Nicole D Paolino's profile
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Reviews
Review about DAS - Designer Apparel Services, Vancouver
2 years ago
Steer clear! I had an awful experience with them. Check d.a.s. out on the Better Business Bureau, and there you can read about her demo of true dark colours. I approached the owner to partner on an e-commerce initiative to beta test Meta's new mobile-only Shops Ai for ads which was to open up in Canada. I have a top rated Meta-approved marketing agency successfully coaching our E-commerce Facebook group of 18000 members. I had offered to volunteer my time and labour (creative development, funnel architecture, and facilitating ad placement ) in exchange for exposure in Meta's published e-commerce case study which would be visible worldwide. A huge win-win involved that could have brought enormous visibility for d.a.s. & my brand. They would be an ideal fit as Cyndy claimed that their e-commerce site had run successfully during the summer on Facebook, sold over $6000 a month for a few months of her fashion masks in Canada and USA, but all of a sudden Facebook halted the system. She claimed they did not know why. She loved our offer as it was ideal timing to sell out her surplass of stock. Presenting her with the contract clearly stated the scope and the required technology, and that I am not responsible for any delays caused by Meta platform technology. The owner had to pay for the ad placement, the rental of the required technology, and the full funnel campaign's ad placement cost including Meta Ai audience modeling for ad targeting. The owner paid a tiny deposit of $600 but failed to pay the final invoice. Less than 10% of industry standard. During the setup, we found many unforseen hurdles with their sloppy commerce operation and within the Meta platform, including learning that d.a.s. had a non-Meta-approved website that failed eligibility. They also historically violated Meta's ad terms, conditions, and ad policies and are permanently banned from performing any further ad placement in the Meta suite of ad products. To salvage my goal of obtaining a Meta case study press opportunity, the only other option was to develop another pop-up brand, a Meta-approved mobile commerce website to perform the transactions. We used Shopify and its plain theme is the best option for avoiding any extra ad costs from failed click-throughs caused by slow loading theme which causes bounces, as it is the fastest loading theme available for mobile. I also donated the use of my Meta business and ad account as a vehicle to host her transactions so she can sell her handcrafted fashion masks with transactions all paid directly into her bank account. We also had to build out 2 social media profiles. A different Facebook page loaded with required posts and over 150 followers, and an Instagram business profile to be approved by Meta with 2 shop FB & IG profiles. It was an unexpected and very-very time-consuming process performed at no extra charge. As the system was in beta, the technology release date for Canada was stated as 'coming soon this winter.' In a matter of a few weeks, the founder demonstrated extremely unreasonable, and hysterical behaviour demanding that the ads should be live on Black Friday (by far the most expensive day for ads ) and blaming me for being too slow while the Meta Shops Ai technology was not available or running live yet in Canada! To enable approval for participation, we experienced countless connectivity hurdles. Her website was not eligable to sell on Facebook, her Facebook ad and commerce accounts were permanently banned, and the website's product data was not prepared correctly, which is crucial for the functioning of any e-commerce business. I requested that they prepare the product data on a preformatted spread sheet. She was furious and blamed me for requiring her team to prepare their inventory data, which had been sent to me countless times incorrectly. I had invested +30 hours to remedy.
She also raged when she learned there is a 100% the return policy, which is mandatory for ethical reasons. We tested, eventually achieved all systems go and were ready for weeks before the day the Meta Shops technology opened up in Canada which was the 24 Jan. when we captured our first sale. This brings on another baffling scene. The owner refused to complete the transaction, claiming she would not use PayPal and refusing to accept their microfees when it was clearly defined as required fintech in her signed contract proposal. In addition, she insulted the design of the Shopify site on desktop computers, demanding a complete redesign of the site to be included. This project is a MOBILE ONLY AD campaign to uniquely convert sales with mobile phones or tablets. Nothing more. It is certainly not an extortion festival for her to exploit and demand us to remedy her lies with current, unfit technology. On mobile, the site design appears only one way. The same design used by revered e-commerce sites such as Herschel Supply. This Facebook ad campaign is not visible on computers, is not accessible by computers, and is not available for computer sales. Furthermore, the thought of an ad agency being required to balance their spreadsheets with their inventory data is absolutely unreasonable. That itself was proof of her lying of any previous success with e-commerce sales on Facebook or Google as it is not possible without it. She completely lied to me. While I donated the retail space, the technology build, the PR & Ad creative, her demands were bazaar, unreasonable. Stating that I am in debt to her for asking her to provide correct inventory product data. Her gaslighting was on full fire as she refused to acknowledge that this is a partner project and tried to extort me by saying only willing to pay invoice if I give her ownership of my Advertising Agency Meta account and custom designed website for desktop all outside the scope of the project, which was beta testing the new 'Ai mobile only' ad campaign to sellout her masks for a Meta case study. According to customer reviews, they were poorly sewn, puckered, and had misaligned pattern seams, making them ill-fitting junk. They lacked product market fit for any e-commerce store, as the merchandise would not fit most buyers and returned. She knew her products were poor, and once the return policy was mandated, her favour for this partnership changed. She said that I created good ads but she refused to pay for the running of custom audience-setting ads and artificial intelligence Ai programming for targeting required for running an effective campaign. I was open to negotiations, but she refused to entertain any money owed beyond the deposit of $600 unless, through extortion: I transferred my agency ad account + a new website. Now over-invested 1000 hours of great work while she claimed that I owed her money for ads. Sadly - We share mutual friends. She went on a mission to shame me, a smear campaign, and elaborated on others with false stories to elevate her position. Above the defamation, she had lied about everything and taken from me this extremely invaluable branding opportunity in a Meta Agency Marketing publication when I could have partnered with a business of substance.