phonescoop.com
Does Phonescoop vet the advertisers?
Do you guy check out your advertisers? If I purchase something from one of them, am I reasonably assured that I will get what they say I will get?
Phoebe
Phoebe
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Technically, I can't say that. I can't officially vouch for any of these companies, for legal reasons.
But depending on the type of ad you're talking about, we do make our best effort to avoid any companies that we wouldn't feel comfortable personally recommending.
Certainly with the phone-specific link buttons on the "Shop" pages for specific phones - those are a handful of companies that we do feel comfortable recommending.
With the banner ads, most of them are companies with don't deal with directly. Most of the ads are placed via Google, or an ad agency and ad network. Since we're not involved, a new ad might appear tomorrow from a company even we haven't heard of...
But depending on the type of ad you're talking about, we do make our best effort to avoid any companies that we wouldn't feel comfortable personally recommending.
Certainly with the phone-specific link buttons on the "Shop" pages for specific phones - those are a handful of companies that we do feel comfortable recommending.
With the banner ads, most of them are companies with don't deal with directly. Most of the ads are placed via Google, or an ad agency and ad network. Since we're not involved, a new ad might appear tomorrow from a company even we haven't heard of...
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Thanks.
After posting my question, I visited one of the banner-ad companies. I then looked them up on resellerratings.com and found they had a score of 2.56 out of a possible 10. Buyers complained that they didn't get their merchandise or the company found reasons not to honor rebates, etc.
Caveat emptor...
After posting my question, I visited one of the banner-ad companies. I then looked them up on resellerratings.com and found they had a score of 2.56 out of a possible 10. Buyers complained that they didn't get their merchandise or the company found reasons not to honor rebates, etc.
Caveat emptor...
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Which company? Do you recall the URL in the ad?
Although I don't have the opportunity to approve or reject new Google advertisers, I can block existing ones.
Although I don't have the opportunity to approve or reject new Google advertisers, I can block existing ones.
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Sorry it has taken so long to reply to this message - I've been surfing your site and waiting for the ad to pop up again.
Here is the URL:
http://www.vw.intelenetwireless.com/ »
intelenetwireless has a rating from resellerratings.com of 0.75 out of a possible 10!
Also, Wirefly, which is advertised on PhoneScoop, has a rating of 2.21.
In contrast, Newegg.com (which sell computer parts but doesn't sell cellphones, alas) has a rating of 9.56, so it is possible to have a good rating - it's just that the two companies I listed aren't very good. These are the only two I checked and I don't know if you want to do anything to jeopardize your revenue, but users should be aware...
Here is the URL:
http://www.vw.intelenetwireless.com/ »
intelenetwireless has a rating from resellerratings.com of 0.75 out of a possible 10!
Also, Wirefly, which is advertised on PhoneScoop, has a rating of 2.21.
In contrast, Newegg.com (which sell computer parts but doesn't sell cellphones, alas) has a rating of 9.56, so it is possible to have a good rating - it's just that the two companies I listed aren't very good. These are the only two I checked and I don't know if you want to do anything to jeopardize your revenue, but users should be aware...
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First, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I am concerned about this, do take it seriously, and will definitely make a note of this for the future.
However, I don't find this particularly surprising or alarming. I won't be removing these companies' ads - for now.
That's because I think I know what's going on with these cases:
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However, I don't find this particularly surprising or alarming. I won't be removing these companies' ads - for now.
That's because I think I know what's going on with these cases:
- Intelenet Wireless: First, they don't have enough reviews on resellerratings.com for that to be a good guide. There's even a bright orange warning on that page that "This merchant has fewer than 20 reviews in the past 6 months."
- WireFly: They don't have that many more reviews.
- Intelenet is powered by InPhonic, and WireFly is both powered and owned by InPhonic. InPhonic i
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Rich,
Thank you so much for that data! I have been trying to find a place to buy phones and a new cellular service and was concerned about the ratings of these companies. That's why I initially asked if you vetted the sellers.
It sounds like the parent company (InPhonic) is fine - it's just the resellers that have issues...sort of like Verizon being a fine carrier, but some independent mall kiosks can give crappy customer service.
I agree that the folks who are angry are the most likely to write. That said, there are several companies on resellerratings with fewer than 20 feedbacks who also have ratings above 8, so it is not a given that ONLY angry people write - and when the proportion is 80% bad to 20% good, I (understandably) get a...
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Thank you so much for that data! I have been trying to find a place to buy phones and a new cellular service and was concerned about the ratings of these companies. That's why I initially asked if you vetted the sellers.
It sounds like the parent company (InPhonic) is fine - it's just the resellers that have issues...sort of like Verizon being a fine carrier, but some independent mall kiosks can give crappy customer service.
I agree that the folks who are angry are the most likely to write. That said, there are several companies on resellerratings with fewer than 20 feedbacks who also have ratings above 8, so it is not a given that ONLY angry people write - and when the proportion is 80% bad to 20% good, I (understandably) get a...
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Rich Brome said:It's my experience, (and common sense,) that people only get motivated to write reviews about companies when they have an unusual experience (usually bad). Not many people take the time to write reviews about companies when they order and everything simply goes smoothly as expected. It's only when things go wrong that people get pissed off and look for a site like resellerratings.com where they can rant. That's why only a dozen bad reviews of a company doesn't really mean much, IMO.
I agree with that, Rich. I heard figures like this:
Of satisfied/pleased customers, One out of every eight will tell others about their experience, and they tell an average of three people.
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