And here I thought I had shitty neighbors. The neighbor before last was a Cheeto-eating, Mountain Dew-drinking video game addict who would stay up all hours of the day and night loudly playing League of Legends. He was so addicted, in fact, that his poor dog had to piss on the floor as he so rarely took her out. Loser. I digress.
On November 2nd, Maine couple Danette Dalton and Michael Smith of Skowhegan lost their home and their dog when a fire started in the wall near a wood stove in the living room. Fire Chief Shawn Howard personally carried out the family dog Pickles and gently placed a white blanket over his body.
The fire department declared the first floor of the home a total loss, and the couple did not have insurance on the home.
Shortly after the fire, a neighbor down the street fired up a GoFundMe campaign. Dalton says they never saw a penny of the $275 raised. Two-hundred and seventy-five dollars. Pennies, surely, but it’s the principle here.
“People were donating to it, and just before Thanksgiving we asked for the user name and password to it so we could add our bank account information, and they said somebody logged in and took the money out already,” she told the Morning Sentinel.
When she contacted GoFundMe regarding the missing money, they told her the funds had been withdrawn by the campaign organizer. A police report has been filed.
Reports the Morning Sentinel:
Bobby Whithorne, at GoFundMe customer service offices in Redwood City, California, said by phone Friday that the company is in touch with Dalton and Smith, who also filed a fraud complaint with them. He said the social fundraising platform has agreed to pay them the money but would not discuss the circumstances of how the money was missing in the first place.
“We’ll be sure they receive the funds raised,” Whithorne said. “I can confirm that they’ll receive the money raised on their behalf.”
Blah blah GoFundMe Guarantee blah blah blah. “It’s also important to remember that misuse occurs in less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all campaigns,” read a statement issued to the paper. Right, like that is the important thing to remember here.
Dalton’s kid also created a GoFundMe campaign after the fire, which is still live. Danette Dalton is listed as beneficiary, meaning she is the only one authorized to withdraw money from the account.