Complaint Review: Everycontractor.com

It is important to note that Everycontractor, contrary to the accusations flung about by some contractors online, takes seriously each and every complaint, and has committed time and resources not just to answering each, but also to improving both the service and the tools provided to our contractor clients.

Having read through each link provided in the update, it is apparent that while the internet is a strong resource for information and communication, it is also an unbridled forum for the oipinions of one or two to be spread about as fact without support.

There are two sides to every story, and one of our strengths is that while we may always succeed in providing the results we hope to, we ALWAYS stand by our guarantee. The main problem that contractors who are upset with us run into is that they often, in our experience, do not take seriously the rules that allow them to take advantage of that solid commitment to each.

If you purchase a shirt and decide after doing so that you are not happy with the color or the style, you may return the item or cancel the sale. If you return a shirt to the store and clearly marked in large letters above the cash register is a sign that says "NO REFUND WITHOUT A RECEIPT", you generally accept that if you have lost the receipt you cannot have your money back and you take store credit if the store is willing to give it.

VP Operations

Why is it different when you agree to update and approve your profile once every 90 days, or to provide content for a website, or to accept your leads within a specific time period? There is nothing in our program that is hidden, nothing that is set up to trick a contractor, nothing that is constructed to keep our contractor clients from realizing a refund at the end of the time period committed to in the enrollment process.

If you agree to 12 months, give us 12 months - if we fulfill your guarantee is 3 months, don't expect us to work for free for 9 more - our program runs based on your results. If you do NOT get masses of leads in 6 months, it is important to understand that we are working hard to find out why - Everycontractor is filled with people who really care about getting you your results.

If you are turned down for a refund, ask yourself honestly if you did what you were supposed to do. Did you bother to read the material we sent out to you? Did you read your term and conditions? Did you listen to the terms and conditions during your verification process before you gave us your money? Did you provide content for your website? Did you tell us what you wanted within the parameters of what you paid for?

In regards to the writer's statement that we provided two site builds that he did not like, it is true - we provided 2 full site builds, after numerous requests for info. the sites that the writer suggested we use as guidelines included a great deal of flas programming, and were MUCH more comprehensive that what was purchased. When we were unable to satisfy the writer's desire for a complex website with custom programming, we offered to purchase the templated site that he prefered (NOT to have him buy it and be refunded) and to modify it to fit his wishes. As a company, it is difficult to imagine what other course we should have taken.

In regard to the links laid out above, it seems interesting that the writer on one of the links was in fact refunded his money, while one was simply asking for feedback from other contractors on a program he was considering. Feedback given in an open forum, without any background information on the company or individual complaining, should be taken as a cause to check out the issues and to make an infomred decision.

When one of our sales reps calls to say that there is work in an area and that we need a contractor, it is becuase he has in front of him the name of a homeowner who is still in need of a contractor. We may have many contractors in the area already, but if they are not picking up leads or paying attention, we need one who will.

IN the event that a contractor enrolls with us and does not receive leads, we are determined to work until the last possible minute to find a camapign that will work - we ask for and expect 12 months. SO long as a contractor in the program follows the rules, we absutley refund the cost of the program if we are unable to fulfill the guarnatee. In the preferred program, we are not interested in how MANY leads you get - only in getting your contracted work fulfilled.

Our relationship with EGIA is one which we take seriously, as we do with all of our strategic partners, with the manufacturers and suppliers who work with us and with the financial institutions that court our contractor base. We do not pretend to be perfect - only to be committed to doing our best and improving our services every day. We are committed to providing a quality product and a solid guarantee but as with American Express, Visa, MAstercard, Yahoo, Ebay, Amazon, and oany other real company, we provide you terms to which you must adhere for your aown benefit. It is your choice to follow them or not -

When we spoke last, and Everycontractor offered to purchase the templated site for the writer and to build out his site again, our understanding was that both parties were comfortable with the resolution. If, in the quiet conversation we had there was still anger on his part, it was well hidden and the agreement was then not made in good faith. We are still willing to provide the service we agreed to on the site, and in the cases of eany other contractor who is unhappy wiht his program, we are always willing to work to find an reasonable and equitable solution. unfortunately, our solution cannot always be to refund monies to a contractor who has ignored his agreement to us.

