SPECIAL UPDATE: On May 31, 2011, the United States Federal Trade Commission issued a press release announcing that it has filed a lawsuit against Russ Dalbey, the Dalbey Education Institute, and others. You can read the entire FTC press release
HERE. The FTC’s lawsuit alleges, among other things, that the Dalbey Education Institute made false and misleading statements to customers of its “Winning in the Cash Flow Business”. In particular, the FTC’s Complaint accuses Dalbey of making false or unsubstantiated representations about its products and services, including falsely representing that its customers “are likely to earn substantial amounts of money..." As always, the FTC’s press release includes a disclaimer which notes: "The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law." In other words, like any other court matter, the mere fact that an allegation has been made does not mean that the allegation has been proven.
However, according to the FTC’s pleadings filed in the case, the government alleges that it conducted random surveys of 3,000 of Dalbey’s customers and according to those surveys, fewer than 1% of Dalbey’s customers actually earned any money from the program. Disturbingly, the FTC claims that Dalbey's customers' average earnings were about $16.00 (sixteen dollars). In addition, the FTC alleges that it asked Dalbey to provide evidence which would substantiate its claims regarding the level of success of its customers, but that Dalbey was unable to do so.
This news has unusual significance to the Ripoff Report for one reason — Dalbey Education Institute was previously a member of our Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program or Corporate Advocacy Program or “CAP”, and they have been an active participant of that program for many years. As you may know, CAP is a program that is intended to help resolve disputes between companies and their unhappy customers. One of the key components of this program is our requirement that in order to participate, the member company must make a serious commitment to 100% customer satisfaction, including giving refunds when requested. In addition, the company must promise to take steps to investigate and correct any existing corporate cultural or operational issues that resulted in the company receiving complaints in the first place. In this way, our program is intended to help protect consumers and also to help companies find new ways to reduce complaints before they even occur. Of course, the CAP program is not a guarantee that every customer will always be completely thrilled. Rather, because we know that even the best companies can and will receive complaints from time to time, our CAP program is intended to help facilitate the resolution of complaints in a timely and fair manner.
Our agreement with each Corporate Advocacy Program participant includes written requirements for the company to make these promises and also to keep them, both to Ripoff Report and, more importantly, to the consumers who ultimately decide where to spend their hard-earned dollars. Over the past several years, the vast majority of our CAP members have lived up to their promises which is why we have been so confident in telling you, our readers, about the benefits of the program and all of the reasons why you should do business with any company that participates in the program. (Rip-off Report started in business about 13 years ago. The CAP program did not start until about 3 years later.)
Because the integrity of the program is so important to us, if it becomes clear that a CAP member is not fulfilling their obligations to consumers, we will not hesitate to terminate our relationship with them. At this time, the claims against Dalbey have NOT been proven and like anyone else, they are entitled to respond to the claims against them. Nevertheless, as part of our primary mission of keeping consumers informed, we wanted to bring this matter to your attention. Put simply, we do not know if the claims and allegations that have been made against Dalbey are true or not, but this situation has nevertheless placed us in a position where we feel it is appropriate to err on the side of caution. For that reason, and given the serious nature of the allegations made in the FTC’s lawsuit, we have decided to suspend our relationship with the Dalbey Education Institute pending the resolution of the lawsuit. This action should not be seen as suggesting that we have concluded the FTC’s claims against Dalbey are valid. However, because protecting consumers has been the #1 focus of the Ripoff Report for more than a decade, we feel we cannot continue our relationship with Dalbey unless and until the claims against them are resolved in court.
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What Is The Corporate Advocacy Program?If you have a business with lots of Ripoff Reports or other types of complaints, you’re probably asking yourself three basic questions:
1. What can you do to resolve existing complaints from unhappy customers?
2. How can you identify, isolate and fix the customer service or other issues that cause most complaints?
3. What can you do to increase customer satisfaction and prevent future complaints?
Because every business is different, finding a common solution to these questions is not easy. In addition, because they are so close to the situation, many business owners have a difficult time seeing the problems that exist or even admitting that they have a problem in the first place.
That’s where Ripoff Report’s Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program (or “CAP”) comes in. Despite the long name, our CAP program is really very simple. Using our years of experience in the consumer complaint industry, we have developed the CAP program which we believe is the #1 most effective way to help business owners regain control over the operational, organizational, and other issues which generate the majority of complaints.
