This company, Info. Now (aka infonownet.com) allegedly conducts mass email mailings, using opt-in email addresses. Very professional site, and up to the point I placed my order, the owner, Sean Barry (aka Sean Dunn), was very responsive and answered all of my email messages.
After a great deal of time and work, our company produced an ad in html code for Info. Now to send out to 600,000 subscribers.in addition, we were being extended the special "Valentine's Day" special of an additional 100,000 addresses for free. Apparently, Info. Now has a new special each month (this month's special is advertised as "March Madness).
Next we paid our $199 via Paypal. Then we did not hear back from Sean. We sent dozens of emails over the ensuing days, with no response. Finally, we filed a complaint with Paypal. Miraculously, Sean sent an email that same day and asked that we drop our complaint with Paypal. He explained that his servers were down and that is why he had not responded. He asked that we drop the complaint, and that he would send out the ad immediately along with an additional 100,000 addresses for all of our trouble. We dropped the complaint. How stupid.
Sean then disappeared again. As it turns out, once you drop a complaint with Paypal, you can can never place it back in motion again. Sean probably knew that. Paypal expressed sympathy with our plight, but said that they were not responsible and could not refund our money without Paypal credit protection in place (that's a whole other story).
In any event we then sent an email to Sean and threatened to report him to the FBI's cyber crimes unit. He responded back, "What, this is the first I have heard from you in weeks! Your ad is scheduled to go out first thing Monday, and I'll give you another 100,000 addresses for free." That's the last we heard from him.
We have sent dozens of emails to him since that time, but nothing. This guy is a jerk, and a real loser. Bad news. If you are a small company and looking to do business with an opt-in email service, stay as far away from this guy and his company as possible.
Incidentally, we also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of NY where this guy operates. Once the complaints hit his record under Infonownet.com, he apparently changed the name of his company to just plain Info. Now. So, if anyone checks the BBB records under his new name, there are no compalints. He's pretty slick and apparently been at this scam for some time.
Just wanted to foreward the unsuspecting.
Thanks.
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