- Report: #579390
Complaint Review: Community Crossroads Magazine - kalispell Montana
Reported By:
montanaidaho -
, Montana, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Community Crossroads Magazine
rt 2 kalispell, Montana, United States of America
Phone:
406-471-2882 or (406) 755
Web:
www.commroads.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Community Crossroads Magazine Montana publishing group, Selling "advertising" in a magazine that they have no money to produce kalispell, Montana
Community Crossroads Magazine attempts to lure small businesses in by telling them they will write an article about them, in exchange for advertising in their magazine. They either call the business telling them they want to write an article and follow up with a display ad, or cold call by walking in the establishment.
The businesses that are targeted are small businesses. Businesses where the owner is on site, and can write a check immediately. The owner of Community Crossroads, Don Chase, visits the business and attempts to sell them on the article, making false promises about exactly what the article entails. He shows the business owner large layout articles, when in fact what he is selling is a small article. He tells the business owner that a professional writer and photographer will interview them and come and take pictures.
He shows the business owner past issues, and tells them about the local people that "love the magazine", and that they (the business he is selling) will get a stack of magazines for their entryway. He claims that they print over 10k magazines and distribute statewide. He pulls out a contract, says no cancellations, no refunds, and sells the "package" from 100-1000 dollars. Whatever he feels that he can get out of the business at the time. The exact same package can sell from 100-1000 dollars. He keeps dropping his price until he can get a check. The business is told that the magazine prints 8 times a year and that they will be in the next printed issue.
Once he receives the check, it is deposited immediately. Mine was deposited the same day. The business usually receives and email from the magazine asking them to fill out a paper with facts about their business and that a photographer will be in contact and the article for approval will be forthcoming. 8 weeks later, I still had not received and article proof. I emailed the magazine and almost 4 weeks later, I received a rude response from marsha chase, publisher.. that I only paid xx dollars and that i would have had to have paid xxx to receive a written article by them and photos. That I had to write the article myself and take pictures. I don't care how much I paid.. I was told they would do this.. so, because I spent my hard earned money.. I submitted the information.. it's been several months, and still no magazine. I called Don Chase's cell phone 406-471-2882 and he started screaming at me about the economy. Had i been in a hole somewhere, the economy is bad..I told him I wanted my money back and he said no refunds. I told him I was going to let people know what he did to my business. Hours later, I received an email that they wanted to know exactly what I told people and who I told and that they were going to sue me for talking. it says on their contract disputes must be handled in confidence. If they have enough money to sue people for talking about their scam, then they should have enough money to put the magazine out like they promised.
It was then that I decided to do some research on this magazine. If I wasn't going to get a refund, I was doing to expose him for being a scam artist.
In my research, I talked to many people. Their magazine was online until recently- so I called some of the businesses in the magazine and got the same story time and time again.. Chase wanted money up front, checks were cashed same day, took weeks, sometimes months to get an article proof, most didn't even know the magazine even came out.. they never got a copy of it, never saw it. Or they would call about the magazine and the date it was to be published kept moving out and out and out.. They were told 8 magazines per year, then 6, then 4.. Their customer service was rude, or non-responsive. Some people never heard from him after their check was cashed. I learned he ran this scam in Idaho (coeur d alene, idaho falls, pocatello, blackfoot , rexburg and shelley) and Montana (statewide). I learned that some customers were told the magazine went statewide, then when they got their copy it said central montana.
I spoke to some people that only received one copy of the magazine and never saw it distributed where Chase said it would be distributed, I also called the companies that were on the distribution list and no-one knew what I was talking about.
I discovered that the employees of the magazine were kept in the dark about the ripoff. They were provided with incorrect publishing dates, circulation, distrubution and general information, so they were unaware that the information they were giving out was incorrect. Most of them were still owed money by the magazine at the time I wrote this.
I spoke with many merchants that did trade for articles and ads that were never published, but the trade was used up.
I checked the BBB for reports on Community Crossroads Magazine and to no surprise, they have an F rating.
Phone calls to their main number go to a voicemail that never gets responded to and emails never get responded to.
This is a true ripoff and I hope other small businesses don't fall into this trap. The economy is bad enough without having people like the Chases's taking people's money.
