[FlDebra]

Anne -- so sorry to hear that you still have not received a gift. I had pm'd Admin a couple of times and each time they replied that a gift was being sent from your SB. So I think your SB keeps leading them along with empty promises. I think maybe a time limit needs to be added to Rule #10 of the GE! Wish I had thought of this when they were asking for input. It says:

10. Not Receiving a Gift - If you have not received your gift after 2 weeks of the posted deadline (deadline was end of May for this one), please PM us to let us know. There will be action taken. It is not fair to you if you have sent out a gift and did not receive one in return. YorkieTalk guarantees that you will get a Gift per Gift Exchange as long as you follow the rules. Every single participant in every single YT Gift Exchange thus far has received a gift. Please do not complain about not receiving a gift in any threads until after two weeks of the deadline. Remember that YorkieTalk guarantees you will get a gift if you participate so please be patient.

So, 2 weeks after the deadline, you made it clear you had not gotten a gift. How long does Admin have to get you a gift? I guess maybe a month for Admin too is about right, if you think about it. So, maybe it is about to be taken care of now. I know there have been multiple offers to get you a replacement gift. I think it needs to be taken care of BEFORE another GE is started. You have been more than patient. More than a full month worth of patient after the deadline and an acceptable mailing time. Almost two months after many had started receiving gifts.

The Consequences section of the rules also needs to go into affect (and should also have deadlines). Your SB has only been suspended. It seems clear she is not sending a gift. If she is also one of the ones that did not list a thank you, then she needs to be banned on two counts. The Consequences are unclear in one part saying "may be banned" but emphatic in another saying "will be banned" for not sending a gift. Not sending a thank you gets a suspension or banning.

"12. Consequences - We want to keep the fairness in this Gift Exchange and we want everyone to have fun! It is not fair to send a gift and not receive one without any actions taken against the participant that decided not to send a gift.

If you do not send out a gift, you may be banned from YorkieTalk forever with a note in their user title stating the reason they are banned. We do not want this to happen to anyone and that is why we stress that you contact us as soon as possible if anything occurs which prevents you from sending out a gift.

If members ship their gifts out substantially late and without reason or warning or notice to us, their accounts will be suspended for two weeks and they will not be eligible to participate in the next Gift Exchange.

If members do not post "Thank You" threads, their accounts will be suspended or banned and they will no longer be able to participate in any future Gift Exchanges.

Again, please let us know as soon as you can if you are unable to send out the gift by the deadline. We will work with all members involved and notify your Secret Buddy for you if we know.

If you do not send a gift, you (and any immediate family members in your household) will be BANNED from YorkieTalk and from participating in any future YorkieTalk Gift Exchanges. "

I think it was a credit to Yorkietalk, that this is the only problem left from the GE. Everyone else received a gift! So, Admin is running a pretty smooth operation! Just might need to fine tune the time lines for when things do not go right. Hardly fair for another GE to start signups when there is someone still without a gift, IMO. It is incomprehensible to me how someone could do this. Take a gift from someone here, and not send one out. How low can you go? One person can really mess things up for the whole GE, leaving a sour note on an otherwise fun and enjoyable event!