Beware of Guru's at dinner time!

[pilotjoe]

Hey Warriors,
I wanted to let you guys know about this. Hopefully it will save you a half hour of your life.

Last night at dinner, I get a phone call.

"Hi this is John, from #marketer's office#, is Joe there?"

I'm thinking, what?!? How did he get my number? What the hell does #marketer's office# want?

Well anyway, and I'll try to make this brief... A couple months ago I purchased a product during the launch - which explains how they got my number.

So this guy starts to talk to me about making money online

"Have you ever considered starting an online business?" I had to laugh!!!

Curious, I let the guy talk to find out what #marketer's office# was up to...

So to make a long story short - this guy was actually working for #another marketer# (it looks like #marketer's office# sold his list to #another marketer#) who was "looking for motivated people he could mentor in exchange for a testimonial for his course."

{only a testimonial - yeah right!}

After about 30 minutes of talking to the guy, I could start hearing in the background someone else telling the guy what to say!! Finally he started asking questions about my finances, debt, etc... I was like whoa!

I finally came out and asked this bozo what the hell business is it of his how much room I have left on my credit cards?!?!

He then said that "this program required a $5000 investment and he needed to know if I would be able to do that?"

{what happened to only needing a testimonial?}

I said HELL NO!!! (I have a strict rule - my business has a budget and anything it needs it pays for itself)

-- the funny thing is the guy immediately told me to have a nice day and hung up.

Watch out for the Guru's calling at dinner time and hang up the phone immediately!!!

[DotComBum]

I suggest you don't give out your phone number next time, give email address instead.

DCB

[ScottTMc]

I suggest you don't give out your phone number next time, give email address instead.

DCB

Agreed, but sometime this is required so i usually put a phoney number in and put the correct email adress in.

[mmurtha]

Hey Joe,

There was another program only it was a scam for a mentoring program by another well known marketer about 3 years ago. The guys that did the calling suckered I don't know how many people into it before I finally saw a thread in the old WF posted about this group of people, and the marketer they were working for.

I know they called me - not once, but a few times. If one person does not get thru, someone else will try to call you soon after. They also called my nephew, and suckered him out of 7K!

You want to know what my nephew got for that 7K? 1 cd that had an ad blaster in it that was so outdated, most of the addresses bounced, a book of headlines, and 4 half hour coaching sessions where all the guy talked about was getting a backlink for 3 places. That's it, - there was no more contact between him and that mentor since. The only form of communication they sent was a bill for each month.

If I were contacted by a group like this that was trying to sell me on the idea of signing up for a mentoring program like the one above, I would hang up immediately.

For anyone who gets approached in the future about signing up for a mentoring program ...

If someone asks you for your bank or credit card info DO NOT give it to them!

Check that program out in depth before you give them any response, and have them send the written contract to you. Once you get the contract, take it to your lawyer, and have them look it over.

Find out exactly what you will be getting for your money so you don't end up like my nephew did - paying off a 7k loan where he basically got nothing out of it but a CD and a thin book with nothing but headlines in it.


Disclaimer -

For the record, the post above is in no way accusing any specific marketer or company of scaming anyone out of anything or any other willful wrong doing. The post serves as a warning to all people to do their due diligences before signing any contract or a verbqal agreement.

[DotComBum]

Originally Posted by ScottTMc

Agreed, but sometime this is required so i usually put a phoney number in and put the correct email adress in.

That's a smart move

DCB

[Slin]

What a sad day, ha think about the guy you turned down, I bet most of his calls have been like that.

[yourreviewer]

Maybe this video can give you some inspiration

YouTube - Tom Mabe funny phone call

[Lance K]

I agree, those calls are a pain in the ass yet comical at the same time.

But...

I'd suggest you edit your post to remove the names. It's not necessary to include the names in order to discuss the tactic. And IMO, including them goes against Rule #1 of the forum.

[mmurtha]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

Maybe this video can give you some inspiration

YouTube - Tom Mabe funny phone call

ROTFLMBO!

I wish I had of thought about something like that for people who call me like that. I think I may just have to put a tape together now.

Thanks!

[pilotjoe]

Originally Posted by Lance K

I agree, those calls are a pain in the ass yet comical at the same time.

But...

I'd suggest you edit your post to remove the names. It's not necessary to include the names in order to discuss the tactic. And IMO, including them goes against Rule #1 of the forum.

Thanks Lance, will do. I had left the names on purpose, knowing both are members here, not to do harm but in hopes that they would know fully whats going on in their business and with their lists.

I will edit my posts. thanks for the heads up

[pilotjoe]

Originally Posted by DotComBum

I suggest you don't give out your phone number next time, give email address instead.

DCB

Thanks DCB, I never give out my phone unless its required on the form...

this market in particular I trusted so I didnt mind. I won't be giving him my info ever again thats for sure.

[talfighel]

$5000 to get started in an online business? That is INSANE.

I learned the hard way that selling a HIGH ticket item, no matter how legitimate it is, DOES NOT SELL online well.

People will not spend that much for an internet business. That is why it is so easy and convinient to sell good and solid programs for less then $100 to get started.

Thanks for sharing this post here.

Tal

[Scott Ames]

I hate people that try to market stuff. The nerve!

[mrwoods]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

Maybe this video can give you some inspiration

YouTube - Tom Mabe funny phone call

I must say this gave me a fun 5 minute break from my day...thanks for sharing the laughs!

