[Resolved?] Top Dog Incident

Below I tried to separate into two parts, first part is what have happened, while the second part is what I think of the situation.



At this point people has to wonder? How does all the drama starts from me?

Well lets just say I am unlucky *shrug*



Album of most pictures: http://imgur.com/a/SgwUn



In November, I was contacted by Winterfox, who was interested at keeping or at least competing to keep their NACS qualifier spot. At the beginning I did not want to do it, but shortly after it was mentioned that both Arczsecond and ShorterAce are interested at playing, after getting confirmation on both parties I agreed to sub in for the one bo5.



On December 4th, 2015, I signed the documents necessary to list me as a starter for the match under the impression that everything is going the way it was agreed on. It was not until the 6th that I was told ShorterAce DID NOT sign under Winterfox, because Top Dog gave him a better offer of 500 per month with 1000 signing bonus just to be a substitute for the team. Thereafter was a clownfiesta because in order for Winterfox to maintain their spot, they will have to find a 3rd member to accommodate the 3/5 rule, and with half of the previous Winterfox roster had gone to Top Dog, there are only two choices left for Winterfox: Find Avalon/ use our social media manager, Gabe, to play the match as he was on the substitute roster, or they have to work something out with Top Dog.



http://i.imgur.com/hKnKJJh.png



Eventually the parties settled down with an agreement, I will be on loan from Winterfox side, while Top Dog pays a small sum of money for the initial qualifier spot, an upon qualifying/ sale of the NACS team they will have to pay additional money for the spot.



And for the three weeks of loan, I will be paid 1000 for my work, and be accommodated for my travelling and living cost during my stay at the Top Dog gaming house.



http://i.imgur.com/yTDPIlq.png



http://i.imgur.com/uxD1l0T.png



Afterward is just 3 weeks of practice, nothing complicated except I was required to attend to Riot Studio day for picture as I was listed as a TIP sub (For additional information regarding to my involvement with TIP, please go to the previous tweetlonger)



So about 1.5 weeks ahead of the match time, I have requested the business manager Ryan to prepare my return flight 2 weeks later than the original date (which would be right after the Top Dog match) in order for me to compete for Team Impulse. Ryan agreed.



Then 3 days before the match, team manager Victor told me that the money for my service is ready, and will be given to me via Paypal once the match is completed. I disagreed with their method of payment due to the easy refund process of Paypal, stating that I would much rather prefer it either in cash or check, and he agreed that will be done.







Here is where it gets messy:

Top Dog actually lost to Astral Authority 2-3 in their final qualifier match.

(Additional information regarding to the match, and suspicious activity will be posted within this week)



At the time I was on very tight schedule. Team Impulse had requested me to be at their gaming house as soon as I am done playing for Top Dog, therefore, I moved from the Top Dog Gaming house within a day. At the time, general manager Victor and business manager(?) Ryan still assure me that I will be getting my payment, and they will be bringing the check to me at Team Impulse house within the week.



And obviously they did not paid.



*insert norcal pic*



After a long and unsuccessful talk with Victor and Ryan, I ended up forcing to file a small claim dispute, as they refuse to allow me to get in touch with the "investor" nor they are able to pay the players.

http://i.imgur.com/M3Yd7lW.png



At this time other than P1noy being paid and Slooshi being paid a portion of his promised salary, no one else had been paid.



The small claim document was processed by Southeast Wisconsin Process LLC . It arrived to the investor's office on march 15th.



The investor whom does not want to be named (and I will honor that since the case is settlted) claimed that he had already paid everyone on the roster, which I was able to prove to not be the case. Below are screenshots of Victor's arguement on not paying me, with me proving that I have an agreement beforehand from previous pictures.

Picture of Victor justify not paying me

http://imgur.com/eJHloYp

* The date of the picture made investor believes in me, as this happened on 7th, long before the Winterfox Top Dog agreement.



He also denied that there had been any attempt from both Victor and Ryan, mentioning to him of the existence of the problem or small claim case.

Picture of me trying to get in touch via Ryan.

http://i.imgur.com/iOkV4yV.png





The agreement in the end is that I will dismiss the case, on the condition that I will be paid for what is promised, and I also brought up other players' payment, which the investor agreed to pay a portion of what is promised, ranging to 30 to 50% (?) to everyone that was on the active roster, including ShorterAce.



Worth mentioning, the investor actually denied to sign the service form for Top Dog Esports, which is under his name, registered at the same location as his other office (obviously the one that I ordered my service to go to), and under his control. If I am to continue the case I would most likely have won, but I am out to try to get everyone compensated, not for blood.



tl;dr Timeline and result:

Early January: I was contacted by Team Impulse to sub for them, I replied and stated that I would have to finish subbing with Top Dog before moving forward.



During this time, I took 1 day off because I was required to take pictures at the Riot Studio. (January 9th)



January 4th: I mentioned to Ryan that I will remain in LA for a bit longer and I want to delay the flight, which they would have booked for me on the 14th, to be delayed for 2 weeks.



January 13th: Match was played, we lost 2-3.



January 14th: I moved out of Top Dog house at 10 PM.



January 15th: I asked Victor to confirm my flight information, which he sent me a cutoff picture with nothing but the airline from expedia. (I also had to pay $50 dollars for 1 bag because he choose a cheap airline)



January 28th: I asked Victor on update for my payment, because previously Victor mentioned he would pay me before I leave LA, either in check or cash. No reply



Feb 22nd: Small claim case filed



March 1st: I hired Southeast Wisconsin Process to deliver my documents.



March 15th: I got in touch with the investor



March 18th: Agreement with investor is made, with his check cashed in on the 25th.



Early April: Case dismissed.



My eventual compensation for helping top dog: 1000 - 150 services fee - 50 small claim court fee = $ 800

All other players received portion of their money.



Afterthoughts:

While I am not able to prove any wrong doing on the investors, I am certain that someone from the management side is being a scum.

There are additional tournament that the Top dog team had played on and received a huge cut in winnings.

If those players are not under contract then by no right the manager has any right to take any money from the players.



I also want to apology here to the original top dog arena owner, I went ahead of myself and tried to get in touch with some of their Call of Duty team players, which may have caused discomfort and troubles for him. I should not have done that and instead trying to reach the upper management level from them.

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