CrowdfundBuzz.Com

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:I apologize for the clerical issue on the number that was paidI see now that the payment was made of The issue is that not all services where renderedI was promised continued social media traffic which I did not see and could not be proven to meI was also promised real time analysis of that was happening with my campaign and well as that fact that my campaign would be published in meaningful places as to best suit my needs which is what I paid dollars of my dollar budget for. Here is a response from *** ***As to working article links. Here are just a few I pulled at random*** *** ***Upon entering any of these links which I did in fact find myself, they lead nowhere, to nothingEven when one did pop up after so long waiting for it to load, it wasn't even a link to my articleThey had promised placement in top search engines and upon searching for a working article link I could not find one, let alone one on a site pertaining to our productAttached you will find the csv file that was sent to me as "proof" that they had done something.Also attached you will find my last correspondence with Howard that he never bothered to answerEven after I emailed him just recentlyHe seemed disgruntled that I was asking questions and chose to bombard my email with so many letters trying to prove that he had send things to publishersIf they chose not to publish why did he not share this real time analysis and try and resolve the issue for me to put my campaign in a better position
Regards,
*** ***

The first thing we need to address here is that the client purchased a $package - not a $package (see attached screen shot). It's outrageous for the customer to demand a refund for hundreds of dollars more than what he actually paid.Every other statement and assertion
the client has made is equally inaccurate with perhaps one exception with just one quote he made as follows: "We will keep sending traffic with our social media accounts reaching nearly 30,of our followers, fans and connections across *** *** *** ***+We will also follow up with any journalists or bloggers who showinterest in the project such as interview requestsWe will do everything we can to help your project be successfulWe will do this every single day until the day your campaign ends." I did say that and we did exactly what I said we'd do.We have attached all of the email correspondence between Crowdfund Buzz and the customer to prove that not only were we communicative with regard to every request the client made but that we were also respectful of the customer and at no point in time was he belittled or made to feel stupid as well.After our patient explanations in addressing all of the customer's areas of concern he went on to ignore practically everything I said and kept on piling more complaints and then demands for a refund - which is quite impossible as all of the services the customer paid for were delivered at no small cost to us.My question for him is -- why did he wait until after his campaign was over to lodge any complaints? At the beginning and in the middle of the campaign the customer was only complimentary (thanking us for the quality of the press release, for example -- again please see attached email document) and all throughout. It was only after the campaign ended and the customer did not reach his funding goal is when he suddenly became unhappyI suspect this is because the customer is frustrated he didn't reach his funding goal, whichis something we make clear to everyone we have no control over as is true with any and every other advertising firm and PR agency in the world. For the record I alluded to this in our very first email exchange which is in stark contrast to the customer's own unfounded concerns over our sales practices.The basis of the matter really seems to be that the customer felt they should've made more money from our advertising and promotional services (again, please see the attached email document for specific client references to this) which as we all know are impossible outcomes to predict, promise much less assume. This was clearly explained to the client in the nicest possible way.In our opinion, the customer is entitled to neither a refund nor an apology

The complainant is blatantly lying in every aspect of this complaint - there is no other way to describe this.
We made no such mention of [redacted] or [redacted] or any other media outlet. In fact we make it clear on our website we can't promise any placement of any kind at all. 
(First in...

