Dear ePerks:
Moments ago I received yet another email from you asking me to sign up for your service. I’ve received similar emails, oh I don’t know, at least a couple of dozen times.
I have repeatedly asked you to stop spamming me. I even asked nicely the first ten or twelve times. Yes, I have dutifully clicked on your “unsubscribe” link, apparently to no avail.
Here’s the deal…
You could pay me a fee and I’d tell you to take a flying leap. I won’t use your service. Ever.
I don’t know how to make that any clearer.
You see, I am a real estate blogger. I have seen how the CEO of your company, Ben Behrouzi treats bloggers. Why in the world would I want to be associated with a company that stomps all over people, relies on threats and intimidation, files ridiculous lawsuits, and markets their services chiefly via spamming techniques?
I don’t know what it’s going to take to really be removed from your mailing list. Your repeated unrequested and unwelcome solicitations for my business are in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.
Asking politely doesn’t work. Your so-called unsubscribe link doesn’t work. Emailing you directly doesn’t work. Next I’ll see if filing complaints with the FTC will do any good. I see they can fine you $11,000 a pop. Your two-bit lawyer could generate a lot of threatening cease & desist letters with that 11 grand.
For the love all all things decent, it seems like it would be easier for all of us if you just removed me from your damn mailing lists. You’re wasting my time, and your time.
Regards,
Jay Thompson
Designated Broker, Thompson’s Realty
For those reading this, if you are not aware of what Ben Behrouzi, CEO of ePerks, is doing to blogger Vlad Zablotskyy, you should read through some of the posts on BrokerScience.com as well as Vlad’s blog.
Here are a few:
Seminal post on BrokerScience: ePerks.com: A Case Study in Greed and Self-Imposed Brand Destruction
More by Trace Richardson on BrokerScience:
Son of ePerks: iHype.com
ePerks IP Address Link to Vlad Zablotzkyy: When the Hunter Becomes the Prey
ePerks CEO Ben Behrouzi Insinuates Legal Action Against BrokerScience, Cites “Damages”
Ben Behrouzi Updates Company “Values” and “Culture” Web Pages. Only One Problem: They’re Stolen.
Others Opine:
Greg Swann spools up the Vlad Zablotskyy Defense Fund
Russell Shaw, as only Russell Shaw can do.
Big name “A-List” bloggers join in: Andy Beard, Aaron Wall
Should you be so inclined (though who knows why you would), here is the spam from ePerks, and my response (links redacted)
From: jay@thompsonsrealty.com
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:37:28 -0600
To: jayson.leite@eperks.com
Subject: Re: OUT OF STATE REFERRALS
Jayson -
I have zero desire to be associated with ePerks. I’m a real estate
blogger and I see how your CEO, Ben Behrouzi, treats bloggers.
I have unsubscribed from your mailing list numerous times, yet I
continue to be spammed, in direct violation of the CAN-SPAM act
(http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm).
Please for once and for all, remove me from your mailing lists.
Regards,
Jay
Jay Thompson
Designated Broker
Thompson’s Realty
cell: 480-235-4447
email: jay@thompsonsrealty.com
web: http://www.ThompsonsRealty.com
blog: http://www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
—–Original message—–
From: “Jayson D. Leite” eperks@inbox.com
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:54:03 -0600
To: jay@thompsonsrealty.com
Subject: OUT OF STATE REFERRALS
I need to establish a relationship with a reliable buyers agent that my broker can work with to close transactions for our clients and who are open to paying us a 19% referral fee after closing a transaction with the buyers.
This is not a lead generation program. I will not send you lists or ask you to cold call customers or charge you per-lead fees. Our clients come to you when they are prepared to buy or sell their home because they are using our program to get a significant amount of cash back from us when they close escrow with one of our partnered agents.
If you would like a detailed description of how our system works.Click Here to review our business model, pricing and guarantee. Then select the “Check Available Territories” button and use my “Referral ID” JL21 at any point to view available territories or give me a call to discuss your options and answer any questions you have.
Again Please Use My Referral ID: JL21
You can also Click here and view ourprime time TV commercial currently being seen on BBC America, CNN, Travel Channel, Fox News, Discovery Channel and more.
