Monarch Media Group 411 Business Monarch Media Group Scam Port Huron Michigan

I spoke with a representative from Monarch media group in February. I receive a lot of cold calls regarding marketing, media and all other kinds of services that people can offer me and I have never committed to any that aren't local or that haven't been researched and approved by my executive director. I received a follow-up call in which someone confirmed our organization's contact information for the information they were supposed to send me. A few weeks later I received a CD-Rom and an invoice for $469.00 and I was extremely confused because I knew I had not agreed to anything of that kind. I really just figured it was one of those gimmicks where businesses send you the invoice in hopes that you'll think you've ordered it and pay for it without checking into it, so I set it aside. When I received the second invoice, I began to become suspicious and made a note to contact the organization to find out what was going on.

A call soon came into my accounting department who would not write the check without my consent. I was also left a message or two and today, I was finally able to follow-up on the situation. I was told that I had in fact requested all of the services on the invoice and that they had a recording of me doing so. I asked them if I could hear the recording and it was in fact me on the confirmation call, not on the original sales call. The ending was really very "fishy" to me because in it they stated the price of the invoice that would be sent and I certainly don't recall hearing that information although I supposedly agreed to it. I hung up thinking that I should just go ahead and process the payment and be done with it, but then I began to research the company. The first sites that popped up on my "google search" was of people describing how they had been ripped off by the company. I immediately related to their stories so I called the Better Business Bureau in their area and was shocked to find that there had been 38 complaints on this business. I then contacted the Michigan Attorney General's Office who had similar information and encouraged me to file a complaint with them as well.

I then went to Monarch Media's Website and searched for our company listing. To my delight, we were not listed. After three searches for "Chattanooga Symphony & Opera" and one search for "Chattanooga" and another for "Tennessee," I came up completely empty-handed. I now felt I had the ammunition I needed. I called the company a third time and told them that I had researched the company and I knew they had a lot of similar complaints and that I had looked on their website and my company was not even listed (which is one of the services they were charging me for). After asking me how to spell "Chattanooga," telling me how slow her computer was being and then putting me on hold for a minute, the representative returned to say "Yes, you're listed on there." So I searched "Chattanooga Symphony & Opera" again and magically there we were. I have no doubt that our listing was added while I sat waiting for her "slow computer" to get to their own webpage.

I know deep down that I would never agree to this kind of service because my company is a non-profit and we don't have $500 to spend on things like that. When I asked to hear a recording of the initial sales call they said they didn't have those avaialble because they erase them at the end of every month. Convenient. I contacted two other businesses from Chattanooga listed on the Monarch website and no one from either place to knew anything about the business or why they would be listed on their website. Please do something about this company! I feel very strongly that they are scamming people! Please be informed and research before you committ to anything. And definitely follow your gut if you know you didn't committ to something. Businesses like this are making millions of dollars on people who just take what they say as the gospel. Don't give these scam artists your money!

Stephanie
Chattanooga, Tennessee
U.S.A.