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Elite Personal Search |
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Jeanette of Beverly Hills, CA February 19, 2008 In September 2007, Elite Personal Search (EPS) fraudulently induced me into paying 3,000 for purported matchmaking services to be provided pursuant to a Membership Agreement between me and EPS. Unfortunately, it has become clear that EPS's matchmaking services are nothing more than a scam. In particular, EPS made a number of false representations to me in order mislead me into paying the 3,000 fee. Natalie of Brookline, MA January 8, 2008 I joined their Boston branch in April of 2007. I was promised a meeting with members for a fee of approximately 4,000.00. I wanted to think about it, but the girl who was selling the product insisted that I don't have to pay right away, that they would give me MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS without any finance charge. She took my credit card and charged me 500 initiation fee. I asked her if it was possible to change my mind, I was told that's not a problem, that they could hold my membership on hold. And I still had 3 days to change my mind and get my money back. Next day I decided not to pursue it, I called numerous times and tried to get my deposit back. I was bounced between NUMEROUS people who had put me on hour long holds and ignored or hung up on me. Finally I spoke to a manager that convinced me that I should come back to their Boston branch office for an interview and that I made the RIGHT decision. I went, had an interview with one of the girls that spent about 45 minutes asking me questions about what I am looking for. I told her that I would like to cancel my subscription . She said that it would not be a problem to put membership on hold until I am ready. I started getting monthly bills from April on from a company named Conrad Acceptance Corporation, they threatened to send me to a collection agency if I don't pay. I paid close to 3,000 and never heard from Elite Search again, Not a single call was returned. I was not in their system. I will pursue this with a lawsuit. Johanna of Beverly Hills, CA November 7, 2007 I have been researching the activities of Elite Personal Search. Not only did I have a similar experience with them, but I also found a lot of similar complaints online. I don't think any case relates to the looks or compatibility of clients. It is obvious that Elite follows a pattern of non-service no matter who the client may be. They are very smart in using peoples hopes as a basis to have them sign contracts which simply allow Elite to get a high fee for doing nothing and getting away with it. They will continue that pattern as longs as clients do not combine their efforts to stop them. Each client alone will not be able to do anything. But a group of very different clients experiencing the very same is proof for a fraudulent behavior. Anyone out there with a similar experience may contact me at livelife15@sbcglobal.net. I am collecting evidence to prepare not only a law suit against them (have a very good lawyer and will pay all legal fees!) , but I am also preparing a television News piece against Elite (I'm a producer) and I am determined to either change their way of doing business or to put them out of business. Jeanette of Woodland Hills, CA November 7, 2007 I am reading the complaints on Elite Personal Search and realize that I have been a victim of the very same scam. First, I was told about success stories of two of the matchmakers working at Elite and how they met they husband through the same service. Then I was told by Jen Turner in a 2 hour interview that Elite would find my potential husband in no time. I am very easy to match as I am an attractive brunette, with a career and simply no time to go out to meet people in bars. My expectation was to meet man with a similar income than mine (min 500K) and a similar education (graduate degree) between the age of 40 and 55. I paid 3000 for 10 introductions. Not one intyroduction was acceptable and met my indications, eventhough I was told that Elite would have 'many suitors' meeting my requirement. They had the nerve to suggest construction workers and flaky candidates who didn't even show up. When I called Amex to decline the charge due to non-service I was informed that they could not do that. I contacted Elite to reimburse the charge as it was obvious they simply lied about the their caliber of men they have amongst their clients, but Elite never even responded to my email. Christine of Los Angeles, CA October 26, 2007 In July 2006, I went into the offices of Elite Personal Search and had a 3 hour 'interview' with Devan. At that time, I wasn't sure if the service was right for me. I explained to Devan that I felt it would difficult to find a match for me among the members of Elite Personal Search/Debra Winkler. Although I am a professional career woman, Devan assured me that I would 'easy to match', even though I have tattoos and dreadlocks (I work in a creative field, and wanted to meet someone who was a professional, but also 'eclectic') . She explained, 'we have all kinds of people as members. We have artists and musicians, even performers from Cirque De Soleil.' I was hesitant about joining, when she assured me that if they did not have someone appropriate for me, that Elite Personal Search/Debra Winkler will go outside of its membership and 'troll the community' for a good match. She explained that she had met HER husband through Elite, and that once she started working there, she was able to fix up 2 of her girlfriends with men who were NOT members, but that she had met outside of work and thought they would be good matches. She told me that one of them was now married to the man Devan had fixed her up with. I do not feel that I would have been comfortable paying the extraordinary amount of money membership cost if I had not been reassured that they would go outside of the membership to find a match for me. Devan and I