As a companion post to the Cold Antler Sham blog I'm asking to post instances when you have been robbed or burned by Jenna Woginrich of Cold Antler Farm.
Please only provide personal experiences. This includes donations!
Do not turn this into a discussion, use other posts for that.
This is a running list only.
Please do feel free to post bad reviews and past instances of poor business practices buried in the internet...such as etsy or graphic design work from way back when.
Also quotes such as the over purchasing chicks etc. Anything that highlights poor business practices, bad animals husbandry, or illegal activity.
Have at it.
I'm sick and tired of people being scammed. I'm tired of her excuses. There is no accountability.
She calls me a slut shaming stalker as a way to deflect her wrongdoings.
Jenna will continue to leave a path of destruction and suffering unless we can point people to a single source of complaints.
Have at it.
Jenna Woginrich you are disgusting.
Jenna Woginrich, Crystal Ritenour, and Sandy Lerner are disturbed sociopaths that hurt people and animals.
This is unacceptable.
Already mentioned this on Cold Antler sham but I thought the idea of having all the complaints in one single spot would be more practical...
ReplyDeleteI paid her 250 $ - "in advance, as it will be much easier to work knowing that bills are paid" - to do some design work for me. I needed a logo for MY small farm. We agreed on a deadline as I wanted a banner and t-shirts printed before the opening of the farmer's market season. After weeks of silence, I emailed her. And emailed her again. And again. I finally received a response : suggestions that had nothing to do with my farm, which I had sent her plenty of info about : pigs, cows and big tractors that had nothing to do with my small cut flowers, organic vegetables, soap and free range eggs operation. The deadline was approching and I promptly -same day - let her know which direction to take, reminding her of our farm and of what we do... and don't do. I also reminded her that the deadline was approaching quickly.
She took a week and a half to get back to me to tell me she would not be able to do the work. Too busy with the farm. She also let me know that she would be willing to pay me back as money would become availble during the next few months. I became so angry ! I demanded to be paid back in full right away. She told me that she would not be able to pay her mortgage on time if she did. I responded that she could not choose that MY money could be used on her mortgage instead of on my logo. (Because, of course, I would have to hire and pay someone else to do the job). I do not know why I did this - probably because I do feel when a fellow farmer has it hard - I offered to keep the money if she was willing to provide me with my logo within the next week. She said she was not able to work before the next month. I was surprised that someone in dire need of cash would not jump on the occasion. Again, I demanded my money back right away. I did receive a partial refund in the days that followed. And again a few weeks after that, after sending numerous "reminder" emails...
Meanwhile, I had to find another designer which could provide a logo within two weeks (I had to pay extra for the fast service). Had the banner and t-shirts printed express service (paid extra again). The logo and products therefore cost me a lot more than they would have if I had received the first logo on time. The promised third payment never arrived and, after a while, I decided I did not wish to spend more time or energy requesting to be reimbursed. It was around the time when I started to find out that she was in debt with many, many others were, most of whom never did see a dollar back AND that she was requesting money from her readers again.
I just wanted you to know that even when a professional service was promised, she fell short. Her lack of work on my logo was not a result of poor weather, the unlucky death of a promised animal or poor butchering service. It was not due to an accident or a toothache or something else she did not have control over. It was not a lack of time (she was taking horseback riding classes at the time). It was a lack of WANT. It was just that designing the promised logo was not a priority and that paying me back was less important than learning to ride her horse.
I cannot believe that she is still always telling people that they can reach their farming dreams if they want to. That if she was able to do so, just out of sheer will, anyone who wants it bad enough will also succeed. She is not a success. And if it wasn't for the people she has cheated out of money or the fans that give blindly, she would have lost her farm long ago...
A friend of mine from Florida also went through the same thing but as she was also dealing with a divorce at the time, she did not pursue her money back....
Lesson learned: Never pay in full for services before the work is done. 1/3 down, 1/3 upon review of final product, 1/3 upon completion-reception. You should let the BBB know. I am sorry that you were treated like this by JW but once she has your money you "EFF"ed.
