Thrive Learning
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takodasun L
Mansfield, Ohio
Thrive Learning Ins. Ripoff
I was contacted by phone, 11/27/2008. Was lead to believe they were part of Google.com and that Google wanted to use me to make a success story to be published on the internet. Had a 3 way call with his "boss", 11/28/2008, to see if we qualified to be accepted in this program. They said they wanted to make sure we would be a success story for Google. We were asked questions about our credit rating; I told him it was good. We were asked if we had a credit card that we would be able to charge this on, told them yes. They put us on hold to have a little conference and when they came back we were told "congratulations" we were accepted. Was told we would be making money back within 60 days and will have made our initial cost of the program back within 45 to 90 days. To this day I have not made one penny back. I had spent hours each day and night working on all this to get my site up and running. I was never sent a copy of a contract, agreement or written guarantee. I was never informed at anytime during our conversations that I had the 3 days to cancel option. Was told I had a personal mentor I could contact when I need help and would have personal coaching calls with assignments, once a week. I only received one coaching call. After I completed the first assignment, I called them. Asked for my next assignment and was told I won't be getting any more coach calls. I was given a list of videos to start watching. When I would call to try to get help or to find out what to do I would have to leave a message and they would return my call in 2 or 3 days. I had to just wait, if I couldn't figure it out on my own. When I would finally get to talk to someone they never knew what was going on with my training. I would have to try explaining what I was trying to do. One person would tell me to do one thing; another person would tell me to do something completely opposite. Each time I would have to try explaining what I was doing and where I was in the training, all the while not understanding or not knowing where I was at. I kept being told to watch this or that video. Tried to explain I had watched those videos more than once and did not understand. Then I would be given a link back to the same video again. Then I was told I would have to use the "live chat" only. The "coaches" were very arrogant and unprofessional. Time and time again I was left sitting on the live chat waiting for an answer. After sitting for over an hour on a few occasions I would just give up and forget it. One time while on chat I got a response like "yo mama" ( don't remember the exact wording) to my question! He apologized, but this shows how much attention he was paying to me. I was not given the instruction and support I paid for and told I would receive. When it was time to submit my site to the search engines I had to argue with the "coaches" on more than 2 occasions that I had paid the extra money for the "SEO package" that they were to take care of. Finally after I got through to them they were to do it, I was told to get ready for a flood of conformations from the various sites. I received about 8 or 10 conformations. If they had done what I had paid them to do I should have received hundreds of conformations from submissions. I ended up doing my own submissions and received more conformations from what I did then from what they submitted. The low amount of responses I received and knowing there are hundreds of search engine sites, I feel they did not do as they claimed they would. I also had major problems with the merchant Account, IMAX that is a part of Thrive and they recommended I use. I did what I was told and filled out the agreement with IMAX. The next month IMAX started charging me, $45 even though I didn't have my website up and going. I contacted IMAX and asked why I was already being charged. I was told that when I filled out the form I had signed up. I told them I was not ready on my site, I was told that didn't matter, I signed up and that was that. She said that they have a lot of people who are paying the monthly fee that don't have their sites up yet. I told her I didn't think that was right and was told that I signed the contract and that's the way it is. I left it go at that point. I had asked about this when I was on chat with Thrive and no one would even answer me. I wrote an email about it to thrive and no one would answer me. Thrive never gave me any help with this matter. When I was ready to open my site and activate my merchant account I went through the steps and could not get my merchant account to open up. Everything was suppose to be there and ready to go. I had to contact them and then they started the setting up. At this point I was really upset. I asked if things were not ready to go and set up why I was paying $45 a month for nothing. The girl on the phone recognized me from calling before and said "Oh it's you again" Then she said that's just the way it is. I contacted the BBB and filed a report and asked for the money back for all the time I had no service. Because of the BBB report they gave me all my money back. I thought that was fair. Now that I would be using the service I was happy to pay the $45 per month but I noticed that they were not charging me so I thought maybe now they would start charging after I made my first sale. When I contacted Imax on 9/9/2009, to stop my merchant account, I was told that I did not have a merchant account. I was told that the account had been already closed at the owner's request 5 months ago. I had never requested it be shut down at anytime but on 9/9/2009. Never received any help from Thrive on this. Last date of service- I called Allen on 9/9/2009 and told him to cancel my participation in Thrive Learning. Asked for my money back as they did not deliver to me all they said they would. Again I asked for a full refund of $9500 that I paid to them. Also told him to cancel my Lightwave Builder and to take my website off the internet. Told him I wanted everything shut down. As of 10/5/2009 I checked online and my website is still live and running. Sent him an email through the BBB in Utah and told him again I want everything stopped. Still charging me for the Lightwave Builder $39.99. I was contacted again by Zack on 11/1/2009. He asked me about all the problems I had and talked to me about continuing with the program. He said they had changed a lot of things for the better. He told me they would wave the Lightwave builder fee for 3 months. I told him all the problems and aggravation I went through, I worked very hard to do all this and haven't gotten anything back, didn't know if I could go through all this again, I needed to think about it for a few days. He said he would call me back on Friday evening Nov. 6, 2009. I had made up my mind to keep working with this. I had decided that I would also ask for them to make a payment on my credit card- like they said they would if I had not made the money back by the time the payment came due. Come Friday evening and no phone call. If he did call it was while I had my dog outside and he never left a message. If he had left a message I would have called him back at that point. I was lied to again. Now I am done with all this. I am tired of being strung along and lied to. They have put me in a bad financial situation. I want my money back plus all the finance charges as well. Received my credit card bill and AGAIN BEING CHARGED ANOTHER $39.99!! I had to call the credit card company and put in another dispute because I had canceled the web builder. Finally they quit charging and had to refund from the time I had canceled. I want my initial charge of $9500 plus all the interest I paid on this amount credited back to my charge card. I want All the monthly fees of $39.99 credited back to my charge card. I recommend you do not deal with these people. Don't let them take your money.
