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I've been doing business on the web since '94 so you'd think I'd know a thing or two about what's legitimate and what isn't. Well ladies, I got @#$#$@#@!! this past month and want to pass on some advice so that it doesn't happen to you. I was presented an opportunity to buy into an Ellite Membership Site...one that would offer monthly interviews of online and offline sucessful business owners, helpful articles, monthly ebooks and other resources that members could turn around and sell from their websites. The idea was every month each member would get a bunch of valuable information that they could use and (if they wanted to) even sell. The pitch was that with the info provided, you'd certainly recoup your monthly membership fee, and if you put into practice what the gurus were teaching, you might even make a nice little paycheck on the side. My intention was to customize the site for Women's Work and offer memberships to interested subscribers. Well, that was over four weeks ago. As each week passed, and I heard nothing from the creators of this Elite Membership Site, I sent out emails requesting the progress of my site. Each time I sent an email a reply would soon follow "urging me to be patient; remember, this is such a great opportunity, but it would be a couple more days." Oh, I forgot to mention that in the sales pitch for this membership site the creators said they were able to get 5000 subscribers to sign up in less than 90 days. Wow, 5000 subscribers in 90 days! I got the calculator out for that. Let's see, 5000 members at $29.95/month...wooohoooo, I'm in the money!! Back to the story - in week four I happened to buy a piece of software from one of the guys selling the site and got a free 30 day membership to this Elite Membership Club. I thought, GREAT, let me peek in and see what I'm getting, what I've been waiting for, what I was going to promote to my subscribers! So I signed in and wasn't I surprised to find nothing there...that's right...NOTHING! Well, not exactly nothing. There was a referral sign-up for me to refer more sales to them....but no content...no info...no tools...nothing for me...NOTHING. At that moment the thought struck me that I was paying for...oh my gosh, NOTHING. Then I thought about those 5000 memberships they talked about in 90 days...were they 5000 memberships for a 30 day trial of NOTHING? Boy, did I feel sick. I could go on and on and tell you I tried phoning the company (and you wouldn't be surprised that the phone numbers listed were either disconnected or answered by voicemail), and I could tell you I tried emailing (after I started expressing my concerns the support group suddenly stopped answering my emails), but absolutely no progress was made until I contacted the Better Business Bureau (http://bbb.org). In fact, I filed a complaint with the BBB on a Friday and the following Monday I had four messages...Three were from Support saying they were very sorry I was unhappy, and they were refunding my money in total. The other email was from the Better Business Bureau saying they had followed up on my complaint and believed there would be resolution to my problem. Hmmmm...the emails...all coming in on the same day...a coincidence, maybe? I don't think so. Lessons learned...know exactly what you're buying (don't get caught up in a sales pitch like me without understanding exactly what you're getting)...require a money back guarantee (this one had a 90 day money back guarantee advertised but I later wondered whether they would even honor it)...make sure you use a credit card so that you can dispute and recoup the charges from the credit card company if necessary (fortunately, I did that). Consider an installment plan if they offer one...it might be more expensive overall, but it gives you a chance to see what you bought before paying the full price (I did that, too)....and by all means, utilize the Better Business Bureau (http://bbb.org). If you're unhappy about a product or service you bought and the seller is being unresponsive, file a complaint with the BBB. In my case, it wasn't until the BBB got involved that anything was resolved at all. Finally, you can always file a report with the Federal Trade Commission (http://ftc.gov). They enter it into a database that they share with law enforcement agencies who may investigate if they think it is illegal.
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