Complaint Review: Web Ad Systems W. Craig & Company - Phoenix Arizona

On August 6, 2004 I became involved with W. Craig & Co. and WebAd Systems when I purchased a program called "John Beck's Land Banc". I had originally spoken with a man named Garrett Cisek (1-877-329-8360). He presented an exciting opportunity where I could earn money by selling real estate from my own website. I was told that the properties were all "free & clear", obtained by John Beck (real estate expert). These properties were supposedly great investments and were being sold for "Pennies on the dollar".

He explained that a parcel might sell for $1,000 an acre. Upon purchase of the parcel (through my website), I would send $500 back to the company and keep $500 for profit. It was suggested that the odds were with me. If I had 3,000 guaranteed targeted visitors to my website,and only managed to make sales to a mere 1% of those 3,000 people (which mathematically works out to be only 30 people), it would still be a sizeable profit (30 people x $500 = $15,000.00). That was more than I had originally spent. It seemed the odds were with me... or so I thought.

I ordered the John Beck's Land Banc program from WebAd Systems. Again, the real estate being advertised through these websites was being described as "multi-use properties"..."ranging from parcels consisting of multiple acres for hunting, farming, investment, building, recreation, vacation, camping or just about any use [you] can imagine" (taken from the "Targeted Web Ad Design Form Instructions & Sample booklet from the set up package).

The idea that W. Craig & Company presented was that the website (purchased by me for $5250.00) would be the "vehicle" through which this real estate would be sold. WebAd Systems was responsible for providing the set-up and design of the website in addition to handling questions/concerns about the program.

I was also strongly encouraged to purchase four other programs which were supposed to give me an advantage. These other programs were supposed to give my website more exposure, thereby increasing my chances of selling the properties. I paid an additional $2,200.00 to W. Craig & Co. for: 1)the Tell A Friend Link; 2)digital catalog software; 3)Three additional website addresses; 4)a 60 second TV commercial that would be played on my website.

The total amount I had paid to W. Craig & Co./WebAd Systems was now up to $7,450.00. This was not even including the $1,695.00 I had to spend to purchase an I-Payment merchant account through E-Commerce in order to accept online payments for all of those "real estate purchases" I was expecting.

After a few weeks, I became very concerned when there were no purchases at all from any of my websites. I began to wonder just how many other people were out there with websites like mine. I contacted the Student Help Line and spoke to an individual named J.J. regarding my concerns.

Since all the people who had purchased websites from W. Craig & Co./WebAd Systems were sharing in the rotation of potentially interested buyers, I felt it was important for me to know how many other individuals besides myself also had websites. This number would ultimately affect my websites' chances of attracting interested buyers.

I thought that the question "how many other people have purchased websites?" was a relatively simple one, but apparently not. It appears to be shrouded in mystery. I was told that there was "no way of knowing" that information. I was given an extremely vague answer that did not even contain a rough estimate of how many others were involved. When I asked to be referred to another individual who could give me more specific answers, I was told that no one had this information and that no one could possibly give me an answer.

I was very upset and felt that information was being withheld from me. They tried to suggest that there were other ways that I could "diversify" my advertising methods (translation = more $$$$). I told them that I was not willing to spend any more money seeing that I had already put up over $7,500.00 and had not seen one purchase yet.

On November 6, 2003 I called the Quality Management Dept. at WebAd Systems and spoke to Mike Upsal. I told him about my concerns of the vague response I received regarding the exact number of participants in this Land Banc program and how I had not had one request for a purchase in months. I told him I wanted a refund based on these legitimate concerns. Mike told me about the "11 Month Challenge" and told me that I could get a full refund after 11 months if I was not fully satisfied. Mike e-mailed me the "11 Month Challenge" document and I felt reassured to stick it out a little longer.

After another month, (and still no sales) I noticed on the common plot map that there were still a frighteningly low number of parcels that had been sold from the Land Banc in the past several months. This just did not seem right, especially since these properties were supposedly being advertised not only on my website, but all the other websites that others like me had purchased. After all, my website alone was supposedly being sent out to over 50,000 search engines, so one could imagine the exposure these properties were getting from all of the other program participants' websites.

The 3 sites being advertised through the web ads were Green Valley, TX (Units 37 & 44 in Culberson & Jeff Davis Counties), Dear Valley Meadows (Unit III, Alamosa County)in Colorado and SunSites (Unit 9, Cochise County)in Arizona. I decided to do some research on these properties.

