advanced learning system Complaints, Reviews, & Information

mps1973

Sep 17, 2012

Advanced Learning systems, My Source Supplier, The Coaching Department

Dear Sir/Madam,
Before I get into my complaints against the specific companies that defrauded me, I would like to recount a conversation I had yesterday, August 23, 2012. I have 5 specific points to address which I could not get addresses during the 9 weeks I have been involved with Advanced Learning Systems. The complaints relate and support the points I am about to make.

a. To begin with, I received a call from a person on August 23rd who started the conversation with a statement to the effect of he was returning my call and what did I want? I asked him who was he and what is he talking about? He would only say that I called him yesterday and gave me his first name. He would not answer any questions that would help me figure out who he is and why he is calling me including who he worked for? He asked me “If I had a problem?” To which I replied, “I don’t know, who are you?” I was about to hang up on him when I thought maybe this guy is an Advanced Learning Systems? After all, this would be in line with much of their behavior. So I asked him point blank if he was and he said “yes”. After berating him for trying to conceal his identity from me I pointed out that I did not call them, they called me, and that was not yesterday, but on Tuesday, two days ago. The call he is referring to was my weekly meeting with what is termed as my ALS coach. I couldn’t help but thinking, “Would a legitimate company call and behave like this? What are they trying to hide?”
b. He asked me again, “Do you have a problem?” At this point I took over and told him I had a simple question to ask him. My question was, “What is it that Advanced Learning Systems is providing me?” Paraphrasing, his response was basically that Advanced Learning Systems provided training. They would teach us (my wife and I) how to build our own website, how to do the marketing, and some of the ins and outs of an Internet business. My response was simple and core to my complaint, this is NOT what my wife and I were presented when you were trying to get us to sign on. We were told, and there is absolutely no leeway in this, that Advanced Learning Systems was going to build us a business website, that they would help us in deciding the best business to choose, that they would find us the best drop shippers for our products, that the website would look professional and include a cart system and secure credit card system, that they would provide the marketing expertise including creating a video that they would put on YouTube to advertise our website and business, that they would show us how to get our business on the first page of a Yahoo or Google search to insure our sales, that while they where doing this, they would also teach us how to do all these things so that we could do the next website by ourselves, that we did not need to understand the technology behind all this because they were going to take us by the hand and lead us through it, that we got 6 months of training on their site and they would extend it up to a year if we need be, that we would have weekly meetings and have unlimited access to the person assigned to our account, that we would be making money in 3 weeks, that we would make enough money to provide a living, that their company is new and they wanted us to be spokes people for them and because of this, they would not let us fail, and finally, that it cost something but that they had a way to pay for it so that it did not burden us or come out of our living expenses. I told him that the number one reason I agreed to their terms was because they where going to build us a working business website and have us making money in 3 weeks. I told him that if we had been pitched anything near what he has just told me (training only?), there is no way in the world I would of agreed paying $10,000.00 for this?
c. I then asked, “Just what services is My Supplier Source providing me?” He told me that they were the ones that built and marketed the website, helped find the drop shippers, and created the video for YouTube, I told him that basically, everything that I wanted, that was most important to me, was done by another company that I did not even know about until July 5th, 3 weeks into the program, and for an additional $9,500.00. I told him that in no way would I have agreed to dish out another $9,500.00 if I would have been told this up front instead of being misled into believing that Advanced Learning Systems was providing all this and then laying this on me when you (ALS) had me thousands of dollars in debt.
d. I then asked him the same question I asked my coach weeks earlier, “Just what is the relationship between Advanced Learning Systems and My Supplier Source?” He told me that they were separate companies. Then I remarked that “My coach is the one who sold me on MSS, handled my complaints with MSS, and defended MSS?’ He then stated that “They are a separate company but that they worked in the same building and worked hand and hand with each other on a daily basis”. A little fact that was kept from me when I grew suspicious and asked questions about as you’ll see in the complaint.
e. Finally, I asked him “If what they meant by us (my wife and I) making money in 3 weeks was just us selling our own stuff on eBay?” His response was “Yes.” At this point I lost my temper and told him “What do you think we are, a store? We’re out of stuff and out of money!” I recomposed myself and told him I was told just the opposite by Trevor Ship, my ALS coach, when he first suggested us going out on eBay to buy and sale stuff in our first coaching session. I told him if we had known that the money they were referring to so many times during their sales pitch was going to come from selling our own stuff on eBay, I would of laughed and hung up. As you’ll hear in the rest of the complaint, eBay was used and I was told immediately that this is not part of their program, but a great chance to learn some marketing techniques and make a little money while we wait for paperwork to be completed. I can’t call this anything other than what it is, a direct lie to mislead us and conceal the truth from my wife and I.

