NZBO appears to be the latest offering from Shallendra Singh of NBO infamy.
One comment on the iTamer post suggests that they’re using an Indian call centre and renewing 2 year listings. There appears to be no intention of running the directory legitimately. Such a shame.
The NZBO website is registered to a Jitendra Singh – yet the NZBO site seems to be a copy of a recent version of NBO which is owned and operated by Shallendra Singh. Interestingly NBO has reverted back to it’s original look and feel.
Whois for NZBO.co.nz
http://whois.domaintools.com/nzbo.co.nz
Jitendra Singh is registered as a company director for Searcha and NZBO. His address is in Papatoetoe and the 2 companies have an address for service in Birkenhead. He is the sole shareholder and director for both companies. Is it odd that the postal address on the domain registration is in Greenlane? Or that the phone number is very close to the phone number for NBO implying they are on the same exchange? Astounding that directory owners prefer to operate from the same locality.
I’ve found some interesting references to NZBO
- “NZBO partners with Google when it comes to online advertising.” from NZVega.co.nz. That has to be partnering in the loosest sense. Such a shame that the site has fictious registration info: http://whois.domaintools.com/nzvega.co.nz and that the only content on the site is one post and 100 positive comments. SPAM!
- Coolbreeze.co.nz is registered to the same fictitious person as NZVega.co.nz and has the same one page fawning. SPAM!
- And more of the same spammy b.s. at busybuzz.co.nz, coolidea.co.nz, nzboblogs.co.nz, nzbobusiness.co.nz, nzlogic.co.nz, nzsuggestions.co.nz, nzthoughts.co.nz, nzviews.co.nz and windchill.co.nz. I guess they’ve seen the power of blogs to inform and are trying to fill up page 1 of the search engines with their own positive propaganda.
For those who still believe that NZBO has any credibility – go to the Internet Archive at www.archive.org and search for how NZBO used to look – if you can.
I see they’re hiring locals as well as their offshore call centre.
http://jobs.nzherald.co.nz/job/view/r1hhlc/
NZBO – New Zealand Business Online is a leading online business directory in New Zealand. It contains all business information of New Zealand like:
Accountants & Auditors, Architects, Automotive Dismantlers, Automotive Parts, Automotive Repairs, Barristers & Solicitors, Beauty Therapy, Beds & Bedding, Boarding Kennels & Catteries, Bridal Wear, Builders, Bus Charters & Services, Cafes, Cake Shops, Camping, Equipment, Car & Truck Dealers, New Car & Truck Dealers – Used Car, vans & Motor, Homes, Caterers, in New Zealand and major cities : Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown and other cities of Newzeland.
You can Search Fast, Accurate and reliable on New Zealand Business Online Directory (NZBO) related to
Child Care & Education, Counseling Services, Courier Services, Cycle Sales and Service, Dancing Schools, Dental Services, Dentists, Electricians, Employment Agencies, Escort Agencies, Florists, Furniture Removal & Packers, Furniture & Furnishings, Garden Centers & Nurseries, Graphic Designers, Hairdressers, Health & Fitness Centers, Hire – Clothing, Hire – Entertainment, Hobby Supplies, Holiday Accommodation, Hotels & Taverns, Jewelers & Watchmakers, Joinery Manufacturers, Justices of the Peace, Kitchen Fittings & Design, Lawyers in
North Island- (Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wairarapa, Wellington) and South Island – (Nelson & Bays, Marlborough, West Coast, Canterbury, Timaru, Oamaru, Otago, Southland)
NZBO – New Zealand Business Online is a leading online business directory in New Zealand. It contains all business information of New Zealand like:
Accountants & Auditors, Architects, Automotive Dismantlers, Automotive Parts, Automotive Repairs, Barristers & Solicitors, Beauty Therapy, Beds & Bedding, Boarding Kennels & Catteries, Bridal Wear, Builders, Bus Charters & Services, Cafes, Cake Shops, Camping, Equipment, Car & Truck Dealers, New Car & Truck Dealers – Used Car, vans & Motor, Homes, Caterers, in New Zealand and major cities : Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown and other cities of Newzeland.
