Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/09/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I joined the essential program on 4/24/24. I was very excited to get started because the minimum ad spend was sold to me as $500 per month. After I paid I was told by the lead strategist **** and ads manager ***** that I would need to pay $1500 in ads in order to make one sale based on their ads calculator. I brought this up to ****** and Emily who deflected and ignored my concerns about the 3xs increase. I let them know I wouldnt have signed up for the program as Im a brand new biz owner and that ad spend is not something i could pay monthly. I asked for a refund since I couldnt use the program based on that ad spend and that this was clearly a misrepresentation selling the $500 ad spend to me. *** now had to hire an attorney to file a claim of misrepresentation and fraud and file a claim with the better business bureau and the ************************* looks like Im not the only one who has been frauded since there are 5 other complaints.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/17/2024

  Dear Better Business Bureau,

  
  We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the complaint filed by ********* regarding her experience with our program. We take all customer concerns seriously and aim to resolve issues fairly and transparently.

  
  ********* expressed dissatisfaction based on a misunderstanding during a Q&A session where the minimum recommended ad spend of $500 was mentioned. While we did recommend $500 as a starting point, it was always with the caveat that specific business projections and promises require a deeper understanding of individual business goals and metrics, which were not guaranteed during the call.

  
  In a reviewed call with our team member, *****, he conservatively estimated a 1% sales conversion rate and explained that achieving monthly sales targets might require adjusting the ad spend. Our strategy presentations are designed to provide initial suggestions based on client goals, which are subject to adjustment as real data from *********************** come in. We have consistently maintained a realistic and honest approach without making false promises about returns.

  
  We believe our team fulfilled the programs deliverables and acted with integrity. We provided ********* with a strategic plan, which is a valuable asset for her business. Given her $3,000 offer, a 6x return on a $500 ad spend would be unusually high, and we did not promise such results. However, we explained that even a modest ad spend could eventually lead to successful conversions by nurturing leads over time.

  
  Despite our efforts to address her concerns and provide realistic expectations, ********* was not satisfied. We offered a 50% refund, which she declined. Additionally, we successfully won a chargeback dispute with the credit card company after demonstrating that we delivered the agreed-upon program.

  
  We strive to maintain high standards of service and believe we have done everything within our means to rectify this situation. We hope this provides clarity on our actions and commitment to customer satisfaction.

  
  Sincerely,
  Emily Hirsh

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/17/2024

   
  Complaint: 21964627
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
   First off you did NOT win the bank dispute. They just called me yesterday to inform me it is still under review 

  you have a history of lying based on all the complaints you have against you on the better business website

  i have a recording of ***** stating I would NOT make any sales with the $500 ad spend and conservatively with the $1500 ad spend I would make 1 percent. 
  

  Nothing you just said is based on truth and if you offered a $500 ad spend as a minimum on your Q & A why was it only brought up to me after I paid you $2,997 that I would need to spend 1500 per month for 3 months. 
  

  You have a history of lying and committing fraud since you have numerous complaints filed against you on this site alone. 
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/14/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I want to start by saying, I own a small business, and I make the personal commitment and habit of not giving bad reviews to companies as I KNOW firsthand the challenges of owning a business. That being said, I want to say that the biggest hiring mistake I have ever made since owning my business (I started my business in 2010), was to hire Hirsh marketing. They charge an insane amount of money and literally all they did was help me create my marketing funnel. I almost had panic attacks with how much extra work I had to do after hiring Hirsh marketing. And on top of it, one of their mistakes (in how they recommended that I create my lead magnet), caused my funnel to be broken, for weeks. I had to discover that people in my marketing funnel were not receiving my full lead magnet, rather, they were only receiving the cover page of my lead magnet. Well, of course no one was buying my workshop! They were not receiving my free lead magnet, so why would they buy the next thing? I made $0. And my products and services are good, excellent really. I could not believe the incompetence and the lack of value for how much I was charged. I would not recommend Hirsh marketing to anyone and would caution anyone to work with them. ************* does not match the value that they attach to it. No wonder they turned off their reviews on ******** and ******* they would only have negative reviews.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/30/2024

