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IMarketer
Member
Joined: 9 Apr 2008
Posts: 46
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# Posted: 20 Jul 2009 20:05
Reply
Oh, oh I see that a company was fined $300,000 because they had employees posting fake reviews of their sevices.
I wonder if that could apply to Thrive?
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janiegirl
Member
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
Posts: 6
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 10:14
Reply
What happened to the couple of posts which were pending approval? One user was Thrive Learning!!! HMMMMM!!!!????
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Critternurse
Member
Joined: 3 Jun 2009
Posts: 5
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 10:21
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I would have Loved to hear what Thrive learning had to say...Please Post it..Please????
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used and abused
Member
Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 45
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 10:50
Reply
WOW !!!!!!
Thrive posted?
I agree with you on your comment critternurse. I would love to see what they have to say!
I posted my thoughts on the complaints board about their silence to date, considering a question that begs answering by many of their victims is, how do they sleep at night?
They have never posted anywhere to my knowledge except on rippoff report.....which is a scam in itself. They are bed partners as far as I can see.
I am dying to hear what they have to say.
Was their post on here not approved?
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Kiva763
Member
Joined: 4 Jul 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:14 · Edited by: Kiva763
Reply
I noticed ThriveLearning plus one other were "pending approval" yesterday for a while - and now are gone.
VERY INTERESTING!
yoo hoo - where are yoooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu???
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Kiva763
Member
Joined: 4 Jul 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 11:16
Reply
When I post a message, I can "Edit" but I can't delete. From what I remember, one has to "confirm" via email when first posting/signing up. Maybe they did not "confirm" and so were deleted?
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janiegirl
Member
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
Posts: 6
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 12:24
Reply
Still sounds pretty fishy to me!!
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IMarketer
Member
Joined: 9 Apr 2008
Posts: 46
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 14:43
Reply
I saw the "pending" post by someone who had just joined, and had a link to the Thrive website in their post.
That is why I posted this.
IMarketer: Oh, oh I see that a company was fined $300,000 because they had employees posting fake reviews of their sevices. I wonder if that could apply to Thrive?
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Kiva763
Member
Joined: 4 Jul 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 17:53
Reply
you don't remember what the other poster's name was do you?
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IMarketer
Member
Joined: 9 Apr 2008
Posts: 46
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 19:10
Reply
I believe they had Thrive in their name.
I checked their member profile, but there wasn't anything there.
Kiva763: you don't remember what the other poster's name was do you?
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IMarketer
Member
Joined: 9 Apr 2008
Posts: 46
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 19:12
Reply
Oh sorry, you meant the other one that was pending.
I don't remember.
IMarketer: I believe they had Thrive in their name. I checked their member profile, but there wasn't anything there.
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donbroro
Member
Joined: 27 Jun 2009
Posts: 5
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2009 20:30
Reply
I had seen those pending posts also. The other one was by lewis. I guess administration decided not to post them. They must not have been very nice. All the hard work of the members here must be paying off.
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DMR
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Vishal P. Rao
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1036
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# Posted: 22 Jul 2009 00:09 · Edited by: Vishal P. Rao
Reply
I disapproved the post because the member had an anonymous profile with a link to http://thrivelearning.blogspot.com in the message body telling how many people are impressed with their program.
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mountainmom5
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 2057
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# Posted: 22 Jul 2009 00:54
Reply
Thanks Vishal!
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janiegirl
Member
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
Posts: 6
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# Posted: 22 Jul 2009 07:44
Reply
Thank you so much Vishal
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janiegirl
Member
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
Posts: 6
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# Posted: 22 Jul 2009 07:48
Reply
Vishal, Was that the case with both of the posts? There were 2 posts that were pending approval. Just curious. thanks
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Kiva763
Member
Joined: 4 Jul 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 22 Jul 2009 07:57
Reply
good looking out Vishal!
Thank You!
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Vishal P. Rao
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1036
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# Posted: 23 Jul 2009 00:12
Reply
janiegirl: Vishal, Was that the case with both of the posts? There were 2 posts that were pending approval.
I don't remember exactly. If it was from the same user, then I guess it may be so.
