Fangasmic

So this just happened:



Quick background for anybody unfamiliar with Sweet Charity, it's a fandom charitable auction. People offer to write stories, make art, create vids, buyers bid, and the proceeds go to a charity, usually RAINN. (See subject line for awkwardness.)

With any sort of activity like this, there are the inevitable defaults and disappointments, and usually Sweet Charity will ask for pinch hitters. Having enjoyed the fruits of the project and been very fond of its ultimate cause for years, I've watched the whole thing go down without any idea that just beneath its veneer of candy sweet cooperation, creative energy and fannish engagement for the greater good was barely concealed disappointment and sad faces.

Obviously, it's shitty to bid for something, pay money for it, and never see the results, but come on. Seriously? There has to have been a better way to handle this right? Even if you're upset -- which is entirely understandable -- is posting to Sweet Charity's lj community in what can only be described as an exceedingly petty way the best method of resolution?

I'm curious now that I see this uncomfortable flip side to the charity auction trend. Have you ever bought something and never seen it come to fruition? How do you deal with that sort of thing? Either way -- sound off.