I was online searching for a dating service. I happen apon great expectations website, fill out some information, next thing I know I am being contacted by telephone by a membership rep (I had to work that day, GE called me every couple of hours until they finally got ahold of me after work at 9pm. I know this because I have caller ID). I am greeted on the phone by a very pleasant person promising a dating service unlike any other and the dream of success. When I asked detailed questions as to what the membership entailed, they could not tell me. They just pressured me to make an appointment in the office to listen to what the program is all about.
I show up for the appointment Friday OCT 10th at 2pm. My member rep, Donelle Westbrook, makes small talk. She appears as though she is my advocate. She tells lots of anectdotes about her experience with other dating services. She asks about dating services I'm involved in now and shows how they were just "running me through the mill". She assures me that all the thousands of men waiting for me are professional doctors, lawyers, pilots etc.
She complements me several times making me feel uncomfortable. During the sales pitch which lasted 2-3 hours, she continually names many men who she thinks would be ideal for me, including her son, and that she can not wait for me to get started. She starts talking about a dear friend who found true love and hapiness and starts crying (she grabbed conveniently placed tissue and started wiping her eyes).
Finally after 2 hours I'm exhausted from listening and want to leave. I want to start really talking about how the program works. She brings out this binder with different forms in it. This is the form you fill out when... This is the form you fill out for this... Nothing concrete. Then she pulls out the price list. 3 diffent packages with very general discriptions. The cheapest one has a listing price of more than five thousand dollars. I tell her their is no way.
She asks why. I tell her I am uncomfortable with charging that amount. She says she used to be a financial advisor and tells me she can help me get a 0% apr on my charge card so I won't pay any interest. I tell her I am still uncomfortable. She says the center is needing women and she would ask her supervisor what she could do. After a few minutes she comes back and says she can give it to me for half price 2350.00. I say that is still a lot of money.
She starts asking about my credit cards. My balances, apr, how many I have etc. She says with her help I can make it work. So in a moment of weakness I agree. She makes me sign a paper agreeing never to tell anyone what I paid. She told me a story of someone who did and they got dumped by the love of their life and GE cancelled their membership. I give my card. She puts the contract in front of me and says this section says this, that section says that, initial here, here, and sign here. I get a folder including a disc (what is this for), an 88 page book on how to be a great success at GE and a copy of the contract. Throughout the pitch she keeps saying that she would never be involved in anything illegal. She goes on and on about how carefully members are screened.
Donelle calls me the next day to check up. I tell her I am looking through the book. She is pleased. She tells me she used to be a hairstylist and wants to give me some advice but does not want me to be offended. She tells me I should take care of my arm hair. I told her there is nothing wrong with my arm hair, and that I would be keeping it. Still not being sure of how the program works but I am sure it will be explained in detail to me at my next appointment which was OCT 17th.
I did a video and they took photos. Then it was explained to me that I had to choose how I was going to let members know I was interested in them. 3 options. The free option was to have the office send a postcard. This required that person to come into the office to get the message (not gonna happen). For a nominal charge you could send a mail o gram. This is just like the postcard but with a picture and small message. Then for 1000.00 you could send a video gram from your home directly to the other person. Anyone with comon sense knows to be effective and to be competitive you need to create an impact. What is going to create more of an impact? A tiny postcard or a personalized video message? This part of the program was not made clear to me at the time of contract signing. I was very upset, but being sick with the flu and wanting to get out of there, I agreed to pay the 1000.00. Getting more and more negative feelings about the whole operation I think about it over the weekend.
Realizing my mistake I go to the center on Oct 20th at 11am and ask to cancel my membership. The girl at the desk takes down my info to give to Barbara another member rep. Telling me that she will call me to schedule an appointment to cancel my membership. After I didn't hear back, I called again at 230pm. Again the receptionist took down my info and I was told to wait for a call back. When called back I asked for a refund and was denied. They said I had only 3 days after I signed the contract to get a refund. They kept saying we are a business and everything we do is compliant with California law. Quote, "I don't know anyone who would pay the amount of money that you paid and not completely read the contract." I told her the Donelle explained the contract to me when I signed it. She was totally unsympathetic saying we can not give special exceptions to anyone. She did give my name and number to the director but said that she would tell me the same thing. "The contract is to protect both parties".
Tarah
West Sacramento, California
U.S.A.
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