solutions4industry (Journal)

[frauke]

Has anyone actually read or heard of this?

I have just been presented with an invoice for some editorial they printed in this "Journal" which was on a "press release" we sent out.

I have been told they rang the office and asked if we wanted to advertise in it and were told to send a copy of the journal for us to consider it.

My thoughts are - this is a con and I should report them to trading standards.

Any one else want to comment or make suggestions?

 

[Balloon]

Hi,

Sounds like a con to me (although I have no evidence that the journal doesn't exist!). I'd say - if they can't prove you ordered it, you can't be responsible for paying for it!

Also - you could ask to see a copy of the journal you appeared in!?

 

[Qualitee]

Hi,

If they do not have any credit card details of your's and absolutely nothing from you in writing stating that you gave permission for them to place this 'advertisement' then they cannot charge you for anything.

Pauline

Qualiteet-shirts

 

[frauke]

You've confirmed my thoughts -

They sent a copy of the journal (it looks like a kind of newspaper, with adverts & editorial on every page - also some pages say they are sponsered)

But they could just say that. It took 3 of us ages to find "our bit" - it was the "Press release" we e-mailed to the world - word for word.

I cannot believe they think they can get away with this. I think the whole thing is a fake...... I presume if no one has ever read this paper, they don't actually have a readership.

I shall contact their local trading standards. Perhaps they can look into it.

 

[Alice3537]

Are these the guys?

http://www.freshmedia-uk.co.uk/s4i/latest.htm

Issue 452!!

 

[Alice3537]

And here is the owner's website! So, maybe you could go direct first to see if you get anywhere?

http://www.freshmedia-uk.co.uk/

 

[Kent Accountant]

Don't know anything about them or their trading methods, but they do seem to exist and appear to be on issue 452 according to their website. Some of their editorial is definitely OK because it features a customer of one of my clients. They well however have been charged for the coverage :|

as you say, probably worth approaching your local Trading Standards to see if trhere have been any complaints

 

[Kent Accountant]

Alice 3537 was too quick for me

 

[Alice3537]

Yay! Do I get a prize?

 

[Qualitee]

Even if they say that you 'sponsored' them they would have to have confirmation from you.

Example: Telesales ring you and ask you to place an advert costing £XXX you say, thank you I will take out the smallest size ad. They say thank you very much could we have your credit card details. They will then fax you a copy of your order with your card details and cost and all details of your advert. You then have to sign the proof design of the advert. Confirming that you have placed the advert with them.

I would suggest you write/email them saying they had no authorisation from you to place an 'advertisement' or to use your company name in 'their' advertisement and it is on this basis that you will pass the matter to the Trading Standards Office and you will also request £100 compensation for the inconvenience and use of your company name without authorisation. Then just wait a short while for their reply.

What is the name of the 'journal/newspaper'? I will see what info I can get on them.

Pauline

Qualiteet-shirts

You've confirmed my thoughts -

They sent a copy of the journal (it looks like a kind of newspaper, with adverts & editorial on every page - also some pages say they are sponsered)

But they could just say that. It took 3 of us ages to find "our bit" - it was the "Press release" we e-mailed to the world - word for word.

I cannot believe they think they can get away with this. I think the whole thing is a fake...... I presume if no one has ever read this paper, they don't actually have a readership.

I shall contact their local trading standards. Perhaps they can look into it.

 

[Qualitee]

Yes, Alice should get a prize, too quick for me too!

Pauline
Qualiteet-shirts

 

[frauke]

yes thats the company - I took a look a the issue on the site - I recognise many of the adverts etc... but "our editorial " is not there....


It locked my computer up completely..


I'm going to try your suggestions - it'll be fun doing it.... Everything our guys spend have to be approved before they spend. (Policy put in years ago, as too many screw ups over the years - even the MD get approval from me before going ahead and I him) - so they are very carefully. Even if we over order by accident - it gets returned for a refund.

We have a rule - if you want it - you can't have it, but if you need it, then get it approved first.

