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:09/05/2024

  Type:Product 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 was originally attracted to Diverse Realty by the technology they were using to attract sales leads for real estate agents. They asked for a $12,000 initial deposit. This deposit would be reimbursed to me via the closed sales that resulted from their leads. As per our contract, they noted the following:"If the Agency is not able to provide the Advertiser with a minimum of 10 leads within one hundred and eighty (180) days of the program start date the Advertiser has the right to a full refund of deposit upon request."They failed to provide the minimum of 10 leads within the 180 days, so I reached out to get a full refund. I have saved the email exchange in which a representative (***** *****) of Diverse acknowledges that they failed to deliver the minimum 10 leads. I was put into contact with an account manager (*** ****) who indicated that if I could be patient, and wait just a little longer, the system will definitely pay off. He ultimately offered to refund $6,000 of my deposit as a gesture to entice me to wait a few more months for the system to generate results. I made clear at that time that if the system once again failed to deliver results, I would expect to receive the remainder of my deposit. The Diverse system did in fact fail to deliver ANY additional leads after that conversation with them. As of this date Sept 4, 2024 - it has been 193 days since ANY valid leads have come in at all. So what appears to have occurred is that immediately after assuring me that the system would give results, they stopped actively attempting to get leads at all with the full intent of keeping my remaining ********** is unbelievable that they seem to believe that they can keep my deposit AND stop delivering any leads whatsoever.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/14/2024

  Robert,

  It’s unfortunate that our relationship has reached this point, and we take your concerns seriously. You are correct in noting that we did not meet the original timeline outlined in our contract. During a phone call with our management team, you shared that you were experiencing financial hardship related to an investment property in Hawaii. We understood your situation and presented you with two options:

  Option 1: Continue working with us and remain patient while we addressed the delays. We expressed our confidence in improving your account's performance. As part of this option, we also offered a one-time refund of $6,000, with the mutual understanding that we would continue our partnership for the long term to work towards a successful outcome.

  However, what was not mentioned in your BBB complaint is the second option we offered:

  Option 2: End the relationship at that time and receive a full refund of $12,000. This option would have included no further work on your account, and a refund check for the full amount would have been issued immediately. You chose to proceed with Option 1, and as a result, we continued to invest both time and resources into your account.

  To recap the working relationship:
  - We provided you with 18 leads.
  - Of those 18 leads, 3 chose to list with another agent.

  The potential value of those 3 leads amounted to $5.9 million in combined sales, which could have generated approximately $177,000 in commission for you. However, the ability to convert leads is beyond our control, and while we strive to provide quality opportunities, the final outcome depends on the agent’s engagement and efforts.

  We sympathize with your financial challenges, but your public complaint in an attempt to recover the remaining $6,000, after opting to continue working with us, feels unwarranted and unfair. We wish you the best during this challenging time and hope that your circumstances improve.

  Sincerely,
  Diverse Realty

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/27/2024

   
  
  Complaint: 22238269
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  This response is omitting some critical facts.

  For their option 1 discussion, this implies that I simply would surrender the remaining $6,000. This is not the case. At that time, the half refund was offered to encourage me to be more patient and allow the system to work. I never agreed to simply taking on faith that the system would start working and made clear at that time that if after a reasonable time has passed, if no actionable leads were received, I would expect a refund of my remaining deposit. However, even if we take Diverse at their word on this, they claim that by exercising option 1  they would continue to "invest both time and resources into your account". However, that did not occur. Not a SINGLE lead was received after their initial failure to deliver the promised leads and our conversation about refunds. As of todays date, Sept 27, 2024 - it has been 216 days since a lead has been received. So even by their own admission, they have completely failed relating to the promises made in their option 1. In addition, it should be noted that NO written agreement was signed in which I agreed to surrender half of my deposit based on promises.
  

