I wished I had read any of these Rip Off report s on Income Strategies Institute (ISI or Grow Rich Stay Rich) before. Then perhaps this would not happen to me
I know this is a very long report. I just want to share my terrible experience dealing with this totally fraudulent company Income strategies Institute. All they want is your money without providing any services It is a major fraud! I am also open to all civil class lawsuits with all other victims to stand up against this fraudulent company ran by Sidney Sperry.
I was firstly contacted by Jay Watts, a self-claimed Director of Income Strategies Institute, back in the beginning of August 2007. He introduced the Personal Coach Program which consists 12 one-on-one sessions with an assigned personal coach to train students on real time stock trading. He then passed my contact information to his colleague David Cannon, so that Cannon could further solicit this program to me. Cannon started calling me on 8/8/07 trying to convince me that this program really works. Initially, he told me that the entire program would cost $8000. I told him that there is no way I would pay that much for this program. Then he lowered the price from $8000 to a special discounted price of $3500. He got me started to consider about this offer. Cannon realized that I was thinking about it so he kept on pushing me for credit card information. Now, this entire phone conversation took place when I was driving on a freeway. Knowing I was driving, Cannon actually asked me to PULL OVER the car so I could give him my credit card information. I refused and told him that I would call him back later that day. I didnt. He called me 3 times and left me a message that night.
The next morning (8/9/07), Cannon called again right around 8am. I told him that I did not feel comfortable about purchasing this program and he started to brainwash me with all the supposedly true live examples of how many students have been making money trading stocks after the program. I gave in and orally agreed that I would give it a try. The moment I said yes, Cannon was so happy and kept on saying thank you to me. My instinct, right when he started thanking me, told me that I made a wrong decision. Cannon went on and told me that he would send me a copy of a blank contract so I can fill it out, sign the contract and send it back to him as soon as possible.
Later that day, I discussed this with my friend and she had me realized that this is too good to be true. So, when I got home, I immediately emailed (written notice) Jay Watts about my decision of cancelling this program.
On the morning of 8/10/07, Cannon called again. I told him the email I sent to his boss with my decision of cancelling this program. He said that he was not informed by Jay Watts about my cancellation. Fine, so I told him in person, over the phone, that I had decided that this program was not for me. So, I no longer wish to be enrolled. Cannon, all of a sudden turned into a totally different person, and said to me You are a complete disappointment He HUNG UP.
On the very same day (8/10/07), I noticed that my credit card had already been charged with $3500 by ISI. Now, the most ridiculous thing is that the $3500 charge was posted on 8/9/07 by ISI. This was before I received the contract that ISI asked me to sign. THEY CHARGED ME BEFORE I EVEN GET A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THE CONTRACT AND SIGN.
I waited a few days giving ISI the time to refund my money. It never happened. I called my credit card company Discover Card to dispute this charge. They opened an investigation and temporary took that $3500 charge off my statement. On 9/6/07, I realized that Discover Card reversed the credit and posted this $3500 charge back to my statement and closed my dispute case in favor of the merchant. I was disappointed. I called Discover Card and questioned them on what ground and evidence that they had to come to this conclusion. They could not share too much information with me over the phone but later sent me a copy of the letter that ISI sent them in respond to the dispute. The letter from ISI was full of lies and misleading information. I was disappointed at Discover Card in the way that their investigation was solely based on the one-side story from the merchant. I questioned Discover about this, and they simply said that I had to deal with the merchant directly myself to get this refund.
On 9/7/07, I tried to call Cannon but all I got was his voice mail. I left the 1st message to Cannon about this refund request. No response from him. I also called the ISI customer service # and spoke with the supposedly Customer Service Manager Daniel about this refund request. Daniel told me to call back the next day.
9/10/07, I called ISI again and this time, a lady answered the phone. I told her my refund request and she said that she could not help me and that I had to deal directly with Cannon. I informed her that I had tried to call but Cannon was never at his desk to answer the phone. She transferred me to Cannons voice mail again regardless.
9/11/07 Cannon was still no where to be found. I left him the 3rd voice message. I also called ISI again and spoke with Daniel again. He specifically said to me that It will be refunded on Monday (9/17).
On Monday 9/17/07, I still did not see any refund on my credit card. I called ISI, this time, it was voice mail too. No one was at the customer service to answer my phone. I then called Cannon again and, of course, had to leave him another message about this refund. Surprisingly, he called back. However, he left a message directly to my voice mail (when I was all day beside my cell phone waiting for his call). In his message, he refused to refund my money and said telemarketing is not refundable
I called ISI again. This time Daniel asked me to call back the next day and he stated that they should be able to refund me.
Minutes after my conversation with Daniel, Cannon called. He said on the phone, . Telemarketing is not refundable! Why dont you just work with me I told him that I had consulted my attorney and this is not true! Cannon then said, well, then have your lawyer call our lawyer He hung up again.
9/18/07 I called Daniel since he stated (the day before) that they would be able to process my refund on 18th. He knew it was me calling and he purposely put me on hold for more than 10 minutes. After he came to the phone, he said I cannot refund your money because you filed a dispute with credit card company He continued on and said, There is nothing I can do for you.
Knowing that they are totally ignoring me and stalling me as much as possible, I was not going to put up with them anymore. I asked Daniel what is David (Cannon)s last name. Daniel mumbled and initially said he did not know. I kept on asking and he said that Davids last name starts with a C, but he did not know Davids last name. I said, then someone in the office who knows his last name on the phone. Daniel said, no one in the office knows his last name. Why dont you ask him yourself?! He then transferred me to Cannon.
Cannon finally told me his last name and asked why? You gonna sue me? I replied YES! He said Good, and hung up.
Now, as of today, I have never received ANY good nor service for the $3500 charged by this company. NOTHING!!! I will not give up and will continue until I get my money back. I have started filing complaints to all public forums (FTC, Ripoff Reports, BBB, Utah Business Commission, Utah District Attorneys Office, etc.) and share my terrible experience with the public. I will warn all the potential consumers of ISIs fraudulent business practices.
I will also exercise my right under special rule for credit card purchases that Discover Card must also investigate this case thoroughly. Under my rights, If you have a problem with the quality of goods or services that you purchased with a credit card, and you have tried in good faith to correct the problem with the merchant, you may not have to pay the remaining amount due on the goods or service. I have sent a copy of everything as a supporting document and requested Discover to re-open my dispute case and correct the billing. I am hoping that Discover Card is a legitimate business that will protect its customers rights. I will keep everyone updated regarding the investigation result by Discover Card. If it is unsatisfactory, then I urge all consumers stop using Discover Card so you will enjoy more protection by using other major credit cards.
California Consumer
Alhambra, California
U.S.A.