Complaints

This profile includes complaints for First Station Media Inc's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  First Station Media Inc

  1620 E Capitol Dr # 11780 Shorewood, WI 53211-4630

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  First Station Media Inc

  PO Box 11780 Glendale, WI 53211-0780

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:01/04/2024

  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.

  I was told my website was broken and I would need a new one. A new one was made. I also asked for a few new domains for more email addresses. We asked for an email to be sent out. We agreed to $5000 per month in ****** AdWords. We were told it would be run through her own account and I should turn off my own since they would compete. In four months I was charged over $40,000 and nothing was spent on ****** AdWords nor was any email ever sent out. I got 3 new cookie cutter websites. I only wanted one website and she even made up more new domains without permission for more useless cookie cutter websites that are impossible to find. Our phones were dead and they ignored our pleas for help.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/13/2024

  Better Business Bureau
  ****************************************************************
  ********* ** 53214
  **************
  *******************;
  *****************************************************
  
  
  Re:       Case #: 21173651
              *******************************
              *****************, Inc.
  
  Dear ******,
  Please let this letter serve as First Station Medias (FSM) response to the complaint filed by ******************** of *****************, Inc.  
  His complaint reads:
  I was told to stop my own ****** AdWords campaign as they would use theirs. I agreed to spend 4 figures per month with them. They took my money but never spent it on ****** AdWords. I asked for emails to be sent out from my mail chimp account and they charged me thousands only to later find out my mail chimp was paused and no emails were ever sent. They lied about both and even sent fake statistics. I have asked for a refund for services not provided but they refuse. My business has suffered from poor exposure as a result.
  
  As demonstrated below, FSM vehemently denies ******************** allegations. FSM served ***************** as requested, from 2021 through the present, and has spent approximately $69,000 in ads, website design, graphics, and social media campaigns, a large portion of which remains unpaid due to the chargebacks performed by ********************.
  
  First, regarding the MailChimp,  FSM created multiple designs for his company. When they were completed, they were sent to *****, an authorized representative of *****************, who informed FSM via email Do not send it out unless and until they could be approved by the owner, ********************.  Thereafter, FSMs project manager emailed ***************** on two separate occasions and copied ******************** on the emails.  In response, FSM received virtually the same response, again from ***** that read:  Please wait for management to review. If you would like copies of these emails, please let me know.
  
  Second, regarding other work performed by FSM for *****************:
  
  FSM was retained to host and manage ten (10) email accounts for *****************, all of which came with ********* Suite. FSM did manage the emails and has documentation to show emails were sent.  Unfortunately, FSM has not been compensated for its work for September through December 2023, as ***************** issued chargebacks on the company credit card. 
   .
  Regarding Quality Fireplacess dispute concerning paid advertisements, FSM has spent, to date, over $30,000 on ad coat alone for ********* Instagram and ****** ads.  FSM has documentation and receipts of call logs from ****** that show the exact time and day ***************** received calls as a result of the campaigns, copies of which can be provided upon request. However, due to chargebacks made by *****************, FSM has not been paid for its work on this ad campaign, ******** Ad spend, Meta Ad Spend for September through November 2023 and a portion of December 2023.  
  
  At Quality Fireplaces request, FSM hosted three separate websites (all for different parts of the business), including content, design, video and images. All sites were managed, created, written, and edited by FSM with Quality Fireplaces approval. Those sites, which include qualityfireplaceroofchimney.com; roofing-*********.com; and chimneywisconsin.com all remain unpaid by *****************.
  
  FMS also performed SSL, SEO Plugins, WordPress version updates, and Uptime monitoring for all three websites noted above, all of which remain unpaid because September - November 2023 and a portion of December 2023 were all either unpaid or refunded due to chargebacks. 
  
