Negative blog content? How wise? [Archive]

southerncrossbluecruising

12-17-2008, 07:11 AM

We run a highly rated blog which has been successful in building our clients' trust in our product and does very well in google for search times we write about.

We have just had a very negative experience with a web designer whom we hired to build a website for a client of ours In fact, we feel like that the designer is a complete fraud. How wise or unwise is it to post one's experience on our original company blog about a negative experience? We don't want other potential customers to make the same mistake, but we also don't want to be too negative in our blog posts. Please advise.

Thank you in advance.

Dina Street

URL:Southern Cross Blue Cruising Gulet Charter - Bodrum, Turkey (http://www.southerncrossbluecruising.com)
Blog: The Very First Gulet Charter/Blue Cruise Blog (http://www.southerncrossbluecruising.com/blogtest)

Toni Anicic

12-17-2008, 08:07 AM

Make sure that whatever you write about the designer is considered to be your personal opinion on the guy. If you write it as if it were facts that he is a bad designer he might be able to take a law suit against you.

But you have right to express your opinion about the guy. However, it is sometimes not so wise to post negative things about people as you are only making yourself enemies and I'm not sure if that's what you actually want to do :)

crankydave

12-17-2008, 08:11 AM

Design is very subjective. It's incumbent upon anyone who is in the position of hiring a designer to do their due dilligence prior to hiring them. Let the buyer beware.

That said, you have to decide whether or not your company blog is the appropriate place to "vent" about your experience. Something along the lines of being "positive" about another designer you choose to replace the one you've had a bad experience with may serve you better should you decide to go this route.

Dave

subhzash

12-17-2008, 08:11 AM

crankydave

12-17-2008, 09:15 AM

Best solution is Moderators for your company blog

Did you not read or understand what is being asked or are you simply posting for the sake of it?

Dave

ron angel

12-17-2008, 05:17 PM

ArthurNYC

12-17-2008, 05:17 PM

I wouldn't bother for a number of reasons. First, you are going to get into a p-ssing contest which as a company you can't win and then you need to deal with his/her retaliation. Second, you are basically telling all your clients that you screwed up and hired an idiot ... what other idiots have you hired? And lastly, why bother? Move on, lesson learned. Go back to what you do and make money.

If you feel that strongly, you can email your clients but through all this you have to be concerned about legal ramifications.

Skip it, move on! Just my opinion.

Arthur

xtempore

12-17-2008, 05:17 PM

I think you should tread very carefully with something like this.

You really need to think carefully about how likely someone reading your blog would hire this guy anyway. Are you sure you are trying to do a community service by alerting people, or are you just being vindictive?

Regardless of your motivation I would steer clear of the "name and shame" approach, as I believe it will only hurt your business.

Instead learn from your experience, and pass on that knowledge in your blog. Rather than writing a "Mr. X is a fraud" entry, rework it as a "How to find a good web-designer (and avoid the hacks)".

Think about things that happened, especially early on, that in hindsight should have alerted you to a problem.

Did he make unreasonable demands?
Did he offer a deal that sounded too good?
Did he lack a professional portfolio of previous work?
Was he unable to produce references?
Was he reluctant to show drafts along the way?

I'm sure there were lots of telltale signs, and by writing about those you will help people avoid not just this guy but others like him.

You will also not appear as vindictive, and you will not get sued for libel.

ArthurNYC

12-17-2008, 05:18 PM

Damn Dave ... you are Cranky!

incrediblehelp

12-17-2008, 05:21 PM

I definitely would not post it on your company blog, especially one as you said is pretty successful.

I would rather target other locations like his blog or blogs that he frequents.

janeth

12-17-2008, 05:24 PM

Design is very subjective. It's incumbent upon anyone who is in the position of hiring a designer to do their due dilligence prior to hiring them. Let the buyer beware.

I agree, there are times that we've bent over backwards trying to take care of a client only to find out what they wanted was something that I myself felt was pretty ugly.

I’ve also seen sites I thought were great not convert traffic as well as sites I didn’t like.

Designing a site is art work and they take a lot of time to get right. You have to find a place where the client is happy and the site will convert. It’s not an easy place to find.

