When the father and son duo behind Geakers Tacos asked to join a local alliance of food trucks, they were shocked by the response they received.

The taco shop in the Miller Heights section of Bethlehem Township has three food trucks it operates at 50 Lehigh Valley events a year, said Jared Geake, who co-owns Geakers with his dad Kevin Geake.

When the Geakes learned of the May 14 Lehigh Valley Food Truck Festival at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, they researched how to become a vendor.

The festival is only open to members of the Greater Lehigh Valley Mobile Food Alliance, so Jared Geake e-mailed the group but got no response. He made contact via Facebook and was told the alliance would contact him after an upcoming meeting. But again he got no response.

Jared Geake sent a follow up Facebook message and was told that the board of directors had rejected Geakers Tacos.

"Unfortunately, we have received significant feedback that you've been difficult to work with," the message read. "Go screw."

Jared Geake said he stared at his phone in disbelief. The message was deleted and then another message was sent that instead, in part, read:

"Unfortunately, we have received significant feedback that you have been difficult to work with, so, unfortunately, your request is denied. We do, however, wish you the best of luck with your business."

The alliance maintains that the "go screw" response was an "unfortunate" autocorrect error.

"I find that very, very hard to believe," Jared Geake said.

The alliance could've just said they were not interested and left it at that, the Geakes say.

"We've been a staple of the Lehigh Valley for 15 years," Kevin Geake said. "We have every right and qualification to be a part of the alliance."

As the food truck festival approaches, the Geakes say customers have been asking if they'll be able to find them there and they got tired of explaining why they won't. So, on Wednesday they took to their Facebook page to explain they are not welcome in the alliance.

GEAKERS TACOS NOT WELCOME IN LV FOODTRUCK ALLIANCE!!! Geakers is sorry to announce we will not be participating in the... Posted by GEAKERS TACOS on Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Many of their customers quickly came to their defense, praising the Geakes for their food and customer service, and were critical of the alliance.

The alliance says the Geakes' decision to post the conversation to Facebook, rather than meeting to discuss the rejection, highlights why the business is not a good fit for the alliance.

Members of the alliance adhere to a code of conduct and all new membership applicants are screened to make sure they're in line with it, the group said in a statement. As part of the screening, the alliance reaches out to members, fellow vendors and venues for feedback.

"This decision was made solely by the GLVMFA Board regarding (the Geakes) treatment of fellow vendors," the statement says. "In no way was their food quality or customer service in question at any time. Respect amongst our members is part of the organization's code of conduct and after being party to this muckraking debacle, we have been assured that we made the right decision."

Jared Geake thinks the idea that Geakers is difficult is ridiculous.

"We didn't get 50 events on our own by being hard to work with," he said.

Kevin Geake says that he thinks some vendors can get resentful when lines start forming at his taco truck. Some of the food truck vendors are interested in serving high-end twists on food and charging $9 an item, he said. That's just too expensive for a family of four, he said.

"It's so important to be affordable for people," Kevin Geake said. "Then everything else will fall into place."

The Geakes could have requested a meeting to find a way to work together but instead they chose to start an online mudslinging attack, the alliance said.

"(A meeting) would have shown us that the complaints we received were misguided," the statement says. "Instead what they did was validate everything we heard, and then some."

Jared Geake says his repeated attempts to reach out to the alliance weren't successful in the past.

The Geakes feel their customers' response and successful business history shows the complaints are unfounded. The business began in Wind Gap in 1988 and moved to its Freemansburg location in the township in 2002.

"It was not easy," Kevin Geake said. "We had to earn one customer at a time."

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.