[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Video Professor......Scam alert (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 6/15/2009 12:25:52 PM EDT
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I am even a bit ashamed to admit this, but, maybe it will help somebody out.
My wife ordered one of these training CD's from the television. Video Professor. You've all seen the advertisements. "How can we give this CD away? Because we are so sure you will love it and buy our other products..........blah, blah blah" Well my wife, who is typically pretty shrewd, thought she could use some tutelage on Excel. When this thing comes in the mail, buried deep in the paperwork, is a disclaimer that if not returned in 10 days......$189.95. Neither of us noticed it, until our credit card bill arrived in the mail. Now I'm spending my free time untangling this shakedown. I know, I know.....If it's too good to be true......it's probably not. Maybe someone else can use this information. Fuck you Video Professor.......alright ARFCOM, let me have it. |
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Too bad the other thread was locked for asshattery.
Been going on for years... Video Professor is a Phishimg Scam! Reply Quote Video Professor computer learning software is a scam to get your credit, debit, or bank account number, and then, without agreement or warning, they debit your account over and over for a lot more than the $6.95 introductory shipping and handling only they advertise. If you get hooked into this on one of the third-party sites where they advertise these deals, you could never possibly see the hook. Even if you go to their site, it is not under "terms and conditions" or anywhere anybody would expect to find it, but hidden under a heading "How we can offer this for just shipping & handling" that you might never bother opening because, if they were honest, the fact that this is advertising should be obvious. My wife, on SSI, and an elderly friend on Social Security, got ripped off for hundreds of dollars, also causing legitimate checks to bounce at additional cost and trouble, this way. I tried to call––their Email and physical addresses and phones are not given on their own site––after looking this up and discovering, too late, the very informative videoprofessorscam.com site, but have never managed to get through. I have reported this to the FTC, Attorney General of Texas, Denver BBB which acts like they can't find them, and some advertisers, and added the freegift.com site where my wife got hooked after being told she only had to answer a survey to win a computer and then found she had to sign up for two offers to our blocked senders list. |
Mazeltov  .
From the other thread: The scam has only begun, if I understand their business model. You are now "subscribed" to their service, and will get new CDs regularly, and be billed for them. Sorta like the '80s music cassette clubs. When you call to cancel, expect to wait on hold for a very long time, and be disconnected on occasion. |
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Quoted:
I am even a bit ashamed to admit this, but, maybe it will help somebody out. My wife ordered one of these training CD's from the television. Video Professor. You've all seen the advertisements. "How can we give this CD away? Because we are so sure you will love it and buy our other products..........blah, blah blah" Well my wife, who is typically pretty shrewd, thought she could use some tutelage on Excel. When this thing comes in the mail, buried deep in the paperwork, is a disclaimer that if not returned in 10 days......$189.95. Neither of us noticed it, until our credit card bill arrived in the mail. Now I'm spending my free time untangling this shakedown. I know, I know.....If it's too good to be true......it's probably not. Maybe someone else can use this information. Fuck you Video Professor.......alright ARFCOM, let me have it. keep your wife off the computer.... |
Thanks for the warning. Good luck with the trouble.
