Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  George P************** President at Technology Data Exchange Bala-Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, SEO SCAM I am a healthcare provider and minister. The week of 9/8/22 to 9/15/22 I paid George P************* of Technology Data Exchange ******** because he promised to get our services (colonics and ozone treatment in Austin) on the first page of ****** listings in our area of Austin. The search terms I requested were not used. Instead, obscure phrases that no one uses were used to easily get to the first page. But if no one uses those terms then his services are misleading and fraudulent. The purpose of hiring an SEO company is to be seen by people looking for your services using the common keywords that they would use which is easy to find because there are keyword checker apps that will tell you how many people are using which keywords who are looking for services you offer. This is a scam. We are still beneath listings under 100!Every time he gives another deadline, when I have threatened to start my complaints, he comes up with a new excuse. The bottom line is, he stole 2,200.00 dollars from us, did not get us on the first page of ******* not even close, actually we are worse off now. While scamming us and coming up with excuses at every turn, he ruined our ability to be seen by people looking for our services during what should be our busiest time of year. There is no way we can recover this last two months as SEO REAL SEO providers need 1 to 3 months at least to start improving ranking. Some things to consider about him:He only takes *****! If people use their debit or credit card they have protection with their banks from fraud and services or goods not delivered. I just got off the phone with my bank and was told there is nothing I can do about the services and goods not delivered because of the way ***** is handled.He promises 1st page ranking but uses phrases and keywords people would never use to find you. Useless! This is a scam!

  Business response

  12/04/2022

  ANSWER TO COMPLAINT:  The customer is making false and outrageous claim.  Her SEO payment was paid only after TDE had delivered a good number of relevant search results.  The customer was happy to pay us.  Her frustration is likely due to her lack of new business, which is a factor out of our control, since our work is limited to writing the SEO code which allows ****** to make a good search match.  Whether or not new business is generated is totally out of our control.
  
   We encourage any interested party to review the long list of nearly 100 relevant keywords & search terms to which ****** is now responding with ****** 1st page *** results..  Please request the list as well as screen shots we already took of over 100 relevant keywords & search terms showing this client's website on ******'s 1st page... USE BBB reply feature to send us your request.
  
  1) The term SCAM, as used by the customer in this complaint is an outright lie, without merits and totally out of line . . . The client is either looking for free SEO service, or is simply confusing her SEO results with PPC (Pay Per Click) results, which are totally different.  PPC keywords can be any word in the dictionary for which the client is willing to pay ****** on a Pay Per Click basis, whereby SEO results are what ****** calls REAL WORLD SEARCH QUERIES, for which a website must be optimized.   The contain keyword in addition to adjectives, verbs and nouns.   This client is looking at her SEO results with her PPC mindset and is therefore confused.  Describing TDE's 1st class SEO results as a SCAM due to the customer cherry picking 1- or 2-word keywords which are outside the bounds of SEO shows a total misunderstanding on the part of the customer and is the cause of her frustration.  
  
  2) This is an outright lie.  We never make any promises to anyone, other that we will address their keywords on their behalf, since ****** absolutely forbids the SEO profession from using the "G" word Guarantee.  So the only Guarantees we ever make is that we will address your keywords with ****** "White Hat" SEO protocol, and leave it up to ****** to create their Page Rank Order according to their SEO protocols..  This client has received over 100 relevant keywords, to which ****** agreed.  She is cherry picking on a few to justify a full refund without agreeing to follow through with several ****** requests we have received from ******, as part of the total SEO process.  We have urged the client to comply but she refuses.  She is a COPYCAT complainer, wanting free SEO by way of a full refund, even though we have successfully delivered a long list of SEO search queries, totally relevant to her business, all currently delivering her website on ******'s 1st page.
  
  3) This is an outright lie . . .   Nearly all of our SEO clients use credit cards. As a matter of fact, the only other complaint we have ever received did use a credit card but he was declined a chargeback by ****. He tried a 2nd time and was denied again.  This was a gentleman in the IT business who simply was looking to pick our brain in order to receive a free SEO education.  Although our SEO had delivered perfect search terms, the customer has cherry picked a few simply to justify a refund which was refused twice by his bank due to the undeniable proof provided buy us to show that our SEO implementation was indeed working perfectly.  The client refused to make adjustments to his website as requested by ****** in order to expand his range of search temrs, likely because he knew very well the results will be in our favor.  We have a feeling that this new COPYCAT COMPLAINTER has the same idea in mind.
  
