mlarson has reported a post.
Reason:
Post: Breach of Client Privacy
Forum: Legislation, Licensing, Ethics & Legal Issues for Inspectors
Assigned Moderators: gbeaumont, fmagdefrau, fcarrio, lkage, mkyriacou, jmckenna1, rromoser, sgilligan1, iniquette, bjones5, jramos, wwilson3
Posted by: nthornberry
Original Content:
I strongly agree with your reasoning Mike. There is not one ounce of truth in these words.
*"Best way to find the worst inspector for you- find a logo that says “Fidelity Pledge”.
Lol
Read the article. You’ll discover they offer minimal inspections and follow minimum standards, and in order to defend this position they must frighten you over something non-existent.
You’ll see in this thread how they squirm at others offering a superior level of service."*
I don’t really know why you need to state a Fidelity pledge. Good bad or indifferent. It is extremely unnecessary. Any other area where this usually applies, Medical, educational, mental health…usually is signed prior to service. It isn’t usually stated on the website. People generally know and expect this. It is an assumed part of your professional responsibity. Head scratcher as to why you would have to pledge that to someone.
Thornberry is a lead broker. He buys private information from home inspectors and resells them to alarm systems companies and perhaps others who will pay him for them.
He does this by creating the illusion that his products, which he uses to harvest private information about home buyers, turn newbies into multi-million dollar enterprises. Some believe him … until it’s time to renew. The fact is, multi-inspection firms were using kickbacks from alarm systems companies in exchange for private client data to offset their overhead expenses long before Thornberry completed high school (which was not that long ago).
You guys seem surprised … after months of having his lies documented by state and federal entities/agencies and his ethical violations validated by independent members serving on investigative committees … to find him also lying about people who reject him and refuse to participate in his scams and schemes.
He will do and say anything to squeeze a buck out of a newby (or anyone similarly as gullible) … and disparage anyone who rejects him. This includes inspectors who have publicly refused to participate in his scams by pledging to protect the privacy of their clients.
I think it is time to quit giving the punk the attention he craves. His fifteen minutes of fame is about over.
Inspectors who want to sell him, contractors or other lead brokers their clients’ private data should simply reveal to their clients the fact that they are exchanging it for consideration (aka “selling it”) and provide their clients with the name and full contact information of the party or parties that are obtaining it so the clients can address any future unwanted contacts. It’s the right thing to do.
Until then, inspectors who have set themselves apart from inspectors who sell client data to him and others by publicly pledging to protect the private information about their clients will continue to be a threat to him and his dubious business model. Accordingly, he will continue to threaten, lie, disparage and attack them. It’s all he can do to attempt to maintain the illusion that he tries to sell.
I get what he does…he is a business man with ideas. You can either buy them one not. I have bought some and not others. Nothing he does really affects how I choose to do business unless I choose to allow that. I work with a lot of great vendors. He is just one of them. I appreciate ideas and anything that will help the profession. It is really up to me to decide how that applies best. I don’t agree with all that he says or does, but I respect what he is trying to do. I don’t think you all should be attacking him in the manner that you do and conversely, I don’t think he should be responding quite like he does unless he really wants the heat like he gets it. He is a big boy, I am assuming he wants to engage if he is. Personally, I wouldn’t be doing so if I was trying to sell you all something. It does feel and look like we are a bunch of 12 yr olds when we do this. I have to say, when I first got here…I almost left and for good. But having a human services and clinical background, you can see where I would be fascinated by it too. But, I am not sure everyone is. I think there are a bunch of good guys here…even Larson (sorta like Mr. Wilson nest to Dennis the Menace).
Now, if he or anyone else is to blame for the SEO calls I get everyday…we are going to tangle. I waste at least 30 mins a day answering those calls. If anyone has the answer to that, I will buy it. However, I think a public presence sort of brings that on.
Just where do you think many of them get your info from?
Nathan, can you explain what your duty to the home buying public is? I have heard one side of the argument; selling private info to advertisers is a pain in the a** to have to deal with, un wanted spam, phone calls, etc. is something I wouldn’t want someone else to do to me.
Checking warranty info on appliances, 90 day inspect guarantee, good. What does your company offer that other companies don’t, that offsets the nuisance hassle of sold information? Or is your company the only one that provides those services? I ask because you state it is a duty, and if you are the only game in town, then I agree. However, if there are others, then you are going for market share, with extra income from the information. I know that’s how google, etc. make their money, but nobody quite thinks of it as their duty to provide those services.
Please excuse my lack of information, as some of this is new to me. I am always interested in what people think.