DeleteMy review about Chick Days on Amazon.ca - From 2012. Before I knew she wronged so many people. As an homesteader, urban homesteading columnist and urban agriculture teacher at University, I have read quite a few books on chicken rearing. I was unimpressed, to say the least, by Jenna's book :
ReplyDelete"I usually enjoy Jenna's writing but this book was really disappointing to me. I believe that it takes more than a couple of years raising a few backyard chickens to call one a "chicken expert". The book is short on info. May be interesting for someone who is dreaming of one day owning chickens as it has many cute pictures. "A chicken in every backyard" provides much more useful info to the beginning small flock owner.
Oh, and the fact that she keeps calling the Easter Egger chicken in her book an Ameraucana greatly annoyed me. A chicken expert should know the difference... ".
Anon 3:06 (1/3)
ReplyDeleteCan I assume that you haven't donated to one of her bi-monthly fund drives to save the farm only to find out that her mortgage remains 3 months behind and she's spending afternoons buying t-shirts, riding merlin, sipping store bought coffee and bingeing on Netflix.
I take it you don't know what it feels like to feel suckered out of $
How about a kid paying her allowance to someone for a service that someone promised and that someone doesn't follow through with said promise? That certain someone doesn’t answer emails, blocks comments on her blog from a 12 year old? That happened within the last year. A donation to a tooth that didn't get fixed for months later, while instead a puppy was purchased, was also misused.
I take it you don't think it's unethical to ask for a donation to keep a farm afloat and then throw in the faces of your donator’s things recently purchases -After you claimed to be broke or in the red in your checkbook. Numerous cases of this in the past 365 days.
It's also viewed as acceptable by you apparently that written on one of the threads of this blog a local donated $, just this past summer, for JW to fix her outbuildings. He offered his services to help repair said buildings and get them up to par for this winter. She accepted the donation via PayPal and told him she had the repairs under control-either she'd do them or a friend would be helping her with it this past summer. She stated to this man she felt bad for the shape the buildings were in and yes she would use that much needed money to do so. That $ was never used for repairs of any buildings on that farm. That was verified in November of this year.
By her own admittance no matter what kind of story she comes up with for donations- tooth, truck repairs etc. she almost always uses money donated for her late mortgages. Yet, every single time she mentions her mortgage she is always 90 days behind.
Buying 50% more chickens because she knows she will probably lose that many to predators or her dogs is poor animal husbandry. She's not a beginner at this point. She just doesn't know how to build tractors for chickens, or protect her flock. Period. This happened this past spring/ summer.
ReplyDeleteWhether you believe it or not her continuous practices of receiving money and not delivering are her modus operandi. It's her real-life reality living personality. She isn't going out in the world to generate real income or make a living. Did you miss her very recent post about not being able to work off her farm? No legit money-making going on there ever. How can any reader that has read her blog or FB for the last year trust that once they've paid for a simple t-shirt, she will deliver. She was paid 15,675 to produce 20,000 more words for an e-book and bound book beginning 8/2014. She spent ALL summer having fun and building her heathen clan-by her own admission she has spent one year building her kindred. While her book, promised in June, remains where? If an e-book and hardcover aren't received by her backers by 12/25 she has defaulted on yet another promise. Period
I’m not a heathen but from reading about them they value reputation. They cannot afford to have their name or work sullied or soiled by someone within misbehaving. JW has created a website that address deeds. This blog, although it does go off track at times, is an archive of past deeds. There are many people out there who have given up and moved on. There are many people who have not. JW counts on people to move on-hence why she refuses to answer email or continue to make her $10.00 a month payments. Why should those on Reddit be left in the dark? They should be given the information and then decide for themselves. All of the information should be given. They’re smart people let them look at the recent issues people have had with JW. She has to be held accountable for her misdeeds this past summer, last winter, this fall-all of them.
