ePerks- A Scam or A Gem?

By Vlad Zablotskyy August 10, 2007 Bookmark and Share

Following our initial review of ePerks, one of the comments was quiet negative:

I’m a Real Estate agent in Northern Virginia and was duped into buying into this ePerks thing. I bought two zip codes and they have taken the money out of my account and now I can’t find a single ad for them, and they refuse to answer any of my e-mails. I’m afraid this is just another flash in the pan, get rich quick scheme to rob Agents of their hard earned money. Every year new ones pop up with great hype about how they are going to flood you with clients and all you get are large bills and no responses.

And then this YouTube (see below) video showing a Realtor hit by a truck- evidently meant to convey a message that a potential customer will get a better deal using a Realtor listed on ePerks. However Realtors are/were one of the first after whom founders and creators of ePerks “went after”. So what do you think about ePerks? Is it a gem? Is it a scam? Please leave your comments below. Here is the video:

UPDATES:
This post is long overdue for some updates. The Brabus Ventures (now DotNext Inc) lawyer Ron Cook sent me a cease and desist threat on February 13, in which he accused me for having “fabricated” all the negative comments on this post, and of course he was very upset over the fact that I challenged few “positive” comments made most likely by the employees of ePerks. I certainly feel vindicated in this regard, when the astortufrifng on behalf of Brabus/DotNext Inc’s newest startup LeapFish.com became so obvious that the worlds leading technology blog TechCrunch had to block their IPs to stop them from astroturfing.

In June of 2008 Brabus Ventures file a civil claim against me and this blog- the case was settled in October. I have to say a huge thank you to Greg Swan, Andy Beard, Lord Matt, Trace Richardson and hundreds of other bloggers for supporting me during this time. Without you support and spreading the word about my troubles I simply would not have been able to afford an attorney to defend myself.

I have to point out that for over one year comments on this blog post were closed, however the dissatisfied clients continued to express their frustration- out of all websites I would like to point out two in particular – the Ripp Off Report and BBB.org

ePerks Reviews on Ripoff Report:

However, if you hesitant to believe things written on Ripoff Reprot the BBB.org website has updated their rating of ePerks to Unsatisfactory.

In recent days many agents trying to demand a refund are given an answer that ePerks is to file for bankruptcy and offering a 20% discount. It is very likely that many of these dissatisfied agents are not aware that Brabus/DotNexInc have just launched a new startup called “LeapFish.com”.

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  • Wow…sounds like ePerks is a big scam. Glad I never got involved.
  • CLIFF Adams
    I am a broker and own a company in Austin TX. I have an 800 credit score and always pay my bills (ligitimate ones)
    We had been solicited by Eperks about a year ago. They never provided any of the leads they promised. We filed with our
    credit card company for a charge back close to year ago. I just got a call today 12/22/2008 saying they became aware of the charge back
    in September. When trying to explain my reason for charge back (DID NOT PROVIDE SERVICES PROMISED-NONE) I was rudely interrupted
    and threatened with collections. Finally I just hung up. Beware of this company- they need to be shut down.
  • Monica
    Cliff,
    Is there anything we can do about it? I believed there are a lot of agents out there got rippoff by them as well.
  • Jill
    Hi,

    I’m a Realtor also. I hae been contacted by Eperk, both pre-lunch and today. I looked at the site today and it’s up with agents in my area. Maybe it just got up and running???

    Are you still having those same problems? Are they still not contacting you?
  • Frank
    Eperks initially had a section with your credit card number where you could change credit card numbers or cancel… that was removed. I manually went into my panel and removed my zip codes and sent an email to customer service stating I wanted to cancel and then I got an email saying I had to call some particular person who wasn’t even my initial sales representative. (he left also)

