Vanguard Academy (formerly Vanguard Institute) Vanguard Institute SCAM, Aggressive, Deceiving, Manipulating, Misleading, Greedy, Heartless, Cunning, Vague West Hollywood, California

SCAM ALERT!!!  A business doesnt have to be illegal to be a scam; they can be legally legitimate and STILL conduct an unethical and immoral scam.  This is what I experienced with VANGUARD ACADEMY (formerly VANGUARD INSTITUTE) and their associates.  This complaint has to do with several entities alongside Vanguard because they all seem to work together as affiliates to boost each others business at your expense.  My personal loss came to:  $14,480!!!

Based out of CA, Vanguard Academy works worldwide and gains its victims through telemarketing and pushes internet website/internet marketing training.  No contact information can be found on their website:  www.vanguardinstitute.net only a physical address as they claim they dont want the general public to contact them.  They call who THEY want in their program.  Additionally, the only e-mail address I was given appears not to have ANYTHING to do with Vanguard Academy/Institute.

Vanguard Academy gets your contact information from Rapid Fire Commissions, a UK based operation, or
another like it.  They target you because you showed interest in internet marketing/having a website.  Information from other complaints and past employees has indicated they also largely target senior citizens.  They prey upon ones desperation to change their life/situation(s).

Youre sent from one entity to the other in hopes that youll buy into ALL of them.  Youre tricked into believing they are all part of the same program by calling the next person to drain you your Entity
Coach or your Tax Coach, etc.  All of these businesses are unnecessary for you to start your own website business (even Vanguard Academy), but youre led to believe that you NEED them for their training and/or services in order to be successful or to be in compliance with your state or the IRS.  This is NOT true and is a deceitful tactic!

Apparently, they dont care whether youre fit for their program or not!  If they determine you have the money or resources, (i.e., credit cards, home equity loans, etc.)  they don't care if you make it through their program and/or are successfulthey're ONLY interested in the money they can get from you.

They are VERY aggressive and use hard sell tactics to lure you in.  Mind bending and reverse psychology is used to boost your ego to where they soon have YOU telling them why THEY should let you into their program instead of them selling their program to you!  Youll be questioned on very personal things like your credit history, the spending limit on your credit card or cards and how much debt you already have on them.  Watch out for this tacticits how they determine the amount they can get from you and how they can help you figure out how to spread it between your cards.

All of these organizations have 2 to 3 options to them where the highest option is always played as the
best deal (i.e., more money up front, but far less monthly charges than the lower plans).  Vanguard Academys program is not near as simple as they make it out to beits actually quite overwhelming
and they wont be much help to you.
 
Youre given a coach for far less time than youre led to believe (1/2 hour, one day a week for 13 weeks...about 3 months).  Chances are your coach wont be anything more than a glorified cheerleadertheyre main function is to keep you encouraged and get you through the first 3 months as quickly as possible.

Youre led to believe theyll build a website for youwhat you actually get is the platform and you design the website yourself.  If their platform, which is real basic, is not conducive to the business you selected (and you are rushed through this process and given NO guidance!) and you go with something else, you will STILL be charged $39.99 per month, called a membership fee, which is supposed to include the hosting.  However, if you dont go with their Web Builder, you wont get their hosting, your technical support will be VERY limited (if any) and youll STILL be paying $39.99 per month on top of what theyve already managed to add to your credit card(s)which, they told me, is upwards of $8,600 for Vanguards program alone!

Theyll tell you need to work hard, however they dont give you any idea HOW hard it will be but that theyll have you making $3,000 to $10,000 per month within the first 6 months!  I imagine this is possible, but its VERY unrealistic!  This would be akin to winning the lottery.  The amount of time and work that goes into the training, building of a website and running a business is PHENOMINAL compared to how it is presented to you!  Realistically, this training and a venture of this sort is something that should take not less than 2 years, yet it is condensed into a short 6 month course.  Most of what they tell you is deceptive, but its what they DONT tell you thatll get you into trouble.

REMEMBER that you have a 3-day Right of Rescission period if you want to back out, but youll have to be as aggressive with them to get out as they were with you to reel you inthey wont let go of your money easily!

