google resell

[Paul Heywood]

This isn't a web log (or "blog", as they're commonly called in the modern world) - it's a forum. As a qualified internet marketer you'd know that much

I'm still waiting for Ant & Dec to pop up wearing fake beards, telling me it's all a big wind-up

Hilarious

I'm not talking to you any more your mean

 

[debbidoo]

debbidoo i guess you run your own campaign and i guess when you first set it up you were paying alot more for pretty much the same as you have now there for saving yourself money because you are now better at it .I'M BETTER AT IT TOO

That neither makes sense nor answers my question :|

I'll ask you again - what's in it for the client?

When I run AdWords campaigns for clients, my main obective is to get the best possible ROI for the client. That's why I spend many hours each month optimising clients' campaigns, why I don't tie my clients into contracts, why I charge fixed fees instead of a percentage of Google spend, and why I provide detailed reports with explanations of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, as well as what effect my optimisation has had on the campaign and how I plan to further optimise the campaign.

It's a little thing called "integrity". It may not make me a millionaire, but it sure helps me sleep at night

I'm not suggesting for a moment that you don't have your clients' best interests at heart, by the way... I'm sure your answer to my question will confirm that you do

 

[debbidoo]

I'm not talking to you any more your mean

Hehehe... fantastic! Me, the most sit-on-the-fence, uncontroversial, namby-pamby member of UKBF, being called "mean"... I don't know whether to laugh or cry

Feels like I've come of age

 

[Paul Heywood]

That neither makes sense nor answers my question :|

I'll ask you again - what's in it for the client?

When I run AdWords campaigns for clients, my main obective is to get the best possible ROI for the client. That's why I spend many hours each month optimising clients' campaigns, why I don't tie my clients into contracts, why I charge fixed fees instead of a percentage of Google spend, and why I provide detailed reports with explanations of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, as well as what effect my optimisation has had on the campaign and how I plan to further optimise the campaign.

It's a little thing called "integrity". It may not make me a millionaire, but it sure helps me sleep at night

I'm not suggesting for a moment that you don't have your clients' best interests at heart, by the way... I'm sure your answer to my question will confirm that you do

I'm sure you work out what a campaign will cost with your client before you go ahead with certain Adwords and then charge a % and by what you are saying i guess you do it on a monthly basis, i do the same but work it out on a yearly basis in line with the clients yearly budget if preferred monthly packages are available

 

[debbidoo]

Yes that's right, it's on a monthly basis. That's a reasonable answer - thank you - but what I actually asked was how an ad that shows above the fold but doesn't actually drive traffic - or convert to sales - provides ROI for the client. As I said before, maybe there's something I'm missing, but it's this that I'd like you to explain. If it's not too much trouble

 

[Mister B]

Hehehe... fantastic! Me, the most sit-on-the-fence, uncontroversial, namby-pamby member of UKBF, being called "mean"... I don't know whether to laugh or cry

Feels like I've come of age

You big meanie...you've been hanging around with Ling for too long Be careful as you might just get yourself an infraction

Mister B

 

[debbidoo]

You big meanie...you've been hanging around with Ling for too long Be careful as you might just get yourself an infraction

Mister B

I know, she'd be so proud

I'm not just a big meanie - I'm a big Blue Meanie

 

[AdwordsPro]

Hey Debs want to swap threads?!

 

[debbidoo]

Ha, funny, I was just reading yours

If it's all the same to you, I'll stay here, thanks

 

[AdwordsPro]

How did the crunching go

Well, it's just about choosing the right numbers isn't it? High enough to cover yourself and build the 'reserve pot' - but low enough to appeal to customers (that's the real trick). If you have a decent reserve pot to start with, then you could make it work - but you are in a competitive market so there is a risk on your part.

If you ran a parallel business doing this conventionally, then you could choose which way to go ultimately (one heck of a big split test!).

Have you chosen your target customer Google spend?

Good luck with it!

