Sparkfactor Review: A Mixed Bag of Creativity and Frustration

Working with an advertising agency can feel like navigating a maze—sometimes you find gold at the center, and other times, you hit dead ends. My experience with Sparkfactor, a Chicago-based boutique design and production firm, was a bit of both. While they’ve built a solid reputation for helping businesses (both local and national) with marketing strategies, my journey with them was far from smooth.

First Impressions: Promising, But Misaligned

From the outset, Sparkfactor seemed like a great fit—they offered web, print, video, social media, and email marketing services, all under one roof. Their portfolio showcased sleek designs and engaging campaigns, so I was optimistic.

However, the initial website design they delivered was nothing like what we had discussed. Instead of the clean, intuitive layout we requested, we got an overcomplicated mess with unnecessary transitions, irrelevant stock photos, and even unauthorized copy changes (like rebranding our "green homes" as "smart homes"). It felt like they hadn’t listened at all.

The Correction Marathon

Fixing these issues became a month-long back-and-forth. Simple email bullet lists of revisions were met with "DONE" responses—except nothing was actually fixed. Phone calls and screen-sharing sessions were the only way to get real progress.

• Business cards: The first batch was illegible. The second? Perfect.
• Email setup: What was supposed to be "easy" took two hours at the Apple Store Genius Bar to resolve.
• Website functionality: Even after months, form submissions weren’t displaying correctly, and a critical column was set to upload images instead of PDFs—a mistake George (the owner) refused to acknowledge.

The Breaking Point: 1,000 Hours of DIY Fixes

After weeks of ignored emails and dismissive responses, I took matters into my own hands. Over four months, I worked with 800+ Wix support agents (many Tier 3) to correct Sparkfactor’s mistakes. George locked me out of the account twice, denied any errors existed, and even sent additional invoices for "extra work" that was never done.

The final insult? During the ownership transfer, George:

• Screwed up the first attempt (it expired).
• Forgot to apply our nonprofit domain discount.
• Entered the wrong renewal date, costing us an extra $300.

The Silver Linings (Yes, There Were a Few)

Despite the nightmare, some aspects of Sparkfactor’s work were solid:
✔ Responsive team (when they chose to engage).
✔ Good creative ideas (when they matched our vision).
✔ Strong portfolio (for other clients—ours was an outlier).

Final Verdict: Proceed with Caution

Would I work with Sparkfactor again? No. The lack of accountability, communication breakdowns, and refusal to fix errors made the process unbearable. However, based on other client testimonials, it seems my experience was an exception rather than the rule. Some businesses praised their timeliness, creativity, and project management—so if you do engage with them, document everything, stay on top of revisions, and verify every deliverable.

For now, I’m just relieved to finally have a working website—eight months later.