Catalyst Coaching/Crystal Consulting/Focus LC/CNSS Mentoring, (& I later learned they may have been formally known as Thrive Learning Institute) conned me into signing up for their coaching program to learn how to create my own website & have a work from home business doing “drop shipping” online. They knew I was interested in going back to school so they made it sound like I would be going through a "school" program with them but for half the price.
They made me feel like they were choosing me & they are very selective with who they have in their program. They told me I would be using "other people's money" & that they could coach me on how to transfer my tuition payment to a business credit card so that if my LLC fails then my tuition would dissolve with it. They kept pressuring me to sign up, saying that if I did not sign up that day that I would no longer qualify for their program. They talked me into it; I guess because I am a desperate single mother trying to make ends meet. The next day I changed my mind and called them back to cancel. They put me on the phone with a guy named Jeremy Turner (evidently he is their “damage control” guy). I told him my concerns and that I wanted to cancel. I didn’t understand why it was costing me $12,000. He assured me that it is much less than going back to school and that I can still be a stay at home mom. He then promised me a $900 “Scholarship” check to help pay my credit card bills for the first 3 months and that I "would be making around $5000 after that so I would easily be able to start paying off my "tuition". It was on this premise, & the fact they directed me to the online BBB showing they're in good standing, that I decided to take a leap of faith & try their program. I have later learned that these guys get a lot of complaints against them, then reorganize under a different name so that their company appears to be in good standing with the BBB. I never received the Scholarship check that was promised & I have called them several times asking for it. I also have asked many times for a copy of my contract and receipt for the amounts I paid toward their tuition. They never sent it to me nor returned my phone calls. It wasn’t until last week that I finally received a copy of my contract. I think the only reason they finally sent it to me is because they received a call from American Express in regards to my dispute.
Every time I tried to call & express my concerns with paying so much for their "tuition", they sweet talked me then bullied me into not canceling & reminded me how expensive going back to school can be. When I would call & ask why I havent received my scholarship they would say "Oh I don't know why, let me send that out to you right away". Never received anything. After about 6 weeks of being in the program & going thru their "coaching sessions" I finally saw the red flag after all the attempts to receive that scholarship check & receiving nothing, so I started researching them. Come to find out there are many people who have also been scammed by them & there are many who have done the exact same program as me for only a 1/4 the amount of what I paid (which was $12,000). They are all over the place with different tuition requirements apparently.
They get away with what they're doing b/c they know they have to fulfill the commitment of "Services Rendered", which is what I’m sure the credit card companies look for. So the coach does call once a week & they have many videos you can watch. But what you're left with is a knowledge that is no different than what you can find online for free, and a crappy website. And you pay thousands of dollars more for all their subsidiary companies that call you 10x a day for things like SEO & marketing, your site will never end up on the 1st page of a google search as they promise you. They don't tell you what's involved w / actually getting traffic to your site!!!
I paid one such subsidiary called Elite Corporate Services for Credit Coaching & to have them register my LLC for me. They completely screwed up the process & put the wrong name on my LLC papers. They also told me (after I paid) I wouldn't be able to have an EIN# for at least a week or 2. They told me they could get me a line of credit that wouldn't be linked to my personal accounts, so that way if my business fails all the money I spent would just dissolve with my LLC.
Needless to say, I'm trying to get my money back thru the dispute process w / my credit card companies. Stay away from these scumbags, and any type of coaching program that is out of Utah. They are all in cahoots with each other!
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