EGumball Inc

Revdex.com:
We have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve our complaint.  
Thank you for your most recent communication regarding the ongoing mediation between our company and eGumball Inc.
we believe that some clarification is in order, and following is a brief restatement of the facts:
1. eGumball Inc. claimed to enhance search engine optimization, but in spite of a good faith payment for such services, there was never any detectable improvement in customer acquisition, increased page views, new visitors to our company website, or increased telephone or email inquiries.  eGumball Inc. has also never provided any tangible proof of services rendered, despite repeated requests to do so. No access for the control panel was ever sent to Ms. [redacted] and she was unable to view any campaign reports that displayed the scope of work. 
2. When a request was made to cancel this agreement due to a failure to provide the agreed upon service, eGumball Inc. retained the services of a collection agency, Richard James & Associates  Inc.  located in Vancouver, Washington.
3. As a representative of eGumball, Richard James & Associates employed tactics which were in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  They repeatedly used the telephone to harass and annoy the client, Ms. [redacted] and sent letters stating that their firm had been retained by eGumball Inc. to initiate an asset and liability investigation on our company and the possibility of pending litigation.  This veiled threat to seize property was made in spite of the fact that there was no legal reason to do so.  Insisting to be paid for services not rendered does not constitute grounds for property seizure or harassment from collection agencies.
4. In the latest communication to your office from eGumball Inc. a statement was made regarding their business relationship between eGumball Inc. and Google. eGumball Inc. stated that they are not a partner of Google, nor are they owned by Google.  Yet they take every opportunity on their website and during their sales calls to create the impression that they enjoy a special relationship with Google, thereby improving a client’s opportunities for successful internet optimization.  On the very first page of their website, the name Google appears prominently in the headers and is mentioned approximately 16 times in the accompanying text.  The badge bearing the words “Google Partner” is large and prominently displayed.  What is not prominently displayed is the disclaimer in extremely small font at the very bottom of the page, stating that eGumball “is not Google, a partner of Google, or has any special relationships with Google”, a direct contradiction to all of the prominently displayed articles about their “Google Places Optimization Services”, etc.  According to the Texas Attorney General’s office, unlawful deceptive trade practices include “causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or services;”  and “failing to disclose information concerning goods or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have entered had the information been disclosed”. During the initial phone call with the eGumball salesperson, no such distinction was made.
5. In their most recent communication with you, EGumball Inc. referenced the six month agreement as “08/09/2014”.  They said that the client had requested the account to be cancelled on “09/12/2014” and that on “09/20/2014” they received their final payment.  They also said that on “09/23/2014” they called to offer the client and set the account to expire at the end of the term.  There has never been a good faith effort made by eGumball Inc. to rectify this matter and the fact that they cannot perform simple fact checking or even keep an accurate record of the transaction dates speaks volumes about their abilities to provide adequate services to their clients.  Their claim that their charges are still owed because they spent time and effort “strategizing the campaign” is inconsistent with reality and the facts at hand.  
 
In closing, we wish to put this unfortunate matter behind us.  Although we still feel we are owed a full refund of $649.00, we will consider forfeiting   the amount already paid for services not rendered, but   eGumball Inc.  must agree to close our account, stop all harassment from their collection agency, and make no further attempt to collect any additional money.  They must also agree to make no further attempt to contact us in any way.   
We appreciate your assistance in helping us to resolve this matter.  Thank you.
 
Sincerely,
[redacted], President
[redacted].
[redacted],  Administrator

We regret any unwanted phone calls that this business may have received. This information has been sent to the appropriate department to ensure that the business is not contacted again. If there are any questions, the owner may contact us at [redacted] Monday-Friday 7:30-3:30 PST. Thank you.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[No document was signed on 8/29/2017.  I asked them to send me the email that was sent to me in August of 2017 when I first signed the document, they said that it was sent to the wrong client.  They later sent me a copy in December which I had never seen before stating I owed them monthly fees.   ]
Regards,
[redacted]

First, eGumball does not represent themselves as Google. There is no logic behind doing this if we are going to brand our name in the process. Secondly, we believe that this company is being contacted by rogue, start-up companies who disguise themselves as eGumball to collect...

payment. Often times, other companies will call business owners to update their credit card information and will hang up a phone call just after identifying themselves as “eGumball.” Again, there is no logic or benefit with operating under these type of tactics. Such evidence exists in our legal section on our website (http://www.egumball.com/legal.html). Respectfully, we have added phone numbers 805-653-1717 & 805-652-1279 to our do not call list.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
I'm puzzled at the business' response. This wasn't at all what I was assured when they had me sign up. It is most unfortunate that any reputable business can be this deceptive.
Regards,
[redacted]

