DataCaptive Spokesly We paid DataCaptive for database work they said they had the ability to complete for us. They didn't do the work and after 6 months have not refunded our money. Santa Clara CA
DIGITAL DIRECT’S EXPERIENCE WITH DATACAPTIVE (A DIVISION OF SPOKESLY INC.)
BY LARRY GENKIN, CEO, DIGITAL DIRECT
We paid DataCaptive for database work they said they had the ability to complete for us. They didn't do the work and after 6 months have not refunded our money. If you search online you will see others with similar experiences. We should have heeded the red flags. For anyone considering doing business with DataCaptive, DON’T. What follows is a detailed “play-by-play” of my company’s experience with them so you can understand what you’re dealing with.
On January 2nd I began a correspondence with DataCaptive Global Sales Manager, Katherine Watson regarding needs we had to enrich our client database by appending fields of data (like email), a service DataCaptive claims to provide. At her request, I provided Ms. Watson two sample files from which to do a test to see if they could effectively append fields to our databases.
On January 3rd Ms. Watson replied: “...our data expert confirmed that we can append 90-95% of the list.” This meant that for every 100 records we would provide, DataCaptive would be able to enrich 90-95 of them.
On January 4th, we provided a larger test file of 9,154 records to insure that DataCaptive could do the work needed. On January 8th Ms. Watson replied explaining that they were able to append 48% of our records.
After negotiating a price, on January 31st we contracted for 1 million record appends at a price of $10,000. Additionally, each client file submitted was contractually agreed to be returned to us in 4-5 business days. $6,000 was paid upfront via funds transfer, as DataCaptive would not accept credit card payment (a big red flag). The remaining $4,000 was agreed to be paid by April 1, 2019.
In subsequent days we submitted client data files to be appended on the following dates:
On March 1st, with no files yet returned to us, I complained via email to Ms. Watson about the lack of communication and pointed out that our first client files submitted were now overdue. There was no response.
On March 4th I asked via email if there was any news. I received a call from Jason Kent, Customer Success Manager, who explained that they were having problems doing our client database appends. He promised to send the first files on March 5th.
On March 5th the files remitted were a disaster as one of the files sent on February 22nd with 12,000 contacts only had 50 appends completed (I was expecting nearly 6,000). None of the other overdue files were sent back.
On March 8th, Mr. Kent and I agreed to a test that would hopefully alleviate the problems they were having doing the appends. If it worked we agreed to keep going, if it didn’t Mr. Kent agreed to provide us with a refund.
By March 13th, over 1 month after our first orders had been placed, we still had not received a single fulfilled order or had one that was even close to being finished. On this day we asked Mr. Kent for the promised refund and provided our banking information for an electronic transfer.
With no response, on March 18th we asked again for our refund to be processed to Ms. Watson and Mr. Kent.
On March 21st we were contacted by Mr. Alvin Wiseman, CEO of DataCaptive. He agreed to the refund and we talked of possible collaborations. We said that if they could get their software working we were still open to giving them a try at another time. He asked for me to work through Mr. Kent for the refund.
On Friday March 22nd Mr. Kent emailed “Sorry for delayed response, I am out of office till Wednesday. But I have received your Bank details, will process it as soon as I reach office.” With Mr. Kent out of the office for the next 5 days I asked Mr. Wiseman to process the refund via email and received no answer.
On Thursday March 28th, a day after the refund was supposed to arrive we asked for wire transfer details. Mr. Kent replied: “I’ll be sharing you details shortly, or mostly my Finance manager will send you an email directly.”
On April 2nd, 2 weeks after refund was supposed to be processed we tried to approach the CEO again and got a response from Mr. Kent who said in an email: “I am really sorry to say the update I received from the finance team was not what was expected. They will be able to transfer by the end of this month.” I replied with “Jason, that's really not a very fair solution. We shouldn't have to wait 6 weeks for a refund. I want to be understanding, so how about 50% now, 25% in two weeks and 25% at the end of the month?”
After a phone call on April 3rd, where DataCaptive explained they’re having financial difficulties, we wrote the following proposal to Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Kent:
“Alvin and Jason,
While I'm very disappointed to not receive our refund as we'd been promised, I appreciate you letting me know about your financial challenges. Instead of pursuing a legal remedy at this point, I've got two options I'd like to propose. Hopefully one will work for you.
