Let Me Show You How Online Reputation Really Works, Mr. New Orleans Computer Repair Guy!

by Gabriella Sannino on December 22, 2011

For you, Mr. New Orleans Computer Repair Guy, also known as French Quarter Repair Services and iPhone or iPod Repairman:

You returned my Mac Airbook in worse condition than it was before. That’s bad business. You charged me more than the agreed upon amount and wouldn’t return my possessions until I paid for it. That’s extortion. You call yourself a certified technician; in my estimation, you’re nothing more than a scam artist. Then you advertise SEO on your site. Mister now you’ve really messed up.

Photo credit: Frank Benson

For our readers: You might say, after reading this article, “Wow, Gabriella, isn’t this a little vindictive?” To which I respond, “Yes, and no.” I dislike scam artists. It pisses me off when someone screws people out of their hard-earned money. It pisses me off even more when these people have my industry plastered on their site. Then, it becomes one more piece of coal to fire, fueling stories about bad optimizers. You can be sure this guy treats his SEO customers just as well as his computer repair customers.

I’m going to do my very best to make sure this one, at least, has an online reputation that reflects his lack of professionalism and honesty. –And my best is very good. Call it a lesson in reputation management.

French Quarter Repair Services? I Don’t Think So…

You’d reasonably think that someone like me, working online with computers, dealing with people all day long and buried in search, could figure out how to get their computer fixed. Right? That’s what I figured, anyway, but I was wrong.

Yes I'm happy :)

If you follow me in social circles, then you know I just recently bought an AirBook. I was thrilled to have this little cuteness in my arsenal of electronic toys and gadgets. It was supposed to be my traveling companion.

So, when I loaned it to my partner, who accidentally dropped coffee on the keyboard (a whole other point of irritation), we quickly searched for a certified Mac technician in New Orleans. My AirBook needed emergency care, and I was going to make sure it went to the best computer doctor around. There aren’t many of them; I think we found two.

My partner spoke to the man we chose, who quoted $100 for a diagnostic “and we’ll service it right away”. Not a problem. She drove the hour to New Orleans. While there, she asked to verify if he was an Apple certified technician, and was told that he was. This is important, because Apple says the Macs need to be taken care of by certified technicians.

She dropped it off, paid the $100 and then waited for the shop to call back. This is how the process is supposed to go, right? I mean… reasonable expectations being what they are?

Mr. New Orleans Computer Repair Guy Calls Back…

We’re told the $980 AirBook I bought will take $450 for a new motherboard and an additional $250 for labor. There’s no way, little cuteness be damned, that I’m going to spend almost as much for repair as it cost to buy it fresh out of the box. We told him “no, thank you,” and that one of us would pick it up Monday.

Everything happened like a normal business transaction should. In my mind, this means he just puts the computer back the way it was, closes it up and calls it a day. However, when my partner showed up to pick up the computer, the owner of the shop is out, and the salesman tells her he can’t release the computer to her until the shop owner gets back. Odd – we were told we could pick it up any time.

It Was Love At First Sight

He also told her he spoke with the owner, who said the computer was still opened, had special diagnostics equipment in it, and he needed to get the stuff out. She calls me and informs me she has to hang out in New Orleans until the shopkeeper comes back in the afternoon; she didn’t want to drive an extra two hours for a second trip.

“Tell the guy we want our computer back, and don’t want to wait for the owner,” I told her. After all, again, we were told we could pick it up any time.

There I was, listening to the conversation through the phone lines, and hearing it escalate into an argument. My partner threatened to call the police if the owner did not, at the very least, get on the phone with her to address why she had to wait during business hours. And here’s where it got really…messed… up…

What?

The salesman came from the back of the shop, with my Airbook still open, an hour later. He told her the owner was back (who she had yet to see), but she needed to pay an additional $50 in order to get the computer. When asked how he could charge more than Apple, he said, “I can charge a hundred thousand million dollars, if I want.” On hindsight, I’m glad I wasn’t there. Someone would have ended up calling 911 to report a whole series of violent crimes being committed.

