It started March 25th, 2010. I received a call while driving from work from Capital Keystone a collection company based in Utah on behalf of Social Tool Kit saying I owed them money. I never got the amount because I basically went off on the guy. I never even heard of them so how could I owe them money? The caller was pretty nasty saying I was basically a dead beat because I didn’t pay my bills…. WTF?! They never contacted me prior to sending me too collections. He tried to say that he could settle my debt for ???… I don’t remember hearing the amount because I continued to go off on him. He hung up on me because he said the conversation wasn’t going anywhere. OK, so be it.

Later when I got home I looked up SocialToolKit.com on the internet and found quite a few complaints about them and their unethical business ways. I was furious! The only thing I could think of was that I had signed up for some service over the phone while at the Search Engine Strategies Expo in New York City in October but I was sure I canceled it within the 14 day trial period. I know I did in fact… I’m pretty good about handling that stuff.

Email from Capital Keystone CollectionsI called back and spoke to Travis. I found his name and number on one of the numerous complaints about Social Tool Kit on the net. I calmly explained to him that this debt is not valid and I remember canceling. He said he would contact Kris Solis and verify the claim. No later then an hour he called me back and informed me that I had indeed canceled on 10/17 and they would mark my account as paid with a zero balance. I even made him send me an email to confirm this. It even says that I canceled on 10/17… remember this because it’s pertinent information for later in the story.

So this is where it gets hairy…

So thinking this was all done with, on 3/30/2010 I viewed my bank statement online… Social Took Kit had charged me $44.95! Why did they do this?

I called the number on the statement and was rudely hung up on by the operator when I informed her what they did was ILLEGAL and I would contact a attorney!

I called Travis back at Capital Keystone Collections and got Kris Solis’s direct number (801) 806-4215 at SocialToolKit. Spoke to a Melissa. She said that I had settled my account for $44.95 which I NEVER agreed to, nor would I since I did indeed CANCEL the membership within the time allotted. They didn’t even show that my account was canceled at all even after they took my $44.95! I forwarded the email I received from Travis to [email protected] while I was on the phone with her. She told me that I needed to prove to them that I canceled the account within the 14 day free trial period! Doesn’t the email say right on it I canceled on October 17th? So why were they charging me $44.95 on March 30th?

So I called back and spoke to Kris Solis. She stood by their claim that it was the “settlement” with the collection company for the service that I supposedly never canceled! I’ve never been so blatantly lied to in my life. They were trying to scam me for $44.95! First of all, there was never any discussion with Travis and I about settling my account. Secondly, I would have never agreed to it anyway. I would have made them sue me for it just to see them in court! I even asked her how many times I had actually logged into the website. All she could say was once. OK, so if I signed up for this service which says it’s a monthly fee of $44.95, why haven’t they been charging me this whole time? They obviously had my credit card on file since they charged me on 3/30!

Needless to say I was furious!

The next morning in my inbox was a email from from a James Packer ([email protected]) from a company called Avidmark for a credit of $44.95. I thought this was strange… who the hell was Avidmark? I also found a cancellation email in my spam folder.

I called my bank to verify the refund, but they didn’t show any record for it as of yet. At this point I didn’t care that they issued me a refund…I was out for retribution now! If they thought I was just going to walk away once I received my refund, they were wrong. They jerked me around for days and that does not go unpunished.

So the refund finally showed up on my bank account. I was somewhat skeptical after everything else I had to deal with with them.

I did some more digging and found the original phone call I received on 10/5. It was interesting since the number that called me was mine and it lasted 6 minutes. I kick myself now for this mistake. I should have known something wasn’t right with that. I verified with my cell phone provider that they did indeed mask their number with mine since I was not roaming in NYC with my plan.

And The Truth Comes Out!

