SMS Masterminds

It has been about 3 years now and I also fell for this disgusting form of a company they are very good at selling the idea that this is a full functioning company but that is not the case. This place brought me to an all time low but by the grace of God I came out of this I ended up having to sell my home and cars that way we could completely detach our self from this. I also was not only aiming on removing the debt of this failure but also all of my debt. so I had to take drastic measures to never live like that again. After the money back guarantee period I let them know it was just not something that was possible for me to do or continue so I was glad that the guarantee was about to happen and they told me that that was not going to happen because they had 7 customers that they could send me but again I was never able to find anyone who wanted this product. just didn't make sense to me that they always had an ace in the hole to just throw customers at you and you not know for sure if they would continue to stay customers to you and expenses would grow to a $1000 a month so I settled my loses and told them to close my account and I would figure out what I had to do to pay them back. so after everything I owed them $35k and owed another company $5k for finding me the money for it to happen. so I had endured an extra$40k and had to pay it in 7 years per our agreement. but I now 3 years later it was that aha moment I needed to completely rid myself of debt and in a 2 year time God my wife and me were able to rid ourself of $163k with an income of only 58K a year along with taking up my urge to start donating 10% of my revenue to the church I went to. This is our tragic but blissful story that completely changed our lives.

Complaint: I am rejecting this response because: What SMS Masterminds is telling is completely wrongThey are just faking up to keep my MoneyActually a Sales agent from SMS Masterminds (Amit Mehta) contacted meHe said that an existing business is for sale, they own that company, and GoAustinVIP is franchise owned by SMS MastermindsHe represented all wrong numbers to meHe said he will contact J [redacted] (former owner)I’m not sure what SMS Masterminds discussed with himThe company made me to meed J [redacted] J [redacted] explained what he didAmit Mehta told that J [redacted] wife is suffering from cancer & that’s the reason he s=is selling the business and showed all wrong data to meLater after buyin the business, when I met J [redacted] , he said that her wife is completely fineAnd coming to the representation of the client that SMS Masterminds indicated: Actually I just met J [redacted] He did not represent me of anythingHe just explained me what the business doesSame as Amit Mehta explainedJ [redacted] represented nothing, and he said that SMS Masterminds is the owner & they will get you papersAs a corporate, SMS Masterminds represented GoAustinVIP, not J [redacted] Even the payment that was made by me is charged by SMS MastermindsI did not pay anything to J [redacted] SMS Masterminds is just indicating J [redacted] to mislead the caseHe has nothing to do with thisSMS Masteminds sent me Licensee agreement etc, J [redacted] did nothingAmit Mehta is the one who told me that he will get clients & he is the one who showed me wrong dataThe discounted Licensee fee is for selling, its not actually discountedCompany is just faking to keep my moneyI’m not selling SMS Masteminds for higher market priceTheir basic starter price is $if they are no clientsSince I have clients/merchants in my business, I approached SMS Masterminds and they are the one who told that I can sell for $since I have merchantsNow they are just blaming me, this is bac biting honestlyWhen the potential buyer is ready to buy, SMS Mastermeinds (James: Sales person) revealed my buying price to the person who want to buy & he backed out thinking he is getting cheatedSo now SMS Masterminds is trying to blame me for their mistakeI have a question to them, if their market price is $24000, can they sell their highest market for $Absolutely they won’tThe price depends on the merchants they holdAmit also showed me that my existing GoAustinVIP is making $2000/monthBut once I bought the business, I realized that the $is not that the existing market is makingOut of that $is their invoiceThey just faked the numbersSMS Masterminds is not a trustable companySMS Masterminds mentioned “When the prospective buyer found that out through a standard due diligence process”This is not trueIt was James for SMS Masteminds who revealed the price & he backed outDon’t blame me for mistakes you do Lastly, I paid SMS masterminds, and now I’m asking my money back because of fake numbers, wrong promises by companyAlso why did they lie that J [redacted] wife had cancer? Becase they knew that the business is in loss, and can make money out of meI feel SMS Masteminds is not a trust worthy companyI honestly did not receive any help from themAll they need is my moneyI’m not satisfied with the company & requesting my money back for cheating me Regards, K [redacted] ***

