Writers

Reader: conned by remaindered books sold at full retail.

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A reader reports:

Bravo.

Well, you seem to have Connor on the ropes if the removal of all his lying “updates” on the Conlan Press website is any indication. Keep up the good work. My story is like that of so many others who’ve been shafted by Connor, so I won’t bore you with all the details, except to say that I saw the “extra super deluxe” con coming from a mile away and didn’t bite. Also, one thing you haven’t mentioned is books from CP all being remaindered or factory seconds. I’ve ordered (and received, often after several months wait) a few paperbacks over the years, and all of them had Sharpie remainder marks on the outside edge; a pretty clear indication that he’s padding his profit margin by acquirng cheap stock and then reselling a full retail. Additionally, my “deluxe” Last Unicorn hardcover (signed, but no story fragment or drawing) is misbound slightly, and it seems to me was probably a factory reject.

Reader: “I’m one of Cochran’s victims – I’ve been trying to contact news sites about this”

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“I’m one of Cochran’s victims”

Dear Fans against fraud,

I paid for one of these extra deluxe Last Unicorn books in 2009 and never received my copy. I’ve posted a full list of “buyers” on your webpage and wanted to forward this e-mail I received from an “anonymous former employee” – FYI.

Thanks for bringing up the topic after such a long time! I’ve been trying to contact news sites about this issue – I have contacted a few other “buyers” about your page.

And the reader leaves an additional comment:

The list I got in an e-mail from the end of 2009 extends to 182 people. Years later I contacted a few of the other “buyers”. They thought the book had been lost in the mail and didn’t do anything about it. In the last couple of days there was a newsletter from Coclan Press that Connor had employed new customer service staff. A guy (Chris Rickert) answered very quickly. He assured me that Connor is still working on the sketches for this 2009 order. But I’m not sure, if this is just the same sweet-talking scam. Here is the original e-mail from Connor with all 180 names.

(Correction: Rickert is female.)  It raises the victim list to over 260 sales (we have been told there are at least 350).  It adds new evidence to a point we raised – “6) Fraud was done with classic con games and manipulation of victims.”

A reader commented about the list of “Extra Deluxe” Last Unicorn book buyers:

Screen Shot 2014-12-27 at 5.12.27 AM

Did separate lists manipulate people to think there were fewer buyers than there really were, so they believe they might not wait long? (5 years later, still waiting…) A red flag: no edition limit was mentioned. 79 sales are documented here, but at least 350 are reported.

If you have other lists, please send them to help other victims!

Whistleblower email

The above deception caused Conlan Press employee Michael Bolger to quit his job and send the warning below.  This “old” issue remains to this day:

Fwd: The real status of that signed Last Unicorn book that you all have been waiting so long for.
Tue, 2 Oct 2012
Anonymous Former Employee

Hello All,

Up until recently I was an employee at Conlan Press where you all bought your  copies of EXTRA DELUXE LAST UNICORN HARDCOVERS — with extra handwritten story text by Peter S. Beagle and unique unicorn sketches by Connor Cochran. I just quit my job, in large part because of how Connor is handling this disaster and how honest he’s being with all of you. I think you deserve to hear the truth. Here it is.

When I was hired 15 months ago Peter Beagle had long since completed his end of the handwritten pages and personalization for all the books. The impression that I got was that they had been done for a while, but I know for a fact that they have all been done for at least the last 15 months and you are just waiting on Connor and his sketches.

Connor has completely blown off this project and hasn’t even done a single sketch in almost 5 months now. In the 15 months that I was at Conlan he only finished 26 sketches.

And he still has 255 books to go.

At his current rate, it will take him around 12.3 years to finish the remaining books.

That’s on top of the several years you all have already been waiting.

I’ll let you all meditate on those numbers for a moment.

Now I’m guessing that the majority of you paid all this money for the Peter Beagle book with the Peter Beagle personalization and the Peter Beagle handwritten pages and you could care less about the sketch by “Peter Beagle’s Business Manager”, especially if that’s what’s holding up the process. Am I right?

Well, when customers have called in and asked for their book to be sent to them without the sketch Connor has refused. And you want to know why? He’s scanning these sketches and wants to compile them for a future book.

So this guy is holding all your unicorns hostage because he wants to sell you the same unicorns at a later date.

Yeah. That’s not tacky or weird or anything.

My advice on how to get your books:

Go public. I’m sending this email out to small groups of you at a time but I have no idea how many of you will get this email and how many will not because it gets flagged as spam.

Get on facebook (I hate to promote that website but it really is one of the most efficient ways to quickly communicate with large groups of people) and air your grievances. Go to Peter Beagle’s facebook page and air your grievances. Those posts will get deleted, of course, but at least that will force them to start taking you seriously.

You can call Connor directly @ 650-267-9651 and ask him to send you your book without the sketch. He will refuse, of course, but if you want to speak to the guy that’s holding your book hostage there he is.

Peter and Connor will be @ Comic Con in New York next week in the artist alley. Peter is a sweet old man that is oblivious to a lot of things in life, including everything on the business end of things. He’s a nice enough guy, but there’s just something about Peter’s karma that’s like a magnet for con men.

And Connor (Get it? Con-er) also really isn’t a bad guy… or at least I’ve seen him do good. He just has a very arrogant ego the size of a small planet, a messiah complex, and possibly some mental health issues. Normal people don’t act this way. Getting the guy to part with these books is like talking to Haggard about his unicorn hoarding problem.

And finally, I’d like to apologize to all of you for failing to get you your books. I gave it my best shot, I really did. And even in this psycho economy where the real unemployment is around 20% I just quit a job that was paying the bills because I felt it was the right thing to do.

Good luck to you all –

UPDATE – Since handing in my letter of resignation Connor is now claiming that he “did a few books over the weekend” OK. Fine. I’ll give that to him. Still does not change the fact that in the 15 months I was there he only completed 26 books and that he still has 250 some to go.

 

Lessons to learn from guilty denial of fraud by Conlan Press – Part Three.

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The secrets are out about the mess Connor Cochran made by defrauding Peter Beagle fans.  So far, pressure forced him to make a public refund promise, and retract attacks he made against a bystander to distract attention. But he plays victim about the harm he did.  Here’s what you’re really hearing when you hear denial about it.

8) There’s no limit to lying.  He’ll never stop.

