| Matchmaker Marketing Trick Irish Businesses - Beware! |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Sian Phillips |
| Wednesday, 27 May 2009 13:16 |
|
Over the last 10 days it came to our attention at Whatswhat.ie that a UK company is calling companies on our directory. We have over 65,000 companies listed and believe they have contacted 1,000’s to date. This company is called Matchmaker Marketing. There are others but Matchmaker has a vigorous campaign going on at the moment targeting Irish companies and probably from other directories too. It is bad enough they are calling our customers and sometimes being detrimental about our service, however it is difficult for us to stop this as being an online business directory we are in the public domain and companies listed with us show their details in order to be seen. The problem is that this company infers they are Google from the start of the conversation and are tricking Irish businesses into thinking they are being called by Google so the call must therefore be bona fide. Those that know a bit better realise that Google wouldn’t be calling them direct so they ask who they actually are and they admit to being Matchmaker Marketing. However they then claim to be affiliated with Google or a Google reseller or Google’s largest reseller in the UK. “As in Carphone Warehouse is to Vodafone” (their words) The sales spiel then starts and they say many different things. The main ones being:- • We can get you on the first page of Google in the top 3 organic listings and guarantee that you stay there • We can get you on the first page of Google in the top 10 organic listings and guarantee that you stay there • We can get you in the top 3 sponsored links on Google and guarantee that you stay there • We can guarantee you stay on the first page of Google somewhere • We’re only selling these spots to one type of company in your area • Google have allocated us one space in the natural listings and we are the only reseller that can do this • Blah blah blah How do I know this? Because they contacted me directly not realising my connection with Whatswhat or that I actually knew what they were saying could not be true. I also have about 150 emails from people who have been contacted by them. And that number is growing daily. Unfortunately some that have paid too. Whatswhat.ie hopes to stop this misrepresentation happening to businesses with the best of our ability. We do not condone this type of business behaviour and intend to stamp it out. We contacted Google and they have their legal team investigating the matter. Firstly because this company are using the Google logo on their email correspondence without permission by Google and secondly because they have seen a batch of the emails I’ve been receiving whereby people have said they thought they were being contacted by Google so they paid over money. Here are two statements that Google have given me to use in order to warn people about this:- “Thanks for the complaint and we can understand your frustration. It's been forwarded to the appropriate team, which will investigate. Essentially, it's up to advertisers to work with agencies they trust. MatchMaker Marketing and Sphere Marketing have no affiliation with Google” Google UK & Ireland (dated 20/5/09) “We’re extremely concerned to learn of companies without affiliation to Google using our name to mislead or mistreat small businesses who want to advertise online. Our legal team investigates such abuses and we continue to work with the relevant authorities to combat the problems caused. We always urge businesses in the UK and Ireland to work only with agencies they know and trust. We have established a programme of Authorised Google AdWords Resellers whom businesses can trust to manage their advertising on Google. Alternatively, they can do this directly with us at adwords.google.com." - Google UK & Ireland (dated 22/5/09) Basically what they are selling is Google Adwords for a fixed price per month. We’ve been told prices that range from €90 to €250 so far. It varies with the company they contact. Google Adwords do NOT get you on the natural listings in Google – on any page. They get you in the sponsored listings and not always guaranteed the top 3 or first page. With Google Adwords you would normally pay per click (ppc) for the words that you want to come up on Google for. You will show in the sponsored listings on the right hand side and very top randomly. For a full and easy to understand description of the difference please use this link - http://www.webmentor.ie/how-to-guides/s ... o-sem.html courtesy of Webmentor.ie Only today I spoke to a company that had paid them €90 for one search term (adwords) for one month. I have checked and last month that search term had less than 10 searches on Google Ireland. If they’d gone direct with Google the adwords would have cost them approximately 5 cents per click therefore approximately 50 cents for the month. Can you see how much the UK company made with that company therefore??? It is possible they get the Adwords pay per click even cheaper as they are ‘buying in bulk’ but we don’t know that. Ironically our customer was also second in the organic listings for that search term via Whatswhat. Unfortunately they are contacting people that may never read this because they don’t use the computer or internet very often or at all. One man contacted us about it and did not know how to forward the email he’d got from them so is sending it in the post!!! All they know is that the first page of Google is the be