Comments on: LeapFish, a Slum Dog Millionaire?

By: Allan

Allan — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:50:28 +0000

Gladys,

I will be right up front with you, I do not believe your followup response stating that Leapfish is not a scam.

Based on your original comment wherein you state, “I was later called by a Customer Service “manager” that instead of helping out even used illegal intimidation tactics and mention that I could be taken to court.” Lets be honest, NO ethical company or representative thereof would even consider making such statements when following up a with customer complaint.

As you further stated, “What seems to be surprising is that I found tons of complaints like mine on the web and these people are still trying to make business the same way.

I don’t know if leapfish will ever succeed in the dot com world, but definitely is not a good company to invest if they treat their clients this way.”

Further, and more importantly based my own personal research I suspect you are not telling us the whole truth in your latest response, but that is just my opinion. However, regardless of what I personally think I believe in ensuring all comments for or against my research and commentary on any given topic are posted.

Either way if your dilemma has been honestly resolved in a satisfactory manner, as you see it, then that is what really counts and you should consider yourself lucky.

By: Gladys

Gladys — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:00:40 +0000

I spoke to a representative who assisted me and completely resolved my original issue. The company is absolutely NOT a scam as they stayed true to their word regarding their dealing with my account.

By: Gladys

Gladys — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:42:18 +0000

Thank you for the very informative lecture, I agree with your comments and remarks about Ben Behrouzi and his “leapfishy” site.

They also tried to sell me keywords for my business and I asked for the terms of service and the contract so i can read them first, then they asked for my credit card to “keep them on hold” and said they’ll send the information by mail so I could read it and proceed or not with the purchase.

What i found on my mail was a receipt and a charge confirmation, I immediately call back and told them there has been a mistake, I was later called by a Customer Service “manager” that instead of helping out even used illegal intimidation tactics and mention that I could be taken to court.

Needless to say I am now filing my complaints to the BBB, Attorney General, FTC and of course my credit card company, since this was a charge that I didn’t authorize.

What seems to be surprising is that I found tons of complaints like mine on the web and these people are still trying to make business the same way.

I don’t know if leapfish will ever succeed in the dot com world, but definitely is not a good company to invest if they treat their clients this way.

Kudos to you for writing such an objective piece.

By: Denni Barrett

Denni Barrett — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:26:31 +0000

Well written and balanced article. I admire the perserverence of Ben Behrouzi and extended family but have concerns about the ownership and equity of keywords as a business model. today, I had a rough day with Leapfish.com. A salesperson named Derek spent time trying to convince me that keywords beneficial to my business were available but would be gone in the next 24 to 48 hours. Caught up in the hype and urgency I almost paid $1,750 for the 2nd placement position (3rd place was sold out but not showing up on their search as a sponsored result). They were even willing to throw in a second keyword 3rd position for free. I tenatively agreed to the deal subject to checking with my wife and owner of our business. She is Japanese and did not want to say an immediate yes and wanted to do research on the business (how we found this website). When I called Derek back with a counter proposal – we’ll buy if the keywords are still for sale and the deal is still the same on May 5th (about 1 week from today) – he kept trying to get money from us to secure the words. When he realized the answer was no, he said he would sell the keywords to someone else and don’t bother to call him back. I understand his frustration in trying to put the deal together – but at the same time it must be a bitch to work in a job where you have to convince your customers to buy like it was the last day before the end of the world. His parting comments however, have prejudiced us against leapfish.com – it feels too much like a boiler room sales strategy.

By the way, any individuals out there that really want to help our small balloon ride business climb the organic search engine charts – we are interested in talking with you.

Denni Barrett, Magical Adventure Balloon Rides, http://www.hotairfun.com, denni@hotairfun.com

By: Vlad

Vlad — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:47:32 +0000

Good work Allan.

I am a bit surprised that they have not come up with a rebuttal. Maybe their attorney is too busy with other things.

Your last paragraph sums it all up for me and how I feel about ePerks, LeapFish and iHype. All good ideas with and aim for making huge and cash in no matter what the cost.

Their management is completely clueless about the dynamics of the social media. People can see through your BS rather quickly today.

Here is an example. The Marketing director of LeapFish dodging the question from David Berlind (pay attention to round 3 minutes and 13 seconds into the footage. David asks what makes LeapFish a “Web 20″ company, and gets no answer- look at for yourself.):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCk2szkfUNs

I wonder what other Web 20 company has 80+ sales people who do nothing else besides cold calling.

I also find it ironic that LeapFish has hired a New Jersey based PR firm, the state where I live. I would love to meet with them, but I am sure they will not be opened to my suggestions.

Again, outstanding work Allan and thank you for linking to my sites.

By: Lord Matt

Lord Matt — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:23:13 +0000

A well written and well rounded round up. Well done on the getting complete with outstanding projects (and thanks for the link too). You are clearly a talented researcher.