In March of this year (2016), I had several calls with a CVENT sales representative where I explained to him our need for a new event registration tool. In that process, it was stressed that this need was driven primarily by our desire to have a fully consolidated application instead of having to deal with multiple systems, databases, and data imports. In addition, it was stressed that we wanted our attendees to be able to perform all of their activities within the mobile app on their devices.
The sales person assured me that this was a function that their product included and that their were fully integrated with their CrowdCompass product. It was impossible to confirm this functionality as I was not allowed a trial account in which to test this.
The sales person continued to assure me that the application wouuld handle all of the functions needed and that to get the best rates, I needed to sign a long-term contract. I signed a four year contract and scheduled the needed calls to start the onboarding process.
During the very first call with an account manager after gaining access to their system, it became evident that the product was not as integrated as I had been led to believe. In order for our attended to perform any registration functions, they would need to click a link which would then direct them back to a seperate webpage where they would login. This is not what I had discussed with the sales rep. We were NOT wanting to have attendees leave the app in order to add thing to their registration.
After my call with the account manager, I immediately wrote the project manager and explained my concerns. It was later confirmed that the product couldn't handle registrations within the app and that the link would be required.
Since our primary goal was to eliminate steps in the registration process, the product would clearly not work as we wanted or needed it to. At that point, I wrote to CVENT requesting that the contract be cancelled. It was not meant to be a slight on them, the product simply wouldn't do what we needed it to do.
It should be noted that there has never been a product launched on our behalf using their platform. We have never registered a single person through their system, nor have we launched any app for mobile using their platform.
After notifying them of my request to cancel the contract, the sales rep got involved again and quickly started tossing out terms and conditions of the contract as he stated it was impossible for me to cancel and that I wouuld need to pay for the full contract of four years and that they would pursue legal action if not paid.
According to the sales rep:
"So you’re request for termination, is not covered under the contract, and the contract remains in place. We can’t insist that you use the software but your financial commitment remains in place. If the invoices are not paid, the process would be legal action and collections."
As interaction continued, they attempted to offer a termination discount saying:
One shot Termination Discount
We are willing to offer a discount of 25% on the remaining contractual obligation. Once this amount is paid, Cvent will send you its Mutual Release and Settlement agreement, after signing of which, there shall exist no liability, financial or otherwise on either parties.
Summary
Despite their claims to the contrary, their main application and their mobile application are NOT fully integrated. They simply purchased another company (CrowdCompass) and linked it to their main registration system. For all of their talk of being fully integrated, they even send seperate bills/invoices. One invoice from CVENT and one invoice for CROWDCOMPASS.
It has not been our interest to speak poorly of cvent, but the tone and insistance that we pay over $20,000 for a product that doesn't work for us and which we've never deployed, used, or benefited from is beyond belief. Their hostile tone and threat of legal and collection actions further reinforce my belief that they lack ethics.
I will continue to request that their contract be terminated and will pursue any and all means in order to ensure it is.
Cvent.com Reviews
In March of this year (2016), I had several calls with a CVENT sales representative where I explained to him our need for a new event registration tool. In that process, it was stressed that this need was driven primarily by our desire to have a fully consolidated application instead of having to deal with multiple systems, databases, and data imports. In addition, it was stressed that we wanted our attendees to be able to perform all of their activities within the mobile app on their devices.
The sales person assured me that this was a function that their product included and that their were fully integrated with their CrowdCompass product. It was impossible to confirm this functionality as I was not allowed a trial account in which to test this.
The sales person continued to assure me that the application wouuld handle all of the functions needed and that to get the best rates, I needed to sign a long-term contract. I signed a four year contract and scheduled the needed calls to start the onboarding process.
During the very first call with an account manager after gaining access to their system, it became evident that the product was not as integrated as I had been led to believe. In order for our attended to perform any registration functions, they would need to click a link which would then direct them back to a seperate webpage where they would login. This is not what I had discussed with the sales rep. We were NOT wanting to have attendees leave the app in order to add thing to their registration.
After my call with the account manager, I immediately wrote the project manager and explained my concerns. It was later confirmed that the product couldn't handle registrations within the app and that the link would be required.
Since our primary goal was to eliminate steps in the registration process, the product would clearly not work as we wanted or needed it to. At that point, I wrote to CVENT requesting that the contract be cancelled. It was not meant to be a slight on them, the product simply wouldn't do what we needed it to do.
It should be noted that there has never been a product launched on our behalf using their platform. We have never registered a single person through their system, nor have we launched any app for mobile using their platform.
After notifying them of my request to cancel the contract, the sales rep got involved again and quickly started tossing out terms and conditions of the contract as he stated it was impossible for me to cancel and that I wouuld need to pay for the full contract of four years and that they would pursue legal action if not paid.
According to the sales rep:
"So you’re request for termination, is not covered under the contract, and the contract remains in place. We can’t insist that you use the software but your financial commitment remains in place. If the invoices are not paid, the process would be legal action and collections."
As interaction continued, they attempted to offer a termination discount saying:
One shot Termination Discount
We are willing to offer a discount of 25% on the remaining contractual obligation. Once this amount is paid, Cvent will send you its Mutual Release and Settlement agreement, after signing of which, there shall exist no liability, financial or otherwise on either parties.
Summary
Despite their claims to the contrary, their main application and their mobile application are NOT fully integrated. They simply purchased another company (CrowdCompass) and linked it to their main registration system. For all of their talk of being fully integrated, they even send seperate bills/invoices. One invoice from CVENT and one invoice for CROWDCOMPASS.
It has not been our interest to speak poorly of cvent, but the tone and insistance that we pay over $20,000 for a product that doesn't work for us and which we've never deployed, used, or benefited from is beyond belief. Their hostile tone and threat of legal and collection actions further reinforce my belief that they lack ethics.
I will continue to request that their contract be terminated and will pursue any and all means in order to ensure it is.