    When I called this guy on the 3 of October he said I would be billed for October regardless what I told him and he denied that the eperks site had any issues. Their not interested in customer service, just taking your money. I have contacted the District Attorney’s office in the county where Pleasanton is located and sent a letter to NAR
  • Steve
    as far as im concerned all these comments seem absolutely ridiculous. If an agent were to partner up with eperks, they would have to be smarter than to knock down a company that they are invested in, and if they aren’t signed on with eperks, why would they care enough to post unless they were competitors that are concerned about a better concept and system that will probably wipe them off the market…and i guess if i was an agent that didn’t want to use the internet for its potential cause i was old school and like sitting around and making phone calls, that would make sense aswell. Might as well beat up on the new ideas. This is sort of like the fight between church and state. Its about capitalism, making money, and going with a program that makes sense…this is real estate not politics, and this is the last comment i will post on this subject. Eperks is a legitimate company, with a straight up, honest owner and an amazing system that will surely have agents and consumers going through them and reaping the benefits…ePerks, and anyone who is familiar with any successful startup company/investment knows its not an overnight thing. You get on in the beginning because thats where the most potential lies, all good concepts need fine tuning, something that eperks has continually done and is showing continuous success. Companies that start out well and go downhill are what you want to look out for, not companies that start out well and get better and better as they quickly expand exponential. A brilliant, revolutionary concept, with the support team to market, develope, and refine any quirk that rears its head. Powerful concepts executed properly are what keeps modern day moving into the future…ePerks is absolutely a revolutionary tool in the future of real estate, automotive sales, general contractors, and has incredible potential to work well in all consumer services. Think about it? : )
  • Vlad
    Steve are you reading the comments or you just here to spam as were other ePerks employees?

    Look ,these agents feel they were mislead, it’s not like they are buying company’s shares on Wall Street. They have purchased the service and ePerks failed to deliver. How can you blame them for criticizing ePerks?
  • Todd Jackson
    Steve, do you have a college education? Sounds like you don't. Please reply only when you have "real" information, as it clusters this domain. You are obviously employed by the company and your word means nothing. Thank you in advance for being a "true" professional. How are sales? That is, if you still work there!!!
  • John
    I got into ePerks, too. Considering that it’s a startup, I went into it knowing it might be slow. So far, no conacts, but I’m willing to hold out a little longer. I figure with my three zips and the guarantee, I’ll be good riding the program for eight months. If anything, I’ll get all my money back in one lump sum. Love the commercial, BTW.
  • Monica
    Good luck on the money back guarantee that Eperks had promised. I had cancelled my service with them and they told me that since the economy is so bad, they do not have the funds to pay back the agent and they are in the process of filling for bankruptcy.
  • Larryk
    I just received 2 buyers last week and they are real leads. So far I am happy and I have seen the ads on googles and yahoo homepage. I think its great but I think its going to take a little time all parts of the nation to work perfectly. If you are an agent that wants to make $20,000 with $21 investment you are confused and should’t use it. It think its goingto get better also.
  • Christi
    Great program and great results so far, seriously. I’ve received only 1 buyer lead so far but a solid buyer that will end up closing. My guess is these zip codes will go up in serious value shortly even if not in price.
  • Michael
    I bought 7 zips and have had one lead so far. I think the program is a GEM! There google ads spread throughout and there was a front page ad on Yahoo.com. Eperks differs from all other in that it doesn’t take some flat fee for you to compete with other agents over leads. They have a serious in interest in wanting you to close deals because they receive 3.5% of agents commission for every deal closed! It will only get better as the days go by! Honestly, one deal closed covers the cost of my zips for an entire year, two makes it profitable. You can’t lose.

