Anyone else receive EXTREMELY rude/crazy messages like these?

66 replies
Ok, so maybe not "extremely", but sure not a very nice way to treat people :-( I typically don't like to post stuff like this in forums, but well... this is just not nice, in my opinion. It's amazing to me just how rude people can be "online" sometimes.

Email from "customer"

===============================================

Brad,

I have not heard back from you, I sent my email address the other day. Once again it is:

[email removed to protect identity]

I signed up for the PPC classroom almost a month ago, and still have not heard back from you with information on the bonuses I was to recieve. I have submitted 4 tickets now at this point, with no emails back from anyone.

I am at the end of my rope here, and will start looking into what I need to do to file a legal complaint for false advertising, as well as complain to the BBB. I really don't want to do that, but I continue to be ignored across the board here and am not sure that I have any other options......

===============================================

My response to this person included:

Ticket #1 responded to: http://screencast.com/t/aTKk1EXH2
Ticket #2 responded to: http://screencast.com/t/tlUBHpjF
Ticket #3 responded to: http://screencast.com/t/UvxtvAXUzIq
Ticket #4: Same as other tickets...

Email #1 to my personal email address responded to: [link removed to respect privacy]

Email #2 ... similar to email #1.

Brad
#extremely #messages #receive #rude or crazy
  • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
    Give him a refund and then delete his membership and ban him from all future products..

    That's what I would do anyways...

    Peace

    Jay
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    Bare Murkage.........

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    • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
      Originally Posted by JayXtreme View Post

      Give him a refund and then delete his membership and ban him from all future products..

      That's what I would do anyways...

      Peace

      Jay
      Hey Jay, that's the thing, and why this irritates me even more. There is no refund to give. We gave him a FREE copy of 2 of our products as part of the deal. We never sold him a single product... He's complaining because he didn't get his "free" bonuses, which we sent him 5 times.

      Brad
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      • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
        Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

        Jay, that's the thing. There is no refund to give. We gave him a FREE copy of 2 of our products as part of the deal. We never sold him a single product...

        Brad
        lol.... it gets even worse... he had free stuff too.

        YUP... get rid of him... some people thrive off of having something to moan about, the quicker you can move him on the better your mental state will be, he's just giving you bad energy Brad..

        Peace

        Jay
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        Bare Murkage.........

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      • Profile picture of the author Droopy Dawg
        Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

        Hey Jay, that's the thing, and why this irritates me even more. There is no refund to give. We gave him a FREE copy of 2 of our products as part of the deal. We never sold him a single product... He's complaining because he didn't get his "free" bonuses, which we sent him 5 times.

        Brad
        LOL!!! Sorry to laugh man but that's too funny... I wish you luck in handling this one man... I can't even offer a suggestion because to complain over FREE stuff is crazy.

        DeShon
        Signature


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  • Profile picture of the author Dana_W
    I absolutely would ban him. If someone was threatening to file legal complaints against me when I knew I was in the right - I would not want to have anything further to do with him!
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    • Profile picture of the author Tom B
      Banned
      I get emails like that once in a while.

      A lot of times they are not receiving your responses. I can understand their aggravation. This marketing niche is really spoiled in my opinion. They want he product now, they want their refund now and so on... While you don't get everything now when dealing with other niches. I had to wait 30 days to get a refund from established companies which is within the law here.

      I normally state that I don't like to be spoken to that way. I would be happy to refund them since they had such a bad experience. Or we can get this settled now and get them taken care of.

      If it is my fault I apologize and ask them if they want the products or the refund but there is no need for threats and I will not accept it.

      Normally the want to get it settled.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
    Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

    I typically don't like to post stuff like this in forums, but well... this is just plain ridiculous. It's amazing to me just how rude people can be online sometimes.

    Email from "customer"

    ===============================================

    Brad,

    I have not heard back from you, I sent my email address the other day. Once again it is:

    [email removed to protect identity, although I don't know why I removed it just now]

    I signed up for the PPC classroom almost a month ago, and still have not heard back from you with information on the bonuses I was to recieve. I have submitted 4 tickets now at this point, with no emails back from anyone.

    I am at the end of my rope here, and will start looking into what I need to do to file a legal complaint for false advertising, as well as complain to the BBB. I really don't want to do that, but I continue to be ignored across the board here and am not sure that I have any other options......

    ===============================================

    My response to this person included:

    Ticket #1 responded to: 2009-03-19_1556
    Ticket #2 responded to: 2009-03-19_1558
    Ticket #3 responded to: 2009-03-19_1559
    Ticket #4: Same as other tickets...

    Email #1 to my personal email address responded to: 2009-03-19_1600 (didn't feel like blurring out his email address because... well, he's... "not nice")

    Email #2 to my personal email address responded to just now. But my guess is he just wants to file a complaint with "someone" because he didn't get the free products from us, which we sent him 4 TIMES!

    Is it just me, or should I ban this guy from all of our products for life? I try hard to help people as much as I can, but people like this push me to the limit...