BSmithTTS

12-17-2008, 05:27 PM

First thing that came to mind when I read your post was an article I read recently in INC Magazine...
A Cold Call, a Blog, and a $20 Million Lawsuit -- CEO blogs --business law (http://www.inc.com/magazine/20081101/a-cold-call-a-blog-and-a-20-million-lawsuit.html)

Her blog post got her in a 20 million dollar lawsuit and eventually she settled out of court.

I'd say be careful. Anything you say on a company blog, will look like it is the opinion of the company.

adtastichosting

12-17-2008, 05:33 PM

I have to agree with the concensus here which is mostly to do nothing at all. If you did do something it might best be presented along the lines of:

Once we made a mistake and hired a designer to work on a clients website. We were totally unhappy with the result and here are the reasons why:
(List reasons)
We learned from that experience and here is what we learned:
(list what you learned)
And so in the future, if you are looknig for a web designer, here are some pointers that might help:
(list pointers)

Then it becomes a constructive process that might be helpful to someone rather than a negative.

southerncrossbluecruising

12-17-2008, 05:48 PM

Thank you all so much.

Yes, we had researched this designer as to his portfolio, references, time frame, and technical ability. We agreed to the basic design of the site which was to include a local search engine, downloadable PDF files and content/jpg control via a custom admin panel. He sent live samples of a similar admin panel that we did a test run with similar to what we'd be using to control our client's site. We were open to his suggestions as to how to best organize the site, down to color scheme and layout. All agreed, 50% deposit sent and silence. Everything is documented as all correspondence was via email.

(I know what you're going to ask: How on earth did you find this dude?)

All of your constructive comments have led me to think that I should indeed focus upon writing a `How to Avoid This` e-article, which may or may not eventually make it to the blog.

Thanks very much again.

Dina

alan

12-17-2008, 05:49 PM

Caveat emptor Design is in the eye of the customer
Say nothing more.

exiruscreative

12-17-2008, 05:59 PM

I would be careful in posting anything against the designer. I would post something informative such as What To Do and What Not To Do when hiring a designer and site some samples. And provide a way to contact you if they people would want to know (for information and caution) who the designer is or from what company.

fathom

12-17-2008, 06:00 PM

Not wise at all... in fact it is pretty "business stupid".

The first thing to consider is the legal aspects... "legally" it isn't about being right or wrong it is about who has the better argument.

The moment you post something "public" you taint your motive and everything you write can be used against you.

Also, and more importantly, there are two sides to every story... [you may not like this but valid issues]

[YOU] hire a web designer [for someone that trusts you] presumably because the web designer was competent, and you knew this to be true, because no one would hire a fraud intentionally especially for someone else that trusts them to do what is in the best interests of the client...

You had a contract, with provisions and clauses, performances and deliverables - again because [YOU] hire a web designer [for someone that trusts you] and you are competent in the hiring of qualified web designers... or not?

In fact, if you feel the designer is a complete fraud... how do you explain your lack of professionalism that you showed for not doing a proper examination and evaluation of the designer's background check?

I'm not implying anything here but for the designer to be a "complete fraud" and a professional recruiter not detecting anything out of the ordinary in advance... suggests:

You are not competent to act as anyone's recruiter because you didn't/couldn't/wouldn't do the job you promise to do on behalf of the client.

In which case... and the moral here: for you to offer an unbiased approach to your readership so they don't make the same mistake... you must also explain "how they should avoid you" as well.

Surely the most important part isn't "avoiding this single designer"... it's how to avoid becoming involved in this outcome "period"... and that tends to start at the screening process not at the spilled milk process.

newsblaze

12-17-2008, 06:12 PM

My advice is to forget the negative part, it is too much trouble.

It is better to just say you had a negative experience and to help your clients so they don't have a similar problem, here are 10 questions they should ask a prospective website designer.

There are questions you need to answer too - did you have a specification?
Did you manage the relationship correctly from the beginning?
Did you contribute to the problem?
What will do you better next time?

Now you can turn this into a positive without mentioning the name of the other person/business.

