I attended a 3 day Real Estate Seminar a few months back, which was advertised as non refundable. The 1st day they had us sign a form prior to beginning the event, which no one had a real chance to read carefully and comprehend the significance of it, as speaker was waiting for everyone to return the form in order to start, and we were not given a copy of this form prior to attending. During the entire event, there was not really a chance to speak out, and I kept thinking that by the time the event is over, we would still cover the intended topics, and at the end of the event, everyone just basically bolted out the door in a rather strange hurry. The speaker had this eerie and arrogant approach the entire time, boasting about how protected he is in his dealings, and how he will go after you if you reveal any of the so called "secrets" covered .
Needless to say, upon conclusion of the 3 day event, I was not satisfied how it went at all and felt like we did not get all that was promised, so I wrote an email to the speaker requesting my money back, or more training to fulfill the gap.
The speaker did not respond to me, instead he had his attorney respond. After several letters, the attorney made it clear that refund is not forthcoming, nor anything else for that matter. A month later, I get a huge invoice from the attorney demanding payment for their legal fees.
I went back and read the 2 page form I signed and one of the paragraph states:
"If you have cause for complaint during your stay, you must bring it to the attention of the staff who will do their best to rectify the situation. It is unreasonable to take no action during your visit, but then write a letter of complaint upon return. However should a problem remain unresolved you should make a complaint within 14 days from the day of your departure from the event".
There is also another paragraph that the attorney is using to make his threats for further legal action if fees are unpaid:
"I Hereby indemnify and hold xxxxxxxx, its directors, officers, agents, employees and successors and assigns harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys fees, from any loss, liability, damage and cost arising from or any way related to my participation in the event".
The subject of attorneys letters are always: Violations of XXXXX Policy.
Based on the information above, what sort of options do I have, besides of course paying the very ridiculous fees? This whole experience has given me such a bad taste in my mouth, very shocked on how things are being handled by this individual, very methodical and cult like.. my time is too valuable for a long legal battle, not to mention the cost will probably not be worth it, but I'm considering counter suing, I was going to just let it go, even though the event was almost $10k, but when I started getting these threatening letters, it made my blood boil reliving the memories, all the arrogance just slapped me in the face once again.
Any advice will be much appreciated.
Thank you
Needless to say, upon conclusion of the 3 day event, I was not satisfied how it went at all and felt like we did not get all that was promised, so I wrote an email to the speaker requesting my money back, or more training to fulfill the gap.
The speaker did not respond to me, instead he had his attorney respond. After several letters, the attorney made it clear that refund is not forthcoming, nor anything else for that matter. A month later, I get a huge invoice from the attorney demanding payment for their legal fees.
I went back and read the 2 page form I signed and one of the paragraph states:
"If you have cause for complaint during your stay, you must bring it to the attention of the staff who will do their best to rectify the situation. It is unreasonable to take no action during your visit, but then write a letter of complaint upon return. However should a problem remain unresolved you should make a complaint within 14 days from the day of your departure from the event".
There is also another paragraph that the attorney is using to make his threats for further legal action if fees are unpaid:
"I Hereby indemnify and hold xxxxxxxx, its directors, officers, agents, employees and successors and assigns harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys fees, from any loss, liability, damage and cost arising from or any way related to my participation in the event".
The subject of attorneys letters are always: Violations of XXXXX Policy.
Based on the information above, what sort of options do I have, besides of course paying the very ridiculous fees? This whole experience has given me such a bad taste in my mouth, very shocked on how things are being handled by this individual, very methodical and cult like.. my time is too valuable for a long legal battle, not to mention the cost will probably not be worth it, but I'm considering counter suing, I was going to just let it go, even though the event was almost $10k, but when I started getting these threatening letters, it made my blood boil reliving the memories, all the arrogance just slapped me in the face once again.
Any advice will be much appreciated.
Thank you