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Kelly Models
Member
Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 28 Jul 2009 18:41
Reply
Thrive is a rip off scheme. They trick people into believing that they can regain their investment in 3 months or less. They don't tell you about the "3 day" cancelation policy that protects them from refunding your money. Once they have your credit card number, they immediatly charge your account without ever offering any immediate services. Representatives from Thrive use alot of big talk on how they are doing nothing wrong and how you cost them X amount of dollars in just talking you into their scam. Paul Castielo from Thrive offered me 50% refund of my investment. I declined because I felt there was no way they could have spent that amount in just a few phone calls. I'm sure I'll get a response saying Thrive is acredited to the BBB in Utah. I worked for several months with the BBB and they were very little help. Thrive has more rights than the consumer. I had hoped that my case would reach arbitration. Thrive declined any arbitration. This proves without a doubt who the BBB really protects. It's a shame we live in a world where companies such as Thrive can prey on unsuspecting people, and trick them into their scams. I have done a little research on Thrive, and there are more complaints against them than there are praises. I will continue to speak my mind and warn people about Thrive. I am filing a Civil suit against Thrive and any other business affiliated with them. I don't know if I'll ever get a refund, but I will continue to write on blogs, local and national news, and even my local congressman. I will do whatever it takes to get the satisfaction I deserve for being ripped off by Thrive.
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Kelly Sweetman
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Nothappy
Member
Joined: 1 Jun 2009
Posts: 22
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# Posted: 29 Jul 2009 15:03
Reply
I am another victim of Thrive/Online Data Institute/Momentum Marketing/The Summit Group. They got over 5k of my money and after 10months all of this, still no web site! They ruined my family's Holidays, depleted my savings and caused me great depression. I trusted them as mentors to guide me in the right direction, keep me motivated and teach me what I needed to learn to be successful. I learned every thing that was told, was just smoke and mirrors. I learned, I was lured and hooked into this deal like a large fish. I learned, I was misled into thinking I would be dealing 1 on 1 with a personnel Internet Guru mentor, not a bunch of so called "coaches", who wasted as much of my valuable time as possible in a diabolical scheme to deplete me of time, money and/or quit out of shear frustration. I was billed $ 39.95 a month for a web site I did not have. The more work I did the more it cost me. I was given nothing I was promised by Momentum Marketing and nothing but headaches since starting this program. I have called Thrive several times about a refund for over two weeks. Zack Bradshaw, the one I need to talk to, is never at his desk and after leaving countless messages, still, no return phone call. They claim unsurpassed service, yet many other students have been taken by these crooks. Look at their complaints: www.work-at-home-forum.com/14_8845_0.html Titled,"Has anyone ever heard of Thrive Learning Institute" All these people can not be wrong. How can they claim to help resolve any problems or complaints? It appears to be just another one of their lies. Shame on you! After reading through former student's forum testimonials, I feel a little better in that I am not alone. I have signed a petition, organized by one of their former students, to help put a stop to these types of businesses. I will send complaints to the BBB, Attorney General, FTC, FBI, etc. and anyone who will listen. I will continue to write in various forums to help get the word out. I will not stop with all this activity until I get a full refund. Stay as far as possible from Thrive Learning. Notahappyperson some city
U.S.A.
I posted this on ripoffreport.com on Fri. and sure enough, received a call from Alex(not Zack) on Monday. Even after calling Thrive for over two weeks and leaving countless messages. This just goes to show it is their reputation they are worried about and not their customers. I spoke to him on Tuesday and explained my problem and told him I would like a refund. He then Informed me that he will verify that I paid them in full and he would call me back in one hour to refund back to my credit card. I was feeling taken again after he did not call me back. Today he did call me back and instead of a full refund he offered me $1,000.00 and said that was all he was going to offer. I should have known. When I told him I was not going to accept nothing else but a full refund, his tone changed (for the worst)and he smugly told me that no one has received a full refund. When I told him that I know that people have received full refund, He(of all people) told me there are a lot lies out there(no kidding, this coming the den of lies itself). I told him there is also plenty of truth out there as well(Like the muzzling of Bhavesh, Worstell and others). This company is pure evil and so are the people who protect these scumbags. He then told me to do whatever I have to do(He should not have challenged me like that). I told him I am sending two hefty packets to the AG and BBB and he actually arrogantly laughed at me. I guess that's what they call unsurpassed service. He told me he would inform ripoffreport.com that he offered a refund and I refused. I corrected him and said you did not offer me a refund you offered me a little(hush) money to make the problem(me) go away. Again, this shows Thrive is worried more about their reputation than their unsurpassed service to their customers.