  Option 2, a full refund was on the table. I was still enthusiastic about the potential of the tools being used and wanted to give the system a chance to work. My biggest error in this was trusting that Diverse would live up to their word or refund my deposit if they were not able to. Which they clearly were not.

  They also claim to have delivered 3 good leads. That is not the entire picture.

  Lead 1 was for a property where the owner was not fully decided on how to proceed. They ended up deciding to completely remodel the property before listing. I am still in contact with them, but nothing has been agreed to. If this ultimately results in a sale, I will of course pay Diverse the agreed upon amount specified in our contract - because I live up to my agreements.
  

  Lead 2 was a seller who already had an agent and wanted to switch. They had agreed to move the listing to me, but had to get a release from their previous listing agreement. That listing agent was able to get an offer prior to the seller getting a release. So this did not result in a listing.

  Lead 3 was for a seller interested in selling a property that had been a long term rental and was in very rough shape. This seller discovered that a relative was a real estate agent and decided to list their home with them.
  

  The only element of this that is unwarranted and unfair is that Diverse expects to not only keep my funds, but to also generate no leads for me at all.

  It seems that Diverse should either be forced to repay my funds or continue to deliver leads if they truly claim that the agreed upon course was for them to keep my remaining $6,000 and continue to deliver leads.

   

   

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  Robert Whitelaw

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2024

  Robert,

  Below are your own words from your last message:

  ------

  Robert's Words:
  "The only element of this that is unwarranted and unfair is that Diverse expects to not only keep my funds but also generate no leads for me at all. It seems that Diverse should either be forced to repay my funds or continue to deliver leads if they truly claim that the agreed-upon course was for them to keep my remaining $6,000 and continue to deliver leads."

  ------

  My name is Tim, and I am the CEO/owner of the company. I am going to directly address why we stopped delivering leads to you.

  
  First, I ALWAYS treat our customers (our agent partners) with the utmost respect and ensure that everyone on our team does the EXACT same thing to guarantee the mutual success of every partnership we engage in.

  Why we stopped providing you leads:

  I find it extremely ironic (and comical) that you had the audacity to attack our reputation on social media, calling us a scam with massive scam alert images. Then, AFTER posting these false claims, you still have the nerve to ask us why we are not sending you any more leads practically begging us to continue working with you after you posted these images on multiple social media platforms about us.

  We gave you half of your deposit back, and we were committed to seeing this partnership through. We both agreed to this option. Again, I understand the current financial difficulties you are facing, but your attempt to unjustly damage our reputation in order to receive your remaining deposit amount WHILE still wanting us to send you leads is not something I will be cornered into or stand for.

  I am personally happy to discuss this matter with anyone reading this post. Please feel free to call our company directly and ask for Tim if you would like to discuss.

  Wish you the best,
  Tim

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/13/2024

   
  
  Complaint: 22238269
  
  
  
  

  This is really very simple, so let's cut to the core of my complaint. The back and forth he said, she said is meaningless.
  

  As Diverse has already admitted, they failed to deliver the number of leads promised in a signed contract. They do not dispute this fact and admitted to it in their first response to this complaint.

  I am not disputing the quality of the few leads generated or their convertibility.
  

  The only relevant fact here is a signed contract - particularly since the perspectives of Diverse and myself differ relating to conversations we had after it became perfectly clear that they could not deliver on the promised results. So, the contract stands as what was agreed too. There was no legal addendum or modification made to our agreement.

  The contract clearly states that if Diverse fails to deliver the promised number of leads in the agreed upon time - which they did not - then I am entitled to a full refund of my deposit.

  I have only received half of my deposit.

  My social media posts reflect this precise point and I am happy to be able to warn other agents that Diverse cannot be trusted to live up to the letter of their written agreements.

  Regarding begging - if insisting that a party to a contract lives up to what was agreed upon is begging, then that is where I am.
  

