Complaint Review: Canadian Grants Business Centre

This business uses no traceable email addresses and wont give you one.  They also use 2 UPS shopfronts in Ottawa as their address.

18th March 2014 - On first interaction with CGBC They told me the $699 would be refunded if a grant was denied. Not 3 rejections as mentioned later on after payment was made. Spoke to Kay. She was pleasant. They wouldn't give me an email address for some reason. This rang a few bells. They sent through the info I paid for a day later as the first email they sent didn't come through. I rang them and told them and they sent it again with no issues. 

Next phone call regarding not being able to find a grant suitable. They said they would have their researchers go through it and find some for me as I found 25 possible at first and the on closer research, none we're suitable. They sent me 70 possible grants for what they thought were suitable the next day. None were.

I rang back on the 20th March, spoke to Kay and said that they weren't suitable and asked how they could come with these possibilities as they didn't have much info on what I was looking for. She said she would speak to the researcher on what they were exactly searching for and get back to me either that day (20th march) or the next day. They never called me back so I called them. 

When called back I spoke to Sandy who now seems to be an owner or manager. I told her the situation and all she did was talk over me. She wouldn't let me talk, kept cutting me off and refused to give me my money back. She wouldn't even hear my input. she refused to believe the lack of info I was supplied was inadequate before taking my money. Not once did I raise my voice at her. I was totally shocked at her and couldn't believe the way she spoke to her clients. She hung up on me after a very short one sided conversation where she wouldn't let me speak. 

Sandy tried to tell me that everything they offered was classed as a grant as I initially told them I was after a grant for building an aquaponics system. This is not the case as a grant is to receive money without payment back. (Grants are non-repayable funds disbursed by one party (grant makers), often a government department, corporation, foundation or trust, to a recipient, often (but not always) a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal or an application is usually required). She didn't even know what she was selling. It was very clear on the first conversation what I was looking for, although they sent me information for loans and un-related info claiming it was suitable. 

I called back asking for the manager and told the receptionist that I wanted to complain about the lady who I just spoke to and how rude and unhelpful she was. It turns out Sandy to whom I just spoke to was the manager (so she says). She told me i wouldn't receive my money back, told me her definition of a grant was which is different to everyone else in the world. I told her I spoke to the ombudsman, and Visa to whom I paid with and my lawyer and she hung up on me. 

She then Called me back 5 minutes later and told me she didn't want my business and would refund me within 5 business days. She told me I was a fraud, said that my Visa card probably wasn't real and that I wanted to scam them. I couldn't even get a word in to tell her anything whatsoever. All I wanted was my money back for a product they told me I could apply for, but couldn't even start the process as there wasn't a grant available for my situation. Sandy wouldn't know this as she never heard a thing I said. 

I spoke to visa straight after this and they recorded the complaint and said I would have a case for a resolution refund. How someone stays in business with a person like sandy running it I don't know. 

There is no address available on their website or email addresses and on further investigation, this business is a scam and their address is a UPS store.  They don't care what happens once they get their money.  People need to know about this business!