The Living Scriptures, Inc., - NEST Family Entertainment Pushy and HORRIBLY Dishonest Ogden, Utah
My husband and I let the salesman for this company into our home. He claimed that he would get "credit" just for doing his sales pitch in our home. My husband said no over ten times. The salesman stayed and pushed and pushed his way into my mind. I ultimately made a horrible decision and we agreed. After he left, I thought about it and thought about how the LDS church teaches us to live within our means and to not get into debt. This supposed LDS company--targets young families and pushes them into debt. We decided that we wanted to cancel. We hadn't received anything yet. My husband called and was told we couldn't cancel our account without paying $285--we had received absolutely NOTHING. They kept talking about the "free" stuff they sent out. Eventually he found a man (I have his name if necessary) who told him to send the box back via certified mail when we received it in the mail. We got it and I took it to the post office immediately. I paid to have it sent certified. The man called my husband two or three days later and told him that he received the package but he cannot cancel our account because the package was sealed but the contents inside had been opened and played. THIS IS NOT AT ALL TRUE. I took the package from our mail box directly to the post office. He told my husband that if we still refused to pay for our products that he would close our account and list it as a bad account, therefore, hurting our credit.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
ChildrensPastor
United States of AmericaUse the Force? Sarcastic Employee Response?!
#4Consumer Comment
Mon, May 16, 2011
***The problem is that this site only attracts the most angry
people who may or may not be completely fair in their review.
This is counteracted by reviews on sites that your company controls, or rather... doesn't offer (like on your companies website).
1. He agreed to purchase a substantial amount of our product. There was no force, nor coercion, nor Jedi mind tricks that "pushed [ourselves] into his mind". We just show what a great uplifting product we have and how happy others have been with our products.
Thanks for the sarcasm... and I'm so glad you could ensure us of the salespersons tactics. You were there, and this consumer wasn't... so you would know! Oh wait... they were there, and you weren't. It doesn't take a Jedi to realize that they know if the salesperson was pushy and that you (having no knowledge of this person's case as you admitted) have absolutely no idea whatsoever. All that you showed in this response was that you are willing to make claims that you have no evidence backing and that you're sarcastic.
2. He forewent the 3-Day cancellation period. We allow anyone who might
have some "buyer's remorse" to easily cancel their agreement within 3
days. He obviously did not do this.
You would know this as well. Because you have his case information right there in front of you. No... wait... you don't. However it would seem to me that payment for the materials someone has already received would be enough for your company. Forcing people to continue to pay for materials that they have now decided are not valuable and can no longer afford is wrong. Contract or no contract. "Christian company" should mean something to you, and you should conduct yourselves in a manner higher than "legally we can".
3. We don't do debt, but
had an obligation which he didn't fulfill. Our relationship with
customers is more similar to a cell phone company. You receive the
product/service as you pay for it, and we/they expect you to pay for the
period of time that you've agreed to. We charge no interest on the
products you haven't received. There is also an early termination fee
if you decide you want to cancel your agreement. Also you don't have to
buy them over time and you can pay them off at any time.
This is exactly what I'm referring to above. You're not a cell phone company, and you're not a secular company that is all about making money (or are you?!), you are a christian company who's mission statement has everything to do with sharing the gospel and nothing to do with making profits no matter what the cost. There is NO REASON for someone to have to pay an "early termination fee" for DVDs... "but they signed a contract..." oh oh ok. So legally they have to because they signed a contract that (as is evident by this website and MANY BBB reports) was not portrayed correctly by the salesperson. There are times when Christians should conduct themselves at a level of morality that is higher than "legal."
4. Livingwithin our means is a personal assessment, we can not be accountable
for someone who agrees to buy something they can't afford.
And the company that makes them pay for it anyways needs to make some personal assessments as well...
5. Yes, we do target young families, especially ones with young children
who can greatly benefit from learning the scriptures through animation.