Why were we being charged an additional $50? Apparently, there’s a policy stating that you owe a $50 fee (on top of the initial $100, mind you) if you decide not to use their services. There has to be that policy, because the salesman said there was, and that it was stated on their tech support page. It isn’t.

Seriously?

When I got my computer back, I have to tell you, it was a sad sight. My poor Airbook looked completely beaten. It still had big drops of coffee on the inside (so there’s no way he cleaned like he said), and there was a brand new dent on the corner.

The Reviews – Too Little, Too Late

A lesson, here; always check the online reviews. I know that – hell, I push having people review your products. I didn’t think about it. If I had, I’d most likely have my computer back, it’d be clean, and … oh yeah… working. Reviews for French Quarter Computer Services New Orleans on Yelp are plain nasty. One reviewer says, “This place changes names when their reviews get too bad. They have 7 BBB complaints and didn’t even bother to respond to 1 of them. If it’s anywhere near the 1900 block of St. Claude DO NOT GO!!”

Evidently not cleaned

I dug further. CitySearch reviews for French Quarter Computer Services are more positive. Two of them have five stars. How… interesting. Unfortunately, one of them is written by FQComputer who, in another review, says their business is French Quarter Computers. Guess where French Quarter Computers points to? (Kudzu has one person giving them five stars, but no written review. Hmmm… wonder who did that?)

Digging even further finds the iPod Repair Man site, which claims to be a subsidiary of… drum roll please… New Orleans Computer Repair. ACD Computers in Covington? Yes, that’s him, too. I’m not absolutely positive, but Apple Repair New Orleans also appears to be the same guy, if you go by the footer links in this tech forum profile.

The fact that this guy advertises data recovery services makes me shudder…

Online Reputation Management – Lesson #1

This has been wiped with alcohol?

I want to expose this crook for what he is: a con man. Now, by looking at the reviews, it’s obvious the man has some idea of how reputation and recommendations work on Google. Otherwise, why post false reviews to bump up your stars, right?

You know… this is what I do for a living. We help clients with their reputations, their online presence, website, branding, and optimization. With this article, I wavered on whether to expose him publicly on our company blog, because I don’t want people to get the idea that we’re anything other than professional.

However, while I must profess a tad bit of malicious glee, I’m also greatly concerned about this individual’s business practices. Why? Because:

he “runs” at least four companies
he advertises his services as covering at least six cities
he advertises several different services under separate operational names (iPod Repair Man, ACD Computers, Apple Repair New Orleans, Devious Designs)
New Orleans Computer Repair AKA French Quarter Computer Services is listed under at least three different addresses in various local directories
he knows enough to at least “try” to bury bad reviews and could one day be successful

WTF did you use?

Concerned enough, in fact, to share this story with you, our readers.

I’m going to call the BBB and add yet another negative mark against his “F” rating, but I know that’s not going to do much good. What does help – what will help, is social media.

I’m posting this article on our site, with our site’s authority pushing it. I’m going to share it across my social accounts. I’m going to ask everyone I know to retweet, Like, Share and otherwise forward to a friend. I’m going to do my best to get this page pushed so far up in the SERPs that it outranks his own site. I want people to see this page before they ever get to his site; just in case they forget to check for reviews.

Mr. New Orleans Computer Repair Guy, rule #1 of reputation management is: Don’t screw your customers over. They can get online and talk about it.

Gabriella Sannino

I love writing about marketing, social, SEO, ruffling feathers and starting revolutions. What you read on this blog, will hopefully inspire you to continue the conversation. When I'm not multitasking around Level343 I sneak away and go sailing. I'm crazy about pistachios, and of course Nutella.

