9/20/08

Boomertowne.com = Ghost Town?

ghost town
A while back the Monetizer gave a review of the fun-filled website known as Boomertowne.com. It was a website aimed at the Boomer generations where games could be played, chats could be had, recipes and jokes could be shared and prizes could be scored. The site rewarded members as they racked up point totals, by sending out gift cards and other prizes like iPods, video game systems and more. It now appears that Boomertowne has become a virtual Ghost town...

In recent times, members of the site began to complain about the fact that gift cards were not arriving within 2 months as Boomertowne had promised. The Monetizer received 2 gift cards during the time of membership; a $75 Visa gift card and a $25 Target gift card. Both worked fine online and elsewhere for their total amounts. However, the fact remains that Boomertowne was not addressing the concerns of members asking "Where the heck are our gift cards??!" Complaint after complain had been logged, with some members going as far as writing to the Better Business Bureau. No responses, and now a visit to the site produces the mysterious "error, site not found message". Boomertowne has seemingly vanished.

**UPDATE: The following info about Boomertowne was obtained from comparerewards.com:

Update, 9/20: The BoomerTowne.com website is now down. The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions shows Concierge Web LLC is still a valid corporation, so they haven't filed for bankruptcy (or if they have, WI hasn't updated their records to reflect it). The timing of this, just two days after their PR firm disavowed any knowledge of the company's owner's whereabouts, certainly sounds final. Feel free to submit your claims to the Better Business Bureau here - Concierge Web LLC is incorporated in Wisconsin but is listed with the BBB as www.Boomertowne.com, with this address: 100 North Corporate Dr Suite 170, Brookfield, WI 53045


I won't be too quick to judge as CashCrate.com was down for several days as well. But BT may be just another example of how not to conduct your online business. Customer service is key whether you own a sales site, social media, or even a blog. Boomertowne needs to start issuing statements, to prove themselves a worthy company. After all, the people who make the biggest "impressions" for your site are the ones you need to keep satisfied most.

On that note, the Monetizer previously mentioned Ximmy not paying up as well. About 2-3 weeks ago, The Monetizer sent a personally typed letter to Ximmy headquarters in California, but have yet to receive a response. The next step will most likely be informing Better Business Bureau in CA. It's unfortunate, but now we see two shining examples of poor online customer service. If your company runs a website with a large number of members or subscribers, you simply can't ignore those people. Shame on both sites for not delivering as promised.

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