Bargain Suppliers Discount-Mats.com kicks GIs to the Mat

[American Patriot]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Web Site Kicks Sand in Faces of GIs in Iraq Asking for Mats to Ease Hardship of Sleeping on Ground

Tuesday , January 23, 2007

An American GI assigned to one of the harshest posts in Iraq had a simple request last week for a Wisconsin mattress company: send some floor mats to help ease the hardship of sleeping on the cold, bug-infested ground.

What he got, instead, was a swift kick from the company's Web site, which not only refused the request but added insult to injury with the admonition, "If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq."

Army Sgt. Jason Hess, stationed in Taji, Iraq, with the 1st Cavalry Division, said he emailed his request to Discount-mats.com because he and his fellow soldiers sleep on the cold ground, which contains sand mites, sand flies and other disease carriers.

In his email, dated Jan. 16, 2007, he asked the Web-based company, registered to Faisal Khetani, an American Muslim of Pakistani descent:

"Do you ship to APO (military) addresses? I'm in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for ships to APO first."

On the same day, Hess received this reply:

"SGT Hess,

We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq.

Bargain Suppliers
Discount-Mats.com"

Khetani on Monday told FOX News that the person responsible for the email reply had been fired. The Web site, meanwhile, has been temporarily taken down.

Hess emailed that he has since found two mat suppliers willing to ship to an APO address in Iraq.

FOX News' Douglas Kennedy contributed to this story.
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

[American Patriot]

Went to their web site... This is what I found:



Discount-Mats.com is Experiencing Technical Difficulties...

If you are inquiring about your order, please contact us via phone or email.

Thank you for your understanding & patience.

[American Patriot]

contact@discount-mats.com

That's their email address.

[Neue Regel]

Website is now
"404 not found

The requested resource could not be found."


Went from busy to AWOL. Probably just like his business.

[Neue Regel]

Anti-war e-mail leads to threats; worker fired

By The Associated Press

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...antiwar24.html

"MILWAUKEE — An American GI in Iraq who e-mailed a Wisconsin company to ask for a shipment of some floor mats got a brusque reply: "We would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq."
The two-line e-mail response quickly circulated on the Internet and has led to threats against the Muslim-owned business and demands for a boycott.
Bargain Suppliers, an online retailer based in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, shut down its Web site Monday and fired the unidentified employee who sent the e-mail, WTMJ-TV reported.
Co-owner Faisal Khetani, a Muslim from Pakistan, has received threatening calls, the TV station said. In an e-mail dated Jan. 16, Sgt. Jason Hess asked about getting floor mats from the company.
"Do you ship to APO addresses? I'm in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for who ships to APO first," the e-mail said.
A response e-mailed the same day said the company did not.
"And even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq," said the e-mail, which was signed "Bargain Suppliers."
Hess, a 31-year-old Fayetteville, N.C., native who is stationed in Taji, Iraq, said he wanted some mats to cover the ruts in a concrete floor in a former parking garage or storage unit now used as a conference room."

[American Patriot]

Wonder if they shut the site off because they got slammed really hard by emails and such?

[Neue Regel]

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the backlash of responses exceeded the bandwidth limit.

[MagnetMan]

Site has been updated.

Dear Visitor,
Due to the recent actions of a member within our company, we have been experiencing many difficulties. We have been bombarded by emails and phone calls literally within 12 hours of the event occurring, which sent us in a state of complete shock.
Our technical difficulties were experienced due to severe e-mail and phone call overload.
As a company, we would like to say that it is against company policy to treat anyone disrespectfully, and we condemn any such behavior. The member who was responsible for stating their personal opinion in a disrespectful manner is no longer associated and no longer working with Discount-Mats.com
The members within our company strongly disagreed with the views and actions of this member, and once again, his personal opinion does not reflect the opinions of the company.
We, as a company, are sorry for the events that took place and we do not condone un-professional, rude behavior from any members within our company.
We are trying to get our website back up as soon as possible.
If you are a potential or current customer, or if you would like to leave your comments, please contact us via phone or e-mail below:

New E-mail Address: support @ discount-mats.com

Phone Number: 414-736-8394

We are getting a lot of phone calls and we expect many emails, so please don't be surprised if the mailbox is full. Please try again later as we are constantly trying to clear our phone and e-mail boxes.

[American Patriot]

Woot

[justj]

.