DorianJ
04-29-2006, 11:50 PM
I wanted to share my experience with this company. I've read numerous articles about posting services so I decided to hire one (ForumCandy.com) for getting my forums off the ground.
The owner was very responsive to my e-mails at the very beginning, usually replying back to me within 15-30 minutes. He told me that he had a staff of writers with the necessary knowledge to post on my forums and they would begin posting immediately so I purchased a $30 package from him which included 75 threads and 200 posts. We agreed that there would be 10 posts per day or no more than 30 days to complete the job. Once he had my money, his responsiveness to e-mails went by the wayside.
12 days after purchasing the "SWEET PACKAGE", his "writer" had posted a grand total of 11 times (yes 11)! I asked him (very politely) to ask his writer to please make more posts as we had agreed upon. He then tells me that this writer is no longer posting, but will send me a new writer who is "capable of committing to the job".
Eight days later (day 20) and still nothing so I send a polite e-mail asking for my money back. I inform that he has not lived up to a single "guarantee" as stated from his web site, so please don't make any more promises for a new writer and just refund my money.
Two days later (day 22) I get an email full of apologies because he has been "out of town" and so busy (blah, blah, blah), but he has now found a writer who is qualified to make knowledgable posts on my forums. He then goes on to say this:
"Please give him another shot and if he's no use, I'll refund your money. No questions asked."
10 days later (day 32) and his writer has made a grand total of eight posts (yes 8) so I ask that my money be refunded.
Four days later (day 36) I still did not have a reply to my request for a refund so I ask again and advise that if he doesn't refund my money, then I will file a complaint with Paypal.
Three days later (day 39) he send me an e-mail that goes like this:
"I'm terribly sorry for this but we do not provide any refunds and it is indicated in our policy."
WHAT POLICY?!? Their web site does not have any such policy. If so, then I challenge anyone to find it.
Three days later (day 42) I demand that he refunds my money. Still no reply so I file the chargeback complaint with Paypal.
Three days later (day 45) Paypal tells me that they will not investigate this matter because it was a sale involving intangible property. Paypal tells me that they will only investigate complaints that involve physical merchandise and because my complaint was about a "service", they are closing the case. They inform that if I want my money back, then I will have to settle with the seller outside of Paypal!!!
When all has been said and done, I paid ForumCandy $30 for 19 posts in my forums (and the posts were terrible quality). I gave the owner of this "company" NUMEROUS chances to make good of this situation, but he absolutely refused to refund my money. He no longer replies to any e-mail I send. Seven days ago, I sent him one last e-mail. I told him that if he didn't refund my money, then I would let other web site owners know of the shady operation he runs. He's had plenty of time to make good on that, but still refused to even reply so that is why I'm letting all those on Website Publisher know of my experience. Everything I write here is 100% truth and I have every piece of correspondence to prove it.
CAVEAT EMPTOR!
PS: Not that it's bad enough getting cheated by this guy, I find it so disturbing that Paypal does not protect the buyer in cases like this!
The owner was very responsive to my e-mails at the very beginning, usually replying back to me within 15-30 minutes. He told me that he had a staff of writers with the necessary knowledge to post on my forums and they would begin posting immediately so I purchased a $30 package from him which included 75 threads and 200 posts. We agreed that there would be 10 posts per day or no more than 30 days to complete the job. Once he had my money, his responsiveness to e-mails went by the wayside.
12 days after purchasing the "SWEET PACKAGE", his "writer" had posted a grand total of 11 times (yes 11)! I asked him (very politely) to ask his writer to please make more posts as we had agreed upon. He then tells me that this writer is no longer posting, but will send me a new writer who is "capable of committing to the job".
Eight days later (day 20) and still nothing so I send a polite e-mail asking for my money back. I inform that he has not lived up to a single "guarantee" as stated from his web site, so please don't make any more promises for a new writer and just refund my money.
Two days later (day 22) I get an email full of apologies because he has been "out of town" and so busy (blah, blah, blah), but he has now found a writer who is qualified to make knowledgable posts on my forums. He then goes on to say this:
"Please give him another shot and if he's no use, I'll refund your money. No questions asked."
10 days later (day 32) and his writer has made a grand total of eight posts (yes 8) so I ask that my money be refunded.
Four days later (day 36) I still did not have a reply to my request for a refund so I ask again and advise that if he doesn't refund my money, then I will file a complaint with Paypal.
Three days later (day 39) he send me an e-mail that goes like this:
"I'm terribly sorry for this but we do not provide any refunds and it is indicated in our policy."
WHAT POLICY?!? Their web site does not have any such policy. If so, then I challenge anyone to find it.
Three days later (day 42) I demand that he refunds my money. Still no reply so I file the chargeback complaint with Paypal.
Three days later (day 45) Paypal tells me that they will not investigate this matter because it was a sale involving intangible property. Paypal tells me that they will only investigate complaints that involve physical merchandise and because my complaint was about a "service", they are closing the case. They inform that if I want my money back, then I will have to settle with the seller outside of Paypal!!!
When all has been said and done, I paid ForumCandy $30 for 19 posts in my forums (and the posts were terrible quality). I gave the owner of this "company" NUMEROUS chances to make good of this situation, but he absolutely refused to refund my money. He no longer replies to any e-mail I send. Seven days ago, I sent him one last e-mail. I told him that if he didn't refund my money, then I would let other web site owners know of the shady operation he runs. He's had plenty of time to make good on that, but still refused to even reply so that is why I'm letting all those on Website Publisher know of my experience. Everything I write here is 100% truth and I have every piece of correspondence to prove it.
CAVEAT EMPTOR!
PS: Not that it's bad enough getting cheated by this guy, I find it so disturbing that Paypal does not protect the buyer in cases like this!