InterNACHI

I got my money refunded. This issue has been resolved.

I got my money refunded. This issue has been resolved.

I got my money refunded. This issue has been resolved.

InterNACHI is an association for home inspectors. I briefly thought about becoming a home inspector, so I signed up with InterNACHI to get more information.

At the time, memberships were advertised as free for six months. I quickly realized I wouldn't have the time to pursue this venture while continuing to work full-time, so I never completed my registration with InterNACHI, which is required to become a member. Once a month, I'd receive the following email --- "Our records indicate that you have not yet signed your InterNACHI membership affidavit. You must sign your affidavit to become a member of InterNACHI and receive all your membership benefits, including listing on our "find an inspector" search engines, such as: inspectorseek.com, inspectornow.com, inspectorlocator.com, findaninspector.us, and hundreds more. Please go to nachi.org/member-affidav… to sign your affidavit now.

If you haven't completed all your membership requirements, you will have to do so before you can sign the affidavit." --- The notification plainly states that you need to sign this affidavit to become a member of InterNACHI. Since I did not wish to move forward with membership, I never signed the affidavit. I never received any type of notification from InterNACHI saying I would be billed for anything, either, and their terms of service clearly indicate that only members will be charged for membership dues. Months passed, and I noticed some charges on my credit card.

To my surprise, they were from InterNACHI, two $50 charges for membership to the organization. This didn't make any sense, as I had never signed the affidavit and never completed my registration to become a member. I responded to the most recent copy of the above email with the following --- "Hello, I did not sign this affidavit because I chose not to move forward with becoming a member. I have been charged $50 from your organization for the last two months, even though the email below plainly states I am not a member.

I did not authorize these charges, and due to being unaware of them i have been charged two additonal $15 late fees from USAA. Please do the following: 1. Refund me the two $50 membership fees, as I am not a member as the below email plainly states. 2.

Cease any future charges to my card and remove my credit card information from your database. 3. Send me a receipt showing these transactions have been refunded and that they were unauthorized. 4.

Remove me from your mailing list. Please address this concern at your earliest convenience. I will need to dispute these charges if I do not hear back from you by COB Friday. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter." --- To my surprise, the founder of InterNACHI, Nick Gromicko responded to me directly.

His response --- "Click on the green Cancel button at the bottom of nachi.org/benefits.htm Sincerely, Nick Gromicko" --- My response --- "Hi Nick, You didn't address any of the items outlined in my above email. I'd like you to please address the issues outlined above and refund me for the unauthorized charges. Please do this by the end of tomorrow and get back to me with documentation indicating I have been refunded. I shouldn't have to cancel anything from my end, I never signed up for membership in the first place, as outlined in my last email.

I'll follow up with my bank directly if I do not hear back tomorrow." --- Nick Gromicko's response (and remember, this is InterNACHI founder, not some 20 year old kid they got to handle their e-blasts) --- "Yes, you signed up.  Or do you think that I climbed into your room through the window at night, found your wallet, and used your credit card to sign you up with InterNACHI? You get credited back when you cancel.  I can't click your cancel button from here, unless of course I sneak back in through your bedroom window." --- ...How rude and unprofessional can you get?

I received unauthorized charges to my card from Nick Gromicko's organization, I respond to an email that plainly states I am not a member and therefore want these charges removed, and the guy gives me a bunch of snark in response.  I contacted USAA to remove the charges. I'm still getting emails from Nick Gromicko, InterNACHI founder where he continues to deflect and dodge direct questions about why and what I was charged for. It's been exhausting. UPDATE: Nick Gromicko is now claiming he didn't charge me in the first place.

He has repeatedly acknowledged the charges throughout our correspondence and has attempted to justify them in increasingly bizarre and unethical ways. InterNACHI's founder, Nick Gromicko is truly unprofessional and incredibly unethical. He even suggests they have the authorization to charge anyone that provides their credit card information to them for whatever reason he sees fit. He has yet to tell me why I was charged for membership even though I was never an InterNACHI member.  See some of his latest correspondence below --- From Nick --- "Maybe I’m wrong. David, how would I have your credit card # and why would I sign you up for InterNACHI membership?

Maybe you can explain. And no, staff isn’t doing all that nonsense. We’ll cancel you now. Lisa, cancel." --- My response --- "Nick, Answering a question with another question is childish and unprofessional.

Intentional avoidance of answering a question, also known as question dodging, frequently occurs when someone does not know the answer to a question or wants to avoid embarrassment. You feigning confusion about this matter is pretty immature, but I'd like to ensure my response is in print, so I'll explain it to you again.  I have never accused you of personally signing me up for your service. That's absurd and you're just deflecting from answering any of my questions about the unauthorized charges to my credit card. My credit card information was required to sign up for a free trial with InterNACHI.

I signed up to get more information about your organization. Your terms and conditions state the following: Dues. If you become a paying member, you authorize us to charge your credit card or bank account for membership dues and other sums you owe us, and to sign any required forms for us to do this. You understand InterNACHI may terminate your membership if you do not pay all sums owed when due.

You understand InterNACHI will automatically renew your membership and charge you for dues unless you notify InterNACHI in writing that you no longer wish to be a member at least 30 days prior to the expiration of your membership. If you elect not to renew, you must send your notice to InterNACHI, 1750 30th Street Ste 301, Boulder, CO 80301 or to the main email contact listed on our contact page. However, I never signed the affidavit or completed my registration, which is required for membership to your organization. You have repeatedly refused to acknowledge the very email at the beginning of this chain that indicates in bold text that I MUST sign an affidavit to become a member of InterNACHI.  It's pretty simple. Since I never signed the required affidavit for membership, I never took the required steps to become a member of your organization.

