Publicity Monster
Complaint 246043 Details

Publicity Monster cold called my client on March 11, 2012 and guaranteed her she would get onto page one of google for her bed and breakfast website if she employed their services to do so. I did not know this lady at the time that Publicity Monster contacted her. She is not IT savvy, and like most people not at all knowledgeable about search engine optimisation and how google actually works so she agreed to pay for this service.

She agreed to pay $499 to Publicity Monster to be on page one of google. She thought this was a once only payment, and this was implied in the telephone conversation. They asked her for her login details to google places. As she did not have listing she could not supply them with these details. They sent her numerous emails requesting the login details and telling her that optimisation had stopped but she did not understand what they wanted. She sent emails asking them to clarify what they wanted but they did not respond, other than to send her what appears to be computer generated emails.

I made a new website for this client and in July 2012 I setup a Google Places Listing for her as part of the service. She did not have a previous listing (that is, Publicity Monster had not done a listing for her). I was unaware of the fiasco with Publicity Monster until my client told me about it. In September 2012 Publicity Monster sent my client a congratulatory email telling her that she had got to page one in the google places listing and sent her a screen shot of her listing for a very obscure keyword search. She was already ranking in the google places listings for her main keyword searches with the listing that I did for her.

Publicity Monster have fraudulently claimed to perform a service (google places listing) for my client and they have claimed money for this ...twice! Even though I had emailed me them cancelling on my client’s behalf (which apparently I could not do) and even though my client had cancelled with Tim Sabre personally on the phone and then emailed them to cancel, they still charged her.

FACT - PUBLICITY MONSTER DID NOT SETUP MY CLIENT’S GOOGLE PLACES LISTING

I setup the google places listing for my client in July 2012. I own the google places listing on behalf of my client, and I compiled the information on the listing. I created a new listing and login details for my client’s business as no google places listings previously existed for her, which is evidence that Publicity Monster are fraudulently claiming to have done this listing.

Publicity Monster charged my client for setting up the listing in March 2012 and continue to charge her for it although she no longer has a subscription with them. This constitutes fraudulently receiving money for services they have not rendered. We have records of emails between my client and Publicity Monster showing that PM continually request the login details for her google places listing (which at the time did not exist) and numerous emails stating that google optimisation had ceased because my client had failed to supply PM with any details.


Publicity Monster have charged my client for a service that they did not perform ie a google places listing, and they have breached ACC laws by passing on her details to a debt collection agency before the mandatory 90 day non-payment period. They have breached their own terms and conditions by not supplying the taped transcript of the so-called Business to Business contract.


Publicity Monster and Timothy Sabre have taken money for a service they did not perform. They do not have proof of creating the listing, and we do. We have lodged an application with CTTT NSW and have a hearing on June 20, 2013. I would advise anyone else who has dealings with this company to lodge an application with CTTT NSW immediately to seek restitution.