Website Calls out Unruly Customers - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

You hear it often "The customer is always right," but if you're a business owner, what if the customer is a chronic complainer, somebody who wants something for free or, worse yet, a scammer? Consumers have places to turn like the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection when they need help. Now, business owners can turn to a new website that blows the whistle on customers.

Father/Daughter duoRobert and Ashley Bodi hatched their company, Business Beware, a few years ago to give business owners a voice.

Robert, a life-long entrepreneur says every business has bad customers. "Cust-o-monsters, as we affectionately call them, are people that literally go from business, to business, to business and they are never satisfied. They are always wanting something free, which, actually costs the consumer in the long run because the good consumers have to pay for the cust-o-monsters."

Here's how Business Beware works: Businesses first have to become members, then they are allowed to view the BB data base which includes a list of cust-o-monsters and customers who don't pay their bills.

That's where the beware letter comes in. It's a way for businesses to nudge slow paying customers without having to pay a collection agency 20-50%.  "We had 10 customers that we had late paying for us," Ashley Bodi explains. "Next thing we knew, 9 out of 10 of those customers paid in full."

The letter basically explains what they owe and warns if they don't pay they will be listed on the Business Beware website. "We don't want people to be put on the website, that's not our goal, but it's there if you need it."

Web designer Shelley Roberts is a Business Beware member who also now helps with the BB website. She also knows first hand beware letter works.  "Two weeks later I got a $400 check in the mail. I was just shocked," Roberts says.

Right now, BB has members all over the U.S. and into Canada. The Bodi's say they're not making big profits but that's not really the point.  "As small business owners we know each penny counts. So if we can do something that just covers our cost and we can make a little bit off it then we're doing something that's right."

To check out the Business Beware list, we've added a link to the Business Beware website to the right of this story.