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Imanidiottoo
Member
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2009 01:47
Reply
Me again. I lost a bit of my text this morning so will fill the gaps in the post. I live in a rural city in the State of Victoria, Australia. I signed up to Thrive on 26 Feb 09 after initially talking to one rep then his boss, gave away my credit card details and spent a cool $AU1900 ($1289US). On 28 Feb I had a phone call welcoming me to their organisation. I thought at the time that I was signing with My Online Income System which I had recently purchased. The female asked me about my address (that they spelt wrong), contact number etc then we went on line to look at the contract, which I briefly did, then digitally signed the contract. In retrospect, I should have printed it out and took my time reading the contents. In Section 1 of the contract it states the "Package includes: 4 weeks of Unlimited Consulting by Advanced Trained Advisors". With regard to any refund, contract states "In exchange for consideration of $1289US (15% Non refundable for processing fees. Refunds will only be issued do to health enabling you to not work the program or loss of life). In Section 5 of the Contract it states that "All sale are final. This is an irreversible investment. Any questions regarding this policy must be emailed to [email protected].
On 4 March, I received my first call from a team member called Eric. He told me to set up a premier account with ebay as "ebay is the quickest way to make money online"-his words. That the first 4 weeks is the proactive stage (ie they contact me) followed by 6 months of reactive contact (ie me contacting them via phone, email or live chat. He said to access the Thrive e-library for my assignments and resources and that I would basically be self paced.
After Thrive did not attend the next scheduled call to me, on 12 March, I emailed the team saying: "... that I had only one phone appointment with your organisation since I signed up 2 weeks ago and I must admit that I am floundering a bit and wish to speak with someone regarding where I am the moment, Remember, I am a newbie and need some 'hand holding' at this early stage".
In his words by email on 13 March Eric stated: "...9 times out of 10 we don't schedule appts to alloow you the freedom to finish what we assign you and get back to us then..." and that "we realise you may feel lost as there is a lot of information to absorb, but I can honestly say that if you are #1 using us as your coaches and #2 following the benchmarks (in the elibrary), you will be well off!" and "I would be happy to call today (didn't happen), or any day between the days of Monday through Friday. I will try calling after this email, to get you back on track".
Eric rang on 14 March (am) ... and this where my first post begins (see above)
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Pamela
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Bhavesh
Member
Joined: 16 Feb 2009
Posts: 10
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2009 13:22
Reply
Hi Pamela,
I am truly sorry to hear you invested with Thrive. It will not be easy to recover your money. The earlier post I did on page 5 will link you to various agencies that may provide some recourse however, since you are not in the US only some of the links will help. I urge you to call the Governor of Utah. You are correct he does not have an e-mail address.
Your best recourse at this stage is to ask Thrive for your money back. Call and put the complaint in writing. Place the charge with your credit card company in dispute. Refuse to pay the charge if your CC Company will not reverse it. They are your strongest advocate at this point in time.
Then start with the BBB of Utah and lodge a complaint there. A direct link to the complaint form is provided. Then lodge a complaint with the FTC, the attorney general of Utah, the ic3.gov site, and any governmental official in your country you can think of to stop them from doing this to anyone else.
You may be able to file in small claims court in your country however, I do not know exactly how international law suits work. You may like this link it is to others from other countries that had dealings with Thrive. http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/352/RipOff0352544.htm You may also try my e-mail again [email protected] I hope this has been helpful. Please let us know how you make out.
Bhavesh
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Let me help
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bluknight
Member
Joined: 16 Mar 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2009 22:59
Reply
If you are the owner of this site, please call me at 704-996-5555 and prove it.
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Imanidiottoo
Member
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2009 23:16
Reply
I've just been on the BBB site and Thrive have had accreditation since June 2008 and their BBB rating is A- and not the C rating as stated in this thread above.
