Business ProfileforAlaska Web Service
Current Alerts For This Business
On August 1, 2018, BBB recognized a pattern of complaints from consumers regarding customer service issues, billing or collection issues, and advertising issues. Consumers allege that Alaska Web Service is not transparent regarding what qualifies for free posting to the online classifieds and that they are charged a fee to delete posts that have yet to be posted live. Consumers claim that if they decline to pay to either post or delete the ad, that they are bombarded with emails requiring them to pay for one or the other.
On September 7, 2018, BBB received the following response, which has been excerpted due to its length:
We don't charge anyone whose ad we have published a fee to delete their ad. We provide an Ad Management Link to every user who posts on the Posting Success Page, which users can use to edit their ad and delete it anytime they want.
However, if a free user loses his Ad Management Link, or fails to save it, as instructed, then that user will be charged $1.89 to delete the ad when he is ready to remove the ad. We think this is more than fair, because not only did we edit their ad for free in order to bring it into compliance with our Publication Policies (i.e. perfect their title and reorient their pictures and ensure that it was posted to the right category), we are then forced to manually delete their ad from our database, notwithstanding their agreement with us that their advertisement at Alaska's List would be a self-service one.
Over 60% of all postings ever published at Alaska's List over the ten years that we have been in business were provided to the community free-of-charge. We have price limitations, as well as other limitations, that we impose on such charity, and posters are notified by the system whenever they post. For example some sections (take the Rentals category, for instance) mandate payment, and all categories impose a price limitation at the time of posting. About 30% of the time, posters will either ignore the payment directive and post without paying anyway, or they will attempt to subvert our posting facility, by various means such as putting a lower price than the limit in the PRICE field, while putting the actual price in the ad text itself. Should we not also charge these users $1.89 to delete their posts? Especially, given the provisions of our Terms of Use Agreement, and the fact that they basically committed an act of larceny against our business by doing such things.
As of September 20, 2018, the company has not responded to complaints filed with BBB.
On August 24, 2020 and September 08, 2020, Better Business Bureau reached out to Alaska Web Service for a response to the consumer allegations, however as of September 22, 2020, the business has not responded.
Consumers can file complaints with Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org, as well as with the Alaska Department of Law Consumer Protection Unit at
http://law.alaska.gov/department/civil/consumer/cp_complaint.html
At-a-glance
Related Categories
Business Details
This is a multi-location business.
- Location of This Business
- 24410 Homestead Rd, Chugiak, AK 99567-5770
- BBB File Opened:
- 4/14/2009
- Years in Business:
- 9
- Business Started:
- 6/16/2014
- Licensing Information:
- This business is in an industry that may require professional licensing, bonding or registration. BBB encourages you to check with the appropriate agency to be certain any requirements are currently being met.
- Type of Entity:
- Sole Proprietorship
- Alternate Business Name
- AKWeb
- Alaska's List
- Business Management
- Mr. Mike Baker, Manager
- Contact Information
Principal
- Mr. Mike Baker, Manager
Customer Contact
- Mr. Mike Baker, Manager
- Additional Contact Information
Website Addresses
Customer Complaints
22 Customer Complaints
Need to file a complaint? BBB is here to help. We'll guide you through the process. How BBB Processes Complaints and Reviews
File a ComplaintMost Recent Customer Complaint
03/23/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
Customer Reviews
22 Customer Reviews
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Most Recent Customer Review
Susan A
11/13/2023
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