01619278808

SCAM:
Facebook Marketing
Google Marketing

They basically sell Facebook and Google adword marketing which doesn't perform AT ALL or performs SIGNIFICANTLY lower than most competitors. Doubtful if any of your money goes towards your advertising AT ALL - they scam everyone out of money.
They target small to medium businesses because it's easier to fight the small guys - now and again they target large businesses at their own peril.
They use vague wording, terms & conditions (don't send any order confirmations or any paper agreements) and other sleazy methods to brush off any responsibility - inc legal etc.
They do not in any way ignore requests for setting up orders/accounts or requests for more sale information BUT they DO ignore all customer complaints/ requests to cancel / any associated follow-up - including email, recorded letters, phone calls.
They CONTINUE charging any and all customer payment sources even AFTER CONFIRMING to said customers that their accounts are cancelled - leaving victims no alternative but to cancel said debit/credit cards / banks accounts etc.
They CONTINUE sending threatening letters, including threats of debt recovery agency action against customers unless they pay "phantom" bills - even after cancellation.
They have a RECORDED & VERY SHADY history of name changing (every 6 months or so), court cases against them by Google, other businesses and private citizens and they just continue going on, breaking the law & robbing/abusing small to medium businesses.
They have been INVESTIGATED many times - including WatchDog and The Mirror.

Do a quick search in Google for: ["answerit-group.com" fraud] or ["answerit-group.com" scam] and see what comes up:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&lr=lang_ ... f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&lr=lang_ ... f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

Yet if we search for ["answerit-group.com" elephants] or ["answerit-group.com" water] nothing comes up.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&lr=lang_ ... f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&lr=lang_ ... f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

What does that tell us - Google has over time found an overwhelming number of pages that mention SCAM and FRAUD in the same place as AnswerIT.


COMPANY NAMES USED/USING:
Lavora Marketing
Lavora Advertising
Answer IT Ltd T/A FirstPoint
FirstPoint
First Point
Answer IT Ltd
AnswerIT
AnswerIT Ltd
Answer I.T.
Answer I.T. Ltd


CONTACT DETAILS:
Answer IT Ltd
Head Office
The Warrant House
1 High Street
Altrincham
Cheshire
WA14 1PZ
TEL: 01619242194
TEL: 08456521863
TEL: 01619278808
TEL: 01619242190
TEL: 01925444772
TEL: 01619278800
Company Reg no: 06823509
VAT Reg no: 947 413 411
http://www.answerit-group.com/index.html


STAFF - Past & Present:
1. Michael De Martiis - Company Director?
The Oranges 28 Bradgate Road
Altrincham
Cheshire
WA14 4QU
2. Natalie Wheeldon - Company Secretary?
(same address as above)
3. John Grimshaw - Sales Consultant?
4. Ian Rose - Sales Consultant
5. Sarah Earp - Operations Manager
6. John - Sales (Apparently Only One John In The Office - Grimshaw?)
7. Mike Hatton - Director Or Manager?
8. Mike Lancaster - Sales Consultant?
9. Jenny Freeman - Debt Collector
10. Sarah Collinge - After Sales Manager?
11. Kathryn Hill - Operations Manager?
12. Simon Lyon - After Sales Manager?
13. Ryan Sefton - Sales Consultant?
14. Beryl Willcox - Senior Sales Consultant
15. Hatice Griffiths - Credit Control
16. Charlotte Sumner - Operations Manager?
17. Ellie Sword - Recruitment

VICTIMS - Among MANY others:
1. Julian Moy
2. Paul Murphy
3. Sean Kelly
4. Mike Ross
5. Alan Zeffertt
6. David Colclough
7. Kath Simpson - Kathleen Simpson
8. J C Energy
9. Mike Mackenzie
10. Jules Grinner
11. Shajjad Miah
12. Richard Alun Jenkins

http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=41368
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/show ... t=lavora&page=5
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=112511
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=82569
http://toffsworld.com/google-sharks-newsflash/
https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01619242190
https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01925444772
https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/08456521863
https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01619242194
https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01619278808
https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01619278800

Current Company URL: www.answerit-group.com

Is this a Google or Facebook advertising scam? Read for yourself to decide:

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2011/04/lavora-lorra-lies.html

Lavora lorra lies
BY NICK SOMMERLAD ON APRIL 20, 2011 11:00 PM IN ONLINE SCAMS


We recently revealed how Lavora Marketing was taken to court both for claiming it worked with internet search giant Google and falsely promising top search rankings in exchange for hefty monthly fees.

