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tomsapp
Joined: Mar 07, 2008
# Posts: 3
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Posted: 2008-Mar-07 23:19
I received a call telling me how wonderful the design of my site is and how because it is so wonderful Mainstreethost had a higher representative then average contact me.
I was flattered and after looking at their site I didn't see the harm in working with them. Then i asked about price. The price was high so I said no. Then I was given a counter offer of $400 to optimize the site and "bring me closer to number one on google". I agreed and told the representative I would like to talk about the additional service of having my site maintained for a monthly fee of $100.
On the voice verification I said yes to the monthly maintained but did not sign anything. The reps response was “it should have been emailed to you”.
I have done web design professionally for 8 years and know what optimization is. This company reworded the Meta information I already have on the site adding one or two lines for google bot then created a links page with 3 links, not even the 5 I was told after the fact were suppose to be added.
This is minimal for what was promised by the initial representative. I was under the impression I would have an extensive list of relative links. I also asked the initial rep to relay the conversation we had to the person working on the site.
They never spoke regarding my account. I was given a call and an email asking me what I wanted to be done. I called upset that my emails were not answered. They were never received is what I was told.
The links page consisted of 3 links that i do not feel were relative to bring me any higher in search engines. The links were for a masseuse, a private investigator located on North Carolina and a photographer in New York.
All 3 sites were optimized by mainstreethost and not one is something I want my professional clients to feel I am associated with. I felt something was fishy at this point.
Then i check my credit card bill a month after the so called optimization was complete. I was billed $100. I didn't understand how this could be legitimate because I changed the password after the work had been confirmed complete.
When I called to complain and get my money back the pithy persuasive customer service rep stated "we have voice verification" the work was done and no money will be returned. The $100 fee was for observation.
The company was billing me for what they call an observation period; to type key words in the search engines to see how high the 3 links and key words got me.
If someone is getting paid that much to type words in google i picked the wrong occupation. The rep said it's a very long process and only 5 links are added a month. That was never said when my account was booked and was not listed on any documentation.
I was told the links page would be completed at the end of optimization included in the $400 initial fee. This company’s version of “completed” is linking the links page to the index page.
It seems that these guys are looking to pull money from people over a long period of time and provide them with as little service as possible. Not sure at this point if I can do anything about the less then desirable service I was provided but I did put a stop to it.
I hope this helps others look at other companies before wasting money. I went with another company that charged 100 a month and no "optimization fee".
At the end of the day you sign up you’re guaranteed number one ranking on google or you get your money back.
Mainstreethost needs to take notes from their competitors. At least when a client isn’t happy and you give their money back there is some credibility left.
[ Message was edited by: JimBot 03/07/2008 05:24 pm ... Reason: Paragraphs, man! Makes stuff readable... ]
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Quadrille
Joined: Nov 15, 2000
# Posts: 1064
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Posted: 2008-Mar-08 00:05
Why did you pay them a cent?
There's four key words for these situations: "see you in court".
As it was so obvious from the start they had no idea, why did you keep talking to them?
still you escaped in the end, so life should get better 
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tomsapp
Joined: Mar 07, 2008
# Posts: 3
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Posted: 2008-Mar-08 00:24
This is true. I should have stoped but I know design not optimization.
You pay upfront so the only thing I could do was wait to see the results. I complained at the completion point but the work was done... minimal... but it was done.
I did not really feel the need to become a hell raiser until last week when i was charged the 100 maintence fee for someone drinking coffee and playing on google.
My post took place today because I was waiting on the customer service rep to call me back... which never happened so I called him.
Now my email address has been blocked from their company all together or at least the people who were working on my site. The company I am currently using is called idealpositions.com
That's quality service!
[ Message was edited by: JimBot 03/07/2008 05:27 pm ... Reason: Capitalisation, punctuation, paragraphing... ]
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g1smd
Staff
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10465
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Posted: 2008-Mar-08 01:43
Proper SEO costs quite a bit more than that, and should deliver a lot more optimisation of your on-site code, navigation, and content. And that is way before anyone starts talking about PPC, SMO, link-building, and any other marketing efforts.