We also verified the terms and conditions with the writer when he purchased - he agreed specifically to update and approve his profile every 90 days, as well as to accept or rejct all leads within 24 hours and to provide feedback on each project. Those terms are not loopholes - 5 minutes every 90 days to look over a profile online is not an extroardinary difficulty. We provide information on these terms both during verification, in the Control Panel, in the Welcome Kit AND we send out notices. It is always ultimately the responsiblity of the contractor to set up his schedule to take care of his requried updates, but we do whatever we can to assist.

Again, it is always our commitment to provide the best service possible, but it is also more than reasonable to require fair participation on the part of the contractor.

Response to everycontractor.com rebuttal
How can they be proud of the strategic partnership with EGIA (the Electric and Gas Industries Association)? They also cannot seem to get a response from everycontractor.com about contractors that are also not getting the service they were sold.

Copy of e-mail from EGIA
-Bruce / Eric,
I know we are doing everything we possibly can to take care of our members who subscribed to service from Everycontractor but I think it may be time to take further action. I had a call from John Neuman - owner of Right Now Air, today who is still not receiving call backs, email responses or anything from EC.com. He (as we are) is ready to take the next step to try and get their money back from this company. I told John I would include him in the loop on steps we would take to ensure our members are taken care of so I CC'd him on this email. John suggested maybe going to EC.com with a group of unsatisfied customers instead of all going individually, which is a different approach that may have some pull... Do either of you have any recommendations?

On another note, see the links below to see what other contractors are saying about EC.com - this business looks like it's going to come to an end shortly so whatever we want to do let's try and move fast!

contractortalk.com/showthread.php?t=19313

ripoffreport.com/reports/0/227/ripoff0227150.htm

ripoffreport.com/reports/0/280/RipOff0280368.htm

nationalwindowcleaningdirectory.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=22782&sid=1e1ca18c85548720102ca12467df4658

Michael,
When I typed in "everycontractor" on Google this link was like the eighth one down, can you make sure this website becomes obsolete? Thanks!
egia.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=432

Thanks all,

Jeremy

Jeremy Chandler
EGIA
Manager, Contractor Services
Ph: (866) 367-3442 x 339
Fax: (800) 506-9073
egia.org

In regards to the web page; we were going to buy the site and have everycontractor.com refund us the cost, we didn't want them to build one like that. I refused both web concepts because they could never get it right. They couldn't even do my logo correct.

The last lead I received instructed us to e-mail for information on the plans. We did that 5 times, no response. I called evercontractor.com to get more information and again they gave me the e-mail contact no response. I went online to find the contractor company and called them. I asked the for the contact person and explained what I was trying to get the planes for two jobs, gave them the names of the jobs, one job she had no idea of and the second she explained that she didn't understand why I was calling her. I told her I got it from everycontrator.com and she chuckled she said they don't use them anymore! (I wonder why?)

Now I find, in a rebuttal, that to meet the requirements of the program we have to approve the company profile once every 90 days to insure that a company remains in an ACTIVE status on the project boards. This is the first I have heard of this, must be their loophole. If I was inactive why wouldn't anyone notify me? I have a person that the first thing she does is check the e-mail

Let me make it very clear WE ARE NOT MOVING FORWARD & I AM NOT IN GOOD SPIRITS. I have filed a complaint to the BBB also. I have requested a dispute with the credit card company to get a full refund. I have asked for a refund from everycontractor.com, but they refuse. They collect your money and run you around. I have gone on-line to see many new web pages coming soon by everycontractor.com. I have call about ten of them. One told me that is was 4 years ago that he was in contact with them and only paid $400.00, but never saw anything. Another said would never use them or recommend them again.

