I just wanted to chime in, here, because Dean just went through a bunch of stuff that he should not have had to. As the owner of an SEO agency, myself, my empathy tends to lean in his direction regarding accusations; unwarranted ones at that.
I am not going to spend the time it would take to point-by-point the probabilities as to why Sespot had the experience he has had. What I will say is that for anyone worth their SEO salt, Sespot pretty much spells out in no uncertain terms what actually happened to his site (at least in the abstract), and does so in his own words and in his own posts.
And I do hope that Sespot does not take this as an insult, because it isn't. Nor do I believe him to be a liar; just someone who is need of some introspection and relevant education. But the fact of the matter is that he is wrong to attribute blame to this service for the tanking of his site (if, in fact, that is what has happened).
Whether or not Sespot's choice to purchase Rank Showdown (and -- as the consumer -- direct how it was to be performed) expedited certain inevitabilities regarding the fate of his website, relative to the previous choices he had made for it, is quite another matter. But, is ultimately neither here nor there; as Dean, indeed any service provider on this forum, ultimately, can only fill your order.
I have placed orders for this service, Rank Showdown, quite nearly since day 1 of its offering; and the value it has added to the properties submitted to OP for work has, does, and I have every reason to believe, will continue to hold strong until it either does not, or cannot, due to circumstances entirely out of Dean's control.
I do think, based on my own knowledge and experience in SEO, that this service (and its default structure) is best suited to new websites given the rather heavy directory submission aspect. That being said, what could be more obvious than the fact that Dean is willing... scratch that -- eager, to customise your package...? Pro tip: know your website and its link profile. Is your site 6 years old...? What the fuck would it be doing, only now, submitting to hundreds of directories...? Etc, etc, etc...
At any rate, Rank Showdown is just absolutely fine. There is not a thing 'wrong' with it, nor will it damage your website -- quite the contrary. You are the only one that can damage your website... Get it? If you do not, you are a long way from justifiably bitching at any of the service providers on BHW -- or anywhere else -- for "tanking" your Web property.
Happy holidays,
BLIXX