Is it possible for a person to use this recall checking device without providing any personal information (name, address, phone number, email, etc) like they can when they choose to get the same data directly from the Consumer Product and Safety Commission? Just asking.
J.B I have used Recall Chek with no alarm system sales lead info however Nate is not being truthful about the few bucks rate unless he lowered it.
The fee is high enough to discourage using it any other way which is my objection to it and reason I would not endorse it.
Perhaps Nate can clear up the exact $$$$ rate charged to those not wishing to sell client info in exchange for the service ?
Thanks, Bob.
Thank you Bob
Honest information has been somewhat hard to come by from the Vendor.
Those using the service like it but my personal preference would be to use the fee plan and feel that may be discouraged as the serial number search engine IMO based on what I know from information I have read throughout the past year here was created to provide hot leads for sales calls.
Some may have an issue with that and others may not.
Nate thinks I am his nemesis however in actuality I would simply like straight shooting.
Bear with me on the following.
Just had my morning inspection cancelled thanks to -50 with the wind chill so can think about this a minute.
NACHI does the same thing to us that Nate and any Inspectors using Recall Check do to clients …true or false ?
The answer is true because how do you think all the venders get your email and phone info ?
Does not NACHI sell the member list ?
Same thing and you have a choice as to if you wish to be a member or not but no choice if you wish to opt out from vendor sales calls otherwise.
Nate does at least provide that option though his fees discourage that.
Discovery or transparency of that fact (?) would be great but even Nick is not going to come on here and announce he sells member lists .(does he ?)
Is Nates sales lead generator much different ?
Lets be grownups and discuss in the open.
How many here ever went to the site here (not sure where is ) that lists Agents for us to target with our marketing efforts ?
My hunch is a few that hate Nates service because of the alarm sales lead aspect have used those Agent lists and thought nothing of it.
Nates biggest problem is the same as Robert Humphries issues in that he likes to argue and makes himself come across as very abrasive.
Gosh good thing none of us is like that.
Thornberry attempts to intimidate his detractors with whatever he thinks will work … threats of lawsuits, slander, libel, and various other measures. What he avoids to the greatest extent possible is “truth” … and this is what sets him apart as a crook, in my opinion.
I agree with you, Bob, that the kid is hard to like, but I think it goes farther than that.
One example is from back when he was running an operation out of South Carolina that was not consistent with state laws … whereby his company (for a fee, of course) would train home inspectors and “certify” them as “Engineering Technicians” so that they could buy engineering advice from his company and resell it to contractors and home buyers … he first chose, when questioned, to lie and claim that he was not soliciting members of NACHI to participate in it.
Then, when his solicitations were made public and he could no longer deny making them, he chose to lie and falsely represent that his unlawful operation was indeed “legal”. When it was disclosed as to how, in one particular state (Missouri, which had launched an investigation into this operation), it was not legal … he changed his lie to that of his service being legal in all but four states. He refused to name which four states, of course, so that those who inquired with their own state and found it to be illegal might think that they were simply among the four states.
Then, when he was finally reported to the State of South Carolina and they found that he was issuing certificates for engineering related training from their state without having the lawfully required license to conduct such training and offer such certificates, they shut him down until he changed the nature of his offerings.
He will still lie about this if you ask him, but the message board records all of these events quite clearly for anyone to discern on their own that “truth” and “Thornberry” are like oil and water.
So … when Thornberry makes you sign a contract with him and forces you to agree to the following:
You will provide him with private client data in exchange for cash and services, and
You will amend your agreement with your client to include a clause that provides a waiver to any Do Not Call list your client may be on from any anonymous third party holding the contract, and
You contractually agree to conceal from your client the existence of the contract that you have with Thornberry and keeping him anonymous, and
You only have Thornberry’s message board promises (nothing else) that he will keep this private information confidential and will not sell it to others,
… some people just don’t believe him.
I think it is great to take up a cause if you feel strongly about it however Nick obviously approves of the service making you guys no different from Don Quixote at this point.
Change at NACHI does not occur on the forum and one needs to separate personal from business which is not being done here.
Sort of like a train with two engines facing opposite directions.
It ain’t going nowhere.
Nates advantage is he understands business while the opposition apparently does not .
Remember I am not taking sides but it is looking like it is time to pray to the Saint of Lost Causes.
Just like Service Magic (Home advisor) which many feel harms the industry it is not going to disappear.
Personally I think that is a better cause as they lower the average fee by encouraging bottom feeders thus harming the average Inspectors fee in general.
**For the record… **all of your comments are purely your opinion without substantiating proof…
I thought you weren’t taking sides?