Open Letter to ActiveCampaign,Inc.
We at Citizens For A Better America (R) (CFABA.ORG) are sending this Negative Open Letter to every email address that we have found on the ActiveCampaign.com website. If you have received this Open Letter by mistake, kindly accept our apologies.
Please Note: The sending of this Open Letter is completely compliant with federal law. Since the year 2003 and the passage of the federal law which superseded any and all state laws about the issue. The law is entitled: "Controlling the Assault of
Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003", or the "CANSPAM Act of 2003".
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Tueday, November 03, 2009
For Immediate Release:
A Negative Open Letter To:
Jason VandeBoom, CEO of ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com
ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com, 150 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1230, Chicago, IL 60601, Fax: 1 (312) 201-0333
Office Hours:
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM CST, Monday Thru Friday, Toll-Free Sales (888) 227-5040, International Sales 1 (312) 201-0300
Dear Mr. Jason VandeBoom:
An Index of this Open Letter:
I. INRODUCTION:
II. FACTS ABOUT MY PURCHASE AND COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOU AND US:
III. US, REQUESTING REFUND:
IV. ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com NOT DELIVERING THAT REFUND AS PROMISED:
V. WHAT ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com DOES NOT SAY ON THEIR WEBSITE:
VI. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU AND I SPOKE:
VII. YOUR REFUND POLICY APPEARS TO BE WELL THOUGHTOUT:
VIII. SAYING GREAT THINGS ABOUT YOUR COMPANY IS GREAT AS LONG AS YOU DO WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY:
IX. MAYBE EVERYONE IN YOUR SPECIFIC INDUSTRY DOES NOT KEEP THEIR WORD:
X. FOOTNOTES:
I. INTRODUCTION:
It is my strongest hope, desire, and goal to not sound rude, unkind, or to show any disrespect as I make my following remarks.
It is also my strongest hope, desire, and goal to communicate with you as truthfully and clearly as I possibly can so that you would understand what I am trying to say to you and thereby no misunderstandings between us develops any more than it
already has.
To that end if you believe there is a misunderstanding or something does not make sense to you, please do not hesitate to call me.
It is however my complete and total expectation that you would have read my entire letter, not just skimmed it, or done something like just looking at the first and last paragraph.
Since at the very least we have had a misunderstanding I do want you to know that if you do call me I will be recording the phone conversation, available to you upon your request.
Whenever you see ==== and then another set of ==== they surround text that I have quoted from either an email that we received from your company or quoting from your website.
II. FACTS ABOUT MY PURCHASE AND COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOU AND US:
Here are the facts:
01. My Purchase Details:
I purchased 1-2-all software on Wed, August 19, 2009.
From the email we received after the purchase. Your email stated the following:
====
1-2-All - 1 User Account (349)
3 Months Web Based Support (0.00)
Serial: EM-F-N6Q4KNN3R385HUVHVX2NY4WRUFZYAT
Order ID: VQFF4A363DFA
====
02. On Sat, August 29, 2009 you sent an email:
====
Subject: Thank you for your recent purchase!
From: "ActiveCampaign, Inc."
Date: Sat, August 29, 2009 12:22 pm
====
03. On 2009-09-08 08:03:36 (Pacific Time) I called you and you answered the phone and we talked for 09 minutes and 48 seconds. You asked me several questions about why I am requesting a refund and what problems did I have with the software.
III. US, REQUESTING REFUND:
On Wed, September 09, 2009 I requested a refund through your link (01), Please see "FOOTNOTES" at the bottom of this Open Letter.
I completed the blank form. To see the pdf file of the printout of the blank form page, please click on the following link (01b).
Upon completion of my refund request your website displayed the following message:
"Your refund request has been processed. We will reply within the next 1-2 business days."
To see the pdf file of the printout of that page, please click on the following link (02).
IV. ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com NOT DELIVERING THAT REFUND AS PROMISED:
Your website states on (03):
====Starting Quote from your website.