our terms of service - which the customer agreed to - http://crowdfundbuzz.com/terms-of-service/ with specific reference to section 2 paragraph 2 which clearly states "Crowdfund Buzz does not warrant specific placement of any press release nor pick up by third parties of any news release on its wire, but will deliver a press release via online distribution methods to make such content available to be repurposed by third parties who discover the content at various Internet locations, both intended and unintended."And secondly on our blog -- http://crowdfundbuzz.com/crowdfunding-campaign-promotion-100-guarantee/  Similar messages or statements can be found all over our website.)
There are several other pages on our website that makes it clear that guaranteed PR placement or related results is completely impossible.
The next lie the complainant told is to our claim of followers.  We publish our follower statistics on our website. We do NOT publish or claim or promote the fact we have over 30,000 [redacted]
I invite everyone to review our index page - http://www.crowdfundbuzz.com and our services page - http://crowdfundbuzz.com/crowdfunding-services/
Perhaps the customer is illiterate as we clearly state in the paragraph with the heading "Advertising Crowdfunding Campaigns via Social Media Promotion" in the very first sentence " Every single day we promote your crowdfunding campaign to nearly 35,000 people across [redacted] 
For further consideration -- why would anyone tell such a brazen lie when the facts can be checked and verified in just a few seconds by checking our [redacted]
Moving forward -- the client was never told any such things about anyone in this office having special connections.
The next lie the customer told is that we didn't post every to social media as promised.
WE INVITE detailed inspection and close scrutiny of all of our social media feeds so this lie can be exposed by first hand evidence any third party can verify for themselves.
The next lie told is about pre-fabricated emails.  I will be happy to send a batch of all emails exchanged between us and the customer to prove this is a lie also.
THE NEXT LIE they told is that we sent them a spreadsheet of media results we created ourselves.  See attached screen shots for the real source of the spreadsheet that was provided to us documenting press release distribution.
The first screen shot shows that their press release was widely distributed and viewed over 2000 times.  When we click on the "syndicated" link circle you get screen shot 2 -- listing 12 SCREENS of media outlets that published their press release.
We circled the "EXPORT" button near the top of the screen shot to show the actual source where we got the Excel spreadsheet the client was sent clearly proving we did not create this spreadsheet.
The third screen shot shows the webpage after we click the EXPORT button -- we downloaded the spreadsheet and sent it to the client.  A copy of that spreadsheet is attached as well.
The customer continues to lie about our behavior in that we NEVER misrepresent results from PR or advertising.  We NEVER tell people that they WILL get results from public relations, advertising, etc.  Nobody can make any such promises, we have it published in several places all over websites that we can't make any guarantees, don't make any guarantees, etc. etc. 
And to dispel one more lie -- the customer threatened US with nothing less than extortion through their email stating they will do a chargeback, contact the Revdex.com, the attorney general if we didn't issue them a refund.  All we did was defend our rights and state the facts of the matter.
We can't allow customers to steal from us vis a vis getting the full advantage of all of the services we provide then demand a full refund --- "or else".
And just for the record - the customer ALSO agreed to and acknowledged to our clearly published "no refunds" policy here -- http://crowdfundbuzz.com/terms-of-service/  with specific attention to section 11.

Review: I, a small business owner looking to raise a little capital, was searching the internet for a great way to kick off my crowdfunding campaign. I came across Crowdfund Buzz, a Revdex.com accredited business. They seemed to fit the bill just right. I read through their promises and advertising and thought they would be great, I even got in contact with [redacted] at [redacted] he was vague in his description of the services and asked that I pay prior to receiving anything.

"There’s a lot we can do for you by leveraging the sincere power of your project itself to the best possible advantage with the press and the social media world."

This is a quote from [redacted], it got me really excited for my project and I really began to believe that he could help.

"We will keep sending traffic with our social media accounts reaching nearly

30,000 of our followers, fans and connections across [redacted]+. We will also follow up with any journalists or bloggers who show

interest in the project such as interview requests. We will do everything we

can to help your project be successful.

We will do this every single day until the day your campaign ends."

Another quote from an email dated Feb. 25. Once again an empty statement of which nothing was truly delivered. My campaign concluded on March 21st but the last time that I was emailed by [redacted] was Feb 25th. Upon request to speak with him about his services he went on to belittle me and make me feel stupid.Desired Settlement: I would like a well written apology unlike the PR that he sent us, as well as a full refund in the amount of $549.