We've been passed a copy of Lavora's sales pitch which shows how the firm, based in Altrincham, Cheshire, trapped victims with a ­succession of lies.

LIE 1: "The great news - one allocation has just become available for a locksmith in Burnley on the first page of google.co.uk."

In reality, there's no "allocation" of Google sponsored links, they're sold to the bidder who is prepared to pay the most per click on the ad.
LIE 2: "The only reason payment is taken on a credit or debit card is because Google is a fully automated system. In terms of protection, paying on a card is the safest form of payment because of the indemnity it gives you."

We've no idea why Google being "fully automated" means Lavora needs your card details but there's little protection when you pay by debit card.

LIE 3: If the target asks to think about it, reps are told to say, "I don't mind calling you back, the problem I have is that when an allocation becomes available, it normally goes within 10 minutes because every business sees value in Google."

Pressure selling garbage, there's no allocation so no rush to sign up.

LIE 4: "In some market sectors there are waiting lists of up to five years to get front page Google!"

More rubbish. There's no waiting list. You go straight to the top of sponsored links by paying the most for your ad.

Lavora and company boss Mike De Martiis (above) have signed a court order promising not to "falsely represent that they are Google or are accredited by Google or are connected or associated with Google" and paid £37,000 costs.

The company has since shut down and has been taken over by Answer IT - which is based in the same office and is owned by de Martiis.

A spokesman for Answer IT said the "purported" script had "nothing whatsoever" to do with them.

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/css/Michael-De-Martiis.jpg

Also: http://www.grumbletext.co.uk/vt.php?p=23228

Jason - is it possible to contact you?

I have a Facebook campaign with them atm.

After 2 1/2 months I have finally seen my advert but do not believe it is getting the impressions claimed.

I was on a trial month, Nationwide 50,000 impressions & emailed to cancel. They talked me into a 2nd trial month, less money @ 250,000 impressions.

My invoice date is the 8th. On 6th May they took the next payment which was the day I had planned to cancel because I had no evidence via customer feedback my ad existed & I had not seen it. On 6th May I rang them & said "I WANT TO CANCEL, REFUND MY PAYMENT YOU HAVE TAKEN IT EARLY. I WANT TO CANCEL". I was told they took my money early (as per their terms & conditions) & that they took the money early because the 8th fell on a Sunday & when they took my payment my trial period (which started on the 8th) was terminated & I now have to give 30 days notice. They had not sent me my impressions report, nor was it live on their portal on the 6th for me to view so i had no idea what the 'claimed' impressions were for April. I understand this information is part of the contract they have to fulfill to me every month. They failed to make my impressions available & broke their contract BUT took my money early & ended my trial contact quoting their 'terms & conditions'. SHADY was my immediate thought.  

On Monday 9th Angela Cox rang to tell me there was nothing she could do as I had been locked into a 30 days notice contact on 6th May BUT she would raise impressions to 500,000 & drop price & after one further payment, I would be in a no notice contract! Even if I had cancelled right then, it was by then only 29 days notice before the next payment was due (something they did not tell me on Friday 6th May).

One of the things that has infuriated me so much is their [***] service. They call to sell - tell you whats wrong with your website or to flog FB keywords BUT my request to alter my web address to an extended one that will enable me to track visitors? Email ignored, telephone request also ignored.

When Ms Cox called on May 9th to deal with my complaint, she quoted my website address with an emphatic 'dot com' & ended her sentance. No forward slash blah blah. So I called her on it & said this was one of my issues with their company & told her the full address which she then insists is what she said!

This past weekend: I FINALLY SAW MY ADVERT!   2 1/2 months later! It is real! I checked the website address on the click through & low & behold, still not amended!

Seemingly the advert is real though I DO NOT BELIEVE IT IS GETTING THE IMPRESSIONS  PROMISED.