Satisfaction Guarantee
Print
Save to list
E-mail
Put your trust in ActiveCampaign. A company dedicated to providing stable software in an enriching consumer environment.
Our client support is scaled to perfection; allowing us to be responsive to your needs and concerns. We are confident you will find our solutions both stable and powerful.
For concerns about products or services, submit a support request through the support center for a prompt response and speedy resolution to your problem.
Orders come backed with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. If a refund is required within 60 days of your purchase we will process your 100% money back refund for you.
Let your mind rest easy. It’s part of our commitment to you as a valued client. If you are having any problems with your software, submit a support request through the support center for a prompt response and resolution to your problem.
To request a refund, first contact support to see if support can resolve any issues you have. If a resolution is not possible on your server, visit: http://www.activecampaign.com/support/refund.php to request a refund.
Terms:
* Clients have 60 days to request a refund. After 60 days, you may not request a refund.
* You must remove the ActiveCampaign software off of your hard drives, servers, and any location that it resides.
* You must remove the ActiveCampaign database structure from your MySQL database.
* Refunds are not available for monthly leased licenses.
====Ending Quote from your website.
Your website also states on (04):
====Starting Quote from your website.
Our Satisfaction Guarantee
All ActiveCampaign products include our 60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. No questions asked. No hassle involved.
We are confident that you will find our solutions both stable and powerful. If you are unsatisfied or if you have simply changed your mind we will refund 100% of your purchase.
Having an issue? We can help...
Before you submit a refund request we suggest to contact us through a support ticket in the support center for a prompt response and speedy resolution to any issues or questions you may have. We can often suggest solutions or fix the issue immediately
for you.
Requesting a refund
If a resolution is not possible, or you would simply like a refund, click here.
====Ending Quote from your website.
Mr. Jason VandeBoom, is all of what I just quoted from your website just words, perhaps meaningless words to get potential customers to purchase your software?
I am not God, I do not know what your intentions are. I do not know whether I am the first and only customer that you have not refunded money properly, rightfully and timely, due to a customer.
I do not know whether I am the first and only customer that you have not refunded money in a timely fashion so that they did not have to resort to either forgetting about their refund and the 60 days that they are allowed to request and or demand a
refund from their credit card companies expires and then they are not allowed to seek a refund.
In my experience of being in business since my college days back in the year 1975, I have found that the overwhelming super majority of companies that do this kind of behavior have done it before and they just work at whether they are going to get
caught.
Mr. Jason VandeBoom, I have a very, very serious problem with vendors of ours (companies we do business with) saying one thing and then not doing what they have said. Or, they make statements and commitments and then they do not follow through with
those commitments.
It was because of the actions of individuals and companies like yours that as the Founder of Citizens For A Better America (R) (CFABA.ORG) I launched a project and a website called OpenLetters.info where this letter can be found at the following
website address (05): http://www.openletters.info/op18001.htm
Q. What is OpenLetters.info and why have I written and dealt with this letter in this way? (06)
A. To do all I can to accomplish ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com refunding our funds absolutely no later than Friday, November 6th, 2009 and to put into place whatever procedures and practices to make sure that this ActiveCampaign,Inc. /
ActiveCampaign.com does not happen again, we searched the ActiveCampaign.com website on 09/22/2009 and we are sending this letter to 80 of the 96 emails addresses we found on the 76933 ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com public pages.
V. WHAT ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com DOES NOT SAY ON THEIR WEBSITE:
Mr. Jason VandeBoom, when your website as I quoted above states: "Let your mind rest easy. It's part of our commitment to you as a valued client. If you are having any problems with your software, submit a support request through the support center
for a prompt response and resolution to your problem." I do not consider statements like "Let your mind rest easy," to be credible when you and I talked for 9 minutes and 48 seconds and on the following day we request a refund and to the date of this
letter we have not received a refund.