Alan.

sharonjackson

12-17-2008, 07:02 PM

Caveat emptor Design is in the eye of the customer
Say nothing more.

I agree with the above quote. You have a successful business. You have happy customers. They don't want to know if you burned your toast this morning while making breakfast or even if you broke up with your husband. Their relationship with you is product or service based. As long as you make good on the page that the designer did poorly on, just forge ahead.

I would hunt the bugger down however, on his own blog, or through the better business bureau or Chamber of Commerce. I would be talking with my colleagues and telling them precisely how I felt. :mrgreen:

Heh heh heh.

ami_iss

12-17-2008, 07:18 PM

ron angel

12-17-2008, 07:30 PM

I definitely would not post it on your company blog, especially one as you said is pretty successful.

I would rather target other locations like his blog or blogs that he frequents.
Posting on a blog you have no control over allows him rightly or wrongly to edit what you say out of context & reply in such a way as to make him the wronged party. If you do it keep it under your control

deepsand

12-17-2008, 07:31 PM

Damn Dave ... you are Cranky!
But, absolutely spot on, not to mention restrained!

gavinscott

12-17-2008, 07:32 PM

Design is subjective, but taking the money and disappearing without producing the goods is not! However, I think your recourse should be through the courts, not through your blog, which is unlikely to have any impact on this person, and is likely to present your company in a more negative light.

I think you have been unlucky rather than unwise; at some point you have to trust people, otherwise you would never get any business done. In any situation where you are buying or selling a bespoke product there is an opportunity for one side or the other to default. Unfortunately there are people out there who will exploit this.

gavinscott

12-17-2008, 07:38 PM

Sorry ami-iss, didn't mean to repeat you; you posted while I was distracted!

SeeMyBiz

12-17-2008, 07:51 PM

Is this person just an individual or company you dealt with? I mean is it possible that if just one person, that there has been a unfortunate event occur? A tragedy or a death? Something may have occured that is beyond anyone's control. It is a bad situation yes, but give it some more time and see what unfolds.

BradHart

12-17-2008, 07:53 PM

As a business you need to tread lightly in what you say publicly. On the other hand if you think they are unethical, unprofessional, or fraudulent then you also have a responsibility to make sure you let people know this in a professional manner too. I would consider using your business sites clout with google to make a short note that gets indexed but not really part of the main blog to explain you have used designer X and can be solicited for private comments by potential clients or employers in the future. This way you can maintain an air of professionalism, but still give your honest opinion of them.

This works both ways too if you hire someone you are very happy with you can always put a note on the same page that says we used were happy with their work and will gladly answer questions about your experience with them.

Now if you were a somewhat more personal blogger instead of a big company you still need to be careful of the legal issues, but by all means feel free to rip anyone who has screwed you a new one. More than once I have started some serious discussions by starting to ream someone or some company. Most notably was for a premium theme vendor that everyone was raving about. After purchasing the $200 theme which on the outside did look very cool I found not only was the off the shelf SEO horrible, but the site selling these themes didn't have the designers on their staff and no one at the company actually knew anything. I bought the theme because I didn't have the time to learn advanced design at the time, but even I could see how bad the SEO. Thankfully I used AMEX.

MrGamm

12-18-2008, 12:37 AM

I think if your sharing your wisdom and being careful enough to ensure it is not a negative rant but rather insight as to how a situation can go bad and how to come out on top of it might be the better route to take.

Calling somebody a fraud might not be the right way to look at it. People very often over or underestimate people and as a result think that it is that persons fault when indeed both parties are to blame for being unable to asses the situation carefully and diligently.

Design is a vicious game. One persons over - confidence is another persons false hope.

EDIT: Additionally... there are so many out of the box turn key solutions available to people as a sales tool it makes it very easy for somebody with little or no competence to claim themselves as being capable of delivering what they obviously cannot. Competition is fierce. Most portfolios are a modified out of the box website template.