  ******************** also ordered multiple domains through FSM that, according to emails (please let us know if you would like those), were suggested to him by his business coach  These domains included:
  
  qualityfireplaceroofchimney.com
  qualityfireplaceroofchimneyservice.com
  chimneywisconsin.com
  roofing-*********.com
  wisconsinroofingpros.com
  qualityfireplaceinc.com
  
  Again, these domains remain unpaid for September through November 2023 and a portion of December 2023 because of chargebacks made in December 2023 and January and February 2024. These domains are also tied to the email addresses that were requested by ***************** noted above, which remain unpaid to date. 
  
  ******************** also ordered photos for his sites, which are currently in use but remain unpaid. The charges related thereto include individual and team photos along with licensed images. FSM retook the photos on two separate occasions within a two-month period of time because ***************** was not satisfied the first two sessions.  However, FSM only charged ***************** for the first photo session.  Despite that, ***************** has failed to pay for any of the images and videos that are currently on the sites. 
  
  ******************* also ordered and received business cards designed and printed for management, which have not been paid for. These business cards cost FSM approximately $400 with no markup, and FMS did not charge for design and/or shipping.  
  
  FSM also purchased edits and new videos worth approximately $375, images with licenses, and rewrites of three separate websites in December 2023, which were ordered by Mr. ******* and edited by Mr. **************************** However, FSM has not been paid for any invoice related to these services, and *****************/******************** refuse to issue payment on these invoices.
  
  FSM also provided social media design & management for *****************, for which Mr. ******* sent periodic edits to. FSM has documentation demonstrating verbiage changes and edits from ******************** requesting calls to discuss certain social media posts. This service now remains unpaid due to the chargebacks issued by ********************.
  
  FSM and *****************/******************** exchanged correspondence in December 2023  discussing his request for FSM to lower its price on certain items.  In response, FSM lowered its invoices to the bare minimum for December 2023 to $830. ******************** then inquired How long would this last after the bill was viewed by him. Following that conversation, Mr. *************;and **************** ordered more than 7 hours' worth of edits to all three websites. In response, two FSM web developers jumped on to complete this project immediately for ********************. After the project was completed, **************** responded thank you for all the quick and hard work. The review call with them took more than an hour on a Friday evening, which occurred two days prior to ******************** issuing the first of many chargebacks.
  
  In summary, the entire list of services provided to ***************** by FSM include: 
  
  Creation of three unique websites with various verbiage rewrites;
  ****** Business Profile optimization, maintenance, and monitoring;
  Social media profile optimization, revision, and maintenance;
  Social media asset creation, including original verbiage and design;
  Social media post management and monitoring, 9 AM 5 PM CST, including message forwarding, when applicable;
  ******** lead generation campaign;
  Tailored search engine optimization (SEO) and premium licenses; 
  Meta element/keyword research; 
  Costly, premium plugins; 
  SSL licenses, theme licenses, slider licenses, and hosting for three websites;
  Plugin updates and WP updates for three websites;
  Weekly security audits and updates for three websites;
  Uptime and downtime monitoring;
  ****** Ad campaign creation, optimization, and maintenance, including frequent consultations with our ****** Ad expert;
  Domain purchases; 
  Marketing email creation and management;
  MailChimp account subscription, maintenance, and management;
  Personalized, unique email account creation, maintenance, and troubleshooting; 
  Meetings as requested; and 
  Job ads (postings)
  
  For all of the services mentioned above, FSM has spent over $69,000, of which *****************/******************** has paid approximately $40,000 since 2021.  Now ******************* has done $20,000 worth of chargebacks. The total balance due for hard costs to FSM is 49k.    
  
  As demonstrated above, despite ******************** request for a billing adjustment, he has already received a number of services for which he has not paid, and has received money back that he had already paid FSM for services performed through chargebacks.  There is simply no basis to his complaint that he is *********** additional billing adjustments, and FSM respectfully requests that the complaint be found unsupported by any evidence and dismissed.
  
  If you would like to discuss this matter in more detail, or request any of the documentation noted herein, please let me know. Better Business Bureau
  ****************************************************************
  ********* ** 53214
  **************
  *******************;
  *****************************************************
  
  
  Re:       Case #: 21173651
              *******************************
              *****************, Inc.
  
