Any one heard of www.buyersguide.co.uk??

[tollyboy]

Anyone heard of the above? I got a phone call from a woman last week about advertising with tehm. Got another call today.

She claimed [/url]www.buyersguide.co.uk allowed local authorities, hospitals and schools to see my details on their website. Oh, and she wanted £300+VAT for the service.

Originally, I thought this was a govt backed initiative. However, looking at the site, it looks like a pure advertising web site. I took the trouble to contact 4 or five advertisers. All said they got NOTHING in the way of extra business from them. I decided NOT to go ahead.

I think I did the right thing.

What do others think??

[Rob Holmes]

We tried them once and got nothing.

The gov't thing comes in as they told me the guide goes out to all the government buyers across the region.

Rob

[SillyJokes]

I think you did the right thing.

Asking existing clients is the key. People don't generally seem to mind letting you know how a scheme performs if you are not a competitor. An they are always happy to complain if it is warranted.

£300 is a lot of money. I would imagine a lot of local authority staff would just use yellow pages or google, same as me.

How many sales would you need to make that money back?

The site has a google pr 4 and 8 backward links.

Are you in Kellysearch - they don't charge.

[mybiz]

Steer well clear. Full of unkept promises.

The worst bit, a year on they tried to tell me they were invoicing me again and that I was contractually tied to this.

We got nothing for the year we were in either.

They exist on the strength of boiler room style sales tactics and then a contract. I got this checked out and it wouldn't stand in a court in the land.

[sm1]

This is a really old thread just so you know :)

[boho]

Never heard of them and I've worked as a Purchasing Manager in the public sector for over 10 years, I have only ever used OGC and TendersDirect, or a direct search online for the type of product I was looking for or yellowpages/kelly. I can't imagine that it would be a worthwhile investment myself.

[happycamper]

Not that my opinion will mean much on this type of Thread but here goes.
I have been with the above website for two years and yes the first year i didnt get much of what they called "leads" but for £300 i thought at least i have my company out there.
The second year i was reapproached by my "account manager" and she pointed me in the direction of their "press release process".
After many phone calls and meetings with my M.D i decided to go ahead,this time we paid £1000 and i was informed that this included the renewal of our listing.
So.......was it good??? .........i can say without a shadow of a doubt the best piece of marketing money i have spent either in this job or my three previous ones.
I got a report one week after they finally released it to N.H.S buyers and with in 5 weeks my sales team had 7meetings with some high powered facility managers in some nice london hospitals and as of this date we have made a clear profit of over £11000.
This is only my opinion but if they do contact you and you want to make money from the public sector(and who doesnt want money off our own government)ask about nothing else but the press release.
Hope this helps

[happycamper]

With regards to you Mybiz...i think that they could only renew anything you had with them if it was in their terms and conditions?.
I know most advertising companies have a cooling off period or renew date,if it was there and you missed it mate thats just bad business on your behalf surely?.
I am advertising with 5 internet companies and i could tell you my renewal dates on everyone of them any time during the year.
Oh one final thing my company works in the health industry and i meet facility managers on a weekly basis and all search engines including google,yahoo and the beloved yell are banned in government buildings due to misuse that bit is just for you Boho.

[boho]

Oh one final thing my company works in the health industry and i meet facility managers on a weekly basis and all search engines including google,yahoo and the beloved yell are banned in government buildings due to misuse that bit is just for you Boho.

Never been banned anywhere I have worked, which includes the Government Office, Department of Health, Local Primary Care Trusts and a Health Watchdog, in fact it would be impossible to access a lot of stuff we used without the use of Google or search engines (?!) and certainly Yahoo, Yell and Kelly were used. Primarily I always used OGC as the first port of call as most public sector items have been pre tendered by them and if you are purchasing at any significant value EU Procurement legislation comes into play which means you must competitively tender and offer it out to the European Marketplace.

I'm glad you had success with the buyersguide, but I can honestly say I've never used it in over 10+ years of working in purchasing in the public sector, and I carried out a lot of contracts and tenders in that time achieving significant savings and competitive prices for the jobs.

[happycamper]

I find the OGC helpful but the down side is that i never get to meet the person that i want to sell my company to?.
I tend to look for my tenders at ted.europa.eu but i find the whole tender process time consuming which is why i try to look for other avenues within the public sector.
As i have said i am never going to be a buyersguide lover as i wont with any type of advertising as we all know its a gamble i am just saying that their press release worked for my company.
Thanks for your coments though Boho very very helpful.

[boho]

ted.europa.eu is the OJEU supplement - (Official Journal of the European Union for anyone not in the know reading this), Tenders Direct is what quite a few contractors seem to use these days to access advertised tenders, MOD advertise their requirements generally via BIP http://www.bipsolutions.com/.

I have also used http://www.supply2.gov.uk/.

I've also seen but not used http://www.selectlist.co.uk/suppliers/ & http://www.publicsectorpurchasing.co.uk/ which may or may not work for some.

Unfortunately in some cases companies are far better off approaching the public sector direct and finding out the likelihood of contracts for products coming up, asking to be assessed for the organisations Preferred Supplier lists, and finding out the renewal date for current contracts so that they can submit details closer to the time. Or attending something like this http://www.procurementsolutions.gov.uk/ which I have been to for a good few years and where a lot of future business was conducted.

