On January 7, CBS 5 News broke the story of a former customer service representative who alleged that her boss forced her to lie to the company's clients. In the ten days since that story aired, former customers, employees, and franchise owners have flooded the CBS 5 newsroom with calls and emails. The accusers hail from all parts of the county -- and most do not even know each other -- but they all made the same blistering allegations.

"Everything about that company is dishonest," one former employee said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The name 'flawless' is a joke."

EX-EMPLOYEES: WE HAD TO LIE

On its website, RESCUECOM promises "fast and flawless computer services" and to "fix it or it's free." Former staff members balked at the claims.

Three ex-customer service associates, who requested that their identities be concealed, said customers are routinely charged for unsatisfactory service and for calls that were either cancelled or never booked. They said refund requests pour into the company's Burnet Avenue headquarters on a daily basis, but that office staff are under direct orders to dispute every request.

"(Customers) have to go through hell to try to get their money back, and usually they don't," said "Pat," an ex-employee. "I had women crying on the phone, 'My God, this $100 is my food money for the week."

Customers were equally frustrated by the lack of communication from the company, another former customer service representative said. All calls were referred to supervisors who -- according to several dissatisfied customers -- never followed-up.

"It was just blatant that they don't care," said "Anna," a former call-taker. "All (RESCUECOM) is out there for is the money."

Following CBS 5's initial report on January 7, RESCUECOM CEO David Milman agreed to issue refunds to four dissatisfied customers. In addition, he made public his direct telephone number -- 315-882-1100 -- as part of a promise to personally handle any other disputes.

Ex-employees believe that was a public relations move. The unwritten anti-refund policy, they alleged, is still in place.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A FIX?

A former technician at one of the company's Texas franchises said RESCUECOM thrives on hidden internal policies. Even if the computer problem is not resolved, he said, merely diagnosing a problem and suggesting a solution constitutes a fix. Therefore, the customer is unable to take advantage of the "We Fix It or It's Free" pledge.

Milman categorically denied the allegations, but inadvertently corroborated the ex-technician's claim during an interview.

"If we give a customer a quote on how long or how much it's going to take to solve a problem, and then they decide, 'Well, we don't want to use you to solve this problem,' we've already told them what they need to do," Milman said. "They can either go-out and solve the problem themselves, or they can hire someone else to come, but we are entitled to that minimum one-hour charge, which -- in many cases -- is $98.00."

That charge, the former technician said, effectively negates the "We Fix It or It's Free" policy.

COMPANY CONFUSION

The most frequent allegation -- from customers, employees, and franchise owners alike -- centered on one of RESCUECOM's alternate telephone numbers. The company registered 800-GEEK-SQA, which happens to be one digit away from rival Geek Squad's 800-GEEK-SQU.

While the recorded greeting on 800-GEEK-SQA clearly identifies the company as RESCUECOM, many customers -- having misspelled the word "squad" when dialing -- assumed it was a computer repair division of Geek Squad, former employees and franchise owners said. Two ex-call takers said they were instructed to dispatch service calls to those customers -- even for home theater and stereo set-up, which RESCUECOM does not advertise among its services.

Milman acknowledged having requested the number, noting it is "certainly a very competitive business," but denied intentionally taking advantage of misdialed calls.

"That is absolutely absurd," he said, twice stumbling to find the perfect words. "I don't want to make money that way."

RESCUECOM corporate counsel Edmund Gegan offered another view. In an email to CBS 5 News, he wrote, "RESCUECOM welcomes every opportunity to rescue a customer from one of its competitors, but RESCUECOM is rightly proud of its brand name, and wants every one of its customers to know and remember its name."

Best Buy, Geek Squad's parent company, expressed deep concern over the proximity in telephone numbers and RESCUECOM's alleged exploitation of it. Speaking for the company, spokeswoman Paula Baldwin said, "To hear that another company may be intentionally posing as Geek Squad is beyond disturbing. These alleged attempts to dupe customers into thinking they're dealing with Geek Squad not only violate the trustworthiness of our outstanding employees, but threaten the reputation of the entire tech support services industry."

