Friday, June 29, 2007

Time to Come Clean & Be Honest about My Stupidity

Good morning. This month has been really hard. I made a really stupid mistake and it is still costing me big time. Obviously, I thought it would be smart, but then when it went south, I thought I could hide it from you my readers.
How stupid am I? The point of this blog is to be honest and let you my readers encourage me as I make that struggle to become debt free.
I don't think it is any secret (maybe it is) that I want to own my own business. My stupid thing I did was to sign up for a home business program. I agreed to let them bill my debit card $39.95 for 11 months. Well after the first time they charged me a one time charge of $275 and are claiming I agreed to the one time charge rather then the monthly charge.

Thank you for your e-mail.

We strongly apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you.

In regards to this matter as of today 06/28/07 I have just reviewed your account which indicates that on 06/22/07 we received a response in regards to your complaint, which was that you did not agree to pay off your membership. The tape response is as follows:

23 minutes and 35 seconds into the call during verification, Mbr agreed
to the upgrade Mbr's complaint is Not Valid.



I have been calling and emailing them for the past week arguing with them about this. And then they also email me wondering why I haven't ordered any product?


Last time I checked, we hadn't received an order from you... and that means you haven't been cashing in on profits, or getting your business started


I get the above email comment in the middle of all this dispute. What are they thinking? I want to start up a business, and the opportunity is available, if I knew how to write a business plan and find the private investors, so I could avoid those stupid loans, that Dave Ramsey preaches against. The products the company I am currently fighting would provide, would be great in the store(s) I want to open, but I also need to be able to eat and pay my obligations first.
So what did I my email response back to their "review of the tape" say? I have pasted that response below (note I am still waiting to hear back from them on it):


Obviously you have never heard the theory that the customer is ALWAYS right. As for the recording the customer service rep on Mon June 25 admitted that it was Doctored and then tried to back peddle when I called her out on it. But you will probably call me a liar there to. Fact is on June 15th, I was told again by your customer service rep that I had the silver plan and that it was a monthly charge. She again asked me if I wanted to upgrade and pay it all at once. I told her no i could not afford to, she then transferred me to E-merchant...total time in call was about 5 minutes. Yet you are saying she lied to me and that I am lying about what i agreed to. If what you said is true, why didn't she say that on the 15th? And why, when I said the tape was doctored to agree with you all, did the rep say yes, on April 25? Fact is you can't have it both ways.
You need to refund my money NOW!!!!!! the bank fees because of your poor business practice in this case (at Bank of America alone) are $315 ($35 x9). My credit Union's car payment are another $30 ($15 x2) and who knows what the repair shop will charge for the returned check, because you could not keep your word and charge me the monthly rate instead of the one time charge. Think why would you charge my account $39.95 and then turn around and a month later charge it practically 2 weeks pay...now with the bank fees I am in the whole practically a months take home and can't even pay my monthly obligations or eat.

But what do you care. Your pockets are richer, who cares if some poor guy in Kansas can feed his family or not...you got what you wanted


Any thoughts about what I should do about this supplier? Any thoughts on how to write that business plan and where to find the investors to invest the 5 million dollars to buy 3 existing stores and build one brand new store from the ground up. I have 15 years experience in the business and before someone asks, the brand new store is the main reason for this. If I could only get investments of only 2 million, I would make the required move to build the brand new store. The 3 existing stores if I could buy them would provide some income as I get the new location up and going.

OK, I really would love to hear (read) your comments. Don't be shy, let me have it. Verbally whip me for my stupidity, encourage my dreams, give advice, whatever you have to say, I am open.

9 comments:

  1. Someone whose finances are stretched by an unexpected charge of just a few hundred dollars expects to borrow MILLIONS to start up a 2-3 store business?? You're dreaming!

    ReplyDelete
  2. First, while you may be able to get this company to refund the lump-sum payment they deducted, I'd be amazed if they were willing to cover the bank fees you're asking for. Clearly, customer service is not something they care about.

    Secondly, $440 ($39.95 for 11 months) is an outrageous price to pay for the kind of guidance you're looking for. There are plenty of good $20 books out there to show you how to do a business plan. The SBA provides counseling. You could probably have found most of the info you needed at the library, but even paying an attorney to get you going on the plan would have been preferrable and probably cheaper than this. You were scammed right from the get-go.