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tomsapp
Joined: Mar 07, 2008
# Posts: 3
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Posted: 2008-Mar-08 03:02
I wish i new that before i wasted my time and money. It wasn't completely wasted. I was forced to learn more about the subject. I've sat through seminars for hours that cost the same thing and walked away with nothing new. This has been a learning experience. Now thanks to our moderator i know the terms to start learning more about. Still it doesn’t seem like site optimization is relevant anymore. Sites good with adwords and idealplacement.com can simply put you at number one based on the key words or key word catagories you purchase. To my surprise for photography Wilmington nc in the commercial key words category was relative to the local business listing advertising magazines, around 1.2k per year. It works like domains, as long as you renew them before the contract is up the price stays the same. Forget to renew and the price goes to the next bidder and I get dropped back to where I am on the 3rd page. Now the only thing I’ll need to worry about is renewing so I’ll still need the site to be optimized as a back up. More money to spend! If you know where I can have someone or a program that looks at your site and tells you what needs to be improved for the desired optimization I would really love to know. I can do the homework and learn how to do it, call it a hobby. I just need someone to take a look at it. C++ and HTML were the only classes I passed in college but that was 8 years ago and we didn’t learn how to optimize at all for search engines.
[ Message was edited by: tomsapp 03/07/2008 07:13 pm ]
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g1smd
Staff
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10465
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Posted: 2008-Mar-08 08:03
*** Still it doesn’t seem like site optimization is relevant anymore. ***
Sure it is, as it gets extra traffic, and the sort of optimisation that should be happening makes the site more appealing to visitors, easier to use, and easier to buy from.
It's not just about getting people to your site, but also leading them to take the action you want them to take once they get there...
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animated3d
Joined: Dec 22, 2005
# Posts: 444
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Posted: 2008-Mar-08 11:19
" There's four key words for these situations: "see you in court"
sue you in court sounds better in this occasion :P but if it was a contract then they'll win.
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Prowler
Staff
Joined: Aug 14, 2000
# Posts: 1832
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Posted: 2008-Mar-10 11:37
If you are willing to learn and have the knack of asking the right questions, you can start here. This forum is a treasure trove of top class suggestions and many of the posters here have vast experience.
A tip; Write your message in manageable chunks/paragraphs. It helps people to read through the message.
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khaki_scott
Joined: Apr 04, 2008
# Posts: 1
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Posted: 2008-Apr-04 18:05
I was recently hired to work on a specific project by a commercial oil field photographer. He is an older gengleman and knows nothing about the net. Needless to say, he was a perfect target for mainstreethost.com and they are taking full advantage. The problem here is that he actually believes that he can get someone to guarantee that he will be on the first page of the 3 major search engines (whatever those may be!). They even called him once and told him he was #1 on Google!!! I also write for a very successful blog in another industry. We ARE #1 on all search engines... but we did it ourselves... and it took a long time and more late nights than anyone can imagine. There is no substitute for hard work and no excuse for not understanding the net and the criminals who "work it."
The reason I joined this forum is to comment on something I saw in another, older thread about mainstreethost.com. I saw someone accused of joining this forum just to post positive things about mainstreethost.com. The poster came back with did the accuser really think mainstreethost.com would have the time, interest, or money to hire somebody to do that. ... You bet your bippy they would!!! MANY companies buy block posts for pennies and there is an entire industry of idiot children and wannabe writers out there - posting away for a nickel a post.
Mainstreethost.com is a total scam. They have a template they sell and that's ALL they've got. If someone wants a REAL website design, they'll have to hire a REAL designer... not just somebody who can change a banner and background colors (like mainstreethost.com). And if someone wants search engine optimization, they are ... in the end... going to have to be willing to do it themselves... after getting all the hints, tips, and tricks they can from those of us who have slogged through ahead of them.
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