Same sad story to report here, promised an UNSECURED visa or mc with a minimum credit line of $500. Got a cheap, 16 page booklet containing general credit information and a list of banks.
When my confirmation recording was played back to me, I heard the recorded voice say things that I DIDN'T hear when my 'order' was being confirmed.
How does this happen, you might ask? I can tell you because I used to work for a company that also used an automated verification recording. You simply talk OVER the recording, and ask similar (but not the SAME) questions in order to get the appropriate responses when the recording pauses to hear your answer.
For instance, when the recording is explaining how you are guaranteed to get a credit card by following their PROGRAM, the telemarketer is talking loudly over it, asking if you understand that this is a guarantee for a $500 unsecured visa or mc. Of course, when he asks if you understand, you say YES at the beep, not having heard the true description of the offer.
Its an old trick, and one I fell for, even though I used to do it myself when working for a company called Access Communications.
We called businesses and offered a free web page for 30 days, after which it would be billed at $29.95 per month to their phone bill. Even though the recording told them that they had to call before the 30 days expired to cancel this charge, we made damn sure the client NEVER HEARD that part, and after making hundreds of calls a day, we had the timing down pat.
You answer a recorded voice, but you don't HEAR the recorded voice, you hear the TSR telling you what THEY want you to hear, asking questions that you will respond to with a "YES" at the appropriate time.
My bank doesn't want to file the ACH reversal, because they say that's not how this company withdrew the funds. They actually submitted a paper check from the account info i had given them over the phone. They did, however, give me the name and phone # of their processing company.
They are called Amerinet Inc and can be reached at 1-800-394-4772. The first time I called, the tsr told me all she could do was send a message to Phoenix asking them to contact me. I called again later and asked to speak to a supervisor.
He informed me that he first had to submit a request to Phoenix for them to credit the money back to Amerinet, and then he would refund it to us. He says this will take 3 business days, its Weds, Dec 1, so i will call him back on Monday. His name was Aaron, and his employee # is 625.
I've also filed a report with the Richmond PD and the US Postal Inspectors, and once I get all my paperwork from the Bank, will file a complaint with the FTC, the FCC, and Attorneys General from both Virginia and Florida.
After calling the company numbers given in one of the other complaints here, I reached someone in Phoenix's payroll department, and she FINALLY had someone from customer service call me back. His name was Frederick, and he's the one that played back my so called 'confirmation recording' to me.
When I let him know that I myself had talked over these types of recordings in order to solicit the desired responses from potential clients, he played dumb and tried to tell me that the system is 'failsafe.'
When I made it clear that he wasn't going to be able to BS me, he made another lame attempt to sell me the program!!! Talk about gall. Finally, he told me that he MIGHT be able to process a refund request, minus the $29.95 processing fee.
So for now, I have a couple of possible avenues to get my money, or at least some of it, back. Odd, though, I fully expect some BS charges to apply on my phone now, because he cut that recording off just as it was starting to tell me about some "BONUS OFFER! Free phone card!!! Etc."
Watch your phone bills after dealing with these jerks, too. I'll let you all know if I get any type of refund, but even if I get every dime back, i will continue to file my complaints with these various agencies, to prevent these bottom feeders from preying on other low income families like mine.
They count on you giving up. Don't give up!
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