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Specialdatabases.com review: Ripoff 15

A
Author of the review
12:30 am EDT
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We recently paid a little more than $4, 000 to have New York-based Specialdatabases.com for a purportedly permission-based list of over 1000, 000 e-mail addresses.
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But when he mailed the names, 85, 000 bounced, resulting in a server jam-up, And our company was fired as a client by its e-mail service provider.
For its part, Specialdatabases.com is claiming that the file was fine and that it was probably our inexperience with large e-mail campaigns that caused the failure.
We want a refund. Specialdatabases.com isn’t paying.
Specialdatabases.com and likening many data sellers to drug pushers.
“Drug users go to the pusher for their drug and the pushers keep the streets plentiful with drugs, ” said the release. “Similarly, marketers go to list services for their drug and many of these list services sell tainted goods. And it’s these list services that fuel the spread of spam.”
Specialdatabases.com in June delivered a list of 135, 000 addresses purported to be those of financial advisors, company’s target audience.
When we received the list, he said, it was immediately apparent that 5, 0000 or 6, 0000 records were off target, so he deleted them by hand.
“I had to delete my e-mail box just to free up our server, ”
“They rightfully fired us as a client for spamming, ”
Karan, president of new business development for Specialdatabases.com, said there are many possible reasons besides list quality that may have jammed up e-mail campaign.
“There are all kinds of factors that affect e-mail deliverability, ” he said. “Having a perfect list does not ensure success.”
He added: “This is a client who does not have internal know-how on doing large campaigns and is not willing to let us do it for him.”
He also said that when his company mailed the same list, more than 78, 000 messages reached their mark.
Specialdatabases.com claims its e-mail addresses are all permission based and verified by phone and e-mail multiple times per year.

Update by AnnMedia
Apr 25, 2012 12:21 am EDT

Max
I actually took the trouble of getting to your facility yesterday.
We are located on Fulton and thought of making you a visit.
There is no SD Internet.The address given there doesnt really exist.It does not have anyone.
Give me an address.
I want to come there personally to resolve and get our money back
Ann

Update by AnnMedia
Apr 26, 2012 5:06 am EDT

I really dont want to discuss this further on a public forum.
Please provide your actual address and direct cell number.
My Customer and their Legal team would like to pay you a visit.

Update by AnnMedia
May 22, 2013 8:57 am EDT

Who the hell is Ed Byron..?
One of your pimps?
We uses a stupid email alias and a stupid tpg.com.au email

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

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15 comments
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ATorres97
, US
Mar 17, 2017 7:55 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Realtor Database-If you are looking for an old and outdated list strewn with bad email addresses and filled with appraisers, property managers, commercial brokers, inspection companies, banks, mortgage companies, apartment agents, title companies, construction companies, pest control companies, investment companies, etc. this list is for you.

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Donny411
, US
Apr 04, 2016 11:08 pm EDT

SDB sells their lists less than 5 cent a contact - HELLO you get what you pay for seriously folks.

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Kaci
Dover, US
Dec 11, 2014 11:26 am EST

I also just purchased a list from them and the first 500 emails I sent out bounced back. I argued for over an hour with the representative about what constitutes a "soft" and a "hard" bounce, and she infomred me that I had to basically pay someone else to provide a bounce back report..which I did...and rather than refund the money I paid, which is what their site said they would do in the event there was a 15% bounce back rate (I had a 28% bounce back rate), they offered to replace the bad emails. The entire list is crap, why would I want them to replace crap with crap? They refuse to refund any money paid to them. HUGE rip off.

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Michael-SpecialDB Management
New York, US
Mar 13, 2014 3:45 pm EDT

Luc and Millinet,
We have been in business for over 11 years, and we stand behind every sale we make. During that time we have had over 10, 000 satisfied customers. We guarantee that you will not have a hard bounce rate higher then 15%. In the very rare case that may occur we are always here to resolve the problem and keep our customers happy. We do replace any data that you may find to be invalid and also provide refunds when applicable and for legitimate reasons. We have spent hundred's of thousands of dollars scrubbing, verifying, and improving our data to ensure it's the top quality. We have in house representatives who's entire jobs are to do just this. We also spend a lot of time with our clients to teach them how to properly mail for optimal results. Unfortunately some clients do not follow our suggestions and decide to send mass emails with Gmail or their Outlook and this of course will not work well with any list on the market. We are here to help and ensure that your business succeeds. We have many providers that we can recommend for ESP's If there is anyone who would like assistance please contact us as we are ALWAYS here to help any client and ensure satisfaction.