  George P******, Pres.
  Tom P******, VP of Finance
  Technology Data Exchange
  Precision SEO for the trade since 1998

• Initial Complaint

  03/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I contracted them to get my key word phrases to appear on page 1 of ****** search and they were unable to honor the contract and deliver the services paid for. I paid $2,200 for MY KEYWORD PHRASES that I felt my potential customers might search for and he did what is called a bait and switch. What I discovered later that he is running what amounts to a scam. He advertised that he will get your keyword phrases on page 1 of ****** search in 12 days. His scam is that he attempts to find marks that are unknowledgeable about SEO so that he can talk them into paging for worthless results. Luckily I am particular and I asked for MY keyword phrases to be on page 1 and I did not accept his suggested keyword phrases but I did say that after my phrases then he could throw in his phrases that I felt would be less useful. Well he never ever got a single one of my phrases on page 1 but got some of his phrases that I later learned were worthless because nobody ever searches for those phrases. I learned later that ****** will tell you how often searchers type in a specific phrase and guess what all of his phrases that he got on page 1 of ****** search had no users searching for those specific phrases. That is his scam. He figures that any business that has multiple marketing efforts will never be aware that none of their customers actually found them from his searches. He offers worthless keyword phrases because it is very hard and often impossible to get on page 1 of ****** search for any coveted keyword phrase so he get a convoluted useless never searched for obscure phrase on page 1 so he can show the dupe that he got them on page 1 but he knows that nobody would ever pay for something that is useless. The bottom line is he took my money and never got any of my keyword phrases on page 1 ever. He failed to deliver what I contracted for regardless of my knowledge of SEO. ZI want my money back since he failed to deliver.

  Business response

  03/25/2022

  Where is the scam? Readers of this review are strongly urged to contact us to review the full scope of the *** work completed for this client, demonstrating undeniable proof of *** results. His website's home page describes him as an IT GURU, so we began by going after GURU keywords, among others, based on what his website was selling.
  
  
  The Technology Data Exchange is the only *** firm known to get paid ONLY AFTER DEMONSTRATING RESULTS, which we deliver within 1 to 12 days. Some dishonest clients will take advantage of our generosity, only to pick our brains and never intend to pay us. This client did pay us, since we have sent him a good number of very early search results, within our 1 to 12 day timeframe. Below are just a few examples:
  
  ****** Page #1 www.******.com
  
  best IT guru *************
  business software guru ***************
  *************** ERP guru
  *************** ERP system developers
  custom ERP software development *****
  ************* ERP IT guru
  ************* ERP software development
  ************* ERP software guru
  ************* small business software developer
  ************* lean six sigma IT guru
  ERP guru *************
  ERP modification *************
  ERP software development ***************
  ERP system development Central **
  ERP system developer Central **
  ERP system developer ***************
  ERP system developers *************
  small business custom software *************
  software development guru ***************
  ***** ERP custom software development
  ***** ERP developer
  
  This client operates a 1-man IT business, who claimed to know all about *** prior to engaging TDE service. He was happy to pay our fee once he received our report of working keywords. A few weeks passed when called to complain that his phone was not ringing, to which our answer was that all we do is write the code for ****** to provide the maximum results which they feel the website deserves. He was CHERRY PICKING on a couple of keywords to which ****** did not agree he deserves. He deleted our access to his server files, where we needed to continue our work, following ******'s metrics.
  
  The client refused to make any changes and immediately contacted his credit card company to complain about a scam against him. His credit card company had ruled in our favor after reviewing our *** results, with lots of screenshot printed for their review. The client tried a 2nd time, and was refused again, as his credit card company upheld their original decision that there was never a scam committed and that we have delivered the maximum range of keywords & search terms which his website deserved.
  