  Dear Better Business Bureau,
  We want to assure you that we went above and beyond in our efforts to support *****, despite her dissatisfaction. Although she attempted to issue a chargeback, it was denied and reversed by the bank due to proof of delivery of our services.
  Our contract explicitly states that we do not guarantee results, as outlined on page 10 of the attached signed contract, however we work diligently to ensure the best outcomes for all of our clients. 
  Below is a detailed outline of our communication and actions taken to assist ***** (additional documentation can be found attached):
  Bi-Weekly Call with Account Managers
  The result: ***** comes away with an exact to-do list of next steps. Our team followed up on all next steps. ************************* up on a selective few only and does not always work with us to complete her to-do list items or send them to us for review. ***** became upset about no sales, however, she was not continually nurturing her list and her funnel was still less than 30 days old. 
  Additional Calls outside of regular Bi-Weekly Calls
  The result: ***** was happy we offered these calls, although she sometimes didnt agree to schedule calls until days later. 
  Answers to technical, funnel, and *** questions within 24 hours
  The result: Any technical issue ***** ran into was investigated by our team within 24 hours and resolved within 48 hours or less. 
  Visibility Ads Management
  The result: Megans visibility *** performed within KPI, however ***** wanted to change the visibility *** against our advice.
  Lead Generation Ads management
  ****** lead gen *** obtained a CPL lower than industry average and within and above KPI! She received excellent results from our *** management team. ***** was not happy with her results as she had no sales yet. However, There were not enough conversions yet to get a baseline for this audience. Her Tripwire was $97 which typically takes a warmer audience and a longer timeframe than 3 weeks to perfect in terms of sales. We reviewed her funnel flow and Tripwire page and were collecting data, however, ***** wanted several sales within the 30 day period and remained unsatisfied. 
  Technical support team troubleshooting
  Any third party delivery or PW issue was resolved well within 48 hours and investigated almost immediately within 24 hours always. ***** continued to say she felt stuck and that our tech support was too low and that we could have prevented all technical issues. 
  Personalized, detailed tailored next steps documents
  The result: ***** confirmed the response of the next-steps documents. ***** sent emails to indicate she still felt stuck and felt our team did not give her next steps. ***** did not complete the steps. 
  Offers of ************************** outside of Bi-Weekly Calls to support with any funnel set-up and sales strategy questions
  Example: On October 30, 2023 In response to ****** email that says Im at 148 conversions on my lead magnet page (40%) and still no sales. I just dont know enough to know if this is really bad and we need to make some changes. ***** received a reply within one hour explaining in detail what her results mean as well as next steps to stay the course and ensure future conversion. 
  The result: ***** responded that she hears us but feels stuck and that she would like a meeting outside of scope to become unstuck. ************* for the same day were offered to *****. 
  Megans response: ***** finally wrote back to us on Nov. 1 and responded that she was busy with the Halloween holiday and put the meeting off to 2 pm the following Tuesday (into November). That meeting request was granted to *****. During the meeting the week of November 6th, we answered all questions on a special call with ***** and walked her through next steps she should take to nurture her audience (such as emailing out newsletters). We also provided her with a large amount of technical insight as to how to mail out newsletters in AWeber, her CMS. ***** was still upset about no sales yet even though her audience, campaigns and funnel were less than 30 days old.   
  We are committed to delivering the highest level of service and support to our clients, and we did so in regards to ***** throughout her duration with our company. Our clients consistently see successes, ROI, and exceptional sales numbers. We believe the documentation provided demonstrates our extensive efforts to assist ******************, and we wish her all the best. 
  Best,
  Hirsh Marketing

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/01/2024

   
  Complaint: 21852852
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  This story is simply not true. I know that your team probably has a different perspective about what happened, but a lot of what Emily communicates in her response is simply untrue and unfounded.

  1. I was not upset about now sales initially.

  2. I was continually nurturing my list, doing emails and ******** posts on a very consistent basis, this is not true.

  3. I was unhappy and upset about this fact: I was given instructions about how to set up my funnel, which I followed every single instruction they gave me to the point of working on a family holiday, missing on moments with my family, almost having a panic attack to complete my funnel which included making videos, creating an automated email sequence, creating a lead magnet. The problem was in how I was advised to set up the lead magnet. When I set up the lead magnet in drop box, it was the freebie sent when potential clients clicked on my ******** advertisement. I figured that everything was set and ready to go. However, after a 1-2 weeks, I got a message from a person that clicked on my advertisement, stating that she only received the cover page of my lead magnet and not the entire chapter of my book, which was the intended lead magnet. The next thing that happened was that I had a meeting with my person from Hirsh, troubleshooting the issue. On her end, she stated that it was resolved and that she had received the entire chapter. So I trusted that guidance and moved on. However, 1-2 weeks later, I received another message that someone had only received the cover page of my chapter, instead of the entire chapter. I found out, yet again, that my funnel was broken. I started sending the lead magnet to people that I knew to "test" it and make sure that they were receiving the entire chapter. Only 30% were receiving the full chapter of my book, the rest indicated that they only received the cover. I reached out again to Hirsh marketing, stating that my funnel was broken and that the lead magnet was not being received properly. This made complete sense to me as to why no one had purchased my $97 workshop, they didn't properly receive the free lead magnet. I was advised to change the form of delivery for the lead magnet and had to involve my web developer to set it up on my website. All of a sudden, the person assigned over me was changing to a new position and I was given a new person to work with. I asked for a 3 week free extension because of their grave mistake. They granted it, which I was happy with this. However, because of the major hiccup and the simple fact that I had to discover the funnel being broken myself twice and it was not discovered by their team, was completely disheartening and I simply lost faith in their process. I had no more desire or heart to move forward with their recommendations as the trust was broken.