 

[edmondscommerce]

LOL

I think I got a call from Google Resell

maaaaaaybe not

 

[Tenchi]

Found this place yesterday and just thought I'd chime in and let you guys know that the money paid to "google resell" is clearly enough to buy the "bigwigs" there a Rolls Royce and an Aston Martin.

Good to see your PPC cash hard at work there.

~A former employee~

 

[bazo6557]

Well I got cold called by someone from google resell claiming he was called steven hendry...
Oh I'm a self employed plumbing and heating engineer and was toying with the idea, to put up a web site, when this guy called, and offered front page ads on all major search engines web site hosting and all singing dancing package which to a heating engineer did not mean a lot but sounded great... well the upshot is I parted with £200 instead of £2000 which he wanted and got sfa

 

[Tenchi]

Well I got cold called by someone claiming to be from google resell claiming he was called steven hendry...
Oh I'm a self employed plumbing and heating engineer and was toying with the idea, to put up a web site, when this guy called, and offered front page ads on all major search engines web site hosting and all singing dancing package which to a heating engineer did not mean a lot but sounded great... well the upshot is I parted with £200 instead of £2000 which he wanted and got sfa

Seeing stuff like this makes me glad I got the hell out of that place.

If you paid by card, get a refund from your issuer, seriously.

 

[googleresell]

Hi people. I am new to the forum and chose my username because they are a company who have ripped my company off. A short Companies House search at the grand cost of fifteen pounds gave me the following information. The main culprit is a man called Graeme Ross. He has been a director since the company started. There have been comings and goings since. The only other company "employee" is a woman called Julie Fox. Ross is also connected to a company called Vision TV ltd. These are currently in the hands of the reciever. At all costs avoid this company. They are a hard sell business who need to be investigated by trading standards. The phone jockey that called my wife inferred that they were google by repeatedly used the trade name Google. Not once did he mention the the company that he really worked for. Sphere Marketing based at Unit 11, St Georges Court, Kirkham, Lancs, PR4 2EF.
Although anyone who takes on a contract in this way are protected by law they repeatedly refused to refund the monies taken from our bank account.
My wife was told that the contract was a three month trial and it would be a 50 pound deposit to be taken from our account. When the bank statement came it was a payment of 400. Steer well clear of them and pass these details on to all of your business associates.
Regards.
A Victim.

 

[rolandporche]

I am the marketing manager of an event management company in Dorset. Google Resell called me at work several weeks ago and offered a guaranteed first page position on Google. I was obviously interested and decided to go with them for a 3 month trial. The staff were very friendly and explained what they do very clearly. I'm happy to say that my business has increased 10 fold and i will be renewing membership for a further 12 months.
To all those who think this is a scam, it is not, plainly. I'm very happy with the service I've received and highly recommend a membership with these people.

 

[nass]

I am the marketing manager of an event management company in Dorset. Google Resell called me at work several weeks ago and offered a guaranteed first page position on Google. I was obviously interested and decided to go with them for a 3 month trial. The staff were very friendly and explained what they do very clearly. I'm happy to say that my business has increased 10 fold and i will be renewing membership for a further 12 months.
To all those who think this is a scam, it is not, plainly. I'm very happy with the service I've received and highly recommend a membership with these people.

great stuff

1) what event management company?
2) their website appears to have disappeared - those links at the top go to page not found
3) Looks like they're upsetting other people too

 

[googleresell]

I am the marketing manager of an event management company in Dorset.

Sure you are Just like John Stonehouse is the real name of the muppet who cold called my wife.

As for a trustworty company would you buy anything from a man who had a conviction for sexual assault on a 14 year old girl. Ironically if you google Graeme Ross, Kirkham it comes back with the truth about him.

Just to clarify for the moderators here the information above is in the public domain and not in any way a personal opinion of Ross

 

[nass]

So it's this Graeme Ross? Same guy, now ripping people off?

