BURNED For $1,000

simmonsmike7 · 07-10-2009, 08:01 AM

I signed up with this company to do SEO rankings for me 6 months ago. They said the $1,000 was a fully refundable deposit if they couldn't get me ranked.

It's been 6 months and I am not ranked - so I emailed them to refund my $1,000 deposit. I got a reply basically saying they are out of business and cannot refund me.

I just got burned for $1,000 and have nothing to show for it.

I paid through credit card but it's been 6 months.

How do I get my money back, I'm really frustrated, that $1,000 means a lot to me... it's a sad day.

What should I do??

Webtigerz · 07-10-2009, 08:03 AM

Did you use someone from this forum?

Sam Smith · 07-10-2009, 08:03 AM

Well, you say it's been 6 months. Has it actually been 6 full months, because I think that's the exact cut off period?

nick1123 · 07-10-2009, 08:07 AM

Is it too late to do a chargeback? Can you contact the better business bureau?
Do they have a physical location you can visit?
Do they list any phone numbers you can call?

Scott Ames · 07-10-2009, 08:07 AM

That sucks. I'll do an SEO report on a few of your pages for free if you want to rank. Just give me the URL of the page and the keyword desired for that page.

IE: http://www.warrenforren.com - forex , forex training, forex broker

I create a different report for each keyword and I would be happy to do up to three keywords for one or two of your pages.

This won't replace your $1,000 but perhaps it can help some.

Michael Mayo · 07-10-2009, 08:10 AM

Call your credit card company ASAP and tell them what has happened.

They should work with you and you may even be able to do a charge
back. Credit Card companies don't like fraudsters either.

Have a Great Day!
Michael
PS. The CC companys phone number should be on the back side of your CC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by simmonsmike7

I signed up with this company to do SEO rankings for me 6 months ago. They said the $1,000 was a fully refundable deposit if they couldn't get me ranked.

It's been 6 months and I am not ranked - so I emailed them to refund my $1,000 deposit. I got a reply basically saying they are out of business and cannot refund me.

I just got burned for $1,000 and have nothing to show for it.

I paid through credit card but it's been 6 months.

How do I get my money back, I'm really frustrated, that $1,000 means a lot to me... it's a sad day.

What should I do??

simmonsmike7 · 07-10-2009, 08:11 AM

I've been emailing with the owner and now he won't respond to my emails...

He says that my contract was with "COMPANY NAME" and since that company has gone out of business he can't do anything about it...

And no, it wasn't anyone from this forum. I'm not going to take the company name because this thread will get shut down.

I just want my money back, so upset right now...

box-to-box · 07-10-2009, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

That sucks. I'll do an SEO report on a few of your pages for free if you want to rank. Just give me the URL of the page and the keyword desired for that page.

I create a different report for each keyword and I would be happy to do up to three keywords for one or two of your pages.

This won't replace your $1,000 but perhaps it can help some.

Good on you Scott, people like you remind me why I like this place so much.

derekwong28 · 07-10-2009, 08:13 AM

You should still try to do a chargeback. Even if they are out of business, their bank would probably have retained some money in their merchant account to deal with chargebacks.

simmonsmike7 · 07-10-2009, 08:14 AM

I thought the chargeback was only within 90 days...

Can I still do one?

Andy Crofford · 07-10-2009, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

That sucks. I'll do an SEO report on a few of your pages for free if you want to rank. Just give me the URL of the page and the keyword desired for that page.

IE: http://www.warrenforren.com - forex , forex training, forex broker

I create a different report for each keyword and I would be happy to do up to three keywords for one or two of your pages.

This won't replace your $1,000 but perhaps it can help some.

If you have more sites I will work on a couple too. PM me the URL and the keyword and I will check it out.

Thanks,
Andy

Michael Mayo · 07-10-2009, 08:16 AM

You won't know if you don't try...Now go..Take Action and Try.
Give them a call! Don't wait!

Michael

Quote:

Originally Posted by simmonsmike7

I thought the chargeback was only within 90 days...

Can I still do one?

Thom McCarroll · 07-10-2009, 08:17 AM

Think you are toast my friend ... try the chargeback method but you may have to sue
them in Small Claims court ... should be easy to find out who the owner of the business
is ... email me if you need some tips for the Small Claims process (not legal advise)

Good luck

dsmpublishing · 07-10-2009, 08:22 AM

I had a smiliar problem with a uk based company back in 2006 i paid £1275 through my credit card and a further £11,500 through my debit card.