   

  4. "she sometimes didn't agree to schedule her bi-weekly calls until days later." I own a business and I have 2 kids and I was pregnant at the time. I scheduled my calls in the appropriate time matter and was prioritizing the work with Hirsh marketing. I never missed a deadline, in fact, I made sure that I made an impossible deadline by working on a family vacation last October, which I now regret.

   

  5. Response from Emily, "Any technical issue ***** ran into was investigated by our team within 24 hours and resolved within 48 hours or less." I would agree that technical issues were investigated in a timely manner. However, with my lead magnet, as I explained above, it was NOT resolved within 48 hours, in fact it took 4 weeks to resolve by my own investigation. This was the major issue that is not mentioned at all in Emily's response to me. 

   

  6. "*****'s visibility ads performed within KPI, however ***** wanted to change the visibility ads against our advice." This is half-true as well. Yes, I wanted to change the picture because the picture was of a woman praying. I didn't want to turn people away who were not religious or make it seem that what I was offering was religious in nature, because it is not, it is to educate and support cancer patients and provide hope and peace. I was not going against their advice, I simply had a conversation about my concerns about that particular image and asked if we could test another visibility ad against the initial one to see if the new one performed the same or better. They were in agreement and seemed fine to do a test run of a new visibility ad. 

   

  7. "***** was not happy with her results as she had no sales yet." No, the main reason I was not happy throughout my entire process with Hirsh marketing was because my funnel was broken and it was not discovered by Hirsh marketing who I hired to set up a successful, operable funnel, it was discovered by me. Not once, but twice. This was the grave mistake that is not addressed by Emily. 

   

  8. "Any third party delivery or PW issue was resolved well within 48 hours and investigated almost immediately within 24 hours always. ***** continued to say she felt stuck and that our tech support was too low and that we could have prevented all technical issues." NO, this is simply untrue. My lead magnet and funnel being broken was not resolved within 48 hours, it took 4 weeks to resolve as I mentioned above.

   

  9. Emily mentions that I was too busy with Halloween to schedule a call and that I again delayed the process or was unavailable. This is not true as well. This response is very dissatisfying and admits no fault at all, but attempts to put the blame on me entirely. I was responsive, I always made my deadlines with setting up the funnel, I was let down with the lack of attention to detail with the lead magnet, which could have easily been resolved in the beginning if my funnel was tested properly by their team. I was shocked that I had to test the lead magnet myself as I thought that the responsibility to test my funnel was on the end of Hirsh marketing, not on my end. 

  10. In October, when I realized that my funnel was broken, I emailed to speak to a supervisor or manager about the issue and this email was never responded to. I was never allowed to speak to anyone above the person I was working with. That was strange to me and an indication that Hirsh deals wtih a lot of unsatisfied customers. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/13/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Date of transactions: 10/27/2021 - 5/6/2024?Amount paid: $28,401.87?What the business was committed to providing: Marketing audits, consultation, ads optimization to increase sales. The nature of the dispute: Between MLAP and Elite, I have now spent well over $20,000 with Hirsh. That is not including ad spend. And have gotten little to no results, little to no strategic help, and little to no movement. I continue to run ads that are similar to what I have run for the past ~4 years with minor copy/creative tweaks suggested by Hirsh with no results. If any bigger moves have been made with Hirsh, they have been my ideas as opposed to Hirshs guidance.In both programs, I have been passed from new account manager to new account manager countless times making progress very hard. And frankly the frequent employee turnover is just a bad testament to what is going on internally at Hirsh. I have expressed these concerns countless times with ******, Emily, and ******, and many account managers. Each time I have expressed my concerns, little to no response or movement has been made. While I think Emily, herself, is brilliant and I DO believe the strategies she shares in the podcast. It seems as though her gift of pinpointing bigger strategic changes that need to be made, is absolutely NOT trickling down to her team. You would think that after countless months of no results, someone higher up at Hirsh, OR Emily herself, would step into a meeting to resuscitate the account before loosing a client. The business has minimally attempted to rectify the problem.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/22/2024

  Dear ******,
  

  We hope this message finds you well. We are writing in response to your BBB claims to clarify and provide a comprehensive overview of the services we provided to you. We are confident that we have not only fulfilled our contractual obligations but also went above and beyond to support you throughout your time with Hirsh Marketing. 
  

