Death of my business

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Ever since I started my business last year things have been going great. Had my Computer Repair ad on Craigslist as well as any older computers and parts that a refurbish.

However within the past 2 weeks I gotten no e-mails or service calls, no interested customers and so on.

The other problem is that whenever I do put something on Craigslist other people post warnings that I am a scammer. Or if not that a previous customer from when I still did the shop at the school warns people that I'm a inexperianced technician just out of high school. Not just that he also tells tall tales like how I put Ubuntu 8.10 over his pirated WINXP Black Edition and didn't warn him. I did tell him I was going to do that because for one his XP was pirated and couldn't recieve security updates and for two his machine was an older PIV with just 256MB RAM. All he told me was that it better get on the Internet. Have a Office Suite and so on.

What am I going to do!! ! I can't have my business go down the tube. I'm not selling computers nor fixing tham. $30 is not too much for a computer cleanup. I also tell people what they are getting into. I know I'm just a Community College kid who get his A+ certification last year but still. I'm honest and let the cliente decide what they want to do.

Are you certified by CompTIA ?

If you have this certification, then no problem

Yes

No the problem is every time I put a postings on craiglist for my $30 computer repair service or a second-hand I have for sale I get a bunch of people posting crap like I'm a scammer.

Here is a posting of one of my used computers I have for sale. Do you think I'm doing anything wrong.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/hdo/sys/1463637216.html

I just goggled it and ... well it actually looks quite pretty for XP ... except for the load of crapwarez. I see why you changed it to Ubuntu, more so if it's infested in the first place which I strongly suspected. But seriously, if he has to ask you to fix his computer, you shouldn't expect him to learn to use another OS. Next time, tell him there's only so much you can do with a pirated OS. If he really want his computer fixed, cough up the $ for a licensed copy, or switch to Linux and bear with it.

I'd put the specifications in a list rather than one after the other like that. With a 1GHz Intel processor, I'm guessing that's a P3

Well I told him if he didn't want to pay $100 for a Valid XP license I will install Ubuntu on his machine. I told him it wasn't Windows but was as easy to use as Windows. He agreed as long as he had a Ms Office like office suite as well as being High-Speed net ready. I also warned him about certain incompatibilities with peripherals also.

All was well for a while after his computer was fixed. Then he got mad when he found out he couldn't install Nero or Photoshop. Which by the way is Windows software. Then he starting bad mouthing me over the phone and so on. Saying the OS I put on there was incompatible crap.

honestly, it may be time to get off Craig's List, and onto another site. Possibly advertising, maybe your own site, etc.

It just takes one person like this to ruin things. He's a troll, and he wants you to suffer for his ignorance.

As a last resort, you could change your company name, and possibly some conditions.

Since this person is using Craig's List to defame your business in written from, save all his notes. Being a business, there may be legal remedies for you.

Hope that helps.

You guessed it. An old Coppermine with 384MB PC133 Ram.

just add to your ad that:
1.- you are on disability and need to pay checks
2.- you have autism and in reallity you is a genius
3.- you rock

I lost my business (law practice) about 5 years ago--one of the factors that led to my diagnosis.

Going into business was the biggest mistake I made in life. Knowing what I know now I would never have done it. But I am glad for the discovery that I made as a result.

If you had given him ample warnings then it's clearly his own fault.
Does he defame you in Cragslist's forum or simply go around telling everyone he knows? You may try complaining to the mods if it's the forum. I'm afraid there's not much you can do to shut him up in real life.

It may work for some, but it may also drive some away. My 2¢ is think twice before you disclose your condition.

Why are people saying that you are a scammer? Is it because of this one guy? Also, theres a link to how to avoid scams in a bar just above your sale article. According to that link, maybe you can avoid being called a scammer if you can advertise an address or phone number to arrange to meet people in person. Take a look:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.

As stated. If you've told him about the incompatibilities with Windows, then he may have just been "jargon jargon, blah blah blah, whatever- get on with it" whilst agreeing. And presuming all would be as it were before.

I think it's time to advertise elsewhere, it's not worth advertising in one place, but many.

Well what will happen is that I will post in the computer services and computer & tech sales forum. Then he will put up a posting calling me out as a scammer. Heck sometimes 3 or 4 peole will even follow him. The only thing I can do is flag.

It depends on what he has said in the forum. If he had actually admitted that you replaced his pirated Windows with Linux, then I think you can ask Cragslist to ban him. There's nothing to stop him from using another account, but then that's a start.