Rich Dad Training Academy Rich Dad workshop a scam Scottsdale, Arizona

Well, I attended the Training Academy that was sold to me for $495 after attending Rich Dad's free workshop. What a gimmick this was!

During the workshop a high end snake oil salesman sells me some goods that I think would help me purchase properties here in the Albuquerque area. He goes on about how we "need" to take the class...yadda...yadda...yadda. What got me was his mentioning of the use of hard money lenders. He asked the class..."Would you like to know which ones are good and which ones are the bad ones? Then you need to take this class!". I felt that if I learned that alone that it was worth the $495. His last 20 minutes were on obvious sales pitch but I put that aside and looked at it from the perspective that I was going to learn a valuable lesson.

Boy, did I ever!

I take the class on Friday and the gentlemen by the name of Alan Swails, a former marine and trained killer, proceeds to mention what would be presented that weekend. I won't get into the details of that...just know that a lot would be covered in those 3 full days. What has been mentioned already here (calling credit card companies, etc.) was asked of us in our class as well. When we bought the training session we were given a tote bag. In it was CD's and some literature one of which was a workbook that I thought we'd be learning from. He used maybe 3 pages out of the entire workbook! One of which was the speaking skills needed to get a higher credit availability on my credit card and achieving a lower interest rate. What a letdown.

2nd day of class went like this. We covered different subjects but I did notice that it was never in depth and the phrase "advanced training class" was peppered throughout the session. Before lunch he mentions that if there was a time during the entire weekend that we needed to attend it would be that afternoon. Woohoo! I'm in! What happens? 1-1/2 hour session on the advanced training and how much it would cost (from $10K to $44K). Then on top of that he gives his personal testimony (which I thought was pretty good by the way...but, I digress).

After listening to this until 3:30 that afternoon I'd had it! I paid $500 to learn something!...not listen to a sales pitch! I, along with the 2 other persons I was with, were frustrated and very disappointed. I personally, after thinking it over that night, did not go to the final day and here's why. If Mr. Swails was hitting us this hard on signing up for the advanced training on Saturday...what could we expect on Sunday?

My intuition was correct. My 2 acquaintances did attend and told me it was worse on the last day. They were asked to each head to the back of the room to answer questions. Look...I don't mind answering question...but darn it...I paid to learn something that weekend. Yes, I did pick up a few tidbits of information that could play out in a deal someday. But, nowhere near what I thought it would be. Not even close. I paid a percentage of my money to listen to a high powered sales pitch.

I liked Mr. Swails. He had a nice family. He showed the class some of what he purchased with his wealth. He showed us how he started. But, I noticed something. He constantly harped on how we needed to do it for our kids. He consistently exploited and played the "kid card" and that in turn played on the emotions of the naive in the seminar. "If you don't do it for yourself...do it for your kids" was the quote of the day. I don't doubt Mr. Swails integrity nor his love for his family. But, listen...not everyone HAS a family and not everyone HAS children. They paid good money to learn something.

What really bothered me was that he had attendees head to the microphone to share what their "team" had discussed. Now, personally, I do not like getting up in front of 10 people and speak to them. Take those 10 folks and crank it up to over a 100 and I've gotta problem! I did not appreciate that a bit and that has nothing to do with selling real estate.

Yes, I've read Kiyosaki's books and yes he does say that public speaking is necessary. In this class however it was not only pointless it taught me zip! It only served to make me nervous that I would be picked table "captain" that morning or afternoon. To me it was a distraction. What did it for me was what I've already mentioned about the Saturday morning "If there is a time to be there it was that afternoon" only to be sucked into a 1-1/2 hour sales pitch.

What a complete letdown and a blow to his credibility! How was I going to trust what he had to say after going through something like that? And he mentioned that he was really going to let his hair down on Sunday and broach several things that we should know. Yeah, what's he going to end it with..."you need to take the advanced training to know more"?

Fool me once...shame on you...fool me twice...shame you me. I'm not getting suckered again. So, basically I got 1-1/2 days of training after paying for 3 days. And as I understand it the 3rd day was alot of the same that went down that Saturday afternoon. What a rip-off!!!

As I understand it to be now...the advanced training courses have nothing to do with Rich Dad. I trusted Mr. Kiyosaki to take me on this incredible learning journey and show me what it took to be where he's at. Not only was I taken for a ride it completely destroyed his credibility personally. From Rich Dad class to training sessions by Russ Whitney? Where in the free seminar did it mention anything about these additional training sessions and a person named Russ Whitney?

The advanced training seminars and Mr. Whitney were removed from the free workshop spiel in order to sell me a bit of goods that proved to be at best incomplete. I guess I was naive and didn't do my due diligence. I was duped...plain and simple. I paid $495 for training. What I learned after what was taught (which was extremely minimal) was a rip-off. For what I learned and what I paid for I could've had a few beers over with an investor to get the same thing and it wouldn't have cost me nothing but a couple bottles of Bud.

This is a complete scam. It's the classic bait and switch. You're told that you will learn all these wonderful ways of getting rich using real estate as a springboard only to be herded into a classroom that entices you to purchase even more training. They conveniently leave that out of the free workshop.

You only find that out AFTER you've paid your $495 and are in the classroom. Then when you're in the class you're not learning a thing you were told that you'd be learning. Specifically for me...hard money lenders. The $495 you spend is for tidbits of each important subject (wholesales, pre-foreclosures, etc.) and then told "if you want to learn more about this you need to take the advanced training courses". Is that right? Why was I not told that during the free seminar? That might of saved me $495!

Stay away from this scam. Are there folks who have paid the thousands and have become millionaires? I'm sure there have been. What is the success rate? I haven't a clue but I bet it's 1 or 2 out of the 45 or so that attend each advanced training course.

I had 4 problems with this:
1. Not being upfront about the advanced training courses during the free seminar.
2. The 3 day seminar only touching the surface on each subject only then to sit through a hard sales pitch.
3. 3 hours+ of listening to a sales pitch after paying my $495. I EXPECTED to be TAUGHT real estate for the ENTIRE 3 days. That's what I PAID for!
4. Rich Dad's Kiyosaki is not associated with the advanced training. Huh? He used his name as a springboard to suck me into the class and then hung me out to dry.

Chris in abq
Albuquerque, New Mexico
U.S.A.