Business

Response:

The first thing we need to address here is that the client purchased a $199 package - not a $549 package (see attached screen shot). It's outrageous for the customer to demand a refund for hundreds of dollars more than what he actually paid.Every other statement and assertion the client has made is equally inaccurate with perhaps one exception with just one quote he made as follows: "We will keep sending traffic with our social media accounts reaching nearly 30,000 of our followers, fans and connections across [redacted]+. We will also follow up with any journalists or bloggers who showinterest in the project such as interview requests. We will do everything we can to help your project be successful. We will do this every single day until the day your campaign ends." I did say that and we did exactly what I said we'd do.We have attached all of the email correspondence between Crowdfund Buzz and the customer to prove that not only were we communicative with regard to every request the client made but that we were also respectful of the customer and at no point in time was he belittled or made to feel stupid as well.After our patient explanations in addressing all of the customer's areas of concern he went on to ignore practically everything I said and kept on piling more complaints and then demands for a refund - which is quite impossible as all of the services the customer paid for were delivered at no small cost to us.My question for him is -- why did he wait until after his campaign was over to lodge any complaints? At the beginning and in the middle of the campaign the customer was only complimentary (thanking us for the quality of the press release, for example -- again please see attached email document) and all throughout. It was only after the campaign ended and the customer did not reach his funding goal is when he suddenly became unhappy. I suspect this is because the customer is frustrated he didn't reach his funding goal, whichis something we make clear to everyone we have no control over as is true with any and every other advertising firm and PR agency in the world. For the record I alluded to this in our very first email exchange which is in stark contrast to the customer's own unfounded concerns over our sales practices.The basis of the matter really seems to be that the customer felt they should've made more money from our advertising and promotional services (again, please see the attached email document for specific client references to this) which as we all know are impossible outcomes to predict, promise much less assume. This was clearly explained to the client in the nicest possible way.In our opinion, the customer is entitled to neither a refund nor an apology.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:I apologize for the clerical issue on the number that was paid. I see now that the payment was made of 199. The issue is that not all services where rendered. I was promised continued social media traffic which I did not see and could not be proven to me. I was also promised real time analysis of that was happening with my campaign and well as that fact that my campaign would be published in meaningful places as to best suit my needs which is what I paid 200 dollars of my 0 dollar budget for. Here is a response from [redacted]As to working article links. Here are just a few I pulled at random[redacted]Upon entering any of these links which I did in fact find myself, they lead nowhere, to nothing. Even when one did pop up after so long waiting for it to load, it wasn't even a link to my article. They had promised placement in top search engines and upon searching for a working article link I could not find one, let alone one on a site pertaining to our product. Attached you will find the csv file that was sent to me as "proof" that they had done something.Also attached you will find my last correspondence with Howard that he never bothered to answer. Even after I emailed him just recently. He seemed disgruntled that I was asking questions and chose to bombard my email with so many letters trying to prove that he had send things to publishers. If they chose not to publish why did he not share this real time analysis and try and resolve the issue for me to put my campaign in a better position.

Regards,

Review: My name is [redacted] and I currently have a Kickstarter campaign called [redacted]

I was recently approached by a company called http://crowdfundbuzz.com/ soon after I started my campaign. They sent me an email claiming they could help me with my campaign.

My wife and I called the owner, Howard S[redacted] and he told us he could get our campaign into news outlets, huge bloggers, etc. We were very excited and paid him $299.00. He made us think he had special connections to these agencies. He even mentioned getting it on [redacted] and [redacted]

Shortly after, we found out that he had actually used a public website called [redacted] to submit our press release. This is a site that anyone can use.

He said he would promote our kickstarter "every day" on [redacted] to over 30,000 fans. Actually, he only has 11,000 fans, and he did small blurbs in the midst of many other posts. No one even looked at them. He also did not post it every day as promised.

Every time we email him, he responds with pre-written emails, pointing out other campaigns' successes, etc.

When I asked about the press release, they sent me an excel spreadsheet that they created themselves.

