Found Busy Bee Crafters listed in the U.S. Digest, a guide I sent for that lists all types of home-based businesses and rates each of them by a 4-star system. Busy Bee had four stars, so I thought it would be a good one to try for our first venture out into the shark-infested waters of home-based business. Like all the others, they ask for an upfront processing fee, and we sent it - plus some extra money to get samples of their products. We sent out a money order to them in September '03.
When we didn't receive our start-up kit after waiting a couple of months, my husband went to our local post office to put out a tracer on the money order to see whether or not it was ever cashed. It was indeed cashed. We have a photocopy of the cashed money order the post office sent us, but we never heard a peep from Busy Bee. Now that we knew they received our money order, I wrote the company a letter. I even tried to call their phone number (no answer). We wanted an explanation and a refund. No response to my letter.
After that, I called Better Business Bureau to put in a complaint. They told me they had a bunch of complaints about Busy Bee. They then advised me to call the DA's office in Emeryville, which I did. Spoke first with a lady named Claire. She told me Busy Bee is a very familiar name in their neck of the woods, and the District Attorney was working on it. Many complaints. She told me she would leave a message for the District Attorney, one Lynne (?) Breschears. She never called me back. I did try once more to call her back but never got a response. That's where we left it.
Knowing what a bad reputation these types of home-based businesses have, we sent out to only one place, Busy Bee Crafters, figuring if we lost out on the deal, at least it wouldn't be a lot of money. Those places make tons of money from poor suckers like me who are stupid enough to take the risk to send them money for a starter kit that really never existed. They're so smooth in their advertisement letters they send. However, I must admit that after receiving so many replies from different companies, they all sound the same. After a while, one can get wise and pick out what I call "code words" that tell one what the deal really is.
Example: When those envelope-stuffing brochures say the word "securing" envelopes, it means the person has to do all the getting of names and address, pinning ads on bulletin boards, going on the Internet and in some cases, spending money to take out ads in the newspapers. Also, when a company tells you grandiose tales of all the money one can make but says very little about how that money is to be made, beware. It's a con job. Stay away from Busy Bee.
Question: Any one out there know of honest to goodness home-based companies I could contact?
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