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Follow-Up: Vista Print Class Action Lawsuit September 9, 2008

Posted by essentialadmin in General Tips, News Releases, Virtual Assistant Tips.
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Earlier this year I wrote about VistaPrint’s sneaky “rewards” program, and wanted to provide an update as of the end of August. On August 21st, VistaPrint announced they’re party to a class action lawsuit related to these practices.

Here’s additional information provided by wikipedia that I found interesting, specifically how much these referral program (‘majority’ being the reward program) revenues add up to each year ($27.6M for FY2008) as compared to their net income for the same period (39.8M):

 

VistaPrint’s partnerships in the United Kingdom have attracted criticism. Critics have stated that VistaPrint’s customers are enrolled without their knowledge in a reward voucher scheme operated by an associated company, VPrewards.com, at a cost of £9.95 a month, that no information on the reward scheme is provided to customers subsequently and that it is up to the customers to detect the fact that they have been enrolled as members and to cancel unwanted membership. A similar scheme operates in the USA. The number of complaints is significant enough to generate awareness on the web and to be a cause for concern. For complainants, the company claims publicly to cancel the membership, and refunds the monthly membership : however there have been examples of complaints where the company has not done this or responded as quickly as customers would have liked.

In August 2008, the company announced that class action lawsuits relating to the membership discount programs offered by third party merchants on VistaPrint’s USA website have been filed against VistaPrint USA, Inc., VistaPrint Corp., and two third party merchants (Vertrue Inc. and its subsidiary Adaptive Marketing LLC) in Texas and New Jersey. Two additional class-action suits were subsequently filed in both Massachusetts and Alabama. The four complaints, all filed in federal courts, allege that the defendants are in violation of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (which protects from unauthorized charges) and the federal Electronic Communications and Privacy Act (which prohibits the unlawful access of financial information). “As we allege in the complaint, we believe that VistaPrint and Vertrue are acting in concert to access consumers’ credit card information and then begin charging them relatively small amounts,” says Jerome Noll, counsel for the plaintiff that filed the Massachusetts suit. “You’re talking about $14.95 a month or $12.95 a month, hoping that consumers just won’t notice.”

It should be noted that in its latest 10K for FY 2008, the company states “we expect that referral fee revenue from membership discount programs will decline in absolute dollar terms over that period of time ["by the end of calendar year 2010"], including possibly to as low as zero.”

From a financial perspective, some observers and analysts contend that this type of highly profitable third-party revenue distorts the company’s finances. A relatively small referral revenue can have a relatively large impact on the net income. While VistaPrint, as a public company, properly includes this revenue in its quarterly figures, it is argued that excluding this revenue gives a better picture of the company’s true profitability and the value of its stock. For example, in FY 2008, VistaPrint’s revenue was $400.7m with 6.9% of this ($27.6m) coming from referral fees, the “majority” of which comes from the rewards program. This can be contrasted with the net income for the same period of $39.8m.

VistaPrint and Other Deceptive "Rewards" Programs April 16, 2008

Posted by essentialadmin in General Tips, Uncategorized.
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 More and more I’ve been hearing complaints about VistaPrint’s “deceptive” enrollment into their “VistaPrint Rewards” program. First, I heard grumblings from colleagues who had experienced it, and now from one of my own clients. During his tax compilation tasks, he noticed a recurring $14.95 charge to his credit card for this “rewards program” posting for several months. He linked the first charge back to around the time he made a one-time order through VistaPrint.

Here’s the skinny.

On www.ConsumerAffairs.com I found a complaint log dating back to 2005 regarding this issue. Complaint after complain after complaint mentions the same thing.

During the checkout process, a buyer is presented with a “$10 VistaPrint cash back offer”. Sounds good, right? WRONG!  What it really is … enrollment into the VistaPrint Rewards Program … not even administered by VistaPrint, but instead by a 3rd party (Vertrue, formerly MWI, alias MemberWorks Inc.). It’s just one of many “negative-option” schemes making the rounds. In the case of VistaPrint, during the order process, you’re presented with this misleading option. If you don’t read all the fine print, you’ve now enrolled yourself into a (completely unrelated to VistaPrint service offerings) travel, entertainment, rewards program. They use all the information from your order process (i.e., credit card number, name, email, etc.) to supply to this 3rd party (i.e., you don’t go to another screen or website to enter in your credit card number to order this service). 

