Locator News, Incorporated

Review: Locators Inc. has a money back guarantee within a 90 day trial period, I was told by the representative on the phone AND by the website during registration. However when I call to tell them I am not happy with the service and would like to cancel they put me on hold until I reach a recording that says there is no one there or they are closed, after I just spoke with someone! I've been trying all day. They have charged $185 to my debit card for a service that is not what was described to me by their representative, Megan ([redacted], ext. [redacted]).Desired Settlement: $185 refunded

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

Enclosed you will find a letter of response from Locators,

Inc. explaining "our side" of the complaint which is being filed by [redacted]. Below, please find a detailed response to the complainant’s issues.

[redacted] joined our service to assist her in finding a

rental property to live in. She did so on July 28th 2014.

The following day, we received a phone call from her wherein

she mentioned that she wanted to cancel the service and get a refund.

Our representative explained to her that we do not allow for

cancellations as noted in the contractual agreement, but rather offer clients a

full refund policy if they do not move after using the service for 90-days. We

also explained that there is a recorded statement regarding refund and the

refund policy. She was transferred to that extension.

The recording states that this is a recorded message only.

After the conclusion of this message please hang up.” And then it explains the

refund policy.

Additionally, the entire refund policy is given to the

client BEFORE the services are offered and before payment is finalized.

The customer must read the agreement, and if they agree to

participate according to the terms and conditions, they must then affix there

signature thereupon, thereby indicating their understanding and their

willingness to participate according to the terms and conditions contained

therein.

She did so and the services were provided to her as

described in the signed contractual agreement. Specifically, we gave her access

to our database of residential rental properties.

Then the following day we received the following threatening

message from her which was delivered through our web site:

7/29/2014 Martin, M. Web Mail received:

Telephone: ###-###-####

Comments:

I am not happy with the service. I was told by Megan and

your website while I was registering there is a money back guarantee. When I

call I am put on hold after I tell them that I am looking to cancel and receive

refund until I reach a recording saying there is no one there after I just

spoke with someone!! What kind of business is this? I am left to assume this is

a scam if my money is not refunded. I will flag your all of your craigslist

posts and I will report you as well as leave ratings and reviews indicating

that your company is a fraud and you are looking to scam paying customers.

As she mentions, she was told by our representative AND the

contract that we offer a full refund policy. In fact, the refund policy is very

specific.

Additionally, when she called to ask about the refund policy,

she was told the contents of the policy and additionally transferred to a

recorded statement, which is where she mentions that the recording said no one

is available. That isn’t accurate, but it does say no representatives will

discuss the refund as refunds are only issued per the terms contained in the

signed contractual agreement.

She asks “What kind of business is this?”

To which we respond by saying the kind of business that

tells people “if you use our service and don’t move or take a place, we offer a

full refund policy…” and then give the customer a full disclosure of the refund

policy printed in plain language in regular font contained in the agreement and

then we ask the customer to review it, sign it and return a copy to us, all

before any charges are made to the customer.

We do all this JUST TO MAKE SURE that each customer understands

what we do, what they are paying for, our refund policy, advertised properties and

our cancellation clause.

We do all this just so every client fully understands and

agrees to participate according to those terms. This client did understand the

refund policy and understood that there are no cancellations. We know this because

her signature appears on the contractual agreement less than ¼ of an inch above

the following words:

“THERE ARE NO CANCELLATIONS.”

When she says we charged $185.00 for a service that is no as

described by their representative, that is completely untrue and I have reviewed

the call. HOWEVER, since a call cannot be faxed, this is why we put our purpose

of the service in the printed agreement. There is no web site to click through.

We deliver a written contract to every client and have them each sign it before

we ever provide any services.

The policy explains very clearly the purpose of our service as

follows:

“THIS

SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT (HEREIN CALLED POLICY) EXPIRES ON October 26, 2014 AND IS TO BE USED EXCLUSIVELY BY ME. I UNDERSTAND

THAT PAYMENT TO LOCATORS IS NOT TO RECEIVE INFORMATION OF ANY PARTICULAR

DWELLING WHETHER ADVERTISED OR NOT, BUT RATHER FOR A SERVICE THAT WILL PROVIDE

ME WITH ACCESS TO LISTINGS OF RENTAL PROPERTIES ONLY OF THE CRITERIA DESCRIBED

ABOVE.”