  As always, any parties that would like to chat with me directly about my experience can reach out.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  Robert Whitelaw

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/11/2023

  Type:Product 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 signed a contract with Diverse Marketing At the beginning of 2023. I paid them $12,000 based on a contract that stated that they would provide me a certain number of leads. It has been pure h*** from the start. Onboarding took longer than promised. My ****** account was suspended because Diverse never paid their bill and they tried to blame it on me even though they made me cancel my previous ****** account and sign up for a new one. I never even had a credit card associated with the new account that they set up for me, so how could it be my problem?According to several people at ******, Diverse Marketing LLC never followed up with ****** to get my account unsuspended. ********************** made me close my original ****** account. They reopened another one for me. Then when I asked them to reopen my original account, they encountered even more problems that Diverse Marketing LLC couldn't resolve. I made ONE call to ****** and got the issue resolved the same day. Which begs the question, did Diverse Marketing LLC even try to resolve the issue, or was this just one more excuse in their arsenal of excuses. Diverse Marketing LLC claims to have sent me leads. I have ******* phone records to prove that *** never received phone calls from them on the days that they say that I should have. The contract I have with Diverse Marketing LLC clearly states that my $12,000 is refundable if the number of leads that was promised is not achieved within six months. I asked for a refund after seven months, and was told that they are going to terminate my contract and to never contact anybody from their company again. They also told me that they are not going to refund my $12,000. To add insult to injury, they've blocked my number from calling anyone at Diverse Marketing LLC. I could go on and on cause there is so much more to this, but I have used too many characters

  Business Response

  Date: 01/12/2024

  Dear BBB,

  
  We have been in business since 2016, and ***************************** is the first client we have ever had to "fire."

  
  ***************************** signed up for our lead program on March 17th, 2023, for which she paid a $12K deposit. Her ****** ad account was suspended early on by ****** due to a previous ad account owned by *****. Her suspension was not because of an unpaid balance by Diverse we manage close to 200 agent accounts and currently pay ****** approx. $80,000 monthly.

  
  We filed an appeal with ****** the same day, and we communicated with ***** that the suspension was in ******'s hands and that we would alert her as soon as they provided us with a resolution. The statements she mentioned about us not paying a balance and not being in contact with ****** are entirely fabricated and have no merit. We have phone records and ****** account screenshots to prove otherwise.

  
  We would not lie to ***** about contacting ****** on her suspension. Our business depends on the agents' success in our program and their ability to close leads provided by Diverse. Doing what ***** claims would go against everything our company is and stands for.

  
  ***** was highly aggressive early on. We send out text alerts when a lead is generated. Without hesitation, ***** stated we weren't sending her the texts and blamed us for not properly communicating lead information. She was called immediately, and an employee performed test texts. She admitted that she was checking her voicemail inbox, not her text message inbox. This is just one example of the many times ***** unfairly caused our office distress.

  
  After months of being badgered via late-night emails, an employee in our office went to HR and asked to receive therapy/counseling sessions due to the emotional distress ***************************** caused her.

  
  We presented ***** with a solution to the ****** issue. Not only did she become unwilling to utilize this, but coincidentally, she also mentioned recent team members quitting on her, leaving her a solo agent. This step included utilizing a team member's information until the suspension was overturned. Diverse has responded to ***** with the utmost professionalism only for ***** to twist and manipulate each situation. We have never experienced a customer like *****; having her gone is a relief for all employees.

  
  We have time/date records and recordings of every lead call for *****. She was provided with this information and a detailed report on the validity of all leads. There were 12 leads that she received within 180 days. Of the 12 leads, she closed one deal and informed us she was actively working with others. We have had to issue refunds to a small number of clients who didn't succeed in their respective markets. We honor our guarantee when due.

  
  We reached a point where ***** continuously sent passive-aggressive emails with curse words and attacks on the company and our employees' integrity. It was communicated to ***** that she was to speak directly with our company's CEO moving forward. She proceeded to call an employee and the main line in a harassing manner the week after Thanksgiving. There were nine calls within seconds or minutes of each other. Our contract states that we have the right to terminate at any time. We take our relationships with clients seriously and view them as a partnership; that was not the case with ***** from day one. ***************************** is an unsatisfiable customer.

