I received a letter in the mail from Cambridge Who's Who and, like so many others, was flattered by the opportunity to simply be nominated. The recognition they seemed willing to provide was exciting - here was my chance to finally be recognized in my industry.
I filled out the online application and sure enough, received a phone call within a day or two from someone at Laura at Cambridge. My application was almost completed; however, there were some questions remaining to fill in my biography and - of course - they were going to print on the next issue so, I needed to act quickly.
I was having a weird feeling about the entire thing but, after the short interview, I was informed I was going to be submitted - congratulations to me. This is about the time the fees were brought up and, though I didn't have the disposable income at the time, the lifetime membership seemed like quite a great deal. I provided my debit card information - big mistake - and told the woman to please not process the membership as I was waiting on funds to clear from a client.
They called me back two days later as I advised them to and, client funds had yet to clear so, I didn't give permission to charge my card. Laura then indicated she would call me back the following Wednesday to see if it was OK to process my membership.
Laura called back; however, instead of waiting to speak to me, she simply informed me that my membership had been processed for a total of $918. I was on a conference call and had been unable to take the phone call; however, as soon as I heard my card had been charged, I returned the call. I informed Laura that she had not spoken to me for my approval and I not only didn't want my card to be charged at that time - I didn't want to ever be charged (I had done some questioning of colleagues and friends about the organization and supposed membership). She indicated it was too late and I argued that she never receipt confirmation from me to process my card.
A supposed superior called me back and I explained the situation. I told her I had heard they are a fraudulent company and did not wish to be associated with them or accept the membership. She asked for time to 'review the tapes' and I obliged.
I immediately called my bank and, the charge for the $918 was sitting in the pending charges status for my account. I then visited my local branch and they are going to be able to submit an affidavit against the charges tomorrow.
We'll see what happens but I am not going to let them get away with close to $1,000 without my permission to take it!
Morris
Wynantskill, New York
U.S.A.
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