After the 30 day “trial” period (that most people don’t appear to even know about), your card starts getting automatically charged $14.95 each month. And, if that card is a debit check card, this could mean bounced items and NSF charges because you didn’t know the charge was coming.

Sure, VistaPrint says you’ll receive an email confirming your enrollment, but we all know that more than likely, that’s going to end up in your spam folder — and since you weren’t looking out for a confirmation of this enrollment, since you don’t even realize you were enrolled, you would furthermore take it as spam.

Here’s the direct link to the Consumer Affairs Vista Print complaint page that reiterates the same complaints over and over again. 

Here’s what one poster wrote:

“Jim of Colorado Springs CO (03/17/08)
I needed some business cards quick and ordered from Vistaprints. Soon after, I received unauthorized recurring charges of $14.95. I called American Express who initially agreed to investigate the charges. While on the phone, I Googled this site and directed American Express to the site. They changed the investigation to a ‘fraud’ and credited my back the charges. I left Vistaprint my opinion by email and will report them to the BBB.”

Here’s an excerpt from VistaPrint’s FAQ page:

After completing a VistaPrint order, customers may be presented with an offer page offering the opportunity to take advantage of a $10 VistaPrint cash back offer for joining the VistaPrint Rewards Program. This offer page contains details about the VistaPrint Rewards Program including offer benefits, services and the associated monthly fee required to participate. If a customer chooses to accept this offer the credit card used for the customers VistaPrint purchase will be automatically charged the applicable monthly fees after a 30 day free-trial period, and VistaPrint will transfer certain personal information, including the customers credit card information, to a service provider that administers the program.

Obviously, with the shear number of complaints still occurring (most recent was a couple weeks ago), those so-called “details” are still not obvious enough to the buyers.

To learn more about this third party company and what is now being called the “negative-option” schemes (where companies enroll you in their plan without your asking, and it’s then up to you to cancel the enrollment),

check out this ConsumerAffairs post regarding Vertrue, ex-MWI.

Here, you’ll find similar types of “schemes”. One gentleman writes:

Don of Omaha NE (12/20/07)
On December 14, 2007 I discovered a questionable charge of $249.95 on my bank cash card account from something called Simply You. Having no idea what this was, I called the phone number ( 888-242-0180) listed with the charge. I told the rep that I didn’t know what this was and he said that it was some kind of membership that I had become involved in resulting from a purchase I made in 2003! I asked to have this credited immediately and he wanted to send me some kind of trial material first. I remember it having something to do with discounts and rebates on certain services and products. Wanting nothing to do with this, I insisted on the credit and he said it would be processed, which it was a few days later.

After hanging up, I was suspicious and so I looked my old bank statements back to 2003. I found the original purchase which was for $27.44 in February 2003. I don’t remember what this was for and I certainly don’t recall enrolling in any kind of ‘membership’. I found the first yearly charge from Simply You in Dec 2003 for $109.95. Then each December from then on they were sticking me a charge. Here they are: Dec 2003, $109.95, Dec 2004, $199.95, Dec 2005, $219.95, Dec 2006, $239.95 and Dec 2007, $249.95. All total $1,019.75. As I said earlier, I have received credit of $249.95 for the Dec 2007 charge but that leaves a total of $769.80 in bogus fraudulent charges to me. I have initiated a claim with the Neb BBB and have reported this to the Neb Attorney General. I have sent emails directly to Vertrue and they are not answering me. I am thinking about paying a personal call to their offices in Omaha to see if that accomplishes anything.

A similar thing happened to my Grandma a couple years back. She had ordered an item over the phone and provided her checking account number for payment (check draft). Later, we found they were debiting $249 each quarter via a check draft (so it was very difficult to dispute), and we couldn’t get them to stop. We finally had to close the checking account. When I called on her behalf to complain, they had the recording available where she accepted the “discount program”. Interestingly, it was the evidence that showed she was actually bamboozled … it was clear on the recording that they were confusing my grandma, and when she would say no, they would continue offering it, but using different words and phrases. It was about a 5 minute conversation!  Finally she said, ” …. uh, okay”, but it was absolutely clear she was worn down (her breathing was labored as she’s on oxygen), and she didn’t understand. My gosh …. she’s in her late 80’s!

