Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Russ Chadd on January 05, 2012, 10:25:22 am
-
What is everyone's thoughts on advertising with yell.com?
I have experienced very poor service so far, cock up after cock up regarding setting up the account, being billed a different figure than what was agreed, being billed for two active accounts when there should only be one and having my video rejected after waiting 3 weeks for it to be uploaded.
And to top it all the phone has not rang once with a yell.com enquiry since the add went live at the beginning of Nov.
What would you do in my position?
Cheers
Russ
-
Get rid of yell asap but I don't think they will let you get of a contract once signed. Generally yell does not work, the book might be useful for a point of reference i.e. previous customer looking for your business name. Some would say do not bother full stop.
I never generated much out of yell.com. I live in Holmfirth near Huddersfield, Huddersfield being the HD post code Holmfirth falls under
I wanted to picked up on search's by people typing in 'carpet cleaner Huddersfield' or 'carpet cleaner Holmfirth'. Looked on the site after signing up and found that that I did not appear under a search for Huddersfield as Yell said my actual postal town was Holmfirth the whole post coded area is not large HD1 to HD9 and I was cut out of 8 of these straight off.
Probably an avoidable mistake on my part but you have signed on the dotted line with these people before you get a taste of what's to come.
Good luck!
-
I'd sooner bin them and just gamble the money on a horse, you have a better chance of a return for your cash.... ;D
-
Currently got my new rep stalking me constantly,wanting to arrange a meeting,new and exciting things happening apparently !! Have had a new rep every year since starting with them 8 years ago,have no intention of signing up to it,it's probably generated a couple of hundred £ worth of work last year,so yes,prob best to put it on a pony !!
-
Tony (Carpet Dawg) had some problem with Yell last year, he may be able to advise how to get out of the deal.
I leave the horses alone these days, last one I backed (1997) is still running I think
;D ;D ;D
-
so if not yell do others do any other books e.g. thomson local? and what other method would people suggest? you've got website, leaflets and what?
-
Currently got my new rep stalking me constantly,wanting to arrange a meeting,new and exciting things happening apparently !! Have had a new rep every year since starting with them 8 years ago,have no intention of signing up to it,it's probably generated a couple of hundred £ worth of work last year,so yes,prob best to put it on a pony !!
Had the same prob.... funny enough one phoned me yesterday..... had some free time so went to town ;D ;D Dont think they will ring again ;D ;D
so if not yell do others do any other books e.g. thomson local? and what other method would people suggest? you've got website, leaflets and what?
Not in yell but we are in Thomson local as we get huuuugggee discount with FSB ;D ;D
-
I wouldnt bother russ with yell mate.
Like most of thew old directories they have had there day....
Afew good web sites will generate more work.
-
I dumped both Yell YP and Thompsons 7 years ago.
When did you last see one in a customer's house? Years ago they would be with a directory by the phone, now they hold the door open if they are lucky- they don't even do that properly now they are half size and thinner than before- tells a tale.
And I get just as much work.
-
Thanks guys, the problem i have is that i have already signed up for 12 months, had the rep on the phone today to try and convince me that it was a good deal but i convinced him that when a google search for carpet cleaning in my area was made... my website appeared on the same page not 5 ads down from the sponsored ones!
Does anyone know how i can legally dump them?
-
Worst thing I ever did was sign up for a year with yell.com - complete waste of £700 !!
-
Just recieved our new yellow pages today, matched it up against last years and its about 3/4 the thickness.
On the plus side theres a hell of a lot less competition only a single page of carpet cleaners.
I was in last years book and recieved work but not even enough to cover the cost.
-
russ: afaik with all contracts you get at least 7 days to cancel. so ring them tell them you've changed your mind. i did this with AA after signing up i realised i'm with RAC with my bank so next day rang up and it was all fine no charge.
-
mike robets: does that mean only use thomson cos you've got a discount or would it be worth it paying full price?
-
If they are not keeping to their side of the contract why should you? Tell them to cancel it and call their bluff- you have nothing to lose and a fee to gain.
-
And a lesson for next year.
-
mike robets: does that mean only use thomson cos you've got a discount or would it be worth it paying full price?
If we didnt get the discount would not consider it for a second ;D Ps its Roberts thks ! ;D
-
I paid good money this year and only had one job:( won't be doong it again.
