Sabrina
Richmond,#2Author of original report
Tue, December 21, 2004
After reading all the rip-off reports on this company I contacted an agency that another consumer had experienced success with, and got a full refund about 10 days later. They are VERY familiar with these jerks. Department of Justice and Consumer Services Office of Consumer Protection 15251 Roosevelt Blvd., Suite 209 Clearwater, FL 33760 (727) 464-6200 fax (727) 464-6129 Here is a copy of the letter I sent them, (with personal info removed.) I also closed the account that they accessed to pay for this fraud, and filed complaints with The US Postal Inspectors, the FTC, the FCC, Attorneys General from both Virginia and Florida, and both my local Richmond Police Dept and the Largo PD. While i'm happy to get my money back, its not enough. I want these jerks shut down. Here is the letter i sent to the Dept of Justice that resulted in a full and immediate refund, posted here as an example. December 2, 2004 Greetings, This letter is in regards to a fraud perpetrated against us by Phoenix Consumer Services, a company which lists it's address as 7551 Ulmerton Road, STE-F, Largo, FL, 33771. This company contacted us via telephone during the first week of November, promising to issue an unsecured Visa or Mastercard, with a minimum credit limit of $500.00, for a one time fee of $129.95. I listened carefully, and asked a lot of questions, having been a telemarketer myself for many years, and the TSR (who identified himself only as Mitchell, at extension #206) assured me that this was a true pre-approval, and in fact, the next thing I would receive would be a signature card from the bank, at which time I was to choose whether I wanted a Visa or MasterCard. I agreed, gave Mitchell the routing and account numbers, and the money was withdrawn from our savings account (First Market Bank # XXXXXXXX) on November 12, 2004. On Monday, November 29th, I received their package in the mail. Imagine my disgust (and chagrin) to discover that what I had purchased for $129.95 was a cheaply made 16 page booklet offering general credit repair information, along with a list of banks that issued high interest credit cards for additional fees ranging from $149 to $450. Upon contacting several of these banks, the only credit cards offered to me were secured cards, requiring deposits equal to the credit line in addition to the large fees. Phoenix Consumer Services had told me I was pre-approved for an unsecured card, with no additional fees, guaranteed. Repeated calls to Customer Service proved fruitless, as all I ever got was a recorded message, promising to return my call. Of course, my calls were not returned. My bank will not issue an ACH reversal because of the way the charge was submitted, they actually made a paper check and sent it in, so the funds weren't transferred electronically. Also, since I had authorized the withdrawal, no actual bank fraud occurred. The fraud was between myself and Phoenix Consumer Services, making it a consumer fraud issue rather than a bank fraud complaint. My bank gave me the information about the company that actually withdrew the funds, Amerinet, Inc., and my first call there was also an exercise in futility. I was told that the funds had already been paid to Phoenix, so they no longer had them, but that they'd send a message for them to call me. Later that day I recalled Amerinet and demanded to speak to a supervisor. His name was Aaron, and his employee # is 625. He told me that IF they could get the money back from Phoenix, they would happily refund it to me. I'm not holding my breath. In desperation, I went searching on the Internet, and found many similar complaints about this company. One such complaint listed some internal phone #s for Phoenix, and I did manage to reach a live person who worked in the payroll department. I guess she took pity on me because shortly after our conversation, someone identifying himself as Frederick from Customer Service called me. Frederick then treated me to a replay of my recorded confirmation conversation, in which I supposedly agreed to purchase a credit repair program for $129.95. I am ready to swear in court that I originally heard only the portions of this confirmation recording that didn't conflict with the outright lies the TSR told me. I am more than familiar with this tactic for I was taught the technique myself many years ago when employed by Access Communications, selling websites to small businesses. We were taught to lie through our teeth when pitching, and to talk over the portions of the confirmation recording that we didn't want the prospects to hear, timing our patter and questions to the beeps in order to elicit the desired response. In other words, while the tape recorded message was saying something to the effect ofYou understand that this website is free for 30 days, and if you do not cancel within 30 days, you will be billed $29.95 per month on your local phone bill?we would be speaking very loudly over the recording, saying, You understand that this is a free 30 day trial, with no obligation to continue afterwards, if you understand, say YES after the beep. After a week or so of practice, we had it timed perfectly. Of course, when we were pitching the product, we told the prospects that they need not call to cancel, that the offer expired on its own, so they had no idea that they'd be getting billed on the 31st day. I didn't work there long, but I did want to explain how this is done, and how their confirmation tapes sound so clean. It's not hard to learn how to do this, it simply takes practice to get your timing down right. Call it karma, but that's what was done to me, and, I'm willing to bet, to all the other poor suckers that got ripped off by this company. After listening to my confirmation tape (#2405965) I told Frederick that I knew how this was done, that I didn't hear the recording in the background when answering Mitchell's questions, and that I myself had engaged in this type of thing in the past, so he could save the BS. At that point he claimed he'd try to put in a refund request, and that if he was successful, I'd receive a refund of $100 only, (telling me that $29.95 would be kept as processing fees) in the mail, in about 6 to 8 weeks. Obviously, this is not satisfactory. In the first place, his commitment was vague, and I have no proof that he's agreed to refund a portion of my money. In the second place, 6 to 8 weeks puts me well beyond the 60 day window that I have to legally contest this fraudulent charge. And lastly, I'm outraged at the notion that I am to pay them $29.95 to process a fraud perpetrated against myself. I want an immediate, 100% refund. I also want to stop this company from continuing its fraudulent practices, so I have taken steps to assist law enforcement in doing so, reporting them to the US Postal Inspectors, the local Richmond Police, the Largo PD, the Attorneys General for both Florida and Virginia, and I will continue my efforts today by filing complaints with the FTC and FCC. During my internet research into this matter, I came across your organization, with the information that you have assisted certain individuals in obtaining full and timely refunds. I too, would appreciate any assistance you can offer in this matter. Sincerely, Sabrina XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Richmond, VA. 23224 Good Luck....GET YOUR MONEY BACK.