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Quoted:
I am even a bit ashamed to admit this, but, maybe it will help somebody out. My wife ordered one of these training CD's from the television. Video Professor. You've all seen the advertisements. "How can we give this CD away? Because we are so sure you will love it and buy our other products..........blah, blah blah" Well my wife, who is typically pretty shrewd, thought she could use some tutelage on Excel. When this thing comes in the mail, buried deep in the paperwork, is a disclaimer that if not returned in 10 days......$189.95. Neither of us noticed it, until our credit card bill arrived in the mail. Now I'm spending my free time untangling this shakedown. I know, I know.....If it's too good to be true......it's probably not. Maybe someone else can use this information. Fuck you Video Professor.......alright ARFCOM, let me have it. They screwed me 5 years ago. Cost me a nice chunk of money too. I was wondering why they kept sending me CD lessons. I thought they were giving them to me for free. Happens to the best of us I guess. Once I realized how much they got me for I sent them all back to try to recoop some of my losses. I can't believe this ass-hole is still on TV with his bullshit scam. This is why they will ONLY send them to you "for free" if you give them a CC number. |
| Is it illegal in some states to run an "opt out" scam? (I think that's it) Instead of giving the customer an option to opt in to a purchase, the customer must notify the seller of their intent to not make a purchase. Otherwise, you get auto-billed and good luck trying to fix it. |
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Quoted:
I am even a bit ashamed to admit this, but, maybe it will help somebody out. My wife ordered one of these training CD's from the television. Video Professor. You've all seen the advertisements. "How can we give this CD away? Because we are so sure you will love it and buy our other products..........blah, blah blah" Well my wife, who is typically pretty shrewd, thought she could use some tutelage on Excel. When this thing comes in the mail, buried deep in the paperwork, is a disclaimer that if not returned in 10 days......$189.95. Neither of us noticed it, until our credit card bill arrived in the mail. Now I'm spending my free time untangling this shakedown. I know, I know.....If it's too good to be true......it's probably not. Maybe someone else can use this information. Fuck you Video Professor.......alright ARFCOM, let me have it. Cancel the card - NOW. Have your CC company issue you a new one and to refuse any charges on that card. If charges already made, dispute them. |
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I am even a bit ashamed to admit this, but, maybe it will help somebody out. My wife ordered one of these training CD's from the television. Video Professor. You've all seen the advertisements. "How can we give this CD away? Because we are so sure you will love it and buy our other products..........blah, blah blah" Well my wife, who is typically pretty shrewd, thought she could use some tutelage on Excel. When this thing comes in the mail, buried deep in the paperwork, is a disclaimer that if not returned in 10 days......$189.95. Neither of us noticed it, until our credit card bill arrived in the mail. Now I'm spending my free time untangling this shakedown. I know, I know.....If it's too good to be true......it's probably not. Maybe someone else can use this information. Fuck you Video Professor.......alright ARFCOM, let me have it. Cancel the card - NOW. Have your CC company issue you a new one and to refuse any charges on that card. If charges already made, dispute them. Thanks for the tips. I just called my CC card co. and cancelled the card. They were very helpful. They informed me that they would remove the charges immediately and investigate. I have had the same credit card in my wallet for 21 years and have NEVER missed a payment. I don't know if that helped, but, the guy was an absolute gentleman....I wanted to invite him over for dinner! |
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I am even a bit ashamed to admit this, but, maybe it will help somebody out. My wife ordered one of these training CD's from the television. Video Professor. You've all seen the advertisements. "How can we give this CD away? Because we are so sure you will love it and buy our other products..........blah, blah blah" Well my wife, who is typically pretty shrewd, thought she could use some tutelage on Excel. When this thing comes in the mail, buried deep in the paperwork, is a disclaimer that if not returned in 10 days......$189.95. Neither of us noticed it, until our credit card bill arrived in the mail. Now I'm spending my free time untangling this shakedown. I know, I know.....If it's too good to be true......it's probably not. Maybe someone else can use this information. Fuck you Video Professor.......alright ARFCOM, let me have it. Cancel the card - NOW. Have your CC company issue you a new one and to refuse any charges on that card. If charges already made, dispute them. Thanks for the tips. I just called my CC card co. and cancelled the card. They were very helpful. They informed me that they would remove the charges immediately and investigate. I have had the same credit card in my wallet for 21 years and have NEVER missed a payment. I don't know if that helped, but, the guy was an absolute gentleman....I wanted to invite him over for dinner! Those guys/gals hear stories like yours all day every day. I had a event much like yours and same thing, cancelled, credited. Carry on, and btw, it's not your fault. It's stuff like that which makes reputable companies cringe. |
| Check out this site before you buy anything you saw on TV: Informercial Scams |
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What I don't understand is why channels keep playing the ads. Yeah, yeah... I know... money talks. But you'd think they would want to distance themselves from scams like this... Probably the same reason Enzyte is still in business. That burns me up every time I see it. It's a TOTAL scam. But the stations keep airing the ad. What a joke... |
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Eh, screw you all, you're just looking for something to complain about. I've seen the commercials. The guy is really nice, and it's very obvious that he really wants to help you learn stuff so that you can better yourself and make it in the tough computer business. No way is he a scammer. I mean, he looks so good on TV!