  We have no control over the marketplace, and this client's website was of a do-it-yourself nature, which required some modifications, based on ******'s returned metrics, which he refused to even consider. The letter "O" in *** only means getting "OPTIMAL" RUSULTS, and this is what we have delivered, and his credit card company agreed twice. We are still waiting for this client to come to his senses by restoring our access to his server files so we can continue with our professional *** implementation, to expand the range of working keywords and search terms. Scam is not in our dictionary.

  Customer response

  03/25/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  The bottom line is that he failed to deliver what I contracted for and paid for be only provided a bail and switch inferior and worthless different result/product.

  In all his (the merchant) responses never once has he refuted my claim that he failed to provide what was contracted for which were MY TERMS as opposed to HIS TERMS that he provided as a bait and switch which is in and of itself a criminal fraud act by statutes and also an additional SCAM aspect.  So where is the scam?  As I already stated the scam is to promise a valuable service SEO that is very difficult to provide so he instead of providing a valuable service that the customer expects he delivers a useless product that is a complete waste of money and if the customers knew how useless the delivery is they would not pay $2,200 for something worthless.  The idea of SEO is that be being on Page 1 of ****** for a search phrase that is searched for my many people will have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands or even millions of views and so the advertiser would expect a percentage of those viewers to at least make some type of inquiry such as a phone call or at least a click on the link that would bring them to your website.  Well over many months of HIS TERMS appearing on Page 1 I did not get a single inquiry not 1 phone call not one email not one click. Why?  Because the only way he can get anything on page 1 is to make the search phrase so obscure that nobody ever uses that exact phrase so there is no competition for such a useless phrase.  
  
  As evidence that he failed to deliver MY TERMS on Page one is not only my claim but also his words that prove my point.  He stated we have delivered the maximum range of keywords & search terms which his website deserved.  Notice that he delivered terms which his website deserved which is not what I contracted him to do if my website did not deserve MY KEYWORD PHRASES then he should have never promised to do that and should never have taken my money knowing that he could not deliver what I wanted and specifically contracted for.  His alleged terms which his website deserved (BTW I disagree with his assertion that his useless phrases are what my web site deserves) are not what the contract specified and was the classic criminal bait and switch.  So not only is it a SCAM but his actions are criminal fraud.

  
  Another of his written responses also backs up and proves my claim.  He wrote He was CHERRY PICKING on a couple of keywords to which ****** did not agree he deserves.  I would agree that I contracted him to have MY CHERRY PICKING keywords on Page 1 not to have him bait and switch his alleged terms which his website deserved in place of my valuable  CHERRY PICKING keyword phrases.  Also by the way I bet any reasonable person would agree that his claims that his phrases are not terms which his website deserved that is assertion of terms which his website deserved is a lie and untrue and designed to misdirect the issue.  His hoe is that he is trying to get you to believe that he delivered something better than what I contracted him to provide when in fact the bait and switch product he provides was so substandard that is was useless and worth $0 not $2,200. 

  
  Even his term CHERRY PICKING proves my point.  CHERRY PICKINGis when someone wants only the best and does not want anything less than the best but yet he failed to give me my CHERRY PICKING phrases that he agree and contracted to give me in exchange for my giving him  $2,200.  He got his end of the3 contract but did not give me my contracted product so therefore he needs to refund me $2,200 for failure to deliver.  Delivering something else is the criminal act of bait and switch.
  As evidence of his attempt to misdirect you from the issue he stated Some dishonest clients will take advantage of our generosity, only to pick our brains and never intend to pay us.  Why would he offer this irrelevant statement when he also stated  that He was happy to pay our fee   Clearly if I paid then that I did not take advantage and never intend to pay us.  That statement was an attempt to falsely imply that I am dishonest but it only proves his dishonesty in trying to make you thing and untruth.

  I would like to escalate this dispute from conciliation to arbitration and skip the mediation interim step because I believe that this merchant is perpetrating a designed bait and switch fraud SCAM and therefore is unlikely to agree to any non-binding mediation.  
  

