Fellow landscape lighting professional Beware the Social media terrorist

Fellow landscape lighting professional Beware the Social media terrorist

By Mike Gambino

This blog is mostly written with my client in mind from my perspective and for the benefit of those who have one of my landscape lighting systems installed or are thinking about or are planning on one.

However this blog article is mostly for the benefit of my fellow  landscape lighting design/install professionals. It’s a warning to beware of a new breed of consumer called the social media terrorist. With a few keystrokes a disgruntled consumer (or in my case someone who never spent 1 dime with my company) can attempt to damage your reputation by venting their spleen on so called consumer review websites. Accurate and honest, false or fraudulent it doesn’t matter. There is no filter on the part of the websites for authenticity and no seeking of the truth. It’s just someone’s opinion and it’s there for all to see and others to form their own opinions without all the facts. Like they say there are three sides to every story. Side 1 , side 2 and the truth. And so it goes.

Let me start by saying that I am not perfect. I am not always right. I sometimes have little patience when I feel my time is being wasted. I am selective about who I work for. Sometimes when I am overworked and under rested I can be cranky. When I am not right and do the wrong thing I almost always recognize it and make good on it in the most appropriate fashion. I have no problem with admitting to faults. That being said I am going to describe to you the particulars of this situation without bias, just the facts.

A negative review was posted on a social media website from a person who inherited one of my landscape lighting systems by purchasing a home from a client. No work was ever performed and no money was ever exchanged with this complainer.

Earlier this year I received a phone call from a guy who purchased a home where I had installed the landscape lighting system about 15 years ago for 2 owners previous to this new owner. In other words this is the third owner of the house since I did the work. The previous two owners retained our services and maintained a good relationship with us. There were two phone conversations plus these e-mail exchanges I have copied and pasted below which began way back on January 5th. I spent a lot of time trying to help this guy. Even though I gave this guy my time (way more than I should have) I made it clear that I could not make diagnosis over the phone and did not recommend or encourage him to be messing around with this system himself. I told him our fees on numerous occasions each time he balked and prodded for more information so he could fix the problem on his own. After one last attempt to help fix his problem and him begrudgingly scheduling an appointment for us to come and fix it for him and him delaying and wanting to take more of my time all over the course of much of this year I had to finally pull the plug on this free consulting and respectfully told him to find someone else. I could no longer waste anymore of my time with someone who just wanted free information.

After all the time I took with him and information I shared over the phone with him for free, sincerely trying to help him, he threatened and did in fact go on at least one social media site and trashed me over this experience. Here is the e-mail exchange which came after the first phone call.

From: Ben 1-5-12
Hi Mike,
I was able to find the control box and get two of the zones following their appropriate time table. Unfortunately, the lights near the big fountain and in the front of the house don’t seem to want to respond to the control box. I have tried unplugging the boxes and then plugging them back in and flipping the break switches at the box in the garage. Do you know how I can sync them up with the box? Do I need to reset them somehow? Thanks! Ben
1-5-12  Mike  wrote:
Ben
You can also try moving the location of the timer and see if you can get zone 1 to respond
From: Ben Sent: 1-10-12
To: Mike
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your follow up. I moved the controller to where Scott and Cara had it, but I cannot get Zone 1 working for the life of me. Any other ideas? I have tried resetting everything on the controller, flipping the switches on the box, so I am open to suggestions. Also, I am thinking of putting the fountains on timer for the controller as well. Do you know how much the receivers cost off the top of your head?
I appreciate all your help.
Best, Ben
1-11-12  Mike  wrote:
Ben
There are several types of receiver modules. The one for the transformer is $xxx plus $xxx for service call. To automate the fountain I’d have to quote that while I was there to replace the relay.
Thanks Mike
From: Ben
9-5-12
To: Mike
Hi Mike,
I just left you a message. I wanted to see about scheduling a service call for the lighting. Please call me when you have a moment . Thanks!
On 9-5-12  Mike wrote:
Hello Ben,
What is the nature of the service you desire.
Complete maintenance- go through system , change burned bulbs, clean lenses, prune foliage around lamps , adjust etc. Control system diagnose and repair Or both. Please let me know.
Best regards, Mike
From: Ben 9-5-12
To: Mike
I’m thinking likely both. How much would you charge for these services?
9-5-12 Mike wrote:
Myself and my 3 man crew, fully stocked truck, $XXX per hr plus cost of materials replaced
9-7-12  Ben wrote:
Hi Mike,
I am a bit concerned about this becoming a $500 or $600 job. Right now, my main issue is that we had the plug that worked for the controller changed from an older 2-prong plug to a 3-prong plug and now it won’t work in that socket to control the lights any more. I have already moved it to 4 or 5 different plug locations and none of them works to control  all 4 zones. The best I can get is 3 zones. We have one bulb that needs to be replaced near the Jacuzzi. Is there a way we can do reduced cost appointment for an hour just to fix the controller and replace the one bulb? I don’t feel as if we need a lot of adjustments or serious maintenance to the system right now.
Best, Ben
From: Mike 7-12
To: Ben
I will bring only one guy with me monday at 7 am to fix only those two issues. Will that work?
1-8-12  Ben Stapleton wrote:
Hi Mike,
I need to speak with you before we schedule an appt. so please call me to discuss.
Best, Ben
9-8-12, Mike wrote:
Ben
Please contact someone else
Thanks Mike
9-8-12, Ben wrote:
Mike,
I’m trying to remember when it became out of line to ask someone to give you a call before you paid them hundreds of dollars. My first email to you asked you to give me a call as I wanted to know what our options were for changing or upgrading the system. Do you not speak with most of your clients about the work you are going to do? Do you charge a phone rate? If it is too far, or if you are no longer working, all you had to do was say so. You even could have been professional enough to recommend someone else to help or tell me what I should be able to do on my own. You can be sure that I will let Cara & Scott, Pam & Cheryl, and every review site that I can find you listed how extraordinary your customer service has been.