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Tagged as: Mac Airbook, ORM

{ 51 comments… read them below or add one }

Tareq Marc January 1, 2013 at 1:32 pm

Hi Gabriella,
Keep up your great blogging. I’m actually grateful to you finding this greatest article here. Thanks.
Tareq Marc recently posted.. Google Chrome Uninstall Problems

Gabriella January 1, 2013 at 2:00 pm: Thanks Marc ;) Enjoy your new year!!
Gabriella recently posted.. 7 Tips To Boost your B2B Efforts on Google Plus

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Robert Kilonzo Twitter: robertkilonzo July 18, 2012 at 1:23 pm

What’s the follow up with the story? Did you get this page to outrank his site? also, if you haven’t yet already, maybe get the new MacBook Pro(retina display), you have a good excuse to upgrade.

Gabriella July 18, 2012 at 1:32 pm

Hello Roberto, thanks for asking, as a matter of fact It’s worth noting we’re on page one, high enough in SERP’s that anyone can see our post. Fait accompli ;) as it were… http://ht.ly/ckQyM

Robert Kilonzo Twitter: robertkilonzo July 18, 2012 at 2:20 pm: Awesome! I just retweeted

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WILLIAM STEWART June 16, 2012 at 4:05 am

Good article. I am looking for remedial technical services for my firm in PA. I heard about Field and Technical Services there. Do you have any idea about them? Pls let me know.

Gabriella June 16, 2012 at 6:16 am: Hello William, I’m not familiar with them…I did however look them up on Google. I found a guest post Field and Technical Services Helps Clients Maintain Safety While Saving Money Sometimes recommendations are all you have to go with. Unfortunately they don’t have any. Good luck, and thanks for dropping by.

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Samantha Gluck May 17, 2012 at 4:32 pm

Wowsa! Yowsa! I can’t freaking believe that happened. It almost makes me wish you had been there. That guy deserves to have his smug smirk (I’m sure he has one) smacked off his face by a woman who “don’t take no B.S.”. Know what I mean? Come on! That’s astounding to me as a businesswoman and as a human being. Well, I know where NOT to go in Louisiana if I need computer repairs.

Gabriella May 18, 2012 at 12:15 pm: lol indeed Samantha, and things are not getting any better. I’m begrudgingly taking my iMac to the doctor today…I hope I can bring her home. *sniff Thanks for dropping by xo

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Doc Sheldon Twitter: TopShelfCopy May 3, 2012 at 10:39 pm

Knowing how much Google likes fresh content, I thought I’d pop in and refresh this little piece on the illegal and immoral tactics of our buddy at APPLE REPAIR NEW ORLEANS, French Quarter Computer Services, New Orleans Computer Repair Services, iPhone Repair Man, New Orleans Computer Repair & Services.
I want to be sure he gets all the attention he deserves. ;)
Doc Sheldon recently posted.. $18MM can be a Pretty Darned Good Kick in the Pants

Gabriella May 5, 2012 at 6:08 am: LOL thanks Doc :) enjoy your weekend!

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Abel Pardo Twitter: wsiabelpardo April 28, 2012 at 1:10 am

It’s incredible how much can be learned with your histories and the people in this forum. Brand reputation is not just to get an environment, but to fight against people that developes “black hat” actions against the competence. Thank you all for sharing!

Dave Ventura February 13, 2012 at 5:56 am

Whether its online or offline the reputation is one of the most important aspect in one’s life that can be applicable in many ways. This might dictate one’s image and aim. Anyways, at first I was confuse and puzzled on this post but as I read it the excitement comes upper and upper. Sometimes online is a devastating world!

Ian January 30, 2012 at 7:03 pm

This guy is a scammer. He bought something off me on eBay (a cellphone part) and claimed that it arrived broken with an issue I know 100% for a face it did not! It really angers me and for those of you having him fix your computer or cell phone BEWARE because what kind of shop buys USED parts off eBay and then charges more than the retailer. and I know for a fact he is not BBB accredited and Apple certified.