After reading your post I realize that you are calling a designer a fraud when your job required the skillset of a developer. You underestimated the project and the skillset required. Jmo... Either that or you got scammed flat out... Consider finding somebody within arm's reach next time.

newsblaze

12-18-2008, 01:49 AM

If I understood correctly, the man defrauded you: He got a 50% deposit and did nothing. That is not subjective, has nothing to do with the eye of customer or any of these other comments. Unless the guy was prevented from doing the work by an "act of God" (maybe he got drowned or had a stroke) that's fraud.

Assuming you can prove that he cashed the deposit and did not do the work, you have a case.

If the man has defrauded you and just not done the work AND you can prove it, then it is wiser to take him to small claims court. If you can prove your case, you get the deposit back for the client and you can simply write what happened in your blog. That's straight reporting. The man cannot sue you for reporting facts, and people should know what the facts are.

In this case, I am not sure what a general article about "choosing a designer" could prove. The point about ripoff artists is that if they are good you cannot spot them. You can only find out if one of their victims speaks out.

<remove quoted link>

What you say is true, but the question was, should they tell the world about it and the general thought is - no, unless you want to destroy your business. Going after him legally is another issue, but we don't know the whole story. How much did they contribute to it themselves? This is a can of worms and needs serious thought. For one think it says something about their ability to choose a partner - maybe they were too busy, too trusting, too lax with oversight - too many issues here for us to discuss without knowing all the facts and probably, you don't want all this dirty laundry out here.

You may not want others to be hurt in the same way, but there is no guarantee of that, no matter what the facts are. Or are you going to ignore your own business and hound this guy forever? No, so let this go and get on with your life and your business and do a better job next time.

webullswobble

12-18-2008, 05:24 AM

You have a duty to share your opinion so others can make an informed choice.

You don't necessarily have to use your company site - you could publish elsewhere and "promote" your views there.

southerncrossbluecruising

12-18-2008, 05:27 AM

Thank you all very much. There is some excellent advice in this thread, and I am not without blame, as pointed out by some. I should have been more vigilant about ensuring he could undertake the work needed, and yes I do believe that he was working with pre-made templates. Perhaps out and out fraud is indeed the wrong word - I think he got in over his head even though we had ample communication about everything we needed which was so clearly documented in our correspondence, all with his confirmations.

He didn't drown as he's still on my Skype contact list but doesn't answer. I should clarify that we did have contact after he received the deposit, but always with an excuse of a national holiday, being away, or busy working on the project even though I had yet to give him any content. That was in September and then communication broke down.

I will proceed with leaving a carefully worded account of what happened as entries on the many websites where he promotes himself, but will not mention him on our company blog. Small claims court is out of the question as he is based abroad.

The good news is that I did find a fantastic developer who has not only delivered our initial project, but two more as well during this time. He was first a client of ours who chose our company for his holiday so we were able to first meet face to face and subsequently continue our work over a distance.

Move forward!

Thank you again.
Dina

BradHart

12-18-2008, 06:18 AM

You have a duty to share your opinion so others can make an informed choice.

You don't necessarily have to use your company site - you could publish elsewhere and "promote" your views there.

I am with you on this. Too many times we play CYA by refusing to say anything negative even when asked directly. If you can back up what you say you have a responsibility to the community at large to make it known that people weren't up to snuff with what they claimed. There are a lot of avenues to pursue, but if you fail to make your knowledge of a vendor available to the next guy, then you are as guilty as the vendor, especially when they are out and out frauds which happens too often.

netman4ttm

12-18-2008, 08:24 AM

Went to your web site, and looked through your blog. Since your site and blog are NOT about web design I wouldn't say a thing about this designer. It won't drive traffic to the site and it really has nothing to do with sailing.

YouCannotFoolMe

12-18-2008, 12:28 PM

I think the solution is not to post anything on your blog. It undermines your business and credibility.

However, depending on your level of anger, making an anonymous post about it here, on Scam.com, on ripoffreport.com, can have excellent results.

A company named Portal Response Technology was running a scam. By opening up threads here, at the above sites, and even on a dedicated site, they were run out of business.

I have no problem posting honest opinions and honest facts under anonymous screen names in multiple places depending on the level of dishonesty involved.

if they just did a crappy job, I wouldn't waste time on it. If there was outright fraud involved, you should.

