Hello I run a small web based business and I recently had some problems with what I would call liabel statement. Here is the story:
About 6 months ago I had some personal issues where I needed to take some time off. I had posted on my site as well as on one of the forums I go to that customers hang out at, that I wasn't going available and that products that were shipped out by me were going to be shipped upon my return, but that products that were shipped out by drop shippers would be shipped out like normal.
Upon my return I found that my drop shippers(competitors) had stop shipping and then made a post on the forums claiming I was just collecting orders and had no intention of filling them and was stealing their money. They (2 different drop shippers) also posted that they would fill any out standing at No Charge to the customer.
Then they encouraged those customers to contact their cc company and chargeback their order. All the people who did chargeback their order gave an incorrect phone number. All gave the same incorrect number. This caused me to have my merchant account closed.
Now I have proof that my drop shippers didn't ship packages on a timely basis. Many of the orders were a few weeks old before they made their post. BTW My proof is cc transaction dates and tracking numbers\dates from UPS. I also have proof that all orders were filled again with UPS tracking numbers.
I have asked the forums (2 different sites) admins who are also competitors to remove those posts and to pinn a post (like they did with the posts I find liabel) stating that it was a mistake. I'm a pretty laid back guy and can understand that things over the net can go screwy from time to time. However I haven't had any luck with that.
To be honest I rather avoid court but if I have no other option I guess that's the route I'll have to take. Can I contact the hosting company and ask them to cancel their hosting? As far as I'm concerned this is abuse.
2 Forum Admins have called me a theif (both are also competior) Can I go after the forums and their retail sites? 2 Drop shippers didn't fill orders on a timely basis and the claimed I was a thief? Many of these competitors run more then one site, can I go after them all?
Over the last 6 months I have lost about 36K in gross sales because of this and can prove this with bank statements. I would love some input.
Thanks for your time!!!
About 6 months ago I had some personal issues where I needed to take some time off. I had posted on my site as well as on one of the forums I go to that customers hang out at, that I wasn't going available and that products that were shipped out by me were going to be shipped upon my return, but that products that were shipped out by drop shippers would be shipped out like normal.
Upon my return I found that my drop shippers(competitors) had stop shipping and then made a post on the forums claiming I was just collecting orders and had no intention of filling them and was stealing their money. They (2 different drop shippers) also posted that they would fill any out standing at No Charge to the customer.
Then they encouraged those customers to contact their cc company and chargeback their order. All the people who did chargeback their order gave an incorrect phone number. All gave the same incorrect number. This caused me to have my merchant account closed.
Now I have proof that my drop shippers didn't ship packages on a timely basis. Many of the orders were a few weeks old before they made their post. BTW My proof is cc transaction dates and tracking numbers\dates from UPS. I also have proof that all orders were filled again with UPS tracking numbers.
I have asked the forums (2 different sites) admins who are also competitors to remove those posts and to pinn a post (like they did with the posts I find liabel) stating that it was a mistake. I'm a pretty laid back guy and can understand that things over the net can go screwy from time to time. However I haven't had any luck with that.
To be honest I rather avoid court but if I have no other option I guess that's the route I'll have to take. Can I contact the hosting company and ask them to cancel their hosting? As far as I'm concerned this is abuse.
2 Forum Admins have called me a theif (both are also competior) Can I go after the forums and their retail sites? 2 Drop shippers didn't fill orders on a timely basis and the claimed I was a thief? Many of these competitors run more then one site, can I go after them all?
Over the last 6 months I have lost about 36K in gross sales because of this and can prove this with bank statements. I would love some input.
Thanks for your time!!!