I was contacted by Viaggi - by a lady named Latanya Walker. I should have gone on my first gut instinct when the representative was an hour late to our meeting.instead I decided to give them a chance. She uptalked the service saying that 1, Viaggi would help me by providing leads/parties (I do home parties) directly; 2, that they would notify me of any and all upcoming events that I might set up my stand at and advertise in person; and 3, that their publication reached thousands of viewers each month and they were absolutely certain I would get business from this.
Let me just say that none of this happened. I've never once been contacted by Viaggi except by a lady named Robbie, asking for payment - when they agreed to set up payment with them. Now, I'm new to business, so perhaps it was my responsibility to contact them about payment rather than being billed. That's fine. But the way they handled it was completely unprofessional. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
First off, they said they have in-house designers and writers for the articles. All they did was copy - word for word - what was on my personal website and paste it into the paper... Parts didn't even make sense in that medium "Click here for..." for example. Then, the picture I sent was completely skewed and stretched. After three or four emails back and forth, I ended up writing MY advertisment myself, even though I'm paying them to do that. They said they'd set up an appointment to take a picture of me and some of my product to put in the publication - which never happened.
I was told at my very first consultation that I'd be put in the adult section of the magazine - hence the nature of my products... But when it came down to it, where was my ad? Next to a shoe ad - NOT in the adult section. So they lied there as well. Let me also just say that I NEVER saw my issue of Viaggi. They never sent a copy to me, although they asked me how many I'd like... I never saw it on any shelves, though they assured me that it was 'everywhere.'
I never got a single phone call.By the way, all this correspondence happened almost two months AFTER I signed the contract with zero contact before then.
So fast forward to now, they're demanding their money, ready to take me to court because 'I've had ample time to pay.' Which they never bothered to send me a bill or anything. I didn't even know I was in their collections department (which they told me didn't exist and I'd be going straight to court). They refused to take my monthly payment offer because it was 'not enough.' My business is going under, and I turned to them to help because that's their job... And their 'service' is a complete waste of money. So I call several times - with no call back, leaving a voicemessage each time. Until I finally have to email their [email protected] address. Keep in mind, this address goes to EVERYONE AT VIAGGI. I asked where am I supposed to send payment.
Well, I get a call back a couple days later and it's Robbie..."I got your message about making a payment. I can really tell you take this seriously! I'm going to give you a FREE one-page ad in our next issue!" Wait. She's giving me, for free, a one page ad? When they're after me for a half-page ad? So I call her back and she's snotty to me on the phone. I ask to speak to Robbie and she says "It depends. Who is this?" What? I'm your f*king customer.
So anyways, I email and ask if I can just have a portion of the amount waived, since they're just giving away ads, and just not have the (worthless) one-page ad. Latasha emails me back with barely disguised attitude problem and says they can waive $200 dollars and I'll just pay the $295 that's left. I'm not sure I understand, personally... They can keep their full page and get all that from someone else, and just negate the worhtless ad I took out in the first place - y'know, as long as they're just giving ads away... But ohwell, so I pay the $295 and email again to let them know it's on the way. Of course, throughout all this, I never actually get a person's email, just their emailing list that goes to everyone (Which, I always get several kicked back emails for those who are on the list but aren't active).
Anyways, sorry for the long report, but they do everything wrong. Save yourself the grief and nasty people and put a sign on your car. It's just as effective.
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