As Stated By the Business I’m reaching out today to respond to the complaint from the Customer, dated 10/19/Per our contract with the Customer’s, we are confident that we’ve delivered everything that we said we would and provided access to training, software licensing and ongoing support per the terms of that agreementWe do not make any specific claims within our agreement as to what business outcomes a user of our software and services might expectThat being said, we have agreed to grant the Customer’s request to be released from their contract and be absolved of the additional debts that they owe to our company, which is currently in excess of $20,I spoke with the Customer’s today, and let her know that I would be sending a cancellation agreement within the new few days, which once she signs, will release her from her contractual obligation to our company and the past due funds currently owed Please let me know if you have any further questions or need any additional clarification Best Regards, ***, VP of Operations SpendSmart Networks, Inc

Our assertions are not "Fake" as K*** states in his responseWe are a professional organization with hundreds of clientsWe are audited as a public company and do our best to provide the best quality of service to our clients.
K*** is incorrect in his assertion that SMS Masterminds owned "GoAustinVIP" as a franchiseSMS Masterminds does not own any of it's licensed territoriesWe did introduce K*** and Jym Daniels and charged OUR license fee, but did not own the business or territory ourselvesWe simply provided him with the ongoing service and support as is required by our terms of service within our support agreementI understand that K*** is asking for a refund and maybe has determined that he regrets licensing our software to build his business, but we have not breached any of our agreements with him and feel as though we've done as best we can to provide him with a graceful exit out of the businessIt's unfortunate that the sale of his business did not move forward, but selling his business was not something that we were responsible for and therefore cannot accept liability related to that transactionSMS Masterminds was under no obligation to provide a discounted license fee, even while K*** was attempting to sell his business, but we offered this accommodation in good faith in order to assist K***SMS Masterminds has many positive reviews and hundreds of happy customersWe cannot offer K*** a refund as we have not breached any agreement that he had with our organization and in fact went above and beyond to provide service and support that was well in addition to the deliverables that are promised within our support agreement

I purchased a license from SMS Masterminds in October of 2017. I worked hard to make a go of the business, but it did not work out. I had originally invested in the opportunity because they offered a 100% money back guarantee if after 6 months I did not have 10 clients, or $3k/month in revenue. At the 6 month mark, I had one client, so I terminated my license and requested a refund.
The management denied my request and tried to bully me into taking a small settlement instead. I had to take them to court to get my money back, where they lied about multiple items in an attempt to deceive the judge. They also counter-sued me for $75k due to my online reviews of my experience with them. This was just another attempt to get me to drop my case so they could keep my money.
Fortunately, I prevailed in my case against them and was awarded a full refund of my $34,900. They have yet to pay me, or establish any sort of payment schedule, so who knows if the saga is over.
I say Buyer Beware! They cannot be trusted to do the right thing.

I ran across this business opportunity on a site that advertised business opportunities. It billed itself as a loyalty/web marketing company. I was interested as I have an IT background and have worked in marketing for years, and developed enterprise class loyalty systems. The business seemed very straightforward. Customers sign on with the licensee to manage a text messaging platform that builds off of a loyalty kiosk. My sales rep told me that the average customer account was worth $300 a month. He said that they were so sure of their business model that they offered a Smart Start Guarantee. That if after 6 months of working their system I did not have 10 accounts or $3k/month in revenue, I would be entitled to a full refund of my $35k investment. That was a no brainer. They also told me that they had an internal team of appointment setters that would schedule me appointments, and that the close rate was 70%. How could I lose? Well, this is a scam. I went on over 70 of their pre-set appointments, and closed 1. This is not because I can't sell. I have been a successful salesperson my whole life. The program is not something most merchants want. On top of that, it isn't the latest and greatest technology in the space. There is a lot of competition from better sources, with less expensive and more robust solutions. One month from the date I was eligible to get my refund I sent my account manager an email stating my intent to request my refund. His only reply was that I wasn't eligible yet, and that I needed to wait. One week before my eligibility date, he called to ask if I would be willing to consider alternatives. He admitted to dropping the ball by not giving me the support I needed to succeed, but promised he would do better if I just gave them more time. I told him thanks, but no thanks. The next day he sent me an email advising me that instead of honoring their guarantee, that they would assign me 10 accounts, and that I would never get my money back. If you read the guarantee you can see how deceptive it is. It does not say that they maintain the right to assign you contracts to meet the threshold. On top of that, the accounts they assigned me were not even in my territory. There is a clause in the contract that states you cannot sell outside of your assigned territory, yet they assigned me contracts all over the country.

