Effective Design Solutions Promised Clicks for a banner add that didn't exist that lead to a website that did not work. Laveen Arizona

Dear Anonymous,

 My name is Jim McDonald and I am the head of the customer support team here at Effective Design Solutions, and I just wanted to take a moment and reply to the complaint that was filed against our company in the last 24 hours. I would first like to say that you are more than welcome to give us a call at 888-909-4337 from the hours of 9AM-6PM MST Monday through Friday. We take customer satisfaction very seriously, and would very much like to understand exactly what happened in your situation.

With that being said, we would like to address not only the anonymous writer of the complaint, but also the internet at large. We truly believe that this complaint has to be due to some sort of misunderstanding as our company is not a website building service, nor do we ever guarantee any number of “clicks” in our advertising campaigns. We also pride ourselves in always being available. We strive to make sure that every phone call is answered and every email gets a reply. If the campaign was indeed purchased within the last fifteen months we will be able to pull any and all records surrounding that campaign. I can offer my personal assurance that if what the complaint alleges to be true that there will certainly be consequences.

However, there are elements mentioned in the complaint that lead us to believe that the real issue is not with Effective Design Solutions, but with the company that actually built the website. As an advertising and design service, our goal is to help drive traffic into our client’s sites, but we do not actually host or build the websites ourselves. Typically, our client’s websites are independently developed by the client themselves, or an outside company, between 30 and 60 days before they ever come into contact with Effective Design Solutions.  In that regard, the unfortunate reality is that our company is highly dependent on the client to make sure that their website is setup properly. Regardless of how well our advertising campaign might preform, it will do no good if the client’s website is not functioning correctly.

This reality has led to the implementation of what we call our “initial walkthrough” process where we have our customer service representatives reach out to each client so that they better understand their campaign. We provide all of the appropriate documentation to our clients via email within five business days of purchase, and even back that up with physical documents through the regular mail just to be safe. However, we still like to add the personal touch of having someone on the phone with our clients to answer any questions they might have at the beginning.

The walkthrough usually takes place over the phone within the first few weeks of signup, and usually lasts no more than an hour. During this process we show our clients the custom banner that was created for their business, where that banner has been placed on the internet, and then how to log into our Member’s Access area where a client can track the response to the banner ad.

Again, all of this information is tracked. We still have the records available. We strongly believe that if we were provided the details of the order in question that we would be able to prove that we that the complaints alleged are untrue. We believe that, over the last fifteen months, our company and the company that built the client’s website have been merged in the client’s memory and we are now taking the blame for an issue that isn’t our fault.

However, this response isn’t about avoiding blame. This is about turning a perceived wrong into a right. Our company has had the pleasure to work with nearly 2,800 customers over the last five years. We have an A+ rating with the BBB. Our complaint ratio is approximately 1 out of every 1400 clients, and in our mind that is one too many. Please, do call in as we welcome your call. We would love to figure out how we can make this right. 

Sincerely,

Jim McDonald

Effective Design Solutions - Customer Support Team Manager