Educational Sales And Marketing Lying salesman, "bait and switch", ripoff scam internet marketing training St. George Utah

I received a phone call in mid July, 2005, from someone named Todd, claiming to be from CBMall. I was pleasantly surprised and told him it was great to get a call from a real person. He indicated that they had a free mentoring program where they would mentor real individuals, like me, to become an affiliate marketing success.

The benefit to them, you ask? Well, they want to add success stories that would entice others to participate in their seminars, buy their products, etc.. I was interested, but said I needed to speak to my husband....Well, I made an appointment with Todd again. I don't know the exact date I spoke with him again, and Normen and I can't remember if he was in on the call. It was about this time that I found out that Todd did not actually work for CBMall, but a company called Educational Sales and Marketing (ESM), Inc.,1240 E. 100 S. Ste. #12. St. George Utah, 84790. This should have been a clue to me that something was amiss, but oh, no, I was very interested in how I could become an affiliate marketing success.

Todd said the only thing I needed to do was make a reasonable investment, say $2,000 to $20,000 for advertising and marketing. He explained that the average ratio of advertising expense to income (gross, I imagine) is 1:10. This sounded reasonable. I decided that an investment of $5,000 into advertising would be a good start. I was still assured by Todd that this investment was just that funds for my advertising. He said that many individuals chose to split up their advertising investment over a number of credit cards and suggested we do the same. He said it was highly likely that I would start recouping this investment by the time I received my first statements. I explained that I didn't like that idea, and would prefer a direct loan. I asked for an explanation of why I couldn't just pay for my own advertising, and was told that this way I would be freed up to learn and build my site while the mundane issues of advertising were taken care of by ESM, Inc. As I mentioned, I have a tendency to be gullible, and I was also unemployed at the time and desperate for income. Normen, however, is not gullible, and he is not stupid. The pitch we got was VERY clear and specific. Our $5,000 was for PAID ADVERTISING AND MARKETING COSTS. I was also told they guaranteed that I would recoup my investment within six (6) months, but that many individuals recoup their investment within three (3) months. I know that a company can't GUARANTEE I will be a success (I could be a moron, right?), but I certainly expected my investment would go towards paid advertising.

I made an appointment to talk to Todd again, but he did not call me as anticipated. Instead, I received a phone call from a Bruce Gott a day or two later. He explained that Todd was a junior sales executive and that he was now going to handle our account. This time Normen was in on the call, and we had our phone on speaker. Again, Normen and I verified the terms of this contract specifically, that I would invest an amount of my own choosing towards advertising costs. The majority of the call involved details of how we would pay credit card(s) vs. a loan, etc. We decided to put $1,000 on one of Normen's credit cards and to finance the remaining $4,000.00. The interest rate for the $4,000.00 was 18% over 36 months. We felt this was high, but were under the impression I would start generating revenue possibly by the time the first payment was due. Bruce explained that once I had signed the contract and the loan had been approved I would be assigned a mentor to work with me. He made a point of stressing that I must work very hard on this and be dedicated towards my success. This seemed obvious to me why would I invest $5,000 into advertising costs and not follow-up and do the work? In addition, ESM, Inc. was doing me such a wonderful service that I felt truly compelled to make it work. Unfortunately, I don't remember the date of this call. I did speak with a woman named Tricia, who took my financial information to get my loan approved. I spoke to Bruce again (don't know the date) and he asked me to send him an email with the following information: three (3) of my weaknesses, three (3) of my strengths, and my assertion that I would set a three (3) month and a six (6) month goal. I received the contract via email on 7/19/05, printed it out, signed it, and faxed it the same evening. I sent Bruce my email with the above-referenced information the same night. The $4,000 loan was through Horizons Finance, 475 S. Donlee Drive, St. George, Utah, 84770. I found out at the time I e-signed the loan documents that there was an unexpected $159.95 processing fee. I went ahead with the loan, however. The $1,000.00 credit card charge cleared through a Shenklin Group. I received a letter dated 8/5/05 indicating that Universal Account Servicing, Missouri, was selected by Horizons Finance to service our account. The monthly payments of $150.39 (effective 8/20/05) are currently being charged to a credit card.

Tricia shipped my contract and other documents via FedEx on 7/19/05 and I received the package on 7/21/05. When I received a paper copy of the contract (duplicate of the one I signed and had received via email), it accompanied a Personalized Training Program certificate that needed to be signed and faxed. In addition, and much to my shock, the package included a letter reading, Congratulations on your purchase of our mentoring program and an Invoice for $5,000 for Advanced Training Sessions: Website and Keyword Analysis and Web Ring Traffic Swarm. I sent Bruce Gott an email about this asking for direct clarification that I paid for advertising and not training. I also mentioned my displeasure over the $159.95 loan processing fee. He responded on 7/28/05 indicating that the $5,000.00 was an investment into your marketing and advertising tools that you are going to need for the business. At the time, this explanation meant to me that I had invested in marketing and advertising. It has taken me two months to realize what was meant by marketing and advertising tools. Foolishly, I replied to Bruce thanking him for the clarification!

