I started wih SMC with the idea to stay at home with my two year old and make a little extra money. I started it full force with paying the initial $300+ to sale products at wholesale.
WOW! A month later was I in for a rude awakening and a lot of learning. I knew better. I really should get everything in writing. Everything the "business coach" said was a lie. i purchased a Gift Card website because he talked me in to spending $1495.00 because "you will get a credit of $1495.00 and a credit for the Gift Cards when you upgrade your site and you will receive $2900 in free Gift Cards".
Sounded good to me. I explained to him I wanted a website that did more than that though and he said that he would have an expert call me that new about those things and proceeded with selling me on the idea of the Gift Card Site considering I could upgrade and get the credit and get more credit from the Gift Cards. I told him, well I think that if I am successful that would make you successful so you would not lead me down the wrong path. he assured me I was doing the right thing, since "I knew I wanted a site."
The next day the other SMC or Emerchant Club, (which is their sister company and they work in a cubicle right next to each other) employee called and sold me on a "Platinum website" At this point I talked to him about what I had thought I purchased. He explained to me after three hours on the phone that this was not what I purchased and that I really had paid $895.00 for a gift card site and I purchased gift cards. I told him that is not what I wanted and I wanted to speak to a supervisor. he went to look for one...guess what....no supervisor available, but assured me that when i upgrade he will take care of me with $2500 in Gift Cards that the site comes with, $3210 in Gift Cards of what I was spending in extra money and because I could not now use the 15% discount I had in my kit he would throw in another $600 in Giftcards and 2 coupon books and 500 free business cards. Well, the next week I received about $2100 in Gift Cards.
At this point I thought everything was going to be fine. Ordered my business stamps, business account, business license and checked into magnets for my car. Eventhough, I was $500 short from the first order promised to me. Then I ordered about $1500 in products and catalogs.
Today I still have not received the promised Gift Cards. I cannot reach anyone by phone to find out what happened to my order and I have left several messages.
I have heard that the Better Business Bureau is paid by SMC. I have also heard that SMC makes over $300 million per year.
I have waited over one month to have some resolution and in the meantime have no income because I have put the business on hold. I figure that if I cannot get the company to respond to me, why in the world would I put my name out there and spend more money on a business that the main company behind my company is unethical, full of dishonest employees, and will not even contact myself and other members when there is a complaint.
I really do not know how they sleep at night. I am looking for a resolution. I have called the credit card company and asked them to dispute the charges. I have also contacted the Better Business Bureau at their site labbb.org and completed a complaint per the phone number listed. I am contacting an attorney in town and the attorney general's office in my town to see if I can pursue a resolution. Please feel free to e-mail me at if you have any ideas of how to resolve this situation.
The sad part for me is that I did not mind most of the products I saw. They were for the most part a little higher than I would have liked for retail and a few were cheap and some were of quality. I really wanted to make a little extra money running my own home based business and I did not mind spending a little to make a little. That little bit turned into about $7500 that I am trying to recoup. Thank you
Georgina
Reno, Nevada
U.S.A.
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