 2012 I was very frustrated I almost told Jane to give the prize away because she tried to convinced me to change my travel plan by bribing me with the promise of front row seats. For wheelchairs they are very hard to get anywhere. She said she met with the head of security at Caesar’s Palace and tried to work something out. They said no of course due to safety risks. Thought to myself- I knew that but, again I was blinded by my faith.

Celine Dion is the only concert/show I would try anything to see.

During this time one of my friends who I have become extremely close to online told me, she was going in August to surprise me and I couldn’t let her down. She told me to boost my spirits but, she ruined the surprise by doing so

 

A few weeks prior to May 22nd I began emailing Jane and she responded. That reassured my faith greatly.

On the 21st May I received an email from Jane informing me the travel agent who would book my trip died in a car crash. I asked Jane to ring at the previously arranged time to figure out what to do next. She didn’t reply. I asked some of my friends in America to contact her for me-No one received any sort of reply.

On the 21st May I basically cried all day to the point of making myself sick. I was and (still am now) so frustrated with myself for being so foolish and I feel used and abused. I guess my passion for Celine and my longing for acceptance over took me.

To my surprise, my parents said we would go no matter what! I’m happy to go but, a part of me still feels utterly betrayed by this whole situation.

Today, we went to a travel agent to enquire about our trip. They are putting together a package for me. One of my brothers, Chris is coming too. Neither he nor mum has been overseas and I don’t spend much time with Chris. Also, I would like them to finally understand why I’m so ‘nuts’ about my Celine friends.

Its so much more than just being a fan. I have been completely honest about my life and they have accepted me.

I find with people in Australia they judge me on face value. Not online! Even when I started posting videos of myself I was completely scared but, they were wonderful. I consider some as my best friends.

[angelil78]

I feel so sorry for you

 

I remember that everyone was so happy at the restaurant that you won and even called you directly to tell you about it.

 

You deserve this so much.

 

Oh and let's say the travel agent died, another one can always take over..

[genbidi1]

you would thhink that but, no :-(

[Koolan]

So sorry that this had to happen to you. Who would've thought Jane would "run away" like that? I am glad you still have the chance to go to Vegas. Enjoy the $500 spending.

[Edwin]

Hi Gen,

Thanks for your sharing your story. I really feel for what you went through I'm sorry that it ended that way for you. There will be some fan events during the August shows so hopefully at least you'll get some support from us there too!

[Bralo20]

I'd really like to hear Jane's side of all this. I still have hope that she used to money to pay for something that was meeting related. Unfortunately just disappearing like that just makes you look guilty.

 

Edwin,

 

I trusted Jane completely, I never ever would have thought this would happen... But...

 

As a moderator it seemed you had access to the "hidden" forum where all preparations where done for the meeting and the raffle. Right?

 

Now if you want to, go ahead and take your time to browse through the whole bunch of topics... And look at which costs she had...

 

Jane paid for:

 

- The meeting room

- Some of the stuff in the giftbags

 

Vic told us that the forum could contribute 400 USD to the costs of the meeting, since I told Vic that I didn't want it (I made the most of the costs), Jane asked if she could have it to cover the costs of the meeting room. Vic transferred the 400 USD to Jane to cover the costs of the meeting room. Jane told us also that she got 100 USD personally in donations for the meeting which she would use to cover the costs of some of the stuff that she put into the gift bags.

 

So which costs did she have left?

 

 

There is more then 1.000 USD gone... Money from the raffle which went on her personal account that was never transferred to the CF2 account (it's been what? 16 months since the end of the raffle?). In addition to that she did get 500 USD (400 USD from Vic and 100 USD from anonymous people) to offset the costs she had made... So please Edwin, tell me, which extra costs did she make that warrant keeping the 1.000 USD?

 

I trusted Jane completely and she was a wonderful member of the committee but honestly? I can't see ANY reasonable explanation for this all...

 

And then I don't even got started with the Grand Prize which she did offer and was an idea of her...

 

 

Anyway, I think we all need to accept that we won't see the Grand Prize given by Jane and unfortunately I don't see the 1.000 USD+ returning either...

Edited July 8, 2012 at 08:26 AM by Bralo20

[Bralo20]

Gen,

 

Thank you for telling your story here.

 

Again, I cannot express myself how terrible we feel things have run like this.

[celinefanonline]

it's sad and upset to hear this.....

personally i did donate some money to help this raffle / meeting.... and yes i donated to Jane's account......

and wasn't really that happy with the meeting / lunch especially the lunch..... anyway

i did try talk to Jane over facebook few times last year but she never reply me at all...... so i gave up and didn't think of her at all until now u guys said she disappeared...... that's just s***... why would a person do such thing.... don't get it...

i talked to another fan recently (like 1 or 2 days ago) he knew Jane before The Red Heads, and met her in Vegas. he said that after he met her, he found her fake and strange.... so yeah

one thing couldn't really get my mind off and make me think is that, she might be the main reason there's some fighting between here and the red heads (of course i know there's more to it but yeah)

[celine81]

Gen.... I'm truly gutted for you

 

I was a prize winner also. I won a signed copy of 'For Keeps'

 

It took me months of persistence to receive the prize. I would like to donate my prize to you if you don't already have so please, please PM me your address and I'll ship to you!!

