On September 6, 2009 I was charged $7.95 for a CD that was never received....
and for a 'free 14 day trial' to a club that I was only given access to AFTER my bank account was debited another $54 for 2 months 'membership' in a club that doesn't even exist by the name I was being charged!
In my case, I was NEVER given the opportunity of the 14 day "free evaluation period"
because the download information was never mailed to me... and I got so busy that
I had forgotten that I had even ordered it until some 42 days later when thankfully
I spotted the debits to my bank account totalling $61.95!
At that point, I emailed Paul and asked that my 'membership' be cancelled... and
the monies I had paid for goods NOT RECEIVED be refunded.
Thankfully, my membership WAS cancelled and I haven't received any further
$27 debits to my bank account. Since Paul Bauer doesn't believe in
communicating, he didn't bother to send me an email confirmation of cancellation.
Instead an email was sent saying that the CD 'was in the mail' and to let him know
if I didn't receive it. This email also gave me - finally - several download links
to what they called the "Effortless Manifesting Club".
It was only when 4 weeks later I wrote again to be SURE that the requested
cancellation had been made and to let Paul know that I still hadn't received
the CD or the requested refund that the cancellation was confirmed and I
was told that no refund was owed... and that the post office was responsible
for the non-delivery of the CD!
It seems as if Paul Bauer's logic is that because I didn't CANCEL my 'subscription'
within the 14 day free trial period (by his reckoning!)... EVEN THOUGH I NEVER
RECEIVED ACCESS TO THE MATERIAL I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE EVALUATING UNTIL
AFTER MY SO-CALLED MEMBERSHIP WAS CANCELLED ... that he had ever right
to charge me for 1) a $7.95 shipping fee for a CD I never received 2) $27 x 2
for access to online information that I never had a chance to evaluate until
AFTER my 'membership' had been cancelled!
By MY logic, the free 14 day trial period should have begun the moment I received
those links -- which was the day that I wrote and cancelled and asked for a refund.
But apparently Paul Bauer has a different opinion... and a very clever agenda.
Because I DO have a fairly good memory, and because I DIDN'T discard ANY
of my emails from Paul, I have been able to piece together the means by which
Paul has cleverly managed to bilk not just me... but potentially HUNDREDS or
perhaps eve THOUSANDS of victims... out of as much money as possible by
1) failing to send out a "Welcome email" giving download links
to "Effortless Manifesting Club". Because there are no links sent,
there is no opportunity to access the contents of the club for the
free 14 day evaluation period. Paul counts on the fact that many
people are so busy that after a day or two, they simply forget that
they even ordered the CD and the free trial. After all, $7.95 is the
price of lunch!
2) Instead of a Welcome Email, Paul sends out, via a pre-programmed
autoresponder, a series of emails promoting his various products and
seminars so that TWENTY FOUR DAYS LATER he can send out an
email with the subject "Manifesting Secrets Club". This email looks
just like all the other promotional emails he's been sending except
that this email FINALLY contains the download links to what he sold
as a 14 day free trial to the "Effortless Manifesting Club. It contains the
words "... In case you missed the link, here it is again:
http://www.dreamsalive.com/manifestingxxxx/....." This is a clever
cover-your-a*s email which puts the onus of "missing getting the
link to the club" squarely on the recipient. And the timing is great
too... not too long to logically be sending a reminder. Never mind
the fact that he is now calling the club by a different name than
how he invoiced it and by now he has taken $7.95 + $27 for a total
of $34.95 from the person's credit card or bank account.
3) For Paul, it's all a 'numbers game'. Some people refer to this
numbers game as "SWSWSW", meaning "Some Will, Some Won't,
So What!" In Paul's case, it's a game about counting on the fact
that many people will quickly forget they even ordered his
CD or 14 day free trial. Paul also is counting on the fact that many
people are careless about scrutinizing their bank statement or credit
card statement. Paul also is counting on the fact that many people
delete all their email daily and so have no record of whether they
received a "Welcome Email" with a link to the club or not. Paul also
is counting on the fact that a few people may open this "Manifesting
Secrets Club" email and the vast majority probably won't. And
of those few who DO open that email, Paul's counting on the fact
that most won't remember that they never received the download
link at the time of their order or if they do remember, can't prove it
because they regularly delete their email. At this point some may
decide simply to continue with membership in the club, many without
even remembering that they agreed to pay $27 a month if they do.
