I wish Gumtree would stop taking away PAID FOR adverts!

Sophie Jane

Who else keeps having problems with paid for adverts on this site?

I must have lost count of the number of times I've made complaints to the staff about not seeing my adverts that I PAY FOR.

I paid for a "Spotlight" adver three days ago and it's still not there and I've complained twice now and apparently my photos weren't showing the first time, then I edited it again and I saw it online yesterday, but today it's gone again!

What the hell is going on...? People pay for this service and it's terrible!

So what if we have a link to our MySpace page or an online shop? At least this proves we're not scammers if we're selling something/things, a weblink is essential to show users who are interested in the ad that you are who the ad says you are and that you are legit.

I am tired of having to complain all the time. Once the ads are up, I get a great response from customers and do well, but I have had long enough delays to get this response as my ads seem to take a few days longer than expected to even get on here in the first place!!

scammed? · Joined: 30 Nov 2008 Posts: 18

Just a word of caution. Credit card companies are only legally obliged to refund under the consumer credit act on sums between the value of £100.00 - £30,000.

So if you paid less than this for your advert another course of action maybe required. Having said that they are able to use discretion so it is worth contacting your card company.

Sophie Jane · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:16 pm Post subject:

My advert was showing up last week, not it hasn't been in the London Spotlight ads areas for several days. I just want a full refund of my £19.95, as this is a total scam. My ad hasn't even been on there and I've paid for a week and I only saw it up there last week for one day, now it's disappeared again.

This has to be the worst website I've ever advertised on when it comes to paying for ads, it's totally shit. I have complained so many times that I've had enough. I am writing to Watchdog about this, anyone else want to join in...?

Sophie Jane · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:20 pm Post subject:

I was informed that Spotlight adverts are on a "rotating system" so that may be there one moment, then disappear the next and keep coming and going, but what I presumed I paid almost £20 for was a proper advertising system that means you advert isa THERE ALL DAY and not only appearing, then disappearing. This is so confusing. If this is the case, I'm not wasting my money ever again on the Spotlight ads, I would rather pay for the featured ads in the right catagory to avoid the confusion.

If anyone from Gumtree sees this, please explain, because every time I check, my ad is not where it should be and it's very fustrating.

Sophie Jane · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:25 pm Post subject:

Okay, I've looked again and my ad has re-appeared. Now I get it, but it's still very fustrating. Customers need to be informed that paid for ads appear and disappear because of the rotation system, but not all of us know about this.
I had two people e mail me regarding things I'm selling that were in my Spotlight ad photos, then they asked where my ad was as they were unable to find it, so now I know why.

jonin60seconds · Gumtree Admin Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 1286

Hey, just to confirm that yes, spotlight ads do rotate as there are only 6 spots and a lot more spotlight ads. The ad doesn't disappear per say, it just doesn't appear every time you look. Many other people are seeing it at the same time because of the large amount of traffic on the Gumtree front page. Rotational featured ads are very common, for example sponsored ads on Google.

Spotlight ads increase views of an ad 5-7 times on average.