Again they made the same promises and didnt deliver once i started complaining they started ignoring me so i got a chargeback through my credit card in the end and it was 2yrs after the original payment was taken with hsbc.

They refused to help me with the debit card amount so i took the company to the court and won so dont be scared contact your bank asap and start sorting it out.

hope you get it sorted soon.

sam
X

Dan C. Rinnert · 07-10-2009, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick1123

Can you contact the better business bureau?

And then the BBB can contact the business, tell them there's been a complaint filed against them but they can help resolve it if they pay a membership fee, then the business will get an A+ rating and the OP may still never see a dime of his money back. IMO, of course.

Pete223 · 07-10-2009, 08:29 AM

Kudos to you Scott, true spirit of a Warrior right there folks!!!

Simmon, don't take his word for it... make sure that the company you were
dealing with truly went under and that the "owners" are not personally responsible!!

A lot of people say and even write that they are a LLC and are not personally
responsible when in fact it's not true... up here in Canada we have what's called
The Business Registry Office and they have a website where one can check who
owns the business and what type of business it is... I'm sure the States have
something similar!

Good Luck Simmon, I hope you can recover your funds!

Kindest Regards,
Pete

dimeco · 07-10-2009, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simmonsmike7

I thought the chargeback was only within 90 days...

Can I still do one?

Yep. Paypal its 90 days. Mastercard and Visa is 6 months, but I've heard of occasionally they'll do it even if its a bit past that. It might depend on where you live and on which card you used to pay for it. (I had a similar issue a few years ago - they did it at almost 7 months)

Definitely call your credit card co and ask.

Amber

talfighel · 07-10-2009, 09:57 AM

Looks to me like you got ripped of and scammed. I would stay away from these people who claim that for a fee, they can get your ranked HIGH in the search engines.

Sorry you lost your $1000 but I don't think that there is anything that you can do to get your money back. Unless you find who these people are and where they live.

Tal

kentaiwan98 · 07-10-2009, 10:11 AM

Shame you didn't read these forums six months ago! There's a lot of good and simple advice to help you get traffic to your site through. Much of it common sense.

It's difficult to know what to say: sometimes you have to take a chance with an online purchase to find out if it's good or bad. Most of the time, it's pretty difficult to do the research... except if you work with reputable people.

If the person is unknown, I'd certainly try to stagger such a big deal into two or even four clearly marked and benchmarked stages. Making the carrot dangle in front of the donkey can help to get better results!

Now, if only donkeys could type.

Karen Connell · 07-10-2009, 10:25 AM

Simmonsmike27,

It really stinks when you get ripped off!

The only way to find out if you can get your money back is contact your c card company and ask - I have always found them to be very helpful.

I once bought an online product for €57 and was charged each month for 6 months even though it was advertised as a simple one-off payment. It took a month or two to get it back but I did eventually.

Don't you think it's a really great gesture from Scott and Andy to get some of your stuff ranked - for free!

This restores my faith in human nature - there are some really good guys on this forum!!

Karen

derekwong28 · 07-10-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simmonsmike7

I thought the chargeback was only within 90 days...

Can I still do one?

The cut-off period is supposed to be 6 months but chargebacks have been known to occur much longer than that. If your bank decides to help you, there is basically nothing that the other side can do to stop a chargeback. However, I am not sure what the situation would be if there is no money in their account.

AmericanWoman888 · 07-10-2009, 11:02 AM

I am really sorry to hear that you got ripped off.

Have you reported this company to the attorney general. It may help. I know a lot of scammers are in the habit of closing down a company when they are about to get caught and then reopening the same scam under a different name.

It could be a whole lot bigger mess than meets the eye.

I hope you are successful in recovering your money.

Yes, do contact the credit card company - they can really work magic many times.

AW888

GarrieWilson · 07-10-2009, 12:25 PM

Quote:

He says that my contract was with "COMPANY NAME" and since that company has gone out of business he can't do anything about it...

Was the company a registered LLC or INC? If not , he IS the company.

Even if it was, the veil of protection can be easily breached if fraud was involved in anyway.

