google resell

LianneF

Free Member
Jul 18, 2007
798
53
Oxford, UK
Hi
I had a load of the companies keep ringing me last year and contacted google about it and they showed me this link http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/adwords/reseller/index.html they only have a couple of resellers! It's easy to be talked into things, they usually sound to good to be true, I just hang up now when they start to mention seo and google etc.
Lianne
 
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optimiser

Free Member
Mar 12, 2009
2
0
ah, i'm new on here, my wife's business just had a call from searchrankresults.co.uk

I asked the operative who paid her wages, her surprised response was Mr Zacharias!

Has Mr Ross taken on a biblical persona?

Whilst on the subject does anyone know of a genuine outfit in this field or are all seo claims an impossibility or is it really a case of doing the work oneself because the requirements for success are shifting daily?
 
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The company Google Resell is actually Sphere marketing.

Sphere Marketing Ltd
Unit 11, St George’s Court
St George Park
Kirkham
Lancashire
PR4 2EF
Tel No. 01772 672800
Fax No. 01772 681877
VAT REG No. 887 166 082
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'] COMPANY REG No. 5633923[/font]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'][/font]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Their directors are Graeme Ross and Julie Fox. I have a full set of papers from companies house. If anyone wants a copy pm me with your email addy and I can zip them up and send them to you foc.[/font]

Could you email me a copy of the papers please we have been done by them too - currently taking them to court. jo 'at' everythingadmin . co . uk
 
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I have just read through this thread and it brought to mind another thread in the sales and marketing forum about another dodgy company from the Blackpool area:

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=54656

Now I know there are probably lots of people called Sue Jackson but it does seem to be a strong coincidence that 2 companies who take more money than they should and then don't deliver anything both have someone called Sue Jackson working for them.

There again, I could be adding 2 + 2 and making 5.....
 
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pmizow

Free Member
Mar 31, 2009
1
0
I have been with Google Resell for 3 months now and they have done exactly what they promised to do. I have a guaranteed ppc listing which rotates between the top 7 ppc's.

Their service has been reasonable although they initially almost scared me off with the 'hard sell'. I am actually very happy now after having a sinking gut feeling that I had wasted my money on a scam (after reading these threads!). Just thought I would add this thread because I almost avoided using the company after the negative publicity and I think they deserve a break.
 
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I have been with Google Resell for 3 months now and they have done exactly what they promised to do. I have a guaranteed ppc listing which rotates between the top 7 ppc's.

Their service has been reasonable although they initially almost scared me off with the 'hard sell'. I am actually very happy now after having a sinking gut feeling that I had wasted my money on a scam (after reading these threads!). Just thought I would add this thread because I almost avoided using the company after the negative publicity and I think they deserve a break.

True!
I am sure that you can prove what you say as everyone here can.
Please can you confirm our website and key terms that you appear under.
Should you not wish to people may make alternative assumptions.
 
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D'you know, I don't think we'll see this poster again, if you know what I mean!

Goo on, prove me wrong, post again with the keywords etc!

R



I have been with Google Resell for 3 months now and they have done exactly what they promised to do. I have a guaranteed ppc listing which rotates between the top 7 ppc's.

Their service has been reasonable although they initially almost scared me off with the 'hard sell'. I am actually very happy now after having a sinking gut feeling that I had wasted my money on a scam (after reading these threads!). Just thought I would add this thread because I almost avoided using the company after the negative publicity and I think they deserve a break.
 
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I have also been ripped off by this company. I’ve been chasing the company for months after they took out almost £1.700 from my business credit card. I was also told it was £99.00 plus vat for the set up and then 3x £99.00 plus vat after and then I could cancel if I needed to. Only problem was that I could not get in touch because the phone lines were other engaged or when I did they didn’t return my calls. I actually threatened police action and told them that my bank were looking into the transactions and they said again that they would call me back but nothing happened!!!

I received a very nasty telephone call today from a Sue Jackson who is adamant that I have broken my contract!!! I now supposedly owe them almost £700.00 however, she is prepared to accept just £500.00. She has threatened to take me to court and have my bank accounts seized! and said that this will also affect my credit report. I explained that because I had not heard anything that I had cancelled the card and she then went on to ask me if I was having money problems in the household!!! She was extremely rude to me. I have just been on to my husband about it who is furious and actually ready to get into his car and drive down to this so called head office!

