WI Company wont support troops

[N9UOM]

It might be old news, but an American company is refusing to send sleeping mats to our soldiers in Iraq. I have already used the contact now button to send my thoughts. Follow the link to see the full story. this is a sad day http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/apo.asp

[N9UOM]

It might be old news, but an American company is refusing to send sleeping mats to our soldiers in Iraq. I have already used the contact now button to send my thoughts. Follow the link to see the full story. this is a sad day http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/apo.asp

[apackof2]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by N9UOM:
It might be old news, but an American company is refusing to send sleeping mats to our soldiers in Iraq. I have already used the contact now button to send my thoughts. Follow the link to see the full story. this is a sad day http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/apo.asp </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[LVJ58]

Just checked out discountmats site and here's what I got:

Discount-Mats.com is Experiencing Technical Difficulties...
If you are inquiring about your order, please contact us via phone or email.
Thank you for your understanding & patience.

I wonder if their technical difficulties are a result of their response to the Sgt. in Iraq?

Jim

[AL]

Hi All,

I know everyone has the right to there own opinoin, but this goes way beyond that !!! If they don't agree with the war in Irag, they should have just said no we don't ship!! There is no reason to be nasty to someone who is giving up a lot to let that person say no to shiping anywhere!!

[Mrs. Mik]

I saw this posted on another forum a few days ago. Disgusting, isn't it! I used to live in SE Wisconsin and worked just a few miles away from this company. I wish I was still in the area so I could go in there and tell them what I think of their actions! My nephew just came back from a year in Iraq and I have to say, this company isn't worth the spit he shined his boots with!

I'm sure the reason their website is "down" is because they couldn't handle the heat resulting from their disgusting actions. It would sure have been nice if they posted a response to this issue, instead of ignoring it!

No matter how you feel about the war, you just don't treat the soldiers that way! If anyone wants to send them an e-mail, the address is: contact@discount-mats.com .

Julie

[Rich & Zara]

At the bottom of that particular Snopes.com page, Snopes is saying, "Since we've only heard from one side, we can't yet rule out the possibility (as occurred with a similar email) that Sgt. Hess may have received a response from someone who was not authorized to be corresponding with the business' customers."

Last updated by Snopes as of this writing was 20 January.

With the above in mind, wouldn't it best to hear both sides before any action to be taken by the public?

Rich

[Mrs. Mik]

If that was my company, I'd have something HUGE on the website stating my side of the story, especially if it was the case of an employee making statements like that about my business that were untrue. Instead, they took the website down claiming "technical difficulties." Makes one wonder . . .

The addendum that Snopes added about only having one side of the story was just recently added. It wasn't there on January 19, when I first heard this story.

Julie

[Gary the Wombat]

I just checked the company's website again, and now there is a 404 Not Found message from vDeck (a web hosting company). That usually means that there is no longer any web presence using that domain name.

I agree that both sides need to be heard from, but it is pretty clear to me that they are running away from the whole issue, which in my mind is an admission of guilt.

I hope it hurts them financially.

UPDATE. I just double checked, and the 404 not found message appears on the original home page url of the company. That means that it is, in fact, a BOGUS message put there by themselves. What cowards!

[MonacoMama]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Discount-Mats.com is Experiencing Technical Difficulties...
If you are inquiring about your order, please contact us via phone or email.
Thank you for your understanding & patience </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


This is the message I get as of 8:45AM PST

Must be reading your post Gary- they have gone back to the "technical difficulties" story...

[Hoverbug]

About all I can add is Hooah! Bye,bye Discount Mats. As Laura Ingram says..."Power to the people!"

[Mrs. Mik]

Well, there's been a response:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">An Internet company based in West Allis is confirming that it sent an inflammatory email to a US soldier. The email has been making its rounds on the blogs. It was first reported on the website snopes.com.

Sergeant Jason Hess, who's currently stationed in Iraq, had emailed discount-mats.com. The company lists its contact information as an address in West Allis. Sergeant Hess inquired as to whether the company could send mats to an APO address, basically asking if the company can ship to soldiers in Iraq. The company emailed him back.

That email, which Sergeant Hess shared with Newsradio 620 WTMJ, said: "we do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq."

A military spokesman says it's not unusual that a company won't ship to an APO address.

A Vice President with Bargain Suppliers, the website's parent company, confirms the email was sent. He says the employee who sent it is being held accountable and will be dealt with.

In addition, the spokesperson says the address and phone number that are now being circulated around the world are someone's home in West Allis. He says they've been bombarded with phone calls and as you can imagine they're getting plenty of complaints. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

link: http://www.620wtmj.com/_content/news/story_6685.asp

Now, they're complaining that the address & phone are a residence, but it appears that the guy is just a drop-shipper and works from that residential address peddling his on-line goods. I find it hard to believe that there are ANY employees and this is simply a CYA tactic. That's OK, though. As the facts continue to come out, his business will suffer, and rightly so.

Julie


Edited to add link

[Lorna]

This story was on one of the cable news shows (I can't keep them straight, David watches so many of them). Anyway, it seems the owner is a muslim and one of his employees (who is now fired) sent the e-mail. He said he didn't feel that way and his company would be willing to ship the product. Owner says he is getting constant calls & e-mails threatening him. I believe he will have a hard time overcoming the bad publicity and will have to do business under a new name.

[JJ Hamick]

I looked at discount mats web sight last night and they have printed an apoligy. Apparently an employee with a grudge wrote the unauthorized response to the soldier in Iraq. Take it for what it's worth...at least they have responded.