all and end all. They don’t understand they could go direct to Google.adwords and choose how much they pay per click and get it a lot cheaper. Or use a bona fide adwords company (preferably in Ireland) that will work with them for a much cheaper cost and no false promises. This company probably isn’t targeting London companies where the Adwords pay per click would cost a lot more. No, they are targeting companies in rural areas in Ireland where using, for example Youghal, tagged on to a search term the cost would be minimal via a legitimate Adwords campaign. We are not saying Matchmaker Marketing is not a legitimate company and they cannot offer a legitimate service. They have been Google accredited for selling Adwords. That is not ‘Google affiliated’ or a ‘Google reseller’. They can put together a Google adword campaign for you. Unfortunately they are not saying that when they ring Joe Bloggs plumber who thinks he’s been called by Google because they picked him out of the hat for his area to make sure he gets onto the first page of Google. You can read more on these forums:- http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forum ... hp?t=88096 http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01619417944 or just type in Matchmaker Marketing on Google.co.uk and you’ll see a lot. Seems they have moved from targeting UK companies to Irish ones now. Please warn everyone about this as we really have to stop this happening to the small businesses in Ireland. Especially in this time of recession. If anyone has more information please email me on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it as I am compiling information for Google plus we are going to the media with this. Comments (18)
  written by Jo, June 09, 2009
I've had so many calls from this company and everyone of them rude and aggressive. I actually rang them back to complain and was put through to a so-called manager who's attitude was as bad as the previous callers. Is there somewhere else we can go to complain about this Company? I could actually picture the "Manager" laughing his head off after he hung up the call and congratulating his staff for doing their job right.... so so frustrating.
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
 written by Editor, June 12, 2009
Thanks for the comments folks! If anybody else reading this article has had a similiar bad experience, please let us know so that we can spread the word!
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
 written by martyn, July 10, 2009
I have a friend that got sacked from matchmaker a few weeks ago now, for not getting enough sales, then they called him back to office and gave him his job back.
up untill now he didt know as staff that all these things were lies, they were trained to say things like, "biggest reseller of google in uk", "google afilliated", "in conjunction with fsb" "guanteed page 1", which we later found out thats not 24/7 even if your on page 1 for an hour that still counts. he feels gutted as he thought it was a big break into sales to earn some money before he went traveling, there paying 17,000 p.a, but what he didt no for every day you dont get a sale your fined £50 out of your wage EVEN IF YOU MEET THERE WEEKLY TARGET i think there also taking advantage of the staff in the credit crunch, i feel for there customers but a least its only£100, there staff have left other jobs, and some weeks lose most of there wages, needless to say i have advised him to take legal action as im sure they cant fine you, its like paying there phone bill for the day. report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +1
 written by Sian Phillips, September 07, 2009
I can now confirm that Matchmaker are definitely not an Accredited Google Adwords company and they are definitely not a Google reseller. They have also had to remove the Google logo from their site and emails. This has been confirmed to me today via the Google UK office. However they are still phoning companies and tricking them so please let everyone know about this as it could be a friend of yours that gets tricked if you don't.
Thanks Sian http://www.whatswhat.ie This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
 written by Lara Lahoud, October 01, 2009
Hi,
I just had a call from them and the caller actually asked me to Google them. This page was at the top of the list and I started reading it out to the caller.. I'm sure that was a tad embarrassing. She didn't mention anything at all about Google apart from the fact that the major benefit of dealing with them is that you don't end up paying per click or per view the way you would with Google Adwords. Instead, you only pay a set monthly fee. This may be slightly beneficial people that prefer knowing how much they are spending each month.. the type of person that would only feel secure when they have the same monthly salary coming in each month from a stable employer. Not quite the small to medium business mind-frame which is exactly what they appear to be targeting. 
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
 written by Karl Baker, October 07, 2009
They were trying to sell me the keywords "wedding photographer in swansea" at first they insisted that it would be an organic link on the first page! as I know a bit about search engine optimisation I knew this was lies! then the next day they called back and apologised and when pushed admitted it was adwords they were using! I know for the 5 key phrases we are targeting for our website that the CPC is quite low so we can manage that ourselves.
