Direct Digital  Omdömen 793

Update - we are currently almost halfway through April and my ad still has not been pusblished on the screens after checking this morning. Not good enough. Paying money and no results

Amazing customer service! Very informative and helpful

A SCAM that preys on small businesses - PLEASE AVOID!!

I paid for TV adverts at our local doctors surgery, with another surgery thrown in 'for free'. We have NEVER seen our adverts shown, despite multiple visits sat watching the screens for over 30 mins.

We were promised that it would show at least once every 8 minutes "because that's the average patient wait time so everyone will see your Adverts". When we finally got the advert logs after months of complaining and waiting our advert was showing as little as once a day, sometimes in the middle of the night.

We tried to settle this amicably and ask for a refund ( and later simply for our contract to be terminated). To our shock, rather than apology, the threats started - immediately they start threatening debt collection and legal.

Lessons learnt:
- The salesman will say anything to get you to sign.
- The customer service are ready trained on the T&Cs designed to trap you and disregard any service level expectation
- They chase aggressively for your advert so they can start charging. Then they don't put it live.
- They don't tell you when the screens aren't working.
- They take months to give you the logs for when the adverts were supposed to be showing.

It is my heartfelt recommendation to everyone to PLEASE PLEASE AVOID AT ALL COSTS and spread the word! Sole Traders and Small Businesses cannot afford to be ripped off like this. We will be taking this as far as we can but as a sole trader with minimal income, they will probably win just because of their size.

The responsiveness and patience as we made changes.

❌STAY CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY❌

Sales rep told us our advertisement would be shown every 5 minutes for 30 seconds and now apparently it’s 30 seconds every 30 minutes🙄 can’t contact Sales rep to discuss once the contract is signed. Credit control leader Laura is very abrupt! Her words were they don’t care about negative comments because they are not taken into consideration. Customer service is below standard, we have contacted before now to ask for proof of advertisement to be told yes it’s up and running. Still no proof!!
The only reason she has contacted is because we cancelled the direct debit. Quick enough to email regarding payment but can’t provide proof of advert running. Now being threatened with legal action

Very friendly and king approach. John found the package that best suited my business and made all the necessary pipework within few minutes. Afterward I was contacted by Pooja to make sure that everything was okay and to let me know that she is there to help if I needed help. Great experience so far.

Absolutely 100% AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID

I cannot stress enough - DO NOT USE THESE

They are a joke! Substandard "adverts" that look like a 12 year old made them for an IT project - in fact a 12 year olds IT project would be better! You will not be advertised in anywhere useful to your business and if you question this they will try to gaslight you!

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

Edited to add apparently this review is "slander" here is a copy of the email received about this review

This email is for your information. I am also advising you of our intention moving forward.

The unprofessional way in which you have handled this matter regarding the legally binding Business to Business contract, has now resulted in the matter being handed over to the Legal Department.



We have a very strong case for TORT/SLANDER. This is based on your untruthful reviews on Trust Pilot, which may I add are never taken into consideration by any Judge. They are unreliable.



The contract is now in breach and we will be pursuing this matter through the courts.



I notice that in one of your communications which is far too unprofessional to repeat, you asked the costs of getting out of this contract. The total is £2467.20 including vat.



Court papers will be issued tomorrow morning.

As a PostScript: No mention was given at the signatory meeting that this was a business to business contract. Had this been done so we would not have signed it without taking legal advice. It is our legal right to be allowed to do this. As soon as this was realised, the miss-selling of the package was notified to the company and they were made aware that the terms and conditions were not shown nor agreed to. They were asked to stop as without this agreement there was no contract. They have refused to stop and continue to harass and bully by email.

If I could give -10 I would these are scammers forcing you into a contract, the adverts look like they have had there child do it and do t advertise no where they agree to and you get 0 clients from it, had us in court paid thousands horrible scamming business, nearly destroyed our business.I’ve spoke to a lot of they’re clients they also scam like the hotels they use they are also not happy and feel forced into something they do not want

Awful company, did not meet expectations at all! My advert was shocking! I had to deal with a very rude receptionist who proceeded to repeat they have been in business for 24 years! Not offering any sort of solution, then also claim you are bound by a legally binding contract, the quality of the work was falsely advertised! AVOID!!!

I ordered a sample of a product through direct digital and they hit me with a charge for a regular subscription without warning I do not want to subscribe to this product but I can’t find a way to cancel.

If I could give a 0 star I would! Totally misleading information at point of sale. Foot traffic over rated and customer care over sold. Took forever to get my advert live. I still had to pay while the advert was not live. Have had no response from the advert. They just lock you into a contract that does not deliver and not willing to work with their clients. More people need to be warned.

There are certainly issues that businesses ought to be aware of with this company. A sales man visited our business with an aggressive sales technique and took advantage of my wife's poor knowledge of contract agreements. He was selling an advertising package at one primary location, though two were put on the contract. The primary location was a hotel, which I subsequently contacted and was told that they knew of the company but did not have an agreement with them for advertising on their premises. The second location, which was mentioned in the meeting but assumed to be the same chain of hotels, turned out to be a health centre which I also checked has no agreement with Direct Digital but does with an offshoot of theirs, Medical Direct. Their screen adverts are only medical and the presented agreement makes no mention of Medical Direct. We are an entertainments business, so certainly nothing medical!