After this final nail in the coffin, I cannot call Advanced Learning Systems and My Supplier Source anything other than what my Lawyer refers to them, a scam. The fact that it took me 9 weeks to find out what they were actually providing me says it all. Legitimate companies do not hide behind the details in order to extract money from their clients. Legitimate companies do not hide facts from their clients and only revile them once they have their customers so financially committed that they can’t see a way out. However, there is a reason for their secrecy as my wife and I point out, in detail, with the following complaint.

I. Complaints Against Advanced Learning Systems

1. My first complaint and a very important one to my family and I is my wife and I were told numerous times that if we entered the program that we would be making money in three weeks. With everyone I spoke to during the process of selling me the program I was consistently told we would have you making money in 3 weeks. Every objection I came up with was met with the response of we will be making you money in 3 weeks. This was so consistent it actually sounded rehearsed? In fact, as my wife just reminded me, in our final meeting before signing on when I was making objections about money, we were told, “If you don’t like where you are in 90 days, just ask for your money back”, indicating to us that they were so sure we’d start making money in 3 weeks that they were willing to stand behind their product. After we started our weekly meetings with Trevor, our coach, I brought up the subject of money in 3 weeks pretty much every week in our scheduled meeting. Every time I brought up making money I was told, “don’t worry about it, we got you covered”, “we’re not going to let you fail”, “well make sure you have the money”, “we have a way so that you don’t have to use your own funds to pay for this”, “we need to get you going now so you can start making money”, to name a few of the exact statements that were made to my wife and I. At every opportunity I would remind them of our (my family) current economic situation. That I was unemployed and have been for 17 months, that the money I had was to provide for my family during these difficult times, that I had a 4 year old and just had another daughter of 10 months, that we were living on my savings from my last job and $1,100.00 a month my wife made at Wal-Mart. I made these statements to appeal to their sense of decency, yet the response was always “You’ll be making money in 3 weeks. It is now 9 weeks into the program and because of a couple of foul ups they have made, I have to wait at least 3 weeks until I get a Resale Permit from the state, which cost me another $60.00 out of my own pocket, before I can even do business with any drop shippers. I have yet to make a dime from their business opportunity. Because I now have a better idea of what it takes to get a website up and running, as ALS always has known, there was never a chance of making money in 3 weeks. I have been misled, lied to, and now put in a precarious financial position by ALS
2. Another one of the reasons I got involved with ALS is because of the way they presented it to me. On the first call, ALS told me that they were looking for customers who were willing to go through their program and be spokes people to promote their product at the end of the program. My wife and I went through three separate interviews on three different days, sometimes with more than one person speaking at an interview in order to “make the final cut”. We were even congratulated by them at the end for being one of those few that passed their qualifications to get in the program. At no time after words was it ever mentioned again that we were being groomed to be spokes people. Today, about the only person I can get to return my calls, is my ALS coach. Quite a change from the recruiting process?
3. ALS claimed they had all the experts needed in their company to make us successful with our own site. Marketers, business, finance, Internet security, Internet law, and web builder expertise. That they would hand walk us through the process and we needed no expertise or Internet savvy, just to do as they said. They told us that if we couldn’t come up with a good idea they would brain storm with us and find one for us. They claimed that once a site was up, I by myself could run it with minimal involvement. In fact, after I got a coach, I grilled him on why he wasn’t running a site. He said he was, that he sold Bee Boxes and information on how to start your own beehive. He told me he spent about a half hour at night processing his orders and that was it. He claimed to average about $5,000.00 a month. When I asked him why was he working he said his wife wouldn’t stand for him being at home all the time, that he got bored and liked what he was doing. When I asked why he isn’t opening more sites he said he was getting ready to open another one. He had all the right answers? He claimed I could open several with their help and be able to run them on minimal time. He even suggested I do that. Most of all they claimed we would be making money in 3 weeks. ALS claimed they would teach us everything they did along the way so that we would know all aspects of the business and be able to start future businesses and build them on our own. To date we have mostly been shown webinars on selling on eBay and Craigslist, something they said isn’t even part of the business? No one needs to pay to learn how to sale on eBay or Craigslist. They have comprehensive videos for free and the only expertise you need is to be able to navigate the Web? Besides we have done this before without even knowing about ALS and certainly would not pay for a service like this. Bottom line is we have learned little to nothing since working with ALS and have done all they have asked.
4. They promised me at least a half hour meeting every week and unlimited access to my assigned coach and the manager of the coaching department. Over the last 5 weeks we had two five minute meetings, a skipped week, a full half hour meeting after I complained, and now another skipped week. The head of the coaching department told me to call him anytime I had any issue. So I called. His secretary said he was on the phone and would give him the message. I’ve called twice and still have received no call back. This from the same guy who told me to call anytime and as much as needed while I was still making the decision to do business with them
5. I was told that if I put 10 hours a week into their program and do exactly as they say, that we could not fail, that they would not let us fail. I have done everything asked of me to include watching all webinars assigned to me, buying a few articles off eBay to establish myself, selling some of my stuff as a learning experience in which I was told eBay was NOT part of the program, placing drop shipper requests on My Source Supplier several times, and calling those drop shippers and interviewing them as possible business partners for my website. I even asked for more webinars because none were assigned over a 3-week period or some type of schedule or itinerary to keep me busy making the progress learning what I was suppose to be learning.