Therefore, I was not a paying member of InterNACHI. Therefore, I should not have been charged for membership dues.  The email I received from your organization states this in plain language. Instead of acknowledging this and refunding me, you've repeatedly deflected and wasted my time. You've proven yourself to not only be unethical, but incredibly obnoxious.

I've contacted USAA and these charges have been removed from my account. I'll make sure to share our email exchange if they need any additional information." --- Nick's response --- "That’s absurd.  Imagine this:  I go into a restaurant buffet.  I give them my credit card to enter.  I just sit there at my table and don’t eat.  Then go home.  Then complain that they charged my credit card. I don’t know who USAA is, it isn’t us. Lisa, cancel anything and everything please." --- My response --- "Nick, USAA is one of the biggest banks and insurance providers in America.

Most adults know what USAA is. Given our discourse up to this point, the fact that you do not know what USAA is isn't surprising. You're parallel to a restaurant doesn't make much sense, and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with our situation. But hey, I'll roll with it.

We'll use your restaurant example. Imagine this: You go to restaurant known for nachos, (we'll call it InterNACHOS). When you get there, they say you need to provide your credit card information to take a look at the menu (but you won't be charged, it's just so they have it on file in case you decide to buy something later). You're pretty curious about their nachos, so you give them your credit card information.

The waiter also informs you that you'll need to fill out an affidavit if you want to enter the restaurant, and that you won't be able to eat there unless you fill it out. After taking a look at the menu, you decide you aren't interested, so you don't fill out the paperwork and walk away. Then six months later you start getting charges from the restaurant. ...That doesn't seem right, does it Nick?

You never filled out the paperwork to get into the restaurant, so what could they be charging you for?  I know you must really love buffets, but lets think about the reality of the situation instead. Imagine this: You review an organization's terms of service in full. You take note of the verbiage regarding membership dues.

You sign up for a free trial membership. You decide not to go forward with becoming a member, so you do not fill out any of the required paperwork to become a full member. Every month, you receive a reminder email indicating that you are not a member, and that if you want to become a member, you have to sign an affidavit. Because you do not want to become a member, you never sign it, and eventually forget about the organization altogether.

Then you log into your bank and you see you've been charged for a membership from the organization. This doesn't make sense, because you aren't a member. You reach out to the organization to ask why you were charged, request a refund, and have your information removed from their billing system and mailing list. You get a reply from the founder that is dismissive and unhelpful.

You ask him to acknowledge your questions and provide an appropriate response. The owner replies with a snarky email. Over the course of several more, he repeatedly wastes your time and is incredibly unprofessional. Nick, you can spare me the inevitable inane response.

I already know why you charged me, and I already know why you refuse to answer my questions about the charges. It seems safe to assume that you routinely make use of unethical billing tactics, and admitting to that would be problematic. This is why you continue to dodge the question and will not answer it directly. Even up to this point, your silly restaurant analogy is attempting to suggest that your charges were okay to process.

You know they weren't. I cannot be charged for membership while simultaneously being reminded by the same organization that I am NOT a member and that I will need to fill out paperwork to become a member. There is nothing confusing here. You charged me, you shouldn't have, end of story.

This could have been quickly resolved by simply acknowledging the billing error on your part and immediately processing a refund. Instead, you've drawn this out over multiple emails and you've been repeatedly rude and dismissive. You should be embarrassed. I think we're done here, Nick. Have a happy holiday, and best of luck to you in the future." --- Nicks response --- "We never charged anyone $50 for anything in out entire history.  It’s not us." --- My response --- "Nick, You've spent the entire conversation attempting to justify the charges your organization made to my account.

You even instructed your employee to cancel them.  Now you are saying you didn't charge me at all? You know that doesn't make any sense, right? Here's a screenshot of my bank statement that clearly says INTER NACHI with the transaction number.  that clearly shows a $49 charge from InterNACHI> Nick. You charged me.

Twice. You shouldn't have. These are simple facts. They are not up for debate.  "It's not us." ...Are you kidding me? " --- Nick's response --- "Where do you see a $50 charge on that image?" --- My response --- "Nick, It's $49.

Close enough to $50 and you know what I meant. You have repeatedly acknowledged the charges. Then you said you never charged me. Do you realize how crazy that sounds?

Why did your company charge me for a membership when I was not a member, as clearly indicated in your terms of service and numerous reminder emails? Why do you continue to dodge the question and avoid answering it directly? Is this really your move right now? You look like an imbecile.

Do not contact me again. --- Nick's response --- "Everyone is a member, a student member, a home inspector member, whatever.  If you are using our services and you gave us your credit card and permission to charge it, we charged it.  We never charged anyone without authorization.  There is no purpose in the entire universe to collect a credit card without authorization to use it.  What would we do with all those numbers?  Play bingo with them?" --- My response --- "Nick, So you're admitting that you take people's credit cards and just charge them for whatever you'd like to? I have received a message from InterNACHI every single month saying that I am not a member. I'll remind you of what it says here: "Our records indicate that you have not yet signed your InterNACHI membership affidavit. You must sign your affidavit to become a member of InterNACHI and receive all your membership benefits" What were you charging me for?

It is very common for companies to ask for credit card information to ensure the person signing up is a legitiate person (as opposed to spam bot, for instance). Are you suggesting that I authorized you to charge me for membership? When? Your own records indicate that I am not a member!

How could I be charged for membership? Explain yourself, Nick. This is looking worse and worse for you." --- Nick Gromicko has yet to respond. He seems to think he can rightfully charge anyone that happens to provide their credit card information to him, regardless of whether or not they were provided a service.

He also thinks denying something that clearly took place in reality is a valid tactic for dealing with a refund request. I think that speaks for itself.