| WORLD WIDE MEDIA GROUP |
| SCAM, FRAUD AND UNAUTHORIZED USE OF CREDIT CARD |
| 27th of Aug, 2011 by smlenth |
I USED A "TRIAL" OFFER TO UTILIZE THIS REAL ESTATE MARKETING WEBSITE MASTER TO CREATE A NEW REAL ESTATE WEBSITE AND TO PAY FOR TOP PLACEMENT ON GOOGLE SEARCH FOR AREAS IN NORTHERN CA.
SEE RESPONSES TO MY REQUEST TO CANCEL. I ALSO HAVE MADE NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO CANCEL OVER THE PHONE AND GET PASSES ON TO SEVERAL MANAGERS WHO REFUSE TO CANCEL MY ACCOUNT. RHE EMAIL RECEIVED BELOW IS WHAT I RECEIVE AS A RESPONSE AFTER EACH ATTEMPT TO CANCEL.
THIS WILL BECOME A SEGMENT ON 60 MINUTES AND AIRED ON NATIONAL TV IF NOT RESOLVED.
LinkTech Do Not Reply
show details Aug 15 (11 days ago)
*** ATTENTION: PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. It has been automatically generated from our computer emailing system. If you require additional assistance please call our Client Service Department Monday through Friday, 9am to 4pm Pacific Standard Time. ***
Dear Valued Client,
This email is to confirm recent activity in your account. If you have any questions, please call the Client Service Department for additional assistance. This activity includes the following:
This email is to remind you that as of 8/22/2011, your account will resume billing for the full amount as stated in your original receipt. You will then be billed automatically on the 22nd of each month thereafter. We look forward to continuing to provide you with the exceptional service you have come to expect from us. If you have any questions, call our Client Service Department using the contact information listed below. When prompted through our automated phone system, select option 1.
Thank you again for choosing WMG as your online marketing provider.
Worldwide Media Group
Phone: 1-800-730-8801
Fax: 310-601-4240
Mon-Fri 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM PST
www.wwmediaonline.com |
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The company is a SCAM...It was once LinkTech Solutions, LinkTech International, and now LinkTech Worldwide. They are a SEP internet company who prey on Real Estate Agents and Realtors nationwide. They also have several DBA's Worldwide Media Group and Premier Global Media are the two current ones. The other DBA's associated with this SCAM are GMR (Global Media can't remember the R), IMX (Interglobal Media Experts) and IGM (Interglobal Media). If they call you immediately hang up.
They claim to be licensed contractors for Google, but they are not. They retrieve your information from an outside leads source (not even associated with Google) and convince you Google has researched you specifically in your area. If you call Google, they will inform you they are not a licensee or partner with this company (or any of its associated DBAs). LinkTech Worldwide just pays for ad space. It is not a guaranteed first page/top position placement either.
They charge you a set up fee for $14.95, first month free with a monthly charge of $79(thereafter). The pricing has changed from DBA to DBA(varying from $25 to $249 a month). You are paying for a phrase, that if not typed in exactly verbatim word for word as it was set up potential clients/contacts will NEVER find you.
If you attempt to call in, the CS department has been trained to place you on hold for lengths at a time, send you to a dead line, or convince you in keeping the service (by offering credits, holds, or fictious click reports to show you the product is working). You may even experience repeated charges once you have asked to be canceled.
The owners thrive off of you not paying attention to your finances and forgetting that you have signed up for a service that will never give you the results you were promised. If you have been scammed into believing this is a legitimate company cancel the credit card that they have ASAP.
The companies are based out of Beverly Hills, CA and Beaverton, OR...RUN RUN RUN and save yourself the headache and grief. |
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| It's wnodreful to have you on our side, haha! |
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| Same thing happened to me EXACTLY! DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!!! |
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I made the mistake of allowing Worldwide Media Group to convince me that I would get more business leads with a San Diego Real Estate Broker search on Google and agreed to a trial offer for $14.95 for 30 free days on Google.. I have spoke to 3 account representative asking them to cancel my account that I do not want the service for $80 per month and they will not cancel me. They say they will give me another 28 days free to show the service works and that I am not giving the service a chance to work. They insist I can cancel at anytime and that I am not bound by any contract, that its a month to month service, but that is not the case when I call to cancel. My credit card company cannot block any charges in the future without canceling my current account as a security preach and state I would have to dispute any charges they charge on my card in the future. My IT computer tech told me they are not providing anything I could not get from Google Directly for less. They do not even track the leads that are gotten from google which is customery with legitimate companies providing lead sources. I have 27 days before I can call them back and argue that I do not want their service. If I forget to call I will be charged $80.