I called Lobo,Texas and spoke to a man named Carlos in the Tax and Entities Department. At this point, I felt I needed to confirm that this property did, indeed, even exist. He did confirm that the property existed, however, the property he described to me included some details that were not mentioned in the property descriptions on the websites. He described the Green Valley parcel as a vast area of undeveloped land without running water or electricity. He said that it would cost thousands to set up a well for water and to run power lines. He said that there was nothing out there.

In disbelief I asked,"There's really nothng? How can there be nothing?" He responded that there was once a hotel years ago, but it was torn down. He also mentioned that it could get up to 115 degrees sometimes. He did, however, say that the land was very suitable for grazing.

Upon hearing this, I felt personally mislead and cheated (not to mention how uncomfortable I felt about the fact that my websites were advertising this property to potentially unsuspecting buyers). The information that I learned about this property did not suggest that it was property that "could be bought for a variety of different uses". Based on the information told to me, this was not property that would be considered marketable to the general public.

I decided to check out the other properties being advertised on my websites. I made some calls to Bisbee, Arizona regarding the SunSites Unit 9 properties. I spoke to Colleen at the Property Tax Assessment Office. She told me that she thought the property I was referring to was miles away from anything and had no utilities going to it. She referred me to the Sulfur Springs Valley Electric Company to verify this information.

I spoke with a man named V.J. who confirmed that this property was at least a mile away from any power lines. There were no utilities or running water. I was told that the property was at the South end of Dry Lake and that it was basically "no man's land". I was also told that the soil was very salty and alkaline. He even mentioned that it was a funny, well known fact around there that this same area was involved in a real estate scam back in the 1960's. I did not find this funny at all. In fact, it made me even more sick to my stomach than I already was.

I was later referred to a real estate agent. I was told that there was some property just north of the SunSites parcel that was also for sale. Some people had made an offer on it. (They were interested in using it for grazing). The offer the interested buyers were making, however, was not for $1,000 an acre. It was for $30 an acre. The sellers were considering this as a serious offer.

I had learned a great deal of information from legitimate sources and individuals who are actually familiar with the properties. This information contradicts the way the properties are being advertised as "multi-use". The information does not support that the property is marketable to the general public (unless you enjoy 115 degree weather,want to be miles away from anything and have no running water, electricity or phone). These factors severely reduce the ability to sell the property.

I called the Quality Management Dept. at WebAd Systems on Tuesday 12/9/03 and spoke to Mike Upsal again. I shared the information that I had come across in my research. He verbally approved a refund for me and gave me an RMA#. I had sent back all of the materials given to me and was told by Mike that the refund would take 7-21 business days. I received US Postal Confirmation that the company received the materials I sent back on December 19, 2003.

On January 19, 2004 I called Quality Management again because there was still no credit to my Mastercard for the $7450.00. I was told that the request was sent over to the department that handles refunds. I asked to talk to someone in the accounting department to verify that the refund had gone through. I was told that there really was no way to verify this. I asked to have some sort of confirmation or verification that this refund was actually being processed and again I was told that there was no one they could transfer me to and no way of verifying the request for refund. All I had was the RMA# that Mike Upsal had given me. I was told to wait another week and then call back.

Another week passed and on January 27, 2004 I contacted the Quality Management Dept. again to say that my card had still not been credited the refund of $7,450.00. I was told that the company recently had to change merchant accounts and that this somehow held back money and that this was causing the delay in the refund. I was told that the request for the refund had definitely been sent down to that department and that surely in a week I would see the credit for the refund posted.

Well, it is now February 18, 2004 and I have not received a refund. For two weeks I have been trying to contact the Quality Management Department (1-877-285-8179) and oddly, I can't get through anymore. A recording says that the number has moved to a different area code or that it is no longer in service. When I do manage to get hold of someone, they take a message and say that the "lines are down" in that department. Mysteriously, the lines have been down for two weeks.

I actually spoke with a receptionist for W. Craig & Co. on Tuesday February 17, 2003. Twice. She told me that she could not put me through to the accounting department to verify that a refund request had been placed because "their lines were down" and still being worked on. She assured me that someone would call me back. I received no call. I called every hour for

the rest of the day until 5 p.m. and the phone just

rang and rang.

I am filing this report because I believe that it is important for people to be aware of both the positive and negative experiences that others have with businesses. Unfortunately, I have had a very negative experience with W. Craig & Co./WebAd Systems and the way they have handled this situation. I do not want anyone else to go through what I am going through. I can't even convey what it has been like to go through the sleepless nights, agonizing over the thousands of dollars that I have yet to see rightfully refunded to me.

I feel very strongly that no one should have to go through what I am going through. I plan to continue to tell my story to as many people as possible, using as many methods as possible until I can say that this issue has been satifactorily resolved.

Tracey

Boston, Massachusetts
U.S.A.