All in all I would advise anyone that is looking at SMSMM as a business opportunity to stay away. They are not honest brokers. They will not honor their guarantee. I do not want to see anyone else taken advantage of by these guys.

This company will make big promises to you up front about how new and innovative their technology is, that companies are eager for this service, and the market is very lucrative. This is all a scam! Small businesses will not be clamoring to use this technology as the competition has already done it better and more affordable (Square, 5 Star, Clover, etc). In addition, SMS Masterminds Smart Guarantee is a scam because they will ensure you never get your money back. You will invest a fortune upfront, but you will not earn what you’ve invested. It is a very poor investment. My recommendation is consult an attorney before doing any business with this company.

The assertions made by Kris in his complaint are not accurate. Kris purchased his license from an existing SMS Masterminds client (Jym Daniels), not SMS Masterminds directly. Any representations made by that client apart from our service level agreement/contract with us are outside of our...

control. (See attached license agreement).Regarding support, SMS Masterminds delivered on all aspects of our contract and has gone above and beyond to provide accommodations for Kris, as evidenced by the 2 attached hardship agreements, wherein we offered a discounted monthly license fee for a period of time on two separate occasions.
When Kris was attempting to resell his license/territory, he decided to market it at a price higher than SMS Masterminds' retail rate. When the prospective buyer found that out through a standard due diligence process, he backed out of the deal. This was not SMS Masterminds' responsibility or liability. Additionally, assistance in reselling a client territory is not something that is included as requirement of our contract with Kris. It was done as a courtesy and is yet another example of how SMS Masterminds' went above and beyond to try and assist Kris.
Lastly, SMS Masterminds did honor Kris' request to terminate when it was received in writing. 
In summary, SMS Masterminds' has in no way breached its agreement with Kris and has actually gone above and beyond to support Kris in his efforts.

Complaint: 11560167
I am rejecting this response because:
What SMS Masterminds is telling is completely wrong. They are just faking up to keep my Money. Actually a Sales agent from SMS Masterminds (Amit Mehta) contacted me. He said that an existing business is for sale, they own that company, and GoAustinVIP is franchise owned by SMS Masterminds. He represented all wrong numbers to me. He said he will contact J[redacted] (former owner). I’m not sure what SMS Masterminds discussed with him. The company made me to meed J[redacted]. J[redacted] explained what he did. Amit Mehta told that J[redacted] wife is suffering from cancer & that’s the reason he s=is selling the business and showed all wrong data to me. Later after buyin the business, when I met J[redacted], he said that her wife is completely fine. And coming to the representation of the client that SMS Masterminds indicated: Actually I just met J[redacted]. He did not represent me of anything. He just explained me what the business does. Same as Amit Mehta explained. J[redacted] represented nothing, and he said that SMS Masterminds is the owner & they will get you papers. As a corporate, SMS Masterminds represented GoAustinVIP, not J[redacted]. Even the payment that was made by me is charged by SMS Masterminds. I did not pay anything to J[redacted]. SMS Masterminds is just indicating J[redacted] to mislead the case. He has nothing to do with this. SMS Masteminds sent me Licensee agreement etc, J[redacted] did nothing. Amit Mehta is the one who told me that he will get 10 clients & he is the one who showed me wrong data. The discounted Licensee fee is for selling, its not actually discounted. Company is just faking to keep my money. I’m not selling SMS Masteminds for higher market price. Their basic starter price is $24000 if they are no clients. Since I have clients/merchants in my business, I approached SMS Masterminds and they are the one who told that I can sell for $27000 since I have merchants. Now they are just blaming me, this is bac biting honestly. When the potential buyer is ready to buy, SMS Mastermeinds (James: Sales person) revealed my buying price to the person who want to buy & he backed out thinking he is getting cheated. So now SMS Masterminds is trying to blame me for their mistake. I have a question to them, if their market price is $24000, can they sell their highest market for $24000. Absolutely they won’t. The price depends on the merchants they hold. Amit also showed me that my existing GoAustinVIP is making $2000/month. But once I bought the business, I realized that the $2000 is not that the existing market is making. Out of that $1800 is their invoice. They just faked the numbers. SMS Masterminds is not a trustable company. SMS Masterminds mentioned “When the prospective buyer found that out through a standard due diligence process”. This is not true. It was James for SMS Masteminds who revealed the price & he backed out. Don’t blame me for mistakes you do . Lastly, I paid SMS masterminds, and now I’m asking my money back because of fake numbers, wrong promises by company. Also why did they lie that J[redacted] wife had cancer? Becase they knew that the business is in loss, and can make money out of me. I feel SMS Masteminds is not a trust worthy company. I honestly did not receive any help from them. All they need is my money. I’m not satisfied with the company & requesting my money back for cheating me.
 
