On Wednesday, January 18, I enrolled as an agent with Franklin Financial Solutions for $495. On Tuesday, January 24, I purchased the lifetime website hosting for $299 to avoid monthly hosting charges of $24.99. I received a call from Michelle Johnson who advised me that my coach, Scott Lincoln would be calling me to help get the business up and running. During our initial conversation, Scott Lincoln addressed himself as Dr. And introduced himself as a former financial planner and one of three owners of Franklin Financial Solutions. When I inquired as to why he addressed himself as Dr., he stated sometimes he does it and sometimes he doesnt. Ironically, he never did it again. I continued to inquire as to what the doctorate was in and he stated theology. After he shared a few of his supposed credentials with me, he discussed the three ways to earn an income from the business, the three pre-qualified lead options, limitations, and other benefits, all of which are outlined below.
3 Ways to Get Paid
$500 one-time commission per client; disbursements are paid every Friday
$500 commission per terminal per business
Residual income of 1% on all credit and debit cards sales; disbursements are paid the 27th of every month for 10 years
Pre-Qualified Lead Options
Option 1 Elite Plan Cost: $15,000
100 guaranteed businesses in 6 months
$50,000 in commissions over 6 months
$10,000 in residual income every month
Three callers for your marketing campaign
Option 2 Premium Plan Cost: $10,000
50 guaranteed businesses in 6 months
$25,000 in commissions over 6 months
$5,000 in residual income every month
Three callers for your marketing campaign
Option 3 Standard Plan Cost: $6,000
30 guaranteed businesses in 6 months
$15,000 in commissions over 6 months
$3,000 in residual income every month
Three callers for your marketing campaign Limitations
Agents can only purchase four plans for the lifetime of the business. Other Benefits
Agents who start with the Elite or Premium Plan can purchase the second, third, and fourth plans at a cost of $6,000 each.
Franklin Financial Solutions offers a 45-day rescission period in which agents can request a refund if they do not earn income. (Scott Lincoln stated that the 45-day rescission period was Franklin Financial Solutions way of allowing agents to experience the
benefits of a marketing plan without any risk.)
Franklin Financial Solutions would offer a no cost limited liability corporation setup. Due to repeated missed telephone appointments on two separate occasions, Scott Lincoln stated that he was going to give me two businesses from the house account. He identified one as Paradise Bakery, but never identified the other after several requests. Upon each request, he claimed that he did not have my file on hand.
At the conclusion of our conversation on Saturday, January 28, I agreed to purchase the Elite Plan with the stated outcomes as described by Scott Lincoln, self-proclaimed doctor, former financial planner, and 1/3 owner of Franklin Financial Solutions. Prior to receiving the invoice, Scott Lincoln stated that in lieu of paying the full price of the Elite Plan up front that maybe he could get the other two co-owners to allow me to pay $9,800 up front and pay the remaining $5,200 over the next six months through earned commission income. He assured me that everything we discussed would be delivered as stated and the
Information regarding the limitation, other benefits, and paying the remaining balance would be elivered via the USPS second day mail along with some other documentation. I received the other documentation via second day mail. However, the documentation regarding the limitation and other benefits were not enclosed.
On Friday, February 3, I called the personal business mobile number Scott gave me, 480-323-9934, but he would not return my call. Then, I called Michelle Johnson at 623-321-4527 and left a message with her for Scott. Four minutes later, he called me back. I explained about the missing documentation and inquired again about the businesses from the house account. Again, he stated that he did not have my file on hand and would call me back Saturday, February 4. Needless to say, I never heard from him again. According to the information that was sent about earning income, Scott Lincoln fraudulently represented not only the way agents earn income, but also the outcomes of the
Plans. I have yet to earn one penny. I even made an attempt to reach Michelle Johnson on Monday, February 6 at the number referenced above and received a recording that the number was no longer in service.in fact, all of the telephone numbers (520.385.6292; 831.645.4715; 623.321.4539) used by Franklin Financial Services to call me are no longer in service with the exception of Customer Service at 888.262.3071 and Marketing at 888.262.0321 in which no one answers, but you can leave a message. A phone number, 307.543.7107, on my credit card statement goes directly to a live person, but she did everything she could to dodge the simple question, What state are you in? To date, customer service and marketing has been giving me the run around and has been consistently less than helpful despite my attempts in calling at least twice per week since February 3.
To date, I have made every attempt to settle this dispute amicably between Franklin Financial Solutions and myself especially in light of the fact that Scott Lincoln and I are the only people who can attest to the conversations that occurred between the two of us. At this point, I am no longer seeking an amicable solution. I am seeking to make others aware of their fraudulent practices so that they too will not become a victim by not only alerting Visa and MasterCard Services, but also the Better Business Bureau, consumer complaintss, most importantly the Federal Trade Commission.in addition, I am requesting a complete refund of all charges totaling $10,594.
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