    What do you guys think?

    Brad

    Brad, as successful as you are, I'm surprised that in all these years this
    is the first time you've run into one of these numbnuts.

    I'd just add his email address and IP to my ban list and move on.

    People like this are just not worth getting upset over.
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  • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
    You're probably ending up in his junk mail box - either that or he's completely insane. Can't do much about the 2nd one, but did you try sending him mail using a different account? I know you said you corresponded with your personal address, is it on the same domain as your business one?

    That would push anyone to the limit, good luck with this.

    Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author Stacey Wockenfuss
    Have you thought about actually calling him on the phone? I agree he might not be getting your emails. Sometimes email doesn't succeed at getting a message and/or point across. People appreciate a live voice even if its your assistant and/or you pretend to be your assistant. Then if he's still irate and crazy, ban him. At least you tried right?
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    • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
      Brad, I honestly did not think it was that bad (excluding the legal stuff as that is enough to slap a quick ban on someone) until you mentioned the FREE component ... that is pretty crazy. Get rid of him and move on - IMO.
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    • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
      hahaha I'm sorry I find it funny that people can get soooooo STROPPY over something they are getting for NOTHING!!!

      Just proves "it takes all kinds!"

      When I was on running my eBay business I would get these ridiculous emails - totally unreasonable crap from complete knuckleheads!

      And I found the people who pay the least complain the most!

      Being a bit of a smart-arse, I'd type out a full response, saying EXACTLY what I think, really letting them have it - holding absolutely nothing back - and being very careful not to click "send"! LOL

      Off to make coffee - stand outside and inhale some clean fresh air... back to the 'puter, read and delete! Then type out a perfectly equitable response that serves to calm and sooth the moronic "customer" (and yes I use that term loosely!). Then straight into my eBay control panel to block them from buying again.

      I actually think, considering what our lives are like, how rewarding this business can be, that it's really a small price to pay.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
    I think you should hire this person immediately as your new VP of customer service.
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  • Profile picture of the author Clark
    Brad, why did you delete your update regarding the customer who confirmed that your emails got caught up in his email filter?

    I know why, because you want the customer to look like the fool instead of yourself to bend the "optics" your way.... then, when you found out what really happened and you were then able to be "reasonable" and "empathetic" about your customer's experience you realized that you were in the wrong with your approach thus, the resent deleted post update.

    Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

    ...but the fact of the matter is... He was getting something free from us. If I got something free from someone and never received it, I would NEVER send such a rude and threatening email to someone. It's just not nice, no matter how you look at it.

    Brad
    I didn't see his responses as rude... more so, desperate to get YOUR products that you committed to as part of the business transaction.

    Free doesn't factor into the "business arrangement" that you laid out for all the people you sent your OFFER to otherwise, you would have sent out your "enticements" to all on your list for..... FREE!

    Sad that you treat your customers with contempt especially when he's a raving fan of your product lines.

    Do the right thing and remove his personal information as well that you are publicy displaying which most likely breaches your own Privacy Policies.

    Note to self.

    If you see this response as rude then well, it is because perception is reality, right?

    To the "person" who referred to the customer as "numbnuts" please understand that you are calling everyone on your list, past and present customers a numbnut as well although, you'll be quick to see it another way except that your perception doesn't matter when the seed has already been planted in the minds of your customers.

    Understanding effective customer service is severely lacking in this thread.
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
      Originally Posted by Clark View Post

      Brad, why did you delete your update regarding the customer who confirmed that your emails got caught up in his email filter?
      So it's Brad's fault that he answered the person multiple times and the guy didn't see the emails due to his email filter?
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Originally Posted by Clark View Post

      Brad, why did you delete your update regarding the customer who confirmed that your emails got caught up in his email filter?

      I know why, because you want the customer to look like the fool instead of yourself to bend the "optics" your way.... then, when you found out what really happened and you were then able to be "reasonable" and "empathetic" about your customer's experience you realized that you were in the wrong with your approach thus, the resent deleted post update.



      I didn't see his responses as rude... more so, desperate to get YOUR products that you committed to as part of the business transaction.

      Free doesn't factor into the "business arrangement" that you laid out for all the people you sent your OFFER to otherwise, you would have sent out your "enticements" to all on your list for..... FREE!

      Sad that you treat your customers with contempt especially when he's a raving fan of your product lines.

      Do the right thing and remove his personal information as well that you are publicy displaying which most likely breaches your own Privacy Policies.

      Note to self.

      If you see this response as rude then well, it is because perception is reality, right?

      To the "person" who referred to the customer as "numbnuts" please understand that you are calling everyone on your list, past and present customers a numbnut as well although, you'll be quick to see it another way except that your perception doesn't matter when the seed has already been planted in the minds of your customers.

      Understanding effective customer service is severely lacking in this thread.

      First of all, I treat the people on my list like gold, but when somebody is
      flat out rude to me, that's where I draw the line.

      No, the customer is NOT always right.

