On Thursday, November 1, 2012 I posted on Americans for Common Ground.'s blog how Lightning Source/Ingrim, the largest POD publishing and distribution house closed my business down. I outlined what had happened and I had thought by late that day that the attorney for LSI was trying to find a solution to the issue. I was so wrong.
Of course, he now refuses to answer my emails, which clearly shows that he is no longer in charge of the situation, if he ever was. The fact that they tried to make an offer to resolve the situation clearly showed me that they realized that something had gone wrong on their part. Why else would you agree to settle something, and ask that the agreement would contain "We acknowledge no wrong doing in this matter."? Give me a break.
LSI did the next best thing when trying to avoid a law suite. Make it look like it's the other persons fault, close out their account and let them vent. Chances are pretty high that the person who was wronged will not file a law suite, thus they save themselves money and bad press. Well guess what, it's the 21 st century and there is a thing called the Internet.
Now, I am going to be very clear here, I am no saint. I have a temper and yes, when you mess with my company, my income and the income of those who I work with, I am going to bitch about it. Now if only enough people would read the blog to make help fix the problem.
I did some research in the days following and found that there where over 100 people who had suffered poor customer service at the hands of LSI and were not compensated for the damages LSI caused. More proof that LSI continues the Big Biz Bully practices. What are we going to do, we need them more then they need us, is how they are looking at it. In many respects, they are right. But that too, is a fleeting moment with technology changing in the Book Publishing industry as quickly as it is.
I had received a letter from a Mr. Sean Morris, VP Business Development of AGA/LSI demanding full payment of what they claim I owe. Needless to say, I called him a liar since he didn't have his figures correct and thanked him for his threat.
On November 16, 2012, I rreceived a letter from a local attorney who has been hired to represent LSI demanding yet another sum of money. I love how LSI can not even keep their financial records straight when demanding money.
Below is my response. And yes, I realize that I am opening a can of worms, but you know what. Someone has to yell and scream if not for themselves, then for others. Big Business Bullying is rampant as shown in the Financial & Home crises. They continue to think they can do as they please because we (the average person) can not afford to hire an attorney to sue them. They win by default, not because they were right. Here is the full letter I sent off as my response.
Of course, he now refuses to answer my emails, which clearly shows that he is no longer in charge of the situation, if he ever was. The fact that they tried to make an offer to resolve the situation clearly showed me that they realized that something had gone wrong on their part. Why else would you agree to settle something, and ask that the agreement would contain "We acknowledge no wrong doing in this matter."? Give me a break.
LSI did the next best thing when trying to avoid a law suite. Make it look like it's the other persons fault, close out their account and let them vent. Chances are pretty high that the person who was wronged will not file a law suite, thus they save themselves money and bad press. Well guess what, it's the 21 st century and there is a thing called the Internet.
Now, I am going to be very clear here, I am no saint. I have a temper and yes, when you mess with my company, my income and the income of those who I work with, I am going to bitch about it. Now if only enough people would read the blog to make help fix the problem.
I did some research in the days following and found that there where over 100 people who had suffered poor customer service at the hands of LSI and were not compensated for the damages LSI caused. More proof that LSI continues the Big Biz Bully practices. What are we going to do, we need them more then they need us, is how they are looking at it. In many respects, they are right. But that too, is a fleeting moment with technology changing in the Book Publishing industry as quickly as it is.
I had received a letter from a Mr. Sean Morris, VP Business Development of AGA/LSI demanding full payment of what they claim I owe. Needless to say, I called him a liar since he didn't have his figures correct and thanked him for his threat.
On November 16, 2012, I rreceived a letter from a local attorney who has been hired to represent LSI demanding yet another sum of money. I love how LSI can not even keep their financial records straight when demanding money.
Below is my response. And yes, I realize that I am opening a can of worms, but you know what. Someone has to yell and scream if not for themselves, then for others. Big Business Bullying is rampant as shown in the Financial & Home crises. They continue to think they can do as they please because we (the average person) can not afford to hire an attorney to sue them. They win by default, not because they were right. Here is the full letter I sent off as my response.
