99CentArticles.com Review

Feb 15th, 2010 | Posted by | Filed under Content Creation, Not Recommended, Service Reviews
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On January 7, 2010 I placed an order for 5 500-word articles from 99CentArticles.com. I had read about them in a post on WarriorForum and the poster had been happy with the service, so I decide to give them a try.

If article marketing is part of your marketing plan, you’ll soon learn a good source of articles is immensely valuable. Because article marketing is a primarily a volume method, you need to get a lot of article out there. This can be very time consuming if you write the articles yourself, or you can outsource it.

I’m a good writer, published even, but it takes me about 15 – 30 minutes to craft an original article. So I figure if I can get article for around $5, that’s pretty good. My time iscertainly worth more than $10 – $20 and hour.

Outsourcing is a good solution, but it can take some trial and error to find a source that delivers good, well written articles and doesn’t cost too much. Around a penny a word is a good rate. For a really professioanl article, I’ll go 2 cents a word, but that’s for really well written site content, not article directory articles.

So I went to 99CentArticles.com (the articles aren’t really 99 cents, by the way) and placed an order for 5 500-word articles. The total came to $33.50, which was higher than I really wanted, but if the articles were really good, I figured they could be an alternate source for good high-quality site content.

99CentArticles.com promises delivery within 10 days. On the 12th day I sent an email asking about the status of my order. I received assurances that it was in work.

Days passed. More emails, more promises and, finally, 32 days after I placed my order, the articles finally showed up. A far cry from the promised 10 days or less listed on the web site.

Here’s a copy of the email I sent once the articles were in my inbox:

Well, that only took 32 days…..
You’ll never be seeing any of my business again.
Recommend you update your site from the current advertised 10 days for delivery. But at least I didn’t have to dispute the charge to get action, as I did with one of your competitors.
Good luck – with customer service like this, you’re going to need all you can get.

Their reply:

Your order actually got hung up in our spam. We always take 7-10 business days or less to complete. Can you please give us one more chance? I will give you 3 free 500 word articles to prove it.

My reply:

Thanks for the quick reply.
I placed my order on 1/7. On 1/19, 12 days later, I sent a status inquiry, which you replied to indicating that the articles were in work. Yet despite that, it took from 1/19 until today for you to complete the order.
I certainly understand how easy it can be to be overcome by events, but communication is key. Should similar circumstances present themselves in the future, all it would take would be a hastily tapped out “We haven’t forgotten about you” email to keep relations positive.
Please afford me the time to look over the articles you have already sent; a high level of quality can go a long way to motivating me to use you again.
In the mean time, I’m certainly not one to turn down your generous offer. Three articles based around the benefits of cardiovascular exercise would be fantastic.

Their reply:

Going to get you these free articles now David :) I really want to keep you as a customer. I value all my customers and I am sorry for the lack of communication.

The final result?

Still waiting for those three articles….

I would like to mention that the articles were very well done and are top notch, but 32 days is too long to wait. I can get similar quality for cheaper and delivered quikcker from other sources.

My rating: NOT RECOMMENDED

Popularity: 67% [?]

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