  Dear ******,
  Please let this letter serve as First Station Medias (FSM) response to the complaint filed by ******************** of *****************, Inc.  
  His complaint reads:
  I was told to stop my own ****** AdWords campaign as they would use theirs. I agreed to spend 4 figures per month with them. They took my money but never spent it on ****** AdWords. I asked for emails to be sent out from my mail chimp account and they charged me thousands only to later find out my mail chimp was paused and no emails were ever sent. They lied about both and even sent fake statistics. I have asked for a refund for services not provided but they refuse. My business has suffered from poor exposure as a result.
  
  As demonstrated below, FSM vehemently denies ******************** allegations. FSM served ***************** as requested, from 2021 through the present, and has spent approximately $69,000 in ads, website design, graphics, and social media campaigns, a large portion of which remains unpaid due to the chargebacks performed by ********************.
  
  First, regarding the MailChimp,  FSM created multiple designs for his company. When they were completed, they were sent to *****, an authorized representative of *****************, who informed FSM via email Do not send it out unless and until they could be approved by the owner, ********************.  Thereafter, FSMs project manager emailed ***************** on two separate occasions and copied ******************** on the emails.  In response, FSM received virtually the same response, again from ***** that read:  Please wait for management to review. If you would like copies of these emails, please let me know.
  
  Second, regarding other work performed by FSM for *****************:
  
  FSM was retained to host and manage ten (10) email accounts for *****************, all of which came with ********* Suite. FSM did manage the emails and has documentation to show emails were sent.  Unfortunately, FSM has not been compensated for its work for September through December 2023, as ***************** issued chargebacks on the company credit card. 
   .
  Regarding Quality Fireplacess dispute concerning paid advertisements, FSM has spent, to date, over $30,000 on ad coat alone for ********* Instagram and ****** ads.  FSM has documentation and receipts of call logs from ****** that show the exact time and day ***************** received calls as a result of the campaigns, copies of which can be provided upon request. However, due to chargebacks made by *****************, FSM has not been paid for its work on this ad campaign, ******** Ad spend, Meta Ad Spend for September through November 2023 and a portion of December 2023.  
  
  At Quality Fireplaces request, FSM hosted three separate websites (all for different parts of the business), including content, design, video and images. All sites were managed, created, written, and edited by FSM with Quality Fireplaces approval. Those sites, which include qualityfireplaceroofchimney.com; roofing-*********.com; and chimneywisconsin.com all remain unpaid by *****************.
  
  FMS also performed SSL, SEO Plugins, WordPress version updates, and Uptime monitoring for all three websites noted above, all of which remain unpaid because September - November 2023 and a portion of December 2023 were all either unpaid or refunded due to chargebacks. 
  
  ******************** also ordered multiple domains through FSM that, according to emails (please let us know if you would like those), were suggested to him by his business coach  These domains included:
  
  qualityfireplaceroofchimney.com
  qualityfireplaceroofchimneyservice.com
  chimneywisconsin.com
  roofing-*********.com
  wisconsinroofingpros.com
  qualityfireplaceinc.com
  
  Again, these domains remain unpaid for September through November 2023 and a portion of December 2023 because of chargebacks made in December 2023 and January and February 2024. These domains are also tied to the email addresses that were requested by ***************** noted above, which remain unpaid to date. 
  
  ******************** also ordered photos for his sites, which are currently in use but remain unpaid. The charges related thereto include individual and team photos along with licensed images. FSM retook the photos on two separate occasions within a two-month period of time because ***************** was not satisfied the first two sessions.  However, FSM only charged ***************** for the first photo session.  Despite that, ***************** has failed to pay for any of the images and videos that are currently on the sites. 
  
  ******************* also ordered and received business cards designed and printed for management, which have not been paid for. These business cards cost FSM approximately $400 with no markup, and FMS did not charge for design and/or shipping.  
  
  FSM also purchased edits and new videos worth approximately $375, images with licenses, and rewrites of three separate websites in December 2023, which were ordered by Mr. ******* and edited by Mr. **************************** However, FSM has not been paid for any invoice related to these services, and *****************/******************** refuse to issue payment on these invoices.
  