You can Search Fast, Accurate and reliable on New Zealand Business Online Directory (NZBO) related to
Child Care & Education, Counseling Services, Courier Services, Cycle Sales and Service, Dancing Schools, Dental Services, Dentists, Electricians, Employment Agencies, Escort Agencies, Florists, Furniture Removal & Packers, Furniture & Furnishings, Garden Centers & Nurseries, Graphic Designers, Hairdressers, Health & Fitness Centers, Hire – Clothing, Hire – Entertainment, Hobby Supplies, Holiday Accommodation, Hotels & Taverns, Jewelers & Watchmakers, Joinery Manufacturers, Justices of the Peace, Kitchen Fittings & Design, Lawyers in
North Island- (Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wairarapa, Wellington) and South Island – (Nelson & Bays, Marlborough, West Coast, Canterbury, Timaru, Oamaru, Otago, Southland)
The two comments above crack me up. It appears that Shallendra Singh has employed some Indian SEOs (search engine optimisers) to help flog his site and the associated keywords.
The idea is that Google will associate all those words above with the phrase NZBO and then when someone searches for, say, “Wellington Taverns” up should pop the listings for NZBO.
It’s a great idea but that’s not how real SEOs work and spam is never clever. I’ve approved it purely to let you see how thick this guy is. Surely he told his guys to read the site they’re spamming first? Well, he’s probably paying something like US$.10 per comment so you don’t get alot of reading for that. They’ll be operating a scatter gun approach.
He’s use the same guys to spam his Searcha site (see https://5nz.com/searchaconz/126/comment-page-1/#comment-96). What is really interesting is that he’s gone to some efforts to distance himself legally from NZBO and then blown it with these spammers.
Oh, and I’m not being nasty about the Indian SEO thing, for one I know they exist, and secondly the IP address points to India: http://whois.domaintools.com/210.211.255.203
NBO and Searcha have had their lawyer send me the oddest letter. Page 1, Page 2, Page 3
I’ve rung and left a message asking the lawyer to call me but he hasn’t yet.
I see that on the 6th of September Jitendra Singh finally updated his domain registration and removed Shallendra Singh’s name.
I have seen something very odd though. When you click through to one of the sub categories on on NZBO the page title says “NZ Scams to Avoid”, just like this page does.
You’d think the title would reflect the contents of the page wouldn’t you?
I have just received an invoice from NZ Business Online requesting $110.25 incl. GST for an online directory renewal. I have never heard of this outfit and in fact haven’t actually run the business they are requesting the subscription renewal for for over 3 years now! Love to know how they got my details, guess they must be out there in Cyberspace somewhere. Should I contact the Commerce Commission about these guys? Seems like Pro Forma Invoicing to me.
I received a call from these guys several months ago looking to ‘renew’ my listing (i hadnt ever listed my business in the first place). The call centre guy quoted some outrageously fake details about how many business enquiries my listing had generated. I said no way and still received an invoice for $110. I’ll be dropping an email to the commerce commission.
I just checked this site and it appears that it, too, has been dropped in favour of the new nzbol.co.nz.
I wonder if they’ll be fielding calls from customers requesting refunds?
@Rdikate Yes, that was my exact experience too. Phone call — inflated ‘clicks’ quoted — opportunity to “renew”” — dodgy invoice in the post. Ratbags. – P
.-= PeterA´s last blog ..Wow, BRILLIANT writing! =-.
New Zealand Business Online is a legitimate New Zealand based directory service. We do not know why our Hamilton based directory is being mentioned on your website, but please remove all derogatory and false accusations from your site or risk legal action. Our aim is only to promote New Zealand businesses around the globe and any suggestion that their is anything wrong with our service is pure fiction. Shut this down now or face damages n court..
Murray
According to your whois info at http://whois.domaintools.com/newzealandbusinessonline.co.nz the website that you represent was first registered in 2014. This page was started in 2009 so I think it should be quite clear that no reference is made to your organisation. The company it refers to was struck off that year, see https://cloudup.com/cp-ZKoC45_z
In future you should do some research on the name you are choosing to ensure it isn’t tainted by the actions of others who have gone before you.