Russ Whitney, EduTrades, Whitney Education Russ Whitney, EduTrades, Whitney Education we have paid an absorbent amount of money for motivation, rather than for trustworthy knowledge that we can depend on Cape Coral Florida

I want to thank you for helping me avoid a costly mistake. My fiance and I attended one of Russ Whitney's free seminars. We were not suprised that it was simply a pitch for another, more expensive seminar. However we were shocked by the price ($1600)! We talked it over during the break and decided to attend. Here is a breakdown of the proceedings day by day.

Day 1

The morning was spent helping people learn how to raise their credit limits and lower the interest rates on their credit cards. The excitement was fueled through the use of a game in which the person with the highest point total at the end of the seminar would win an "exclusive package" of books and tapes from WIN Systems.

After lunch we were given a packet of papers that was 90% motivational and 10% possibly factual. The only thing of note in the packet was an article that claimed to tell you how to beat the due-on-sale clause. [Note from John T. Reed: See my article The truth about getting around due-on-sale clauses.] The instructor continued with more vague techniques.

Day 2

Today was the day we got "back-ended". Again we recieved another useless packet. Just before lunch we were given a printed glossy catalogue listing all the "boot-camps" and services that were alos offered. We started to worry when we saw that there were no prices anywhere inside. When we got back from lunch they hit us with the prices...anywhere from $7490.00 to $43,260.00 (or $6490.00 to $28,390.00 if you took advantage of the seminar discount). We were angry, to say the least. When we got home that night I started doing some research on the web. That is how I found your page.

Day 3

We didn't learn much on this day. We were still mad about being given the run-around and mad at ourselves for having been taken in to begin with. We were just sick as we watched people file to the back of the room and sign up for the high priced classes. Most of them payed with their credit cards. Now we knew why we were encouraged to get our limits raised. We stayed through to the end since we had already paid (been fleeced). On the plus side we did meet some other investors who felt the same as we did about the weekend. We keep in touch and encourage each other.

Also, there was a software package that was offered at the seminar. It was GARBAGE! It contained nothing that could not be found at a good office supply store for 1/10 of the price. (they wanted $1995.00 + tax) The instructor, a fellow named Patrick J. Hutton, claimed that WIN Systems had spent alot of money to make sure that these documents were legal in all 50 states. Nowhere in the shoddy three-ring binder that was supposed to pass for documentation, was that claim printed.

Mr. Reed, if this will help persuade even one person from getting involved with these people, please feel free to post any or all of this letter on your site. I still have the materials that were given to us at the seminar if you would like copies. Sincerely, Jeff Trudeau

Dear Mr. Reed,
I am writing you concerning my experience thus far with Russ Whitney's Real Estate Wealth Building System.

I was introduced to this through a friend, who had seen Whitney's info-mercial on television, and had purchased tapes, a book, and CD's which supposedly would inform someone on how to invest in real estate. My friend shared this information with me, and it was my opinion that the tapes contained a lot of "fluff", although there was some interesting information discussed, more in a "tease" format, rather than a fully informative format. The actual purpose of this information seemed to provide a basis for sales tools leading to a piggyback sale.

My friend received a telephone call soon after his receipt of his order, and it was his perception that the speaker on the line was Russ Whitney, (I don't know if he was told that or it was implied, or he misunderstood) who informed him that he was going to be in his area on a certain date, and could he arrange a meeting with my friend at his home to answer any questions he may have about the tapes. My friend subsequently contacted me, quite excited about this special attention
from the millionaire owner of this large conglomerate, and asked me to attend the meeting at his home.

At the proposed appointment time, we received a telephone call, informing us that we would be receiving a future telephone call in the next 15-20 minutes relating to our appointment. During that telephone conversation, there were several "take-away" tactics used to incite high emotions regarding the prospect of making money.

When the second telephone call occurred, we were talking to a salesperson who again used reverse take-away tactics and expressed a need to qualify us to establish whether we were the right type of people for their program. He then outlined the program, which later we found out included things that were not discussed, which appeared to make the deal "sweeter", with much emphasis on the amount of money to be made in real estate. We then were turned over to a "closer", via another telephone call, who attempted to wind up the sale. We decided to wait and discuss it with our
spouses, and were given another appointment the following day to arrive at our decision.

