Vocus Inc

This letter is in response to the complaint made by Mr*** *** of *** Internet ("***") per the letter received by Vocus, Inc(“Vocus") from you dated November 10, 2014.*** signed a subscription agreement for Vocus PRWeb press release distribution service in May The
subscription term ran from June 1, through May 31, 2014, and it did not auto-renewA copy of the signed subscription agreement is included with this letterToward the end of the subscription term, the Vocus account executive for ***'s account reached out multiple times via email and phone to discuss renewing the subscriptionThe account executive determined that Mr*** was the new point of contact for him at *** and sent him information about ***’s Vocus subscriptionMr*** told the account executive that he would pass the information on to his bossesNothing further was heard from *** until November 2014, months after the subscription ended.On November 4, 2014, *** contacted Vocus support team asking that the *** account be reactivatedThe subscription had expired per its terms in May The Vocus support team made the account executive aware of ***'s request, and the account executive reached out to Mr***Mr*** told the account executive that *** had changes in staff during the subscription term and they didn't "get to use most of it.” It was explained to *** that the software had been available for its use during the entire subscription term, and much like a cellphone or cable subscription - its available but if you don't use it you don't get a refund.Mr*** then told the account executive that a former employee had left *** and didn’t give them the ID or password to the Vocus softwareBut no one from *** called or emailed Vocus to ask about getting reset log in credentialsAnd *** did not respond to any of the prior reach outs from Vocus with this information.In fact, nothing was heard from *** despite multiple reach outs by the Vocus account executive in the Inonths leading up to the end of the subscription termAt any time, *** could have called or emailed Vocus to address its issue or ask about the subscriptionIt did notVocus only heard from *** in November 2014, months after the subscription endedAnd the request was that it be turned back on without any further payment.Vocus provided the services subscribed to throughout the subscription term and did not breach any terms of the subscription agreementVocus will not provide any refund in this circumstance, nor will it reactivate the *** account free-of-charge

August 6, 2014Dear [redacted]:Please be advised that [redacted] has been identified as “unsubscribe” in our database and should not receive any further email advertisements.lf you have any further questions or concerns, please contact me at ###-###-#### or via email...

at[redacted]Sincerely,Nicholas *. M[redacted] Corporate Counsel

The contact information that we have for this individual has been marked as "Do not call" and "Do not email." Vocus apologizes for any inconvenience or issues that contacingt the individual may have caused.

arial, sans-serif;">Hello,
 
Thank you for speaking with me this morning regarding Complaint #[redacted].  As we discussed, we have settled this matter with Vocus.  Therefore, we wish to withdrawal/close the referenced complaint.
 
Thank you,
[redacted]
###-###-#### (O)###-###-#### (M)

Roman",serif">While
[redacted] made various requests during its subscription term, Vocus routinely
addressed those concerns.  While the
service may not have met [redacted]’ very specific desires, the service functioned
as intended and warranted.  Vocus
specifically disclaims any warranties of fitness for a customer’s specific purpose,
and it does not guarantee results per the subscription agreement terms.  Additionally, [redacted] received a
substantial discount when it signed up for the service.
Vocus
has not breached any of the terms of the subscription agreement.  Without an uncured material breach, a
customer would not receive a pro-rated refund of monies paid. Vocus has been responsive to [redacted]’
needs, but there was no breach of the terms of the subscription agreement.
Vocus
provided the service adequately throughout the subscription term.  [redacted] may not have gotten its desired
results in the marketplace, but Vocus believes it provided the service as it
was required to do and does not believe any contract breach has occurred.  Therefore, it would not refund the amount
requested.
This information has already been provided to the Maryland Attorney General in response to [redacted]' concerns.

Our PRWeb editorial and support managers spoke with Mr. [redacted] on 5/5/16 to work out a resolution for his issue. We had not received his prior emails but...

the information he provided to our editorial personnel when he did make contact alerted us to an issue with one of our web forms, and we were ultimately able to locate 1 prior email from him that had gone unreceived. And our form is currently being corrected. 
We offered to distribute his original press release, but Mr. [redacted] prefers a refund at this time rather than working on publishing the current content. We are issuing a refund, per our standard process. Additionally, we offered Mr. [redacted] 3 free press releases to be used at any time over the next year.
 
We believe this issue has been resolved.