This Totally 100% Swear On His Mother happened:

conman

Totally shut down.

If only he could fulfill promises as efficiently as he cranks out bullshit. The issues would cease to exist.

A theory held by the crazed: Customers should receive goods they pay for.

A Totally Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs buyer said:

“They shouldn’t be selling stuff and taking your money unless the product is ready for shipment IMO. Those hundred books with the special pages and illustrations etc should have been all done before they announced they were selling them.”

Shush, you Crazed Stalker, you.

We’re told that Cochran takes pride in being a cunning businessman and “getting one over” on people with educations different from his at clown college. No knock against skilled performers who make an honest living – but it seems it may lead those with weak conscience to struggle with the difference between truth and fantasy.

9) Burned former associates show silencing of this story.  Blame The Victim is the oldest tactic in the book of abuse.

Denialists ball up their fists and petulantly insist that there can’t be a ripped-off, cheated worker informing this story – because their identity is confidential.

The insider exists.  Cochran enticed them into labor with pay – then dishonestly withheld months of wages.  Their account makes MULTIPLE whistleblowers.

This independent blogger’s post is informed by the existence of that ex-employee.

Not so nice was the email, two months later, from Connor Cochran throwing his former employee under the bus:

“You are receiving this because at some point in the last few months you sent a message to one of the following email addresses: contact@conlanpress.com, customersupport@conlanpress.com, or [redacted]@conlanpress.com. Those accounts were all being handled by Conlan Press’s one employee, [redacted]. Unfortunately, [she] left the company in late April in order to deal with getting divorced — pretty much overnight she quit, packed, and moved back to Sacramento to be closer to her family and old friends. She gave no notice, and left huge stacks of jumbled, unfinished work behind her. It was quite the mess.I am writing now to ask your patience as I correct these problems and find and train new staff. First up is untangling and completing all the backed-up product shipping. Once that is done I can begin answering individual customer emails, get delayed manufacturing back on track for this year’s crop of new releases, and return to finishing the Extra Deluxe LAST UNICORN books many of you are waiting for.”

I don’t care how badly an employee screws you over, you don’t send email to all your customers naming and shaming her. I think my jaw literally dropped when I read that.

Unlike Unreliable Narrator Connor Cochran, we won’t trample their rights.  After cheating them, putting them in financial plight and forcing them to leave – Cochran twisted blame to that employee for his mismanagment.

10 YEARS of mismanagement.  Just look at it.  Yet Cochran blames someone employed for under one year. (Until the next excuse.)

The blame was a perfect excuse for cheating employees AND customers.  And Cochran’s “smokescreen of employee abuse”  is corroborated by multiple instances.

He’s already been forced to retract character assassination against whistleblower Michael Bolger.  The lies associated Bolger with “tattoos” and “conspiracy theories” to Poison the Well.

Cochran’s assassination of the second ex-employee associated “divorce” and “alcohol”. Honest people know that divorce doesn’t imply poor character. The ex-employee rejects the alcohol lie with disgust.

We’ve been asked to notice that other employees won’t put Conlan Press on their resume – at least four with titles like “Publicity Assistant” and “Executive Assistant”.

Previously: 4) “Conlan Press wastes ill-gotten money of YOURS on silencing complaints… instead of producing what’s owed.”

Con artists gather cults of believers.  (It’s no shame to be fooled once, but you know what they say: “Fool me twice- shame on me.”)  Cult of fans is an innocuous term, (not all cults are bad), but this is more malignant.

People who play cult leader must crush dissent without mercy – at any cost. When Michael Bolger was targeted with lies and threats, how badly was his arm twisted to say what Cochran wants, to save his own skin?  Complicity under duress discredits anything he may say now.

Remember, accusations against Bolger were false.  WE said it before anyone else. We were first to discredit Cochran’s lies, and overly-credulous friends who supported him. Truth is on our side. After the breathtaking rush to silence Bolger, changing his story under duress doesn’t hold up.  He’s wrong to take anything back, and right when he tried to warn about Cochran.

It makes you wonder how many times people will let themselves be fooled by a con artist before they question trust.

Watch for part 4 soon.

Lessons to learn from guilty denial of fraud by Conlan Press – Part Two.

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Continuing Part One about the mess Connor Cochran made by defrauding Peter Beagle fans.  So far, pressure forced him to make a public refund promise, and retract attacks he made against a bystander to distract attention. But he plays victim about the harm he did.  Here’s what you’re really hearing when you hear denial about it.

5) There’s copious corroboration about fraud – that’s how to catch Connor Cochran lying.

We’ve noticed another blogger who recently posted a long, long, LONG list of broken promises they experienced from Conlan Press.

Read it and wince.  It’s bad.  Check this quote from Connor Cochran in March 2008:

For the most up-to-date details, remember to check the new UPDATES page at Conlan Press. Actual release dates will be announced there first.

Repeated on July 18, 2011:

For updates on projects and products, always check the UPDATES (http://www.conlanpress.com/html/updates.html) page on the Conlan Press website first. That’s where to go to get the latest news.

But then excuses are contradicted.  Straight from Connor Cochran on the website:

The status of all delayed items has been regularly and accurately updated to customers through the company’s email newsletter.

How very slippery. Emails send cheated customers to the website (currently listing broken 2013 promises). The website sends them to emails. That’s the “runaround” reported by angry buyers – part of the Conlan Press attrition process we reported.

6) Fraud was done with classic con games and manipulation of victims.

Doing business involves keeping costs as low as possible.  Unfortunately, stealing is the cheapest way to get something.  It’s an inherent temptation for businessmen of weak conscience – as many cheated Conlan Press customers experienced

Connor Cochran may have started with intentions to fulfill promises.  But since 2004, he over-sold what he would really deliver.  Countless customers got nothing.  Maybe he thought new sales could help fulfill the backlog, so he made more promises.  Over-selling becomes a habit and a self-feeding cycle.  That’s how a publishing company became dishonestly run like a 10 year chain of Kickstarter campaigns gone bad.

It starts with white lies.  Soon, good intentions are forgotten.  New victims are deceived with confidence tricks to quell suspicion.  Excuses play on their sympathy and beg tolerance for bad business.  It becomes a dirty game of capitalizing on devotion.  Lovers of fairy tales are treated like easy targets for emotional ploys.