Techdude (John Fuhrmann) January 30, 2012 at 1:53 pm

Hello Gabriella,

Thanks for your most outstanding efforts to uncover and expose one of the worst examples of poor and deceptive business practices ever known to exist by me. I too run a New Orleans Apple service business and have been victimized by the owner of APPLE REPAIR NEW ORLEANS, French Quarter Computer Services, New Orleans Computer Repair Services, iPhone Repair Man, New Orleans Computer Repair & Services, and whatever other shell-game-names this villain has made up during the time I have been writing this post.

It is quite true that one of his favorite methods of attempting to “improve ” his online customer ratings is by trashing the ratings of his competitors. I have pointed out this fact in my own reviews of his business at Google Places. The result of this was that he stopped by my Google Places listing and left a review that named me as a “Pedophile who will burn in Hell”. I managed to get the Google team to remove this blight from my page, but Google shows no sign of any intent to limit this guy’s acts of online terrorism. So far, he and his minions have left three one star ratings in my reviews section. Otherwise, I would have a perfect record of all five star reviews. The reviews for his own services are mostly abysmal, the only exceptions being mostly those posted by him or his staff.

Unfortunately, he has remained in business during all the time I have been in New Orleans, about five years. I believe that the key to his ability to remain open for business is the fact that most of his walk ins are unsuspecting tourists who haven’t read his reviews. New Orleans is a small town when it comes to word of mouth and by that measure, I am quite sure that his reputation here is very dark indeed.

Thanks again,

The Techdude

Gabriella January 30, 2012 at 2:08 pm

Wow, that’s unbelievable!! I’m sorry to hear your experience is ~~worst~~ than mine. Defaming your name like that, man I would have to call 911 to report a can of ass whooping, before I personally went down there. Wow, just wow!! I’ll admit I’m glad to see top notch people like you in New Orleans. I love that city, I have a lot of very fond memories living in the heart of the French Quarter as a “Quarter Rat” back in the 80′s. I’m sad to see no legal actions have been taken against APPLE REPAIR NEW ORLEANS, French Quarter Computer Services, New Orleans Computer Repair Services, iPhone Repair Man, New Orleans Computer Repair & Services, but I’m hoping with patience and comments like yours, we can eventually spear the campaign and ping the New Orleans District Attorney’s google alert ( Leon A. Cannizzaro, Jr.) so they can address this situation.

Techdude (John Fuhrmann) January 30, 2012 at 2:54 pm: I wonder if you have considered funneling complaints to the New Orleans Bureau of Revenue: http://www.nola.gov/en/BUSINESSES/Bureau-of-Revenue/

in hopes of having his business license revoked?

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Michael Twitter: Fixittechsuite.com January 27, 2012 at 3:05 pm

I own a repair shop in Metairie and have been flooded by fake negative reviews from Mr. New Orleans Compute Repair guy himself. How do I know it was him? Well, the genius used the same account to write himself FAKE positive reviews. It’s hard to believe that someone can be so classless and do business like that.
Anyway, if you are looking for fast, reasonably priced repairs from someone who cares, be sure to check us out. Fixit Metairie – http://FixitTechSuite.com – We repair Laptops (PC & Mac), iPhones, & Game Consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii).
Michael recently posted.. Fixit Quicker

Gabriella January 28, 2012 at 7:13 am: Hello Michael, thanks for your input. I appreciate you reaching out to help. I’m always happy to promote an ethical, honest, business in New Orleans, or the surrounding area. What still boggles the mind is how the New Orleans District Attorney, (Leon A. Cannizzaro, Jr.) including the New Orleans BBB allow this to continue. You would think by now with all the complaints filled against this business, they would have shut him down. Shame on them, I just hope this post reaches enough people out there so they’re aware he’s still doing business as usual.

