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Jason R
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New survey sent out.

Post by Jason R » Apr 5th 2003, 3:08 pm

I want to make sure that everybody on my list has received a refund form email/snailmail/or refund.

Will post the results as they come in.

Jason

Jason R
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Post by Jason R » Apr 5th 2003, 10:05 pm

This is total bullshit.

I already received 168 responses for a survey with population of 931 people. (from past experience, the percentages tend to remain constant, +/- 2%.

Here is the pattern that is emerging.

*about 60% of the people received the email asking them to request a snail mail form. 40% didn't even know about it.

*Of those who received the email, 50.5% received the snail mail

*Of those who returned the snail mail, 44.9% received a refund.

Of those who received a refund, 82% received a refund through their credit card and not through AU.com.

I am not even counting people who did not return the snail mail form.

Let's see how this unfolds in the next few days. Ross will not get anymore chances and he has already been warned.

Jason Rosenfeld

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fnordboy
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Post by fnordboy » Apr 6th 2003, 5:42 am

I would like to say those numbers are surprising, but they really aren't. Did we really expect that ass to actually come through? :?

Jason R
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Post by Jason R » Apr 6th 2003, 11:25 am

Of course not. Although, now nobody can accuse us of not giving him a chance.

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Post by fnordboy » Apr 6th 2003, 1:24 pm

Jason R wrote:Of course not. Although, now nobody can accuse us of not giving him a chance.
We have bent over backwards and have given that crook all the chances in the world. Hell, we bent over forwards also and all took it nice and hard from him in the first place.

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Post by lance » Apr 6th 2003, 2:46 pm

fnordboy wrote:
Jason R wrote:Of course not. Although, now nobody can accuse us of not giving him a chance.
We have bent over backwards and have given that crook all the chances in the world. Hell, we bent over forwards also and all took it nice and hard from him in the first place.
Over a year at last count that this fiasco has gone on.

Best,

Lance Man

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kriddyboo
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Post by kriddyboo » Apr 6th 2003, 7:07 pm

Not that I'm trying to defend Ross in ANY way...

But at least people ARE getting refunded, which is more than that has been happening in the past six months. I mean (correct me if I read it wrong) almost 50% of the people who have sent back the refund form have been refunded. In the past six months, what was it 0% had been refunded.

I'm not saying AU is the greatest company in the world, but at least they are trying in some way to right SOME wrongs.

I myself, just sent back my refund form about 5 days ago. We'll see what happens...

"It can't rain all the time."

Jason R
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Post by Jason R » Apr 6th 2003, 8:10 pm

No, of those returning the form, the vast, vast majority of those who received refunds --closer to 90% of those claiming they got their money back only got refunds because their cards gave them the money. Not because Ross was feeling "generous." /sarcasm

In fact, one customer wrote "AU actually had the gaul to try to fight my overcharge refund."

That customer was required to reaffirm his/her claim in order for the CC company to refund the money.

Look at it as Ross does:

1) "We'll only email 60% of the people who were overcharged (and I only have names until July." If you were overcharged afterwards, I cannot contact you)

2) "Of those who respond, we'll mail the snail mail form to 50% of them"

3) "Of those who return the snail mail, we'll refund them in the order in which they were received."

It's not acceptable under any circumstances. It is actually against the law to require your customers to jump through so many hoops to get your money back. However, being a seasoned conman, Ross knows that.
kriddyboo wrote:Not that I'm trying to defend Ross in ANY way...

But at least people ARE getting refunded, which is more than that has been happening in the past six months. I mean (correct me if I read it wrong) almost 50% of the people who have sent back the refund form have been refunded. In the past six months, what was it 0% had been refunded.

I'm not saying AU is the greatest company in the world, but at least they are trying in some way to right SOME wrongs.

I myself, just sent back my refund form about 5 days ago. We'll see what happens...

"It can't rain all the time."

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kriddyboo
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Post by kriddyboo » Apr 7th 2003, 5:07 pm

All I was saying, is at least SOMETHING is happening...


"It can't rain all the time."

Jason R
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Post by Jason R » Apr 7th 2003, 5:14 pm

But nothing is happening.

A very, very small handful of people have received refunds from AU. The remainder received them from their credit cards. And that percentage hasn't changed much in months.

It is not an honest attempt to refund money to customers. It's just a way of making people feel hopeful that they will receive refunds.

And I'll never cease to be amazed at how well it works.

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Post by phelix » Apr 7th 2003, 10:52 pm

kriddyboo wrote:Not that I'm trying to defend Ross in ANY way...

