WE'VE MOVED!

We are proud to announce our NEW community destination. Engage with resident experts and fellow entrepreneurs, and learn everything you need to start your business. Check out the new home of StartupNation Community at startupnation.mn.co

Grantresearchguide.com Scam / Ripoff

HBHBHBHB subscriber Posts: 1
edited January 2009 in Business Planning

Just wanted to give anyone a heads up who may be out there doing research on this company.  You are charged $1.95 to get access to grant information.  Little do you know that if you click on the small `terms` link at the bottom you will see that they charge 49.95/month.  This company is internet based and from what I hear they will not give you an address.  Furthermore the website goes through Domains by Proxy, INC, so doing a WHOIS lookup does not give you any legitimate contact info.  I now see why they hide their identity, as I`m sure they get complaints all day long from people like me.
 
To make it worse, we had someone that sounded like they were at an overseas call center harassing us for 1 week trying to sell additional documents that they can send in the mail.  It was a real horrible experience.
 
If you request a refund they basically tell you that you agreed to the terms even though it is in `very, very, fine print`.  If you ask for a manager their support will tell you there isn`t one available and refer you to support@grantresearchguide.com.  They tell you to put Attn: Tyler as the subject - Apparently Tyler Johnson is the guy who manages this whole thing (according to another forum).   
 
From what I`ve read it is a lost cause trying to get your money back.  I cancelled my account, but I have a feeling I`m stuck with paying the $50 (No response from Tyler).  I imagine this company can get away with this since they do have it in there terms, but it is a very shady company. 
 
If you are looking into signing up with grantresearchguide.com, don`t do it:  DO NOT SIGN UP, IT IS A MAJOR RIP OFF!!

Comments

  • zarbolias1zarbolias1 subscriber Posts: 0
    I think it`s interesting how when you call the number it says it`s hours are 9am to 9pm MST. I`m in MST and it wasn`t open. It tells you to leave a message about cancelling your account but never lets you leave a message, it only repeats everything over and over. I called my credit card company today and told them what happened. They cancelled my card to prevent any charges and will send me a new one. Maybe you can do the same. Good luck.
  • ARCHERARCHER subscriber Posts: 0
    I have been in contact with the company called Grant Instructor or
    Grant Resource Guide or Grant Research Guide whatever. The number given
    on their CD packet is 1-8o0-235-1364. I have called several times and
    Emailed them asking for a Grant Writer. I have outlined my grant needs
    to them and so far they have not gotten back to me with a grant writer.
    Perhaps if one is persistant enough and tries to obtain the assistance
    of a grant writer one will get results, eventually. We will have to
    wait and see. When I did manage to talk to someone, they said that the
    grant writers were behind and it might take two to three weeks for them
    to get back to me. Again, we will have to wait and see.
  • shaa3shaa3 subscriber Posts: 0
    I too was scammed from this "Grant resource guide company."  You can get your money back they took from your acct. ($49.50 + $1.95, they`ve charged me a total of $100.95) just contact your banking institute or credit card company and file a dispute claim. They had the nerve to contact me for an additional $2.95 I could receive, blah.. blah.. blah..  I asked for their supervisor which I got (I believe they give you fake names when they introduce themselves).  I explained I never received the information, I never agreed to the $49.50 and they suggested I contact their customer service people.  They were unable to just connect me to that number.  
      After a 21 min wait, finally a girl came on the line (very snippy) would not tell me her name but gave me a name of Janice Johnson which was her supervisor, supposably).  But she was in a meeting at the time.  She said she could only give me a $25 refund, I said no I got a full refund from my bank, to which she said "I couldn`t do that".  I believe anyone that has had trouble with this company should contact their Attorney General`s office (which is easy if you look up your state gov agencies) then contact Las Vegas, Better Business Bureau and the state that you live in Better Business Bureau.  Usually the Better  Business Bureau is listed under your state (e.g. ILBBB.org would be Il better business bureau).  The more people that complain the faster their company will be investigated and shut down.  They refused to give me the Corp phone number.  I`m under the impression that "the names have been changed to protect the GUILTY"
      We still live in the United States and as American`s we don`t have to roll over and just accept we`ve been scammed.  I say let`s ban together and get this company shut down!!  Why would anyone pay for something you can get FREE from our gov. websites? I can say after I got done speaking to 3 different people for this company they probably had a BAD DAY   To other`s out there I say " STAND UP FOR YOUR AMERICAN RIGHTS" and do something about it!! In fact I told them the next time they see my name it will be from the BBB and IL Attorney General`s Office, I also told them I would blog to warn others about their practices!  You get nothing from them!  
  • KendKend subscriber Posts: 0
     I dont know how you paid but, i used a visa and i called my credit union and they said i can come in fill out a dispute package and get a refund. hope it works. The same thing happened to me only they didn`t tell me there was any 49.50 charge. They only told me it costs 2.95 to recieve the info in the mail. They called me on the phone.
  • startuphelperstartuphelper subscriber Posts: 2
    Let`s get down to the basics here. If you are searching for grants for a small business startup the cold hard reality is that there aren`t any. Sure, you might find a few "grants" or contests here and there but they are generally very small (in the area of $2000) and the competition will be fierce.
     
