I tried the Rank Tracker software with a free trial and thought it was ok. I hadn't tried anything else so as far as I was concerned at this stage, Rank Tracker appeared to have the things I needed to manage and follow my search engine optimization ranking and track my website.
The Rank Tracker tool allowed me to check my seo ranking, seo keyword density, and my kei (keyword effectiveness index). so I was pretty happy with the free version apart from the fact that I could not save any of my information or reports. So I decided that it passed most tests so I would purchase the Enterprise licence for over AUD$400 ... What a terrible mistake I made!
The software worked fine for 6 months and I started to build up a good database of trends and rankings and then the software stopped working with a message "Rank Tracker Live! Plan expired"! How could this be? After purchasing a Rank Tracker enterprise licence for over AUD$400 what is Rank Tracker live??? and when did I ever subscribe to the Live! Plan? I purchased a Rank Tracker enterprise licence... Isn't "enterprise" usually the top end product? The whole box and dice??? Clearly not in Link-Assistant's view...
Upon learning this I assume it must be a mistake and I contact their support to rectify my problem... And to my complete and utter amazement, the following is the response that I received directly from Link-Assistant.Com Standard Support:
----- Original Message -----
From: Dennis, Link-Assistant.Com Standard Support
To: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx
Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2009 9:51 PM
Subject: [#JGK-623623]: Rank Tracker Enterprise licence not working
Shannon,
thanks for expressing your concern.
> I purchased rank tracker enterprise about 6 months ago and all of a sudden I can no longer use it with an error message being displayed: Rank Tracker Live! Plan expired... I have no idea what Rank Tracker Live! Plan is - I purchased Rank Tracker Enterprise and paid a substantial amount of my money for the privilege.
I can understand how you feel, you probably did not notice the mentioning of Live! Plan subscription on our purchase page:
"Product enhancements covered by the Rank Tracker Live! Plan are offered free for 6 months since the date of purchase. When this period expires, these search engine related updates are offered on a paid basis."
http://www.link-assitant.com/rank-tracker/buy.html#first
We had the Live! Plan extension requirement since we started operating, however, we have introduced Live! Plan calculator recently, please have a look, some extension options are really money-saving:
http://www.link-assistant.com/rank-tracker/ent-live-plan-extension.html
Best,
Dennis
--
Dennis XXX
Link-Assistant.Com Standard Support
Say What? You cannot be serious... Now, I am generally a fair and reasonable man but the line that stuck out to me was: "you probably did not notice the mentioning of Live! Plan subscription on our purchase page"
Clearly, if he has to type that in the email:
a) I'm not the first person to be duped by these dodgy software peddlers
b) The message is purposefully hidden away somewhere that no-one is likely to read to hide the fact that once they've got you, you have to pay through the nose to keep what you have built up.
So, in absolute disgust, I decided to respond to this message with a rather stern and disgruntled response. I was so angry and wanted my money back... So this is what I sent:
You can't be serious!!! The fact that you say "you probably did not notice the mentioning of Live! Plan subscription on our purchase page" clearly demonstrates that it is not clear and I am no doubt not the first (and won't be the last) person to raise this concern!
You used small print to rip me off! I am totally and utterly dumbfounded that you would run a business in this manner! I purchased the Rank Tracker "Enterprise" software product... I picked the the most expensive one because I wanted all the features and as it turns out, it doesn't even come with the most critical feature!
I am speechless... I have never felt so ripped off with a purchase of any product more than I have now, dealing with your organisation! I would like to request a full credit as I do not want to use your product any longer - I do not want to have any dealings with a company like yours who deceive users with small print into buying a product that is basically useless!
I am not an organisation, I am a one man business working from my home and AUD$400 was a substantial investment for me into a product that I rely heavily on... You know when people purchase a software product there is an expectation that it would work... Nobody purchases software expecting to be "aware" of additional subscription charges unless they are clearly stated at the point of purchase...
I don't know what more I can say!
What infuriated me even more after sending this was the lack of response... So after a week I decided to resend it and give them the benefit of the doubt... And guess what? The email bounced... So I sent it again, and it bounced again!!! They have either blacklisted me, decommissioned the email account or decommissioned the business completely (The 3rd option wouldn't surprise me based on their business practices I have seen to date...)
So I thought the only way I could get some satisfaction from this encounter was to warn others about the disgraceful interaction with the business Link-Assistant and their product Rank Tracker... An apt product description because I now find it extremely "Rank".
What annoys me even more is that if you don't subscribe (and spend AUD$400) you can use Live! Plan for free for as long as you want! How does that work? Use it for free and lose the ability to save projects OR Pay AUD$400, get the privilege of being able to save projects however, lose the ability to actually use the product!
What a rip off, rort, cheat, swindle, dupe, con... Link-Assistant Rank Tracker is the worst software company I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with and warn anyone considering a purchase to avoid it at all costs!!!
