I and many others worked tirelessly and endlessly for nearly two years to build a great marketing team and some good programs. When the big money started flowing, the Founder who holds all keys to the income but would not be held accountable for it in any fashion, becan summarily finding reason after reason to squeeze out those whom had built his company to a profitable level. Back in December, I had to leave the group for Family reasons, and was entitled to the prescribed "retirement" benefits that our group had agreed upon.
On Christmas Day, Mike Blacktopp summarily deleted all of my accounts and my retirement benefits with no notice, explanation, nor cause. Following is an email exchange I have had with him to try and get an answer, although the answer is all too clear now. The means to his end was to use thousands of people to build a company, and then systematically squeeze most of them out so the money in HIS accounts would be split fewer (if any) ways. The group started out as "The Team", then became "This Team Leads (TTL)", and now is known as "Simple Stepping Stones (SSS)" or 4-sss.com. Here is my attempt to get answers from him with all of his replies per batum.
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2/7/04 I wrote the following to Mike Blacktopp:
Hello Mike,
I hope all is well. You have not formally stated that my retirement from TTL or the benefits thereto have been terminated. The last thing that you told me was that you "never said I would not get paid".
Quote:
MikeB :- Once again you have it wrong, IF I had just deleted YOUR account in 1Search4All.com then that would have been wrong and unethical. I left it there till after WE sorted things out. You have done the work and I have NOT said you would NOT be paid for the work since you retired just like any other public member. That also applies to the other ex-members like Cathy.
******
I formally declare once again, that I have done nothing to HARM TTL, never have and never will. I am Mike Miller and NO ONE ELSE so you cannot claim that ANY association that I may have with anyone else means that Mike Miller is HARMING TTL. Whatever issue you may have with others is between YOU and THEM, and not YOU and THEM and ME. It just does not work that way. You can argue that SO and SO wrote this, or SO and SO did that, or said this, or said that. I am Mike Miller, I am NOT SO and SO, period.
In truth, if you want to see who is attempting to harm who, I know some of the things that were said about me after I left. I magically became the mysterious "mole". Now I could take that as a libelous slur, because that is exactly what it was, and you sat back and watched that happen. So WHO is trying to harm WHO here?
I look forward to my SSS account being reinstated, along with my 1Search4All account, as well. You never said they would be deleted, in fact you said they were NOT deleted. Since you never followed up on the issue, I take that to mean that they were still good accounts. I also look forward to receiving my December retirement payment, which was due on January 15, 2004 of $30 along with approximately $18 in PPC earnings that I had worked for before my account was blocked.
My PayPal address is xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Please do not take this as confrontational, as that is not my intent. I would still like to promote SSS and 1S4A as I feel the are good programs and will do well. I worked long and hard to help build them, and deserve at least to have my earned accounts and benefits in place.
Mike
To which Mike Blacktopp responded (4 days later)
I will reply WHEN I have time, I will NOT take time out to answer one person when I have work to do that effects 1,000's. And my reply to this was...
Thank you.
Just remember that 1000's are a whole bunch of ONE'S! :-)
I heard nothing up to 3/10/04 (yes that is a month later) so I followed up to Mike Blacktopp with this note:
Mike -
You replied on 2/11/04 that you would answer. It is now 3/10/04, just about an entire month later with NO response. I take this to mean that you are refusing to answer. That is your decision. Of course I know the answer, which is in YOUR eyes, why pay retirees when you can keep the money in your own pocket? After all, all along it has all been about you and no one else. You simply USED many others as a means to YOUR end. No need any longer to answer my question, your silence has spoken VOLUMES. I have attempted to be cordial and professional to this point, and you have NOT reciprocated.
Here is my current Claim:
Retirement Benefits for December 2003, January 2004
$60 One Search 4 All Earnings For December 2003 (estimated as since YOU deleted my account, I don't quite remember) $17 Currently Due: $77 Ongoing: Retirement Benefits $30 per month as advertised and promised.
PayPal; xxxxxxxxxx
Mike
3/10/04
10:12 AM Pacific Standard Time
Now behold his professional and business like reply:
When I get time I will answer. As I said I put the benefit of 1,000's before the benefit of one person, YOU chose to resign not me. As you will see very soon, we are launching a massive program today and another 3 this month, you should have stayed a bit longer instead of quitting.