I just want a full refund of my investment as I have 1) not accessed, exchanged or had disclosed to me any of their e-library resources, time sensitive trade secret products, educational systems, software, hardware, business and marketing solutions to date, and 2) I have not acknowledged or signed their Terms of Service to date.
All I have done is to access my already existing PayPal account on eBay and upgrade my account to premier as instructed. That is it--in 3 weeks since I signed up.
There is one member on this thread that was successful in getting a refund. Could you please advise what you did to get your refund and what reasons did you give??
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Pamela
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used and abused
Member
Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 45
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2009 09:08
Reply
I was on the BBB site only one week ago and there is no question the rating at that time was a 'C'.
I am not sure what is going on there, but I was not the only one who saw the 'C' rating.
I can only say that I dont trust the BBB in utah as they had my status as assumed satisfied and they left out my response to thrive as well when thrive responded to my complaint.
They knew I was not satisfied and I had to write them again to complain not only about thrive but about them as well for leaving out my second response.
I have not heard back from them since.
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Imanidiottoo
Member
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2009 22:08
Reply
Hi used and abused,
It's very interesting how their rating moved up in one week, especially considering the complaints they must be receiving! R u the member who was successful (eventually!) in getting a full refund from Thrive? If so, I'm hoping you might be able to help me out with my complaint, ie specific wording. I'm not good at this stuff. Is there somehow we could be in touch off the list, eg via email. Bhavesh has been in contact with me via the 'Law Suite Against Thrive' and hasgiven me links to follow up organisations with my complaints. Did your contract with Unity Marketing state "a 15% non refundable for processing fees" clause? This for me would be bout $193(US). Contract also states that "Refunds will only be issued due to health enabling you not to work the program or loss of life". R u aware of anyone who has been refunded for health or death reasons?
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Pamela
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used and abused
Member
Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 45
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# Posted: 18 Mar 2009 14:27
Reply
No, I am not the one who got my momney back....I sure wish I was, lol.
At the moment I cannot give you any better advice than what Bhavesh has already given and what some others have written in their posts. I also had no signed contract as I thought I was purchasing a program from michael matthews. When I googled his name he appeared to be very legit. 'Micheal Matthews, actually turned out to be 'Momentum Marketing'. By the time I discovered that I was dealing with momentum marketing and Thrive it was too late to get my money back.
If You would like to get in contact with me, you can go to the lawsuit email address and get my contact information there. I dont know that I can help you very much, but I am working on something that may benefit us all if I am successful.
The person that was successful in getting their money back was Fillmore. If you go to complaints.com you can send her a direct email through that site.
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Scammed777
Member
Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 18 Mar 2009 21:17
Reply
I became a student about a month ago and honestly for the $1800 I paid I feel as though I've been scammed! You can find anything online for free that they "help" you with. Stay far away from this group.
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Bob Travis
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anothervictim
Member
Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 18 Mar 2009 23:46
Reply
Hi, all! Count me in as another victim of Thrive!! At first I thought "how stupid am I?" then realized that it wasn't me---it was them!!! I will spend some time tomorrow filing the complaints at the sites you have listed earlier and checking out the case action suit! Thank you---at least now I feel I have somewhere to turn for support!
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Imanidiottoo
Member
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 19 Mar 2009 00:40
Reply
Hi Used and Abused
You've hit the nail on the head here when you said "By the time I discovered that I was dealing with momentum marketing and Thrive it was too late to get my money back."
I think this is exactly what's happening--the process seems to be that when we sign with a particular program, we receive a phone call and believe that this person is from the program we signed to, hand over our personal and credit card details and then by time we discover that we're actually dealing with a different organisation altogether, as you say, it's too late to get our money back. At the same time, I'm wondering if the owner of the program we signed up to originally, which in my case was My Online Income System, is aware that someone else might be 'poaching' their clients with these phone calls or are they in on the scam? And in the mean time, we've paid our subscription to the original program and are not utilising it!! NB. By all reports, on this forum at least, MOIS seems to be a legitimate and worthy program. This is deceptive business practice at its worst and personally really disturbing!!
