Reply ! inc The leads I received from this company are CRAP. The company sent me leads who had no idea why Reply Inc. gave me their name This company needs to be shut down. San Ramon, California

Disputed Charges

Re: Reply! Inc.

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Ronit Gordon and I am an agent working for ReMax Properties Plus in Tenafly, NJ, 07670. I have put together this file in order to support my request to dispute ALL charges made by Reply! Inc. Included are dates, background information, letters, reviews by former agents, and attachments to show exactly what has occurred with this “company,” and why all charges by them must be disputed.

I received a phone call from Reply! Inc. on approximately May 7, 2013 offering me seller’s leads. After hearing what their company was about and the services that they provided, I thought it would be a good idea to sign up with them in order to receive additional leads. I accepted their offer by providing them with my Discover credit card information. When I spoke with Reply!’s representative through the telephone, I notified him and stressed the fact that I was leaving the country on May 15, 2013 for approximately three weeks and I would like the leads to begin only upon my return on June 5, 2013. [See #1 for flight ticket confirmation]. I was shocked upon receiving the first lead on May 7, 2013 [See #2]. 

I immediately called Reply! Inc., to remind them that I specifically asked for my membership to begin NO EARLIER than June 5, 2013. Although they assured me that they will put my account on hold until then, not only did they charge me $79.90 on May 20, 2013 [See #13], but they also continued to send me numerous leads during the month of May, as well as the month of June. Once again, and for the third time, I called the company and begged them to please not send me any more leads until I was back in the states, and to please put my account on hold so that the charges would stop.

I have never experienced such poor customer service and irresponsibility by a company who assures me of one thing and does the complete opposite immediately after. Of course they apologized and reassured me that my account was now on hold. This was a LIE, because between May 20, 2013 and June 5, 2013, I received another 5 leads [See #2].  This was absolutely ridiculous. Considering I tried- and failed three times to get Reply! Inc., to put my account on hold until I returned to the states, I was left with no choice but to call prospective sellers from overseas, on my vacation, to begin working with them, only to find out that THESE LEADS WERE ALL FAKE.

Attached to this letter is a description of some of the many leads that were sent over to me. There are many more leads attached to this file that consist of the same issue, however I gave a detailed description for some of those leads below. Whoever reads this will get the idea of what has occurred here.

3. Client Name: David Avital [Attached as #3]: What caught my immediate attention      was the fact that the address given was nonexistent. In addition, the name      is not in our records as an owner in this town. Furthermore, the price      range that he was looking to sell his home was so low to the point that this      was clearly a fake. Alpine, New Jersey is one of the richest towns in      Bergen County. Houses begin at a minimum of approximately a million      dollars. The information on this lead made it appear as if this “seller”      had a price range beginning at $174,999.00 and ending with $150,000.00.      This is just unrealistic.
4. Client Name: Jacob Bensadigh [Attached as #4]: This form that was sent to me had      the same exact problem with #1 above, but there was something even more      startling about this one. This seller’s house was purchased through my      office in 2007, with a value of approximately $950,000.00. It was      unrealistic that the seller’s price range began at $174,999.00 and ended      with $150,000.00 (since the house was worth much more, especially in this      location – East Englewood, NJ). Why would an owner have an asking price so      low when his house is worth so much more? In addition, this asking price      range was exactly the same      range/same numbers as the house listed in #1 above.
5. Client Name: John Gouvouniotis [Attached as #5]:This      lead that was sent to me was regarding a house that was located in a      county in which I do not serve. I specified to Reply! Inc., that the only      county I serve in was Bergen County. This company is unprofessional and      continues to send leads that do not match their customer’s (my) needs.
6. Client Name: Helen Kung [Attached      as #6]: On this form, the seller clearly stated that she “is      not interested in selling [her] home.” Nevertheless, I reached out to the      seller by telephone. She was highly upset by my phone call. I was stunned      to find out that she is actually on the “DO-NOT-CALL” list. Again, how and      why is Reply! Inc. getting a hold of do-not-call numbers and even worse,      why are they listing them and sending them to real estate agents claiming      that these people wish to be called or sell their house? This person DID      NOT want to be reached, let alone sell her house. On the “selling lead,”      form that was sent to me by Reply! Inc., it clearly stated, “Not      interested in selling my home.” This is ridiculous!
7. Client Name: Tony Bianco [Attached as #7]: This lead was sent to me on June      3, 2013. The problem is that this seller’s house was on the market and      listed by another agent on March 7, 2013, and the owner accepted an offer      on May 6, 2013. How could it be that Reply! Inc. is sending me seller’s      leads that are clearly unavailable. Under NJ law, it is illegal to contact      an owner whose house is already listed by another agency. It would have      caused me to break NJ law by calling this particular seller. Unacceptable!

7A. Listing [Attached as #7(A)]: Proof that the agent listed this house on March 7, 2013 – months before the lead was sent to me by Reply! Inc., on June 3, 2013.

8. Client      Name: Chum Wong [Attached as #8]:This      was another seller who was highly upset by my phone call. She hung up the      phone on me after telling me not to ever call her again. I was once again      shocked because the form sent by Reply! Inc. stated “please contact this      potential client as soon as possible.” This had the same issue as #6      above. Why is Reply! Inc. getting a hold of these numbers and sending them      out to agents?
       
