ComplaintsforSM Consulting, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  12/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  A recent request and subsequent email exchange with the webmaster of *************************** ("CougarBoard"), a social media site which is operated by SM Consulting, LLC, has raised serious concerns about the company's ability to ensure the privacy of user data, including credit card information and information provided by minors. Over the course of about 15 years, I have paid $100.00+ to the site for access to premium features. I made my first payment to the site as a minor in 2008. I have requested several times for the webmaster to delete the account (again, which was created as a minor) and data from the site. The webmaster has continually refused, even after I offered $200.00 to effectuate the deletion. The webmaster represented to me this week that he is unable to delete accounts and data associated with accounts, including credit card information and personal information connected to that. I immediately became concerned, as the Site should not be storing information for such a large user base if the webmaster is either incompetent or unwilling to work with users and former users to delete information. The Site has collected information from nearly 50,000 users and has over 2 million average annual posts per year according to its posted statistics: **********************************************. I am notifying the BBB of the Site's practices because I believe that the data of Utah citizens is being used in a manipulative and arbitrary way by the Site, given the webmaster's adamancy in refusing to delete user information. The webmaster has claimed he deleted my account. In actuality, he "de-activated" my account, meaning my entire public profile is viewable to the public, and now I am unable to log in to the account to make any changes or deletions on my own. I can and will provide documentation as needed

  Business response

  01/08/2024

  The complaint is specious, and is merely intended to waste my time. It's full of falsehoods and deceit. For example, he's only paid $24.95 total, $10 in 2009 (not 2008), and $14.95 in 2020. The most recent was for a 3-month subscription.

  I do not store credit card information, I have always used third party credit card processors. His first payment was made through PayPal.com, and the second through Stripe.com. I do not have the ability to delete that information from their servers, as I already explained to him (and he accepted at the time). I've deleted his email address from our user table, as requested. I've permanently deactivated his account per his request, which deletes the personal information from the user table. The account is still there, of course, since there are 5,114 posts on the message board from him that still need to be associated with an account. The user table entry just doesn't have any personal information.

  I have no reason to believe he was a minor in 2009 when he first made a payment. He used a credit card in his name to purchase a t-shirt along with some user benefits.

  Again, this is just meant to waste my time and "get back" at me for some imagined insult.

  Customer response

  01/08/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The statements SM Consulting makes in this response are non-responsive to my request. SM Consulting is simply prolonging an already asinine and arduous process of its own creation. I do not believe that SM Consulting has insulted me in any way. Such comments are not appropriate in a professional setting and lends further weight to the position that SM Consulting and its principals are incompetent or nefarious and should not be trusted by Utah consumers.

  SM Consulting's entrenched irrational refusal to remove reference to my username and former username that was created when I was a minor and includes identifying information about myself that was true when I was a minor and are recognizable to average reasonable persons in the Orem/Provo, greater Utah, and Intermountain West areas is indicative of SM Consulting's desire for the public to believe there is a continuing relationship with me in order to maintain current paying customers and/or procure prospective future paying customers, many of whom may be and/or are currently minors in the Provo/Orem, Greater Utah, and Intermountain West areas. I do not consent to my information being used in this way. 

  I reiterated my request that my username and former username (including the username created when I was a minor) are not findable on the public website platform of ***************************/. As of my last visit to ***************************/, those pieces of information are still findable and searchable by the general public. The amounts paid are immaterial. I paid valuable consideration for services rendered by SM Consulting, part of which occurred when I was a minor. It is basic common business practice for any similarly situated online social media business such as ***************************/ to have the ability to delete usernames. SM Consulting's positions in this response and throughout the entirety of this matter beginning in in 2022 are diametrically opposed to principals of good business in the online digital social media world. 

  Given SM Consulting's brazen and irresponsible handling of Personally Identifiable Information ("PII") ,including the PII of minors, and his irrational refusal to work with customers in addressing legitimate concerns, I am hesitant to provide any additional PII to SM Consulting. If verification of additional PII is needful for the resolution of the request, I may consider providing it to the BBB as a neutral third-party. I will need to again review BBB's privacy policy and may need to request its internal policies and procedures (and those of SM Consulting/***************************/) before providing any such PII. 

  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *****

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