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| Stephen Pierce Stephen Pierce International, Stephen Pierce Inc Still Waiting for a Refund I was Promised OVER 6 MONTHS AGO McKinney, Texas |
| 29th of Nov, 2011 by User855083 |
| I purchased a program after attending one of the Stephen Pierce seminars for $4,997 because I was promised unprecedented support and that I would be part of a "family" if I invested in this program. I followed the program exactly and was consequently threatened legal action from another company because, by following the program, I apparently was in violation of trademark law. I requested advice and assistance from the support department via email on April 4, 2011. I did not receive a response to that request until May 20, 2011, over 7 weeks later. In the interim, I sent an email to a Chelsea Morris (whom I had met at the seminar) on April 25, 2011, after not hearing back from the support department for 3 weeks. I received a response from a Craig Pettit who informed me Mr. Morris no longer worked for the company, and asked me when I reserved the domain names in dispute, and I informed him it was in October of 2010, and he did not respond again. I sent Mr. Pettit another email on May 7 after not receiving a response sharing my frustration with his company, and his solution was for me to transfer all of my websites over the Stephen Pierce, Int. and he also requested I send the complaints I received so he could forward them to their attorneys. I informed him I had sent the complaints to him and that I had already canceled all of my websites from fear of more complaints, and he did not respond again. When I finally received a response from the support department on May 20,2011, I requested a refund, to which TaNoa Kemp in customer support informed me that he forward my request to the president of the company, and that the president would contact me. After not receiving a response for 10 days, I sent Mr. Kemp another email sharing more frustration and asking if there was someone else I could forward my request to, and again received no response. After a month I sent another email informing Mr. Kemp that I would contact the BBB as well as share my experience with their company with others, and I received an email from Mr. Pettit to a Sheila Watson asking if she had any news for me on June 20, 2011. The same day I received an email from a Jesse Frye informing me my refund request had been submitted and they were now waiting for approval, and that he should have an answer for me "mid-week". I waited 10 days and sent Mr. Frye an email asking for news, and he immediately responded and told me he did not have any news and that my refund had not yet been approved. I thanked him for the update. Three more weeks went by, so on July 21 I sent another email to Mr. Frye asking for an update, and on July 25 Gina Watkins informed me that Mr. Frye was no longer with the company and that she was his replacement. She also told me that my refund was being processed and that Mr. Pierce had to personally authorize any refunds released. She stated that he was out of town that week and it could be another week of waiting. Ms. Watkins sent me an email on July 27 that she was still working on a spreadsheet that would be submitted to Stephen Pierce for release of funds. I then asked Ms. Watkins explicitly if my refund request was approved, and her response on August 3, 2011 was "Yes….. he will be coming into the office “tomorrow†to physically sign-off/sign checks, etc. I’m not sure how you paid for your product, but however you paid will be the way we process your refund." I called Ms. Watkins that afternoon and informed her I had paid off and closed the credit card I used to pay for the program, and she told me that I would receive a check instead. This was 16 weeks ago. I have sent emails every 2-3 weeks requesting updates, but now no one from the company will respond to me. This has now been going on for 8 months. I have in writing that my refund has been approved, yet they refuse to refund my money. This company swindled me and my family out of over $6,000 after all said and done. I can only hope that me sharing my experience will prevent others from making the same mistake I made by trusting this company. |
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| This story is so typical of how Stephen Pierce treats customers and employees. Talking to their attorney will only make things worse as he is part of the scheme. This is what works better--- Send this report to Detective Taylor at the McKinney Police Department with your records, then file an online complaint with the Texas Attorney General, they have a file on Stephen Pierce. After you file, call Sandy Mahone in the Dallas Consumer Protection Office and confirm that they received your online complaint. Then call Get Motivated and ask for the speaker relations office and fax them your letter of complaint. Now you have exposed him at least and the pressure has sometimes caused them to make restitution to others. also post on the other sites that expose scammers and there are several. try saltydroid and rip off report and www.stephenpiercescam.net. |