  When you first expressed concern over your account and the results you were seeing, we quickly met as a team and came up with a revised plan and strategy. We then presented this plan to you, and you were both excited and thankful, and took us up on our offer to implement this updated strategy. We extended 1.5 months of free service to you, valued at $4000, as a commitment to your success. In addition, we created a highly complex and customized funnel for you without any additional charges. 
  

  This funnel included:
  Opt-in Page
  Sales Page (OTO)
  Thank You Page
  Lead Magnet Delivery Page #1 (with 8 videos)
  Lead Magnet Delivery Page #2 (with 5 videos)
  Final ************************ comprehensive funnel creation and implementation has an overall value exceeding $6000. By using our own Clickfunnels account, we accelerated the creation process and saved you the monthly software fee of $297. Additionally, we purchased a new domain for $10 to further aid in seamless creation and mitigate any delays.
  Throughout our collaboration, we repeatedly reached out to you regarding strategy, updates, and changes we wanted to implement to optimize your results. In addition to our continuous efforts to communicate and collaborate, our team built brand new funnel pages outside of the original scope and at no cost to further aid in your success.
  We also expressed to you on multiple occasions that changes to your offer needed to be made to improve its effectiveness and see profit from your campaigns. Our Director of Ad Operations also audited your messaging and encouraged a change in the language/who you are speaking to. Unfortunately, these suggested changes were not implemented, which impacted the overall success of the campaign.

  
  We want to emphasize that we followed through on each piece of the contract on our side, including providing a comprehensive strategy, funnel support, ad copy and creatives, ads management, and holding weekly calls with your Account Manager, even though the standard is twice-monthly calls. Our commitment to frequent communication was to ensure you had the support and guidance needed throughout the process.

  
  It is important to highlight that our contract does not guarantee specific results, as outcomes can depend on various external factors. Nevertheless, we did everything within our power and expertise to deliver optimal results for you.

  
  We hope this response clarifies the extent of our efforts and commitment. We have consistently aimed to provide high-quality service and support for you, even beyond the scope of our contract.

  
  Best,
  Emily & Team
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/22/2024

   
  Complaint: 21704242
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  While Hirsh did provide slow progress that *** hit the marks needed to say they "provided their contractual obligations," the service was unreliable, full of delays, blaming the business owner, poor creative and copy turnaround, and just a downright money pit. 
  
  Hirsh extended 1.5 months of free service because of the growing my growing complaints. It was an attempt to assuage the over $20,000 spent with Hirsh with no results. Once again an unsuccessful attempt.
  
  I do not even know what they are referring to when they say "Our Director of Ad Operations also audited your messaging and encouraged a change in the language/who you are speaking to. Unfortunately, these suggested changes were not implemented, which impacted the overall success of the campaign" so obviously this was not communicated effectively. 
  
  We can go around and around, but the BOTTOM LINE IS THIS: If you are a potential customer who was smart enough to look up reviews before signing on with Hirsh Marketing (now ******************* and you are reading this, BEWARE. Let my story be a review that gives you pause and saves you money!!!
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/16/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I engaged Hirsh Marketing after a phenomenal sales call experience in July 2023. I choose their "done for you" package which is the highest level of investment. My experience getting started should have been the red flags to quit but I was committed to a 3 month contract. The communication was poor from the start. I signed up end of July and my ads started in Sept. The disorganization between their team was horrible. I received all of my assets for review in emails and had to request on multiple occasions for one single ****** Drive folder that they put everything in. After 4 weeks in when we were no where near the goals they set for me the goals started being adjusted for $4.00 per lead goal to $9-$12.This was extremely frustrating and came about as the targets were not being reached and it became apparent that they misunderstood that I was a B2B sale and not B2C. When this was discussed with my account manager they had a bunch of excuses and just kept saying "well get this right." I discovered errors like them running on the wrong IG account. After 3 months of commitment and 17K of investment there was zero return on my investment. I did everything that Hirsh asked me to do. I 100% realize a marketing company can not guarantee results but with that kind of spend on their team managing my accounts and ad spend it is unacceptable that they could produce nothing. Upon my complaining they gave me 1 "free" month where they wrote a sales sequence to deploy into my existing email base to try to recover sales. From that I sold a few programs- FROM MY BASE OF CLIENTS. I canceled my engagement and was assured all of my ads were turned off. Today- a month + after I received charges from ******** where my ads had never been turned off. To say this brand lacks knowledge, professionalism, and accountability is an understatement. I feel like I've been scammed. I feel a full refund is owed for the misleading experience.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/25/2024

