Well, the RE Wealth Expo (Learning Annex) has come and gone. I spent this past weekend (03/25 and 03/26) at Moscone Center in San Francisco. I have never been to one of these events before and I was not aware it will be mostly sales pitches. The keynote speakers such as Trump, Orman, and Tony Robbins in the big hall kept me focused and excited. I’m not posting this to talk crap about the other gurus. I actually picked up bits of free information from their seminars. And I’m sure I could find those in the web somewhere. I hear the gurus in each of the seminars make more money selling their products now than REI. So I took in as much free information as I could. I saw DVH first. IMHO, that was a total waste of 90 minutes. For the first 60 mins, he talked about his credentials and his family. The last 30 mins was all sales pitch. David Lindahl’s 90 min seminar had more information and I enjoyed it. But again, I’m sure those free info can be found in his website.
The guru that convinced me to buy his product is Scott Scheel. I’ve always wanted to be in commercial REI and Scott pushed me over that fence. His product is pricy but I thought I’d look at it and make my decision to keep it (or not) before the 3 day buyer’s remorse date is up. It included software to evaluate the property and some DVDs and audio CDs. The book looks like it had lots of valuable info that I can find elsewhere. I did a search on him in this forum but not too many people had informative feedback. If I don’t get any feedback, I may just return it and do more research on him. I should have done this first. I’m sure I can buy his product anytime. Should I just spend my money on books? So if you have any informative feedback regarding Scott Scheel, I’d sure like to read it.
My general philosophy is nothing can replace experience, free information, and the assistance of a professional till you get your feet wet. Commercial deals are completely different than residential 1-4 and the assistance of a competent professional can mean the difference between a good deal and a bad deal.
As for the course, check out Ebay and see if there are any on there for resale. If there are, get your money back! You can usually find RE courses on Ebay for much less than the guru will sell it to you for and it gives you the same info.
I’ve decided to return the products I bought from Scott Scheel. If you’re thinking of buying a product from any of the gurus from this expo, my suggestion is, don’t. It’s a total waste of your hard earned money. Now I hope I can get my money back. It’s still within the 3 day buyer’s remorse period.
Still no activity from USPS that they received it. I already called them a couple of times and they keep sending me to voicemail. Someone replied to my e-mail and said to call a 1-800 number. When I called, a recording for “Live Talk” picked up. I e-mailed back. At this point, I think they’re trying to duck and will try to do so for as long as they can. I’m not giving up though. My next step is to report them to the BBB.
No NOT THAT! The BBB won’t really do much. There is a reason that businesses join the BBB. It isn’t because they are there to “protect the consumer”. It is basically a channel to funnel complaints so companies can control and address them quitely.
I would report them to the BBB, but don’t stop there. Report them to the FTC. If the FTC receices complaints and finds them to be doing something that is misleading or wrong they are more likely to take action than the BBB. Be sure to get a mailing address for the company and to send them copies of the letters you send to the BBB and/or FTC. Address them to the president of the company.
Don’t threaten. You never threat. You simply call them, calmly inform them of your concerns and give them exactly the resolution you are requesting.
First get their mailing address from them though. Then after you have received their mailing address for the president of the company (corporate not the address to return material), explain exactly what you want them to do calmly. Then inform them that if they are unable to resolve the problem within X days (5-10 is generally given) that you will be writing a letter to the Federal Trade Commision and to the president of the company outlining what you feel is a failure to meet their promises/guarantees (if that is the case).
Follow your phone call up with a letter that simply re-interates your specific request. Send it with a return receipt so you know that they received it, when they received it, and who signed for it. Also, keep good notes of who you speak with and exactly what was discussed/promised by the representative. Be sure to include this in any correspondence with the company and/or FTC/BBB.
Best case scenario is that you get your money back. Worst case scenario is that you don’t get any money back and you don’t have the materials. This is the most important part though. If you tell them you will report them to the FTC, BBB, or any other agencies then follow up and do it. Once you have done this, demand a response from them. Any response will most likely be a simple acknowledgment that they received your complaint and that is it.
i m so fed up with the learningannex.com people who sponsor these gurus…argh… They said that they have thousand of transactions to go through so just leave them a message. My advice for others out there is do not buy anything from the gurus…
Another option. Did you pay for it by Credit Card? If so, call your credit card company and explain that you have sent the material back following the guidlines that the company provided and that they have not yet refunded the money nor have they been willing to speak to you directly. Tell them you want to dispute the amount. The company should put the amount aside and free of finance charges until the dispute is settled. Be sure to explain that the material were returned and you should be given a refund from the company.
The CC company should then contact the disputed merchant directly and if not resolved remove the charge permanently. Most CC companies consider the payment of any amount on a purchase confirmation of the purchase and you lose your rights to dispute it. So make sure you dispute the charge before paying for it.
Carlittle,
I paid by check. My credit card didnt work that day for some reasons. It works at target, albertson, macys,louis vuitton, gucci, you name it.
I learned my lesson the hard way
No more purchasing from you know who !
Btw, what’s a good way to bargain for a lower price with the seller’s agent ? problem is i think the commercial deal is overpriced given that it had been on the market forever…
