Complaint Review: Local Ad Link - Henderson Nevada

I purchased almost $1,000 in ad credits from Local Ad Link at a discount when I became a BB with the company. Local Ad Link's advertising also said that I would be paid commissions on these these credits when they were used. Instead, I was double-charged for ALL ads I attempted to place using the ad credits, and Local Ad Link has refused to pay me commissions on any of the ads, unless, of course, I pay for these ads a second time. Originally, I thought it was an honest mistake, but, after multiple email conversations with Don Feightner, of Local Ad Link's support department, I received the following in an email:

There was no error here on our part at all, only misinterpretation regarding the checkout procedure and commission structure on your end."

So, apparently, this is Local Ad Link's position - they sell ad credits to potential BB's, and then refuse to honor them when they are used. Local Ad Link also does not pay commissions as advertised - whatever you might have read is inaccurate - I can tell you from my experience, any ads that you do not pay for twice are not commissionable.

Local Ad Link provides two options when you get to the checkout page after purchasing your ads. I used the first option - and I was double-charged for my ad, later the second charge was removed and the commission was reduced to zero. I used the second option when I placed the next ads - and I was double-charged for my ads AGAIN, and was told by Don that I would only be paid commissions on the ads if I paid for them this second time.

As you can see by Don's response to my outrage at being billed for something I had already paid for, he said there was no error on their part in double-billing me before paying commissions. This is definitely NOT what is stated in their advertising!

Local Ad Link's advertising indicates that BB ad credits are commissionable, and their practice of double-billing was only explained to me after I experienced problems attempting to use my ad credits.

The following is documentation chronicling my experience, any my observations as the events occurred:

The email below is the first one I sent to support regarding the ad I placed on 3-11-09 using BB credits, and the second email is Local Ad Link's response. As I mentioned before, I used the first drop down box when I placed this ad yet I was charged $199.95 for the ad even though I used my ad credits to pay for it. Originally, I thought the error was an honest mistake, and was trying to resolve the problem asap. When I received the following response, with incorrect information, I knew Local Ad Link support had not even bothered to investigate the matter, as they were denying that I had even been charged for the ad.

---- Original message ----my email to Local Ad Link -------------------------

> Hello,

> I have an urgent problem that needs resolved today. Please contact

> me = immediately. I ordered an ad last night, got an error message

> and no = confirm, then this morning I'm being billed for $199 -

> even though I = used BB inventory and the online statement showed

> zero for amount due. = If this goes through, it will put my bank

> account in overdraft. Please = call me to resolve this asap.

> Thank you.

-------------------------end of first email ----------------------------------

----Original message ----Local Ad Link email to me ---------------------------

support [#65767] Re: Request from 1084385

dd 134 to me Mar 12

Reply

Dear Customer:

Thank you for contacting Local Ad Link re: overcharge on ad posting of

"Success Coaching Online", Invoice #LAL27842, dated 3/11/09.

Our records show the above invoice was charged in the amount of $0.00.

Please check with your financial institution on the transaction.

Best regards,

Local Ad Link

------------------end of second email -------------------------------------

After receiving the above email from Local Ad Link support, I never received a phone call, or any follow-up after Local Ad Link stated the charge had not occurred. I continued attempting to reach someone at Local Ad Link regarding this issue. I sent multiple support tickets to Local Ad Link, including a copy of my bank statement and a number for Local Ad Link to use to send the bank a fax with the correct information. I also left multiple phone messages. No one contacted me. I finally became frustrated, my funds were frozen at my ban, and the last I had heard from Local Ad Link was a denial that I had been charged for the ad - which was obviously untrue - I had definitely been charged twice for the same ad!

I then started doing some checking online regarding Local Ad Link and discovered others were also having problems with support at Local Ad Link. I was referred to Ripoff Report. I posted my experiences here. It was then that I finally received a response from Don. In his email, Don said the problem with the billing was due to an error on Local Ad Link's part and that he would straighten it out, and he also included this caveat:

"Upon resolution of the matter I am requesting that you take down or revise your post on rip off report."

Hmmmm, sounds like a bribe to me . . . since they hadn't even done anything to remedy the situation yet! I'd bet that if I had not posted my experience on Ripoff Report, Local Ad Link would not have ever acknowledged the error, or attempted to resolve the matter . . .oh, and btw, when Local Ad Link did remove the second charge, they also removed my commissions.

Here is the complete email from Don below, minus my personal info.

------original email --------sent to me from Don at Local Ad Link support -------

FW: Refund for the charge on 3-11-09

show details Mar 19

Reply

S,

Your incorrect charge has been brought to my attention, as well as another issue that arose regarding a post on rip off report (http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/435/RipOff0435074.htm).