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millinet
, BE
Feb 16, 2014 12:33 pm EST

We also faced same problems with special databases. There are many alternatives, but forget about purchasing email to them.
Spcecial database = bad emails

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Luc De Ridder
, BE
Jan 23, 2014 11:27 pm EST

To all people who likes to buy a list from special databases, the only thing I can say is that we have on the list we bought approx 30% bad addresses, not existing anymore. The company specialdatabases, is doing nothing to replace those addresses. So, it is clear that they do not check it. Asking for a refund is only avaiable on their website, not in real.
I will publish the complete conversation we had with this company by e-mail.
Luc De Ridder
Belgium

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J-Managment - SpecialDatabases.com
P O Box 20470, US
Jan 16, 2014 12:29 pm EST

David & Penny,

I am sorry you feel that way about the data, and as we serve Thousands of customers and you are the only person to every complain about this, it is a little suspect. Our team feels as if you simply trying to steal data. We gave you many options to provide you replacement data for anything you could prove improper as well as receiving a discount on your initial purchase and a small refund. It seems you don't want to be happy.

J - Management - SpecialDatabases.com

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Davidjohns
Conglketon, GB
Jan 16, 2014 11:53 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Before even considering this company get their full trading address! They hide behind accommodation addresses either in Toronto or New York and the WHOIS record hides the people behind their domain SpecialDatabases.com. It is illegal for a commercial enterprise to be anonymous on the WHOIS record but that''s another matter.

In January 2014 they supplied me with allegedly a "Q1 2014 fully updated" UK B2B database, 340, 000 companies, UK Business Database Order ID [protected]-23UF. Turned out to be 340, 000 spam email addresses with just 130, 000 companies with significant amount of incomplete and wholly inaccurate data. A one man band photography with over 1000 emails, Scottish companies placed in the region of 'Wales, Japanese, Norwegian, US, Canadian, South African emails all mixed in with UK companies and emails! The whole database supplied was totally unusable and pure crap.

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SD Internet
New York, US
Apr 28, 2012 9:19 pm EDT

Hello Ed,

Thank you for your interest.

Yes, the product is available for US customers.

Thank you

King Regards,
Max - President
specialdatabases.com

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The MEDICAL REGISTER of AUSTRALIA
Picnic Point, Sydnney, AU
Apr 28, 2012 11:02 am EDT

URGENT MESSAGE TO MAX - PRESIDENT - SPECIALDATABASES.
Could someone from your office contact me by email on: mraadmin@tpg.com.au
We are endeavouring to purchase your US Physicians & Surgeons names, addresses and emails.
Your order form does not allow us to order from Australia.
HOW DO WE GET THE DATA ?
Ed Byron
Director
The MEDICAL REGISTER of AUSTRALIA

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The MEDICAL REGISTER of AUSTRALIA
Picnic Point, Sydnney, AU
Apr 27, 2012 3:15 pm EDT

Anne,
I think you are too optimistic. The databases that they offer are incredibly good value. Our Organisation's (The MEDICAL REGISTER of AUSTRALIA)'s past experience with data supply Coy's here in Australia, is that under normal circumstances you can expect between 5% and 7% of undeliverable mail. This is due to business changing addresses, going out of business etc. It is impossible to give you a day to day update right up till the time you order. This ratio of returns obviously may rise even further, as well, depending on how long you wait to use the data. Undelivered mail can rise to 10% to 12% in a matter of two months after taking delivery of the data. The more stale the database, the higher the returns. The only way to get absolute uptodate data of the professionals that you wish to reach, is to go to their official associations. They possibly will not supply you, and if they do it will be with strict usage restrictions and at a much, much higher price.
So stop complaining you got a good deal for the price you paid.
Signed: Ed Byron Director The MEDICAL REGISTER of AUSTRALIA

