EBoost Media Calls Rogier A "Faggot" And A "Queer"
Note: There's been some confusion over company names, and Johnny Chan with eBoost Consulting wants you to know that his company is not involved in this story.
If a company promises to increase your Google PageRank, run! Rogier fell for eBoost Media's sweet words—they promised an increase in Google popularity "within about a week, at least for people entering specific search terms such as 'Maine photographer' and the like." But after three and a half weeks of no results, Rogier decided to cancel the service, which is when eBoost Media's dark side emerged.
I informed [my sales rep] Ashley that I wanted my money back and the agreement canceled. She put me in touch with a customer service rep named Denette.
When Denette finally got back to me, the news was not positive. She refused to say whether she would issue a refund. When I insisted (and sure, I wasn't particularly friendly, but I didn't use profanity or even raise my voice by more than a hair), she hung up on me.
I then canceled the credit card I'd given eBoost media and wrote Denette by e-mail that I'd file fraud complaints with the authorities if she did not let me know within 24 hours that eBoost Media consented to return the $99.
On Thursday of last week, she called again, trying to sweet-talk me into changing my mind. I said I wouldn't and that I had been given no reason to trust eBoost media -- on the contrary. I reiterated that all I wanted was a refund. After about 20 minutes of exasperating back and forth, she hung up on me again.
On Friday, when I had left for the day, my voice mail received the psycho phone messages that I've attached.
Here's the first message, along with our concept art of Denette at the phone:
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And here's the name-calling message, left only 5 minutes later, again along with our concept art:
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Rogier played the messages back to eBoost and asked them for a comment:
When I called him yesterday, eBoost's acting CEO Michael Luvano agreed to listen to the recording. He then acknowledged that the second call had come from someone at eBoost Media, but curiously enough, he denied it was Denette. The mystery culprit, he said hours after hearing the messages, had already been "dealt with" — she'd been "severely reprimanded." When, puzzled, I suggested we ought to let other people listen to the messages on the Internet and solicit their opinions on whether or not it's the same voice, he got huffy and accused me of being out to badmouth his company.
Nonetheless, Luvano offered to have the CEO, Kevin Johnson (who he said was on vacation) write me a personal apology. He also said the company would finally refund the dough, which I appreciate.
As of yesterday, Rogier had received neither the apology nor the refund.
"Lend Me Your Ears, or, Who You Callin' a Faggot?" [Nobody's Business]
(Photos: Getty)
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Comments:
Wow, the RNC is getting out early with their calls for this year's election
I'm not 100% sure, but the second recording sounds like a different, possibly younger person. I don't really think that it's the same person, although I have been accused of being tone deaf before. What I'm interested to know is what, if anything transpired or was read between the two voicemails... Did Roger send a exasperated email that was read between the two phone calls, or was there a disgruntled employee that was just going down a recent customer call list and leaving obscene voicemails to make her (soon to be) former company look bad? The world may never know...
Yeah, and there is no excuse. No excuse for being a shameless bigot. Ill-educated, ign'ant trash, that's who uses words like "faggot" and "queer." Unbelievable, the absence of any self-control or class in our society. From a customer/client service standpoint, completely inexcusable. I'm sorry, but I have an absolute zero tolerance policy for hate speech, absolutely no excuse for this.
@RabbitDinner: Maybe she you using the original meaning for faggot as in a bundle of sticks. Though that would be very weird insult :)
I'm terrible at identifying voices but it sounded like the same person
I think it sounds like different people. Or maybe in the second message she's drunk. Either way, no excuse for the ignorance and bigotry, and no excuse for customer service to devolve into name calling.
@LouDobbsChivasJersey: I take solace in the fact that it's a very poor insult. When you call someone that, it says more about you than it does them. Last time I checked I have a girlfriend, but if demanding that services be rendered in a timely matter makes one a homosexual, well, then I suppose I also failed the gay test on numerous occasions. How ign'ant
And wtf with queer as a pejorative? I'd like to be able to use it without being labeled a homophobe.
Absolutely it sounds like the same person -- the same person who is drunk. And is it a surprise that a drunk, hateful straight person would use the word faggot? Well, at least this faggot thinks it is par for the course for a good number of people. In wine is truth--at least about the character of the person.