Now, some people claim that the CAP program works like this – join the program, pay a fee to Ripoff Report, and we’ll remove the complaints. Nothing could be further from the truth. Removing complaints (which is NEVER part of the program) is like putting a band-aid on skin cancer. It temporarily conceals the problem, but it does nothing to fix it. That’s why the Corporate Advocacy Program does NOT involve removal of complaints.
Rip-off Report knows from many years of experience that consumers love to do business with a company or individual that can demonstrate how they fixed problems and made things right with those from the past. Consumers have more respect for a business that can show how good they took care of their customers and when they can admit, maybe there were mistakes made and demonstrate how they erred on the side of their customer. Who wouldn’t want to do business with that company?
Okay, if we don’t remove complaints for CAP members, what DO we do? A lot, actually. Although the program is tailored to the specific needs of each member, we generally include at least three basic steps in every plan we create for our members.
STEP 1 - ADMIT THERE'S A PROBLEMThe first and most important thing we do is to get our CAP members to understand our philosophy – you can’t tell an unhappy customer that they are wrong (even if they are wrong). Trying to resolve the complaint of an angry customer by telling them they are wrong is like trying to extinguish a fire by smothering it with gasoline. Try that sometime and let us know if it works.
So, we start by asking companies to admit that if customers are unhappy enough to post complaints, then regardless of whether the business sees them or not, problems must exist that need to be investigated and fixed. If that’s something you don’t agree with, then CAP isn’t for you.
STEP 2 - FIX THE PROBLEMThe second thing we do for CAP members is to reach out to all the unhappy customers who filed a complaint on Ripoff Report and see what can be done to make things right. How do we do this? We send an email to every person who has posted a complaint on Ripoff Report asking how we can resolve their complaint. Some people want refunds. Some want an apology. Some people were already taken care of and were not in need of any further assistance. Whatever it is, we let these unhappy customers know that the company involved has joined our Corporate Advocacy Program and has made a commitment to 100% customer satisfaction. Of course, you can’t please all of the people all of the time so we don’t expect companies to give a $1 million refund to a customer who was unhappy with a $10 transaction, but during this step we expect our CAP members to talk to their customers and find an acceptable solution to their complaint.
The goal of the second step is two-fold. First and most obviously, we want to see existing complaints resolved so that customer is satisfied. Second, we want to be able to show consumers proof that the CAP member has made steps to fix the problems which are causing complaints. Honestly, educated consumers know that EVERY business receives complaints. That’s not what is important. Instead, smart consumers only care about one thing – what did the company do to fix the complaint? If the company acted quickly, fairly, and reasonably, then the complaint can actually be viewed as positive proof that the company will stand behind its product/service if a problem occurs in the future (as they usually do).
STEP 3 - PREVENT FUTURE COMPLAINTSThe third thing we do relates to prevention of future complaints. After the CAP member has communicated with anyone who posted a complaint in the past, the business owner should have a pretty good understanding of what caused those complaints in the first place. Armed with that knowledge, the business owner can then focus on making operational changes as needed to remedy that root cause.
But what happens if a future complaint is received about a CAP member? While we hope this won’t happen, the reality is that sometimes it will. When it does, Ripoff Report will act as a liaison between the CAP member and the customer. We will immediately forward the complaint to the company and ask them to investigate and respond with the expectation that whatever the problem is, it will be promptly fixed to the customer’s satisfaction. If the company refuses to make things right, we will take whatever steps are necessary including terminating our relationship with the company if necessary. At the end of the day, we expect CAP members who make good faith efforts to change their practices and follow our advice will see a huge decrease in complaints and a huge increase in customer satisfaction and new business.
Read more about the Corporate Advocacy Program.ARE THERE OTHER OPTIONS? YES! Although we feel strongly that Ripoff Report’s Corporate Advocacy Program is extremely useful for many businesses, we know it is not right for everyone. If you are an individual, or if you only have a handful of complaints then the program is probably not a good solution for you. Also, if you believe that all of the reports against your company are untrue or were written by angry ex-employees, then the program may or may not be right for you. We only want to work with companies who agree that change is needed, so if that’s not you, then you should look into other solutions. But what other options are there? Quite a few!
