Complaint Review: MY Community Legal Network - Las Vegas Nevada

This is a complaint filed regarding my purchase of a Branch Office from MCLN (My Community Legal Network) in September of this year 2009 for the total price of $10,000.

To anyone else looking to go into business with this organization you will want to read on.

Here is an excerpt from their website:

Introduced in 2009, My Community Legal Network scoured through millions of legal and financial professionals looking for the most knowledgeable and sophisticated providers. Then we took the collective bargaining power that comes from millions of Americans and negotiated wholesale prices from these top professionals. We take these discounted rates and offer them directly to our members. There is no markup; only the best professionals at the best prices. My Community Legal Network currently only offers services in the United States but has plans to expand these services to Canada, Mexico, and South America by the end of 2010.

At first I was impressed with the scope of their services. Even today, after I have left the fold, I still think they have a great concept with poor execution.

While I cannot speak as a client of MCLN, I will share with you the problems I experienced in my short tenure as their Seattle Branch Office. This office I officially opened on October 15, 2009 and closed it on December 11, 2009 some 57 days later.

Their list of services is impressive and includes:

         Home Retention Services assistance with home modification or with offering sales or short sale services through the ReMax Network.

         Credit Repair Services offers assistance in raising credit scores using an outside service provider.

         Debt Settlement Services Help in settling credit card and other unsecured debt.

These three basic services are all included in the first years membership fee of $995.

Plus through their network of legal and financial advisors MCLN offers to assist members with the following reduced rate services:

         Bankruptcy filing

         Tax Return Preparation

         Business Incorporation

         Wills and Trusts

         DUI Defense

         Chiropractic Manipulation

         Acupuncture

         Cosmetic Surgery

         Lasik Eye Surgery

         Orthodontics

         Dental Procedures

         Microdermabrasion

         Physical Therapy

         Marriage Counseling

         And more

Notice they are also entering specialized medical treatments.

While this all sounds good and wonderful . . . The reality of my experience in working with these folks is less than ideal.

While they promise a lot, they have delivered very little from my perspective.

On September 25^st, 2009, I sent MCLN a personal check for $2,500 to lock in this first branch office outside of California. I was supposed to be the first office on their national expansion of branch offices.

These branch offices were offered in two flavors. $50,000 for a 50% commission split on memberships sold and $100,000 for an 80% commission split on memberships sold.

Even with my deeply discounted price (paying $10,000 for a $100,000 valued branch office,) I feel MCLN has grossly misrepresented this opportunity.

The reason for my quitting MCLN is due to a lack of trust in their ability to function:

1.       Their total lack of support for my branch office.

2.       Holding of my first branch office commission check sealed the deal for me.

I will be happy to get more into detail with anyone who contacts me at 121connected [at] gmail [dot] com.

If you are considering going into business with them be aware of their weaknesses.

I can update you on:

         LIVE TRANSFER PROGRAM Since this was their main form of marketing I was dismayed at the poor quality of live transfers. This was a big deal, as their whole marketing system revolves around this live transfer system. This was the reason I signed on as a branch office. This was the reason I wanted to work with them. Yet MCLN could not make their live transfers work for us up here in Seattle. I hired not one, but two rounds of talented sales professionals a total of 21 people, and everyone quit. Salespeople need to sell to earn commissions. We were not selling anywhere near the volume projected by MCLN. While they claim they have a 20% closing ratio down in California, we couldnt make it work up here. Even their top salesperson, who came up here for 10 days to train us, could not sell one live transfer while here.

         MARKETING MATERIALS MCLN was to supply our office with standard business marketing materials. I never did receive any business cards, letterhead or envelopes to conduct business with. They told me at least three different times they were sending, but nothing ever arrived.
 

         WEBSITE Since day one, we have avoided sending contacts to the MCLN website due to continual updates and errors on an incomplete site. Even today if you go to http://www.mcln.com/ you will see the Seattle star listed there with a phone number that has been disconnected. Very unprofessional.  

         IP PHONE SYSTEM MCLN was supposed to have developed a new IP phone system so branch offices could coordinate incoming and outgoing phone lines for multiple agents. The phone system was a key challenge as the business model relies on phone communications.  I ended up having to order a phone system and lines from Comcast as the office was scheduled to open and people needed phone lines to make sales. Unprofessional again.
 

         MEMBERSHIP COMMISSION PAYMENTS Our office did make 6 new membership sales and was supposed to receive a commission check for around $3,000 which MCLN said would be sent out. When that check didnt arrive, I added it all up and this was the final straw. At that point I lost all trust in this organization. It was when I realized the check was not coming is when I lost all trust and decided to leave the company. I paid my employees their commission on memberships sold, but MCLN has never sent my 80% commission check to me.

         PHONE CALLS AND EMAILS TO MCLN - I left numerous messages and sent e-mails to MCLN with zero follow-up. This is just another example of the lack of support.

MCLN is a great example of the Peter Principle when a company grows to its level of incompetency. They simply do not have the infrastructure in place to grow properly.

This business opportunity is not ready for the big time not even close. . .

Those few sales we did make in Seattle were from leads from someone I hired who only worked one day and was able to capture 28 good leads. Our total from well over 100 live transfer calls from MCLN were 3 good leads. A good lead is someone who:

         Is a homeowner behind on their payment;

         Has unsecured debt;

         Has a low credit score;

These were the three main touchstones of initiating MCLN services. For a membership of $995 MCLN could help their members overcome these three challenges to their financial lives.

I believe MCLN is in financial troubles and that is the reason for most, if not all, of these challenges. While I do not believe management of MCLN did purposefully conspire to rob me of my investment in their system, I do believe their incompetency and lack of support did do just that.  

I sent MCLN multiple emails listing I wanted to back out of our agreement and I expected them to reimburse my funds invested.

I gave them plenty of opportunity to contact me to work things out. I was reasonable, considering I had already invested some $20,000 in this venture, and it was not working out. They will claim my final check for $5,000 would not clear, and I was totally up front with them on the reason being was due to lack of any income. I had even called the company and asked they held my final check for another 30 days, and was told that would be fine. Never did they mention they would hold my commission check. While I was totally up front with MCLN - they were never up front with me. 

I was willing to take responsibility for the office lease, for the purchase of new equipment etc. I just wanted MCLN to be fair and agree they dropped the ball and they should reimburse me for the $5,500 cash already invested.

To those looking into doing business with this company, or any other wanting money up front, make sure you do your due diligence.