  FSM also provided social media design & management for *****************, for which Mr. ******* sent periodic edits to. FSM has documentation demonstrating verbiage changes and edits from ******************** requesting calls to discuss certain social media posts. This service now remains unpaid due to the chargebacks issued by ********************.
  
  FSM and Quality Fireplace/******************** exchanged correspondence in December 2023  discussing his request for FSM to lower its price on certain items.  In response, FSM lowered its invoices to the bare minimum for December 2023 to $830. ******************** then inquired How long would this last after the bill was viewed by him. Following that conversation, Mr. *************;and **************** ordered more than 7 hours' worth of edits to all three websites. In response, two FSM web developers jumped on to complete this project immediately for ********************. After the project was completed, **************** responded thank you for all the quick and hard work. The review call with them took more than an hour on a Friday evening, which occurred two days prior to ******************** issuing the first of many chargebacks.
  
  In summary, the entire list of services provided to Quality Fireplace by FSM include: 
  
  Creation of three unique websites with various verbiage rewrites;
  ****** Business Profile optimization, maintenance, and monitoring;
  Social media profile optimization, revision, and maintenance;
  Social media asset creation, including original verbiage and design;
  Social media post management and monitoring, 9 AM 5 PM CST, including message forwarding, when applicable;
  ******** lead generation campaign;
  Tailored search engine optimization (SEO) and premium licenses; 
  Meta element/keyword research; 
  Costly, premium plugins; 
  SSL licenses, theme licenses, slider licenses, and hosting for three websites;
  Plugin updates and WP updates for three websites;
  Weekly security audits and updates for three websites;
  Uptime and downtime monitoring;
  ****** Ad campaign creation, optimization, and maintenance, including frequent consultations with our ****** Ad expert;
  Domain purchases; 
  Marketing email creation and management;
  MailChimp account subscription, maintenance, and management;
  Personalized, unique email account creation, maintenance, and troubleshooting; 
  Meetings as requested; and 
  Job ads (postings)
  
  For all of the services mentioned above, FSM has spent over $69,000, of which Quality Fireplace/******************** has paid approximately $40,000 since 2021.  Now ******************* has done $20,000 worth of chargebacks. The total balance due for hard costs to FSM is 49k.    
  
  As demonstrated above, despite ******************** request for a billing adjustment, he has already received a number of services for which he has not paid, and has received money back that he had already paid FSM for services performed through chargebacks.  There is simply no basis to his complaint that he is *********** additional billing adjustments, and FSM respectfully requests that the complaint be found unsupported by any evidence and dismissed.
  
  If you would like to discuss this matter in more detail, or request any of the documentation noted herein, please let me know. I would be happy to share those documents with the BBB. FSM has over 50 pages of documents.
  
  Very Truly Yours,
  
  
  
  *********************
  First Station Media
  ************
  
  Very Truly Yours,
  
  
  
  *********************
  First Station Media
  ************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/14/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  I hereby reject the claims made by FSM.  I did not order multiple websites, just one.  I did not order cards, they were offered for free by **** since we pay so much money for so little response.  I was told to turn off my AdWords account since that were doing it for me.  I was willing to pay 5k per month on AdWords.  She took my money but never bought the AdWords.  My business suffered as a result.  I asked FSM to send out emails from my mail chimp account.  They never sent any emails after being asked repeatedly about them.  Our site did not come up in rankings while with them.  I have had 3 other marketing companies look at what they did and all 3 agreed it was little to nothing done in terms of seo.  After paying over $16,000 for 3 websites we were then charged an additional $7800 PER MONTH for nothing.  When I said that is way over my $5000 budget, she offered to lower it to $4900 without changing a thing.  I said no make it zero and she lowered it to $830 without changing a thing!  This $830 included $350 for mail chimp.  Mail chimp was paused since August and this bill came in December!!  I then said I refuse to pay any more money until you can prove my AdWords spending.  Instead they admitted they never had access to it from the beginning after sending me fake statistics all along to deceive me.  I simply want the money I paid for ******* back and do not approve of her keeping it for doing nothing.