I have reviewed the report and I have also reviewed all the tickets you have sent in to support & I have also reviewed all of your account information and would first like to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

As you can see below, the refund has been processed by our payment verification team due to an error on the Ad Setup, Our programmers have corrected this issue and our sincere apologies go out to you regarding this.

I take a lot of pride in my job and finding this report has upset me. With that said I have taken the extra step to get this resolved for you and I have also spoken with upper management regarding the $xxx in fees that you have incurred from your bank and I have received approval to have a check cut to you for the fees that you have been charged due to our error. To get this taken care of immediately for you, please fax (702-463-7007 Attn: Don) me your CC statement showing these charges, or an online statement, or please request something from your bank in writing regarding these fees and I will personally have our VP sign it off then I will walk it over to our CFO and she will cut you a check for the fees.

Upon resolution of the matter I am requesting that you take down or revise your post on rip off report.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,

Don

-----------------end of email ----------------------------------------------

Next, you'll see the email I received from support the following day, the email where support basically called me a liar for saying I had been charged twice for the same ad. I believe this is Local Ad Link's normal response to support inquiries of this type. You know, ones that have not been escalated because someone wrote a post on the Ripoff Report.

As I mentioned, I received this response the day after Don was concerned about my post on Ripoff Report. You'll see that this email from support was inaccurate, had ignored all the data I had already sent regarding the transaction and then actually said . . . If you were in fact charged . . . Please! Why was my integrity being questioned? I was not the one who had double-charged anyone! I was only the one who had believed Local Ad Link's advertising - big mistake!

- - - -original email - - - -from Local Ad Link support to me ------------------

support [#67697] Re: Request from 1084385

TB 133 Mar 20

Reply

Hello

It will drop off within a few business days. We wholeheartedly

apologize for the inconvenience and just let us know if there is

anything else we can do!

However, if you can confirm with the bank that this is a completed

charge (not pending), please provide us with the LocalAdLink Invoice

number, the username of your .COM ad account, and the date it was

purchased, also ask them to reference this ticket(if using a new

ticket). If you were in fact charged, we want to make sure you are

taken care of! We appreciate the efforts you are putting forth and

just want to let you know we are here to help in any way we can. We

are very excited to have you on board! Just let us know if there is

anything else we can do!

Take care,

LocalAdLink Support

------------------------end of email ----------------------------------------

Besides having the fact that I was being double-billed trivialized, I was being told that the charges would drop off when the money had, in fact, already been taken from my bank account, I was being called a liar and I was being bribed. I had finally resolved the issues with the bank on my own by filing fraud charges against Local Ad Link. I was angry, and by then was also questioning why it took 8 days for my ad to appear online, rather than 72 hours, and why my other non-related commissions were late.

Eventually, I would also question why my back office showed that I would not receive any commissions on this particular transaction, but I will address that question after I show you my response to Don's email. At this point, I wanted to straighten this out for myself, and I wanted to be sure this wouldn't happen to anyone else I brought on board as a BB, or to any business owners who would place ads. I raised these concerns in the following email to Don.

------original email -----from me to Local Ad Link ----------------------------

Don,

I appreciate that you want to do a good job. If you asked me, I'd suggest you find out where all of the following problems originated and start with attempting to rectify them, so future BB's and business owners do not have to go through what I just experienced.

I could not use my account for almost a week, and eventually had to void my card - causing me to then spend hours contacting honest vendors that have been automatically taking payments out of my account on a monthly basis, some of them for years. I still cannot use my card, as my new one hasn't arrived yet. To say this experience has been aggravating, is putting it mildly. Fortunately, my bank was more helpful regarding this issue than LAL was.

If you've reviewed my emails, you know that I contacted LAL support first, and had tried repeatedly to resolve this issue. All I received from LAL support was a notification that LAL did not charge me! - even when I did a copy/paste of the bank statement and sent it to LAL. I received no other response from LAL until today - and even then, the additional charges were not addressed until your email.

I don't know whose fault this was - but I do know none of it was my fault. I was the one who tried to correct it - remember?

Customer support, and the string of errors I've seen, is inexcusable. In addition to the problem with the unauthorized charge, my ad was not displayed until today (it was purchased on 3-11), and the ad still does not show up in my back office - hmmm, will I ever receive commission on it? And, how do I know the same errors won't occur if I try to use the balance of my ad inventory? Of if I submit an ad for a business? Will this happen to them? And, of course, there was also the issue with the $130 that came almost 2 weeks late. I can understand that LAL is in beta - but it seems kinda odd to me that LAL is able to collect money - even unauthorized money - but cannot deliver the product, the commissions, or reasonable support.