 

We all need to learn a lesson here in that we cannot trust anyone.... Especially where money is concerned!!

 

 

By the way this comment below about blaming the forum? Well it may not be blame but in the eyes of the law the Forum is jointly responsible for fulfilling the prize as it hosted it in good faith.

Also, to blame this forum for what happened is not right!! The meeting was organized by few people from the forum yes and it was a fantastic meeting but Jane is not the forum! She's just one person that visited and took part in the conversation. So blaming the forum, you might as well blame yourself!

 

 

This behaviour is reprehensible. Forum organisers you should be jointly ashamed!! Partly why I stopped donating......

 

As for Jane??? Well let's just forget the words..... You aren't worth it!! More importantly you have to live with the fact that you are a dishonest and disingenuous individual.

 

P xx

[Bralo20]

I like to react on the previous post by celine81...

 

Let me start by the part you think the organizers should be ashamed. Personally I don't think that anyone of the team, except for Jane, should be ashamed about anything... You can't blame any other team member for what has happened beyond our control and neither of us should be ashamed for what Jane did. Every single team member donated precious time, money and knowledge to make this meeting work. The meeting was a success, we had a bunch of people and everybody had a great time.

 

As for the Grand Prize to raise money it was an idea offered by Jane alone, she said that she would donate the prize and that she would take care of it. Nobody else of the team was involved in this except me, I added 500 USD to the grand prize so the winner would have spending money. I always intended to keep my end of the deal but lost track due health issues with my father. Part of the 500 USD was already transferred to Geni today and the second part of it will be transferred beginning next month before she leaves for her trip to Vegas. So if you really insist on blaming someone besides Jane for the Grand Prize then blame me as a part contributor to it but leave everyone else out of it. Again as a part contributor to the Grand Prize I've told Geni that I will see if I can find a way to assemble the Grand Prize by myself in the future, however I will not make any promises about it since I don't know if I can achieve this in the future.

 

If we knew from the start that this would have happened we would never allowed Jane to be part of the team... Most people we spoke were very positive about Jane, something that clearly changed after the meeting and the raffle was over.

 

To conclude this: If we can't trust anyone, how can we achieve anything in life? Sometimes we have to trust someone... I can honestly say that I would trust 99% of this forum, even with money... I've donated to this forum before, I've spend money on the meeting, I've donated to CF2... Except for let's say 10 USD that I transferred to test the raffle system and which went onto Jane's account every single Dollar is accounted for... And I'll happily spend/donate in the future...

[celine81]

Good for you dude. You are at least making the effort.

 

If 'trust' and 'integrity' were important to the people that run this thing though I would expect them to donate

all they could to give Geni what she deserves.

 

We must not pass the buck, everyone involved in running the forum could have removed the contest at anytime. They didn't

so therefore must be accountable.

 

If they won't then consider myself the first one in to donate to get Geni what she deserves.

 

Mods - Where is your voice??

 

Thanks

Paul x

[takeachance]

I dont understand why Jane would do this though. If she ever goes to a Celine concert again, she is not going to get on very well is she? I mean someone must know where she is. Aswell as not giving the prize she has actually stole peoples money too? Like basically people thought they were donating to Celines charity. She really needs to explain what has happened. I know she has to live with what she has done for the rest of her life and because so many Celine fans know her, especiall from the A New Day dvd, I cant believe she risked doing this. She is a known girl so does she want to avoid Celine things from now on all for 1000 dollar? she must be really broke if she cant give this to the winner like she promised. But at least could she not explain it..... Some one is going to see her sometime, she is known by too many isnt she?

[Bralo20]

We must not pass the buck, everyone involved in running the forum could have removed the contest at anytime. They didn't

so therefore must be accountable.

 

Tell me exactly why they would be accountable? Nobody knew this was going to happen... Vic didn't knew, Bellamy didn't knew, Jimena didn't knew, Salla didn't knew, Tracy didn't new and I didn't knew... If we knew before the raffle would have been stopped right away... But nobody, not even people outside the team, expected it to happen... If we knew it in front then we would be accountable, even more, then would it be premeditated. But now? We, ourself, were fooled by somebody we, and many others on this forum trusted.

 

Everybody, including Jane, was present at the meeting when the winners were announced, even at that point nobody expected this... It only became clear a couple of months ago when Geni didn't got any replies any more and when Jane lied about Bellamy being killed... A couple of weeks after that I was informed about it.

 

Paul, don't get me wrong, I do understand your anger, especially since I was very angry when I received the news about the raffle and Jane even to the point that I wanted to jump on a plane to Dallas, get a rental car and knock on Jane's door... But honestly, you can't hold everyone in the team or the leaders of the forum accountable. Everybody acted in good faith and if you think about it rationally you would agree with me.

