InfusionSoft has been one disappointment after another since signing up in November no I am required to pay for services not rendered.infusionSoft requires you to pay for InfusionSoft customization consulting (which sucks) and they don't answer when you ask for a new InfusionSoft CRM/Cart consultant for the setup they required you to purchase.
InfusionSoft customer service is equally as useless as their consultant assigning department.infusionSoft recognized they didn't meet their end of the bargain, yet InfusionSoft customer service feels you still owe 80% of fees, when they delivered only a useless 10% of services.
I signed up at a conference where I met people from the team who talked to me about the product and it sounded like it could be just what I needed a CRM, newsletter service and shopping cart all in one.
I had heard about the InfusionSoft CRM, newsletter offerings and shopping cart a while back. It is a CRM for small business and a shopping cart, and highly recommended by several leading consultants that help entrepreneurs, such as Dan Kennedy wonder if Dan Kennedy is aware of what's going on these days?
My infusionsoft story
I was hoping to get a trial to make sure it would meet my needs, but they don't do trials. You have dive in, deep: $3,497 that would be billed in 5 payments of $699 each for a *REQUIRED* implementation and customization consulting $299/mo; however, they offered a money back guarantee, which I recall being 90 days.
It's a LOT of money, but I signed up to get the *special deal* they offered at the event, believing that I could get my money back if it didn't work out. There was one provision I made with them: I did not have time to review the InfusionSoft CRM, newsletter functionality and cart due to my hectic schedule, so we agreed to forward date the agreement to start on 12/28. At that time, my calendar was so full I had sleep blocked each day. They agreed to push everything back, and I was excited for December to come and dive in and it would give me until March to preview the product.
A week or two later, Bud Rice, my assigned InfusionSoft consultant (which, by the way, is a sub-contractor not employed by InfusionSoft, and a required purchase when you buy the tool) contacted me and seemed so keen to get started, that when a window opened in my schedule, I fit him in.
That was a joke. He couldn't answer 90% of my questions about InfusionSoft's CRM, newsletter functionality, nor shopping cart; and feigned, The product just had a major redesign. And I'll have to ask InfusionSoft about that as he scribbled down countless questions to go back and ask the InfusionSoft team.
Consultant, eh? Not really, as it would turn out, he wouldn't even prove to be decent go-between.
At the end of the meeting with my InfusionSoft consultant, Bud, he asked me to fax my notes to him to verify he got everything. Seeing how useless he was and I was paying $3,497 for X hours of setup time, I decided to wait and see what he came back with before using more of his time. Before he left I had a hunch that I would need a new InfusionSoft consultant. This was right before Thanksgiving.
December comes and goes, no response from my super-star InfusionSoft CRM and shopping cart consultant, Bud.By early January I decided my inkling was right, it's time for a new consultant, so I called my sales guy, Ryan Geary. He asked to me to send an email with my request for a new consultant and why this one didn't work out. I sent the following on January 6:
&email requesting a new consultant
Hi Ryan,
I was wondering if I could get a new consultant to help me with implementing infusionsoft.
The person assigned came to my office and didn't know the screens (claimed you had just done a major redesign), and had far too many questions that he had to go back and ask you. He wrote down a lot of questions, and then asked for my notes as well. Seeing he didn't know much, I didn't want to waste any of my consulting time on my notes and wanted to see what answers he came back with. I'm still waiting for answers and this was before Thanksgiving when we met.
Can you please assign me to someone new? Here is a rundown of the types of things I'm trying to do and need specific help with fairly quickly:
Creating the drip marketing rules and messages.
Adding free downloadable presentation slides, where a user doesn't have to enter their credit card information. Most shopping carts work this way, oddly, yours doesn't. I need the alternative set up and given step-by-step instructions because it's far more complicated than any other cart I've used
The new person doesn't have to be in San Francisco, but I would love someone who has experience with solopreneur consultants that have digital products, both free and for sale.
Also, can you verify that my new consultant didn't use more than 2 hours of my consulting time? He was not useful at answering questions about your tool, he did clarify things for me about sales and crm in general, and that's really all the time he spent with me.
Thanks!
I heard nothing back regarding my request for a new InfusionSoft CRM/Cart setup consultant, and email Ryan again on January 20 with the following:
Email saying I haven't heard back, I need a new consultant
Hey Ryan,
I'm just checking in on this, no one has contacted me and it's been a couple of weeks.
Thanks!
Meanwhile, I kept trying to muddle through the InfusionSoft CRM, and playing with the newsletter and shopping cart functionalities. Finally I called InfusionSoft to confirm my options with this engagement. The guy who answered confirmed that I have a 90-day guarantee that expired in March. He says the contract started mid December (the 25th if I recall), not the 28th. But I didn't sweat it because my review of the product would be done by then.
I continue to wait for a consultant and the InfusionSoft CRM kept giving me the Oops, this is so embarrassing. Error. It was cute the first two times, but made we wish they would just fix the errors.
January ends, February begins and still, no feedback on my request for a new InfusionSoft CRM consultant and so I call in requesting to cancel. I had to leave a voicemail.