[redacted]s entered into a six month agreement with our company on 08/09/2014 .  On 09/12/2014, the client callled in requesting a cancellation with no valid reason - in fact no reason at all. We believe the client experienced buyer's remorse.  Our agreements are front loaded with service - especially during the first month.  Without a valid reason we cannot honor a cancellation request - no reason was given.
As our terms and conditions read, eGumball is not a partner of Google or is owned by Google.  There can be some confusion with our "Google Partner" badge on our website though.  Google changed it Adwords Certification program to "Google Partner" for services that have passed a basic Adwords test in addition to meeting the minimum monthly spend requirements.  The clients claim that we "indicated we were part of Google or similar to Google" is subject to interpretation.  Responsibily this topic is clearly addressed and defined within our terms and conditions and our website footer.
Also it is unfair to suggest that our company did not perform any services during the first month since most of the first month is focused on strategizing the campaign and work scheduling.  The client never issued a complaint directly to our company prior to their cancellation request.  All of our clients have access to our control panel with campaign reports.
Lastly, on 09/12/2014, the client requested their account to be cancelled immediately and requested a closing balance for final payment.  On 09/20/2014 we received the final payment.  On 09/23/2014, we called our client and offered to set the clients account to expire at the end of term instead of a complete early cancellation.  Client declined.

We appreciate your concern with our relationship with
Google. As seen on our terms (http://www.egumball.com/terms.html),
our website (http://www.egumball.com/egumball_is_not_google.html
), and the contract that every customer must sign before their service has
started, we are transparent to the...

fact that we are not affiliated with Google
in any way, but meet the qualifications to be a Google AdWords Partner (https://www.google.com/partners/?sourceid=awo&subid=us-en-ha-g_prt-hasearch...⇄ /> . Also seen in our terms and the contract that every customer signs before
service is that eGumball does not and cannot guarantee search engine results.
No SEO or Google Maps company can guarantee specific results in any time period
due to constant changes within search engine algorithms. It takes time for a
company to start ranking once we’ve created their profile. Lastly, we ask to have
access to every customer’s Google Plus page because it is very important that
we manage this page in order to manage their overall listing. Before the
customer responds to our response, we ask them to speak with their account
executive about our service agreement.

Thank you for reaching out to express your concerns.  We ask that you contact your Account Executive for a full explanation on your account progress and results.   Thank you

First, eGumball, just as any SEO and Google Maps company,
cannot guarantee results, as seen on our terms of service (http://www.egumball.com/terms.html)
and the contract that customers must sign before their services...

starts.  Since there are constant changes being made
within search engine algorithms, it is impossible to detect how long it will
take for a company to start ranking, which we also disclose in our terms and
contract. Next, we would only claim that your listing shows up in the area that
you are in ([redacted], FL). Google has what is called a trust score, meaning that
all the information in your listing needs to be accurate and consistent in
order for your company to be trusted with Google. If your company ranks in other
cities, then that is great, but we make sure that your company is represented
in the city it is in. We ask the customer to speak with their account executive
about our service agreement and their listing.

The customer signed up for the service on 8/10/2017 and the activation of the account was completed on 8/25/2017.   Our quality control department completed pre-activation requirements on 8/18, which included business information confirmations and search engine verifications. ...

Email confirmations were sent during each stage of the activations processes and the completion of the activation included login information to the client control panel.  We do offer the performance guarantee to alleviate any frustrations or concerns that our clients may have that would stem from delays in development and implementation of the campaign.  While our process does decrease the indexing time by providing only accurate data for our clients, we cannot guarantee a specific time or date when your name will appear on search engines. We ask that the customer contact their account executive to review the campaign and progress which has been made. (service agreement attached)     [redacted]Operations Manager

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Hi [redacted],
Here is my rebuttal statement which you may post.
Brandon from eGumball called me on September 09, 2015 and I agreed to reopen the contract based on a promise made by [redacted] who originally opened the contract that there is a 30 day money back guarantee if there are no results. She pointed out to a line written on the bottom of the application as "Performance guarantee". I hope that eGumball can show a result at the end of 30 days or refund the money as promised.
Thank You,
[redacted]
Regards,
[redacted]

Our client signed onto service with us on 2/17/2014.
Production emails detailing each step of our service was emailed on 2/17, 2/21,
2/24, 2/25, 2/27 and 2/28. All emails provide detail as to work performed
alongside contact telephone numbers. Per the email received by the client on
2/28,...

the client was provided username and password credentials to upload his
photos. On 3/6/2014, we received a conference call from our client and the
clients bank. The client wanted to cancel and did not want to discuss the campaign during this conference call.
Consequently, our concierge department didn't have the chance to go over the uploading of the
photos since the client refused to discuss his account.   If the 24th was so important to the client why didn't the customer call us on or near the 24th?