  To Whom It May ************************** approached our company seeking assistance with cold traffic attraction, live launch strategy, ads management, and optimization for her training programs aimed at salon owners. Throughout our engagement, ******** received an extensive array of services and support tailored to her needs:
  Strategy Presentation: A senior strategist delivered a detailed strategy presentation on August 11, 2023, outlining the roadmap for her marketing and ads management.
  Account Manager Support: ******** engaged in a meet and greet with an account manager who addressed her queries regarding funnel mechanics, both during and after the meeting.
  Bi-Weekly Calls: Starting from August 24, 2023, ******** received dedicated bi-weekly calls with an account manager, ensuring consistent support until her termination date.
  Asset Audits: We conducted thorough audits of all assets to prepare for setting up effective ads funnels, including ongoing assessments and quality assurance for webinar registration pages.
  Guidance and Timelines: Continuous guidance and timelines were provided to ******** and her team, ensuring readiness for her first live launch, with communication extended to her team members as well.
  Email Assistance: We offered ongoing email support, addressing strategy and ads management queries within a 48-hour window.
  Ad Copy and Creative: Crafting and refining visibility ad copy and creative, along with regular edits to other ad creatives to optimize conversions through testing.
  Personalized Support: ******** received personalized timelines, project management assistance, and templates from August onwards, streamlining her workflow.
  Organizational Assistance: Special folders were created for ******** to centralize all resources, simplifying access as per her request (outside of our typical scope).
  Tech Setup Assistance: Outside of the contractual scope, we assisted ********'s team with tech setup, ensuring smooth funnel implementation using suitable tools, resolving issues via email and personalized calls.
  Quality Assurance: We conducted necessary pixeling and QA checks to ensure optimal performance.
  Ads Launch and Messaging Assistance: We facilitated ads launch and provided ongoing support for messaging optimization.
  Ads Management: We provided ongoing ads management and optimization.
  Webinar Logistics: We offered assistance with webinar logistics and strategy to enhance effectiveness.
  Live Webinar Audits: Our team members actively participated in ********'s live webinar, ensuring optimal delivery for conversion optimization, and offering insights for future events.
  *Please note that our contract states that we cannot guarantee results. We will always do everything we can to support our clients, provide them with top notch service, marketing strategy, ads management and additional assistance, as you will see noted above and below, but we cannot guarantee specific results. 
  After the completion of her contract, ******** notified us of her intention to offboard. Recognizing her cash flow constraints, we offered ******** an organic cash infusion strategy, which was not included in her package. This complimentary service, valued at $3000, aimed to increase her revenue and assist in recouping her investment. The strategy involved a personalized consultation with the Director of our Ads Team, who mapped out the entirety of the plan. Additionally, our team crafted seven emails and managed the campaign, tracking sales performance, valued at $1000. ******** expressed gratitude for the effort, which resulted in three program sales.
  Regarding ********'s ads, it seems a miscommunication occurred between her and our Director. ******** inquired about turning off her ads, to which our Director explained they were still running, suggesting that leaving them on could be beneficial for list building. Our Director offered a Loom that would detail this information and how to take over the ads or we could turn them off. ******** requested the loom detailing the ad account's status, which we promptly provided on 2/16 for her takeover. We did not hear from ******** again until she expressed dissatisfaction over a month later, stating the ads were not turned off. This confusion arose as ********'s earlier request implied she was open to keeping the ads running and preferred to receive a Loom on the takeover in lieu of turning off the ads. We regret that there was a misunderstanding, however our team adhered to our process.
  Given the aforementioned cash infusion and additional support (outside of the scope of the package purchased) offered and provided to ******** during her tenure with our company, along with the services provided within the contract, we do not feel a refund is warranted. 
  Best,
  Hirsh Marketing
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/19/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  It is unfortunate that this is necessary, but it is because I seek to save others from making the mistake of hiring this company. In lieu of any anecdotal, opinion-based statements, I am supplying only facts around my dissatisfaction and experience with Hirsh Marketing. All information is available in supporting email documentation.1. We dont have our creative strategy in writing (13th time Ive mentioned this). It was promised on 7/19/23. We have nothing stating the team's approach to our messaging or if such an approach actually exists.2. Throughout our entire experience, the lack of communication between team members caused additional delay and time spent on my part to bring new team members up to speed. Time and money are commodities; they wasted both. Communication deficits between team handoffs left me quite stranded and sending multiple emails without replies. I was told they "were in transitions."3. Our visibility ads were scheduled to launch 7/24/23; this was delayed until 8/18/23. In addition to our fees essentially wasted during this time, we were also advised not to push out to current clients or warm leads until a plan was in place to launch. As such, zero income during this time.4. After the promised launch date, we had an in-person event. Our funnel was not yet approved, thus missing a huge number of leads.5. We were told our lead generation ads would launch on 8/11/23 (occurred 8/22/23.)6. They duplicated our sales funnel to track ads and forgot to attach the free lead magnet that leads were intended to receive, giving a bad first impression to >100 leads.8. Innumerable half truths and ***** lies about things being done that were not done.9. Most of all, during our time, we have made numerous organic sales yet ZERO sales from ads. I am sure there will be many explanations for this. However, not once has upper management reached out to address our experience after multiple requests that some damage repair be offered.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/03/2023