This below is what this guy posted on at least one prominent consumer review site. Keep in mind not 1 cent had been paid to Gambino landscape lighting and he is not a client.

Mike obviously designs quality systems, but has little desire to provide a professional level of customer service, communication, or reasonable pricing. I recently purchased a home with a Gambino designed system and had heard from several of my neighbors that he does good work but is extremely over priced. I called him to schedule a service call and while he refused to call me back, he was extremely eager via email  to schedule a service appointment for $XXX an hour first thing Monday morning.

When I asked for some detail on the work involved and for him to call to discuss the job, he continued to push to schedule this appointment via email skirting the issue of the total job cost and refusing to call me to discuss. He then told me to go find someone else and that I was an extortionist. I don’t understand the connection as it seemed to me he was the extortionist and was upset that I was not playing along.

All I really wanted was a phone call from the guy to talk about what they were going to do, options to change the system, and get a sense of how long the total job would take. Clearly I was asking too much and maybe his next customer will just blindly hand him fistfuls of money.

Here is what the previous owner of his house (my client) had to say in response when learning of his false account on the social media site.

Cora C.- I hired Gambino Landscape Lighting and used their services for 10 years. When I purchased my home, Mike’s name was passed along with the house to maintain the amazing outdoor lighting system. My husband I added to the previous owner’s lighting scheme with Mike’s help. Neighbors consistently complimented how amazing our home looked at night and we always highly recommended Gambino to them.

I’ve read here that Mike is ‘overpriced.’ I think this is out of context. Mike offers a high-quality service, he is an artist with light, and his systems and maintenance are in line with the unique service he offers. He is a true professional on all fronts…from phone service and bringing a polite team with him to being punctual and thorough on each project.

Mike is quick with an email to reply and even helped me learn the lighting system by emailing me user manuals and his own written instructions to simplify things. He didn’t need to do this; it’s just one example of how he goes above and beyond to be friendly and helpful. He knows his name is on all of the systems he installs.

Mike is passionate about lighting and since I had an 86-year old home in Pasadena, I found it hard to find quality craftsman who cared deeply about their trade and took extreme care on the job. When I found a true craftsman in their field, like Mike, I kept their name.

If you were my neighbor, I’d highly recommend Gambino Landscape Lighting because I know your home would become a showcase with his magic lighting touch!

Here is the other response from the neighbor whom is my client that I installed a lighting system for proving the complainer lied.

Pam P.- Hi Mike – I am surprised as well.  I have only met BS twice and don’t recall having any conversation with him about you and your company during that time.  In addition, he is no relation to me.

I find it very odd that he would quote me and go the trouble of saying such negative things about you if you have had no contact with him.

I was satisfied with the work you did and enjoy the fruits of your labor on a daily basis.  It was expensive, but I feel it was worth the price based on the quality of the work and the fixtures.  Also, I found you flexible and willing to work with me on my needs and budget.

I want to thank my awesome loyal clients for quickly and without hesitation refuting the false claims made by posting their experiences with me on the same website.

I am not the only company to be victim of this. Just recently a pizza shop owner gave President Obama a giant bear hug lifting him off his feet. It was a show of support for the president on his recent campaign trail. Hundreds of people flooded consumer social media sites posting false negative reviews of the pizza owners business all because they don’t agree with the pizza owners politics. It didn’t matter that these people never tasted the food or even stepped foot in the joint. Some of these haters were brutal in their false accounts all in the hope of doing damage to this small business owners reputation and business.

Fellow service providers need to be aware that when prospects or clients don’t get their way they risk getting negative reviews as a result. In my case, besides the false account of events and the fact that the complaint is totally invalid and made simply because I rejected him as a client. The worst thing about this is that the website that allows this material to be hosted does nothing to authenticate the claims. So even competitors can go on these sites and rage about how bad you are and nothing will be done about it. I have also read after further investigating information about these review sites that they are sponsor and advertiser driven. In other words they receive their funding not from the consumer but the businesses that are written about. There have been allegations that some of these sites will “bury” or delete negative reviews of paid supporters of the site So not only SELLER BEWARE , Buyer Beware as well!

This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.

No Comments

Post A Comment