Mr. Jason VandeBoom, your website DID NOT say:
01. "When dealing with ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com you must become a rude obnoxious collection agent for you to get your money back from ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com "
02. "When dealing with ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com you must hound us like a bill collector for ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com to give you your money back."
03. "When dealing with ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com you must call us to make sure that we are going to follow through on our commitment to refund your money because we do not follow through on our commitments unless we are treated that
way."
04. "When dealing with ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com you must believe anything that we say on our website because at the very least we do not believe in the concept of telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."
05. "When dealing with ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com you must travel to Chicago. Come to our office at 150 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1230, Chicago, IL 60601 ask, beg, yell and scream before we will refund your money back to you before we
will do so. Your website said: "If you are unsatisfied or if you have simply changed your mind we will refund 100% of your purchase."
Some of your potential customers that might be reading this letter in the future might think that my 01 to 05 statements above are somewhat ridiculous. However, that is the experience that I Robert Colaco have personally experienced with
ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com and I am deeply saddened to have to write this letter and to communicate all that I am communicating within it.
I was not going to do what I stated in 01 to 05 because I strongly believe that businesses ought to be responsible to follow through on statements and commitments they make. In a sound bite, Mr. Jason VandeBoom, you and your company have not.
I requested a refund not within the required 60 days of purchasing but did so within 21 days of purchasing your software.
What I do know is your actions speak considerably louder than any words no matter how well intentioned those words might be written and published on your website.
VI. WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU AND I SPOKE:
When you Jason VandeBoom and I spoke On 2009-09-08 at 08:03:36 (Pacific Time) you did ask me questions about why we were not going to keep your 1-2-all software and why we were seeking a refund.
As you might recall, in my specific case, I was more than happy to tell you that your software had deficiencies that we just could not live with.
As you will recall I told you that your software was unable to make sure that if an email address was in more than one list throughout the various lists that we had and the email recipient removed their email address, that email address would not be
in a "blacklist" or something similar so that they (email recipient) would then not receive another email. You confirmed that your 1-2-all email software was not able to do that.
I also know that you and your company have not done what you said that you would do. "All ActiveCampaign products include our 60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. No questions asked. No hassle involved."
If you do not think that this is a major, big time hassle and what I said in my statements 01 to 05 above is not a hassle than you Sir have redefined the word hassle.
Mr. Jason VandeBoom, if you and or your company ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com do not refund the funds of someone you, Mr. Jason VandeBoom have actually talked to, then what chance, opportunity, or hope that a customer that is not satisfied
with your software has of getting their money refunded to them?
Since I do not believe you will answer the above question that I just posed, I am going to put forth the answer that I believe is the right answer. I do not think that they have a chance at all. However, it is my hope that you will do what you have
said you will do on your website or remove those statements from your website.
VII. YOUR REFUND POLICY APPEARS TO BE WELL THOUGHTOUT:
Mr. Jason VandeBoom, to further prove my point about this concept of "Why you should give your customers their money back" I encourage your potential future customers to read the article posted by ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com at (07). This
article posted on your website in my mind proves that ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com has thought about "Why you should give your customers their money back". However, the whole concept is really trash if you do not actually "give your customers
their money back" as you have not done with us. For a customer of your to have to resort to this kind of effort to get their money back, in my thinking is revolting, disgusting, a super huge hassle.
====Starting Quote from your website.
Why you should give your customers their money back
Posted by: David In: Articles| General
18 Apr 2008
It seems counterintuitive that you should want to offer your customers a money-back guarantee. After all, the customer's money is really what you came for. Once you've got it, and you've delivered your product, it makes sense that the transaction should
be finished, right?
But this idea makes customers nervous. What if they buy the product only to find out that they can't make it work for them the way they had hoped? What if they misunderstood the promotional literature and come to find that a critical feature is missing?