Maybe you think all of this is petty - but I personally do not intend to represent a product to a business owner without knowing that it will be delivered on time, that they will be billed appropriately, and that if they have a legitimate concern the support department will treat them respectfully and at least investigate the claim instead of acting like the customer somehow made up the issue . . . who would waste their time doing that?

Personally, I know it's often more efficient to have a support ticket system. But not having a phone number where someone can contact a live person when there is a more urgent issue - and not having anyone return the phone calls when someone does leave a vcm - also implies to me that customer support is not a priority with LAL. I don't know what department you work in, but if it's customer service, you certainly have your work cut out for you! If LAL keeps making these mistakes, you're going to have a lot more people dissatisfied with the product, the service, and the support.

Best of luck to you! If you'd like to send me reasonable explanations addressing the unresolved problems concerning credibility, product, commissions, and support - I'd appreciate it.

Thank you,

---------------------end of email -----------------------------------------

To this day, I have never received reasonable explanations regarding my concerns, only excuses. All I've received are "pat" answers that have proven to be empty words. I didn't include all of those emails here.

The following documentation addresses the reason for my additional questions regarding the commissions on this ad purchase. I paid for this ad with ad credits and used the first option when checking out. I was charged a second time for the ad, then, when the duplicate charge was dropped, my commissions were eliminated. My back office shows $0.00 as the Commission Amount for this transaction.

It was after having the problems with this transaction that I asked for clarification from Don regarding the commission structure. I wanted to be sure I'd be paid as advertised on my next transactions. Below, you'll see Don's answer, my subsequent actions, and the new issues that were raised once I followed Don's direction and used the second drop down option for my purchases.

The following is a quote from my email to Don on 3-24-09, when I requested clarification:

------------------excerpt - email from me to Don----------------------------

My sponsor told me I'd receive commissions on ad inventory, is this accurate?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

And, Don's answer to me. . .

-------------------excerpt - email from Don to me ---------------------------

When you use a BB package to check out an Ad and you choose to use one for a free month, there is no commission paid.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The free month was the first option, so I thought this explained why I would not receive commissions on LAL27842, and why the commission amount is $0.00. OK, lesson learned. I thought I must have made a mistake in how I checked out, and that was why I was not being paid commissions on the sale. I hadn't realized yet that the reason I wasn't being paid was because I hadn't paid twice for my ad.

At this point, I chalked this up to experience, and read Don's next sentence which told me how to get paid on future ads or so I thought at the time.

Here's Don's next sentence, in reference to my question about commissions:

----------------------excerpt-email from Don to me-------------------------

If you select the second drop down to use as 100% commission for yourself, 100% commission is paid.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, so since Don had also said in that email: "You can expect commissions for this ad when the recurring bill date sets in on 5/11/09." when my commissions were $0.00 for the ad (shown in my back office), I figured Don was stating general principals in his response to me. So, when Don said "100% commission is paid" when you use the second drop down, I'd be paid 100% of my commissions when I used that option. The first option hadn't worked - I was double-charged for my ad, and then was going to receive $0.00 in commissions. So I figured it was time to use the second option . . .

So, that's what I did the next time I submitted my ads I checked the second drop down and expected to be paid 100% of my commissions on those ads. However, that is not what happened. Instead, I was AGAIN charged twice for my ads.

When I questioned Don about this, he explained to me that I misunderstood Local Ad Link's system. In other words, I was told that Local Ad Link's system is set up to charge TWICE for ads placed by a BB, and Local Ad Link's system only pays the commissions Local Ad Link advertises once a BB pays two times for the same ads! . . . that's certainly NOT explained in Local Ad Link's advertising!

In the following emails, you can see my outrage at being double-billed, and you can see Local Ad Link's response to my outrage:

First, an excerpt from an email I sent to Local Ad Link:

-------------quote from my email to Don F at Local Ad Link ------------------

Any reasonable person would not have expected to be double-billed for

ads. That's only logical. No reasonable business routinely charges

their customers twice for the same goods. I'm sure you don't pay for

items you purchase twice, and that's fair. When I saw the 100%

commission, I expected it meant I'd be paid 100% of the commissions

due me - as it is also unreasonable for a company to use the term

"commission" when it's actually referring to billing a person for

something they already purchased - that is not a "commission" by any

stretch of the imagination! It's deceitful and dishonest for a company

to use the term "commission" in this manner.