I think that someone needs to look up the help in the AA section of the phone book.
I have very sensitive hearing and that was not the same person. It sounded like a younger version of the first woman . And she wasn't alone in the second recording. It was done with a group. The giggling in the background.
There is no excuse for the second recording. I have a feeling someone overheard the first woman talking about Roger, lifted the phone number, and then, to show her friends how "kewl" she is, made the call.
All she got was reprimanded! I think little miss dumb dialer needs to spend sometime unemployed.
sounds like someone brought a bored, potty-mouthed teen to work that day. theres no way the voices are the same.
I wasn't aware that people today still referred to others as "white trash" and "rednecks".
Their website shows their phones as being "down" until friday while they change phone numbers.
@The Rude Bellman: It happens. But you need to be a self-righteous mofo with a serious superiority complex.
@The Rude Bellman: You called me out, fair enough. I was pointing to the lack of culture/education, a stereotype but nevertheless one I've found to be reinforced.
It sure sounds like the same person, just different mood.
@Puck: A bit immature are we? Sure, let's take this complete irrelevant story and use it to support the stereotype that all republicans are homophobic.
I took some EBoost at a rave once. When I woke up the next morning, I was all sticky and my butt hurt.
So this is really not that surprising.
The simple stupidity of many of these "customer service reps" never ceases to amaze me. I suspect these companies draft a lot of their reps from the scummier levels of the day labor temp pools.
@The Rude Bellman: I don't know where you're from but I'm from Indiana. Yes, they do and yes they are still around.
I have to say that a lot of times the only people who take offense at these things are the people who are them. Does that make sense? I am gay, so I hate the word "faggot." Fag doesn't bother me, queer doesn't bother me, but I think when someone calls you a "faggot" they are trying to do the same thing to you that they are when they sling any other racial slur. Does that make sense?
I realize that "faggot" doesn't have the same meaning as the "n" word, nor does it carry the same 200 years of oppression with it, but the people who use it are still trying to make you feel as bad as they can. Like it's the worst word in the world to use. I may not be making anys sens
@Tyler: It's my opinion, also that it's the same person, but in the second call she sounds drunk and possibly laughing with someone else about the call or something. What an organization this is.
Well....is he a faggot?
This is so great. No one ever leaves messages as cool as this!
As I spend at least 8 hours a day on the phone, I feel I am uh... educated? enough to say that was the same person.
I would like to add to my resume above by saying I can also identify a voice from a movie that I havent seen in 16 years (according to my husband).
/silliness
@baristabrawl: if its okay to call people white trash and rednecks, then I have no problem calling people "faggots".
I'd be miffed too if someone called me a strange, bundle of sticks.
@hypochondriac:
While the original definition of faggot is a bundle of sticks, it is the historical connotations that make it so incredibly derogative. Back in the days of witch burnings, the religiously "righteous" would often use gay people as the sticks to start the fires under the witches or the condemned. So this is where it becomes incredibly painful. As a gay man, I can say that the word faggot is incredibly painful, particularly coming from a heterosexual person. I cannot say it hurts as bad as the n-word, as I am not a black person, but it hurts nonetheless. So, lets all refrain from using it and agree that it is a hurtful expression of hate.
I work at eboost media and those two messages are not from the same person.
"I'm sorry, but I have an absolute zero tolerance policy for hate speech..."
Don't you mean zero tolerance for free speech?
Inexcusable from a customer service standpoint? Yes
So-called "hate speech"? No
How 1982.
I vote same person, just not caring about being professional anymore.
@Puck: Harhar! Thats so hilarious.
Yes Republicans and about 55% Americans do not agree that gays have a special rights such a marriage.
A lot of search engine marketers do good work - helping clients increase the quality of the content on their site, and making sure that content is within Google guidelines and is getting indexed. They also can help create legitimate buzz about a client's product, thus resulting in increased links, ultimately bringing up pagerank and how much the site appears on search engine results pages.
As with anything, there are also tons of scammy companies out there that either do nothing, or resort to spam in an effort to market their client's sites. They do nothing to improve the quality of the web and only serve to bring it down.