 

I have had loads of problems with these guys, invoicing for work not actually done, doing some agreed work badly and then going to print without authority for stuff that would not have seen the light of day had I seen the proof first. I don't say this often but they are a bunch of charlatans, and I'd advise anyone to be careful - particularly if they claim they've selected you as Company of the Month.

I've just refused yet another invoice for work I didn't commission. Ask them to prove they have your signature on something, they'll either not be able to do it or they'll produce and undated one from work they did months before and which has already been paid for.

I will never ever use them again as they've been a nightmare.

 

[FreshmediaMidlandsLtd]

My name is Tony Jacques and I am a director of Fresh Media (midlands) Ltd.

May I firstly re-assure all persons on this forum we are a perfectly legitimate organisation. All of our publications have a circulation of 5000 copies to free outlets and a small free subscription. We cover various topics and industry matters as it states on our website. All of the publications that are published are done so with the funding of advertising and advertorials. All advertising printed is done so by written or e-mailed authorisation from the company in question. Once printed all invoices are sent out with a voucher copy attached - without exception.
Any company who states they have not authorised any advertising has this confirmation sent to them once the query is raised. If anyone on this site has any queries regarding the work we have or (as alleged) have not done then they are welcome to contact me directly at the address below rather than banding about ill-founded and potentially libelous allegations.

I would also like to state that the only person to my knowledge on this forum with legitimate complaints towards my company is Boho Jewellery. What they have conveniently forgotten to mention in their posting is that we did admit to our mistakes in this case and my partner credited their account in full. If we have legitimate complaints they are treated in a prompt and proffesional manner.

I would like to re-iterate that should anyone have any queries regarding my organisation I suggest they ask me directly in writing as opposed to filling their days with idle gossip and conjecture. Particularly those people who have had absolutely no dealings with us at all - may i suggest you all have a little too much time on your hands!

I will be watching this space very closely for any other unfounded allegations. I suggest this matter is at a close. All of our contact details are easily found on invoices and publications so if there are any problems we welcome your feedback.

Regards

T.Jacques
Fresh Media (midlands) Ltd
5th Floor
Scala House
Holloway Circus
Birmingham
B1 1EQ

 

I would also like to state that the only person to my knowledge on this forum with legitimate complaints towards my company is Boho Jewellery. What they have conveniently forgotten to mention in their posting is that we did admit to our mistakes in this case and my partner credited their account in full. If we have legitimate complaints they are treated in a prompt and proffesional manner.

Yes I did have a legitimate complaint, and no I did not conveniently forget, however the funds were only credited to the account after a point blank refusal to pay on my part in the first place and took significant time to achieve, the invoice mentioned in my post came after the incident where my account had been re credited.


Companies succeed and fail on their reputation and in my experience you failed spectacularly to provide my company with a satisfactory level of service. If you had provided a good service then I would be happy to recommend you to others, but your continual failures when handling my advertising and repeated demands for money not owed to you suggest to me that customer service and service delivery do not appear in your companies mission statement.

I will also be watching this closely myself.

 

[FreshmediaMidlandsLtd]

Boho - We can only take appropriate action once a query has been raised with us. You legitimately raised a grievance and we credited your account accordingly. Regarding chasing you for monies not owed I think you will find that any invoices would have matched our documentation and we agreed in good faith to bring the matter to a close.

In terms of customer service and recommendation, I would not expect you to recommend my business after our unfortunate episode however I would have expected you to have the courtesy of telling any mutual contacts that if they have a problem to speak to us directly and we will resolve the issue - which is what happened in your case.

I wish you and your business every success in the future.

 

[PRagency]

I'm not sure what how these Fresh Media publications (Solution4Industry, Business Review etc) pick up press releases and advertisements, but an educated guess would be that they scour other magazines in a vain attempt of speaking to someone who inadvertably, in their haste or inexperience, authorises a colour separation charge or agrees to place an advertisement without first requesting a copy of the paper (and therefor seeing forthemselves the production and editorial quality). Or even possibly prey on small business who have no access to any marketing advice.

I know for a fact that we do not send releases for any of our clients to these publications (as I personaly make sure they are not on the distribution lists), yet somehow they still bother our clients and then ultamitly us with vain attempts of obtaining a colour separation authorisation (by sometimes dropping the price to £40).

