diff --git a/pilerBackup/pilerbackup.sh b/pilerBackup/pilerbackup.sh
index 724dd9c..44b19b6 100755
--- a/pilerBackup/pilerbackup.sh
+++ b/pilerBackup/pilerbackup.sh
@@ -51,20 +51,20 @@ badDetails () {
 # bad parameter passed to script
 badParam () {
     if [ "$1" = "dne" ]; then
-        printf "${err}\nError: '%s %s'\n" "$2" "$3"
+        printf "\n%sError: '%s %s'\n" "$err" "$2" "$3"
         printf "file or directory does not exist.${norm}\n\n"
         exit 1
     elif [ "$1" = "empty" ]; then
-        printf "${err}\nError: '%s' cannot have a NULL (empty) value.\n" "$2"
-        printf "${cyan}Please use '--help' for assistance${norm}\n\n"
+        printf "\n%sError: '%s' cannot have a NULL (empty) value.\n" "$err" "$2"
+        printf "%sPlease use '--help' for assistance%s\n\n" "$cyan" "$norm"
         exit 1
     elif [ "$1" = "svc" ]; then
-        printf "${err}\nError: '%s %s': Service does not exist!${norm}\n\n" \
-            "$2" "$3"
+        printf "\n%sError: '%s %s': Service does not exist!${norm}\n\n" \
+            "$err" "$2" "$3"
         exit 1
     elif [ "$1" = "user" ]; then
-        printf "${err}\nError: '%s %s': User does not exist!${norm}\n\n" \
-            "$2" "$3"
+        printf "\n%sError: '%s %s': User does not exist!${norm}\n\n" \
+            "$err" "$2" "$3"
         exit 1
     fi
 }