More Complaints Against Wedding Wire Despite New Owners

Posted on September 18, 2012 Written by 5 Comments

By Paul Pannone

An explosive story that began in December, 2011 continues to leave retailers helpless against a rating system  that does not accurately portray solid businesses that have an occasional bad day. In an ongoing investigation a growing number of businesses say that the promise of a new owner, the Catalyst Group, has not lived up to expectations.

According to rising complaints Wedding Wire has not improved performance for paying advertisers under new ownership.

 

An increasing number of sources reaching out to this newZ source claim that as paying advertisers they’re not getting the value or respect they deserve. Some told eWedNewz as summer wedding couples return from their honeymoons and get settled into their new life they’re going over their wedding day and coming up with reasons to trash their vendors.

Rebecca Smith of A Bride’s Best Friend in Florida complains how a single bad review drags down her score;

“It’s bringing my score down to a 4.9 and I can’t argue or take it down,” she said on Twitter.

Under Wedding Wire’s rating system a perfect score gets shattered forever once a vendor receives less than a perfect score. That’s what set off a war between Wedding Wire and Samantha Goldberg in 2011 that brought the flaws to national attention. Wedding Wire eventually dismissed Goldberg but in an interview this week the fight is far from over, according to the feisty Celebrity event planner.

“I’m gathering more information and statements from unhappy vendors and will have much more to say in the very near future,” according to Goldberg.

Goldberg is getting help from other wedding planners in her fight including Bitchless Bride. The fuschia-wigged, potty-mouthed morph of Lady GaGa talked to eWedNewz recently and gives reasons why the wedding business must rid itself of these types of safe harbors for bitching brides if it wants to heal itself. Bitchless told eWedNewz she has a bead on scams and scam artists that take people’s money and give all vendors and wedding experts a bad name.

“I love that lady; she says what all of us think and would love to say. For people like me that really want to help the bride I hope that I can always communicate and reason with them. With websites like Wedding Wire it’s a rip-cord and incentive not to and just another way for brides to go and rant and really hurt a vendor’s reputation in a momentary fit of rage,” says Rebecca Smith.

 An ongoing poll shows and even split of how wedding websites will become in the future. What do you think?

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2012

Filed Under: Anti Fairy Dust, General News, Ongoing Story Coverage, Ongoing Story Investigation, Social Media, The Internet, Top Stories for the Year, wedding industry, Wedding planners, wedding websites, Wedding Wire Tagged: , , , , ,
  • Patkelly11

    My bridal store of 38 years has never asked to be on WW and we are listed and our score is terrible.  Where are our great reviews? When asked to be taken off, WW says that the bad reviews will stay on the web if the store is taken off the site, but if we pay then we can manage the bad reviews with WW.  Clear extortion.  Most wedding pros can’t afford an attorney to get both off  WW and make sure your bad reviews are off the web as well.  As a result, we just ignore WW and service our brides the way we know how and sales are up from last year.  Class action lawsuit?  We would be interested…..

  • SassiSammi

    The problem with hiring on a partner, even though the color seems green, sales internally needed and still need training blah blah blah…Catalyst cannot fix this issue..Nor can Sonny Gangreen the Minister or anyone else who wants a “Piece” of the action at the expense of some poor vendor that wants to do right…Make it happen and has to deal with this MISHAGAS….Did you see what happened to Anita Brady and her attempt to save “Get Married” which years ago actually gave other portals a run for their money…Someone became awwww to comfortable off the funds so “not politically correctly taken”…Sold the lemon to someone who was not going to save the sinking ship.

    If anyone really knew my background, I would have taken the “tainted” version of Get Married to another level and then some…You need people that are passionate to sell a passionate industry. W/O it, your screwed. That is applicable to ANYONE in our $$80 billion world (close to it). Most that get into the business of sites or portals esp in the event business, need to have the right players to make it happen after your first victory. Where are the right players? Not with those who have what we or they need…

    No-one took on The Knot for a while…Why? Take a guess? It was a working tool for the masses..Things changed in 2008 we changed and many industry leaders had no plan…It’s much like the professional beauty and fashion world which is where I came from…You cannot cut hair and manage 50 stylists…NOT PRODUCTIVE AT ALL….So are you the leader of the tribe or are you going to copy off someone else and pray it works? It saddens me to see that a 4.6 or a 4.9 means anything…Did you know that I have 900 pages of brides complaining that a perfect vendor is a red flag..

    So why did I complain? It was the principal I had valid proof this particular client was not truthful when would I ever leave a client with 90% of her wedding not done oh and 3 weeks before her big day? It was also to share that WW has more unpaid than paid customes..all same items and a system that supports those with money hmmm…?

    What kinda crapola is that? Maybe if they did properly moderate etc maybe a nonpaying customer with a valid complaint might be soooo happy with such an immediate action to investigate an issue which may not be valid at all…And that she/he become a customer? A PAYING customer!!!

    Hmmmmm…simple Cust-Serv x Client= Sale!!!

     I have worked over 2000 weddings and not including business events for 23 years…I have no idea how many honestly all I care about is for those to stay ethical…If WW is going to allow for those scam artists to take advantage of what our customer needs…They won’t pay attention or remove my bad score…eventhough there is nothing that stays consistent with this..No one wants bad feedback…Esp in our world..Why? We’re PASSIONATE PEOPLE WITH A PASSIONATE goal…

    How many passionate people actually make it??? Who works smarter not harder..? 10% if we are lucky..Fact or Fiction? FACT.

    Our industry has 90% dabblers..If this doesn’t work, they try something else..In fact, we have specific people who have more “jobs” in a month than Sybil and her 17 personalities…Yet, no one says anything???? Have you ever wondered why most don’t make it? Prob not, as most don’t care.
    Why? Well it starts with the service provider and then their means to get their name out there…and all it takes is something like WW to blow that in areas that leave providers- Not the brides…They ARE the customer…Without us Without them? Where will you be in 2013?

    And the service prviders start with PASSION..and they end due to….

    1. Not properly trained
    2. Not properly supported by similar peers or leaders in any sense that doesn’t have a $$ on it. Forget where you came from??? I have not.
    3. Not passionate for the long haul
    4. Not innovative based on where we are now.
    5. NO proper education
    6. No guidelines or programs to ensure we are all on the same page…
    7. Too many of those who sell how they made it, your never going to make it this way people- we are all different….And if you continue to use the word “Competition” you have already started the sinking boat…Be the Captain….WW is not the leader I don’t have all day to waste whats wrong..The US is doing a great job with expressing this MUCH more now than ever before…Don’t put blame on just one person for blowing the whistle…I say what others want to..and don’t…Am I wrong? No.

    The last and not final reason it’s the one I dread the most…and after speaking with some industry leaders today, I heard for the first time,  they said “My Job”…. We have a career…a career lasts and a job is just a really lifeless activity that pays for food on the table..
    What was missing? Passion…It’s gone for so many…I am sad.

    Worst part- How on earth for those who aspire, will they make it happen…w/o these VERY IMPORTANT needed skills and options?

    Catalyst you want to fix this? Call me…I am not expensive when it comes to helping what I am passionate about…

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