Love for Peter Beagle is the key. What fan can get angry at poor, wise old Peter? It’s how this went on for 10 years. Fans were strung along for much longer than they’d allow for any other business. But the company that uses Peter’s name isn’t owned by Peter. It all inflates value of Cochran’s properties.

“Connor Cochran is so nice!” – say people who trust him. Predators groom trusting believers. The success of con artists depends on charismatic lying. Consider the biggest fraudster ever, Bernie Madoff, who claims to be a victim even from jail:

“His voice is the most amazing, soothing voice,”… “You really feel like you’re talking to your uncle, your nice, rich uncle who’s a nice guy and, you know, you don’t feel like you’re talking to an arch-criminal.”

A cheated buyer’s opinion of Connor Cochran:

he may be very polite and nice to speak to but he is still a no good, rotten, dirty worm who steals from people none the less.

Confidence tricks play on natural human instincts: love, greed, want.  When Cochran offers something that sounds too good to be true – he entices people’s want for special things supposedly worth much more than they’re paying. They walk into the con.

His 2009 “Extra Deluxe” Last Unicorn sales (still not produced) heavily pushed this trick.  Cochran promised the $85 sales were valuable enough to sell elsewhere for $300.  That’s a con man working you until you want him to steal your money.

A reader commented about the list of “Extra Deluxe” Last Unicorn book buyers:

Screen Shot 2014-12-27 at 5.12.27 AM

Did separate lists manipulate people to think there were fewer buyers than there really were, so they believe they might not wait long? (5 years later, still waiting…) A red flag: no edition limit was mentioned. 79 sales are documented here, but at least 350 are reported.

If you have other lists, please send them to help other victims!

7) There was a history of poor integrity.

We previously asked: What made you go bad, Connor? Why did you stoop to this? 

What breeds a con man without a conscience?  As a little boy growing up in Kansas, maybe he was never taught not to lie and steal.  Or maybe his parents were too strict.  Take a guess from a story about ditching his family (on page 14, where he was named “Talky Li’l Blaggard.”)  But it doesn’t matter for cheated buyers – an adult can’t be excused what Cochran did.

There’s more clues in this commenter’s story.  A partnership that failed in 1984 was meant to pair Connor “Freff” Cochran with dependable creator Phil Foglio:

D’arc Tangent was a magazine-sized black and white comic with impeccable art and what seemed to be a really interesting storyline, published by “ffantasy ffactory,” a company that Foglio and Freff formed together to publish the thing. It was supposed to run 16 issues, but only 1 was published before the partnership dissolved amidst much finger-pointing. Foglio accused Freff of being incredibly late in producing his part of, well, everything, and I’m fairly sure I remember at the time that Foglio had other accusations about the way Freff conducted business in general, although I can’t find any documentation for that now…  Freff in turn accused Foglio of kind of half-assing, well, everything, and later claimed most of issue #1 was actually his work.

Both Freff and Foglio have claimed to hold rights to continue the story at various points, but neither one ever did. My (possibly not so) wild suspicion is that legally neither one could really move forward without the other’s permission, and neither one would cross the street to piss on the other one if he was on fire.

Who was at fault?  Take a guess by comparing Foglio’s successful history of delivering creative works, with the sad record of non-delivery by Connor Cochran.  We’re glad that Foglio left a bad partnership to produce with integrity on his own. Beware of giving trust to frustrated artists who can’t produce.

Here’s what a Beagle fan thinks about Cochran:

I’m so disappointed that Peter S. Beagle hasn’t left to find a publisher with actual integrity.

Watch for part 3 soon.

Lessons to learn from guilty denial of fraud by Conlan Press – Part One

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The secrets are out about the mess Connor Cochran made by defrauding Peter Beagle fans.  So far, pressure forced him to make a public refund promise, and retract attacks he made against a bystander to distract attention. But he plays victim about the harm he did.  Here’s what you’re really hearing when you hear denial about it..

1) All of the deflection and smokescreening is admitting guilt for delivering no goods.

Conlan Press made countless sales under false pretenses, and gave buyers nothing for ten years.  Beneath the excuses and blame, everything circles back to this fundamental, undeniable harm. 

TEN YEARS.  Are you sick of lies yet?

New tips have been sent in about sales of Last Unicorn audiobooks around 2004.  They estimate 1,000 cheated buyers never got what they paid for – roughly $40,000.

(How far did it go after that?  Compare: The Last Unicorn did 2.5 million video sales in ten years and the “novel has sold 6.5 million copies.“)

The “Extra Deluxe” Last Unicorn hardcover has 79 sales in 2009 recorded here.  New tips estimate at least 350 sold.  At $85 per sale, that’s – roughly $29,750.

Connor Cochran is STILL expecting victims to trust that goods will be delivered.  He expects suckers to believe that the long chain of promises won’t be broken again. (Until it is.)  Here’s a few of countless lies through the years until now:

From 2005:

…we expect the MP3-On-CD audiobook edition to start shipping in 3-4 weeks.  …we expect the 8-CD audiobook edition to start shipping in 6-7 weeks.

From 2006:

* The MP3-on-CD Last Unicorn audiobook edition will go to press in February and ship along with Two Hearts.
From 2007:

The manufacturing problems that delayed the Conlan Press CD audiobook editions of THE LAST UNICORN (and the free illustrated hardcover collector’s edition of TWO HEARTS) have now been solved, and all orders should be shipping by late March or early April.

“Team Beagle” attempts to help in 2008:

I know that some of you have been waiting for two years and some of you have even been waiting for three years.

From 2011:

 GOOD NEWS DELAYED PRODUCTS UPDATE:  Nearly all of them will be done and shipped by the end of the year. Those that aren’t will be at the printing plant and on their way for shipping in early 2012.

IN 2014, THE CONLAN PRESS WEBSITE STILL SHOWS BROKEN PROMISES OF DELIVERY OF THESE GOODS FOR 2013. Some hold futile hope:

Hopefully Cochran can find the time and resources to ship out all those back-orders soon—and I’m really looking forward to seeing them in my hometown in 2016.

2) Buyers will still never get their goods.

Time marches on – and audiobook CD’s aren’t manufactured, because they don’t sell any more.  You might as well publish an 8 track tape.

Many buyers have forgotten or lost proof, making the attrition process pay well.