 

[googleresell]

Yes. If you check the google results you will see a link to the blogs.mirror article. Sorry but I can't post links because I have less than 15 posts :redface:

 

[Steve2507]

Yes. If you check the google results you will see a link to the blogs.mirror article. Sorry but I can't post links because I have less than 15 posts :redface:

I can for you -http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2008/01/dodgy-dealer-graeme-ross-is-wo.html

 

[googleresell]

I can for you

Thank you very much People like this need to be exposed so we all know who we are dealing with.

All I ask is pass this on to all of your buisness friends

 

[chocolatelady]

I was caught by these people a few months back. Luckily only paid £99 plus vat before realising they were not infact google but sphere marketing ltd of kirkham. I was sickened when I realised who owned the company and of his being on the sex offenders register as well - not nice!
I notified trading standards in Lancs, and Kent where I live, who have logged this company. Google are colating info on them as well since they pertain to be part of Google - no one is allowed to use the Google name.
I had to get my bank to change my card details so they did not take any more money and thought that after writing and emailing Sphere they would leave me alone. This morning I received a phone call from Rebecca in their litigation department to say she was going to give me a bad credit score etc for not paying them the balance of £300 odd pounds. I shouted her down and she has 'gone away to check things.'
They now have a website up and running and call themselves Google Resell so I have passed on these details to Google.
I dread to think how many epople are being scammed this time as last I checked they were advertising for staff as well. Perhaps the staff do not know about their bosses history.

Can everyone please let the Daily Mirror know as they will no doubt hound this bloke to hell - again.

Good luck.

 

[googleresell]

I was caught by these people a few months back. Luckily only paid £99 plus vat before realising they were not infact google but sphere marketing ltd of kirkham. I was sickened when I realised who owned the company and of his being on the sex offenders register as well - not nice!
I notified trading standards in Lancs, and Kent where I live, who have logged this company. Google are colating info on them as well since they pertain to be part of Google - no one is allowed to use the Google name.
I had to get my bank to change my card details so they did not take any more money and thought that after writing and emailing Sphere they would leave me alone. This morning I received a phone call from Rebecca in their litigation department to say she was going to give me a bad credit score etc for not paying them the balance of £300 odd pounds. I shouted her down and she has 'gone away to check things.'
They now have a website up and running and call themselves Google Resell so I have passed on these details to Google.
I dread to think how many epople are being scammed this time as last I checked they were advertising for staff as well. Perhaps the staff do not know about their bosses history.

Can everyone please let the Daily Mirror know as they will no doubt hound this bloke to hell - again.

Good luck.

Do you have an email addy for the guys at the Mirror

 

[chocolatelady]

I tried to show the link but as I dont have 15 posts I am not allowed. If you look on the link given in an earlier post you should see the contact box on the righthand column about halfway down the page.

 

[googleresell]

Thanks. Details sent. I also emailed the guy that initially called my wife with the details of his boss He calls himself John Stonehouse on the phone but his real mame is Chris Riedel

His reply is quite funny in a lame way.

It's nothing that we are not aware of. And it's not true.

Out of interest does anyone here know what it means when a company is listed as "dormant" at companies house ?

 

[chocolatelady]

Thanks. Details sent. I also emailed the guy that initially called my wife with the details of his boss He calls himself John Stonehouse on the phone but his real mame is Chris Riedel

His reply is quite funny in a lame way.


Out of interest does anyone here know what it means when a company is listed as "dormant" at companies house ?

You are welcome.

I've had emails from that chap. I cross examined him as to why they keep changing email addresses, call themselves by different names and also did not have a website for the company on the invoice heading (Sphere Marketing Ltd). He reckoned there was one being built - but that is Google Resell that has not long gone live. Strange though that the website states they have 25 years experience.

Lancashire Trading Standards have a dosier on them and may be worth contacting.

 

[googleresell]

You are welcome.


Lancashire Trading Standards have a dosier on them and may be worth contacting.

I did that this afternoon, sending a copy of the invoice and my opinon that the company may well be commiting VAT fraud as they use a VAT number on their invoices but are a "dormant" company who has not filed accounts for several years.

