There are, but not many.

Liquid Audio, in collaboration with a select group of Western Australian technicians and retailers, manages a list of people who, for very good reasons, will not receive assistance from any of us.

We add to this shared list as needed. I’ve added roughly one new name per year over the past decade, likewise the Speaker Doctor, and so on. My customer database comprises well over 1000 individuals though, so we enjoy excellent relationships with an overwhelming 99.9% majority and new additions are extremely rare.

Respect

As one of Australia’s most trusted repairers, we attract great customers by design, but as every business owner knows, you cannot please everyone, no matter how well you run a business, nor should you try. You also cannot filter all the bad eggs.

I choose not to assist those who are aggressive, demanding, disrespectful, entitled, rude or otherwise unreasonable. Respect is an important concept for me and people who don’t show it are people I’d rather not assist.

The Blacklist

Unfortunately, there exists a small subset of people so unreasonable and problematic that attempts to work with them must be avoided entirely. For these individuals, there is a price to pay beyond alienating those they come in immediate contact with.

My colleagues and I apply a zero-tolerance policy to anyone who does the wrong thing by any one of us:

Assistance is terminated, details are recorded and shared, and that person is blacklisted and perma-banned.

Rest assured, no reasonable human has ever been blacklisted, but what does this mean for the few dozen individuals who have? Well, blacklisted individuals lose access to the most highly regarded technicians in Western Australia for a start, irrespective of which one they upset. That’s a bad outcome, well worth avoiding.

Admission

I know what you’re wondering: Mike, how do I make it onto this list?! Speaking for Liquid Audio only:

• Bang on my door like a madman at 8 am on a Sunday morning to collect equipment after being told we are closed on Sundays.
• Don’t collect your equipment or pay your account for a year, then forget to thank me for me not selling your equipment and argue about the storage charges you’ve accrued.
• Accuse me of running a ‘scam’ or “stealing” 40 year old capacitors, etc..

Moral

The bottom line, for anyone worried they might end up blacklisted is that polite, respectful, folks who show gratitude to those who help have literally ZERO chance of ending up on this or any other blacklist! I’m not on any blacklist and you won’t be either.

Just remember, none of us is obligated to assist anyone, nor do we ‘owe’ anybody anything though. Human time and effort are valuable, so be respectful of those helping others and doing good work.