What if they just plain change their mind? We've all experienced these worries when making a purchase, and your customers are no different. Your job is to put their minds at ease. Because nervous people don't buy. They put it on hold and then forget to
get back to it. It happens. You can probably think of plenty of times when you did this yourself.
Enter the money back guarantee. If you know you can get your money back, you worry less. You feel less pressured. You have some breathing room. So you go for it. As a business owner, you've told your customer that you are willing to shoulder the burden
of their potential buyer's remorse.
This is actually a win-win situation, because if you know that you've represented your product accurately, and that it is of a high quality, you can already predict that the vast majority of people who buy from you will not ask for their money back. You
have the advantage in the situation: you already know that your customer needs what you are offering. As long as you are actually delivering what you promise, the only people who will ever take you up on the offer are the ones who simply misunderstood.
And, frankly, you want them to return the product to you for a refund. Otherwise you'll have a dissatisfied customer out their talking about all the things your product can't do. This build up a perceived deficit in what may otherwise be a great product.
The moral of the story is that you only ever want happy customers who will tell people nice things about you.
Offering a money back guarantee not only alleviates your customer's anxiety about purchasing, it also conveys confidence. If you're willing to give them 30 or even 60 days to make up their minds about whether the product is worth it, they know you mean
business. If you're selling crap, this strategy is not going to work for you. But when you've worked hard to produce a product that meets your clients' needs, the sales you will gain by using this strategy will vastly outweigh the refunds you end up
paying out.
===Ending Quote from your website.
It is obvious to me from the above quote from your website that ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com has well thoughtout the whole concept of "Why you should give your customers their money back".
As it is stated directly above from your website: "The moral of the story is that you only ever want happy customers who will tell people nice things about you." I would venture to say that the opposite is true and correct that if you make a
commitment to "give your customers their money back" and do not do so then there is the possibility that they will not say nice things about you, as I have done in this Negative Open Letter to you.
VIII. SAYING GREAT THINGS ABOUT YOUR COMPANY IS GREAT AS LONG AS YOU DO WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY:
Your website also states on (08):
====Starting Quote from your website.
"There are hundreds of new features and enhancements with 1-2-All 5.0 including a redesigned interface, advanced email split testing, powerful new segmenting options, subscriber actions, new reports, and much more," said Jason VandeBoom, CEO of
ActiveCampaign. "Our latest 1-2-All email marketing software solution was re-written from the ground up to enhance the end user experience, making it easier to create, send, and track email marketing campaigns."
====Ending Quote from your website.
Q. I have thought about what possible reason and or excuse you would use for ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com not having refunded our money promptly?
A. We did not receive your refund request.
If you used this reason and or excuse, my response would be the fact that ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com as software company has established the procedures to deal with how ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com would handle not only
orders customers purchase your software but also when customers requested a refund. In my mind there is absolutely no good technical reason or excuse for ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com not having contacted us within the commitment you made on
your website "Your refund request has been processed. We will reply within the next 1-2 business days." (02)
In case you somehow missed it, I am not a happy camper that because of the actions of you and or your company I have had to spend the hours and hours to write this Negative Open Letter to you. As a courtesy to you however before filing a complaint
with the credit card company for your company not refunding my purchase as you committed to doing, that I charged my 1-2-all purchase with I am giving you the opportunity to refund my purchase price.
I is certainly my hope that you no make matters worse for you and your company by having me file a complaint with the Credit Card company which I will be forced to do if we do not receive from you absolutely no later than Friday, November 6th, 2009 a
refund on the card by 5:30 PM, Central Time, the time you close.
I is also certainly my hope that you no make matters worse for me to have to write another Negative Open Letter to our you Credit Card company telling them that ActiveCampaign,Inc. / ActiveCampaign.com did not refund us our purchase price absolutely
no later than Friday, November 6th, 2009 a refund on the card by 5:30 PM, Central Time, the time you close.