So far it is claimed in 2 months I have had in excess of 300,000 impressions.

I emailed Answer-it Group on Saturday night, after seeing my advert is still not directed to the correct page to query when it was redirected? I am told via email today: May 9th (the day I spoke to Ms Cox) - not back in April as Ms Cox claimed. And I am also told: "So far your campaign has had 130593 impressions and growing."

Is that for this month? Or overall? Overall that's less than half previously claimed. If it's this month? That's 130,593 in 15 days when I should get in excess of 500,000 impressions this month to fulfill their contract or I don't pay. Maths doesn't add up does it?

Trouble is the only evidence they supply is a yellow number on a blue background with no data to back it up AND despite numerous requests I can't check how well my advert performs because they will not change my web address to one I can track for this advert.

It is something that I have, at last, seen my advert but hardly evidence that it is being shown 500,000 times a month!

I believe in Facebook advertising, I see the same small companies adverts over & over again. Mine? twice in two days but nothing before that since March 8th when I started.

I use Facebook, my Profile is set to 'Engaged' as my target is engaged women in the UK. And I have been looking! I do not however believe in this company or its promises. And I guess I am yet to see how bad they can be.....

Would love to know how others are fairing dealing with them?

Jason? You out there? I can be found on the web by adding .co.uk to my name.

Hi Chantel


What you described makes perfect sense if you consider 2 things:

1. AnswerIT does NOT really provide Facebook/Google marketing - it just so happens they slip up now and again and spend probably around 5% maximum of your money just so SOME activity shows on the account or ad - probably thinking they cover themselves legally because they've shown "activity" which stems from their "marketing efforts". Their objective is to take your money and not spend it on the intended service, thereby keeping more for themselves.

2. AnswerIT wants to string you along for as long as possible in order to execute point 1 above to the fullest.


If I were you I would simply send an email saying you are unhappy with the service provided as it is not what was promised and herewith hence forth you cancel any and all contract or agreement for AnswerIT to provide goods or services to you - CC yourself in on this email. An email should be fine as it represents reasonable means of communication - keep CCing yourself in on any email communications and also see if your email client has the option for 1.Confirming email delivery and/or 2.Confirming email has been read.

Next, cancel the card (credit or debit) used to pay for the marketing. Next (copy/pasted from my post here:  https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/08456521863 ), evaluate the product/service AnswerIT provided and see for yourself if it was worth squat, whether it delivered exactly as they promised or if they even provided it in any way. See if your web space hosting company can provide statistics/details per month on the number of referrers which came out of any domain to do with facebook. If you are the one out of ten thousand who actually got what you were promised then give them your new card details my friend, because you are very lucky. If they fell short in any way and did not deliver as was promised to you during the initial sales call then go on the offensive, sharpen that pencil and start writing to them (see * below). Simply start by detailing what you were promised, what you paid for it, that they fell short in delivering/did not deliver at all, that you feel you did not receive the goods/services you paid for, that you feel you are entitled to a complete refund and then DEMAND A FULL REFUND! * letters or emails? - this is a bit of a catch-22, recorded letters are an option but believe me when I say AnswerIT just bin most of them - so you decide what you want to do. Maybe do a bunch of recorded letters then switch to email - your objective is basically to kick up such a hell of a mess that they refund you rather than keep fighting - although knowing this company it might be a lost cause - you make the call whether to pursue it all the way or not. One thing you should follow up on is, are they in breach of contract - this would make a very juicy defence and really puts the legal screws on them:
e.g. Did they renew your account before the 30 days were up? If so then they are in breach of contract and have been taking money from you in a state of breach of contract.
e.g. Does it seem that they ignored your communications (at the time near the end of the trial period) purposefully such that the trial period would roll over? If so then they are in breach of contract. Check with your local trading standards agency or similar bodies or maybe on some web forums for a template that deals with companies in breach of contract, that you can use to fill in and send to them recorded delivery. (Just scrolled down your post and saw that they took payment early? Bingo, you might have a winner -> could be breach of contract).