So … here’s a buyer beware caution, not only as it relates to VistaPrint’s checkout procedures, but when ordering from any vendor these days!! When they say something like, “Would you be interested in our free gas program”, or “rewards program” or “discount program” … say NO and don’t change your mind!

I used to have a VistaPrint affiliate link on my website that offered special discounts not normally available on their website … I have now removed it. I cannot support these types of masked selling methods as I, too, consider it a “scheme”.

Realtor.com: Changes to Enhanced Listings & Sort Defaults November 12, 2007

Posted by essentialadmin in General Tips, REALTOR Tips, Realtor.com, Virtual Assistant Tips.
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For those of you who are REALTORS or Virtual Assistants who explain the benefits of having a Realtor.com Showcase/Enhanced Listing account to agent clients,  I just wanted to give you an update that just happened.

First, when I refer to an “enhanced listing”, I’m making the assumption a person has actually enhanced the listing with at least two images.

It used to be that the biggest benefit of the enhanced listing package (in my and my clients’ opinions anyway) was that the enhanced listings showed first in the search results. Same thing with having a featured tour. These were the only ways of achieving SEO within Realtor.com without having to purchase the really expensive featured property package.

Up until about 6 months ago (or so … can’t remember exactly), a person would search Realtor.com and, before showing the results, it would present them with a screen that allowed them to choose if they wanted to “display listings with multiple images first” or “display listings with virtual tours first”.  Realtor.com stats showed a great majority of people selected one of these choices. Therefore, there was great benefit to having a listing enhanced with multiple photos (only available with the paid enhanced listing package) or having a tour uplinked to Realtor.com.

Then, they changed this, adding further benefit to the showcase agent or agent with a featured tour. They made their “default” sort view act in the following way:

There were two groupings.

The first grouping included all the enhanced listings and those with a featured tour, sorted by price. In other words, say your search criteria was for homes up to $250K. The first 5 pages of search results would only display enhanced listings and listings with a virtual tour, sorted lower price to higher price. This was great for the agent who had either of these.

After those displayed, the second grouping included all the standard listings, sorted lower price to higher price. Bummer for the agent who didn’t have either of these because, more than likely, the visitor would tire before getting to those pages and their listing would never be seen.

Therefore, whether you had an enhanced listing or a featured tour, your listing was given the excellent preferred sort status.

However, they have now removed this preferred sort status. Evidently, a lot of visitors complained that it was confusing … they’d view the listings noticing they were sorted lowest price to highest price, but would get further down and the lower priced listings would start all over again (i.e., they reached the unenhanced listings).

Now, the default view just shows all listings from lower to higher dollar amount. The only sort benefit now of having an enhanced listing is within the same exact dollar amount. For example, if there are 10 listings at $250,000, the enhanced listing(s) will show before all others. Virtual tours have no preferred sort benefit now.

There is an orange nav link that allows a visitor to select a different sort view (i.e., by featured tour or multiple images); however, in my opinion, it’s not obvious and I can’t see people really using it.

I only mention all this because this was a huge factor to my clients when weighing whether to purchase 1) the enhanced listing package (it’s definitely not cheap, especially for top producers … or when it came to offices purchasing the office enhanced listing account), or 2) the Realtor.com virtual tour uplinks (generally around the $25/listing range for agents without the enhanced listing package).

So, if this preferred sorting feature was a deciding factor to you or your clients in the past, it’s now gone … and as of today, they don’t have any plans on bringing it back.

