GLOBAL MANAGEMENT ONE LIARS, SCAM, PLAIN BAD BUSINESS. Seattle Washington

I was in desperate need of an apartment as my lease expired in December and I did not want to continue in the place I was living, they were going to raise my rent to a month to month by 100 percent to what I was paying.
Thats when at www.Craigslist.com I found an atractive add that "Claimed to have a lits of apartments for rent that were not listed on the internet.

My desperation at that moment had me choose to go for GLOBAL MANAGEMENT ONE.

A bit deeper in why I needed my apartment in a matter of a week was that I went through HRG (Housing Resources Group) which is a company suposed to help low income people find afordable places... well, as far as I know I am low income and I applied, they said everything was ok and that I had the apartment I wanted, the last thing I had to do was give a writen notice to my current apartment (at that time) and that would finalize my deal with them. I gave my notice and the front desk of my place even congradulated me for find me a place, and also told me the apt was already rented to someone else! I was OK, cool, because I already got my place.

A Week before I was going to vacate my place HRG contacted me and said I was not going to get the apartment anymore because I was "Over their income limit...(Coulndt they tell me 3 months before when I applied?!?) Anyway, this is about Global Management One.

Thats when I went for a desperate search of a place to live and found Global Management ONE on Craigslist... they sounded good because they add that the places they arrange you for renting, are places you can not find anywhere else on the internet. so I went there and basically below is the detailed story of what happened, in fact this is a copy of my complaint to the Better Business Bureau.

I was searching for an apartment in Seattle Area, found Global Management One in Craigslist, went over there and had an appointment w/ Justin. Being that I had searched for several apartments on line, Justin showed me a list of "Unlisted apartments" which immediately I identified some that were listed everywhere on the Internet. I pointed that out to him, and he assured me that If I found an apartment that was not listed on Global Management Services, They would give me a $150 refund, I asked him how would they know I found it through other source, he said that they would verify my address where I moved into and check their list, and based on that they could determine whether I got it through their services or not.

I signed up for the service as I was told by Justin the refund process was simple, If I found an apartment on my own that was not listed on their catalog, I could just apply for the refund, and would get it with no hassle.
I found my apartment through Rent.com that same week I signed up with G.M.O.

The Process of signing of the contract is confusing and uses tricky Grammar, it does not help that there is commotion of people back in forward through the office giving you little time to comprehend this useless service. The Refund Contract states that:

I understand I will NOT be entitled for a refund unless: (Note the "Unless" which changes the concept of a clear contract)

A) I obtain weekly updates from Global at least twice a week in Person, (I am obligated to continue going there twice a week in person, even if I get an apartment waste of my time?!?)
AND; (notice this AND, making a refund virtually impossible by combining A and B section.

B)Sixty (60) Days have elapsed and I have not located a suitable rental property.

On the 6Th Feb 2008 I called to inquire on a refund, I spoke to Matt (Matthew Johnson he claims to be the supervisor) I spoke to him that I wanted to know how to go about my refund, He said I would not get one because I did not go there at least twice a week. Told me to read my contract, which I did, I told him what Justin had told me and he begin to act aggressive towards me, saying that I will not get a refund end of story. I told him that i discussed with Justin the bad reputation his company has with BBB and I was reluctant to sign such contract as most complaints applied were regarding their refund policy, and I said I would file another complaint. he then offered me a "store credit" where in the future I could get the same listings. I told him I did not want or need that, because after all the listings he provides are no different the the ones found for free on the Internet.

He then told me OHHHH, James, Do you want a cookie??? (What kind of service is this?!?) I ended the call advising him that I would make sure people would know about their scam.

My basic complaints are
A)Unfounded claims that those apartments are listings that are not available elsewhere on the Internet.
B)Misleading information by its employee's by stating something untrue (hassle free refund)
C)Unprofessional and unethical attitude towards customers when they are not satisfied with the service

James
Seattle, Washington
U.S.A.