I have called my bank to see what’s happening as I had most of the money refunded to me just last week thinking that it was all over but she now wants my bank to ring her. No way on this earth am I paying anything else to this company who never actually did what they were meant to do in the first place. My best friend is a solicitor so I’m seeing her tonight about it all and I’m going to make the call to trading standards now.

I cannot believe that this is happening to so many people. Think this is definitely one for watchdog. Just going to email them now. I’m soo mad!:mad::mad::mad:
 
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DonM

Free Member
Mar 19, 2009
3
0
Dear 'pmizow',

Just so you are aware Google Resell does not exist and is Sphere Marketing, that the first part of the deception. I believe I am correct in saying their activity is absolutely unacceptable, incuding taping conversations and taking funds of unsuspecting companies and individuals without notificaiton based on an earlier transaction!

If you think they are actually doing the job you paid them for then you should make sure your ads are in fact occurring and also which google sites, worldwide as we were promised ended up being uk only. Also I stongly recommend you get a report, if you can believe its content, as you may find the responses are a fraction of what you could easily get yourself at a lower cost.

I understand the dilema, we used them as we were unsurte of the way to run a Google ad campaign, we are more aware now but got caught be them in the meantime. They owe us a lot of money.

Be warned!

The fact they do a poor job
 
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lizwhibley

Free Member
Mar 7, 2009
6
2
Sphere Marketing were exposed in the Daily Mirror yesterday.... I reported on here that I had been had by SM..... have now been promised a full refund by Sue Jackson and was told last evening that it was winging its way to me!!! For all those who have had problems... contact Andrew Penman at Investigates at the Daily Mirror... he is on the case... as I said it was a centre piece in the Mirror yesterday.
Go to The Mirror website you will be able to fnd the link, I am not able to post it on here... not enough posts... sorry

title of the article is - Sphere Marketing, aka Google Re-sell, preys on small firms

Hope this helps
 
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lizwhibley

Free Member
Mar 7, 2009
6
2
I have just had a call back from Warwickshire Trading Standards who have been in touch with Lancashire T S ... comment back is that the complaint record for Sphere Marketing is minimal and that my file is closed!!!... we need to get more people complaining to TS but then again, I have found them useless in this matter, they don't reply to phone calls... send you round the houses. It is all OK if you are an individual but they don't seem phased at all by the plight of us small businesses.
 
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FatGeordie

Free Member
Apr 18, 2009
9
2
the company seems to be Mob Tech Limited trading as "searchrankresults.co.uk"???
thanks

Elodie

Hello Elodie, I have joined up just to warn you specifically about searchrankresults. One of my customers signed up with them and has found that although they thought they were signing up for a 3 month trial the small print seems to commit them to a 12-month rolling contract. They record phone conversations and are willing to use the recordings to enforce the contract. My customer is currently "in dispute" with them. Tactics have allegedly included trying to take payment from the customer's credit card without prior permission. I can't comment on their pricing.

It's worth adding that all they do is run a paid advertising campaign on your behalf, in which your site appears in the "Sponsored Links" section as long as you keep paying. In this case the campaign covers only 4 phrases. This is something which you can quite easily do for yourself. Buy a copy of "adwords for dummies", look out for one of the Adwords £30 vouchers in the press and try it for yourself. Or, find a reputable company by recommendation.

There is a very good free Google tool (search for "google keyword tool")
which shows the volume of google searches for any word or phrase, and also the level of competition within google sponsored links. This is a good starting point for building your own adwords campaign.

If you are looking primarily for local business you should also check out Google Local Business - do a search for "plumber in bolton" to see what i mean. You can register and appear in these results for free.

To declare an interest - I run a small company which does web design. I'm not pitching for business - we don't really specialise in this sort of work except for existing customers. I have written my customers to caution them about just this sort of company. I would encourage any business with a website to try and understand this area themselves if possible.
 
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Just had phone call from Search Rank Results.co.uk! I requested they email details. I had to give them my email address as the young girl admitted they only guessed I had a website!!! I won't be taking up their offer but this is what they claim!

