After being solicited (almost harassed) by the USA Grants, Inc team and checking their rating with several sources, I accepted their service to provide me with an already approved amount of $250,000.00 for my small business. I, in good faith, paid my fee, as upon research found that this was indeed customary for this process. I soon realized that I was being avoided by the team and my Customer service rep Todd Payne along with his Supervisor Ed Thomas. Only when I fax something in writing was I even given the common courtesy of a phone call, at which time I was fed the same bull about being ready to get funds disbursed.
I also had dealings with numerous calls telling me that we had been seen by a private funder and was being offered amounts from $500,000 to 1.5 million dollars IF I would pay additional fees to set up a non-profit organization for the funds to be disbursed through. Continuously I contacted Todd Payne and Ed Thomas re these solicitations and was told that they were outside companies that were able to get a copy of our request for grant monies to solicit us on their own. I repeatedly questioned the ethical and legal practices associated with this and was finally told they would remove us from the list. These call did finally stop, however, so did any and all communications with them. I was only contacted when I sent a fax threatening legal action, the latest being June 23, when Todd Payne assured me we were coming down the runway for funding. I started this venture in May and was now requesting a refund, as it had now been more than a year. I also had dealings with other people at USA Grants and their names are: Donald Rodberg, Maria Garcia, Ashley Bischoff, Mercedes Tippideaux, all of whom assured me this was a legitimate organization.
I did contact the BBB, put did not get any response from them on this matter. I intend to try this again.
At this point I would be grateful for a refund of my monies. I am a small business owner and cannot take this kind of loss. With the economy the way it is, they prey on people like me, filling them with false hope and watching (and enjoying) them fall apart waiting for this to come through.
Please let me know if anyone out there has found a resolution to this problem! I would be grateful to find them being punished for what they have done
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