Although there are other companies involved, I am filing this report against Empire Marketing Systems (EMS) because the balance transfers from my credit card were made to them.
I was contacted by Peter who claimed to represent Smart Savings of Southern Utah. He gave me a sales pitch about a program that would help me master successful network marketing techniques, becoming proficient in ways of increasing traffic and sales to my sites, and realize a profit after expenses. Sounded good, I was interested.
Then he asked me how much I could afford to pay for such a program. (This should have been my first clue that I was being scammed.) We agreed on an amount. He then explained that the best way to pay for the program was by using credit card leveraging because this would get me the best interest rate from my credit card company. He than transfered my to Julie in his accounting department so that we could call the credit card company together and arrange for an immediate balance transfer.
This done, I was transfered back to Peter who told me he would email a contract to me. (Paying before signing a contract should have been my second clue.)
I received a contract the next day. The parties to the contract were myself and SSSU. The contract did not mention any of the benefits of the program I had been told about.in exchange for my balance transfer I would receive all trade secret products and service from something called a Money Home Program Package. The contract also stated that the balance transfer could be completed by merchant accounts EMS1, EMS2, EMS3 or Smart Savings. There was no provision in the contract for signature by a representative of SSSU, only my signature was required. (Third clue.) I signed the contract and sent it back.
At this point in your reading, you're probably thinking that I'm too stupid to be alive, and after the research I've done over the past few days, I would agree. But, I am relatively new to internet marketing and my primary focus is making my sites successful.
A day or two later, I received a call from Jon who said he was with SSSU mentoring. He was assigned to be my coach. We scheduled the first coaching session, which occured a few days later.
Next, I received a call from Shelia who said she was from Empire Marketing Systems and she wanted to set up my merchant accounts. I told her I already had merchant accounts through another company. This was the first and only time I have spoken with anyone from EMS.
A few days later, I received a phone message from Julie at SSSU. There was a problem with the balance transfer. She left me an 800 number and her extension. I now know that the 800 number for Julie at SSSU is also the main 800 number for EMS.
I also received a call from Peter about the balance transfer. During the conversation, I asked him who EMS was. Peter said he had never heard of them.
Next, I received an email from Debbie at WebProCoach telling me that Maikel had been assigned as my coach. I sent Debbie an email asking her to explain the relationship between EMS, SSSU and WebProCoach. She responded by saying that I would be keeping Jon as my coach, he had been assigned to me without her knowledge. She also stated that WebProCoach was the company under contract to coach my internet sessions.
At this point I was totally confused and suspicious. I decided to start doing research. I looked up the websites for EMS and WebProCoach. Neither site mentioned anything about the Money Home Program Package. WebProCoach did not list Jon as one of their coaches.
I emailed Jon asking him to clear up my confusion regarding SSSU, EMS, WebProCoach and him. Jon responded that he was an independent contractor for WebProCoach and they didn't currently have his biography on site to be listed as one of their coaches.
During my second coaching session with Jon, he explained that part of the confusion was due to the pending merger of SSSU and EMS. I went back to the WebProCoach site for more research. This company has very specific lesson plans for coaching. Neither of my two sessions with Jon followed the lesson plans I found on the site.
I recently received a statement from my credit card company showing two balance transfers to EMS, Inc. Remember, I've only heard from EMS once. I realize now that the EMS merchant accounts refered to in the SSSU contract are, in fact, Empire Marketing Systems.
Where I am now. Apparantly, I've donated a great deal of money to EMS. Other than the SSSU contract, I have received nothing more from SSSU in either the way of written or spoken communication or information regarding what I spent my money on. My phone calls go unreturned. The same applies to EMS.
I've had two coaching sessions from someone who has, overall, just given me a lot of homework to do to prepare for the next session. He tells me I have a total of 12 coaching sessions and he doesn't know what sort of package I purchased from WebProCoach insofar as websites, hosting and internet support. Remember, I'd never heard of WebProCoach until that first email from Debbie and I've received nothing from them in writing. The credit card company will not dispute the charges because the balance transfers were made by me.
I fully believe I am the subject of a scam. I am reporting this so that other trusting newbies don't get taken to the cleaners like me. I can't afford to make donations to scammers and will continue to attempt to get my money back. I notice from this site that I am not the first person to report EMS. Hopefully, I will be the last.
Kimberly
Crestwood, Kentucky
U.S.A.
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