 

[chocolatelady]

I have heard from Google this evening (head office is in America) they are now working on prosecutions of poeple using the Google name in the UK and will update me.

Why not contact Customs and Excise about the possible fraud?

 

[hustle]

Why would Google resell. They occupy over 86% of serch engine business. Sounds like a PPC campaign managment company.

 

[hustle]

Why would google resell. They occupy over 86% of serch engine business.

 

[inuk]

Here's a lovely little email from your team my friend

I've blanked out the keyword for the clients privacy

This is without a shadow of a doubt one of the biggest PPC scams i have seen ..... and i have seen a few!!

Please explain how your relationship is at such a high level that you can get deals from Google that the biggest agencies can not?

What i find especially amazing is that you promise not only permanent page one Google UK sponsored listings, but that the listings will also be number one world wide!!

Guys if your going to scam keep it kind of real

Email follows


Good morning, we have just aquired one of the top positions on page one of Google for ########## and wondered if possible if you would like to take the vacancy.

This is for an exclusive position on page one of Google.

Below are some details of what we offer and what services we provide.

1. You will feature on the first page of Google permanently over the duration of the membership.

2. You receive unlimited clicks for the traffic that will go through your websites.

3. It is a 24 hour 7 days a week listing.

4. The chosen keywords can be entered anywhere in the world and you will always feature.

5. You will rotate between the shaded area on the top left mostly but may also rotate on the right hand sides.

6. Our technicians will check which keywords recieve the most traffic to maximise your business potential.

7. We maintain and manage the membership at all times.

8. We will send you all correspondence via e-mail.

9. This is for a minimum of four key phrases entered on Google.

Due to the recession and the global credit crunch we have reduced our prices to help our customers.

This is for a six month or a twelve month membership as we want to guarantee a permanent position above the other companies on page one.

Prices are discounted to 149pounds per month.

There is also a one off registration fee of 99pounds for the year.

If costing is an issue we can also give you two or more key phrases for 99pounds.

(prices are non inclusive of v.a.t)

There are no extra costs involved.

This is a brief outline of our proposal and more in depth detail can be explained if you wish.

If you would like to go ahead we would only take the registration payment initially, you only pay for the membership once we have delivered our service.

If you have any other queries regarding prices, words etc... please don't hesitate to contact me either via e-mail or by telephone.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards

Anthony Ashton.

(Business Consultant)

Google Resell.

 

[Tangent]

Well my site DID appear on the first page of sponsored links for the two precise search terms that I chose, at least a week before I stopped checking and it was there a month later when they took the last payment from my account.


After that it did not appear but after finally finding their contact details so that I could cancel within the 30 day notice period and asking for a refund since my site was no longer appearing it has now been restored.

Put in "driving lessons south east london" and my web site appears every time you click the search button. I am Lois of Lois School of Motoring

Let me make it clear that I AM NOT A HAPPY CUSTOMER.


Here is the letter I drafted today to be sent via recorded delivery which goes on to the next post as it is too long but will give you an idea of what has happened since I agreed a contract over the phone with them:




FAO Mr Andrew Eastham
Legal Director
Google Reseller
2 Sandgate
St Annes
FY8 2NL


Re: Breach of Contract regarding my account

Dear Mr Eastham,

I agreed a contract with Google Resellers on 9th October 2008 over the phone after a very long and protracted hard sell attempt from one of your sales team. Having repeatedly explained that I could not afford £299 a month as a sole trader the price was dropped several times until it came down to £99 a month. According to your sales person the original £299 was a limited time offer and the charge was usually £499 a month. During this conversation I asked for your web site address and visited the site which looked professional enough at first glance. As I was about to embark on my own SEO campaign I decided to take up this three month trial offer so that I could evaluate whether or not a sponsored link would enhance my SEO programme or not.

