10 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
10 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Customer has bad reputation - What to do?

by robgee123
8 replies
Hey Warriors I hope your all well.

I have a customer, lets call him Bob, who's a local builder & during our consultation he said "I think you should know about this" which always grabs ones attention :p

He informed me that he'd done a job for a guy & it went all wrong. He'd hired some apprentices & whatever & the goofed the job up. They had a few confrontations etc anyway turns out the customer was a web designer :rolleyes:

The dude's created a Wordpress blog & got it to page 1 for my customers name saying BEWARE OF 'BOB THE BUILDER' and put images on there etc...

Needless to say Bob isn't too happy about & said he's tried everything to get the guy to remove it but he's wanting £3K to take it down. Bob asked me if there is anything I could & if I could work out a price.

I realise I could just create a few blogs, video's articles etc & knock this guy off the 1st page so I went back to him with a quote of £1500 about a month ago & he's still not got back to me.

Any suggestion?
#bad #customer #reputation
  • Profile picture of the author 9999
    If Bob really messed up the job that bad and didn't fix the job to what it should of been (don't know the whole story here) then do you really want to try to help "cover this up"

    How about telling Bob to go back and fix this job as someone probably paid good money for this, then create a video or article on how Bob screwed up this job but always puts his clients first and reveal how Bob fixed his own mistake.

    If Bob messed this job up that bad and won't fix it then he probably deserves his customers website to be ranked #1 badmouthing him. Just my opinion!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6685269].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author robgee123
      Originally Posted by 9999 View Post

      If Bob really messed up the job that bad and didn't fix the job to what it should of been (don't know the whole story here) then do you really want to try to help "cover this up"

      How about telling Bob to go back and fix this job as someone probably paid good money for this, then create a video or article on how Bob screwed up this job but always puts his clients first and reveal how Bob fixed his own mistake.

      If Bob messed this job up that bad and won't fix it then he probably deserves his customers website to be ranked #1 badmouthing him. Just my opinion!
      Hey 9999, I don't know the whole story either but he seems a nice enough guy & has been in the trade for a long time. This is allegedly his first mistake & is paying dearly for it.

      Like I says to him "Don't F%$* with Web designers!"
      Signature
      Two cannibals are eating a clown & one says to the other "Does this taste funny to you?"
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6685316].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author LuxMan
    1. Tell your client to FIX the problem.

    2. Write an email saying that you plan to "hire a lawyer" to sue for for damage of reputation.

    3. Look at the host of the site to see if harassment or other material is against the TOS, then report the site.

    4. Create articles and reviews to help build your clients reputation... 1 bad review out of 5 looks terrible but 1 bad review out of 20+ is admissible.

    5. If you want to report content that you believe warrants removal from Google's services based on applicable laws, this tool will guide you through the process - Removing Content From Google - Google Help (select web search).

    6. Leave the guy alone. Chances are he's pissed and that's that.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6685287].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author volit
      Originally Posted by LuxMan View Post

      2. Pretend your a lawyer and tell them to remove the site or you'll sue for for damage of reputation.
      Do not ever do this.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6685317].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
        Originally Posted by volit View Post

        Do not ever do this.
        Agreed. Pretending to be a lawyer is the worst advice ever.
        Signature
        Aaron Doud - Sales & Success
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6685376].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author LuxMan
        Originally Posted by volit View Post

        Do not ever do this.
        Perhaps that point was too reckless but there's no harm in inflicting fear by telling him that you WILL hire a lawyer to sue.

        The retainer would be cheaper than the amount asked to take it down :rolleyes:
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6685382].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author TopicSpan
        Originally Posted by volit View Post

        Do not ever do this.
        Seconded - you won't sound like a lawyer, and apart from embarrassing yourself you'll lose all credibility. In addition, freedom of speech laws often protect negative statements places online, so the entire legal aspect of it may be moot.
        Signature
        Don't lose users!
        Grab our full-page UltraCache system that instantly speeds up any PHP website!
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6685388].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    1. If he can get the guy to remove it for $3k that is actually in his favor.
    2. You know this guys pricing and it is too low. He won't pay $3k but you are asking $1,500/mo which would just be two months for him to get out of his issue.

    So my advise is as follows.
    First explain to him that you can get him ranked thus the $1,500/mo but as his web consultant you believe it is in his best interest to pay this other guy off. Explain that if the other guy truly knows what he is doing and wants to play this game he can do SEO tit for tat with you. In the end you will be 1st or 2nd but the other page will still be there. Offer your services to negotiate the contract with the other guy to make sure it protects him(or better offer a lawyer who you know who will do that and maybe pay you as a consultant on the matter).

    Of course if he turns out to price himself out it is best to not waste your time on him further. And his not calling back may mean just that. He wants to pay you cheaply to fix a problem he created.
    Signature
    Aaron Doud - Sales & Success
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6685307].message }}

Trending Topics