Bait and switch

First, let me start by apologizing for the misunderstanding.

I wrote the email to introduce our community to RafflePress, and I wanted to offer WPBeginner readers a better deal than anyone else was getting.

This is why I decided to do a 25% off coupon instead of the 20% off deal that RafflePress was running on the website.

During the launch, we already have the lowest prices including an unlimited lifetime deal. That’s why I used the word “additional” because you would get 25% off additional to the already lower priced ultimate lifetime deal which we run as a launch special to reward our new users.

But no we do not allow coupon stacking, and no other company in our space does either.

I apologize for any confusion, and I ask that you please give our plugin a try to update your review so it reflects the quality of the product ??

Syed,
If that is who I am truly speaking with…..I understand that you may not offer coupon stacking, that is your prerogative. I would also state that it is not relative to our discussion and this topic whether or not other companies in this space allow such things. What matters is your email explicitly states an “additional” discount with absolutely NO REFERENCE to anything that you mentioned above with regards to the generous deal you are offering. I have pasted all the copy from the email I received below for those to see for themselves.

After landing on your pricing page, from your email, I found your plans showing they were being discounted. Specifically the “Ultimate” plan shows as being discounted from 349 to 279.20 as if you are running a special NOT that you are applying a coupon. Nothing stated on that page, at the time I reviewed it, that there was a coupon being applied. I attempted to move forward with the process, clicked your “Get Started” button, and was redirected to the checkout page with the 20% discounted price as was shown on the pricing page The checkout page DID NOT identify AT ALL that a coupon had been applied. I was unable to find a “Coupon Code” field to apply the “additional 25% off” coupon which prompted me to reach out to your support team. That is when I was informed your launch discount was actually a coupon and to apply the “additional” coupon I would have to click the green “x” next to the word “Discount” which removes the discounted price you showed on your pricing chart. I asked your support team what the 25% off was “in addition to” and was told “It’s an additional 25% off the regular price.” Please tell me, with a straight face, that “25% off the regular price” is an “additional” savings.

To a would be rafflepress user, if you are reading this and are considering using the free version of the plugin, by all means, I would recommend doing so BUT I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND giving money to companies that attempt to lure you in with “bait & switch” marketing tactics like wpbegginer. It is difficult for me to believe that Syed Balkhi the “award-winning young entrepreneur with strong 8-figure online businesses” and “recognized as the top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by the United Nations“, as per his own website, is not aware of what he is doing. I find it hard to believe that someone could be capable of creating a 10 – 99 million dollar per year business but be unaware what effects the chosen marketing terminology would yield.

I’m sure a few folks shrugged their shoulders and still paid. I just couldn’t be one of them once your support team let me in on to what was happening.

To respond to your request that I use the plugin; that’s gonna be a firm no from me, dawg. Also, your apology should be to your community, not to me.

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For the lazy….
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Bait & Switch a business will advertise prices or rates which are exceptionally low in order to garner attention and motivate customers to inquire. Once the unsuspecting customers arrive at the business, the salesman or business owner will inform customers that the advertised price is no longer available, or that the customers do not meet the requirements to qualify for the advertised price. The salesman or owner will then attempt to sell the customers a product or service which is more expensive as a substitute for the advertised product or service.
source: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/09/bait-and-switch.asp

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The marketing email of which I received:
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Hey there,

Today, I’m extremely proud to introduce you to our newest plugin, RafflePress, a WordPress giveaway plugin that’s both easy and powerful.

Every smart marketer knows that giveaways are an incredibly powerful hack to quickly increase your website traffic, grow your social media following, and get more email subscribers.

I had my team build this plugin for the WPBeginner website, and I am excited share it with you.

Since I know a lot of our audience is non-profits, and small businesses who don’t necessarily have a budget to afford a premium plugin, RafflePress Lite is 100% free and has all the basic features that you will need.

For those who want all the features that RafflePress has to offer such as viral sharing, email marketing integrations, giveaway landing page, social logins, and more, then you should check out RafflePress Pro version.

Use the coupon: wpbeginner25 to get an additional 25% off your purchase.

Bonus: We’re running our limited time launch special “The Ultimate Plan” that gets you grandfathered in for lifetime updates and support.

Our mission with RafflePress is to help small businesses jumpstart their online growth with a giveaway plugin that’s easy, powerful, and most importantly affordable for small business owners.

RafflePress has all the features you need without the high costs:

– Drag & Drop Giveaway Builder
– Viral Giveaway Templates
– Responsive Mobile Friendly Giveaway Widget
– 1-Click Entry + Fraud Protection
– Viral Sharing (Refer a Friend)
– Social Media Integrations
– Email Marketing & CRM Integrations
– Giveaway Landing Page
– Tracking and Reporting

The best part is that we’re just getting started. Tons of exciting new features are coming. As I look at the roadmap, I just can’t stop smiling.

Read the full announcement post for more details and the origin story ?

Please give RafflePress a try and let me know your feedback.

Cheers,

Syed Balkhi
Founder of WPBeginner

P.S. Don’t forget to take advantage of the Ultimate Lifetime plan. It gets you grandfathered into lifetime updates and support.

Can someone delete this nonsense?

Sorry to ruffle your feathers, @derenc but I stand by my review of the company.

I have no horse in this race, but I can say that I appreciate @clevadio’s point here @derenc. I don’t think it’s nonsense. He does have point. I think @smub could have written the copy a bit differently. But we’re all human. This doesn’t make me want to throw in the towel on this app though.