Local Advertising / Toolbar scam

ComplaintsInternet ScamsPerformance Media Placement

Complaint

0
YouCannotFoolMe
Country: United States
This company is owned by Carl Perkins and Duane Brinson under the name PBH LLC or Perkins Brinson Ho. They created the toolbars discussed here: http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=28710 and profited greatly. They may be at it again with this: http://www.performancemediaplacement.com/OnlineDemo.asp

The sales people they currently employ sell a new type of local advertising that has been reported as fraudulent. Here is a post on some of the things they promise: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdWords ... 79abadae6&hl=en.

Both Perkins and Brinson worked for Search Initiatives (Now Elocal, Elocallistings, Elocalplumbers, etc.) until they were both "let go" for unknown reasons when the company formed Elocal. http://web.archive.org/web/20070621061940/htt ... om/company.html

Do not be fooled by promises of "exclusivity", 24/7 first page placement, unlimited clicks and other false claims. The company has been known to break many contracts and forces employees to lie. If they do not lie to customers they are fired.

Here are just a couple of the many URL's the company uses:
premiumlocallistings.com
performancelocallistings.com
performancemediaplacement.com
pl411.com
pll411.com
pll-orange.com
premierlocallistings.com
g2411.com
nw411.com

Please do your research before doing any business with this company.

Comments

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  • 0
    No Contract
    Do you believe you are owed a partial or full refund? Below is some advice on how to ensure your company receives the advertising as agreed upon. If you find an advertising company has not performed according to their contract it is best to approach them with the evidence and provide your side to try and work out an acceptable solution. If no reasonable solution can be agreed upon there is another solution to possibly getting a full or partial refund. This should only be done if nothing can be worked out between you and the company and all communication breaks down. Call your bank to dispute the charges or chargeback. Only call your bank and dispute the charges for the reason(s) you feel the company did not perform as "guaranteed". In order to truly know if the company is performing as promised good record keeping from the beginning is necessary.

    Here are some tips that could be followed:
    * Request everything any sales person tells you on the phone or in person in writing and/or get permission to record the phone call for your records. This is extremely important as "guarantees" are made by certain sales people that Google employees "...have no problem saying that all of these claims are completely false." As you can read here: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdWords ... 79abadae6&hl=en
    * Request, in writing, how much of your monthly fee will be spent on Adwords and/or the other PPC providers.
    * Request "Read Only Access" to your Google Adwords campaign. You will be able to view the account to inspect keywords, ads, check the pricing and other valuable statistics like the amount of clicks and overall cost. You wont have the ability to make changes, but having access to this information to print out for your records is EXTREMELY
    important.
    * If report access is refused or you just want to receive the reports, ask them to set up a regular schedule and send you these reports: Overall Campaign report showing pricing and all keywords and ads being used, Search Query Performance report, Impression Share Report, Keyword Performance Report, Ad Performance Report and Geographic Performance Report. These reports should come directly from Googles email: adwords-noreply@google.com.
    * Check the placement of your ads regularly both in Google and using this tool:
    https://adwords.google.com/select/AdTargetingPreviewTool. If your ad cannot be found take and save screenshots for your records.

    If you look over all this information and you feel the performance is not as expected, talk to the company first to maybe gain a better understanding of the information and/or see what adjustments can be made to coincide with the promises made by the sales person. If there is a refusal to stick to the "guarantees" made by the company all the information above could be given to your bank to review your dispute. If you have not been directed to read and/or sign a contract, ensure to emphasize this point to your bank. Below are links showing some guarantees made by the company and the promise of "NO CONTRACTS":
    http://www.ocgoogleguy.com/Businesses/OC_Google_Guy_Trabuco_Canyon_CA.htm
    http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kurt-steinhebel/1a/10b/13b
    http://www.listown.com/writing-editing-translation/oc/201002/143116.htm
    http://www.searchterms.com/blog/local-search/ ... -be-successful/
    These can be printed out and sent to the bank as well.
  • 0
    Marianne PMP Employee
    | 2 replies
    Hi it's me Marianne from Performance Media Placement
    I have a few minutes so I'd like to share a few things that happened here at PMP today.  About two months ago one of our reps signed up a storage unit company that has 100 locations.  Even though they did read the lies on this site they decided to try us for one of their locations. They really like the rep because he gained their trust.  Well one month ago they added three more locations and today they added 7 more locations. They committed to going with us for the remainder of the one hundred locations within the next several months. The owners words were "We are kicking our competitors butt thank's to you guys. So thank you." So does't that tell you how happy they are with the results they are getting from our company.
    Another one of our clients who owns a huge garage door company just added 16 more cities to their advertising campaign. Would they have done that if we were not keeping our word and getting results the results we promised them.
    These scenarios happen all the time here at PMP and that is one of the many reasons I love working here!
    • 0
      Jason replies to Marianne PMP Employee
      | 1 reply
      I was scammed by Performance Media Placement as well. If this storage company is so happy with your company, why not give the contact info for them so it can be verified. If they were truly happy they wouldn't mind giving a testimonial about how wonderful PMP local is. All I know is that I was scammed big time by Performance Media Placement and from other comments I know other people have been as well.
      • 0
        Marianne replies to Jason
        This company, in many cases, has refused to have customers read over the refund, general contract and legal agreements before they sign a customer up. The sales person, in these cases, fills out the online form that shows these agreements and never shows them to the client, until they wish to cancel.

