The BBB recently issued a warning about Search Profit System which claims that workers can make money using search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and Bing.
However, customers are complaining that Search Profit System and a program called Money Mastery instead are charging them $49.95 per month and make it extremely difficult to cancel the charges.
The BBB has the following listing for work at home products called Search Profit System & Money Mastery:
93 S Jackson St. #20205
Seattle, WA 98104-2818
(888) 673-3212
View the BBB report on Search Profit System and Money Mastery here
View the BBB warning about Search Profit System and Money Mastery:
Warning: Stay Away from Work-At-Home Scams – Search Profit System, Money Mastery
Apparently this isn’t the first time Money Mastery has experienced these types of complaints:
Peter Jeppson, CEO of Money Mastery by Time and Money discusses their Marketing Agreement with Mars Hill Media and addresses customer complaints in his November 11, 2009 video:
The above video was made a month after the BBB revoked Money Mastery’s accreditation status on October 21, 2009. You can view the BBB report on Money Mastery here in which the BBB states:
“On October 21, 2009 this company’s accreditation in BBB was revoked by BBB’s Board of Directors due to engaging in activities reflecting poorly on the BBB or its members.” and further states, “BBB Accreditation was revoked because business failed to comply with agreed BBB standards.”
The BBB report on MoneyMastery further explains:
“The company is using a trial offer (consumers have a certain number of days in which to cancel before they are billed in full for the product and possibly other products as well) to sell their product. Most complaints received indicate that consumers are confused about the trial offer, may not have read the terms and conditions to know exactly what they were agreeing to, or believe that they were not agreeing to the other fees. Mars Hill Media is selling the product, therefore complaints regarding the sales process will be handled by their firm, which is not connected (other than hiring the company to sell their product) to Money Mastery.”
MyMoneyPlan was discussed previously in this post at WorkAtHomeTruth where I actually FILMED the order process that led to the MyMoneyPlan trial.
You’ll see in the VIDEO of the order process that there seems to be a discrepency between what Peter Jeppson claims in his video above and at least one of the versions of the order processes. I’ve included that September 16, 2009 video again below:
As a point of reference, the Peter Jeppson video mentions the following agreement found at the Money Mastery news section:
“BOUNTIFUL, UTAH – Financial literacy service provider, Time & Money, LLC, announced today that it has signed an international licensing agreement with Lehi, Utah-based Mars Hill Media, LLC to market Time & Money’s MyMoneyPlan online community. Terms of the licensing agreement allow Mars Hill to market the MyMoneyPlan.net community across various media forms including online auctions, social media networking, e-mail campaigns, and pay-per-click programs.”
Are customers NOT reading the terms of the MyMoneyPlan offer?
It is a bit interesting that the company took the approach of blaming the customers for not reading the terms of their offer. I’m not sure what to think of that. From a legal perspective it may be a smart move – and certainly customers should always read the terms, but it seems to be an odd move from a publicity standpoint – although they may figure they can afford to make that move because they seem to be endorsed by established and trusted organizations already:
Continuing Education Courses offered by MoneyMastery.com
According to this page at MoneyMastery.com they offer continuing education courses at several Utah High Schools and Universities.
Peter Jeppson Live on “Good Things Utah”:
So the big question that remains is why a company which seems to be endorsed by credible sources and apparently with a significant business background has now warranted an official warning from the BBB 4 months after they made a video attempting to address those complaints?
A few possible explanations come to mind:
- The terms of the offer do follow FTC clear and conspicuous guidelines but the customers aren’t reading the terms
- The terms of the offer don’t follow FTC clear and conspicuous guidelines and the customers aren’t reading the terms
- The main company is too far removed from the marketing company contracted with
- The main company doesn’t care how the marketing company they contracted with markets their product
Any of those are possible explanations at this point.
Note: The following is ONLY about Mars Hill Media – the marketing company contracted to market Money Mastery
The BBB also has another listing for a work at home product called MyMoneyPlan.net with this information which means they are possibly mixing up contracted marketing company with the actual company:
Mars Hill Media, LLC
(866) 311-7023
(801) 407-5107
3051 W Maple Loop Ste 125
Lehi, UT 84043
Websites:
- SimplePayChecks.com – Click here to read the WorkAtHomeTruth warning about SimplePayChecks
- MyMoneyPlan.net
- Mars-Hill-Media.com
OnlinePassiveProfits.com also lists the same Lehi address and Mars Hill Media in the terms and conditions as well as a monthly program called Quick Site Profits Club
Of note is the additional phone # – 888-673-3212 which is the same phone # listed for the other advertisements for Search Profit System and Money Mastery.
The additional DBAs listed are:
Commack South
My Money Plan
Money Mastery
Additional info:
Search Profit System and Money Mastery flash the following number across the top of the screen: 1-800-405-8582 and currently are on the domain spsandmm.com.
The Return of Angela Penbrook?
Some of you might recognize the 1-800-405-8582 as the phone number used in the Penbrook Productions scam to take calls – or maybe even as the number used in the Process At Home scam.
1-800-405-8582 a favorite of a “certain segment” of bizop product purveyors?
Now, 1-800-405-8582 may very well just be a number from a 3rd-party telemarketing center providing services to companies, but it certainly seems to be a favorite of a “certain segment” of bizop product purveyors based on the following list of bizop products it’s been used for:
- Your Bill Killer – click here to read Your Bill Killer Exposed at WorkAtHomeTruth
- Google Money Profit – click here to read about Google Money Profit at WorkAtHomeTruth
- Search Income Pro and My Money Masters at sipandmm.com
- Tweet Income Pro amd My Money Plan at tipandmm.com
- Auto Income Pro and Money Mastery at aipandmm.com
- Tweet Profit Pro and Money Mastery at tppandmm.com
- Search Income System and Money Mastery at sisandmm.com
- Search Profit System and Money Mastery at spsandmm.com
Sites using CustomerSupportNow.com
Also of note are the following sites listing CustomerSupportNow.com as their support center:
- Search Income System at searchincomesystem.com
- Search Income Pro at searchincomepro.com
- Auction Income Pro at auctionincomepro.com
- Affiliate Income Pro at affiliateincomepro.com
- Google Money Kit
- Twitter Kit
- Money Mastery Kit
Dear Mr. Schlegel,
Thank you so much for the information about the BBB WARNING to stay away from certain work at home scams.
As an individual who is considering and researching the possibility of working at home via online, I definitely appreciate this advice. Time and money do not need to be wasted on scams nor should a person fund the
endeavors of unscrupulous individuals/businesses.
Once again, thank you!
Doris
Thank you for the kind words Doris and you’re welcome.
great post as usual!
Finally have all the info I need for my research, great post!