  [Please type your response here.]
  
  Regards,
  
  *******************************

  Business Response

  Date: 02/19/2024

  February 19, 2024
  
  Better Business Bureau
  *************************************************************************************************
  **************
  Attention:  **************
  *****************************************************
  
  
  Re:    *******************************, *****************, ****
           Case #: 21173651
  
  Dear ******,
  
  Please let this letter serve as First Station Medias (FSM) supplemental response to the original complaint filed by ******************** of *****************, **** and his subsequent submissions. 
  
  Despite ******************** continued accusations regarding lack of work performed by FSM on his companys behalf, FSM has records of emails, texts, zoom meetings, phone calls, and staff emails exchanged with his company on a monthly basis. These communications covered all events to ensure transparency and accuracy in all its dealings with his company.
  
  As noted in FSMs previous submission to the BBB, in mid-December 2023, ******************** started doing chargebacks on tangible items and services that had already been rendered. These services were performed by FSM for his company without interruption, and paid for by ******************** every month. Now that ******************** has demanded and received over $20,000 in chargebacks and free assets, many assets, work, and purchases by FSM remain unpaid.
  
  By way of explanation, in order to keep a website LIVE and online, a company needs email services (******************** chose ********* 365), hosting for all three sites, SSL certificates for all three sites, licenses, and plugins. These were all services that were essential to keep the business functioning digitally. ******************** utilized and ordered them. Notwithstanding, ******************** conveyed to his credit card company that he did not received the services, thereby stealing intellectual property, copy & verbiage, assets, and licenses from FSM.
  
  ******************** has seen the receipts and is aware of the payments made. Within the last month, Mr. ******* contacted FSM, and FSM texted him the subject receipts while on the phone with him. FSM has proof and witnesses that his response to these documents was: "That's too bad you paid this; get better contracts. You don't know me. I get what I want and won't stop until I do. (laughing)."
  
  Despite ******************** $40,000 monetary demand through his complaint with the BBB, he has made different demands to FSMs counsel regarding the same matter. Specifically, ******************** is seeking $7,700 through FSMs counsel.  Additionally, ******************** has publicly defamed FSM on multiple social media platforms. At the current time, FSMs counsel is  calculating damages related thereto.  
  
  Specifically, although FSM possesses written documentation and screenshots to support its position, ******************** continues to take actions which have had and will continue to have major repercussions for FSM.  For instance, ******************** has made several reviews and attempted numerous chargebacks, threatened FSM employees, tried to extort funds, made violent threats to FSMs business, and promised public humiliation. 
  
  As noted in FSMs prior submission to the BBB, all services provided to ******************** were invoiced, and he paid these invoices in full, knowing that they were due upon receipt. FSM also has evidence that ******************** acknowledged all past invoices, and even requested a lower rate at the end of November, 2023, which FSM granted in order to work with the client and keep the relationship amicable.
  
  As outlined in its prior submission to the BBB, FSM has spent funds on Meta *********** Ads, and lead generation through ******** for *****************. No service was free. FSM created three websites, hosted them, edited them, provided videos and images for *****************; created branded emails through *********; and performed many additional costly and time-consuming tasks for *****************. The full list of services provided for the company was set forth in FSMs initial submission to the BBB. 
  
  
  Despite the evidence possessed by FSM, in addition to ******************** acknowledgement of the same, FSM continues to receive messages from ******************** on a daily basis across many different formats berating me and many of my employees.  Based thereon, it does not appear he will accept any resolution of his BBB complaint.  Moreover, his request for additional monies is not an option for FSM, considering the total amount of chargebacks he has already performed and received.
  
  Again, if you would like to discuss this matter in more detail, or request any of the documentation noted herein, please let me know, as I would be happy to share those documents with the BBB.
  
  Very Truly Yours,
  First Station Media