    Oh BTW I’ve had no problem getting in touch with Customer service, just e-mail Kevin Morris. He’s prompt and great.
  • John
    I’m in Vegas and the way I look at it is like this. If I don’t make my money back in 8 months than these guys are going to give my money back. I can shoulder 8 months to find out. I think the program makes a lot of sense. . I think the pay off down the line will be sweet it’s way to early to evaluate it’s performance. It will take a year for it to take off the way it should
  • alex zuniga
    I purchased 4 zip codes in my area. I surf the net regularly and have not seen any of the promotional ads on google or yahoo. My concern or question now is if the ads run differently on these major search engines with relation to where you live or how big your market is? The idea is wonderful and yes I would agree with Michael that eperks wants to get to word out to as many people as possible, so that the agents and eperks profit. At my cost I would need to close 2-3 deals a year to break even. I’m willing to hang in there at least 6 months and am considering integrating my personal advertising to showcase eperks. Am I making a mistake in doing so? Am I promoting the savings versus my full time real estate services? I personally do not want to be viewed as or branded as a potential discount broker. To conclude, I thought the commercial was a bit tasteless. I am going to stay optimistic and see if the program improves.
  • John
    I laugh at people like you who are negative about everything in life. You send out your garbage because “misery loves company”. you’re abviously jaded and are always the “victim” when life happens to you. life’s passed you by already fool…no catchin’ up for you…pray…it’s all you can do
  • Todd Jackson
    So, how about wasting your money now, how does it feel? Haha!
  • Vlad
    John,

    Please do not attack people who leave comments here or I will mark you as a spammer again.
  • Mina montgomery
    I think its a phenomenal idea and it leaves the agent in control of how much of a discount they are willing to provide. I just purchased 4 zip codes and even if I get just 1 deal Im in the black. I don’t expect them to go away given the idea has so much potential and I will try the program for a few months.
  • Agent in AZ
    I am one of the largest clients and I would like to say that the ePERKS model is the inevitable future of our business like anything that goes through changes. Unfortunately ePERKS launch too soon. Their commercials were not ready and marketing is not on track yet. The commercial, I’m glad they canned it, was rude, violent and would have killed this company right out the gate. We deal with families and no parent would ever want their kid to see this commercial. As to the guarantee, I came from corporate America and ran billion dollar projects prior to real estate. The guarantee is only as good as long as the company is successful, if they fail in eight months, nobody gets anything back. If they win, then those that stuck it out wont need to ask for funds back. So you are either in or your just watching. I am betting they win.
  • Capecoral Realtor
    Its a Gem for me! its starting to pick up for me. 1 out of the 2 prospects that have called me is an A and Ill be able to close the account within the next 60 days. I do wish the site was a little better but prospects are what are counting for me. To the sucker guy, NAR has no authority. don’t be made you were eliminated by an exclusive :) . One of my zips did and it pissed me off, but the other are exclsuive
  • BOB
    Assuming that this is working for some of you - where/how are your leads finding you?

    Also,

    Why would anyone purchase more than one exclusive area if there are already multiple agents using eperks in their city?

    I believe that most buyers/sellers would not search by zip code, but rather the city name and state, in this case the customer will see all of the agents active in the area and what will they do… Go with the agent offering the largest rebate!
  • Christina
    I really, really hope this is not a scam. I am very nervous , but the idea just seems so logical. Haven’t got anything, i’m spending abt $140 mo. I’m not putting my faith in the money back guarantee. I feel irritated that I haven’t seen any ePERKS ads. But spending money on advertising that may or may not work comes with the territory in our business so I accept the risk. I HATED THAT COMMERCIAL!!!! I emailed them that it was disturbing and sick!!! (and I am hardly a prude). How can people find it funny that a perfectly nice lady doing her job gets killed? Whoever mentioned Kevin Morris was right on. He always responded courteously and promptly. Some of those “contact support” buttons just don’t work. Anyway he said that he would pass on my comment about the commercial to the marketing department. So if in some small way I helped to nix the stupid commercial, I’m glad! It was not professional and I think it would have offended a lot of potential clients and we sure don’t want that!
  • Monica
    christina,
    Good luck on the money back guarantee that Eperks had promised. I had cancelled my service with them since March, waited 8 more months for the refund and they told me that since the economy is so bad, they do not have the funds to pay back the agents and they are in the process of filing for bankruptcy.
  • Brian
    I also hope Eperks does well, as I also have not received any leads as of yet but I know these things can take time. I just wanted to comment that I liked the commercial. I know it may have seemed a bit rough but the point of it is after it airs everyone will remember it and know eperks.com.
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