Simply, we sell access to our database of rental properties.

So it is not fair for her to say the service was not as

described. It was provided EXACTLY as described both verbally and as written

tin the signed contractual agreement.

The customer signed up for our service which is a 90-day

program. A full refund will be issued to any customer that has not moved after

using the services as described in the terms of the.

In this case, the customer may have wanted to cancel the

contract, but we do not allow for cancellations. We never have.

We only offer customers our full refund policy as stated in

the signed contractual agreement.

“REFUNDS

ARE ISSUED PROVIDED YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE PROCEDURES LISTED ABOVE. REFUNDS

WILL ONLY BE CONSIDERED AFTER (90) DAYS BUT BEFORE (105) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF

THIS CONTRACT. FINDING A RENTAL UNIT

THROUGH YOUR OWN EFFORTS OR DECIDING NOT TO UTILIZE THE SERVICES, FOR WHATEVER

REASON(S), DOES NOT JUSTIFY A REFUND. LOCATORS MAKES NO WARRANTY EXPRESSED

OR IMPLIED OTHER THAN AS STATED HEREIN. THERE

ARE NO CANCELLATIONS. NO OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES WARRANT THE ISSUING OF A REFUND.

I AM AWARE THAT THIS IS THE FULL AGREEMENT AND THAT THIS AGREEMENT MAY NOT BE ORALLY MODIFIED.”

A refund is not due the customer at this time.

She states that she thinks we are a scam, but we are the

opposite. We provide every bit of information to the customer before any

services are provided. We speak with customers. We answer any question. We give

clients a written agreement and have the sign it and keep a copy. Scams don’t do

that. We are not a scam.

We hope that the information we provide to our clients is

useful to them right away. If not, as stated in the contract, they are

encouraged to continue to access

the listings until; they either find

a suitable rental or obtain a full refund providing of course that they have

fulfilled the terms of the policy agreement.

In summary...

The

customer contacted our company.

We

have provided services exactly as described in our policy agreement.

A

refund is not due to the customer at this time, and will only be issued if

the customer conforms to the terms of the refund policy. We are bound to

abide by the agreement and we therefore ask the customer to abide by it

also.

This response

has addressed and answered the complaint by way of explanation and

clarification.

Sincerely,

Locators, Inc.

Review: When I signed up with Locators in May 2013, I was assured that I would recieve a list of available apartments for rent. I specifically asked about lanlords that participate in HUD housing assistance, and was told that all of the lanlords listed, were flexible. I paid $169.00 for the list + $9.00 feeto Western Union the money. When I started calling some of the numbers on the list, 2 of the lanlords didn't know what I was talking about. I continued calling numbers only to find that most of the landlords were not willing to participate in HUD. I called more phone numbers and was asked by a couple of the lanlords, "how did u get my number" ? When I told them Locators, they got rude andoffended. I feel that I was misled into thinking that this is a company that has a list of lanlords and their properties that were associated within the company. If I knew that the "list" was merely internet and newspaper listings, I never would've never signed up. I receive disability (limited income) . They knewthat. Didn't matter to them. They SCAMMED me anyway....Desired Settlement: I am requesting a total refund of $178.00$169.00 for "the list"$ 9.00 Western Union feeThat SCAM should be shut down !!!!!

Business

Response:

Enclosed you will find a letter of response from Locators,

Inc. explaining "our side" of the complaint which is being filed by Carrie

Simmons. Below, please find a detailed response to the complainant’s issues.

[redacted] states in her complaint that she was told that “All

of the landlords listed, were flexible.” And that some landlords did not

participate in HUD housing programs and other still did not know about

Locators.

In responding to this complaint, I can firstly and most

importantly no person at this company ever does nor have they ever said “ALL”

with regard to landlords, simply because of the fact that no two are the same! Accordingly,

I can deny that our representative told [redacted] that “All Landlords” will

participate in the section 8 programs.

What we DO… is ask the landlords and those that do are

clearly marked with a “S8” indicating that “PARTICULAR” landlord does in fact accept

section 8 participants.

Insofar as landlord being flexible, that is true. Many

landlords are flexible with many things. Term of lease, negotiable on rent

price, flexible with security deposits, Pets, etc. In this and every case when

we mention that landlords can be flexible we mean things like that. However, we

do not accept that a landlord is flexible with credit checks or with Section 8.

