Believe what you want to believe.
If you want more helpful comments from here:
1 - Describe the nature of your business arrangement with them. Type of business. What you were each supposed to do for each other. What they didn't do for you. What their recalcitrance cost you (dollar amount please).
2 - What is your goal? What do you want from them? Describe a resolution that will satisfy you. If it's money you want, say how much. (Again, dollar amount please.)
3 - Upload a copy of the contract that you signed and sent back to them. Redact any identifying information.
I'm just looking for someone who can tell me if I might have a case or not. As a consumer, I paid for something that I ultimately did not receive.
The contract is an affiliate agreement with a credit card processing brokerage. I paid $10k for the agreement. The support included a Facebook group, email support, and text chat support. All of which have been essentially useless in the long run. They went against they're own agreement and were allowing agents to cover monthly fees thru their own residuals with cash discount accounts. They finally decided to put an end to it and in doing so made me go back on my word with a client damaging my reputation. On other occasions they have interfered and made changes on applications without saying anything to me causing confusion between my clients and I also damaging my reputation. These guys pride themselves and harp on their agents about prioritizing and maintaining relationships, but then they turn around on you and prioritize profit instead. I'm not really trying to go after them for any costs I paid to get the business off the ground, but if I had to venture an estimate I'd say it was around 3k overall, in addition to the 10k.
They market it as a mentorship program. They call themselves mentors. They convince people they'll benefit from their expertise when in reality they don't teach you anything in there you can't find online for free. You could literally teach this to yourself and go independent without anyone's help at all. They convince people they need to spend 10k to get into this industry. I have a real estate friend who says real estate brokerages do the same thing to new realtors. It's a very common practice and very deceptive. Nothing but a money grab. They say all these great things about helping you start your own processing business, but then once you're in there you're essentially on your own. And if you're not a big producer they just shrug you off. Many support requests I've sent them over the last couple years have gone unanswered or unresolved. I've had to correct their own mentors on more than one occasion. I'm the one that identified the missing contract as well. I was marketing and everything with their name on my product with no contract in place. Pursuing and on boarding clients with no contract. I can only assume that if something had gone wrong and that contract wasn't there it could've hurt me legally and financially. I had every reason to believe that the contract had been finalized as I was fully on boarded and given access after it was submitted. Once I identified it was missing, they pulled that access. I put my faith and my trust in these people because they had me convinced it was worth the investment. A lifetime arrangement. A side gig I could slowly build on and generate extra income. I made serious life changes to make this work. I quit my job, I rented out my 3rd bedroom and moved into my garage. I started doing rideshare for a more flexible schedule. I've driven myself further into debt by sacrificing hours on the clock with my regular job. I've sacrificed family time. I did all this only to find out they can't do something as simple as signing a contract. Now I've lost all faith in them. Have I no recourse for this display of incompetency? I understand the law does not care about what I believe or how I feel. I'm ex military so these principles are important to me. All I want is my money back.
Not to mention the CEO himself dangled my "refund" in my face by putting it in my residuals account and said I could have it if I sign the agreement. How is that not a bribe at the very least?
My assumption is that they're scared because I caught them with their pants down. They gave me access to all their proprietary info and I'm not bound by a contract. And they know that I'm pissed. Even tho no actual threats were made except to call a lawyer, they have accused me of extortion. These guys are millionaires and I'm legitimately worried about the well being of me and my family. I haven't done anything wrong here. I'm worried they're going to find some legal loophole that can get me thrown in jail or shut me up so I don't damage their reputation even tho I've been very clear that is not my intention. They haven't acknowledged or refuted any of my claims. They've made no effort to resolve this peacefully. They initially ignored my emails and admitted to doing so.
Might be worth noting that the business name they use in the agreement is completely different from the one I've been working with. The only place I've seen that name is in this agreement.