Some have begged for refunds (forced to initiate responsibility for Cochran’s job to fulfill what he owes).  Attention from this site is now forcing him to address them.  Some accept downloads, a Bait and Switch for what was promised.  Many resign themselves to perpetual waiting because Cochran refuses to tell the truth.

3) Fraud was done by promising products, like a business – but dishonestly operating like a Kickstarter campaign gone bad.

Buying a product is not pledging to a crowdfunding campaign:

I placed an order for a set of Last Unicorn audiobook MP3 CDs on April 15, 2005 and it still hasn’t shipped yet. But that’s not due to any sort of malfeasance on Cochran’s part, other than perhaps being a bit more ambitious in some of his projects than was truly wise for a one-person business. Given the number of Kickstarter projects that have failed to deliver over the last few years, he’s hardly alone in that.

Disingenuous comparison!  Here’s the malfeasance:  Cochran did not promise to “try” to deliver with terms of a crowdfunding platform or pledge drive. He directly took money for promised goods, not philanthropic support.  And this was not ONE failed amateur, first-time project, it was a series representing a publishing company.

Instead of fixing a failure, before accepting money for a new one – he repeated it again, and again, and again.

Beaneath supposed nobility of creator support, the profit goes to a crooked businessman, with old fashioned greed for lining his pockets.  It may or may not be cash.  But it is inflating property value of his company.

4) Conlan Press wastes ill-gotten money of YOURS on silencing complaints… instead of producing what’s owed.

In the Conlan Press attrition process, see massive effort wasted by Connor Cochran to deflect complaints – instead of doing a promised drawing to complete a book he owed.

It’s the true test of this crooked businessman’s principles. Instead of fixing a mess he made and repairing harm to cheated buyers, now he threatens with expensive lawyers to silence criticism and hoard ill-gotten gains.

Unfortunately, when he tried to play victim about this story, he lashed out to falsely accuse an innocent bystander for telling it.  It revealed him to be an ill-tempered abuser who loves throwing weight around to get his privileged way.

But you can read the truth here, and demand fairness. Look for Part Two soon.

A big surprise for those who read Connor Cochran’s response to the Conlan Press fraud scandal.

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We’re shocked and disgusted at what Connor just did.

To shift blame, this report was blamed on an ex-employee named Mike. Connor trashed him at length across the internet. We answered the attack with: TL;DR.  Here’s why: it had nothing to do with us. Non-sequitur. Irrelevant. Not Applicable.

Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool – You’re a hero for standing up to cover this. But never trust Connor Cochran.

“Full Refunds Offered Over Last Unicorn Lateness, Connor Cochran To Sue Mike Bolger” – (Article now edited. We’re independently verifying ID with Rich.)

Connor’s friend- beware of white-knighting for frauds:

“Connor Cochran rebuts ex-employee’s allegations over Conlan Press product delays.”

Hey Connor:  You’ve been called out for 10 years of stealing. You responded by trashing an uninvolved bystander. What you wrote is very bad for you:  

A pseudonymous troll at “fansagainstfraud.com” is fixated on attacking Connor Cochran and Conlan Press. In real life he is a conspiracy theorist whose name is Mike Bolger. 

Everyone,

We’re Not Mike

It’s news retraction time. Our brief delay in letting you know was required for consulting lawyers. (Cochran has now been forced to heavily edit and remove his defamation against Mike- but we have it all screenshot.)

We never pretended to be Mike. We never mentioned his name or hinted it. We’re not trolling or doing a “thing”. He simply had nothing to do with this exposé of fraud. The leap to conclusions was 100% on the part of Connor, and his outrageously overwrought backlash about being called out.

We’d never known Mike, until Connor smeared his name all over the internet, all of his own accord.  (Sometimes outing people’s bad behavior happens as a last resort… it’s all one can do when a bully silences victims. But when Cochran smears people, that’s just the bully thing he does.)

Thank you, Connor, for revealing that there is more corroborating evidence about the fraud you do.

Thanks for revealing that you caused MORE people to suffer bad experiences, besides ones we already knew.

Thanks for validating complaints.

Thanks for showing how you act to get your way.  You don’t hesitate to throw innocent people under the bus, like you don’t hesitate to hurt loyal fans.  This story struck a nerve so much that you lashed out at an innocent target who hasn’t even spoken to you for years (according to your friend’s post). He likely would have done anything to avoid this mess you made.

Again, we never pretended to be Mike. We never mentioned his name or hinted it.  We didn’t know him.  We couldn’t read Connor’s mind about him.  We have nothing to do with Connor’s lashing out at him. (Sorry he went through that.)

Now this bystander was turned into collateral damage, against his will and ours – but this is revealing.  It goes to show what kind of bully Connor is, and what he does… and what we do to back our mission of fairness.

What Connor did is inexcusable.

If he chooses to bring a lawsuit, we’re putting money behind the countersuit.

We back our mission so sincerely, that we’ll pay for other victims of Connor Cochran to get fairness.

Everyone else who’s been abused, please share, and let’s be friends.

 

There’s a way out, Connor. We’re not sue-happy. People are just WRONGED.

Let’s have honest, transparent accounting about every fan you’ve hurt, and prove that it will never happen again. Time to come clean.

We ARE about fairness.  We’ll drop the issue if that happens, and stop publicizing it. 

People can change – but until now, all we’ve seen is rationalizing, excuses, and blame-shifting for Cochran’s bad behavior. Same old, same old.

Just to finish the topic – we did learn things from “unreliable narrator” Cochran’s INCREDIBLY DUBIOUS and TRANSPARENTLY SELF-SERVING recounting of stories. (Funny, how so many things supposedly quoted from others build super-convenient excuses. As if the quotes come from Cochran.)

Previously, we’d shared the Conlan Press attrition process, where a long chain of fake excuses helped push customer claims into limbo.  Many excuses blamed other people.

In Post #1, we talked about the “Smokescreen of employee abuse” – here it is.

Did Peter Beagle hear about this?  Now we get to a sad thing at the bottom of Cochran’s bag of tricks.  That’s for the coming post of “what you’re really hearing when you hear denial about this from Conlan Press.”

 

Bleeding Cool news blog and others react to Conlan Press fraud scandal.