Thanks for your time
We are called Search Rank Results.co.uk and we are a Google reseller. We give and guarantee you a Front Page position on Google (in writing) for things you want to be listed for. (There was over 600 hits for Private investigator Kent / over 1000 for Process server uk on Google in the last 28 days).
We give you a 3 month trial, to let you see for yourself the business Google will generate for you. If after 3 months you wish to stay with us, the price remains the same. (It is the period that is the trial, not the price).
In a nutshell I am offering you ;Guaranteed first page listing on Google, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Direct link to your web site (no 3rd party info or links)
£99 + VAT set up fee (Included in this price I will give you key phrases)
£99 + VAT per month
3 month / 90 day trial

Having seen our company included in this thread, we feel it is appropriate to submit a response.
Primarily because we do not wish to be "tarred with the same brush" as some other less scrupulous companies.
SearchRankResults was developed in direct response to the growth in the Pay Per Click Advertising market. However as part of MobTech Ltd. It forms an integral part of a family of companies with several years experience successfully optimizing searches for hundreds of companies.
Our offer to clients is clear and unequivocal, we will provide a front page listing 24/7. Our set up fee is fixed at £99 (plus Vat) and the monthly charge is calculated in advance based on the anticipated volumes for a particular phrase or group of phrases. The benefit to the client is they undertake a 90 day trial at a fixed cost and have the opportunity to determine for themselves whether there is any increase in their business as a result of the ad campaign. Since our aim is longevity in our relationship with the client we endeavour to produce the best ad copy possible.
We cannot disagree that the volumes quoted by our sales representative with regard to private investigator kent and process server uk were inaccurate and the person involved has been reprimanded accordingly. It is not in our long term interest to quote search volumes that are wrong, since the clients expectations will not be met during the trial period. So much so that we are frequently asked by potential clients to provide them with phrases that have little or no volume, the client is always advised against these phrases even though we would be incurring very little cost to promote them.
Since starting SearchRankResults we have worked very hard to design and develop sophisticated monitoring software that is fully integrated with the Google API. This is not an off the shelf product but software that is dedicated to our needs and facilitates our ability to maintain the guarantee of front page ranking.
We have nothing to hide in what we do and everybody is welcome to view our website at searchrankresults.co.uk which clearly lists the service we provide.
It is unfortunate that we work in an industry that is, at present, unregulated. We would welcome a regulatory body that could investigate the issues outlined in threads such as this and hopefully reduce the cowboy element.
If any member of this forum has been contacted by one or our representatives and is unhappy with our methods, please feel free to contact me.
 
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Hi

Had a company call us about this as well called search rank results they quickly put the phone down when i asked for who their contact was at Google.

G

We make no representations to have a "contact" at google. Please let me have your company details and any additional information. All our calls are logged, so we can check the database and investigate.
 
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FatGeordie

Free Member
Apr 18, 2009
9
2
Having seen our company included in this thread, we feel it is appropriate to submit a response.
Primarily because we do not wish to be “tarred with the same brush” as some other less scrupulous companies.
SearchRankResults was developed in direct response to the growth in the Pay Per Click Advertising market. However as part of MobTech Ltd. It forms an integral part of a family of companies with several years experience successfully optimizing searches for hundreds of companies.
Our offer to clients is clear and unequivocal, we will provide a front page listing 24/7. Our set up fee is fixed at £99 (plus Vat) and the monthly charge is calculated in advance based on the anticipated volumes for a particular phrase or group of phrases. The benefit to the client is they undertake a 90 day trial at a fixed cost and have the opportunity to determine for themselves whether there is any increase in their business as a result of the ad campaign. Since our aim is longevity in our relationship with the client we endeavour to produce the best ad copy possible.
We cannot disagree that the volumes quoted by our sales representative with regard to private investigator kent and process server uk were inaccurate and the person involved has been reprimanded accordingly. It is not in our long term interest to quote search volumes that are wrong, since the clients expectations will not be met during the trial period. So much so that we are frequently asked by potential clients to provide them with phrases that have little or no volume, the client is always advised against these phrases even though we would be incurring very little cost to promote them.
Since starting SearchRankResults we have worked very hard to design and develop sophisticated monitoring software that is fully integrated with the Google API. This is not an off the shelf product but software that is dedicated to our needs and facilitates our ability to maintain the guarantee of front page ranking.
We have nothing to hide in what we do and everybody is welcome to view our website at searchrankresults.co.uk which clearly lists the service we provide.
It is unfortunate that we work in an industry that is, at present, unregulated. We would welcome a regulatory body that could investigate the issues outlined in threads such as this and hopefully reduce the cowboy element.
If any member of this forum has been contacted by one or our representatives and is unhappy with our methods, please feel free to contact me.

