ePerks- A Scam or A Gem?

Posted byVlad Zablotskyy 125 Comments on ePerks- A Scam or A Gem?

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”.

125 replies on “ePerks- A Scam or A Gem?”

  1. Thanks Bob.

    I knew those numbers were too good to be true. I have also only had one lead. You thought your’s was bad … Mine wanted me to find a house for $3,000. YES, $3,000!!!

    I’m sure I will cancel before the end of my first 30 days. Please let me know if you have a postitive experience between now and then. Best of luck.

    Thanks again,
    Jill

  2. My 1 lead for some reason seemed like a fake. Did anyone else get that feeling? Just the information that they provided, seemed so unreal.

    I see that others had the same issues, i’m wondering if someone in ePerks is just hired to do just that. Give a false hope to the agents to continue to do business with ePerks.

  3. Well I have had eperks for about 3 months and have had ZERO leads as of yet. I do think it is a good business plan; however will the leads start?

    I think anyone who expects or expected a lead after a few weeks is not being realistic. This should not be your only lead-generation tool or you will be out of business soon.

    I was planning on giving it the “8-month” try; of course as talked about – if they are gone in 8 months there will be no one to get my money back from.

    Not sure if I believe if anyone has completed a transaction – I suppose if REAL agents have a closed transaction – they could provide a website link or something to prove it to the rest of us!
    Cheers from DC.

  4. There are a couple of things that really concern me about the Eperks program and I think that everyone that is using the service should be aware of.

    Jill had mentioned above that she has seen agents offering 50% back. I know of one company offering 66 – 95% depending on price!

    The company is AmeriBuy Realty Group – you can find them listed in Eperks under Anaheim, Riverside, Corona, etc. in California.

    If you visit their site you will find that what they offer is to write the purchase agreement for the consumer after they have located a home – this means that the buyer will probably be using a local agent to view homes and find the one that they would like to purchase, just to turn around and have this company write their offer.

    The thing that really irritates me is that while I’m spending over $1,000 a month with 6 exclusive areas they come in and while only spending $49.95 for a standard listing take all of the surrounding zips that are not Premier or Exclusive. Neither I nor any of the other agents in my area will stand a chance when a buyer sees this (the rest of us are offering 20% or less) and the only way for me to get rid of them is to buy those areas as well and I’m just not willing to do that until I get a lead that I can close.

    My area is not the only one that they are in – for those of you that didn’t realize it, the standard listing allows them to take ANY zip code ANYWHERE that is not taken as a Premier or Exclusive area.

    Take a look at their profile page at Eperks. They have taken zip codes in 254 cities!

    This company is not the only one doing this – there are 14 other agents that I have seen (so far) doing this and as far as I’m concerned they have no right to be in the areas where they are not members of the local Board of Realtors and have no MLS access.

    EPERKS NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS BEFORE IT GETS OUT OF CONTROL.

  5. I am in california and the number of people calling is increasing since their new website. I have received some calls and some leads since the beginning with some good prospects and some ridiculous prospects. The ones that are quality I have been showing homes to and I just took a listing from one of them also, even though I don’t want listings right now.

    I have a buddy however that is getting less results than me so maybe its different in different area.

  8. I am amazed by all the possible self promoting comments that this post has received. I like every other real estate agent was contacted numerous times by eperks. I was very tempted by all of the advertising that they had done prior to launch. However I decided not to join. Since the launch I have not seen eperks listed in any of the relevant search engine results in the Orlando area. Maybe I am missing something but after reading the comments I think I will put my marketing dollar elsewhere.

  9. I just checked my account and see that I had one lead a couple of weeks ago. Do not remember being contacted by them about it. Sent an email and will find out if it is a bogus lead or not. The name does look funny.

    Have been involved since pre launch. I was also called by someone a couple of months after I had been a member trying to sign me up. He could hardly speak English. I had to tell him I was already a member.

    Contacted other agent in Jax that has many zips and he has not had any leads yet either.

    At least with Realestate.com I get 10 leads a month and credit if they are junk.

    I think if zillow did something like this it might work better.