After all, it is TWENTY FOUR DAYS now AFTER they placed their
order and it's easy to forget a lot of things in that period of time.
4) Paul is also counting on the fact that quite a few people won't
even bother to open the "Manifesting Secrets Club" email since it
looks just like all the other promotional emails he's been sending.
He also is counting on the fact that many people are just too busy
to carefully monitor their bank account or credit card statements
to notice that $27 is being deducted every month, he's counting
on the fact that in many cases he'll be able to continue for many
months taking the $27 from quite a few people -- money he plans
to NEVER REFUND!
5) At this point, Paul TOTALLY STOPS SENDING PROMOTIONAL
EMAILS OF ANY KIND! Why? In Paul's case, "silence is golden"!
If he doesn't send any emails, most people are likely to forget
about him and his clever little money making scheme altogether.
If he DOES send email, there's a greater likelihood of some
people suddenly remembering that they ordered a CD or joined
his club. By not sending any emails, he has the GREATEST
CHANCE of continuing to extract $27 a month from them...
potentially forever!
Here are a couple of steps that I've taken to recoup at least some
of my money since Paul has totally stopped communicating and
is stonewalling me
1. I've documented every email exchange between Paul's
organization and myself... as well as the above information
at a free Blogspot website
http://paulbauerdreamsalivescam.blogspot.com/
which will be searchable on Google when people start
looking for information on Paul Bauer and his scams.
It will keep people up to date with my progress in
recovering my money, and will allow others who
have fallen prey to Paul Bauer to share their experiences.
2. I've contacted my bank's fraud division and have filed
a report. They are temporarily depositing $54 in my bank
account, subject of course to their thorough investigation.
It would have been the entire $61.95 had I not waited a
bit too long to file, but there is a 60 day filing limit.
Still, this will be brought to the attention of Paul's
merchant account company. If enough people start
reporting Paul's scams to their bank or credit card's
fraud department, Paul's merchant account could be
revoked.
3. I am posting this information on as many scam-
related websites as I can find to spread the word
about Paul's scam tactics. He truly gives "self help"
a very bad name.
Aaardvaaark
Bakersville,#2Author of original report
Sun, September 02, 2012
I have not even thought of this matter in almost 3 years, until I got an email from Ripoff Report as a 'followup' to this case, stating that the case was now closed... and that, according to Paul Bauer, he has contacted me many times, and has refunded my money, and that I am holding some kind of grudge.
I would not be posting this rebuttal except for the fact that Paul's claim of having contacted me numerous times and having refunded my money is a complete lie.
1) Paul has NEVER contacted me in the past 3 years in any fashion whatsoever.
2) I got a PORTION of the money I paid back, not the entire amount. This partial refund was not because Paul refunded my money, but because my bank, Bank of America, protects its customers from fraud within the 'statute of limitations' which part of the monies paid was beyond.
As far as I know, Paul Bauer's feeble attempt to clear his name 3 years after the fact by filing a false assertion with Ripoff Report is the ONLY communication Paul has made in regard to this matter with ANYONE in the past 3 years. If Paul wishes to make an apology in person to me and refund me the rest of the monies owed, I will then consider the matter to be resolved.
Paul
Arlington Heights,#3UPDATE Employee
Sat, September 01, 2012
We've responded many times to this individual and they prefer to keep this old issue going - and its very apparent that they've got an axe to grind. Their monies have been returned to them and this case is closed. We are rated A+ with the Better Business Bureau and we answer all customer services issues in a timely manner.
Dreams Alive Customer Service