As the credit card, from what merchant providers have told me people have six months (depending on the card) to file a charge back from when the service was renedered. This persons service didn't end until the 6 months was up for him to get you ranked.

You could also file a small claims court case if you don't get the 1k back for damages/loss of income because he didnt get the #1 rank if it was guaranteed.

He wont show up for court but that means you will more than likely win by default and then can turn him over to collection agencies and even take him back to court for failure to pay. Then maybe get his salary/tax returns garnished. Its a long shot and time consuming but will make his life hell.

Garrie

crissanteiro · 07-10-2009, 12:50 PM

I recently got ripped off for $1,197. I never received the product I paid for. When I went to Paypal it had been over 45 days, and they told me that they could not do anything.

So I filed a complaint with the Internet Crime Center as well as the BBB. Am still waiting to hear.

good luck to you and me.

sbucciarel · 07-10-2009, 12:54 PM

Most likely you are out the $1,000 and will never see it again, unless you can still get a chargeback. That's what I would find out first.

R Hagel · 07-10-2009, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by derekwong28

If your bank decides to help you, there is basically nothing that the other side can do to stop a chargeback.

That's not entirely true. Merchants and payment processors can and do challenge chargebacks. It seems like most people don't challenge them, though, so they do tend to favor the consumer.

Cheers,
Becky

seasoned · 07-10-2009, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarrieWilson

Was the company a registered LLC or INC? If not , he IS the company.

Even if it was, the veil of protection can be easily breached if fraud was involved in anyway.

As the credit card, from what merchant providers have told me people have six months (depending on the card) to file a charge back from when the service was renedered. This persons service didn't end until the 6 months was up for him to get you ranked.

You could also file a small claims court case if you don't get the 1k back for damages/loss of income because he didnt get the #1 rank if it was guaranteed.

He wont show up for court but that means you will more than likely win by default and then can turn him over to collection agencies and even take him back to court for failure to pay. Then maybe get his salary/tax returns garnished. Its a long shot and time consuming but will make his life hell.

Garrie

I was going to say the same! ALSO, a company can NOT just say "WE QUIT". If they didn't do right, especially offering the guarantee, then they must pay you unless you got adequate notice(you didn't), and they shut down 100% or went bankrupt.

Steve

seasoned · 07-10-2009, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R Hagel

That's not entirely true. Merchants and payment processors can and do challenge chargebacks. It seems like most people don't challenge them, though, so they do tend to favor the consumer.

Cheers,
Becky

Actually, in this case, the "merchant" couldn't challenge!

Steve

waken · 07-10-2009, 01:17 PM

If you want to do a chargeback with your credit card company, be sure to get ready all proofs, written correspondence that states the terms, refund policy etc.

Lloyd Buchinski · 07-10-2009, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick1123

Is it too late to do a chargeback? Can you contact the better business bureau?
Do they have a physical location you can visit?
Do they list any phone numbers you can call?

I'd agree with all of the above and would like to add: Do you know where you can buy a gun? (I am not a lawyer and that might possibly not be legal, check first.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by dimeco

Yep. Paypal its 90 days. Mastercard and Visa is 6 months, but I've heard of occasionally they'll do it even if its a bit past that. It might depend on where you live and on which card you used to pay for it. (I had a similar issue a few years ago - they did it at almost 7 months)

This is really good to know. I had just assumed that cc charge backs would be possible for about 1 or 2 months. Thanks for the info.

Adrian Cooper · 07-10-2009, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simmonsmike7

I thought the chargeback was only within 90 days...

Can I still do one?

Charge backs are often discretionary.

You will feel better if you take positive action so do phone the credit card company.

Be very careful about what you say though - they do not have much time for intangible Internet transactions. Non-receipt of a product is a different matter, so make sure you get your story straight.

You could also check to see if the business is really not trading any more.

In general terms there are very, very few companies who understand SEO - they usually think it is about meta tags, keyword density and other on-page factors whereas we know most of it is very careful long-term back linking.

SEO is a 2 to 3 year commitment usually carried out in parallel with PPC and other traffic strategies such as articles.

JVManna · 07-10-2009, 02:01 PM

Personally, I don't think SEO services can guarantee results. But in exchange for your matter, I'll be happy to offer my assessment of your site and what you can do for on-page SEO so you can get benefits without employing questionable tactics.