Since I have a lot time on my hands right now, I will make it my mission to get the word out ...
And complain like h***!!!
Stay away from these lying vultures.
P.S. Thanks for the extra motivation, Alex.
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Nothappy
Member
Joined: 1 Jun 2009
Posts: 22
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# Posted: 31 Jul 2009 17:09 · Edited by: Nothappy
Reply
During the course of my traumatizing experience with my Thrive Learning Institute process, I was also sucked in to a big mess with a merchant business account to be able to accept credit cards for orders online. I was contacted by a person with Thrive (or so that's what I thought). She went on to talk about a merchant account (online credit card possessing) and that I should sign up to begin accepting credit cards for online orders. She told me they would wave the setup fee for a limited time and that the offer would not last long (more tricks of the trade).I signed up on 3/11/09 thinking that I could still get a website going and salvage this program. A 35$ per month charge was to be in effect after activation of my account (so I was told). To my delight, she asked if I needed an appointment with their web builder. I agreed and she informed me that they were busy right now and that the soonest available appointment would be 3/30/08(almost three weeks). I agreed, even though I was frustrated at having to wait so long. I tried to continue my progress and anxiously waited for the web builder's call. On the 3/30, after waiting all day, I received no phone call. This was the last thing I was willing to stand. After trying to make a go of this so called system (again and again) and working to pay off my upward spiraling debt, I realized, it would be impossible to complete this business. In late May 09, I realized on my bank statements that this company has charged their $35 fee for the last two months even without activation. I called customer service and (without asking for the two months totaling $70) I asked to please cancel the account and they informed me there is a $250 cancellation fee (which was never discussed or mentioned before I signed the contract). I never used this account and in fact never even activated it. After the initial shock of this and expressing this verbally, He told me the fee is negotiable. After a brief break from our conversation so he could talk to his manager, he returned to the phone and informed me they would be willing to go down to $150. I told him I would call him back and hung up disgusted. They have, as of July 1 charged me for June as well. I called to cancel the account on July, 9, 2009 and refused to pay a cancellation fee. I called my bank to place these charges in dispute and ask for a charge back to my account. My bank informed me they can only do a charge back for no longer than 60 days. I could only get the month of June and May placed back on my account. I was willing to leave it at that and chalk this up to a business loss. On July 29, 2009, I received a letter from the merchant account collection dept. stating that I owe a balance of $120 due by 7/31/09 or face further collection action. In addition, a report of the past due amount will be reported to credit bureaus. I disputed the charge asking them to wave the amount due and refund what I was charged for in total from them. I sent them a brief explanation of my negative experience with Thrive along with my complaint and a copy of the State of Illinois cease and desist order against Online Data Institute/Thrive Learning Institute. I faxed all this info yesterday at 2:15pm. I received a call from the collections department rep. around 3:15pm telling me they received the info; they will look it over and call me back tomorrow.
They spoke and listened to me as an equal. They were punctual about their actions. They took the time to look over and understand my problem. The next day (just as they said) at 9:45am they informed me that not only were they waving the amount due, but they are going to refund my money in full. Now That's Customer Service!!! Are you listening Thrive... That's how you attain unsurpassed customer satisfaction!!!
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Taken4aride
Member
Joined: 31 Jul 2009
Posts: 16
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# Posted: 31 Jul 2009 20:29
Reply
To not happy = I understand completely. I thought I was reading about my situtation. The same thing happened to me concering the merchant account. Thrive is slippery and very dishonest to say the least. I am in the process of filing all the complaints I can. So don't you give up. You are not the guilty one.
