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Permalink Reply by 5816nick on March 10, 2022 at 6:55am

Edited....  Please see my e mails from Waterstones... You will have to read from the bottom up as it's loaded them backwards!! I'm not very happy with this - Parton being the latest in the growing list of artists ripping us off with autopens   - this is Fraud.... I'm not sure what to do next.... does anybody have Mr Daunts Personal E mail?? I'm not on social Media so can't contact him that way either ..... I'm glad i didn't shell out $325 on the deluxe autopenned version - what are people doing that did??  Martha (Waterstones) Mar 10, 2022, 10:33 GMT Hello Nick,   I can see from the tone and content of your reply that there is nothing I can say that will satisfy you.  Also, I understand your frustration however, there is no need to resort to personal attacks. Please remember that we are real people, and it is not appropriate to question our health and/or disability-related circumstances.  I am only capable of relaying the facts, as we have received them from the publisher. As you have decided the truth is in fact false, there is nothing further to discuss.  As I stated in my previous email, you are welcome to take your complaint to the publisher themselves. They are aware of these concerns, as we have had multiple communications with them, and are happy to address it directly should you wish to do so.   Kind regards,   Martha Waterstones Customer Support Team Leader Mar 9, 2022, 17:11 GMT Hi Martha,  - what utter and total  rubbish!!!!! Dolly Parton's team are lying - which they are used to as they did the same for her last CD released a couple of years ago - where they did this same thing. I've got to ask Are you blind?? The photos on the attached link show many  IDENTICAL copies of her signature - they are absolutely 100% identical - it is impossible to sign 2 identical signatures - let alone 20 or more that are attached in the autographlive magazine link - the only way to do identical signatures is to use an autograph signing machine  - another tell tale of an autopen are dots on the underside of the paper where the auto pen has stopped and started again - many experts have commented on the link and all agree they are auto penned - Dolly Parton is known for her fraudster ways and using Autopens - as she did on her last CD released - she was found out then and has been found out  now - we will be taking this further - this is fraud!!!!!! I can see i'm wasting my Time with Waterstones customer service and won't be buying any more items from them - I will contact the CEO MR Daunt - obviously he hasn't been made aware of this - that his company and WHSmith are selling Fake items   Nick Martha (Waterstones) Mar 9, 2022, 15:46 GMT Hello Nick,   Thank you for contacting us.   The truth of the matter is that there has been no fraud and (just like my colleague informed the other person on the forum) we double-checked and have had confirmation from the publisher (who organised the signed books) that they are all hand-signed by Dolly Parton herself.   I am afraid that there is nothing further we can say on the matter, if you choose to not believe that the publisher and Dolly's team have assured us that the books are hand-signed then that is your choice, but we can only give the truth of the situation at hand.    Also, with regards to the similarity of the signatures: with Dolly being such a famous figure I would imagine that she has had plenty of practice with her signatures and so is more likely than most to have near-identical signatures.  However, if you are unhappy with the copy that you have received you are more than welcome to return it to us for a full refund. Our returns instructions can be found at: https://www.waterstones.com/help/returning-items/41   You are also welcome to bring up your concerns with the publisher, Cornerstone, should you wish to.   If you have any further queries, please feel free to reply to this email.   Kind regards,   Martha Waterstones Customer Support Team Leader   Currently reading "Clockwork Magpies" by Emma Whitehall   https://www.waterstones.com/book/clockwork-magpies/emma-whitehall/9... Hi, I received my So called 'Signed' Dolly Parton Book - Run Rose Run today thank you however - It is not hand signed by Dolly but is Auto-Penned - can i remind you this is fraud - I do not want the generic response other contributors have received on Live Autograph Magazine - there are numerous photos on the attached link where both Waterstones and WHsmith have sold these autopenned and fake books - i want this escalated to the CEO of Waterstones as this is Blatant fraud by both Waterstones / WHsmith and Dolly / Dolly's management. Please don't insult my intelligence with the seemingly generic response already posted on Live Autograph Magazine saying - ' we have contacted Dolly's team and confirm these are hand signed by her - because as you can clearly see they are not - any body with half a brain can see they are autopenned and Fake the tell tale signs of the Dots where the autopen have stopped and the fact that they are 100% identical - No Autograph is identical ever - no matter how hard you try to - yet the autographs on the Waterstones books are 100% identical and fake !!!!! https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/dolly-parton-signed... Kind regards Nick

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Permalink Reply by Erich on March 10, 2022 at 12:56pm

lol wow...love her response to you asking if she is blind...this world is doomed.