Advanced Learning Systems charged me $9,350.35 for the above claimed services and created their own expectations. To date, I have gained nothing from my business dealings with ALS. I believe I have been totally misled on the important issues that caused me to go into business with them in the first place. No progress can be made for at least another 3 weeks because the company they referred me to who claimed to be Internet business specialist either didn’t know I needed a Reseller Permit or forgot about it (more on this later). In either case they certainly did not show that they are any kind of Internet business specialist or that such a thing even exist. Drop shippers have still not been identified by the other experts they introduced me to for a way over valued fee of $9,500.00. Even when all this is completed, a website still needs to be built, something that if past performance is any indication, I don’t expect to be done quickly or to the level they bragged about. ALS basically offers below average information and services for inflated prices that can be obtained off the Internet for free. I would not rate anything they have done even of average quality, instead well below. In fact, to date I have not received anything that I could not of either receive from an eBay webinar or other Internet sites all for free. I have not received any of the services they advertised other than meeting with a coach once a week for and even that was not kept as promised. They have not helped me pick an Internet business or offered me any suggestions to improve on mine, and finally, they have not developed a single business website for me. Most damaging of all, they are weeks behind their own self-imposed time of 3 weeks in which I was supposed to be making money and there is no relief in site.
Finally, as stated at the beginning of this complaint, ALS doesn’t even provide the services they sold me on in the beginning. In fact, they introduced another company three weeks into the program, that perform the more technical aspects of building a website as well as all the marketing and then told me I had to pay another $9,500.00 to get what I was promised from them. They basically told me that if I didn’t hire My Source Supplier that my chances of being successful were much less than what they stated up front. If any of this information would have been available to me up front, I would never of even considered getting involved with them. If they would of told me that the cost of what they said they were going to do for me was going to be another $9,500.00 so that another company could provide their promises, I would of hung up on them. I guess this is why they don’t tell you this up front?

