Scam - Genesis Media Solutions?

Eskie

Wondered whether anyone on here is familiar with Genesis Media Solutions?

They sell Facebook advertising.
I very stupidly fell for their BS on January 19 and agreed to a months advertising on facebook through them on a trial basis that if it didn't work I was not tied into anything, and I checked with the salesman a couple of times that I definitely wasn't tied into anything which he confirmed.

On Feb 20 I sent them an email stating that I didn't wish to continue using them, and they then called me back and gave me a load of waffle and said they'd double the number of impressions and have a dedicated person monitoring it and other stuff and to give them a chance for one more month to prove that it could work. Like a lemon I agreed and tried it for one more month, and achieved precisely the same results as the first month, i.e. nothing!
When the guy called again at the end of the 2nd month (March 22) with more waffle I told him I wasn't interested. He then used some of the same lines that he'd tried the month before but had obviously forgotten he'd already used; he said he'd make sure that this time there would be a person that monitored the account and when I told him him that he'd promised the same the previous month, so that obviously meant that no one had actually been doing that for the 2nd month and so even more reason for me not to renew he just hung up the phone.
Since then I'd heard nothing more from them until today when I received an email with notice of legal proceedings being issued against me, stating:

Your account is now overdue for payment by 21 days and has been passed to our legal department. Despite previous warnings, no payments have been made to this account.

Court proceedings will be issued within 14 days from the date of this letter if the account has not been settled.

£ 99.00 is due by 04/05/2011

There will be no further warnings made for demands of payment. Court proceedings can include the additional expence of legal costs and interest being added to the balance of this account.

Court action is still avoidable if immediate and full settlement of this account is made.

I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.

Yours Sincerely
Credit Control
Tel: 0161 245 6700
Email: stacey@genesismediasolutions co uk

To say I was shocked is an understatement because for one thing I'd heard nothing from them, hadn't received any invoices, warnings or anything whatsoever and secondly I already had the agreement from the salesman in the first place that I wasn't tied into any sort of contract.
I then called the lady that sent this, she told me that I had not paid the invoice for the 3rd month. I told her that I stopped their service on March 22 and had been told by the salesman that i wasn't tied into any contract with them and also told her how rude the guy had been by just ending the call when he got uncomfortable with being found out that he was lieing. She told me that when I signed up I would've received an email which including T&C's which stated that i had to provide written confirmation that i wanted to end the contract. I stated that there wasn't a contract and that the salesman had agreed this. She said that all telephone calls were recorded and they could prove that they had sent me the T&C's. I was happy when she told me that all calls were recorded and said therefore there would be proof of what the salesman had agreed with me and that also they would be able to hear how rude he'd been and asked them for a copy of these calls. She told me they would charge me £29.99 to send those tapes and when I asked for her full name she refused to give it to me.
So I politely ended the call by saying OK let's see what the court says about this then and would wait to hear when the court date was.

Surely they are not able to have a salesman state that you're not entering into a contract and send you paperwork which states that you are? and also state that the legal proceedings will be proceeded because of failure to respond to previous warnings when there had been no warnings, or ANY communication at all?

I'm wondering what I should do next? I realise this may well be a bluff from them and that they won't actually proceed with court action, but just in case it's not should I contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or such like?
Thanks for your help.

TMG_IMAGE

I cant believe the coincidence. I just spent 20 angry minutes of me telling Genesis to P*** off and them calling back 3 or 4 times trying to persuade me that I agreed to a contract. I told them I wont do anything until I hear the so called recording and then the only thing I plan to do is fight them.
This story is almost identical to mine and I am sure that there will be many more getting the same harrasment. Is there a body that we can go to with our collective stories and stop these scams.
my email is [EMAIL="tmgphoto@msn.com"]tmgphoto@msn.com[/EMAIL]

agrinnall

Do you have legal cover with your house or contents insurance? If so I'd give them a call and see what they say. And you don't need to pay £29.99 for the tapes, you can make a Subject Access Request (see http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/subject_access_requests.aspx) and the most they can charge is £10.

bod1467

£10 total or £10 per call? (I think total, as you would be requesting a copy of ALL data they hold about or concerning you. If per call then I could see where £29.99 is coming from).

texranger

a total of £10 for all recordings
Genesis Media Solutions is not even registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as they have no record on the Data Protection Public Register

also when their site only shows "Comming soon..." ( their spelling) for their TOS and privacy policy on their site does not bode well

competitionscafe

Interesting post here from someone who claims to be an ex employee:

"this company is a scam i used to work for them! they will say its a one month trial then just keep debiting you every month regardless if you cancel.

I quit as soon as i found out what was going on."
From http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/genesis-global-englandgreater-manchester-c481985.html

Whois and company info:
http://whois.domaintools.com/genesismediasolutions.co.uk

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/06122707

texranger

competitionscafe wrote: »

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/06122707

all this is just the official details etc. of the parent company and not of genesis media solutions, which i dare say will most likely have a separate account and most likely offshore

philmitchell

I was contacted by them in September 2011 and they sold me Google advertising.

I spoke to a male called Daniel who rold me one thing on the phone but ended up selling me something that did not match what he told me.

I accepted that part of this was my fault as I didn't fully read the terms and conditions; however I didn't expect to speak to someone who was going to lead mis sell me something!

To cut a long story short I just wanted nothing to do with them so I phoned them up and was told them I wanted to cancel my campaign and they said I had to write to them to let them them know this. I did this and phoned them up and they said they had recived the letter and that was the end of it. I looked at my bank statement and I discovered they have taken another £144 out of my account.

I was not happy, so I phoned them only to discover that there phone lines were not working. I phoned Consumer Direct and Companies House who said they were due to be struck off as their accounts are overdue.

I sent Stacey an email telling her exactly what I thought of Genesis and I received an automated email with their new phone number.

I phoned them an spoke to Stacey who said she would phone me back . . . . .she hasn't!

Iphoned a number of time and spoke to different people including a girl called 'Natasha' . . .they all said they would get someone to phone me back . . . . no one did!
I eventually spoke to a male called Phil, who I understand to be a manager. He told me that the negative comments on forums such as this are from other competitors and shouldn't be beleived. They must think we are stupid. I told Phil that this is hard to believe as Genesis never seem to stick by what they say, so their word doesn't mean a lot. I told him my situation and he did say that it sounds like I am owed a refund. We arranged a time to next speak and he promised he would not fob me off and that he would phone me back . . .. .Guess what . . . . . HE DIDN'T!

When I phoned back, there was no answer so I have left a message. I not have the managing director's details and I am looking into taking this matter to the small claims court.I have also found out how to record conversations on my mobile phone so when I next speak to them I will be able to back up everything that is said.

I do not work for a competitor. I am a private counsellor based in Leeds who has been ripped and given disgusting customer service. If these people expect me to believe that all the negative comments on here are from competitors they must think we are stupid! We are not. I will phone this company every day and go as far as I can to get my refund!

bod1467

Did they take the money by Direct Debit? If yes raise a complaint with your bank and get the DD refunded, then cancel the DD.