  So if it is required I DO HEREBY LEGALLY AND OFFICIALLY request arbitration if the merchant does not issue me a 100% refund of my $2,200 paid for non delivery of the specific contracted result/product

  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Business response

  03/31/2022

  We fully understand and respect this customer's personal philisophy. However, ****** is not human, rather it is an algorithm programmed robot, called ******BOT, with inherent limitations. This means that our communication strategy with ****** is exclusively conducted from within HTML Source Code, which is black and white, without the benefits of natural human thought nuances. It appears this customer wrongly believes otherwise.
  This customer had lied to, and wrongly complained to his credit card bank that he had been scammed. We presented plenty of supporting evidence to the contrary, including his signed agreement, where he indicated that he understood that there are never any guarantees in the world of ****** ***, and agreed to our terms. He paid us only after we have delivered an impressive list of ****** 1st page search results - See below
  The Technology Data Exchange is very well known as the only *** firm which does most of the work prior to asking for payment. We did our 1st round of *** implementation in full compliance with the latest ****** *** protocol and presented the customer with undeniable evidence of ****** 1st page *** results, and he was happy to pay us. He also understood that there are no refunds under this arrangement, since payment is made only once much of the work has been completed, with his acceptance of the results prior to making his payment.
  Below are just a few samples ****** Seach Queries responding with ****** 1st page search results to this customer's www.******.com website as a result of TDE's 1st round *** implementation.
  
  affordable business software guru *************** - 
  affordable CRM developers ************* - 
  affordable CRM expert ************* - 
  affordable CRM expert ***** - 
  affordable ERP expert *************** - 
  affordable ERP guru *************** - 
  affordable IT expert ************* - 
  affordable IT guru ************* - 
  best custom software developer ************* - 
  best IT guru ************* - 
  business software guru *************** - 
  *************** CRM developers - 
  *************** CRM guru - 
  *************** ERP developers - 
  *************** ERP guru - 
  *************** ERP system developers - 
  CRM developer ************* - 
  CRM developers *************** - 
  CRM development ************* - 
  CRM guru *************** - 
  CRM guru ******* - 
  custom CRM development *************** - 
  custom CRM development ************* - 
  custom CRM development ********************************************************************* ERP developer ********************************************************************* ERP software development ********************************************************************* ERP ***** - 
  ************* ERP IT guru - 
  ************* ERP software development - 
  ************* ERP software guru - 
  ************* lean six sigma IT guru - 
  ************* small business software developer - 
  ERP developers *************** - 
  ERP development ***** - 
  ERP guru ********** - 
  ERP guru *************** - 
  ERP guru ************* - 
  ERP guru ******* - 
  ERP guru ***** - 
  ERP modification ********** - 
  ERP modification ************* - 
  ERP software development *************** - 
  ERP system developer ********** - 
  ERP system developer *************** - 
  ERP system developers ************* - 
  ERP system development ********** - 
  ******* ERP custom software development - 
  ******* CRM guru - 
  ******* ERP guru - 
  small business custom software ************* - 
  software development guru *************** - 
  ************ ERP - 
  ************ ERP developer - 
  ***** ERP custom software development - 
  ***** ERP developer - 
  ***** ERP software guru - 
  
  This customer's credit card bank had denied his request for a refund. He attempted a second time and his credit card bank had again ruled in our favor. The bank's decisions angered this customer, causing him to bad mouth us with loud verbal rants of profanity and threats, followed by highly defamatory advertising campaign on ********** against our company, and myself personaly, even though our company has enjoyed a pristine record of ****** *** accomplishments, since 1998.
  BASEBALL GAME ANALOGY: This customer chose to prematurely end a ******** ballgame at the end of the 1st inning, where our investment in the game was designed to sustain a 9-inning ballgame. We therefore invited him time and again to get back in the game, by having him respond to ******'s requests, based on returned metrics, which he had refused each time. The game is not over until it's over, and it is this cusomer's turn at bat. We have been waiting for this customer to contact us in a civil manner so we can catch up and pick up the pace for him, the way it was meant to be from the start.
  
  GUARANTEE: ****** forbids us from using the ** word / Guarantee, since they make it very clear that they always need to have the last word, regardless of how perfect the *** implementation is. Here is what we are able to Guarantee:
  
  1) Guarantee that we have been doing nothing but ******/Yahoo/Bing *** since 1998.
  2) Guarantee that our *** implementation is "White ***** in full compliance with the ******/Yahoo/Bing *** protocols and TOS.
  3) Guarantee that our work is totally performed in our Suburban ************ office, no outsourcing.
  4) Guarantee that we are known to sell our *** service through other *** firms, whereby they outsource their *** projects to TDE.
  5) Guarantee that we are accredited by the Better Business Bureau, with an A+ Rating.
  6) Guarantee that we will never abandon any *** project.
  
