how upset would you be if it were your name they printed?

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brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
A very historical building in my area had an incident the other day.

Here's a few quotes from the article in the newspaper (identifying info has been replaced with '_____'):

Six _____ Fire Department vehicles, including three ladder trucks, and five police cars blocked off traffic and surrounded The _____ Friday in a pouring rain when smoke started billowing from the historic landmark. . . . . . . .

. . . . . She said she turned on the heat, since there was a chill in the air, and ?all of a sudden it started to smoke, and I mean there was a lot of smoke, and it started coming out very fast, so I called 911. . . . . . .

. . . . . _____ said it was the first time she had used the heat all year. _____ Heating & Air had just checked The _____?s furnace system two weeks ago and said everything was fine, she added. . . . .

. . . . . Fire department personnel determined that the smoke resulted from dust gathered on The _____?s furnace that ignited when _____ turned on the heat. They used industrial-sized fans to clear the smoke from the building and asked that _____ and others who work at The _____ not use the heat until they could get the furnace checked again and cleared for use by a certified heating and air technician. . . . .


Do you feel it was appropriate to report the name of the company that did the initial checkup a couple of weeks ago? Who knows what other factors could've been involved here?

I don't think they should have, but I'll add to this that I already don't care too much for this particular newspaper. They always seem to have an ax to grind with companies that don't advertise with them or care enough to knock down their door and beg to be written about in their Sunday business section. Putting aside any underlying motives that most likely exist in this situation between the newspaper and the hvac contractor (who is extremely reputable), what say you about them being identified?
 

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
iwire said:
Was it right?

Maybe not but it is all part of living here in America.

Part of me thinks its a little irresponsible, but I guess they can say if the fire dept said it, it must be true. I think they should at least give the guy a chance to respond. I'm just trying to put myself in their shoes I guess because I know these people, and feel bad for the bad publicity that is coming from this. They've been struggling to keep their 50 something employees busy, and this certainly won't help.
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
An abandonded farmhouse near me burned down this spring. Fire department stated they didn't know how the fire started since the power had been shut off.....:mad:
 

cadpoint

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Is this any different than anything you service any day, everyday?

Your an EC!

Granted I'm sure there will be a review and some quality control that will happen, if not there not worth their salt...
 

220/221

Senior Member
Location
AZ
If I were Mr Waller I would have been there in a hurry to make my own assesment. I couldn't really be angry at the newspaper if the facts were right but I damn sure would want to get to the bottom of things.
 

jeremysterling

Senior Member
Location
Austin, TX
The HVAC contractor should immediately respond with a letter to the editor, addressing salient points and refuting erroneous or misleading info, and a polite request to publish the letter.

Editorial malfeasance could be suspected if the reporter didn't bother with the rudimentary fact-finding of calling the HVAC company to confirm their service (who, why, when, etc) at the establishment in question.

"Y'all were just here (insert favorite number) weeks ago" is heard by every contractor. Then you pull the belly pan from the lum to find the dated service sticker on the ballast that adds at least 52 weeks to the persons favorite number.

I think a polite letter to the editor is in order.
 

nakulak

Senior Member
make a personal visit to the paper. work your way up to a senior manager that can make decisions. convince them that the article didn't really represent you very fairly, and get a cut rate on advertising. take out a full page ad in next week's paper for a great rate and get some work.
 

jeremysterling

Senior Member
Location
Austin, TX
nakulak said:
make a personal visit to the paper. work your way up to a senior manager that can make decisions. convince them that the article didn't really represent you very fairly, and get a cut rate on advertising. take out a full page ad in next week's paper for a great rate and get some work.

I wish I could think of business minded solutions such as this and go to work for myself.
 
One of my last jobs (a pizza place) caught fire earlier this past summer (7 years after it was installed). The Fire Marshal stated it was caused by an electrical failure, and actually had the bad wiring removed from the building before the fire was put out.

I was called to the site and arrived just as the last truck pulled away...lots of damage to the building, of course the news cameras were there and the Fire Marshal pointed me out. Oh, did I say that I have over 500 relatives in the town the pizza place is located?

Needless to say, the fire was started by a smoker, and not the wiring. The Fire Marshal refused to make a statement that my prior company's work had not started the fire, even though he went out of his way to tell the news team as his crew was mopping up the fire, that my work was the cause.

So yeah, I understand just how you feel.

P.S.
The independent investigator who found out it was a smoker saved me/insurance over $300,000.
 

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
Hey, if XYZ Company serviced the furnace weeks before, then that's a simple fact to document. Nobody said they did anything to cause the puff back. (They probably didn't clean it well, but that's besides the point). The reporter made a simple statement of fact. Freedom of Speech. Deal with it.
 
mdshunk said:
Hey, if XYZ Company serviced the furnace weeks before, then that's a simple fact to document. Nobody said they did anything to cause the puff back. (They probably didn't clean it well, but that's besides the point). The reporter made a simple statement of fact. Freedom of Speech. Deal with it.



Since when have reporters made simple statements of fact...what papers are you reading.

Easily stated when it was not you. Based on your past responses on this and other sites, I would like to see how you would really react if it was you.
 

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
MF Dagger said:
Freedom of speech even for the dumb. I think the newspaper probably has better lawyers and deeper pockets.
Why on earth would they need a lawyer anyhow? This is the type of mentality that's eroding our country. If XYZ Company serviced it weeks before, then there's no issue to contest. I am a fervent supporter of First Amendment rights. Perhaps you should Google me, if you feel otherwise. In this case, they only mentioned the company's name as a simple statement of fact. They serviced it weeks before. Simple as that. They could have also said that the TeleFlora guy just delivered flowers right before the furnace had a puff back, if that happened to be true.
 
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MF Dagger

Senior Member
Location
Pig's Eye, MN
Well they will need a lawyer when the lady sues them for saying it was fine and then having the newspaper and the fire department say it was not fine. And if it was fine and the newspaper and fire department blamed them anyway that could be a major loss of business right there because people made statements before the whole picture could be seen. Besides I'm not saying I agree with lawyering up and suing everybody anyway. I think it's better to just drop things and move on. There has been many times where I could have/possibly should have sued people and didn't because I think it's a waste of time and much easier to just never deal with them again. Of course I haven't had the boiler guy out to check my boiler and then had it blow up two weeks later either.
 

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
MF Dagger said:
Well they will need a lawyer when the lady sues them for saying it was fine and then having the newspaper and the fire department say it was not fine.
Hey, they didn't report is was not fine. They reported that the fire department showed up and they reported that the occupant related there was heavy smoke coming from it. That sound like reporting the facts, to me.

I'm almost begging you to Google me, since nearly this exact same thing happened to me, only it was my name under scrutiny, and it was a three story furniture store. I didn't get worked up. The article read nearly the same.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
For almost every news story published in a Newspaper there will be people or persons that will wish the story was never printed.

There is almost always someone made to look bad for legitimate reasons or not.
 

MF Dagger

Senior Member
Location
Pig's Eye, MN
I googled you the other day reading through something on a different forum that you told someone to google your name. I didn't see that article but I also wasn't looking. I don't even disagree with you. I don't even feel strongly for or against this. I think the newspaper can print what the facts are. I also think it would have made for a better story or been more fair to at least give a call to the contractor and ask them if they want to comment.
 

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
i doubt there will be any lawsuits here; i don't see how there could be honestly. my purpose was to gauge reaction; i see they vary greatly. i am anxious to see if the company responds to this in any way.
 
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