You've got your target audience... now if only you can find a way to shut down sources like these where these young families can find reviews about nest family and their business practices!
6. As to the rest of the story, we want to be gracious with our customers
and we are when we can, but we also have to run a business.
This response showed no grace. No "I'm sorry's" or "this is a traumatic and unusual circumstance for our reputable company" instead it showed that you have dealt with this many times before, and know exactly what to say for your company to appear not at fault. I just hope they haven't brain washed you (the individual employee) to actually believe that this is appropriate behavior. Hopefully you're clocking into your 9 to 5 and just doing a job and not actually believing that these practices are righteous in any way.
For a more accurate assessment of our company and products, visit facebook.com/livingscriptures and click reviews. (This no longer exists. Likely too many bad reviews if you ask me...) Nest family now has a facebook profile instead of a page... which removes the ability to provide a review.
May the force be with you...
And may God have mercy on your soul... no sarcasm whatsoever.
ChildrensPastor
United States of AmericaSimilar Dealing w. This Company
#4Consumer Comment
Mon, May 16, 2011
They treat churches the same way. Bait and switch at it's finest. Was encouraged to view a product (which turned out to be a huge set of DVDs), my first time talking with them I immediately was telling them we were not interested in their product and they continued to have us pass it around to different staff members, "maybe your nursery director will be interested..." "has your pre-school department had the opportunity to look at the materials" ect. Each staff member was always uninterested in the outdated product (but I had them review it to satisfy and stay nice to the salespeople). When everyone had viewed it that was possible we tried to have it returned. They said they would send us a pre-paided sticker to put on the box and return the materials. It never came. After that, it was very hard to get ahold of anyone. When we would, they would promise a return sticker, and it would never come. The day after some mysterious date passed it became really easy to talk to someone, they called often telling us we had an outstanding $800 balance with them over and over. We finally shipped the products back with our own money and were forced to pay a $100+ restocking fee! There's a reason that this company is on this site several times, and there's also a reason they have employees searching all over the net countering the arguments. A company with good morals and standards who deals with people well has no reason to hire employees to search through the net and counter the bad reviews about them left on websites.
I'll now sit back and wait to hear the response from the employee who "isn't getting paid" and is doing this of their own good will...
Matt
Ogden,Utah,
U.S.A.
Ripoff report = Angry anonymous venting and no accountablility
#4UPDATE Employee
Mon, September 27, 2010
We appreciate criticism, we truly do. It helps us to become the best we can be. The problem is that this site only attracts the most angry people who may or may not be completely fair in their review. I personally don't know this reviewer or their case (as most of them write anonymously) but I can't help point out some problems in the logic.
1. He agreed to purchase a substantial amount of our product. There was no force, nor coercion, nor Jedi mind tricks that "pushed [ourselves] into his mind". We just show what a great uplifting product we have and how happy others have been with our products.
2. He forewent the 3-Day cancellation period. We allow anyone who might have some "buyer's remorse" to easily cancel their agreement within 3 days. He obviously did not do this.
3. We don't do debt, but had an obligation which he didn't fulfill. Our relationship with customers is more similar to a cell phone company. You receive the product/service as you pay for it, and we/they expect you to pay for the period of time that you've agreed to. We charge no interest on the products you haven't received. There is also an early termination fee if you decide you want to cancel your agreement. Also you don't have to buy them over time and you can pay them off at any time.
4. Living within our means is a personal assessment, we can not be accountable for someone who agrees to buy something they can't afford.
5. Yes, we do target young families, especially ones with young children who can greatly benefit from learning the scriptures through animation.
6. As to the rest of the story, we want to be gracious with our customers and we are when we can, but we also have to run a business.
For a more accurate assessment of our company and products, visit facebook.com/livingscriptures and click reviews. Yes there are negative reviews but with 4 stars out of 5, you'll see what most families think of us, especially the ones who complete their end of the agreement. May the force be with you...