Please provide the Customer Name, Cr, and the Sales Order Number that is listed on the signed Subscription Agreement.  If this information is not available, please provide the full name of the sales representative.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

This letter is in response to the rejection made by Mr. [redacted] of [redacted] Internet (“[redacted]”) to our letter dated November 14, 2014.To reiterate our earlier position, [redacted] signed a subscription agreement for access to Vocus online software tool. Section 4 of the terms and conditions agreed to by [redacted] clearly state that services are for “services subscribed to and not for actual usage of the service.” The fact that [redacted] did not log-into the system does not require Vocus to provide a refund or reactive an account and extend free service because at all times relevant, Vocus make the software available to [redacted] for its use. It was [redacted]’s failure to obtain the username and password from previous staff members the prevented them from logging into the platform. Vocus tried multiple times to reach out to [redacted] to discuss their subscription, but [redacted] did not respond.Vocus provided the services subscribed to throughout the subscription term and did not breach any terms of the subscription agreement. Vocus will not provide any refund in this circumstance, nor will it re-activate the [redacted] account free-of-charge.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I would like to thank Mr. Manzione for replying in this
matter.  We counter Mr. Manzione’s claims as follows:
Mr. Manzione states, “…at
all times relevant, Vocus make [sic] the software available to [redacted] for its
use.”  That is not accurate.  Vocus blocked [redacted]’s use of the
service by changing either the username or password or both.  This was
most likely due to their impending acquisition by GTCR.
Mr. Manzione also states: “It
was [redacted]’s failure to obtain the username and password from previous staff
members the [sic] prevented them from logging into the platform.”  That is
also inaccurate, as previously stated, Vocus blocked [redacted]’s use of the
service by changing either the username or password or both.
Mr. Manzione goes on to
state: “Vocus tried multiple times to
reach out to [redacted] to discuss their subscription, but [redacted] did not
respond.”  We dispute that claim.  We request proof of those attempts
to reach us.  Please show us proof of answered phone calls along with
recordings, emails and snail mail correspondence.
 Material changes to our
contractually agreed upon service were made to the login system, and/or our
login credentials, at some time during the negotiation process which resulted
in Vocus’s breach of the contract to make the service available to [redacted]
Internet.
 Mr.
Manzione, I hope you understand that this is not personal at all.  We know
that Vocus was acquired by GTCR on April 14, 2014 for approximately $447
million dollars.  We also know that the Chief Executive of Vocus, Rick
[redacted] was relieved of his duties and replaced as a result of the
acquisition.  Vocus also reported a loss of four cents per share in Q4 of
2013.  Additionally, as a result of the acquisition, there were
substantial layoffs of Vocus personnel after the acquisition was completed, as
evidence, please refer to http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/techflash/2014/07/layoffs-hit-vocus-a...⇄ /> The
only reason I bring attention to these matters is because we have also been
through an acquisition and merger ourselves with a different company we owned a
number of years ago.  The first thing we’d like to stress is that these
acquisition discussions can last from 12 to 18 months before the actual
acquisition takes place.  Since the acquisition took place in April of
2014, it is safe to say that the negotiations began sometime early in 2013,
which is about the same time we subscribed to Vocus’s service.
Secondly,
when a company is negotiating an acquisition or merger, the employees of the
acquired company become preoccupied with wondering about their future rather
than paying attention to the present day tasks at hand.  Will they still
have a job?  Will their pay go down?  Will they have to move?  Will
they have a new boss?  What will this new company be like?  Will I
still want to work here?  Should I begin to look for employment
elsewhere?  These are just a few of the things that go through the minds
of the employees during acquisition negotiations.  And, as we can see from
the article link above, they are/were rightly concerned, because many of them
were laid off.
To
summarize, Rick [redacted] is selling his company and wants top dollar and yet the
Q4 earnings are coming in at a loss of 4 cents per share, which I’m sure put a
tremendous strain on Mr. [redacted] and that strain, along with all the other
unknowns faced by the employees, must have created quite a chaotic atmosphere
at Vocus.  It is very easy to see how we got lost in the shuffle with all
this discord going on at Vocus during the end of 2013 and the beginning of
2014.  We’re not blaming anyone, we know these things happen.  We
attempted to work this out with you directly and not involve any third
party.  Unfortunately, the staff at Vocus chose to not take the high road,
which, in itself, is an extension of the basic issue to begin with.
We
understand what a tumultuous time it must have been at Vocus for the six or
more months prior to the completion of the acquisition and we understand that’s
why the ball got dropped on us.  I thank you for your time and
understanding in this matter.
 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

July 24, 2014
Dear [redacted] -This letter is in response to the complaint made by **. [redacted] on July 15,2014, regarding his failure to receive a $25.00 [redacted] Gift Card.Because of reorganization of job responsibilities, there was oversight in sending out the gift card to **....

