New Bonanza Social Media Rep. Jeremiah Mattocks Unprofessional & Repulsive Facebook Response

On December 22, 2010, Jeremiah Mattocks wrote about his arrival to and duties at Bonanza.

Here is the Bonanza blog link to his announcement:
http://www.bonanza.com/blog/main/Introducing_Jeremy

It is fairly well known that Bonanza.com staff has a so-called sense of humor. While humor is great, the timing of and the situation / delivery of this humor should be wisely looked at before applying it.

Jeremiah states in his introduction that he has something to do with a "comedy" website. We have been to that website and do not really see the humor in it. At best, it is a very sad, forced sense of humor.

Here is the link to the "comedy" site:
http://itgetsworser.com/

Anyway, we firmly believe that there is nothing wrong with a little humor so long as it does not reflect badly on the site and/or its sellers. In fact, it is nice to lighten up a bit from time to time BUT what happened to a well established Bonanza member today was just too much to ignore.

Here is the run down of the story as noted by Sofyblu2 (note: her avatar is of one of her dogs) on her Facebook wall (caution - strong & offensive language follows):

This is how a social media rep responds to a friend request????? by Russ Kawecki on Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 12:59pm

How would you feel about this? While doing my usual thing on FB I see the person hired to do the social media duties on Bonanza has also posted on a thread I am on. I think cool! A Bonanza employee! I will request friendship. This is the message I am sent by the social media rep:

Jeremiah Arthur Mattocks 09 January 2011 at 00:05

Subject: friend request?

Dear Russ Kawecki,

Imagine my surprise upon receiving a friend request from you, as you appear to be an animal; it was my understanding that animals other than Homo sapiens sapiens lacked the cognitive faculties social media requires. Either I have been grossly mistaken, or you are an unusually intelligent canine. A canine lives with me—he eats cat shit from the litter box. With your exceptional intelligence, I wonder, do you eat cat shit from the litter box when the opportunity is presented?

I do hope you’re the type of beast who accepts constructive criticism with grace. Please don’t think me rude for saying so, but we humans usually use Facebook for befriending people we know in person. I can’t remember meeting a genius dog, and I think that’s something I would remember. I understand why you might be seeking friendship outside of your peers, given your anomalous IQ, but I thought you might like to know.

Cheers,
Jeremy – a human

This is the very person hired to be our social media rep. Sweet huh?? Would one not think if they were hired for that type of position that they may have people sending friend requests and to have the god given brains to see if perhaps the requester was a part of the site you work on?

To say I am beyond offended is putting it mildly. If he said this crap to me who else that are buyers and sellers has he responded to in this manner?

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=180531435300228&comments

What kind of business person would represent Bonanza in this manner? What must potential sellers and buyers think if they are greeted with this sort of response? What must blog and media writers think in the same situation? What about potential investors - they may be wanting to learn more about Bonanza when they contact you? Do you also send them the same type of foul mouthed nasty message simply because you don't know them?

Jeremiah! You should know that it is hard to say who is behind those avatars. If you are such a social media guru, you should already know this! Seriously, you need to take lessons from Facebook for Dummies because what you did was not only unprofessional and not funny but it also makes you appear to be a real jerk. You most certainly did not appear to be a good representative for Bonanza or their sellers.

What you said was NOT funny. It was STUPID! Maybe you ought to be checking your "anomalous IQ." You are not as bright or witty as you think you are. Your comments were absolutely sick!

How many people have you run off from Bonanza with this kind of behavior?

Sellers wonder why there are very few buyers and sales on Bonanza, well, I think we found at least one reason in your response to Sofyblu2.

What is funny, this also shows just how out of touch you are with Bonanza, Jeremiah! You see, Sofy has been a Bonanzle/Bonanza member since 08-27-2008 and is on the forums daily. She posts multiple times everyday. If you had any kind of serious connection with Bonanza and its members, you would have known her avatar!

Bonanza needs to fire this joker and get someone in there that knows what they are doing. This jokers club thing will not sustain Bonanza. What it will do is kill the site. No one who is a serious seller or a buyer looking for a site they can trust will use Bonanza if it does not rid itself of the bad humor that is frequently offered up by those with a grade school attitude.

Who is running Bonanza anyway?
Many sellers are trying to make a living at least in part on Bonanza. They need professionals at the helm, not a bunch of clowns. Get some business minded people in there and fire those that have no idea how to interact on a professional level.

