Steve_gts

Hi All,

Just thought I would come here for a bit of a rant really!

I spend time looking for directories at a price I can afford, and particularly avoid the ones which you have to pay yearly. Then the directory owners change the rules and say my permanent listing is no longer permanent.

Is this allowed? If I pay $5 for a permanent listing in a directory, should the owner then be able to change the rules and say my listing is an annual one?

I know the directory belongs to them and to a degree they can manage it how they like, but surely if I have bought something on certain terms, those terms should apply indefinitely.

What do you think?

(OK rant over, it's just that this is the 2nd directory that's done this too me in as many months!)

Steve

rmwebs

I have to agree, its darn right out of order - i can understand raising the price for new submissions but not for people who you have already said have a lifetime submission for the $5 paid already.

Also, how about instead of removing people who's links are down or sites down you just set it to "inactive" and alow them to change the URL to either the new site or another website.

I was very peeved when i received the email this moring - i've sent in a support ticket asking my URL be moved to my new domain.

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Katey

Hi there,

There are certain rights that a supplier can never take away from a customer. And these where written and made World Standards in most countries (well, the ones which agreed).

1. When you buy something, always copy the terms & conditions. When you buy something, you agree to the terms & conditions of purchase when you purchased it. For instance, if they changed the price to £10 after you bought something, it's tough, because you are on subscription and it is on contract, you pay what you have always paid until the contract is over.

2. Always get everything in writing, and keep receipts, call logs, etc. You should always keep these records when referring to something you have bought, it helps in the chance of a court case regarding you purchase.

3. If the consumer can't do anything about you moaning at him, he is usually holding something back. If you want a refund and they can't give a full explanation why you can't have it, they are usually trying their best to keep the money. Refer to your rights.

Note...I am not an expert in consumer rights etc, although I am rather knowledgeable of these, always ask your attorney about legal action first.


Regards,
Kieran Taylor.

Albert Tai

thats stupid they can't do that. I'm a directory owner so i know that. If i charge 1 dollar for a feature submission and later on a 5 dollar feature submission i can't charge 5 dollar to the person that bought 1 dollar before. thats just plain mean to the customer. since u changed the price that price only matters to the new customers.

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dre

This will be sorted out asap

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simon

I don't mind paying on a yearly basis for any new submissions but will feel cheated if the terms change for the four "lifetime" links that I submitted and paid for previously.. Can someone please clarify whether existing links will be subject to these new rules? If so then at the very least all existing directory users should be given a full refund for the submission costs of each of their sites as we are no longer receiving the service promised when we signed up.

Consumer

There is a growing thread about this over at DigitalPoint: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=124778

compuXP

I have nothing to do with the directory (I'm just a moderator) but from my understanding, it doesn't attempt to bill you until the next year, meaning you got a year at half price, and with plenty of notice...

Consumer: Thanks for the link to DP, it will prove useful in helping the site administrator improve visitor satisfaction.

If you think about it though, directory owners need to cut spam from their websites. Would you rather post in a directory full of spam and eventually cut by Google perhaps (and loss of visitor satisfaction) or a directory of higher standards for more genuine websites?

Also, the agreement when you submit your site says that you legally agree that it's your own responsibility to read the terms and the price may go up, but you guys agreed to that, just keep that in mind.

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simon

I could understand this if we paid for a monthly/yearly subscription and there was to be a price rise but it was clearly advertised as a lifetime listing. How can the price go up after you've paid a flat rate non-recurring fee for a permanent listing?

I don't know much about the legal side of things but even if this disclaimer covers this change in terms and price, ethically, purely as an act of goodwill and to keep customers happy, either a full refund should be given for all submissions or existing listings should be kept permanent otherwise at the very least you'll get some pretty bad press and a lot of people will snub the new "improved" directory out of principle..

Katey

Hi there,

I was unaware this was happening in iWebTool forums.


Regards,
Kieran Taylor.

munt

not good for publicity

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kenni

The directory area of iWEBTOOL is controlled and managed by dre and 1/2 other helpers. A few days ago I’ve asked dre to combat those spam websites listed at the directory and get some quality listings instead. This morning, I woke up to see the e-mail dre sent out informing people about the changes that have been made. I’d like to say that I am happy with the decision dre has made and I’m 100 percent behind it.

Now, how I look at it is very simple. A quality directory with quality websites. The change’s dre has made I believe will help to reach that target. Webmasters with quality websites, who are willing to pay the yearly $9.95 should be able to get full benefits from the directory listings included targeted traffic and search engine ranking. If leaving the old listings which were inserted for as low as $5.00 remains on the directory, those quality webmasters will lack the real benefits of the directory.

I understand that at first iWEBTOOL was selling links for $5.00 for a permanent listings and the directory did fill up pretty quickly. The changes which are now made, I agree that they are bad moves for a general business but this is something that will help to build a better future for the directory and those webmasters who contribute to it. We cannot leave those $5.00 listings on as many of them are full of spam and have no sole purpose.

I apologize on behalf of dre, the directory team and I for all the aggravation caused by these changes, nevertheless I’ll be willing to make some personal compensation myself. If you are disappointed about the changes, I’ll be willing to remove your link and refund your $5.00 directly from PayPal, and for all those months you had the link displayed will be completely free – I am not asking a penny/cent for it.

As for those who are supporting the new changes, I thank you for understanding our situation and I’ll be willing to give you an additional year link for as little as $3.00 instead of $9.95. If you have any questions/comments or would like to ask for a refund or claim a $3 extra year, please don’t be afraid to ask. You can contact me at http://www.iwebtool.com/contact/ (please include “attn kenni” at the beginning of your subject.)

Thank you for all your comments and contribution and I hope you all see it the way I see it and a future for the directory. Again, sorry for all the grief caused.

kenni

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Albert Tai

Wow....look at the thread at dp. surly they hate this directory forever..

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gewarc

[quote=compuXP;14668]I have nothing to do with the directory (I'm just a moderator) but from my understanding, it doesn't attempt to bill you until the next year, meaning you got a year at half price, and with plenty of notice...


We paid 5 dollars for life and it is only going to last a year. We didn't get anything at half price... we simply got ripped off.

jumpenjuhosaphat

Maybe a select few. It doesn't matter though, there will always be people who disagree with something or someone, but success can still be had. There are what, 35,000 members at DP? If everyone of them decided they never wanted to step foot here again, would it really hurt? I mean, there are hundreds of millions of webmasters, and billions of surfers, 35,000 is just a scratch.

That's not to say that I don't care, because I happen to enjoy keeping face with some of the folks over at DP, but my guess is that even though they don't necessarily agree with the initial email that they received, kenni and dre are doing what they can to make things right with the existing directory listing owners, at the same time as making the directory a better place.

I think that there was definately a miscommunication, but I think that a good solution to the problem is what kenni offered a few posts up, a full refund. If people are still upset, then they are to unforgiving, but I'll bet you a buck, they get their money back, and won't even so much as say thanks for the free listing in your directory. Those will be the same people who are ranting on about ethics even after dre clearly stated that it was simply a misunderstanding and that the situation will be corrected as soon as possible.

The simplest thing to do is to say okay, it would have sucked if it were this way, but now that I know it is not that way, then why on earth am I still worried and all worked up. But some people can't do that, once they get worked up, they don't want to try to resolve issues in a calm manner, they would prefer to rant, which is fine, because at some point they will regain their calm and see that things aren't all bad anymore. Did that make sense?

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