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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
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    Pakistan
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    2,752

    Fake Testimonials..

    Hi ,

    I have heard many times that companies do put fake testimonials of customers..sometimes when they dont have a company and it's a fresh start..they display fake testimonials to attrack customers..is it okay?

    I think this mostly happens with hosting companies owned by teens trying to make some $$.

    What do you think?

    regards,
    Zafar
    I'm Zafar Ahmed.
    I provide
    SEO Services & eMarketing consultancy
    I'll be glad to hear from you

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Manila, Philippines
    Posts
    217
    Of course fake testimonials are not OK. Its blatant lying.

    Its like defrauding your customers.
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    9,264
    No, of course it's not okay.
    It's blatant fraud.

    Being honest, having some integrity and just putting your nose to the grindstone results in a great, loyal clientbase who will respect you and stick it out in the end.

    Shoddy, shady input will result in a shoddy, shady company in the end.
    Do it the right way.

    If you don't have any testimonials: Don't put any up!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2000
    Location
    San Antonio, Texas
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    3,690
    Fake testimonials are NOT okay
    After you've been in the business awhile it becomes pretty easy to spot fake ones too.
    HostCaters.com - Quality Web Hosting - Under A Gig! - Since 1999

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    EU - east side
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    21,920
    Still, fake testimonials don't have to be blatant. Not everyone's a good salesman, not everyone's a "good" shill.

    Many (if not most) testimonial pages are of no value anyway, as there' no way to identify the author. They could just as well be fake.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2000
    Location
    San Antonio, Texas
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    3,690
    Quote Originally Posted by ldcdc

    Many (if not most) testimonial pages are of no value anyway, as there' no way to identify the author. They could just as well be fake.

    I will agree with that IF a testimonial page is full of comments with no url, no email addy, etc.
    We publish ours onsite and some may include their url and some not. Others may include an email without the url. Its posted however it was submitted to us.
    Client privacy comes into play here and some clients do not wish to disclose certain info. Thats fine with us and we respect their wishes.
    This is just another example of how some BAD hosts will stoop to anything and post fake reviews and in the end we "all" pay for it because it plants a negative feed within the mind.
    Thats my cater cents
    HostCaters.com - Quality Web Hosting - Under A Gig! - Since 1999

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Posts
    1,909
    UMMM - i would think that word FAKE would be a no brainer for most on the question. Sure having testimonies up are great but if you don't include the link to their site with the testimonies then they are really pointless.


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Earth
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    I will agree with that IF a testimonial page is full of comments with no url, no email addy, etc.
    We publish ours onsite and some may include their url and some not. Others may include an email without the url. Its posted however it was submitted to us.
    Client privacy comes into play here and some clients do not wish to disclose certain info. Thats fine with us and we respect their wishes.
    In my opinion just the name and url of the web site should be enough, email is not necessary unless the customer wishes to include their email.

    Some times the customer does not want their url published, which is perfectly fine.

    Fake testimonials however are wrong.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
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    Fake testimonies is something I think many use when they start their
    business. But should not be done

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    USA
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    Fake one and paid ones are not ok....
    GS RichCopy 360 Enterprise - Voted #1 for data migration and replication in terms of performance and features. Replicate data across between servers in the same network, WAN, or even across the internet - Many customer call it RSync for Windows

  11. #11
    testimonials are always a strange one in my book - a quick comment that was perhaps said in the heat of the moment (whether a good comment or bad comment) is only indicative of what the customer thought at that exact second; the only real way to use existing customers to assess a host is to ask your friends - to ensure impartiality, you should really only listen to testimonials from people you already trust, otherwise you don't know that the referee doesn't have some alterior motive.

    You don't see people putting on their CV "You did a great job!" - CEO of Company XYZ, beacuse it's not indicative of overall performance. It may indeed be real (i think even the worst host would be hard pushed to have not a single customer who has ever said anything good), but it's useless.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Manchester, UK
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    291
    Fake testimonials are becoming more common place these days and to be honest as other posters have said here, many people just ignore them.

    A testimonial should only be added with the customers consent and with a valid URL or contact mail that the client has agreed you can place on the site.