NB If anyone feels they have been misled by thrive, please utilise all the links and certainly sign up at Law suite Against Thrive [[email protected]]. We need the numbers to carry this issue forward.
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Pamela
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brondby
Member
Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 3
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# Posted: 19 Mar 2009 04:28
Reply
I bought Nick Marks' programme and when the Thrive person rang me up he said that he was ringing from Nick Marks office. The email I then received from them said Momentum Marketing.
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Montecello
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IMarketer
Member
Joined: 9 Apr 2008
Posts: 43
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# Posted: 19 Mar 2009 09:11
Reply
That's how I was contacted the first time.
When the guy I talked to wanted me to start coaching about Ebay, I figured I could learn that on my own.
brondby: I bought Nick Marks' programme and when the Thrive person rang me up he said that he was ringing from Nick Marks office. The email I then received from them said Momentum Marketing.
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used and abused
Member
Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 45
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# Posted: 19 Mar 2009 09:48
Reply
Ebay was barely mentioned by the guy who scammed me. My lack of knowledge and understanding of internet marketing was very obvious and the guy used this to completely fool me about what I was purchasing.
I thought they were going to build the website for me and their so called 'expert' mentors and coaches would be teaching me how to run the website business. I even asked specific questions pertaining to this and there is no question that they knew exactly what I was thinking.
There are laws against this in all countries. If you google deceptive acts and practices you can find them. They are very clear that if a person is ignorant of a product or service and the seller uses this knowledge to deceive the person, the seller is liable.
In the case of a service there is no time limit set on when the buyer may become aware of this.
This was even confirmed to me by my credit card company and they said that if they felt that Thrive had misled me they would have not held me liable for the charges....but they felt I was just dissatisfied with the quality of the service.
I more than proved my case that I had been misled, but the bottom line is that the credit card company wants their money. I have always made my payments and kept my card at an almost zero balance. I think they feel I will just give up and pay up..... but they are wrong, lol.
I would like to mention again that my members of parliament have confirmed twice for me now that if my card was held through a bank, they would have been able to contact the bank CEO and have the charges reversed. My card was not through a bank.....sadly, but for anyone else who has a card through a bank, contact your member of parliament.
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jazmin
Member
Joined: 21 Mar 2009
Posts: 3
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# Posted: 21 Mar 2009 06:09
Reply
Thank you very much for sharing your stories and concerns about this company. I love the internet!! I believe I dodged a really bad choice for my finances. If it had not been for the information I was able to research, other than their prepared website, I would have proceeded to sign up for the "too good to be true" promises.
How does a company one day have a "c" rating with the BBB, then the next week have an "a-" rating with 31 complaints, to the next day having an "a-" rating with 26 complaints?
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Imanidiottoo
Member
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 24 Mar 2009 23:09
Reply
Hi everyone, I'm still working on getting a refund from Thrive (or from who ever else is involved in this scam!) but, in the meantime, I've come across this site called 'Complaints Board' http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/fraud-and-lies-c132792.html#c212809.
There's a few angry Thrive customers here as well... interesting reading...
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Pamela
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used and abused
Member
Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 45
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2009 08:18 · Edited by: used and abused
Reply
Imanidiottoo: Hi everyone, I'm still working on getting a refund from Thrive
and whoever else is involved with this scam.
I am glad you brought up this subject, as I decided to resend my complaints to various places, but this time changed the name of the company I was complaining about. This seems to be the key.
I discovered this when I saw a report on rippoff report.
I think everyone still looking for a refund should read that report. Though the seller was the summit group and they worked through Tafiti, there maybe some association there, as there is talk that some of the people who ran Tafiti, left, and started up Thrive.(See this info on scam.com/Darthpwnage, he definately worked or works for Thrive).
The report was posted by 'Scammedbigtime' in London.It took them 9 months to get their money back, but in the end they got a refund.