A DISENFRANCHISED COMPANY

In 1999, two years after its launch, RESCUECOM officially became a franchised company. Business and IT professionals across the country started buying into the firm, paying to open and operate RESCUECOM locations. An internal newsletter dated Winter 2004 listed 68 franchises nationwide -- a number that reportedly exceeded 100 at its zenith, but has dwindled rapidly and dramatically.

Sherri Eisenpress, a member of the New York City-based law firm Reiss Eisenpress LLP, has personally represented 25 former franchise owners -- and counseled several others -- who sought to terminate their five-year contract agreements with RESCUECOM. Many came to her on the verge of bankruptcy, she said.

"I believe (David Milman's) current model sets them up for failure," Eisenpress said. "The franchisees do not get what they're promised, and they cannot make a living."

Gegan, RESCUECOM's corporate counsel, alleged the franchisees acted upon entirely ulterior motives. They sought to open their own businesses and to bring RESCUECOM's customers with them, he said.

However, CBS 5 News obtained a copy of one franchise owner's termination agreement, in which the directed migration of customers is strictly prohibited.

Seven ex-franchise owners, speaking on a conference call, insisted they merely wanted to stop losing money. They cited inordinately high royalty and equipment fees, a lack of corporate support, and insufficient call center staffing among the reasons their businesses failed.

"Occasionally, we would call the call center ourselves to see if someone was there," said "Moe," a former franchise owner who claims to have lost $130,000 on the RESCUECOM deal. "Sometimes, there would be five or ten minute waits (for someone to answer). You wouldn't get through during busy times of the day."

RESCUECOM has only one call center to service all of its nationwide locations. Impatient customers, Moe said, tend to hang-up and move-on to the next computer repair company listed in the phone book.

Gegan admitted to the occasional delay, but said it is a sacrifice the company is willing to make.

"In an age when most businesses redirect customers to computers and voice-mail...a live, trained RESCUECOM employee answers every phone call into the call center -- and always will," Gegan said in an email to CBS 5 News. "While commitment to live human interaction occasionally may result in a brief delay, RESCUECOM remains committed to providing old-fashioned human contact to provide high technology services."

He added, "RESCUECOM believes that its call center is the best trained in the industry."

TECH CERTIFICATION QUESTIONED

The training of RESCUECOM's computer repair technicians is also up for debate, according to the seven ex-franchise owners who participated in the conference call. Being "RESCUECOM Certified" -- as the company boasts its techs are -- means nothing, they said.

"That didn't mean a heck of a lot," Moe said. "It really means that you were able to answer a series of questions -- about 25 questions -- based on how you handle a call, which is how basically to get paid."

While RESCUECOM maintains that its technicians are the "best of the best," many lacked the skills and training to solve all of the computer problems they encountered, Moe said.

"The call center staff was not trained as computer technicians, so a lot of times they would promise things to the techs (and to the customers) that we knew couldn't possibly be done," he said.

CONDITION OF ANONYMITY

Anna, Moe, and Pat are among nearly 20 former RESCUECOM customers, employees, and franchise owners with whom CBS 5 News has spoken during its investigation. They all requested that their identities be concealed, primarily because they fear legal retaliation from company CEO David Milman.

They alleged Milman has little regard for the well-being of the people under his employ, and none for the people he has fired.

"It's a revolving door like nothing I have ever seen in my entire career," Pat said, mirroring a commonly-heard claim: that she was terminated without notice or reason. "(Milman) once made the remark that, 'Once you leave RESCUECOM, you're dead.'"

"We all made one mistake," an ex-franchise owner added. "We grossly underestimated him."

While Milman did grant an interview request prior to CBS 5's first report on January 7, he repeatedly declined to offer any comment for this story. Instead, his public relations firm issued a statement late Thursday, saying, "RESCUECOM follows the Golden Rule: we treat customers, employees and franchisees as we would want to be treated. "