A lady asked me for my opinion about one of the nearby car shops. All of our dealings with them have been negative and a bunch of random people have come to us and complained about their prices and work. So, I told the lady I wouldn't go there. Well, she drove right to them and told them what I said. (Why?) The manager of that shop called and complained to my manager and my manager's boss. I'll see what happens tomorrow, I guess.
Do they have some sort of contract with each other? Agreement with the same insurance agent, maybe?
That's one of the reasons I stuck to factories & ware houses as long as I could. I just can't deal with service.
I don't understand how that counts as you messing up unless its a company policy to recommend bad businesses? Are you linked to them somehow? I don't understand what that lady was doing though, unless she had already gone there and was trying to find other people who agreed with her in order to complain further [ie I want to complain about how terrible you are and even the guys at X agree]
Basic counterargument: Our company prides itself on good customer service and given the amount of people who have complained about this company in the past it would actually damage our company further since we recommended such a terrible place. Sure you can be diplomatic, but people generally prefer honest feedback as a customer.
Short answer; if the other company was good at their jobs, they wouldn't get complaints and you'd have no problem sending people there. It's not like you told it to her unsolicited. The fact that they rang and complained tells you all you need to know about where their priorities are at.
Given the facts as you laid them out, I wouldn't say you f**ked up, I would say you were f**ked over.
Just stick by your guns. You were asked for an opinion by a co-worker and you gave your honest thoughts. If your employer thinks that's a negative, you have bad management. The lady who "ratted" on you should be the one who gets in trouble, if anyone does.
I haven't heard anything else about it so, I guess my DM either didn't care or ... ?