The company who sold me the program was Momentum Marketing, who is also The Summit Group. They have alot of complaints in the BBB. Momentum Marketing and The Summit Group are listed as the same people at the BBB and are not accredited members with a rating of D+.
It would seem the reason most of us aren't getting very far is that our complaints are against Thrive, but we may need to resubmit all our complaints against the company who sold us the product.
I know the summit Group has many, many complaints against them also on several different complaint sites. To date I have found 25 different sellers, who all use Thrive. Can you imagine all the complaints that would show up if the BBB would actually log these against Thrive?
I am sorry you are just seeing the Complaints Board now. I thought it had been mentioned in some of the previous posts on here, but it is hard to keep track of all the info here, lol. I have had to go back a lot and reread the info, but yes, it certainly makes an interesting read. Also make sure you click on the comments at the bottom of Fillmore's complaint, just in case you missed it, as there are several more complaints under that link.
I plan to check out Internet Auction Solutions at the BBB also, as there have been numerous complaints against them as well, .....What a tangled web, Thrive has weaved...
20/20 aired a show about 2 weeks ago on internet scam artists. One of the stories was about Angel Stevens. Though I haven't seen any factual connections as of yet, some of the complaints I have seen, have connected them with Thrive as well.
Finally, I have some very interesting developements of my own, but I cannot post them just yet. I want to have all my ducks in a row, so to speak. I just wanted to mention that, as I feel my persistence is starting to pay off, and I feel everyone who can, should keep fighting. The squeaky wheel gets the oil as they say.
I have written and sent emails to everyone I can think of, then rewritten and sent more.(Including the Department of Justice in Washington)IT cant hurt to try!!
I know that if you want something bad enough, it takes hard work and dedication and I feel this is no different. There are so many complaints out there against Thrive, that eventually, somebody who can actually stop them will take notice. It only takes one person... we just have to find that person If we give up, we might miss that opportunity when it comes along.
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Imanidiottoo
Member
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2009 10:40
Reply
Is 'Vanuity LLC' associated with Thrive LI (aka Thrive Learning, LLC)? Both located in Utah. Vanuity may be the merchant company. Found some similar threads on this forum re Vanuity LLC, at this site: http://www.honestworkfromhomesuccess.com/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,133/fu nc,view/id,9267/catid,53/limit,6/limitstart,0/
Also on: http://whocalled.us/lookup/8012938005
I went on to BBB site again today to check if thrive's rating had changed:
It stated: "Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of A-.
Reasons for this rating include:
Number of complaints filed against business." (I'm sure this last statement wasn't there 10 days ago when I last looked!")
And, "What is a BBB Accredited Business?
If a business has been accredited by BBB, it means BBB has determined that the business meets BBB accreditation standards, which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints. BBB Accredited Businesses pay a fee for accreditation review/monitoring and for support of BBB services to the public.
BBB accreditation does not mean that the business' products or services have been evaluated or endorsed by BBB, or that BBB has made a determination as to the business' product quality or competency in performing services. Businesses are under no obligation to seek BBB accreditation, and some businesses are not accredited"
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Pamela
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Imanidiottoo
Member
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2009 10:57
Reply
Hey Fillmore, wondering what strategy/ies you used to get your refund and to whom did you address it too (would prefer a specific email address for someone at the top and not just the everyday support email). I also need some help to write a very succinct paragraph to send in a fax.
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Pamela
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used and abused
Member
Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 45
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# Posted: 25 Mar 2009 11:16
Reply
On page 3 of these posts, 'MYSTORY', says she signed up with Vanuity who are also Thrive.
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used and abused
Member
Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 45
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# Posted: 27 Mar 2009 11:49
Reply
Hi All !
Yes, I am back again...lol.
I received some advice from the Attorney General of Illinois that I thought may be of help.
He suggested that I contact the Utah Securities Department, and he is sending them a copy of Thrive's response to their cease and desist order. This will make the Utah authorities very aware of Thrive and their associates, so it may be a very good time for everyone to contact them.
