USA Card Services is the sales arm of a conglomerate of internet businesses that recruit the public to join an internet marketing scheme. The salesmen are quite glib, which is to be expected, and sell something they really know very little about. One suspects that this lack of knowledge is quite well planned, because the salesmen make unrealistic promises about the nature of selling on the internet. Other members of the cabal are Startup Essentials and Colony One. These last two firms instruct the new recruit on how to construct and maintain a website.
As the line goes: USA is in this promotion only to increase its revenue from more sales with credit card from which they receive a small percentage. Those who are chosen, as if it were a big honor, must agree to pay $6,311 for the privilege of working hundreds of hours to set up a website which in all probability will hardly ever be seen unless the site builder pays thousands of dollars to the search engines to list his site near the top of searches.
Of course, the recruit does not know these facts when he agrees to the scheme. To be fair, the $6,311 can be paid over 48 months and the recruit is furnished a computer and programs which are probably worth about $1,000. The glib salesman assures the recruit that he will be up and running in plenty of time to make the first payment. The salesman quickly faxes the mark a contract and insists that it be executed immediately or the offer will be withdrawn.
Included in this contract is a so-called non-cancelable lease from a fourth party known as A-1 Leasing which is in Michigan while all the other parties to the scheme are in Dallas.in other words, the local firms divorce themselves from the money gathering end of the business. Obviously, A-1 Leasing splits up the money in some manner that has been agreed upon.
USA Card Services relies heavily upon its relationship with Chase Bank. Chase is displayed prominently on their advertisements. They even say that the new recruit must be approved by Chase. The truth of the matter is that Chase handles the credit card transactions for them, as it does for millions of others. Checking with Chase results in little information about USA, nothing good, nothing bad.
After working in my spare time since May, on the lessons and trying to begin to build a website, I realized that I did not have the background to successfully construct a website. I am a graduate in engineering from Rice University, but I did not know and/or understand the terms used in this type of business.
Therefore, I contacted a professional website designer and asked her if she would complete the website for me. Here is her reply: We can certainly complete this design if you wish to do so. However, I'd advise you to get out of the contract, if at all possible. Making money on the internet is not at all easy, although many companies make their money convincing you that it is. A web site cannot make money using search engines alone. You must invest in other advertising methods and be available to answer questions. I'm not saying that you can't get some sales this way. I'm sure that some people will stumble upon your site. It's just that this company makes it seem like you can make a lot of money through a mathematical search system. I just don't know about that.
When I opened an account for this business the man at Chase Bank who handled it was quite leery of the deal from the beginning. He ran a check with Chase on the name USA Card Services. As previously stated, no information was available. He was thinking ahead and came up with a solution to the problem that he could see would develop. This solution will be analyzed for its legality with an Attorney before any action will be taken.
It should have been obvious that this was a scam when I was pushed to complete the contract because time was running out. Also, when A-1 Leasing kept stating that the lease was non-cancelable should have been warning. It was to the man at Chase Bank. Unfortunately, my naivet coupled with my own honesty makes it difficult for me to recognize when I have been a victim of a perhaps illegal scheme. Simply stating that a lease is non-cancelable does not relieve those who presented the plan of any responsibility for fraud and illegal actions.
For a contract to be legally binding it must contain a quid pro quo, i.E. Both parties must receive equal benefits from the contract. Also, the contract cannot be signed under duress. Duress can mean that one is rushed into signing a contract without being given time to read and study the meaning of the contract.
As an example of ABC's misleading advertising that they furnish all that is needed to operate a business, a recent email from StartUp Essentials was entitled Win A Paid Advertising Campaign. Why would a paid advertising campaign be helpful if everything one needs is furnished with the original package?
To illustrate how difficult the course from StartUp Essentials is consider the following statement from Lesson 3: write 3 pages (length not specified) of keyword rich content that is compelling copy that will lead my visitors to make a decision. Such a task takes real talent and anyone who can do it is already working for an ad agency and making in the six figure salary range. So it is obvious that the average person could not do this and all the three players in this part of the scam divorce themselves from the money collection aspect of the business in hopes that the victim will be so overwhelmed that he/she will pay up and shut up.
Richard
Dallas, Texas
U.S.A.
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