Complaint Review: Worldwide Media Group

 am a Real Estate Agent, new to the business.  I was initially contacted by Worldwide Media Group through my cell phone...This should have been my 1st clue.  However what they offered made a lot of sense to me and seemed like a realistic way to build my business.  They asked if I had an on-line presence and explained the urgency to create both an online presence and a website.   They quoted statistics such as "90% of home buyers begin their search for a home online and they aligned themselves with the top Realtor websites such as Trulia.com, Zillow.com and Realtor.com. I thought it was worth a few minutes to listen.

They introduced themselves as a worldwide media company who specializes in targeted marketing on Google.com, the largest search engine in the world.

Their offering was as follows.

Work with me 1 on 1 to create an online presence

Provide a free customizable website created by their in house web design department

Guaranteed placement on 1st page of Google for markets you are interested @ only $99.00 per market

Because of placement, potential clients would click on my information first and be directed to my website

Stressed that it was a numbers game that has been very successful in sending leads to thousands of realtors

One time set-up fee 

First month free 

So I did agree to 4 markets @ $99.00 per month. 4X $99.00 = $396.00/month; Initial set-up fee of $176.00.  First month free.  I was pleased that I had made the investment into my business and was looking forward to many leads and the opportunity to help people (Buyers, Sellers and Investors). I did not expect results overnight but was excited at the possibility of building my business online! 

They sent me an initial email to walk me through the process which was very confusing.  Because I was trying to build my business in many other ways by taking on additional phone duty, open houses, etc.  I did look at the searches and everything seemed good...I mean how in the world would I know?  They did tell me that it was a numbers game and that I would see increased traffic and leads. I believed them.

Listen, I am a people person. Generally I believe what I am told especially if it is presented in a way that makes sense. This is the way I have always been.  It is who I am and it is a critical part of this business.  I have learned the hard way that this business (Real Estate) is riddled with alot of liars, and people taking advantage of both my time and my finances.  I guess that is just the way it is when you are a newbie.  I am determined to succeed and I will learn.

In any event, I did try to contact Worldwide Media Group a couple of times during this summer when I had the time to do so.  Of course, I was met with the typical same runaround that has been reported here such as: Being put on hold, Hung up on, Waiting for them to access my account, how do you spell your name again?, and so on.  Not very convenient- when your primary office is your car, you are sitting in traffic, and it is 90 degrees outside, or raining cats and dogs.

Three months later, after receiving zero leads, (and no contact whatsoever from Worldwide Media), spending $1000.00 through recurring charges on my credit card, I made the agonizing decision to cancel my credit card.  Again, not convenient.  I have many recurring charges such as MLS fees, Desk fees, print advertising...and so on. Because I was unable to talk to anyone to resolve this,  it was my only solution. 

What a surprise!  I received a call from Worldwide Media last night....wondering what they could do to help me.....

Had I not cancelled my credit card, I would have been billed another $396.00 today.

Lesson learned.

NEXT!