The Knot Wedding Planner Advertising Fraud Exposed

Wedding site The Knot was featured in People, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and others. Yesterday The Knot was featured in the New York Post, but the news wasn’t good. The Knot was accused of fraud and strongly suggested...

Jul 20, 2023 - 21:04

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The Knot Wedding Planner Advertising Fraud Exposed

Wedding site The Knot was featured in People, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and others.

Yesterday The Knot was featured in the New York Post, but the news wasn’t good. The Knot was accused of fraud and strongly suggested for potential advertisers not use them.

A recent report in the New York Post said The Knot Wedding site swindles advertisers and fosters a Culture of fear.

Find a couple is a key message on The Knot website to attract advertisers.

Knotplanner.travel was a partner publication by eTurboNews. On January 31, 2007, The Knot filed a lawsuit against eTurboNews for Trademark violation. The company intended to bury eTurboNews with legal fees, so the knotplanner.travel publication stopped operating.

When checking the Better Business Bureau, Knot Worldwide is a US-based company and not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. It has a B rating, a 3.16-star rating, and 80 complaints in the last 12 months.

The BBB lists 9 reviews in 2023. The Knot has one Five Star and 8 One star ratings.

The 5-star rating on The Knot was just posted last week and says:

I have been catering both in Pittsburgh and now in Jacksonville Florida where I am one of the busiest wedding caterers and number one at five of the top venues, thanks in part to Wedding Wire. It is by far the best marketing tool I have had in years. I would definitely recommend it to any catering company, especially to those trying to grow their business faster. Fred D****

The 8 One star Ratings posted in 2023 are painting an alarming picture on The Knot.

Kurt F:

I confirm what everyone else is saying about WeddingWire / Knot being a scam and providing fake leads.

How do I know this? Anyone that has contacted me has never replied to my messages and when I told WeddingWire I never get a response, magically some more leads would come in after but they were fake as well.

Additionally, I track website referral traffic to see if I get traffic that converts to a paying customer. You guessed it, nothing. This whole company is a scam and should be shut down by authorities. When I try to cancel the agreement, they fight tooth and nail to keep stealing my money.

They say they do not guarantee leads or bookings and therefore it’s ok to pay WW the privilege to be on their website with no return on investment and sending you fake leads. During the sales process, they’ll talk about all the traffic you’ll get and show other customers that have high conversion rates. I started in December and was told December – February is the highest activity on their website. What did I get with the highest activity?

Fake leads and no response from any customer inquiries. You pay $400+ a month for this. I pay half that on social media a month and get 7+ REAL leads per day that CONVERT because people love the business and past customers and planners recommend my business. This is a scam with fake leads that charge hard-working, small businesses with small margins. It’s disgusting and shameful. The authorities need to shut down WW/Knot.

Christina D

I spoke to the salesperson Dawn. I was told I could expect to receive up to 70-80 leads per month. As that isn’t happening (by 5 months in I received mostly spam or fishing emails. Totaling 8 leads to that moment), the account manager Chrissy was “providing tips” to get more leads.

She then mentioned “7-8 leads per year” which shocked me. I had written notes of what was “sold” to me of what I was agreeing to be paying for. I’m continually told “I am in a year-long contract” and zero resolution to date.

I dealt with another account manager Hannah. She too, told me there is nothing she could do, as I was in a contract.

The funny thing… I stopped payment until I have a resolution. I was called by the account payables person, who then told me

“I was not guaranteed leads or bookings and that I was paying for advertising” Which is completely false.

Their entire business model is “a lead-generating website” Now, I have three people, telling me three different things. I stopped payment through my financial institution and have contacted the BBB. This type of company deserves to have its doors closed as they prey on small independent owners.