Executive Title Company Scam
Posted on Jun. 24, 2010
I had a home in Colorado and through some fraudulent individuals and the blatant procedures knowingly performed by Executive Title Insurance Company there in the greater Salt Lake city areas.(Mr. Brad McCoy in the Jordan office); I have lost everything. I am a retired Navy veteran and placed my retirement funds into this house along w/ a lot of sweat equity. Executive Title is another player that has lead to the present real estate debacle that our nation is enduring. I am requesting some exposure regarding Executive Title. The more the better.
Hit Web Design / Heritage Web Design Scam
Posted on Jun. 24, 2010
Have you looked into Hit Web Design? I used to work there and the whole company thrives on shoving websites out the door as quickly as possible. They hire the cheapest least experienced developers to make as many websites as fast as possible irregardless of quality. If you do a google search for “Hit Web Design” not only is the 4th link “Hit Web Design Complaints” but at the bottom google even suggests, did you mean “Hit Web Design Complaints?” If you do a search for “Hit Web Design Complaints” you get thousands and thousands of complaints. The company used to be called “Heritage Web Design” but they changed their name to try and avoid all the complaints they have but it hasn’t worked. They continued to give poor service, products, and customer support. If you are interested in looking at the poor quality of work do a search for: link:hwswebcenter.com and it will pull up about 50 sites developed by HIT web design.
World Ventures Scam
Posted on Jun. 24, 2010
My mother and I went to Utah to attend a funeral of a family member named Helen XXX.
I took an invention I am working on with me.
I approached Donald XXX about the invention and the possibility of him investing in it.
He said he would help and wanted to see it.
He invited my mother and me to his house in Riverdale, Utah.
He said first, I have something I want you to see.
He took us to his basement and showed us a video about “World Ventures.”
After the video he told us how easy it was to make money.
He said “All you have to do is tell 4 or 6 people and they tell 4 or 6 people and you will eventually have an income for the rest of your life.”
He called it “Residual” income.
I am still not sure what that means exactly.
He said “Its easy and the neat thing is you get to to on all of these cool trips for hardly nothing.”
He said “Now is the time to join because they’re offering it for half price.”
He let it drop and we looked at the invention.
He really like it and told me he needed some time to think about it.
He invited my mother and I to see his office in Ogden several days later
No sooner had we arrived at his office and he was on a 3-way call with his superior in World Ventures and the three of us were talking.
I had mentioned to him that possibly a businesswoman in Kazakhstan might be interested in World Ventures and that she had contacts in Germany.
Donald told me he wanted to be the first in Germany and soon it would be open for World Ventures to start business there.
When I told him that my Russian friend was interested he texted me “Great, now we have Russia, Germany and New Mexico.”
You see Donald told me I would be on the top in New Mexico and it was open territory because no one is in New Mexico yet.
I later found out that this was one of the reasons for inviting this woman to speak on the phone with me.
Her name was Tana and he said she was from Oklahoma.
He said she was the main supplier of heavy equipment for Mexico and had worked on Wall Street and now she has chosen to do World Ventures.
After half and hour or so the phone call ended and they had convinced me to join.
I paid my $360 with a credit card and it was done.
When he had my money he said “Well, it looks like we got another sucker.”
Soon afterward I started receiving a lot of emails welcoming me to World Ventures and telling me to watch certain videos.
Tana emailed me and told me to watch some videos from her website.
I soon realized that I was in over my head and only people who know hundreds of people and have many, many contacts have any kind of chance making it in World Ventures.
I also learned that World Ventures uses high-pressure sales tactics and even tells what to say and how to say it.
I felt like a I had enlisted in the military and not into a business.
I no longer felt like I had control of what my future was going to be and World Ventures now had control of me.
It was a very uncomfortable feeling.
Another thing I learned was that there was going to be a monthly membership fee of $60.
Donald told me that the monthly fee would be only $25.
He also said after you get 4 or 6 people involved then they would be paying for my monthly fee.
After several more days I found out through further investigation that the average representative in World Ventures only makes $1200 a year!
I could not believe Donald would tell me that I could make thousands when the average person is only making $1200.
Today when I confronted him about that very thing he said “Yes, the average person makes $1200.”
I do not know what he expected me to make because I am disable man on Social Security.
After reading about the two class-action law suits against World Ventures in Plano, Texas and seeing the high-pressure sales tactics expected from me I decided to get out.
I sent Tana a text message and told her “I am getting out.”
She sent me a reply text and said “Don’t feel sorry for me, I feel sorry for you.”
I phoned Donald and he told me very angrily “Fine, if that’s your decision then that’s your decision.”
He never offered any assistance in how to leave World Ventures or how to get a refund.
Tana continued to phone me, text me and email me about this Russian businesswoman.
