I was on LinkedIn and saw an ad for "successful women" and how they should join the Cambridge Who's Who. The application was free and costs weren't mentioned anywhere. I filled it out and nothing happened. A week or so later, I received a call and was asked to interview for the directory. I agreed. Throughout the interview, the woman kept complimenting me. I'm a young professional, and have only worked in my industry for two years, so I was flattered. But the compliments kept coming, and it started to seem like the woman was sucking up. I was then "accepted" to the directory and out of nowhere, she asked how I'd like to pay. She seemed annoyed when I kept asking for her to explain the charges. Finally, I said I would have to call back. Once again, she seemed annoyed and explained that they weren't allowed to let this take up more than one phone call (very odd). I called my mom, who is an employment lawyer in Missouri and Illinois. She was in a meeting, but after I quickly explained it to her, she said don't do it (since that day, my mom sends me similar ads she gets from other companies that are identical to Cambridge). I called Cambridge back (because during the initial flattery, I had given them my card information) and explained that I had decided not to use their services. The same woman became very angry and explained that my profile had already been created (weird) and that she couldn't reverse the charges. She kept offering me different deals, which was another red flag because if she could offer these deals now, why did she say there were no other options? She clearly had to ok to offer them. Anyway, I kept saying no and she finally put me through to customer service. The new person first congratulated me (at this point it was annoying) and also kept trying to make deals. She added that if I didn't accept now, there was no way to apply again in the future. Being a nice person, I decided not to say that I didn't care and simply stated that it wasn't the right time financially. She became very irate and started questioning my finances and bragging about what a great deal it was. Finally, after 10 minutes, I said no (for the 100th time) and she said "fine, bye." Not only was it rude, but it stuck another red flag because what business operates like that? I called my mom back and she told me about these companies. She explained that the best way to really network is with companies that actually meet in person... and to never do this with a company that is only online.

Sorry for the lengthy explanation, but the point is that you should not use this company and also, even though they say it's non-refundable, if you act quickly, they might not have charged your card. If they have, just call your bank!

In 2008, I had just graduated college and was trying to get my foot in the door of the corporate world. I received a notice from Cambridge claiming that I had been "nominated for inclusion" into their registry. I was flattered but was not sure who nominated me. I had been extremely active in 8 different college organizations and had been an honors student and was well thought of by my professors, so I thought that one of them had nominated me. I filled out the form requsting more info and was soon contacted by a rep named Stacey. Stacey started the phone call making everything sound exciting that I had the chance to be included in their registry. At the end of the call she hit me with the $1000 price tag. I about fell over. I said there was no way that I could afford that price. She kept lowering the price and then offered to throw in 2 free airline tickets. I said no to her. The next day she called again...and again...and again for several days. I finally got tired of the pressure and agreed to try their service for $189.00. I stupidly gave them my credit card number, which they immediately charged. A few weeks later I received a piece of paper saying I was a lifetime member. Great. About 2 months later, Stacey called back and wanted to sell me a lifetime membership and a wooden plaque and a leather bound directory. I told her that I was told I was already a lifetime member. She said no. She convinced me that I should own the leather bound registry because I would have that and the plaque for my home and I could use the registry for networking and prestige purposes. I said no and she told me that "the registry is going to print this week and if you don't opt in to this you will have to wait a whole year to get into the registry again". Long story short, they charged my card $800.00 and never mentioned that everything was non-refundable. I was told that my purchases would arrive in the spring of 2009. They didn't. I called and they assured me that, "due to the large volume of registries being printed there is a delay and you will receive your registry in fall of 2009". By this time I was really mad and began to realize that this was a scam. I called Cambridge and as soon as I requestd a refund they were hostile and told me that "due to the highly personalized nature of our services there is no refund option". I laughed and told them that I had been waiting 2 years for a registry and plaque that was paid for and probably never existed. I also said that the only thing that was personalized was a slip of paper saying I was a lifetime member, and if that piece of paper which was personalized for me was the only thing stopping me from my refund I would gladly rip it up or send it back to them so I could get my refund. They said no.

******Pay attention to this part if you have ever been scammed by Cambridge and want your money back!!!***
I am going to tellyou right now that I was competely scammed by Cambridge but I am proud to say that, I receieved EVERY SINGLE PENNY of my money back from them, but it was a 1.5 year long process and I had to fight tooth and nail with them to get it. First, I took it upon myself to call Cambridge again and once again ask for a refund. They said no of course. I asked them to send me a detailed billing of the charges they had placed to my Visa card. They did. I wrote a detailed narrative of my experiences with Cambridge including the dates I called them and the names of the reps I spoke with. I then filed a complaint with the State Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection. The form was easy to fill out. A few weeks later I receieved a letter from the Atty General's Office and a response from Cambridge. Cambridge basically said I was a liar and they followed all procedures, blah, blah. I wrote a rebuttal letter once again explaining my claim and its validity and then spent hours researching all the sites like this one detailing people's problems with Cambridge. In the end, I had 70 pages of material to send back to the Atty General's Office. I also called the investigator at the Atty General's office and spoke to her about the case. She had not received a complaint about Cambridge before and was not familiar with them. I could tell that at first she was skeptical of my claim and seemed to think Cambridge had a binding agreement. Once she received all my research and carefully written letters, she changed her mind. 3 weeks later I received a check from the attorney representing Cambridge and a nasty letter saying that they were still in the right and I was still in the wrong, but they were paying me in full anyways. Bottom line is this: Cambridge will NEVER EVER admit that they are wrong or that they scammed you, however; you CAN get your money back from them, just be persistant and don't back down against their threats or namecalling. Do your research and compose a well researched and well-documented letter to your Consumer Protection Office if you want to have a chance at a refund. Cambridge will fight you about it, but in the end they know that they cannot produce any documents binding you to their agreement and they have no valid excuse for taking your money and not providing services that you paid for. I know how devastating it is to find out you have been scammed, so I really hope this info helps others.

I received an email stated I had been nominated by Cambridge Who's Who. At first I was honored. But upon closer inspection of the acceptance URL enclosed within the email, I became uneasy. It pointed to http://favourer.jimsleads.net/c/c/36050/6690/3430162/ which seemed odd considering it didnt even include the Who's Who brand in its construct. The email was addressed to me from a Mr. Benjamin Stevens, Vice President, Research Division.
The email states "There is no fee nor obligation to be listed. As we are working off of secondary sources, we must receive verification from you that your profile is accurate. After receiving verification, we will validate your registry listing within seven business days."

I sat thinking how they would get my details, and I remember getting a notice in the mail, and submitting a check for the fee almost a year ago. The fee at the times was $399. Now, it seems they have rankings, where Platinum costs $600 and is the highest ranking "they claim" -

So, I want to help others avoid this scam like so many of the other postings warn. Beware! I am an IT professional, who got caught by the scam since it originated as a letter, and was followed up by an email. Nothing happened. No where is my name listed as I thought. Luckily, this second go around, when I got the email, I was smarter, and "Googled" the URL before I clicked on it, and found out Cambridge Who's Who is a scam.

Regards,

Laura Edell

Took $88.95 from my checking account about putting my name on a registery of who's who.

False price quoted for advertising. Unauthorized chages on credit card.