AnonymousDecember 3, 2015 at 3:50 PM
Delete(3/3) Wake up! Go away if you are trying to make it easier for a common criminal to continue to rip people off. Stop defending someone that has willingly and knowingly, just in the past year, taken $ from people only to lose their email, run behind producing a product, delay delay delay, and then lie openly on sub-reddit that all the hate is from a wool CSA. The wool csa is just one of many many many things JW has really done to rip people off. She likes minimalizing her thievery and making her accuser look like a fool. She's ok with stealing from people this past summer, fall, and on and on. Why she blogged about her tactics right here- 5/5/2013
"Some people assume, very wrongly, that this farm is a woman's playground paid for by donations from adoring readers. I know people assume this because they send me angry emails about it. I assure you that isn't the case. I appreciate any and all contribution to the farm, but for example, this week I posted about contributions and they totaled 73 dollars. That was the total haul for the bi-monthly fund drive which I post six times a year (last time was March). That is enough to buy half a month's worth of chicken feed or a week and a half worth of hay bales. It is a HUGE help and I am incredibly grateful for it, but $73 every eight weeks does not a playgirl make. A part time job is appreciated and needed. It'll help add income to how I actually make a living, which is through ad sales, ad clicks, workshops, freelance design, speaking, and writing books".
And how long did that part-time job last. About the same as anything else has-until the newness wore off and donations stopped. You can't make pleas for donations if your fans know you have a job. Can you?
It's going to stop, it will stop. Backers of Kickstarter keep making your complaints.
I'm anon 3:50 and thank you for pasting this. It didn't pick up the last part about posting anonymously. I will add-
DeleteWe post anonymously because you do. Your defenders also post anonymously. You either read this blog or have one of your fans read it. Posters are anonymous because they are previous donator's who got ripped off, yes even this year's donator's and when they speak you send your fans over to threaten them. You've even threatened your hurt donator's with a lawsuit- how dare they bring this to a public site!
It does no good to send you an email. Many many people have done that. You lose email addresses you stop making refund don't ya know. Same excuse each time. My computer died. It's died twice this year, or was that your power cord? Don't remember, too many crises to keep up with.
We post anonymously because you and your minions do.
I sent a donation for $65.00 for a private blog associated with Birchthorn and said blog after July 2015 went completely dead.
ReplyDeleteI also sent a donation for her tooth March 2015 that supposedly got fixed this past fall. Her excuse was that she had to keep postponing said tooth appointment- rotting, abscessed tooth with blinding pain in March until fall due to other crises at hand.
So sorry. Your tooth donation probably went towards the purchase of her $1,000 puppy that she bought in the spring, right after blogging about how she needed money for her tooth.
DeleteI too signed up for the Clan Cold Antler website, what a joke. What was supposed to be weekly updates was more like 4-6 weeks apart or longer! I donated a few times in the past, $20 or less, never so much as a thank you for that. And no there were never any giveaways that I saw. What really put the nail in the coffin for me was all her crying poor me/so scared/wolves at the door posts and then going out and buying that PUPPY! So logical, ugh. First time poster here btw.
DeleteAnonymousDecember 3, 2015 at 5:24 PM
ReplyDeleteReddit
[–]ddeck 4 points 4 months ago
Been to Coldantler and met Jenna, the blog is not the reality. In fact, I would suggest everyone go to these places and see what the truth is.
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[–]hoserman 3 points 4 months ago
Can you elaborate?
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[–]ddeck 3 points 4 months ago
Went there for an extremely overpriced rabbit workshop (my wife bought it, not me). House and outbuildings were a disaster, lot of haphazard stuff that showed things were not getting done. I could believe this if it was a 30 acre farm in full production, but it was about 1 acre of actual land in use. Random stuff was just everywhere. The rabbit workshop was terrible. No real plan or useful information. We then had to drive to another person's place to see an animal harvested. (A retired couple owned the place and had larger gardens, more chickens and more horses than Jenna). Even my wife stopped following the blog after going there. She now knew what was really going on. Jenna also mentioned that she had done a lot of swimming that summer and looked forward to spending the majority of the next day at the river. With the amount of work that needed to be done, there should have been no swimming that summer.
In the end, she uses the blog so other people can support her dream of not working in an office. She had a blog post about her truck being repossessed and I'm pretty sure her house was near foreclosure.
I paid $65 for a blog subscription to Clan Cold Antler. I wanted to know about her real life, wanted to know how someone without a job could afford a farm. I was hoping I could do the same.
ReplyDeleteBut, she stopped writing on that blog completely shortly after I paid. Now, she has said she will start writing on it again once Birchthorn is finished. Well, I didn't pay for Birchthorn, I paid for the blog!
So, I paid and was promised specific content and didn't get it. Instead, I was told that another project was more important than the one I paid for. That the one I paid for would be fulfilled after another, even newer project, was done.