  Subject: Response to Customer Complaint Case #********
  Dear ********************,
  We would like to provide a detailed response to the customer complaint filed against our company, Hirsh Marketing, under case number ********. We appreciate the opportunity to address the concerns raised by ****************************** 

  
  Creative Strategy and Refund: We acknowledge the delay in providing a written creative strategy to the customer, which has caused understandable frustration. Our team recognizes the importance of timely communication and service delivery. In light of this, we would like to extend our sincere apologies to the customer and offer a partial refund as a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience caused.
  
  
  Transition Process: The customer raised concerns regarding the phrase "in transition." We would like to clarify that this term is used to describe the process of transitioning a customer's account from one team member to another, following our established workflow. It is not intended to imply any issues or delays. In this specific case, ******, the initial strategist, developed the strategy and handed over the account to *******, the account manager, as part of our standard procedures.
  
  
  Ad Launch and Communication: Jennies initial senior strategist did not want to see ****** wasting ad spend on visibility or funnel ***. For this reason, she asked that ****** create a minimum viable funnel build in Kartra before launching ***. Once that minimum build was in place, our team launched Jennies visibility and funnel *** promptly on 8/18. First funnel *** were launched on 8/22 and Team Hirsh obtained an optimized cost of $3.91 by 8/22. ****** revoked ******** access from our team on 8/27 and did not reinstate it until 9/1. This absolutely resulted in loss of le***, however, this loss can not be attributed to our team. ****** requested that we reduce spend to her lead gen *** on 9/2 and that our team generate copy and creative for ecom trial *** sooner than later. Team Hirsh worked on the following timeline to do that for ******: 
  9/5 New trial *** copy delivered and approved
  9/6 New trial delivered and approved
  9/12 New trial *** launched
  9/13 CSV of warm list sent by ****** (our team did not have access to her Kartra to pull)
  9/14 Warm list uploaded to ******** per ******* request
  We did not advise this client not to push out to current clients or warm le*** until a plan was in place to launch per any recollections or records by our team. In fact, we helped this client to create two detailed complete email series on 8/28 and 8/25 to help this client speak to email her warm list. In addition, we provided exact copy for social media posts that could be used to speak to her warm list. We noted via email on 9/19 in response to Jennies concern, that we were targeting her warm list within ******** but not yet retargeting sales page viewers as she requested as of 9/18 since our team tends to do this once page views are high enough (and we were still working on that).
  
  
  Live Event Funnel: Team Hirsh does not approve funnels for live events nor does behind-the-table promotion at a live event require ***. ******* original senior strategist advised ****** to try to complete her funnel before her live in person event (in August) so that those that walked by her table could see her as an established presence. The senior strategist suggested strategies ****** could use at the live event to collect emails manually / via tablet if the funnel was not completed. (As a courtesy, these suggestions were given by the senior strategist at Hirsh prior to our team agreeing to complete ******* funnel build at no charge.) If le*** were lost at the live event, this loss can not be attributed to Team Hirsh as helping to obtain le*** at live events is not a service that Hirsh provides in the Elite package or otherwise. 
  
  
  Funnel Rebuild: The customer was in the Elite package, which does not include a funnel build (it is the responsibility of the client to build the entire funnel). However, due to the quality concerns, our team proactively offered to rebuild Jennies funnel at no extra cost, utilizing one of the customer's management fees.
  
  
  Lead Magnet: We acknowledge that there was an issue with attaching the lead magnet to ***, and we promptly rectified this oversight.
  
