Gizmodo Writer Call’s Female Bank Rep A Wench

Posted on February 23, 2010

The business relationship with a customer was officially ended today. Customer received a damaged product. We had offered to him twice to replace the defective product. We asked to the customer to mail the merchandise back to him and we would be glad to send him a new mousepad.

Customer responded by posting the following comments on their twitter account:

Thinking about a @macpadd? Think again: http://bit.ly/aghL27

@ctrlzee I am having an issue with Macpadd, mind if I email you about it?

@macpadd Do not waste your time with #macpadd. According to them it is supposed to come with deep marks & neither of my mice work on it.

The customer went even as far to make some bold claims against MacPadd.com that we are denying to replace the product on their Flickr page. The customer claims "Currently, I am being denied a replacement despite the policy that states one will be given for a defective product." This is the opposite of what we have offered him. We will gladly exchange any goods damaged upon receipt. Simply send it back to us and upon receipt of the damaged, we then mail the new one out. The Return address can be found here: http://macpadd.com/about/ The customer's twitter account appears to display the user's page as "under construction." Suspicion leads me to believe that this is a tactic to garner hits for their site's "launch."

This former customer has also tried engaging Mark Wilson. Mark Wilson is probably best known for writing the article "Sometimes we endorse bad companies" on Gizmodo. We have provided enough space to Wilson's article, but to highlight his character have a look at the following recent twitter updates about Chase Bank:

Hey Chase - If I could impregnate your skull with my seed, causing offspring to hatch in your eyes that subsequently eat you? I wouldn't.

Oh, but that wench I talked to from credit services? She can go the way of skull seeding, if you catch my drift.

Judging from those thoughts and opinions written by Mark Wilson (for the whole world to see) - Does he sound like a customer you would have wanted to deal with today (or ever)? Being a woman, how would you feel if a man called you a wench? Or what would think of him if you knew he thought of you that way? (click here for the definition of wench ) Does thinking of a woman in a sexually deroggatory manor empower you in customer service situation, Mark? In Canada, Financial institutions are often the leading employers of women. I wouldn't be able to comment on the US, nor did we have a single bank collapse during the fallout. However, I think this speaks to the very character of Mr. Wilson and the corporate culture at Gawker Media. Mr. Wilson at the best of times appears to be vulgar, thoughtless, and to a stretch of the imagination... sensationalist. Wilson's twitter account prominitely displays that he works for Gizmodo.com. Gizmodo doesn't seem to have a problem with such comments being made by their own employees/content creators. hopefully not an echoing trend in the wider internet-media industry. Further investigation leads me to believe that unprofessionalism is a common characteristic with at least Gizmodo portion of Gawker Media:

Bloggers behaving badly: Gizmodo messes with CES flat screens:

The CES organizers only grudgingly gave bloggers press credentials to the conference, and even then kept them segregated into a working lounge that was a step down in amenity and luxury from the "press" lounge and work area. This prank will not endear the blogging class to either the CEA, which produces CES, or the companies that paid dearly for the right to occupy CES floorspace and show off their products. I would not be surprised to see Gizmodo banned from the show and possibly sued by either the CEA or the companies its bloggers harassed.

MacPadd.com and QMS Canada strives to operate itself in the most ethical of business standards. However, as a result of this high ethical standard, we sometimes have to sacrifice business relationships.