National Association of Professional Women

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

NAPW Claims they have issued a credit as per the information below that was copied from their lengthy response. As of today, July **, 2015, a credit has not been applied to my account. Please advise the amount of the credit and when it will be processed. I have unsubscribed from your email list. I never once used any NAPW benefit. I did not receive a reminder via email. I did not receive a postcard reminder. I could not end my membership through the online account. Again simply stated, I want a refund.
  As a courtesy, we have issued a credit to [redacted]
[redacted]’s account and we have also deactivated the automatic renewalfunction of her membership, so that it will not renew. We also invite her tocontact us so that we can assist her in using her membership benefits.
 
 
In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

We will submit the check request as indicated.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response...

made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved. 
 
Yes, I did FINALLY receive the check on Friday June [redacted]. I have deposited it to my account and consider this closed, unless it bounces.
Thanks,
 Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
At this time, I have not been contacted by National Association of Professional Women regarding complaint ID [redacted].
Sincerely,
[redacted]

I responded to a free membership ad on [redacted] and received a phone call a few months later. They said they needed to conduct a phone interview to see if I was suitable for the organization. The lady then congratulated me that I was accepted and then proceeded to tell me the cost of the membership. She made it sound like the fee was $9.89, so I provided my cc information. Upon billing confirmation, I discovered she was actually about to charge me $989.00!!!, to which I said no. At this point the sales lady began to get pushy and offer me other membership packages, none of which were less than 99.00. I declined all other offers. The whole experience was very fishy, and I am probably going to cancel that cc

The incorrect response was given in complaint [redacted]. This complainant is not a member; we removed her information from our contact database and will not contact her. The response was for a...

different complaint.
[redacted]

We are sorry that
[redacted]’s experience with the NAPW has been less than ideal – we do strive
to provide our members with resources and benefits to enhance and improve their
lives, both personal and professional.  We encourage and expect our
members to...

avail themselves of those benefits and to contact us with any
questions or problems regarding their memberships. Members who do take the time
to explore and take advantage of the myriad resources available will find
tremendous value in being a member of the NAPW.
 
This is a disappointing message
to receive from [redacted] as her case is unique and it looks like a small
miscommunication led to this situation. An inability to reach her by phone when
she first contacted us has compounded the situation.
 
[redacted]’s friend, to whom
she alludes in her complaint, contacted us in order to make it possible for [redacted] to attend our annual Conference. One [redacted] explained what she wanted
to do for [redacted], our staff went to great lengths to authorize our highest
level of membership, with all of the attendant benefits, including unlimited
free seminars and webinars and other valuable resources in addition to her
Conference admission. We do make exceptions to our in certain circumstances and
in this case, we endeavored to complement [redacted]’s generosity.
 
We set up this membership so
that our normal automatic protocols – renewal, consideration for membership
upgrades and the like – were deactivated. This was done at [redacted]’s request.
 
Unfortunately, technology is
imperfect, and [redacted] was accidentally selected for consideration by our VIP membership
committee and was contacted on June *, 2014. This is the call to which she
alludes in her complaint.  The
representatives who contact the VIP candidates work with a list of questions
with the assumption that the member in question went through the typical
enrollment interview and subsequent nomination vetting.  We can certainly understand [redacted]’s
confusion about being considered – her membership was set up by her friend and
she never did have the initial enrollment interview, and her name was
mistakenly added to the list of Women of the Year nominees.
 
[redacted] sent us an email on July *, 2014, which she copied in her
complaint. We attempted to reach her by phone on July *, and again on July *.
The number we have for her did not permit us to leave a voice mail message, so
we sent an email to her requesting that she call us back at her earliest
convenience.  She did not. Instead, she
sent a second email, accusing us of ignoring her request. We again attempted to
reach her by phone and again were unable to speak with her or leave a voice
mail. A second email message was sent to her and over the next few weeks,
attempts were made to reach her by phone. No one answered, there was no voice
mail set up.
 
We did respond to all of [redacted]’s emails. The fact that she did
not answer the phone, or have a voice mail option is beyond our control. She
did not read our emails – which may have gone into spam or quarantine.  It is unfair of her to claim that we have
ignored her requests simply because she was not available to answer the phone,
does not have voicemail and did not read her emails. Nor did she provide any
additional contact information in her emails to us. We made every effort to
communicate with her to resolve her complaint. Our records and logs are
available for review if necessary. 
 
The call by our VIP representative to [redacted] was not an act of
malice or unethical; it was simply an error. 
We take the claim that a member was "scammed" or that a
charge was unauthorized very seriously.   NAPW provides an amazing value for the
membership fee.  Included in ALL memberships levels are webinars,
seminars, discounts, perks, online networking access and in-person chapter
affiliation as well as a myriad of other benefits.  Our organization is
growing, expanding and moving forward through numerous initiatives, strategic
alliances and corporate affiliations; offering members additional avenues to
ASPIRE, ACHIEVE and CONNECT.  
 