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Kyle January 19, 2012 at 6:55 pm

These people stole my IPod Classic! I took my IPod to simply get a new headphone jack installed because it was only playing out of one earphone. I took it to this Apple Repair Store and asked if they could complete the repair. The red haired ‘secretary’ who was sucking down a cigarette when I first approached the building said “yeah, I think so”. I searched for a a little more reassurance. “Are you sure you can complete this repair?” She replied with “Yes, I’m pretty sure”. This is when the red flags should have flown and prevented this sort of mess from ever occuring. However against my better judgement, I dropped off my IPOD and paid the $75. When I asked the ‘secretary’ how long it would take, she said “I have no clue”. I then told her that I wasn’t looking for an exact date just a ballpark “3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months?”. She said “I have no clue, they should get to it soon.” (This is the point that I should have grabbed my IPOD and walked away but I was a fool)

So after about 10 days I called and asked to check on the status of my repair……I heard what sounded like the phone being fumbled between her hands then nothing but an empty dial tone. So I called her back…..she mumbled something that sounded like “I’m busy helping someone” and hung up again on me. This got me pissed, so I called back a third time. This time, I told her that I wanted to know the status of my repair. She asked for my ticket number and after I read it to her, she just told me that “There’s a few IPOD’s disassembled on the table and yours is probably one of them”…..then she hung up on me a third time. I was displeased to say the least so I promptly went to Google and wrote a review describing how they couldn’t give an estimate of repair time and their total disregard of professionalism (I think I even gave the analogy of a car mechanic saying “I have no clue when you’re car will be ready”)

At this point it had been nearly 3 weeks since I turned in my IPOD for repair and still no clue what was going on with it and I was getting ready to move to Colorado from New Orleans. So I showed up to the Apple Repair Store and asked for my IPOD back. Apparently they realized that I was the one who wrote the bad review because when I walked into the store, they asked my name. And when I told them they said “So you are the one who wrote the review on Google”. When I said yeah, the same ‘secretary’ looked at me with this spiteful look and said “We don’t have your IPOD, we sent it off to get fixed”…..Seriously? I knew at this point that I would never see my IPOD again. I had a lawyer friend in New Orleans send a letter of demand to return the IPOD but nothing. About 1 month after moving to Colorado, I received a phone call from my ‘secretary’ friend offering me a truce. She said that the owner is offering to return my IPOD if I remove the bad review from Google. I said sure thing and removed the comment. However I haven’t heard from them since (this was July 2010) and when I have called, they simply deny that they have my IPOD or ever did. So not only did they steal my IPOD but I payed them $75 to steal my IPOD. At first I harbored a lot of hate for this place, especially my red haired friend sucking down her cigarette in the Marigny and the puppeteer owners who whispered everything into her ear. I wanted vengeance and was thinking bad bad things about my Apple Repair ‘techs’ and the future of their store. But after a few days I realized that I had to let go of hate and accept the fact that terrible people do exist in this world. We are extremely sheltered from blatant crooks in this Country, especially those with store fronts…but in other countries they are on every corner. I think the biggest lesson that I learned is that you always have to trust your gut. Never dismiss warning signs, no matter how official the building or the person who is staring at you. I mostly surround myself with good hearted like-minded people, but it’s a healthy exercise (and sometimes painful and expensive) to remember that not everyone is honest or good-hearted and to always keep your eyes open for warning signs. And although I have come to terms and accepted the blatant robbery which has occurred, I have the original paperwork for my IPOD and would be happy to take action to see that these scam artists don’t screw anyone else over. Glad to read your story.

Gabriella January 28, 2012 at 7:19 am: Hey Kyle, Wow sounds like you went through the ringer with this business. Add that frustration with every one else that has had to deal with this, and you have a full blown douche bag allowed to work and continue stealing from the people of New Orleans. Thanks for taking the time to tell us your story…stay warm in Colorado it’s a beautiful state :)

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Mike Bayes January 12, 2012 at 6:55 am

I found your blog on Alltop and am glad I did. I had a similar experience with a car dealership in my home town, and had to do a blog about all the clearly fake reviews they had on Google places. In the end it all came down to me, NOT doing what everyone int the biz knows you should do…. check the reviews, and check them well.
I got on a roll about fake reviews for a short period of time, as I find them nefarious in nature. But, from a good energy type thing it was just to much time spent on the bad guys.

