- Report: #743630
Complaint Review: Rentals.com - Norcross Georgia
Reported By:
EV -
Cranston, Rhode Island, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Rentals.com
3585 Engineering Dr Norcross, 30092 Georgia, United States of America
Phone:
888-501-7368
Web:
http://www.rentals.com/
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Rentals.com Primedia Apartments/Rentals Network of Sites; My.Rentals.com; Primedia; Consumer Source Inc. A PRIMEDIA Company Lost business due to unstable web site as information was mysteriously deleted from my ad. Norcross, Georgia
I have been advertising an apartment on Rentals.com starting in 2010 and running until 6/2011. I was aware I wasn't getting much response on the ad and chalked it up to economic times. Then I received an email from a prospective tenant asking to see more pictures.
Having uploaded 10 photos I responded I thought the apartment was pretty well represented but if he could be a bit more specific Id be glad to send any photos he requires. The prospect never wrote back.
Subsequent to the inquiry I received an email from Rentals.com indicating I had ten more days left on the ad and an offer to renew. I went to the site to check the ad and discovered only four photos were displayed even though ten were indicated. I immediately attempted to upload the missing photos but had difficulty doing so due to the instability of the website. I finally stopped once I had a total of nine.
Totally annoyed at this discovery I decided to call the company to find out how this could have happened and how long the problem existed. I ended up talking to an extremely condescending woman who kept talking over me, not listening to my concerns. She did not acknowledge the seriousness or the implications of the problem. She had no clue as to the duration of the shortfall. Further, I had to repeat myself several times before she understood the issue. She was absolutely no help at all but offered five extra days for the ad. I had to control my anger at such an insignificant gesture since the damage was already done and was hardly going to be repaired. No apology, no sympathetic response nothing from this customer non-service, uninterested individual.
It is important to note that in a previous conversation with a similar clone, I just happened to ask if I did renew early would I get the full month of advertising. Amazingly the response was my month started when I paid and I lost the extra days at the end of the previous month if I paid early.
The business model, unstable website, and lack of intelligent responses are not my idea of a business tool I intend to use ever again. Good luck to anyone else advertising with them, I may be one in a hundred but remember; nothing happens until it happens to you. I will never use this site again. I'm certain I lost business as a result. I did not get what I paid for and there are defiantly problems here.
Subsequent to the inquiry I received an email from Rentals.com indicating I had ten more days left on the ad and an offer to renew. I went to the site to check the ad and discovered only four photos were displayed even though ten were indicated. I immediately attempted to upload the missing photos but had difficulty doing so due to the instability of the website. I finally stopped once I had a total of nine.
Totally annoyed at this discovery I decided to call the company to find out how this could have happened and how long the problem existed. I ended up talking to an extremely condescending woman who kept talking over me, not listening to my concerns. She did not acknowledge the seriousness or the implications of the problem. She had no clue as to the duration of the shortfall. Further, I had to repeat myself several times before she understood the issue. She was absolutely no help at all but offered five extra days for the ad. I had to control my anger at such an insignificant gesture since the damage was already done and was hardly going to be repaired. No apology, no sympathetic response nothing from this customer non-service, uninterested individual.
It is important to note that in a previous conversation with a similar clone, I just happened to ask if I did renew early would I get the full month of advertising. Amazingly the response was my month started when I paid and I lost the extra days at the end of the previous month if I paid early.
The business model, unstable website, and lack of intelligent responses are not my idea of a business tool I intend to use ever again. Good luck to anyone else advertising with them, I may be one in a hundred but remember; nothing happens until it happens to you. I will never use this site again. I'm certain I lost business as a result. I did not get what I paid for and there are defiantly problems here.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
EV
Cranston,Rhode Island,
United States of America
I was incorrect
#2Author of original report
Mon, July 04, 2011
After looking it up, I discovered I had the full number of days. I did not loose any at all.
EV
Cranston,Rhode Island,
United States of America
More Kudos...
#3Author of original report
Sat, July 02, 2011
No charge advertising is second to referral business. Rentals.com will notify you to place your ad on Craig's List and make it easy for you to do so. They also have a help link if you have a problem placing the ad. Finding this out when I posted my first ad at Rentals was a pleasant surprise and is a nice service. For what it's worth, Craig's list is free and Rentals.com did not have to suggest or facilitate the use of the service. The bottom line for me is Rentals.com has been an asset in advertising on the Internet. I have received many inquiries from the ad and will use them (with other outlets) when I have apartments available, otherwise I'd be shooting myself in the foot.
EV
Cranston,Rhode Island,
United States of America
Rentals.com called with a gracious offer
#4Author of original report
Wed, June 29, 2011
I received an email from the company requesting I call and tell them of my experience with their site. I responded to the email with the details and a few hours later got a call from a rep.
The caller seemed genuinely interested in an attempt to offer something for the problem. She was cordial and actually apologized for the problem I had. In the end I was give a 30 day extension at no charge. Under the circumstance I felt it was a fair response to an unanticipated problem.
Two things I need to clarify. First, I was incorrect about loosing the remaining days if I renew early. Although I was told that originally, after asking this rep, she told me no days are lost for early renewal. Second, after checking my listing reports, most of my contacts were coming from that site. That alone, from a business perspective, is worth continuing the ad at cost. I will check any ads for errors periodically in the future.
Oddly, the 30 day extension started today which meant I actually got a twenty nine day extension since I was paid until tomorrow. This glaring inconsistency will have me waiting to renew until the day after any ad expires.
The incident was unfortunate but I have to offer kudos to a company that makes an honest effort to reach an amicable solution. This happens far to infrequently in the corporate world today.