Shame on that SEO firm.

I say begin the chargeback process, it can be lengthy, so do it now.

~Joe

R Hagel · 07-10-2009, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apc01

Be very careful about what you say though - they do not have much time for intangible Internet transactions. Non-receipt of a product is a different matter, so make sure you get your story straight.

Are you suggesting he misrepresent the transaction?

AndyBlackSEO · 07-10-2009, 02:16 PM

It sounds they may be pulling the wool over you're eyes. Funny how it's a six month guarantee and charge backs as standard is 6 months although that ain't set in stone by the sounds of it.

Listen, have they actually done any work for you. Over 6 months you should have a number of backlinks that either you haven't setup or are organic.

If you can verify this it will give you more ammunition with the credit card company etc. Because how can they have charged you for something that they haven't given you. It may be far more than not delivering results... They may not have done any work at all.

JaySabree · 07-10-2009, 02:18 PM

Damn that really does suck.

Try not to get to upset if you can't get your money back. I've lost a few dollars here and there. Know that the owners actions will come back to bite them in the ass. It's only a matter of time. What you should do is focus on making more money. Scott's offer is amazing. So, take him and any other warriors up on their offers and put it all behind you. I know you'll be more careful next time.

People like that always get whats coming to them!

Bill G · 07-10-2009, 02:27 PM

In my experience Discover gives you 180 days while Visa and MC only give 90 days for a chargeback.

Good luck!

Charles Montgomery · 07-10-2009, 03:54 PM

A few questions:
Do you have a contract?
Do you have company names and contact names?
Do you have a record of payment?
Are they located in the USA?

If you PM me, I might be able to help. I am a licensed private investigator, and I will see what I can dig up, if you do not know some of the answers to these questions.

If they are located in the USA. Take them to small claims court. Once you get a judgment, we can then garnish wages, rent, seize their property - whatever needs to be done. Once you start doing this, they usually pay, or arrange a payment schedule. That is just as good, because you get to collect interest on the judgment 7%-10%.

GuerrillaIM · 07-10-2009, 04:08 PM

This is a common scam in uk, I'm sure in other countries aswell. Company opens up and offers guaranteed rankings at low rates with a refund period of like 6 months. before the heat comes ontop of them they wind up the business. As they have no debtors its easy for them to close business. They then open another one up a few days later with a new website and start again.

I used to sell a SEO service on google but stopped after this racket came out as a few dirty rats were not only stealing our deals but giving industry a bad name. Due to the nature of SEO its very hard to stop this kind of racket.

I have seen similar racket in training also. Company opens up and takes bookings on all sorts of expensive courses £5,000+ and keep on putting back dates of courses, then closes company withut delivering any training.

It's a shame these scams go on. The guys who run them are usually clued up and pay mules to be the directors. You can avoid this scam by making sure business has been around for some years and getting recommendations.

la dominatrix · 07-10-2009, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simmonsmike7

I've been emailing with the owner and now he won't respond to my emails...

He says that my contract was with "COMPANY NAME" and since that company has gone out of business he can't do anything about it...

And no, it wasn't anyone from this forum. I'm not going to take the company name because this thread will get shut down.

I just want my money back, so upset right now...

legally that depends how he registered his company and it may meanthat oyu have no come back from the person only the business if he registered it correctly as a limited liablility company. However there is more than one way to get your money back. First of all speak to your credit card company and see what they can suggest, there will be some protection about buying online
La dominatrix

Metronicity · 07-10-2009, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simmonsmike7

I signed up with this company to do SEO rankings for me 6 months ago. They said the $1,000 was a fully refundable deposit if they couldn't get me ranked.

It's been 6 months and I am not ranked - so I emailed them to refund my $1,000 deposit. I got a reply basically saying they are out of business and cannot refund me.

I just got burned for $1,000 and have nothing to show for it.

I paid through credit card but it's been 6 months.

How do I get my money back, I'm really frustrated, that $1,000 means a lot to me... it's a sad day.

What should I do??

Post your URL and your anchor text and I'll link to you from my best site and drag you up. Maybe others will too.

DavidTheMavin · 07-10-2009, 04:18 PM

That really sucks, but at least it was only $1k. That's actually very little when it comes to high quality SEO. Your only option now is to take them (whoever owned the defunct company) to small claims court btw.

