Complaint Review: SAN TAN VALLEY REGIONAL CHAMBER OR SAN TAN SHOPPER - San Tan Valley Arizona

SAN TAN VALLEY REGIONAL CHAMBER OR SAN TAN SHOPPER IN SAN TAN VALLEY
 
Attention all business owners that are even considering joining the San Tan Valley Regional Chamber AKA the San Tan Shopper. This so called break off chamber has ripped me off!  I paid $115.00 this year to join the San Tan Valley Regional Chamber or San Tan Shopper and the $115.00 was to have my 2 businesses posted on their so-called chamber directory. The first $100.00 was for my first business, a Business Directory, and an additional $15.00 paid to the San Tan Valley Regional Chamber was for my second business my web design, hosting and marketing solution for local businesses and for businesses across the U.S. and abroad.
 
My businesses were added to the San Tan Shopper (www.SanTanShopper.com,) the site that is supposed to be the San Tan Valley Regional Chambers flagship, and I thought that I had joined the real or best chamber in San Tan Valley.
 
You see, I was living in Apache Junction, Arizona, and started to volunteer my Sundays to be a chaplain at the Florence County Jail for 3 services every Sunday.  The distance between AJ and Florence is about 30 miles, so after about a year and a half of doing this and researching San Tan Valley, I thought it would be a perfect place to buy a home and move my business.  It is a wonderful place to live: the community and people I have met are really wonderful aside from a few bad apples. Most importantly, it put me about 15 minutes from the jail.
 
I had started a news-based website, and a week after I did this a member/founder of this chamber called me out of the blue asking questions about who I was, what I was doing in San Tan Valley, and what I was going to do with my news website. I felt like I had just been called by Hitler and was being put under the spotlight for doing something wrong.  After explaining who I was and that I moved out here to be closer to the jail, I guess this person decided I was not some kind of threat to her San Tan Valley newspaper or San Tan Valley news site.  I explained to this person that I was looking to join the local Chamber and she asked me which one. I did not understand what she meant at first as I thought that each town or city was supposed to only have one chamber of commerce named after it.  She then explained to me that there were two chambers and went on and on and on about the original chamber being evil and crooked and even insinuated things about the president of the first chamber. For instance, she said that she was making money off of people by directing business to a personal side company, and that had somehow bought the domain name SanTanValley.com and had fixed some kind of election so that San Tan Valley was named San Tan Valley over Bella Vista.  So with all this explained to me, I concluded that this person seemed to be honest and sincere and telling the truth so I joined this so called San Tan Valley Regional Chamber, aka San Tan Shopper website.
 
I met with one of the Board Members Janet Anderson after she had emailed me the San Tan Valley Regional Chamber Membership aka San Tan Shopper member application. I filled it out and joined as the San Tan Valley Business Directory as my primary business, this is also my Arizona Trade Name. I also paid for the additional $15.00 to have my web design, hosting and marketing company listed on there as well.  Instead of meeting at a chamber of commerce office, Janet Anderson met me at a restaurant off of Hunt Highway & Bella Vista where I made the mistake of paying Janet Anderson for my membership in cash.  To this day about 10 months later -- all I have gotten from Janet Anderson are the following promises for a receipt:
 
On Wed 3/2/2011 Janet Anderson wrote the following in an email to me:
yep I will get to the treasurer so he can send you a receipt.
 
Again on 3/3/2011: The treasurer is getting a receipt together for you... let me know if you don't get it in a couple days or so.. thanks
 
I have asked for a receipt and have been ignored or put off. I dont understand why? Why wont this chamber give me a receipt for my cash paid membership???
 
After giving my money to Janet, we walked over to the Johnson Insurance Agency, Inc. that I believe Steve Johnson owns or runs on that same corner where Janet Anderson took my membership application and my $115.00. Steve Johnson took it and was supposed to get me a receipt, but for some reason could not get me one. So I thought I would make it easy on them and told them they could just simply email it to me.  Again 10 months later: NO RECEIPT.
I thought things were going well, however, when Steve Johnson wanted me to be a featured speaker at a San Tan Regional Chamber meeting on 02/18/2011.
Steve Johnson sent me the following email:
 
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Dave, I wanted to touch base with you regarding Fridays program.
I was wanting you to present information on the following areas. Share with the attendees the dos and donts  and the tips and tricks of what to do if you are going to have a web presence as a business.( Please refrain from referring to any other vendors in a negative way.) What does a business need to do and be aware of if they are going to use a web developer. (We have briefly discussed this in passing.) The second part would be now that you have a website how do you get discovered and searched for on the web. I believe most businesses will have a website. I dont believe most know how to use it effectively. Your also welcome to talk about your business and the product and services you provide.
 
