These are the kinds of charges that can send a company's customers fleeing ... and certainly should if they're proven to be true.
The State of Washington has filed suit (.pdf) against a Redmond-based search engine optimization and Web services outfit that has done business under the names Visible.net, Captures.com and WebMarketingSource.com. In essence, the state attorney general contends that these entities have ripped off their mostly mom-and-pop clientele through a pattern of unfulfilled performance promises and financial shenanigans. While the clients may be on the smaller end of the spectrum, they have been forking over real money, with initial startup charges ranging from $3,750 to $9,750, plus a monthly fee of $40 to $100.
The attorney general has charged the company and its owner, Gilbert Walker, with:
- Misrepresenting the ability to significantly increase traffic to customer Web sites by achieving top search-engine rankings and failing to deliver other promised services.
- Falsely claiming an affiliation with other marketers including Specialty Merchandise Company, a so-called drop-ship wholesaler.
- Claiming that its customer service representatives can be reached at any time when, in fact, customers are often unable to reach representatives and sometimes do not receive return calls.
- Failing to provide refunds or honor cancellation requests.
- Continuing to bill the credit cards of some consumers who have attempted to cancel and submitting alleged debts to collection agencies.
- And, failing to register with the Department of Licensing as a commercial telephone solicitor and failing to provide written confirmation of a consumer's rights under the Commercial Telephone Solicitation Act.
The attorney general says 90 complaints have been lodged against the company in the past four years. And it doesn't take a lot of Googling to see that Visible and its various iterations have attracted detractors.
In reply to my request for comment on the state's allegations, Matt Franklin, the company's marketing director, writes: "At this time we are not responding to inquiries about the (attorney general's) press release. Our official response will most likely be posted to our blog. Appreciate the inquiry, sorry I can't be of much help as of yet."
Visible.net customers are likely to be anxious to read that official response. Would-be customers even more so.
(Update: You can read the company's response here.)
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Scary
It's scary. Most of these small businesses are losing a fair amount of their market share to web based shops. First it was the superstore, and now the web. Knowing they don't have the in-house expertise to manage their modest web shops, they are suckered in on scams like this.
Until then the SBA is a great resource. They have gobs of resources available. And can set you up with some real help.
RE: SCARY
You have to be careful about where you find these companies. I work for a lot of different small businesses. How did they find me? Through referral. These same people that I work with field a minimum of 1 call daily from some Internet marketing scam company.
One other word of caution ..... If a company is asking you for huge setup fees, very low monthly fees and offers you are GUARANTEE for placement, WALK AWAY. We, as marketing professionals, do not work for google or yahoo or msn.
If you are getting unconditional guarantees, 1 of two things is happening. 1. The company making the offer is gambling or there is some catch-22 there. 2. The company making the offer is flat out lying to you. In either case, do you really want to do business with a company who would do either of those things?
Official Company Stance
Read our official response to the AG Release here...
http://www.visible.net/visiblog/visiblenet-is-serious-about-customer-service-support/
Your services are a rip-off
Hey Gilbert,
Get real. You offer nothing and charge a lot for it. In this country that is a scam.
Great to see them cracking down!
It's great that Washington State cares enough to go after these types of companies that make promises they can't and don't deliver upon.
I hope more states follow suit to crack down upon these scams that give the SEO industry a bad name. What these companies do has nothing to do with real SEO, which is why it doesn't work and people throw their money away.
Buyer beware -- scams have
Buyer beware -- scams have always been around, but seems like the web makes them easier to do.
Sad
While I agree that is a LOT of complaints in a short period of time, seems to be a witch hunt of sorts. Guess there is a shortage of real crime in Washington.
Jess
www.internet-anonymity.net.tc
Let us know about your personal stories
If anyone reading this article has a personal experience with this company please post it on http://ConsumerFury.com
We'd love to hear about individual cases.
They're not alone...
For every small business out there, it seems there are 50 supposed "internet marketing" or "SEO" firms out there ready to scam them out of their hard earned marketing budgets.
I was recently hired as an in-house SEO for a small business myself and immediately realized the company that built their 20+ sites and had been charging them for "SEO Services" knows absolutely nothing about SEO. Not only are their tactics simply WRONG, but some (like paid links and link farms) are apt to get my boss's sites banned from search engines indexes altogether.
I am infuriated by companies that prey on the lack of SEO savvy of small businesses around the world. Not only is it morally objectionable and unethical, it also damages the the SEO and search marketing industry reputation as a whole. I wasn't happy that I had to be the one to break the news to my new boss that he was being scammed, but at least he is now armed with the information he needs to confront them. Most small business owners aren't so lucky.
So your 'ethical' ?
seo is full of scammers. Vile bunch.