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Thrive Learning
Hello- I’m reporting from National Public Radio on the prevalence of work-from-home scams, and I want to especially focus on the company Thrive. I was wondering if I could talk to you about your experience.
You can reach me at aquinn1 AT npr.org. I want people to know this is happening so it doesn’t happen again!
Thanks,
Audrey
Thive learning opperate just like Prosper learning.These companies are giving Utah revenue and utah is closing there ears to any bad press.
Its costing Prosper and Thrive more money to keep people in check, and to offset the money invested in bad press they push there overpiced product which is worthless ,even harder on the people that have no clue as to what there getting into.
Thrive Scam
Thrive has used countless other companies as fronts to protect them, some of these companies are Internet Auction Services, Infusion Media, Accelerated Business Solutions, Platinum Training Solutions, Internet Income Solutions, Internet Logistics and Thriveli just to name a few. These companies are in bed with Thrive, they make all of the promises and break all of the laws and then Thrive claims they did nothing wrong and that they only received 10 percent of the money you paid so in the worst case they are liable for only the 10 percent, this is a lie. Thrive eventually receives all of the money and lets the other companies that broke the laws go broke so they can't pay you back and then Thrive invents a new company to replace the one that broke the laws and went broke.
I will continue to tell the world about Thrive and the people associated with Thrive as long as I am able to type, I will be sending this message to blogs that have nothing to do with Thrive. I'm also going to contact 60 Minutes to see if they would like to do a story on Thrive, its people and the State of Utah.
I have lost $12,000 dollars to these crooks, I'm from Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada and I will definitely be forwarding my story to the Competition Bureau of Canada, Phonebusters, BBB, Ombudsman, my Member of Parliament and my Member of The Legislative Assembly, as well as the Governor of Utah, the Attorney General of Utah and the Governor General of the U.S., I'll also be asking the Governor and Attorney General of Utah if they are proud of the fact that Utah is the "Scam Capital of the World". I will also be including the names of the major people involved "Colton Moody, Erik Largin, Zack Bradshaw, David Rasmussen, Matthew Rasmussen and Chad Guthrie, if anyone knows of any others involved in Thrive please let me know. Thrive was originally the Summit Group, then renamed Momentum Marketing and now operates as Thrive, they change the name when they need to but it’s the same people with the same scam.
I have a new idea, if everyone sent complaints to their individual states "Secretary of State, Securities Department" and include a copy of the State of Illinois "Summary Order to Cease and Desist", along with a copy of their story we could shut them down. The order stops Thrive Learning Institute, their Officers, Directors, Employees, Agents, Affiliates, Successors and Assigns from offering and/or selling business opportunities in the State of Illinois or to residents of the State of Illinois. If every State and Country made a Cease and Desist Order Thrive would be finished. You can get a copy of the Order online from The State of Illinois Secretary of State, Securities Department; File # 0800401.
If you want to get any of your money back you must file a complaint with The State of Utah, Department of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Attention Glen Minson, Fraud Investigations Dept., treat him nicely as you need his help but don’t give up, keep calling him until you get your money back, he may try to convince you it’s your fault for signing the agreement but that’s BS, you’ve been scammed as have thousands of other innocent people. Please read the deal Thrive has made with the State of Utah (see Government Actions below) to protect themselves, look for anything that you can use in this agreement to help you get out of your deal with Thrive and its affiliates. You must do this as soon as possible, before the “sales company†you made the deal with goes out of or are forced out of business, you may be able to get your money back from them, but they will most likely drag things out until they go out of business, each company in Utah posts a $50,000 bond, this is one of the places you may be able to get a refund from, once the $50,000 is gone and so is the “sales company†Thrive will start up a new “sales companyâ€. You should be able to get 10% of your money back from Thrive (see below). A very important thing to do is write letters to everybody and let everyone you can learn about Thrive and the people involved. Public awareness is Thrives greatest enemy and our greatest strength, send letters everywhere on the net.