II. Complaints against My Supplier Source (MSS)

I never spoke with anyone associated with MSS when I purchased their product. Instead Paul Andrews who was identified to me as an ALS employee pitched it. My coach Trevor Shipp set up the meeting with Paul and told me the meeting was to go over my choices for creating my first website and decide which one to choose. He described Paul as the company expert at this and I assumed this was the brain storming session I was supposed to receive.
We met over the phone on July 5th at 11:00 am. We kind of went over my list of choices for a business and he seemed to think they were good choices. He never once gave me any suggestion of a different business or spent much time critiquing mine. Instead he seemed to be more focused on the process of picking a good drop shipper. He stated the two biggest problems an Internet business faces are first finding a good drop shipper and then marketing of the site. He then went into the categories of drop shippers: Direct, Middle, and Post, and defined them to me. Then he covered how the cost for each is calculated and which one he thought was best.
Then the conversation moved to getting help finding a drop shipper and Paul stated MySupplierSource.com was the best. All the time I thought this was part of the service I paid $9,350.35 for. Then he told me the cost to use My Supplier Source service was $9,500.00. I was floored. I said there was no way I can pay that and why can’t I just do my own drop shipping research? He then explained how great MSS is, how they had the expertise to find drop shippers I could never find, how choosing of the drop shipper would make or break my business, how they could get me the best drop shipping prices because of their inside connections. Basically, he was indicating to me that without them, I wasn’t going to be successful. At this point I thought we were close to getting my business up and running and all I new I for sure was I needed an income fast. I asked him what the relationship between ALS and MSS was because of his insistence that I use them? He replied that MSS was a complete separate business from ALS. Looking back, I find it hard to believe that there was no relationship between the companies given that it was ALS that was doing all the promotion and sales for MSS? At this point, I felt trapped and felt if I didn’t pay the price that I was basically bankrupt. I again mentioned to Paul my financial situation and the position I had put my family in practically pleading with him to understand the position he was putting me in. He said he understood and that I was very close to making money. I told him he could try my card again but that I would be shocked if it went through knowing that I would definitely be over my limit. He said, “Well let’s give it a try”. A few seconds latter he said it went threw. The whole episode made me sick to my stomach.

The following is my experience and complaints with MSS:
1. Every time I made a search request for a drop shipper I only received one to two drop shipper names except once when I received 3. In all cases except one, the businesses in my list did not even sale the products I was looking for. In other words, I got businesses that were not even verified before hand to have the products I was looking for. As such, these leads were useless.
2. I could easily find the businesses on their list with a single Internet search. There was nothing special about what MSS was providing. In fact, once I started investigating, I could do better than MSS in finding potential drop shippers. For instance, they could not find a single green coffee bean supplier. I found dozens the first time I did an Internet search. I asked ALS why couldn’t I do my own searching and save myself $9,500.00. I was told that they where superior and had the right connections. And that I could not provide what they could provide. There is not an ounce of evidence to support their claim and plenty to support just the opposite.
3. When I wasn’t getting what I was looking for from MSS, I broke each of my searches into a single business, writing a small paragraph describing the business and products as precisely as I could. I did this under the guidance of my ALS coach, Trevor Shipp. I did two such paragraphs before going to the My Supplier Source Website and sent them to Trevor, to be reviewed. His exact comment copied from his email to me was “Thank you for the VERY detailed descriptions of what you're looking for My Supplier Source. I'm sure that will really help them. They appreciate the precision. Let me know what they come back with.” What I got back was a list of 2 different drop shippers for one business and one drop shipper for the other business, none of which did any sales with the products I was interested in and which I described in the search. For example, I described state of the art home theater systems and neither drop shipper even sold home theater systems of any type? In fact one stated that was not the focus of their business. For $9,500.00 I would think that at least someone would check whether the drop shipper carried the products I was interested in? Instead, it was left to me to figure out causing me 3 more days to re-enter the same search and see what they came up with. At this point I was very frustrated and thought this could go on indefinitely without producing results? Where was the expertise and connections I was told about? It just didn’t add up? When I showed Trevor the responses he said, and I quote from his email “I will touch base with their lead researcher and talk to them specifically about these requests”. His final excuse for them was, and I quote again “This might be another one of those industries that you just cannot get a solid drop shipper. Ask for some affiliates and wholesalers to see what else is available (just so we know!). I'll have a chat with them.” I took his advice and re-entered the same search criteria at the MSS website but this time I selected affiliates, whole sellers, and drop shippers. What I received was for the home theaters request was two links to large Internet electronic companies. When I called them I found out that they did not even sale home theater systems of any type. They were not even checked to see if they sold the products I listed? For the green coffee beans I received one company and it was the same company that they sent me on the first search. I had already called them and found out they don’t deal with green coffee beans. At this point I decided to communicate with MSS myself.
4. Upon sending two emails to MSS on the list they gave me regarding the detailed search I entered, the same ones Trevor said were very precise and helpful, they made a single reply that said, and I quote “Thank you for contacting support. Our primary means of contact is live chat and email. You will need to resubmit your request to receive new suppliers. One thing that we can suggest is that you include a web link to a type of product to use as a guideline while your niche is being researched for suppliers.” I was using their primary means of contact, an email? I don’t know how much better I can describe what I am looking for than in the paragraphs I sent them and took extreme care and diligence to get it as detailed as possible to make it easier for them. As you saw by his response, Trevor agreed with this. Green coffee beans are green coffee beans? I don’t think a link to a picture of green coffee beans is going to make a difference if their not verifying that the products I’m interested is even carried by the drop shipper they choose? If I have to send them links to the products I want wouldn’t it be better if I just find the suppliers myself? Based on their responses, I’m sure I could and do a better job. But I was told that this would not be the case?
5. In my calls with the businesses provided by My Supplier Source, when asked, none of them recognized the name My Source Supplier or even seemed aware that they existed. They certainly did not base any of their prices on any relationship with them. I believe I was misled in order to get me to cough up $9,500.00. There is nothing to support what I was told and sold; that my business depended on them because they are the experts? I did not experience anything in my relationship with MMS that indicated that they had superior expertise or connections as I was sold on? One more thing I would like to point out. There is nothing in the name “My Supplier Source” that indicates that they build websites or perform marketing functions. In fact, the name indicates that they find suppliers. It’s misleading at best to move these unrelated functions into this company and then hide the fact by naming it as it is? Knowing what I now know, I don’t believe this is an accident or over site. I believe it is done this way to hide the fact and justify the $9,500.00 charge to put pressure on the client to cough up the money.