Option 1 - Payment Plan
#1 - Thurs April 4th: $3,000
#2 - Mon April 15th: $1,500
#3 - Tues April 30th: $1,500
Option 2 - Data Swap + 30 Day Payment
Part 1: We swap your 80M database for 80M of our contacts
Part 2: Refund payment on May 1 of $6,000
This option gives you a little bit of time and helps you by doubling the size of your current database....and can give you a significant consumer footprint, which, if I remember correctly, is something you're interested in building
Let me if either of these is acceptable to you. Or, of course, I'd welcome a full refund today.
Please respond promptly so we can put this issue to rest.
Larry”
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Mr. Kent replied on April 3rd with this email accepting the offer for a data swap and 30 day payment:
“Hello Larry,
Thank you for understanding the situation. It’s a bit embracing to put this in words. I had a word with Alvin, I got the approval for Option 2. Kindly let me know when shall we proceed for the swap?
Here to Help!”
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On April 9th we drafted a memo of agreement to confirm the terms of our email agreement. On April 15th after no response I wrote the following email to Mr. Wiseman and Mr. Kent:
“Alvin & Jason,
I'm sorry but I've run out of patience. You've been unresponsive to my proposal, which I thought we already agreed to and it's now been 3 1/2 months since we paid you $6000 to result in getting nothing for our money.
Please refund us in full immediately. Here's our bank details to process the refund:
Bank Name: TD Bank
ABA Routing Number: 03600xxxx
Account Number: 427403xxxx
Please confirm. Thank you.”
---
On April 23rd we received the following email from Mr. Kent:
“Larry,
I am really sorry that I missed out in communicating with you. I was instructed to give you a confirmation that we will agree to process your refund by the end of this month. Due to my personal negligence, it is a humble request not to punish the company. We as a company are willing to the right thing and are willing to take decisions as per your comfort level. I understand there has been already some delay in relaying the information. I will be calling you later this evening if you are available.
Again, I am really sorry that you had to go through all this.”
--
We responded the same day trying to pin down the specifics:
“Jason, thank you for your response. You have always been polite and responsive so I'm glad my worst fears were not realized.
Can you please provide me a specific date when the refund will be processed.
Thanks,”
---
On April 25th Mr. Kent responded with:
“I got the confirmation. You will be getting the money in your account anytime between 5th-15th of May.”
On April 29th Mr. Kent reiterated payment plans:
“We will be making the refund by the 1st week in May. I understand things are not going according to the plan, but we are willing to make things work for both of us. Kindly allow us for same.”
On May 7th Mr. Kent wrote:
“We have processed the payment. It will reflect your account soon.”
On May 9th with no payment received, after attempts to get payment details, Mr. Kent responded with:
“I did check with the accounts team, they have done the transaction from their end.
Just wanted to confirm the details again:
Bank Name: TD Bank
ABA Routing Number: 03600xxxx
Account Number: 427403xxxx
Account type: Checking account
Also, is it possible to share Swift code and Bank address as well?”
On May 9th Mr. Kent emailed:
“Thanks, will get back to you payment receipt.”
On May 10th we emailed Mr. Wiseman & Mr. Kent:
“We still have not gotten the refund payment from you. Is there anything else you need from us to process...we've provided everything you've asked for.
Can we get this wrapped up today, please?
Larry”
Mr. Kent responded on May 10th with:
“We have reconfirmed the details for the refund of payment. It should be in you your account soon.”
On May 16th Mr. Kent wrote:
“I got an update from the accounts department; the payment was approved, but due to shortage of funds this month, they have not processed the payment. They will process by next month. I would like to apologies for same.”
On May 17th a $1,000 payment of the $6,000 due was received.
The remaining balance of $5,000 is still outstanding. They reiterated their intent to pay the balance due in the beginning of June.
On June 3rd Mr. Kent wrote:
“Hello Larry,
We have already sent amount to your bank, I will be sharing you a remittance slip shortly.”
On June 7th we received, just $1,000 of the $5,000 refund due.
When confronted with the lies Mr. Kent responded on June 13th:
“Larry,
Please don’t take my words wrong, I did get an approval for a complete refund. However, I did check with the accounts department again today and they mentioned the same the funds are allotted but due to some lack of funds it has been delayed. Request you to kindly grant us some more time for the same. Thank you for your co-operation.
Here to Help!”
No further funds have been received. Our refund balance of $4,000 is still outstanding. We are moving forward with small claims court suit to hopefully recover the rest.
Conclusion: At best DataCaptive is struggling financially. At worst they are brazen con artists. If you are going to work with them (don’t it’s a big mistake as they don’t offer anything unique, that dozens of other companies don’t offer), you must pay by credit card so you at least have some recourse when they don’t fulfill their obligations.