As I am, I believe, a woman of high integrity, I felt it necessary to update the public on what has transpired since yesterday when I posted my original topic for this forum. Last night I was contacted by a gentleman who identified himself as Paul from Fortune Builders, who assured me this was an isolated case. My reply to him was that I did not believe it. But as I said I am woman of integrity, so we set up an interview with Than Merrill (hereto shall be referred to as Mr. Merrill, both out of respect and the fact we do not have a person attachment/relationship) to clear up this so called cloud.Well Mr. Merrill did indeed call me for that interview. I will not go into any of the actual questions or answers due to the fact that the interview lasted one and a half hours. I will state that he was pleasant and accommodating. This by no means that I am retracting what has transpired.
I had questions on the validity of the actual Fortune Builders programs and he directed me to the Fortune Builders website for some free classes and information. As I promised him, I took some time to check it out and found there is some possibly informative videos and useful information. The reason I state "possibly" is for me some of the information was beneficial and to some this information may not be of any benefit. As I have stated before I do not attest to if the program works or to, since I opted out before I started any classes. I need to be fair to both the public and to a company that has the right by our Constitution the right to make money. For some people this Free information may be of use to you and for others it may not. It is up to you, the public, individually, to do due diligence to decide for yourselves.
Now as to the question of them asking me to give up my Constitutional Rights in the form of a Mutual Non-Disparagement / Confidentiality Agreement / Liquidated Damages document (which I refused to sign). Mr.Merrill admitted that it should not have been sent out to me. I informed him that I would continue to suggest that anyone who receives this and is told that they must sign it as a stipulation for the Request for Refund and before any actual agreement in writing has been made should first contact him (Mr. Merrill) personally, before signing it. He has agreed to be contacted. I also asked him to please find out if this is indeed an isolated incident by reaching out on these websites and find out if there are any other folks , like me, that were asked to sign this agreement as a part of their Request for Refund before or as a stipulation in order to be considered or get a refund, and that he will work with them to rescind this agreement. He acknowledged the need to make a statement. As to what he will write, i am not him, therefore I cannot put any statement down on how he plans to handle this. Since I have such regards for Our Constitution and our Justice System, I will state that a man or a Company is innocent until proven guilty by facts not opinions. So let us give Mr. Merrill a chance to rebut.
Lastly, what I would like to present, is how we write reviews and how they affect us. Writing a review that is hostile or insulting is counterproductive and seems often the reason for Non-Disparagement clauses. By sticking to facts, putting in personal statements (i.e. The product didn't seem to work for me, I was unable to make money doing this, in my opinion, I cannot attest to if it works or not or this is my personal opinion/position), would be constructive as well as informative to the Public. Also asking questions or making subtle statements in a review may become thought provoking and may encourage people to research and search out the truth for themselves. This is a great way to get your point across without becoming hostile or disparaging. Also try not to be sarcastic (which I sometimes have subtle sarcasm to me). Remember Not to make statements that seem like facts that are not truly actual and provable. This will keep you out of litigation for slander.
I believe in the American Public and believe we can find good and bad in everyone. Maybe if we took some time to give constructive criticism we may all benefit and become greater people as well as greater consumers.
I hoped this helps someone and as I have said Buyer Beware, do your homework and protect yourself