        If you never saw a contract before signing up, never signed a contract and have a reasonable belief that you have been ripped off, just chargeback, explain the situation to your creditcard company and they will side with you. If the company failed to explain the refund/cancellation policy and/or you never saw a contract (because the salesperson filled the information out for you online {this is the information the company will send to the credit card company in their defense}) and you never signed a contract either physically or digitally, then you will win 100% of the time.

        They have been reported to the FTC and if you feel they fall within the guidelines the FTC provides for a scam, you could report them. Here is a link that explains what the FTC sees as a telemerketing scam.

        http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-telemarketing-scams

        If you feel like you have been taken advantage of by misleading sales tactics, you could inform your creditcard company and file a complaint with the FTC. http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0341-file-complaint-ftc

        If you have complaints about their practices using a product of Google, you can voice your opinion here: https://support.google.com/adwords/contact/gap_complaint?hl=en
  • 0
    Fools Gold
    If PMP is such a great company at performing these first page, unlimited click and keyword campaigns that produce massive conversions, why do they not use any PPC service themselves? If they are so great at map placement and other SEO, why can they not be found for ANY relevant keywords surrounding their business?  

    Another thing, why does PMP list that they advertise for people on sites like Yelp, Facebook, Merchant Circle, AOL, etc. as shown on every homepage of their "resellers"? Where are the terms non-existent for these listings in the PMP "contract" that many sales people, IN WRITING, say do not exist?

    Another point, the FAQ on the PMP site states that every client get access to Google Analytics and phone tracking from kall8.com, yet this code can not be found on the landing pages. Why is that? If there is an extra fee for these programs I would imagine it would be stated somewhere within the site, yet it is not.

    Are these examples of "Bait and Switch"? That is left up to interpretation, but here is what the FTC has to say: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/baitads-gd.htm

    -Begin Quote-
    "Sec. 238.0 Bait advertising defined.1

    Bait advertising is an alluring but insincere offer to sell a product or service which the advertiser in truth does not intend or want to sell. Its purpose is to switch consumers from buying the advertised merchandise, in order to sell something else, usually at a higher price or on a basis more advantageous to the advertiser. The primary aim of a bait advertisement is to obtain leads as to persons interested in buying merchandise of the type so advertised.

    Sec. 238.1 Bait advertisement.

    No advertisement containing an offer to sell a product should be published when the offer is not a bona fide effort to sell the advertised product. [Guide 1]

    Sec. 238.2 Initial offer.

    (a) No statement or illustration should be used in any advertisement which creates a false impression of the grade, quality, make, value, currency of model, size, color, usability, or origin of the product offered, or which may otherwise misrepresent the product in such a manner that later, on disclosure of the true facts, the purchaser may be switched from the advertised product to another.

    (b) Even though the true facts are subsequently made known to the buyer, the law is violated if the first contact or interview is secured by deception."
    -End Quote-

    Please "Marianne", answer relevant questions about the company practices and other points brought up  as opposed to performing "Reputation Management" the company talks about within their many sites.
  • 0
    Fools Gold
    If PMP is such a great company at performing these first page, unlimited click and keyword campaigns that produce massive conversions, why do they not use any PPC service themselves? If they are so great at map placement and other SEO, why can they not be found for ANY relevant keywords surrounding their business?  

    Another thing, why does PMP list that they advertise for people on sites like Yelp, Facebook, Merchant Circle, AOL, etc. as shown on every homepage of their "resellers"? Where are the terms non-existent for these listings in the PMP "contract" that many sales people, IN WRITING, say do not exist?

    Another point, the FAQ on the PMP site states that every client get access to Google Analytics and phone tracking from kall8.com, yet this code can not be found on the landing pages. Why is that? If there is an extra fee for these programs I would imagine it would be stated somewhere within the site, yet it is not.

    Are these examples of "Bait and Switch"? That is left up to interpretation, but here is what the FTC has to say: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/baitads-gd.htm

    -Begin Quote-
    "Sec. 238.0 Bait advertising defined.1

    Bait advertising is an alluring but insincere offer to sell a product or service which the advertiser in truth does not intend or want to sell. Its purpose is to switch consumers from buying the advertised merchandise, in order to sell something else, usually at a higher price or on a basis more advantageous to the advertiser. The primary aim of a bait advertisement is to obtain leads as to persons interested in buying merchandise of the type so advertised.