Government Actions
September 18, 2009
On September 18, 2009 the Utah Division of Consumer Protection ("Division") entered into a Consent Agreement with Thrive Learning LLC ("Thrive"). The Division and Thrive agreed to the following:
1. Thrive shall agree to enter into an Exclusive Marketing Agreement with any and all telemarketing floors it does business with.
2. Thrive shall require all individuals, independent contractors, agents, ensigns, who actively sell its products and services to use the End User Purchase Agreement when selling Thrive products and services. In particular, Thrive agrees to disclose the following to consumers who purchase its products and services: a) the purchase price; b) a clear and detailed description of the products purchased; c) management fees or hosting fees, if applicable; d) suggested prerequisites to operating an e-commerce website, including but not limited to: ownership of a computer, additional capital resources, Internet connection, and general computer knowledge; e) there are no guarantees of success or promises of money back; f) hard work and effort is required to be successful; and g) the customer has a three (3) day right of rescission. It was agreed that these disclosures should be in a typeface which is clear and legible.
3. Thrive shall include within its End User Agreement the following written notice in twelve (12) point bold font in all caps:
YOU, THE BUYER, MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT OF THE THIRD BUSINESS DAY AFTER THE DATE OF THE TRANSCATION OR RECEIPT OF THE PRODUCT, WHICHEVER IS LATER. ALL SALES ARE FINAL THEREAFTER. SEE THE ATTACHED NOTICE OF CANCELLATION FORM FOR AN EXPLANATION OF THIS RIGHT.
This provision shall appear in the immediate proximity where the purchaser signs and is not valid when prohibited by local law.
4. Thrive shall include within its End User Agreement the following written notice in twelve (12) point bold font in all caps:
(MARKETING COMPANY) HEREBY REPRESENTS THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES OF SUCCESS OR INCOME FROM PURCHASING OR PARTICIPATING IN THIS TRANSACTION. EARNINGS OR INCOME STATEMENTS OR EXAMPLES ARE ONLY ESTIMATES OF WHAT COULD BE EARNED. CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDS THERE ARE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH HIS/HER DECISION. PAST RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT AN INDICATION OF FUTURE SUCCESS OR EARNINGS. RATHER, MONETARY AND INCOME RESULTS ARE BASED ON MANY FACTORS. THERE IS NO WAY OF KNOWING HOW WELL CUSTOMER WILL DO, AS COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW CUSTOMER'S BACKGROUND, EDUCATION, WORK ETHIC, BUSINESS SKILLS, OR PRACTICES. CONSEQUENTLY, COMPANY DOES NOT GUARANTEE OR IMPLY CUSTOMER WILL MAKE MONEY OR SUCCEED. EARNINGS DERIVED FROM ONLINE BUSINESSES HAVE UNKNOWN RISKS INVOVLED AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE.
This provision shall appear in the immediate proximity where the purchaser signs and is not valid when prohibited by local law.
5. Both the Division and Thrive agree that, should Thrive fail to provide the disclosures outlined above to a particular purchaser and/or transaction, Thrive shall fully refund the purchaser and/or cancel the transaction.
6. Both the Division and Thrive agree that Thrive has the ability to satisfactorily resolve all customer complaints arising out of transactions which occurred prior to the execution of this Agreement. If a refund and/or cancellation is appropriate, as determined by the Division, to satisfactorily resolve a customer’s complaint, Thrives liability is limited to the amount it received from the transaction.
7. Thrive will work in good faith with the Division to resolve all complaints the Division receives irrespective whether the underlying transaction occurred before or after the execution of this Agreement.
8. Thrive will attempt to enforce the complaint resolution mechanisms outlined in its Exclusive Marketing Agreement with all telemarketing sales floors it currently does business with.
9. Thrive will use its best efforts to ensure every purchaser of its products and services will participate in a recorded compliance call. During the compliance call the customer must be informed of: the purchase price, the products the customer will receive or is receiving, the number of weeks of coaching, and the "cooling off" period. Thrive agrees to periodically review a random selection of these audio compliance recordings to ensure the information was properly disclosed to the purchaser. The underlying transaction associated with any audio compliance recording which does not contain the information may be subject to cancellation and/or refund.
