Complaint Review: Denise DeVoe - NED Alliance - American Entrepreneur - Trump Institute

I attended a real estate seminar in CA in 2008. The speaker was Denise DeVoe, supposedly a guru who has been investing for 30+ years. While this may be true, she certainly did not have a grasp on the current market condition and, after intense digging, is not a very savvy investor after all.

I learned that she has multiple lis pendens and foreclosures and that she's completely and utterly broke. This is the person who supposedly is there to teach us how to get rich. Yeah right, she's doing it for the hefty commission paid by ignorant students who listen to her sales pitch. I can't believe no one researches her before buying her product - it's all public record. Just listen to her talk, go to the public record databases in the areas she talks about, and search for her name.

At face value, the mentor program seems great. When I contacted the company for testimonials, none of them showed that a client got a single property! After speaking with people in the class about the program, they were unanimously disappointed with the level of communication, service, and results. We're paying $20,000 to be disappointed!

While I know Ms. Devoe (or Mrs. Hazelett) doesn't provide the mentorship directly, she is the figurehead of the organization and she's the one STRONGLY recommending students take the plunge. Her favorite saying - you get what you pay for - comes up dozens of times in the three days I sat through the seminar. While I learned some decent concepts, there is very little acquisition-oriented information. I might have gotten what I paid for and I know most of it is up to me. The mentorship though, that's not worth $20K. I'd pay $10K on the tops, and I'd have some soul searching to sign the papers.

You would think that someone getting paid THOUSANDS of dollars for a three day event would be more focused on delivering information, not sappy stories about dead mothers and poor people winning the lottery. She shouldn't complain about things that happened to her or how her weight is out of control. How about some professionalism??!

The whole company operates like it's out of a garage. Ms. Devoe didn't know the next event date, and the company didn't even know where my event was being held. My materials didn't arrive until three weeks after the event after several phone calls and emails and threats. A few days after the event, I got pitched a watered down version of the mentor and a handful of other equally overpriced products for discounted rates.

Bottom line is, this seminar and most seminars are as good as the speaker. Denise has some knowledge - I'll give her that. But ask her how to find a deal and she comes up dry. She doesn't invest in real estate. She's been foreclosed on, has gone into some stage of foreclosure on other properties, and has no money (I heard this from a rep at the company for God's sake!!).

Don't get me started on the Nevada lawyer she recommends. They charge $10,000 for what you can get for $2,000 in your own state or through a reputable Nevada firm. And no, you don't get what you pay for. She spent so much time defending this company on her blog, she must be getting a hefty commission from them too.

I'm not interested in a lawsuit, just keeping others from wasting money.

Thomas
Undisclosed, California
U.S.A.