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Nothappy
Member
Joined: 1 Jun 2009
Posts: 22
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# Posted: 3 Aug 2009 05:15
Reply
Thrive offered me less than 1/5 of the money they were all so happy to take. Lets see now, After ;
workingtirelessly again and again on this program, stressing over how long it was taking despite putting in more hours per week than disclosed, the stress it caused with my work/spouse/family, the frustrating coaching sessions, the extra money/charges and time(never disclosed) it took, the complete draining of what little money I had, the debt with interest I incurred, the overall hassle of the experience, the overwelming feeling I bit off more than I can chew, bouts of hopeless depression, bouts of anger, a year of wasted time, not to mention the time, money and effort its taking to get my money refunded(which I am logging for the time being), I consider the amount he offered an incredible insult. A full refund is the least you should offer.
When I told Alex I became unemployed during the course of the program, he shot back, " its not our fault you lost your job. But it is your fault I am even in this mess to begin with after not delivering what was promised.
One of the other insulting things Alex arrogantly told me was, " you are just going to be one of those unhappy people out there".
Hey Alex, Try one of many unhappy people ...one of many
p.s.Hey taken4aride, Thanks...I'll never give up
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struggler
Member
Joined: 4 Aug 2009
Posts: 19
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# Posted: 4 Aug 2009 14:46
Reply
Hi, Traderp, it's been about half a year since you joined thrive learning. How's the income? Does thrive actually work? I see in this forum that there are mixtures of comments regarding them but I want to see your point of view.
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struggler
Member
Joined: 4 Aug 2009
Posts: 19
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# Posted: 4 Aug 2009 15:06
Reply
Hey Nothappy, I feel like I'm going through the same path as you are, I've already started the program and I've been meaning to cancel just because I was afraid from looking at comments on this website. I called Alex but he never replied back to me. After that I called the first rep who I set up to start this program to ask about this matter but he never got back to me. Rodney Moss was his name. until I got the first lady who gets the phone who first says "corporate office, how may I direct your call" to get the rep Rodney to call me. Which was my 4th time calling after I left my voice message to him. Also, whenever I need to ask help from coaches they always say they will be in meeting, or they'll ask you if they can call you back because they have another appointment which is atleast 2-3 hours of waiting time. This goes against the contract guaranteeing us an unlimited support. What kind of unlimited support makes people wait for 3 hours for the next call? We don't have time to wait. Plus, why is it different with everyone's cost to do this? I was charged about $9000 but it's different cost with different people. Asking for how much saving we had in the first place was fishy now that I look back into it. I hope I can get my money back. I'm going to try to freeze my card so they can't take any more money from me. Man, I am such an idiot for falling into this if it was a scam!
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Nothappy
Member
Joined: 1 Jun 2009
Posts: 22
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# Posted: 5 Aug 2009 15:17
Reply
struggler, make no mistake about it is a scam, all these people including myself are not happy for a reason. We were lied to before we even signed up, raped financially for what ever credit limit(s) they could get you to afford at the time(more than likely the reason for the different prices for different people)and left out in the cold as far as mentoring and support. I was lost and discouraged for a while with no help from them... They don't care . Then I realized this is not my doing...I wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for them. They misrepresented themselves, did not deliver and still took my money. Sign the petition... there is more of us that fell for this business in disguise.
