Avirtual

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO & Founder

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Social Media platform for animal lovers

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Avirtual to accomplish?

• Build a 'functional' website
• Social Media Management

SOLUTION

How did you find Avirtual?

Online Search

Why did you select Avirtual over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Avirtual were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

My quote was for a ‘complete rebuild’, they took the money and stated the incomplete site was because ‘phase 2’ would bring the site to completion, of which they needed more money, these ‘phases’ were never mentioned anywhere in the quote. I have since had a different developer company urgently amend these fixes and make the site safe. He was shocked by the quality of their work. I was told I should request all my money back and that they only did 15% of the work. 
In 145 hours, 30 hours of which were ‘Quality Assessment’ and ‘Testing’, they didn’t produce a site anywhere near completion, and the design wasn’t finished, even though almost no custom codes were used, only templates (Again, I can verify this with evidence from an independent Full-Stack Developer) Furthermore, their social media graphic designer used generic designs and the posts became very formulaic. I had to start sending font ideas/ graphics to him so he would change the design. 
I constantly had to remind the blog writers how I wanted the information presented, a lot of the research was also lifted straight from one or two sources. It was expensive and towards the end of our time together, the advertisements were grossing zero engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Every plug-in was infected and malware downloaded by plugs-in Prime Pixel/ Outsourcery/ AVirtual used (Evidence sourced from an independent Full-Stack Developer, with an MSc in Computer Science) CPanel, WHM and Javascript, were also infected. The site was then hacked, and I was told to go live while these infected plug-ins were present, had I done so I would’ve been fined. 
I feel completely ripped off by this company. Reviews from the site they built for me, by users, are that it’s ‘complicated’, ‘hard to use’, ‘doesn’t work properly’ and that they wouldn’t return to the page.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

I wish I had never given this company any money and I strongly advise people to find another company for website design and social media. Not only was their service subpar and grossly negligent, but they refused to admit their fault regarding the security breaches, even though I have evidence that their developer downloaded the outdated dangerous plug-in.

What was your primary form of communication with Avirtual?

Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

My initial attraction was their positive reviews on Google

Are there any areas for improvement or something Avirtual could have done differently?

More accountability and responsibility need to be taken for their oversights and unprofessional practices. Designing a site can be a critical task if security is compromised and they don't take that seriously. I am very lucky that I trusted my gut and got the site checked by another professional before launching. The consequences would've been catastrophic for me and my business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Why does your company require back office services? Did you use to handle these needs in-house?

For us, back office services are internal procedures that are carried out before or after the interaction with our clients. You can have the back office service integrated within or outsourced. It can perform varied types of tasks and is very dynamic and useful.

What type of work can your internal staff avoid by using a back office service?

They provide a range of administrative tasks, such as those related to HR issues, organization of staff, etc. They also help with billing tasks, recalculation of invoices, payments, application of charges in invoices, order management, management of collections / unpaid, management of mail, and communication with clients, which is an essential task in a back office department. Clients must be informed at all times of any resolution and follow-up of their case. The contact routes are diverse: calls, SMS, mail, etc.

What were your company’s goals for the partnership with this service provider?

Our goal was to decrease the set of administrative tasks of the company associated with operations that do not have to do directly with customers.

SOLUTION

What do they provide for you on a normal basis?

With this company we can obtain a dedicated virtual assistant that works with you and with our company, working as your own staff. We have a great support for our internal team of book accountants, experts in social networks. Whatever you need, you can make your Virtual PA fix it.

Could you describe their pricing structure and how they bill you?

They charge $1,800 per month, according to the hours required.

How did you find and select them?

We selected them through the recommendation of executives of other companies in our production sector.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Please assess their quality of work.

Their service has been extraordinary. We have improved noticeably.

How much time and money do you estimate that they save you each month?

They save us over $1,000 a month.

Based on your experience, what takeaways can you share about working with them?

Their performance is very satisfactory. We have improved a lot in our administrative process and in the relationship with customers.

What do you think are their strengths?

Their strengths are their quality of service, dedication, and honesty. They have saved us a great deal of work and money.​​​​​​​

Where do you think they can improve?

They just need to maintain the quality of their service.​​​​​​​