The agent did not explain the terms and conditions. Had he done so my wife would have realised she needed advice on this. The agreement to terms and conditions was not ticked, as that part of the contract was not mentioned. We do have a witness who was also present in the meeting on this point. The agent also did not mention that it was a business to business contract - had he done so then we would have put it to our legal advisors for approval. That is how we do business. We see less of Business to Business contracts like this one thanks to government action, but the agent should spend as much time discussing this part as they do to the product as it restricts (and some would say removes) your rights and can leave businesses exposed and vulnerable. Not something you need with a small business, but in fairness, when approached properly, it can work well for some.

Our alarm was raised by the time it took for the first draft advert to emerge and the poor quality of it. It was like a school child project with the wrong information and inclusion of personal information. Words just escape me.

At this point we did try and contact the company but all customer services would say was that an agreement had been signed and we must pay the full amount. I then took this took the police and they referred us to Action Fraud, where a case is now open on this company. I would urge all businesses who have this experience to do the same. Always keep the business cards that you are given so the agents can be identified.

As I was talking with Action Fraud another Direct Digital representative came into our business. He was trying to sell a different package on a nearby retail park. After we had turned him away we contacted the retail park who confirmed that they have no known dealings with this company. This worried the retail park management and they sent someone to find out more. We are in Northamptonshire, so beware, they are targeting this area. The sales rep was reluctant to leave our premises and only did so when we threaten to call the police.

There is no doubt that there is gross miss-selling and bad practice here. At the end of the day the real product is not visible from what the sales agent is saying. The facts are distorted and the contractual implications are hidden from the prospective buyers intentionally. Businesses should be proud of what they do, this one puts British business to shame.

The whole experience has had a tremendous impact on the wellbeing of my wife. We work hard for our small business and do not expect it to be undermined by clowns like this.

To put this into perspective, I am a marketing professional with a successful business career extending over 40 years and marketing is something that I sometimes teach now. Whilst I would not usually include this type of advertising in my marketing mix, there are occasions and businesses where it can work, providing the message and location is right for the target audience. Even for a small business this is not something that can be determined in a single sales meeting and needs careful consideration of supporting data before such a decision can and should be made. There are some key questions to be asked - like the number of other ads in the loop, the type of businesses the other adverts represent, and what is the expected viewing time of time of the watcher at this location (short or long stay) to work out if your advert stands a chance of being seen by the person watching. This is before we get into the demographics of the viewing audience. Marketing is an investment on the part of any business and is not something to be decided on the spur of the moment without seeing and being given proper analytical data - something that is clearly beyond the reach of understanding within this company, which assume the customer is ignorant of marketing principles, keen to throw their money down the drain, and a market for instant sales.

They "auto renew" their contracts without communicating when it will auto renew. Their contract that was signed uses different verbiage. This is a dishonest, poor business model. We also have not received 1 client in the 2 years we have been using them. It also took months to get the advertisement up once the contract and vision was complete. Truly upset we agreed to work with this company. Do better business

Pooja clearly explained everything to me and what to expect. Thank you.

All good and support

Would not recommend at all. Delays in production, lies in delivery. They started taking money and hadnt delivered anything. All teh stats given in the sales section are totally mad up.

Excellent attendance, very polite and explained everything well

Direct Digital promises the world but delivers nothing but headaches. Their sales tactics are deceitful, their editing skills are amateurish, and their service is abysmal.

I bought an AD space for 1 location and here is what I have to say about my experience

Deceptive Sales Practices:
The sales team employs pushy tactics, making promises they never intend to fulfill. Don't fall for their smooth talk and false assurances.

Shoddy Editing:
The video editing they claim to offer is a joke. It looks like something slapped together from a cheap template, and you'll likely end up having to do the work yourself.

Hidden Fees and Misleading Contracts:
The contract is a labyrinth of tiny print designed to trip you up. They'll sneak in extra charges, and what they quote you initially bears no resemblance to what you'll aay.

Cancellation Hassles:
Trying to cancel is a nightmare. If you don't jump through hoops within a narrow window, they'll trap you into renewing your contract without your consent.

Zero ROI:
Despite their lofty promises, Direct Digital won't help you make a single penny. Save your money and invest in more effective advertising channels like Facebook outreach.

Nonexistent Customer Service:
Technical issues are a constant problem, and good luck getting any meaningful support from their team. You're left paying for a service that rarely delivers.

Lack of Transparency and Integrity:
They thrive on deceit and opacity, leaving customers feeling scammed and cheated. Don't trust a company that operates with such blatant disregard for honesty and fairness.

Now I am not in a position to pay for the last months and I asked to stop the payment since they could not show my ad for weeks with a total of months and I did not earn a single penny or call.
They agreed to reduce the payment to £50 for 2 months and then go up to 87 for 6 months. This changed nothing.
I also got charged today when the dd start the 12.
Looks like they are in a rush to get my payment so I do not know why they are so messy and do not charge the day they should of DD.

But I get it I signed the contract even though it was not the right thing for me but since the salesman cared about making the sale without truly helping you to make a decision I guess I have to report it to the fraud department.
This is simply a big scam and for as long as they can say they are in the right, well, simply read other people's reviews ( people that have not been invited)

Save yourself the headache and avoid Direct Digital at all costs. Their unethical practices and subpar services make them a company best left in the dust.

******** Attention, it seems like most of these reviews are either left by the company themselves or made up****

Please do not use this company, they have taken my money and deposit, sale representative miss sold the service to me, advert is yet to be published it has been over 3 months, I have requested my refund only for them to hide behind the TC’s.

I am now taking them to trading standards. Do your own research on this company before you sign up. I will carry on making people aware of this company for who they are.

I have asked for many manager calls which has never materialised and still waiting.