When I wrote the article on how to sell SMC products online, I wrote it to guide people who were already SMC product resellers who would like to market the products. It’s still a good guide on how to do so with even better alternatives to the program.
I stated in the article that I wouldn’t do the SMC opportunity because I wasn’t a big fan of face to face selling and the way it was structured wasn’t my cup of tea. Further, I went on to state my observations of what other people thought about SMC – the quality of the products weren’t that good etc.
On doing some additional research, it seems that SMC may actually be something you want to stay away from. At least hide your credit cards.
Unclear Refund Policy?
When I read the membership agreement on the SMC website, the cancellation policy states that you will get a refund of your payment minus shipping and handling of the kit. Fair enough.
4. Cancellation. If you cancel your membership within 30 days of joining SMC, you may be eligible for a refund of your membership fees (excluding shipping and handling). Call toll free 1-877-523-9088 for eligibility and cancellation instructions.
What they failed to mention though was how that refund will be issued.
The above investigation was done after I saw one complaint from a member and SMC’s response.
Member complaint (excerpt from email communication with SMC Corp.)
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 9:52 PM
To: MemberServices@smcorp.com; techsupport; legal@emerchantclub.com
Cc: ME
Subject: Re: REFUND REQUEST – SMC/eMERCHANTCLUB FROM MEPlease help me, I am at your mercy. Please refund me at least $2388.00
otherwise I will never forgive myself. It is hurting me from within. It is a
real mental torched. Please help me.May God give you the reward if you return my money.
Thanks!
ME
From: ME
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 5:42 PM
To: MemberServices@smcorp.com ; techsupport@emerchantclub.com ;
legal@emerchantclub.comCc: ME
Subject: REFUND REQUEST – SMC/eMERCHANTCLUB FROM ME
Dear SMC/eMC
Please help me get my money back. I am a disabled person without income. I
have 6 kids all under 16. I worked hard in my life and then lost my job. I
borrowed some money from my sister to start SMC business after I got
convinced by watching SMC ad on the TV. Please help me. If you cannot refund
all, then please at least refund some of it. I have lost this money like I
dropped a my bag on the street. I hope you will have some soft corner for
the needy people. I am already indebted heavily. I am really sorry I tried
to be tough, but you guys are tougher, indeed. Please let me know if you can
help me. Thanks!08/25/2009 Debit Card Transaction EMC*EMERCHANTCLUB 877-38 08/24EMC*EMERC
$2,388.00 Payment for Unknown Service
07/31/2009 Debit Card Transaction EMC*EMERCHANTCLUB 877-38 07/30EMC*EMERC
$3,754.40 Super Deluxe Package
07/16/2009 Debit Card Transaction SMC*MERCH/MEMB 800-345-4 07/15SMC*MERCH
$499.95 SMC Membership FeesTOTAL:
$6642.35 TOTAL
Other amount was lost for this dealME
Here’s SMC’s response which reveals what’s really up with the refund policy.
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 5:55 PM
To: ME
Subject: RE: REFUND REQUEST – SMC/eMERCHANTCLUB FROM MEME,
I am very sorry, but there is no cash refund for the $2388.00. We can only
refund your SMC account in merchandise credit. We had talked about this on
12/01/2009
11:14 AM and I told you that you were within our 30-day policy for a refund,
but only in credit to purchase merchandise. This credit is now available in
your SMC account for you to use.This credit is good for one year so please contact SMC to have them help you
choose products to sell and redeem this money back and hopefully more.Regards,
CK
Cancelation/Refund Department
eMerchantClub LLC
996 Flower Glen Street
Simi Valley, CA 93065
(877) 384-4691 Phone
(888) 201-2680 Fax
http://www.emerchantclub.com/support.html*****Please do not delete any part of this message when replying as it may
be used in the tracking and resolution of this issue.*****
So you can’t really get your money back from SMC even if you sent the kit back within 30 days and qualify for a refund.
Instead they force you to do their business by having you claim some of their products so that you can sell those off to get your money back.
This has got to be illegal in some kind of way. I have no idea but if I decided that I didn’t want to sell SMC products, why should I be forced to do that just do I could get my money back?
There is another shocking revelation in those emails. What’s up with those figures spent on an SMC membership!? Did the member just spend over $6000? I thought the membership only cost a few hundred dollars max.
That’s what the average user might think but what they don’t see coming is the upsells from SMC that will promise them website packages and coaching that guarantees they will succeed and these apparently come at a 4 figure cost.
