The squeaky wheel gets the grease...or a door in the face.  Keep in mind the "Are you a bad customer?" article linked to here - complain too many times and you may find that they retailers and service folks don't want to work with you.

Plus, why make the world a nastier place?  Clearly J. Money had to go to extreme lengths to get something he wanted and rightfully deserved, but not everyone should be contemplating the same actions for lesser crimes.  You have to spend some time creating the world you want to live, which generally doesn't involve one in which people call each other out online.

For the counter-example, how would you feel if every business you ever wronged, every waitress you ever low-tipped, every bill you were a little late on, came back to haunt you publicly and online?  Glass houses, anyone?

http://blog.justthrive.com

Matt, I don't see any correlation between the point you are trying to make and the scenario the article is presenting.  J. Money paid for a service.  The service was not delivered.  Even after repeated attempts by J.M. the product was withheld and money was not refunded . . . until the reputation of the thief was put on-line.  

The question should not only be, 'how many other unsuspecting people hired the photographer for a product that was not delivered' but also 'how many victims before the thief should be stopped'.  

I am saddened to know that you will allow a thief to steal from you uncontested.  I am even more disappointed to know that you would walk away from the chance to help your fellow man avoid the same pit falls you experienced.  After all, if you don't look out for anybody, why would anybody look out for you?

Very intresting article Karen

Thanks for the shout out Karen!  It was a most exciting surprise to see this morning  :)

And indeed we weren't the only ones who were having issues with this photographer. Turns out there were a good 2-3 others out there that came forward after the blog (and other online reviews) were put up!  And the great thing about it all?  He got his act together and contacted all of these clients to get things resolved ASAP.

So while it sucked to have to go through it all, in the long run it was well worth it - A handful of us got our once-in-a-lifetime pictures back, and the photographer (hopefully) learned his lesson.

hey bob, i don't know if you've noticed, but nobody looks out for you except yourself. tactics like these will help those of us who dont' have any other way of getting our product/service/money from the guilty party.

Bob: It seems like you've misread my comment.  As I said, J. Money did what he had to do to get a service he paid for.  My point was that you do not want to indiscriminately use complaint as a tactic for getting good customer service.  I work for Thrive, a company that is looking out for people every single day, and they lured me out of academic by promising to help end debt in America.  But I've seen people come to our support system immediately angry, rather than calming down enough to ask us in a way that helps us help them, and that is simply a terrible idea.  Part of being a good consumer is being understanding when not everything goes your way.

So again, J. Money did what we right to get his photos, but it isn't a tactic people should follow without some careful consideration.

There's another big point to be made: this was apparently an independent individual.  Companies, on the other hand, have customer service departments and it usually works to be firm, but polite.  Some people also seek the mediation of Good Housekeeping; when the editors print the story, they tell both sides of it.

The best costomer service is a phone call back and a person to deal with on-going.  the service team at sears attorney law irvine  building will keep the client posted and mike / steven will superivise the team. irvine searsatty

Where does the small business retailer go to voice being abused by the customer?  We have gone out of our way- well it is our way- to give great customer service for the last 17 years.  Every once in a great while- like today, a customer will abuse a service and make it our fault.  Leaving the staff with the awful pit in the stomach.

I"m looking for a blog where we can share these stories and get some support.