Damien Roche · 07-10-2009, 06:43 PM

My initial thought is don't EVER pay someone for 'guaranteed [high] rankings' in the serps. That immediately shouts "amateur here, willing to lie for your doh".

projek001 · 07-10-2009, 06:44 PM

Forget the money and start a new internet bussines. ANd then focus and you'll get more that $1000

Damien Roche · 07-10-2009, 06:44 PM

Also, how much is $1k worth to you? Is it worth the time investment required to get what you're owed? or would it actually be more productive to move on and count your losses?

TimCastleman · 07-10-2009, 06:45 PM

The business is closed and you want money from them? I think you would have better luck getting an autograph from Mr. Jackson now that he is dead.

Sorry it happened to you but trying get blood from a turnip is difficult.

Best of luck.

Tim

simmonsmike7 · 07-10-2009, 07:13 PM

*** UPDATE ***

Found the correct credit card details for the transaction and the phone # for chargeback - they open 8AM tomorrow - will begin the chargeback first thing tomorrow morning.

If the chargeback doesn't work out, I'll be PMing a few of you that have offered help in this issue

Thanks to all warriors for your support - gosh human nature is still mostly good - I love all of you and this forum...

derekwong28 · 07-10-2009, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R Hagel

That's not entirely true. Merchants and payment processors can and do challenge chargebacks. It seems like most people don't challenge them, though, so they do tend to favor the consumer.

Cheers,
Becky

You can certainly challenge the chargeback but you cannot block it if the cardholder's bank decides to go ahead anyway. I have certainly challenged lots of chargebacks, but in the end the cardholder's bank has total discretion whether to go ahead or not after looking at the information provided by the merchant. That is why I said it depsnds on whether you bank will support you or not. I would file for non-receipt of services if I were you.

There is no other party involved in this and I have had some extremely distressing and ridiculous chargebacks despite us providing ample evidence and where the customers kept the products. The chargeback system is completely skewed against merchant for Internet transactions especially since there is no signature involved. That is why when you buy high ticket items online, the merchant sometimes ask you to fax a signature with photocopies of your credit card (with some informatiion blocked out)

Almost every online merchant gets highly charged and annoyed whenever the subject of chargebacks is discussed as the system is so biased against them. AMEX had been reported to be by far the worse offended and many merchants do not take AMEX for this reason.

crissanteiro, if your purchase is made by CC through PayPal, you can mount a chargeback against PayPal and PayPal would be forced to go after the seller. However, PayPal may terminate you account afterwards.

Black Hat Cat · 07-11-2009, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarrieWilson

You could also file a small claims court case if you don't get the 1k back for damages/loss of income because he didnt get the #1 rank if it was guaranteed.

He wont show up for court but that means you will more than likely win by default and then can turn him over to collection agencies and even take him back to court for failure to pay. Then maybe get his salary/tax returns garnished. Its a long shot and time consuming but will make his life hell.

Garrie

Good plan....if they actually lived in the same town. If I were a gambling man, I'd bet they don't.

Quote:

If the chargeback doesn't work out, I'll be PMing a few of you that have offered help in this issue

Sadly, it has no shot in hell of working out. It's been 6 months, and the business is out of business. It's almost certain there's no money to chargeback. But good luck.

Monika Mundell · 07-11-2009, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simmonsmike7

*** UPDATE ***

Found the correct credit card details for the transaction and the phone # for chargeback - they open 8AM tomorrow - will begin the chargeback first thing tomorrow morning.

If the chargeback doesn't work out, I'll be PMing a few of you that have offered help in this issue

Thanks to all warriors for your support - gosh human nature is still mostly good - I love all of you and this forum...

I'm really sorry to hear you got burned. It sucks! Unfortunately there are good and bad people everywhere. I'm also happy to help you out for free. Heck, I even pay for a link submission service done for you if you can't get your money back.

I also do SEO for a client and have gotten him awesome results, including a PR 5 within 40 days through the work I do. I'm happy to help you out with links. Please pm me if you need help.

Good luck with the chargeback.
Monika

activetrader · 07-11-2009, 03:00 AM

Take the owner to small claims court

07-10-2009, 08:03 AM	#2
Webtigerz Banned Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 15 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Did you use someone from this forum?