We did discuss it amongst the four of us. You have to understand that I had been reading about real estate investing for about two years; books like Nothing Down For the Nineties by Robert Allen, Real Estate Money Machine by Wade Cook, and The 36 Hour Real Estate Investing Course by McGraw-Hill. I was gaining some knowledge, but I did not have total confidence that my new-found knowledge would supersede some obvious risk. I also was talking to persons who were investing, and witnessing some success with some mistakes. So suffice it to say, my need was to have a "hand holder" to guide me through the entire process, and hopefully act as a mentor to lessen risk. And certainly it did help to dwell on the financial rewards that could arise from this venture.

Based on these thoughts, we decided to pay the $8,400.00 fee, (ouch) and go for it. We did this by telephone again, at the pre appointed time, and then were turned over to another closer, who reviewed the sale agreement, taped the conversation, and cleared up some of the sales hype that was previously stated by the salespersons. We then discovered that we had bought a premium package, which included a seminar in Florida conducted by Russ Whitney, computer software, more tapes and books and weekly telephone counseling by a counselor.

Our first couple of telephone counselor sessions was conducted by a lady who I though was quite passive about her guidance. We had been given some assignments to complete, which we attempted, and had some question as to what exactly to do in certain situations. When we would discuss these issues with her, I did not have a lot of confidence in her answers, as most of the answers were mere agreement with what we saying, rather than appearing to come from any
careful forethought. She also gave us some information that had we acted on it, would have caused us financial consequence, particularly in the area of foreclosure. When asked specifically about some things, we were after time told that she did not know the answer, or she would find out the answer, or we should talk to an attorney. After three sessions, I called their corporate office and requested another counselor, specifically someone who had knowledge about foreclosures, as it appeared this was an area that we wanted to concentrate in for now. We were assigned to another counselor, who turned out to be our former counselor's boss.

Our new counselor is quite good with some things, however I feel that if a person were totally passive to conduct themselves according to either counselor's advice, serious financial consequence would arise. I have not done many things according to their advice, as I am finding out some information on my own that totally contradicts what I am being told. I agree full heartedly with you in your statements about this course that most of the "advice" is motivational,
rather than informative, and I really believe that some of their advice attempts to practice real estate law. Lately, we are being told to consult an attorney about various things, after we have objected to the counselor's advisement on how to conduct ourselves.

In closing, we are continuing with the program in order to receive all that has been offered. I do not feel that we have received what I perceived we would, and I believe that we have paid an absorbent amount of money for motivation, rather than for trustworthy knowledge that we can depend on. The sad thing to me is, it shouldn't have to be this way. If a marketing company would just organize their material by state, and offer good, solid information that a person could depend on, and have some alliance with competent legal professionals who could provide guidance, I certainly would not mind paying the fee for the service. My feeling, however, is that someone is going to be hurt financially from what I see as an extremely dangerous path to follow, as there are many people who are going to get involved with this type of scenario, make grievous errors, and get stuck with the consequences. These people more than likely will not even have the money to defend themselves within the legal justice system.

[Here's another letter from another reader:]

I TOOK THE RUSS COURSE IN OCT. OF 98 AND THERE WAS SOME GOOD INFO.. bUT THERE WAS A LOT OF BS THERE TOO tHEY TOLD US TO GET MONEY FROM OUR CREDIT CARDS. OK BUT HOW DO WE MAKE PAYMENTS ON THIS WHILE PAYING ON THE HOUSE WE BOUGHT . AND KEEP IN MIND MOST OF US WERE LIVING FROM PAY CHECK TO PAY CHECK.. I SAT THRU 3 DAYS OF MOSTLY HYPE AND VERY LITTLE INSTRUCTION. NOE I WAS ABLE TO GET ONE PROPERTY WITH THE ADVICE GIVEN BUT I COULD HAVE DONE IT ANY WAY WITH A LITTLE THOUGHT. AND BEEN 1500$ RICHER. THEN i CAME HOME AND THE PHONE RANG AND I WAS DUMB ENOUGH TO INVEST AGAIN I WON'T SAY HOW MUCH FOR 15 TELEPHONE COUNCILS AND THE ONLY THING I LEARNED FROM THAT IS HOW DUMB I WAS IN THE FIRST PLACE. ALL THEY DID WAS REPEAT WHAT WAS SAID IN THE FIRST SEMINAR. I DO NOW HAVE ONE HOME REHABED AND ON THE MARKET IF I CAN SELL IT SOON I WILL GET MY MONETY BACK AND THEN SOME DO I RECOMMEND RUSS WHITNEY? IF YOU GOT MONEY TO WASTE OK. BUT YOU CAN DO THE SAME THING BY CAREFUL RESEARCH.

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Russ
Cape Coral, Florida
U.S.A.