[ Originally posted as a blog on September 30th, but removed. Then Mark posted his about same John Nichols guy earlier this week. ]

It has come to my attention that some business or business owners rather are not worth fooling with. The owner of two such companies is one of those people. He cannot seem to pay for things he requested like the registration and hosting of a Catalyst X project, KnoxRhino.com, nor can he seem to honor the arrangement set up my one of his employees so they could have a photographic record of the work they produce in the shop.

Personally, I think I should have realized this earlier, by the way he treats his own son. On numerous occasions I have seen him demeaned. If I have seen it, the customers of these companies must have seen it. The following is an excerpt of electronic communication between the two of them, showing the true colors of this business owner:

I want to address several additional issues with you since we have not been able to sit down and have a conversation.

which was followed retorted with:

You say that I don’t trust you. The fact is you are correct and here are the reasons why:

This is a great way to start an e-mail to an employee… NOT! If you don’t trust them, why when Tennessee has an 8% unemployment rate would you hire them in the first place? In addition this employee/employer correspondence is between a father and son. I thought the only father and son e-mails like this exist only in Mark’s life. This is also unacceptable.

To top it all off, this man decided to string Mark and I along for several months.

In a meeting in his office at 6336 Clinton Highway, the site of the Mr. Transmission #337, Mr. Nichols requested services and quotes for said services. They were then promptly stated and followed up by e-mail. The first of these was regarding the hosting of www.knoxrhino.com, the “proof” he requested in order to demonstrate the abilities of Catalyst X. After he was billed, he refused to pay, even though he requested these things to be done saying to in a reply to his son “You do not have the authority to have this done.” This was only done per the owner’s request and registered under the son’s name and e-mail address for contact.

The second e-mail was regarding the graphic design for business cards and other marketing materials. Although the owner did not request it, a follow-up e-mail was sent since I had not received a response in a few months. Following this e-mail were several on-sites to discuss the design and an additional e-mail. Three weeks afterwards I received a forwarded e-mail from the son again requesting these quotes.

So after that I called this man. I said, “Owner, how many times must I send you a quote? I have sent this in e-mail twice and visited you multiple times.” It was as if this fell on deaf ears. Today I get a phone call from the son. The son says, “Dad says you shot yourself in the foot. You forgot your place since he is the customer.” I am sorry but over a six month time period and multiple quotes, if you don’t want my services, tell me. Most of all DO NOT slander my name in front of one of my best customers, your son. This is the kind of thing lawsuits are made of.

In conclusion, Mark, his son, and I do not seem to be the only ones who have problems with this man. It turns out the Better Business Bureau and several customers do as well. So if you would like an alternative to Transmission and Car Repair, please feel free to contact me at the blog. For truck bed linings or any other service that might require a polyurethane covering let me suggest Line X of Knoxville.

Good luck with your endeavors Mr. Business Owner.

I hope that some day soon you can be taken off the list of asshats, but until then I raise my glass to toast you.

Shortly after turning my own ass to fart in your general direction.