Advertising

[EvoRed]

AAA, the good old CIS already taken off!

[aaalocksmiths]

Oh rightio, your not left with a lot at all.
i had been to customers (in the RF days) where the customer had said that they had been phoned 3 or 4 times with a cheaper price each time before they agreed to it.

not sure how long RF can keep this up before all those on their books turn round and say no.

for every one locksmith that leaves RF i bet there are 2 more waitiing to take his place, especially in the city areas....

it's hardly surpising though, we are portrayed as earning a large fortune by the various telly programs. i got called out the other day and as i left the house a delivery man said to his mate her's a bloke who earns tonnes of money. i then pointed out that it was the first job i'd had for 2 days and that the bit of kit i had in my hand cost 6500 quid (hence why it wasn't in the van). so that is why i suppose there will always be a queue of people waiting to work for the likes of RF and why they can corner the advertising.......

[EvoRed]

After 6 weeks I had my first 118 247 call at gone 11pm last night. Half way there and the customer calls to say her flat mate has turned up so she won't be needing me after all.

So that's me back at the bottom of the 118 247 list with not a bean to show for it!

[AUTOLOX]

i have had more calls from 118 118 than 118 247 by about 20-1,
funny thing is 118 118 does not cost me anything

[EvoRed]

All to do with the pair of running 'tached fella's on the TV I guess!

How does 118 118 not cost you anything Autolox?

[AUTOLOX]

All to do with the pair of running 'tached fella's on the TV I guess!

How does 118 118 not cost you anything Autolox?

I think its a balls up on there part
I was going to complain but have not got round to it yet

[tri-city]

legaly there is a way around this, and i promise you that it does work or a least it did in my case. does anyone remember scoot.com well they phoned me and promised me loads of work for a large fee. being the inexperienced twit that i was i signed up and i payed up in full. i never got one call in 6 months so i phoned trading standards and they told me about the MISREPRISENTATION ACT which basically says that if someone promises somthing and they don't deliver you are intitled to your money back. but here is the good thing YOU ARE INTITLED TO ALL OF YOUR MONEY BACK. now i'm not sure but maybe you cannot do it if you are a company or that maybesomething else. but to be sure i got all of my money back and you know what about 6 months after that i got a few calls as well, not bad ah ...

[aaalocksmiths]

Hi all
well done toomush on getting one more than me from 118247, bet i can still open a beemer quicker than you though!!!!!

i had next to (1 or 2 max) nothing from 118247, i even called them one night to find i wasn't even on the list!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! funnily enough the next day when i called them to complain i was told that the guy would test the system and low and b hold i was second on the list. funny old thing that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but what goes around comes around!!!

i cancelled my order for the Yp for this year in January, sent to the address at the top of the order form. well they printed it!!!!!!!!!!!

after a phone call to tell them they had f*%ked up i got a letter saying that the case had been investigated and that no record of the letter could be found so the charge stood.
i sent a letter with a copy of the cancellation letter enclosed and i have a free year worth of advertising.
i have also been onto various bodies about why the likes of RF are allowed to advertise more than once and i can't. it is down to YP and it should be taken up with them. But as said by someone before the reps don't know and don't care.

up here Thompson Local and BT calssified does it for me for new customers, and my reputation gets alot of work too.

i have previously said it, get some good boots and get walking around the industrial estates, there is gold in them thar hills, you just gotta work at it.

[bowleya]

Having been told in January that they were stopping the larger companies pushing themselves to the front of the listings, yo and behold i am in the same place as i was last year even though my company Abbeydale locks should be near the front it is about 3 pages back. I was told be an ex YP rep these companies get around this by inserting a series of dots in front of there name as this is how the computer selects them. So i decided i would try this and it still has'nt worked obviously you just can't beat the system. Then i had a call from YP the other day for a customer satisfaction survey, well you can imagine what i told them.

[tri-city]

the other day i said that there is the " misrepresentation act " i must say that i think that is only for the general public " i think " but if you are willing to take these people to court you are intitled to the same rights as the public, only thing is it must be done through the courts. " i think " ...think about it, if you are paying 5 or 6 hundred £'s for a years advertising and it takes you 4 - 6 months to take them to court, you will almost definitly win with any reasonable evidence " especially if the nice man said he would get you results " which they all do. so my advice is take the ALL to court until you find an advertiser that works. P.S. citizens advice should be able to give you the right imfomation.

[NKT]

Hi guys,
Pretty interesting stuff.

Probably the best trick would be to get a magnetic sign for your van, and simply take it off on the way home! You get to advertise, and then hide your van later on. No-one on your street would know.

My neighbour (a plumber) reverses his van into his garden, against his garage door, so you couldn't access it as the doors won't open, and nor will the garage door. Both swing outward.

I've seen a lot of ideas, one might be a fully removeable toolbox system, so the whole lot swings out, so you can leave it empty, and if you leave the back windows transparent, anyone looking in will see it is empty, and not bother.

Best would be some kind of optical trick, so it looked empty, but wasn't! A nice hologram would be good for that!

As for pricing, I take it most people charge a flat rate? Gives the incentive to work quickly and neatly, and not break things?

[sandwell247]

Another thing to watch out for is insisting on a proof before going to print last year they missed a 0 of my phone number it was ok to receive a full refund but what about the damage to your business.
I negotiated a 50% reduction for this years advertising but they would only offer the 50% if I spent the same amount as last year.
In future now i always advertise with 2 numbers so if the one is wrong they can get you on another.