The agreement was for a link to my business web site to appear on the sponsored listings in Google every time that two exact search strings were used and also that I would receive a monthly email from you showing me the statistics regarding how many people had clicked on the links and that I would be able to call and change the search terms if I so wished. The charges were agreed as £99 + VAT set up fee and £99 + VAT per month for a trial period of 3 months. To end this trial period I understood that I was requested to give you 30 days notice and if this was not received by yourselves that I would then be in a further 12 month contract with you and that you would continue to take the £99 + VAT from me for the following 12 months.

This was an entirely verbal contract at the stage I gave you my debit card details and I never received the emails that I was promised by yourselves. I was told that I would receive and email with all details agreed before the account went live and also that I would receive an email on a monthly basis regarding the statistics relevant to my account.

The set up fee was taken from my account immediately:
£116.33 taken on 9 Oct

Due to the fact that I was still concerned about being able to afford this at the time I was told that half the money would be taken as soon as the account went live and that the other half would be taken a month later and that is what happened:
£174.49 taken on 11 Oct
£174.49 taken on 12 Nov
On 10th October I checked to see that I was appearing for the two keyword sets "driving lessons south east london" and "driving lessons beckenham". My site was appearing but under Safemotoring rather than Lois School of Motoring which is what I had asked for. I contacted you via the phone number I had been given and asked for a change of company name and for the latter search string to change to "driving lessons br3" having surveyed all of my pupils and friends and deciding that they would be more likely to type the postcode as it is quicker. I checked the next day and this had been done.

I didn't check again until the second amount left my bank account on 11th November. The links were at that stage still appearing for my two search terms. On Thursday 13th November I set to continue work on my own SEO programme and noticed when researching where my site was coming in the organic searches that the links were no longer appearing. Whether they were appearing between the 10th October and 11th November I do not know.

I was unable to find the sheet of paper on which I had originally written the phone number when I agreed to the deal. I tried to send you an email via the form on your web site but it continually failed. I repeatedly rang the phone number on your web site but every time it was engaged no matter what time of day and no matter how many times I tried. I once tried continually for a full hour.

Apart from now wanting a refund for breach of contract I was also very concerned about being able to contact you to give you the 30 days notice to cancel. The contact details on the web site were failing and I had never received any emails from yourselves.

Then on the 25th November I received a call from number 01772 674396 by another of your sales team trying to get me to pay for more search terms despite your not sticking to the contract with my present agreed search terms! I asked the gentleman for a number to contact you regarding this and he gave me 01772 672800 which is quite different to the number which had appeared on your web site.

On the following Thursday I came to call to find that my partner had removed all the paperwork from my desk into one of the many boxes in our hallway due to refurbishments in our flat. I searched through the papers in 3 of the most accessible boxes and was unable to find it. I had too many things I needed to do that day and so remained very stressed over the matter.

With the fear of the 30 day period looming too close I decided to cancel my driving lessons on Monday 8th December in order to spend the day finding contact details for you in order to deal with this problem. This resulted in a loss of income for me of £129.00. When I went to the web site it had disappeared with one page appearing with the words “Site under development” at the top.

 

[Tangent]

I then did a whois search on the web site address which came up with:
Registrant:
Andrew Wilson

Registrant type:
UK Individual

Registrant's address:
Wilkinson Ave
Blackpool
Blackpool
FY3 9XG
GB


Not considering that information to be very helpful I decided to call Trading Standards. They gave me some advice which included contacting Companies House to find out whether you are a registered company or not. I did this and found that Google Reseller of 2 Sandgate, St Annes, FY8 2NL had been registered on 4 July 2008 but that there was no further information. So still no contact number.

I then spent a couple of hours searching in the boxes and carefully reading every sheet of paper that I had written on until I found the contact number given to me by your salesman on the 25th November.

I called and was put through to yourself on Monday 8th December and you asked me to put my request for cancellation and the details of my complaint in an email and assured me that I would get a reply the following day. I did this and as I had not received a reply I called again on Tuesday 9th December and spoke to you again when you promised me a reply by the close of business on Wednesday 10th December if not that afternoon.