Relocating Your Business: Interview with Amber Drake October 28, 2007

Posted by essentialadmin in General Tips, RV VA Tips, Virtual Assistant Tips.
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Amber interviewed for Loosely Speaking re: Relocating Your Business … Read all about it here

Favorite Virtual Phone System May 26, 2007

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Whether you’re a Virtual Assistant, REALTOR working with a VA or VA team, or RV remote professional, one of the “staples” of your business will be a virtual phone system. What is a virtual phone system?  It’s a virtual PBX … it combines a toll-free or local number with an autoattendant, Internet fax, call forwarding, voicemail, call screening, “click-to-call me” feature, and more. 

I’ve used several different systems, including FreedomVoice, Onebox, UReach, and a host of others for whom I can’t even remember their names. But, my all time favorite, and the one I use and recommend to clients, is RingCentral.com (BTW, they were voted “Best for Toll Free Numbers” by Inc. Magazine).

They have everything you could possibly want:

  • Toll free numbers and the ability to “port over” your existing toll free number (in most cases) for free
  • Local numbers in some areas
  • Really affordable ($9.99/month)
  • Faxing, both receiving via email attachments or web access, and sending out
  • Really important for the RV Professional — Internet voice recording/uploads. Many systems don’t offer this and when you’re a full-time RVer you don’t have a clear landline … and when you record greetings (especially for clients), you need a clear line. With RingCentral, you can use the mic on your computer and their control panel (no extra software needed) to record your greetings.
  • Numerous extensions ($9.99 plan has 5). This is great for the REALTOR working with a Virtual team. Each person has their own extension, own recording and own call forwarding settings. When they send out communications (i.e., letters, emails, their signature block, etc.), they represent themselves as a part of your team … your clients don’t even need to know they are virtual (and perhaps not even in the same state!). If your team grows, you also have the ability to add on additional extensions for just $2.99 each.
  • Same with faxes. You can setup the fax extension (which isn’t one of the 5) to email each person who should see the faxes that come into the “virtual office”.  Since the faxes (and voicemails) come into the specified email, they can be filed for future reference, or included in the client file.
  • There is a “whisper” feature for the call recipient’s convenience. This whisper announces the caller’s name as well as the phone account it’s coming in from. This is especially important for the Virtual Assistant who services multiple clients. For example, say I provide services for Jane Doe, REALTOR, as well as John Brown, REALTOR. When my office phone rings and I answer, the “whisper” feature will announce, “You have a call for [Amber Drake, Jane Doe Team], press 1 to accept the call”. Immediately, I know which “hat” I’m wearing. Additionally, if my doorbell rings and the UPS man is delivering a package (and the neighborhood canine patrols are barking), I know that isn’t the best time to answer the call. If most appropriate, I can let the call go to voicemail and in a matter of seconds, I’ll have the voicemail delivered to my email box, and can return the caller’s message in just a few moments. Note: if you choose not to have callers “announce themselves”, this is also available as part of the control panel setup.
  • They also offer International Calling options. My husband currently travels weekly to Canada hauling RVs. To call him from my office or home phone (even though I have unlimited long distance), I’m charged about .60/minute for a call to Canada. Calling him on his cell phone isn’t really an option either, as Canada is considered roaming and those calls are about $1.00/minute.  I can pick-up office phone, cell phone or a pay phone if I’m out and about, and dial through my RingCentral line for a fraction of the cost at .05 cents per minute.
  • Easy billing. Keep a card in your profile and set it up to autopurchase mintues. You’ll never run out of minutes while you’re on a call!
  • They have lots of free minutes included. On the $9.99 plan, it includes 100 minutes per month, but they also give you a free bank of 100 roll-over minutes. For example, say you use 110 minutes the first month. They would first subtract from your 100 monthly minutes, and then they will subtract 10 minutes from your roll-over bank. This free bank is good to use anytime in a 12 month period.
  • They don’t double leg bill!  Here’s an overview of this.  Say a caller calls you and the system forwards the call to your designated number(s) (i.e., your office phone). A forwarded call consists of two connections, an inbound call to your virtual number and an outbound connection to the phone you used to answer the call. Other companies charge for each of these connections separately and charge you twice their published rate for each minute. For example, a company advertising 2.9¢/min would actually charge you 5.8¢ for every minute of talk time or 58¢ for a 10 minute conversation. At RingCentral, they only bill for one minute of a connected domestic call. This is a very important question to ask when evaluating a provider.
  • Call logs are available. This may be important to a REALTOR hosting the virtual office for his/her virtual team so he/she feels comfortable regarding its usage.

