a listing that you never authorized in the first place?



Before I explain, let me say upfront that I'm speaking for myself, not TER.

CityVibe has been pulling this BS for awhile now. They start by giving providers a page on their website (without asking the provider's permission). Before you say, "Oh isn't that nice. CityVibe is giving me a FREE AD!" you need to understand why CV is giving you the ad. The way I understand it, TER has an arrangement with Cityvibe so that, if a provider/agency has an ad on Cityvibe, TER will replace the provider's website link in her TER profile with the link to her CityVibe ad. So what did Cityvibe do, they started creating unauthorized ads for providers on their website. Once these unauthorized ads are in place, Cityvibe then reports the link to the unauthorized ad to TER and TER removes the link to the provider's website in her TER profile and replaces it with the link to the Cityvibe ad. As long as a provider has an ad on Cityvibe (whether or not she authorized the ad) TER will not change the link in her profile back to her website.

This reminds me of the "slamming" marketing technique that phone companies have used to hijack your business. Except in that case, at least you got a small check from the phone company. What Cityvibe is doing here is inexcusable! You never asked for the ad and now they're demanding payment.

IMHO, you’re crazy if you renew these ads. My suggestion is to call Cityvibe's bluff. Tell them you never wanted the ad in the first place. If Cityvibe pulls your ad, (I don't think they will) you can then link your website to your TER profile, the way you wanted it in the first place.

thirsty