Hope everything is back to normal! Nice blog, and Good for you calling out a bad guy!

Gabriella January 12, 2012 at 7:17 am

Hey Mike, thanks. I know, I keep kicking myself for not checking. Of all people lolol I should have known better. But we learn from our mistakes, and as bloggers we have the ability to write about them. Usually that makes me feel ~~better~~ awesome. Has anything happened in regards to any justice? I don’t think so, but I know our post and every recommendation, action, conversation we’ve had will follow him forever. :)

Mike Bayes January 12, 2012 at 7:42 am: Exactly! I feel the same with my experience. After calling the dealership out (and the first page ranking of the blog under their dealership name) several things happened. First they did stop posting fake reviews (after several reviews I left on the places account after each new fake review was posted)
And, another SEO firm, I assume hired by the dealership for reputation management, attacked my blog! lol. I thought it was great, because their blog ended up on the first page of Google as well, and brought more attention to the situation.
Not sure I would call myself a blogger, just someone who tries to pass on good info. You on the other hand have a real talent for writing. Keep it up!

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Joseph Kingston January 6, 2012 at 3:59 pm

Didn’t you had any guarrantee from Apple?
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Gabriella January 6, 2012 at 5:09 pm: Yes, Joseph I did… I’m sure I mentioned we asked if they were Apple certified, because you see, Apple won’t guarantee any work once you’ve opened the machine. It’s a policy Apple has in order to guarantee only certified service is done under the warranty. Without that, the agreement is null & void. Now I’m basically SOL.

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Patrizia Corriero Twitter: pcorriero December 29, 2011 at 4:24 pm

Hey Gaby!
You’re absolutely right! Why these people are going around to steal money? I think they don’t know the power of social media and the world of mouth!They’re a bit stupid..:) So, don’t worry about your laptop..it will be back and the Mr. computer reapair will be down!:)

Gabriella December 30, 2011 at 4:07 am: Hahah Ciao Patrizia :) grazie. The beauty is he has the opportunity to make things better. But he chooses to do nothing…Kamma fa? Happy New Year cara and thanks for dropping by!

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Tim Ryan December 25, 2011 at 8:29 am

Its surprising that someone running a business behaved to the customers in such an unprofessional manner. I am an Apple fan and have used many Apple product but hopefully I’ve still never encountered poor service .
Tim Ryan recently posted.. Quick Fix or Complete Renovation?

Wasim Ismail Twitter: wasimalrayes December 24, 2011 at 5:34 pm

Hey I feel for you, I’m sure anyone experiencing that would be pissed off. Places like that need to get shut down..seriously as there are genuine people out there trying to make a living by being honest in their business, who just need help in marketing, and on the other hand you get crooks like this..tut tut.
It goes to show how powerful and strong building a reputable online presence can be for a business.
Wasim Ismail recently posted.. Weekly Business Sales Quote by Arnold Glasgow & Richard Branson

Alex Aguilar Twitter: team_aguilar December 24, 2011 at 6:33 am

I feel bad for what you had to go through Gabriella. Hopefully this scam-artist gets what’s coming to him. What amazes me is the time and effort he puts into cheating people, covering his tracks and doing it over and over again.

Surely at some point it would have crossed his mind that there are easier, less stressful ways to earn a living. Think about all the aggravation this person causes, all the physical and verbal confrontations he gets into, the constant hassle of coming up with new company names, the time spent on SEO – and for what? So he can overcharge 50 Dollars on laptop and iPod repair jobs? How much could he possibly earn from this?

I guess I’ll never understand the criminal mind.

Gabriella December 25, 2011 at 8:33 am: Hey Aex, thanks. I’ll admit the financial, or emotional hardship for me are minimal. For him, I’m not sure but, last time I checked he has opened quite a few new stores around the New Orleans greater area. Therefore, he’s making money somewhere. That’s not to say it’s not been irritating, and mind boggling how someone like this has gotten away with treating people like crap for all this time. Therefore I feel justified in confronting him and giving him the opportunity to respond.