Every member of NAPW's management team works diligently to
deliver maximum value to our members, and any claim that someone was
"scammed" is demonstrably false.  We currently have almost
a half-million satisfied members, all of whom are free to use our online
networking portal, which gives our members more connectivity options
and far more ability to promote themselves than other networking sites. 
We have over 300 local chapters across America, in which tens of thousands of
our members get together to take their online experience into the real world
and create incredible connections with other professional women. These local
chapters are constantly implementing new ways for the local members to
interact.  We encourage of our members to
join all of the chapters in their area - this gives them more opportunities to
attend events that fit their busy schedules and widens the circle of local
women with whom to network.
 
Moreover, we host an annual National Networking Conference
where almost two thousand members where members from all over the country enjoy
an unforgettable day of networking, panel discussions, workshops and
presentations from extraordinary women like [redacted]
and [redacted].  
 
Additionally, we are constantly providing and working to
upgrade the secondary benefits such as free or discounted continuing
education through leading providers like Lorman Education and National
Seminars Group; shopping and other discounts through a number of partnerships,
including exclusive sponsors like Lenovo, one of the world's largest computer
suppliers; and interesting topical content provided through our social media
and other outlets.  Again, our entire team is working hard every single
day to build these partnerships, identify and create content, and make greater
benefits available to our members.
 
We have deactivated [redacted]’s membership, and requested that
she be removed from any future emails. This may take at least ten days to be
completed, during which she may continue to receive scheduled messages which
are already in queue to transmit.
 
There is no refund due to [redacted], or to [redacted], as the fee
paid was for the annual Conference which took place in April 2014.
 
We invite [redacted] to contact us directly to go over her
membership and show her the enormous value our resources can provide for her.

We are sorry that[redacted]’s experience with the NAPW has been less than ideal – we do striveto provide our members with resources and benefits to enhance and improve theirlives, both personal and professional.  We encourage and expect ourmembers to avail themselves of those...

benefits and to contact us with anyquestions or problems regarding their memberships. Members who do take the timeto explore and take advantage of the myriad resources available will findtremendous value in being a member of the NAPW. Our members are entitled to betreated with utmost respect and empathy, and every person on the NAPW team istrained to work with our members to resolve any issues; however, there areprotocols and policies which must be followed.  These policies are companywideand all of our team members are required to follow them. [redacted] authorized the December *, 2014 charge reflecting her annualmembership dues.  During her initialenrollment interview, our representative went over the membership, beginningwith the most comprehensive package – part of the goal of the interview is todetermine the best package to fit the member’s goals and budget. We want themto get the maximum benefits for the money, which is why they offer the optionsin the order they do. [redacted] selected our most basic paid membership. Ourrepresentative also explained that NAPW uses an automatic renewal process,designed to protect [redacted]’s enrollment in and uninterrupted access tothe benefits provided by NAPW and its business partners.  Prior to concluding the interview, ourrepresentative specifically informed [redacted] that her annual membershipwould automatically renew.  [redacted]had the opportunity to opt out of our automatic renewal program at that time. NAPWemploys a comprehensive call recording and auditing function.  Our staff reviews the recording of eachcompleted interview for multiple compliance points, including that therepresentative explained the automatic renewal process as described above. Aspart of our investigation into this case, we reviewed that call again and [redacted] was made completely aware of these points at the time. This interviewis available for review if required.  Duringthe initial enrollment interview, our representative explained that [redacted] would receive an email (within 24 hours) containing login informationfor access to our members’ portal.  Ourrepresentative further explained that [redacted] should review our Terms& Conditions.  Subsequent to loggingin but prior to accessing her benefits, she was required to review and acceptthose Terms & Conditions.  Therein, shewas provided with the details of our automatic renewal policy, which waspreviously explained during the initial enrollment interview.  We know that she did this because the login informationwas changed by her – something which cannot be done without accepting the termsand conditions.  Throughoutthe year, NAPW made available to [redacted] a comprehensive membershipservices staff, which is qualified to field all inquiries and would have beenable to work with her had she elected to opt out of her automatic renewal (orany other questions she may have had). NAPW publicizes the availability of this staff through multiplededicated pages.  See [redacted].  Each of these pages publishes the contacttelephone numbers and email addresses, and provides a convenient form whichthis member could have submitted at any time if she wished to engage our stafffor any reason, including opting out of her automatic membership renewal. From dayone of [redacted]’s enrollment with NAPW, we communicated via email using theaddress she provided: [redacted],which is also the same as in this complaint. Email was clearly the primary communication channel, by which [redacted] received her monthly newsletters and numerous other organizationalannouncements.  A postcard reminder wasmailed at the end of October to the address provided by her at the time ofenrollment, which is the same as the one provided here. Additionally, wellbefore it was processed, NAPW sent [redacted] a courtesy reminder of herupcoming renewal transaction via email, and another reminder a week later. We havereviewed all of our records.  [redacted] did not contact us to cancel her scheduled renewal prior toprocessing, as required by our Terms & Conditions, so her renewal wasprocessed as she previously authorized.   [redacted] did contact us on December *, 2014,and she was rude, unreasonable, threatening and abusive. Apparently, she believesthat it is our fault that she failed to pay attention to her business. Shedemanded to be the exception to the rules which apply to everyone else.  As a member of the [redacted] profession, sheshould be familiar with [redacted] and understand that while there might beexceptions to the rule, her choice to ignore the reminders did not qualify. Sheinsisted that because she intended to cancel her membership, we should haveknown this and demanded a refund. Engaging in more flawed logic for her argument, she then accused us ofnot knowing what is going on in her life – obviously, as she did not advise us ofany problems or issues. She then demanded to know what we would do if she had ahandicap, and we explained, for the fourth time, that we cannot know thesethings unless we are advised by the member.  We have refunded all of [redacted]’s renewalfee, and we are happy to have the opportunity to explain why it was charged inthe first place.