07-10-2009, 08:03 AM	#3
Sam Smith HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: United Kingdom. Posts: 176 Thanks: 14 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Well, you say it's been 6 months. Has it actually been 6 full months, because I think that's the exact cut off period?

07-10-2009, 08:07 AM	#4
nick1123 Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: , , USA. Posts: 1,123 Thanks: 8 Thanked 204 Times in 66 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Is it too late to do a chargeback? Can you contact the better business bureau? Do they have a physical location you can visit? Do they list any phone numbers you can call?
	Getting Traffic Is Easy! 84 Traffic Videos Show You How How 2 Hours Of Work Makes Me $100 A Month How To Build Back Links Super Fast

07-10-2009, 08:07 AM	#5
Scott Ames Fight till you drop War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: West of Rockies Posts: 5,158 Thanks: 236 Thanked 472 Times in 239 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE That sucks. I'll do an SEO report on a few of your pages for free if you want to rank. Just give me the URL of the page and the keyword desired for that page. IE: http://www.warrenforren.com - forex , forex training, forex broker I create a different report for each keyword and I would be happy to do up to three keywords for one or two of your pages. This won't replace your $1,000 but perhaps it can help some.
	You don't have to be original, just successful - Drayton Bird

07-10-2009, 08:11 AM	#7
simmonsmike7 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 179 Thanks: 9 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE I've been emailing with the owner and now he won't respond to my emails... He says that my contract was with "COMPANY NAME" and since that company has gone out of business he can't do anything about it... And no, it wasn't anyone from this forum. I'm not going to take the company name because this thread will get shut down. I just want my money back, so upset right now...

07-10-2009, 08:01 AM	#1
simmonsmike7 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 179 Thanks: 9 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE I signed up with this company to do SEO rankings for me 6 months ago. They said the $1,000 was a fully refundable deposit if they couldn't get me ranked. It's been 6 months and I am not ranked - so I emailed them to refund my $1,000 deposit. I got a reply basically saying they are out of business and cannot refund me. I just got burned for $1,000 and have nothing to show for it. I paid through credit card but it's been 6 months. How do I get my money back, I'm really frustrated, that $1,000 means a lot to me... it's a sad day. What should I do??

07-10-2009, 08:13 AM	#9
derekwong28 Wombat King War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: , , . Posts: 1,358 Thanks: 40 Thanked 63 Times in 53 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE You should still try to do a chargeback. Even if they are out of business, their bank would probably have retained some money in their merchant account to deal with chargebacks.
	Do not get between a wombat and a chocolate biscuit; you will regret it dearly! WebTalkForums - the friendliest webmaster forum on the planet!

07-10-2009, 08:14 AM	#10
simmonsmike7 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 179 Thanks: 9 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE I thought the chargeback was only within 90 days... Can I still do one?

07-10-2009, 08:17 AM	#13
Thom McCarroll Business Consultant War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: warmth in Fla Posts: 154 Thanks: 37 Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Think you are toast my friend ... try the chargeback method but you may have to sue them in Small Claims court ... should be easy to find out who the owner of the business is ... email me if you need some tips for the Small Claims process (not legal advise) Good luck
	The Internet In No Longer Just A Marketing Option ... It's A Necessity.