One valid point I did notice pop up in this discussion was by Jeff Jockisch over at Google + , I quote “What Goes Around Comes Around…The perils of reputation in a social world.
Will social networks kill off the ripoff artists of the world? Or will they simply evolve?
And isn’t this response a form of digital vigilantism? Is that awesome or scary?”
I wil take full responsibility for my actions. Honestly I’m not sure many noticed or took into consideration that I struggled with “outing” this business. After all what I’m doing can be considered digital vigilantism. All I know is many people have spoken up, many complaints have been filed. I encourage everyone and anyone who question my motives to do a Google search on this business. It seems this has been going on for years, yet no one has had the passion, commitment, and know how to go after this guy. Is it right for me to appoint myself as the “Light” in this situation? Yes, because I’m not asking for anything more than to warn people. That’s the beauty of social media. You can be heard. You have the opportunity to engage the opposing view into a conversation and hopefully a solution.

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Mike Wilton December 23, 2011 at 11:35 pm

I’m kinda bummed that I didn’t find a comment from owner or one of his minions here on the blog. That would have made this reputation management piece even more interesting. Either way, really sorry to hear you got scammed by this guy.
Mike Wilton recently posted.. Happy Halloween from Nevermore Search Marketing

Gabriella December 24, 2011 at 4:20 am: we are hopeful…I even called him, and asked to speak to him. I’m still waiting ;)

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Kathryn Parsons December 23, 2011 at 7:47 am

Wow! I am really stunned that a business owner would treat one of their customers that way. Especially a shop that is “certified” to work on Apple products. I made a point of visiting Apple’s Channel Programs (http://channelprograms.apple.com/channel/) to see if Apple holds their channel members to any code of ethics and sure enough they do:

- Honesty – Big fail on that Mr. New Orleans Computer Repair guy.
- Respect – Leaving a customer waiting so you can blackmail them for an additional $50 doesn’t really have any respect for their customers Mr. New Orleans Computer Repair guy.
- Confidentiality – Hmmm, not sure if you broke this one…let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. ;)
- Community – “Conducts himself in a way that benefits the community”…nope, sorry that’s a big fail too French Quarter Repair Services.
- Compliance – Hmm, blackmailing a customer for extra cash isn’t exactly legal.

Gabriella, please, please take this to Apple’s Customer Support team. Because they have the juice to ensure that he doesn’t treat another Apple client like this again.

Gabriella December 23, 2011 at 7:53 am: Hey Kathryn I was looking so thanks for the link. I will get on it right away! You my lady are a SUPER STAR :)

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Luis Hernandez, Jr. December 23, 2011 at 7:21 am

Wow. Unbelievable stuff. Don’t you guys have a State consumer complaints hotline or something like that? If they claim to be Apple Authorized can you file a complaint with Apple? I am still shaking my head. How can a company that behaves that way manage to renew its business license? Definitely sharing and reposting this article.

Gabriella December 23, 2011 at 7:39 am: Hey Luis, thanks for dropping by. The problem down here (New Orleans) They are still trying to come back from Katrina. All those millions of $ sent down here is gone. Therefore, any sort of order, management, business licenses are given to anyone who’s willing to put up shop. After reading the complaints (over 50) that I’ve been able to find you would think SOMEONE, ANYONE, including the BBB would shut this guy down. Nope, he changes the name of the business and does the same thing over and over again. Jahnelle actually found this video After watching this, it makes sense. The guy is a douche bag, looser, who thinks he’s some hot shot. Apple is next on my list, since the BBB and every newspaper I contacted has not responded. We are left with a few options. Therefore as an SEO company we can knock him down to size by hurting him in the SERP’s. As you can see that’s our best option, therefore thank you so much for putting the word out there.