Mr. S[redacted] made us believe that his company could do everything we needed in order to be successful on Kickstarter. He promised us all of this news coverage, blog coverage, etc. in our telephone call. However, once we paid him it was a different story all together.

We demanded a refund today, and he responded with threats against us "if we were successful".

I have all the emails as proof as well.

I believe he took advantage of me 100%. He preys on people who want help getting their Kickstarter funded.Desired Settlement: I want a full refund of my money, and I want Mr. S[redacted] is be aware that slandering us, or threatening us, will be reported to the Attorney General.

Business

Response:

The complainant is blatantly lying in every aspect of this complaint - there is no other way to describe this.We made no such mention of [redacted] or [redacted] or any other media outlet. In fact we make it clear on our website we can't promise any placement of any kind at all. (First in our terms of service - which the customer agreed to - http://crowdfundbuzz.com/terms-of-service/ with specific reference to section 2 paragraph 2 which clearly states "Crowdfund Buzz does not warrant specific placement of any press release nor pick up by third parties of any news release on its wire, but will deliver a press release via online distribution methods to make such content available to be repurposed by third parties who discover the content at various Internet locations, both intended and unintended."And secondly on our blog -- http://crowdfundbuzz.com/crowdfunding-campaign-promotion-100-guarantee/ Similar messages or statements can be found all over our website.)There are several other pages on our website that makes it clear that guaranteed PR placement or related results is completely impossible.The next lie the complainant told is to our claim of followers. We publish our follower statistics on our website. We do NOT publish or claim or promote the fact we have over 30,000 [redacted]I invite everyone to review our index page - http://www.crowdfundbuzz.com and our services page - http://crowdfundbuzz.com/crowdfunding-services/Perhaps the customer is illiterate as we clearly state in the paragraph with the heading "Advertising Crowdfunding Campaigns via Social Media Promotion" in the very first sentence " Every single day we promote your crowdfunding campaign to nearly 35,000 people across [redacted] For further consideration -- why would anyone tell such a brazen lie when the facts can be checked and verified in just a few seconds by checking our [redacted]Moving forward -- the client was never told any such things about anyone in this office having special connections.The next lie the customer told is that we didn't post every to social media as promised.WE INVITE detailed inspection and close scrutiny of all of our social media feeds so this lie can be exposed by first hand evidence any third party can verify for themselves.The next lie told is about pre-fabricated emails. I will be happy to send a batch of all emails exchanged between us and the customer to prove this is a lie also.THE NEXT LIE they told is that we sent them a spreadsheet of media results we created ourselves. See attached screen shots for the real source of the spreadsheet that was provided to us documenting press release distribution.The first screen shot shows that their press release was widely distributed and viewed over 2000 times. When we click on the "syndicated" link circle you get screen shot 2 -- listing 12 SCREENS of media outlets that published their press release.We circled the "EXPORT" button near the top of the screen shot to show the actual source where we got the Excel spreadsheet the client was sent clearly proving we did not create this spreadsheet.The third screen shot shows the webpage after we click the EXPORT button -- we downloaded the spreadsheet and sent it to the client. A copy of that spreadsheet is attached as well.The customer continues to lie about our behavior in that we NEVER misrepresent results from PR or advertising. We NEVER tell people that they WILL get results from public relations, advertising, etc. Nobody can make any such promises, we have it published in several places all over websites that we can't make any guarantees, don't make any guarantees, etc. etc. And to dispel one more lie -- the customer threatened US with nothing less than extortion through their email stating they will do a chargeback, contact the Revdex.com, the attorney general if we didn't issue them a refund. All we did was defend our rights and state the facts of the matter.We can't allow customers to steal from us vis a vis getting the full advantage of all of the services we provide then demand a full refund --- "or else".And just for the record - the customer ALSO agreed to and acknowledged to our clearly published "no refunds" policy here -- http://crowdfundbuzz.com/terms-of-service/ with specific attention to section 11.