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ThriveIsaScam
Member
Joined: 28 Mar 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 28 Mar 2009 14:11
Reply
thrive Have ruin my life I now losing my home and have expend over 200Hr hour of training that doesn't get you you anywhere, ebay, clickbank all this is already there on the internet why do they try to teach what you already know.
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jazmin
Member
Joined: 21 Mar 2009
Posts: 3
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# Posted: 29 Mar 2009 04:02
Reply
When I decided not to proceed with Thrive, they took 45 minutes to try to convince me to continue.
Then, 20 minutes later, the first person that I spoke with called back. It took almost another hour, with probably 100 "no's", to stop the sign up.
The first person said he had been with the company for 7 or 8 years. He said Thrive has been in business for 8 or 9 years. When I asked him why Thrive has only been a member of the bbb since june of 08, he said it was because they changed their business name then. When I asked him what the name of the business name was before that, he said he didn't remember. What??? You do not know who your paychecks came from for the past 8 years?
The second person even offered to pay more than half of my start up fee, if I just signed up with this program!!
They are trained extremely well to pour on the guilt and appealing to our need to improve our lives.
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jfnicol
Member
Joined: 30 Mar 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 30 Mar 2009 18:56
Reply
They are terrible -- I talked me into taking their service with the understanding that they would build the site and I put the products in....WRONG. They only instruct you on how to build the site, providing video training and help desk.
It has been about one year and the site hasn't made any more. Everytime I talk to them they come up with an excuse that I need to change this or that. Well I have and it still isn't getting any business.
They are liers - they only want your $5000.00
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Joseph F. Nicol
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Ilovethisforum
Member
Joined: 7 Apr 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 7 Apr 2009 20:26
Reply
I just wanted to thank all of you in this thread for your reviews on Thrive Learning Institue. They called me yesterday and I went through the exact same process a lot of you all discussed in your post, except for I told them I was a student looking to make some extra income and did not have a whole lot to invest so they told me about the "scholarship program," which was actually a lot cheaper than the thousands of dollars they supposedly charged alot of the people on here. Why if they had told me I had to pay $5000 I would have easily got off the phone. However, they gave me a very tempting offer which I new I would be able to manage and assured me that this would be the only investment I had to make, and that I would make it all back in the first 3 months. It really sounded like a great idea, but I'm so glad I decided to read up on what others were saying about it first. The person I spoke to yesterday is supposed to be calling me back in about an hour or so and I almost can't wait to talk to him lol. Can you say, "Thanks but no thanks" lol. Now that I've done my research I actually plan on challenging him a little just to see how he handles certain questions lol. Anyway, I really cannot believe all of the terrible reviews I've now read about this company and was appalled by many of the stories in this thread. I truly hope that everyone who has been "used and abused" by this program will eventually get back the money they spent and hopefully put and end to their conniving ways. Since I have read many of your stories from the beginning I will be coming back just to check on you guys progress as I am very curious to find out how all of this will end. Again, I can't thank you all enough for sharing your stories, but cause I was very close to taking them up on their offer, but now I'm so glad that I didn't!  Thanks again!
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skpleas
Member
Joined: 10 Apr 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2009 20:56
Reply
Aloha Everyone,
I also was interested in an online business and received a call from a Joe Morrison. Received sales pitch and it sounded wonderful. I was told to review www.whythrive.com and it would all be explained. It left quite a bit unanswered, so I looked to my trusty google search. I found this site doing my due diligence and would to thank everyone here by providing me with the truth. When good ol' Joe calls up Monday morning, I can tell him my friends have informed me that he does not pass the smell test.
Mahalo
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Scoopmarketing
Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2009
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2009 11:24
Reply
It just depends on how aggressive you want to be with your business. You decide what you want to put into your business. If you want to be making a minimum of $150,000 within the first year then your going to invest typically between $12-15K in order to get that type of result. If you want to take one step at a time and be more passive by getting a result of somewhere of making $40-50K a year then you will invest somewhere around $5-6k.