-
Ring Trading Standards and ask their advice, i bet they will tell you they are in breach of contract you have paid for 12 months advertising and because of their inabilities you wont or havent received this therefore they have not fullfilled their end of the agreement.
if they gave assurances when the add would go live and have not done this then again breach of contract.
Try call their bluff tell them you are no longer paying due to the above and if they wont to take legal action you are happy to see them in court and let a judge decide. Also tell them you are going to tell anyone who will listen i.e local press, cleanit up, face book etc that they are just a bunch of wasters.
Keep records of all converstions and letters you may need them latter.
Good luck.
John
-
russ: afaik with all contracts you get at least 7 days to cancel. so ring them tell them you've changed your mind. i did this with AA after signing up i realised i'm with RAC with my bank so next day rang up and it was all fine no charge.
welcome back again Kermit......
This just confirms your muppetry status
;D ;D ;D ;D
-
did they inform you before each DD was taken out?
did they get anything wrong on your business name etc?
-
It really makes me laugh when people slate "the book". What about your f****g advert?! I've heard nobody say "Oh my advert was crap so i ditched it".
Insanity, utter madness.
Of course people still look in yellow pages, but nowhere near as much as before admittedly. If your advert is pants, so will your return on it be. YP will never be the income source it used to be 10 years ago but it is still used by many people, more specifically the 60+ age bracket who are least computer-savvy (many don't even have a computer)
It's dead easy to be a baaaaa baaaaa sheep and copy everyone by saying the YP book is no good. It's really difficult to admit you've wasted money on a bad advert.
Now, yell.com that's a different story, because everyone's advert looks the same. Therefore if you don't pay to keep top position all the time you'll never be anywhere near the top and never get a call from it.
Before they re-vamped yell.com 3 or 4 years ago I used to spend around £400 a year on it and it just about broke even, maybe a slight profit. Then when they changed its layout and the results ranking, price went up and the enquiries went down.... I'M OUT!
-
I'm finding the opposite with Yell.com.
It works well for me and from January to December last year, I had just over £3k in work from it. Most of that was commercial work and I had £360 in domestic work from it in December. What I find with Yell.com is that hardly anybody (in my area) bothers to complete their profile. Utter madness - you have paid for it and it is there to sell your services.
I have binned the Yellow Pages advert though. I have tried 3 different adverts - all designed by Yell and year after year they had my lowest ROI.
Linds
-
I have tried 3 different adverts - all designed by Yell
There's your problem.
-
Agreed. The "experts" get it right again
-
Hi Lindsay,
I too have had not bad results from Yell in the past (not the book) and always seems to be the odd large commercial job, no domestic tho, seems it is just businesses that use it now.... ;)
Graeme
-
It really makes me laugh when people slate "the book". What about your f****g advert?! I've heard nobody say "Oh my advert was crap so i ditched it".
I stopped YP because I was paying £180 a month and YP generated £400 for the year... A no brainer ???
Was my advert bad? Probably! It was my first year...
Are you suggesting I should have kept trying until I got it right???
-
Are you suggesting I should have kept trying until I got it right???
Yup
that is why we still have a Navy................
still tryig to get it right
;D ;D ;D ;D
-
It really makes me laugh when people slate "the book". What about your f****g advert?! I've heard nobody say "Oh my advert was crap so i ditched it".
Insanity, utter madness.
Of course people still look in yellow pages, but nowhere near as much as before admittedly. If your advert is pants, so will your return on it be. YP will never be the income source it used to be 10 years ago but it is still used by many people, more specifically the 60+ age bracket who are least computer-savvy (many don't even have a computer)
It's dead easy to be a baaaaa baaaaa sheep and copy everyone by saying the YP book is no good. It's really difficult to admit you've wasted money on a bad advert.
Now, yell.com that's a different story, because everyone's advert looks the same. Therefore if you don't pay to keep top position all the time you'll never be anywhere near the top and never get a call from it.
Before they re-vamped yell.com 3 or 4 years ago I used to spend around £400 a year on it and it just about broke even, maybe a slight profit. Then when they changed its layout and the results ranking, price went up and the enquiries went down.... I'M OUT!
Our f**king adverts were fine thanks very much ;D - we would not spend over £7000 for sh*t ads!
