How to destroy your competition, the new issue of business cyber-stalking

Have you ever wondered what life would be like in business without friendly competition? One of our competitors did just that, and embarked on a very public mission through various newsgroups to ruin the reputation and business relationships of our company, Americana Couture.

(PRWEB) June 17, 2004 -- Have you ever wondered what your professional life would be like, without a little friendly competition?

One of our competitors did just that, and embarked on a very public mission through various newsgroups to ruin the reputation and business relationships of our company, Americana Couture.

A simple search in Google groups will show just how many instances of harassment and abuse have occurred against us.

Chain letters encouraging chargebacks and complaints to the BBB and Yahoo have been sent to as many as millions of users. But if you are curious how many people it specifically takes to strip a company of BBB membership in good standing, the answer is 36.

You do not need to prove you are a paying customer, all you need to put the business in a position of defense is an e-mail address, and a computer.

36 people claiming to be wronged consumers filed complaints with the Los Angeles BBB in April through June of 2004; the same period of time that Americana Couture documented and reported over 300 instances of aggressive harassment by a competitor in Baltimore, Maryland.

In a number of instances the complainants had not paid for the items they were attempting to redeem at no charge from the americanacouture.com site.

In several instances the individuals had charged back, or disputed charges, before requesting a refund.

Virtually all complaints followed a template of text that was distributed by an online competitor who had instructed the public to file frivolous and harassing complaints to numerous agencies, including the BBB, online.

Americana Couture staff members documented these specific instructions through harassing e-mails and posts online, and responded to every single complaint in a timely manner. Litigation seeking defamation and libel related damages will follow.

On June 14th 2004 a chain letter was sent out with a subject that proclaimed Woo Hoo!" signed by the same competitor, who congratulated the small group of people who assisted her in stripping Americana Couture of a previously stellar and untainted BBB membership online.

Americana Couture is appealing the BBBs decision. Numerous posts and e-mails online urge members of the public to continue in acts of abuse.

The BBB provides a service as an advocate offering impartial review of a business for the public. They are not equipped to address this type of harassment or abuse of services.

Despite acknowledgement of a previously clear record - They cite it is not their policy to publicly note the actual number of complaints. Visitors have reported the page is misleading, and infers far more complaints exist. The BBB additionally claims it is not within the terms of their policy to acknowledge that these complaints are less than ½ of 1% of the total database of clients (Americana Couture currently has a database of 12,000 clients); they claim it is not their policy to acknowledge or address the police report issued for harassment that directly relates to the complaints that caused the suspension; they additionally claim they can not according to policy affirm that all complaints were answered in a timely manner.

Is the Better Business Bureau still a fair and impartial advocate with the internet offering such ease for abuse?

We say no, but we hope to show how dangerous this type of harassment can be.

Americana Couture is appealing, and intends to file an action in this matter against the harassing party. Through this action we hope to establish a precedent to change the policies of the BBB that will prevent abuse through online harassment; and prevent individuals that are not consumers from filing false reports.

Americana Couture stands behind our product, and our company. We remain dedicated to customer satisfaction.

For more information visit www.americanacouture.com