Another threat

Two threats in a week? We're certainly achieving something…

This time it was JB Sports who were very unhappy about the story in The Voice this week. At the end of the piece I pointed out that they hadn't replied to the message I left on Thursday 3rd February at around midday, asking them to respond.

I got calls this morning from two managers at JB Sports who complained. And shouted at me. And threatened me. Essentially their problem was that they hadn't been given a right of reply. They claimed that they had indeed called me but I hadn't responded.

Here's why:

At the time they called I was away from home in an area with no cellphone coverage. They chose not to SMS me, to call me or fax me at the office or to email me. None of these things are difficult to achieve, all the contact details are easy to find.

Now they're angry that I didn't respond to that cellphone call when I was back in coverage. That's because I didn't see it.

So that call doesn't count, OK.

I offered both managers, one of them the MD of JB Sports, what we always offer: a complete right of reply. I promised that whatever they wrote I would publish verbatim (so long as it was polite and constructive) but while the first manager seemed willing, the later, more senior one ended up saying:

"My lawyer will talk to you, not me. I got a legal team here, they will talk to you. Thank you very much."

And then he hung up.

I know those were the exact words because I recorded all of the calls I made to JB Sports in Francistown, to their head office and the calls with both managers.

Any guesses how many times they said they were keen to help the consumer who contacted us?