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Jim Rosen Web Ad Systems Aka W. Craig & Company ripoff, false promises, fraudulent sale contacts, operates under many names Phoenix Arizona
We purchased a Jim Rosen Classified Ad information packet which was advertised on a local TV station. We had a couple of personal idea we wanted to try and sell, so we looked forward to receiving the Rosen suggestions and to obtain a list of nationwide newspapers for advertising. We received the packet and found some information, but not much more than we had read before at the library. We set it aside for now.
I'm just one of many victims...
In a few weeks we received a "very" friendly, call from Rosen's Office saying they were ready to help us get started in a big way and that their goal was to help us sucessed. We were told we could use their fitness equipment products to sell.
I told them our lives had recently changed and that I was in no mental state of mind to consider a business now. I told the caller had to quit work to care for my husband who had become terminaly ill, and that we would be moving to a new residence and it was just too much for me to think through and consider. At that time I was assured that all I had to do was check my email each day and let them design a Web Site to sell their product and I would make many dollars and in just a short while.
They offered to sell me the Web business starting at $6,000. I told them, sorry, I can't afford that amount. After a couple other offers i.e. $3,000, 1,500,they then said how about $750 and you will get 1500 referrals of highly interested buyers that have already been screened and that their Jim Rosen Company made the equipment and they just needed small businesses to promote and sell them. And again said they would set us up on the Web and we justed need to check our email. Ok, how could I loose, so I said ok to $750.
We were promised, Automatically profits goes to your bank account. Everything drop-shipped, no inventory for you to keep. Just 5 or 10 minutes each day or check our email 2 times per week. You will be using other peoples money. Our part is only advertising. We would be completition to retail stores. They can advertise for 1/2 price because they own company. We were told, "a Bad Week would be $400." Web site will be Free. Banner ad is connected to our Website, free.
I started worrying about it being a scam, as I didn't get the WebSystem Information for several weeks. I even called my credit card to have it stopped.
Then the package came, it was a lot of reading at a time I didn't have time to think it through. So, in a few more days I received a call again from a "very" freindly person saying they were calling to give me support and get my business rolling. Now all I needed was to have a Merchant Credit Card. When I told them I have heard of PayPal, why can't I sign up for that. I was told your sales will be in the thousands of dollars and payPal can not pay you for six months if the amounts are high. So, you need your own Merhcant Credit Card Account.
So, I also fell for that falsehood. And even though I was in the middle of moving to a new house, I signed the papers and send them off. So, now I have obligated to pay $64 x 36 payments, plus other fees and don't even have the first sale.
At the Rosen and other company phone numbers I was given, I have talked to Jason Manger in Phoenix Office. Steven, Kim, Sheila Wu, Bill Todd, Lorrain Hensley in same office or somewhere else. When you do call any of the numbers, you have to leave a voice mail for a call back and some times it is days or not even a call back comes.
I did call and try to cancel and I was told I just had not waited long enough and that my sale will be under way soon. And that if I cancel the merchant account, my customers would not be able to pay me direct.
To-date I have 44 hits (visitors) on my web site but I was also told that it was reset once due to the fact I had looked at the site a few times and got the true numbers off. So, if they can alter the numbers -- who knows what that can changed??? Still no purchases -- just ripped off.
My question was if they set the prices on my equipment from $4,000 down to $197, what profit will I be getting if a sale goes through -- I was told someone would call me back. I am still waiting.
My bank account and credit cards have had deductions from various names: W Craig & Company, E-commerce Exchange, WonderPay, 5thBond Corp and a few other unidentify name that were determined to be fradulent which may or may not have connected with Rosen but I did have to have my credit card # changed. I paid out, mostly using auto drafts, $1,200.00 and still the 36 payments to complete to pay for the Merchant Account I don't need and have never used. PLEASE HELP ME GET MY MONEY BACK & MERCHANT ACCOUNT REFUNDED and cancelled.
I also plan on looking into filing a complaint with the States Attorney's Office in several states.
No one should have to be worried with this sorta mess with some one in your home on a terminal ill list.
Carolyn
Leesburg, Florida
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Tracey
Boston,Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
You are not alone in your struggle against this company
#2Consumer Suggestion
Sun, February 22, 2004
Dear Carolyn- First of all, I want to say how very sorry I am that this has happened to you, especially during such a difficult time as this when your husband is suffering from a terminal illness. My thoughts are with you. I am fighting a very similar battle with W. Craig and Company / WebAd Systems. You can view my Rip Off Report by typing in the keywords Web Ad Systems in the search box on the badbusinessbureau.com Rip Off Report site. It is under the title "W. Craig & Company, Web Ad Systems Real Estate Rip Off, Scammed out of thousands of dollars, John Beck's Land Banc Phoenix Arizona".
and I filed a complaint with the IFCC for fraudulent internet activity. It took some time- you have to kind of sit down beforehand and think about specific dates that you had contact with the company (either through mail, e-mail, phone contact, etc.). They also ask you to explain in a detailed, but factual way how the company victimized you. They also ask you to list any other known victims of this crime and I referred them to the badbusinessbureau.com Rip Off Report website to check out the other reports made against this company.
