Going Platinum. Theft, deception and false advertising. Lancaster, Pennsylvania

I must extend a personal warning to anyone wishing to do business of any kind with this deceptive entity. False advertising is probably the least concerning issue at the moment, but I feel it would be appropriate if I started from the beginning.


FALSE ADVERTISING:
You see, Going Platinum may sound like a great deal at times when its owners decides the money he collected from unsuspecting individuals is no longer enough. For $25, members who signed up prior to August 27th 2001 were to be eligible for Free Unlimited Internet Access (free of any ads as well) according to the Going Platinum website.

As of April 28th 2002, there is no Free Internet Access to more than 50,000 members who are eligible to that, according to the member agreement they accepted with Going Platinum at the time of their sign up. In addition to that, those members who are unsuspecting enough to still do business with the company, are now paying $19.95 monthly for limited access.

As always, the CEO of Going Platinum, Mr. Catalan, is there to reassure the membership. 2 weeks ago, he was quoted saying "Members do not have to worry about losing ISP service anymore". This week, several members have lost their ISP, due to going over the 150 hour limit contract Going Platinum has supposedly 'fixed' with their supplier. This same type of swindling has been going on for more than 2 years now.

However, don't be alarmed. Going Platinum's membership agreement mentions that the company may make changes at any time, with sufficient notice. What would you consider sufficient notice for changing policies so rappidly, and so drastically? A phone call? Perhaps an e-mail? Or maybe just a post on the bulletin board, which is limited only to those who pay monthly? One way or another, none of those were given to the membership regarding this case, as well as others.

Once you are a member, you stop caring about the false advertising. When a lot of deception surfaces up though, you should start worrying.

DECEPTION:
Starting from November 2001, the same company who claimed "There is never an out of pocket fee" for their services, started charging those who wanted to keep the ISP, the bulletin board and the chatroom, a monthly fee. Since the members did not like paying $25 a month, without seeing the overdue, illustrious record-breaking community portal, the company decided to start charging them between $9.95 monthly for nothing, and $19.95 for having the ISP.

Those same members who paid the initial $25 fee to gain a boost to their future earnings (Just how "future" these earnings would be, nobody knows. 2.5 years and counting) were left in the cold. Those members did not get so much as a single E-MAIL appreciating their patience. Those members (approximately 100,000 according to information from Going Platinum) have not seen anything from the company in about half a year now, and since they are banned from accessing the bulletin board, they have nowhere to turn to for information.

But this is just the beginning. Commissions that were due almost a year ago, are still begin held by the company. Members who referred new customers to the company, and were to be awarded commissions from the company, never got to see them ever since a year ago. "The cheques are being signed and sent soon" was claimed at some point, by that same CEO. But the money never left the company's bank account.

And so, just how excited am I to be a member of Going Platinum? Not as excited as one may think...

THEFT:
When members such as myself decided enough is enough, we all proceeded to request our refund. The ever-changing member agreement even now states that "A Metal Round member who registered prior to August 27, 2001 may request a refund at anytime".

One shining light about Going Platinum - They respect this part of the members agreement. You see, they state that you may request a refund at anytime. But nowhere in this agreement do they say you will ever receive this refund. In one of their older agreements (They changed it too many times to count) they stated refunds will be sent in a maximum of 8 weeks.

After failing to stand by their promise, and letting some people wait for close to a year, they decided to change the agreement to not reflect any time limit. So yes, you are, infact, eligible to request a refund at anytime - Just don't expect to ever actually receive it.

So right now, they have my money, the money of my family, some of my friends, and tens of thousands of others who have already forgotten they ever purchased a membership. It is not hard to let go of a mere $25, when you have absolutely no connection with the company, and communication is practically zero.

Filing this report is my way of warning people. If I save so much as one person from paying a single dollar to this deceptive, poor excuse of a start up company, this report will have served its purpose.

Adi
Holon, Other

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