To me, these are unnecessary and overpriced.
By comparison, I can build a profitable website for less than $100 and currently get all the coaching I need to build a full time income from home using a site called Wealthy Affiliate, which I mentioned in the other article, and it would all cost me less than the price of an SMC membership for just one year.
Also reports of SMC tying up credit cards with charges after they were stopped doesn’t help. There’s a whole thread with SMC complaints here and I’ll just quote a few for you to see that this is just not the kind of business you want to get involved with for a number of reasons including the possibility that you may not be able to sell the products.
I can sure tell you they took my wife’s money and didn’t help her at all. They promise coach’s, support, web sites, and all kinds of junk and then do nothing but take money out of your account. My wife called to cancel within the 30 days and they said she was past the time…
…I told him I wanted to go ahead and build my website like they talked about on TV, that I was ready now, could he please help me with that? He says yes, for another $1,500.00!! I told him I didn’t have that kind of money, that it took all I had just to join SMC, and that it sounded like the website was included when you join! As soon as I told him I didn’t have the money, he just stopped talking. I mean…he really did just sit there on the phone, and wouldn’t talk to me!
I can only say that communication with them is impossible. I cancelled within the 30 days they require, and yet they continued billing my credit card. I wrote them and e-mailed them to no avail. I challenged the card charges and were paid back the money-only to have them turn it over to a collection agency!
Related posts:
I had decided to try to start a business. SMC promises so much. i joined and got the kit–which is worthless by the way. i paid $400 for the kit. (their prices range form $200-$500 for the kit, depending on how many notices they send you before you agree to join) so i get this kit, watch a DVD, read through the booklets and try to get all the info i could. it then said to call my business coach, which i would have for a whole year instead of just the 90 days. she then convinced me to spend over $5,000 to upgrade my membership, get a gift card redemption site,catalogs,gift cards ect. asked me to call and set up the gc website with another gentleman named Justin. then through him i had to spend over another $5,000. this was to get my website functioning, they do all the work to keep the online catalog updated throughout the year. a couple weeks later i get a phone call from a Steve Johnson at emerchant club. he wanted ocer $2,200 to make it so my website is even better. then first time customers didnt have to use a gift card. they could pay by credit card, pay pal ect. a couple weeks later i still have no website. he calls yet again and wants more money. i explained how much money i have spent and have nothing to show for it. and how i am a single mother at the moment and cannot keep shelling out money when i dont make any. he puts me on hold and says he talked to his boss and can offer me the same package for a little less. (this is what they all did to make you feel like your getting a really good deal. i blew up at him. he said he’d call after my website was up. and he did, and of course they want more money. then i get a call from another gentleman who says my website needs work. so now i have all this money invested, a website, tons of catalogs and gift cards, but none of it works. still cant place orders, no money coming in to pay bills. i wasnt expecting to get rich, but at least be able to make a steady income like they said was possible. and not for them to drain my bank account. i have nothing now. i had registered for their website. now it tells me i am not a member. they also try to make you feel better about investing. well over $16,000 spent and i had over $9,000 in credit for merchandise, supp;ies or whatever. i just received an invoice the other day that i got charged $314.95 for membership/renewal fees out of my credits. (membership is supposed to be for a full year!) so now my credits are down to $7,000.and i have no way to use them. my member number doesnt exist, but yet when these people call me they have to tell me my #. my member # is 72147690-69. (they use just the first 8).i am at my wits end and feel so heartbroken and foolish now. i have all these notebooks with so many different names and numbers for these people.but yet i cant get anywhere. please someone help!
thank you
Hello Brenda,
Sorry to hear about your trials with this company. The first thing I thought about is to take legal action against them. Seeing a lawyer might be the best plan of action.
I’d also advise you to report them to the FTC and ask them what they can do for you.
i worked for that company, i can say this to you and any one who mite want to join this company to make a better life!….. DONT DO IT….ITS ALL lies!!!!! horrible place and they lie about the couching!!! if you have any question ill be more then happy to help you but it is all lies!!!!!
I signed up for e merchant,then canceled it and they keep taking money out of my account. Is there any way I could stop them.They did replace some money and they still took more money. What can I do.
thank you i will not join
s.m.c. I WOULD LIKE TO CANCELL,,,,I HAVE FOUND MANY NEGATIVE POSTED COMPLAINTS,ABOUT YOUR COMPANY??? DO NOT SEND START UP KIT,,,IF YOU DO I WILL NOT EXCEPT PACKAGE FROM DELIVERY PERSON,,,,
I just re-joined SMC within the last couple weeks. This is the 2nd time i have joined.