So don't say all marketers are bad. Don't lump everyone in with the crooks. There is a legitimate need for internet marketing - your competitors are doing it if you're not.
I'm not sure it matters whether it's the same person; the company is responsible either way. It's clearly their fault, and it's not like that call was their first screwup. For the record, I'd say "inconclusive." Doesn't make sense to me that she got drunk in the five minutes between calls; I tend toward the "somebody picked up the phone right after hearing that call and was showing off" theory.
The point is that the company is responsible either way.
SEO is a giant scam which Google goes out of their way to warn people against throwing money away on.
If you want people to visit your site, put some actual content on it.
@RabbitDinner: My gay friends call my straight ass "faggot" all the time. Doesn't bug me in the least... Some people just need a thicker skin.
When it comes to business transactions though, it is completely unacceptable. I have a feeling EBoost is blowing smoke up the rear of Rogier though.
@baristabrawl: "Faggot" is the idiot's version of Dane Cook's "Super Finger" - it's the three extra letters that make it more powerfully heterosexual, just like the bumper nuts make a dick-enhancing truck's driver into John Holmes.
I think somebody spoofed the Caller ID. Now before people say I am lying. I get calls from telemarketers from phone number 999-999-9999 and it will usually say something along the lines of "Satellite offer" So it can be done, I don't know exactly what equipment is required, but I've got the Caller ID listings to prove it.
Definitely sounds like an adolescent boy in the second recording and nothing like Denette. Either the caller ID was spoofed, or someone's kid was at the office and decided to bring back the Jerky Boys.
What a class act. I would dispute the charge. Nobody that obnoxious deserves to be rewarded for anything.
If someone is worried about page rank and improving their search engine ranking it really isn't that hard. Do some basic research online, anyone with some basic html editor knowledge can do it.
@RabbitDinner: I can only assume you drive a hybrid and love the smell of your own farts. Smug much?
Special rights? You mean like everybody else does? That's kind of like saying that black people shouldn't have the "special right" to vote.
@varro:
There is no idiot's version of anything Dane Cook, the regular version is idiotic enough.
@baristabrawl:
The lack of self awareness it takes to on one hand decry using a slur such as faggot and then assert that only rednecks and white trash would use it is gobsmacking. Think about it, if you call someone "white trash" you are using a word for garbage, refuse, rubbish, waste, litter, junk etc. to describe another human being. Can you really be that clueless? Generally I don't have a substitute for white trash or rednecks as I don't tend to stereotype people.
The two voices do not sound similar to me. I don't think they're from the same person. My guess would be that someone's kid, who was bored and stuck at the office, started dialing people from the company rolodex and leaving obscene messages.
Did they come from the same phone number? because it sounded like the same woman but on a significantly poorer connection, like a cell phone.
Thats my guess, woman is pissed at Rogier for the conversation or actually making her work or whatever. She leaves the 1st message where she already sounds really frustrated, she hangs up, then calls on her cell phone to insult him. All this, thinking that no one would be the wiser.
Definitely the same person. I was pretty convinced it wasn't until I listened to the second call - paused and immediately went back to the first, and vice versa. She's just using a different, less professional tone. I've listened to myself in voicemail using my "professional" tone and my casual tone, and upon initial listening you'd never really guess it was me - but it becomes obvious when you play them back to back.
I just went to their homepage, and it says their phones "may experience downtime with its phone system" from the morning of July 24th to the evening of July 25th. And that they have new numbers as of July 25th. I wonder if people were calling and giving them a hard time about this story. Also, dig the groovy music. Also, isn't a flash landing page a bad idea for SEO purposes? I could be wrong.
For those saying she's "drunk", can you really get that drunk in the five minutes between calls?
Yep, the two of us listening think it's the same old darling Denette. @
SteveZim1017: Calling him from her cell phone or another in-house line, to show off for the gigglers, makes perfect sense.
That is, it makes sense in Denette-world.
Now, where's the refund at?
Unbelievable that people actually still use the word "faggot," I mean outside of white trash and rednecks. Seriously, I know not everyone is as progressive as I am, but, eh, whatever. How revealing, how revealing of lack of character, maturity, and education. Would never do business with them.