I finally found the screen shot of the cancellation that was made on 10/17 with a company called YourProfitGateway.com. Something in my gut told I would need this eventually. Now remember I wasn’t sure about the date except that I did indeed cancel. I was sure of it. I’m very good about these thing and have been known to set up reminders in Outlook so I don’t forget them. They had told me that I canceled on the 17th, not me. This was not anything I had come up with until I found this screen shot. It came straight from them! The reason I point this out is because several of the complaints I’ve read about them online includes them denying any affiliation with this scam. Really? Then how did they know I canceled on the 17th if they aren’t?

YourProfitGateway.com is now offline and redirecting to a website called visualwebtools.com owned by a company known as Pacific Webworks. Google is currently suing them and several other suits are filed as well…

Pacific Webworks CEO expresses surprise over Google lawsuit: Internet giant claims widespread fraud by Utah company: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2715631/

My problem is, I haven’t been able to link Pacific Webworks to Social Tool Kit except that somehow they got my credit card information from them. I would call them and ask, but I’m sure they will deny it.

So I decided right there that I was going to keep digging and uncover the people involved in this scam. They needed to pay for their lies and deception!

Kris Solis at Social Toolkit made a huge mistake when she tried to scam me for $44.95. My story and everyone else that has had to deal with this mess of a company, their fraudulent charges and deceptive practices will be heard and documented for all to see.

Please join my new website dedicated to uniting everyone that has been scammed by Social Tool Kit: http://www.socialtoolkitscammed.me/

They called and got my credit card authorization after I ordered the ebay success kit. I tried to cancel online, but I had many problems with the web page. After much searching on their website I finally found a number to call. These people rarely ever answer the customer service line...866-363-1350. The recording always asks for your number so a person can call you back. They never do. After several attempts to reach them @ the above number I spoke with a woman who gave me a cancellation confirmation number, and said the $34.85 would be returned to my card. It has still not been returned, and I am still trying to make contact again 2 weeks later. I just now called the number again and got a recording referring me to [email protected] led me to this.

This was an unexplained "membership" that was tacked onto an ebay success biz kit. There were three phone numbers listed on the same web page, but they all came back to the company that offered the ebay success biz kit. I canceled the ebay biz kit within 2 days and was assured that no more charges would be made to my account. The notification that this was tacked on was only given on the web page AFTER I had given my account information, so it was automatic and not of my choice. The company was not even listed, let alone a phone number or web contact information. I could only get this contact information from my bank AFTER my account was debited.

Phone calls to the number given to me by my bank resulted in getting, no matter how many times I called, a voicemail box. I left messages on 8/10/2009 and 8/12/2009. I also sent and email to the address that was provided by the recording at the phone number provided by my bank. I have not been recontacted at this time. I plan to complain to my bank and will turn my debit card in and get a new card because I do not trust this company to do anything legitimate.

Chrystle Arkan

I signed up for one of the $2 google info products, not realizing i was being automatically signed up with several other products/services that charge $35 - $45 a month, EACH!

all the others have kindly reimbursed me, but socialtoolkit has taken the stance that if i agreed to the terms, wittingly or unwittingly, then they have every right to keep my money. they know full well that i am less than pleased, and that i plan on exposing their deceptive business practices, but apparently a quick $35 is more important to them than the reputation of their company; which they insist is legit!

what i find annoying enough is this new business practice of signing people up for services they don't even need, nor want, and then giving them a certain time period to cancel. but these guys have taken it to a whole new level of annoying! not only do you end up signed up for several services you don't need, nor want, but you have no idea which services they are until your credit card gets charged!!! there's no email sent, informing you of all the companies that now have you signed up, so that you can go and check them out and make an informed decision of whether or not you want to cancel. no, you're just expected to pull their websites out of your ass!!! you're just expected to know each and every company's website and length of trial period. all the while, these same companies claim to be involved in improving social networking! are they so daft to not realize their deceptive business practices do nothing to improve their own reputation amongst the social networking community???

shame on google for being part of, if not fully responsible for, this sort of deceptive business practice.