Kind Regards,
Jayson D. Leite
Direct: (510) 457-5380
ePerks Real Estate
6601 Owens Dr
Pleasanton, Ca 94588
Email: jayson.leite@eperks.com
** ePERKS Real Estate is in full compliance with State Real Estate Commission Regulations and Licensing, allowing the acceptance of referral fees in all 50 states.
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{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Andy Beard 06.10.08 at 3:09 pm
Hi Jay
I have actually been involved behind the scenes a little for some time, helping Vlad clean up some of the mess that “whoever” (yet to be proven) created to defame him.
Along those lines, it is extremely important if you can provide Vlad with the full header information of the emails your receive.
They are important clues and evidence.
Shailesh Ghimire 06.10.08 at 3:24 pm
Jay,
Yeah I’ve read about these guys. I guess they missed the common sense part of running a business: “Don’t piss people off”.
Jason Sandquist 06.10.08 at 3:43 pm
Hey Jay-
Way to take a stand. I haven’t received anything from eperks oh crap I mean ejerks, but I have from countless others. It seems like it is never ending with the opt-outs and they never work.
Ken in Chicago 06.10.08 at 4:36 pm
Nice to see so many people getting behind Vlad and standing up against this company. Sure it will be interesting to see how that all plays out.
Jay I would love to know if you hear anything back from the FTC. Have wondered if they actually do anything with the complaints or if it’s all bs.
Jay - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy 06.10.08 at 5:22 pm
@Andy - done! And thanks for lending your expertise to “the cause”.
@Shailesh - yup, seems like Business 101.
@Jason - usually I avoid unsubscribe buttons because many report all that does is verify the spammers have a valid email address. But I’m just sick of these things clogging up my in-box. I’ve gotten FOUR from eJerks alone TODAY.
@Ken - I doubt it will do any good. But it made me feel better. Maybe the FTC could slap a big ol fine on ePerks and funnel the money over to someone in the Dept of Energy who could do something about $4/gal gasoline….
Shannon 06.10.08 at 5:55 pm
Oh come on! You Just invested more time writing this post than it would take to deleat spam from any company for 10 years. I never heard of Eperks. Just hit the “add sender to blocked list” button and move on.
Jay - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy 06.10.08 at 6:14 pm
Shannon -
The majority of this post is copy/paste. It took less than 10 minutes to write.
Yes, I could have deleted the emails faster than that.
But that’s really neither here nor there.
It’s not so much about me getting spam as it is about what ePerks is doing to Vlad. If you are a blogger in any sense, or a fan of the Constitution, it should concern you.
Did you follow any of the links to see what they are trying to pull? If not, you might want to. It’s disturbing, and more people need to hear about it. I now know for a fact at least one person reading this has never heard of ePerks. I suspect there are more….
It’s also about how not to market, and how to alienate clients and potential clients — both valuable lessons (I think) for any agents or business people that happen to stop by.
We can all learn something from the study of human behavior. Regardless of if you are here as an agent, a “consumer” or just passing idle time absorbed in the scintillating writing, (I’m *kidding*) take a moment to reflect on what ePerks is doing to themselves. Surely we can all apply some of this to our own lives.
Personally, I find I can often learn as much, if not more from hearing about how not to act. This is a classic case of what not to do….
Charleston Real Estate Blog 06.10.08 at 6:55 pm
Jay, first of all, I now know how you can be all over the Internet when it only took you 10 minutes to write this post, it took me 20 minutes to make this comment. And that doesn’t include the time I spent reading Trace’s fabulous post about this scoundrel.
Second, is that “your” Jayson who is the author of the email.
And lastly, why is it that both real estate consumers and real estate agents fall prey to these scams. Don’t be a lead and don’t buy a lead.
Shannon 06.10.08 at 7:00 pm
Hey, good reply Jay,
Just a broker drifting by. I understand your point about how not to do business. I didn’t follow the links but I will. It is interesting watching companies that are used to living in a silo learn how to work in a flat world. And to be candid I think our industry has had as much trouble coming out of the silo as any.
Missy Caulk 06.10.08 at 7:07 pm
Jay, I just had your post picked up on my Google Alerts for the term I follow. ( one of them ) Real estate lead.