07-10-2009, 08:22 AM	#14
dsmpublishing Friendly Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Portugal Posts: 1,611 Blog Entries: 128 Thanks: 96 Thanked 192 Times in 142 Posts Social Networking	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE I had a smiliar problem with a uk based company back in 2006 i paid £1275 through my credit card and a further £11,500 through my debit card. Again they made the same promises and didnt deliver once i started complaining they started ignoring me so i got a chargeback through my credit card in the end and it was 2yrs after the original payment was taken with hsbc. They refused to help me with the debit card amount so i took the company to the court and won so dont be scared contact your bank asap and start sorting it out. hope you get it sorted soon. sam X
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07-10-2009, 08:29 AM	#16
Pete223 HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 245 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 47 Thanked 30 Times in 25 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Kudos to you Scott, true spirit of a Warrior right there folks!!! Simmon, don't take his word for it... make sure that the company you were dealing with truly went under and that the "owners" are not personally responsible!! A lot of people say and even write that they are a LLC and are not personally responsible when in fact it's not true... up here in Canada we have what's called The Business Registry Office and they have a website where one can check who owns the business and what type of business it is... I'm sure the States have something similar! Good Luck Simmon, I hope you can recover your funds! Kindest Regards, Pete
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07-10-2009, 09:57 AM	#18
talfighel Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Toronto, Canada. Posts: 2,078 Thanks: 34 Thanked 89 Times in 63 Posts Social Networking	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Looks to me like you got ripped of and scammed. I would stay away from these people who claim that for a fee, they can get your ranked HIGH in the search engines. Sorry you lost your $1000 but I don't think that there is anything that you can do to get your money back. Unless you find who these people are and where they live. Tal
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07-10-2009, 10:11 AM	#19
kentaiwan98 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 133 Blog Entries: 6 Thanks: 4 Thanked 15 Times in 13 Posts Social Networking	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Shame you didn't read these forums six months ago! There's a lot of good and simple advice to help you get traffic to your site through. Much of it common sense. It's difficult to know what to say: sometimes you have to take a chance with an online purchase to find out if it's good or bad. Most of the time, it's pretty difficult to do the research... except if you work with reputable people. If the person is unknown, I'd certainly try to stagger such a big deal into two or even four clearly marked and benchmarked stages. Making the carrot dangle in front of the donkey can help to get better results! Now, if only donkeys could type.
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07-10-2009, 10:25 AM	#20
Karen Connell I CAN do this... War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ireland Posts: 488 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 100 Thanked 62 Times in 51 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Simmonsmike27, It really stinks when you get ripped off! The only way to find out if you can get your money back is contact your c card company and ask - I have always found them to be very helpful. I once bought an online product for €57 and was charged each month for 6 months even though it was advertised as a simple one-off payment. It took a month or two to get it back but I did eventually. Don't you think it's a really great gesture from Scott and Andy to get some of your stuff ranked - for free! This restores my faith in human nature - there are some really good guys on this forum!! Karen
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07-10-2009, 11:02 AM	#22
AmericanWoman888 Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 63 Thanks: 28 Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE I am really sorry to hear that you got ripped off. Have you reported this company to the attorney general. It may help. I know a lot of scammers are in the habit of closing down a company when they are about to get caught and then reopening the same scam under a different name. It could be a whole lot bigger mess than meets the eye. I hope you are successful in recovering your money. Yes, do contact the credit card company - they can really work magic many times. AW888