It took DAYS to get a response. Finally someone calls, but I was traveling and couldn't call back.
By mid-February I have decided that I have invested far too much time in this product, it wasn't meeting my needs and InfusionSoft STILL HAD NOT DELIVERED THE REQUIRED implementation consultant.
I call anonymously to make sure that they offer a money back trial. Woman's intuition was kicking in and something told me InfusionSoft would be as responsive to get my money back as they are about delivering the InfusionSoft consulting they REQUIRED that I purchase.
The guy who answered my anonymous call said, no there wasn't a money back offer, until I mentioned that I saw the product at a conference and I was pretty sure they had a trial. He said that they do sometimes give a money back guarantee at events because it's often an impulse buy for an entrepreneur, and the beginning of the purchase is to make sure it's a good fit.
Next, I called back for billing to cancel my subscription InfusionSoft CRM under the money back guarantee and she said it wasn't a problem, she would cancel it and said that I still owed $699.
I let her know that I am looking to get a FULL refund, as the InfusionSoft CRM, cart, etc. Wasn't working out for me and I couldn't get an InfusionSoft CRM/Cart consultant in the first place. She then claimed they don't give refunds, and she had to talk to someone else. Later in the day she called to say that person was out, and when would need to call back the next day.
Surprise, the next day came and went, without a call to discuss my cancellation.
We're now at February 25. I still had not received any response on my request for a new InfusionSoft CRM consultant and InfusionSoft was now taking a too much time to address my cancellation request.
I got on the phone with my sales guy, Ryan Garey, who said he recalls it being a 3-day money back guarantee (which I would have NEVER agreed to, as my schedule is too full and subject to change in way that would not leave me time to properly evaluate a newsletter, CRM AND shopping cart in 3 days Remember, I have to block sleep on the calendar because the entire night fills up with work if I'm not careful).
Despite the disagreement on the money back guarantee, he agreed that they did not hold up their end of the agreement to provide an InfusionSoft CRM/Cart setup consultant and he understood where I was coming from, he was on my side, but he could not make the decision. He also was unaware that my requests for a new consultant were not getting answered. He forwarded my requests to another department, not knowing they were not following up.
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LISTEN TO THE CALL:
http://www.onlinebraindump.com/infusionsoft/call-recording. Mp3
It wouldn't hold up in court because they didn't know it was recorded, but it is insightful:
- He kicks the call off with: you haven't exactly had smooth sailing have you?
- He agrees: we've got someone paying for something that hasn't even been implemented yet. I can't blame you Jessicait's like a Ferrari that you don't have keys for, and you're making payments on it I don't blame you, I'd want to cancel, too
- He comments that we have not delivered on what we were supposed to deliver on I'm going to plead your case I can't blame you from where you sit
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Unfortunately, my sales guy isn't the one who can approve a refund.
I was then forwarded to man by the name of Scott D Morris, apparently he can make the decisions. We finally connected and he was sorry to see me leave, but he would not offer me a refund. However, he would credit me for the final $699 payment that I am owed. How gracious of you InfusionSoft! Here is the message I received on February 25th:
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Email from Customer Service on Refund & Will no longer Collect:
Hi Jessica, my manager is Aaron Stead. His email is [email protected] and his number is 480.289.6812.
As confirmation, we will credit your account $699.58, meaning you will not owe this and we will no longer attempt to collect.
Scott Morrison? Manager of customer care?
Phone: 480.682.6772 | Fax: 480.391.8177
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While I am grateful for their minor kindness, it still doesn't make sense that they can deliver a useless 10% of a service agreement, and still collect 80% of the fees.
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recap of what i paid for, got and lost:
*PAID* $2,796 for 1.5 hours of required consulting from an implementation consultant that could not answer 90% of my questions and has yet to respond with any answers from InfusionSoft.
*Got* Access to the InfusionSoft tool that wasn't customized, yet I was required to pay for that customization.
*GOT* Ignored when I tried to get a new consultant help to help with InfusionSoft CRM customization that I was required to purchase.
*LOST* More than 60 hours of my time trying to figure out InfusionSoft: the CRM, Newsletter and website shopping cart. (which in this economy is a very expensive 60 hours because it's time not spent on marketing and sales for my consulting services)
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I am disappointed that InfusionSoft, a company who seems to be on a mission to help entrepreneurs, isn't delivering to them even when the entrepreneur reaches out for help when things aren't working.
To date I have paid: $3,992
InfusionSoft incurred virtually zero cost with my sale, as it's an online service that wasn't customized up for me all they did was:
1. Create my account
2. Assign me to a consultant
3. They probably paid their consultant for 1-2 hours.
This means they could not have invested more than 3 hours of their time for the $3,992 in service fees. I would be comfortable paying $150/hour for 3 hours of time they may have actually spent setting up my account for the InfusionSoft CRM/Cart, which means I would happily pay for the work actually rendered and get a refund for the remainder: $3,542.
I wrote this report to let other people know what kind of company InfusionSoft is, and what it is clearly not.in this economy, we all need to look out for each other.
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