We deposited over $6000 with MyFreeEstimates.com to begin receiving leads from this company. We have received leads, LOTS of them, each time the fee for that lead being deducted from the total we had deposited. We have received hundreds of leads; our balance is now down to just over $3000. Of the leads we have received, we have set 3 appointments and made one sale. We subscribe to four other lead providers, and our record with them is 50% of the leads received get set as appointments, and we sell more than half of those appointments.
So we started asking more questions to the leads we were able to contact. MOST of them, it turns out, are old, cold and useless. For example, one poor man told us he had submitted a raffle ticket at a local fair over a year ago, knowing that he was also asking for help to complete a home improvement project he was contemplating.
He had long ago, of course, completed his project, and was still getting numerous calls. MyFreeEstimates obviously recycles their leads to a multitude of contractors, each time making money.
When we try to get credit for such bogus "leads, " we are refused because (1) the phone number is good, and (2) the homeowner is a real person. We are not asking for credit for leads that we cannot set; we are asking for credit for "leads" that are NOT LEADS.
When we recently called to complain (and, yes, we were angry because we have been struggling with this for a long time), we were told that we "had signed a contract, " and that, as contractors ourselves, we should understand what a contract means. All we want at this point is to get the remaining money we have deposited back. We'll have to eat the rest we have already wasted. But they won't do that, because the deposit is non-refundable!
When we threatened to sue, this was their reply, quoted exactly (cut and pasted) from an email received from Dennis, their Vice President: "It would cost you more to come here to sue (yes, you would have to come here) than you have paid and you would lose and get stuck with our attorney fees as well. Your threats to sue do not impress."
Any contractor considering using MyFreeEstimates.com to get leads should be very wary of their business practices, which appear to us to be unethical. There are lots of other bona fide services out there. MyFreeEstimates.com is not one of them.
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