So, what this looks like for the:

VA:  You now have the ability to post a toll-free number on your website and marketing and present a more professional presence. Your calls are announced to you when you pick-up the phone, allowing you to decide if it’s the most appropriate time to field the call. It’s affordable at only $9.99/month . You can get rid of your Internet fax service as this takes care of that need as well. Call forwarding to your office and/or cell (and/or any other numbers) assures you don’t miss a call.

REALTOR:  Offers the perfect virtual office solution for your vitual (or not so virtual) team. Can also be used for a team of agents and/or in-house assistant(s). Can usually port over an existing toll free number for free so you don’t have to change existing print and internet marketing materials. Provides call logs so you may monitor its usage.

RV Remote Professional:  It’s simply a must have!  It gives you the ability to have your calls forwarded to your cell phone wherever you are. Gives you a fax in and fax out solution without a fax machine or phone lines (a scanner is helpful, but you probably already have that!).  Greetings and account setup can all be done online … no need to find a landline to record a clear, professional greeting or waste cell minutes stepping through a system’s voice prompt for setup.

They also have a free trial, so I encourage you to check them out.

So ….. who’s your favorite Virtual Phone Provider and why? I invite you to post your reviews here.

The Obsolete Employee — How Businesses Succeed Without Employees – And Love It! May 25, 2007

Posted by essentialadmin in General Tips, REALTOR Tips, Virtual Assistant Tips.
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Sunday, May 13th (repost)

How fun … I just received my copy of Michael Russer’s just published book, “The Obsolete Employee; How Businesses Succeed Without Employees – And Love It!” I had the opportunity to contribute a little tid-bit about how the VA lifestyle allowed our family to sell everything in CA, travel the country for a year in our 37′ Fifth Wheel Travel Trailer, and relocate to our exceptional new home in Idaho … see feature on pages 65-66.

Looking back to my VA journey from when I opened my virtual doors in 2001, I could easily say that Michael Russer had the single most impact on my business. It’s true … he was one of the (if not THE) first people in the Real Estate arena who recognized how much Virtual Assistants could help Real Estate Agents, and he travelled the country offering seminars, introducing the VA concept to thousands of REALTORS. In 2003, Russer hosted the “Meet the VA of Your Dreams” session at the NAR Convention in San Francisco. The venue consisted of several Real Estate Virtual Assistants hosting individual “niche” round tables, while REALTORS had an opportunity to visit a number of tables with VAs offering an overview of services available and answering questions regarding how VA/clients work together, with opportunities for the REALTORS to “Meet the VA of Their Dreams”.

I had the opportunity to host a table for my niche, Listing Marketing Coordination, and it was at this event that I received the opportunity to work with my first broker, who remains one of my largest clients today.

I firmly believe, that because of Russer’s continued international educational seminars and programs, thousands of REALTORS have stepped out and are using Virtual Assistants to grow their businesses. I’ve been at maximum client capacity myself for over a year now, and receive numerous inquiries each week with agents looking for an experienced Real Estate VA. Many have commented they’ve been to a Russer seminar or have taken his Virtual Outsourcing course. Having Michael Russer as a VA “advocate” has impacted the Virtual Assistance industry tremendously … as well as positively impacted numerous REALTORS’ businesses. There really is a special symbiosis that occurs with Virtual Assistants and REALTORS that make the business combination a win-win for both parties … I believe because both industries are based on the independent professional model. Thanks, Michael, for your vision back then and continued education today!

I’ll be starting my reading tonight and am sure I’ll learn a ton more. I’m at the stage in my own business where I need to learn how to outsource to assist more clients and multiply my “hours in the day.” If you’re looking for a bit of history on Virtual Outsourcing, how to hire, work with and manage a VA, the benefits of a VA over an employee, the differences between a Virtual Assistant and a Virtual Consultant, a forward glance at the future of Virtual Outsourcing, and a ton more, you can get your copy here (I don’t make any commissions or gain monetarily from your purchase … I just think Russer’s experience in this arena would be invaluable to any REALTOR, SOHO, Small Business, etc.). Or, for all of you who are fed up with long commutes, incompetent coworkers, and uselessly wasted hours trying to please an overbearing boss, feel free to peek under the cover, too. You can learn how to develop and succeed in a whole new lifestyle, encompassing hours you want to work, spending time with your family, and getting to do what you truly enjoy – and get paid well for it!