[Daniel Brock]

Joe, was this a LaunchTree buy? I had one of their guys call me with a similar script...

[prodozoan]

I have had terrible experience from the same marketer that Joe is referring to in the past!!

[John Burton]

5000 dollars - he's got no chance of getting an investment like that from cold-calling people. Not from anybody with some sanity anyway.
John Burton

[pilotjoe]

Originally Posted by Daniel Brock

Joe, was this a LaunchTree buy? I had one of their guys call me with a similar script...

Unfortunate no... it was actually (IMO) a respected person here on WF.

[Greg Jacobs]

You most likely got hit by a Utah Biz Ops Call Center

Marketers send them leads and allow them to use their name, and the Call Center converts, delivers (whatever) and then shares the cut with the marketer.

really no further comment on this one.

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by Hijynx427

I also delete ALL of my messages before listening to them.

Interesting way to do business. Doesn't that have some potential downside, too?

[Rod Cortez]

I love it when these guys call me. I start asking THEM qusestions. Like, "oh yeah, how much do you make?", "give me a specific business plan", "tell me the difference between Google Adwords and MSN Adcenter.", "how does one get their product listed on a reputable CPA network?", "what's the best tracking software / service to use when tracking paid advertising?" "Name 4 factors needed to increase conversions on a sale page"

By the time I'm done with them they can't hang up fast enough.

[Mark Riddle]

Generally I say..

BlillyBob, this is one of your audit control calls from the list provider, please provide the name of the company that you are calling for, as you can understand if you are calling a list that your firm doesn't have licensing to call from there is a significant penalty and of course because I am certain that you are un-aware of any mis-use the you will be eligible for the 10% whistleblowers fee to be paid directly to you, just for your information that equates to $50 per name and the typical list size is 10,000 names or you would receive a payment of..... I'm sure you'd like that half million wouldn't you sir, so who are you calling with?



Mark Riddle

[Affiliate Portal]

ah ha... I knew it was brunson.... the tags confirmed it :-) The Boise office know's their stuff but wow are they aggressive.

On the other hand, his "marketing in your car" series has taught me a lot on long drives to my old job a few years back.

[Mr Money Maker]

HI Joe call scam busters...LOL....at least he's gone out of your life...I would had hung up in the first 10 seconds....anyways..take care

[David_Preston]

You could always pull the Jerry Seinfeld.

"Can I get your home phone number to call you
back later, I'm in the middle of something.

What? You're not allowed to do that? Don't you
like people calling you at home to sell you something?

Yeah, me either" and hang up. :-)

David

[cherylwright]

When I've purchased products from big marketers, I've inevitably received a follow-up phone calls some months later.

More often than not they're trying to sell me mentoring services. And that's probably the norm, but the fact I'm in Australia, and I've sometimes had them on the phone for 30 minutes to an hour is what floors me. I imagine it costs a fortune to ring here - it sure does in reverse.

This practice makes me reluctant to buy from the big guys....




Cheryl

[Adam Sussman]

I never ever give my phone number. If I have to give a number I always give 123 457 7890.

[snapper]

I think I had guys trying to sell me the same deal a few months ago. Made it sound like an absolute priviledge for me to be mentored by Russ for the 5k or whatever it was. I know who was going to enjoy the priviledge and it wasn't me.

The funny part was I am an aussie and I told the telemarketer that I was busy and could he call back in a four hours, which made it about 1:00am in USA. He dutifully called back and then told me to think about the offer and he would call back in 24 hours or so. I tried the same trick again, I am busy call back and it was the middle of the night for him. He was probably doing the night shift anyway but I managed to speak to the guy a various times, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon for me etc so he was doing some long hours.

They insisted that they had to speak with my wife to make sure she was happy with the investment blah blah blah.

Bottom line when I told him I was not interested he told me rather sarcastically to have a nice life!!!

Ah the joys of dealing with telemarketers.

[TelegramSam]

Originally Posted by DotComBum

I suggest you don't give out your phone number next time, give email address instead.

DCB

l always use this phone number when I buy IM products:

(202) 326-2222

I have no problems letting them ring it and trying to sell things if they want to.

Sam

[DogScout]

Originally Posted by TelegramSam

l always use this phone number when I buy IM products:

(202) 326-2222

I have no problems letting them ring and try to sell things if they want to.

Sam

Er... Please stop giving out my number.

[Paul D Brady]

Hey,

I don't even answer the phone at dinner time to the Mother In Law...so he's got no chance.

Seriously though, it's good to get the heads up on these guys as we all get enough spam calls anway...I know I do. Keep 'em coming.

Thanks
Paul

[EdmundDantes]

I got a similar call once, and it will never happen again. Here is my number just in case anyone wants to call: (987)654-3210

[probizlink]

I just got "another" one of these calls today. What gets me is I did not authorize
the "guru" that it was OK to sell or give my phone number to anyone.
I read somewhere they sell the phone leads for $15.00 ea.
And may sell them more than once.

I give my real phone number only because I thought with a credit card purchase
it had to match. Maybe I'll try a fake number next time I buy anything online.

Another thing that happens when I buy something and then I get email pitches for
every "other" Launch-of-the-Day product I did not request information for.
Wouldn't this be considered SPAM?

I have started unsubscribing from their lists when this happens.

I did find one unusual message this week ...

Warning!! NO NOT UNSUBSCRIBE...or you will not get future updates for
the software you purchased. Tricky? I unsubscribed anyway :-)

BK