    The grants that most folks are searching for are not meant for small, new start ups. Government, state or local community grants are generally for non profit companies or companies that will benefit the community by providing jobs or otherwise provide some major economic stimulus.
     
    Don`t waste your time or your money in search of free money.
     
    I offer more information on funding a small business startup at  my website and blog below.
  • WebJunkyWebJunky subscriber Posts: 8 Member
    friends,
     
    there are many sites of this nature. i too was scammed couple years back on a similar site. it asked me for $1, little did i know in the fine details they charged $9.99 a month membership fee of some sort. when i called no one picked up. no emails either.  a lot of these membership sites do this.
     
    do you think we can start a section on SUN that lists all the scams out there? these companies need to be exposed!
     
    thoughts?
  • KendKend subscriber Posts: 0
     Somebody has got to do something. I have received three more scams since then about exchanging foreign funds and received one today from someone claiming to be in the military and found US currency in a cave. This is ridiculous.
  • WebJunkyWebJunky subscriber Posts: 8 Member
    how about a governing body over the internet...??? and i dont mean the FCC, i mean something that will really take notice, claims/complaints and action. just like the SEC does with companies (where were they with Madoff by the way?)
  • marlenawmarlenaw subscriber Posts: 0
    I too was scammed by this company. They have raised their fee however to $58.61 and they double charged my credit card. When I called to dispute it they hung up on me the first time. When I called back they told me that it was a non refundable fee. I called back again and they gave me a website to go to which gave me no results. There has to be something illegal about this!
  • KayMegJessKayMegJess subscriber Posts: 0
    Ok. .. . New to this game. I just spent 2 hours on the phone with this moron that somehow lost my information about ordering from www.grantsearchcenter.com They are a rip off too... They do not have my info.. They just have my money... I need to start a lawsuit against them. I have tried the FBI and other agencies but have  not gotten anywhere because they say that it isn`t enough money.
    I`m asking anyone who hasn`t received money back or money refunded to please contact me and see how much we can accumulate together as a group. Please contact me on here and then I will reply to you with my phone number to then talk to you personally. I am not able to blow off losing 60 bucks for nothing. I cannot. I was charged 59.95 plus 1.98 and to me, thats A LOT of money
    Please help.... It can`t hurt to try to file a lawsuit against these people.
    I will try my best to do what I can, but I do need everyone`s help on this... If it`s not worth it, no one will bother to help....
    Thank you,
    Kay
  • Debra09Debra09 subscriber Posts: 0
    I also ordered the CD for $2.98 and got nothing. I called the company so many
    times I finally got through and was told that my trial period was over
    and that if I didn`t go to the site it was my fault. I immediately
    blocked any type of payment they would take, but after reading all
    these complaints I decided to have all my information changed so this
    would not happen again in the future. I too am on a fixed income and
    cannot afford to pay for blocking these idiots.I however am going to
    try to stop this through the Attorney Generals office and would like
    anyone to email me if you want to try and get your money back. Please
    email me and leave your number or some other way of contact. debra09@inbox.com
    Debra Richards KY. USA
    Debra095/6/2009 2:32 PM
  • jarhead73jarhead73 subscriber Posts: 0
    i was  not old anything about a 7 dat trail period or being charged 68.21. With the economey like it is and myself being unemployed tring to provide for my family it was a bummer to say the least that this company could do this to people who are tring to survive. It`s not the rich that are being ripped off it`s the blue collar that are unemployed and poor that are tring to do whatever to get along day to day. This company is unbelievable to be taking advantage of people the way they are. I also was not even given the full 7 days to cancell either but as others have said they tell you they have no supervisors to talk to and your just out the 70 bucks. So anything i can do to get my money back I,m in. I hope they shut the doors and fine the hell out of this company? I`m not internet smart i`m just tring everthing I can to provide for my family and the 70 bucks they stole from me is going to strap my family for this week. I just cant beleive that a company could get away with this. jwjohnnyddogg@gmail.com
Sign In or Register to comment.