by Ray Pearson

We, like many others desperate for recognition on the search engines, fell for WorldSubmit's smooth talk, advertising and promises. We needed search engine submissions done (which is what they focus their sales material on) so we subscribed ($89) for 6 months.

Having registered and paid, we then visited their chat site to ask questions, and that opened our eyes! The supervisors on their chat site did not like "difficult" questions! In fact, if we asked a question, such as "How do you submit to Yahoo, since Yahoo does not accept automated submissions," the question was ignored!

When we checked the list of sites they were submitting to we were shocked and appalled! Agreed, we should have done this before registering. We had had an experience some time previously with another submission site and had been inundated with hundreds of emails from the FFA sites they submitted to in a few days. When we noted all the FFA sites on WorldSubmit's list we were shocked and afraid the same deluge would happen again.

We sent them an email, asking them NOT to submit to any FFA sites. No response. We emailed again. No response. We tracked down their fax number and faxed our request to them together with copies of our emails. No response!

Then our first submission "report" arrived, showing the supposed submission to 1550 Search engines and directories. I say, "supposed," as we had no proof that the submissions had actually been carried out! Their report listed every single one of the Search Engines and Directories, and so we decided to analyze as many of them as possible.

Search engines and directories there were, to be sure, but of the 1000+ others, we suspected that a very large percentage had nothing to do with search engines or directories. So we took a few at random, and copied them into the browser, although this was often difficult, as WorldSubmit is clever enough not to list the site exactly as it would appear on the Web, but abbreviated the name. Our suspicions were more than confirmed!

Too many were plain FFA sites, which are not a Search Engine or Directory. Others proved to be:

AAA "The Automobile Association of America" - Banana Eaters - 411.com (A private site – no links) - A Button (Private site) - ElfKings Daughter - Adult Base (under construction) - A2.com (cheap phone calls) Bananas Worth a Peek - Anteater - BooHoo (redirected direct to Yahoo) - Emarket101 to Emarket125 (???) and so the list goes on, 1550 in length. Some sites were duplicated, and we even found listed hardcoresex.com (a site that locked our browser, our back and forward buttons and would not let us leave the site!!)

[ED. NOTE] The story goes on with details of complaints being ignored - emails unanswered. Requests for a refund were also ignored and Ray finally had the charge removed from his credit card. Meanwhile, WorldSubmit continued to do the same submissions every month and the customer continued to email them every month that he had received a refund and to please stop the submissions. No response.

Ray started registering complaints with various organizations - including the Better Business Bureau. He never heard from the BBB after he filed the complaint. (You'll see the importance of that later.) Complaints were also filed with the Federal Trade Commission (Bureau of Business Protection), The National Consumer Complaint Center for Internet Fraud, False Advertising and Breached Warranties and Fraud.Org. [END ED. NOTE]

Then one day we received a newsletter from Jayde recommending the use of ProBoost.com for Search engine submission, approved by the BBB. We investigated and looked at the site, and became suspicious as they were advertising submission to 1550 S.E's! They were also promoting the fact that they had a chat site for questions and answers with a Web technician.

We sent several emails to the site promoter at ProBoost, and always received replies, but he flatly denied that they had anything to do with WorldSubmit!

After quite a number of emails with this site we suddenly one day received an email from WorldSubmit! (WOW) They actually mentioned all the correspondence with ProBoost, and asked why, if we were so dissatisfied with the service, did we not apply for a refund of our payment? This - as you can imagine - nearly blew my mind! An email from WorldSubmit AND sent due to complaints and questions to ProBoost which was not supposed to have any connection with WorldSubmit!

[ED. NOTE] Again, further correspondence transpired and suddenly WorldSubmit got so excited that they credited a refund to Ray's credit card. Even though he had repeatedly told them he had already done this! Good grief!

WorldSubmit and ProBoost are definitely the same company in spite of the fact that this was denied to Ray. Their sites both now carry the exact same address - and the same graphic depicting their office building. They also carry a list (the same list) of where they do the submissions - and none of them are listed as x-rated sites. You might also like to know that ProBoost carries the BBB Seal !!!

* Contributed by Ray Pearson, owner of Year 2000 Solutions. You can visit Ray's site to read about his experiences, which organisations to use, and which not to use. Includes valuable internet information for both beginners and experienced webmasters & you can also download free ebooks full of important information. Everything you need on one site. http://www.a1-internet-info.com/

More about the Better Business Bureau