10. It is understood and agreed Thrive will provide the Division a copy of a customer's compliance recording within fifteen (15) days of such request. Failure to provide a copy of the audio of the compliance recording to the Division will result in a full cancellation and refund of the transaction with the purchaser. Thrive, its agents, independent contractors, and/or ensigns are required only to maintain audio compliance recordings for one (1) year after the date of the recording.
11. Thrive will provide the Division a copy of any complaining customer's contracts, communications, and use of Thrive products and services within fifteen (15) days of receiving a request from the Division.
12. Thrive acknowledges and affirms it will: a) regularly update its coaching standards and procedures in an attempt to keep its products and services competitive and comparable with other companies which offer similar coaching; and b) require any party who provides a testimonial or earnings claim to execute a declaration in conformity with the "Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".
Nothing in this Agreement should be construed as an admission of guilt or liability on the part of Thrive. Thrive has entered into this Agreement freely and voluntarily without any undue influence of the Division.
In my opinion the people involved with Thrive are crooks, scam artists with no morals or conscience. I wonder what the families and neighbours of Colton Moody, Erik Largin, Zack Bradshaw, David Rasmussen, Matthew Rasmussen and Chad Guthrie would say if they knew what these people really did for a living. I wonder how these upstanding citizens would like it if somebody went to their neighbourhood and area business’s (Springville, Orem, Lindon, American Fork, Draper, etc.)and handed out flyers and told people what kind of business they operate and how they are crooks and scam artists who prey on people when they are at their most vulnerable (not that I would ever condone doing this).
These people (Colton Moody, Erik Largin, Zack Bradshaw, David Rasmussen, Matthew Rasmussen and Chad Guthrie) set up dummy companies such as; Here is a brief list of companies associated with Thrive Learning Institute:
Professional Marketing Group, PMG, PMG Mentors, Private Mentoring Group, Vermotion, Secure Gate, Fortius, Auctions for Income, NMR, IDI, Auctions 4 Income, Quicksite National Marketing Resources, PMI, National Marketing Resources, Iworks, Inc, Virtual Contact Inc, Paynet Merchant Services, Professional Marketing International, PMI Coaching, ITC Internet Treasure Chest, IDI Global, Summit Consulting, Online Supplier Coaching, onlinesupplier.com, online supplier, Netgateway, StoresOnline.com, Galaxy Mall, Imergent, Internet Treasure Chest, Stores Online, Foreclosureworld, Summit Group, Summit Consulting, Internet Development, Income Success Team, The Tax Club, Links 4 Trade, Professional Consulting Services, PCS, nmrcoaching, pmicoaching, quicksite builder, Nathan Kenyon, Dave Espino, Jim Cochran, Greg Cooper, Frank Kerns, Colton Moody, Dolf De Roos, PROSPER INC., Prosper Learning, prosperlearning.com, pmgmentors.com, pmgicoaching.vermotion.net, pmgtech.com, multiple streams of income, PMI coaching, usight home Inc., EPenzio, Russ Dalbey,Hacket Media,John Beck, Robert Allen, auction secrets, auctionsecrets.com, brightbuilder.com, bright builders, foreclosures.com, foreclosures, EPI, epibiz, power profit system, mentors in motion, passport to millions, wealth and self, cash secrets, Auctions for Income, NMR, IDI, Auctions 4 Income, Quicksite National Marketing Resources, National Marketing Resources, Iworks, Inc, Virtual Contact Inc, Paynet Merchant Services, Professional Marketing International and the list KEEPS GROWING!!!, Internet Auction Services, Infusion Media, Accelerated Business Solutions, Platinum Training Solutions, Internet Income Solutions, Internet Logistics and Thriveli and so on, and they get unemployed people to own them so when they go bankrupt or are shut down for wrong doings their names are protected and so is Thrives name, they claim they have nothing to do with the “sales company†and that Thrive only receives 10% of what you pay and the rest goes to the “sales company†so Thrives liability is only 10%. I wonder if the I.R.S. would be interested in checking out all of these companies and see where the money actually goes.
Check out this blog.
Nikol
Member Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 63
Re: Thrive Learning Institute ???
________________________________________
Yes, BEWARE of Thrive Learning Institute! The latest addition to UT online 'educational' scams. The former founders of Tafiti Consulting a division of Media Learner, started Thrive because they got greedy and wanted the whole pie. Thrive uses the Lightwave Builder which is really a Bright Builders product (all these are UT based companies) who is in bed with Echo (Electronic Clearing House of SF, UT) online merchant account processors who also rip everyone off - they use First Regional bank, Ca - it's easier to get a mortgage or auto loan than a merchant account here. Then there is Prosper Inc, Mentoring of America, PMI (recently became a part of Media Learner) - all these coaching companies charge thousands of dollars to provide online websites and coaching by inexperienced kids. There is a 3 day cancellation policy which the major sales companies that sell you these programs such as Summit don’t tell you about-it is almost impossible to get your money back. Watch out for Matt & Dave Rasmussen (Thrive), S. Sonnenberg (Media Learner) Todd Baum (Echo), Alex of Summit. These are scams and all UT based. Good Luck!
