On one of my sites, I sell downloadable web templates. Someone bought one and the next day, the customer sent me an email stating they noticed the footer did not display correctly in Firefox. The quote was: "Don't you guys test this crap? What a rip off!" Two minutes later (per the time stamp on the post), the customer was on my support forum: "Don't these guys test this crap? You can see the problem here (link to his site). I paid $40 for the template and this is the crap they give. What a rip off!" I followed the link and found the issue was due to a change THE CUSTOMER made. Needless to say, I was a little steamed. I deleted their forum post and replied to the email and asked them if they wanted help correcting the issue or if they simply wanted to continue b**ching about their issue wherever they could. Customer then replied they wanted help. I let them know what tag was causing the issue and politely let them know the issue was caused by their edit to the footer as the template did display correctly on my site. Customer corrected the issue and then replied they were going to tell everyone they could about my poor attitude on my first email. I replied to customer that if I learned they were costing me business or potential customers, I would be contacting my attorney. Customer then emailed that they had already contacted their attorney as my email was "harrassing" with the use of "b**ching" in the email. Is this just a clown with a foul attitude having a bad day and deciding to bust my chops or am I in a little legal hot water here?
I doubt anything is going to happen. Of course, you never know. But still, in the end, I doubt anything will happen.
Just a clown. Harassment describes a pattern of behavior or policies that define a pattern of behavior. One email with one phrase does not constitute harassment.
If they ask you to stop emailing and you email them again that is harassment. They have to tell you to stop something. They have no legal recourse.
From your own post it does sound that you have acted unprofessionally. No matter how much of a pain in the arse a client/ customer is you should always maintain the upper hand as being professional as otherwise you will rightfully gain a reputation of being unprofessional and people will make assumptions based on that (the traditional kid in a bed room with an illegal copy of dreamweaver and photoshop is the most common one). You have said you will contact your attorney... what did they say or was this more rubbish postering? Hollow threats will also get you an unwanted reputation. To be honest, you really need to get into damage limitation mode. Whilst the original error was caused by the customer you have crossed the line and they are entitled to inform others of this. Really you need to apologies for your lack of professionalism and do what you can to rectify the situation to prevent them spreading their opinion.
At the moment, you may just have to monitor his posts on your forum carefully and also check of any new users who may have disguised as him.... as such which may tarnish your reputation.
I don't think you have to worry man, that customer just looks as if he's got something stuck up his ass. I always maintain the upper hand professionally, but of course I prefer to treat my clients in an informal fashion since I'm a freelancer. I'm happy to share a few jokes and appreciate them letting off steam when it comes to bitching about other people doing a rubbish job who are concerned with the project in hand. If a client doesn't cross the line between professional and completely informal, I don't either. It works for me, and I have a good link with my client base.
Very well said. I alway laugh my butt off when I hear people screaming Lawyer over such small amounts of money. Obviously the person saying this has never hired a lawyer. Fifty bucks won't even buy a passing nod from a lawyer.
The best course of action would have been to refund the person immediately. You could tell that he was problem customer by his first reaction (language, tone, etc). As a business owner, one of the best skills you can develop is spotting problem customers. The more business you do, the more you run into them. When you have a "problem customer," just refund and forget. Or never take the money in the first place if you're a project services provider. The money is never worth the headache. And for $50, my attorney will tell me where to play a decent round of golf.
i can say that dude must have been looking for a free template and may have edited the file to get back $40 he spent on it. S0n of a b***h. thats my view he may be geniue too
I sincerely hope you gamble that money on who wins the game... But yes, problem customers happen all over the place - if you read craiglist's "best of" section you'll know you're not alone. Simple rule: if it cost you time, it costs them money Oh and by the way, in the UK at least, your case will get laughed out of the small claims court if it's no more than £100. Not too sure on US legislation, but then again you guys can sue for just about anything...
I don't think you have to be too worried about professional ethics if all you do is some freelance designing. At the end of the day you are only human, and unless you have sworn to some code of ethics, don't get too flustered about it. Whilst it's always nice to act business like, there is a wide difference between being business professional of the year and being the next nomination for sainthood over at Vatican HQ. You ply your wares and try to earn a crust, simple as that. If some A-hole hits you with a barrel load of abuse, I think you are perfectly entitled to give them at least a sign that their attitude irritated you. As for legal hot water... I think he would have more to worry about than you. He falsely accused you, threatened you with damage to your business, and threatened acts which are bordering on criminal!