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Permalink Reply by 5816nick on March 10, 2022 at 1:42pm

Yes i was a bit annoyed when i asked her that - ridiculous they are still saying they are all identically hand signed...

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Permalink Reply by JK on March 10, 2022 at 6:59am

Unless I missed it, I haven't seen any suggestions to write to write to Dolly Parton and her management. I'd be bombarding them with letters if I were caught up in this mess.

Back when I pre-ordered the second Clinton/Patterson book I subsequently learned that James Patterson used an autopen for the similar offer on the first book they wrote together. I wrote to him then, before the books were even signed. I let him know how disappointed I was to learn he had used an autopen for the first books and that I didn't consider an autopen to be a signature.

I have no idea if my letter had say impact, but the concensus seemed to be that his signatures in that second book were real.

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Permalink Reply by JC on March 10, 2022 at 7:52am

Is she going to give me my money back?  We are dealing with the present situation where her fans have been deceived and paid their hard earned money.  I am not going to deal with her next book, CD and vinyl... whatever.  

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Permalink Reply by JK on March 10, 2022 at 8:15am

I don't know what she would or wouldn't do, but it might convince her to not do this again in the future.

Are people so shortsighted that they can't see the value in that?  If enough people fight back then maybe the major offenders in the industry will stop with the autopens and others might follow. 

Right now it is just a bunch of disgruntled customers emailing customer service reps who know or care nothing about autopens.  I certainly hope all of you can wrestle your money back but I am doubtful on the success rate. 

I'm a TTM collector so pulling out paper and an envelope is second nature to me, but I suspect many will just give up when the email trail goes cold.

I'm more interested in seeing the practice stopped altogether.

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Permalink Reply by JC on March 10, 2022 at 8:33am

You are absolutely correct. Who would have thought that Dolly Parton who donated one million dollars to Moderna would rip off fans of $325 of their hard earned money.  So right now, I want my money back or a book really signed by her and then I will deal with a communication to Dolly and her people.  I am heartened by those who have gotten WH Smith and Waterstone to accept the books returns.  But the Storyteller book was purchased back in October so my credit card will not challenge the purchase.  I can only deal with the distributor and bother the heck out of them until they wear down.  

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Permalink Reply by Thom Joseph on March 10, 2022 at 8:52am

It seems a very odd thing for Dolly to be doing this. Seems antithetical to her nature. However, she does like making money and has never been shy about this. Since she got her new manager, she has been attaching her name to anything and everything. I do credit her new management with reinvigorating her career and getting acknowledgment of her legacy status. However, that feels cheapened when she sells potholders, cake mix, and just about everything else under the sun. I hope she makes this right. Her manager is bulldog. If you email him, I'm sure he will bury it. His motto is, "Maximum Dolly exposure, Maximum Dolly revenue, Minimum Dolly time." He is very protective. of her. 

However, I once paid a very large sum of money for a meet and greet at her concert. The outdoor venue had no area for a reception, so our meet and greet money was refunded. However, Dolly insisted that her fans who paid to meet her not be disappointed, so we were all emailed to meet at a certain place and security took us to her bus. She hopped off the bus, met every single person, took a picture with each of us, hugged us, held our hands and talked. It didn't cost us a dime. she didn't make a dime and i thought that was very classy. To me that spoke to her character. That's why this seems so odd. 

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Permalink Reply by Thom Joseph on March 10, 2022 at 9:12am

Good point. I guess since I know the mass market things are autopenned and don't buy them anymore, I forget about the folks who think they are genuine and got duped. Not cool. 

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Permalink Reply by Drogenbaron on March 14, 2022 at 6:41am

Agree!

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on March 10, 2022 at 5:49pm

As noted she has done this before and more than once.

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Permalink Reply by Stepeanut on March 10, 2022 at 9:01am

It depends on the situation, and who you get, but I have been successful in negotiating a credit card refund well after six months had elapsed.

I made a significant contribution toward the Indiegogo campaign to finish Orson Welles’s film The Other Side of the Wind.  When the original campaign ground to a halt, I complained to Indiegogo about the lack of perks I had been promised as a contributor.  Basically, they didn’t give a f****, even though I made a compelling case for them being a legal partner in the enterprise, as my funds had been paid to them, not the campaign managers.

Anyway, it was something like two years later, but I managed to get a hold of somebody at my bank and argued that the key date was the deadline stated for delivery of the perks, not the payment date.  I wasn’t to know they would renege on their end of the bargain until the delivery date had passed.  The bank accepted my argument and refunded my card.  In reality, they probably wrote off the amount to get rid of me, and likely never attempted to claw it back from Indiegogo.  But I got my money back and caused a massive fuss into the bargain, so it is possible.

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