I just had to talk to our Webstrainer rep about MadBoy.

I've been sparing you a rehash of the same old aggravations, but, yes, the idiot 'Nut is back and sowing turmoil in all directions.

It all started about three weeks ago when I noticed that he'd changed his campaign to deliberately target territory that's "owned" by the other two Bowery Boys--the two he used to share a single marketing effort with. Naturally that's strictly against the rules--they sign legal contracts not to do that--so I passed the info along to NewBoss Anais and hoped to remain uninvolved.

For the last three weeks, I've been forced into endless discussions about MadBoy. I've wigged out myself, pitched numerous fits, and flatly refused to be involved in the problem. I've advised my own particular ChaosManager that there is no solution to this problem and that they make a mistake in breaking the rules for this hammerhead, leave themselves open to legal action from other locations, and generally just don't do themselves or the world any favors by not shutting this guy down.

I had hoped that, at the very least, I would be come so obnoxious on the subject that NewBoss Anais would bypass me. No such luck.

As he is prone to do, MadBoy, when approached about his contract violation, counterattacked instantly, demanding (and not for the first time) that we change reality to suit the way he thinks the world should work.

Long, stupid story short--his DIY approach to marketing isn't working, the outside agency he contracted with to do it for him either isn't doing it, isn't doing it to suit him, or weirded him out in some other way, and he's decided that the fundamental problem with his life is that the Argonut Café is in violation of the contract we signed with him because we can't make Webstrainer abide by the terms of a contract they not only haven't seen and didn't sign but directly contradicts their published policies.

(More simply, one of the other Bowery Boy campaigns has better ads, higher quality scores, and spends more money. So those ads sometimes show in MadBoy's "territory." He feels that since we are unable to force Webstrainer to rewrite their software to prevent this, we are in violation of his contract.)

Anyhow, he's demanded and is getting a conference call with one of our Webstrainer reps on the phone. His position, when he's feeling polite, is that I might believe how I tell him--or, rather, how I tell NewBoss Anais to tell him--the program works, but that doesn't mean I know what I'm talking about. When he's feeling slightly less polite, his position is that I'm an incompetent jackass who doesn't know what I'm talking about. But, mostly, his position is that everyone hates him and is deliberately cheating him.

I tried. I honestly did try not to prejudice the Webstrainer rep or say anything inappropriate. She even complimented me on my diplomacy. (I never said I tried to keep the strain from showing.)

It's hard to prepare someone for a call with a blowhard know-nothing who considers themselves an expert and is inclined to scream and curse if contradicted, using only diplomatic, objective language.

Also, I'm crabby because I've been forced to actually look at his POS campaign several times over the last three weeks and several of what I dubiously think of as his "choices" have come close to giving me an aneurism.