Back in August I wrote about my frustration with Lighthouse Catholic Media, a Catholic apostolate that distributes CDs of talks by popular Catholic authors and others. Read that short post to see what I was dealing with, but the gist is that they would not stop sending me their sales and marketing emails despite my repeated entreaties.
I believe I was extremely patient with them, waiting literally over a year before taking the final step, which was to write my blog post. Only then, when I had publicly exposed their behavior did I get a response. Finally they sent me a check for the small affiliate money I’d earned in the brief time I’d been an affiliate plus a bunch of CDs and a book I hadn’t asked for. They also requested that I take down the original blog post. I refused, on the grounds that nothing I’d said was untrue, that it reflected my experience, and that others who might be thinking of doing business with them should have the whole picture. They repeatedly made efforts to contact me and today I received a phone call—while I was at work no less—from the company’s president.
He accused me of slander, to which I responded that as a former journalist I know the definition of slander and this does not fit. Then he said that as a Christian I had to forgive. I told him that I do forgive him, but that doesn’t mean he gets to sweep this under the rug and make it disappear. He complained that there are plenty of anti-Catholics out there trying to undermine Catholic apostolates and that Catholics shouldn’t do it to one another. I responded that that he shouldn’t give cause for complaint then. He retorted that mine is the only complaint online out of all the hundreds of plaudits they’ve received. So I asked why then does he care what one Catholic blogger says about him. Mine is but one opinion and anyone looking online for information about his company will see my one comment amid the sea of others. Heck, he should look up my name and see the nasty stuff people have written about me.
In the end I agreed only to update the original blog post to reflect the fact that they finally heeded my requests and stopped emailing and that I have not received any further emails from them.
Lighthouse doesn’t have to win my trust back because I have no desire to interact with them. They’re not on my radar anymore. But if they want to ensure that my lone blog post doesn’t affect their efforts let them earn it back among those who would write compliments on other blogs and sites. Let them prove me wrong in the marketplace of ideas, not by badgering me to make my blog post disappear.
My parish calendar came out this weekend with a bunch of photos from around the archdiocese. You’re on the back – it’s a picture of you giving money to the cashier at your cafeteria.
This sort of thing goes on a lot with Catholic apostolates, unfortunately, especially when there’s money involved. We’re shocked by it, of course, until we remember that people who engage in this work, whatever their sincerity, are no more immune to the human condition than the rest of us.
I began to involve myself in similar work years ago, but got disgusted at behavior that was worse than anything I encountered on my job.
Dom,
FWIW, they do not have a very good name around here. I highly doubt you are the only person complaining. In fact, I know that you are not.
I find them pushy and overly dramatic. Their response does not surprise me. It show a small mindedness that they shouldn’t have to abide by polite business practices simply because they are a Catholic apostolate. They aren’t the only ones, but they certainly do stand out in my mind.