Hello SRR. Having made contact and obtained a bit of free advertising I'm sure you will be happy to clarify the position on the "3-month trial" which seems to have turned into a rolling 12-month contract for one of my customers. If you are indeed a scrupulous company and not one of the cowboy element I'm sure you will not wish to have an unhappy customer on your books.
 
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And so do every other good agency that deal with Google PayPerClick advertising on behalf of clients, when they are a Google Qualified Company.


Just thought I'd mention it!

R


We make no representations to have a “contact” at google. Please let me have your company details and any additional information. All our calls are logged, so we can check the database and investigate.
 
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And so do every other good agency that deal with Google PayPerClick advertising on behalf of clients, when they are a Google Qualified Company.


Just thought I'd mention it!

R

Lets be clear - you will have an Account Manager at Google. I would suggest the use of the word 'contact' is inferring a special relationship with somebody in Google. If that is the case then good luck to you.
 
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I would suggest the use of the word 'contact' is inferring a special relationship with somebody in Google. If that is the case then good luck to you.

No it doesn't, what nonsense.

Let's ALL be clear. Your firm seems to have been mugging people off. It's difficult enough out there at the moment without having your naivety about adwords punished by charlatans and scammers. I'm neither suggesting you are either of these, but as the FAT guy says, show us how you differ.

I've been a memeber of this forum for 4 or 5 years now, and without fail, there has never been a case of smoke and no fire. 15 pages of rants on this thread should switch a light on in your head that 'things ain't right' with the way you're doing business.

Have a nice day
Rob
 
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It's no secret that the legal Team at Google are readying themselves for a serious attack on the scammers, pre empted by the article in the Mirror.

If you type in any suspected scammers URL's you will see a sponsored link, placed there by Google, directing you to a page that lists the 5 or so licensed Google Resellers.

Give it a go, type in

www.googleresell.co.uk

www.searchrankresults.co.uk

Quite why the natural results aren't removed I'm not sure.

Either way, it's interesting the information you can get from a quick call to your 'contact' at Google.

Quite a few of the scammers are 1 man bands, operating from home addresses - tell you what, I wouldn't want Google knocking on my door!

R
 
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Hello SRR. Having made contact and obtained a bit of free advertising I'm sure you will be happy to clarify the position on the "3-month trial" which seems to have turned into a rolling 12-month contract for one of my customers. If you are indeed a scrupulous company and not one of the cowboy element I'm sure you will not wish to have an unhappy customer on your books.

Fat Geordie, indeed we do not wish to have any unhappy clients. Please PM me with details so that I can investigate your claims.
 
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C

chocolatelady

Go to Lancashire trading standards, they have a file on this company and hopefully will be prosecuting before too long. I was lucky and cancelled my debit card so lost just 116.33 but with the Mirror covering it on the 15th and also confirmation from Google I am about to get my money back.

Good luck

I have also been ripped off by this company. I’ve been chasing the company for months after they took out almost £1.700 from my business credit card. I was also told it was £99.00 plus vat for the set up and then 3x £99.00 plus vat after and then I could cancel if I needed to. Only problem was that I could not get in touch because the phone lines were other engaged or when I did they didn’t return my calls. I actually threatened police action and told them that my bank were looking into the transactions and they said again that they would call me back but nothing happened!!!

I received a very nasty telephone call today from a Sue Jackson who is adamant that I have broken my contract!!! I now supposedly owe them almost £700.00 however, she is prepared to accept just £500.00. She has threatened to take me to court and have my bank accounts seized! and said that this will also affect my credit report. I explained that because I had not heard anything that I had cancelled the card and she then went on to ask me if I was having money problems in the household!!! She was extremely rude to me. I have just been on to my husband about it who is furious and actually ready to get into his car and drive down to this so called head office!

I have called my bank to see what’s happening as I had most of the money refunded to me just last week thinking that it was all over but she now wants my bank to ring her. No way on this earth am I paying anything else to this company who never actually did what they were meant to do in the first place. My best friend is a solicitor so I’m seeing her tonight about it all and I’m going to make the call to trading standards now.

I cannot believe that this is happening to so many people. Think this is definitely one for watchdog. Just going to email them now. I’m soo mad!:mad::mad::mad:
 
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chocolatelady

I have just read through this thread and it brought to mind another thread in the sales and marketing forum about another dodgy company from the Blackpool area:



Now I know there are probably lots of people called Sue Jackson but it does seem to be a strong coincidence that 2 companies who take more money than they should and then don't deliver anything both have someone called Sue Jackson working for them.

