I feel compelled to share our latest alarming experience with Anchorstrong. An employee, Joe Essy,…read morethreatened us via email, stating that he might file false reports against us unless we removed our honest Yelp reviews. He also suggested that he might leave negative reviews for a kind handyman we've worked with and file false reports against him, despite never having used his services.
We also asked Joe to provide the permit he claimed to obtain for our project, as required by our contract. Several weeks have passed with no response, leading us to believe he never secured it. Rosie (Office Manager) and Steve (owner) were copied on our email, and we forwarded Joe's threatening email to them as well, but they have not responded.
I also have serious concerns that Joe may have created multiple accounts to post fake reviews, including negative ones for others that reflect the threats he made in his email to us, as well as positive ones for his own business and employer. Yelp has removed several reviews based on these issues, and I have documented evidence to support my claims.
Believe it or not, Joe has done more shady things, which we've documented. To keep this more concise, I'm highlighting just these examples but there are many more.
In my opinion, Joe's behavior is not only beyond unprofessional but also seems unhinged to me. Who engages in such extreme, dishonest tactics against their customers simply because they left honest feedback? Providing feedback is our right as customers and a key purpose of Yelp. Multiple individuals who interacted with Joe raised serious concerns about his questionable honesty, erratic temperament, and disrespectful behavior. The emails I shared from Costco are just a few examples of this (see photos I posted in this review).
Instead of simply addressing valid feedback, Joe resorts to intimidation tactics. His actions made me feel unsafe enough to install a security camera, especially since Joe said he lost the key to our front door. It's deeply disturbing that Joe has threatened to unfairly target us and this handyman--who has nothing to do with this situation and doesn't even know Joe--in what seems to be retaliation for our honest reviews. This handyman is genuinely kind, hardworking, and excellent at his job. He does not deserve this treatment at all. Since Joe mentioned he provides handyman services himself, Joe's threats also raise serious concerns about a conflict of interest.
Based on our experience, it seems Joe is willing to go to very extreme lengths, including unethical tactics, to silence honest reviews, suggesting serious issues. His intimidating behavior has been completely unjustified and, in my opinion, it's shameful.
Anchorstrong has failed to meet their contractual obligations, leaving us with substantial damages and financial losses, and refusing to refund us or work with us toward a fair resolution. After we paid them over $34K, we've faced intimidation, which we have proof of, instead of accountability. As paying customers, it's disheartening to experience such unethical treatment. If you work with them, be prepared for the same treatment. Also, ensure all permits are actually secured.
I didn't want to write this update because this company isn't worth anyone's time, but their intimidation has led me to warn others and I hope it helps someone make a more informed decision. We've never encountered such appalling treatment from a vendor before.
To Anchorstrong: We have every right to post honest reviews. Stop trying to intimidate us. While we've accepted that you won't provide the fair refund we are owed after taking our money, we simply want to be left alone--and for others to be left alone as well. The photos of Joe's shoddy work and the damages he caused speak for themselves. We face significant expenses to fix these issues, in addition to the $34K+ we already paid you and the other losses we incurred due to your failure to meet your contractual obligations. You have not reimbursed us, and we are left to cover these costs ourselves. Why threaten us? Haven't you done enough to us? We don't want to deal with you any further. Please leave us alone.