07-10-2009, 12:50 PM	#24
crissanteiro HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Miami, Florida, USA Posts: 136 Thanks: 14 Thanked 29 Times in 13 Posts Social Networking	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE I recently got ripped off for $1,197. I never received the product I paid for. When I went to Paypal it had been over 45 days, and they told me that they could not do anything. So I filed a complaint with the Internet Crime Center as well as the BBB. Am still waiting to hear. good luck to you and me.
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07-10-2009, 12:54 PM	#25
sbucciarel Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: , , USA. Posts: 2,203 Thanks: 148 Thanked 474 Times in 291 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Most likely you are out the $1,000 and will never see it again, unless you can still get a chargeback. That's what I would find out first.
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07-10-2009, 01:17 PM	#29
waken Advanced Warrior Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 943 Thanks: 34 Thanked 31 Times in 27 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE If you want to do a chargeback with your credit card company, be sure to get ready all proofs, written correspondence that states the terms, refund policy etc.
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07-10-2009, 02:01 PM	#32
JVManna Active Warrior Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 53 Thanks: 7 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Personally, I don't think SEO services can guarantee results. But in exchange for your matter, I'll be happy to offer my assessment of your site and what you can do for on-page SEO so you can get benefits without employing questionable tactics. Shame on that SEO firm. I say begin the chargeback process, it can be lengthy, so do it now. ~Joe
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07-10-2009, 02:16 PM	#34
AndyBlackSEO www.index-checker.com War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: , , United Kingdom. Posts: 1,051 Thanks: 20 Thanked 91 Times in 78 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE It sounds they may be pulling the wool over you're eyes. Funny how it's a six month guarantee and charge backs as standard is 6 months although that ain't set in stone by the sounds of it. Listen, have they actually done any work for you. Over 6 months you should have a number of backlinks that either you haven't setup or are organic. If you can verify this it will give you more ammunition with the credit card company etc. Because how can they have charged you for something that they haven't given you. It may be far more than not delivering results... They may not have done any work at all.
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07-10-2009, 02:18 PM	#35
JaySabree Active Warrior Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: GTA, Canada Posts: 268 Thanks: 24 Thanked 151 Times in 34 Posts Social Networking	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Damn that really does suck. Try not to get to upset if you can't get your money back. I've lost a few dollars here and there. Know that the owners actions will come back to bite them in the ass. It's only a matter of time. What you should do is focus on making more money. Scott's offer is amazing. So, take him and any other warriors up on their offers and put it all behind you. I know you'll be more careful next time. People like that always get whats coming to them!
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07-10-2009, 02:27 PM	#36
Bill G Mr. Bill Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The U.S. of Bailouts Posts: 53 Thanks: 14 Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE In my experience Discover gives you 180 days while Visa and MC only give 90 days for a chargeback. Good luck!
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07-10-2009, 03:54 PM	#37
Charles Montgomery Break War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Alabama Posts: 1,059 Thanks: 133 Thanked 159 Times in 110 Posts Contact Info	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE A few questions: Do you have a contract? Do you have company names and contact names? Do you have a record of payment? Are they located in the USA? If you PM me, I might be able to help. I am a licensed private investigator, and I will see what I can dig up, if you do not know some of the answers to these questions. If they are located in the USA. Take them to small claims court. Once you get a judgment, we can then garnish wages, rent, seize their property - whatever needs to be done. Once you start doing this, they usually pay, or arrange a payment schedule. That is just as good, because you get to collect interest on the judgment 7%-10%.
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07-10-2009, 04:08 PM	#38
GuerrillaIM One Man Army War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,018 Thanks: 32 Thanked 142 Times in 81 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE This is a common scam in uk, I'm sure in other countries aswell. Company opens up and offers guaranteed rankings at low rates with a refund period of like 6 months. before the heat comes ontop of them they wind up the business. As they have no debtors its easy for them to close business. They then open another one up a few days later with a new website and start again. I used to sell a SEO service on google but stopped after this racket came out as a few dirty rats were not only stealing our deals but giving industry a bad name. Due to the nature of SEO its very hard to stop this kind of racket. I have seen similar racket in training also. Company opens up and takes bookings on all sorts of expensive courses £5,000+ and keep on putting back dates of courses, then closes company withut delivering any training. It's a shame these scams go on. The guys who run them are usually clued up and pay mules to be the directors. You can avoid this scam by making sure business has been around for some years and getting recommendations.

07-10-2009, 04:18 PM	#41
DavidTheMavin Reality on TILT ;-) Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 360 Thanks: 21 Thanked 19 Times in 19 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE That really sucks, but at least it was only $1k. That's actually very little when it comes to high quality SEO. Your only option now is to take them (whoever owned the defunct company) to small claims court btw.
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07-10-2009, 06:43 PM	#42
Damien Roche Web Developer War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: In Your Computer Posts: 621 Thanks: 49 Thanked 33 Times in 26 Posts Contact Info	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE My initial thought is don't EVER pay someone for 'guaranteed [high] rankings' in the serps. That immediately shouts "amateur here, willing to lie for your doh".
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07-10-2009, 06:44 PM	#43
projek001 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 105 Thanks: 3 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Forget the money and start a new internet bussines. ANd then focus and you'll get more that $1000

07-10-2009, 06:45 PM	#45
TimCastleman Gunslinger War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1,076 Blog Entries: 34 Thanks: 37 Thanked 244 Times in 150 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE The business is closed and you want money from them? I think you would have better luck getting an autograph from Mr. Jackson now that he is dead. Sorry it happened to you but trying get blood from a turnip is difficult. Best of luck. Tim
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07-10-2009, 07:13 PM	#46
simmonsmike7 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 179 Thanks: 9 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE * UPDATE * Found the correct credit card details for the transaction and the phone # for chargeback - they open 8AM tomorrow - will begin the chargeback first thing tomorrow morning. If the chargeback doesn't work out, I'll be PMing a few of you that have offered help in this issue Thanks to all warriors for your support - gosh human nature is still mostly good - I love all of you and this forum...

07-11-2009, 03:00 AM	#50
activetrader HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 441 Thanks: 19 Thanked 66 Times in 43 Posts	Re: BURNED For $1,000 - Warriors, I Need Your Advice PLEASE Take the owner to small claims court
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