What really bothers me is the State of Utah, do they not care that they are the “Internet scam capital of the worldâ€. It’s my opinion that all of the necessary government palms have been greased, at the very best the Utah government is ignoring this problem but it’s my opinion they are much more involved. I received a blog from someone who said “The Summit Group and another call center Thrive Learning, both under the management of Colton Moody and Eric Largin, donated $25,000 to Shurtleff’s campaign in 2008 (Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff), I don’t know if this is true, it’s word for word what I received in a blog from “not happyâ€. In 2008, Shurtleff filled his campaign chest with $187,500 in donations from seven call-center companies—all based in Utah and six which have been investigated by the Utah Division of Consumer Protection or prosecuted by assistant attorneys general in Shurtleff’s office representing Consumer Protection. That’s not counting the actions these companies have faced from 10 other state’s attorneys general or consumer protection agencies and from investigative counterparts in Australia. Donations Shurtleff netted from these companies made up more than a quarter of his 2008 war chest.
Thrive has their own testimonials online, everyone of them endorses Thrive and everyone of them is a lie, the public is not allowed to post on this site, only the testimonials made up by Thrive are posted. Do not believe any positive posts about Thrive, there are no truthful positive posts about Thrive as there has never been a truly successful Thrive graduate with money making online business, not even one out of the tens of thousands of people they have scammed. Thrive hires inexperienced college students desperate for cash to pretend to train you, none of them have a successful online business. Why wouldn’t they have a part time online business if they knew how to actually start up and operate one? I’ve noticed over the last year and a half that most of the information on Thrive and how to get your money back have been removed from the internet, kind of strange that only these comments telling the truth about thrive and how to get your money back are being removed. These crooks have been at this a long time and know who to pay off and what to do to allow them to continue stealing money from uninformed innocent people like you. Write as many letters as you can to as many organisations as possible, FBI (IC3-GOV), Governor of Utah, Attorney General of Utah, Attorney General of the U.S., Better Business Bureau, ripoffreport.com (although I have had several bloggers tell me they believe ripoffreport.com is as corrupt as Thrive and probably on their payroll), your Secretary of State (Securities Department), make sure you send letters you can track so you can follow up with the date, time and who picked up your letter and always make copies off everything and make notes about every conversation you have. Don’t give up and don’t try to play fairly with these scammers, send letters to everyone you can, do whatever it takes to get your money back (within reason).
Disclaimer: ( All of the things I have stated here are my opinion only and should not be taken as the truth or used as facts or proof, do your own research and form your own opinion.)
Hi
I like
platinum training solutions
Unfortunately Utah is considered the scam capital of the US. We're trying to fight the good fight for those who have been taken advantage of.
Newtome had it right by quoting the governmental action by the Utah DCP...
5. Both the Division and Thrive agree that, should Thrive fail to provide the disclosures outlined above to a particular purchaser and/or transaction, Thrive shall fully refund the purchaser and/or cancel the transaction.
Hopefully, you tried this with the Utah DCP. If not, there's your solution.
If you need more help, let me know.
www.utahconsumeradvocate.com
Good luck, Jon
Thrive Scam
Thrive has used countless other companies as fronts to protect them, some of these companies are Internet Auction Services, Infusion Media, Accelerated Business Solutions, Platinum Training Solutions, Internet Income Solutions, Internet Logistics and Thriveli just to name a few. These companies are in bed with Thrive, they make all of the promises and break all of the laws and then Thrive claims they did nothing wrong and that they only received 10 percent of the money you paid so in the worst case they are liable for only the 10 percent, this is a lie. Thrive eventually receives all of the money and lets the other companies that broke the laws go broke so they can't pay you back and then Thrive invents a new company to replace the one that broke the laws and went broke.
I will continue to tell the world about Thrive and the people associated with Thrive as long as I am able to type, I will be sending this message to blogs that have nothing to do with Thrive. I'm also going to contact 60 Minutes to see if they would like to do a story on Thrive, its people and the State of Utah.