http://www.gopetition.com/online/27433.html
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workerbee
Member
Joined: 5 Aug 2009
Posts: 6
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# Posted: 5 Aug 2009 18:10
Reply
Well, here's another sad Thrive story to add to the heap. My husband and I purchased their "Chief Executive" Program in February at a seminar at a local hotel. We paid $3995 for what we thought was a web site with merchant account, mentoring and help with the website, search engine placement, a vast knowledge library, internet tools, ebay research and listing tools, a search engine optimization cd that we could re-sell, and a link to a site where thrive gives away free 2 page websites. We were supposed to be paid up to $900 whenever someone upgraded from the free websites that we promoted. As soon as we paid the original #3995 they started trying to sell us more instruction and mentoring. We started getting really nervous when they wanted to know what credit cards we had and what our available credit limits were. We gave them a figure to see what they would say. Amazingly, the amount that the continuing education would cost happened to be the amount that we told them we had left on our credit cards! After we told them we didn't want to purchase any more they left us alone, and I mean really left us alone. It is very difficult to get a response from them unless they are trying to sell you some more bogus services. Technical support is open Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. I am in a different time zone and am at my day job while they are open. It doesn't really matter though, because you always have to leave a message, and sometimes they call you back. We were so excited when we first signed up that we were blinded to what was going on. Just yesterday, after leaving countless messages and talking to quite a few people at Thrive, I finally talked to a gentleman who answered me truthfully. What we really got for our money is the website, but not really the website, just the ability to pay them $39.99 for hosting and templates to build the site. All of the other extra stuff is only available to us as long as we continue to pay the monthly fee. If we cancel it, we lose the ability to use any of it. The only thing I have been able to use so far is the ebay reasearch and listing tool. That is actually really nice. Unfortunately, the cd we were supposed to sell is pretty crappy and we would not want to sell it. Same with the free web sites. Once a person signs up for one, Trive would probably drive them crazy, so we don't want to inflict that on anyone. We even paid an additional $175 to have a second web site that we could keep or sell. We are so dumb! I already had a site going with Godaddy, but it is not a merchant account and I thought I really needed all of this "mentoring" I was going to get with thrive. What I didn't know was that I could get EVERYTHING I need from Godaddy and they don't charge you $3995. I just got my quick shopping cart from Godaddy this morning and it is going to be a fraction of the cost of Trive's mess, and they have people there to help you 24/7. Anyway, I have to go back to work here at my day job to make money to pay for the load of ____ that I bought from Thrive! See ya!
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not ashamed now
Member
Joined: 5 Aug 2009
Posts: 2
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# Posted: 5 Aug 2009 20:18
Reply
Thanks so much for this forum! It took awhile to find this, but the hopeless feeling I have been feeling for three months is all but gone now! In April of this year I was contacted by Internet Auction Solutions, who also asked a lot of personal questions regaring my credit. The call was set up with Arthur Morton was done the next night, and he showed us how with a $20 profit, and a 75% success rate, and we could easily make $5000 per month, and PROMISED us that with the THRIVE education system that we would be able to use the software to find these exact products, and the THRIVE team would also assist us in setting up the E-bay auctions. Since I had done a vast amount of research to find the products that were profitable with no success, and I had relayed this to Arthur, he told us this was the solution to our problems. He even went so far as to say that since this was an educational course it was 100% tax deductable, so it really would not cost us anything! What a deal!!
Then, when it was time to pay, they required it be recorded, which I thought was kind of odd, but by now I was so SURE we were doing the right thing, no worries. Then we talked to out Team, and things then changed quite a bit. When I started doing what they asked, as far as finding products and using Lightwave, the results just weren't there! SHOCKER! So I asked my team where the great deals were, and that we were assured that they would direct us, they said that it was not their job, but was ours! NOT WHAT WE PAID $8455.36 FOR!
After I did another weeks of meetings, and finding other forums with the same issues, I requested a refund. I requested a chargeback, which did work for awhile, but not forever. I did get a call from David Andrews, and we spoke for 78 minutes about what I expected. HE actually agreed, and assured me that the Thrive team would help me find those products after all. Again, the Thrive team said that was not "Their job" and had no insight into this, but we just need to find the products and use lightwave, just like I had before.
I've had enough, and can't take anymore! I called David again, but he would not speak to me, and will not return my calls. I was going to contact my lawyer and pursue a settlement, but after seeing that some have had success I am now asking for help!
Please help!!!!!
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not ashamed now
Member
Joined: 5 Aug 2009
Posts: 2
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# Posted: 5 Aug 2009 21:31
Reply
Me again. I know that some have gotten their money back, but has anyone been able to get it back from Internet Auction Solutions?
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struggler
Member
Joined: 4 Aug 2009
Posts: 19
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# Posted: 6 Aug 2009 00:35
Reply
Thanks for the reply, Nothappy. I have signed the petition. This crime must be stopped. I've gathered all the resources that I thought I was suspicious of them and am going to consumer protection agency to present all the research I did and experience I had with them. I've read many depressing stories from people doing the thrivelearning. I literally was not able to sleep just because I was scared how my life is going to be from paying the debt. There are more than enough people complaining about this matter and I am sure that Federal agency, Government, and many different investigators who searches these kind of matters will move. As for thrive, I will not give up until I make them give up. We have the evidence, I know we can find a way to win against them.
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