Catastrophe and his Stand Over Tactics

[Ned@TheEDGE]

Since this got deleted from OSO because it involved the charming and delightful Alec Cloake I thought I would post it here. About a week ago my Project manager Ian posted a thread about the new magazine we are launching in January which will replace H2O. Well this continues on from that.
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Just to give you guys a heads up on something. Over the past week I have been sitting back and watching as Alec Cloake (Catastrophe) has been trying to bully and blackmail my Project Manager Ian Matheson into paying some imaginary bill.

Now I am happy to share everything with you since I am not going to let Cloake standover Ian any further. It dates back to when we went to Grand Lake in Oklahoma to cover the E Dock gang. I took Jay Nichols and Lori there to shoot the feature. Well Mr Nicholls was booked to arrive into OK late one afternoon and that I would arrange a hotel for him to stay overnight and when I arrived later that night I would take him and Lori to Grand Lake in my rental car. Well seems like he decided to change plans without even discussing it with us and rented another car, which remained sitting in Jim Lees garage for the week we were there, costing us around $1000 of dead money.

Then not that long later We sent Nicholls down to Grand Cayman to cover the Million Dollar run. We paid for his airfare and expenses etc as would be expected. He duly sent us the images and story for the event, although the text needed a lot of work, but this was expected and accepted. Not long after that I also sent him to the Virgin Islands to cover another poker run for us. Again we covered his airline tickets and expenses and this was no issue. We received the images but never received the story, and to this date have never received it.

Then Patchogue was coming up. I called Smitty and asked that if we sent someone to cover the event could he do me a favour and put them in the helicopter to shoot some images. In his usual helpful way Smitty said he would make it happen. I then asked Jay if he would go. He agreed and he booked the airline ticket and the accommodation. Funds were transferred to him for the airline tickets so this was squared before he left. Once there he got himself a hotel, which was a lot more than he was told to spend, and he knew this.

Well during the event he decided that since he hadnt been paid for the Grand Cayman piece, even though according to our terms it wasnt due at that time, he wasnt going to send us the BVI text nor the story and images from Patchogue, even though he had already taken advantage of me paying for the airline tickets to get to Patchogue. Needless to say I expressed my opinions and told him where to go. From then we had nothing to do with him for many months. He was advised that if he didnt send us the images and story as agreed then he wouldnt get any expenses reimbursed. He declined to send us anything and thats where it was left, and again I will highlight that he continued to go flying in the helicopter that was provided for him as a favour to H2O, and he sold images from that race meeting to others that wanted them.

Then fast forward to a few days ago when Ian posted on here about the new magazine, and Ian receives PMs from Cloak telling him that he had "bought Jays debt" and that we owed him $4000, which was very interesting considering the whole amount of expenses Nicholls incurred at Patchogue was $1135, and we have a paypal invoice to this effect from Nicholls. Ian explained to Cloak numerous times that Nicholls was not owed anything for the BVI story or Patchogue story as he didnt fulful his requirement to send the story and images for both so they could be published. Cloak became even more agressive and threatening, telling Ian he would be hounding us on all the websites and making life for us a misery. He also told us that everyone who posted on this thread wishing us well would be sent a PM telling them that we screwed Jay Nicholls. Just goes to show the class of the person.

Now I will admit right here and now that when my accounts person went back through the books she had neglected to make a transfer to Nicholls for the Grand Cayman story, and this was sorted a few days ago by a paypal transfer (copy of which is available for anyone wishes to see it). Yes she made a mistake and this was corrected. But since then Cloak has continued to harras Ian and threaten him that unless we paid Nicholls his expenses from Patchogue then he would be contacting our advertisers and anyone he could and making our life miser for the $1200 we wouldnt pay.

Now you can all make up your own minds on what has transpired. I have chatted with Matt Trulio, my Exec Editor on the new mag and asked him what he would do, he said that since no images or story was ever received, he isnt entitled to any funds. Now Cloak says that the only way that Nicholls could get payment was to withhold services from us. Well thats fine if he wants to do that, but if it was such as issue then why did he still accept the trip to Patchogue, using the airline ticket we paid for, flying in the helicopter that Smitty provided to us and staying in a hotel that was going to be provided for us. Had he decided that NO I am not going until the Cayman story is paid for, then that would have been fine. But he didnt, he wanted his cake and eat it to.

Anyway here is the full story and we have copies of all emails and PMs from Cloak and even the one from Nicholls on FB outlining what was owing, in his own words and will stand by our decision.

