Z57

Z57 Z57 Internet Solutions, Z57 Inc Website SCAM false advertising and false promises! Internet

3rd of Jan, 2011 by User447440

I received a phone call from Z57 and agreed to hear a further sales pitch after they "guaranteed" that with their product I would have the best year I've had in Real Estate sales. To sum up the conversation they gave me a money back guarantee that if I did not receive 60 unique visitors within the first two FULL months that my website was up and running, they would refund all of my money.

I did not receive 60 unique visitors within the first 2 months. I called to get my refund and they explained to me that their policy had changed and it was two full months after I signed upand also included the daysof the month before the first two. So essentially I signed up July 6th (estimate) and so my 60 unique visitor count started then and went to September 30. This is not how it was explainedtome when I agreed to the terms. A manager said that she would allow my "2 full months" to start over again since I was explained the terms incorrectly by their employee.

My new contract started October 6th and ran through December 31, 2010.InOctober I received 15 unique visitors - 6 of them were from October 1-October 5 and they did not count. So for October 6-31 I had 9 unique visitors. Then November I had a total of 9 unique visitors. Mysteriously in December Ihad 38 visitors!Since I started the site, my visitor count had decreased each month, but somehow during the last month of my contract my visitor count managed to quadruple! (Without any changes being made to my site also). But either way I wasn't too worried because my 9 from October, 9 from November and 38 from December only totaled 56 so I was due a refund. I called on 1/3/11 and spoke with a manager again. I provided him the email proof from the last manager that I had spoken with and he agreed that I was due a refund. He said that the billing department would have to review everything and it would take a couple of days for my refund to be processed. The next morning (today) I check my email and I find an email from the manager that I spoke with yesterday, Kevin. He writes: "

I am providing a screen which shows you actually got 13 visitors in the month of October 6th on which would make 62 visits in the dates reset by Jelena below therefor you would

not be entitled to a refund. Thank you

Kevin

Z57"

So somehow I now have 13 visitors in October!? I didn't print out a screen shot from yesterday to prove my stats so now unfortunately I have no way of proving the fraudulent activity but I hope that this post will help someone else before they get suckered in to this scam!

I was due back $536. They have $536 of my money that they refuse to give back - even though they gave me a guarantee that they couldn't live up to.

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Comments

4969 days ago by Dirons

There are many issues to consider before you purchase web services. We all do the research for your home buyers, directing them to the right location, style of home and a whole range of personal must-have features.
As a potential customer you need to do your research regarding a website design/development company. I have received my share of unsolicited phone calls from the Z57 sales side in San Diego, CA. I have taken the time to keep the individual on the phone to find out as much about the company as possible. The art of listening is an important skill to have when working with such an aggressive company. NEVER agree to any business partnership right away. You need to research on your own and see if this is the product/service that will meet your needs. After my second call from the Z57 sales rep (in respect to their privacy I will not name names) I went online to research Z57’s reputation and their website and product.
Coming to realtown, I saw the negative responses from so many of you who have had poor customer relations experiences, poor billing experiences, poor traffic when more was promised, complaints regarding numerous aggressive unsolicited sales calls that is highly disruptive to your business and difficulty leaving the Z57’s services. I actually recently connected with a former Z57 employee who also will remain nameless to protect their privacy. I learned a great deal about the internal organization, information about the owner and the company in general.
From my discussions I would highly suggest that you do NOT use Z57. The sales force is taught to close the sale in a two call approach based on the owner Steve Weber's former business tele-sales success. Z57’s main business effort is on sales conversion and the sales team has to work hard to make their commissions. The turn-over is huge and the sales environment is more-or-less a revolving door. Once you sign up for service, they will make it as difficult as possible for you to leave. This appears to be company policy. Apparently the Z57 customer base continues to drop because Z57 is unable to meet their 60-60 promise therefore the pressure is placed on the sales team to be even more aggressive with you on the phone. They will scramble a few days before the 60 days is complete to improve the search engine optimization so your website will have better exposure and traffic in online search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing. Nothing illegal; however it seems that they are far less concerned about supporting their customers during the membership portion then they are about bringing on new customers.
I also have seen posts from agents complaining about the quality of their website produced from Z57. If you are considering using a web development company to create your site, look at the website of the company that is selling you your site. Visit www.z57.com and see if this is the quality you expect or want to represent your business. Frankly the site looks as though it has not been updated in a long time and does not look very polished or professional.
To be fair to Z57, there are many other real estate website and online marketing companies that have poor reputations; however Z57 seems to be the worst of the lot. Also be careful when you evaluate awards given to the company. They might be #1 on the list of internet developers, but ask yourself what this really means. You will see that Z57 was recognized recently as the “No. 1 web developer and design firm 10 consecutive years; however do your research! You will see that this award is “based on the number of local employees as of August 1, 2010” They have a large tele-sales team (I believe around 100 individuals) and also have their design team. This award does not represent quality of service or product. When having the conversation with the sales person on the other side of the phone, ask a few questions.” How long have you been with the company? How many people work in the development and design team? etc.” Ask for current customer success stories. The testimonials on their website seem quite outdated. If you are local in southern CA, ask to make a visit. Do your homework. You would not show a client looking for a rural country home a condo in the city.
I will be launching a site that evaluates all internet real estate providers and it will allow interaction by the vendors, past and present employees, former and current customers and professionals. It will truly allow for an open dialogue. I noticed that Z57 pulled their blog site down. Another bad sign when a company does not have a true social media presence. What are they afraid of? Technology is confusing to many of us in the field and we need all the ammunition possible to be able to make an educated decision with who we partner with in the technology space.
I hope this has been helpful. Please let me know what additional features you might like the site to have or add any comments.

Thanks,