  11. Sergio or whatever your real name is. Your are a hoax. There is no Sergio Gala! You have been SPAMING the heck out of this blog with complete nonsense. Is this Dan?

    You need to stop making garbage accusations due to your competitive affiliations. I have forwarded this to many people and they will pursue you for attempting to do this for your own business sakes. You need to stop these lies Dan because you are getting yourself in more and more trouble.

  12. Vlad,

    I’ve read a lot of these comments and have to say you seem very engaged, almost to the point where it becomes suspicious. Typically admins of a blog make sure content is appropriate and organic. You seem more focused on instigating negative publicity.

    I personally dont care what is said on this blog but I have to say I am a frequent blogger and never seen such instigation by an admin or owner.

    You say this “Benjamin” is the same person using different names however how am I not to believe that all the other comments are not the same person either or even worse you trying to gain hits to your site.

    You will probably answer by saying IP addresses, unfotunately these can be manufactured as a result they hold no real value.

    More importantly I dont care at all about eperks or these other “bloggers” or even for real estate (I rent :)).. I just think this specific blog as well as some of the others you have are little questionable as to their legitimacy.

  13. inguru,

    if i was one of the ePerks founders and you were charged with damage control you would have lost your job long time ago.

    Yes I am engaged. As a former real estate agent I have utmost respect to my former colleagues. Now I make my leaving from the internet and think that real estate agents can use the money they have paid you for their PPC campaigns as Sergio described.

    As to IP Addresses I have to agree with you. However if you ever used any sort of tracking software you can say that the same person leaves 4-5 messages during the same visit. This of course is not that unusual except that every comment appears to be left by five different people. So in this respect you are completely off the mark.

  14. Vlad-

    English is clearly your second language. Regroup your thoughts and express them in a manner that is comprehensible to humans.

    Your 1st paragraph makes no sense. please refer to comment left above.

    No one has paid me. Maybe someone should :).

    You took my comments way to literal. Of course you can be engaged. I just find it odd that you call everyone who makes a positive comment a phony. For god sakes I left a neutral comment and you came at me like this!

    I’m no genius and luckily I dont need to be, to understand that you have something against the company. By the way I checked out the company you keep promoting (property maps). What in gods name do they do?

    From my point of view (which is neutral) you do sound like a competitor. This is only my opinion nothing more.

  15. Sergio G., I dont know “Benjamin” but I have to say I agree with him. The fact that you looked up the word spam is ridiculous. Spam is not solely dependent to emails, it can apply to all sorts of media including blogs and forums. You are a complete idiot for not only looking it up but also posting such a thing. Second, I dont know if I’m the dummie for actually reading your novel or you for taking so much time out of your day to write one. I can see why you dont sell any homes, too busy blogging all day. I dont have answers for your 1-4 “questions of the decade” but your #5 statement is absolutely ridiculous. I dont know what keywords you are buying but top searched keywords can run $30 per click. According to your math thats $50 for a website (wow that is one cheap website–I wonder what it will look like). No one legitimate hosts websites for free, that statement like others you make and is absolutely ridiculous. I will give you the benefit and say it only costs $10 a month. So that gets you one cheap looking website and a low end hosting service for a total of $60. Great! You can now afford to get two clicks to your site. I really hope you dont go into marketing…ever! I will end on this…your comments are so extreme that I am willing to bet anything that you are ficticious meaning as “Benjamin” said a competitor. Just so that you know it can also be called SPAM! These are my opinions nothing more.

  17. Sergio Gala,
    I wasnt going to respond to this but you left me choice. For some reason I know im going to feel better after responding to you for you will be put in your place.

    My responses will be much shorter than yours yet have twice the impact.

    You posted “spam” for fun? You need a hobby and it should have nothing to do with computers. Everytime your fingers touch a keyboard embarrassing things happen to you. Who posts definitions for fun?..and you say im bored!

    I’m glad you’re doing well, but lets be honest no truly successful professional has the time to posts all the comments you have. I think you said you spent a $100..what successful person has the time to spend half his day crying about it. My recommendation is to move on.