RichAtVNS

12-18-2008, 06:14 PM

There is definately a difference between bad performance and Fraud.

Fraud is essentially taking money and doing nothing or next to nothing and not performing the contract or not attempting to perform a contract.

It does not mean not completeing a project.

If a client has not responded and the money has run out or the deadlines for clients to do things has expired by the contract that is not FRAUD.

Having said that you need to understand that you do not want to even say this vendor's name on the your blog only to the extent that you swooped in and helped your customer out. (Which I very sincerely hope that you did).

This would give a postitive spin on your customer service and build strength in customer loyalty.

No matter how angry I get with slow payers, I don't burn the bridges I just make sure that I get more upfront the next time.

If you wish to comment negatively about this guys experience write reviews on the Yahoo Local and other places in the general market... NOT ON YOUR BLOG!!!!

ronchalice

12-18-2008, 10:26 PM

Not on your blog. You may need the services of another vendor in the future - one who may have seen the blog and sees your company as too much risk.

ron angel

12-18-2008, 10:35 PM

Not on your blog. You may need the services of another vendor in the future - one who may have seen the blog and sees your company as too much risk.
Any person that does things correctly would have nothing to fear.
you would not want to do business with anybody who would worry about it.

deepsand

12-20-2008, 02:14 PM

You have a duty to share your opinion so others can make an informed choice.
A duty?

By what means does such obligation here accrue, that one should invest of ones own resources, publish that which may or may not be of substantial value to others, and expose oneself to the potential risk of legal liability for libel?

Should the latter come to pass, will you step forward to shoulder any resulting loss?

webullswobble

12-22-2008, 12:41 PM

A duty?

expose oneself to the potential risk of legal liability for libel?

Should the latter come to pass, will you step forward to shoulder any resulting loss?

Erm... write accurately and carfully choose the words you use?

deepsand

12-22-2008, 05:06 PM

Erm... write accurately and carfully choose the words you use?
Begs the question.

deepsand

12-24-2008, 07:01 PM

I am with you on this. Too many times we play CYA by refusing to say anything negative even when asked directly. If you can back up what you say you have a responsibility to the community at large to make it known that people weren't up to snuff with what they claimed. There are a lot of avenues to pursue, but if you fail to make your knowledge of a vendor available to the next guy, theC are as guilty as the vendor, especially when they are out and out frauds which happens too often.
To you I put the same questions as to webullswobblee re. "duties."

See http://www.webproworld.com/graphics-design-discussion-forum/74936-negative-blog-content-how-wise.html#post408288

BradHart

01-06-2009, 05:09 PM

To you I put the same questions as to webullswobblee re. "duties."

See http://www.webproworld.com/graphics-design-discussion-forum/74936-negative-blog-content-how-wise.html#post408288

Yes i think we are duty bound to report our good experiences as well as our bad, especially when asked about. Too many people worry about their own image of looking like a fool or maybe even mean spirited we let scam artists, frauds and worthless people continue to hose others all the time. I think failing to speak up makes you an accomplice to hosing everyone else gets and should make you just as criminally liable for the actions.

I think people would have a very different opinion of giving over their bad experience if failing to do so meant you could be sued too. My MIL is in this position right now. A roofing contractor gave references of previous jobs they gave good references even though she has since found out that 4 of the 5 didn't have such good opinions of the contractor since 3 of 4 had made BBB complaints and 2 of them had filed small claims against him. This was all prior to her getting good references and him hosing her on the roof. She has named them as defendants in her claim.

deepsand

01-06-2009, 07:28 PM

Yes i think we are duty bound to report our good experiences as well as our bad, especially when asked about. Too many people worry about their own image of looking like a fool or maybe even mean spirited we let scam artists, frauds and worthless people continue to hose others all the time. I think failing to speak up makes you an accomplice to hosing everyone else gets and should make you just as criminally liable for the actions.