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Bleeding Cool is a comics news blog with 3-4 million monthly views.  Founder Rich Johnston, “the oldest extant comics news reporter on the Internet”, covers this scandal and call for Consumer Rights:

Last Unicorn Publisher Targeted With Accusations Of Fraud

Rich’s story throws another failure on this Dumpster fire of a story caused by Conlan Press.  It adds evidence that Last Unicorn comic artists were also accused of non-delivery of work for years, on many other projects.  Customers who bought Last Unicorn comics can add that to the list of reasons why promises were broken.

Bleeding Cool forum members respond:

…for those who haven’t gotten the education either the easy or hard way yet: I would not give Ray Dillon, his wife Renae De Liz, or any organization affiliated with Connor Cochran any money prior to receiving something of value in return, not for yourself and not for charity. They are very good at playing on your desire to be sympathetic to whatever hardships or miscommunication they are presently claiming, but not about about getting people what they paid for in a remotely timely fashion, if at all. It’s an established pattern going back many years. You’ve been warned.

Bad partnership choice doesn’t necessarily reflect on an innocent person.  But with Connor Cochran’s choice to also work with an ex-lawyer disgraced for literary world fraud – and all the other reasons his reputation belongs at the bottom of a dumpster – how can we not assume the worst?  Now ask: how complicit is he with the artists’ history of bad behavior?

The forum raises a comparison to a notorious scammer who also pre-sold goods that were never delivered: “Connor Cochran is the Geoff Beckett of fantasy publishing.”

And a reader raises a comparison that will mean a lot to fans of The Last Unicorn.

“After reading thru the stuff I’m pretty convinced Peter Beagle is being Mommy Fortuna’ed by the publisher, Conlan Press.”

Mommy Fortuna’s carnival pimped sad, chained-up animals as pretend magic things, for a show that abused the little magic it did possess.  No refunds!  The analogy gets WAY too easy: The character is Twitter header for Peter Beagle’s sales manager.

Peter Beagle’s Twitter (which states it’s NOT managed by him, but by her,) supposes that naive, gullible fans will soak up a secondhand statement about this story like sparkles from a Unicorn’s ass.

On Twitter, proxied Peter says it’s all lies.  Everyone who didn’t get these 79 sales is supposed to be lying. “You can take my word for it.”  Conlan Press says that’s good enough… ignore inconvenient stuff posted here like EVIDENCE and CORROBORATION.

Watch this site for a new article soon, to learn what you’re really hearing when you hear denial about this from Conlan Press. 

 

More reader reactions:  link

 

Yep, I ordered this in 2005. Got nothing.

__________

Holy shit I just read through all of that on that site. Does this Author Peter Beagle not give a single shit about what this guy is doing?

I mean seriously what’s the deal with his silence? All I saw was “I’m not connected to the publishing house…” or some such craziness.

I mean from what I saw, this Connor Cochran douchebag had total control of his works and is dicking around people like this? Are you kidding me? Damn reading through all that pissed me off and I’m not even one of the ones that have bought anything.

I sure as hell will NEVER buy anything from those guys ever. Unless I just feel like throwing money down the crapper.

That asshole needs to give these people their money back or give them those deluxe last unicorn books, which it doesn’t even sound like there is any. And he needs to go the fuck to jail for swindling people out of unpaid wages as well as fraud.

__________

This year a friend and I went to a local screening of the Last Unicorn meet-the-author tour. We were extremely excited and it was a great experience at the time, we even dressed up in Lady Amalthea and Red Bull cosplays and put a lot of effort into them.

Connor Cochran was there with Mr. Beagle; he was extremely friendly and charismatic, telling us all about the cool tour book they planned to put together and would we be interested in having our cosplay photos in it? They would mail us movie filmstrip pieces with the characters we were cosplaying and everything. Naturally we were stoked, took lots of photos with the author, and gave our addresses.

We were told that the tour was going so well, they’d sold out of a lot of books. I ordered two that were missing as signed copies to be sent to me. Months have gone by now. According to their Facebook they’re having ‘unforeseen trouble sending the books across the border.’ I’ve sent many messages that have gone unanswered since the last update. Pretty sure I’m never getting my copies, and who knows if this tour book will ever materialize.

 

 

 

Fraud story views rise – Connor Cochran scrambles to cover up.

fan Consumer Complaints, Publishers, Writers , , , , ,

 “They shouldn’t be selling stuff and taking your money unless the product is ready for shipment IMO. Those hundred books with the special pages and illustrations etc should have been all done before they announced they were selling them.” – link

Cochran has been very upset by fan anger about 10 years of scams.  He’s had a few short days to react since this expose went public.  In private discussions, people close to him have started asking questions he can’t answer.  So far, he has responded with a liberal helping of denial – calling these numerous sources and documents “lies”.

Cochran quickly scrambled to mount a defense for fraud, and smooth things over on the fan email list.  It offers nothing new.  It’s the same old story… he can only send excuses, instead of what fans paid for these past 10 years.  

The scams continue: Cochran’s email to the Peter Beagle fan list on 12/1/14 –

 

…But even as extraordinary things that have been years in preparation finally come to pass (the Kubo prints, the screening tour, the prospect of a Broadway-bound Last Unicorn musical, and more)…

TRANSLATION: COCHRAN HAS BEEN GROWING HIS BUSINESS PROPERTIES TO ENRICH HIMSELF.   Peter Beagle has no ownership of Conlan Press. Quote- he is “not connected to” the publisher.  

… there are some things which are still making their way out the door. Here’s a quick update for those who are waiting:

The Last Unicorn Audiobook/ Two Hearts hardcover combo — ready to send to press just as soon as John Howe (the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit artist) finishes his final two drawings.

WE SPOKE to involved parties.  Confidential communication leaves responsibility for this old, many-times repeated excuse with Connor Cochran. More info forthcoming.

… The Special Beagle Double and Green-Eyed Boy — ready to send to press when Peter is finally satisfied with the stories in these books. (Seventeen drafts and counting, in one case. But that’s Peter. We know he’ll get there, eventually, and it will be great when he does.)

Writing Sarek — new research sources have become available which might require changes in this manuscript. We’re looking at them now to see if that’s the case…

LOOKING AT THEM NOW is the same thing Cochran said about new sources, when he promised Writing Sarek to be fully completed in 2013.  Nondelivery was blamed on a death in 2006!

