[SIZE=9.5pt]My name is Paul Charchian. I'm the president of LeagueSafe, and I'm a huge supporter of FootballGuys, and in particular, Joe, David, and Sigmund.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]I want to start by offering apologies to Jared for his frustration with the situation. You feel that you've been slighted by $300. And rightfully so. You have been.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]I also want to apologize to Joe and David, people I've known for over a decade, for having this thread in their community. I'm sorry this has come to your house.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]LeagueSafe handles hundreds of thousands of transactions. Virtually all of them go exactly as expected. This is an exception. And, we take it very seriously.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]I'm very proud of LeagueSafe's track record. When we started LeagueSafe in 2008-2009, lots of people in these forums posted assurances that LeagueSafe would steal everyone's money. That LeagueSafe would be out of business in a year or two.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]Instead, we've seamlessly paid everyone. We've paid out many millions of dollars, and nobody has been shorted a penny. We've provided a dramatic improvement in league security over PayPal and snailmail. I encourage people to search the Shark Pool for stories of people who have been screwed out of money. You'll quickly see dozens of stories of commissioners running off with league funds when people didn't use LeagueSafe.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]LeagueSafe is designed to be a solution, not a problem. Of course, we're not perfect. Which brings me back to Jared's situation.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]Jared, you've been swindled. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]Josh stole $300 from your league when he A) asked us for a refund, B) didn't tell your league he had done so, and C) then played out his team for half a season before bailing on a losing team. That's stealing, plain and simple.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]I can't help but wonder if Josh would have bailed in week seven if his team was 6-1.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]In my eyes, 99% of this situation is on Josh's shoulders. He's the bad guy here. It's not Beth or Laura or Jared or Paul. Josh knowingly, purposefully, stole from you and your league. I imagine Josh could be reading this right now, and smiling with the knowledge that he's stolen $300, yet LeagueSafe is being vilified.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]Did LeagueSafe help Josh steal? When someone asks LeagueSafe for a refund, we don't know the circumstances. I think everyone will agree, we can't possibly know how legitimate the request is. We follow our guidelines. When Josh made the request, we were obligated to honor it. We did.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]While we strive to maintain the integrity of each league's funds, we are also responsible to each individual. Had we denied Josh's refund in July, we would have been violating our duty to him, and our own Terms of Service.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]Should LeagueSafe have notified the Jared when Josh was refunded? We posted an entry on the league's home page, notifying the league that Josh had been given a refund. We weren't obligated to. As we learn from #######s like Josh, we may need to offer more reporting of refunds. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]As most of you know, LeagueSafe is a trailblazing product. When I created LeagueSafe, there was nothing like it on the market. Even today, we believe we have 99% of the escrow business. That means that scams, like Josh's, get tried on us first.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]There are no templates for us to follow. Things happen that we can't anticipate. Or things happen that we anticipate incorrectly. We're human, and we're learning as we grow to accommodate our expanding user base…a user base that has people like Josh in it.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]Jared, I believe that LeagueSafe acted in 100% accordance with the Terms of Service on our site every step of the way. I also believe that Josh is the villain. He stole from you and your league. LeagueSafe has no obligation to double the wrongdoing and pay another $300. LeagueSafe won't do it.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]But I will. Personally. I will buy Josh's ####ty team for $300. I will run it, try to improve it, and hopefully someday, resell it, and get my money back.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.5pt]I hope you will accept this offer. It puts $300 back in your league, and it protects the integrity of your league by putting a motivated owner in charge of Josh's team. [/SIZE]