Regards,
K[redacted]

As Stated By the Business.
  I’m reaching out today to...

respond to the complaint from the Customer, dated 10/19/15. Per our contract with the Customer’s, we are confident that we’ve delivered everything that we said we would and provided access to training, software licensing and ongoing support per the terms of that agreement. We do not make any specific claims within our agreement as to what business outcomes a user of our software and services might expect. That being said, we have agreed to grant the Customer’s request to be released from their contract and be absolved of the additional debts that they owe to our company, which is currently in excess of $20,000. I spoke with the Customer’s today, and let her know that I would be sending a cancellation agreement within the new few days, which once she signs, will release her from her contractual obligation to our company and the past due funds currently owed.
  Please let me know if you have any further questions or need any additional clarification.
Best Regards,
[redacted], VP of Operations
SpendSmart Networks, Inc.

Complaint: 11560167
I am rejecting this response because:
There might be lot of customers who may be  happy, as I don't know about them, it can be true or a lie. There might be also customers who will be unhappy, and I'm one of them
Yes the company (Sales Agent) faked by showing wrong numbers. Now they are defending themselves which is not fair as well. I have no dealing with J[redacted], SMS Masterminds talked with Jym & gave me the price. Later SMS masterminds processed the paperwork.
I did not receive any proper help from them. As per the company, when mentor comes they will get me at least 12-18 merchants. But that did not happen. Why?
If they are not owners, why did they charge $19000 money from me?
So I'm requesting this:
1) Either give my money back, or
2) get me 10 merchants as per sales agent which covers up the licensee fee or
3)sell my business for a reasonable price without charging me any fee each month (you can take the merchant fee after the charges if you want)
Regards,
K[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10865952, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to us and that we are awaiting the cancellation letter.
Regards,
[redacted] And [redacted]

I ran across this business opportunity on a site that advertised business opportunities. It billed itself as a loyalty/web marketing company. I was interested as I have an IT background and have worked in marketing for years, and developed enterprise class loyalty systems. The business seemed very straightforward. Customers sign on with the licensee to manage a text messaging platform that builds off of a loyalty kiosk. My sales rep told me that the average customer account was worth $300 a month. He said that they were so sure of their business model that they offered a Smart Start Guarantee. That if after 6 months of working their system I did not have 10 accounts or $3k/month in revenue, I would be entitled to a refund of my $35k investment. That was a no brainer.
Here is the exact guarantee:
5. SMART START GUARANTEE SMS Masterminds guarantees that either within 90 days of the completion of the three day on site training visit or within 150 days of the effective date of this Agreement whichever is longer, Licensee will either 1) have 10 merchant accounts, or 2) merchant revenue of $3,000. If neither event occurs, then Licensee shall be entitled to a refund of the Business Development Package Fee. The foregoing notwithstanding, to be entitled to the refund, Licensee must complete all the following requirements within the specified time frames: * Full payment of the Business Development Package Fee within 30 days of the effective date of this Agreement.

* Completion of the SMS Masterminds Boot Camp training course within 60 day of the effective date of this Agreement which includes but is not limited to completion of the authorize.net account, and confirmation of final business name and logo.

* Schedule and complete 6-10 merchant sales appointments for the three-day on-site training visit (this is in addition to the SmartAppointments scheduled by SMS Masterminds). These Licensee scheduled appointments must be scheduled per the Boot Camp requirements at least 24 hours before the three-day on-site training visit begins.