Of course, this is only my personal opinion and I would urge anybody who is pondering to place any advetisement or autorise a colour seperation charge with any of the above publications to make there own mind up, by requesting a copy of the publication or viewing backissues online. (sorry I can't post URLs)

 

[FreshmediaMidlandsLtd]

PR Agency - We obtain press information from a number of sources and have many clients who use us regularly for coverage. We, like every other business actively seek to attract new business through sales and we do not PREY on anyone. Every company we contact is given every opportunity to say no or ask any questions they feel relevant. The advice you have given is absolutely correct and I have no problem with people being sure before they authorise anything with our publication.
In fact, if people were more aware of what they were authorising we wouldn't have people like Frauke on this forum making up ridiculous suggestions about us and we could all get on with our lives!!

I would also like to state for the record I have private messaged Frauke 3 times when I know they have been online, to see if they still have a problem with us and what their initial query was.They haven't even had the courtesy of replying to me.

I wish they had the courage of their convictions to either discuss the matter with me directly or admit they may have been a little hasty with their postings and retract them. It is very easy to hide behind an username and not be brave enough to discuss the matter like an adult.

You will see I have left my address (in my initial posting) should anyone wish to get in touch regarding my company.

I genuinely hope this is the last time I have to respond to anything on this tedious forum.

Regards

T.Jacques

 

[threewaves]

Definitely a company to avoid doing business with. We were phoned to be told that they had an amazing offer for us because they wanted to feature us on their front page - they needed to 'hold the front page'. Having never heard of their publication we said no because it didn't seem relevant to us - we were told it definitely was relevant and in the right sector - the name was their 'trading name' not the name of the actual publication (Jobs & Careers). After this assurance and the promise that we didn't need to pay until later in the year we decided to give them a try.

Turned out the line about being their 'trading name' wasn't true - it actually was the name of the publication and it wasn't relevant to our sector. We didn't appear on the front page as we'd been told we would, and they invoiced us immediately. After initially refusing to pay because they'd misled us they agreed to put us on the front page (which they did) and since then they've hassled us like you wouldn't believe for payment - despite their original promise that payment wasn't due (it would only just be due now if they honoured their original promise).

So well fool us for not doing our research and a hard lesson learned. Of course the thing that really matters is was the advertisement worth it? The total enquiries we've had as a result of advertising with them.......................one! (Who wanted a job with us!!)

They may do other publications that are more effective but my experience is they're not good value, they do exaggerate in order to make a sale, and they're not pleasant to deal with.

 

[businessroger]

I was approached by a gentleman asking me to sign up for a 'commitment to excellence case study' for not an inconsiderable ammount of money.

Having seen the publication, it appeared to be a Frankenstein's monster - with no clear editorial direction, severely lacking in informative content and riddled with glaring errors. I must say, it was about as desirable as a sunshine break in Afghanistan - although the design and layout was ok.

Needless to say, I declined the offer - even when he dropped the price. Anybody willing to take them up on one of their unacredited 'awards' would only be worthy of a 'Mug of the Month' gong in my mind.

These guys couldn't be bigger cowboys if they had an employee called Tonto and sported ten gallon hats. Which I suspect they do actually wear, as they count their filthy lucre....

 

[pragent]

Solutions4Industry

I agree with pragency.

This "journal" should be avoided like the plague. It lacks any kind of editorial quality, focus or direction and merely resembles a collection of randomly selected press releases, which are senselessly strewn over its pages.

Frankly, the page design is offensive. The fonts are crudely resized to squash press releases into tiny designated spaces, which are positioned haphazardly with no regard to appearance. The result is a horribly messy, mismatched, disorganised spread, which looks more like a patchwork quilt than a newspaper page. A true insult to any graphic designer or page layout worker.

Solutions4Industry does not appear to have a target audience. Its title is deliberately vague, in order to mislead inexperienced companies and PR agents into the deluded belief that it is in some way relevant. Sadly, it is not. It is made broad in order to ensnare as many press releases as possible, regardless of their content, to improve the chances of making money.