UPDATE:

Alex Berg posted to Sofy's FB wall. Here is a copy and paste of the spin. (And yes Alex, it is spin.)

Hi everyone. I understand the frustration and anger, and I am not making light of this, but I want to try to clear the air on a few things.

Jeremy was using his personal Facebook account and was responding to a request from someone who he ...thought was an old friend and was playing along. I assure you that he would not have responded as such if he thought the communication was in any way Bonanza-related. He sent a very heart-felt apology directly to Sofy once he was made aware of the error.

Let me add my own apology here as well. Sofy, I’m sorry you were spoken to in such a fashion. This is not the manner in which we speak to people in the community. If I thought Jeremy was being malicious in any way towards anyone in the Bonanza community please believe me that swift action would be taken.

Did he make a mistake in assuming it was a friend? Yes. Should he have checked who it was first? Yes. Regrettably, he made an honest, and now very public, mistake. I can assure you he has learned a lot from this.

Thank you for your understanding. I hope you'll all give him, and Bonanza, the benefit of the doubt that this was a mistake and not a reflection of how Bonanza treats community members.

Alex Berg
That excuse is so.... oh man, I can't find the words for it. All I can say is most of us did not fall off the turnip truck in the last 30 minutes. "Playing along" with what Alex? Sofy sent a friend request. As far as we understand it, that is not a game but it is a common thing done on FB. Normally, members approve, deny or simply ignore friend requests. They don't usually send rude and offensive responses.

As one of the responders on Sofy's FB wall states:

I only have three things to say about this...

1) Wow, what an interesting coincidence, that he had an 'old friend' named Russ Kawecki!!?

2) Hmmm, if I got a request from my 'old friend' Russ Kawecki, I might have accepted the friend request... at the same time as I was asking him if he ate cat shit and insulting his intelligence.

3) When I felt it necessary to explain to my 'old friend' that FB is normally reserved for friends that I know in person, I might have thunk that my 'old friend' Russ might take it to mean...Since I don't know you, why are you invading my personal FB space?

...okay, four things...

4) Which brings us back around to immature, rude & crude, and not a very good choice for a social media rep.
---

And another poster responds on Sofy's wall:

IMHO the young man is a loose cannon.

The origin of "loose cannon" comes from Victor Hugo's last novel, Quatrevingt-treize (or "Ninety-Three" in English). In it, a sailor was negligent in not securing a cannon on board, causing it to be tos...sed about in a storm. The moral is, even in a storm, it's not something outside of us that is capable of doing the worst damage, but what's INSIDE of us. The novel was published in 1874.

If Jeremy "thought" he was chatting with an old friend (but was not sure), he should not have replied in the manner he did. To hand over such a position to someone this inexperienced is clearly a mistake. Surely his talents could be used more effectively in another position with Bonanza for now, while he studies up on proper communications as a representative for an up and coming venue. The reputation of Bonanza (and each booth owner) is still young and fragile. It needs to be guarded CLOSELY. There is no room for error.

Stepping down off my soap box.
---

The above posters are 100% correct, as far as we are concerned.

It appears that the kid hasn't enough common sense to know when to shut off the so called comedic relief. It was a problem in this instance BUT how many other times has this happened - it was Bonanza related - but we don't know about it, yet?

What does it matter if the person he was speaking to was a Bonanza member, a possible investor or potential Bonanza seller or buyer? It shouldn't matter who he wronged but what should matter is that someone contacted him with a friend request because of his connection to Bonanza and he delivered a horrendous repsonse.

No apology can make this right. The dirty deed, hurt feelings and etc have already been done. (It's like when our kids used to get caught doing something wrong and they would say - sorry - and then go on with life as if nothing happened. BUT it did happen!)

Well, what Alex is sayig is that Bonanza and its sellers will continue to be represented by this childish person. Whatever Bonanza is paying him is far too much and the risk they are taking with the site reputation (thus, the reputation of each and every seller on the site) is extremely high.

What Alex fails to see (probably because he is relatively new to Bonanza) is that most of us have given Bonanza the benefit of the doubt for so long (since mid to late 2008) that we now know when our leg is being pulled. We have seen the spin, time and time again. And guess what? Our legs have been stretched as far as they can go but being dizzy from the spin hasn't blinded us from the truth.

Click here to read another Bonanza sellers blog on this topic.

UPDATE:

Sofy just posted on her wall, the following:

******* MY TURN :) *********************************
First off I would like to say thank you to all our friends that were so supportive to us. That means a tremendous amount that you will never realize.