Conlan Press’s expired promises – website screenshot on 12/2/14:

Screen Shot

… The Extra-Deluxe Last Unicorn hardcover with handwritten Schmendrick text by Peter and uniquely-personalized unicorn sketches by Connor — every month a few more of these go out, as Connor completes more drawings despite the demanding schedule Peter and he are on. Eventually all copies will be finished and shipped. Since each sketch is based on the buyer’s suggestion, some pictures take as much as 6-8 hours to complete. When these are done Connor will have put in more than 2000 hours of drawing time! …

Please step forward if you have seen a single copy of The Extra-Deluxe Last Unicorn.  THE LIST OF 79 CHEATED BUYERS SAYS NO SINCE 2009!  If a few copies had gone out every month as claimed, for 5 years- all of these buyers would have goods they paid for but were never produced.

… The last of the delayed 2014 Canadian Screening Tour print and book orders — all the bureaucratic tax and banking tangles that got in the way are now cleared. Many of these purchases have already been shipped, and by the end of December the rest will be. As for customers whose credit cards were never charged back in April and May, even for things they collected at the shows, we will get in touch personally to finalize all arrangements.

If you have any questions about the above, please email contact@conlanpress.com. We’ve just added two new customer service team members to improve our email response time, and they look forward to helping you.

Buyers are complaining that they paid for goods not delivered, not “collected at the shows”.  

Is delivering goods sold in early 2014 supposed to fix scam sales that fans paid for 10 YEARS AGO, and never received?

Is adding new team members going to deliver the scam sales?  Will these workers be stiffed on wages, like those who came before, so they can be blamed when they quit?

Watch this site.  We’ve got many more documents to release.  

Document: victim list of “extra deluxe” Last Unicorn book buyers, cheated since 2009.

fan Consumer Complaints, Publishers, Writers , , , , , , ,

If you are one of the scam victims who paid $85 for at least 261 sales of this book in 2009, please step forward. You are not alone!

Forum topic: Was anyone else here ripped off (purchased Last Unicorn Deluxe Edition)?

UPDATE: 182 additional sales are documented, with a list provided by a reader, raising total known sales from 79 to 261. There may be more.

Sales are documented below. 79 x $85 = roughly $6700 for this scam alone. And this is from ONE offering (out of how many offerings?) of ONE title out of many.

For 10 years, Connor Cochran has consistently offered “reservation” pre-sales for “special”, “deluxe” goods that are never intended to be produced.

The scam method starts by offering something that sounds almost “too good to be true”. (It is.) Buyers extend trust because of the name Peter Beagle attached to it. That’s the CONfidence that CONnor counts on for a CON game.

After the sale, the goalposts move. Connor makes promises of extended delivery times: later, “soon”, “end of the year”.  They move again… and again… hanging from a fraying thread of buyer confidence.

Connor strings victims along until the Statute of Limitations runs out to bring claims to court. He counts on attrition of claims by delaying them.

If an angry buyer does run out of tolerance, and makes pressure- Connor promises to send a refund check or replacement goods. Nothing arrives. If a buyer complains AGAIN… oops, it was lost in the mail! Wait again for another promise. And the process repeats. (This site holds piles of private emails documenting it.  We are preparing to release some. If you are one of the victims, please share. EDIT: here.)

If an angry buyer wants to take it to court, Connor has free service from disgraced ex-lawyer Charles Petit to fend them off.

If the claim persists through this attrition process, Connor counts on the amount of sale being less than the effort to legally pursue a claim. Few will go that far.  The cost to pay off a few claims will be only a small portion of the total take.

That’s the method of these scams: keeping them under the radar in size, spreading the net widely, and keeping individual claims isolated from one another. This is why fans need to help each other and tell their stories.

What a way to raise $6700 at a time! The saddest part is, if a person worked an honest job… they’d probably make twice as much in honest pay for the work.

What made you go bad, Connor? Why did you stoop to this? How did you go from being a fan, to scamming them? Where did your conscience go?

In late 2014, the Conlan Press website refers buyers to a long-expired promise, in a string of broken promises of delivery.

___extradeluxe

Buyers (of this title) have been strung along since 2009.  As a buyer said in 2010:

“They shouldn’t be selling stuff and taking your money unless the product is ready for shipment IMO. Those hundred books with the special pages and illustrations etc should have been all done before they announced they were selling them.”

Documents of sales:

From: Connor Cochran connorfc@earthlink.net
Subject: Your Extra-Deluxe LAST UNICORN reservation request
Date: October 25, 2009

Hi.

You are getting this email because you sent in a reservation request for the Extra-Deluxe LAST UNICORN hardcover.

Good news! Your request came in while we still had copies. So you are now officially on the Reserved List.

Send your payment via PayPal to customersupport@conlanpress.com. For those of you who live within the United States, payment will be $75 each for your books and $10 for shipping/handling. If you live outside the United States, payment will be $75 each for your books and $15 for international shipping/handling. When you pay, make sure you use the message portion of your payment form to send (a) your correct mailing address, (b) how you would like Peter to sign your book, and (c) a conceptual cue for me to use as a starting point for your unicorn sketch. You can also send all that information via separate email, to connor@conlanpress.com, if the form doesn’t have enough room.

Peter and I will add our material to these Extra-Deluxe copies in the order that they are purchased, so the sooner you pay, the sooner you will get your special books.

By the way — even if you pay right away, I’ll still be calling you in person to chat and thank you for diving in to get this extra-special book. I’m looking forward to speaking with as many of you as possible.

All best,
Connor Cochran
Business Manager for Peter S. Beagle
& Publisher, Conlan Press

And then the goalposts moved…

From: Connor Cochran connorfc@earthlink.net
Subject: YOUR EXTRA-DELUXE LAST UNICORN HARDCOVER (TEXT & SKETCH UPDATE)
Date: December 29, 2009

Hi!

Peter and I have been working through these, in order, as fast as we can. It’s taken much longer than either of us thought it would, for which we both apologize. The simple truth is that we both seriously underestimated how much time it would take for us to make our additions to all these copies. Now that we’ve been at it a while we know better.

For all of you receiving this email, here’s where things stand: because we are working through these in purchase order, Peter hasn’t yet gotten to adding his extra material to your books. He is taking one day a week out of his writing schedule to work on this, and finds that he can usually get through 15 copies before his hand starts to cramp up. Based on that you should be able to look at where you are on the list, below, and see roughly when he will be getting to your copy.

