Quick Review of GetResponse
GetResponse the Blacklist King
This is going to be a quick review. I was a customer of GetResponse for about 10 minutes today.
After a few issues with my current provider I decided it´s time for a change. I looked around for the best autoresponder solution.
The internet is plastered with positive reviews of GetResponse and what made the difference for me is that the integration with every other tool I am using is fabulous.
Features of GetResponse
GetResponse offers a large list of useful functions. At an absolute low-end price of under $ 50 you can even host webinars for up to 100 participants.
I won´t dig into the feature list, as a customer of just 10 minutes that would not be very professional, and without further ado I will share with you why:
GetResponse stinks
They do offer a trial. I went ahead and tested this and that and especially the integration. It took me quite some time. To proper test it there need to be some addresses right?
I uploaded my address file. So far so good.
The program then told me that in the trial version only 250 contacts are allowed so that I was forced to sign up right away as I was stuck in the middle of an import. GetResponse is cheap (please take note that in my eloquent ways I usually use the term "inexpensive") (; so that it´s not a big deal.
I noticed that 10 % (9.6 %) of my contacts were missing. How strange.
So I clicked on the support chat and was greeted by a cranky agent in a bad mood. (You will see soon why I feel nothing but deepest understanding for the poor guy).
He knew what had happened and told me where to look. 1/10th of my contacts have not been imported, and the error code was "blacklist".
The understandably cranky and unhappy support agent then explained to me that all of these people, 10 % of my list, have asked GetResponse to be put on their blacklist.
Meaning that they can never again be added to a GetResponse list. Even if they have already signed up to your newsletter.
Imagine you buy a car and after you signed they tell you that you are not allowed on every 10th road in the country.
Naturally, I told the agent I would have to cancel. Like .... was I supposed to ignore 1/10th of the people who want to hear from me? Miss out on every 10th opportunity?
The response of the agent was: You do not get a refund.
I did not even ask for that, but I was starting to get the slightest bit aggravated. After all, I lost a day of my life.
I canceled. I was forwarded to a screen that said: You do not get a refund.
That was the moment when I decided I will totally get a refund. I am probably amongst the top 2 % of peaceful people in the world. ... but if you really cross me the laws of the universe won't apply for 10 minutes.
Next thing I found an email in my spam!!! folder from Getresponse. It was in the tone of a clown on acid. Like: Hahahahahahaha you left. You will be back because we are so great. We will continue to send you great offers.
Calmly I wrote back: Do not send me any offers.
Fake GetResponse reviews
Now, there is nothing wrong at all to make a commission from recommendations. I do that too. GetResponse offers a generous affiliate plan.
My personal code of ethics is that I only recommend GOOD products. You might have noticed that I rarely write negative reviews. My time is too precious for that.
I did not have too much experience with autoresponders because for a small list below 1k I was happy with my old provider. Therefore, I depend on reviews of others to help me make an educated decision and NOT WASTE MY TIME! But my list has been growing and I needed a solution. Later it turned out that I just misunderstood something about my old provider.
Most of you who read this are probably new to the online marketing world. If not you are probably grinning right now... (shame on you (; ) I could not stand the thought that you would not be able to communicate with the people who want to hear from you... so I decided to share.
Once you know what to look for and google for "blacklist Getresponse" or "delivery quote Getresponse" you will find a few real reviews.
Conclusion
Unless you are a spammer (in which case get the hell of my blog), GetResponse is probably not the right solution for you.
It seems that the response they get most often is spam complaints.
I felt for a minute as if I had sent money via Western Union to claim a lottery win. An email service that cannot serve 10 % of your clients should not even be in business.
GetResponse is probably a terrific platform to market "get rich" schemes and such.
I found a provider now that will allow me to deliver valuable info to 100 % of my subscribers. Try it (;
Other totally useless way to spend a day I would have preferred:
UPDATE 12/3: Getresponse did issue a refund, they tweeted to me and they left a message on my VM. That does not change my opinion but influences my willingness to believe that they will make amendments.
UPDATE 12/06
They sent me another email. It´s nearly impossible to read it. See below one random normal email, and in original size the mail from GetResponse:
UPDATE 12/14
I felt a bit sorry for my harsh review and considered changing it. It gets a lot of views and I just meant to share my experience - not to be mean or cost anyone business. But then I looked at the mailbox I used to sign up on GetResponse and they have totally spammed me. They sent one email daily. Are you kidding me?