Back in the 1990′s, i joined and my membership was just $ 249.00. I made payments on it. I had no website. I did sell quite a bit of merchandise @ Flea Markets, and Garage Sales.
Now i am worried after reading the above statements that give them a negative rating ! I just invested $5,000 for the website and $ 499.95 for the kit.
See that’s the thing. $5000 for a website?
And you probably wouldn’t even own the site outright. In my business, I can get a website up and it would cost me less than $10/month for hosting and about $10/year for the domain name. When you have a domain name and hosting you own the website and can do anything with it. That’s about $130/year just to have a website that works for you.
And if you learn affiliate marketing you can make back your $130 and more over and over so that you’re not losing money.
These companies that charge you thousands of dollars to set up a website are really taking advantage of people. Better to just invest the money on an education in online marketing and you’ll do a whole lot better for a whole lot less.
Also, I’m of the opinion that the website should be free and included in every package of the $499 fee. They want to sell more product then this is how they should do it. Maybe to them it’s not about selling more product than it is about making as much money off each customer as they can. That’s just my opinion.
The only way to stop any of these companies is to dispute the charge by sending a letter to your credit card company explaining why the charge was fraudulent based on the claims made by a company. Send a copy to the FTC and Attorney General. Then ask your credit card company to issue a new card number so they can’t keep charging!!!
Here’s a video from the FTC that shows how to file a complaint.
I got the paperwork for them in 1985 and saw that they were just a front for the printing industry who makes money on printing mail out catalogs and you pay the postage for mailing them out. They are just like any other corporation that you may be working for, finding new ways to to market and creating policy as they go with lawyers so that they don’t lose any legalized stealing rights.
Do NOT touch SMC or any of the other so-called business opportunities advertised on late night infomercials…..I have been on the Internet now for 15 yrs. and have seen just about every scam out there!
If you need advise or help with a problem or a fraudulent/scam company or business – then email me – I will try to help you or offer advise….for FREE!! NO joke – I take satisfaction in bringing these companies down…or at least STOPPING them steal innocent peoples $$$!!
If you have to buy something or give the company a credit card number, run!!!! All they want is your money!!!
actually SMC is not a scam i paid $600 for my catologs and website and $114.95 for my membership. thats $700 so whoever is saying they spent thousands on a website is lying. ive spent $700 so far and ive been a member since june thats only one month. ive made over $500 so far in sales. so smc is not a scam people are just lazy you have to go out there and market these products you cant just have a website and expect to get rich you have to work. although it depends on your location you can make money with smc. ive made almost all my money back and its only the first month. imagine how much ill make during the holiday season. so whoever says you need thousand of dollars to start is lying i paid $600 and that included 500 dollars in gift cards and my website and a $200 credit which i used to buy abou 250 catologs.
Kristyal, congrats on making SMC work for you.
Unfortunately, there are reports of people being charged thousands. I doubt they’re lying and the quoted correspondence clearly shows that one member asked for a refund of over $2000 and was told they couldn’t get it back…they had to receive the equivalent in member credits.
This kind of thing happens a lot with these biz-ops that are advertised on late night infomercials. I can think of another two that I’ve reviewed with the same kind of stories.
Sorry, it doesn’t look good at all but I’m glad that you’re doing well with it.
I have not started yet but I am suppost to get my kit sent to me on Monday I have already given them my CC info, should I cancle my card? I just started doing reseach on the company and it does not sound good if any one could help that would be great also if any one has some contact info they could give me I would gladly take it.
Hello Amanda, I think there’s some contact info in one of the quoted text from the article.
I saw the SMC commercial with the Happy Days guy. I lost money in USANA back in the late 90s. It seemed to me that this was just MLM without the ML.
And I never knew anyone who bought that kind of a trinket from anyone else.
Did people who did SMC think they were going to resell that crap to antique stores?
But they lead you to believe that it only costs $25 to get started. If this kind of bait and switch is legal, it should not be. One thing about MLM vitamin companies- when you quit, they will cancel your autoship, no
questions asked.
