Having read about OneSetPrice in other usacomplaints. Coms, I feel that a separate report should be initiated under the title of Platinum Plus savings. Many of us who had fallen for their unscrupulous con job may not know that these two entities are one in the same.
As was their apparent standard practice, I was flown to Orlando after handing over $15,000 for the purchase of a supposed "franchise". I had checked with the Better Business Bureau prior to doing this and found that while they were a relatively new company, they had no negative information on file with the BBB.in hindsight, this was because they continually change the name of the company and shuffle the key players around. It is now obvious that they have worked this con numerous times and know how to cover their tracks.
The "comprehensive training" that I received was little more than two days of pep talks by the players themselves and a tour of their offices including the heart of OneSetPrice which was portrayed as a completely separate company that had been contracted to supply the long distance service for the phone cards. At the end of the training, they stood us all in front of a video camera under the auspices of recording footage to show to other distributors (suckers). We were asked if we had fun, were we treated well, did we learn anything, are we exited to get started, etc. This, of course, was done to serve as their proof that we were trained and any failures we might have could only be because we were too lazy to succeed.
Upon returning to Minnesota, I put considerable effort into making this venture succeed. I immediately started signing up local merchants and setting up fundraisers with local organizations using the savings cards as the product. The problems started right away but I was too intent on success to believe they were anything more than mere glitches that would be fixed in short order. The companies I signed up were promised their own web site designed by the PPS graphics staff. When this did not materialize, I called my coach thinking I must be missing a step in processing their applications. I was told the coach I had been assigned while in Florida no longer worked for the company but I was assured another would be assigned. This went on for a while, getting promise after promise of help that never came and excuses about restructuring of departments and staff, etc., etc.
My own credibility was being questioned in my community because I had led these folks to believe this was a rock solid product. Letters and phone calls went back and forth between myself and PPS. I asked for support and answers about why the phone cards weren't working, the web site was down, merchants weren't being supported. PPS just asked for more money.
Ultimately, I was told that the CEO, Tom Dahl, had died and the company had been taken over by Richard Allen. First of all, I question whether Tom is actually dead and not just living in the south of France with Jackie Miller or someone else. They certainly have proven themselves to be capable of stooping that low. Secondly, the fraudulent "Pastor" Allen continued to send letters asking for money (the balance of the $25,000 that I had originally committed to). I had put the brakes on any further payment to PPS as soon as I started smelling the rat and they didn't like that. They threatened me with legal action if I didn't continue paying them while admitting in the same letters that they were experiencing internal changes which prevented some of the features of the program from working.
They reportedly split from OneSetPrice which is why the phone cards didn't work but they promised bigger and better things to come. Realizing that I was being strung along, I decided to end my dealings with the company. I sent them a letter saying that our partnership was over due to their failure to live up to contractual obligations. Furthermore, if they tried to come after me for the other $10,000, I would come after them for the original $15,000.
No doubt, this is exactly what they wanted to hear. I was just another dupe happy to walk away with a 15k loss. Because of the way I structured the purchase through one of my existing companies, however, I was able to write it all off as a business loss and got back about 70 cents on the dollar. The airfare to Florida, the hotel room for the three or four days, and the meals and drinks they provided me must have cost about a grand. I can somewhat chuckle about it now and chalk it up to an expensive lesson learned. Make no mistake about it, though. I'd love to see those boys come back to town under some other company name and some new scam. I guarantee I'd get the rest of my money back - with interest. I think I'd have some fun doing it as well.
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