Get Motivated, but caveat emptor!

I recently attended an outstanding day getting pumped up at the Get Motivated seminar in San Antonio. I expected it to be an event that shouldn’t be missed and took four other business associates with me. The speakers were an exceptional group that roused the stirrings of many past motivational events, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and Phil Town gave super speeches on the possibilities that lay ahead for all of us. Rudy Guilliani and Steve Forbes gave a couple of crowd-pleasing, wave the flag, pre-campaign speeches on economics and leadership. Jerry Lewis proved once again, why he is called the King of Comedy. All in all it was an inspirational event for all in attendance, especially for the Sales Buddha. I always enjoy hearing speakers remind me of the blessings of abundance that God bestows on us here in the good ‘ol USA.

There were however, a couple of things that happened in the weeks past that took a lot of the “shine” off that wonderful day. During the event, several promotional offers were made, a couple that we in our group took advantage off. Both required you to secure the deal with a credit card, “that wouldn’t be charged in advance.”  Well, after that line, you can guess what happened. A couple of us signed up for a seminar sponsored by Success Magazine’s Investor’s Toolbox. One of my guest’s cards was run prior to the seminar as a “pre-authorization”, which put a hold on funds available in her account. Not expecting the card to be run, as we were all told, she charged a couple of other things that put her account overdrawn. She spent a lot of time on the phone sorting this all out, I’m not sure she’s gotten it straightened out yet! Needless to say, she decided not to attend the seminar.

My wife and I attended the seminar a couple of weeks ago and were tremendously disappointed. We were expecting to learn about the Five-Step Investing process, but instead sat through an all day sales seminar on buying additional training to turn us into millionaires like our presenter. I knew we were in trouble when I walked in the seminar and there were no computers set up to teach us how to use their software we were being trained to use! The only straight answer I got during the day was when I asked him at lunch, “You’ve done a great job selling the sizzle, what’s the steak going to cost me?” A quick response of “five thousand to twenty three thousand dollars for your education” was at least an honest answer. I actually made a point to find him and thank him for the honesty before the afternoon session began. I know education cost money, but it didn’t cost twenty-three grand to figure this one out. So, I turned in my material, said “No thanks” and headed for the door.

The week following the workshop, I received a call informing me “they were having some problems running my credit card.” Go figure! Even after attending the workshop and turning my materials back in as required, they still tried to charge my credit card. The corker to the whole event, when I told my guest, whose card they had “pre-authorized”, about what happened to us, she informed me that they had also charged her card for a real-estate workshop she’d signed up for! That’s a double-whammy that was never expected. So, that’s why I added the caveat emptor to the title. It usually means, “buyer beware”, but in this case it means keep your wallet in your pocket and don’t believe what you’re told.

I really hope this was a rare occurrence and not a regular part of the way this group does business. I have much respect for all of the presenters, but little for what happened to my friends and myself. Credibility and integrity are crucial to success in life, as well as in business. It’s not an option to me. We were told our cards would not be charged and they were, plain and simple. If I tell you that, “A rooster can pull a freight train, you better hitch him up”. That’s credibility. With these guys all I got was “cock-a-doodle-do!”