I think people would have a very different opinion of giving over their bad experience if failing to do so meant you could be sued too. My MIL is in this position right now. A roofing contractor gave references of previous jobs they gave good references even though she has since found out that 4 of the 5 didn't have such good opinions of the contractor since 3 of 4 had made BBB complaints and 2 of them had filed small claims against him. This was all prior to her getting good references and him hosing her on the roof. She has named them as defendants in her claim.
None responsive; fails to address the questions set forth.

janeth

01-06-2009, 09:11 PM

Yes i think we are duty bound to report our good experiences as well as our bad,

Are you running for congress?

My duty is to God, my husband and my kids, my opinion on rather I was done right or wrong is mine to share with whom I wish.

I think failing to speak up makes you an accomplice to hosing everyone else gets and should make you just as criminally liable for the actions.

Trying to make it a law would be stupid.

I think people would have a very different opinion of giving over their bad experience if failing to do so meant you could be sued too. My MIL is in this position right now. A roofing contractor gave references of previous jobs they gave good references even though she has since found out that 4 of the 5 didn't have such good opinions of the contractor since 3 of 4 had made BBB complaints and 2 of them had filed small claims against him. This was all prior to her getting good references and him hosing her on the roof. She has named them as defendants in her claim.

Last year I did a website for a lady, the site was perfect and she loved it. However, she had bought a name and lost her password and login. I tried to help her but she refused to put fourth any effort and kept saying I needed to finish the site.

I tried to explain over and over that the site was finished but that I needed the password and login in order to put it online. She lost it and without her help there was nothing I could do. She wanted a refund however it was not my fault so I tried to explain once again the problem.

She refused to listen so I refunded her money. She began to post bad things about me on the internet and threaten to sue me if I didn’t pay her for the money she lost by not having the site online.

In her opinion I had done her wrong. In my opinion I had done more than correct on the way I handled everything. When she posted about me she left out a lot of details.

Now you feel that it should be against the law for her not to post her opinion.

BradHart

01-06-2009, 09:41 PM

if you believe you have a duty to god you might think of that thou shalt not lie clause which i am pretty sure covers lies of omission or are you one of those hypocrites who only selectively follow religion when it can be twisted to suit you. Am I running for congress, nope, but that doesn't preclude me from thinking we have a moral obligation to to do right by one another. I also never said anything about making it a law, because we already have plenty of laws on the books that cover negligence.

You are missing the point of my little story, but to answer you. She should tell people what she thinks and if it goes beyond opinion to the point of being slanderous or libel you should sue the crap out of her. This also works both ways obnoxious customers are seldom right and clients almost never are, and you have a duty to the others in our profession to put it out there exactly what sort of client they would be dealing with if they take her as a client.

Of course you are the one who completely screwed up in not getting a login for the site immediately upon taking the job. You trusted a client to be reasonable and not screw you over which paints you as naive at best and foolish at worst.

Are you running for congress?

My duty is to God, my husband and my kids, my opinion on rather I was done right or wrong is mine to share with whom I wish.

Trying to make it a law would be stupid.

Last year I did a website for a lady, the site was perfect and she loved it. However, she had bought a name and lost her password and login. I tried to help her but she refused to put fourth any effort and kept saying I needed to finish the site.

I tried to explain over and over that the site was finished but that I needed the password and login in order to put it online. She lost it and without her help there was nothing I could do. She wanted a refund however it was not my fault so I tried to explain once again the problem.

She refused to listen so I refunded her money. She began to post bad things about me on the internet and threaten to sue me if I didn’t pay her for the money she lost by not having the site online.

In her opinion I had done her wrong. In my opinion I had done more than correct on the way I handled everything. When she posted about me she left out a lot of details.

Now you feel that it should be against the law for her not to post her opinion.

ron angel

01-06-2009, 11:46 PM

Are you running for congress?

My duty is to God, my husband and my kids, my opinion on rather I was done right or wrong is mine to share with whom I wish.

Trying to make it a law would be stupid.

Last year I did a website for a lady, the site was perfect and she loved it. However, she had bought a name and lost her password and login. I tried to help her but she refused to put fourth any effort and kept saying I needed to finish the site.

I tried to explain over and over that the site was finished but that I needed the password and login in order to put it online. She lost it and without her help there was nothing I could do. She wanted a refund however it was not my fault so I tried to explain once again the problem.