For us the returns simply did not warrant the 'spend'. If you wish to target the ederly then yes there is still a limited place for the book but this is gradually decreasing :P, I think it is surprising how many are computer savy! (just looking at emails we recieve from inlaws and all the ccs ;D ;D)
If we spent £400 a year and it just broke even we would of binned it then ;D before they modified the ranking sytem ;D
Personally I got fed up dealing with a national company who would send a different rep with different ideas year on year, with no clear plan. Hence each year you spend a pot of money without any progression. We have now moved this pot of money elsewhere to market our company with a defined market plan ...you certainly will not get that from YP.
If your spend is limited the first place i would look is the local parish mags - these produce by far the highest returns .. for us anyway, howvever if these are successful there is usually a long waiting list :(
-
My ad on Yell.com looks ok to me, i have taken the time to write a good profile about my business and the service i provide.
Also just to make clear, i signed up for this in early Nov, was told the ad would go live in about a weeks time... well due to "technical" problems the ad did not go online for nearly 2 weeks, when it did the 5 chosen areas (towns) were totally wrong and not anywhere near where i lived!
Also updating my profile was proving to be a pain, spending 20 mins typing text into the online box only to have it refresh once i hit send losing all the content!
Then the invoice was cocked up, there were different figures on the invoice compared to what i had agreed....
When i threatened to pull out a chirpy salesman called me and assured me he would be taking over my account and everything would be put right, NO mention of any form of compensation for all the poor service i had already experienced but even more sales patter to persuade me to part with another £400!!!!
"how many more calls could your business handle per week"? i was asked... that extra £400 was for a larger ad in the directory! I said NO absolutely not!
And finally once the new account had been finally set up and was live my invoice showed the two accounts and a bill for over a grand!
My direct debits had been doubled!
Have i got grounds for termination based on the above events? should i go and see the C.A.B?
I spoke to them yesterday and as far as they are concerned "the ad is up and running and we have sorted things out our end, you are in a 12 month contract"
-
It really makes me laugh when people slate "the book". What about your f****g advert?! I've heard nobody say "Oh my advert was crap so i ditched it".
Spot on Jim. The same applies to leaflets and websites.
Most say exactly the same... e.g.
We pride ourselves on the quality of our products and services.
Fully insured. Trained operatives.
Using the latest machinery and chemicals
Members of .... that no-ones heard of etc, etc
If we spent £400 a year and it just broke even we would of binned it then
Why? If an ad is breaking even (especially if you get referrals) then you are picking up customers for free.
-
It really makes me laugh when people slate "the book". What about your f****g advert?! I've heard nobody say "Oh my advert was crap so i ditched it".
Spot on Jim. The same applies to leaflets and websites.
Most say exactly the same... e.g.
We pride ourselves on the quality of our products and services.
Fully insured. Trained operatives.
Using the latest machinery and chemicals
Members of .... that no-ones heard of etc, etc
If we spent £400 a year and it just broke even we would of binned it then
Why? If an ad is breaking even (especially if you get referrals) then you are picking up customers for free.
Why ??? why ?? what a q ? when I buy advertising I expect more of a return then to simply break even + referrals ;D ;D
-
Why... lifetime value.
Many companies will take a loss to aquire a customer because long term, it's worth it.
If that customer spends £ 100 a year for the next five years then was it worth aquiring that customer for free?
I'm not having a go at you Mike, I'm just saying we need to look beyond straight (immediate) return on investment.
If all advertising only breaks even, then yes, you have a fair point.
-
Russ why dont you get some more web sites done too mate..
-
Why... lifetime value.
Many companies will take a loss to aquire a customer because long term, it's worth it.
If that customer spends £ 100 a year for the next five years then was it worth aquiring that customer for free?
I'm not having a go at you Mike, I'm just saying we need to look beyond straight (immediate) return on investment.
If all advertising only breaks even, then yes, you have a fair point.
[/b]
Same here ;D just different views ;D
As you say if all our advertising only broke even we would not be in business :(
Why persist with YP for min return, if it was local mag could understand as your still marketing the 'brand' locally. I think it also depends how the company has treated you, as with the poster our experiences were frankly shocking, hence why I am so against it.
But simply blaming the quality of ads is lame.
The simple fact is the book is dying hence its getting thinner every year ;D ;D
With £400 i would expect a far higher return ratio from a suitable adwords campaign along with referrals .... quick put the tin hat on ;D ;D ;D