False promises, poor customer service.
In spring 2014, I approached Reckless with a desire to create a new version of the website for our business, a multi-million pound operation providing gas-pipe and meter connections to customers nationwide, one which has been operating for six years.
We contacted a few companies and were recommended to use Reckless by another larger agency, in Manchester city centre. From the outset, my sales enquiry was handled by their director, Mr Reckless. Very early on, I did think it would be ironic if they were to let me down in any way, given that their company name is Reckless. I ignored that inner voice, but how true it turned out to be.
At the sales-proposal stage, I was initially told such things as ‘had a quick scan through the docs you've sent and can see that the other company didn't put much time on the project! I'll pre-warn you that we'll be doing it properly and that means more time/budget.’ It was also confirmed before we received a firm price that ‘we'd estimate a budget of 10–12k to do the job properly’ and that they would ‘happily put a proposal together as I think this is a project that we can add real value to’.
Doing the job properly … sounds good, right?
On receiving their proposal, it was very convincing – there were some big names included in their client list, no doubt intended to impress. In the proposal, Reckless detailed such things as: ‘The current website is in need of a revamp and also needs re-focussing on lead generation.’ It went on to say 1Gas is looking to design and develop a website that echoes its values and expertise, but the current ‘quote form is quite long winded and intimidating, it needs addressing in order to improve data capture and lead generation’. All very reassuring words.
However, there was always a little bit of me that was nervous inside, and I could never explain that. Perhaps it was the familiar tone of some of the emails and the slight pressure applied to sign. For example, on requesting a meeting to discuss the proposal, their director said: ‘Let me know if you fancy a bite to eat, my treat so long as you bring the pen for your order form ;) ’ On negotiation over the price (over £10,000), I was advised that food was no longer on offer: ‘OK but the free Nando's is now off the cards!! Shall I send an order form over?’ It was subtle pressure, but it was there nonetheless, and it carried more sinister undertones, in my humble opinion – more interested in money than customer service perhaps?
Once we placed the order we were advised it should take a couple of months and a strict payment schedule was put in place, regardless of which stages of work had been completed. This is unusual for a Web-design company. Usually, you pay once certain milestones have been hit, but not at Reckless. On enquiring why we were paying so much money, having seen so little (I like to ensure a company can’t run off with my money), I was very clearly put in my place. ‘I had a catch up with accounts and Em earlier and they told me you felt a bit nervy regarding the payment that is due on your account. I fully understand that this is a large project for you and that you want to see progress etc but our payments are scheduled to avoid this situation and to keep projects pushed on, we really need you to stick to the agreed terms.’ Their tone changed once we were no longer a prospective customer that needed to be wooed by them, having received cash and a signed contract.
The website should have gone live in June 2014, after commissioning the project in early April 2014. It finally went live at the end of August 2014, nearly three months late. It was riddled with errors, bugs and content that simply didn’t work. From day one, enquiries have occasionally gone missing, something Reckless completely deny, and it was me who did most of the final bug-testing, not them – very sloppy indeed I think.
We subsequently asked them to build an API from our quote form (basically a back-door link from the website into our CRM (customer-relationship-management software) to pick up enquires when customers abandon the quote form). It cost us around £1,200 + VAT to do that. This was completed in March 2015. It worked for around six months but then kept breaking. Customers would fill out four pages of forms on our website, only to get a fatal error message. Very poor indeed.
Our CRM company, Infusionsoft, based in Arizona, USA (a very reputable company with hundreds of staff), advised me that this was 100% not their fault and blamed Reckless for incorrect coding, something Reckless refused to accept.
Infusionsoft’s senior technician advised me: ‘I don’t believe the steps to tokenize your Security API call have been followed correctly. We will be responding with the steps outlined so that you will have the chance to work through them throughout your day tomorrow. Nothing has been updated or changed in the API … If you are not following these steps then you’re doing it incorrectly.’
So then we were asked to pay another £700 by Reckless for something that was not the fault of 1Gas & Power Ltd. On querying why we were being asked to pay yet more money for something we had already paid Reckless for, their director advised me: ‘I don't appreciate the thinly veiled threat of a RAR review because we won't give you work for free, it's essentially blackmail Richard and will be treated as such. If we were in the wrong, we'd fix it for free, but we're not so I'm not happy to throw yet more money at something which isn't our fault.’
Charming! So when they asked me to leave feedback with a respected website industry body and I asked what they would make of us paying money for something that didn’t work, he then proceeded to accuse a customer of blackmail! I don’t think they understand the meaning of the word. In my dictionary blackmail is 'The action, treated as a criminal offence, of demanding money from someone in return for not revealing compromising information which one has about them’. At no point did I demand money from them, I simply queried what we had paid £1,200 for. A little defensive on their part I think.
Reckless’ final nail in the coffin, in terms of refusing to help, was advising: ‘We can't work with a client in this manner, it's toxic.’
In total, we have spent £15,340 with Reckless and been a customer of theirs for two years. All we have ever sought to obtain was we what we paid for – nothing more, nothing less.
In one mini-biography the Reckless director states: ‘My specialism is really in dealing with people and building relationships with both clients and staff. My team is always willing to go the extra mile when needed and my clients feel they can talk openly and honestly with me, this helps to ensure free and open communication which results in effective relationships and projects.’ If only!
I feel these are empty words. They seem to take your money but, if things break or don’t work, then their response seems to be: ‘Tough … go away.’
In my experience, in every difficulty there is an opportunity, and it is worth doing the right thing when no one is watching. Things have to go wrong to offer exceptional customer service. But Reckless have left us high and dry.
If I am completely honest, I feel their director is a bit of a bully and likes to throw his weight around. He certainly doesn’t understand the concept of the customer ‘being king, queen or right’. I am pretty disgusted with some of their behaviour. I believe Reckless have some good employees who know how to build websites (although they seem to have some gaps in their competency); in my opinion, the key problem with their business is the culture and attitude which filter down from the top. They seem to have a man in charge who, if he doesn’t like what he hears, including the truth, will resort to intimidation tactics.
Overall, they are not a very pleasant company to deal with at all and so, with regret, it is one that I cannot recommend using.
Regards,
Richard Hearne.
(1Gas & Power Ltd)