I seriously doubt Solutions4Industry is on any official circulation list. It certainly isn't on ours. Yet we are still plagued with calls made by Solution4Industry's moronic staff requesting £100 colour seps. Having an intelligent conversation with these people is usually extremely difficult. I could think of many ways to promote my business with a hundred pounds, and Solutions4Industry certainly isn't one of them.

The readership is 'approximately' 15,000. Note, it is not ABC audited. I doubt it has a targeted circulation list at all - merely a database of addresses, containing people that did not 'tick the box' when asked to do so if they did not require information from third party companies.

Anyone unfortunate enough to have obtained a copy of Solutions4Industry will tell you its not worth the paper its printed on. A tramp wouldn't use it to line his cardboard box. Avoid it!

 

[Mass Appeal Designs]

Usually with these types of publications the journals, magazines, brichures etc are only sent out to the companies that have placed an advertisement in them. So if a publication has 200 companies advertising they will print just over 200 and send them to the advertising companies inside the publication.

I have never heard of the company you are talking about so I cant really say anything about them personally to be honest.

 

[FreshmediaMidlandsLtd]

Yet again I find myself wasting time replying to tedious postings on this most unfortunate of sites.

Firstly, Businessroger, it would seem inbetween your tragically cliched puns and unfunny wisecracks that the crux of your message is that you were offered some advertising and decided not to proceed because you didnt like the publication. Fair enough, quite why that makes us anything to do with american comic book characters puzzles me.

PRagent, while I appreciate that you are quite within your rights to offer your opinion to your clients, I would hope that other people would be perfectly capable of making an informed decision without your help. Do not forget it is your personal opinion. In response to your posting please read my previous postings which states our stance with regard to what Solutions4industry is about and the way we do things. If you wish to contact me with a list of clients for us not to contact I will make sure this is implemented.

Finally, I have already stated the circulation figures and do not have to justify them to a rather inflammatory posting.

As always my contact details are available on the site for anyone who has a legitimate grievance, otherwise I await any comments I deem sufficient for legal action.

 

[PayVector]

These guys couldn't be bigger cowboys if they had an employee called Tonto and sported ten gallon hats. Which I suspect they do actually wear, as they count their filthy lucre....

Um Tonto was an Indian and side kick to the Lone Ranger

EDIT :!!!!!!

These guys couldn't be bigger cowboys if they had an employee wearing a mask and screaming "Hi Ho Silver Away" whilst sitting atop the copier machine and waving a ten gallon hats. Which I suspect they do actually wear, as they count their filthy lucre....

 

[businessroger]

It's a blessing that sites like this exist so business people can pool their resources and avoid dalliances with Solutions4Industry and companies of their ilk.

If a quality, useful product was being delivered then a discussion like this would not be ignited. As it is, it's general shoddiness is being exposed.

If the company were to produce a product which was engaging, informative and effective there would be no cause to grumble - in fact, these pages would be filled with the chimes of ringing endorsement. But what's actually being produced is arguably the sort of thing you'd call TV's 'Watchdog' about.

 

[FreshmediaMidlandsLtd]

What absolute nonsence. If you do not like the publication or do not wish to use it then that is entirely your perogative.

To suggest we are doing anything to call 'watchdog' about is entirely farcical. We provide low cost advertising within a newspaper. We at no point have tried to suggest anything other than that. I believe you have to actually do something wrong to get a meeting with Nicky Campbell!

I return to my original point, if you dont like it, dont use it. If you feel you would like to go on a crusade and tell all your friends then thats up to you. We will continue to offer low budget advertising to people and people will continue to use us for exactly that. If people are unhappy with the service they recieve, these complaints are dealt with as quickly as we are made aware of them. We naturally cannot keep everyone happy all the time (no-one can). However I continue to stress we do have people who use us regularly for a bit of extra coverage at a low cost and they do see some value in it. If thats not you or your colleagues on this site then fine, but do not suggest we are doing anything underhand or unscrupulous.

 

[Alpha]

Businessroger you have now aired your point and Freshmedia has put their point of view forward in answer.

There really isn't anything more to say on the subject without resorting to pointless 'name calling' therefore I'm locking this thread.