I believe that this actually opened ...a door to allow Management to see that we need to be treated with TOTAL respect both on and off the site. That our opinions do matter and that as contributors to the site that we do deserve a voice in the very thing that effects our lives..our business. To that I fervently pray and wish that no one leaves. I believe we can make this all work as long as there is some give and take on both sides. And I mean BOTH sides.

Jeremy did send me an apology. However, I quit earlier than usual and did not receive it until a few minutes ago as i dug thru my mail. Alex's response was some 5 hours later than when Jeremy apologized.

As this is my problem..I am willing to accept Jeremy's apology with the agreement that he apologize to the community. However to avoid any further problems I am requesting that it be done so that no comments can be left. It is now time to heal.I have thought long and hard about this.. I do not want him fired. My expectations from Jeremy are that he will learn from this kick in the ass, that being careless is no way to go thru life, that he realize in his youth that he actually is responsible for our livelihoods, his actions directly effect my business. He may not yet have a mortgage nor a family, but perhaps this will allow him to see how how his actions do effect others. And that I expect him to pick up his slack and do the job he was hired to do and to do it beyond the call of duty.

A lot of things have been said and I think a lot of it has just been building up for so long that the dam finally had to burst. We as sellers have felt like we no longer mattered to what many felt like what was home. I want my home back again and I want us all to succeed. Again that is going to take the work of BOTH us and management.
---

I understand forgiveness and all of that but this guy could make or break Bonanza and/or each one of us who sell on Bonanza since he is supposed to be the "social" guy that helps get the site name out there and hopefully, bring buyers to Bonanza. I firmly believe, allowing him to stay at Bonanza will be a huge mistake. (The same goes with all of the others who have committed - not funny capers - that can directly affect our businesses with which we support ourselves and our families.)

While this may have seemed to be an attack on Sofy, it really was more than that. It was an attack on all of Bonanza and its sellers. So, I kind of have a problem with one person telling me and the rest of the site members how to feel about this whole situation (sorry, Sofy). I think all of the sellers have feelings on what happened and all of them have merit. We have every right to call for the kid to be fired as he is also representing us in whatever he posts to and in conjunction with social media. I think his "mistake" proves that he is not mature enough to handle the postion and he lacks very important basic decision making skills. Bonanza needs someone who has REAL experience with social media - not just some kid who plays around with social media and some ridiculous "comedy" website. (By the way, did you see the Christmas cartoon on his site? Bad taste for the social media guru of a selling venue, if you ask me.)

So, I am a bit bugged that anyone thinks that this should be the end of it and that life just simply goes on - because it doesn't. That same thinking did not work for my kids when they lived at home - it certainly is not going to work for this kid in Seattle who has the potential to destroy our business.
--

UPDATE:

Jeremiah posted an apology on Sofy's wall:

Dear Bonanza community,
...
For all the anger, hurt, frustration, and loss of trust I’ve caused, I am very sorry. Your anger with me is expected. But the thing I’m most ashamed of is how I’ve damaged your relationship with Bonanza. Not content to hold me personally responsible for my own private, stupid actions, I’ve seen Bonanza’s name dragged through the mud; I couldn’t feel more terrible about this than I already do.

When Bonanza hired me, they did so not because I was an expert, but because they saw potential. I’ll be the first to say I’m not an expert. I’m learning, I’m human, and I made a big mistake. This is, without a doubt, the biggest and stupidest mistake I’ve made. But that is exactly what it was: a mistake. This was not me being malicious or callous or knowingly disrespecting a Bonanza seller. This was an honest, albeit idiotic, mistake. But I promise you this: I won’t make this mistake again. No matter where I find myself in the future, I’ve learned a valuable lesson that I’ll never forget.

Since my message has already been made public, I owe you all more than just an apology—I owe you an explanation.

I share a weird sense of humor with many of my close friends. Every once in a while, one of them will create a new fictional Facebook account as a joke. I will respond in kind and find myself friends with another fictitious entity. I’ve been Facebook friends with a rag doll, a mannequin, and a pet chinchilla. I’m not asking you to laugh, but I hope you will understand that this was a ridiculous attempt at humor made in the worst possible way at the worst possible time. Unused to representing a company in my private life, I assumed this new friend request came from one of my old friends up to their zany hijinks again.

