TV Travel WANTED: New Scam Laws Glendale, Arizona

   Business opportunity seekers need new laws to protect them from predators.  A predator is anyone who will misrepresent their company's products and services in order to gain a sale.

   I am 56 years old, I am slowly becoming disabled and I am finding it very difficult to find work that I can do.  This was the information I gave to the sales staff at TV Travel in January 2010.  It was Joey who called me first.  After some discussion, and many reassurances from him, including that I should have my first sale in 7 days, I made a purchase.  He then passed me to a "business coach" (backend advertising salesman).  John convinced me that the way to make money in this business was to buy their leads.  I bought 1,000 at $5.00 each for a total of $5,000.

   I now know that these type of companies can buy the leads for pennies and sell them for dollars.  I suspect, though, that closing a sale from a lead is like hitting the lottery.  I was someone's lead and that person did very well.  Of course, the salesman will say as little as possible about any possible risks.  There is no discussion of ratio of leads to sales.  The sales staff can and do say anything knowing that they can deny everything, because the sales pitch is not recorded.  If 20 people buy 1,000 leads, that is 20,000 leads for the company and an immediate $100,000 for the company minus commissions.

   About every 6 weeks, I get dozens of phone calls from internet companies wanting to sell me their opportunity.  It is apparent that I am a lead that is sold and resold countless times--a loss to whoever buys it.  The paradigm is always the same.  There is the frontend salesman who calls first, and then a business coach (advertising salesman) who uspsells.  Most of these companies have called me countless times before, even though, I keep telling them to put me on their "do-not-call list."

   Within days of purchasing my block of leads, I learned that John had lied to me about additional costs associated with their "lifetime travel package"--a product sold by Coastal Vacations via TV Travel.  I felt like I had been punched in the stomach, because I had so thoroughly trusted John, but I had to move on.

   Less than 2 weeks later, I received a call from Jewell (another backend sales person).  It took about 45 minutes, but she convinced me to upgrade to the "Diamond Package."  After it was all done, I had charged up my credit card to nearly $10,000!  At the time, I had no income, but I still hoped in all the assurances I had been given.  After a restless night, I tried to cancel this upgrade the following morning, but a customer service rep dismissed my request with a chuckle and more assurances.

   After 8 months, there has not been even one sale from these leads.  In June, I received a commission check for $50.  Since, it did not come from a lead I suspect it was given to me to placate me.

   I was told that credit card was "OPM" (Other People's Money).  If anyone tells you that, let me assure you that, OPM is your money.  The bills come to you.  I had to cash in my paltry IRA and nearly clean out my checking and savings to pay for "OPM."  And, I still owe taxes on the IRA.

   Recently, a representative from Global Web Solutions contacted me.  To contact Global Web Solutions: phone 877-301-7363, email: e-businessfinancial.com.  The rep's name is Richard.  He told me that he was referred by TV Travel.  He said TV Travel sends to him referrals of people who are doing well and those who are not.  He got me because I was not doing well.  He said that he was his company's top representative and that I would be dealing exclusively with him.  "Aren't you glad of that?," he said.  That must be in a script somewhere because that is exactly the samething that John told me about himself.

   Richard told me that his company had a way for me to recoup my money through advertising on Google Adsense.  He told me that I had 23,000 visitors on my TV Travel website and that Google would pay me as much as $16,000 - $18,000 for those visitors through a program called "Previous Phase Transfer," which is not defined in the contract.  He was very convincing and I nearly signed.  This time, I decided to check out his story first.  TV Travel never heard of the company and they said they did not give them a referral.  Futhermore, I had ZERO visitors to my website.

   Richard constantly spoke of Global Web Solutions's guarantees, psychologically implying that my income was guaranteed.  He wanted me to buy before I had a chance to read the contract.  He said that reading it might cause me to "freeze up."  I knew, then, that I must read it first.  The contract states that there is no guarantee of income.  The only guarantee is in the number of visitors to a website that they provide.  Visitors do not necessarily translate into the kind of income that will repay your investment.  In 2004, I lost $7,000 with another company that provided such "guarantees."  I am a slow learner, but I am learning, nevertheless, at a great cost.  I hope to spare many other people this learning curve.  The deck is stacked in the favor of the companies.  There is very little protection, if any, for the general public.

   If there are any attorneys or government officials out there that would like to put your name to a piece of legislation, may I suggest the following:

(1) When a company contacts someone to sell him/her a business opportunity, the company must record the entire sales pitch--not just the acceptance of the contract.  Companies desigh the contract and the recording of the close so as to protect themselves from reprisal by the purchaser.  If someone does make a purchase, then the company must provide to the purchaser an unedited CD copy of the entire sales pitch from beginning to close.  Editing nullifies the contract and a full refund must be given.

(2) All "assurances" of success are to be considered as "implied guarantees" equal to a signed contract.  Sales staff use statements like: "we can't guarantee how much money you will make, but you really have nothing to worry about."  The first clause states "no guarantee", but the second clause psychologically implies a guarantee.  If you have nothing to worry about, then you are guaranteed success.  The sales staff at TV Travel used the above statement on me along with others: "you should get your first sale in 7 days" (Joey), and "isn't it reasonable to think that out of 1,500 leads I can get you four Diamond Package sales?"  And, "everyone else makes money, why should you be the exception?"  The last two statements were used by Jewell.

(3) Since the companies hold all the cards and power, purchasers should be allowed 30 days to review the contract, cancel it if so desired, and be given a full refund.  The purchase money should be held in escrow and no commissions are to be paid out from the purchase until the 30 days have expired.  This might seem extreme, but the public is at the mercy of these fraudulent practitioners of "the end justifies the means."