But at least people ARE getting refunded, which is more than that has been happening in the past six months. I mean (correct me if I read it wrong) almost 50% of the people who have sent back the refund form have been refunded. In the past six months, what was it 0% had been refunded.

Statistics are a funny thing, in that you can make them say anything you want. Let's look at how many people are really getting their money back:

60% received email request form
50.5% of those received the snail mail form
--missing-- how many receiving the snail mail filled it out and mailed it
44.9% of those who mailed the form received a refund
18% of those receiving a refund received a refund from AU.

let's assume 100% for the missing percentage. If I remember my statistics properly, you just multiply those numbers together. So, you end up with:

2.44% of those owed money received a refund from AU.

4.08% of those receiving the email about the snail mail form received a refund from AU

8.08% of those who submitted the refund form received a refund from AU. If Ross was anything other than a crook, this number would be close to 100%.

Jason R
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Post by Jason R » Apr 7th 2003, 11:07 pm

Of those who received the snail mail form, 89.38% claim that they returned it.

Also, I now have several hundred additional emails for Ross for people who claim to have never received the original email.

What is he thinking? You cannot pull the wool over people's eyes when those people communicate with each other.

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Post by Brainiac » Apr 8th 2003, 5:12 pm

What I'm quite curious about is how the credit card companies are dealing with all of this. Granted, this whole AU snafu is just a drop in the bucket with all the millions of dollars they handle, but what sort of obligation does AU have to them? (Pardon my ignorance of how these financial matters transpire, ie whether my cc had already 'paid' AU for my double-bill before they issued me my refund, and consequently whether AU owes them anything).

I made SO much more progress with my cc because 1) they actually acknowledged receipt of my communications AND 2) followed through, so I'm absolutely not surprised that a majority of customers got refunded by their cc companies before AU even made a half-hearted effort to rectify the situation.
'There's something about my life. It's just automatically true that nothing actually happens.'

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kriddyboo
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Post by kriddyboo » Apr 12th 2003, 7:51 pm

Well I don't care what you say... something IS happening. I sent back the email, got the refund form 3 weeks later, sent it back, just got my refund check 10 days after I sent the form.

Now I know I can't be an isolated case, I'm just not that lucky. I think Another Universe (whoever is in charge) is trying to right some wrongs. I have kept up with this site to make sure I finally got my money back. If others don't have the perseverance to keep on, then who do they have to blame for not getting a refund.

So all I have to say is send the forms back. It really works...


This is Kriddyboo signing off... now that I have received my money back I won't be frequenting this forum anymore. Good luck to you all!

"It can't rain all the time"

Jason R
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Posts: 1627
Joined: Jan 30th 2002, 1:42 pm
Location: New York

Post by Jason R » Apr 12th 2003, 9:30 pm

Excuse me for disagreeing.

Someone (Ross)had your money for a year. You would not have gotten it if you didn't make a stink. You STILL haven't received all that you paid for.

Ross has a major problem with follow-through and with managing other people's money. Not just with this project. I've spoken with people who have worked with him in the past decade.

Here's what one person wrote to me this week:

"See, that's what I mean! In the article, you mentioned how he had a way of making you feel that everything was ok while he was screwing you over. That is exactly how he tried to handle me.

That is what I could never understand... How did he manage to get people to continue to give him money? I remember how he used to laugh after he'd get off the phone w/people calling him for money. He saw this all as a game. "How much can I get away with". I could never understand why people trusted him so much!"


The guy is a major dickhead.

I know he reads this site, so I'll make it clear. Ross is a crook. He is a liar. He only does things when he is cornered like a rat, when his own survival is at stake. So if that is what it takes to get refunds for everyone, I'm game.

I won't let people keep their guard down for one second, because if you read the other thread about the survey, an unacceptable number of people have received refunds, depsite the fact that he promised that everyone would be refunded by April 6. Big difference between 108 refunds (which I still have not verified, but I did receive the email addresses), and 1,200 people claiming overcharges.
kriddyboo wrote:Well I don't care what you say... something IS happening. I sent back the email, got the refund form 3 weeks later, sent it back, just got my refund check 10 days after I sent the form.

Now I know I can't be an isolated case, I'm just not that lucky. I think Another Universe (whoever is in charge) is trying to right some wrongs. I have kept up with this site to make sure I finally got my money back. If others don't have the perseverance to keep on, then who do they have to blame for not getting a refund.

So all I have to say is send the forms back. It really works...


This is Kriddyboo signing off... now that I have received my money back I won't be frequenting this forum anymore. Good luck to you all!

"It can't rain all the time"

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