I have lost $12,000 dollars to these crooks, I'm from Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada and I will definitely be forwarding my story to the Competition Bureau of Canada, Phonebusters, BBB, Ombudsman, my Member of Parliament and my Member of The Legislative Assembly, as well as the Governor of Utah, the Attorney General of Utah and the Governor General of the U.S., I'll also be asking the Governor and Attorney General of Utah if they are proud of the fact that Utah is the "Scam Capital of the World". I will also be including the names of the major people involved "Colton Moody, Erik Largin, Zack Bradshaw, David Rasmussen, Matthew Rasmussen and Chad Guthrie, if anyone knows of any others involved in Thrive please let me know. Thrive was originally the Summit Group, then renamed Momentum Marketing and now operates as Thrive, they change the name when they need to but it’s the same people with the same scam.
I have a new idea, if everyone sent complaints to their individual states "Secretary of State, Securities Department" and include a copy of the State of Illinois "Summary Order to Cease and Desist", along with a copy of their story we could shut them down. The order stops Thrive Learning Institute, their Officers, Directors, Employees, Agents, Affiliates, Successors and Assigns from offering and/or selling business opportunities in the State of Illinois or to residents of the State of Illinois. If every State and Country made a Cease and Desist Order Thrive would be finished. You can get a copy of the Order online from The State of Illinois Secretary of State, Securities Department; File # 0800401.
If you want to get any of your money back you must file a complaint with The State of Utah, Department of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Attention Glen Minson, Fraud Investigations Dept., treat him nicely as you need his help but don’t give up, keep calling him until you get your money back, he may try to convince you it’s your fault for signing the agreement but that’s BS, you’ve been scammed as have thousands of other innocent people. Please read the deal Thrive has made with the State of Utah (see Government Actions below) to protect themselves, look for anything that you can use in this agreement to help you get out of your deal with Thrive and its affiliates. You must do this as soon as possible, before the “sales company†you made the deal with goes out of or are forced out of business, you may be able to get your money back from them, but they will most likely drag things out until they go out of business, each company in Utah posts a $50,000 bond, this is one of the places you may be able to get a refund from, once the $50,000 is gone and so is the “sales company†Thrive will start up a new “sales companyâ€. You should be able to get 10% of your money back from Thrive (see below). A very important thing to do is write letters to everybody and let everyone you can learn about Thrive and the people involved. Public awareness is Thrives greatest enemy and our greatest strength, send letters everywhere on the net.
Government Actions
September 18, 2009
On September 18, 2009 the Utah Division of Consumer Protection ("Division") entered into a Consent Agreement with Thrive Learning LLC ("Thrive"). The Division and Thrive agreed to the following:
1. Thrive shall agree to enter into an Exclusive Marketing Agreement with any and all telemarketing floors it does business with.
2. Thrive shall require all individuals, independent contractors, agents, ensigns, who actively sell its products and services to use the End User Purchase Agreement when selling Thrive products and services. In particular, Thrive agrees to disclose the following to consumers who purchase its products and services: a) the purchase price; b) a clear and detailed description of the products purchased; c) management fees or hosting fees, if applicable; d) suggested prerequisites to operating an e-commerce website, including but not limited to: ownership of a computer, additional capital resources, Internet connection, and general computer knowledge; e) there are no guarantees of success or promises of money back; f) hard work and effort is required to be successful; and g) the customer has a three (3) day right of rescission. It was agreed that these disclosures should be in a typeface which is clear and legible.
3. Thrive shall include within its End User Agreement the following written notice in twelve (12) point bold font in all caps:
YOU, THE BUYER, MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT OF THE THIRD BUSINESS DAY AFTER THE DATE OF THE TRANSCATION OR RECEIPT OF THE PRODUCT, WHICHEVER IS LATER. ALL SALES ARE FINAL THEREAFTER. SEE THE ATTACHED NOTICE OF CANCELLATION FORM FOR AN EXPLANATION OF THIS RIGHT.
This provision shall appear in the immediate proximity where the purchaser signs and is not valid when prohibited by local law.
4. Thrive shall include within its End User Agreement the following written notice in twelve (12) point bold font in all caps:
(MARKETING COMPANY) HEREBY REPRESENTS THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES OF SUCCESS OR INCOME FROM PURCHASING OR PARTICIPATING IN THIS TRANSACTION. EARNINGS OR INCOME STATEMENTS OR EXAMPLES ARE ONLY ESTIMATES OF WHAT COULD BE EARNED. CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDS THERE ARE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH HIS/HER DECISION. PAST RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT AN INDICATION OF FUTURE SUCCESS OR EARNINGS. RATHER, MONETARY AND INCOME RESULTS ARE BASED ON MANY FACTORS. THERE IS NO WAY OF KNOWING HOW WELL CUSTOMER WILL DO, AS COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW CUSTOMER'S BACKGROUND, EDUCATION, WORK ETHIC, BUSINESS SKILLS, OR PRACTICES. CONSEQUENTLY, COMPANY DOES NOT GUARANTEE OR IMPLY CUSTOMER WILL MAKE MONEY OR SUCCEED. EARNINGS DERIVED FROM ONLINE BUSINESSES HAVE UNKNOWN RISKS INVOVLED AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE.
