When a customer burns you.

Mon Dec 1 20:42:20 PST 2003

On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, Chuck Yerkes wrote:

> Okay a (partly fictional) scenario:
> 
> I'm in the database.  Some consultant I hired reported me.
> Oh, but it turns out I fired him after he showed up, started working
> for a bit, the machines were unreliable, crashing, etc.  He'd mixed
> packages between versions. Libc was all screwed up.  The machines were
> now up 50% of the time.  He'd been with us 2 days and done some work
> on the weekend.  We refused to pay him the weekend rates, when he
> messed everything up.  He reports us to your bad company database.
> The DBDB. (deadbeat database).
> 
> We later make an offer to someone; he checks the database.  Refuses,
> at the last minute, to work for us - cause we're deadbeats.
> 
> Not having our new servers up costs *us* a client.  Measurable money.
> $200k, lets say.  We now turn around and go after you for defamation.
> $200k plus damages and legal fees.
> 
> You sure you want to be in that business?
> 
> The RBL folks are careful AND are looking for a good suit to establish
> some legal footings with.  You really don't want to be there without
> resources. Especially when other resources exist:  BBB, D&B, etc.
> 
> No need to keep me on the reply list, I'm on the baylisa list already.

See. This is a problem though. It comes down to the "they have theirs,
but we can't have ours" lists.. off the top of my head, here are
blacklists that affect us in our daily lives :

- Credit Reporting
- ChexSystems (bounce a check, they screw you for 7 years)
- LandLord Networks (especially in san francisco)
- Inside lists (EVERY VC and Angel investment group in the bay
- area has a list of preferred employees and blacklisted employees)
- Dentist's networks..
- References. You can't give a bad reference legally, but people
do anyways.

BBB & D&B are nice, but what use are they? The customer who's defrauding
me right now is a brand new startup.. They tried to request a thorough
background check on me (and I walked away when they did, but they caved
in).. Yet I had no recourse whatsoever to find out how credit-worthy they
were, finding out from a former employee halfway through the contract
that they had a long history of defrauding their contractors..

I just think there needs to be some kind of legal company reference.  If
I have to give the names of associates and friends to a company so they
can see if I'm trustworthy and skillworthy enough to work for them,
why shouldn't I have a resource to find out what kind of an employer they
are?

-------------------
Michael T. Halligan
Chief Geek
Halligan Infrastructure Designs.
http://www.halligan.org/
2250 Jerrold Ave #11
San Francisco, CA 94124-1012
(415) 724.7998 - Mobile