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Gametime.us, In-sports Total Scam of sports fans and enthusiasts. Using unsuspecting people trying to make a little extra cash to steal what cash they do have! Internet
Sad to say, I too fell victim to Nick Jones, AKA Jake Brown. Nothing like being generic in a name. My story is the same as everyone else's. I did call back Jake a number of times, especially after reading stories on here, but to no avail. Rather than totally piss him off, I asked about the "owner" whose name is Dave (no last name provided even when prompted a number of times), I was told he is not active and only deals with things Jake cannot - to which he said, "There is not much I can't take care of." Oh really? Hmmmm.....
I asked about the charge to my credit card and when he told me it was a lump sum, I told him he was not clear on that. The email mentioned the deposit on the flyers but strongly hinted that it would be charged monthly, not one lum sum. $1920 was never mentioned. The email states, "A Sports Promoter is trained to work in the most efficient and productive manner." What training would that be?? I was never offered any training.
I did ask Jake for a copy of the verbal tape of our conversation, stating it would make me feel better, since there was no paper contract involved. He said the company is up on technology and doesn't use paper contracts. I was suprised he offered to send me a copy of the tape and transcripts as well. It remains seen if I do receive them or not.
When asked if a refund would be possible, he went around and around about how I should think of this as a money making venture, not a failure right off the bat, and how much they want me to work for them. I asked also, if there was a specific amount per month I needed to have signed up through my ID and he told me $90. I then asked, "Worst case scenario, what if that doesn't happen?" He assured me it wouldn't, but if it did, then they would work with me to extend the time frame. I also asked why, if I am being promoted to a sports manager in one month's time, why would I need 8000 flyers? Jake didn't have a great answer for that and started in again with his "sales pitch".
I called him back a couple of times and could tell he was getting upset with me, but I didn't really care. I didn't ask for any money back - YET, but decided to simply contact my credit card company and request a new card so no further charges could be put on it. I had a really bad feeling in my stomach about that happening. I also requested a dispute form, from my credit card company, which I won't receive for a few days but will fill out. Hopefully that will be successful based on what I have read in some reports about scumbags and fraudulent companies like this not contesting them.
One more thing. I also tried to check up on the company who prints the flyers and who would be charging my account. There is no such company as "Graphics Today"! There is a website, "Graphicstoday.com", but it's simply a site that gives you multiple websites to choose from. Strange how they can charge me for not doing anything! That's probably a website domain he has to cover that part of the scam for him. That's how he gets his money.
Just thought of this too. He states in the email, "Some promoters work with Charities and Non-profit organizations through a fund raising program, in which Game Time donates $1.00 for each person that signs up on our site that was referred by the Charity or Non-profit organization." I'd like to see that information and what charities they give to. HA!
I'm in on helping those who want to stop this guy. He totally makes me lose faith in people, which ticks me off. I like to believe in the inherent goodness of people, but apparantly he skipped out of the line when God handed those qualities out!
I hope others read this before they fall prey.
Scammed
New Prague, Minnesota
U.S.A.
7 Updates & Rebuttals
Not Happy
Houston,Texas,
U.S.A.
Game Time also scammed me-- Cleaned-out my bank account & Refused full refund
#8Consumer Comment
Mon, July 07, 2008
The rebuttal from Linda or whoever this is from Game-Time is complete B.S. The previous reports filed from Jo and the others are ALL TRUE because I too was a recent victim of Game-Time's scam. I am so glad that I'm not alone and other victims have come forward to report these people.
Jake (if that's his real name) completely WIPED-OUT my bank account by charging an amount of nearly $1,000 that I never authorized, or didn't realize I was authorizing according to him because I gave him my debit card info. which was a huge mistake on my part. When I agreed to work for Game-Time as a Sports Promoter/Manager, I spoke to two people, first Greg then Jake (the so-called president). These guys are very convincing because they ACT very nice and professional when in reality they know exactly what they are doing to us poor people. When they each explained to me what be a Sports Promoter for Game-Time was all about and what I'd be doing, they NEVER ONCE said they would charge $960.00 up-front nor any amount close to that to send me flyers to distribute in my area to promote their website.
They only said there would be a charge of $20-$25 per month for 6 months for a deposit, then I would get that money back plus more after working for them for 6 months. I agreed to that and that's when the dreaded recorded "question and answer" session came in. Jake asked me a few questions and I answered as he was recording. By this time he had already taken my debit card info.
One of his questions was "Do you authorize Game Time to charge an amount of
.9 cents per flyer that would be sent to you to distribute?" I answered "yes" which is where they got me. I was horrified to learn that this guy charged $960.00 to my debit card when I checked my bank account the next night. I was at a negative balance because I didn't have the funds to even cover that amount. I called and spoke to Jake as soon as I could to clear up an obvious "misunderstanding" and to have a full refund credited back to my account. All he could say was that he made it as clear as he could in the recorded conversation, and had he known I was using a debit card he would've told me not to (yeah right!!!).
When I requested a full refund back and to send back the flyer he already sent me, Jake refused. He tried to force me to still work as a "Sports Promoter" and offered me a $300 credit. When I told him that I had NO MONEY left in my account to pay my bills and rent, he offered me a $500 credit. That would still leave $460 of my money that he stole and not return back to me. In the meantime, he sends me a 25-pound package in the mail that I refused and sent back. At that point I turned to my bank. Thankfully I'm with a good bank that credited all my money that Jake stole and is currently investigating him and Game Time. Though it may never happen, I just want for all my money plus other people's money that Jake stole to be taken back from him.