I was able to invest 10K into my business. People are insain if they think they don[t have to put money into there business. Thrive was able to take me step by step on how to be very successfull. They took away a lot of stress I had and gave me more time to enjoy working on my business online. I am very happy with how my business is doing thanks Thrive!!!
__________________
Scoop Marketing inc.
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used and abused
Member
Joined: 4 Dec 2008
Posts: 45
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2009 17:00
Reply
Dear Scoopmarketing,
I would like to know why you are even on this site if you are so busy making money??
And I as well as everyone else on here, I am sure, would take offense to your comments about us being insane or stupid about investing money.....obviously we KNEW we would have to invest money.....but Thrive and their sales associates lied to us about a lot of things, including having to invest thousands more.
And the amount you invest has nothing to do with amount you will earn...you are full of xxxx and we have all learned from the real people on this site, exactly who you are working for.
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Truefire
Member
Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 2
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2009 21:24
Reply
THRIVE LEARNING INSTITUTE AND INTERNET AUCTION SOLUTIONS
Beware, steer clear of Internet Auction Solutions as you would a timber rattlesnake in the backcountry. Arthur Morton of internet auction solutions informed me that I would be in the first couple pages of all the major search engines search results. LIE!!!
Doesn't happen, especially with product pages that are made up of product that are actually in demand by consumers. I was led to believe that the marketing measures and advertising measures were already in place and all I really had to do was just build a website.
These crooks will lie to you just to get you to sign up and after $7000.00 later you realize that they misrepresented their services.
PLEASE don't waste your time listening to these crooks. They told me unlimited coaching and after the first 6 weeks were over I called one day with an issue and they told me that my phone sessions were over. Resort to live chat and emails. Have you ever had to handle complex issues over emails. NOT easy to do, almost impossible.
Arthur Morton of internet auction solutions told me unlimited coaching, he failed to tell me that after 6 weeks my phone coaching would fall out and I would be left out in left field practically trying to figure this crap out by myself.
I paid over $7000.00 and do you think they cared whenever I called, NOPE. I called to address this issue of coaching. I was told the director was not available, i left messages. I called 2-3 times without ever recieving any phone call returns.
That's not all, all of the information in the videos can be found on various sources online for free. Plus, after you pay all these monies that's not it. You have to pay $49.95 a month for hosting services from Thrive plus $49.95 monthly from the merchant account services.
LIE number ?? I was also told that I would not have to invest any more monies other than these monthly payments. As soon as I began inquiring about developing more traffic to my site to thrive coaches the first things out of their mouths were that you need to start a pay per click campaign. That would be another $40 -50.00 a month to develop lots of traffic.
He also told me that I would have 1000s of dropshippers which were free at my disposal. Most all of them aren't free, they charge yearly fees, minimum orders and don't offer product line that is really wanted.
Don't even listen to these crooks, they are making lots of money off of your money. If this worked so good, why are they charging such outlandish fees for this service?. Why don't they just setup a online store and dropship products themselves instead of charging multitudes of innocent persons $7000.00+ of misrepresented services.
I am in the process of getting my money back and will not quit until these persons have repaid the money that rightfully belongs to me.
Whatever you do, hang the phone up on these persons, from Internet Auction Solutions.
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ryan80
Anonymous
Joined:
Posts:
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# Posted: 14 Apr 2009 04:23
Reply
Never Heard Of It, Anyone doing well with this?
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IMarketer
Member
Joined: 9 Apr 2008
Posts: 43
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# Posted: 14 Apr 2009 10:48
Reply
Quite a few Terry Richards in Utah..............Hmmmmmmm!
used and abused: I would like to know why you are even on this site if you are so busy making money?? And I as well as everyone else on here, I am sure, would take offense to your comments about us being insane or stupid about investing money.....obviously we KNEW we would have to invest money.....but Thrive and their sales associates lied to us about a lot of things, including having to invest thousands more.
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