There is risk associated with…
There is risk associated with Frescodata.
The last week of December 2021 I contacted Frescodata seeking an email campaign to US Expats who are Medicare Beneficiaries. Anthony Mello-Head of Sales, Frescodata, stated that Frescodata was uniquely qualified to provide an email marketing campaign to age 65+ Americans located in foreign countries. The Expat Medicare Beneficiary Campaign required all email recipients to be age 65 or older. We agreed on Frescodata conducting the campaign to 10,000 Expats in Canada. 10,000 emails would be delivered to the same recipients 4 times representing 40,000 emails. Frescodata would provide activity reports showing delivery counts, opens, and clicks. Frescodata would also provide creative production support for the graphic design and copy of the emails being sent. The charge for this service was $2,750.
Medicare does not pay medical claim of Medicare Beneficiaries living overseas. Medicare Beneficiaries living in foreign countries are still required to continue paying Medicare Part B premiums regardless of the fact they don’t need and can’t use Medicare Part B in foreign countries. There are a few exceptions. The campaigned presented the opportunity to significantly reduce Expat Medicare Part B Premiums by enrolling in Medicare Advantage plans offering Medicare Part B Premium rebates. Expats eligible for the Part B Rebate opportunity during Medicare Open Enrollment 1/1/22 – 3/31/22, could potentially save up to $1,752 a year in reduced Part B premiums.
20,000 emails were sent to Expats in Canada. There were -0- form submissions seeking more information. Mark Peterson suggested the submission form was too long. I reduced the submission form to 10 questions. The remaining 20,000 emails were sent to Expats in Mexico. There were -0- form submissions. The Economic Law of Substitution states that people want to get the most value for what they pay for goods and services. This economic law is the basis of Walmart’s success. If you paid $100 for groceries at your supermarket then shopped at Walmart and paid $80 for the same groceries, there is a compelling incentive to continue shopping at Walmart. Medicare Part B cost comparison chart and table were included in the campaign still resulting on -0- form submissions. What could be the cause of this unexpected outcome? My theory is that Frescodata source data records did not include Date of Birth or Age data fields. Sample source data provided by Frescodata proved my theory to be correct.
Assuming 1% X 10,000 (100) clicked thru and completed the submission form my revenue opportunity was $57,500. I paid $2,750 for a service that delivered $-0- value.
Anthony Mello & Mark Peterson misrepresented that their data records included an age-related data field. They did not.
The fact that Frescodata doesn’t accept credit card payments was a “red flag”. I proceeded with the transaction after checking their status with Dun & Bradstreet. If I had paid with a credit card, I could have disputed the transaction and presented my documentation to CapitalOne. The documentation includes every relevant timestamped email with Frescodata from 12/29/21 – 3/1/22. I’m confident my dispute would have prevailed with CapitalOne.
I asked Anthony Mello, Head of Sales/Frescodata to refund my $2,750 by end of business EDT 2/28/22. He was informed that if the refund was not process within this timeframe this matter would be escalated to his Principal/CEO of Frescodata. $2,750 has not been refunded. My next step will be writing reviews about my experience with Frescodata starting with the Better Business Bureau.