I then asked if they would be able to do the same deal for my other business and online shop in which the keywords and phrases are much higher CPC. They promised they can do this as a first page adword listing within 48 hrs. I now gather from reading up on this that its not a 24/7 advert on the front page, but just for certain hours!! and that seems to be the catch! report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
 written by Franck, October 29, 2009
Cette société m'a contacter aujourdhui.Ils prospectent également en france.Et l appel provenait bien d angleterre.
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
 written by Peter McCavana, October 30, 2009
As at least one other person has said, Matchmaker Marketing are also canvassing in France.
I am a freelance translator based in France. Matchmaker Marketing targeted me. Matchmaker Marketing phoned me in the spring of this year (2009). They asked me to Google them while on the phone, and then said that, in return for a lump sum registration fee (around 150 euros) they could enable me to appear on the first page of a Google search if people searched for a few keywords. I was a bit wary, but I'm sorry to admit I fell for their bait, and I paid the lump sum. They sent me a "Matchmaker Web Brief" - a file/form to fill in with details of my job and a brief CV, etc. I filled it in and returned it to them this summer. As far as I remember, Matchmaker Marketing did *not* mention that they were affiliated to Google as such. However, the worst thing is that they have not provided any service at all, and they have not replied to any of my e-mails or phone calls since sending them my Web Brief. Perhaps they will claim that they have simply delayed in providing the service, and that this does not constitute a scam or fraud?... Here is their e-mail address: \n This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Their phone No. in England is/was 0161 941 7644 report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
 written by laura smith, November 19, 2009 We are a Company in the Uk who took out a one-month trial with Matchmaker Marketing last summer and had a terrible experience which we still haven't had resolved. It started first with 'We are calling from Google', then 'On behalf of Google' and then they assured us that they were authorised Google Adwords Resellers (which is not true as only BT Business, Yell, Infoserve, Portfolio Europe and ReachLocal are in the UK); so completely mis-selling their service. Some may say that this was our fault for not making the necessary checks, but it is not always easy for small 'hands-on' businesses to do so (a hard way to learn a lesson). The trial itself was unsuccessful and so we wrote to Matchmaker stating that we were cancelling our campaign with them. Taking into account a 30 days notice period, since what should have been our last bill they made a further 4 unauthorised debit card transactions. It is easy to say that this should have been picked up on the 1st unauthorised transaction, but i reiterate my point above; it is not easy to keep track of every transaction and is yet another lesson hard learned. When we contacted them they admitted to having our letter of cancellation and that these payments should not have been taken. However, we are still to receive our monies back and are still waiting for contact from anyone in a position of authority within the Matchmaker Marekting organisation. We have had to block our debit card and our Bank have now taken over in recovering the monies. Under no circumstances should anybody have any dealings with Matchmaker Marketing - they are nothing but debit/credit card thieving scammers in my opinion. report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +1
 written by Us Too - Aquatrek Sea Skills, November 19, 2009
Same approach and deal then they tried to get us to change / re-tailor packages but by then I had been at an internet seminar with East Cork Tourism where we were told that there is no way they could deliver what they promised.
Next came a call ofering to get us listed on Google Adwords - I asked why when I could do it myself at which point they got extremely abusive and hung up. I later cancelled all proceedings only to receive a customer service call yesterday. When asked for credit card details I declined to give them but this morning they charged 230EUR to my card - obviously having held card info on file - Illegal! I've contacted the bank who may be able to salvage the transaction but will probably have to cancel my business card and have it re-issued. report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
 written by witheld, December 09, 2009
i used towork for this company, and they suck you in saying you will earn £1000 per week, payed weekly and all you need to do is sell this 'fantasic product' we are the only resellers of google, give you hardcore training to be arrogant on the phone. pressure sales customer says i do not want this product!! 'WHY, GIVE YOUR HEAD A WOBBLE, CANT YOU SEE ITS GOOGLE YOU HAVE TO BE ON GOOGLE. IS THAT FAIR ENOUGH' GIVEV IT A GO.