First, you always have the option of posting a rebuttal that explains your side of the story. Rebuttals are 100% free, and when done correctly, they can turn a negative complaint into a positive example of why your customers should trust you. Want a good example? Take a look at this rebuttal from a company called Overnight Mattress:
This is exactly how a company can turn a negative into a positive by stepping up and showing that it is willing to customers. After reading this, who wouldn’t want to do business with Overnight Mattress? (Full Disclosure – Overnight Mattress is NOT a member of our CAP program nor have they paid us a dime. We’ve never even talked with them. We just think this company is a good example of how to use a rebuttal properly).
NEW ARBITRATION PROGRAM Second, we have recently launched a new arbitration program that allows parties to dispute the accuracy of a report in an informal expedited process. Although the program does not include the removal of reports, it does include a written ruling from a neutral arbitrator (our first arbitration panel member is a retired Court of Appeals judge) who will decide whether anything in a report is untrue. When and if, such a finding has been determined, the report will then be modified to reflect the arbitrator’s decision in a clear and unequivocal way. If you are interested in this program and want more information, please send an email to
Arbitration@RipoffReport.com and we will send you a packet, in an email which will contain more information, including a sample complaint form, as well as the rules for the program.
Third, you can always take your chances with a “search engine optimization” or “SEO” company. These fly-by-night “Reputation Management” companies promise to help you hide a complaint for the low, low price of $5,000 or more, but what they won’t tell you is that in many cases, these “fixes” are only temporary and, worse yet, some SEO practices are prohibited by most search engines including Google. In fact, if you hire the wrong SEO company, the result may be a death sentence for your business – you may be completely banned from many search engines so that no one can find your company! Some companies market themselves using dozens of different names because they end up blackmailing customers forcing them to continue to pay them, threatening “they will make things worse”.. Consumers will always find negative comments if they are out there, even if they have to search past page 3 or 20 on search engines, they will find it. Honestly, if you really don’t care about your customers and simply want to hide complaints about you, then SEO may be right for you, but why not step up to the plate and confront the problem head-on? That’s what customers want to see, and that’s what Ripoff Report is here to help businesses do! Remember, filing a rebuttal is completely FREE..
“ALL COMPANIES WILL GET COMPLAINTS” – “HOW THOSE COMPANIES TAKE CARE OF THOSE COMPLAINTS IS WHAT SEPARATES GOOD BUSINESSES FROM BAD BUSINESSES”ED Magedson – Founder
www.ripoffreport.comPO Box 310
Tempe, AZ 85280
602-359-4357 .. when selection starts press 5 ..then about three seconds later press 1 and say who you are..
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NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED=====================
I started with this company in January 2005, as I was looking for a home based business, was somewhat familiar with the real estate business, and thought what America's Note Network offered looked promising. The first packet that I received (for $203) was poorly written and unorganized, and the CD's were more vehicles for selling ANN programs than educational. I wish I had let the beginning experience with them speak a little more loudly to me, but, like so many people, I needed a way to make some money from home, and the idea of brokering real estate notes seemed to have a great deal of substance and promise to it.
In short, the focus of the company seems to be fleecing vulnerable people who are desperate to get a home-based business going. They are very good at leading you into the next program that you "need" in order to accomplish what they originally promised was simple to do with the first packet. The last straw with their selling tactics was going to the educational reports on the website and finding that some of the reports were nothing but sales pitches. I never went back.
I'm sorry to say that I ended up spending nearly $5000 with them in all. That says nothing of the time I put in over about six months, trying to learn this and make it work, as well as more $ spent on designing and printing a brochure, and other materials as well as much $ on long distance toll fees on educational conference calls I was assured were free. I have files and notebooks full of materials I amassed during that time, as I was determined to work through the company's "inefficiency" and make this work for myself.
Without going into detail--the website they provided to me was a laugh, and the coaching from PMI, while in some ways helpful, was done by someone instructed but not experienced and was very expensive--about $166 per hour as I figured.
I am not a person who fails at things, but finally I had to give up on this because I realized that the credibility of the company was so weak that there was no way I could feel comfortable referring a client to them with a note. The 30-days to get your money back is worthless as it takes 6 months to work your way through their maze of confusion to check this out and 2 to 3 years to fully learn the business, as stated by one of their own coaches--that is, if you were with someone who would teach it to you. Please don't even consider working with Russ Dalby and ANN.
Nan
Salem, Oregon
U.S.A.
Why file a report here? Ripoff Report is a permanent record! Other complaint sites copy our content then remove reports for money.