I got upset and replied.
You are right I did choose to "retire". As such I am entitled to the retirement payments for which I spent the better part of 2 years EARNING. I don't give a flip on what you are launching. I also have stated that I don't care any longer if you answer, as I know the answer. What I do care about is that YOU honor your end of the obligation, and pay myself and all others whom are entitled, their just and due retirement benefits.
I don't care how much time you do or don't have. You must MAKE the time to fulfill your promises and obligations.
Just do what is RIGHT.
Mike
3/10/04
11:23 AM PST
Once again Mike Blacktopp replies with his usual professionalism and attempted scare tactics. Please do NOT try to lecture ME on what is right after YOU have hurt the WORKING team members. Have a look BACK at your records and what was stated on the FORUM BEFORE THE $100 payments started.
Also check YOUR records and look at what we VOTED on about the retirement payments. Please do NOT reply UNLESS it is an apology AFTER you have checked the FACTS I will just block your emails and you will NOT be able to sort anything out later.
OK, so he cannot answer why he won't pay myself and dozens others, he won't answer a simple question. And he wants me to apologize!! Of course he made a charge against me that I had HURT other team members, so I called him on the carpet on that, because he knows and I know it is not true.
Here is my reply...
Since YOU made the remark, please send me the names of every working member whom I have hurt, the date they were hurt, their statements in their own words that I have personally hurt them, how and when they were hurt. Their statements should be dated at the time you claim such an event occurred. None of them to this date have ever notified me that I have hurt them.
YOU let them banter in your Forum after I left, how I must have been the famous MOLE, raking my name through the mud, and you demand an apology from ME? I don't think so.
Funny how you block emails when the truth starts hitting closer and closer to home.
Mike
3/10/04
1:30 P.M. PST
With that I struck his nerve. Usually by now he has folks cowering in a corner, but not me, not this time. He does not like that, he does not want to answer the tough, legitimate questions. Over the past 3 years he has used close to 3,000 people to generate large sums of income (which he controls and has refused to provide an accounting for). We are talking tens of thousands if not over a hundred thousand dollars. Yes I think I struck a nerve as evidenced by his final reply to me...
OK I will read no more, I will NOT waste time with YOU, IT is strange that YOU pink out the first and last points in my email, BUT overlook the ones in the middle. You talk about getting closer to home, I guess they were so close you could not see them. Any more emails will just be returned unseen. I told you I would answer when I had time, but you CHOOSE not to wait, fine that is YOUR choice so now pay the penalty.
OK it is now 6/9/2004 and I was just going over some old stuff, and wrote him again once again asking for the answer to my original question from 2/7/04 so I sent him off a brief note:
Hi Mike,
It is NOW June 9, and I am still waiting. Oh and I noticed that all of your sites are offline today. When is the last time YOU waited 4 months for someone to answer a question for you?
Mike
To this he simply forwarded my email back, unanswered with his signature line, which is:
Mike Blacktopp is TEAM leader at SSS which is a TEAM set up to help DISABLED and OTHER people on a low income build a future on the internet with HONEST & ETHICAL programs.
Our programs include
http://www.4-SSS.com
http://www.SSS-Hosting.com
http://www.SSS-ebooks.com
http://www.SSS-PPV.com
http://www.SSS-sw.com
http://www.SSS-Programs.com
http://www.SSS-Reports.com
http://www.SSS-MMM.com
http://www.1stCollectibles.com
http://www.About-Collectible-Thimbles.com
plus lots more to be added soon.
You, the reader can decide whether to get involved in any of these programs. I still would were he an actual human being, because they are good stuff. There is far more background than these exchanges can dictate, most of which was quite good by the way. There are dozens if not hundreds in my same shoes whom he invents reasons to not fulfill his obligations with.
All I can say is I worked for nearly two years to earn our TEAM a boat load of money, which all filtered to him, and a very, very minimal amount ever did, nor still does filter back to those whom made it happen. He is very good at spin, so be very careful with him.
Mike
Canyon Country, California
U.S.A.