[Blush]

I work part time in the public sector and google, yahoo etc is certainly not banned:eek:

[MartCactus]

Oh one final thing my company works in the health industry and i meet facility managers on a weekly basis and all search engines including google,yahoo and the beloved yell are banned in government buildings due to misuse that bit is just for you Boho.

This is complete tosh. Those aren't banned in government buildings!!! We have clients in those government buildings - who found us through Google!

I have to say, you've made some 7 posts having signed up yesterday, and all of them relate to supporting buyersguide.co.uk (a site which looks rather a scam).

If you are going to troll on behalf of a company, its generally considered wise to make some posts to other threads so that its not so obvious what you are doing :)

[happycamper]

haha i havent stuck up for this site completely?i did say i didnt receive much during my first year.
I simply added my comments to an old thread as i have had some success?.
Is this forum only about negative comments?because if it is please dont get me started on Yell!!!!

[happycamper]

Alas i havehad to come back to this thread to clear up a few things.
The people that slated this site Buyersguide where correct........it is a con site.
As i said in my earlier response i did get good feedback from a press release i did with the company but unfortunatley those orders never happened and i am led to believe it was one of the staff putting in false orders to promote their services.
One thing everyone should know...................according to companies house this company is in serious trouble with huge debts and this could lead to you signing up to them only to lose all you money.
Secondly they sign you up to their services claiming that all public sector buyers use their website, well i had 2 of my sales staff phone up 50 yes 50 local councils and their procurement departments had not heard of them!!.
I then got my team to phone up a random amount of companies from throughout the site and not one company had won any work from the council through this website and many where very annoyed at the fact that they were forced in renewing their contract through a "Hidden Renewal Clause" that is on the terms and conditions!!!.
It is Item number 6 for any existing customer that hasnt already cancelled.
I am very sorry if my earlier information mislead anyone into signing up to this con site but after been forgiven by my employers for wasting their money i am now gunning for revenge on this Con site.
My staff have listed numerous points on what they say and what they offer but i have to agree with earlier comments, search engines are not banned in any government buildings and if you look at the web engine site Alexa you can see that a simple search of the company name shows you that no one actually uses the site apart from maybe their staff and the poor companies that have been conned into their sales talk and broken promises.
If anyone from the company wants to respond i am quite willing to take my sales team report and go public against you, using the councils that havent heard of you and your very very angry clients that have already been totally mis sold.

[Warrez]

Take it from me as a company who has WASTED money on the "company" who's currently taking YOUR hard earned money, "BUYERS GUIDE".

"Buyers Guide" have NOTHING to do with ANY "Government" or "Local Authorities" what so ever. Their Website is just a front and nobody uses it as an index to find the type of business they need. I've called around, emailed and talked to people in the proper areas and they've never heard of them.

Their pitch consists of a "too good to be true" theory in which they use to gain customers to join their "online portal" in order to receive contracts from the government and other local authorities when infact this will NEVER HAPPEN. To add to this, I'm sure I was given made up figures.

The so called "profile" or Website I was sold was dire. Other than that, they look terrible but expect you to pay £100's for them.

THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS
-----------------------------------

Be careful, I got bogged down in their "terms and conditions" and had to pay for another 12 months of nothing because of a hidden clause which said was an automatic renewal which alone is ludicrous.

DON'T USE THIS COMPANY.

If you were unfortunate enough to have signed up and have not received any work then that already answers your question as to why you are not getting any queries for work, what I'm telling you speaks for itself.

TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW NOT TO DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

They may also fob you off with nonsense statistics, completely made up to create the illusion of the fantastic "attention" your getting. If it worked, you'd have 1000's of inquiries by now from real companies.

GET OUT OF ANY CONTRACTS YOU HAVE WITH THEM, PUT THE PHONE DOWN AND TELL THEM NEVER TO CALL AGAIN. Call trading standards.

I hope I have saved you some money.

[Warrez]

One thing everyone should know...................according to companies house this company is in serious trouble with huge debts and this could lead to you signing up to them only to lose all you money..

Thats what I was also told.

[happycamper]

I have been told from my contacts that this company has now closed?, the contact number has been withdrawn from their website and i also heard that the owner was in trouble with the law.....although i am not sure about that but his old staff are talking about it on their facebook profiles.............STAY WELL CLEAR....

[Warrez]

really? if they are no longer trading as a business then their website should be taken down and they should be receiving no more money from anyone which by MY sources, they are still doing. would you mind sending me a private message as im interested to know if i know their old staff as I may have spoken to them when i was a subscriber. cheers

[happycamper]

Try to contact the site and company via the address on the site?, I haven't got an advertisement with them anymore so i don't really care, I was ripped off and think they probably got what they deserved.
You could try ringing the building that they are supposed to be trading from, it is on the website.
As far as "Your" sources, I know for a fact that they have had no sales team since June this year? and according to the posts on facebook from their staff they shut the office down then.
If you know of companies still paying fees i suggest you get those to chase it up with the owner of the company.