I just don’t know what else I can say about My Supplier Source. To find out that they work in the same building as Advanced Learning Systems does and that they work hand in hand (their words not mine) months after I point blank asked the question, just shows the level of deceit going on here. They may legally be separate companies on paper, however, they represent each other as if they are one and same business. ALS speaks for and represents MSS in all aspects of there business and even defends them if a customer has a complaint. There is obviously some relationship here that is being covered up. I believe it is there to by pass laws and scam the customer. If ALS would have been up front and informed me that the products and business opportunity they were presenting to me were actually implemented by another company for double the fee, then I wouldn’t be in this position today. I would never of entered into a contract of this nature if I would have been informed of the truth up front instead of lied to and mislead at every opportunity presented them.
I have gained absolutely nothing from my relationship with My Source Supplier. I have learned nothing from them and have benefited neither personally or financially. I do not feel it is my responsibility to continue this untrusting relationship in hope that maybe something good could possibly come of it. Based on past experience and results, I believe the odds of that happening are well below average. I also don’t feel I should be the one taking all the risk based on what I now know. Because I’ve gained nothing and have not received the services promised me, I expect a full refund of $9,500.00 from MSS. They have more than under performed they have not performed. They have done nothing to earn the ridicules fee they charge.
I have been put in the position of filing bankruptcy by these people and have put my family in harms way, all the time, explaining to them exactly my financial position. They knew my wife was working at Wal-Mart, I was unemployed, and that we existed on about $1100.00 a month. Given this information, they even asked if my wife if she planned to quit her job to help me support the business! Thank God we didn’t bite on that one! They knew I was 58 years old and supporting two daughters, a 4 year old, and a new baby 10 months old. Yet at no time did they ever do anything but sucker me in to thousands of dollars in debt knowing that I was never going to be making anything in 3 weeks and possibly never would. How some people sleep at night is beyond me. My point here is that they took the time to find out as much as they could about me and my family and then used that information to manipulate us, never once showing that they really cared about what they were doing to us. ALS and MSS desperately need to be held responsible for their actions.

Michael P Stapleton
307-221-5447
[email protected]

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