Just an FYI to all your business owners; the importance of an attorney

[3PedalMINI]

I just wanted to let you guys know about a situation i had come up over the past few weeks. I know there are alot of small business owners on here and just wanted to reinforce the point of how important it is to have an attorney you can call up when a situation arises. I was going to let it go and see what happened but my fellow CI brothers pushed me to call my attorney to take care of this turd.

 

This is my Original post on another forum:

 

Holy **** i cannot believe this, i am currently in the middle of an internet blackmail situation.

 

Customer found me on angies list, performed services and to quote the customer "wow what an amazing job" two weeks later i get an email from him saying he is frustrated because his rear speakers are not playing loud enough. i explained to him about surround sound but offered to swing by the next time Im in the area to turn them up, Against my recommendations of course.

 

He is fine with that, we meet again im there for 30 minutes. 5 minutes to turn up the rears and 25 minutes shooting the breeze and he complimented me again on the excellent service and awesome installation.

 

I get an email over the weekend saying that unless I come back, upgrade his receiver to a better one free of charge he will post negative reviews on every review site he can, including angies list & Google etc. I respond in a professional maner, he replied i have "one week to comply or else." i respond to that saying that this is obsurd etc. to add insult to injury HE SUPPLIED THE AVR. Short of LMAOSMFH im really annoyed that someone can be so childish

 

im keeping any and all communications from this ******* for future things incase I need to get my lawyer involved.

 

I am also dealing with a ***** that gave us a review on angies list that flat out LIED and made up just about everything she could because I called her up and had to reschedule the appointment due to a contract with a commercial client.

 

In this age of review sites what can WE do to protect ourselves from these ********? its too easy now to totally trash a company without having anything behind it. UGHHHH

 

Un ******G Believable, hell will freeze over before I give into someone like this, this is so childish its not even funny.

 

And my update post:

Just wanted to give a quick update.

 

Wow, its so worth it to have a good attorney and proof. He sent a cease and diciest letter certified, i also sent an invoice to him for my attorney fees and i received a check in the mail today all $325 bucks worth!!!! with a post it note saying "sorry I messed with you"

 

So far so good, no reviews anywhere. thanks everyone for your help and incite with this turd. i wish i didnt have todo what I did but sometimes you cant let things like this go. I just hope this ******* learned his lesson and wont mess with anyone else. I feel bad for all the people he screwed over and gave into this worthless pos.

 

and for anyone that thinks they can run a business without a lawyer your playing with fire, highly recommend you get in contact with one to keep in your "Rolodex"

 

My attorney is also requesting that i change my phone tree message to "this message will be recorded for quality assurance" and start recording every single phone call, good and bad. Im already writing my script to be sent off and re-recorded.

 

I sent him an invoice as a last "up yours" and didnt expect to see a dime, imagine my shock when I opened the letter with a check This can happen to anyone, please dont give into people like this. you work too hard building your company for some low life to try and ruin it.

 

I hated to do what i did but im glad i did it. My attorney still wants me to press charges but I dont think I will.

 

 

you can read the whole conversation here.. **Language Warning**

RC: UPDATE! WOW internet blackmail at its finest, what to do? (Page 1 of 4)

Edited July 24, 2012 by 3PedalMINI

[Fierce5]

I founded an online business selling books and Media items on Amazon, Half, ebay, Alibris, Abebooks etc...It was under the umbrella of my father's business so I didnt really have to start from scratch. People used to email us 2 weeks after receiving the book saying things like there was a page missing or I found a dent on back cover or some other lame complaint and they used to offer me to "fix" the situation or they will post bad reviews. The first few times I gave in and offered stuff like 15% off so they dont return the book for a full refund but then I stopped doing that. I used to buy all the books and stuff BRAND NEW!! They used to blackmail me, and abuse the A-Z guarantee claim feature that Amazon offers!

[MAYBEN]

glad to hear it worked out!

[mikegeaney]

I liked it better when you could solve most things with a good old fashioned a$$ whoppin. Too many scumbags out there...and too many attorneys. IMHO.

[THE Mook]

I'll please ask you edit the quoted post so that the sun don't shine place is censored. I think it's awesome you did what you did, but please also respect Adam's own wishes to keep this family friendly.

 

Cheers!

Mook

[3PedalMINI]

I'll please ask you edit the quoted post so that the sun don't shine place is censored. I think it's awesome you did what you did, but please also respect Adam's own wishes to keep this family friendly.

 

Cheers!

Mook

 

done sorry