She phoned me one morning and spoke me and gave me orders.
I told her “Why are you speaking to me as if I work for you?”
She said ‘I did’nt know you had quit.”
I told her “You sent me a text message and told me ‘I hope you find something you can be passionate about.’”
I added “Don’t you remember texting me about and telling me ‘I hope you find something you can be passionate about.’?”
She said “No, I deal with over 4000 people and cannot remember everyone and all that is going on.”
I told her “I have never seen a more disorganized organization or business.”
She became angry and started telling me how wonderful World Ventures was and how much they care about each other.
The conversation became lengthy and heated.
About a half hour later Donald phoned me and asked me why I had said he had scammed me and giving me the run-around about my invention.
He said if I mentioned his name or his company or anything about his family “he would deal with me.”
Whom it may concern, I never mentioned Donald’s family during my conversation with Tana.
Tana had phoned him and twisted my words and added to them.
I did tell Tana I felt scammed and lied to and had been given the run-around by Donald XXX.
I told him “Donald I did say you scammed me and gave me the run-around concerning my invention.”
This is when he said ” If you mention my name or my company or anything about my family I would deal with you.”
Donald XXX coerced, pressured, and lied to me and got me to join World Ventures.
He promised me big earnings with little effort.
He phoned me today and said if I mentioned anything he would sue me for “Liable”.
My mother was a witness of the entire scam and business transaction.
I am a disabled man on Social Security and he took advantage of me.
I have not mentioned many other things that occurred and would be glad to do so.
Donald XXX owns XXX XXX in Ogden, Utah.
Please contact me if you decide to investigate this matter.
If he is willing to do this to me a disabled man and family member what is he capable of with others?
I forgot to mention he made my 73 year old mother (his aunt) cry on the phone this last Sunday with his harsh and hateful words.
Donald XXX wanted me to be in charge of New Mexico and if they don’t have me they will eventually find someone else.
I will reveal the businessman’s name and his business name if you will seriously investigate this story.
Another Utah Scam – Thrive Learning Institute
Posted on Apr. 13, 2010
I signed up for Internet training on eBay and was sold a bill of goods. The problem is in their aggressive sales techniques – and they are responsible for the call centers they contract to sell for them. Thrive Learning promises you can make your money back in 2-3 months, but in fact they have a success rate which is about 1 in 10,000 actually doing so – and that’s ever, not just within 3 months.
I complained after the training was complete, because I didn’t actually learn anything that I hadn’t already known. Their training at that time mostly consisted of how to set up their proprietary site building software – which can take you weeks or months to actually build your site on a part-time basis. You are charged additional monthly fees for site hosting and programs – but can’t actually move your site without rebuilding it again. There are several free programs that come with most web hosts that you can use for site building – much better than Thrive’s version.
As well, all of the training that Thrive offers can be found on the Internet for free. So being charged several thousand to be “coached” and another $40 per month for site hosting is excessive.
The scam continues as they sell you add-on programs and “services” such as credit-card processing, site marketing reviews, and PPC advertising. Some have even been offered the creation of a Montana S-corporation. I’ve read of people going into $30-$50,000 in debt with nothing to show for it. (I was “lucky” in this regard.)
They do not have their refund policy stated on their website and it is not covered in their telemarketing pitch. This is an FTC violation. As well, Thrive Learning is a “fulfillment center” for at least 20 other scams – and so could be investigated under RICO statutes for racketeering.
Utah call centers contributed around 1/4 of the Utah Attorney General’s election campaign – but are not being prosecuted for known complaints. The manager for Thrive Learning is also associated with these other Utah call centers.
All of this is publicly available information.
Another tactic they use is to string you along until your credit card company is unwilling to do a charge-back (usually about two months). While Utah requires any company to refund within a 3-day period, often your training doesn’t start until after that time, so you won’t find out you’re scammed until the State can no longer enforce that statute.
If anyone is approached by Thrive Learning, the best thing to do is to hang up immediately.
Please Be Weary Of Crexendo
Posted on Apr. 02, 2010
This is a warning to all consumers in the state of Utah to be extremely cautious concerning Crexendo who is planning and performing conferences throughout the state and has troubled consumers in the past with their other business StoresOnline. StoresOnline has thousands of complaints recorded at the BBB if you are interested in reading more. Crexendo is too new for any complaints yet.
Currently, Utah consumers are seeing billboards, receiving tickets in the mail, and ads all over the internet for upcoming Crexendo conferences.
Crexendo advertises their conferences as free. The company markets “e-services” to those intending to do business on the Internet. The conference is direct and very convincing to those individuals who have little or no online business experience. After the conference, attendees are often urged to sign up for a one-day workshop which requires a very large fee. The information provided at the workshops is completely bogus, their refund policy is very strict, and their customer service is horrible.