She refused to listen so I refunded her money. She began to post bad things about me on the internet and threaten to sue me if I didn’t pay her for the money she lost by not having the site online.

In her opinion I had done her wrong. In my opinion I had done more than correct on the way I handled everything. When she posted about me she left out a lot of details.

Now you feel that it should be against the law for her not to post her opinion.
I sometimes come up against this password problem when helping people. I tell them to change the password then tell me what the new one is.I explain after I have finished the work all they have to do is tell me it is OK & change the password to whatever they want.
This can be taken a step further if you are not sure about the clients intention to pay up promptly you can change it again to something else before asking if everything is OK than if if they say it is ask them for payment before changing it back to what it was.A reverse of this is what the lady in question may have been thinking of trying on,hence getting upset, when she could not try it on...

janeth

01-07-2009, 07:53 AM

if you believe you have a duty to god you might think of that thou shalt not lie clause which i am pretty sure covers lies of omission or are you one of those hypocrites who only selectively follow religion when it can be twisted to suit you.

If I'm too busy to tell the world my opinion then I’m a liar.

Am I running for congress, nope, but that doesn't preclude me from thinking we have a moral obligation to to do right by one another.

If we are going to do right by one another then we should give each other then benefit of the doubt. Just because everything did not go as planned between us and a contractor does not been we need to hold up a sign and run around the neighborhood yelling about it.

If someone asks then you have every right to tell your experience but to obligate someone to do so is not correct.

I also never said anything about making it a law, because we already have plenty of laws on the books that cover negligence.

What you said was that people should be held accountable if they fail to let everyone know of their experience.

I’ve found that many Americans enjoy their ability to sue others, I’ve even meet people that make a living at it.

You are missing the point of my little story, but to answer you. She should tell people what she thinks and if it goes beyond opinion to the point of being slanderous or libel you should sue the crap out of her.

You want to sue everyone.

This also works both ways obnoxious customers are seldom right and clients almost never are, and you have a duty to the others in our profession to put it out there exactly what sort of client they would be dealing with if they take her as a client.

I also have an obligation to let people know that you are sue crazy.

Of course you are the one who completely screwed up in not getting a login for the site immediately upon taking the job. You trusted a client to be reasonable and not screw you over which paints you as naive at best and foolish at worst.

lol

janeth

01-07-2009, 07:57 AM

I sometimes come up against this password problem when helping people. I tell them to change the password then tell me what the new one is.I explain after I have finished the work all they have to do is tell me it is OK & change the password to whatever they want.
This can be taken a step further if you are not sure about the clients intention to pay up promptly you can change it again to something else before asking if everything is OK than if if they say it is ask them for payment before changing it back to what it was.A reverse of this is what the lady in question may have been thinking of trying on,hence getting upset, when she could not try it on...

I asked her to change the password but she had no idea who she bought it from or what email address she used. We later found out it was from Godaddy but she refused to call or email them.

Said it was my job.

ron angel

01-07-2009, 08:48 AM

I asked her to change the password but she had no idea who she bought it from or what email address she used. We later found out it was from Godaddy but she refused to call or email them.

Said it was my job.
you should have asked her to send you a letter of authorisation to access the account details,explaining that without it godaddy would not give you them.

BradHart

01-07-2009, 09:28 AM

If I'm too busy to tell the world my opinion then I’m a liar.

lol

lies of omissions are still lies, but I am sure you god fearing types will wrap that up in some sort of neat candy wrapper that makes you feel better about swallowing them.

deepsand

01-07-2009, 10:38 AM

lies of omissions are still lies, but I am sure you god fearing types will wrap that up in some sort of neat candy wrapper that makes you feel better about swallowing them.
Nice run of polemics; nothing more than repeating that you are right & those who disagree with you are wrong.

Now, care to try answering the hard questions? See http://www.webproworld.com/graphics-design-discussion-forum/74936-negative-blog-content-how-wise.html#post409052 .

If you instead chose to simply evade the difficult issues, then your opinion is worth nothing.