The Knot’s parent company is scrambling to reassure its mom-and-pop advertisers after The Post’s bombshell report on allegations that the favored wedding site swindles its clients — but two furious small business owners labeled the desperate outreach as “damage control.”
The Knot Worldwide’s ad sales practices face unprecedented scrutiny over accusations the corporate has been ripping off local vendors for years with alleged shady tactics that include providing fake or spam customer leads, failing to deliver on contract terms that promised top ad-search result rankings and locking vendors into deals which can be difficult to exit.
Last week, company CEO Tim Chi sent rattled vendors a message denying the The Knot had committed any wrongdoing and outlined steps it will take to keep up their trust.
The Aug. 3 memo, titled “Our Commitment to You,” cited “recent media coverage” about The Knot, in line with screenshots obtained by The Post.
“We all know there may be at all times more work to do, and that topics comparable to lead quality, search results and support/account management are top of mind for a lot of,” Chi said. “It’s our priority to repeatedly create a greater experience for you, and you’ll be able to expect to listen to from us on these topics and more within the near future.”
Chi rejected the allegations by former employees and current advertisers, declaring “unequivocally” that The Knot Worldwide doesn’t “tolerate any fraudulent or unethical practices on our platform and in our company.”
Chi’s try to placate vendors fell flat with many longtime advertisers.
One Austin, Texas-based small business owner who has advertised on the platform described Chi’s memo as “baloney.”
“I felt prefer it was a bit too late. I’ve had awful experiences with them since day one, which is over 4 years,” the seller told The Post. “His attempt at damage control isn’t going to work for me.”
The seller, who spoke on condition of anonymity resulting from fear of retaliation, claimed they received useless leads during an initial 12-month ad take care of The Knot — a claim previously detailed by vendors and countless online reviews on sites like TrustPilot and the Higher Business Bureau.
When the seller tried to exit the deal after the primary 12 months, The Knot allegedly kept charging their bank card at the next rate than previously agreed.
It took two years of disputing the costs with American Express and coping with The Knot’s sales team before the firm finally stopped sending bills, the seller said.
A second Midwest-based vendor who received the CEO’s message said they felt the corporate was merely “attempting to save lots of face.”
The seller said their business had received “zero invaluable leads” during its time as a paid advertiser.
“I discovered the message to be a well-crafted PR response that did little to talk on to the actual accusations, but moreso acted as if the allegations were based on old experiences and as if these strong-arm tactics aren’t still happening current day,” added the second vendor, who also wished to stay anonymous.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for The Knot Worldwide said: “We firmly imagine the perspectives of our vendor community strengthen our business. We frequently connect with vendors, through email and in-person events, to share recent updates, address our goals, and underscore our commitment to them.”
“As Tim mentioned on this email, we hold the trust of partners in the best regard. We all know there may be at all times more work to do and it’s our priority to repeatedly create a greater experience for vendors,” the spokesperson added.
Chi said The Knot was “making investments” to bolster its widely-criticized account support experience which he claimed had “improved customer support response time by 63% up to now few months.”
He added that the corporate was adding tools to “WeddingPro” — the inner term for its vendor platform and noted recently unveiled plans to implement a “customer advisory board” where vendors could provide direct feedback.
Chi said The Knot will begin providing “business updates once per quarter” to local advertisers that can purportedly provide “line of sight into what we’re working on to enhance vendor experience and ensure our priorities reflect yours.”
The corporate’s alleged deceptive treatment of advertisers was just a part of the sweeping allegations made by former Knot employees and current vendors.
4 ex-workers said former executives at The Knot oversaw a toxic workplace and aggressively silenced those that tried to lift alarms internally.
The previous employees said The Knot also lied to major corporate advertisers, comparable to Macy’s and David’s Bridal, while charging them for ads as in the event that they might be targeted at specific customers — comparable to brides looking for dresses in a selected market — regardless that it knew it lacked the inventory to satisfy the agreed-upon terms.
The ex-employees also alleged that junior-level media strategists were pressured to bypass an internal compliance system and re-slot ads to look in numerous, lower-visibility parts of the web site.
The sources said The Knot’s shady dealings continued after the nearly $1 billion sale of the corporate in 2018 in a deal brokered by buyout giant Permira and Spectrum Equity.
As a part of that deal The Knot merged with WeddingWire and have become The Knot Worldwide.
Three of the previous employees — Jennifer Davidson, Rachel LaFera and Cindy Elley — confirmed that they had formally reported their concerns with the precise allegations in regards to the sales practices and workplace environment outside of the corporate to federal authorities.
The CEO’s message to clients surfaced on the identical day that Forbes published a separate report, which reiterated The Post’s findings and detailed some latest revelations, including that no less than one corporate ad client, Justin Alexander, had “asked The Knot for an audit of the last six years of its promoting.”
“Many say The Knot has devolved right into a dog-eat-dog, money-at-all-costs business that defies the feel-good nature of wedding celebrations and pressures staff to cross ethical lines,” said Forbes’ report, which also cited interviews with two dozen current and former Knot employees.
In his memo, The Knot CEO described the allegations detailed in reports by The Post and, later, by Forbes, as “old-fashioned, inaccurate and misleading claims” that were “thoroughly investigated and resolved.”
The corporate previously denied wrongdoing in a lengthy statement.
“On this case, former employees of XO Group, Inc., which operated The Knot, relayed their concerns to leadership before parting ways with the corporate years ago. Their concerns were taken seriously then, as they’re taken seriously now,” a spokesperson for The Knot Worldwide said in an announcement last month.
“The senior leadership team who were alerted to those concerns and worked at XO Group Inc. prior to the merger with WeddingWire, Inc. in 2018 are usually not a component of The Knot Worldwide today. On the time, an external law firm was engaged to conduct an intensive investigation into the complaints made by the previous employees.”
“The investigation found that XO Group accurately reported financial performance in all material respects, and any claims of widespread misconduct were unfounded. XO Group also cooperated with federal regulators who didn’t pursue enforcement motion based on these allegations,” the statement added.