Advice for Utah consumers:
If you plan to attend any of Crexendo’s free seminars or workshops, you should be aware that promoters often use high-pressure sales pitches that require consumers to buy now or risk missing the opportunity. Consumers sometimes have to pay high costs for information that is often available elsewhere for little or no money. Individuals interested in home-based or internet businesses need to consider all aspects and costs of starting and operating a business.
Red flags that may signal a questionable seminar promoter:
- The offer is advertised as being time sensitive.
- The promoters hype the program but provide little detail.
- The representatives are reluctant to answer questions and give evasive answers.
- Local business people or experts are not endorsing the program.
- Little time is given to read a lengthy contract.
- Promoters will not provide the number of people participating in the program who have achieved the program’s claims and are unwilling to provide earning claims in writing.
- Promoters claim laws regulating the sales of business opportunities don’t apply to them.
Good luck… these guys are shady!
Scammed by Elliott/Impact Networth
Posted on Mar. 27, 2010
The Elliotts of Canada and Dominican Republic, owners of Sun Village in Puerto Plata, along with James Catledge and his Impact Agents, have scammed thousands of investors of $220M. Judge Gold of the US District Court of Miami, and most recently the SEC in 4/2010, are investigating these individuals, their “shell corporations”, their on-shore and off-shore accounts, their sales techniques,and all the lawsuits in Texas, Utah, Idaho, California.
The scammers have started new businesses under the name of LIFE, still advising individuals to take money out of their homes and refocus that money into investments, whereby these individuals get paid from the refinance, and again from the investment.
The scammers names are known by those in the INNOCENT INVESTOR group.
Many retirees and senior citizens have lost their entire life savings, and are searching for answers how to live the rest of their life, giving yup everything they have saved for.
Google on Impact Networth Scam, Impact Networth scam, James Catledge scam and read the scam.com board under investments.
Grow A Site… Crexendo Scamming People Again
Posted on Mar. 23, 2010
The good people over at Crexendo are actively luring people into their “Free SEO Trainings” via GrowASite.com which are 100% a sales pitch. They pretty much back you into a corner and make you pony up $2,000 to attend their in-depth training series.
The funny thing is, they base their whole pitch around Google Page Rank and how that is the sole indicator of how a website rankings in Google. If anyone tells you that… they don’t know or understand SEO. Run for the hills! These guys will take your money and provide you absolutely no value!
Ode to Richmond American Homes
Posted on Mar. 03, 2010
Yes… I scraped this magnificent piece of content from my good friend, Frickin Mom… It was too beautiful not to share with my Utah Scam readers…
With all the emotion I have in my soul, I have tirelessly embarked upon a journey of frickin artistic discovery. Richmond American, I dedicate this ode to thee.
For four long winters
I trembled on icy, frigid nights where heat escaped me.
For forty-eight unending months
I stumbled on our driveway, falling, trying to protect my Nordstrom shoes from gravel marks.
Four one thousand, four hundred days
I wiped away tears of frustration over a dryer-vent that whipped through the air mercilessly, unable to be attached to the outside vent.
For 33,600 hours
I cursed the plastic covering our main floor fireplace, prohibiting its use.
For 2,016,000 minutes
I glared at my windows, wishing they protected me from heat and cold.
For 120,960,000 seconds
I swore I would never buy another Richmond Home.
Now, I shall change my song and begin a count anew.
You can find the original post here.
I don’t know if I feel as strongly about Richmond American as she does, but wow… That was powerful!
Advantage Management Is The Worst Property Management Company!
Posted on Mar. 03, 2010
Advantage Management is the worst property management company ever. Our HOA fees are over $200 dollars per month and we have no idea what we are getting for that price.
We are currently trying to sell our home and any interested people we get to come look at it are either immediately spooked by the super high HOA fees, or can’t get a loan because the fees are so high. We have had to drop the price of our house so much that we will now be losing money on it if it sells. We feel that the high HOA fees have damaged our property value, and Advantage Management is to blame.
Anytime we try and talk to them about this we just get the run around.
We pay for snow removal and they only come after the snow is melted. Our fence blew over and we had to fix it ourselves.
The other ridiculous thing about Advantage Management is their lacking ability to keep track of your payments. Almost every time we submit a payment we get a “notice” saying we are behind on our payment and will be charged a late fee. We have to call every month to tell those morons that they already have it. Once they notice how stupid they are and that they already have it they say, “Oh ok, well, just disregard that message then”. Every freaking month we get a stupid late fee notice!
This scam was posted by Mike
Part 1 On Richmond American
Posted on Mar. 02, 2010
Here is part one of our two part series on ABC Channel 4 News… I don’t think Richmond American is too happy these days.