After he completes his part, your book will go on the sketch stack for me to make my addition. But there are still a lot of books ahead of you, even then– it usually takes longer for me to add a sketch to each copy than it does for Peter to do his part — so it could be several more months from now before your finished copy ships to you. Peter and I think you in advance for your continued patience.

SOME IMPORTANT NOTES:

1) If you see asterisks next to your name, below, it’s because I’ve never gotten a cue/suggestion from you for personalizing your unicorn sketch. If there is anything you’d like me to keep in mind when doing your drawing for you, something that might make it a little more specifically your own, please get that to me ASAP.

2) Please send me a quick note verifying your best current shipping address. Some of you have moved since making your purchases — and for those of you who haven’t, I still want to make sure the shipping address I have on file is the correct one.

All best
Connor Cochran
===================================================
1 Juliet Fox
2 Bob Kennett 2 ***
3 Kwok Ting Lee 1 ***
4 Kwok Ting Lee 2 ***
5 Jane Ludgate
6 Elizabeth Larsson 1
6 Elizabeth Larsson 1
7 Elizabeth Larsson 2
8 Honora Foah 1
9 Honora Foah 2
10 Honora Foah 3
11 Melissa P. Mosley
12 Sabeen Mapara
13 Art Morris
14 Geoff Guthrie
15 Robert Neal Coulter
16 Veronica Victoria Hough
17 Lorian Taylor
18 Rachel Baker 1
19 Rachel Baker 2
20 Rachel Baker 3
21 Patrick Lake
22 Angela Dalton
23 Katherine Stokke
24 Meghan Martin
25 Eliza Coleman 1
26 Eliza Coleman 2 ***
27 Eliza Coleman 3 ***
28 Jennifer Allen
29 Jill D. Horne ***
30 Erin Osborne-Martin
31 Kristen Cass
32 Sean & Laura Holland
33 Nicole Monelle ***
34 Natasha Christenson
35 Joshua Villines 1
36 Joshua Villines 2
37 Kim Holec 1 ***
38 Kim Holec 2 (for Mike Langford) ***
39 Ashley Armstrong
40 Ashley Armstrong
41 Sherry Bovee
42 Deirdre McLeod
43 Charles Hill
44 Alesia Tom
45 Amanda Tripple
46 Heather Boyer
47 Eva Richeson
48 Jeanine Holscher
49 Marysia Przeslawski-O’hear
50 Aziza Khan
51 Edward Geoghegan ***
52 Seth Breidbart
53 Sarah Rosenthal
54 Linda Williams
55 Linda L. Pang ***
56 Linda L. Pang ***
57 Erin Murphy ***
58 Edward Ecklund
59 Edward Ecklund
60 Marvin Prather
61 Cody A. Aichele
62 Kenn Quist
63 Annie Williams
64 Charles E. O’Bryan 1
65 Charles E. O’Bryan 2
66 Charles Edward Hardin gift
67 Ivan Yakubovich
68 Rebecca Edgeworth 1
69 Rebecca Edgeworth 2
70 Margaret May C. Lambert
71 Susan Kanner
72 Amanda Grosvenor
73 Angela Clayton
74 Marty Sandler (for Alyn Darnay) ***
75 John Mooney
76 Larry Womack
77 David Ray
77 David Ray
78 Jose Gabriel Dominguez Reyes
79 Anita Thomaston

5 years and many broken promises later, still waiting…

UPDATE: 182 additional sales are documented, with a list provided by a reader, raising total known sales from 79 to 261. There may be more.

Fans of Peter S. Beagle: cheated by Conlan Press and The Last Unicorn movie tour.

fan Consumer Complaints, Lawsuits, Publishers, Writers , , , , ,

“There are countless consumers who have never been given the items they ordered.

This is not an occasional failure on their part, but a way of business. They are fleecing fans, and that’s shameful”.

– Better Business Bureau complaint against Conlan Press

  • “The problem is, if you buy it from Conlan Press, you might never get it. I know people who have been waiting for their purchases for /years/.” – link
  • “I am so freaking sick to my stomach with Conlan Press and the absolutely horrible business they run that it isn’t even funny. – link
  • “We waited and waited and waited, and kept corresponding, and then–nothing. I think we gave up after about a year and a half – I was really really disappointed with Conlan and I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone.” – link
  • “I’ve been waiting 6 years for the Two Hearts Hardcover/Last Unicorn Audiobook with squat!  I’m about to blow a gasket on Connor Cochran- a no good, rotten, dirty worm who steals from people” – link
  •  “So many people have been scammed by CONnor.  Some people have honestly been waiting over 5 years and are still getting the runaround.” – link

VISIT the forum topic for more:  “Was anyone else here ripped off (purchased Last Unicorn Deluxe Edition)?” 

IMDB

Dear robbed customers of Conlan Press:  WE NEED HELP!  

Connor Cochran is the operater/owner of Conlan Press and manager of The Last Unicorn movie tour.  He has taken our money for many years without producing goods.  When we complain, we get no goods or refunds.  There have only been excuses that keep changing – a string of broken promises.

These titles, sold by Conlan Press and listed on their site, have been undelivered starting as early as 2004:

  • THE LAST UNICORN Audiobook — 8 CD Edition
  • THE LAST UNICORN Audiobook — MP3-on-CD Edition
  • TWO HEARTS — Collector’s Illustrated Hardcover
  • WRITING SAREK — Hardcover Edition
  • EXTRA DELUXE LAST UNICORN HARDCOVERS
  • … and others …

See a list of victims. If victims buzz too loudly, Cochran blasts them for causing problems… as if these complaints aren’t harm he did to many independent sources.  Please share them and demand help NOW.

Goods are undelivered since 2004, while Connor Cochran is robbing us to make himself RICH.

In 2009, Cochran moved into a million-dollar home.  In 2011, he boasted about business expansion to Publisher’s Weekly.  In 2013, he took control of the millions-valued Last Unicorn movie for an international tour.  He boasted of a plan to spend “five million dollars” and attracting 15 million in investment.  BUT STILL NO GOODS!

His home and Conlan Press address through 2014:  897 Jordan Street, Montara, CA:  Value estimate:  $1,251,582 – Rent estimate: $4,366/mo

Call Connor: 650-267-9651 – connorfc@earthlink.net – Conlan Press:  650-728-8098 or 650-563-9421

Connor Cochran is a predator hiding behind Peter S. Beagle.

