I received calls from this company which also called themselves Success Sharing (they have at least three or four names) and signed up for their coaching, web development, and education services to start an Internet business. I invested $485 as an initial outlay with the understanding I would be billed for 24 months at $159.51 a month for services. I did not receive any services to speak of, one call from my coach in the two weeks since I registered for the program, and nothing since. No access now to the educational website, no assistance with webpage development, and no one is returning any phone calls or emails. I did notify the company by email that I will not pay any fees. I also have registered my complaint with the Utah BBB as the company is located there, and evidently in Las Vegas alsol.

Subjects: Ivy Captial/Fortune Learning Systems
An address on “The Success Team” Portfolio I received from them states 2510 East Sunset Rd., #5-513, Vas Vegas, NV 89120

First, I must say that Linda, another unfortunate ‘victim’ with this company wrote a complaint letter that states pretty well what I have been through. But after what I went through today & after reading Linda’s complaint letter, my husband & I finally decided we needed to join this group after much being very reluctant. After what Ivy Capital has put us through, EVERYONE HAS TO PROVE THEMSELVES.

Secondly, I agree that deception should not be used in ANY business transaction. I agree as well that Ivy Capital uses deceptive techniques and I have become part of a group that is trying to stop them from doing the same to thousands out there that are simply trying to find a way to earn an honest income. I am also in hopes that with this letter and by joining this group, I will be refunded my investment. The people making these investments such as myself are not in the position to have thousands of dollars taken from them.

During your “interview”, they lead you to believe that they understand your personal situation completely and they will be there to help you out in any way they can. They ask what you personal financial situation is and how motivated you will be to work with your business and their coaches. They tell you they need to know this to find out if you’ll be a good candidate for their “Success Story”. They also base your investment price off your motivation & personal financial state.

After what ended up being a 2 ½ hour phone call on a Friday night, they needed our decision then, or the opportunity was off. Then as Linda stated, you go to Yozons through another representative and by that time I was so tired, I just wanted to get it over with.

Within days, I was called by Steve Nilssen, Accounts Manager and asked to sign up for a membership to Wholesalematch.com-this would help me find my products to sell, so of course I need it for a successful business I want & NEED!!

Within the first week, my husband commented that we needed to check out Ivy Capital & just make sure they were OK. I did have to refer to my credit statement online because as Linda stated I really wasn’t sure about the official name of the company to investigate. I typed Ivy Capital into Google (I trust Google!) and the first thing that came up was SCAM-I said Oh No!! After reading several stories, I knew I wanted nothing more to do with this company. The following day I called the direct line of the Senior Supervisor, Brent Makovski to request a refund and tell him I wanted to end the agreement. This was the same gentleman who very congenially signed me up for this program; his tone was not the same this time. Under no circumstances could I end the Agreement (the same as a contract he informed me at that time.) since the 3 days time frame was up. I just had to work really hard to make the investment back. I told Brent they weren’t providing good customer service. He told me I wasn’t a customer, I was a student—Interesting!!

A couple days later I was called by Mark Williams, Manager of Resolutions (or Retention-I was told they sound the same by Wes Grover, Manager of Refunds) so my issue could be taken care of. I again explained I wanted to end the agreement with the company & wanted a refund. I was also not happy about being charged twice for the Wholesalematch.com membership. I was then informed that I should not pay out any additional fees on top of the initial investment until the 6 month coaching period was over. What!?!? Interesting, considering I had also had a coaching session & had been told to start looking in L.L.C.’s (this was one of my first steps in starting a business & would require more money)!! Mark informed me that only way out of the agreement since the 3 days were over was a death in the family. To me that pretty much means you’re stuck unless you plan to fight it legally & we didn’t have resources for that. Mark informed us that was the only way their lawyers would allow them to let people out of the agreement. He did offer us his top coach for no extra charge (Mark stated it would normally cost $20, 000.00 to have a top coach.), so my coach was changed.

If I was put with their top coach, I’d hate to work with their worst. He was not aggressive in getting things going. He couldn’t remember what we did from session to session although I would hear him typing on his computer during our session-maybe notes, I guess not.

After a two month run around with Steve Nilssen, I finally received my refund for the Wholesalematch.com “double charge”.

For the other I have filed complaints with my State’s Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Trade Commission, Internet Crime Complaint, the National Consumer Protection Bureau, Ripoffreport.com, & the complaintsboard.com. I also tried to email Mark & Wes informing them I had issues and wanted a refund.

It wasn’t until ripoffreport.com was sent to them that Wes called me a day I believe. He asked me what my issues were & I informed him. He said those were just excuses. I told him I had spoke to Mark Williams about the situation and his reply was “so you agreed two different times to do this program.” I said “no”. My conversation with Mark was me BEING FORCED to continue the program. I asked Wes if he had ever received ANY of my emails. He then looked through and found one that had been forwarded for my coach; then he became really nice. He accused me of speaking to someone I had never HONESTLY talked to. One of the victims has put up a nice complaint for herself & RECEIVED a refund (so I know it’s possible as I was informing him). He then accused me of lying to him about speaking with her. I simply told him that I knew that she was a victim & that was all. He stated it was because of her & I that they had to tighten their refunds and that if I was interested in a refund, my lawyer would have to contact theirs.