There again, I could be adding 2 + 2 and making 5.....

It looks as though they are the same company. If you go back to the early part of this thread and look at the links to the Daily Mirror coverage you will see that Graeme Ross has run companies doing exactly what is stated in your link to the other thread - before legging it with honest peoples money.
 
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chocolatelady

Sphere Marketing were exposed in the Daily Mirror yesterday.... I reported on here that I had been had by SM..... have now been promised a full refund by Sue Jackson and was told last evening that it was winging its way to me!!! For all those who have had problems... contact Andrew Penman at Investigates at the Daily Mirror... he is on the case... as I said it was a centre piece in the Mirror yesterday.
Go to The Mirror website you will be able to fnd the link, I am not able to post it on here... not enough posts... sorry

title of the article is - Sphere Marketing, aka Google Re-sell, preys on small firms

Hope this helps

I'd be very interested to know if you have had your money back yet?
 
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FatGeordie

Free Member
Apr 18, 2009
9
2
Chaps,

I have had no response from SRR. I PM'd the details of my unhappy customer and they have heard nothing either.

I'd just like to give an outline of their methods, as described to me by my customer. To the best of my knowledge this is accurate. also to the best of my knowledge, their methods are legal.

The offer from searchrankresults.co.uk is a 3-month trial at a fixed price (£99 per month in this case, for 4 search phrases). This is made over the phone and the conversation is recorded. They promise to put your site on page 1 of Google. They achieve this using google adwords (sponsored links), so it is simply paid advertising and not search engine optimisation.

The major problem is that the 3-month offer leads into a 12-month rolling contract. To avoid this the 3-month trial must be cancelled, giving 30 days notice. In effect this means that it's a 2-month trial - that's when you have to take the decision to cancel.

Apparently this is explained during the phone call and is also outlined in very small, faint print on the back of an invoice, so it sounds like the letter of the law is being observed.

I have so many problems with this it's hard to know where to start:


  1. The offer is clearly designed to draw customers into a 1-year contract using the carrot of a 3-month trial.
  2. It's very expensive.
  3. The customer is not in control of their own Adwords account and therefore their own advertising spend.
  4. It destroys one the the major advantages of Adwords, flexibility.
My advice would be to try Adwords yourself and if you can't fathom it, find someone reputable by recommendation. Avoid companies like this one.
 
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Jewell

Free Member
May 1, 2009
2
0
This company called me last January, and after 45 minutes of a sales pitch, I agreed to a 90-day trial period. I gave them my debit card details and over 400 pounds were deducted, so that one charge was authorized. If you were to listen to the recording they made, I said very clearly that I only wanted the trial period. Actually thought that I would have a follow-up call of some kind, how naive. My 90-days are up today, May 1. However, on April 14 they took 341 pounds out of my account with an email informing me that I owed them another 2,300 pounds. This charge was already pending by the time I flew to the bank to cancel my card, so I have lost that money as well. I did not authorize it, but they sent me a recording claiming a "verbal" agreement. It's a nightmare, and yesterday they sent me a letter demanding 1,366.20. Every requested amount is different, so what's up with that? Strongly advise against doing business with these fraudsters.








Hello SRR. Having made contact and obtained a bit of free advertising I'm sure you will be happy to clarify the position on the "3-month trial" which seems to have turned into a rolling 12-month contract for one of my customers. If you are indeed a scrupulous company and not one of the cowboy element I'm sure you will not wish to have an unhappy customer on your books.
 
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Hi Jewell

[have pm'd you this response too].

Basically I come from an advertising background, and started top-click.co.uk ltd, to undertake PPC for clients, with added value - strategic, creative, analytical input etc, where required. We have about 30 odd clients, and the difference between us and some other companies is that we rely on creating success for them, or we part company.

We dont tie clients into a contract, and I would want unhappy clients as I try to chat them all at least once a week.

There are some companies out there however, that are using the boiler room techniques, and playing the numbers game. Signing a lot of customers up making a fast buck and not giving a t*ss whether you come back after your initial 1yr contract. My belief is that they are legally ok, but morally bankrupt.

Have you asked to hear your recorded conversation?

I am no legal eagle but have found the legal forum on here really useful previously - maybe there's a way to sort this out there?

Kind regards
Rob
 
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