Byline: Penman ; Sommerlad
WE recently revealed how Lavora Marketing was taken to court both for claiming it worked with internet search giant Google and falsely promising top search rankings in exchange for hefty monthly fees.
We've been passed a copy of Lavora's sales pitch which shows how the firm, based in Altrincham, Cheshire, trapped victims with a succession of lies.
LIE 1: "The great news - one allocation has just become available for a locksmith in Burnley on the first page of google.co.uk."
In reality, there's no "allocation" of Google sponsored links, they're sold to the bidder who is prepared to pay the most per click on the ad.
LIE 2: "The only reason payment is taken on a credit or debit card is because Google is a fully automated system. In terms of protection, paying on a card is the safest form of payment because of the indemnity it gives you."
We've no idea why Google being "fully automated" means Lavora needs your card details but there's little protection when you pay by debit card.
LIE 3: If the target asks to think about it, reps are told to say, "I don't mind calling you back, the problem I have is that when an allocation becomes available, it normally goes within 10 minutes because every business sees value in Google."
Pressure selling garbage, there's no allocation so no rush to sign up.
LIE 4: "In some market sectors there are waiting lists of up to five years to get front page Google!" More rubbish. There's no waiting list. You go straight to the top of sponsored links by paying the most for your ad.
Lavora and company boss Mike De Martiis have signed a court order promising not to "falsely represent that they are Google or are accredited by Google or are connected or associated with Google" and paid pounds 37,000 costs.
The company has since shut down and has been taken over by Answer IT - which is based in the same office and is owned by de Martiis.
A spokesman for Answer IT said the "purported" script had "nothing whatsoever" to do with them.
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