  This customer's assertion that we are running a bait and switch scam is totally obsurd and without any merit, proving that he is likely not aware of, or may be either partly or totally confused or ignorant about what *** / Search Engine Optimization is and what it is not.
  The letter "O" in *** refers to the verb "OPTIMIZE," as to optimize a given website, for the purpose of delivering "OPTIMZAL" search results by the search engines. Real *** is not a place where one can simply buy himself guaranteed keywords. Such a place does exist, but it is referred to as "***" / Pay Per Click, which this customer should already be familiar with. The Technology Data Exchange is not in the *** business. *** Keywords are purchased directly from ******, at a per click price, determined by supplly and demand. This customer had purchase *** from us, but is likely in a *** mindset, and this is the cause of his confusion.
  
  A review of ****** KEYWORDS vs ****** QUERIES
  KEYWORDS: ****** makes their billions of dollars by selling words. They place every single word in the dictionary on the scale and assign a starting price to it, and let the market auction forces determine its realistic value, based on supply and demand. These are primarily 1-, 2-, and 3-word keywords, which ****** sells directly, under their *** (Pay Per Click) AdWord program. These AdWords are referred to as KEYWORDS.
  QUERIES: ****** provides 10 natural, organic search results per page, at no cost to website owners, based on SEARCH QUERIES typed into their search fields. By ******'s definition, a ***** contains an embedded KEYWORD, in addition to an adjective, and perhaps a verb, and perhaps also a location, providing a real world search term which allows ******'s search algorithms to accurately match the ***** against millions of websites, and to create a PRO (Page Rank Order). Therefore, SEARCH QUERIES are typically more complete search terms, compared to their much broader, 1-, 2-, or 3-word KEYWORD counterparts. Additional information can be obtained by searching: Keywords vs Queries
  
  OPTIMAL search results also means to strive for the "MAXIMUM" range of search queries which ****** agrees with, for a GIVEN WEBSITE. The code we write and submit to ****** works as a catalyst, "placing the website under a microscope" so that the ****** search algorithms will have a very clear understanding of what is being offered by a given website. In many situations, including those related to this customer's website ****** can now also see certain items which may be detrimental to other search queries.
  Technology Data Exchange does not design website, we only write the *** Source Code to help ****** make an accurate search match, using *** tools provided to us by ******, together with proprietary tools we have developed over the past 23 years. Once submitted to ****** we receive returned metrics from our 1st round *** implementation, which provide us with the following 3 conditions.
  1) We get to see what ****** agrees with. This is what we share with our customers by way of a long list of working search queries.
  2) We get to see what ****** dfinitely does not agree with.
  3) We get to see where ****** may be somewhat confused.
  In the case of conditions 2) & 3) we need to analyze the returned metrics for the purpose of instructing the website owner to make certain server setting changes, and/or some minor content revisions.
  In attempting to explain ******'s process to this customer he responded by shouting and ranting profanity and threats. Instead of taking our information constructively, he decided to published defamatory ads on **********, warning the public about our *** work. He even took the BBB logo and printed the word SCAM all over it, placing it on his defamatory ads for our sales prospects to form negative opinions.
  It appears to us that this customer has no interest in responding to ******'s compliance request. We have already analyzed the metrics and we have been ready to share ******'s requirements with the customer, if he was honestly looking for additional realistic search results. He would rather curse the messenger than do what he needs to do within the ****** compliance process.
  We would appreciate the help from the BBB in urging ************** to get back in the game, as we have always been ready and willing to proceed. *** projects require the full cooperation of the website owner, so this customer should be encouraged to restore our server password credentials and to call us to engage in a civil conversation about moving forward.
  Sincerely,
  ***************************, Pres.
  Technology Data Exchange
  Precision ****** *** for the trade since 1998
  *************

*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. ↩