[redacted]. This was discovered in the last few days and Vocus has rectified the situation with several individuals. We are looking into whether **. [redacted] has already received a gift card since this discovery, and if not, we will be providing him the gift card as soon as possible.Regards,

We are trying to discuss possible resolutions with [redacted].  A sales representative has been trying to reach [redacted], but because has had to cancel a few scheduled meetings because she was sick.

July 18, 2014
Dear **. [redacted] did distribute a press release through [redacted] on Monday, November 25, 2013. The URL of the press release is [redacted]. **. [redacted] paid $119.25, using a coupon which discounted the original...

press release [redacted] by $39.75.Analytics regarding impressions and deliveries for the press release were in a normal range for [redacted] press releases. This was the only press release in [redacted]’s [redacted] account.A Vocus salesperson, [redacted], did contact **. [redacted] to discuss a Vocus subscription, but we do not have any documented contact regarding any other interactions with **. [redacted] related to any discussions regarding her experience with [redacted].Often, first time customers have a preconceived notion about what a press release will accomplish, expecting “millions of pickups”, which is not realistic. While [redacted] distributes its customers’ press releases to a broad range of outlets [redacted] cannot control which outlets republish or further distribute a press release. Nor is [redacted] responsible for creating a “buzz” or getting journalists to talk about an press release author’s content.[redacted] provide its service and fulfilled its obligations under the terms of service.If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact me at ###-###-#### or via email at [redacted].Sincerely,?

Review: This company has been told verbally and via email to stop calling, but they continue to call.Desired Settlement: Make them stop calling.

Business

Response:

Vocus notates in our database when a business no longer wishes to be contacted by us or receive information from us. Because we receive contact information from various sources and relationships, we sometimes have duplicate information and the notes made to not contact the business are not identified. We have, however, made a note in our database to not contact [redacted].

Consumer

Response:

{To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Their response says they will stop calling me. A promise to stop calling me personally does not indicate they will stop calling this company. I want them to commit to halting all telephone calls. I want them to guarantee to your organization they have removed both ###-###-#### and ###-###-#### from their telephone database and will never call either number again.

I've dealt with this company before and unfortunately that history does not engender confidence. The last telephone call I fielded is an example: The employee claimed to be a freelance writer and denied she was calling from Vocus. When I told her I knew she was calling from ###-###-#### she hung up. The google search I've done turned up countless similar examples of Vocus continuing to call after being told to stop by other companies.

I received an email from [redacted] saying our telephone numbers had been removed from their media directory. However the response you received doesn't say that. It says they will stop calling me. I find that discrepancy troubling and wish there to be no ambiguity in this matter.

Thank you for you assistance with this matter.

Regards,

Business

Response:

The email address we have on file ([redacted]) has been added to our "Do Not Email" list

and the phone number we have on file (###-###-####) has been added to

our "Do Not Call" list. The other phone numbers [redacted] has

provided, ###-###-#### and ###-###-#### cannot be added to our "Do Not Call" list because they cannot be attributed to [redacted], or to [redacted]. Instead, those phone numbers are attributable to a radio station, [redacted].

Because the information we have does not connect these phone numbers to [redacted], or to [redacted], we cannot add those numbers to our "Do Not Call" list. If other information can be provided by [redacted] to show the corresponding connection between herself and these phone numbers, ###-###-#### and ###-###-####, we may be able to add them to the "Do Not Call" list.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I have no idea what this is!!

What is [redacted]?? What telephone number is ###-###-####??

My complaint is about Vocus.

Additionally, [redacted] is NOT a radio station.

MESSAGE FROM BUSINESS:

The email address we have on file ([redacted]) has been added to our "Do Not Email" list and the phone number we have on file (###-###-####) has been added to our "Do Not Call" list. The other phone numbers [redacted] has provided, ###-###-#### and ###-###-#### cannot be added to our "Do Not Call" list because they cannot be attributed to [redacted], or to [redacted]. Instead, those phone numbers are attributable to a radio station, [redacted].

Because the information we have does not connect these phone numbers to [redacted], or to [redacted], we cannot add those numbers to our "Do Not Call" list. If other information can be provided by [redacted] to show the corresponding connection between herself and these phone numbers, ###-###-#### and ###-###-####, we may be able to add them to the "Do Not Call" list.