Why take my money when you just planned to abandon the blog once another project came along? I am a teacher. When I am assigned an additional class three weeks after school starts, I don't abandon my previous classes and only focus on the new class. I'd get fired.
Did she do any giveaways as advertised?
DeleteI had a transaction with Jenna, the whole thing struck me as beyond unprofessional. Besides paying up front and there being no contract or agreement (in hindsight, MAJOR red flags), there was nary a, "Thank you for your support!" or, "CAF thanks you!" or frankly any email longer than about four words. The whole thing totally smacked of lacking any sort of gratitude, and that bugged me given how often she puts out the call for donations due to "emergencies." You would bet your ass I'd go out of my way to thank people for their generosity if my life was falling down around me and I was putting out one fire after another. The transaction left a bad taste in my mouth and made me pay closer attention to the "story" she weaves.
ReplyDeleteI recently Googled her "haters" to see what she so often talks about, and conveniently, Google makes suggestions for you, which is saying something... I've spent time reading through the history of schemes, usernames, email addresses, and websites she's traipsed through and I kept hearing the same story over and over again. For over a decade she has continued to take money and not follow through or change the rules of engagement half way through - such as her Birchthorn Kickstarter campaign which I recently found out I'm not getting a printed book that I pledged for, only an eBook "novella." In my world asking for payment up front with no intention of following through is called theft (and in this case, wire fraud). The fact that multiple people have the same story tells me that the jig is rotten.
I have followed Jenna since she was in Idaho and very much admired her, and because of that may have overlooked some of the inconsistencies in the story. (What can I say? I maintain generous assumptions about people.) Today I am no longer a CAF follower or supporter, and I would discourage anyone interested in her "services." It's a shame since it sounds like most of us started out as big fans of hers.
Jenna is a great writer and obviously an even better storyteller who swindles generous strangers out of their money so she doesn't have to work. I wish I could say that I think Jenna needs help, but I have a feeling this is more along the lines of a personality "thing."
Shameful.
I am so sorry to hear this. I wish people like you who had actual dealings and got ripped off by this truly sick individual would send a note about your experience to each and every single on of the companies which still sponsor her blog-which is nothing more than a baiting tool-and to each and every company which still does any business with her-I personally did that in an email to From Scratch magazine two weeks ago.
DeleteThat is what it will take for her to be stopped and maybe then she will get some much needed help-and I don't mean financial.
I paid $100 for webinars, which were supposed to be online instructional videos, of which I only got one. She was supposed to produce 10 with content such as how to play the fiddle and/or other homesteading practices. She claimed she did not have a high speed Internet capability to do it after all , but she never refunded my money. Now she routinely does vlogs showing she does have the internet speed and capabilities. What a scam.
ReplyDeletePrint this.
DeleteI also subscribed to the Clan CAF blog. Here is what was promised & promoted:
ReplyDelete" At this site you can read in more detail about my spiritual and personal life. Clan only photos like house tours and pet photos also are put up! I did the math and if I only posted once a week (I'm sure I'll post more) you end up paying $1.25 an essay. I don't think you can buy a Diet Coke for that price anymore?" (Direct quote).
There were some entries, but recently, frequency was as follows.
1 entry, June 21, 2015.
1 entry, July 15, 2015
And last known entry, July 25, 2015.
She is STILL COLLECTING MONTHLY FEES, and not a word has been written. The entry on 7/25/15 was nothing more than some concert photos. Here we sit, in December. How difficult is it to generate a bi-weekly essay? Apparently even THAT is too much work.
Disgusted.
Call me Disgruntled Midwesterner.
Print all of this.
DeleteIf the "print this" comments are directed at me just a fyi...I'm not involved any further than providing this forum. It is up to those who were wronged to stand up for themselves. My focus are the pigs at Ayrshire which have no voice.
DeleteNo, not you Meredith- the person who has the email conversation with Jenna.
DeleteOn march 16, 2016, I sent $250 via PayPal friends and family for a logo for my small business with the expectation that the logo would be worked on the end of April. We had a FB convo over the next few days discussing what I would like. On April 15, 2016, I sent another FB convo asking where I was in the queue. She responded on April 16, 2016 that she was working on it and would have updates soon. I haven't heard back. At this point, I am doing my own logo and consider the money lost. I hope other people don't fall for the same thing.
