Their Facebook ad looked like this…<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.qd-design.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Facebook-ad.jpg\")
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Taken at face value (as many potential customers will do), this is \u00a0an unbelievable bargain. \u00a0Even outsourcing to the cheapest and least skilled offshore supplier imaginable, there is no way a ‘professional’ website could be created for \u00a349. \u00a0And of course, it isn’t true. \u00a0Following the link to their website reveals that the real cost is \u00a349 per month<\/span><\/strong> (oh and on top of that there is an ‘initial set up’ fee of \u00a3199 as well).<\/p>\n Assuming the business maintains the website for five years, it will have really\u00a0cost an eye watering \u00a33139<\/strong><\/em> before any VAT \/ sales tax has been added.<\/p>\n Secondly, the business in question had a glowing testimonial from a garage owner who seemed delighted with the service provided. \u00a0 It was a fake testimonial<\/strong><\/span> from a fake business<\/strong><\/span> alleging benefits that were utterly fake<\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0It got me wondering who was in the picture, was this really Kenny Sinclair or was he a fake too?<\/p>\n Of course he was a fake! \u00a0Using the ever so handy Google Reverse Image Search<\/a> facility revealed that ‘Kenny’ is a prolific chap. \u00a0\u00a0He appears on a hair loss website in South Africa, an Arizona skin clinic site, a UK house sale site as well as countless social media sites. For example, is your support as good as you claim? \u00a0Is your uptime really as high as you indicate? \u00a0Are you truly based in the local area or are you a front for a “pile it high, sell it cheap” offshore operation<\/em>?<\/p>\n It is all about credibility. \u00a0Most customers do not want to do business with a firm that feels it is OK to deliberately mislead and be dishonest on their website. \u00a0Why would you trust a firm that did this? \u00a0After all, if they do this on their own site, there is a good chance they could do it on yours too.<\/p>\n Whatever your line of business, think carefully before making unclear, misleading or entirely false claims on your website. \u00a0The consequences will inevitably come back to bite you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently, I noticed in my Facebook feed the name of a local web designer that was new to me. \u00a0Being curious and wanting to keep abreast of the competition, I looked them up. \u00a0I was disappointed to discover they had adopted a number of tactics that were clearly pushing the boundaries of what could be … Continue reading Sharp Practices by Web Designers<\/span> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.qd-design.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/testimonial.jpg\")
It sounds as if the new website had already born fruit and was bringing in new business. \u00a0Oddly, there was no link to the site in question which seemed peculiar given the situation. \u00a0Stranger still, a search on Google for Prestfield Motors returned no matches whatsoever. \u00a0In fact, there were no matches for Kenny Sinclair and the motor trade in Edinburgh. \u00a0Zero, nil, zilch, zip.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.qd-design.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/kenny.jpg\")
‘So what’ I hear you say, don’t we all embellish the truth a bit? \u00a0Well, yes and no. \u00a0It depends on how far you take the embellishment. \u00a0In this case, the deliberate attempt to mislead on pricing is pretty close to the widely discredited and highly disliked technique of “bait and switch<\/a>“. \u00a0The use of a stock image in a testimonial whilst you are awaiting a photo from the customer is understandable but deliberately creating a fake identity, a fake business and a whole fake story to sell your services is downright dishonest. \u00a0As soon as a potential customer realises your claims are unfounded they should begin to question everything you say.<\/p>\n