Now, I have noticed on all the reports that it's always the contractor not doing their part and everycontractor.com is the one that's supposed to be giving the commitment to service. How is that? Refund my money please!

We at Everycontractor take very seriously the satisfaction of our customers. We are proud to have built a strategic partnership with EGIA (the Electric and Gas Industries Association), as well as those we have developed with manufacturers and suppliers across the country. In doing so we have offered members of EGIA and several other associations benefits and discounts on our product line that have been acccepted and enjoyed by many. To read the latest press release on one of our manufacturer partners, please see http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?epi-content=NEWS_VIEW_POPUP_TYPE&newsId=20071115005539&ndmHsc=v2*A1192791600000*B1195467641000*DgroupByDate*J2*L1*N1000837*Ztrendsetter%20everycontractor&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view_popup.

The client writing in this post has neglected to mention that while he did purchase a website build along with marketing from Everycontractor through a program set up exclusively for EGIA members, he received two completely different website properties for his evaluation. Any mistakes, including typographical ones, are generally taken out after the preview, so that proofing time is not wasted before the client has approved a concept.

Once he refused both concepts, we offered to build out another for his inspection. The client requested instead that we build a site identical to one already online. Aside from the copyright issues that obviously apply, the requested site was a much more complex and content heavy site. The time required to reproduce the site and modify it for the clients' particular needs was substantially higher than that requried for the site package purchased. Our concerns with the copyright issues and our disinclination to follow a solution that would require an additional investment from the client led us to search for a solution that fit into the already purchased program and satisifed the client at the same time.

After speaking with the client and investigating the content of the requested site more closely, we believe that the site in question may be a template for dealers of several specific products, and may therefore be accessible to use. Everycontractor has offered to purchase the template and modify the standing version to meet the needs of the client, at our expense. This offer was accepted by the client and we are in the process of purchasing the site template now.

Although our website builds have always been custom work, we are delighted to be able to accomodate the wishes of our client in this instance.

In regards to the same client's concerns about his 'leads', it is vital to understand that the marketing program in which this client enrolled is NOT a leads generation program, but one geared to build revenue for our contractors. One of our greatest challenges is to help educate our clients in the importance of each and every project that comes to us - quantity of leads does not equal success - jobs won does!

Our client may have received fewer projects than he is accustomed to receiving through traditional leads sources, but it is interesting to note that he did not comply with the requirements to remain active in his program. One very basic and simple to meet requirement of the program is to approve the company profile once every 90 days to insure that a company remains in an ACTIVE status on the project boards. This client did not fulfill that requirement - his account was in INACTIVE status for several months, and is very close to being INACTIVE again. In addition, on several project leads, when the client encountered difficulty in contacting the general contractor for plans, he did not call his Preferred Contractor Support Specialist to get assistance. Our system is set up to allow us to take immediate action when a problem such as lack of response from a GC arises, but we need to know about the difficulty immediately to be able to help.

Everycontractor has committed substantial resources to building out the support systems required to assist our Preferred level contractors win the projects we bring to them. Our 24/7 Project Coordination division offers toll-free access to anyone to submit projects to us, anytime, while at the same time that they set appointments and coordinate meetings on behalf of our contractors. Our Preferred Contractor Support division works to assist in the bidding stages of each project, working hand in hand with the contractor and Project Requestor to facilitate the decision making process and to persuade the Project Requestors to use our contractors when the decision is slow in being made.

Had the client writing in this post attempted to call the main phone number listed on the home page of the Everycontractor website, he would have had the opportunity to speak to a live person at any time. The toll free number is manned by our Project Coordination division 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, specifically to give each and every client a live person to call when needed.

In the case of this client, we are happy to be able to come to a resolution on his site work to which the client agrees as well, and we look forward to fulfilling his return on investment in the marketing side of his program. It is our understanding that this client is moving forward with us in good spirits and with the expectation of a succesful program conclusion to come.

Best Regards,
VP Operations