Cochran is exploiting fan love for a poor, innocent writer.  Peter Beagle appears unaware of the scams done in his name, because he only wants to write, and avoids business.  Since the 1970’s, Beagle was exploited by businessmen who didn’t pay him.  In the 2000’s, Cochran fought them to take control of Beagle’s rights.  After getting them, Cochran switched exploitation from Beagle… to his fans.

Remember: Peter Beagle DOES NOT OWN Conlan Press.  Cochran does.  He constantly acts as if Beagle is in poverty, and begs us to support him. (Actually – to buy goods that support Cochran’s own expanding properties.)  He excuses non-delivery by blaming the death of Beagle’s mother… all the way back in 2006.

The excuses always play on our heartstrings, while Cochran says they come from Beagle… but Beagle tells fans seeking undelivered goods that he’s “not really connected to” the publishing house.

 

Cochran, on left - placing himself next to Beagle in messages to fans
Cochran on left – placing himself on Beagle’s level in his messages to the fan email list.

It gets worse:  Cochran’s partner is disgraced ex-lawyer Charles Petit, who scammed $10,000 from the estate of John Steinbeck.

Cochran is aided by disgraced former lawyer, Charles E. Petit.  Petit lost his license for ripping off $10,000 from the estate of John Steinbeck. An unlicensed lawyer is not allowed to give legal services.

Petit is Charlie@conlanpress.com , and cepetit@scrivenerserror.com.   He’s named here as attorney for Peter Beagle.  This site holds official Conlan Press legal documents signed by Petit.  In 2013, 6 years after his license was lost, Petit forced a Last Unicorn fan site to remove contents “after 17 years on the web” with a DMCA Takedown Request that he issued on behalf of Cochran’s Avicenna Development corporation.

Cochran has been sued for scamming publishers and authors:

Cochran formed multiple corporations in 2008 to hide his activities:

  • Connor Cochran Inc. is listed as suspended by the CA Secretary of State (do a name lookup.)
  • Avicenna Development is suspended but still used for business.
  • Conlan Press is active with the CA Secretary of State.

Smokescreen of employee abuse:

Cochran ripped off over $10,000 in unpaid wages from a worker. They were consulted for this report.  The Conlan Press insider shares this description of Cochran:

  • “Makes promises to everyone that he has no intention of keeping: sales, pay”
  • “Used money gained for Peter to do things: go out to eat, take trips”
  • “Claims to be what he is not: there to help Peter, generate income for Peter”
  • “Refuses real solutions to his problems for organization, time management, aid in completion of projects.”

This site holds private email documents where Cochran blames multiple workers for mismanaging his business. It’s a convenient excuse to hide his own abuse of workers and buyers.  He even sent email posing as former employees.  The common denominator in the excuses is Connor Cochran.  

Is Cochran in the business of taking estates from elderly authors?

Conlan Press “has the time and resources to add authors to its list, authors much like Beagle, acclaimed writers with past commercial success who have been ‘abandoned by their publishers and agents as they got older.’”  – Publisher’s Weekly –   (There was time to increase Cochran’s properties – but NOT TO DELIVER GOODS!)

  • Parke Godwin “was placed in a close care facility in 2012 due to a decline in his long- and short-term memory. He died in 2013.”   Cochran: “I’m handling most things for him… and we’re taking the steps necessary to get me appointed as his guardian and conservator.” – Weird Tales magazine, 8/15/12 – see also here
  • Edgar Pangborn “became particularly close to Peter S. Beagle.  Edgar’s sole heir, his older sister Mary… bequeathed the entire Pangborn estate to him.” – wikipedia
  • Conlan Press authors: wikipedia

Cochran’s most recent property gain: The Last Unicorn movie tour

The movie is reaping money for Cochran on tour from 2013-2016.  He said on 7/26/13:

“Something absolutely astonishing happened yesterday. Because of how well LAST UNICORN screening tour plans are coming together, ITV just gave complete authority over worldwide theatrical distribution for THE LAST UNICORN to our team. This is definitely an “only in the internet age” story, and I can’t think of any other film of equivalent stature that is being handled in remotely the same way.”

Read some of Cochran’s lies to excuse fraud:

On 8/5/11, Cochran sent email to the Peter Beagle fan list with one of many excuses that failed to materialize:

 “GOOD NEWS DELAYED PRODUCTS UPDATE:  Nearly all of them will be done and shipped by the end of the year. Those that aren’t will be at the printing plant and on their way for shipping in early 2012.” – They’re still not delivered in 2014.

Conlan Press maintains a web listing of sold but undelivered items.  Delivery dates have changed over many years, with new excuses each time it’s updated.  Cochran promises angry customers that they will always be informed about their missing goods there… but in 2014, it only has a failed promise of 2013 delivery for products sold as long as 10 years ago.  Complaints are still being referred to a long-expired excuse.

In late 2014, the Conlan Press "News" page. Since 2006, "unexpected turns of events".
In late 2014, the Conlan Press “News” page. Since 2004, “unexpected turns of events”.
Excusing fraud from 2006 to 2014.
Excusing fraud from 2004 to 2014.

Demand solutions NOW from Connor Cochran.  BEWARE of Conlan Press. 

Please spread this report among fans, to protect each other – and writers!

After years of broken promises, it’s time for pressure to demand accountability  – and refunds to every deceived customer.

File a complaint with the Attorney General:  Link

Document abuse on Ripoff Report:  Link

Report your story:  fansagainstfraud@gmail.com

 

WHY HELP? Cochran’s “Last Unicorn Tour” website gives a look at new and future fraud against fans:

(Site comment screenshot:)

Dominique Audet Benoit November 10, 2014 at 9:45 am

Hi, I came to see the show when you came in Montreal, Quebec in may last summer and I bought one of the prints after the show. A while after I read that you were having trouble with shipping and customs and that the merchandise would be delayed. I was wondering how is the situation with all that and if I can expect to receive the print soon.

  • Connor Cochran November 22, 2014 at 11:16 am

    It was an incredible bureaucratic tangle that is still being cleaned up, but I expect to have everyone’s prints out to them before the end of the year. (We learned a lot from what happened, which thankfully means we should be able to prevent it from ever happening again.)

Never again?  Late 2014 website update:

lastunicorntour