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Mike Andros December 23, 2011 at 7:00 am

i repair iphones myself and until now i had the luck to not bump into someone like that.

Gabriella December 23, 2011 at 7:40 am

Count yourself lucky. ;) Thanks for your input and enjoy the holidays!

Mike Andros December 23, 2011 at 7:42 am

Waw, fast reply :) Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year, Gabriella!

Gabriella December 23, 2011 at 12:15 pm: Thank you Mike! I’m an animal in the morning. lol I’m sure the pot of coffee I polished off before 6:00 am helps. Or it could be the nails I washed that coffee down with.

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Lyena Solomon Twitter: lyena December 22, 2011 at 6:21 pm

I am so sorry, Gabriella, that you had such a terrible experience. It is bad enough when your computer breaks. Worse is to get it back in the condition you described. And holding people hostage is so wrong!! Social media makes us feel less helpless against crooks like that.
Lyena Solomon recently posted.. Why Nonprofits Fail

Gabriella December 23, 2011 at 2:40 am: Indeed, especially when we can outrank them. ;) Enjoy your holidays and stay warm!

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Susan Hallam Twitter: susanhallam December 22, 2011 at 9:40 am

Bravo for you for writing up your experience with this charlatan, Gabriella, and I’m happy to do all I can to promote your story to the top of the SERPS.

I have also had a rather nasty encounter with a company that was tarnishing the SEO profession, and by going through the same process as you bounced him out of the search results.

http://www.hallaminternet.com/blog/2011/04/mouse2design-infringement-of-copyright.html
Susan Hallam recently posted.. Happy Holidays | Watch our TeamHallam Video Christmas Card

Gabriella December 22, 2011 at 12:27 pm: Hello Susan, thanks for the support. I rarely ask for help from the SEO community to rally against a business. It was a tough call for me as a business owner and social media user. I know the power social media can yield. I also know it can be abused. I’m not going to say I have a huge amount of “pull”, but as we both know, it doesn’t take much to leverage social when you have a strong foundation, years in the industry and a respected list of followers, such as yourself and your team. I almost feel like standing up and singing “we are family”.
All of this guy’s tricks of switching accounts when the recommendations get too much for him, changing his business name, opening new websites… this guy deserves the award for Douche Bag of 2011. The more I read about him on the Internet and the more I uncover, the more I realize I’m doing the right thing – all this with a little help from my friends. Thank you, and happy holidays to you and team Hallam.

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Uncle Demotivator December 22, 2011 at 8:58 am

(…) rule #1 of reputation management is: Don’t screw your customers over. They can get online and talk about it.

Funny thing is that last year it was actually pretty successful tactic for “Decor My Eyes” ;) Fortunately it doesn’t work anymore.

Doc Sheldon Twitter: DocSheldon December 22, 2011 at 8:48 am

It’s sad to think that a guy can get away with this kind of crap! He probably assumes that most people will bitch about it, and not come back, but that’s it.
Methinks he’s miscalculated badly, this time. ;)
I’ll be sharing this with all my contacts as well, Gabs.
Doc Sheldon recently posted.. It’s December… Time for a Little Philosophy

Gabriella December 22, 2011 at 12:56 pm: That’s exactly what this guy has been skating on. Seriously, this guy is the epitome of online sleaze. Thanks Doc, we love your support. :*

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Anthony D. Nelson Twitter: anthonydnelson December 22, 2011 at 8:07 am

Wow. Judging by your post, the extent of the SEO services he offers people is to create 5 new keyword rich company names for them and plaster them across a few reviews sites.

Nice job writing this post. I will tweet it and hopefully help you push it to the top of the SERPs. Also, nice job not linking to his website.
Anthony D. Nelson recently posted.. If I Did SEO for Fitocracy

Gabriella December 22, 2011 at 1:22 pm: Thanks Anthony, that’s very sweet of you. Happy Holidays to you and yours!
PS I love our online community you guys rock!

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