I need to remove a posting - thanks, I now understand why you do not remove reports From: (email address removed by Ripoffreport) Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:29 AM To: EDitor@ripoffreport.com Subject: RE: i need to remove a posting – thanks, I now understand why you do not remove reports Hi Ed. Thanks for the feedback. Of course, right now I am just trying to get back our deposit. He didn't call back or respond to emails for 5 months and the ONLY way I got him to respond was to threaten posting negative feedback. To show him I was serious, I started with your site. Well, it worked like a charm. He sent a check next day UPS and we put it in the bank yesterday and we will see if it clears. I told him if the check clears, I'll update the posting. If not, I'll go on a rampage. So your site has enabled me to have him by the proverbial balls. However, now he claims to have lost business (which says a lot for your site) and is threatening the lawsuit if I don't remove the fraud and scam remarks. I wrote you from my other email address as well (this is my work email so PLEASE do not publish or reveal this address) so you do not have to answer that one. Anyway, if the check clears, I'll be making a donation as thanks. ________________________________________ From: EDitor@ripoffreport.com [mailto:EDitor@ripoffreport.com] Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 1:51 AM To: (email address removed by Ripoffreport) Subject: I Would like to cancel my rip off report on Joan Marie. I have received a refund from her Here is the short version as to why we do not and will not ever remove a Rip-off Report..... "Our policy never to remove any report protects consumers. It doesn't do any good for a company to harass the consumer who posted a report -- we never take the report down. If businesses thought they could get reports removed by putting pressure on consumers, some of them would just put heavy pressure on the consumer through lawsuits or harassment. But, suing or harassing the consumer won't do any good, because it won't change the report. Because we never remove reports and we do encourage updates, the best thing a business can do is work things out with the consumer, make the consumer happy, and post updates showing how they used good customer service to solve the problem. In this way, the business has a unique opportunity to show it has good customer service while the consumer is protected from threatening behavior." Many businesses come back to us after cursing at us and telling us how mad at us they were, .. they now tell us how the once negative Report now gets them new found business. Most consumers do want to see how a business took care of business. After all, none of us can ever satisfy everyone all of the time. All business will make mistakes ending up with complaints, ..how those businesses handle those complaints is what separates good businesses from bad businesses. THE LONG VERSION IS BELOW – WHY WE NEVER REMOVE A RIP-OFF REPORT... Your request for us to remove a Rip-off Report has to be denied. What about other potential victims that would not be able to see and to learn from your experience. - - so they would know how to deal with the reported business in the future . If everyone was able to remove their report there would be no warning to consumers! There would be no way for consumers to educate each other.. this is what the Internet is all about. This is the 21st century, the information age.. Do you remember checking the box below before filing your Rip-off Report? .. YOU, the author, had to check this box or the Report would not go through. Here is what you agreed to just before you clicked the "Submit Your Report" button: NOTE: the box is NOT pre-checked, you must check it before the Report will submit. ==================== [ ] By posting this report/rebuttal, I attest that this report is valid and I understand and agree that my submission and use of this website is subject to the site's Terms of Service (above). I am giving Ripoff Report irrevocable rights to post it on this web site. I acknowledge that once I post my report, it will not be removed, even at my request. Of course, I can always update my report to reflect new developments by clicking on UPDATE. Further, I agree that by posting this report/rebuttal that the State of Arizona has exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes between me and the operators of Ripoff Report arising out of this posting. ===================== Educating each other is what this is all about. Consumers need to make their own informed decisions based on your experience and those of others. We do not want consumers ever to use these Reports as blackmail. This is another reason why we will NOT EVER remove a Rip-off Report. Better for consumers to see how a business took care of business, turning the negative into a positive. ALL BUSINESSES WILL GET COMPLAINTS ..HOW A BUSINESS TAKES CARE OF THOSE COMPLAINTS SEPARATES GOOD BUSINESSES FROM BAD BUSINESSES. THIS IS THE BEST PLACE FOR THEM TO SHOW HOW THEY TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS.. Because of your Report you got (maybe) what was coming to you after maybe being screwed or just jerked around, right? Or are they still refusing to make things right? Now they want you to remove it and they will make things right and they will not sue you, ..ONLY if you get this Report removed?! Or, are they threatening you with a lawsuit? If you dont get the report removed, they will sue you? UNFORTUNATELY SOME COMPANIES ARE SO PIG-HEADED THEY DON'T REALIZE THAT BY SATISFYING YOU FIRST AND THEN BY YOUR COMING BACK TO UPDATE YOUR REPORT SHOWING HOW THEY TOOK CARE OF YOU, MAYBE STATING THAT THEY DID NOT REALIZE THEY MADE A MISTAKE OR, MAYBE IN THE NAME OF GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE THEY MADE THINGS RIGHT BY YOU.. THIS WILL MAKE CONSUMERS FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT BUSINESS WHEN THEY RUN ACROSS YOUR REPORT ... WHO DOESN'T WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH A COMPANY OR INDIVIDUAL WHO CAN ADMIT MAYBE THEY MADE A MISTAKE AND HOW THEY MADE THINGS RIGHT FOR THE CUSTOMER?!! Reported businesses tell us all the time, they are glad we did not take down the Report about them, that the Report gets them new found business! ALL COMPANIES / INDIVIDUALS WILL MAKE MISTAKES - - EVERYONE KNOWS THAT - - HOW THOSE BUSINESSES TAKE CARE OF THOSE MISTAKES IS WHAT SEPRATES GOOG BUSINESSES FROM BAD BUSINESSES. AND CONSUMERS TODAY WANT TO SEE A 3rd PARTY OPINION. THIS WILL ONLY WORK IN THEIR FAVOR AS A PERMANENT POSITIVE ADVERTISEMENT FOREVER – "GREAT ADVERTISING THEY EVER HAD" SAY MANY REPORTED BUSINESSES, AND IT'S FREE. You need to let the business know that you can UPDATE your report in a positive way if they rectify your situation amicably you will let others know what a great business they really are, and how they made things right after realizing they made a mistake with you. You can show this by posting the positive things they did as an UPDATE to the Report you filed, turning the negative into a positive. It never fails, since 1998 we have found that any time the consumer or the reported business comes back and files a positive rebuttal explaining their side, admitting what they might have done wrong and or how they took care of the customer in the name of good customer service, .. we have found, every time a response like that will always get the reported business NEW FOUND BUSINESS.. Who would not want to do business with a company that knows how to admit they made a mistake and to show how well they took care of the unsatisfied customer. This is common sense, this is the right thing to do and the only way to handle this. Only a business who is wrong will disagree - This is simple business practice 101.. Free and good advise especially in the New Millennium. Whenever a business is threatening a lawsuit, remind them that any lawsuit they file today is public info and more than likely that will end up on the internet and they won't be able to do anything to anyone about that public information once the lawsuit is filed it will pop-up on search engines. These lawsuits now pop up once someone Googles their name. That will only get them more bad publicity. THIS IS THE 21st CENTURY - CONSUMERS NOW HAVE A VOICE - IT'S NOT ONLY BUYER BEWARE, ..IT'S NOW "SELLER BEWARE" too... The Internet is a reality of today's business world. What we all do, good or bad, is quickly and easily searchable. Those who are reported can fight, kick and scream all they want, ..this stuff is not going away, unless that is, Al Gore stops the Internet. :-) Read more below about our philosophy ... Rip-off Report has no way of determining whether you or the reported business is telling the truth. We encourage you to post a rebuttal/UPDATE to your report explaining your change of heart, or have the owner of the business tell their side of the story, but we have a uniform policy against removing stories posted by consumers. Remember what it says just before you clicked on Submit Your Report, there is a box that YOU MUST CHECK if you want the Report to go thru. This copy says the following, and should answer your question as to why you cannot ever remove a Rip-off Report - because you agreed to it. It states the following - (I acknowledge that once I post my report, it will not be removed, even at my request. Of course, I can always update my report to reflect new developments by clicking on UPDATE. If we remove a Rip-off Report, we would be no better than the BBB. Although we can not remove reports, we do provide and UPDATE feature that allows you supply additional positive or negative information regarding your situation. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND OUR PHILOSOPHY: If Rip-off Report removed a Report every time a business threatened, consumers would have no history on how the business took care of past problems. This Report on the business or individual can work as a positive or as a promotional tool if they respond properly and do the right thing by taking care of you, their customer. Consumers will see this and will want to do business with them in-spit-of what has been written about them ... That is why we supply a REBUTTAL feature so that the company reported has a chance to respond by agreeing, disagreeing, or apologizing and explaining their reasoning. It is called a public forum and it is one of the foundations of our country! By allowing consumers to view the original report, updates and rebuttals, consumers will be able to make informed and educated decisions. This is mainly because consumers will be able to see how the company in question deals with complaints. Consumers love to do business with a company that can admit they made a mistake (or, in the alternative, can intelligently explain why they are not going to correct the situation). Regardless, we have NEVER removed a Rip-off Repot, and we never will. We have been offered as much as $50,000 to remove just one Rip-off Report, but we declined! because doing so is in violation of our policy, and more importantly, it goes against what we what we stand for. Please understand our position. If anyone ever told you that we do remove Reports, its a big lie that is spread by those companies that hate us. Remember, all businesses will get complaints. ALL! ...How those businesses take care of those complaints separates good businesses from bad businesses. Please tell the Reported business they can file a rebuttal, telling the truth how the the business has rectified the problem and how they treated you. This is best if it is truthful and pleasant, hopefully they can show support of this forum and freedom of speech. Also, tell what the situation was at the time the Report was posted (even if its a long time a ago!) and how they made improvements to their company And posting a Rebuttal is free! Let them know they can turn that negative into a positive! Businesses that once threatened to sue over negative Reports and have remedied the problem and posted updates tell us that Consumers are finding their businesses who would have never found them if the Rip-off Report had never occurred -- thanks to the search engines. If the complaints is handled correctly, the originally negative Report about their company can become a permanent positive advertisement! Lawsuits will linger forever and only cause more bad publicity. And, if the business is still being pig-headed and thinking of suing us they need to read this ... http://www.ripoffreport.com/ConsumersSayThankYou/WantToSueRipoffReport.aspx ED Magedson - Founder EDitor@RipoffReport.com www.ripoffreport.com Rip-off Report PO Box 310, Tempe, Arizona 85280 602-359-4357