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They sent out several emails announcing this San Tan Valley Regional chamber or San Tan Shopper event as follows:
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We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our regional chamber meeting this Friday, 2/18 at Poston Butte High School Culinary Arts building,
on Gantzel Road in San Tan Valley. Please use schools front entrance. 
 
Lunch is just $7 and the speaker is David Malton, who will tell you how you can compete online with FREE social media tips to beat the competition and get your business noticed!!
 
Please RSVP today by 5 p.m. please, so the school knows how much to prepare  [email protected] 
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There were over 50 people at this event. After this event things started getting worse! The problem I was having was with the person who got me to join this San Tan Valley Regional Chamber aka San Tan Shopper website seemed to be doing whatever she could to try and disrupt my business. Going to the chamber for help was pointless. Janet Anderson, a board member of the San Tan Valley Regional Chamber / San Tan Shopper, said to me when I asked her for some help and advice about this situation, Dont start a war with the chamber, and Youre the new guy. What kind of help is this from a board member? And what does this kind of attitude say to businesses that are thinking about moving to San Tan Valley? 

Businesses beware!  If youre thinking about coming to San Tan Valley or doing business here avoid this chamber like the plague!

Steve Johnson wrote in an email to me:

I believe your trade name San Tan Valley Business Directory became registered in January 2011. I dont believe you have been a member in the San Tan Valley community for longer than 6 months. I dont believe anyone is trying to sabotage your business.

Yet even the San Tan Regional Chamber was using my business name/trade name and even my companys domain name in their keywords!  Watch the following video I made:

WATCH THIS ON YOUTUBE HERE

In My Opinion this San Tan Valley Regional Chamber or San Tan Shopper is the problem in our community.  They had me convinced that the original chamber was run by crooks: that they fixed the election for the naming of our city because they owned the domain name first, that the presidents husband was keeping hostage the domain names of the businesses whose websites he had built and hosted, that the president of the other chamber was funneling moneys into her own accounts.  These are the things that Steve Johnson, Janet Anderson, Stacey Deprey Purper owner of the San Tan Valley Today Paper told me.  Apparently, these people -- some of which stepped down from the original chamber --wanted to do their own thing and, in my opinion, picked the perfect motto for their San Tan Valley Regional Chamber or San Tan Shopper site: Where its not business as usual. d**n did they ever get that right! 

Besides, from what I can surmise, these accusations about the people involved in the other chamber are false.

And again it should not matter if a business has been here 6 months or 60 years, integrity shows no favoritism and does the right thing!

To end this, Rip-Off Reports should be a last resort. There are many companies who take advantage of this website and post lies about competitors that seem to never go down.  So please note the date that this was posted (WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19, 2011 8AM) as I am sure that after this goes live, not soon after people will try and say bad things about me, or my business on this site.  When and if this happens to me, please note the date will be after this article posted and will most likely not be signed by any real person or real company.

My company and businesses that I manage maintain the highest ethical standards possible.  I do not think I have ever had a disgruntled client in the life of my business.

Again Business Owners beware when you come to San Tan Valley! Investigate who youre doing business with.  Many people can keep up appearances but thats all they seem to be. The end result of all this is that I paid $115.00 cash and do not have my business listed in their directory anymore! And not only this they got me to give a seminar with the promise that my business was going to be the go to web design & marketing company, they have just decided to keep my money, despite repeated requests to resolve the situation Steve Johnson sends me emails (Months Ago) that we are taking this up with the Board (Brad Purper Owner of San Tan Valley Today Newspaper, Janet Anderson, who puts on Polarfest, Steve Johnson of Johnson Insurance Agency, Inc.) and nothing ever done except for my removal from the chamber directory that I have been removed from.

Being in a chamber is supposed to help your business, and the chamber Board members listed here only seems interested in trying to destroy mine.  Its time for change we need only one chamber of commerce in San Tan Valley and its not this San Tan Valley Regional Chamber / San Tan Shopper, or the board members listed above on!