       
9. Email      from Reply, Inc! Account Manager – Melissa Jordan [Attached as #9]: I      tried to reach Reply! Inc. again on June 25, 2013 to speak with Ms.      Danielle Hassett (my account manager), and to request all of these leads      to completely stop; and for a full refund for all of the fake leads that I      was continuously charged for. Ms. Melissa Jordan answered the phone on      behalf of Ms. Danielle Hassett, telling me that Ms. Hassett was “unavailable.”      I asked her to help me but she told me that Ms. Hassett is my account      manager who will return my phone call. I received an email by Ms. Jordan [See # 9] confirming our phone      conversation and assuring me that Ms. Hassett will “follow up” with me. I      stressed how important it was for Ms. Hassett to call me back, but instead      of receiving a phone call back, I received an email from Ms. Hassett on      June 27, 2013 [see #9(A) indented      below].

9A. Email from Reply! Inc.’s Account Manager – Danielle Hassett [Attached as #9(A)]: I sent back as many leads as I possibly could to Reply! Inc., but instead of returning my money, they IGNORED both my complaints and me and simply continued to send me more INACCURATE and FAKE leads just so that they could charge my card again. I spoke with them many times through phone calls only to get the same response. Finally on June 27, 2013, I received an email from Danielle Hassett (Reply! Inc.’s Account Manager) acknowledging the problem that I was dealing with. I was relieved because I thought that I would finally get answers and a refund, but instead I was very upset to learn that she would only agree to refund me 2 leads and under the condition that I would not complain to any outside services including my bank. This “condition,” asking me not to complaining to any outside services including my bank, was also stated on a telephone conversation that I had with Ms. Hassett. This scared me because I have never heard of any company frightened by the idea of one of their customers complaining to an outside service. Why was Reply! Inc. making it such a point that they do not want me to contact any outside services about this, including my bank? I immediately called Discover to dispute my charges before I even responded back to Ms. Hassett.

10. Responding to Ms. Hassett’s Email [Attached as #10]:On      June 29, 2013 I replied to Ms. Hassett’s email stating how upset I was and      how unprofessional and unacceptable this whole situation was. I let her      know that I will contact my credit card company to dispute the      charges.  I also notified her that I      researched her company and came across many negative reviews by agents who      experienced the same issues as I have (See      # 11 below for more details on these reviews). She not only FAILED to      respond back to me, but Reply! Inc. had the nerve to send me more      leads!!!!!!!!!! (which, by the way, were out of my service area once      again) AND my account was CHARGED AGAIN on July 4, 2013 for another      $119.85 [See #14]. By now I was      both disgusted and horrified that this company had managed to stay in      business after treating customers this way.
11. Reply! Inc., Consumer Complaints      and Reviews [Attached as #’s 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, 11E, 11F, 11G, 11H, 11I]: These are just some of the MANY      complaints that I came across when searching REPLY! Inc. The      Discover representative that will be dealing with my dispute can read all      of these reviews for more detail. But the main issues that arise consist      of agents who have had their credit cards charged multiple times with no      service given, or false information sent. One of these (#11A) is a ReMax Agent who stated      that they will be contacting the Better Business Bureau as well as the      local Attorney General.

*Please Note that 11- I is made up of 10 pages.

12. BBB: Better Business Bureau [Attached as #12]:. On the second page of this #12      attachment it is clearly stated, “On January 21, 2011 the Contra Cost      District Attorney’s Office entered into a Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction      with Reply! Inc., Case no.: C11-00208. This injunction applied to the      company’s Real Estate Program…”
1. I       have also contacted Ms. Elsie Thomas from the Better Business Bureau at       (510)-844-2004, and am currently waiting for a reply.
13. Some of the Charges Made by Reply!      Inc., [Attached as #13]:All      of these, including the charges listed in #14 – must be disputed, and      credited back to my Discover account.
14. My Disputes [Attached as #14]:

5/20/2013: $79.90

5/31/2013: $119.85

6/11/2013: $119.85

6/22/2013: $119.85

7/4/2013: $119.85

Total =    $559.30

The first time I called Discover on June 29, 2013, I was told that my charges would be disputed and that Reply! Inc. would not be able to charge my card anymore. However, on July 4, 2013 I was once again charged $119.85 by Reply! Inc.; it was a pending transaction. I immediately called Discover on July 5, 2013 and received both an apology and reassurance that Reply! Inc., would definitely be blocked from making any additional charges and in addition that my account was pending an investigation as to my disputed charges. The Discover representative told me that he was unsure why the block on my card from allowing Reply! Inc., any access, did not work the first time around.

15. Reply, Inc. cancels my account WITHOUT refund: [Attached as #15]: On July 9, 2013 I randomly, received a cancellation email by Reply! Inc., but no credit back to my card was issued.

I have had a terrible experience with Reply! Inc. I have not only embarrassed myself by calling clients who did not wish to be reached, but much of my valuable energy and time has gone to waste. As stated above multiple times, not only did I NOT receive ONE valid lead from Reply! Inc., but every single one of the leads sent to me were inaccurate or fake. I am a very well known real estate agent in this area, as well as one of the top producers.  Therefore, calling people who are represented by other agencies, or people who are listed on “DO-NOT-CALL” lists has not been very positive for my reputation that I have worked very hard and for many years, to achieve. This is completely unacceptable and embarrassing; something must be done!!!!!!

I want to thank Discover for their time, help and cooperation in this matter. If I can provide ANY additional information whatsoever in order to complete this dispute process, I would do so with no problem. My cell number and email address (listed at the top left) are the best places to reach me.