Complaint Review: Grant Master

I apologize for any misunderstanding regarding the services you've been receiving from our company. There are no commitments with the free product. However, there is a bonus free trial period to membership websites that accompanies the free CD and we do our best to disclose this as it is stated several times throughout the ordering process - on the sales page, the order page, the confirmation/thank you page, it is then also explained in the 1st paragraph of the Terms and Conditions of the offer. We offer the trial periods to give our clients a chance to use the services and see the value of them for themselves before they are billed for them. The trial periods are free for 7-30 days from the order date depending on which bonuses apply. We would not have charged you had you called customer service and canceled during the trial period. It is not our desire to bill clients who do not want the membership after the free trial offer. The following is the first paragraph of the Terms and Conditions of the offer (the Terms and Conditions link is found on EVERY page of the sales ad):

Bonus Material Terms and Termination.
By purchasing this product, you agree to adhere to the termination agreement as outlined on the order page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email, which is that you, the buyer, are not entitled to a refund of the upfront cost of any shipping and handling that may or may not have been charged to you for delivery of said product. Furthermore, any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product are only free during the said allotted time of the free trial period as outlined within the product sales page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email. If you have not cancelled the free bonus within the free trial period (if offered on product purchasing), you are agreeing to purchase the bonus material and/or service at a monthly reoccurring cost. This can be cancelled at anytime simply by calling the customer service number provided in the confirmation email and stating your desire to cancel said bonus material. However, in order to not be charged any future reoccurring cost, please give ample time (2 business days) to be cancelled out of any reoccurring billing system before the next scheduled charge to your account (this does not apply during any trial period). Not cancelling trial programs constitutes authorization, by you, the buyer, for any charges (as outlined) for the associated bonus service until your request to cancel has been received by our customer service staff. By not cancelling the bonus program during the trial period or prior to two days before a scheduled billing cycle, you agree that any reoccurring charges billed to you will be non-refundable.

As you can see the Terms direct the customer to the sales page, confirmation of order page and the confirmation email. In addition to the regular disclosures, the following disclosure is an additional disclosure directly from the sales page - it is located directly below the submit button where Marcy entered her credit card information:

For your security, all transactions on this site are protected with Secure Sockets Layer encryption. By clicking "Ship My CD", I am ordering the Grant Master CD and trial membership for $2.29 S&H, after the seven day trial I will be charged $39.95 a month thereafter if I do not cancel. I also agree to the fourteen day and twenty-one day bonus trials to Express Business Funding and Network Agenda for $7.95 a month and $9.95 a month thereafter, should I choose not to cancel. I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy / Terms and Conditions. Charges will appear on credit/debit statements as "GRANT MASTER". For questions, call 1-800-546-2919 M-F, 9am-9pm, EST.

Marcy, for customer service you may call 800-546-2919 Monday-Friday 9am-9pm Eastern Standard Time and they'll be happy to assist you.

The Information on our Grant Master CD is general information that you can find for free on the internet. We have gathered the information and put it on an easy to access and navigate CD for your PC. This saves our clients the time and let's face it frustration of having to search out this information on their own. That is why our Grant Master CD is free and you only pay $2.29 for the Shipping and Handling. Along with the Grant Master CD you receive a 7 day free trial to our Grant Resource center. This is our member's website were you will be able to learn the entire process on how to write and submit a grant proposal. It is easy to start utilizing the Grant Resource Center by simply watching the tutorial videos that explain how to access all of the features on the site. Our team of writers headed by acclaimed Grant expert Dr. John Porter provides a monthly cover story that provides the newest information on grants and grant related topics. We also provide a quarterly newsletter that provides in-depth information on current trends in government and private funding. As well as the latest financial advice on how to find and manage grant money. You will be able to search grants through multiple grant sources. You can search for Federal, State, and Private Grants you can also search for Scholarships. Another exclusive feature of our Grant Resource Center is that you can enroll in the Grant A Day program where a Grant is given out daily. In three easy steps you can apply for the Grant a Day program and you will be eligible for it as long as you are a member of the Grant Resource Center. Here is the link to our testimonials site http://members.ravenmediainc.com/granttestimonials/ where you can read what some of our successful clients had to say about our program. Another feature we offer is our live one on one chat representatives. They are available to answer any questions you have along the way. All these features and more are designed to help you be successful in locating, applying for, and receiving a grant. The information that is offered through the Grant Resource Center website is more extensive than what other companies sell in coaching programs that cost a thousand dollars or more. So we feel that we are offering our clients the best value in the industry. We offer all this for a reasonable monthly fee of $39.95. Ordering our Grant Master CD also includes two fast action bonuses. The first fast action bonus is for Express Business Funding (EBF) which has a 14 day free trial. This program is designed to help customers through each step necessary to obtain a loan for a small business. This includes researching and putting together a business plan, presenting that plan to the SBA, filling out a loan application, and anything else that may be needed along the way. After the trial period, it is a reduced monthly membership fee of $7.95 because you are already a member of another of our programs. The second fast action bonus is a 21 day free trial for Network Agenda an affiliate company. That offers an online date book service that will allow you to keep track of your daily schedule and will even send you reminders to your email and or cell phone. After the 21 day free trial the service is $9.95 a month membership fee. We offer these trial periods to give our clients a chance to use our service and see the value of them for themselves, before they are billed for them.

If you are another customer reading this and you need assistance you may contact our customer service department at (866) 396-5694 Monday-Friday 9am to 9pm Eastern Standard Time and they will be happy to assist you. If you've already tried our customer service department and feel like you weren't treated fairly please contact me ASAP and I will address your concern immediately. Please email me at customerservice@cshelp.org or call me directly at 435-773-1795.

Sincerely,

Customer Service Administrator