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The MEDICAL REGISTER of AUSTRALIA
Picnic Point, Sydnney, AU
Apr 27, 2012 6:55 am EDT

Max,
For the past 2 weeks I have endeavoured to order your US Physicians&Doctors addresses and emails database for $(US)799.
We are in Australia and each time we try to use your order form and pay via either Visa or Paypal the message appears
'Not available in your region'.
When I ring your number I get " We have sold to Australia before ... No Prob." When I have emailed your office 4 times - no reply.
Can you please let me know how to order and pay for the data.
My Details: Ed Byron,
Director
The MEDICAL REGISTER of AUSTRALIA
THE MEDICAL YEAR BOOK
6096 University of New South Wales,
Sydney 1466 AUSTRALIA
email: mraadmin@tpg.com.au

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SD Internet
New York, US
Apr 26, 2012 9:42 am EDT

Hi Ann,

You can find our address and phone number on http://www.specialdatabases.com/contact.html address. But there're just receptionists at the moment, I'm travelling now.

By the way, I still waiting to know your "order number" to locate your order. We don't know your company name, email address or order number. If you let us know, we can locate your order and proceed your refund.

If you don't want to discuss here, you can contact us on sales@specialdatabases.com.

We need just your order number, that's all.

Thank you

King Regards,
Max - President
specialdatabases.com

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SD Internet
New York, US
Apr 25, 2012 5:56 pm EDT

Hello Ann,

Thank you for your message.

Actually our receptionists are working on the address and SD Internet exists on the address.

But as I mentioned in previous message, you don't need to come. Please just let us know your "order number" and "email address" when you ordered the product. Then we'll be able to locate your order send you full refund for your order directly.

Infact we have searched our all previous orders history but couldn't find 4000 USD order value from a NJ address.

I have some concerns that you may have purchased product from another company instead of us. There're several companies that use our "specialdatabase" or "specialdatabases" name and they don't belong to us. (For example, "specialdatabase . info" doesn't belong to our company)

In order to locate your order and clear all these points, we need just your "order reference number" and / or "email address" that you'd used when you ordered the product. Please write here or email us. Or you can copy and paste your "order email message" here that you'd received when you ordered our product. We're ready to make you happy if there's anything wrong on our side.

Thank you

King Regards,
Max - President
specialdatabases.com

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SD Internet
New York, US
Apr 22, 2012 8:58 pm EDT

Dear Valuable Client,

Thank you for our the first complaint.

Firstly please be sure that we never refuse a "refund request" directly without any reason. Although all other data providers say "all products are non-refundable", we provide refunds to our clients if they found "hard-bounced" records(regarding to email lists) for over amount of our "guarantee" level. If you're our client, you should have received a statement that we provide 90% accuracy guarantee for the records and if you find lower than this ratio, you send us the reports and we exchange hard-bounced records with new ones for free as compensation. This is an advantage and difference than our competitors. If our client doesn't want to receive "new free records" as exchange, we provide "partial refunds" for the amount of "hard-bounced" records. This is our promise as a result of our "bounce-back guarantee" policy.

According to your complaint, you wrote that you had ordered the product in "June". This is a bit interesting that it passed around 10 months after you ordered the product and today we received the complaint.

But it's not a problem for us. Please don't forget that the customer satisfaction is the most important part in our business model. We're ready to help you even today.

By the way, 4, 000 USD order value is not a typical of our orders since we sell the products in very cheaper solutions(you can see our prices on our website).

Since we couldn't locate your order (which you claimed that you'd ordered for over 4000 USD), please send us your order reference number and other order details(your email address, company name, full name) to sales@specialdatabases.com and we would be grateful to help you for your problem although 10 months passed after you ordered the product.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon to help and solve your problem ASAP.

Have a nice day.

Thank you

King Regards,
Max - President
specialdatabases.com

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