I too am a victim of this company. On 8/4/08, I ordered the CD, and paid for it with a secure Mastercard through Paypal. The reason I did this, was to generate a one time use Mastercard, in case this was not a legitimate company, just a precaution.
However, something has gone wrong, I should have picked up on it when I saw that $1.00 and $1.29, were billed separately. The only reason I can think of, for the company to do that, is to test whether they will be able to make recurring charges, wish I would have thought of that at the time. Since the total was $2.29, what I agreed to, I was not too concerned.
While waiting for my CD to arrive (still waiting by the way), I received an email from [email protected], thanking me for my order of the Grant Master.
In the email, there was also this:
Grant Master Membership Page
Member Login: http://www.yourgrantmaster.com/
Username: XXXXXXXX
Password: XXXXXXXX
Express Business Funding Membership Page
Member Login: http://www.fastsbaloan.com
Username: XXXXXXXXXX
Password: XXXXXXX
Network Agenda Membership Page
Member Login: http://www.networkagenda.com/
Click here to access your free trial
I signed into the membership page, but just glanced at it, not knowing or caring what it was really, the info I wanted should be on the CD, at least that is what I was lead to believe, we'll see, if it ever shows up, which I am doubting since 12 days have elapsed.
Anyway, on 8/12/08, the company charged $39.95 to my supposedly secure Paypal one time use Mastercard, at least I think the temporary card had a soon expiration date. When I discovered this charge, I also noticed that a second charge of $39.95 had been made and was pending - not good. My thinking was that this was the company trying to make an additional charge before the expiration date.
I contacted Paypal, and they informed me that I cannot file a dispute on a pending transaction, and that for the complete transaction, I would have to fill out a form and fax or mail it in (requires a signature). They also informed me that Mastercard would require that I try to solve the problem with the company first, and if no remedy, then contact Mastercard.
Not that I think that I should have to go through all of that, but i am willing to do so, but I was concerned about stopping the bleeding, I did not want to see by account bled dry. Not getting much in the way of immediate help from Paypal, I elected to find a remedy at Mastercard itself, on their website, but it is almost totally useless.
I was going to call them up, but then figured I should be armed with dates and transaction numbers etc.
Going back to my Paypal account, I looked at the transactions in detail, and noticed that the chargers were billed by:
GRANTSEARCH8004790979 800-4790979 NV
Recognizing that there was an 800 number there (800) 479-0979, I elected to call it, and make that my first attempt to resolve the problem directly through the company. I called on a Saturday, 8/16/08, just finished the call about 20 minutes ago actually. I talked to a customer service rep there.
I told her I had two problems:
One, I had not received my CD
Two, there was a charge of $39.95 from them that I did not authorize. She asked for information like may name, email address, shipping address etc, to verify and locate my account.
Having done so, she then said the CD should arrive in 12-14 days. Then she informed me that I authorized the the $39.95 fee by failing to cancel some membership or something, withing the free trial period. I Told here I had no idea what she was talking about. She told me that I must have fail to read the terms of the offer. I questioned her about were the terms were, as I never saw them. She said they were provided at the time, through whichever website I odered through. I reiterated that I never saw them, and asked her if that might be because they were located at the bottom, off screen and invisible from the spot one fills in the CD order information. She did not know that answer. I told here that I would never have agreed to any such thing, and that I always read the detail of an offer, if I see them. She then told me that they would have been presented also, when I filled in the information about billing. I infromed her that I never filled in any information about billing, I have a plugin on my browser that fills it in for me. She thankd me for that additional information.
This banter went on a while, she was always firm but polite. I was the same. Eventually, she offered to credit a refund to my account. I said that would be fine. She also asked about the other offers and memberships etc, I said I was not interested in paying for anything further, and do not want to see any recurring charges, she assured be there would be none.
It all seems to have ended well. We will see if the refund actually happens, and I will update this either way. I do have the concern though, that if my secure card expires before they issue a refund, that their refund will bounce, I will have to cross the bridge later if I need too.
Hopefully, someone reading this will be able to secure a refund following my example. Although this company is clearly in the business of suckering people in to paying money they do not want to pay, my experience so far, is that they are responsive to people who will not rollover and take it. I kept the conversation polite, and matter of fact, no emotions, as I find getting angry makes for short calls and hangups - stay cool but be assertive, give them the opportunity to make it right without threats, let them be customer service, and don't force them into a definsive posture for their company.
If the company was truly upfront, they would not at all hide this elusive information, they would have a notice that says:
"Before clicking submit, understand that you will be bill additional money, unless you follow these steps..."
And it would be in bold print. However, there are companies that do try to get money from you, in a legal way, legal keeps them in business. I suspect this is one of them.By attempting to get you to contract to something you are unaware of, they are not ethical, but they will likely perform legally in a way that keeps them safe, and just rely on the fact that some people will give up. Who knows, some people might actually want there services, i might have, had they been above board about it, but now, I don't trust them.
0 comments