How would you handle this?

[Stephen M.]

A lady from an HOA I used to maintain leaves a message on my phone asking for the phone number of ex employees who have had their own maintenance company for the past 5+ years. These ex employees got 5 of my customers and have bad mouthed me (w/ little success) along the way.

Would you return the phone call and give the phone number without comment because the caller only knows them by their first names and not the last names; or would you ignore the phone call?

Just curious on your responses.

[clclawn]

Call the lady back and tell her you don't know how to get ahold of them, but last you heard they were in jail for running a child porn ring.

Then ask if there is anything you can help here with.

[steve-o]

i'm a total azzhole................

A lady from an HOA I used to maintain leaves a message on my phone asking for the phone number of ex employees who have had their own maintenance company for the past 5+ years. These ex employees got 5 of my customers and have bad mouthed me (w/ little success) along the way.

Would you return the phone call and give the phone number without comment because the caller only knows them by their first names and not the last names; or would you ignore the phone call?

Just curious on your responses.

i would probably call back and tell her to frick off. that's me. now you spell your name different with that PH thrown in there. tell her due to privacy issues or whatever you call that crap, that you can't give the info out. tell her to try the yellow pages or the courthouse since they are a legit business.

steve

[Stephen M.]

i would probably call back and tell her to frick off. that's me. now you spell your name different with that PH thrown in there. tell her due to privacy issues or whatever you call that crap, that you can't give the info out. tell her to try the yellow pages or the courthouse since they are a legit business.

steve

You can blame my parents for the PH spelling! Just so I get my legal name spelled correctly I tell people its Steffen; but I go by Steven or Steve like you

So far I like the responses; my exact feelings on the matter.

[Sammy]

Easy, Delete the message.

[Seascape]

Theres 4 co's around here ran by my formers....... I give them work all the time. In return they kick work my way just the same.

None of them have bad talked me or anything that I know of but 1 in particular I do not like ........ we still conduct some business.

If you really feel they done you wrong than I would call the lady back and tell her you dont have theyre #......... tell her it may be listed . That way you are still fully professional with a former client but arent forced to help your formers gig. Thats probally what i would do.

Or,, Id delete it.

[Number 10]

I was tempted to say just ignore the call, but after redaing seascape's post I would tend to agree with that approach. not burning a bridge unnecesarily seems like a good idea.

[Stephen M.]

Theres 4 co's around here ran by my formers....... I give them work all the time. In return they kick work my way just the same.

None of them have bad talked me or anything that I know of but 1 in particular I do not like ........ we still conduct some business.

If you really feel they done you wrong than I would call the lady back and tell her you dont have theyre #......... tell her it may be listed . That way you are still fully professional with a former client but arent forced to help your formers gig. Thats probally what i would do.

Or,, Id delete it.

One of my best friends is an ex employee who worked for us 14 years ago, who got over being pi$$ed with me for letting him go because he started up his business behind my back and wouldn't explain why he was absent from my work so much. He and I refer alot of work to each other. I've been able to mentor him and he has taught me a few things himself.

But the 2 ex employees that started this thread are people who would rather eat nails than have me mentor them. I ran into one of them 2 years ago and offered some work. He mentioned that after 3 years in business, he was going backwards. I made the remark that being in business for yourself was harder than it looked. I sent them an estimating guide that I wasn't using that was written by Phil Nillson entitled "To know price is to know cost". I certainly didn't have to do this and it would have been satisfaction knowing that they were going down in flames; but I did it because its more like the Biblical Principal of "heaping coals of fire on the heads" of people who dislike you by being nice in the face of sheer stupidity. The only reason they were able to get my "bottom feeder" accounts away from me was because they told these people that they were paying too much for the service and they could do it cheaper. Whatever. They did me a favor by taking the bottom accounts off my hands. There were a few other accounts who refused their offer of cheaper work because they knew who the real brains were behind the employees servicing their accounts.

I'd rather not "cast my pearls before swine" as referenced by another Biblical metaphor. The thanks I got from them was when their testimony was thrown out of court preceedings when two neighbors, one of whom I've worked for for 15 yrs, were suing each other. The other neighbor who I didn't work for tried to sully my reputation in court and were trying to use the ex employess to impeach me. It didn't work.

[Stephen M.]

I was tempted to say just ignore the call, but after redaing seascape's post I would tend to agree with that approach. not burning a bridge unnecesarily seems like a good idea.

I understand about not burning bridges, but the lady calling was calling for a friend who moved out of the HOA into a small house with a small yard. They would consider us to be "horriblely expensive" compared to the cheap ex employees. Its actually a comparison between apples and oranges or night and day.

My book must have helped since I see them driving a new 2007 F150 in addition to their 2004 F150.