  
  Sales from Ads: Generating sales from *** can vary, and it's important to note that the customer had no funnel in place initially, which can impact immediate sales. We did reach out to the customer to address concerns and offer solutions for improvement.
  
  Assets our Team Created that were approved by ******: 
  Free 5 Day Meal plan copy
  Free 5 Day Meal plan creative
  $4 Trial ad Copy
  $4 Trial ad Creative
  Additional deliverables:
  Social media assessment and expert bio copy recommendations 
  Creative strategy / creative brief provided by our team (this was sent later as we jumped immediately into helping ****** to focus on completing her Kartra pages so as not to waste visibility or funnel ad spend)
  Technical support via email and phone call
  Several detailed revisions on copy and creative per Jennies requests before approval
  Revision Actions Taken within ***** hours of all requests: 
  Our copy and creative team made creative revisions per ******* requests in a timely manner. 

  
  Items Team Hirsh awaited from ******: 

  
  We waited for this client to create a web presence before launching *** per recommendation on initial strategy call 
  This client was experiencing delays creating her web presence utilizing Kartra so our team offered to help complete this for her at no additional cost 
  ****** refused allowing us to build out her entire funnel for her but we audited all pages and awaited minimum viable implementation before launching funnel ***
  For client to re-pixel her own funnel as we did not have access to ************* (we provided several tech support instructions and emails as well as a follow up phone call with the client to assist them in pixeling Karta properly for *** traffic)

  
  In summary, we deeply value our customer's feedback, and we apologize for any inconvenience or frustration caused during their engagement with Hirsh Marketing. We are committed to addressing the issues raised and pride ourselves in taking accountability where necessary. With that said, were offering a $997 refund for the delay in delivering the creative strategy. All other issues have been addressed above and we do not feel require a refund. 
  Should the customer have any further concerns or wish to discuss this matter further, we encourage them to reach out to us directly.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/03/2023

   
  Complaint: 20627677
  
  I am rejecting this response because I do not agree with the information you provided. I really wish this did not come to the point of argument, but I don't tolerate untruths, as I refuse to compromise my integrity.

  I did have a funnel before. That is simply untrue. I brought 140 leads from it.

  Your "offer" of "upleveling" us into a higher level of service was never something I wanted--or agreed to. And here is why: My rate of turnaround to you all was ***** hours for a page/funnel buildout. Whereas, I would have waited two weeks for the Hirsh team to publish it. Financially, after the delays you already caused, I didn't have that luxury of waiting.

  Hirsh was never waiting on our product after the Kartra buildout, which was complete on 7/30/23 (see screenshot of email). It took 3 weeks for us to get approval from you all to push it out and start running ads (8/22/23).

  Lastly, there was reference to miscommunication between your team, not a normal handoff (see screenshot). This caused significant time delay, frustration, and confusion on my part.

  I am requesting 3 weeks of our retainer as a refund, on the basis of us being 3 weeks delayed. By my calculations, that is $1875 (75% of $2500).

  Respectfully,
  
  *****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 10/05/2023

  Dear BBB,

  
  While we understand the concerns ****** has responded with, we must clarify the sequence of events and our efforts to assist her throughout the process of building her funnel and website.
  To provide context, we recommended ****** build her funnel in order for her to have a successful launch. Initially, her funnel was not up to industry standards, and it required significant improvements in terms of design and conversion optimization. Understanding the complexities of building a high-converting funnel, we proposed a detailed plan to enhance her online presence.
  ****** acknowledged the initial challenges she faced with ******, finding it difficult to navigate. Despite this, our team, led by ******, patiently guided her through the process, urging her to create a minimum viable website and funnel. Recognizing the delays caused by the learning curve and ******* busy schedule, we extended our support. Emily, our CEO, even offered to completely build ******* funnel at no additional cost to compensate for the delay.
  Throughout our collaboration, there was a collaborative effort. We worked closely with ******, combining her inputs with our expertise. At various points, we suggested improvements and provided email copy for her funnel. We also implemented our audit recommendations, focusing on optimizing her ads to drive better results. This is out of scope of the Elite package, however we did this to get ****** results. 
  However, it's crucial to note that ****** opted not to proceed with some of our suggestions. Despite our expertise and willingness to enhance her funnel further, she expressed contentment with her minimum viable funnel and requested not to make additional changes. This decision limited our ability to fully implement the improvements we had initially proposed.
  In summary, we invested significant time and effort into working with ****** to create a functional and optimized funnel. While challenges arose, we remained committed to finding solutions and providing the support she needed. We respect ******* decision to halt certain enhancements, but it's important to acknowledge the collaborative approach we maintained throughout the process.
  We can assure the BBB and ****** that our team remains dedicated to client satisfaction. We appreciate the opportunity to address this complaint and provide further clarification on the situation.
  