Theres far more to it all than Vanguard Academy (and the other organizations) will tell you up front and the problem isyou wont know the half of it until your 3-day Right of Rescission is overso think about it very carefully and ask yourself AND them some of the questions below:


Organizations involved:

1.  Vanguard Academy (formerly Vanguard Institute)

2.  Rapid Fire Commissions (Starter scam for the bigger scam:  Vanguard Academy)

3.  Daeus Financial (primary entity under which the next 3 fall)

4.  Daeus Business Entity (Taken for $3,990)

5.  Your Entity Solutions (Part of Daeus Business Entity)

6.  Daeus Tax Services (Taken for $2,390 and they still think I owe them more!)

7.  Strategic Tax Services (Part of Daeus Tax Services)

8.  Daeus Credit Services (Another Daeus entity that will attempt to get another $6,000 to manage your business credit)

9.  Monterey Financial (Financing for Daeus/Strategic Tax Services if you cant afford their entire fee up front)

10.  International Coach Federation (Entity where their coaches come from)

11.  Premier Mentoring (??? I have NO idea where this entity fits in, but it has something to do with Daeus Financial)


Tactics:

1.  Overly aggressive, persistent

2.  Deceptive and vague

3.  Fake kindness and caring of your personal situation

4.  Ego building (yours)/manipulative

5.  Withholds TONS of information (beats around the bush on certain questions)

6.  Getting personal with you and your finances, debt, credit card(s)

7.  Records your conversation with them while they control the conversation

8.  Does NOT have the recording on themselves when they make the promises to you that they never fulfill and that you cant prove otherwise


Common phrases to watch for:

1.  Well GIVE you a website.

2.  Well walk you through the entire process.

3.  Well hold your hand all the way.

4.  You know it TAKES money to MAKE moneydont you?  (as they squeeze every last dollar
out of you)

5.  Youll be making $3,000 a month within the first 3 months.

6.  Well have you making upwards of $10,000 a month within 6 months.

7.  We work with you until youve made back your initial investment.

8.  We worked with one guy for a full year before his business made a profit.

9.  Well teach you how to have multiple streams of income.

10.  Do you have just 10 15 extra hours a week to spend on this?  (HA!  Unless youre a genius or already experienced in business, bookkeeping, marketing, etcit takes more than triple that amount
of time!)


Questions to ask:

1.  Ask them they felt the need to change their name to Vanguard ACADEMY from Vanguard INSTITUTE? When I was in the program, it was called Vanguard Institute and they know I am filing complaints against their name under Instituteso they change the name so when others are searching for reviews or complaints online for themthey can say that they dont have anything to do with Vanguard
Institute!  Except that they are one in the sametheir website has NOT changed and is still www.vanguardinstitute.net!

2.  If your training is SO good and profitable, why dont you have contact information on your website so others can learn your system?  Theyll say they dont want just ANYBODYthey specially chose YOU because they wanted people like you for the program (intended to make you feel specialtactic of manipulation)dont buy it!!!  Its actually because they wouldnt get the students in the volume they need for how their operation is set up (or at all if they left the decision up to the public)so they have to use high pressure telemarketing to get their clientele.

3.  Whats the percentage of your rate of success compared to failure?  Theyll beat around the bush over this one, too.  Youll never get a straight answer!  All other institutions of higher learning I know of can and will give you this information.  Ask them why they dont have an indicator to tell people how well their program(s) work!  I can, pretty much, guarantee you its because they dont HAVE an indicator to show the publicnor do they WANT one!  They dont want people to know how badly so many fail with their program!!!

4.  Over what amount of time will I get a coach?  How often?  How long each time?  Theyll lead you to believe youll have a coach for at least 6 months and they wont tell you about the limit on the days and amount of time youll have available to you with each session.

5.  When they begin to get into asking about your finances, debt, credit card limit(s)take this as a bad sign.  Ask them why they need your personal financial information.

6.  Ask them why they feel the need to have to record your conversation with them (another bad sign) yet the recorder is NOT on when they make their promises to you.  Agree ONLY if they agree to allow YOU to record everything THEY sayand start with the initial telemarketer that calls you!