I usually don’t do this type of thing.
Well, I do alot of this type of stuff actually, but this is the first time in an industry close to myself.
However as you may know, there are always people/groups/companies that put that initial bad taste in you or your clients’ mouth that inherently makes your honest job and hard work devalued in the eyes of potential clients (Kinda like a really bad talent or “modeling agent).
This my friends, is a real honest first hand review of Yodle.
We aren’t talking some older chap atop of a Swiss mountain, but Yodle the multi-million dollar internet marketing firm.
At first it sounds like a snazzy name, maybe it is a good service, though after heavy dealings with me and my client(s), I can say that they are nothing but the “penny stock pushers of the internet world” for small businesses and franchises.
Their promised service, lack of transparency and overall pushy “pay now” and “talk later” attitude turn the brightest of opportunities into a cloud of misery and lost potential.
So why the hard feeling and negative review of Yodle?
Well, let’s showcase the points, shall we?
– Site Design is Pop and Drop. No authenticity in content (sometimes badly spun) for franchised locations looking to build their core brand with TLC.
– Pushy Sales People! (This is always the worst in my mind.)
– They Register Your URL and Domain Name in Their Name! ( Nothing like some company holding the deed to your virtual home!)
– They Don’t Offer Clients FTP ACCESS for their own sites! (They don’t allow it! It’s almost laughable again at this policy)
– You Are Strictly Bound by Yodle to Make Any Changes to Your Site. (No One Else Can Work On it! )
– Transfer of Service is Never Appropriated. Once they have their teeth in you, they try to make it harder to leave than closing a Facebook account!
– Their PPC Campaigns aren’t managed with fine detail. (You’ll blow thousands with very little results)
– They are rude, don’t answer questions directly and hide behind multiple “Sales Managers and Directors” before anything is even accomplished.
So how do I know, all of this? Well, simply put I am working with a client to raise her ROI and give them a better understanding of their digital asset, and I’ve been working tediously with them to try to do something so simple as gain FTP Access.
In all my years of Online Development, Search Marketing and Business Consulting, I have never seen such underhanded and cash milking tactics.
They aren’t transparent, they don’t offer granular reporting, and their customer service, is basically to service themselves in the light of charging your more money.
So if you have gotten an cold call from Yodle Search Marketing, then run like the wind because this review as well as the others that I will post links to below will be a testament of others that have dealt with the like.
Some more “Yodle Reviews”
http://unwashedadvocate.com/2012/02/16/yodle-calling/
http://www.tameyourpractice.com/blog/why-yodle-health-calling-me
http://blog.bennettandbennett.com/2010/11/yodle-lawyer-marketing-sucks.html
http://mythreecents.com/reviews/yodle
http://www.seenbest-web-design.com/techclub/yodle-telemarketing-spam-and-yodel-complaints/
http://www.jsodigital.com/yodle-law-proceed-with-caution/
Don’t become a Yodle customer, it’s like being married to the mob, and you’ll be paying protection money on something you have no control over.
—->With that in mind, find out more about good online marketing and what to expect.