Michael’s been blissfully ‘employee free’ for over 13 years, and has many incredibly talented people all around the world who conduct business for him, most of whom he has never met face to face. He’s a renowned international speaker, author and columnist who specializes in helping independent professionals and businesses of all types incorporate innovative productivity strategies to achieve a higher level of personal and career fulfillment.

So … there’s my plug for the day!

And … for you Mothers out there …. Happy Mother’s Day … I hope it was spent with those you love. Mine was wonderful! I spent the afternoon at a wonderful buffet brunch enjoying some of my favorite foods: stuffed crepes with fresh fruit, chocolate dipped strawberries, jumbo shrimp, carved roast beef, eggs Benedict, and a ton more … yum. This was followed by a relaxing riverboat cruise up the Spokane River to the base of Lake Coeur d’Alene, with viewing of Osprey and beautiful riverfront homes …. I had no idea I have a 20+ million dollar estate located just down the street from my home. Turns out it was built by the family who began Amway, designed to host numerous people at a time, with plenty of room for entertainment: movie theatre, something like 12 bathrooms and 10 bedrooms, over 12,000 sq. ft., an ice rink, waterfalls and a bridge, and an aquarium that’s remotely controlled from Florida! We also found a few new public parks, biking and hiking trails and swimming spots that we’ll discover and enjoy in the near future. Definitely a wonderful day.

Daylight Savings Time Change Affecting Calendars March 30, 2007

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March 15, 2007

I’ve still been hearing confusion circulating regarding the Daylight Savings Time Change issue as it relates to time calculating software such as the Outlook calendar, so wanted to provide the help links related to the issue.

First, an overview of the issue. The recent “Spring Forward” occurred three weeks earlier than in the past, due to the passing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The Act, described by proponents as an attempt to combat growing energy problems, provides tax incentives and loan guarantees for energy production of various types, and within the bill’s provisions there is a section which amends the Uniform Time Act of 1966 by changing the start and end dates of daylight saving time beginning in 2007. Clocks were set ahead one hour on the second Sunday of March (March 11, 2007) instead of the first Sunday of April (April 1, 2007). Clocks will be set back one hour on the first Sunday in November (November 4, 2007), rather than the last Sunday of October (October 28, 2007).

I for one am ecstatic with the change … especially now that I’m located in Northern Idaho and our days are generally shorter than when I lived in California, so I (and my kids) definitely welcome an extra hour of outside playtime ;o).

But, with this change came an issue … in the technology world it’s generally being referred to as Y2K7.

Basically, any device that automatically corrected its clock to match the time changes to Daylight Saving Time (such as your personal computer) will now need to be updated so that the device knows of the new rules. If the device is not updated, it will show an incorrect time for three weeks in March and one week in November, and cause a number of problems including having e-mail with wrong timestamps, events in calendaring software being displayed incorrectly or set for the wrong time, or syncing between devices that are aware of the changes in DST and those that aren’t (as between an updated Blackberry or Palm device and a computer, either of which may require their own updates).

I noticed this myself with my Outlook. I had ONE recurring entry set for 3pm every weekday. I noticed, beginning on Monday, 3/12, this one entry started displaying (and was set to remind) at 4pm instead of 3pm. Note that all my dates displaying prior to 3/11 showed 3pm. So, simply adjusting my computer clock would not have helped.

Instead, I had to download and install a Microsoft fix. Here is a link to their support site for this issue: http://support.microsoft.com/dst2007

Make sure you step through the whole wizard …. there is a final step for the Outlook update that I missed the first go around.

So, if you’re noticing time-related issues in your software or devices, chances are you need a patch/update/fix. Contact the software or device provider and they’ll most likely refer you to a website to implement the fix.