    If we see testimonials on any site that we intend to do business with, if they can't quantify when asked we don't deal with them and prefer to go off word of mouth and forum entries such as those here on WHT.
    IndigoHosts
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    www.indigohosts.co.uk

  13. #13
    i should have mentioned above that there is a big differentiation between customer testimonials and an in-depth case study; a case study will generally spell out exactly what the customer can offer, and how it can help a particular company, which is vastly better than a one-line quote.

    Any companies that i work with, i advise only to use case studies, not testimonials - a testimonial, even if it is backed up by contact info and is genuine, puts the onus on the reader to research it, which is not what any business should be asking a potential customer to do; a case study, on the other hand, allows the customer to be spoonfed the information that they require.

  14. #14
    Join Date
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    Pakistan
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    Quote Originally Posted by ITAhmed
    Fake one and paid ones are not ok....

    err..and what are paid ones?
    I'm Zafar Ahmed.
    I provide
    SEO Services & eMarketing consultancy
    I'll be glad to hear from you

  15. #15
    Yea, I'm curious too..what are paid testimonials?

    And well..about not putting links for testimonials..some clients request that the URL isn't to be included for privacy reasons..but that shouldn't be the rule
    Caro.Net: Support is everything
    Offering High Quality Dedicated Servers.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Richmond, VA
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    3,119
    Quote Originally Posted by Zafar Ahmed
    Hi ,

    I have heard many times that companies do put fake testimonials of customers..sometimes when they dont have a company and it's a fresh start..they display fake testimonials to attrack customers..is it okay?

    I think this mostly happens with hosting companies owned by teens trying to make some $$.

    What do you think?

    regards,
    Zafar
    I think this is unethical, and a lie. I do not condone the practice, and it is certainly something no respectable company would ever do. Just my two cents.
    Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
    Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
    Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
    Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com

  17. #17
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    WebHostingTalk is the most awesomest forum evar!
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    [mouse, you can send my payment via paypal to <insert address here>]

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    Vancouver
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    Faced with a looming deadline and absolutely no customers, our organization was between a rock and a hard place. With nowhere to turn to our marketing team sat dejected at their desks, wondering where they would obtain that all important first testimonial, given the sales team had utterly failed to deliver the all important first client. Suddenly, while browsing an on-line poker gaming site, our VP of Marketing noted a brilliant flashing banner ad which quickly drew our attention to FakeTestimonials.com.

    Immediately we seized upon the moment and checked out the web site. After browsing through the hundreds of heartwarming approvals from clients, we knew that we were in safe hands with FakeTestimonials DOT COM!

    They delivered when nobody else could!
    Y. B. Truthful, VP Marketing, FreeGasolineForLife.com,
    A division of c1al1s-for-free.net
    “Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under
    considerable economic stress at this period in history.”

  19. #19
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Milton, Florida
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    786
    Woah! Who in the world uses Fake Testimonials?!? Thats just not right..

    *runs to remove testimonials*

    -- I've known a few people/companies to do this as well =\

  20. #20
    US-based hosts would do well not to use fake testimonials. If someone's smart,
    s/he can report it to the FTC.

  21. #21
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    Fake testimonials=


    I have seen lot now days,
    <<< Please see Forum Guidelines for signature setup. >>>

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    896
    ive even seen disclaimers such as
    "Testomonials may not be of acuall customers"
    I could tell you a joke about UDP. But I'm not sure you would get it!

  23. #23
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Milton, Florida
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    786
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan541
    ive even seen disclaimers such as
    "Testomonials may not be of acuall customers"
    Atleast, they are letting people know

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Manila, Philippines
    Posts
    217
    Putting up a link to the site of the author makes the testimonial appear more valid but is not always the best case to bank on authencity. And posting these links require the approvals of the author so that their privacy is protected.

    IMHO, genuine testimonials are those that can be verified with the author by any means possible.
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  25. #25

    Not Ok...

    Quote Originally Posted by Zafar Ahmed
    Hi ,

    I have heard many times that companies do put fake testimonials of customers..sometimes when they dont have a company and it's a fresh start..they display fake testimonials to attrack customers..is it okay?

    I think this mostly happens with hosting companies owned by teens trying to make some $$.

    What do you think?

    regards,
    Zafar
    It's not ok, testimonials should be something that a past customer has submited, and it should be in context, webhost should always act with integrity, and should never lie to there customers.

    Kind Regards

    John Wood

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