I'll bet you all hate Obama too, don't you? |
Oh snap, now you've done it! You're gonna get... sued! 
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2007/09/video-professor-upset-by-criticism-sues-100-anonymous-critics.ars You've probably seen infomercials for the Video Professor on late-night TV; a kindly-looking John Scherer has been pitching his company's computer training videos for two decades now. But Video Professor, Inc. has no problem using less-friendly tactics when confronted with criticism, and the company is now suing more than 100 anonymous Internet posters over derogatory comments that they made about Video Professor's business. The Denver Post noticed the case a few days back, and it's certainly an odd one. Video Professor filed a federal claim in a Colorado court against 100 "John and Jane Does" who committed "unauthorized Internet disparagement of VPI and its products" on web sites such as infomercialscams.com (the site, incidentally, is the number three Google result for "video professor"). The complaints generally follow a similar theme: Video Professor allegedly markets products as free to try, then pitches callers with upsells that confuse them into signing up for subscriptions. A recent comment from "Tina" is typical. "I had purchased one piece of software from Video Professor... before I knew what was happening, my credit card was overdrawn and more attempted charges were constantly occurring. I kept calling customer service, returned the original software and heard many promises of the 100 percent refund, less S/H. This has been over 3 years now." Oddly enough, the Video Professor contacted the owner of the site back in July and told him that they wanted the full contact information for all concerned parties in order to address them individually and continue "providing superior customer service." Now, two months later, the company has sued the anonymous individuals in question and is trying to enforce a subpoena against infomercialscams.com in order to get IP addresses about posters. Those posters are being charged with commercial disparagement, false advertising, misrepresentation, and posting false and defamatory messages. That's certainly the sort of superior customer service we'd all like more of. Unfortunately for Video Professor, it can't sue the site operators directly (although it would really, really like to). The Communications Decency Act gives such sites a "safe harbor" against prosecution based on user posts, so Video Professor is forced instead to individually pursue each person that made a disparaging remark. The company's federal complaint is a strange read, since it does not identify even a single false and defamatory statement; it simply asserts the existence of such statements somewhere on Teh Interwebs. Despite that, the company was able to obtain a subpoena to obtain the information it is seeking. Infomercialscams.com is being represented by the Public Citizen Litigation Group in Washington, DC. Paul Levy, one of the group's lawyers, late last week sent a strongly-worded letter (PDF) to Video Professor that outlined the perceived problems with the subpoena. Chief among them is the fact that anonymous, critical speech is generally protected by the First Amendment, and the threshold for unveiling anonymous posters is high. Despite that, Levy notes that the good doctor's lawyers can't simply assert that 100 unknown individuals posted false and defamatory messages. For one thing, the particular messages in question need to be identified (the complaint does not even indicate which posts it refers to). Within those posts, actual false claims need to be mentioned (none are). Further, it's unlikely that each alleged offender is exactly guilty of the same transgression, so the company needs to offer evidence for each particular case. Due to the extreme generality of the complaint and subpoena, Levy asks, "Is it Video Professor's position that any former customer who criticizes its conduct must necessarily be making false statements, and hence is subject to sued for libel? Certainly you have given no evidentiary reason to believe that any of the statements about Video Professor are false." The company is no stranger to the courtroom. A search shows that Video Professor has filed four separate federal lawsuits in 2007 alone. In one of these Video Professor sued a rival seller of computer training products who included a link on his site to other sites critical of Professor practices. In the last three years, the company has racked up 615 Better Business Bureau complaints, though all appear to have been quickly addressed. The company is certainly serious about the newest case. Founder John Scherer told the Denver Post, "I personally do not believe that you can be anonymous and bash people and get away with it under the First Amendment. I will stay with this case, and I will get the names that I am requesting. I will pursue this until the Supreme Court tells me I can't get them." Fortunately, federal courts rule based on US law and not the personal beliefs of the litigants. |
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What I don't understand is why channels keep playing the ads. Yeah, yeah... I know... money talks. But you'd think they would want to distance themselves from scams like this... Probably the same reason Enzyte is still in business. Well, thanks for telling me, NOW. |
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Oh snap, now you've done it! You're gonna get... sued!