    You say all agents need to blog for an hour a day at minimum. Who died and made you real estate king? Focus on your little neighborhood and providing leads for your “team”( I guess 1 agent does technically constitute as a team). No need to tell other professionals what to do unless you have credentials to back it up..i.e. Donald Trump.

    Im glad to hear that you are running ad words at $3 a day, but not all of is live in the middle of Kansas where only 1 computer exists per county. If this is not the case then god only knows what search engine you are using. Just so that you know close to 60% of market share belongs to Yahoo and Google. If you pay $3 a day for top seach keywords then you either have inside connections or are full of it..im thinking the latter.

    You claim to be a successful real estate broker and now claim to be a network specialist, software engineer, as well as a designer. Wow, you just know everyhting…do you know who killed JFK too?

    I really cant believe you just posted the specs of some servers..what magazine did you read that in? Some FYI- No one cares! Are you trying to sell your hosting service? Again im confused are you a broker or a web hosting company? Maybe you offer hosting services because your real estate company isnt doing so well..go figure!

    I dont know how many real estate agents use word press and really dont care. I’ve never heard of it and use the internet all the time..if its a marketing tool then it obviously isnt a good one.

    Its funny that you say you are tired of getting ripped off. Your marketing skills obviously suck (apparently no one has been able to satisfy you) or you just cant close deals..I’m thinking both.

    I only speculate that you are a competitor for you’re waaay too dramatic. Also I find it even more odd that you and Vlad (who happens to be the owner of the blog) seem to be such good friends. To be honest this whole thread seems way too artificial. If I was an e perks employee I would be upset as well.

    I know I said it will be short but I couldnt help myself 🙂

  18. Yes, English is my second language. But I doubt that your first language is English- I am guessing it is ignorance. Am I right?

    Sergio posted the “definition of Spam” for fun- don’t twist his words Mr. Ignorant

  19. Vlad,

    I have not twisted words. I was just informing him that he doesnt know what the word means. No one posts definitons (incorrect ones at that) for fun, that is a ridiculous comment.

  20. Inguru,

    This website is powered by WordPress. I really do not care what would you do if you were an ePerks employee.

    I do not know Sergio but yes, I would consider him a friend. I would consider every one a friend who helps me out to expose ePerks for what they really are- a scam.

  21. So i guess anyone who makes positive or even neutral comments (which is what I left) is not only an enemy but a spammer? Wow–what kind of blog are you running here?

  22. Sergio Gala,

    Take a deep breath and relax. Its obvious you didnt like my last post to you. I wouldnt like it either if someone put me in my place.

    Yes, I do not know what wordpress is. Shoot me for it! As I said earlier I use the internet regularly and would consider myself nothing more then an average consumer. Believe me if I dont know what it is, then millions of others dont either.

    You dont offer your services because you do NOT have any. Hence the reason I say you are spammer.

    I love how you say you will only comment on one of my many statements to you. Is it because you only had 30 seconds as you state (you were on the blog for 2 additonal hours) or just have no rebuttal..im gonna say its the latter.

    I dont want to keep going at it with you (I’m starting to feel pity for you). I refuse to believe you are a successful agent/broker. In fact I refuse to believe you are one at all. From the looks of it you just spend all your day writing novels on this blog for personal benefit. In fact I suspect you are Vlad-the owner using a different name.

    I will end on this. As a consumer (which is all I am) I would definitly use the site if I was looking to buy or sell a home. In fact I would use it for the other services too. Keep in mind I say this assuming that as a consumer I do not have to pay membership fees which is what I believe is the case. Its an absolute no brainer!

    Your other marketing “stuff” may work but at the end of the day money talks and thats why I would use the site to find an agent.

    I think the reason you may be so upset is that you know you are about to lose a lot of business to agents who are on the site, hence the reason you dont want any of them to join. It looks like this is where your industry is going and if you dont like it then you may need to find a new career. It looks like you are putting good at blogging so maybe you can look into that.

    Thanks.

  23. I forgot to mention I have no Idea who VLad is but I do know he is a wonderful person for running this blog and alerting people to possible mistakes.

  24. Just another FYI, this blog we are bloggin on is a WordPress blog.

    Inguru, didn’t you say you never heard of WordPress?? Wow, your a sharp one.

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