Reed Construction Data RS Means Deceitful sales, false advertisement, No contract and yet a 1,802.60 bill! Norcross, Georgia
We are familiar we McGraw Hill and were looking for something cheaper and ran into Reed Construction Data. My dad spoke with a sales lady assuring they are much cheaper with thousands of jobs for bid in our area and tons of contractors in their data base. We informed her that we are Land Surveyors and were looking for plan rooms to bid on jobs. She stated they were very similar to McGraw Hill and much cheaper with no contract. We went ahead and signed up. When they took the money out of my credit card it turned out to be more than the original price at $180. That would have been ok but we got on the website and had "6" JOBS! Land Surveyors bid on large projects that need Land Surveying! They only have a few measly contractors!! It turns out its more of a "lead generating site" not even on the same planet as Mcgraw Hill!! They offer construction leads and advertising on their site, that is not what we were told from the sales representative. Very misleading on the service itself.
Now comes to the "No Contract." After looking at the service the first time we were rediculously infuriated about the service and we tried to cancel. Every time I call I get sent around and around and was hung up on many times from their customer service. I called RS Means and told me they didnt know what Reed Constructions Data customer service phone numbers was. We sent multiple emails to the few customer service agents we could even find telling them to not charge my card. They continued to charge my card after we told them not to. I then started a dispute with my bank and won. It was hard considering all the time on the phone with the bank trying to prove that Reed Construction is 100% false advertisement with 0 customer service that knows anything. Reed sent me a letter saying "Why did you start a dispute? blah blah." They started sending out collection letters after we made a great effort to cancel the month to month and refund as we were dissatisfied. After several months of these scammers I just received a collection letter in the amount of $1,802.60 Letter RCD10316. It sais they have no other option but to take me into collections for the full amount. FULL AMOUNT OF WHAT? I DID NOT SIGN OR AGREE TO ANY CONTRACT WHAT SO EVER! They are demanding this within 10 days and threaten me with legal action. You can shove your final demand notice up your a*s Reed Construction Data. I am going to start a campaign against them and lawsuit if they forward me to a collection agency. Tell me Reed, where the hell is the contract? I called a couple days ago to talk to Carole Hogue the collection spewcialist and of course was not there, go figure. The lady said ohh yuor welcome to leave a message. Like I didnt see that coming. I am going to go down there and b***h slam their sales reps and collection specialists!! If you want a B.S service and spend countless hours disputing it with your bank, by all means call up the B.S artists at Reed Construction!!
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Atvjoel
Soldotna,Alaska,
Where did my company sign, when did we agree to any contract? WE DIDNT! Extortion. Customer Service Lies.
#3Author of original report
Mon, April 01, 2013
I DISrespectfully disagree with you. Where and when did you obtain authorization from myself or my partner to enter a contract? Where is the contract? I have no idea what the contract is or even says. Provide me with it and our signature and I will pay, truth is you cant provide me with a signature, authorization, or the contract itself. The only thing I will agree to do is wipe my rear end with that contract you say I agreed with. The sales representative said there would be no obligation and no pressure of a contract like Mcgraw Hill, thats why there was no risk in signing up which was a plus in case the service sucked. The service did suck, the platform, projects, limited contractors and customer service and we wanted to cancel. There are lead generating companies out there better than you for 10% of your price. I am still married to you and want a divorce. You are not getting a dime from us to donate to your scam campaign. I have a trail of emails (with no replies) sending to your personnel telling them we wanted to cancel months and months and months ago. I showed those emails to my bank along with all my other documents and guess what I won my claim, you lost because your business is shady. Why would a Land Surveyor need cost estimating??? We don't buy building materials!! You had very few contractors when we logged in as that was the only upside to the services if there was more than 10 contractors in the Northern California area we serve. I know what you offer, We asked if we could enter a plan room and bid projects, sales said yes and that is not true, end of story. You are nothing like Mcgraw Hill, LIED. We were looking for projects to bid not leads. My dog provides project leads and its cleaning up after his land mines in the yard. Thumbtack.com provides project leads for 19.99 a month no contract not $187 and phony up a contract. The other services are pretty much useless for our business. Know what people are asking, don't jump the gun and assume. We explained what a land surveyor is and what we were looking for. She told us what we wanted to hear and now I am still getting my blood pressure raised over your scam. I read other posts on ripoffreport and other scam reporting agencies and they all said the same think, REED CONSTRUCTION DATA LOCKS YOU INTO CONTRACT WHEN THEY DID NOT KNOW THERE WAS ONE. Put that in black and white and assure customers what they are getting into. I never received an email of any contract otherwise I would have called the same day to tell you to cancel. I am not going to keep debating this, I am with Mcgraw Hill, the true Plan Room with THOUSANDS OF PROJECTS. I am just here to warn other land surveyors that this is not what they tell you, not to mention the contract you embedded into my skin. Like I said, If you want a B.S service and project leads from the very few contractors you have, by all means sign up and waste your money with Reed Construction Data! Pay the same amount with Mcgraw Hill or light $1800 on fire, you will have more pleasure in doing so, I am proof, still disputing this as we speak.
Reed Construction Data - Customer R
Norcross,Georgia,
Reed Construction Data - Customer Relations
#3UPDATE Employee
Fri, March 22, 2013
Reed Construction Datas response to the complaint listed above:
We do understand your concerns; however, it appears that you have some confusion related to the services you purchased. Your subscription is for a bundle package, which includes:
Smart Project News (Project Lead Service)
Reed Insider (Contractor Listing & Invitation to Bid Service)
BlueBeam (Takeoff Software)
RSMeans online subscription (Cost Estimation Software)
A receipt confirming your purchase was emailed to you on 9/17/2012 at 2:24 pm ET. This email receipt confirms that the purchase is for an annual commitment that is not cancellable during the initial 12 months.
Based on the statements in your complaint it appears you logged into Reed Insider (a contractor listing and invitation to bid service), but you have not logged into Smart Project News (the project lead service) based on our own tracked subscriber log-in data.
Reed Insider is not designed to provide project leads as you describe in your complaint. Reed Insider is primarily a private plan room that allows you to list your company and services and in turn GCs posting private projects can send you an invitation to bid on their projects.
Smart Project News service (which you have not accessed) contains thousands of projects and related contractors, as accurately described by your sales representative at the time of your purchase. You were also contacted on 9/28/12 by an Account Manager with Reed Construction Data as a welcome call and to offer training for your subscribed services. During this phone call, you were provided the Smart Project News training schedule and the WebEx details. Based on our information, you have not attended a training session for the SPN project lead service (Smart Project News).
We respectfully disagree with your portrayal in the above reference complaint. RCD has provided the services that you subscribed to and has offered training which you have declined.
We would like to work towards an amicable resolution to this situation. Please contact Reed Construction Data Customer Relations at your earliest convenience.
Customer Relations Manager
Reed Construction Data
T +1 800.424.3996