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2007/09/video-professor-upset-by-criticism-sues-100-anonymous-critics.ars You've probably seen infomercials for the Video Professor on late-night TV; a kindly-looking John Scherer has been pitching his company's computer training videos for two decades now. But Video Professor, Inc. has no problem using less-friendly tactics when confronted with criticism, and the company is now suing more than 100 anonymous Internet posters over derogatory comments that they made about Video Professor's business. The Denver Post noticed the case a few days back, and it's certainly an odd one. Video Professor filed a federal claim in a Colorado court against 100 "John and Jane Does" who committed "unauthorized Internet disparagement of VPI and its products" on web sites such as infomercialscams.com (the site, incidentally, is the number three Google result for "video professor"). The complaints generally follow a similar theme: Video Professor allegedly markets products as free to try, then pitches callers with upsells that confuse them into signing up for subscriptions. A recent comment from "Tina" is typical. "I had purchased one piece of software from Video Professor... before I knew what was happening, my credit card was overdrawn and more attempted charges were constantly occurring. I kept calling customer service, returned the original software and heard many promises of the 100 percent refund, less S/H. This has been over 3 years now." Oddly enough, the Video Professor contacted the owner of the site back in July and told him that they wanted the full contact information for all concerned parties in order to address them individually and continue "providing superior customer service." Now, two months later, the company has sued the anonymous individuals in question and is trying to enforce a subpoena against infomercialscams.com in order to get IP addresses about posters. Those posters are being charged with commercial disparagement, false advertising, misrepresentation, and posting false and defamatory messages. That's certainly the sort of superior customer service we'd all like more of. Unfortunately for Video Professor, it can't sue the site operators directly (although it would really, really like to). The Communications Decency Act gives such sites a "safe harbor" against prosecution based on user posts, so Video Professor is forced instead to individually pursue each person that made a disparaging remark. The company's federal complaint is a strange read, since it does not identify even a single false and defamatory statement; it simply asserts the existence of such statements somewhere on Teh Interwebs. Despite that, the company was able to obtain a subpoena to obtain the information it is seeking. Infomercialscams.com is being represented by the Public Citizen Litigation Group in Washington, DC. Paul Levy, one of the group's lawyers, late last week sent a strongly-worded letter (PDF) to Video Professor that outlined the perceived problems with the subpoena. Chief among them is the fact that anonymous, critical speech is generally protected by the First Amendment, and the threshold for unveiling anonymous posters is high. Despite that, Levy notes that the good doctor's lawyers can't simply assert that 100 unknown individuals posted false and defamatory messages. For one thing, the particular messages in question need to be identified (the complaint does not even indicate which posts it refers to). Within those posts, actual false claims need to be mentioned (none are). Further, it's unlikely that each alleged offender is exactly guilty of the same transgression, so the company needs to offer evidence for each particular case. Due to the extreme generality of the complaint and subpoena, Levy asks, "Is it Video Professor's position that any former customer who criticizes its conduct must necessarily be making false statements, and hence is subject to sued for libel? Certainly you have given no evidentiary reason to believe that any of the statements about Video Professor are false." The company is no stranger to the courtroom. A search shows that Video Professor has filed four separate federal lawsuits in 2007 alone. In one of these Video Professor sued a rival seller of computer training products who included a link on his site to other sites critical of Professor practices. In the last three years, the company has racked up 615 Better Business Bureau complaints, though all appear to have been quickly addressed. The company is certainly serious about the newest case. Founder John Scherer told the Denver Post, "I personally do not believe that you can be anonymous and bash people and get away with it under the First Amendment. I will stay with this case, and I will get the names that I am requesting. I will pursue this until the Supreme Court tells me I can't get them." Fortunately, federal courts rule based on US law and not the personal beliefs of the litigants. Fuck this motherfucker. I hope those people counter sue his ass out of business. |
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Call Customer Service at 1-800-519-4110 http://www.videoprofessor.com/contactus/contactinformation.html |