    Sec. 238.1 Bait advertisement.

    No advertisement containing an offer to sell a product should be published when the offer is not a bona fide effort to sell the advertised product. [Guide 1]

    Sec. 238.2 Initial offer.

    (a) No statement or illustration should be used in any advertisement which creates a false impression of the grade, quality, make, value, currency of model, size, color, usability, or origin of the product offered, or which may otherwise misrepresent the product in such a manner that later, on disclosure of the true facts, the purchaser may be switched from the advertised product to another.

    (b) Even though the true facts are subsequently made known to the buyer, the law is violated if the first contact or interview is secured by deception."
    -End Quote-

    Please "Marianne", answer relevant questions about the company practices and other points brought up  as opposed to performing "Reputation Management" the company talks about within their many sites.
  • 0
    R. Benjamin Blair
    I work for performance media solutions, and I love the product.  Most of these complaints do not make any sense at all so I am assuming they must be from a disgruntled employee.  Google loves us as do our legitimate clients.  I have been doing web based advertising for 9 years and can verify that this is not only the best product I have come across, but the company itself stands behind their product.  

    Company Certification from the Google site:
    https://adwords.google.com/professionals/prof ... 448874&hl=en_US

    Call me at (949)859-1874 x110.  I will prove the effectiveness of the campaign, show you examples and even give you phone numbers of my personal clients that have seen their business grow by leaps and bounds.

    The numbers speak for themselves, we have NO CONTRACTS and still maintain a 92% renewal rate each month.  Just because our competitors cannot do what we do, does not mean that it can't be done.

    R. Benjamin Blair
  • 0
    Confused
    Why does this company refuse to answer any of the relevant questions asked by the many complaints? There seems to be a lot of "reputation management" and updates to many of the websites once complaints are made, yet no real answers. Also, if there is truly "no contract" what is this: https://www.pbhllc.com/LL/OrderRequest_Edit.asp?ID=31. If you are literate, pay attention to the fourth word on the first point in the Terms at the bottom of the page. It is rather amusing this is one of the things sent to the credit card companies to fight the many chargebacks customers file.
  • 0
    No Contrract?!?!
    WTF is this: http://performancemediaplacement.com/TermsAndConditions.asp. I wonder how many customers see , agree to and sign this CONTRACT before signing up. It would be interesting to do a survey among all PMP clients to find out this information. Another fun fact would be to find out the name of the sales person and company name used to perform the sale and find out if they exist and/or still work for the company. Is Edgar and Marianne from previous posts still around?
  • 0
    Overpriced Adwords
    I've asked multiple times for the company's policy on how much (what percentage) of the dollars they take in from their customers actually go to buying clicks from Google being that their service is completely dependent on Google Adwords PPC.  Legit PPC management companies disclose their fees vs. click costs.
  • 0
    Hearsay?
    Here is a bit of information about how the company used to budget and the reason why nothing was, and more than like still never is, revealed to the customer. The company did not want to spend more than roughly 15% of the clients monthly budget in Adwords. For example, if a client was paying $150 per month, the spend was usually no more than $21 per month in adwords. On the budget mentioned, a maximum of $7 per week was spent. If cost reached above this, the client was considered "overbudget". Many clients were called and given the option of either paying more money or the advertising would be canceled. Also, 100% of the setup fee went to the sales rep. This may not be the current model, but it was that way for far too long. ALWAYS ask for pricing and spend up front in the contract that sales people deny they use and get reports directly from Google showing the pricing.
  • 0
    thinking of using them?
    I've been considering them. And am doing my research, so thats how i found this page.

    Let me tell you what I have found and see if anyone else feels the same.

    The guy SAYS that he does not sell, the product sells itself and that his customers demand the product from him, he does not need to sell it. But then he hammers me and hard sells me not letting me off the phone to think about it.

    He insists that he "works by appointment only" but is always available whenever I call. He has used that phrase so much that it just feels like a sales pitch.

    Most eveything he says sounds like a slick snake oil salesman saying whatever it takes to get the sale.

    I have no proof, and I'm not making any jusdments about this company, but I'm just blogging on what my "gut" is telling me.

    My observations are that their actions are not consistant with their words. On a small level and on insignificant promises like "I only work by appointment", or "I do not push for a sale, my clients ask me for the product" but the actions then push me for a sale, etc... These are only a few examples, there are other things that just have not added up in my gut. So if there are inconsistancies with the truth on lots of small things, then what inconsistancies will there be on the large when I am spending with them?

    Does anyone else have some of these same "gut" feelings?

