The International Society of Female Professionals Reviews

As of today, May 16th 2020, there are hundreds of complaints about IAW and its fellow companies: International Society for Female Professionals (ISFO) and Worldwide Association of Female Professionals (WAFP). ALL OF THEM tell the same history. Women deceived by a scam. These people have a very structured approach to their victims, as shown by the contents of the several complaints. Every time the costumer only got the cancellation and refund after posting a complaint on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website. This is an organization that: has a very aggressive sales approach; charges for services they do not perform; keeps adding fees and charges to their initial ONE TIME ONLY payment; makes unauthorized charges using the clients credit card information; does not resolve the claims unless the costumer reaches through an official channel. I was approached by them in January by phone. My experience was identical to what was described in the other complaints: they offer me a membership that would help with networking opportunities, events, industry exposure, being featured in their platform, business collaboration. The price was U$489.00 for 5 years or one payment of U$589.00 for a lifetime membership. They demand the credit card number on the spot saying that it's an incredible opportunity that they could not mantain over time. Over the next months they charged my credit card twice more, without authorization, for services like "Press release" and "Featured listing". Any attempt to cancel or get a refund was denied. I had to cancel that card to stop the charges. It is important to understand that these people have done THIS UNDER DIFFERENT COMPANY NAMES since 2007. The situation is so serious that BBB issued an alert: "BBB files indicate a pattern concerning issues with the sales practices, billing and customer service of the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW), now called International Association of Women (IAW). Consumers tell BBB that they feel misled by company representatives regarding membership prices, membership levels, and additional fees for processing and set-up. Some consumers also allege that they were subjected to high pressure sales tactics by company representatives even before they understood the costs or benefits of joining the organization. Other consumers that originally agreed to join the organization but later choose to cancel or not renew the membership say that they are charged for it anyway and must reach out to company representatives to seek a refund." The NAPW was funded in 2007 and for obvious reasons the name was changed down the road to International Association of Women. However their business model did not change and after a new wave of online complaints they changed their name again and now operate under WAFP or ISFP. The International Association of Women, as described by BBB, is a subsidiary of the Professional Diversity Network (PDN). Their business profile is listed there and has more complaints about unauthorized charges and misinformation, which they chose to not answer. It is important to highlight that most of the members are people OUTSIDE THE USA. It is easy to understand why they choose to call someone that cannot fully understand the language. I hope the authorities do something about this scam.

User's recommendation: Never accept any offer or service on the spot. Do some research first. No serious business asks for an upfront payment without giving the costumer the chance to evaluate the offer first.