"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
Lewis Carol: From Through the Looking Glass... And what Alice found there. 1872
In late November I responded to an ad posted on Craigslist that offered a business opportunity. I called the number in the ad and discussed the "email advertising" business that SuddenValues.com offers for a fee of $500 and a $500 training fee. I specifically asked if I would own the business with the right to sell it when the time came that I wished to do so.
There was a training scheduled for January 10 in Las Vegas. I called the corporate office and spoke to a person who shall remain nameless yet bore the title Recruiter, about the possibility of arriving at the designated hotel in Vegas to discuss this opportunity. It was explained to me that unfortunately that would not be possible as the owner of the company and himself the recruiter would not be arriving until the final day of a four day training course. That if I completed the application and paid the $1000 I could attend the training and become a licensed dealer with exclusive rights to a specific territory. Well contrary to my initial hunch that I should meet the folks from SuddenValues before giving them my money I went ahead and authorized a charge of $1000 to my credit card. I made my hotel reservation for the week of the training and attended the training class having not had the oppportunity to speak with anyone other than the Sales Trainer.
The training was comprehensive. I was provided with a sales presentation book and some "Power Point" pages to put in the book as sales aides. When the four day training was completed I felt confident that I could go back to my small town in SW Colorado and knock out a living selling "permission based email advertising" and other related internet website products. After about 9 months of doing making an effort to do the business I had a more than a dozen clients and though was not near the level of success I had hope to achieve I found that I was doing better than anyone else in the area in which I worked. This area includes Utah, some larger cities in CO, Las Cruces NM and the Tuscon metro area. My exclusive territory was the Four Corners area of Colorado which includes Durango and Cortez in Colorado and Farmington in New Mexico.
On Monday September 20th I attended a meeting in Phoenix AZ where Steve Klock was revealing the details of a new advertising program that he wanted all of the current dealers to sign on to. I questioned a few of the features of the new program. I could tell that Klock did not like me questioning features of his idea but I felt that if I were going to be required to sign a new contract I need to understand every detail of the terms and conditions of the new program. I asked my probing questions in a professional and respectful manner. With the exception of a little impatience and frustration on the part of Mr. Klock the meeting concluded with no animosity or anger.
One week later on Monday September 20 Mr. Klock called my home and his opening statement was " You have to go." I asked go where? He said " You are finished." The conversation became somewhat heated and at the end Mr. Klock was screaming at me at the top of his voice and he hung up. Ten minutes later I had no access to my area website http://fourcorners. Suddenvalues.com He took my business. If he did it to me he can do it to anyone in the "dealer network". The only reason he provided was that I was not meeting the performance requirements. As mentioned above I had more active advertising clients than anyone else from my region.
Caveat emptor. Before you enter into any agreement with U.S. Online and or SuddenValues.com take the agreement to your attorney. Since I was "terminated" I have heard from two other former dealers that they too were ripped off by Steve Klock. You see my clients pay monthly for the services provided. Now Suddenvalues.com no longer has to pay me or the other former dealers any commission on the annual sales agreements that they signed with advertisers.
I also encourage you, if you were to look at an ad on Craigslist or Monster.com or anywhere else for SuddenValues.com to challenge the proported incomes obtainalble in their program. Lies. More lies and deceptive misleading information than you as a lay person can figure out. Again see your attorney first before signing anything and before giving SuddenValues.com you credit card information.
I have lost a great deal of money and my reputation here in Durango has been besmirched. A representative of SuddenValues called each of my clients and told them that I took a position with another company implying that I had just abandoned my clients... But don't worry Mr. Advertiser SuddenValues will manage your advertising from their offices in Wenatchee WA. Beware of doing business with U.S. Online or SuddenValues.com
"Burn me once shame on you. Burn me twice shame on me." Anonymous.
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