Keep up the good work…
Mark Ryan 06.10.08 at 7:17 pm
Jay,
Funny… I hope the FTC actually does something… I guess what you need to do is just ignore them??? I must have received about 2 a day for about 2 weeks and then they stopped?
Greg Swann 06.10.08 at 7:27 pm
Thanks for taking this on, Jay.
Paul in Las Vegas 06.10.08 at 7:55 pm
Jay,
Wow.. You bring up a good point on something. How many of us have gotten all of these e-mails? Seems like a lot of complaints could add up really fast…
OCRealEstateVoice 06.10.08 at 8:22 pm
I’ve not followed this story and I have to admit, I’m shocked. Disgusting the way some people are willing to operate a business. Distressing also, the way that technology can be used to slander someone in such an alarming way as apparently has happened with Vlad. Thanks for not just deleting it - I think it’s a part of a great professional network to notify one another of business practices like these!
Jay - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy 06.10.08 at 8:59 pm
@Howard - *completely* different “Jayson”.
@Shannon wrote - “And to be candid I think our industry has had as much trouble coming out of the silo as any.” I agree 100%
@Missy - Google works n mysterious ways
@Mark - I’ve been getting them off and on for months. I’m not holding my breath on the FTC…
@Paul - I’m betting a lot of people get them. Until the mess with Vlad, I just hit the delete key. Simply used it this time to help spread Vlad’s story.
@Greg - not a problem. And thank you!
@OC - it can take a long time to build a rep. Not so long to tear one down.
Austin Real Estate Blog 06.10.08 at 11:41 pm
So from broker science they were discussing the next venture from this guy at ihype. This is pretty funny
“Execution. Since iHype is a paid blog post platform, it would make sense that they eat their own dog food by implementing paid posts as part of their marketing and launch campaign. There is only one problem with the paid posts implemented by iHype to raise awareness about their company, the bloggers they have paid are are promoting Hype.com NOT iHype.com! That’s right, this post, this post, this post and this post are paid posts where the paid reviewers are reviewing the “Ihype.com” launch on June 2nd, but actually discuss the energy drink called “Hype” that is found at hype.com, ouch.”
Thats is pretty amusing.
Dave Mason 06.11.08 at 8:22 am
I don’t know why some corporations are so naive to the impact of bloggers. As a group we can impact the world. My hats off for reporting this. I have received similar offers from other companies and you can’t click out of their mailing list. I don’t get why this would be such a big deal. Just let me off your list. Additional bombardment of emails usually doesn’t change my mind to take a companies offer.
Southwest Suburbs Real Estate Blog 06.11.08 at 10:57 am
I don’t remember getting ePerks e-mails and I’m surprised as I get so much spam. Maybe it goes to my spam folder. Thanks for keeping this on the radar. I have also set up Google Alerts for this situation and I’m glad to see more people spreading the word about Vlad’s situation. I’ve donated to help his legal defense and hope other’s will, too. If I were in his situation I’d certainly appreciate all the help I could get.
Personal Bankruptcy Forms 06.11.08 at 8:25 pm
I hate how when you click on the unsubscribe link but it never works. You did the right thing, but it will do no good. Every marketer knows repetition is key, they need to ‘beg like a child’ before you will cave in and buy their goods. Thats why marketers for years to come will be sending repetitious emails and junk mail. Believe me, I don’t think it should be stopped, but I do think it should be regulated. One soliciting email or letter per person per month maximum.
Summit NJ Real Estate 06.12.08 at 7:09 am
I’ve been following this thru Bloodhound, activerain, etc. I think its importatn to do what we can to stand behind Vlad. Its really outrageous and could be anyone of us. Good post Jay.
Jayson 06.12.08 at 12:05 pm
Geez - I’m not sure how these guys are still in business. Maybe it’s the blogs I read but I’ve read at least 10 posts (from well known bloggers) about these characters and their many flaws. From what I’ve read, all of the posts are well warranted and if nothing else, it’s always entertaining.
Hopefully all goes well for Vlad
Rick Belben 06.12.08 at 6:31 pm
I wish I only got the e-mails but I get the phone calls too!. Does not matter how many times you tell them you are not interested they still call back.
