ComplaintsforTrueline

• Initial Complaint

  10/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This Company reached out to me via LinkedIN to write a story about my role. I had a wonderful conversation and was told to find strategic partners who could display ads next to my story. I had another interview, followed by a draft of that interview. After reading that draft, I was sure that the writer had no idea about the topic she was writing about. I did not want to proceed because I just started a new position and did not feel comfortable that I would be represented accurately. I shared that sentiment. I was told too bad, your strategic partner is still going to be billed regardless if the story is run. In my industry, my strategic partners assist me in fulfilling my daily duties. This company has jeopardized that relationship and the relationship i have with other strategic partners because of their practices. I had asked numerous times to remove me and my partner from consideration. Seems suspect to **** a partner $5000 for a rough draft that says i wanted to clean schools with Hydrochloric acid.

  

  Business response

  11/09/2021

  With all due respect to **************,his complaint includes a number of inaccuracies andfranklygross mischaracterizations.

   In late April 2021, we reached out to ************** to gauge his interest in being profiled in one of our publications. What happened next was largely as ************** described it: He had an initial interview with one of our Content Developers, followed by a second call with one of our Content Coordinatorsboth of which went very well, by all accounts.

   As part of our process, and in order to secure buy-in from both the feature (****) and potential advertisers,we often write whats called an abstracta 150-word teaser that briefly highlights the key projects and initiatives we intend to include in the final story (this is not a first draft, as ************** describes it; that comes later in the process).

   In the abstract, the writer accidentally referred to **** using hydrochloric acid to clean the classrooms. It was a simple mistake (the actual chemical reads/sounds very similar)and one that never wouldve made it to the final print edition. According to a database entry created on May 11 (Image 1 in the attached Word Doc), **** only made passing mention of the errorand even ended the comment with lol. As you can see, it did not deter him from reaching out to potential advertisers.

   Once an advertiser was secured,our Director of Content assigned the story to a writer. On June 5, we reached out to **** to schedule his final interviewa 30-minute call to discuss the storys theme/angle/projects in more detail. On June 16, **** scheduled his interview for June 24. When the day of the interview came, ***** assistant told the writer that **** was on an important call and would have to reschedule.

  On July 2, our Director of Content sent **** an email kindly asking him to reschedule. **** responded by saying he was no longer interested in being featured (Image 2). Our Director of Content sent an email reminding **** that his partner had already purchased an ad, and that, while we wouldnt run the story against his wishes, we couldnt refund the vendor, per our terms and conditions (Image 3). Two more emails followedone from **** (Image 4), and one from our DOC (Image 5).

  After one more outreach attempt,our DOC sent another email to **** saying that, if he didnt respond by July 13, we would write the first draft off the existing notes (that is, without conducting the final interview) and send it to him for reviewwhich we did. On August 3, our DOC sent the story to **** with instructions to provide feedback by the following week (what we call editorial review, something we offer to all of our subjectssee File Image 6).

  Later that day, **** responded by reiterating his wish to not move forwardand threatening to contact our CEO (Image 7). Our DOCs response can be read in Image 8. In his subsequent response, **** made it quite clear that the refund issue was between you and them (thembeing the vendor). You can take that up with them, he added. Not my issue.(See Image 9). At this point, we made the decision to collect on the vendors ad.

  On October 25, more than two months after his last correspondence, **** contacted our CEO on LinkedIn (Image 10). Once again, whether willfully or not, **** mischaracterized our process and the course of events (describing the abstract as the first draft, etc.)

  Today, we find out that hes lodged a complaint against us on BBB. As these documents make clear, we gave **** every opportunity to see the process throughand to ensure that the story we wrote was accurate and reflective of his role. Despite being clearly told what backing out would mean for the vendor, he chose to not continue.
  Over the past 11 years, weve written thousands of executive profiles, including for dozens of Fortune 500 companies. Our storiesand the testimonials thatve accompanied themspeak for themselves.

  From the moment we first reach out to a prospective feature, we are ******* clear about our process and the expectations attendant thereto. We are a custom-media companyone of hundreds around the countryand we stand by our work. Full stop.

  Please dont hesitate to reach out if you have any questionsor require any additional supporting documents.
  
  Best,
  
  The Trueline Team

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