November 16, 2012
Barnett & Garcia
Attn: Matias Eduardo Garcia
3821 Juniper Trace, Ste. 108
Austin TX 78738
RE: Lighting Source 20197.001 Amount $2,466.14
Dear Mr. Garcia;
I am in receipt of your letter dated November 14, 2012. Thank you for sending it and for once again showing how corrupt the legal system is, and how greedy attorneys can be.
According to your letter, I owe Lighting Source/Ingrim $2,466.14 which is a flat out lie. Clearly, you or the attorney’s in your office did not fully get briefed on the issue between LSI and my company. That to me supports the fact of greed by you and your company. Take a case for the money without checking the facts.
Furthermore, if that were the case, then where is the over $2,000 that LSI owes me? Clearly, they didn’t tell you that part. I guess they wanted to keep my money for themselves thinking that I would not contest it, while at the same time have you file court documents trying to retrieve what they claim are owed to them. I do believe that falls under the actions of Fraud.
Therefore, since you and your company have chosen to not get the full details, I have sent a letter to the State Bar of Texas asking to investigate how you and your firm does business. I have also posted a copy of this letter on the Internet, along with my comments on how LSI immorally did things that caused harm to my company.
With respect,
B. Alan Bourgeois
CEO
This is the first time in my posting that I have actually shown my name and my sex. I had avoided that, as I wanted people who actually read this blog to feel that it could be any person, male-female; white-black-hispanic-pink or purple. But the truth is, I have to stand up for what is right and do my yelling and screaming to point out the flaws in our system with big business. They DO become to big to fail, but at a huge cost to us, the people who paid for their services and expect what is rightfully due to us...proper customer service!
If you made it this far on this posting, please leave a comment here. Challenge me on my thoughts. It would be good to get a fresh view point on this.
Life goes on...I go on
Dear Homeless -
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog as I was searching for complaints against Ingram/Lightning Source. I represent my author (adult) son, and I am part of the business, so whatever affects him also affects me.
Kevin and I started receiving invoices that we could not comprehend. Add to that, we were being charged against our account, and could not tell WHO was doing the charging. They listed Ingram as the customer who ordered and then returned books, but INGRAM CANNOT LIST THEMSELVES AS THEIR OWN CUSTOMER! So - when we tried to find out if SOMEONE at either LS or Ingram could "explain" the incomprehensible spread sheets, we were put in touch with senior counsel Josh Dailey, who promised to "investigate". When we got hold of Barnes & Noble (where Kevin did book signings in the Denver area) we found out that VERY FEW BOOKS WERE ORDERED BY THEM, and they were our main concern. SO when we got back to Ingram to tell them that their "client" (whose identity was hidden due to confidentiality) was NOT Barnes & Noble, and therefor WHO COULD IT BE - they severed the contract! INGRAM severed the LIGHTNING SOURCE CONTRACT!!! HOW COULD THEY when they were ADAMANT they were "NOT THE SAME COMPANY"???? In trying to find a new printer and distributor, we also found that other companies have "transparency in accounting" - they won't let you see the customer, but they will give them a fake identity, yet you know there is someone there. You see, the orders for which we were being charged looked like the SAME order that was surfacing over and over, so it COULD be a computer glitch. Anyway, they refused to settle it. So we contacted OUR Attorney General (Colorado), the State of Tennessee, the Board of Consumer Affairs... and to no avail. The attorney said Kevin "threatened" him, and all Kevin said was to settle it LEGALLY. SO - now we are collecing info, and I am going to an attorney. I HOPE YOU SEE THIS SOON! I would like to CONTACT you, or have you contact US. I hope to facebook this so we can get hold of one another.... I am going to try now. If this doesn't work, I will try soon a different way.... it is January 21, 2013. Thank you!