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Hi Faye- I wish I had some sort of words of wisdom for you. I am a former employee of Stephen Pierce- and I am very familiar with your issues. I very clearly remember hearing about your situation. Let me tell you the frustrations and problems that we had as employees of Stephen Pierce's in trying to do the right thing for our customers. You may already know that Stephen Pierce is now down to a staff of two people. Tanoa Kemp and Craig Pettit. I was fired for being friends with a former employee and Stephen Pierce was angry that I wasnt "loyal" to him by talking to my friends. Jesse Frye was fired for standing up to Stephen Pierce and disagreeing with his bad business practices. Gina and Sheila walked out because of Stephen Pierce's bad business practices as well. Chelsea was fired because Stephen Pierce felt she wasnt loyal- the list of good people who wanted to do the right thing while employed at Stephen Pierce goes on and on. We were all completely disgusted, angry and disenchanted by the end of our employment there. He treats his staff like garbage then accused us of not doing our jobs and accepting paychecks for work not done. We have been accused of falsifying our resumes and references. According to Stephen Pierce- the reason for the failure of his company is his former employees! In my opinon, the reason why you have had the horrible experience you have had is due to Stephen Pierce himself.
As his employees, we would get complaints very similar to yours over and over. As part of the "refund process" I literally had to jump through a hoop of fire to obtain refunds for the customers. To make a long story short- after making sure that a ridiculous spreadsheet was entered with all the pertinent refund request info, making sure there was a written request from the customer, making sure all the materials were returned, scanning in the original order form and all correspondence from the customer- and then forwarding all of that to Craig Pettit who was SUPPOSED to meet with Stephen Pierce every Thursday to review refund requests- I was to receive answers concernig the refunds that customers were requesting by Tuesday the following week (this is the "mid-week" that Jesse was referring to). I would have to call and email and text Craig repeatedly to get answers. Remember how many people are calling the office- sometimes numerous times a day to hear the status of their refunds! Usually, if I could get a response to the refund requests that I submitted- I would get an email with responses typed on the spread sheet like "denied" "call and delay" "no refund". And that was the extent of the explaination from Stephen Pierce as to why we couldnt issue a refund.
Stephen Pierce gave me NO ability to issue refunds at all. Only Stephen Pierce has the power to release the funds. He would give and take away passwords to various accounts and databases and even our recurring billing programs all the time. If he was angry about something that someone in the office did, we all paid the price. At one point, someone gave passwords to Stephen Pierces own sister- and he was so mad that he locked the entire staff out of our own systems!
Working for Stephen Pierce for 10 months was probably the worst professional experience I have ever had. The enviornment was so stressful- I was sick with pneumonia and Mononucleosis last winter, both illnesses were stress induced. Imagine working a job that everyday is filled with dealing with an absentee boss who rules with an iron fist via text and email and angry customers all day. When I found out exactly what was going down at Stephen Pierce International- and that his programs are a scam and a lie- I immediately starting looking for other work. I am disgusted that I have this on my conscience and wish that I could personally apologize to every person that had been hurt by this scam. Your story is not unique when it comes to Stephen Pierce International!
All I can say here is that I am so sorry for your situation. I know that I tried to obtain your refund for you- and you deserve to have your money back. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldnt have gotten a full and complete refund. If I had had the ability to refund your credit card, I would have done so. Please continue with the BBB and the Attorney General's office. Please contact Detective Taylor of the McKinney Police Department- Financial Crimes Unit.
I wish you and your family all the best. |
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You may care to note the more recent action taking place regarding Stephen Pierce and his dealings with both customers - and I use the word advisedly - and employees being reported at:
http://saltydroid.info/the-people-vs-stephen-pierce/
This scammer may well be about to get justice rained down upon him.
The opportunity for you to join the action is available. |
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