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Business Profile

Direct Mail Advertising

The Gulf Coast Shopper

Complaints

Customer Complaints Summary

  • 1 complaint in the last 3 years.
  • 0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

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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.

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  • Initial Complaint

    Date:09/03/2022

    Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
    Status:
    ResolvedMore 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 met with a salesperson in July who told me she was worried that I would not be ab le to handle all the business that their service would provide me. I told her my business had been slow and that I can't even afford to break even at this point. She again assured the service will in fact hit 150K mailboxes and will certainly work. The mailer went out 08/15/22 and today is 9/3/22 and still not one phone call. She also conned my wife's med spa to sign up and they've received nothing as well. I contacted the owner who was very rude and tried to blame it on weather, med spas aren't affected by weather. I also voiced my concerns about his lying salesperson Karen ****** and he called it legal fluff and compared it to a realtor fluffing up a home sale ad. He also said I already got a deep discount at $1626 a month for 12 months, I told him this was going to sink my business and he just laughed. This company has zero ethics and allows they salespeople to lie, cheat and steal to get the contract signed. I will be contacting the state of Florida as well to expose these crooks. I talked to another business and he said they are liars as well, he got 3 calls in 6 months. Buyer beware if Karen ****** calls you, she enables these lying crooks. She calls them the corporate office and 4444 Cedarbrook is an actual home address what a joke. She lied to my wife as well saying clients will travel far and wide, what a joke!

    Business Response

    Date: 09/14/2022

    We have been in business for more than 25-years providing low-cost, effective direct-mail advertising.

    For this case, we have fulfilled everything outlined in our written, signed agreement (copy attached).

    Included with the client's purchase are ad design, printing, labeling, shipping, postage, and mailing, all for one low rate.

    As specified in the agreement:

    --Client received a 50% discount with client's commitment to mail 12 issues.

    --Because of the huge discount, there is a specific non-cancel policy included in the agreement.

    --The written, signed agreement outlines the entire agreement. Nothing else said or implied is part of the agreement. We favor written, signed agreements because we have learned in over 25 years in business that "he said/she said" arguments are problematic. If client wanted anything added to the agreement, the time to do so was before it was signed, not weeks later.

    --Perhaps the misunderstanding is what the client assumes vs what we assume. He purchased 12 mailings over a 12-month period. Isn't the correct time to judge the results of a 52-week agreement is AFTER the 52-weeks are concluded? Not after 3 or 5 days? That seems very unfair to us.

    Customer Answer

    Date: 09/14/2022

    (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

    They know the salesperson is shady and lied to get the contract signed. The salesperson keeps referring me to corporate which is a residence and not a true office because she knows she is a liar and I also reported her to the attorney generals office. She misrepresented the business and now is hiding behind the small print on the contract. The owner is pretty rude as well saying that I got a huge discount at $1626 monthly, that is ridiculous. Also said they don't care if they sink a veteran owned business, I'm not going to tolerate that.

    Business Response

    Date: 09/22/2022

    The "small print" he is referring to is in the written, signed contract, labeled STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Does this mean the businessman didn't read the contract before he signed?

    The 50% discount is spelled out in the very first top blocks of the agreement. Didn't the businessman read this?

    The businessman is claiming things that I never said. He is also claiming things my salesrep never said. Fortunately, we have a written, signed contract that details our entire agreement.

    He agreed to mail 12 issues in exchange for a 50% discount. However, if he is unhappy and wants out of the agreement, we will be happy to cancel his remaining 10 issues and cancel his 50% discount, which means he will still owe us the full, non-discounted rate for the 2 issues he mailed (less what he has already paid), which is only fair as he did not fulfil the written, signed agreement and did not earn the discount. The non-discounted rate and the discounted rate are detailed in the top blocks of the contract. This offer is good through September 30 only and only good if the full amount owed is paid by then.

    Customer Answer

    Date: 09/26/2022

    (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

    Check is in the mail.

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