This provision shall appear in the immediate proximity where the purchaser signs and is not valid when prohibited by local law.
5. Both the Division and Thrive agree that, should Thrive fail to provide the disclosures outlined above to a particular purchaser and/or transaction, Thrive shall fully refund the purchaser and/or cancel the transaction.
6. Both the Division and Thrive agree that Thrive has the ability to satisfactorily resolve all customer complaints arising out of transactions which occurred prior to the execution of this Agreement. If a refund and/or cancellation is appropriate, as determined by the Division, to satisfactorily resolve a customer’s complaint, Thrives liability is limited to the amount it received from the transaction.
7. Thrive will work in good faith with the Division to resolve all complaints the Division receives irrespective whether the underlying transaction occurred before or after the execution of this Agreement.
8. Thrive will attempt to enforce the complaint resolution mechanisms outlined in its Exclusive Marketing Agreement with all telemarketing sales floors it currently does business with.
9. Thrive will use its best efforts to ensure every purchaser of its products and services will participate in a recorded compliance call. During the compliance call the customer must be informed of: the purchase price, the products the customer will receive or is receiving, the number of weeks of coaching, and the "cooling off" period. Thrive agrees to periodically review a random selection of these audio compliance recordings to ensure the information was properly disclosed to the purchaser. The underlying transaction associated with any audio compliance recording which does not contain the information may be subject to cancellation and/or refund.
10. It is understood and agreed Thrive will provide the Division a copy of a customer's compliance recording within fifteen (15) days of such request. Failure to provide a copy of the audio of the compliance recording to the Division will result in a full cancellation and refund of the transaction with the purchaser. Thrive, its agents, independent contractors, and/or ensigns are required only to maintain audio compliance recordings for one (1) year after the date of the recording.
11. Thrive will provide the Division a copy of any complaining customer's contracts, communications, and use of Thrive products and services within fifteen (15) days of receiving a request from the Division.
12. Thrive acknowledges and affirms it will: a) regularly update its coaching standards and procedures in an attempt to keep its products and services competitive and comparable with other companies which offer similar coaching; and b) require any party who provides a testimonial or earnings claim to execute a declaration in conformity with the "Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".
Nothing in this Agreement should be construed as an admission of guilt or liability on the part of Thrive. Thrive has entered into this Agreement freely and voluntarily without any undue influence of the Division.
In my opinion the people involved with Thrive are crooks, scam artists with no morals or conscience. I wonder what the families and neighbours of Colton Moody, Erik Largin, Zack Bradshaw, David Rasmussen, Matthew Rasmussen and Chad Guthrie would say if they knew what these people really did for a living. I wonder how these upstanding citizens would like it if somebody went to their neighbourhood and area business’s (Springville, Orem, Lindon, American Fork, Draper, etc.)and handed out flyers and told people what kind of business they operate and how they are crooks and scam artists who prey on people when they are at their most vulnerable (not that I would ever condone doing this).
These people (Colton Moody, Erik Largin, Zack Bradshaw, David Rasmussen, Matthew Rasmussen and Chad Guthrie) set up dummy companies such as; Here is a brief list of companies associated with Thrive Learning Institute:
Professional Marketing Group, PMG, PMG Mentors, Private Mentoring Group, Vermotion, Secure Gate, Fortius, Auctions for Income, NMR, IDI, Auctions 4 Income, Quicksite National Marketing Resources, PMI, National Marketing Resources, Iworks, Inc, Virtual Contact Inc, Paynet Merchant Services, Professional Marketing International, PMI Coaching, ITC Internet Treasure Chest, IDI Global, Summit Consulting, Online Supplier Coaching, onlinesupplier.com, online supplier, Netgateway, StoresOnline.com, Galaxy Mall, Imergent, Internet Treasure Chest, Stores Online, Foreclosureworld, Summit Group, Summit Consulting, Internet Development, Income Success Team, The Tax Club, Links 4 Trade, Professional Consulting Services, PCS, nmrcoaching, pmicoaching, quicksite builder, Nathan Kenyon, Dave Espino, Jim Cochran, Greg Cooper, Frank Kerns, Colton Moody, Dolf De Roos, PROSPER INC., Prosper Learning, prosperlearning.com, pmgmentors.com, pmgicoaching.vermotion.net, pmgtech.com, multiple streams of income, PMI coaching, usight home Inc., EPenzio, Russ Dalbey,Hacket Media,John Beck, Robert Allen, auction secrets, auctionsecrets.com, brightbuilder.com, bright builders, foreclosures.com, foreclosures, EPI, epibiz, power profit system, mentors in motion, passport to millions, wealth and self, cash secrets, Auctions for Income, NMR, IDI, Auctions 4 Income, Quicksite National Marketing Resources, National Marketing Resources, Iworks, Inc, Virtual Contact Inc, Paynet Merchant Services, Professional Marketing International and the list KEEPS GROWING!!!, Internet Auction Services, Infusion Media, Accelerated Business Solutions, Platinum Training Solutions, Internet Income Solutions, Internet Logistics and Thriveli and so on, and they get unemployed people to own them so when they go bankrupt or are shut down for wrong doings their names are protected and so is Thrives name, they claim they have nothing to do with the “sales company†and that Thrive only receives 10% of what you pay and the rest goes to the “sales company†so Thrives liability is only 10%. I wonder if the I.R.S. would be interested in checking out all of these companies and see where the money actually goes.