We are sorry that
[redacted]’s experience with the NAPW has been less than ideal – we do strive to
provide our members with resources and benefits to enhance and improve their
lives, both personal and professional.  We encourage and expect our
members to...

avail themselves of those benefits and to contact us with any
questions or problems regarding their memberships. Members who do take the time
to explore and take advantage of the myriad resources available will find
tremendous value in being a member of the NAPW.
 
Our members are entitled to be
treated with utmost respect and empathy, and every person on the NAPW team is
trained to work with our members to resolve any issues; however, there are
protocols and policies which must be followed.  These policies are companywide
and all of our team members are required to follow them. A [redacted] would
have explained the same things to [redacted] and had the same resolution as
speaking to the representative with whom she dealt.
 
[redacted]
authorized the August *, 2014 charge reflecting her annual membership
dues.  During her initial enrollment
interview, our representative went over the membership, beginning with the most
comprehensive package – part of the goal of the interview is to determine the
best package to fit the member’s goals and budget. We want them to get the
maximum benefits for the money, which is why they offer the options in the
order they do. [redacted] selected the Preferred membership.
 
Our
representative also explained that NAPW uses an automatic renewal process,
designed to protect [redacted]’s enrollment in and uninterrupted access to the
benefits provided by NAPW and its business partners.  Prior to concluding the interview, our
representative specifically informed [redacted] that her annual membership would
automatically renew.  [redacted] had the
opportunity to opt out of our automatic renewal program at that time.
 
A
postcard reminder was mailed at the end of June to the address provided by her
at the time of enrollment, which is the same as the one provided here.  Those postcards arrive within a few days. Additionally,
well before it was processed, NAPW sent [redacted] a courtesy reminder of her
upcoming renewal transaction via email, and another reminder a week later.  We do work with our members who contact us
prior to the actual processing of the renewal – however, once it is processed,
our options are reduced.  We have already
submitted subscriptions for outside services for the upcoming year, and those
fees are not refundable to us. This is why we do ask our members the courtesy
of advising us that they do not plan to renew.  [redacted] states that she received that email
on July **, 2014 and had she contacted us at that time, we would have been able
to prevent her renewal from processing. She chose not to do so, and so her
renewal proceeded as she had previously authorized.
 
NAPW
employs a comprehensive call recording and auditing function.  Our staff reviews the recording of each
completed interview for multiple compliance points, including that the
representative explained the automatic renewal process as described above. As
part of our investigation into this case, we reviewed that call again and [redacted]
[redacted] was made completely aware of these points at the time.
 
During
the initial enrollment interview, our representative explained that [redacted]
would receive an email (within 24 hours) containing login information for
access to our members’ portal.  Our
representative further explained that [redacted] should review our Terms &
Conditions.  Subsequent to logging in but
prior to accessing her benefits, she was required to review and accept those
Terms & Conditions. Therein, she was provided with the details of our automatic
renewal policy, which was previously explained during the initial enrollment
interview. .  She changed her login
information, which is also suggested when the member chooses to accept those
terms and conditions, so we know that she was aware of the renewal policy. NAPW’s
Terms & Conditions are available at [redacted]  
 
Throughout
the year, NAPW made available to [redacted] a comprehensive membership services
staff, which is qualified to field all inquiries and would have been able to
work with her had she elected to opt out of her automatic renewal (or any other
questions she may have had).  NAPW
publicizes the availability of this staff through multiple dedicated
pages.  See [redacted].  Each of these pages publishes the contact
telephone numbers and email addresses, and provides a convenient form which
this member could have submitted at any time if she wished to engage our staff
for any reason, including opting out of her automatic membership renewal.
 