Regards,

ASSIGNMENT MANAGER

Business

Response:

Review: Vocus promised to drive more traffic to my [redacted] project web site, get more exposure through traditonal and social media. After 2 months of emails and phone calls, I stlll have not seen any activity from Vocus and no increased traffic on my web site. I requested more activity (press releases) but was informed that home businesses do not qualify, so I requested a cancellation but they are refusing.Desired Settlement: I have offered to pay for the 2 months that I tried their Vocus Marketing Suite - Bronze service. I want to cancel and get a refund for the rest of the year (pre-paid $2100 for the year on my credit card ) and a full refund for the Marketing Services ($1750 and service was not provided).

Business

Response:

The issues with the customer's use of the service resulted from a change in Vocus' editorial guidelines due to increased regulation and scrutinies regarding the type of "work at home" business that the customer runs. Given this, Vocus has reached out to the customer regarding the provision of a refund to him and the termination of his subscription agreement.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Dear Sir, This is to advise that I am in receipt of the amount $3,500.00 against above my complaint with Vocus Inc. I’m grateful to your organization and appreciate your help in executing the dispute so fast and settling the issue. For your information, below are the settlement correspondence with Vocus Inc. Thanking you again, Kind regards [redacted]

Review: I agreed to sit through a phone/web presentation sales pitch for Vocus' services and in return for my time I was promised a $25 [redacted].com gift card. I am the marketing director for my family restaurant and we are looking at exploring different avenues for advertising. I was interested but the price for their services seemed steep considering I could do many of the things they offered myself. I informed the sales person that I spoke with the owners and would keep their information on file for future consideration but that it was too expensive. They then said that if I was not able to make the decision to use their services that I would not be qualified for the gift card incentive. At this point it is a matter of principal because I responded back to them stating that I am in fact able to make decisions and spend company money, but for major ones like that I wanted to talk it over with the owners and we all agreed it wasn't worth it. I never received a response back or the gift card which was initially promised.Desired Settlement: I would like the $25 [redacted] gift card as a matter of principal.

Business

Response:

July 24, 2014Dear [redacted] -This letter is in response to the complaint made by **. [redacted] on July 15,2014, regarding his failure to receive a $25.00 [redacted] Gift Card.Because of reorganization of job responsibilities, there was oversight in sending out the gift card to **. [redacted]. This was discovered in the last few days and Vocus has rectified the situation with several individuals. We are looking into whether **. [redacted] has already received a gift card since this discovery, and if not, we will be providing him the gift card as soon as possible.Regards,

Review: I have contacted Vocus regarding the cancellation of my account/agreement. Vocus, by their own admission, has not fulfilled their obligations related to the agreement. Initially, Vocus personnel were apologetic and empathetic regarding their service failures. As managers became involved, attitudes changed. Managers repeated stated their policy while discounting their shortcomings. I have spoken with numerous personnel from Vocus about the issues listed below:

I have had very little contact from account executives assigned to my account.

To date, their technical support personnel have not fixed the issue with my [redacted] analytics. This is a component of the product that has not worked from the very beginning.

The account representatives have not followed up on the support commitments that were previous made.

After several request for a partial refund (I am willing to pay for the period of time that I used the account - which was less than one month), I received an email message for [redacted], Director of Sales, threatening to take my account to collections. The due date for the final payment is 5/24/2013 (today is 5/19/2013). I am appalled that despite the service failure, Vocus' final response to these problems is to prematurely threaten me. I did not expect such a response from a company like Vocus.Desired Settlement: I am requesting a partial refund of $1014.06, which the amount paid minus one prorated month ($1106.25 - $92.19).

Business

Response:

**. [redacted] signed a one-year subscription agreement for Vocus' marketing suite in March 2013. Such agreement may only be terminated and a refund provided for an uncured material breach of its terms. No such breach has occurred and **. [redacted]'s questions and issues presented to Vocus support were addressed (although none of them involved a breach of the agreement terms).

After introductory calls and implementation were complete, **. [redacted] had an issue addressed by our tech support staff. **. [redacted] seemed unhappy that his account representative could not answer the question but instead referred it to Vocus' technical support staff. The tech support staff did resolve the issue/answer the question.

**. [redacted]'s initial account representative left Vocus, and he was assigned a new representative 2 business days later. The next day the representative was out of work sick and could not take a call with **. [redacted] but offered to have him speak with someone else in his absence. **. [redacted] declined. **. [redacted] gave very limited days and time when he could speak with Vocus staff due to his very busy schedule so it was difficult to communicate and avoid some "phone tag". After speaking with the account representative a few days later, **. [redacted] complained and asked for his money back. A Director of Account Sales (a manager over the account representatives) then spoke with **. [redacted]. He was not willing to work with us. She informed him of our refund/breach policy and he said that he was offended and would file a complaint "on principle" and that he wanted to speak with a senior director. **. [redacted] never raised any concerns regarding the service in this call. The next day a Senior Director of Account Sales spoke with **. [redacted] about his concerns and again **. [redacted] refused to work with us and demanded a refund.

