Tele King Communications Misrepresentation; Detrimental Promises; No Communication Miami Florida

After about 5-6 weeks of research since December 2002 and some (what it seemed to be) forthright promises by a man named JEFF KUBA, I am deeply disappointed at the this business opportunity.

I was looking forward to putting in a little work for some decent money on the return. I wasn't looking for the get-rich-quick route since I'm not desparate and doing OK financially, but rather an eventual means to the end to get out from the corporate handcuffs and enjoy life a bit more.

What aggrivates me is that the Florida BBB and Attorney General's office did little to assist me in trying to find out information on Tele King. The AG's office merely said that a "few" complaints were lodged against Tele King when I first contacted them. The gentleman I spoke with seemed indifferent answering my questions.

I called three distributors that have master-level distributorships (25 and above) and they all state they're doing well. I think I recently read that these people are paid for referrals so my thinking is that there's some kickback if someone they speak to signs up. (might explain where some of the card fees go I list below)

KUBA stated that, "not everybody is happy" and that the complaint was originated from a former distributor who KUBA supposedly returned monies too. Now [as of March / April 2003] California and Washington AG's have cease and desist orders against Tele King as recent as March 2003. Unfortunately, my "investment" of $25,000 was tendered in February 2003, prior to me discovering all of this.

When I was entertaining the Tele King business opportunity, I was dealing with a territory manager named DENISE RAFF. I was attracted by the fact that Tele King's prepaid calling cards had NO SURCHARGES. RAFF said that the exceptions were the common ones that "everybody" uses (i.e. payphones). That was my first question and concern since I've dealt with the telecommunications industry for a number of years now. Well, to me it seemed like a winner. I didn't all worked up by their numbers and build up of the income potential. I ran the numbers myself.

Then I was drawn in further by the offer of the pre-paid debit Mastercard program being launched January 2003, and the residuals possible therein. I can only assume there's similar fees for that one too.

Then the 2002 X-mas holiday approached.

KUBA telephoned me on or about 1/05/03 and left a voice message stating that he was making a 'one-time' offer authorized by the owner of the company since my area has high growth sales potential.

KUBA's 'one-time' offer included my participation in the Tele King phone card opportunity; pre-paid Mastercards; roadside assistance program; and materials for 50 locations (25 displays + 25 point-of-sale materials) for $25,000 instead of coming in at only 25 locations (with machines) at $36,083.00.

Well, needless to say, after speaking with him more and him answering all of my questions and addressing my concerns, I decided this would be worth a shot since it was 'risk-free' after all. The numbers added up according to what I was told and confirmed by RAFF after I created a spreadsheet and ran the numbers every which way I could. The profit forecasts are documented and were acknowledged by RAFF and by KUBA.

The ability for me to opt out of the business at anytime is written on my purchase order and signed by the Owner/President of Tele King.

NOW HERE'S WHAT I GOT (OR DIDN'T) GET:

** TELEKING'S PHONE CARDS THAT HAVE THE FOLLOWING FEES. BE ADVISED I WAS LAUGHED AT BY 3 OUT OF APPROXIMATELY 25
LOCATIONS I TEST SHOPPED THESE CARDS AT AND NONE OF THEM WERE INTERESTED. (THESE WERE LOCATIONS THAT WERE CURRENTLY SELLING SIMILAR TYPE OF CARDS. BUT BELIEVE ME, THE FEES WERE NIL ON THEM AND THEY WERE SELLING ALOT):

- Missing 1 out of every count of 400 listed on their
shipping order.

- .25 or .30 'service fees' attached to them for every
dollar of the card's value (i.e a $5.00 would only actual be worth $3.75 after activation)

- .50 - .59 'weekly' fees

- .45 - 2.00 'each use' fees ($2.00 normally for Int'l)

** TALKING PHONE DISPLAY I DEMO'D WAS REJECTED BY THOSE
MERCHANTS I DEMONSTRATED THEM TO. THE VOICE IS LOUD AND WOULD BE IRRITATING TO HEAR DAY IN AND DAY OUT. ALSO, MOST MERCHANTS DON'T HAVE THE COUNTERSPACE NOR WANT TO TAKE UP THE COUNTERSPACE. ALSO THERE'S ISSUES WITH WHERE TO ROUTE THE POWER PLUG.

- I was told that the languages were specific. It's not
true. The displays do talk, but it's loud and could be annoying and disruptive.

** LOCATOR THAT WAS "ASSIGNED" TO ME WAS DIFFERENT THAN WHO IWAS PROMISED. THIS LOCATOR ALSO WAS GOING TO OFFER ALL LOCATIONS 30% COMMISSION!!!

- KUBA stated that locations were offered slightly above and sometimes more based on traffic. The example he used was a 15% would be offered 20%.

- KUBA also stated that my locations were already being pre-worked and that he wanted to get me "up and going" as soon as I received all of my materials.

**** ZERO COMMUNICATION ****

I HAD ALMOST DAILY COMMUNICATION WITH KUBA. NOW THAT MY INVESTMENT IS TENDERED I HAVE HAD NOTHING FROM TELE KING IN TERMS OF COMMUNICATIONS ON ANY LEVEL.

- My last communication was on or about 3/17/03 with a
locator named "ThiaMara". Nothing since! All I've gotten is the answering service.

- KUBA or 'ThiaMara' hasn't even returned any of my calls.

- No response to my faxed rescission letter as of 4/7/03.

This 'opportunity' is bull-puckey. If you want to peddle cards that will actually be less than their face-value when the customer (and you) purchase them, then more power to you. The only reasonable cards are their 'Ultra-Clean' cards, it seems. But I would trust anything now.

It appears that the talking phone card displays aren't worth the particle board their built on. Anyone could piece them together for about $20.00 each. Looks like some glue, decals, rivets and some soldering. Don't be fooled!

I'm interested in anyone else who's had this "one-time" offer or similar overall experiences. I already discovered that the MasterCard program was already effective in November 2002 based on another post. I'll need this just in case I need to tee-off on these people legally.

The card fees probably make tons of money for Tele King. Paying a 30% commission to the retailers is a bunch of crap. The only ones getting the payday is Tele-King and the retailer. How can anyone really make any decent profit with only 10%. (the cards are sold to the distributor at 40% discount) That's wrong, since it's the distributor who takes the risk and makes the investment in the first place.

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MY ADVICE IS TO NOT INVEST OR EVEN DEAL WITH ANY MORE FLORIDA BASED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY COMPANIES! I THINK THAT STATE IS THE SORRIEST WHEN I COMES TO REGUALTING BUSINESSES AND WATCHDOGGING!
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IronLaw
Los Angeles, California
U.S.A.

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