ReplyDeleteAsk again. Send me a screenshot of the conversation and I'll redact your name and post it. Meredithamonson@gmail.com
DeleteI was long time fan, having found her blog around the time she moved to "Veryork" before she bought her home. I sent a couple of small donations, purchased one of her books, had others on my wish list until my feelings about Jenna changed.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, she is NOT a good writer--average or sub-par at best. But, I believed in her--in her cause, and that she was an inspiration to those of us with a yearning for a farm, who seek freedom from the cubicle jungle.
I donated another $100 when Gibson hurt his paw, responding to the almost palpable pain she must be feeling as a fellow dog lover. But, to my complete surprise, I never received even a thank you--not a peep. Even the smallest charitable organization will send you a sincere thank you even if you donate a paltry $10. But, I knew she wasn't a real charity--a 501(c)(3). She was a person, someone I saw as an individual I might call a friend under the right circumstances.
It was so contradictory to what I thought I knew of her from her blogs and book, that I started paying more attention. I began to feel sickened how frequently she asked for money from her readers, and how persistently far behind she was on her own bills. It was always a sob story, a scarcely-disguised beggar-fest. It really became obvious to me that this was not something I wanted to read anymore. She's really not my kind of person. Her spirit is as mucky as her barnyard. I can't imagine why it doesn't bother her to beg.
I'm a straight-up, hard-working, no-limits, classy kind of woman. And, it sickens me that she casts a shadow across our gender and those of us who do honestly and tenaciously kick ass. I'm not perfect, of course, but I see my shortcomings.
I still believe that her original intentions were honorable. But, due to long-term stress, isolation, and frustration, she has lost sight of the integrity she once had. She will one of these days lose that damned farm and be forced to stop and look inwardly again. It will be horrible for a long time for her. But, it will be real justice for herself, her readers, her champions, and her benefactors for her to JUST STOP.
I wouldn't want that money for anything in the world if it meant I had to step into her shoes. I almost wish her luck.
I was long time fan, having found her blog around the time she moved to "Veryork" before she bought her home. I sent a couple of small donations, purchased one of her books, had others on my wish list until my feelings about Jenna changed.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, she is NOT a good writer--average or sub-par at best. But, I believed in her--in her cause, and that she was an inspiration to those of us with a yearning for a farm, who seek freedom from the cubicle jungle.
I donated another $100 when Gibson hurt his paw, responding to the almost palpable pain she must be feeling as a fellow dog lover. But, to my complete surprise, I never received even a thank you--not a peep. Even the smallest charitable organization will send you a sincere thank you even if you donate a paltry $10. But, I knew she wasn't a real charity--a 501(c)(3). She was a person, someone I saw as an individual I might call a friend under the right circumstances.
It was so contradictory to what I thought I knew of her from her blogs and book, that I started paying more attention. I began to feel sickened how frequently she asked for money from her readers, and how persistently far behind she was on her own bills. It was always a sob story, a scarcely-disguised beggar-fest. It really became obvious to me that this was not something I wanted to read anymore. She's really not my kind of person. Her spirit is as mucky as her barnyard. I can't imagine why it doesn't bother her to beg.
I'm a straight-up, hard-working, no-limits, classy kind of woman. And, it sickens me that she casts a shadow across our gender and those of us who do honestly and tenaciously kick ass. I'm not perfect, of course, but I see my shortcomings.
I still believe that her original intentions were honorable. But, due to long-term stress, isolation, and frustration, she has lost sight of the integrity she once had. She will one of these days lose that damned farm and be forced to stop and look inwardly again. It will be horrible for a long time for her. But, it will be real justice for herself, her readers, her champions, and her benefactors for her to JUST STOP.
I wouldn't want that money for anything in the world if it meant I had to step into her shoes. I almost wish her luck.
Hey all. Cold antler sham is currently locked because HD has had surgery. I have set up a reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/coldantlercritics/
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mind that I post it here for people who may be looking for it.
Just reading through all those old comments and thinking it’s 2023 and nothing has changed. She has spent the last 7-8 years since these comments were posted doing the exact same scams but on new platforms and to new people. Smfh
DeleteIt’s now October of 2024, “and nothing has changed.”
Delete