Approved Index

Approved Index used to be a genuine company but has resorted to selling fake leads. I was getting lots of leads that clearly were not genuine.

They are not generated from Google pay per click but very often from on line surveys or simply people who have agreed to claim they want a service when they don't . On one occasion I spoke with a lead who explained that he filled in a survey form and had no intention or desire to buy any service. He told me where he put his details into and it was clear his details were being misused and sold with no chance of ever being converted. I made a note of his details and will be putting this to trading standards.

Later I got another so called lead and when I checked found the business no longer existed. When I put this to my account manager I was told it was a mistake and they were just "testing". Some of the people they put in contact sound genuine but when I looked into this in more detail they turned out to be fake. I tried to talk to someone senior at the company and finally found someone who had left Approved Index.

He admitted that many of the leads are fake. Some are real but the majority are made up or generated from surveys.

This company is making a lot of money scamming people.

Contacted Approved Index Monday, they called, and confirmed we would get calls from Approved Companies on Wednesday. Low and behold, calls from Companies on Tuesday that came from leads to Approved Index where sales staff were pushy, unprofessional and discourteous.

No attempt made to ensure it was convenient with the calls, they just launched into their sales spiel. E-mail from Approved Index today (Wednesday) confirming the approved companies that will be in contact. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the two companies that called yesterday (Tuesday) were not the ones listed by Approved Index - hence they were not approved. Therefore, it would seem they tried to get in early and beat the opposition.

As the calls were in a number registered with the Telephone Preference Service, and they were not 'approved' to contact me, I will be reporting the companies accordingly.

However, the contact details were provided by Approved Index, and so the fault is essentially theirs. Clearly no regard for the public / their customers, and as such I would advise everyone - STEER CLEAR OF APPROVED INDEX...!

I have found working with this company a bad choice, you end up paying more than you get out.

No matter how many times you complain about there staff not qualifying leads,

they do nothing about it and ignore the fact you have proof. with fake leads

there is an Account Manager called Ashley and he is just fake and does not care as he is getting his bonus

Beware of the company, they give you good lead at start and then the quality

go's down hill and is becoming a typical pattern with this company.

Not enough clients and trying to fill demand and very

bad customer care,

We signed up for their service on their site (www.approvedindex.co.uk) giving all the details required as well as a credit card. The service they provide is a lead generation service, where you pay about £10 per qualified lead.

When we chased up the next day why we were not receiving any leads, we were told that we would not be accepted as a qualified supplier because we provided email lists (which is the service we signed up for) but not did the actual email broadcasting for our clients????.

We were also told that our card had been charged. I telephoned to obtain a refund and spoke with "Neil" who said they were a "large company" and had to do a lot of paperwork to process a refund (sic).

I am properly pissed.