    My business sense says that this could be a good thing, but my gut sense tells me that It's not what it appears. I'm generally happier when I stick with my gut. I also believe in God and believe that God helps guide us with our feelings. Sometimes you feel somthing that you dont know why and that is where you can trust God to help you.

    I want to do this advertising with these guys, but why do I feel like I need to go wash my hands every time I get off the phone with them? :-)
  • 0
    Just Researching?
    Excellent observation. My first thougth while reading that post was that it sounded too much like the "voice" of the salesperson that I've talked to on the phone.

    Sounded more like a fake "phishing" post from a salesperson, than from an actual, real, satisfied customer.

    Seems rare that a satisfied customer would be out online researching this company if they are already so satisfied.
  • 0
    Overpriced Adwords
    Hearsay, you sound like you have inside information.  Did you work for this company or know someone who did?  15 Cents on the Dollar?!!! Yes, this has to be the biggest mark up of Adwords clicks in existence and it is as I suspected - a complete rip off.  That means 85 cents on every dollar goes to the company instead of buying Google clicks.  Any other legit PPC management spends 80-85 cents on the dollar on actual clicks instead of putting it in their pocket.  These guys are sick.

    I would advise anyone checking these guys our to setup an adwords campaign on  your own or shop for a legit PPC management company to manage your campaign for a reasonable cost.  If what Hearsay says is even close to true (from the real customer complaints it appears to be so), then this company is providing the lowest value in PPC management service history - aka Con Job!
  • 0
    Anonymous Client
    I am outraged! This information was forwarded to me anonymously from an ex-employee showing what this company did with my money. I did not even sign up with this Performane Media Placement, let alone see or sign some contract in the first place! I thought my advertising was with Premium Local Listings or Performance Local Listings whatever they call themselves. Here is some of the info sent to me:

    Here are some of the statistics for the advertising performed between the dates of xx/xx/xx and xx/xx/xx (407 days). These statistics are based on your monthly fee of $149. These statistics only show the performance of the advertising for that time period:
    * Total your company paid PLL(not including setup fee):  $1937
    * Total PLL spent in Adwords: $50.23; roughly 2.6% of the budget
    * Total Impressions: 3844; less than 10 impressions per day
    * Total Clicks: 17, roughly 1 click every 3 weeks
    * Impression share per campaign: 89%, 23% & <10%. This voids the first page 24/7 guarantee
    * Avg. cost per click PLL paid to Adwords: roughly $2.95
    * Avg. cost per click your company paid to PLL: roughly $113.94

    I Xed out the dates to try and protect both my reputation and the ex-employees. I saw the crap they tried to pull with the tree company and don't need to risk my companies name being on some b.s. website for no reason. I wantyed to share this pricing stuff so people can see what can happen if you dont ask for everything in writing up front and check up on your advertising. This information is very dissapointing to say the least.
  • 0
    Follow your gut!
    There are MANY more companies that offer the same product, but dont need hard sell tactics and lies to push the product. Call other companies and go with the company that feels right and has no problem putting everything the sales person says in writing up front. Good Luck!
  • 0
    TheOriginal
    YouCannotFoolMe:

    Thanks for picking up the mantle on these guys.  I've not been following them since I shut down their other scam.  Please send me a private note to  dgseinvestor@yahoo.com  so we may discuss

    signed,
    The Original YouCannotFoolMe from Scam.com
  • 0
    Comments above are again wrong
    Eric,

    If you knew anything about Google's Qualification process, you would know that they completely restructured it.  Everyone has to requalify by Sept 1, 2010.  Many of our Adwords Experts have qualitifed for testing and if you click the logo on our site, you'll find that we are indeed a Google Adwords Qualified Partner.  

    Eric, you're going to have to try harder than this to find something that we do that's not on the up and up.

    Maybe you should just get a job.

    Sincerely,
    PMP
  • 0
    Marianne
    Hi There Thinking of using them
    I understand your feeling. Sometimes sales people are so enthusiastic that they come off pushy. That being said as you can see by my other postings on this site I believe in my company's ability to help our clients meet their goals. There are testimonials on our website which are actual clients of ours. If you would like to call me I will be happy to go over our service with you and explain the negative comments posted. I believe in always doing the right thing by people because we all are going to have to answer to God someday.
    My number is 888 243 2488 ext 108.
    God Bless
  • 0
    PMP Lies
    Many of your "experts"??? It shows one qualified individual on your staff in the category "Search Advertising". The qualification PMP holds is something any individual may obtain. This individual is not even qualified under three of the four categories offered, mainly "GOOGLE ADVERTISING" & "REPORTING & ANALYSIS". The information that PMP shows on their many websites about this single qualification conflicts with the information on Googles website. Why is PMP not a "Google Authorized Reseller", http://www.google.com/intl/en/adwords/reseller/index.html, if they are in such good favor with Google?

    By the way, this is not Eric, but another ex-employee PMP screwed over! This company is a joke
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