It's 11/4/2011 and if I don't call at the last day of the month I will be charged. This is criminal, that a company will not cancel you when requested for a monthly service. |
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| Today is 11/12/2011. I got hit by this company as well. I received a call from (707) 921-1001 they said their name was World Wide Media Group and I was told I would pay $14.99 for the 1st month then it would be $79.00 every additional month, they guaranteed me that I would be on the 1st page of google for anyone that typed in "homes for sale in Chicago". It sounded great so I signed up but while still on my android phone I googled the reviews for their company and whoa did I get scared. The agent on the phone said she was going to transfer me to the verification dept. while I was holding I kept looking at the horrible reviews. I quickly hung up and called my bank. I cancelled my debit card immediately. So they will not be able to debit my card. I checked my bank account but it was too late they had already took out the $14.99. I'd rather have spent $15 then $80 on a recurring charge. Good luck to all out there. BEWARE. |
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| Today is 11/12/2011. I got hit by this company as well. I received a call from (707) 921-1001 they said their name was World Wide Media Group and I was told I would pay $14.99 for the 1st month then it would be $79.00 every additional month, they guaranteed me that I would be on the 1st page of google for anyone that typed in "homes for sale in Chicago". It sounded great so I signed up but while still on my android phone I googled the reviews for their company and whoa did I get scared. The agent on the phone said she was going to transfer me to the verification dept. while I was holding I kept looking at the horrible reviews. I quickly hung up and called my bank. I cancelled my debit card immediately. So they will not be able to debit my card. I checked my bank account but it was too late they had already took out the $14.99. I'd rather have spent $15 then $80 on a recurring charge. Good luck to all out there. BEWARE. |
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| Same exact thing happened to me with this company.. IT s a joke and they will not let you cancel your.. I got banged out for $158 from them. Whatever you do, dont give them your CC and do not work with them!!! |
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They just called me from (661)735-4265 phone number with the same offer - $14.99 for first month and $80 for following months. When I asked what is the difference between their services and Google AdWords, he didnt know what to answer. When I asked to give me his name and phone number for me to call him back, when I make my mind, if I want to work with them, he hang up.
Beware! |
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| Just got a call from above number, same deal 1st months free and $79 thereafter, high pressuere sales person, would not take no for no. Asked her to email me what she told me on the phone, so I could check things out. She refused to do that. I get sales calls all the time, emails as well, but this lady was so probably the most aggressive one that I have encountered in quite some time. |
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| Me too! I'm on my 4th attempt to cancel! SCAM!!! |
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| I have tried to cancel my website as well. I have called at least 3 times to do so. I have been passed on from one person to another, placed on hold forever, until the last transfer hang up on me claiming too much activity please call back later. I have called at different times of day with the same result. I am calling my credit card to cancel paiement to WWMG and try to reverse some of the charges. |
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I just got a call from World Wide Media Group using the telephone number 512-686-5408. The lady gave me the same pitch as described in the above comments but I was googling their company while she was talking and saw this site and all of the problems with this company.
First of all, thanks to all of you that took the time to post comments. That helped me greatly as i did not step into their trap.
Second, be aware that they have a Texas number now and flatly deny being the same company as the one complained about on this site although their web address is the one mentioned here. |
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| Thank you for the post. You guys just saved me from mistake! |
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I am having the same experience. I actually agreed to their $14.99 free trial...and then did a little research and saw all the complaints. I immediately called to cancel...I did not want to pay $79.99 each for 3 zip codes! I called and spoke with a Steve...and he assured me it was cancelled, and I would not be charged anything additional.
I just checked my bank balance today...and sure enough...they charged $267 to my account!! I immediately called my bank, and was told I cannot dispute the charge because it is still pending. I had to cancel my debit card, so they cannot charge it again next month.
Then I called the company. I spent over 20 minutes on the phone. It seems that I DID call in to cancel. They have a record of that. HOWEVER, the next day, someone called me and discussed a website...and I did talk to them about my frustration with the website I currently had. I was busy at the time, and told him he would have to call me back another time. I did not even realize the two companies were related. When he called me the next time I told him I was with a client--and could not talk.
I never gave it another thought.
