Complaint Review: Community Crossroads Magazine Don Chase

Community Crossroads was a bi-monthly in the beginning and changed to quarterly magazine, developed by Don and Marsha Chase.  The magazine was a work of love started as a small business designed to showcase other small businesses in the area.  The magazine was started with a meager budget, growing from 16 page news print publication to a 96 to 150 full color page publication which was sustained on the revenues generated from advertising.  The Publisher, Editor, and Graphics collectively developed a harmonious style of work to produce a magazine on-deadline every time, the quality of which can be attested to by countless positive comments still received to this day.
 
The concept of Community Crossroads magazine was simple: offer small business owners a venue to showcase their business in a high quality, professional publication, with distribution over a large geographic area.  This concept worked very well from the start.  The magazine was well received by its readers, and its advertisers received quality advertising at a fair price.  The revenues generated by the sale of advertising were then reinvested in the magazine to cover the cost of employees, publishing, and distribution.
 
As with any business there were some startup issues.  The local printer that was used initially over charged for the publishing, while providing a product that was inferior.  This problem was rectified by switching printing firms, resulting in a long term savings as well as an improved product for the customer. This did not negate the fact that print companies, publishers, and newspapers across the globe were downsizing, charging more for print or going out of business. There were also problems with distribution.  Display racks were purchased and placed at locations throughout the state.  Most of these racks were stolen.  As a solution, space was rented in existing display racks in numerous high traffic retail locations.  A mail house was also paid to send copies of the magazine to subscription holders and clients.  Additionally, the contracted sales staff was unable to effectively sell.  However, the owners worked through these problems to ensure the success of the magazine, even supplementing the business with their personal savings and countless long days.
 
For 5 years the magazine enjoyed a very positive and successful run.  The readership enjoyed a quality magazine that was both entertaining and informative.  The customers enjoyed a well-read venue to showcase their businesses.  Deadlines were always met, and distribution was always completed. In 2008 things changed, Don re-broke his ankle and this was the first time Community Crossroads did not meet the schedule print date until three weeks later.
 
The magazine had expanded into the state of Idaho, and a team was contracted by Community Crossroads in that state, with the idea of a potential partnership.  This fell through after the employees embezzled thousands of dollars from Community Crossroads.  That, coupled with a downturn in the economy was the beginning of the end for Community Crossroads.  Due to the economic downturn many customers were unable to pay their advertising commitments.  Others could not afford the cost of advertising, and the advertisements were being sold at less than the cost to support the publication ($1,000.00 to $1,500.00 per page to profit).  It did not take long to deplete personal savings.  This took a toll on the magazine, as well as the health of Don and Marsha Chase.  Eventually Community Crossroads and the Chases were forced into bankruptcy, and the magazine ceased publication. The Bankruptcy Courts granted a full Bankruptcy Discharge and Closure and not one of these clients showed up to contest and in their hearts and minds they knew that this was beyond Community Crossroads control. No wrong doing was intentionally done on Community Crossroads part.
 
As a result, some lies and negative publicity were propagated on the internet.  One of the lies is that Community Crossroads sold articles while making false promises about the layout and what the article entails.  In fact, no article, advertisement, advertorial, etc. ever went to publication without the direct approval of the customer.  Therefore if there was something the customer did not like about what was to be printed, they had every opportunity to change things. 
 
Another allegation that was made was that costs ranged from $100 - $1,000 for the same package.  That allegation is also not correct.  Costs varied based on what was provided to the customer. Larger advertisements dictated a greater cost than smaller advertisements. If there were additional discounts noted on an individual businesses contract it was in exchange for the client to trade product or services and the client was to perform a portion of the contract at a lesser amount than the $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 per page cost by providing the article, the photos or both, or writing a column for 4 to 12 issues.
 
Another false claim was that Community Crossroads promised to provide a photographer and writer to write the article and take the photographs, but failed to do so and told the customers to write their own articles and provide their own pictures.  This is totally false.  Professional photographers and writers were always provided after receiving a completed fact finder from the client, which gave the writer more insight to the clients business before writing or conducting a personal interview. There were a few exceptions in which clients had asked to write their own stories and provide their own pictures.  This was noted on the contract and initialed by the client.
 
Other accusations were that the Chases were rude on the phone, provided poor customer service, or were non-responsive.  These claims are also untrue.  Customer service was always a priority, and the Chases always worked hard to satisfy their customers.  There were a few occasions where certain customers had called and were verbally abusive on the phone, using profanities, and verbally attacking Marsha Chase where courtesy was set aside, and those calls were terminated or were not returned.  Anybody that was treated in that manner would have reacted in a similar way.  Otherwise all phone messages and emails were always returned.
 
Another false accusation that was made was regarding the publication rate.  Community Crossroads was in the beginning a bimonthly publication that was published 6 times per year.  There was an exception one year when the magazine published 2 extra issues for Central Montana above and beyond the standard 6 issues. In the end because of the print cost and the logistics the Community Crossroads did switch to a quarterly magazine, the clients were adequately informed in writing and they would receive in print the same number of issues they paid for.
 
Other false claims have been posted regarding distribution.  The magazine was always distributed as required.  There were instances when magazine display racks were stolen, but the magazines were always distributed where they were supposed to be.  Written agreements were ultimately made with several existing rack companies to provide for distribution of the magazine.
 
It is true that the Better Business Bureau has given Community Crossroads magazine an F rating.  However, 2 of the complaints were resolved with BBB assistance.  1 complaint the BBB found that Community Crossroads made a good faith effort to resolve the complaints, but the customer was still not satisfied.  The remainder of the BBB complaints are still pending per Community Crossroads detailed response to these bogus complaints to be re-submitted.
 
A final allegation that was made was that the business Community Crossroads had not paid its employees.  This allegation is also completely false.  All employees of Community Crossroads were paid in full. There were a couple of independent contractors who had their own business or worked somewhere else who due to the embezzlement, the economy, loss of revenue Community Crossroads was not able to meet there final invoice.
 
The bottom line is all customers of Community Crossroads were bound by a contract. This contract included a confidentiality statement and wordage that all disputes would be handled by mediation.  Nobody has attempted to mediate any disagreement with Community Crossroads.  The individuals by posting these lies on this forum anonymously did not give Community Crossroads the means to mediate with these individuals or show exactly what their contract contained, and have violated the terms of their contracts and should be held legally accountable.  These accusations amount to nothing more than libel, a blatant attempt to dirty the name of a hardworking small business that has fallen on hard times like so many others across the US.