You all have your own thoughts and ideas on who is right and who is wrong, but all I will say is we are not going to get blackmailed and bullied into paying something because Cloak is mates with Nicholls. Yes I have been slack paying bills in the past and one or two have been highlighted here and everyone is responsible for their own actions, sort of like when Cloak had some african american people on his boat at Fort Myers last year and dropped the N word in front of them. So we are not all perfect, and I am far from it.

I am not going to post on here anymore about this. You are all free to make your own decisions.

Ned

[Ned@TheEDGE]

And if anyone is interested we have copies of all the PMs from Cloak printed out for your viewing pleasure which show all his threats.

Ned

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

In case you haven't noticed neither JayBoat or Catastrophe post here..

[Ned@TheEDGE]

Jim - Thats fine, just thought I would post it here anyway so people can see the true colours of both these individuals.

I do know they are able to visit and read the posts from time to time so might as well give them something to read

It got deleted from OSO because the mods there are bossom buddies with Alec.

[Bobcat]

Are we talking about Jay "short eyes" Nichols....he is banned, and not only from here

[Ned@TheEDGE]

Bobcat - Yep the one and only. Sad that they would happily let Alec terrorise my admin manager but when I wanted to post and let everyone know what he was doing the mods removed my post. Doesnt really surprise me though.

Ned

[mdkeywest]

oso is run by women ,

[Ned@TheEDGE]

They do have a couple of good mods there, you know who you are

[Buoy]

oso is run by women ,

What kind of boats do they have? Nothing cooler than a gal that owns her own boat. That's how I met my wife

[Bobcat]

I'm laughing so hard the chili I ate an hour ago might not wait for that 2nd cup of coffee tomorrow !

[catastrophe]

Wait, I'll be right with ya.

[Ned@TheEDGE]

Have your say Cloak, its an open forum. You tried stand over tactics with Ian and showed what sort of person you are. I dont really care what you have to say. I know the facts and you can believe whatever lies and B/s Nicholls has told you. Yeah we made a mistake in the payment for Grand Cayman story to Nicholls but if you think you can bully us into paying him $1200 for nothing you are wrong.

[Ned@TheEDGE]

Phragle - His claim that be bought a debt is B/S. He first off said he bought the debt owed to Jayboat and that we now owed him $4000. Now thats interesting because the whole amount that Nicholls said he was owed, including the payment he wanted for the expenses from Patchogue and the fee for stories that werent published came to only $3K. So where he got the $4k from I dont know.

Then when Ian replied to him he told us to get our facts right and that he was talking about only Patchogue. Ok then, now according to the paypal invoice we got from Nicholls his whole expenses came to $1135 so how Cloak came up with $4K for just patchogue again amazes me. He must have some super duper calculator.

Anyway the debt is bogus anyway as we had no written agreement with Nichols on how much and for what he was being paid. It was usually based on number of words and number of pics and as was explained to Cloak on more than one occasion you cant say someone owes you money for stories and images that were never even published.

Anyway he will come on here with some big tirade about how we have screwed over Nicholls and we are the bad guys. But bottom line he is trying to get money for Nicholls for work he didnt do.

And no doubt Cloak will drag up those posts from the past where I have had people criticise me for slow paying bills etc, but thats fine he can do that if it makes him happy, I know I have flaws and thats just life. Would be great to be so perfect like him

[Ned@TheEDGE]

Oh I have got Ian to print off all the PM messages that he received from Cloak, as well as his replies so thats taken care of. Also got print offs from the PM messages from Nicholls to myself on FB outlining what he said was owed, copies of the invoices Nicholls sent on Paypal etc. Got all that sort of stuff.

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

Well get his name right. Cloke.

[catastrophe]

Ned, I am truely sorry this has happened to you, your magazine was top notch and I am sure your next one will be just as good if not better. Providing countless free subscriptions goeswell over above and beyond. You need to save all communications incase it escalates. There are very strict laws regarding what bill colectors can and cannot do and hefty civil penelties. Since it was stated that he 'bought' the debt, this makes him an unlicensed collection agency and he must adhere to those laws.He can NOT publiclly humiliate you nor mention the debt to others, if you provide him in writing what is acceptable communication, he may NOT contact you any other way. He may NOT harrass or attempt to intimidate you etc.