      I'm sorry if that's the way you see it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Clark
        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

        First of all, I treat the people on my list like gold, but when somebody is
        flat out rude to me, that's where I draw the line.

        No, the customer is NOT always right.

        I'm sorry if that's the way you see it.
        There's three sides to every story, Steven.

        You seem to miss the part about the customer wanting the bonuses desperately. Again, I didn't see the responses as rude mostly because i didn't see it from an emotional perspective.

        I wonder how your customers feel about your customer service philosophy... let's hope they're right when dealing with you everytime.
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        • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
          Originally Posted by Clark View Post

          There's three sides to every story, Steven.

          You seem to miss the part about the customer wanting the bonuses desperately. Again, I didn't see the responses as rude mostly because i didn't see it from an emotional perspective.

          I wonder how your customers feel about your customer service philosophy... let's hope they're right when dealing with you everytime.
          Clark, unfortunately emotions do come into play any time a person says
          something to you that could have been said a little more tactfully.

          I can count the people who have been unreasonably rude to me, over the
          course of 6 plus years, on one hand. But those people most certainly
          heard back from me telling them that I did not appreciate being spoken to
          that way.

          No human being, business or otherwise, deserves to be verbally abused.

          I don't do it to the people I buy from (and trust me, some of them
          deserve worse) and I don't tolerate it from people who buy from me, get
          my free product, or whatever the circumstance is.

          To me, that's just common courtesy and acting like a civilized person.
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          • Profile picture of the author Clark
            Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

            Clark, unfortunately emotions do come into play any time a person says
            something to you that could have been said a little more tactfully.
            I agree except that with the right mindset, emotions need not come into play when seeking to understand your customer's reported difficulties.

            Emotions surface only when one allows their EGO to get bruised.

            I can count the people who have been unreasonably rude to me, over the
            course of 6 plus years, on one hand. But those people most certainly
            heard back from me telling them that I did not appreciate being spoken to
            that way.
            I share the same experiences and also will approach those who have a misunderstanding... some of my best friends and BP's came from that bunch.

            No human being, business or otherwise, deserves to be verbally abused.
            Agreed, except that the point you made is separate from the evidence supplied regarding the customer's communication which, was not verbally abusive. Customers do have the right to report unfair business practices online and offline and that shouldn't be viewed as verbal abuse but more so, a thinly veiled customer triggered threat (leverage) for the business owner to take immediate action.

            I don't do it to the people I buy from (and trust me, some of them
            deserve worse) and I don't tolerate it from people who buy from me, get
            my free product, or whatever the circumstance is.

            To me, that's just common courtesy and acting like a civilized person.
            That is what is supposed to happen in every business transaction IF the business owner wishes to stay in business... someone here mentioned something about the power of word of mouth (paraphrasing):

            In the offline world, when a customer has a poor experience, they tell 6 people... In the online world they tell 6000 people.
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          • Profile picture of the author Kay King
            I don't see verbal abuse there. I see a customer who either through ignorance of his own email program/filters or confusion is totally frustrated. The threat of "reporting to the BBB" is something you usually see coming from someone a bit naive or new.

            Many new people online take steps to "protect" themselves with email filters, etc without understanding the effect this might have when they start signing up for things online.

            I once asked a seller to resend a WSO I "didn't receive" - turned out the subject line was "Hi, what's up?" and I had deleted it as spam without opening it. There was nothing - email address, sender's name, etc - to connect the email with the WSO purchased earlier that day.

            The product is free - but he's spending time trying to get it. It's easy to think "how dare he be rude to me" and kick him out - might be more rewarding to isolate what the problem is and solve it.

            kay
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            • Profile picture of the author Nathan Hangen
              Brad also forgot to mention the backend commission, which is what he was trying to accomplish with this giveaway.
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      • Profile picture of the author discrat
        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

        First of all, I treat the people on my list like gold, but when somebody is
        flat out rude to me, that's where I draw the line.

        No, the customer is NOT always right.

        I'm sorry if that's the way you see it.
        I disagree with this !! I think it is paramount that people in all facets of business learn to deal with rude customers in a tactful and effective way. That is just what part of being a business owner entails as well as working in the business world in general. You serve yourself and your Business much better in the long run when you have a well thought out strategy in dealing with rude people rather than just drawing lines in the sand !!
        In all honesty to the OP, I though reading the title of your Thread that it would be much more worse than what actually happened. When someone says extrmely rude, well to me I dont know it just did not seem ' extreme ' with this guy!!

        This guy may have NOT been actually getting your emails. And I have been in his situation and it can be extremely frustrating.