discussed the type of man who would be a good match for me. We set up a long list of parameters, which she assured me DID exist in many of their members. (the main thing we agreed I needed was someone who was 'hip' and up on modern technology, as I am a bit of a computer geek). When she told me that my 5000 fee would get me 8 matches in the next year, I was wary. I told her that I didn't feel like 8 was very many matches. At that point she said, 'But we will be doing all the research for you. By the time you meet a match, they will have all of the qualifications you are looking for. The only thing missing will be chemistry, and you WILL have chemistry with at least one of 8 men who exactly the type of match you are looking for.' She noted that Elite also checks criminal records and paycheck stubs to make sure that members DO in fact make the amount of money they claim (although they never asked for any of that from me). Additionally, Devan assured me that she would work closely with the matchmaker and that the matchmaker would also work very closely with me by calling me frequently to discuss various matches. All of the above made me feel safe and comfortable and confident that Elite could help me find a match. I was unable to join in July, so I had to put it off until December 2006. I did join in December of 2006. At that time, Elite set up a second interview with Jen Turner. Jen also said that she thought I would be easy to match and that the qualities, and other parameters I was looking for would not be difficult to find. She also assured me that Elite would go outside of their membership to find a match for me. Since that time, I have had NO matches that 'have all the qualifications I am looking for'. Additionally, I have not met any men from outside of the membership. In fact, most of the matches I have been sent, were not at all the type of men that I would be interested in. Many of the matches have been misrepresented by Elite. For example, I was sent a potential match who 'had his own business building zen gardens', he was actually a gardener for the public park systems! I was sent a potential match who worked as a 'holistic therapist', he turned out to be a massage therapist! I was VERY specific about the type of person I wanted to meet, as well as what type of job they should have (professional, like me!), how far I'd be willing to travel (I live within 10 miles of literally millions of people, yet they sent me matches that lived 50 miles away?!), and the fact that he should work at a standard job where he would normally have nights and weekends free (the massage therapist worked BOTH nights AND weekends!). Neither Jen or Devan or anyone from the Elite office have ever 'worked closely' with me to find a match. In fact, I often don't hear anything for weeks and weeks, unless I email THEM.
I now feel that I was misled. It has been over 9 months since I joined and not ONE good match has been introduced to me. I sent a certified letter to Elite with all of the above information and demanded my fee be returned. I filed a complaint with the BBB (they have over 20 complaints and have earned an 'F' rating), but Elite did not respond to either me or the BBB. I feel that it is appropriate for Elite Personal Search/Debra Winkler to return my 5000 fee. Michael of Las Vegas, NV July 14, 2007 Michael of Las Vegas NV (07/14/07) The very next day, June 23, I cancelled the contract in writing by fax and by email with a scanned, hand-written signature. My cancellation was acknowledged on June 25. I was told the refund would be given within the next 10 business days. On June 25, I called American Express asking what my options would be in the worst case scenario if the company stalled or refused to refund the money. I did not at that time ask for a refund. Unfortunately, customer service representative must not have understood me correctly and hastily filed a dispute. When I found out about this, it was July 2nd, I cancelled the dispute, because I had not originally authorized it (in fact at the time I specifically said do not do anything! The company has 10 days to refund the money?) The person who is in charge of customer money and refund issues is Louie. He promised a full refund in writing on June 25 and 26. On June 26, he wrote that my cancellation was finalized yesterday,? that would be June 25. The next person I spoke to was David in Accounting, I spoke to him on Friday, June 29. He said that the refund was processed on Wednesday? June 27, and I would see it on my American Express on Monday or Tuesday (that is July 2nd or 3rd ). On July 2nd, I called and emailed David in Accounting, once again. He returned my call at about 11:00 am the same date stating, We were going to give you a refund? but you filed this whole case against us with American Express? David said this was making the company look like the bad guy; that if I wanted fast refund I would have to cancel the case, but if I did not cancel the case, the refund would take 6 to 8 weeks. I called American Express and spoke to Constantine and cancelled the case because the company was still legally entitled to additional time to give a refund. I even sent David in Accounting 2 (two) emails stating that I had never filed for a refund or chargeback with American Express, because it was too early to do so at that time, and that the dispute was filed contrary to my, at the time, expressed wish not to file. I immediately called David and explained that a language barrier was likely the reason why American Expressed had prematurely filed a dispute. As soon as I notified him that the dispute was cancelled, David said most of our senior management is out for the week? because of the 4th of July holiday, but on Monday there will be a regular refund for sure,? and I will send you a confirmation. ... I asked for a full refund. Since I initially paid 7,900 and then received discount of 500 on the same day, the balance I am asking for is 7,400. Advertisement
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