  
  Our contract guarantees ten vetted leads within 180 days; we have 12 verified leads on file for *****. We are submitting proof to the BBB for their unbiased verification. Yes, we terminated *****'s contract; there is only so much harassment a company can withstand, and we were pushed far over that limit.

  
  Attached to this submission is a copy of our contract highlighting the points addressed in this claim. Also attached is every lead that was provided to ***** with detailed information and call recordings. We also attached all emails between her and our company.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/22/2024

   
  Complaint: 20981092

  Diverse is stating that my ad account was suspended because of a previous ad account.  ********************** FORCED me to delete my current account and they created a new account.  ****** told me that the new account was suspended because of unpaid balances from Diverse.  How would I have known that?  I didn't set up that new account.  He states that they have screen shots from ******.  This is the first time I'm hearing this, especially after repeated attempts get a status update and rectify the situation.   None of my statements are fabricated and without merit.  That's an offensive statement. 

  I've attached a spreadsheet showing the leads that I was provided by Diverse.  You can see by my explanation that I never received the phone calls that Diverse claims were missed.  I checked my ******* phone records and I had no incoming calls at all during those times.  Also, two of the calls were from people over an hour outside of my area and immediately called Diverse and told them that they were unreasonable - and they agreed.  But it sounds as though they are now saying that they are valid.  ridiculous.

  I was NOT aggressive from early on.  In fact, I had many pleasant conversations with ***********  I didn't get aggressive until I received an email from *** stating that my repeated calls were taking them away from helping others.  Not what I want to hear after paying $12k

  I have NEVER gone a day without checking my text messages.  ***'s claim in that regard is fabricated and without merit.  

  *** considers this months of baggering, however, when we go days without updates to MY account that was suspended, and after paying $12k, I need answers.  

  The so called solution they provided was not explained fully.   They would not call to explain their "solution" rather kept sending emails that were too difficult to understand.  I repeatedly asked for a phone call for a further explanation and a call was never received. 

  To this day, even after repeated requests, *** still hasn't picked up the phone to address the issues.  

  I provided suggestions to Diverse of which I received NO response.  

  I asked to see all of my advertising copy prior to it being shipped so as not to break PA rules and regulations.  Only to find out that they had been sending post cards that weren't approved by me for weeks.  Breaking all PA regulations in the process of which I could get fined, my brokerage could get fined and I could lose my license because of their negligence.

  After six months of being told by Diverse NOT to contact ****** about my account being suspended, I placed one call to ****** and was able to get my account unsuspended. 

  I've attached a copy of the contract that doesn't state any conditions about a refund if they do not meet the agreed # of leads.  In fact, during one of the sales calls, I specifically asked if there were stipulations regarding a refund if the # of leads weren't achieved and I was not given any stipulations.  The contract is very clear.  The number of leads received is very clear, several of which I can prove based on my ******* phone records where NEVER received.

  I have spoke with other agents in my same situation.  They too are out Thousands of Dollars, with the same situation occurring.  *** gets his money up front and we all get screwed in the end.  He should be a proud man !

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 01/30/2024

  We've greatly expressed our stance in previous responses. We've provided pages upon pages of email verification to show what we're saying is truthful. *****'s claims are misleading, dishonest, and without merit.

  *****'s follow-up is more of what we experienced while she was our customer. We're not responding to any more of her false accusations. Her untruthful statements were all addressed in emails to her (which we provided) and in our initial response to the BBB.

  We have met all contractual obligations to *****, and we also released her as a client under our contractual terms. Again, I would like to state that ***** is THE FIRST client we have ever had to "fire."

  We have 100s of ****** satisfied customers and provide a refund when warranted.

  Overall, this is a very unfortunate situation that we have tried to address peacefully and professionally with ***** over many attempts.