Maureen Francis 06.13.08 at 3:56 pm
I couldnt count how many times I unsubscribed to ePerks. But with their treatment of Vlad they’ve earned their new name: eJerks.
Mitchell 06.18.08 at 5:50 am
If VLAD wants to end this just send the attorneys this link. - Look at the areas I boxed in Red.
http://www.interiorliving.com/eperks.jpg
For those who need an explanation.
http://www.robotstxt.org/faq/prevent.html
How do I prevent robots scanning my site?
The quick way to prevent robots visiting your site is put these two lines into the /robots.txt file on your server
I would estimate they did this around October/November and didnt change it.
Now ejerks go fire your webmaster and stop the stupid lawsuit its your webmasters fault not anyone elses.
Mitchell
InteriorLiving.Com
Mitchell 06.18.08 at 8:23 am
I agree the suit is about negative blog comments.
However if ePerks tries to say their website and traffic was greatly diminished by the blog I would beg to differ because the robots.txt entry is doing more damage to their website than any negative post on a blog would.
Makes you wonder if ePerks did the robots.txt file on purpose or if its out of incompetence on the webmasters behalf.
If VLAD wants to end this just send the attorneys this link. - Look at the areas I boxed in Red.
http://www.interiorliving.com/eperks.jpg
For those who need an explanation.
http://www.robotstxt.org/faq/prevent.html
How do I prevent robots scanning my site?
The quick way to prevent robots visiting your site is put these two lines into the /robots.txt file on your server
I would estimate they did this around October/November and didnt change it.
ejerks should fire their webmaster and stop the stupid lawsuit. The robots.txt is doing much more damage to their site than any blog posting saying something negative.
Elyce 07.11.08 at 9:37 am
Yo MORONS! Its just a fricking email…DELETE THEM! Who cares, there are more important things in the world then idiots that cant deal with spam!!! Obviously you cant sell any homes because you are too busy with this crap…now thats who I want as my real estate agent!!
WINNERS:)
Jay - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy 07.11.08 at 9:55 am
Elyce -
Did you bother read the post before calling me and the commenters here MORONS and idiots? It’s not “just a fricking email”. It’s about far more than dealing with spam. ePerks is suing someone on asinine, trumped up charges.
Spam I can deal with. Companies suing individuals for something as ridiculous as this, not so much.
Ken in Chicago 07.11.08 at 1:12 pm
Jay why bother reading when you can just call names with complete anonymity.
Elyce 07.11.08 at 1:33 pm
jay dont bother talking to me if you are going to make false statements. eperks
is not suing someone on “trumpt” up charges (you sound like a rapper not a real
estate agent). trumpt up charges when the charge is made up. eperks is suing him
for damages that his blogs caused, that realy happend NOW is it right, NO, is it
ethical being he is a blogger NO but dont say the charges are trumpt up!
Jay - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy 07.11.08 at 2:13 pm
Elyce - with all due respect, when you come on to my blog and call me and the people that comment here “morons” and “idiots” you’re really not in much of a position to say “don’t bother talking to me”.
I’m fully aware of the definition of “trumped up charges”. In my opinion, that’s exactly what Behrouzi and ePerks are doing. I think their case is ridiculous and Behrouzi and his lawyers are delusional. I guess the courts will ultimately decide. The court of public opinion has pretty much already reached their verdict.
If you don’t like my opinion, or what I have to say, the solution is simple — don’t read it.
Elyce 07.11.08 at 2:28 pm
I have had my laugh for the day, thank you very much:):)
Jay - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy 07.11.08 at 3:02 pm
Ditto. Glad you enjoyed yourself. Although it’s probably just coincidence, what really struck me as funny is your IP address originates from the East Bay area, which just happens to be the home of ePerks and Brabus Ventures, ePerks parent company.
No way to know for sure, nor do I really care. I just find it remarkable that virtually all the “support” shown for ePerks across the net always seems to originate from either the East Bay, or far far off-shore.
Elyce 07.15.08 at 10:29 am
Or maybe its just the smart intelligent ones originate from the East Bay…just a thought:) The ones that actually make money by doing their job…you should take some notes.
Linsey Planeta 07.15.08 at 10:44 am
I’m not sure this person should garner any more of our valuable time and attention….