Having still had no reply by Thursday 11th December (today) I emailed you again and received a reply from you only to find that you have totally ignored my request for a refund, decided not to address the fact that I consider you to be in breach of contract under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and haven’t even acknowledged my cancellation which reached you via email within the 30 days notice that you requested.

I want to hear from you within 14 days of your receiving this letter (which will be today as I will email it to you before I send it) with your acceptance of my cancellation, your decision on my request for a refund and if you are refusing a refund invoices for the money I have paid so that I can claim it as a business expense.

 

[googleresell]

I then did a whois search on the web site address which came up with:
Registrant:
Andrew Wilson

Registrant type:
UK Individual

Registrant's address:
Wilkinson Ave
Blackpool
Blackpool
FY3 9XG
GB


Not considering that information to be very helpful I decided to call Trading Standards. They gave me some advice which included contacting Companies House to find out whether you are a registered company or not. I did this and found that Google Reseller of 2 Sandgate, St Annes, FY8 2NL had been registered on 4 July 2008 but that there was no further information. So still no contact number.

I then spent a couple of hours searching in the boxes and carefully reading every sheet of paper that I had written on until I found the contact number given to me by your salesman on the 25th November.

I called and was put through to yourself on Monday 8th December and you asked me to put my request for cancellation and the details of my complaint in an email and assured me that I would get a reply the following day. I did this and as I had not received a reply I called again on Tuesday 9th December and spoke to you again when you promised me a reply by the close of business on Wednesday 10th December if not that afternoon.

Having still had no reply by Thursday 11th December (today) I emailed you again and received a reply from you only to find that you have totally ignored my request for a refund, decided not to address the fact that I consider you to be in breach of contract under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and haven’t even acknowledged my cancellation which reached you via email within the 30 days notice that you requested.

I want to hear from you within 14 days of your receiving this letter (which will be today as I will email it to you before I send it) with your acceptance of my cancellation, your decision on my request for a refund and if you are refusing a refund invoices for the money I have paid so that I can claim it as a business expense.

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]

 

[Tangent]

Thanks for that
In time for me to alter it before sending the letter
The email address I've been using is spheremarketing and I did a whois search but there is no information up and no web site in place

Thanks again
Lois

 

[chocolatelady]

If you google Sphere Marketing Kirkham you will cdome up with a lot more information - such as details of their saintly Director one Graeme Ross.
I have a conference call arranged with a representitive of the London legal team for Google who are compiling information against this company.
Once I have passed on my information I will gladly give the contact details to interested forum members. I am already in contact with several of you so please bear with me and I'll get back to you.
Between us we should be able to give this company a good 2009 to look forward to.
Hopefully this will be the last time this 'gentleman' tries to rip off decent hard working business owners.

 

[googleresell]

Thanks for that
In time for me to alter it before sending the letter
The email address I've been using is spheremarketing and I did a whois search but there is no information up and no web site in place

Thanks again
Lois

No problem. Ross is also a director of Vision TV who are currently in the hands of the reciever.

 

[ginnyscards]

I received a call from Google, saying they could guarantee me 1st page position....I got very annoyed with the man on the phone, I told him I wasn't interested at this time, money is tight near Christmas and the amount of background noise his end, was unbelievable. I could hardle hear what he was saying, when I explained that if I was looking to spend a large amount of money with google, I would at least expect to be able to hear the conversation I was having.....! He hung up. x

 

[Steve2507]

I received a call from Google, saying they could guarantee me 1st page position....I got very annoyed with the man on the phone, I told him I wasn't interested at this time, money is tight near Christmas and the amount of background noise his end, was unbelievable. I could hardle hear what he was saying, when I explained that if I was looking to spend a large amount of money with google, I would at least expect to be able to hear the conversation I was having.....! He hung up. x

Did you get this call today?

I received a call this morning and I coudn't hear the guy on the other end at all. I could just about make out he wanted to "speak to the person who dealt with the companies" and I think he said advertising. Maybe they are coming to us now? Should be fun.