After all the hype that the founders of CHPLaptops.com made about being legit, they have done almost the exact same thing as EZLaptop.com.
- Got the member's time and money. (As well as advertisers money)
- Didn't give any laptops.
- Left the members out to dry/Betrayed their trust & good faith.
- Stated they split the remaining money between the founders.
- Didn't even apologize.
(They are also owners of CHPNetwork and CHPForum)
Founders: Timothy Core, Aaron Latham, Mihai Psederschi.
Forum Administrator: Eddie Kukiela
-If you weren't aware, the founders claimed to be victims of ezlaptop.com, and had pages on their site dedicated to explaining what happened to them, and how they were actually going to give laptops. (Though, their terms and conditions only commit to providing access to e-books, nothing more). All of their advertisements, banners, and 'about' pages stated laptops would be given when the credits were earned... (They started up around June/ July)
~Jan 20th they announced their sites were shut down - effective immediately. More details would not be disclosed, citing a "non-disclosure agreement". No physical proof of the NDA was ever provided. At the time of the closing, I had earned 206 credits, many people had more credits than me, though CHP* claims that no one legitimately earned enough credits for any of the laptops (the "cheapest" one required ~280 credits). Also note that I joined in July '05, and had member #411.
CHPForum, the supposed "unofficial" forum of CHPLaptops.com was NOT unofficial at all.in fact it was hosted on the CHPLaptops.com server - and was heavily moderated and locked down after the announcement. It has since been taken completely down.
A real unofficial forum was started, where you can see more details and information about the situation (including responses from some of the founders, and the former forum administrator).
Basically, I fell for the same scam twice ($5 for ezlaptop.com, and $10 for chplaptops.com). The CHP* story had me convinced they would actually follow through; taking a person's word doesn't mean much when they write something else; especially when they can hide behind an online identity, with physical distance as a secondary buffer.
There now exists a site called 3laptops.com, you pay $10 for membership, they give you e-books and access to their "newsletter" - and guarantee NOTHING. It's got the same 'business model' as the other 2 sites: Beware.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
What happens the third time? ;)
Notes...
I'm not sure if this falls under the ripoff category of 'Internet Marketing' or 'Computer Fraud'.
The following usacomplaints. Coms are about the same entity:
ripoff155171.htm (Internet Marketing Companies)
ripoff172694.htm (Internet Marketing Companies)
ripoff172767.htm (Computer Fraud)
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