He (since he now claims to be a debt collector) cannot

1. Ask you to pay more than you owe

The collector cannot misrepresent the amount you owe. [15 USC 1692e] § 807(2)(a)2. Ask you to pay interest, fees, or expenses that are not allowed by law

The collector can't add on any extra fees that your original credit or loan agreement doesn't allow. [15 USC 1692f] § 808(1)
3. Call repeatedly or continuously

The FDCPA considers repeat calls as harassment. [15 USC 1692d] § 806(5)
4. Use obscene, profane, or abusive language

Using this kind of language is considered harassment. [15 USC 1692d] § 806(2)
5. Call before 8:00 am or after 9:00 pm

Calls during these times are considered harassment. [15 USC 1692c] § 805(a)(1)
6. Call at times the collector knew or should know are inconvenient

Calls at these times are considered harassment. [15 USC 1692c] § 805(a)(1)
7. Use or threaten to use violence if you don't pay the debt

Collectors can't threaten violence against you. [15 USC 1692d] § 806(1)
8. Threaten action they cannot or will not take

Collectors can't threaten to sue or file charges against you, garnish wages, take property, cause job loss, or ruin your credit when the collector cannot or does not intend to take the action. [15 USC 1692e] § 807(5)
9. Illegally inform a third party about your alleged debt

Unless you have expressly given permision, collectors are not allowed to inform anyone about your debt except:

• your attorney
• the creditor
• the creditor's attorney
• a credit reporting agency
• your spouse
• your parent (if you are a minor)

[15 USC 1692c] § 805(b)
10. Repeatedly call a third party to get your location information

The collector can only contact a third party once unless it has reason to believe the information previously provided is false. [15 USC 1692b] § 804(1)
11. Contact you at work knowing your employer doesn't approve

A collector is not allowed to contact you at work if you’ve let them know your employer doesn’t approve of these calls. [15 USC 1692c] § 805(a)(3)
12. Fail to send a written debt validation notice

Within five days of the collector's initial communication, it must send you a notice include the amount of the debt, name of the creditor, and notice of your right to dispute the debt within 30 days. [15 USC 1692g] § 809(a)
13. Ignore your written request to verify the debt and continue to collect

A collector can't continue to collect on a debt after you've made a written request to verify the debt as long as the request was made within 30 days of the collector's written notice. [15 USC 1692g] § 809(b)
14. Continue to collect on the debt before providing verification

After receiving your written dispute, the collector must stop collecting on the debt until you have receieved verification. [15 USC 1692g] § 809(b)
15. Continue collection attempts after receiving a cease communication notice

If you make a written request for the collector to cease communication, it can only contact you one more time, via mail to let you know one of the following: that further efforts to collect the debt are terminated, that certain actions may be taken by the collector, or that the collector is definitely going to take certain actions. [15 USC 1692c] § 805(c)

None of this is accurate.
Ned owes money for last years photography and before he launches his next venture he should pay up.

Whether its an engine builder who doesnt perform, a mechanic that cheats, a boat hauler who hauls boats unwrapped or a magazine publisher who doesnt pay his photographers or helicopters or whatever, this industry is stupid for putting up with any of these characters.

This is just another exercise in closing one company and starting another while walking away from financial obligations.

And if it happened to any one of you that are about to start bashing then so be it.


Cayman Shoot......shot in April 2009................paid YESTERDAY

BVI Shoot
and text..............shot in May 2009.................not paid

EDock Shoot.........shot in July 2009.................paid February 2010

Patchogue Shoot
and text...............shot in August 2009................not paid


BVI shoot and text submitted in full ...publication of that issue was cancelled
therefore not paid for.

Patchogue pictures only were submitted so the layout could be done
Patchogue story was written but withheld.

Patchogue story was withheld in October of 2009 because NOTHING produced in all of 2009 at that point had been paid for.

If you were a provider of services in any business you would like to name that hadnt been paid all year, would you not have acted the same ??

All Ned has to do is live up to his obligations . Simple.

Phragle

You dont like it when you cant get a free membership on OSO.
How would you like to get stiffed for $ 4000.00 ??

[Bgchuby01]

Alex is is nothing but trouble just ask some of the mods on here, As for OSO being run by women, it is run by only one. speedgirl

[catastrophe]

Well get his name right. Cloke.

Thanks

The disrespect !!

[Davidmnc]

Alec,

Um...................what do you have to do with this any way? I'm just say'n.

[catastrophe]

Alec,

Um...................what do you have to do with this any way? I'm just say'n.

Just lookin out for a friend. Nothin more.