They also told me that they had an internal team of appointment setters that would schedule me appointments. How could I lose? This is also part of the scam. I went on over 70 of these appointments, and closed 1. This is not because I can't sell. I have been a successful salesperson my whole life. The program is not something most merchants want. On top of that, it isn't the latest and greatest technology in the space. There is a lot of competition from better sources, with less expensive and more robust solutions. One month from the date I was eligible to get my refund I sent my account manager an email stating my intent to request my refund. His only reply was that I wasn't eligible yet, and that I needed to wait. One week before my eligibility date, he called to ask if I would be willing to consider alternatives. He admitted to dropping the ball by not giving me the support I needed to succeed, but promised he would do better if I just gave them more time. I told him thanks, but no thanks. The next day he sent me an email advising me that instead of honoring their guarantee, that they would assign me 10 accounts, and that I would never get my money back. Here is the exact wording form his email - "in an effort to be as transparent as possible, there isn't a scenario that exists which would lead to the guarantee not being fulfilled, and thus, no situation which would lead to SMS Masterminds issuing a refund of any kind in regard to the guarantee." His boss Charles Gerencser then made it clear that they would assign me contracts and that would fulfill their obligation under the guarantee. If you read the guarantee you can see how deceptive it is. It does not say that they maintain the right to assign you contracts to meet the threshold. On top of that, the accounts they assigned me were not even in my territory. There is a clause in the contract that states you cannot sell outside of your assigned territory, yet they assigned me contracts all over the country.

All in all I would advise anyone that is looking at SMSMM as a business opportunity to stay away. They are fast talkers. They will not honor their guarantee. I do not want to see anyone else taken advantage of by these guys.

Review: Although this technology (SMS MASTERMINDS) appears to be working for some territories, it is not a one size fits all technology for every territory and it's a very expensive business to get involved with. We have requested to terminate our business contracts due to a misrepresentation with respect to potential profits regarding the territory (MYRTLE BEACH, SC), training, and medical reasons that create the inability to be successful in this business. The 3 day on site tactical training site was conducted for Engage but none was provided for Thrive. As previously mentioned SMS Masterminds appears to be working well in other territories, however it is not a great fit for areas that are heavily populated with tourist such as Myrtle Beach. In regards to misrepresentation of potential profits for the territory, we felt as though the market trends for this area was not fully evaluated/researched prior to releasing it for sale. This territory is heavily populated with tourist and therefore the SMS Masterminds technology and services is not a great fit for the Myrtle Beach location at this time. We notified SMS Masterminds on Sept 28, 2015 of the medical issues and wanting to cancel the contract and we were advise to sell the business for an additional fee of $5,800 through their services, considering that weve already paid over $11,000 to get into the business. All of our credit cards are now exhausted due to us trying to keep up with a $1,753.00 monthly business expense that is due to increase an extra $500 this October. This brought our total bill with SMS Masterminds to a grand total of $2,253.00 a month. We think that it would be unfair business practice intentionally sale a territory knowing that the product and or services is not suited for that location. Many businesses in the Myrtle Beach area close after tourist season and rely on the free magazine and coupon book for advertising purposes, which is another reason why this territory should not be open for resale. Please cancel our contracts and do not try to solicit this territory to another innocent person wanting to start their dream business.Desired Settlement: Cancel all contracts and return all equipment with further obligations owed.

Business

Response:

As Stated By the Business. I’m reaching out today to respond to the complaint from the Customer, dated 10/19/15. Per our contract with the Customer’s, we are confident that we’ve delivered everything that we said we would and provided access to training, software licensing and ongoing support per the terms of that agreement. We do not make any specific claims within our agreement as to what business outcomes a user of our software and services might expect. That being said, we have agreed to grant the Customer’s request to be released from their contract and be absolved of the additional debts that they owe to our company, which is currently in excess of $20,000. I spoke with the Customer’s today, and let her know that I would be sending a cancellation agreement within the new few days, which once she signs, will release her from her contractual obligation to our company and the past due funds currently owed. Please let me know if you have any further questions or need any additional clarification. Best Regards,[redacted], VP of OperationsSpendSmart Networks, Inc.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10865952, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to us and that we are awaiting the cancellation letter.

Regards,

[redacted] And [redacted]