I first found out about this bogus Sports Promoter position on Monster.com. Thankfully Game-Time no longer has anything posted on there or on CareerBuilder for anyone to fall victim to.
Please DO NOT give your credit/debit card or bank account info. to anyone from Game-Time, SportsBiz.com or any company similar. They are scammers and they will take your money and you will not get anything out of it. Take it from an actual victim!
Angry & Not Happy
Houston, TX
U.S.A.
Linda
Billings,Montana,
U.S.A.
Thank you for the reply and suggestions
#8UPDATE Employee
Fri, July 04, 2008
Thanks for replying Jo. We appreciate you acknowledging that we did refund your credit card in full.
We would like to end this report by agreeing with some of your suggestions for future applicants. Any applicant reading this, please take Jo's recommendation to ask a lot of questions and take as much time as you need to make a decision that you are comfortable with and can commit to. Once again, we would like to thank Jo for replying and providing some helpful suggestions.
Linda
Billings,Montana,
U.S.A.
Thank you for the reply and suggestions
#8UPDATE Employee
Fri, July 04, 2008
Thanks for replying Jo. We appreciate you acknowledging that we did refund your credit card in full.
We would like to end this report by agreeing with some of your suggestions for future applicants. Any applicant reading this, please take Jo's recommendation to ask a lot of questions and take as much time as you need to make a decision that you are comfortable with and can commit to. Once again, we would like to thank Jo for replying and providing some helpful suggestions.
Linda
Billings,Montana,
U.S.A.
Thank you for the reply and suggestions
#8UPDATE Employee
Fri, July 04, 2008
Thanks for replying Jo. We appreciate you acknowledging that we did refund your credit card in full.
We would like to end this report by agreeing with some of your suggestions for future applicants. Any applicant reading this, please take Jo's recommendation to ask a lot of questions and take as much time as you need to make a decision that you are comfortable with and can commit to. Once again, we would like to thank Jo for replying and providing some helpful suggestions.
Linda
Billings,Montana,
U.S.A.
Thank you for the reply and suggestions
#8UPDATE Employee
Fri, July 04, 2008
Thanks for replying Jo. We appreciate you acknowledging that we did refund your credit card in full.
We would like to end this report by agreeing with some of your suggestions for future applicants. Any applicant reading this, please take Jo's recommendation to ask a lot of questions and take as much time as you need to make a decision that you are comfortable with and can commit to. Once again, we would like to thank Jo for replying and providing some helpful suggestions.
Jo
New Prague,Minnesota,
U.S.A.
Update to my experience with Game Time
#8Author of original report
Tue, July 01, 2008
In response to Linda's rebuttal, I did not put any false allegations in my first report. All information I provided and commented on was directly from my phone conversations with Jake and the email provided to me.
I received a call from Jake the day after I posted my concern. He did inform me that they were able to find another person in my area that was willing to work many more hours than I. Which was fine by me. He told me they were not able to send out the flyers after our initial phone conversation so he would hold delivery on them. Again, fine with me. Jake assured me my credit card would be adjusted and the charge for the flyers ($1920) would be removed. After contacting my credit card company today, that did indeed happen, so thank you Jake for keeping your word on that.
I do have to ask however, why did he insist the flyers were already mailed out within 30 minutes of our original conversation. When I called Jake back after that first phone conversation, (30 minutes later) he told me the flyers were already in the mail and they were unable to stop that mailing. I am sure that will not be what he remembers in our conversation, but at this point it no longer matters.
I came out okay in the end on this deal, but there are just too many inconsistencies in the original phone conversation to make me feel any better about the whole situation. I tend to think I was a big enough pain to Jake and he needed to make a gesture of good faith to make it look good.
To anyone looking into this venture, I offer this suggestion: Tape the phone call yourself, ask for a written contract and do not give up your credit or debit card information right off the bat. Do your research first and ask many questions. Offer to make your own flyers. They are ONLY AN OPTION, you DO NOT have to purchase them to work for this company. Any legitimate business will be happy to give you the answers you need and the time to think about it. Generic names and "silent owners" should be a red flag as well.
To Jake and his "company". I hope you have learned that giving people inadequate information and pressuring them are not good business practices. People deserve to work for a company that will treat them well and honor their claims about the business.
Linda
Billings,Montana,
U.S.A.
We try our best to be fair
#8UPDATE Employee
Tue, July 01, 2008
We just noticed Jolene's report today and are just responding now. We are sorry that Jo was unhappy with her experience with us. Our goal is to treat everyone with respect and fairness. She included several false acquisitions in her report; however, we are not going to waste time addressing each of those. The bottom line is that we want anyone dealing with our company to be happy and treated fairly.
Jo indicated to us after we hired her that she felt she might not have 5 hours a week to work. We were lucky enough to find someone else in her area that was able to commit well over 5 hours per week to work. We called Jo the next day and informed her that we were able to stop her UPS shipment. We also informed her that we found a replacement in her area and we would refund her deposit. Last week we refunded her deposit and she said that she apologized for wasting our time and would consider working with us in the future. Once again, we would like to apologize to Jo if she was unhappy with her experience.
We are proud to say that 99% of our Promoters/Managers are happy. We are also proud to say that 100% of our Members/Customers are happy.