On 8/16/02, we signed a licensee agreement with Universal Coupon Company-Worldwide Exchange Agency. We paid $ 2,500.00.in addition, we sent a $15,000.00 money order to purchase a 10,000 name mailing list.
On 9/10/02 we purchased 4,500 grocery coupon booklets for $11,698.00. We paid with a bank wire. Estella Gonzales, owner of Universal coupon Company, claimed that the first mailing list generated $4,500.00 in front-end sales. She claimed that we would make money from the back-end sales. We agreed to put $4,000.00 towards the second mailing list. As a result, we received a check for $500.00 on 10/30/02.
On 10/04/02, we sent a $11,000.00 bankwire for the second mailing list. As previously mentioned, $4,000.00 from our first mailing list was used towards the purchase of the second mailing list. Therefore the total cost was $15,000.00. When we asked Estella if we could pay with a credit card, she claimed that her company reached the maximum at the beginning of every month, which was over $ 1 million. Therefore, she couldn't accept credit card payments from us.
At the beginning of we made dozens of calls asking about our back-end commisions from the first mailing lists & front-end commissions from our second mailing list. We were told that the funds had to go through a process before we could get paid. Estella also claimed that out of state checks take several days to clear & that there was a 30 day period in which each customer had the right to ask for a refund.
On 1/17/03, we received an unsigned letter stating that our commissions would be paid soon. However, on 2/15/03, we received another letter stating that Universal Coupon Company was no longer in business. When I spoke to Estella on 2/17/03, she claimed that her business partner stole cash & other assets from the company & that she couldn't pay our commissions.
We had no prior knowledge of a partner until 2/17/03.in addition, we found it almost impossible to contact Estella after we paid the mailing lists & the inventory. Most of our calls were answered by her staff. Her staff would give vague & sometimes inconsistent explanations as to when our commissions would be paid. All phone numbers have been disconnect as of 2/27/03.
In addition, my father, Philip called & pretended to be interested in home-based business opportunities. The receptionist told him that the success coach was busy helping others & that he would get a call back. My father, Philip didn't give them his home phone number. This took place a few days after we received the "going out of business" notice. Therefore, we have concluded that Estella & her staff committed fraud.
In addition, we found out on 4/10/03 that her new business name is US Inc on her ad agency sight with Couponsman. Her ad agency# is 1025001. The only contact information is us. Couponsman.com which is both her web address and e-mail. We lost a total of $44,198.00 plus other expenses to set up our business. She has used several business names such as America's Choice Coupons in Florida, Shop & Save in Duluth Georgia, Universal Coupon Company, Universal Savings Company and Worldwide Exchange Agency in Houston, Texas.
The way we learned about Estella's company was through Nationwide Employment Services, a home based business publisher. If anyone else has been scammed by Estella Gonzales, please contact using the rebuttal key.
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