In these instances they either will or will not run a credit check. We do not

accept “Negotiable” in that case and we do not accept “Negotiable or flexible with

regard to Section 8. The landlord is either qualified to accept section 8 or

they are not.

If they are, then we mark the file as “S8.” The landlord

then has the option to accept a tenant that does NOT participate in section 8

just as easily as those who do, but we do not use flexible with regard to

Section 8 participation. At all.

I do not understand the part where she says “2

of the landlords didn't know what I was talking about.”

She goes on to say that “most of the landlords

were not willing to participate in HUD” That may be true but again, we

indicate that on every single landlord in our listings so there should be no

reason whatsoever for her to call a landlord that did not have the “S8”

indication in the information.

Then she states that when speaking with landlord she “…was

asked by a couple of the landlords, ‘how did you get my number?’ When I told them Locators, they got rude and

offended.”

To that end, I can say that we speak with each landlord but

it may be possible that as an example perhaps we spoke to “Mrs. Landlord” but

the tenant spoke with “Mr. Landlord” who did not know that the property was

listed in Locators. One reason is simply that we are free to all landlords or

perhaps the landlord simply forgot that they gave us the information. I don’t know,

but wither way, we don’t really concern ourselves if a landlord recalls listing

with us; it can happen; our chief concern is getting the prospective tenant in

touch with the landlord, and in this case, it worked out fine.

The customer paid for access to our database of rental

properties and clearly from her complaint we can see that indeed she got that.

She did contact landlords. Unfortunately, she did not like the results.

To that end however we MUST add that this customer, rather

than continue to use the service by logging in each day, she only viewed the

property listings on May 19th and again on May 28th which

is only two times. She signed up and began using the service on May 16th

and the service was good for 90-days or until August 14, 2013

We firmly believe that had she used the service as described

she would have been successful as most of our clients are. If not, as written

in the signed contractual agreement, we would have offered her a full refund.

However, refunds are given only to persons that use the service as described

for the duration of the term and have not moved.

Unfortunately that means that she is not now eligible for a

refund.

Additionally, we give clients 2 weeks AFTER the expiration

to apply for a refund. That date for her was August 29, 2013. We however did not

receive and such request from her.

In fact, the only contact we have had in regard to this

customer is this complaint filed 231 days or 7 months, 17 days from the date

she signed up with our service!

. Plus… We’re not a scam. We disclose everything in writing;

we offer a full refund to clients that do not move after using the service and

in this case, the customer used the service and spoke with landlords. The

problem is she only viewed the listings two time over the entire 90-day term.

We have addressed the concerns of the customer but she is

not eligible for a refund at this time

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I know what I was told by some of these lanlords. I am not going to stand by and let you

call me a liar. I refuse to argue with a SCAM ARTIST. I still have "the list" and all of the info.

Review: I paid $169.00 to the locators on March 1st 2013. The person I spoke with told me I would get my money back if I didn't find a place to live. The company is refusing to give my 169.00 back stating I didn't print out the listings and return them along with my current electric bill and letter. First its almost impossible to speak to someone in the "returning customers Que." I always, always have to select that I'm a new customer! and no one can ever help you! you have to write a letter to the "corporate office" to get a response. I explained that I was told I needed to send my faxed listings, I told them I never received them via fax and only looked online with my phone. I spoke with [redacted] she explained that was ok, and to say that in my letter. They denied it saying I didn't print all 15 pages of their listing to send as well. When I spoke with [redacted] again she told me to write a letter explaining that, I did. I spoke with [redacted] again and she said that they can see that I went on the website like I was supposed to. Then why won't my money be returned if they can tell that I obviously went up there almost everyday! I'm a single parent and 169.00 is a lot of money to me right now! I just want my money back since they can clearly see that I looked at the website and was told that the printed listings did not need to be sent.Desired Settlement: I just want my 169.00 back. No more letter right. I feel I complied with the rules and was told I didn't need to have faxed or printed listings.

Business

Response:

Enclosed you will find a letter of response from Locators,

Inc. explaining "our side" of the complaint which is being filed by **.

[redacted]. Below, please find a detailed response to the complainant’s issues.