IX. MAYBE EVERYONE IN YOUR SPECIFIC INDUSTRY DOES NOT KEEP THEIR WORD:
Perhaps when people who might become your customers might be reading this Negative Open Letter and think that everyone in your specific industry does not keep their word and commitments just like you have done. Since I have experienced
Before we purchased software from you, we purchased emailing software from another company:
Omnistar Interactive
9261 Red Cart Court
Columbia, MD 21045
Phone: 800-660-0740 (sales only)
International: +1 410-730-2188 (sales only)
Fax: (815) 425-8703
Office Hours: 9 am - 6 PM Monday-Friday
Because of problems installing the software on our server we decided that we delete it from our server and requested a refund. We received a refund from their President, Tariehk Geter on the very same day we requested that refund.
Yes, that is right, we received a refund on the very same day we requested that refund.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and to refund our money immediately.
With All Sincerity,
Robert Colaco
President
Integrity Email Solutions (TM)
http://integrityemailsolutions.com/
PO BOX 7647
Van Nuys, CA 91409-7647
(818)574-8771
X. FOOTNOTES:
It is our policy to print a PDF version of each website page that is not on our server. We have this policy because while we do not delete or remove content and webpages from our websites we have not found that same commitment by other website
owners.
(01): http://www.activecampaign.com/support/refund.php
(01b): Archived PDF copy of (01) blank: http://www.openletters.info/pdfs/01b_activecampaign_com_support_refund_php.pdf
(02): Archived PDF copy of (01) after completion: http://www.openletters.info/pdfs/02_20090909_ActiveCampaign_com_refund_page.pdf
(03): http://www.activecampaign.com/sales_faq/index.php?article=1004
(03b): Archived PDF copy of (03): http://www.openletters.info/pdfs/03b_activecampaign_com_Satisfaction_Guarantee_Pre_Sales_FAQS.pdf
(04): http://www.activecampaign.com/about/guarantee.php
(04b): Archived PDF copy of (04): http://www.openletters.info/pdfs/04b_activecampaign_com_Guarantee_Your_Satisfaction_is_Guaranteed.pdf
(05): http://www.openletters.info/op18001.htm
(06): http://www.openletters.info/op01001.htm
(07): http://www.activecampaign.com/blog/why-you-should-give-your-customers-their-money-back/
(07b): Archived PDF copy of (07): http://www.openletters.info/pdfs/07b_activecampaign_com_Why_you_should_give_your_customers_their_money_back.pdf
(08): http://www.activecampaign.com/blog/activecampaign-launches-leading-email-marketing-software-5-0/
Additional Tags or search terms for this Negative Open Letter:
01. Problem with ActiveCampaign,Inc.
02. Problem with ActiveCampaign.com
03. Problems with ActiveCampaign,Inc.
04. Problems with ActiveCampaign.com
05. Frustrations with ActiveCampaign,Inc.
06. Frustrations with ActiveCampaign.com
07. Frustration with ActiveCampaign,Inc.
08. Frustration with ActiveCampaign.com
09. Disappointments with ActiveCampaign,Inc.
10. Disappointments with ActiveCampaign.com
11. Lousy customer service by ActiveCampaign,Inc.
12. Lousy customer service by ActiveCampaign.com
13. ActiveCampaign,Inc. do not keep their word.
14. ActiveCampaign.com do not keep their word.
15. ActiveCampaign,Inc. does not keep their word.
16. ActiveCampaign.com does not keep their word.
(c) Copyright 2009. Integrity Email Solutions (TM). All Rights Reserved. This has been authorized, paid for and published by Integrity Email Solutions (TM).
(TM) = Trademark.
DOCUMENT NAME:
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All Trademarks are the property of Robert Colaco and may not be used without written permission.
Carbon Copy made available to Citizens For A Better America (R) (CFABA.ORG), OPENLETTERS.INFO project http://www.openletters.info/ project.
THIS IS THE END OF OPEN LETTER SENT BY E-MAIL FROM Integrity Email Solutions (TM).