        In the end kill em with kindness and go about on your way !! Don't let trivial stuff like this bog you down !!
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        Nothing to see here including a Sig so just move on :)

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  • Profile picture of the author Clark
    It is Brad's fault for rushing to judgement about his customer (inclusive of name calling and personal information broadcasting) without doing the due dilligence he did just now when he got in contact with his customer which, he discovered wasn't either parties fault due to email filters on his customer's side.
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
      Originally Posted by Clark View Post

      he discovered wasn't either parties fault due to email filters on his customer's side.
      So someone using software which causes them to not receive emails, then blames the person who sent the emails for that, is not at fault? Interesting logic there.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
      Originally Posted by Clark View Post

      It is Brad's fault for rushing to judgement about his customer (inclusive of name calling and personal information broadcating) without doing the due dilligence he did just now when he got in contact with his customer which, he discovered wasn't either parties fault due to email filters on his customer's side.
      I responded to him the 5th time exactly like we did the previous 4 times. It wasn't until reply #5 and me posting here that he actually responded to us with an apology "of sort". If you call "rushing to judgement" after 5 emails/tickets from this man. All 5 being answered promptly and courteously and then being threatened that he was going to file a complaint with the bbb, then I don't know what to tell you.

      80% of the responses were responded to via our help desk. He could have logged into the desk whenever he wanted to see our replies. That is the entire point of a help desk. To eliminate the potential email deliverability problem.

      If you think I have an ego, you don't know me, period.

      Brad
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      • Profile picture of the author Clark
        Originally Posted by Brad Callen View Post

        I responded to him the 5th time exactly like we did the previous 4 times. It wasn't until reply #5 and me posting here that he actually responded to us with an apology "of sort". If you call "rushing to judgement" after 5 emails/tickets from this man. All 5 being answered promptly and courteously and then being threatened that he was going to file a complaint with the bbb, then I don't know what to tell you. if you think I have an ego, you don't know me, period.

        Brad
        Read my previous responses and yes, I do not know you at all and neither am I interested in knowing you given your finger-pointing tactics.

        It's clear that you believe placing blame on your customer then publicly broadcasting it and their email address along with a few choice words about them is the right thing to do. I vehemently disagree with that approach but, if it's working just fine for you then that's your business.

        People have the right to file complaints with the BBB.

        You'll have to get used to that fact.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jay Moreno
    this is just part and parcel of dealing with the general public at large.... especially online...

    so many different people have different levels of technical ability, also their system configuration can also lead to all kinds of issues let alone just cross browser issues when dealing with online marketing/products

    some people no matter how hard you try to be nice, curteous, helpful will just wont "get it" and come across threatening, and plain old rude... i had someone like this just last night...

    put yourself in their shows and deal with it as best you see right... most instances can be resolved by good communication...

    i try and have several alternatives of communication with my customers/clients just in case whether it be simply IM/Email or through a support desk... if one method of communication is not working i will follow up with another method... hth
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    • Profile picture of the author Nathan Hangen
      Mistakes on both ends, but knowing that you'd post my details like this would cause me not to do business with you at all. Sure, he might have acted up...but he just wanted his bonuses.

      An IP ban is ridiculous in my opinion. Rather than point him out in this thread, why not just use the content from your post and send it to him in a single email?
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  • Profile picture of the author Lewis Turner
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Shane N
      Originally Posted by Lewis Turner View Post

      Maybe instead of thinking ive sent it 4 times and they are just being dumb... maybe you should actually look into why they haven't been getting the messages at all.

      Lewis Turner
      Oooooo! Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!

      Excellent point Lewis. Especially if more than one person is having the same issue...
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      • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
        Email #1 to my personal email address responded to: http://screencast.com/t/Or3QQohPi (didn't feel like blurring out his email address because... well, he's... "not nice")
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        Random quotes...

        Your privacy is very important to us.
        (Unless we don't like you.)


        Responses to Email Inquiries: When Visitors or Members send email inquiries to our company, the return email address is used to answer the email inquiry we receive. Our company does not use the return email address for any other purpose and does not share the return email address with any third party.
        (Unless we don't like you.)
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      • Profile picture of the author Gaurav Duggal
        I have tremendous respect for Brad and his products and i`ve never had a problem re: service and quality. However, posting this gentleman`s identity is a strict no-no , regardless of who is at fault here..... and by the looks of it, it may unfortunately be Brad. In the light of the circumstances, the customer`s response doesn`t seem rude so much as motivated by easperation.
        I still stand by your products and general customer service, but in this circumstance it may even be best to apologize to the customer and shut down this thread before the situation escalates.
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        • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
          Wow! The first time through I missed the link to the page where Brad exposes this person's personal info ... not cool. I would be pretty ticked if I was him. I understand your emotions are involved here but that is just not right, besides the fact that it violates your privacy policy.
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          • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
            Brad,

            I would delete the link to the screenshot that shows the gentleman's name and email address.

            Martin
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  • Profile picture of the author Clark
    What's even more interesting Chris is making an assumption that all customers have a keen technological understanding of the software loaded on their system or through their ISP which prevents email from passing through.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Whiston
    Sadly I expect anyone who sells work from home or Internet marketing products has dealt with quite a few of these angry, desperate, somewhat toxic people. There are many wonderful people trying to better themselves with some sort of online venture and I focus on them while making no efforts to please or appeal to the kind of people who send your sample message.

    Frankly these folks are a bane to the whole industry in my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brad Callen
    Agreed: I have removed that screenshot entirely.