My situation is a little different in the respect that my websites were supposed to be selling real estate property, rather than fitness equipment. However, the thing that is similar about our situations is that the validity of the targeted visitors to the websites is questionable and also the product being sold is somehow fraudulent or misrepresented.
I also asked for a refund a couple of months after I had purchased the program, but was told that I had to wait 11 months, at which point I could return the product for a full refund. I had this guy at the Web Ad Systems company (Mike Upsal) e-mail me this document (the "11 Month Challenge")that states this agreement regarding the refund. Do you know if Jim Rosen/WebAd Systems had a similar "11 month challenge"? I doubt they would have included it in any of the paperwork they sent you. I only found out about this "11 month challenge' when I called to demand a refund back in November 2003. I believe that this "11 month challenge" may be a stall tactic to prevent people from taking action sooner.
Like you, I began to realize that something was very wrong. I had no requests for purchases which I felt was very odd, especially since my website was supposedly being sent out to over 50,000 search engines. I started to wonder if the properties my website was marketing really existed. In my case, this wonderful property being sold was actually in the middle of no man's land, miles away from any power lines, running water, etc... (you get the picture).
I called Web Ad Systems back and confronted Mike Upsal with information about the properties being advertised on my website. I had gathered some negative information about the properties when I made several phone calls to Texas and Arizona and spoke to Tax and Deed Departments and utility companies. He issued me a verbal approval for a refund and gave me an RMA# that I wrote down. Did you even get this far with anyone at the company?
It may not matter. Long story short, I have been trying to contact Mike Upsal or anyone for that matter at W. Craig & Co. and all of the phone lines have either been cut off or an answering machine picks up. A live person does not even answer the phone anymore. The last time I called the company was Thursday 1/19. I just let the phone ring for over a half hour. Someone finally picked up and he gave me a fake name and number for the president of the company. He then became very inappropriate and started asking me how old I was. When I asked his name, he hung up on me.
I decided to call the number he gave me and it was some guy who seemed to be really nervous about how I got his number. He told me that the company had "hit a financial wall" and was trying to "reorganize and restructure". He then gave me an incorrect number for the Chief Financial Officer.
It's really bad. I am envisioning that these people have probably thrown everything into boxes and left in the middle of the night. So, let me tell you the steps I have already taken to try to get the money back.
I contacted the FBI in Phoenix. They referred me to a website
They have you put down all your personal information (address, phone #, e-mail address, etc.) but I don't think that they will necessarily contact you back. I'm not sure what contact from them there is, but you do get a confirmation to print out that you filed a complaint with them and they give you a complaint number with a password (if you need to contact them again with additional information). I don't think there's a way to contact them to find out the status of the case, but I felt it was extremely important that I file a report.
I also called my credit card company and explained the situation to them. I had tried to dispute the charges back in October, but my creidt card company told me it was too late and I had gone over the number of days that I could dispute the charges. This time when I called them back and explained again (and told them I had received a verbal approval over the phone for a refund and had U.S. Postal confirmation that I had sent back the materials), they told me to fax whatever information I had to them and they would try to dispute the charges and get a refund. This may or may not work.
I did speak to a woman in Washington, Louisiana named Linda. She also filed a Rip Off Report for the same exact thing that you did, only she was taken for over $11,000. She, however, was able to get Discover card to get a refund from the company. She was the one who urged me to call my credit card company back.
I am faxing several things to the Disputes Dept. of my credit card company. I am also going to fax all information I have to the Arizona Attorney General. It will take anywhere from 2-8 weeks before anyone at the Arizona Attorney General might get back to me, but I am still taking the steps and trying to cover all the bases.
In the meantime, I am trying to take the advice from the Do-It-Yourself Rip Off Revenge guide. I am going to try to find some fax numbers and phone numbers that still work for the company and start sending them faxes of my rip off report. It's very hard, though, because I can't seem to get a live person. I also live in Boston, so there's no way that I can physically go to the address to check to see if the office is empty.
If it comes down to it, I will start contacting the media. Oh, by the way, did you have to get your merchant account through E-Commerce Exchange? Did you mention that you found out that this company is fraudulent? I paid $1695 for a license to accept payments online. In total, I have been taken for over $9,000 between what I paid to W. Craig & Co./Web Ad Systems and the merchant account.
Anyway, if you would like me to contact you with any updates or information that I find out about the company, just do a rebuttal to my rip off report. Add your phone number and/or e-mail address and I will contact you to let you know if anything I did resulted in getting my money back, or at least brought me a few steps closer to doing so.
Again, take heart. You are not alone. I'm not a religious person, but, boy have I been doing a lot of praying to God since this has all started. It has really wreaked havoc on my life, giving me a lot of stress. I can only imagine what you must be going through. Let me know how your situation is going. Take care.