What I’m trying to say is I made a horrible assumption. Since I assumed the request came from a close friend, it made sense to me to respond as if I were talking to a friend’s pet. It made absolutely no sense to respond to a valued member of our community in that way. To say I am sorry would be an understatement. I am mortified to find out that my message went to a Bonanzler who was trying to connect in earnest. This is not intended to be an excuse at all. I accept full responsibility for the mess I made. This is just an explanation.

What I’ve learned from this is that I represent Bonanza personally as well as professionally. And given that many of you earn your living on Bonanza, I take this lesson very, very seriously. I understand now, more than ever, that I have a duty to the entire community that doesn’t end when the work day is over.

To everyone I hurt with my carelessness: I deeply, truly regret my actions. Your anger and disappointment is completely understandable. I’ve read your messages, I’ve taken them to heart, and I’m ready to start showing you how much I value your role in Bonanza.

I am so sorry. I hope you’ll forgive my carelessness.

Sincerely,

Jeremy
---

Ok, that seems like a very heartfelt apology. Thank you Jeremy!

But the question of his ability to effectively and professionally represent Bonanza and all of its sellers is still unanswered. Is it worth the risk to continue on this course with a social media guru who didn't realize the full realm that social media plays on a selling venue? Is it worth the risk to have someone represent you who has no idea just what their job is and/or how his personal life can cause problems for his business life online?

It's not just this one mistake. It is several mistakes that have happened involving Bonanza reps. This poor kid just got caught up in the strange workings of Bonanza. There have been several blunders by those who represent Bonanza so for many, this mistake was the icing on the cake.

I still say, this should not be allowed to happen and there should be a termination as it appears Bonanza hired someone that they liked personally or liked his sense of humor at an interview rather than someone who had the appropriate credentials to do a job that can make or break not only Bonanza but all of the sellers on Bonanza.

UPDATE:

ColderIce & Pheadra talk about this situation:

John and Pheadra Talk Social Media Mistep at Bonaza by ColderICE

Note: We disagree with CI's initial comments about peoples avatars. No matter what the avatar looks like, no one should be talked to like that. No social rep of a selling venue should say bad things to anyone whether someone uses their own picture or just a simple graphic as their avatar. After all, anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that it is a person typing messages on Facebook and not any animal.

As far as the comments about a social media rep and not knowing enough to separate their personal stuff from their business stuff (a real social media rep would have known this info before they went looking for employment), we wrote the basics on this back in August 2009. For that matter, this same advice is all over the internet. Here's the link:
http://thereevesreport.blogspot.com/2009/08/online-seller-professionalism.html

And - anyone who has been out in the working world knows that people can and do recognize you due to your work. Sometimes the 2 portions of your life do cross over. This is why many employers have policies about your conduct on and off the job. In most all cases, employers fire those who cross over the line in a manner that can hurt their businesses. This is true in both government and private sector jobs.

And yes, many of us have made mis-steps in our lives but for the most part, they do not hurt anyone but ourselves. There is little room for mis-steps that can hurt all sellers on a selling venue.

And the lynch mob comments: this has nothing to do with a lynch mob. It has to do with holding the selling venue responsible for their choice of such a rep. Ultimately, the selling venue is responsible to all of their sellers when they hire someone to fill a position that is representing everyone. Yes, Jeremy made a huge mistake (that credentialed social media reps would likely not make) but it was Bonanza that hired him so they are the ones who hold the majority of blame. Personally, we don't really care where someone like this works as long as it is far away from our business if they have no idea how to do their job or the seriousness of the responsibilities surrounding the job.

None of this has changed our minds. Get a REAL social media rep or do without one completely. Sellers work too hard to build their reputations to have some green horn come in and ruin it for them with snarky comments. Doesn't Bonanza do background checks on the people they hire? If not, this is proof that they should.

We just checked out the link to the site that Jeremiah claims that he is a "social media specialist." Oh Lord, if this is what got him the job, Bonanza also needs to hire a personnel director to do their hiring because their judgment is clouded with their weird humor. Anyone reading the page can see, this guy is not who you want representing your company. Here is the link (a social media specialist would never have "suck my cocktails" on their site where they are soliciting employment but it is on this site):
http://www.jeremiahmattocks.com/about

Added 01-11-2011 - Link to Colder Ice's article on the above subject:
http://3rdpoblogs.com/colderice/2011/01/10/did-bonanza-com-pick-the-wrong-name-out-of-the-social-media-specialist-hat/