I placed a TV commercial with Comcast. When the airtime came the commercials where not played. After a short time went by and not seeing our commercial we started to tape one of the channels where our ad was to be played. It was scheduled to air every hour that day. I have 5 1/2 hours taped with no commercial. We also have relatives in Pembroke Pines where the commercial was also to air. They did not see it either.
That following Monday morning I call them to ask what happened, the sales rep said she has conformation our commercials aired. She also conformed this with the engineers at two different locations and she did not believe me. She said this happens all the time that customers do not believe commercials where aired, that is why they have these confirmations from their engineers. I finally got her to come to my house and review the tape.
While at my house she called the engineers and confirmed that, our commercial did not show as they said it did and she noted that none of the local advertisement that were to be aired where shown even though she had her confirmation everything aired as scheduled. She also called another supervisor ( I believe ) who said that corporate overrides the smaller offices and this happens sometimes.
Are you kidding me? I alone would have lost a thousand dollars. Where their other customers notified or refunded yet?? I was because I had proof, but they sure fought it.
Apparently, I am the first person to challenge this situation with a tape and that is the only thing I had to save me. If I try to get my money back, they say they have proof it aired even when it did not. I also have PDF files from them showing when my commercials where to air. As well as PDF from them later showing that they did air as scheduled with confirmations from their engineers.
While speaking to another national media company their rep told me that is nothing new and it happens all the time.
There is no way for advertisers to check if their spots played and even if they ask for proof it is not reliable. What a racket!
Now I still want to air my commercial but being a small company with limited advertising funds who can you trust and who is policing this issue.
If this has been going on nation wide that is quite a bit of fraud and millions going into someone’s pocket. Someone should expose this.
Imagine over a thousand from one customer, what does that amount to all day long nation wide?
I am just a little guy working his backside off and cannot afford to be ripped off when dealing with large companies whom you would think you could trust.
** Disclaimer: This post was written by a guest author. The information contained in this article should not be taken as a fact, but only as an indicator. The story represents the authors individual experience with the subject in question. As such it can be true or misrepresented and in some cases even purely fictional in an attempt to harm the company or individual in question. You are advised to use your own judgment to realize the truth behind the story.
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