Yes, I made a HUGE mistake. BUT my “Coaching Sessions” would never have helped me build a website to make BIG MONEY as Michael Oates, Ivy Captial/Fortune Learning Systems originally presented the idea to me. THIS company takes advantage of people and I truly believe they enjoy doing it and they need to be STOPPED. They are taking advantage of people who are unemployed or in a medically disadvantaged situation and don’t have the money to LOOSE. I believe if you have a credit card with a large limit and a lot of enthusiasm, they really take advantage-I was one of these victims. Anytime I read stories from people about what happened to them, it makes me ill. PLEASE help us get our money back & STOP this company from their crimes.

After surgery, for an injury that may well prevent me from finishing an honest construction career of over twenty years. I began searching for a profession to bring me to retirement age. I invested $97.00 for a membership to an internet Data Entry Institute. I was and am desperate to keep a roof over my head. Within a week, I was contacted by phone. They called themselves, Fortune Learning Systems. I mentioned that I had previously purchased the for mentioned material. They told me that what I had purchased was Small Time. They proceeded to introduce what they "MAY" be able to offer me "IF I QUALIFY." They started with the Questions type sales pitch. They where highly motivated and quick talking.
They talked about guidelines and principals for starting a successful internet business, which would take less time than the average work week. They stressed the importance of leverage capital and how they would teach me to use other peoples money with "no out of pocket expense."
At this point they asked me about my current debit and how I felt about being able to pay it ALL OFF in a reasonably SHORT length of time. Of course, any normal, hard working person would answer as I did: YES. At the time I had very little credit card debit, so they asked about car payments, etc., etc. I made it clear that in my current financial situation, I did not have the option to over use the credit I had. This is the point where they told me that this program is what I was looking for. Next came questions about myself; Was I motivated and an action taker. They continued to ask me about myself to, as they called it, see if I qualified for the program, tools and the guidance they would offer to me.
After an hour of this motivational speaking and questioning, I was told that I was a prime candidate. I was asked to hold tight while he consulted with the Senior consultant. They would call back shortly.
And they did call back, Very Shortly! I was told that I was the type of person they were looking for and had what it would take to make it. They believed I was very teachable and that I would be worth their investment.
At this point they had me very motivated. I was then told that there would be a ONE TIME investment. BUT for this small investment they would SET UP THE BUSINESSES FOR ME, HELP ME BUILD MULTIPLE WEBSITES AND PROVIDE THE NECESSARY TRAINING AND COACHING I would need to make it work in a short time. The investment I would have to make was $2930.00. It's funny that this amount was all I could afford to charge. I asked why they were willing to do all they mentioned for me, for that amount. I knew that setting up a limited liability company in my state was $500.00 each. They were going to help me set up multiple companies? Great! They stressed the importance of doing it officially and by their proven methods. By following their instructions they would get me corporate credit, better wholesale rates and higher ratings among the search engines on the web. They were willing to do this for my SUCCESS STORY.
The next day I looked up Fortune Learning Systems n the Better Business Bureau site. They had only one complaint in the last three year period, OK, not bad, I thought.
A couple days later I was contacted be my personal coach. More motivational talk and where to start reading on the member's website. Not a lot of informative information was given. As I read the material I was told to, I noticed it wasn't very different from common sense info.
Four days later I was contacted by another adviser going by the title of certified business specialist. After stressing the importance of having a couple of LLCs or Corporations, for reasons of liability protection, business credit ratings and pay dex scores he proceeded to tell my that it would coast near $8000.00! Oh Boy, Not Good! I told him that I made it VERY CLEAR to the others that the one time investment I already made was ALL I COULD AFFORD! Then he talked about just starting One LLC in my state for $1000.00. I was then told to call my credit card company to get an extension of credit. I told him I would have to get back to him.
The next day I found the name IVY Capital and looked it up to find they had 117 complaints on the Better Business Bureau, along with these and more from other scam sites!
I called them and requested a refund, because they gave me false info about what they were going to do for me. I was called a few days later by a somewhat unpleasant woman from the resolutions department. She told me that the investment to start the LLCs was not necessary. The opposite of what I was told by the others, before her. She gave me the red tape speech and called my a thief for disputing the charge. She said I could sell on EBAY? $2930.00 to sell shit on EBAY? I have given them a chance to refund my money. They continue to try to direct me to different people who have nothing but more sales pitches. I will now start contacting departments, agencies and web boards along with informative news agencies. It is my goal to prevent other honest people, in this desperate economy, from being taken advantage of by these people of low morals!
Do not hesitate to contact me if you have been mislead or scammed by these people and are looking for Justice. There is power in Numbers! [email protected]