I am the kind of guy that likes to learn just about anything. When I get interested in a subject I get intensely passionate about learning that. I read buy books, go to seminars, contact relevant people and organization (I love coffee/lunch dates with local gurus… but that’s another story), and I look in every nook and cranny of the Internet to ingest any and all information I can.
Recently, I became interested in using Twitter for more than keeping up with my friends and family. So, as mentioned above, I went out on my rabid hunt for knowledge. I purchased four books (which I intend to write reviews for – so check back soon for that) and a few somewhat gimmicky online products.
At this point, I am quite happy with almost all of the information that I now have available to me. However, one product stands out as such a blatant rip off that I felt the need to write about it first to insure that others don’t fall into the same trap that I did.
The product that I’m referring to is obviously: EasyTweetProfits.com which is simply a branding facade for SocialMediaPack.com.
The site was clean and mostly professional and there were plenty of credibility markers. After reading a few mixed reviews online I decided that the price was reasonable enough to warrant risk and I decided to go ahead with my purchase. Immediately after registering I received an e-mail confirming my order and containing the following instructions:
You will be receiving another email with direct and immediate access to your products.
If you do not receive access within 24 hours please contact support at ###-###-####
So, I wait. And wait. Then I wait some more. After 24 to 36 hours I decide to call customer support as directed by the mail. Four attempts later… I get a nice lady who I converse with in an attempt to get things worked out. Now, all is well… right? Well, after I get home, I immediately go over to login.
Invalid username or password. Hmm… I try again… And then again.
Maybe I just got the information wrong. I switch back over to the email she had sent me and I copy the password to the clipboard. Switch back and paste the password for another try… to no avail.
“Well crap”, I say to myself, “Maybe she resolved my problem and the system just needs some time to propagate the change.”. And I decide to give it a rest for a while as I move on to more productive things.
Hours pass.
I go to the site and attempt to login again. Still no luck. At this point I decide to contact customer support again. I try a multitude of times with no luck. So, I write an e-mail.
I have not received the second email containing access information for your system (ordered two days ago). I have contacted customer support on the number provided in your mail but have been unable to get through.
Please advise.
Regards,
Anthony Whitaker
I wait two days. No reply. Now I’m a little annoyed 
and I decide to call again. Several attempts later and I finally get through and proceed to explain my curiously recurring problem.
Thirty (Forty?) minutes later and I finally have access. Great! Now, I have to be honest. The content wasn’t too bad, in fact, the quality was actually quite good. There were dozens of videos (mostly introductory material but I can understand their need to cater to all experience levels) and hundreds of links (again, mostly to commonly known sites (TweetLater, etc…).
Overall, there was no proprietary tools nor secret information (I wasn’t really expecting anything of the sort) but what they did have was done quite well and nicely laid out. For the price, I would’ve been quite happy with that. But then…
Another couple days go by and I notice an additional $47.00 charge on my account. I again attempt to contact the SocialMediaPack support line… no support for me again. I then write an e-mail that is too rude to post here but it simply started with:
Who do I need to talk to for billing inquiries/disputes?
Nowhere on the site can I find alternate contact information. My calls go unanswered and my mailbox is empty. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to spend additional time on this (I could already buy the product dozens of times over on the time I’ve wasted thus far).
In closing, the scammer seems to have won this battle but – through this post – I hope to win the proverbial war. Share this with your friends and followers to ensure that nobody else is caught off guard.
And for the curious among you, the four (at least semi-)Twitter related books I purchased were:
) is okay by me.
Add me on Skype: anthonypwhitaker