-------------------end of email quote ---------------------------------------

And this is an excerpt from the response I received from Don at Local Ad Link, regarding the above email:

---excerpt - email from Don F at Local Ad Link in response to above email------

There was no error here on our part at all, only misinterpretation regarding the checkout procedure and commission structure on your end.

------------end of Local Ad Link's response to double-billing issue ------------

In other words, I should have expected to be double-billed? And I should have expected to not be paid commissions unless I agreed pay twice for the same ads? The following quote is also from the above email I received from Don:

------------another quote telling me I misinterpreted Local Ad Link's advertising when I expected to be able to use the ad credits I purchased, and expected to be paid commissions on those ad credits, as advertised-------------------------------------------------------------------

Considering all the information provided above, I am requesting again that you take down your post on rip off report based on the issues you have been having are due to misinterpretation of our product.

-------------------end of quote ---------------------------------------------

Correspondence has continued in this manner from Don at Local Ad Link support, and he's stressed Local Ad Link's position, and also repeatedly stressed that I misinterpreted Local Ad Link's advertising. I don't think so! So I have decided to set the record straight and accurately represent Local Ad Link's product to everyone I can reach on the Internet.

Local Ad Link deserves to be accurately represented, and the public deserves to know more about Local Ad Link . . . so here it is . . . From the issues I have been having with Local Ad Link, I can tell you this . . . Local Ad Link clearly misrepresented their opportunity to me I purchased ad credits from Local Ad Link and when I went to use them, they were worthless! Local Ad Link also blatantly misrepresented their commission structure to me. AFTER I purchased my BB pack, Local Ad Link has repeatedly told me they will not pay any commissions on ads I place with my ad credits, unless I agree to pay twice for those ads. In addition, Local Ad Link is so arrogant that they have repeatedly told me they feel this practice of billing a customer twice for the same ads is justified . . . that I misinterpreted their system when I expected to be able to use the ad credits I purchased, and when I expected the ad credits to be commissionable, as they were advertised.

In summary, I will advise anyone considering a network company to think twice about joining a company that offers a network marketing opportunity without selling a product . . . in this case, the product I purchased was close to $1,000 of ad credits that were treated as worthless by Local Ad Link, the network marketing company that sold those credits to me. If those ad credits are treated as worthless by the company that sold them to me, I can't even imagine how Local Ad Link can justify their product to local business owners! Why would anyone knowingly invest their money in something that even the company selling it feels is worthless?

Since Local Ad Link did not honor my ad credits, it should not have surprised me that Local Ad Link also refused to pay me any commissions on those ads. But it still aggravates me as this is contrary to what is stated in Local Ad Link's advertising, where they claim t the advertising purchased with a BB pack is commissionable.

I've worked in straight-commissioned sales for over 25 years, and have a reputation for offering products and services of value to my customers. It's because I live with integrity that my customers are loyal to me and refer me and my products to their friends and business associates. From what I have experienced with Local Ad Link, I would not recommend Local Ad Link's products, support, or opportunity to anyone for the following reason: Based on my experience, I feel that Local Ad Link is not even slightly in tune with their customers' needs.

Most people don't like to pay twice for the same product, most people expect a vendor to provide the product or service as advertised, and most people would not pay $299 for the privilege of working for a company that was selling an opportunity where they would be expected to mislead their friends and business associates. Most people would not tell others they were purchasing a commissionable product with their BB pack, a product they could use themselves so they could honestly answer the questions: Do you use it? Has it worked for you? when they knew for a fact that the advertising credits they were selling were worthless. It's amazing to me that Local Ad Link just doesn't seem to get this!

I was charged twice when I used the first drop down at checkout, and I was charged twice when I used the second drop down option. Those are the only two options available at checkout, so it became clear that Local Ad Link's system is set up to double charge BB's for ads, regardless of the way they checkout at the time they purchase their ads. Each time I tried to use my ad credits, I was billed for ads that I had already paid for.

I feel that advertising to potential BB's that they are purchasing ad credits, and then not letting the BB use those credits is misleading at best, and unethical and fraudulent at worst.

In addition, since I have refused to pay twice for ads, Local Ad Link has made it clear I will not receive commissions for any ads purchased with my ad credits . . . more false advertising?

If you've read this far, you're intelligent enough to see that Local Ad Link has taken my money, has not delivered the product they advertised, and has told me they have done nothing wrong . . .is this the kind of company you would like to do business with? Is this the kind of company you would recommend to others? I hope not!

Sara

Allison Park, Pennsylvania

U.S.A.