    As another update to this situation. The customer responded via email again and we have worked things out. I accepted his apology and also offered up one of my own. All's good.

    The lesson for everyone here, me including, is:

    "Be nice!" :-)

    Brad
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  • Update: Ha! We submitted at the same time. Glad to hear it, Brad!

    Dealing with customer issues publicly is always a temptation when you've been frustrated, but little good ever comes from making our temper or frustration a part of our online message.

    I'd suggest deleting his information as well -- if anything, it's a form of adding fuel to a fire. I think we've all had customers who have been frustrated, and we've all been frustrated by customer service situations in the past, but there are few benefits to public commiseration.
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  • Profile picture of the author jacktackett
    A bad customer is worse than no customer. Once you've done everything to take care of a customer (like you have) and they still act like this - cut the cord and move on.

    Seriously - life is too short. Take Jay's advice, refund him and ban him.

    best,
    --Jack

    p.s. Have any competitors you don't like? Send him their way, at least you'll get an affiliate payment out of him ;-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Bosco
    OMG Brad; that's hilarious and ridiculous.

    I think I can speak to this because I'm in a similar situation on that amazing
    offer of yours.

    I received your email stating that the response was overwhelming and
    your office is handling several thousand orders and they'll get to me
    as soon as humanly possible. That works for ME.

    Since I know you have my email and you have me on your list of people
    responding to the offer, I have yet to find a need to open even the
    first support ticket, let alone several.

    The mind boggles at the hubris of a person to threaten legal acton after
    waiting 30 days for 2 FREE products that thousands of people paid $97
    (or more) each. Ungrateful little (pick your expletive)!

    And what were the 2 free bonuses for, by the way? (Glad I asked that.)
    To spend $7 for shipping and handling on a free dvd from a JV partner
    who also is giving away truly outrageous value as well!

    I am amazed at how far the free bar is being moved by you guys.

    Most definitely do everything you can to ban him. Name, emal, IP address.

    I'll sign off here with a huge THANK YOU for your phenomenal offer, kind Guru!
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    • Profile picture of the author Nathan Hangen
      Originally Posted by Bosco View Post

      OMG Brad; that's hilarious and ridiculous.

      I think I can speak to this because I'm in a similar situation on that amazing
      offer of yours.

      I received your email stating that the response was overwhelming and
      your office is handling several thousand orders and they'll get to me
      as soon as humanly possible. That works for ME.

      Since I know you have my email and you have me on your list of people
      responding to the offer, I have yet to find a need to open even the
      first support ticket, let alone several.

      The mind boggles at the hubris of a person to threaten legal acton after
      waiting 30 days for 2 FREE products that thousands of people paid $97
      (or more) each. Ungrateful little (pick your expletive)!

      And what were the 2 free bonuses for, by the way? (Glad I asked that.)
      To spend $7 for shipping and handling on a free dvd from a JV partner
      who also is giving away truly outrageous value as well!

      I am amazed at how far the free bar is being moved by you guys.

      Most definitely do everything you can to ban him. Name, emal, IP address.

      I'll sign off here with a huge THANK YOU for your phenomenal offer, kind Guru!
      ....surely you can't be serious.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tom B
        Banned
        I am glad it got all sorted out.

        I do want to make one comment. These were not free. They were bonuses for signing up through your affiliate link to a continuity program. They did spend money so this really isn't free.

        They probably meant refund in regards to what they purchased in order to get the software bonuses.
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  • Profile picture of the author TMJonsson
    I have received the PPC Classroom bonuses from your team Brad, and the process was completely seamless and worked great! I don't know if anyone else has had actual problems, but I sure never did.
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  • Profile picture of the author spires
    Yeah, I get some rude emails from users that signup for my FREE products.
    Some people are just born complainers.

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  • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
    I've had a couple of people say they emailed me and I didn't respond (I always respond to emails) or that they didn't receive something from me. I do what I was taught in Manager school and "Assume Innocence". I usually send them a quick "test" email asking them to let me know if they got it. If they did, then I tell them exactly when I will be sending their product and what email address I will be sending it to so they can look for it, in case it lands in their spam folder or something.

    There are quite a few "untechies" in the world (I'm one of them) and something really simple may have caused them to miss the correspondence. I most often approach situations like this as "something went wrong" and I really try my hardest to get communication through to the person.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rachel Incoll
    Yes, it's rather annoying at times.

    I usually only cop a rude, cranky customer (not always even customers though) once every 3 months or so. Up until a few days ago I was lucky...I hadn't had any really bad ones for about 6 months then I copped 3 in less than 48 hours! ...and 2 of them hadn't even bought anything :rolleyes:

    I knew I was overdue for some but 3 in 48 hours was a bit much!

    2 of them actually ended up apologising after I wrote a reply to them which I guess is better than nothing (many don't have the balls to apologise), but I've still removed them all from my mailing list.

    That's all you can really do...just try & make sure you don't have anything to do with them in the future!