They will surely try to stall and come up with excuses - that it takes time for the marketing to work etc etc - all crap. Simply ignore every single word they say - including threats of debt collectors, taking you to court etc, simply ignore it and keep claiming a refund for ALL your money because you feel they did not deliver, keep disputing everything. Seems to me words like "fraud" and similar would not by out of place in your case. AnswerIT may say they're gonna take you to court etc etc etc but then... if they do that, they'll be shooting themselves in the foot, won't they? Because the court basically represents a big microscope that will go through every single detail and inevitably reveal an enormous amount of shortcomings and illegal activity which AnswerIT performs - in your case and in general. Now why would AnswerIT want that big a spotlight on them? In the end they will bark at us small fish to get more money, but they will not bite.

If they come back and claim some crap about you did not cancel and the account is overdue - simply ignore it and stick to your guns.

Look into contacting your card company and kicking up a HELL of a fuss - remember the card companies/banks want to do as little work as possible needed to keep you, so they will play dumb and shift the blame/work onto you - unacceptable, your objective is for the card company/banks to recover the funds as quickly as possible seeing as you have not received the corresponding goods/services.

Also look into contacting trading standards and every similar body you can lay your hands on - and provide them as much detail as you can - see the post above where I detail every company name and telephone number the ****ers have used. The more people reporting the same company the better.

And then go on the internet and tell everyone the truth, on every website you can find - this is what I've done and thankfully I was able to help a few people - tell exactly how they treated you and what it has cost you, including what AnswerIT delivered at what price.


All the best
Jason Buckley

99% of these 3rd party schemes are a scam. I would simply
1) add some more keywords to your site; look at those of your competitors and market leaders
2) write some informative essays or articles about the industry and product e.g. historical origins
3) exchange links with industry and interest forums for www.chantal.co.uk
4) only ever deal direct with Google or a social networking site for advertising with them
Best of luck!

Hello

I am having the same problems with Answerit.com , seeking legal advise now
Be good to talk ??

The scam's director has decamped to Spain:
ANSWER IT LTD
SPRING COURT SPRING ROAD
HALE
ALTRINCHAM
CHESHIRE
WA14 2UQ
Age
2 years
Registered in England/Wales
06823509
Nature of business
7260
Other computer related activities
Directors
NATALIE WHEELDON (35)
CERROS DE LA ALCAIDESA NO 13 AVENDIA TERCER CENTE, AL CAIDESA, CADIZ, SAN ROQUE
Position:
1 Years
Appointment date:
04/05/2010
Type:
Director
Occupation: DIRECTOR

------
http://whois.domaintools.com/answerit-group.com

Hi Simon,


Sorry to hear you've had to deal with AnswerIT as well. Feel free to post here what's happened in your situation and be sure to read what other have said here (see my big post above which links to several whocallsme pages) - although to be honest I think a general strategy will be the quickest way to neutralise the problem. Keep in mind I'm not a qualified solicitor nor can I guarantee in any way the advice I give but in all my research on how people like you and me have had deal with these ***holes, the following general strategy does get rid of them (think of it as having surgery to remove cancer):
1. Cancel the credit/debit card which you submitted to AnswerIT.
2. Notify them by reasonable means that any and all agreements for them to provide any products or services to you are herewith terminated.
3. Ignore any and all further communication they may send you.

Within our cancer analogy, the strategy above is considered invasive in order quickly get rid of the "cancer" and of course there is no possibility of a refund. You might have some luck in a more drawn out method "chemo therapy" - i.e. maybe achieve getting a refund etc through being a persistent thorn in AnswerITs side, writing lots of letters or via a lawyer or the courts. As in the cancer analogy this will take more time and effort without a certainty of victory - you see AnswerIT operates very carelessly and recklessly and simply ignores all normal means of conflict resolution (recorded mail, threats etc) - you'll need to apply one hell of a chemo program to get rid of them. This is where my advice runs dry in that I don't really have nothing more to say beyond what I recommended to Chantel on a previous post - although it may be worth trawling the web forums and searching for posts by people who have gone this route and see what they've done.

So two very simplified options are how I see it - of course I don't know what exactly your situation is hence I maybe be totally off the mark, but looking back I wish I had applied option 1 the minute these shady ****ers started causing me trouble.


All the best
Jason Buckley