Need a bit of help please.

Keith, apparently the only way to get your attention is to complain about you publicly; something I avoided for a year as I tried numerous calls and emails giving you the opportunity to do the right thing. The silence was deafening. Now suddenly you've taken a personal interest.

I have some bad news: I kept the emails you sent on the day you told me you were about to charge my card for the program you say I signed up for. That's bad for you because, while the first email says you're about to charge my card, another one came an hour later that apologized for the first, and assured me that it had gone out to the "wrong list", and not to worry because I was not being charged. Then, a little later the same morning, yet another email arrived restating the apology and the assurance that I wouldn't be charged, in case I hadn't seen the first apology. I can post them here if anyone is interested. Of course, this conversation wouldn't be taking place if you hadn't gone ahead and charged me after your assurances to the contrary.

It's odd that I would try to take advantage of you by you by having you charge my credit card for months against my demands that you stop. Perhaps in your world, you ignoring someone while taking their money equals them taking advantage. Odd also to say that I won and that you did refund me, when your secretary flatly denied your culpability, refused the refund, and blamed the problem on me for not reading what I signed. When I brought up the apologies, she reverted back to her mantra "you should have read the agreement" refusing to say a single word addressing them.

My bank was useless in the dispute, letting the charges stand. They failed to realize what every warrior knows: that producing an order page doesn't prove it's the one I ordered from. It's about as good as an auto shop producing an unsigned, generic work order as proof that I agreed to buy a new engine from them, when I came if for an oil change.

How serious can you be about wanting raving fans if you'll ignore an unwilling customer for seven months, taking roughly $210 out of his account while he leaves angry emails and phone messages demanding you stop? One wonders if when you said you were seeking raving fans, you meant ranting detractors.

As previously stated, I have bought from dozens of IM merchants. The quality has generally been good. I have never before had one take my money against my will. I have never had occasion to say anything negative about any of them, until I had the misfortune of dealing with you.

I certainly understand that people make mistakes. That's perfectly normal. What's harder to understand is why you would compound it and alienate a potential life-long customer by refusing to communicate with him for months, then when he finally manages to get through to someone, digging in your heels and denying the mistake. Simple greed comes to mind when straining for an explanation for your behavior.

When you finally did give the matter your personal attention (this thread is the first time), you simply made up the story that, even though you're right and I'm wrong, you refunded me anyway.

Tell me Keith, if you refunded me the money, where is it? Where's the proof that it happened? There is none, because you didn't. That means one of two possibilities. The first is you have no idea what your company did, but you're taking a wild guess that I got the refund and am complaining for no reason. The second is that you know good and well it never happened, and are flat out lying.

I have proof of the charges, and that they were never credited back. You never sent me a check, and if you say you did, it should be easy for you to produce proof of that, which you obviously can't. That leaves only the possibility that you sent me cash, or gave me cash in person. Nobody's dumb enough to believe that, nor are you dumb enough to do it.

It really blows my mind that you would claim you gave me a refund. I assume you replied after a year of ignoring me because you're concerned about your reputation. You say you learn from your mistakes. Then learn this: If a customer is angry and says you ripped him off, simply saying you gave a refund when you didn't won't shut him up. At best you make him look like the bad guy and you the good guy very briefly, until he puts the lie to your claim.


The way I see it these are your choices:

A) Continue what your office did when confronted with me and my bank on the phone, and blame the problem on me, refusing to remedy it. Of course then you might have to admit that your claim that you gave me a refund was false, and you still have an unwilling and disgruntled customer. On the plus side, it lets you keep your ill gotten $210.

B) Stick to your guns on the claim that I was refunded and am simply whining for no reason, or perhaps to squeeze a double refund out of you since I'm the kind of person that takes advantage of nice guys like you. You'll just have to hope everybody believes you, despite the fact that I have proof of the charges and you have no proof of having refunded me, since you didn't. On the plus side; you get to keep the loot.

C) You could admit that you lied, apologize and give me a refund to show that you're a changed man, and that you really do learn from your mistakes. Damaging, but it's hard to see a way out of this without some damage to your credibility, and if you're sincere this has the advantage of actually being an honorable course of action, that could set you on a new course; being an honest person. Disadvantage: you have to cough up the moolah.

D) You could admit that you made a mistake, really thought you had refunded me, and then promptly issue a refund. The negative here is that you're admitting you don't know what's going on with your own company, and are willing to publicly denounce a customer's complaint on the basis of your guess as to what happened. Still better than offering up more bluster and bull doodoo. Oh yes; it also would cost you the money you claim to have refunded.

E) You could go back to the stonewalling you did for a year and hope I'll never say another word about it if you don't stir the pot. The problem with that is that it ignores what every marketer knows: The worst thing you can do is treat customers poorly and then do nothing to remedy the problem, because past customers talk to current and potential future customers. It's like the opposite of free advertising.

PS: I hate being ripped off, but I don't hate you. I'm not a "hater", nor did I detect any "haters" in the thread full of complaints about you. If anything your blustering replies established you as the hater, not them. You mischaracterized the thread by failing to mention why they wanted their money back. It sounds pretty reasonable to say they wanted refunds when you had a stated policy of no refunds. The fact is, whatever your stated policy, every customer has a right to a refund if they didn't receive what the merchant promised. You conveniently forgot to mention that there were a number of people that all had the same complaint: they paid a lot of money for personal coaching from you, and never got a fraction of the access you promised (they didn't know they were dodging a bullet). If a merchant fails to deliver what's promised, he can't hide behind a "no refunds" policy; he absolutely owes the refund. It's a funny thing; when you stop abusing customers, the "haters" tend to fade away.

Good luck, I hope you decide to do what's right. If you really did think you gave me a refund, I'll be happy to provide you with an address to mail me a check. Had you actually done so previously, this exchange would not have been necessary.