Kristyal, how can you say it’s not a scam when you have only been with them 1 month? I’m very surprised that Tom Bosley has his name associated with this outfit. I have thought about joining in the past and so has my brother. After seeing all of these negative posts, I’m sure glad we didn’t. I don’t know if there is anyone out there who is legitimately interested in helping the not so fortunate get just a little bit ahead.
of all the people who complain I see a few who have a positive comment in every blog of this topic. I have known in my life a lot of people who can’t go through normal daily motions without complaining about something and never see themselves accountable for their misfortunes. I have been very informed always as to my account status and place in the smc world , I have never even been approached with a dollar amt as high as some of the posts above , and lastly I had the startup kit mailed to me for $9.95 (shipping and handling only) and have paid $99.95 full membership fee and $114.00 in catalogs and gift cards.If you listen carefully and read thoroughly you will know that the free website included in the startup fees is only for gift card customers (the first time they make a purchase ) , after they register at your site they can buy products at their leisure gift card or not. If you chose to upgrade to a search engine friendly ecomerce website offered through smc you will be paying somewhere between 500 and 1200 for that website to be created , set up with paypal , and avail for customers to make purchases immediately , you are in control of the pricing , the deals / sales / promotions what products are featured etc…. (you should be comfortable on a computer if you intend on managing a website) THE KEY<<<< you must promote yourself , as with websites , if a tree falls in the middle of the forest it may make a sound but who will hear it ? answer: only those who happened to be around .. If you are gonna start a website get people to notice it or it will go unnoticed.. with that being said you can go through smc to promote your website with an expense (not the route i chose) , or you can research ways to promote on your own , or you can go through an independent source. "be resourceful" NO BUSINESS IS GUARANTEED TO SUCCEED out of every success there are 99 failures due to various causes. If you failed , accept it and move on. LASTLY if you want to contact smc and you are a member you have their contact info.. there is a fraud alert that they post warning of those posing to be affiliated and if someone is contacting you … you should be leery of who it really is , agreeing to all these extra charges over and over again for these various services and upgrades before you have even tested the waters to see if you can sell the product seems ,,, well ,,, ignorant and naive… My condolences to all who have spent more than they should and have buyers remorse and all who have been mislead by a fraudulent "affiliate" of smc….
tHIS IS EXACTLY WHY I TELL EVERYONE IF ITS TO GOOD TO BE TURE,it useually is a lie from hell, people in the world today are ruthless and more greedy then antytime in the history of the world, you can blame our leaderrs and big business govermment tied to all these big business corporations, i feell so sorry for you and all, that listen to there lieying B/S. please always in the future triple check, any business that you are going to give your hard earned money to, business in todays world is 100 percent lies, and dishonesty and greed. im so sorry to have to be the one to give you this negativity, but if we listen to God and follow his wordsof instructions,then we can better decern the devil in all of the devils greeedy business men and women of todays world, look, wallstreet,housing,realators,morgates companies, brokers, and all banks are all crooks, and so are our leaders,and judges that even sit on the bench, when they took God out of government and schools, they cursed our great once nation, stand with the people and fight back and ask for jail time and huge fines for all these swindalers, in government and big busness. lessons teach us every day, the sharks and the words of prophecy are truly being fullfilled, evryone will want to be in business, a job that does nothing but play golf and cheat and steal from the common people, you see it on the news every day, ask and vote for more and more reform against big businesss and our government leaders, please, our think of what will and is going to happen to our children and grandkids. doctors, healthcare, hospitals,and now even food , is so out of control people cant even eat healthy. we the people write your leaaders and start a petetion or a group for we the peole and lets send the crooks to jail! in Jesus mighty name we ask it, for justice and rightousness, alone!
Hi I am a 20 year old college student who was just looking for an online opportunity for the summer. I wanted to start my own business and was very naive and SMC was able to lie and decieve me into thinking that any online business cost almost 2,000 dollars to fund and keep going. I had my credit card company investigate the claims and those bastards at SMC claim to have proof that I knew that the website which I was overcharged for..once I realized this was a scam I sent everything back and I moved o well it seems SMC won’t back down and there has got to be something I can do.. I don’t have the money to pay them, and if I don’t my credit is going to plummet. Please help me! I just found out I may have a kidney stone again and I really don’t need the stress right now! There has go to be a way around this! Please anyone help me!
Hello Rebecca,
You might want to report them to the FTC. The FTC may be able to help you and others get your money back.
Please see the video I posted earlier in the comments.
Also I was very upset that SMC would say it takes $2000 to fund any type of online business. It cost far less in some cases. I made a post on my other blog addressing this issue. Please check it out.