  

  Best,

  Hirsh Marketing

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/06/2023

   
  Complaint: 20627677
  
  I am rejecting this response because you are simply trying to rationalize the poor service that you provided. Quite frankly, the copy suggestions that were made were without an understanding of my product. I am a physician, not a dietitian, and because of poor communication between your team members from the initial strategy call, you continued to try to implement messaging that put me in the same bucket as lesser educated individuals.

  Of note, we were never obligated to take your suggestions. It is our business, not yours.

  At this point, it seems futile to continue to communicate. If you are unwilling to compensate us as requested, I ********************* for these poor reviews to be published in whatever mediums is per protocol of the better business bureau and other review sites as we see fit, out of the interest of advising other companies not to contract for your sub-quality services, which you do not stand behind.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/05/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have paid this company $21,770.56 from September to March with the promise of a cohesive marketing plan, ad spend and live launch for my program. Their strategy not only led to zero results and only a handful of potential leads, they pushed me to do a live launch with the promise of recouping their failed strategy. I told them I was hesitant as a result of their subsequent failures but they persisted and promised it would recoup the investment. The live launch was an even great disaster. They had me use a free version of webinar jam which I had never used and told me it gave me a 2 hour limit when it was only 1 hour that prompted the webinar to end while I was in my live pitch resulting in not only zero sales but a huge hit to my reputation looking like I have no idea what i am doing. Their employee informed me they don't have the staff to cover the incoming clients and that's why there had been so many errors. I have requested a refund and they will not respond. I have a zoom meeting recording of her explaining the failures and mismanagement. This company has not only cost me 20K plus but they have done damage to my reputation as a result of their carelessness and incompetence.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/16/2023

  I've (Emily Hirsh) personally responded to **** to get on a call and support her / smooth things over. One of our biggest requirements and suggestions for clients is that we create a relationship of collaboration and that was lacking here. **** didn't generate sales because all of her applications & calls she received were not closed by her. We generated hundreds of leads into her business and this was an unproven offer to cold traffic. 

   

  While there are areas we can improve on and take ownership we've already provided **** with a credit for her management fee and supported her in strategizing and executing this live launch. **** requested that our strategist become her point of contact and take over her account and in an effort to make her happy I approved this. Our strategist is not a Tech VA or ads manager and **** began asking her to step in as one which led to issues. 

   

  Here is a copy of the email I sent back to **** and offered her to refund her for the month of her live launch:

  It is best for us to talk face to face for sure - can you send me some times that you are available for a call? I am in an event starting tomorrow afternoon this week so maybe Monday the 13th? 
  
  
  I have been involved in your strategy for awhile now just in the backend so I don't agree at all that you didn't have one with ******, you did. It wasn't converting. The job of an ads agency is to bring leads and people into your funnel and your business & offer plays a part in converting those leads. I think there is probably a core offer issue and messaging issue that needs to be addressed. We can support with this and do support with this but I don't think you're going to get far blaming somebody without any accountability. Whether that is with us or future vendors, for it to be successful it needs to be a collaboration. 
  
  
  I also want to note your offer we promoted most of the time was very high ticket, it typically takes months (for my company it's an average of 6 months) to convert somebody into a high ticket offer. And that's with really good nurturing and follow up - it's definitely a long term play as all of my content preaches. 
  
  
  I also don't agree that your ongoing strategy and funnel was a 'disaster' -- the mistake that was made with the applications not showing was compensated for with $2,500 taken off your next bill. We do own our mistakes and where we can improve for clients. All of my marketing that you've criticized as not being true is 100% real results we get clients so obviously what we do does work. I can write this email with confidence because I know my delivery and how good it is and I also know that I am quick to make it right and own it when we make mistakes. 
  
  
  I'm not saying that things couldn't have gone better in certain areas of your experience with us and I will take ownership of that. Requesting ****** to become your point of contact was a mistake and I shouldn't have approved it. She is a strategist. She's not a tech VA, she's not an ads manager and she's not a funnel builder. It completely broke our process and we should not have done that.
  
  
  Let me know when you'd like to get on a call. I know that email can misconstrue tone and so I want you to know that I hear you and I know at the root of this you just want your business to be successful and investment to pay off and I want that too. However, I will not let an inaccurate narrative be painted of my company as a whole because I know where we fell short and where we didn't.