On 8/8/05, I received an email from Nathan Darling, nathan@advancedbusinessdevelopment.com, saying he was excited to be my guide and to contact him about scheduling our first session. On 8/9/05, I received two emails from Jeremy Cobbs, Advanced Business Development, 1812 W. Sunset Blvd. 4-255 St. George UT. 84770 (according to their website, http://www.abdevelopment.com) congratulating me on joining their Internet Marketing Training Program. After exchanging a few emails, Nathan Darling and I scheduled our first meeting. My first training session with Nathan was 7 AM PST on 8/12/05. We communicated via Skype, an Internet telephony product. I have met with Nathan weekly since that time. My most recent session (my 7th one) was Wednesday, November 21, 2005. Nathan has been very professional and knowledgeable I have enjoyed working with him. I have learned a lot about natural search techniques and strategies and the training sessions have focused me on selecting a product, setting up my site, http://www.selfhealingsolutions.com, and defining a strategy to get my site located in the major search engines. The first month I worked very hard, spending upwards of 20 hours a week, in addition to my full time job. As Normen mentioned in his email to you, Nathan seemed to think I was advanced and did mention he would have to think of more advanced techniques to share with me. I started to become concerned about my ability to actually earn revenue through my site, despite my efforts, however, and spent a few weeks trying to determine whether or not I should share my concerns with Nathan. I was still under the impression that I was going to go live when they finally let loose with the advertising I had paid for! It became clear to me that I was nearing the end of my training sessions. I mentioned my concerns to Nathan during our most recent session, indicating I was worried no one would buy the products once I went live. He said, What do you mean by going live? I explained my $5,000 investment with ESM, Inc. He said he doesn't recommend paid advertising!! He said Advanced Business Development doesn't have anything to do with any arrangements made with ESM, Inc., but suggested that I draft an email to Jeremy Cobbs, cc:ing Nathan, voicing my concerns. I sent Jeremy and Nathan an email that night. Jeremy replied the next day, 9/22/05, saying, Any paid advertising costs promised to you needs to be taken up with ESM's customer service. As far as what your money has been for, I don't see that part. I get a request for training form from ESM and that's it. All contract questions go to them. I can tell you this though about ESM; they are honest people with a desire to see their clients become successful online. They ask me for monthly progress reports for their clients. No other company I have trained for has cared so much. Between Advanced Business Development and ESM you are in great hands. Feel free to ask any of our past clients. They have agreed to be called or emailed

The bottom line of all of this, obviously, is that Normen and I were blatantly lied to. When I just recently reread my contract and the email from Bruce Gott (referring to advertising and marketing tools) my heart dropped; my contract really was for training only, wasn't it?? My understanding of the terms is far different now than it was then. Obviously, I feel like an incredible fool and I feel dreadful that I involved Normen in this. Needless to say, we don't need another $5,000 in debit, either. Normen found an entire site on the Internet written by a gentlemen overseas who was duped, too. And there are others with similar, if not identical, experiences. In the gentlemen's case, It was not ESM, Inc., but another company. He received his training through Advanced Business Development, though. My suspicion is that all these companies are in bed with one another, being separate only in name. Operating in this fashion allows them to displace blame. As I said, I am happy with the mentoring I have received, but I do not feel Jeremy Cobbs and Advanced Business Development are innocent in any way. I find it exceptionally hard to believe that they didn't know what was going on.

Seriously, if I am simply paying for training (and I don't think $5,000 is a good price for seven (7) or even a handful more - hour sessions), then WHY would the amount of my initial investment be VARIABLE????? The marketing and advertising tools referred to a number of times are actually FREE products like link popularity checkers, reciprocal link generators, and free traffic site memberships. If any of the training I have received involves trade secrets that is news to me. Jeremy Cobbs (or ESM, Inc.) did pay $79.00 for a paid license for the reciprocal link generator, by Arelis, though, because I was so advanced. Also, I received free copies of two of Jeremy's ebooks, Tools of the Trade and Blogging for Money. These two books, and another ebook, can be purchased for a total of $29.95 at http://www.makingmoneyblogging.com.

I have written Bruce Gott an email on 10/2/05, cc:ing both Nathan Darling and Jeremy Cobbs. Needless to say, I have heard NOTHING from Bruce Gott (or Jeremy). Nathan has been very nice, however. I sent them a registered letter, return receipt requested, on 10/4/05, demanding a $4,000 refund (considering the seven 1/2 sessions have some worth). I have not received notification back that it has even been received, which is very disturbing. At this point, I will be notifying the BBB and Attorney General's office in Washington County, Utah.

Troy
Oakland, California
U.S.A.