From day
one of [redacted]’s enrollment with NAPW, we communicated via email using the
address she provided: [redacted], which
is the same one she provides in this complaint. 
Email was clearly the primary communication channel, by which [redacted]
received her monthly newsletters and numerous other organizational
announcements. 
 
We have
reviewed all of our records.  [redacted]
did not contact us to cancel her scheduled renewal prior to processing, as
required by our Terms & Conditions, so her renewal was processed as she
previously authorized.  In fact, our
membership services department had made several attempts to reach out to [redacted]
[redacted] to explain her benefits and assist her in accessing them, leaving voice
mail messages which were not returned.
 
[redacted] did contact us on August *, 2014, and
was extremely rude to the representative to whom she spoke and initially did
not want to listen to anything. However, once given the opportunity to explain
why her membership was renewed and the value of the benefits that she has, our
representative did issue a partial refund to her.
 
As per that conversation, we have issued a credit
to [redacted]’s account and we have also deactivated the automatic renewal function
of her membership, so that it will not renew.

information was removed from our database and this person will not be contacted again.
[redacted]

As a courtesy, the full amount has been credited back to [redacted]' card.

This member has been refunded.  Due to the age of her account, it was not possible to credit her credit card, but a...

check requested has been submitted in the amount of $1,188.  This check should be issued within the next 7-10 days and will be sent directly to the member's address on file? [redacted].
[redacted]

This member will be issued a check for $694.00, which will be mailed to the address shown in the complaint. Due to the age of the transaction, it is not possible to issue a credit directly through the card billed. This check should arrive within two weeks.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.Thank you. I received my $500 refund. Good luck to all. 
Sincerely, [redacted]

A full refund will be issued to this member. Due to the fact that the original charge is over six months old, we will be issuing a check and mailing it to the address shown in the complaint. This should be received within two weeks.

Our check #[redacted] was mailed to [redacted] on May *, 2014.

We have refunded the balance of the upgrade, and we are
investigating the other claims before taking any further steps. We do not prey
on women - we invite them to participate with other professionals and we provide
a number of benefits and resources specifically chosen and...

created to enhance
each member's life - both on a professional and personal level. Members who do
take advantage of these benefits have grown their business networks, improved
their skills and expanded their horizons.
We take the claim that a member was "scammed" or that a charge was
unauthorized very seriously.   NAPW provides an amazing value
for the membership fee.  Included in ALL memberships levels are webinars, seminars,
discounts, perks, online networking access and in-person chapter
affiliation as well as a myriad of other benefits.  Our organization is growing,
expanding and moving forward through numerous initiatives, strategic alliances
and corporate affiliations; offering members additional avenues to ASPIRE,
ACHIEVE and CONNECT.  
Every member of NAPW's management team works diligently to deliver maximum
value to our members, and any claim that someone was "scammed"
is demonstrably false.  We currently have almost a half-million
satisfied members, all of whom are free to use our online networking
portal, which gives our members more connectivity options and far
more ability to promote themselves than other networking sites. 
We have over 300 local chapters across America, in which tens of thousands of our
members get together to take their online experience into the real world and
create incredible connections with other professional women. These local chapters
are constantly implementing new ways for the local members to interact.
 We encourage of our members to join all of the chapters in their area -
this gives them more opportunities to attend events that fit their busy
schedules and widens the circle of local
women with whom to network.
 
We also host an annual National Networking Conference where almost two thousand
members where members from all over the country enjoy an unforgettable day of
networking, panel discussions, workshops and presentations from extraordinary
women like Sara Blakeley, Arianna Huffington,
Star Jones, Martha Stewart, Ivanka Trump, Randy Zuckerburg, Barbara Corcoran and
Robin Roberts.   Click here for more information.
Additionally, we are constantly providing and working to upgrade the
secondary benefits such as free or discounted continuing education
through leading providers like [redacted] and [redacted]
[redacted]; shopping and other discounts through a number of partnerships, including
exclusive sponsors like Lenovo, one of the world's largest computer suppliers;
and interesting topical content provided through our social media and other
outlets.  Again, our entire team is working hard every single day to build
these partnerships, identify and create content, and make greater benefits
available to our members.
We have also established the NAPW Foundation, which raises
money for organizations and charities which are important to women in general
and our members in particular. NAPW
Foundation’s philanthropic partners include [redacted], The
[redacted] and the [redacted].

We resolved this matter directly with [redacted] on December **, 2014.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
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Nevertheless, I believe their unethical business procedures should be made known so as to form a class claim.
Sincerely,
[redacted]