    Cheers

    Rachel
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    Brad,

    As someone on your list, my opinion is your post was certainly not cool. I didn't read anything rude or "verbally abusive." This was simply a customer who felt cheated and was compelled to state their case. Then you publicly blast them on a public forum?

    I don't know what support desk software you run, but I've personally encountered some where emails were not sent when the desk owner responded. If this is the case in your situation, your customer isn't at fault. The average person can't be expected to check back to see if you've answered their question.

    Even if this wasn't the case, there was obviously a communication problem somewhere in your response chain. Your customer didn't create the chain. You did. Yet you place the blame on your customer.

    Further, this doesn't sound like a free offer as much as one of your "buy this product and we'll give you one of our products free" offers. This isn't a free deal. The customer bought from your link BECAUSE of the free bonuses you offered. They could have purchased from one of several other list owners' offers, but they chose yours. Then you shred them in public -- most likely violating your own privacy statements.

    I, personally, now have to reconsider buying from you or any of the other list owners who responded in this thread stating you were just in your actions or who stated the customer was abusive or a "numbnut."
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  • Profile picture of the author Randy Bheites
    I don't know that I would have responded 5 times to a customer who complained about not receiving a FREE item. Maybe twice, but not five times.

    Publishing the customer's private information here was not a good idea. Maybe you could have just moved on earlier instead of letting everything build to such a grudge emotional state? Patience and all that.
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  • Profile picture of the author LB
    You haven't been in business until someone threatens to kill you.


    (yes, this really happened)
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    • Profile picture of the author AndyBlackSEO
      Originally Posted by LB View Post

      You haven't been in business until someone threatens to kill you.


      (yes, this really happened)
      That's the funniest thing I've read in ages..lol.

      Guys... Please read further up the thread, this has been rectified and as brad has stated, lessons have been learn't all round. When dealing with a large amount of orders online it's commonplace to received unjustified emails from customers. Emails like 'WHERE IS MY ORDER!!!!!!!!!! I WILL BE SEEKING LEGAL ADVICE!!! I ORDERED THIS YESTERDAY!!!!

      You just need to switch off emotionally and deal with it in a professional way. Water off a ducks back.

      To be honest, I have experienced very rude emails from brads 'SEO Elite' customer service. Even when I provided screen shots to provide my point. I found their responses childish. BUT I don't need to go into that here. Brads name was the first I came across with regards to SEO and if it wasn't for his products getting me hooked on SEO and internet marketing then I wouldn't be where I am now.

      He brings out good products. I have most of them. I guess sometimes, customers can get on top of you and you maybe need situations like this to bring things back into alignment.

      As it's all been rectified and brad has concluded this thread I don't think it's necessary to keep flaming him.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    Brad,
    I think you made a huge mistake even posting at all.. For one thing this is between you and your customer and should have been handled in private. Maybe taking a course on customer service would help you a great deal.

    I have seen several post mention a email filter but not one post on the fact that maybe your "personal" email has a blacklist on it. It is not always a email filter, some ISP's and companies do infact blacklist domain names that send out large amounts of emails.

    Just to name a few:

    * AOL
    * Google
    * Yahoo
    * Hotmail

    It is not always blocked because these companies think you send spam, some actually do block just because of the large amount of emails that go through their systems.

    Violating your own sites privacy policy was not a very good idea and many will take that into account when it comes to purchase anything from you. I do not know you but I certainly know I would never buy anything from you just because of this thread.

    James
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    • Profile picture of the author tmursch
      Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet View Post

      Brad,
      I think you made a huge mistake even posting at all.. For one thing this is between you and your customer and should have been handled in private. Maybe taking a course on customer service would help you a great deal.

      I have seen several post mention a email filter but not one post on the fact that maybe your "personal" email has a blacklist on it. It is not always a email filter, some ISP's and companies do infact blacklist domain names that send out large amounts of emails.

      Just to name a few:

      * AOL
      * Google
      * Yahoo
      * Hotmail

      It is not always blocked because these companies think you send spam, some actually do block just because of the large amount of emails that go through their systems.

      Violating your own sites privacy policy was not a very good idea and many will take that into account when it comes to purchase anything from you. I do not know you but I certainly know I would never buy anything from you just because of this thread.

      James
      From a business ethical standpoint I agree 100% with this point.

      From a internet marketer's perspective however, I say share your horrible customer stories!
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  • Profile picture of the author GenerationMedia
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Michele Miller
      I've gone to lengths to call a customer in these types of situations to resolve the issue and make sure they got what they should have got.
      Your response Brad was very immature and unprofessional, to say the least.

      I have purchased a lot of programs from you, but I was definitely not happy with the service I got back when I purchased Keyword Elite, when I didn't get any response to my emails about the question I had. Maybe "you" had some email filter problems just like your customer?

      Food for thought.

      Michele
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
      Originally Posted by GenerationMedia View Post

      Refund and do away with him lol
      Didn't read the thread, did you?