    Lastly, I agree with the previous commenter that you're not currently in good financial shape to tackle this goal. Starting a business requiring this kind of capital is a huge undertaking and to take it on while you're still trying to dig out from debt is too much. And honestly, if you had a million dollars to invest, would you give it to someone who was living this close to the financial edge?

    I suggest that you move this dream to the back burner while you get your financial life in order. You can use that time to plan and do research. Then when the time is right, you'll be ready.

    ReplyDelete
  3. In my opinion - until you start to live your life without incurring any more debt each and every day - day after day - ANY money you spend on how to do it is a waste of your money.

    I believe you can achieve your goal. If you want to do it. You are however, so many years away from understanding just what it will take to pull your goal off - you'll have changed your mind by then.

    The commenter suggesting the $20 books is right. You can get a free e-book copy of mine at http://www.nobalancedue.com if you like.

    You CAN do it. It's going to take a lot of determination to pull it off my friend.

    Lenny Tumbarello

    ReplyDelete
  4. ouch. you've run into some creeps. some creeps recently got me for $400 on a rental car. i didn't have a CREDIT CARD at the airport and so they wouldn't rent to me... but they'll keep the money! i disputed it and they found some small print. well there it was in small print. avoid any more overdraft fees, even if it means going into debt. take your lumps and get away from these people. they are in the business of tricking and pressuring and fighting. they will do it all day long. that's how they make money.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is bad, I would recommend removing as much emotion and coloring to your words as you can. Then re-write the response.

    I would also, give all the information to my bank and find out what recourse there may be. The bank people are generally in the know, for dealing with crooks.

    I would also cancel the service (first). When asked why I would simply say "I am not in the market to business with people or businesses that are not on the same moral level as myself."

    You do have rights - use them. No emotion, or little emotion. Time to put logic in the front.

    I also recommend buying a book. You should not take on any more debts.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is serious! This company does not have integrity. I would end my relationship with them in a hurry. You can't trust them.

    I would have a face-to-face, short meeting with my checking account banker person. If you haven't already done this; I would ask for grace and ask if they could revove some of these overpayment penalties. I would definitely explain that this internet company of ill repute fraudulently withdrew the $275. My experience with bank penaties, is that they will listen and remove some of them.

    The problem is, you are $626 short and counting. Can you cover this with $708 in emergency/ins fund? Could you use the new car fund? Or do you have an asset like a stock you could cash in,in the long-term to cover your liabilities? These are the options I see you have available.

    I dont have an answer on raising 5 million dollars capital for this particular internet business venture.

    If you are interested in learning more on business plans, I can pass along a few ideas I discovered.

    Topeka Public Library offers a series of three courses>

    RESEARCHING THE BUSINESS PLAN
    jul 12 (6-8:30) presented by washburn small business develeopment center $30 for print materials

    SMALL BUSINESS ORIENTATION
    jul 17 (6-7:30) free

    LEGAL PLANNING & REGISTRATION FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS
    jul 26 (6-8:30) free

    in addition>
    here are free resources on the internet

    www.candabusiness.ca/ibp/ (free interactive business plan; this is a step-by-step)

    www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplaner/index.html (very informative step-by-step fill in the blank, also includes free advice from retired expert MENTOR in the business you are studying)

    www.myphliputil.pearson.cmg.com/student/bp_turban_introec_1/Rescources.html (top ten rescources for writing an e-business plan)

    ok, happy trails

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hopefully your debit card has either a MasterCard or Visa symbol on it. If so, you can definitely dispute the charges and have them refunded. Credit card companies protect you from this sort of thing, that's why I always use credit when shopping online or to purchase big-ticket items.

    Even if your debit card doesn't have a credit card symbol on it, you can still dispute it with your bank. The process is a little more involved, but totally worth it.

    Once you get the money refunded, you should be able to argue about the fees from your other accounts. I just went through a similar situation last month with one credit card. If you say it was due to fraud, they'll remove the overdraft fee immediately. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  8. HMMM COULD THIS BE THE REASON YOU NEED A BLOG TO STAY DEBT FREE ??? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING ???????

    I HOPE YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON... NEXT TIME YOU DECIDE TO BUY CRAP ON TV AT 4:00 GOOGLE THE WORDS, DO A LITTLE RESEARCH!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I really think the only way you are realistically going to pay off your debt is to either pick up a second job and put that money toward the debt. Or, go back to school, earn a degree and move up at your present company. At least with a degree you have a chance at a higher paying job. You will be working the next 30 or so years, you may as well make them count with higher pay, better benefits and a better sense of well-being.

    ReplyDelete