Knot Again
In baseball, three strikes means you’re out.
In March of 2009, I published a post to this blog titled Why NOT TheKnot.com, in which I explained how poorly and unprofessionally I had been treated as an advertising vendor with their website (read the first two paragraphs of that article for the cliff notes). I then sent that article to both my sales representative, and The Knot main email, hoping that someone there would be concerned with a concept called “customer service”, and reach out to try and rectify the situation. I got no response.
Strike Two – About a year later, I got a call from a Knot employee, saying “I understand you used to advertise with The Knot, and I’d like to know if we can earn your business again”, to which I politely replied, “Let me send you something”. I forwarded her a link to the article I wrote. I never heard from her again.
This week I got yet another call from a Knot representative. He essentially introduced himself with the same “can we earn your business again” line, and went on to say that something like 80% of all brides register with The Knot. I’m not sure how they come up with that statistic, but regardless of it’s accuracy I can’t soon forget their utter disregard for me as a customer in the past. I joked with the man, who was very pleasant, and when I offered to send him a link that might better explain my position, he gave me his email address and said he would be happy to read it and see what he could do.
This was his response.
Craig,
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and concerns with me.
Whereas, I don’t fully agree with all your thoughts, it appears that there were some legitimate reasons for concern.
I’m sorry an amicable resolution could not be reached between you and The Knot.
Best of luck with your future endeavors.
Might I add this representative’s job title was listed as “Client Relations/Account Executive, The Knot Inc”.
So strike three. Three times I brought my case to the attention of someone at The Knot, with the first two being ignored completely and the last one apologizing (the first apology I’ve gotten from The Knot), yet taking no action. So much for client relations. As for which thoughts he didn’t agree with I have no idea.
It would seem that no representative at The Knot saw this as something to be escalated to a superior to be handled. Since The Knot has not replied to or denied any of my claims, I can only come to one conclusion… They just don’t care. They don’t want to earn my business nor provide any service of value (certainly not customer service), they just see me as a potential sale.
The Knot simply doesn’t care.
But their lack of concern isn’t limited to the vendors who spend money to advertise with them. Their indifference extends to the brides who frequent their website, read their magazine, and trust them as a reliable resource. In April of 2009, I published another article titled Untying The Knot, in which I discovered The Knot not just featuring, but endorsing vendors and services that were less than scrupulous.
As I said before, The Knot is not in the business of helping brides find reputable services or helping wedding vendors get more business. The Knot is in the business of making lots of money, and selling an infinite amount of overpriced advertising which becomes more and more diluted by the day. The representatives statement that 80% of brides sign up for The Knot – although highly unlikely and impossible to prove – means very little. Yes the site [currently] garners more traffic than other wedding websites, that doesn’t mean they ever go back. Of the brides we have spoken with, roughly half of them claim to have ever gone to the site, with the other cannot remember if they actually signed up, but say they did not use it as a primary resource for any of their wedding services.
So vendors, don’t be dazzled by their statistical propaganda, and brides, remember that the trusted Knot will endorse any company, regardless of their reputation. Do your own research, it’s all out there on the internet.
As always, I invite any one of The Knot’s management or higher-ups to respond.
Craig Sumsky
Cutting Edge Entertainment
About Post Author
I ditched the knot several years ago for the same type of unscrupulous behavior and poor customer service. In addition, their advertising fees are astronomical and while I did get hits to my website from Knot brides, they seldom turned into bookings.
Quite honestly, I don’t know of one vendor who speaks well of the knot.
I agree completely with the article itself, and with your comment, Maureen. We advertised with The Knot for several years. We received very poor quality leads, and even worse customer service. The Knot was a terrible move for the business. Leaving was one of our best decisions.
Don’t even worry about it, Craig… it’s not worth the effort. Expecting a giant, bloated publicly-traded media company to respond with good customer service is a lost cause.
I actually got a response when I pulled my advertising in December of 2009. My local ad rep got quite snippy (I’m being charitable) with me because I had the gall to run my traffic and conversion numbers and came to the conclusion that the $4K+ in advertising I was doing each year wasn’t worth it.
Keep your money in your pocket and take a planner out to lunch. Better yet, upgrade everything you’ve got on WeddingWire – that’s where everything is headed. If you’re ever down in DC give me a shout and I’ll take you out for a beer!
~ Evan
Craig,
I am so glad I read this before I hit submit on the knot’s advertising link. I was wondering why so few of central Pa DJ’s were on there. I guess now I know!
Josh Jamez
Neon Nights DJ Entertainment
Could not agree with you anymore! TheKnot has really terrible advertising results as well as customer support. On a given month I get about 5 to 10 leads from each territory a month. That definitely does not justify the inflated pricing of their advertising. I had to contact them a handful of times before got any help with “improving” the ad results. Now ive just given up and am waiting for the minimum 6 month contact to expire. 3 more months to go…
I am not selling advertising but I sure would love to see any of your {Real Weddings}. Our small publication company prides itself in helping vendors reach out to brides. We do this for free. We take submission on both our sites so please come by and chat with us we might be able to help. Thank you, Kym-CEO
The Knot has given poor advice to brides time and time again. I have written about it on my blog as well. They even had the gall to backstab the very vendors who were paying for advertising. They actually told brides to learn to bargain at flea markets then go and practice what they learned with their wedding vendors. They also said play good cop-bad cop with vendors. I’d like to know who at the knot has actually been a vendor or are they all standing around with their hands out pushing for our hard earned dollars and to hell with what advice they give. Take a look at the retraction they had to make on the Today Show. I wrote on my blog. Personally I think they are all amateurs and need to get real.