      The person didn't buy anything from Brad, so what refund are you talking about?
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeAmbrosio
    A while back I sold a product via Clickbank. One customer emailed me stating they did not get the download info. He forwarded his CB receipt.

    I responded with the info (within 30 minutes) and went about my business.

    The next day, the same email - didn't get the download info. Same response from me.

    Long story short, I got about 5 emails within 5 days, each one the customer was increasingly aggitated about not getting the product OR a reply from me.

    Well, it was obvious to me that he was NOT getting my email (sent from Gmail). The customer was emailing me from his ISP (Comcast - they block everyone it seems ).

    However, it dawned on me that he DID get the receipt from CB, so I contacted THEM, forwarded the entire email thread between me and my customer and asked them to forward it.

    They did. The next day I got an email from the same customer from a Gmail address. He apologized for getting rude. I said, "Hey - I don't blame you..."

    He's been a loyal customer since.

    Moral - after a while it becomes obvious when someone is not getting an email from you. Even if you have a helpdesk - people assume that the HD will email them when someone responds (which most do) - that may be getting blocked too. If you have the kind of helpdsek that sends you an email with a ticket number to check for responses, and you don't GET that email, you can't log in to see responses.

    If it's obvious your emails are not getting through and you can't figure out how to reach them, refund them. I have had to do that too.

    You know, there is NO perfect answer here. Systems fail more than we would like. Sometimes, the extra mile is needed.

    Mike
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    • Profile picture of the author Nonny
      Originally Posted by MikeAmbrosio View Post

      Moral - after a while it becomes obvious when someone is not getting an email from you. Even if you have a helpdesk - people assume that the HD will email them when someone responds (which most do) - that may be getting blocked too. If you have the kind of helpdsek that sends you an email with a ticket number to check for responses, and you don't GET that email, you can't log in to see responses.

      If it's obvious your emails are not getting through and you can't figure out how to reach them, refund them. I have had to do that too.

      You know, there is NO perfect answer here. Systems fail more than we would like. Sometimes, the extra mile is needed.
      I just wanted to mention that I had a similar experience from the customer's side. In this particularly case it turned out that the vendor's help desk software was holding on to outgoing messages for more than a week (that was clear from the headers when the messages finally arrived in my inbox). But I didn't know that, and the vendor didn't know that, so while I was writing increasingly annoyed messages requesting assistance, the vendor was writing increasingly annoyed emails asking why I wasn't reading his messages.

      In the end I finally got through by contacting through billing department, whose emails were being sent out promptly. It all turned out OK in the end, but they could have lost me as a customer, and I could have been written off as an idiot. I'm very glad that the help desk guy didn't decide to post about me here.
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  • Profile picture of the author M Thompson
    Speaking of Rude messages.. I got this from a fellow warrior after i unsubscribed from his list..

    Bear in mind I had sold several of his products as an affilaite and had unsubscried because I received lots of emails promoting a product over 3 days ...the same product I was promoting myself... I mentioned that i was unsubscribing because 5 emails promoting the same product in 3 days was a bit much ....

    ""Hey D^%$ H@#$ I have given more info than anyone else... Not my fault you cannot attend my training seminars. Then I give you good free info and you don't do a dam thing with it... just look at your desk top and you'll see all that free content sitting there and you haven't taken action on anything..."


    Classy isn't he !!
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    • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
      Originally Posted by M Thompson View Post

      Speaking of Rude messages.. I got this from a fellow warrior after i unsubscribed from his list..

      Bear in mind I had sold several of his products as an affilaite and had unsubscried because I received lots of emails promoting a product over 3 days ...the same product I was promoting myself... I mentioned that i was unsubscribing because 5 emails promoting the same product in 3 days was a bit much ....

      ""Hey D^%$ H@#$ I have given more info than anyone else... Not my fault you cannot attend my training seminars. Then I give you good free info and you don't do a dam thing with it... just look at your desk top and you'll see all that free content sitting there and you haven't taken action on anything..."


      Classy isn't he !!
      That's really awful, actually. People unsubscribe for a lot of reasons. It's not good to take things personally like that. Bad for your health.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tom B
        Banned
        We all make mistakes when we are pushed a little too much. Sometimes everything goes wrong and one email is the last straw.

        I don't think people should continue to beat Brad up on this.

        I am sure all of us has made a mistake or two when it comes to our emotions.
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        • Profile picture of the author Anna Johnson
          Brad,

          I have not heard back from you, I sent my email address the other day. Once again it is:

          [email removed to protect identity]

          I signed up for the PPC classroom almost a month ago, and still have not heard back from you with information on the bonuses I was to recieve. I have submitted 4 tickets now at this point, with no emails back from anyone.

          I am at the end of my rope here, and will start looking into what I need to do to file a legal complaint for false advertising, as well as complain to the BBB. I really don't want to do that, but I continue to be ignored across the board here and am not sure that I have any other options......
          No, I do not think this is rude. It shouts out loud and clear that the customer is just not receiving your responses.

