Complaint Review: Stephen Pierce

I purchased a program after attending one of the Stephen Pierce seminars for $4,997 because I was promised unprecedented support and that I would be part of a "family" if I invested in this program. I followed the program exactly and was consequently threatened legal action from another company because, by following the program, I apparently was in violation of trademark law. I requested advice and assistance from the support department via email on April 4, 2011. I did not receive a response to that request until May 20, 2011, over 7 weeks later.

In the interim, I sent an email to a Chelsea Morris (whom I had met at the seminar) on April 25, 2011, after not hearing back from the support department for 3 weeks. I received a response from a Craig Pettit who informed me Mr. Morris no longer worked for the company, and asked me when I reserved the domain names in dispute, and I informed him it was in October of 2010, and he did not respond again.

I sent Mr. Pettit another email on May 7 after not receiving a response sharing my frustration with his company, and his solution was for me to transfer all of my websites over the Stephen Pierce, Int. and he also requested I send the complaints I received so he could forward them to their attorneys. I informed him I had sent the complaints to him and that I had already canceled all of my websites from fear of more complaints, and he did not respond again.

When I finally received a response from the support department on May 20,2011, I requested a refund, to which TaNoa Kemp in customer support informed me that he forward my request to the president of the company, and that the president would contact me. After not receiving a response for 10 days, I sent Mr. Kemp another email sharing more frustration and asking if there was someone else I could forward my request to, and again received no response. After a month I sent another email informing Mr. Kemp that I would contact the BBB as well as share my experience with their company with others, and I received an email from Mr. Pettit to a Sheila Watson asking if she had any news for me on June 20, 2011.

The same day I received an email from a Jesse Frye informing me my refund request had been submitted and they were now waiting for approval, and that he should have an answer for me "mid-week". I waited 10 days and sent Mr. Frye an email asking for news, and he immediately responded and told me he did not have any news and that my refund had not yet been approved. I thanked him for the update.

Three more weeks went by, so on July 21 I sent another email to Mr. Frye asking for an update, and on July 25 Gina Watkins informed me that Mr. Frye was no longer with the company and that she was his replacement. She also told me that my refund was being processed and that Mr. Pierce had to personally authorize any refunds released. She stated that he was out of town that week and it could be another week of waiting.

Ms. Watkins sent me an email on July 27 that she was still working on a spreadsheet that would be submitted to Stephen Pierce for release of funds. I then asked Ms. Watkins explicitly if my refund request was approved, and her response on August 3, 2011 was "Yes.. he will be coming into the office tomorrow to physically sign-off/sign checks, etc. Im not sure how you paid for your product, but however you paid will be the way we process your refund." I called Ms. Watkins that afternoon and informed her I had paid off and closed the credit card I used to pay for the program, and she told me that I would receive a check instead. This was 16 weeks ago.

I have sent emails every 2-3 weeks requesting updates, but now no one from the company will respond to me. This has now been going on for 8 months.

I have in writing that my refund has been approved, yet they refuse to refund my money. This company swindled me and my family out of over $6,000 after all said and done. I can only hope that me sharing my experience will prevent others from making the same mistake I made by trusting this company.