Two days later the Director of Sales (manager of the salesperson who originally worked with **. [redacted] when he signed his subscription agreement) spoke with **. [redacted]. He advised that Vocus would not provide a refund because there was not breach of the agreement by Vocus. The concerns voiced by **. [redacted] centered on his perception of a lack of response from his account representative and it taking too long for Vocus' to return phone calls and get in touch with him. He mentioned dissatisfaction with [redacted] analytics and unkept promises by Vocus but would not elaborate on what those issues were. Vocus left voice mails for **. [redacted] on 5/3, 5/8 and 5/10.

Given that Vocus has provided the service to **. [redacted] and his subscription continues to be active and available (our subscriptions are like cell phone subscriptions - you can use it or not but it's available and paid for regardless of usage) for his use. There has not been a breach of contract by Vocus nor has there been a lack of communication or willingness to work with **. [redacted]. Therefore, no refund has been or will be provided. Vocus remains available to support **. [redacted] in the use of the Vocus marketing suite.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Review: Company continues to harass me with email advertising.Desired Settlement: Cease-and-desist.

Business

Response:

August 6, 2014Dear [redacted]:Please be advised that [redacted] has been identified as “unsubscribe” in our database and should not receive any further email advertisements.lf you have any further questions or concerns, please contact me at ###-###-#### or via email at[redacted]Sincerely,Nicholas *. M[redacted] Corporate Counsel

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: I was contacted via phone two days in a row by an employee - [redacted] who left me voicemails. I had no clue who she was or why she was calling me. When I received a second voice mail, I called back to find out why she was trying to contact me. She claimed I had signed up for a demonstration service using an e-mail address that I have not used in at least 6 years. I don't know how they were able to obtain my information but not only did they have my phone number, they had my first and last name, and possibly my home address. When I told her I was not interested, didn't consent to sign up or be contacted, and expressed concern about being contacted without my consent, she became extremely defensive and insulting. I called back to speak to her manager, [redacted], I simply left a voicemail to make him aware of the behavior of this particular employee and did not leave my phone number. I viewed the issue as being over and done with. However, upon signing into my [redacted] account this morning (4/21/14 three days after the phone call), I noticed that both [redacted] and [redacted] had viewed me on the website. They used my personal information that was not given to them by me and chose to behave completely unprofessionally by viewing my profile online, my professional profile is absolutely none of their business. This is so unacceptable. No business' employees should be taking a customer or potential customer's information and use it to find them online. I feel violated and uncomfortable that they thought my personal information could be used to essentially stalk me online. I have now had to change my settings to private as I don't trust where my information that was provided to Vocus without my consent is going now. Extremely disappointed in this company's employees' behavior. Your employees reflect you as a company.Desired Settlement: I hope that the people that manage these two employees understand and express to them how utterly unprofessional and downright creepy this is that they both took my personal information and used it to look me up on a separate website ([redacted]). I want it to be very clear that I want whatever information Vocus has on me to be destroyed and never used again in any capacity.

Business

Response:

The contact information that we have for this individual has been marked as "Do not call" and "Do not email." Vocus apologizes for any inconvenience or issues that contacingt the individual may have caused.

Review: Vocus advertises their service/product as offering three things:

- a media database

- social engagement funtion

- activity management function

The advertising can be seen here: http://www.vocus.com/advanced-pr/engage/

When you click their "pricing" tab, you see the tiers of pricing that they have.

Under the explanation of the pricing tiers, they have a table showing which tiers offer which functions.

This pricing page can be seen here: http://www.vocus.com/pricing/

Nowhere in the explanation of pricing does it say that the advertised offering of a "media database" in there services is actually not included in their product/ or service.

As you can see from the first link, it is the first function that is mentioned, and an integral part of the value they offer. Also, on the second link I provided, you can see that it does not explicitly or implicitly declare that this media database is not included.

This is extremely deceptive advertising on every level. The website does not disclaim this issue, nor did any sales person. Rather, they make you think it's invovlved, by dispalying with the other features that are included. It's even mentioned before the other two features!

very deceptive.Desired Settlement: 1. Change you marketing to disclaim the deception

2. Include the function in the package that I've purchased

Business

Response:

Vocus has discussed the claims made by **. [redacted] internally, and a manager will be reaching out to **. [redacted] to resolve the issues amicably.