I QUOTE 'he feels gutted as he thought it was a big break into sales to earn some money before he went traveling, there paying 17,000 p.a, but what he didt no for every day you dont get a sale your fined £50 out of your wage EVEN IF YOU MEET THERE WEEKLY TARGET' this is true, they have to fine a certain amount on a daily basis. if you blank for 3 days you get sacked..... SCAM BEWARE!!!!!!!!! report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
written by Sian Phillips, January 22, 2010
Further to the article I wrote back in May 2009 I still hear about Matchmaker Marketing (aka Apex Media, Sphere, Zenith, Storm Media) nearly every week. They've even phoned me a couple of times and their sales spiel is still the same as it was back last May. It is unbelievable that they are still allowed to trade and get away with their scam. You can see updated information about them and their aliases on my blog - http://www.whatswhat.ie/blog/c...marketing/ which I try to keep updated. You will find further links on there to other blogs and articles which show all the different aliases and tricks that they use. All we can do is keep writing these and spreading the word I guess as Google don't seem to be doing any more about them no matter how many times I email people's complaints. Tell everyone you know about these articles so no colleagues or friends of yours get caught.
Thanks Sian http://www.whatswhat.ie This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: -1
 written by Eco Friendly Cheap Printing, January 27, 2010
Hi there - I got a call from these guys today and after getting off the phone with them I was so shaken up, and downright furious, that it really took me some time to pull myself together again! Now that my senses have come back to me, I am driven to write on as many forums to get the word out there that these people are running a complete scam.
I took an interest at first, of course, especially since we are currently optimising our new eco friendly, cheap printing site, but after giving me a GUARANTEE that I would be number one in the sponsored listings EVERY DAY for a month for £99 for premium keywords, I felt a bit uneasy. I said I would need to talk this over with my business manager, and the man turned into the devil, literally telling me I 'didn't have the balls to make a business decision', that I didn't know how to run a business, and that he would find someone else in my business sector to take the 'ONLY' place they had for printers in London (please). We all know this can't possibly be true, but what about fair trade? I am going to the OFT... I think others should join me. This kind of business practice is unacceptable and completely unethical. They are targeting small business owners with little money as it is and trying to steal (yes, steal!) their money from them, selling them nothing but lies. And what about Google? Why haven't they done anything about it yet? I find the whole thing shocking. Would love to hear other stories. I'm going all the way with this one! report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
 written by John Elliott, February 05, 2010
I too was given the hard agresive sales and provided my credit card details on various conditions, which were never met. I immediately phoned them the next day to say that I was not interested and did not want my credit card charged, but they did so anyway. Each time I telephone them, they always agree to a refund but never do. I am in the process of getting HSBC to claw the money back but this is easier said than done. I may have to go to the small claims court but this costs time and money, plus they would probably never show up.
I think this is a case for BBC Watchdog. Anyone who has got the time to organise a joint campaign, please count me in. report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: -2
 written by Carol Rose, February 19, 2010
Just had a similar experience today and am sorry to say fell for their amazing promises! Especially as we are desperate to get a website going and have been let down already on this. Got wary when I downloaded their invoice to us - very basic and unprofessional, so did a quick search and found this site. Will try to cancel agreement on Monday but from reading all above comments it doesn't look likely. Has anyone actually managed to get their money back? What about the 28 day cooling off period?
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +1
 written by Alan LOPEZ, March 30, 2010
Ns sommes une petite maison d'hôte en france et venons faire l'objet de démarches commerciales très agressives et efficaces, ns avons payé les 120€ du premier mois avec comme ils disent possibilité d'annuler à tout moment, mais il semble que bon nombre de personnes comme nous se sont vues débitées d'autres sommes les mois suivants.
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +1
 written by Philip Bourke, April 14, 2010
I'm based in Cork, Ireland, I got caught too, Apex media. They even had the nerve to threaten me with a debt collector and even charge me euro200 extra interest for the payments I charged back. I had emailed and called the Apex office, in Altrincham, on numerous occasions to get to the bottom of this and sort it out since they were taking money from my account each month, triple what was agreed upon. I felt so foolish for haven being conned. Each time I rang it was a different excuse. But at least I got some of the money back. But receiving their letter which theratened a debt collector made me so angry. It's incredible how low these scamming scumbags will stoop to screw people out of their money.
report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
Write comment
|
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 May 2009 14:13 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
When I forwarded a Google e-mail stating they had no such relationship, the tone and attitude changed and their supervisor quickly changed ... deplorable salesmanship and marketing.