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
EGumballs sales representive stated to me from before the sale, after I explained we were a new business who just moved 10 months into establishing our corporation, that it would NOT be a big deal and that he could guarantee us on the first page within the first 90 days. So it started as a lie from the get go. Secondly, when this company sends a snap shot of what our company is supposedly doing, it means nothing to us because we haven't gotten any new clients. Whose to say they don't just make this up and send it over ?? Everytime I called with a complaint they would send me the same spreadsheet with numbers that don't mean anything ... Again we have No New clients from their "efforts" . I am the one who contacted [redacted]  initially , not EGumball. Lastly, they never addressed refunding me or canceling my contract. Only to say I need to call one of their customer service reps. I think that's bad business all the way around. I didn't spend all this time contacting the Revdex.com to have them say just call us again ... 
Regards,
[redacted]

I have been requesting to be removed from their calling list for over a year. When I ask to speak with a supervisor, they hang the phone up. Incredibly unprofessional business tactics and highly annoying.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
As stated in my original complaint,  Egumball contacted me regarding using their services.  Their EXACT promise to me was that they could get me on the first page of Google.  No differentiation was made between Google and Google Maps. No mention was made of the difference between Maps and organic listings.   I found this out later.    My business was ALREADY on the first page of Google MAps so I never really needed their services at all.  An ethical company would have not taken advantage of the fact that I lacked computer knowledge and would never have pursued this sale.    I was also told that it would take several months to get my business on the first page of Google so when I did not see immediate results, I was not overly concerned.  I started asking questions on 08/11 when I still saw no improvement in my rating.  That is why it took so long for me to question what was going on.   Yes, they communicated with me several times in the first 30 days but also told me to be patient on getting my desired results.
[redacted] from their billing department contacted me yesterday after a long Facebook rehash of my issues.  I will be happy to supply a copy of the Facebook correspondence if needed.  She first told me that I would need to write a "hardship" letter stating that I could no longer afford their service to be let out of my contract.  I refused as this is clearly not the case.  Then she said I would still need to write a letter to cancel and they would let me out of the agreement only if I agreed to retract my Revdex.com complaint and remove the Facebook correspondence.   I told them I would need to think about it.  I sent them a fax last night agreeing to remove the Facebook posts and retract my Revdex.com complaint ONLY if they FIRST sent me a letter stating that  my contract is canceled without any additional financial obligation and they agreed not to tamper with or remove any of my Google keywords.  Forgive me for not trusting this company.   
This brings us up to date.   If they will  FIRST send me a written verification that my contract is canceled in full I will consider this [redacted]er resolved.
[redacted]

First, eGumball, just as any SEO and Google Maps company,
cannot guarantee results, as seen on our terms of service (http://www.egumball.com/terms.html)
and the contract that customers must sign before their services starts.  Since there are constant changes being made
within search engine...

algorithms, it is impossible to detect how long it will
take for a company to start ranking, which we also disclose in our terms and
contract. Next, we would only claim that your listing shows up in the area that
you are in ([redacted], FL). Google has what is called a trust score, meaning that
all the information in your listing needs to be accurate and consistent in
order for your company to be trusted with Google. If your company ranks in other
cities, then that is great, but we make sure that your company is represented
in the city it is in. We ask the customer to speak with their account executive
about our service agreement and their listing.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.The company wants to say that this takes time and we need to call and talk to someone about what they have done for us.  The bottom line is that their salesperson told us that we would be ranking on the first page of Google in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd spot within 2 to 3 weeks.  He said that if we made 1 sale a month from this service, it would pay for itself.  After 3 months we were not ranking at all and had not gotten a single phone call since we were not even showing up on Google.  We were sold something that they could not deliver on and could not afford to keep paying them.  When we hired the 2nd company, we were ranking on page 1 within 2 weeks.  This is proof that EGumball was taking our money and sitting on it.    
Regards,
[redacted]

As we continue to say, services are not as per contract. We are still not being listed with the correct address of [redacted] - in fact many listings are reflecting [redacted] (on first page listing which is from 7 years ago) or 11-14 12th street (which is from 1 year ago). We have spent countless hours upon hours to work with them. They are not honest, they are harassing, transferring us to over a dozen employees at eGumball and having to explain or issues over and over again. We asked them to terminate contract amicability and they are requiring us to sign a legal document, attached, that they will do that as long as we remove all our negative listings. We refuse to do that, our reviews are honest and reflective of their services. We have continued to pay them even though we've been trying to resolve our issues to no avail and will continue to pay until our contract terminates in November. I ask the Revdex.com to honor our request in our favor to terminate contract, with the right to post our legitimate reviews which is freedom of speech and cancel contract without penalty. If you read their reviews we are not the only customer with the SAME CONCERN AND ISSUE. This is a terrible way to run a business - chasing after your money. We've had issues with them from the start which increased when we made our first move to the 11-14 12th street address. Each time we wanted to cancel the contract they enticed us with a free service and promised to fix the listings which hasn't happened. My second screen shot shows the wrong address again along with an error of all the listings which they are to manage. The contract reads: Monthly Service Includes - local category research and analysis - never receive, Optimized listings in [redacted] places and [redacted] - address is not correct, 24/7 [redacted] places algorithm monitoring - no proof this is being done. They are absolutley not in line with their contract. We signed in February because they offered free Apple maps add-on, that's not working either. Their performance guarantee is not withheld - contact also attached. I've been working with them aggressively since February on the latest contract because we had a business address change. They didn't have our address right on their own myserviceprofile site for 3 months. This and all my phone calls have been documented.  Please, after all this evidence submitted, allow us to terminate contract immediately with no penalty.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Regards,
[redacted]