 

 

If 'trust' and 'integrity' were important to the people that run this thing though I would expect them to donate

all they could to give Geni what she deserves.

 

Look, as much as Geni deserves the price I don't think it's fair to "order" the members of the team to pay for Jane's fraud. Vic, Bellamy, Jimena, Salla, Tracy nor me came up with the idea to offer such a prize, when Jane announced this, we all asked her if she was good for it, she promised us that she would offer the prize and that this was her contribution to the meeting and the fund raising. If one person is responsible for it all, it is Jane...

 

However, I said already that I would see what would be possible -without making any promises- for Geni. As said, I'm already offering the 500 USD which I did offer to Jane for the Grand Prize (but from which she (now looking back, fortunately) never contacted me for and I'm willing to add 100 USD per month to Geni's Paypal account for the time being (have to calculate the estimated value). (100 USD doesn't seem much but I do also have bills to pay, need some time of and have some medical issues myself, when possible I'm willing to increase the amount).

 

But please, don't blame anyone who couldn't have prevented this from happening (which nobody could after reviewing all the facts).

 

We all feel terrible and are all hurt by what has happened (our trust was broken, reputations were ruined, money was taken from a good cause,...). I hope you at least give us a little credit for facing the storm head on and not hiding like some probably would do. Trust me when I say this has caused us a lot of sleepless nights and headaches to see how we could fix this.

Edited July 8, 2012 at 09:06 PM by Bralo20

[takeachance]

I think its really lousy on you Bralo20 having to give all this money yourself. Its Jane that has stole the money and dissapeared. It should be her to give the money , not you, that is so unfair. Fair enough the 500 dollar but its lousy on you if you have to pay the rest!!!?? Where the hell is Jane?

[celine81]

Dude I'm not angry!! I'm disappointed that you cannot understand the fundamental point.

 

The mods permitted the contest, therefore it was supported, therefore there is joint liability. In a court of law you would all be

held accountable in this regardless of who organised it as it was hosted by this forum.

 

I'll give an example let's say a computer company offered a prize to be won on a TV show and the computer company did not

honour the prize the TV show would still be liable.

When it comes to money and competitions strict contracts should be drawn up to protect everyone.

The forum has failed to protect everyone that uses it from this eventuality whether it be unforeseen or not.

 

How you handle it is up to you, but I feel that all of the mods should get together and sort it out.

 

Please don't give the bleeding heart about sleepless nights, you are not the victims, Geni is.

 

I don't blame anyone individually but you are all very naive here and have most certainly learnt your lesson.

 

Real shame... I sincerely hope the mods understand their responsibility here.

 

P x

[celinedream]

I agree with Stijn, we all acted in good faith to organize this meeting. When the premiere was announced everyone was so excited that nobody thought about signing a legal contract or something similar with Jane when she offered the big prize. Good faith means trust, when you trust someone you don´t think that they will just dissapear with the money and never give the price.

 

Anyway lesson learned. And we thought it was the right of everyone who donated to know the truth from us and not from a third party or from rumors. I hope you appreciate this. Specially since we have nothing to hide. These things happen in life. Lesson learned. Let's move on.

 

Gladly we have started to collaborate with the RH again on twitter, because yes a big part of the problem with them was caused thanks to Jane. It's sad that they were right about her after all

[Koolan]

Paul, I get your point about the accountability since the forum did help advertise the raffle. However, as mentioned, we did it all in good faith. It's unfortunate that it had to end like this. We've learnt our lesson. Going forward, we'll have to be more careful with how contests are handled.

[genbidi1]

Gen.... I'm truly gutted for you

 

I was a prize winner also. I won a signed copy of 'For Keeps'

 

It took me months of persistence to receive the prize. I would like to donate my prize to you if you don't already have so please, please PM me your address and I'll ship to you!!

 

We all need to learn a lesson here in that we cannot trust anyone.... Especially where money is concerned!!

By the way this comment below about blaming the forum? Well it may not be blame but in the eyes of the law the Forum is jointly responsible for fulfilling the prize as it hosted it in good faith.

This behaviour is reprehensible. Forum organisers you should be jointly ashamed!! Partly why I stopped donating......

 

As for Jane??? Well let's just forget the words..... You aren't worth it!! More importantly you have to live with the fact that you are a dishonest and disingenuous individual.

 

P xx

 

Thanks for the kind offer but, you don't have to send me your FOR KEEPS its yours

 

However, theres something I could really use help. I want to set up a meeting with Patrick, Rene, Lisa or someone to inform them when happened.

 

I started emailing in June but, havent had a reply . I wouldn't ask normally but, if anyone has connections could you please help me

 

thanks

[celinefanonline]

Genni if u don't have For Keeps i can send u one and since i'm also in Australia it would be easier too!!!

well i got extra one so yeah!!! pm me ur name and address!!! (of course u don't need to pay me anything!)

Edited July 9, 2012 at 05:22 AM by celinefanonline