UPDATE:
Gabe received two e-mails from Paul Christoforo. One asking him to "make it stop" and another with an apology. Though, as Gabe put it, "there is a big difference between being sorry and being sorry you got caught."
Here's the link to the update: An update
Also, this was posted this morning:
Can I just say again how much I love these guys?
Dave, the Penny Arcade reader who brought all of this to Mike Krahulik's (Gabe) attention also received an apology e-mail. To be completely honest, it looks to be filled of excuses and possibly written by a completely different individual in order to spare the company any more bad press.
Here's a copy of it that I found on Gamerfront.net (click on the link to read their article on the situation):
Hey Dave,
I just wanted to apologize for the way our emails progressed from beginning to end , You caught me on an extremely bad day and I had been dealing with 100’s and hundreds of emails trying to explain the situation to everyone on where the product was and you just pushed me a little too much and I should have just apologized and tried to explain things better. Also I had a really bad day losing a friend to an overdose and the stress of my newborn baby and the Holiday ,missing my family and just stressing on getting product out to everyone and why it was held up in customs wore me out.
I am deeply sorry for any disrespect , aggravation or lack of information on the delivery date. We knew when product was leaving china and we were trying to adhere to a strict deadline but due to port issues and air freight issues. The units are domestic now and awaiting pick up at customs . So we missed the 17th deadline and I apologize for that but it was out of my control and besides me no one else was helping me handle the situation so imagine the weight on my shoulders.
I’m not asking for any sympathy just for some understanding and forgiveness , I’m human just like everyone else and made a mistake. I underestimated you and its cost me a lot of trouble thousands of spam emails , a lot of personal bashing , and internet spam and trouble and just overall stress with my wife and newborn. I ask that you please accept my apology as a peace offering I will refund your money and give you your 2 units/Avengers free of charge please help me to get some of this negativity removed or at least my personal name although its already all over the internet and the calls and emails will not stop but any help will be appreciated especially with penny arcade as Mike and edit his own website I owe him an apology too which I will write next.
Not asking for sympathy, Christoforo? Really, now?
The overall tone of the apology e-mail is completely different from everything we had seen from Christoforo up until yesterday evening which leads me to believe that someone else actually took the time to sit down and compose this apology in a last ditch effort to save face.
Also, I'd just like to note that even if the mention of the loss of a friend is true, it certainly does not excuse Christoforo's behavior toward a customer of his. If you are unable to keep your professional and personal behaviors separate from one another, you have no right being the President of a company, or even an employee for that matter.
It also looks like Paul Christoforo changed his Twitter username in order to escape the masses.
I think the new OceanMarketting Twitter is an improvement on the old one. Have a look:
OceanMarketting Twitter
Paul Christoforo NEW Twitter
And then there's this gem:
Ocean Deep Sea
More news keeps surfacing on Paul Christoforo, mostly concerning just how long of a terrible track record he's had in dealing with customers in the past. It's honestly a wonder that he lasted this long.
Another example of Christoforo's complete lack of professionalism was recorded on another blog back in June. The blog Nate's Network had made a post on June 11th of this year concerning a recent customer service issue he had had with Ocean Marketing concerning an Avenger controller he had ordered on February 5th of this year. After a series of e-mails to what I can only assume was an automated bot, Nate finally began receiving responses from Paul Christoforo. The situation did not improve.
You can take a look at Nate's full blog post here: Poor Customer Service
There is also this Police Report which surfaced on Gameranx concerning a Domestic Violence charge made against Paul Christoforo by one Catherine P. Sherman back in 2008.
And of course, what story would be complete without the ol' Roids Rage excuse? Am I right?
Kotaku reached out to Brandon Leidel, Director of Marketing for Avenger Controller, for a comment on the PR scandal that exploded yesterday. They received a prompt reply where it seemed that Brandon Leidl stated that " things are a bit blown out of proportion on this today."
Closer examination of the e-mail revealed that the sender of the e-mail had not been Brandon Leidel (Brandon@AvengerController.com). The e-mail had been sent by a "cstrophic@hotmail.com." Some internet snooping on their part revealed that the e-mail was also registered as a contact address for a user named "TheAngryPimp" on Steroid.com, an internet message board for people who used anabolic steroids. A post on that site by that user was made concerning a drug named Tamox, "shorthand for Tamoxifen which is an estrogen receptor antagonist used as a "post-cycle recovery" compound for those coming off of a round of anabolic steroids." (Kotaku).
Kotaku eventually received an e-mail from the REAL Brandon Leidel.
Hi Joel,
I have been following this story since this morning when someone notified me about what was going on. I did not write that response to you.
Yes, in the past I received email at brandon@avengercontroller.com but even then we were an outsourced marketing agency for N-Control. I no longer receive email at that address because we fired N-Control as a client about 8 months ago due to constant shipping delays (which we had to deal with) and their association with Paul Cristoforo who is a street thug masquerading as a self proclaimed "Marketing Professional". This guy is a complete fool and somehow strong armed his way into working with the company so we walked away. I am not surprised in the slightest bit by what's going on right now. In fact, we told the owners of the company on many occasions that this would eventually happen.
I wasn't going to chime in but since he is replying as me, I can't resist. I personally can't stand him.
Brandon
Do pardon me while I do my spiteful happy dance.
Cheers.
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