TODAY...I called to complain about the charge on my account that was charged after I cancelled...and was informed that the person I spoke to about a website was also from LINKTECH--an affiliate of Worldwide Media Group...and therefore, they had NOT cancelled my account. There is no further record of me speaking with anyone again...but they were not returning the charge of $267.00. I had a conversation with someone I didn't even KNOW was related to the company I had SPECIFICALLY CALLED AND CANCELLED. RIP OFF COMPANY...DO NOT GET INVOLVED!! The agent on the phone said she was 'sorry I felt that I was tricked and wronged...but they did nothing illegal, therefore they would not return the money to my account'. I am off to file a BBB complaint...and a complaint with my bank for unauthorized charge. STAY FAR AWAY! |
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Normally I am quite sceptical but not this time - I was distracted and fell for the free month - less than $15 set up fee for real estate front page hits! I agreed to 3 areas, then immediately called back to cancel - I mean immediately! Of course, the first call was exactly as described above and so was the second call. The second guy was quite the young argumentative, let me tell you, kind of person. I ended up saying, I do not wish to continue this conversation, I am not interested in hearing anything else you have to say - cancel NOW and hung up the phone. I did receive my cancellation email but he told me the set up charges are non-refundable. I will take that up with my credit card company. I already called to dispute the charge but, since it's been less than an hour, the charge is in pending status. They have my comments in notes and I'll call back again in 3 to 5 days.
My bad for allowing myself to fall for this. I know better. |
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| I was told they had a special for $20 per month so I signed up to give them a try, then they said "We will set up a website for you for total of $59", again I said no problem. 25 days passed, I did not get any LEADS so I called to cancel and the guy would not stop with his sales pitch of asking me to stay for an additional 10 days at no cost. On the 9th day I called to cancel and was on hold for 20 minutes, called again and was on hold for another 15, so I decided to call Saturday but they were closed and I also got charged $270 the next day. Yes, they tell you if you decide to continue services they will charge you but good luck getting a hold of them and when you do you get some jerk that will not stop at anything to keep you so you miss your deadline. Karma is a bitch. |
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Best ways to cancel: (WRITTEN BY FORMER EMPLOYEE)
1. Ask for billing department, act happy, and say "the card you have on-file was stolen and i had to cancel it, please remove it from my account immediately" (This will remove your card from their system) They will ask you for a new card, tell them you will call them back when you have that information (new card in the mail), but for now, you need the other card REMOVED from your account because the card is "no longer valid and compromised". The billing department should be able to CONFIRM your card is NOT on file anymore. This removes their ability to bill your card. DO NOT GIVE THEM ANOTHER CARD. Remember: it was lost/stolen, and is now being cancelled, and you haven't gotten your new one yet, but tell the billing person that you plan on calling back once you get it in the mail.
2. After speaking with billing department and confirming the card was removed, pretend like you want to update your website, and request to speak with the WEBOPS department. The billing department will transfer you there.
3. Once WEBOPS picks up the line, request to CANCEL. They will be somewhat confused, and will immediately transfer you to "Account Management" (to talk you out of cancellation). The beautiful thing is, by now, the account manager is looking at an account that is ACTIVE but with NO valid credit card on file (they cannot bill your card automatically anymore, and the Account Manager knows that). Once the account manager is on the line, confirm that the account has NO ACTIVE CARD ON FILE. If for some reason it DOES still show the card on the account, request that the account manager removes it (stolen/lost).
4. Once confirmed that NO CARD IS ON FILE, Repeat "Cancel My Account" (DO NOT TAKE FREE ADVERTISING OR CREDITS AT ALL - AGREE TO NOTHING!) Do NOT EXPLAIN, DO NOT GIVE REASON, DO NOT GET INTO A CONVERSATION. Just repeat "CANCEL".
5. Once agreed to cancel, Repeat "give me confirmation # that account is cancelled".
6. The Alpha-Numeric confirmation code references the phone call, so make sure you get that.
7. Confirm that they will send you an email STATING account is cancelled and no further activity on account.
8. Call back the following day, and pretend like you are an active account (test them to see if they actually cancelled it). If not, then repeat steps 1-8.
* the beauty here is that no matter what the account manager does or does not do, there is NO CARD ON FILE, so you cant be billed. If accounts manager did their job, your account should be cancelled anyway, However, if they didn't, the billing department will call you when your next bill is due (since no credit card is on file), and they will request payment or a new card. You can say no, and tell them you already cancelled.
The fact is, this scam operation my try calling you for 3-4 months to try to convince you to pay or add a credit card to the account for automatic billing (even after going through these steps), all you have to say is NO. They will try... But you WONT get charged automatically anymore, and after a few months, they erase the "overdue balance" and close the account anyway. So don't EVER let them scare you by saying there is an overdue balance. Just tell them it is not a valid balance, and you will never pay it, and hang up. Remember, if they DONT have your card on-file anymore, then the worst they can do is call you and request payment, in which case, you tell them to F-OFF.
Stick to this roadmap, and you should be able to prevent billing from occurring for a few months, which will result in account cancellation anyway. |
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I used a "trial" offer to utilize this real estate marketing website master to create a new real estate website and to pay for top placement on Google search for areas in Southern California.
There was no response to my real estate website. i made several attempts to cancel over the phone and get passes on to several managers who refuse to cancel my account.
It is total a scam please beware. |
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