Check out this blog.
Nikol
Member Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 63
Re: Thrive Learning Institute ???
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Yes, BEWARE of Thrive Learning Institute! The latest addition to UT online 'educational' scams. The former founders of Tafiti Consulting a division of Media Learner, started Thrive because they got greedy and wanted the whole pie. Thrive uses the Lightwave Builder which is really a Bright Builders product (all these are UT based companies) who is in bed with Echo (Electronic Clearing House of SF, UT) online merchant account processors who also rip everyone off - they use First Regional bank, Ca - it's easier to get a mortgage or auto loan than a merchant account here. Then there is Prosper Inc, Mentoring of America, PMI (recently became a part of Media Learner) - all these coaching companies charge thousands of dollars to provide online websites and coaching by inexperienced kids. There is a 3 day cancellation policy which the major sales companies that sell you these programs such as Summit don’t tell you about-it is almost impossible to get your money back. Watch out for Matt & Dave Rasmussen (Thrive), S. Sonnenberg (Media Learner) Todd Baum (Echo), Alex of Summit. These are scams and all UT based. Good Luck!
What really bothers me is the State of Utah, do they not care that they are the “Internet scam capital of the worldâ€. It’s my opinion that all of the necessary government palms have been greased, at the very best the Utah government is ignoring this problem but it’s my opinion they are much more involved. I received a blog from someone who said “The Summit Group and another call center Thrive Learning, both under the management of Colton Moody and Eric Largin, donated $25,000 to Shurtleff’s campaign in 2008 (Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff), I don’t know if this is true, it’s word for word what I received in a blog from “not happyâ€. In 2008, Shurtleff filled his campaign chest with $187,500 in donations from seven call-center companies—all based in Utah and six which have been investigated by the Utah Division of Consumer Protection or prosecuted by assistant attorneys general in Shurtleff’s office representing Consumer Protection. That’s not counting the actions these companies have faced from 10 other state’s attorneys general or consumer protection agencies and from investigative counterparts in Australia. Donations Shurtleff netted from these companies made up more than a quarter of his 2008 war chest.
Thrive has their own testimonials online, everyone of them endorses Thrive and everyone of them is a lie, the public is not allowed to post on this site, only the testimonials made up by Thrive are posted. Do not believe any positive posts about Thrive, there are no truthful positive posts about Thrive as there has never been a truly successful Thrive graduate with money making online business, not even one out of the tens of thousands of people they have scammed. Thrive hires inexperienced college students desperate for cash to pretend to train you, none of them have a successful online business. Why wouldn’t they have a part time online business if they knew how to actually start up and operate one? I’ve noticed over the last year and a half that most of the information on Thrive and how to get your money back have been removed from the internet, kind of strange that only these comments telling the truth about thrive and how to get your money back are being removed. These crooks have been at this a long time and know who to pay off and what to do to allow them to continue stealing money from uninformed innocent people like you. Write as many letters as you can to as many organisations as possible, FBI (IC3-GOV), Governor of Utah, Attorney General of Utah, Attorney General of the U.S., Better Business Bureau, ripoffreport.com (although I have had several bloggers tell me they believe ripoffreport.com is as corrupt as Thrive and probably on their payroll), your Secretary of State (Securities Department), make sure you send letters you can track so you can follow up with the date, time and who picked up your letter and always make copies off everything and make notes about every conversation you have. Don’t give up and don’t try to play fairly with these scammers, send letters to everyone you can, do whatever it takes to get your money back (within reason).
Disclaimer: ( All of the things I have stated here are my opinion only and should be not be taken as the truth or used as facts or proof, do your own research and form your own opinion.)
Glad I'm not the only one taken by Thrive......
Anyone know of a good consumer lawyer??
Maybe we could all ban together and get a class-action suit against Zach and his "Friends".