I pride myself on the fact that my success is not based on the type of high pressure tactics that Real Estate Client Referrals telephone sales reps are trained to spew (in my case his name was Mitch Waylett, Referral Agent with www.freerealestateclientreferrals.com and www.just-listed-homes.com on 08-16-08) - There was a qualified referral waiting for me to contact her as soon as possible, and if I did not sign up before close of day she would be lost and looking for another Realtor.
When I requested time to research the company I was told that RECR receives at least 3-5 leads a month that are turned away in my area regularly. I was guided to the testimonials of other agents, better business logos on their site and repeatedly told about a success story in "my neck of the woods" (over 600kms away - but still in Canada, so I guess that's my neck of the woods) who was making $1M off RECR referrals alone!
I am genuinely embarrassed that I fell for the "money back guarantee" mantra that was repeatedly explained in the most pleasant manner until I was eased into believing that RECR could be trusted. When the "qualified lead" that needed a REALTOR today, repeatedly didn't answer her phone or respond to my emails for a week, I launched a request for refund on her account and a "replacement lead" was granted.
Today, I question if the lead ever did exist and interpret the "replacement referral" as another tactic to make me trust RECR, because for the next two months I heard absolutely NOTHING from them. The 3-5 leads that Mitch didn't guarantee, but said he'd be willing to bank on (they'd been there for the previous few months at least), weren't forwarded to me - the exclusive RECR agent for my district.
When I first attempted to get my money refunded with Gary Taylor, Customer Service Representative with RECR on 10-14-08 he effectively gave me the runaround, until he finally mentioned that he is not authorized to process refunds and passed my account file on to Sarah Bennet, Customer Service with RECR on 12-05-08. Either unaware of the ongoing situation, or using another tactic, she tried to upsell me more referrals (which up to this point had not existed) as I continued to explain I was frustrated and no longer comfortable working with RECR and wanted just my refund.
Finally on 01-05-09 I received a partial refund from the Customer Service Manager who explained because one of the referrals that I had paid for had already been debitted from my account I could not be refunded in full. Of course, she was talking about the referral that I disputed in the first week and had no trouble getting RECR to replace it on my account. My response to her was that I had never benefitted from that referral and expected it to be refunded as well. Her response to that was to LAUGH.
If you are considering RECR as your lead generation source HEED THIS WARNING FELLOW SALES PROFESSIONALS:
Do your research before agreeing to the fine print! I have only posted what I know to be true - "money back guarantee" is a false quote - As an RECR customer you will not receive your money back, you will only be laughed at by Amber Dwigans - Customer Service Manager. Also note, that although most of my contact was with Real Estate Client Referrals, they use many different websites and their sheeps hide in the clothing of many different lambs.
Humbly learned my lesson
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Canada
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