[Warrez]

Thank you. well thats very interesting, they deserve to go down the pan and never return, they have made a lot of peoples lives hell. So, you are friends with the ex staff on your face book you say? Wow you must have got to know them really well!??

[happycamper]

I kept in touch with three of the staff and I never mentioned "My facebook" at all, the simple reason being that I am not on facebook, I said their facebook.
I am far too long in the tooth for all of that however my contact who worked for this company for 4 years is on the site and she kept me upto date.
I am now using her contacts and experience in marketing to promote another one of my newer products through her new employers, you might have heard of them?, BIP solutions?.
This is the last post on this company as i now know is it shut the Newcastle building that they are supposed to be in said they hadn't heard off them for weeks and no one is in the office there?, I guess they have shut down.

[Lease4Less]

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=140362

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?245844-BIP-Solutions!!!!-Lookout-Issues

They sound like a great company to recommend!

Why are you plugging these scammers?

[Warrez]

I kept in touch with three of the staff and I never mentioned "My facebook" at all, the simple reason being that I am not on facebook, I said their facebook.
I am far too long in the tooth for all of that however my contact who worked for this company for 4 years is on the site and she kept me upto date.
I am now using her contacts and experience in marketing to promote another one of my newer products through her new employers, you might have heard of them?, BIP solutions?.
This is the last post on this company as i now know is it shut the Newcastle building that they are supposed to be in said they hadn't heard off them for weeks and no one is in the office there?, I guess they have shut down.

sorry, I assumed that if you can see their facebook status's information etc, that you were friends with them on facebook and that you use it? What is their facebook name? Yeah maybe, I wouldnt know, I havent heard from them either, thanks a lot for the info. very useful. good luck with your ventures.

[Warrez]

Why are you plugging these scammers?

Scammers, yes! Plugging them, no way, I am a fellow company who was taken for a ride and I was just trying to find out more info on their collapse as I hope they do. Their website should be wiped from the face of the internet in that case. Trading standards should be informed.

[Warrez]

Why are you plugging these scammers?

thought u were talking about buyers guide there, sorry, i dont know anything about this bip solutions stuff.

[happycamper]

I am not on facebook as in the form of pictures friends and any other details however my contact is and her profile is an open profile so i simply searched for her and if you have dealt with buyersguide.co.uk simply look for your contact on facebook?.
It seems as though the owner treated his staff rather awfully and they have formed some sort of group stating this although i couldn't find it on there maybe its a hidden one?.
With regards to Bip i read the attached links with interest and firstly they are from Nov 2009 and Gillian one of the management seems to explain what has happened?, all i will say is that so far i havent had the problems raised in the forums.
Wazzer your comments on buyersguide.co.uk do interest me?, are you an ex employee?a disgruntled one at that?or did you have a link on the site?if so look up American Database Solutions at Companies house and you could contact the owner?, if they have stopped trading as it seems they have maybe you could get a refund or part refund for the time left on your contract?.

[Warrez]

no I am not an ex employee thank god however I do feel sorry for the guys who worked there though. I had a link but I do not wish talk about that any further as I am sure you understand the reasons why.

[Warrez]

no I am not an ex employee thank god however I do feel sorry for the guys who worked there though. I had a link but I do not wish talk about that any further as I am sure you understand the reasons why.

could you send me a private message with the name of the person with the facebook? thank you

[Warrez]

Camper, i think i might know who your contact is.

[Warrez]

im sure to view a facebook profile, you have to have an account....

[happycamper]

You don't need to have a profile to view anyone on facebook and the name that I searched on there wasn't the person that I used to do business with at Buyersguide.
If you did business with the company simply search the contacts name on facebook .
It seems as though the website has been mothballed??no contact number and It seems as though the business centre that they are in hasn't heard off them for a while?.

[Warrez]

You don't need to have a profile to view anyone on facebook and the name that I searched on there wasn't the person that I used to do business with at Buyersguide.
If you did business with the company simply search the contacts name on facebook .
It seems as though the website has been mothballed??no contact number and It seems as though the business centre that they are in hasn't heard off them for a while?.

who was it? I would like to see this anti buyers guide page on facebook you mentioned. Yes it looks that way, very strange. Is your name John?

[Warrez]

have you seen their website lately? very interesting...

[Warrez]

I heard this company has now completely fallen and another rival company is using their website to scavenge what’s left of poor gullible companies accounts for money. Apparently the MD of buyers guide deserted the company and his staff and even left some of them in personal debt.

[jhardy2008]

nice website for advertising.

[happycamper]

Nice site for advertising?? that is a joke right?, haven't you read the comments about the site?.
Warrez you are right the company was forced into liquidation and is now in the hands of a former employee and i am guessing they are still scamming companies as the website looks legit.
The companies on the front are exactly the ones i spoke to back in 2009 and they hadn't received one piece of work from any government agency.
My contact who used to work there said the MD was sent to prison with regards to this company which would set the alarm bells off in my head if they ever contacted my company.
I am actually very surprised that trading standards didn't close the website down.
All I know is that I was scammed out of £2000+ from this site and the owners and never received any work or feeback from any government agency.
I hope the owner rots in his cell