          The mention of legal action does seem extreme, but I can understand the customer's frustration.

          I have personally experienced similar situations where I have lodged tickets with different companies and never received responses from them.

          After contacting them via other means (emails, phone calls) it turned out that for some reason or another their service desk emails were not getting through to me.

          To my knowledge they weren't caught in my spam filter nor my ISP's spam filter, and I was able to receive other emails from them fine.

          I don't know enough about technology to know why this kind of thing happens, but I do know enough about customer service to say that situations like these can be dealt with by following up by other means e.g. telephone.

          In my case I have typically assumed it's some kind of email problem and chased up the companies myself via telephone.

          But you know what? Wouldn't it have been nice had these companies proactively called ME and said:

          'Gee, we've sent you four responses and it seems as though they aren't getting through to you. How can we help?"

          Situations like this can often turn dissatisfied customers into your evangelists. If it was me I would probably call the customer up and not just ensure they get their bonuses but throw in something extra as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
      Originally Posted by M Thompson View Post

      Speaking of Rude messages.. I got this from a fellow warrior after i unsubscribed from his list..

      Bear in mind I had sold several of his products as an affilaite and had unsubscried because I received lots of emails promoting a product over 3 days ...the same product I was promoting myself... I mentioned that i was unsubscribing because 5 emails promoting the same product in 3 days was a bit much ....

      ""Hey D^%$ H@#$ I have given more info than anyone else... Not my fault you cannot attend my training seminars. Then I give you good free info and you don't do a dam thing with it... just look at your desk top and you'll see all that free content sitting there and you haven't taken action on anything..."


      Classy isn't he !!
      LOL .. Yep classic, I have got a few rude emails from marketers because I do not want to be apart of their junk list. I will not bother to name names but it is nice to know which ones have no ethics and no morals.

      I am not saying all marketing list are junk but the few I was on was nothing more than junk.

      James
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  • Profile picture of the author Daisuke
    Usually whenever a company gets a complaint like that they give back their money and get rid of them.

    Like with a cell phone company if someone complained like that they'd break the contract for free and get rid of you lol
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  • Profile picture of the author Shahzarimin
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
      Originally Posted by Shahzarimin View Post

      Hi Brad... Shah here,

      i really think you shouldn't expose this Customer Relation issue here, because it is not that 'private and discreet' anymore, though youre not exposing names here.

      find a way to solve the issue, maybe an email or phone call would help. He can turn out to be your best supporter in future. Who knows.

      Just my 2 cents,
      All the best to you Brad.

      ummmmm - Brad has sent several emails, and I'm not sure why he should spend more time and money on a phone call for a FREE product.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sean Hoffman
    If you have his address, send him an invoice for the wasted bandwidth.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anna Johnson
    ummmmm - Brad has sent several emails, and I'm not sure why he should spend more time and money on a phone call for a FREE product.
    Hey Stef,

    You know you crack me up, don't you?

    But would you have a different view about this situation if they were bonuses that were promised for buying a product? And what if the emails Brad was sending just weren't getting through to the guy/gal?

    It was only just last year that I signed up for a rather expensive program and never got the login details to get started. After lodging several tickets, leaving two phone calls, and not receiving ANY responses, I called the company a third time and finally got someone on the line. It turned out that the emails from their support desk just weren't getting through to me.

    That is about the third time that has happened to me. I don't know why (we checked all our email filters) and probably will never know. The Internet isn't perfect. To me, if a customer is sending repeated messages claiming they haven't received something... they probably haven't. Why not call them up - or even send them a snail mail - and give them the information they requested?

    I can understand a hesitation to do this if we're talking about something entirely free, but from what I can tell this was a bonus for buying something through Brad's affiliate link. Brad got his affiliate commission - so why not help the customer get the bonuses that were promised?
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    • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
      Originally Posted by Anna Johnson View Post

      Hey Stef,

      You know you crack me up, don't you?
      hey Anna - happy to! LOL

      But would you have a different view about this situation if they were bonuses that were promised for buying a product? And what if the emails Brad was sending just weren't getting through to the guy/gal?
      Good point - i do know how frustrating it is to keep being emailed about something that you've replied to numerous times - I've lost count of the number of times I've been through this with my eBay customers - usually with them it ends in a Paypal dispute just cause they dont check their spam box, so I guess I'm a bit jaded!

      hehe as I said in my earlier post I would type out an appropriate response that'd get my thoughts off my chest, then delete it and type out a suck up email - knowing that there's no point cause they wont get the damned thing anyway! Often I welcomed the paypal dispute cause I knew they'd check the comments in there and all would be sorted.

      As I said - just a little jaded - it's actually much nicer away from eBay - waaaaayyyyy less knobs!
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  • Profile picture of the author James12C
    Yep - it grates to receive stuff like that. If you can sort it (i.e. refund etc) do it graceflly then zap him off your list. And, accept that m-a-y-b-e he just didn't get your emails. It happens.
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  • Profile picture of the author activetrader
    Don't take it personally. The world is full of ***'s
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