Sunday, July 8, 2007

Project Payday Scam? Or Tar Baby?

I just signed up for www.projectpayday.com & what a mistake that was. It's supposed to be a way to make modest money online, but what a tangled web they weave. To find out about this opportunity, I clicked on a Google AdWords ad after a search & the ad said free free free:

Actual Google ad:

Make Money - Free
You won't get rich but you can make
a realistic $200 to $5,000 a month.
www.ProjectPayday.com

I was curious, because it sounded too good to be true, but the site had a good sales pitch & excellent graphics and video testimonial. All you have to do is give them your contact information & away you go! I did, but was frustrated when I saw the page it led to was another page with more Chinese finger cuffs.

The whole time you're on one of their pages, it says offer ends tonight at midnight, then they display today's date, but if you come back tomorrow, the date changes again to whatever date that day is. This is to create a false sense of urgency. It's even got a timer on the page, I got interrupted, so I wasn't able to finish in 30 minutes, so when I got back to page, all I had to do was refresh the page, and it started the clock over. That reminds me of the hard sell infomercials you see on late night TV, "Call in the next ten minutes, & you'll receive this extra bonus..." Please. Three years later, they're still running that same commercial. Their window of 10 minutes, just became 3 years. Nice.

Okay, what was supposed to be free is now $34.95 or you can sign up for one of the free offers below the page said. It just takes a minute, and you'll get instant access to Project Payday below, then you'll have all the goodies on the free offer, plus you'll get the stuff they were talking about to begin with (a complete online money making system). I chose to sign up for the free www.mydollarshop.com website. I was starting to get a little excited, though I had reservations because of the runaround I'd already gotten. My store was this one: http://glewood.mydollarshop.com/.

So, I signed up for my free dollar store website. Oh, now wait a minute, it's free except for $1.99 shipping. Hm, why can't an online store just give me everything I need to get started online? When I clicked on some of the links on that page to get a more complete understanding of what was going on, the web page thought I was leaving them without paying the $1.99 shipping, so out comes a pop up saying: Okay, for you, it's half price: .97 cents. I was frustrated but thought, "I'm almost done, just pay the measly .97 cents. Then, they charged my Visa card $1.04. Ow, another surprise, small, but the pattern is clear. I got my website: http://glewood.mydollarshop.com/ In order to activate it, I had to go to my email then, confirm that I accepted all the terms. What was advertised as a free website had become $1.04, now they are telling me it's not really free because you're actually signing up for a monthly charge, not a free website like they said. It's only a two week trial, then your credit card will be automatically hit for almost $39.95 a month. I went back to get my free business ebook that I had originally came to the site for and it wouldn't let me have the free book until I agreed to bend over every month for $39.95.

Here's their fine print:
"Also, by continuing you understand this offer includes a 14-Day Free Trial to the MyDollarShop.com website, which can help you create an additional income using the tools and strategies inside. After the 14-Day Free Trial period, you will continue to enjoy full membership at an affordable $39.95 per month billed automatically to your credit card. "

I felt taken. I did everything I could to cancel everything, but I am still not sure if I did, so I still might be hit with that free business for $39.95 a month.

But Glen, can you make money? Yes, I suppose if you want to market this way, you could make some money. But how could you live with yourself. I am so over www.projectpayday.com. It's a tar baby, at best.

What companies were comfortable enough with the marketing tactics that they are in cahoots with them?
www.mydollarshop.com
www.grantsecretsexposed.com
www.bidfuel.com
www.workathomemanifesto.com
www.blogtoolkit.com
www.stamps.com
www.blockbuster.com
www.advantagelanguage.com
www.privacymatters123.com
www.smartfinances.com
www.hydroderm.com
www.essentiallivingsupport.com
www.myhealthweightloss.net
www.surveyscout.com
www.paidgameplayer.com

I can't believe companies like www.stamps.com & www.blockbuster.com are okay with this kind of smoke & mirrors marketing. It's bait and switch like a used car salesman in a plaid jacket complete with cigar. It's a shame, because the marketers & webmasters have great talent. Their site looks great, but in my opinion, they took the low road.

Everything is legal and disclosed in faded grey fine print on the site, however I believe they could have made better choices because it's clear that they are very talented. They are not a scam, but they are a tar baby from where I sit.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Glen: i found you on google when i googled for smartfinances.com which is one of the sites i chose when i signed up for projectpayday.com (i'm an elderly widow, who didn't realize what she got herself into). the shipping was 1.97 which became 2.97 for shipping, which i didn't want to fight about.
my main concern is the 39.95 which smartfinances will charge me after the 14 days (like your mydollarshop.com). i tried to get hold of smartfinance via phone which was indicated on the mailed cds folder, but....the phone had a fast busy signal meaning that it's a fake # that doesn't get answered. if you want to try it866 407-1009. i want to let them know at this point, i want notjhing to do with them when it is a bait and switch from the beginning. what is your suggestion to not get charged for the 39.95? thanks for your input.

Anonymous said...

To get your money back, read the policies at the bottom of the website. Find out how to cancel. Do it to the letter. They canceled me.

Second, call your credit card dispute department. They will help you resolve it if the company doesn't let you cancel. They will require that you contact the company first.

Document everything.

Anonymous said...

I found out that if you're a member you can still make money from their referral program. I saw this video on youtube where a girl was making hundreds a week.

this is the video
http://cashkube.com/projectpaydaygirl.html

Anonymous said...

Well, I've looked it over, and I'm totally unimpressed. All these "offers" out there for people to work at home and get paid - as long as you part with a bunch of money up front.

Just once, I'd like to find a project that was really and truly free ...

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this information! I was all ready to sign up for project payday when I came to the page where you had to sign up for an offer or pay $39.95. I decided I had better do a search to see if anyone had bad things to say about it, and that led me to this sight. Thanks to you, Glen, I will not be wasting my time or money on project payday.

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU GLEN!!!!!
I am a stay home mom and I get paid to take surveys. I found "Project Payday" on one of my survey sites. I was very interested, but it sounded much too goo to be true. I googled it and found you. Thank you for sharing this information. I'm trying to Make Money not owe it.

Anonymous said...

If you want to bypass the whole project payday ebook becouse when you purchace project payday it is just a set of instructions. go to www.freelunchroom.com the book is going to have you deal with that web site anyways. you can get instructions of free on that site. it will save you the 39.95 and you get it for free, you also can get people to help you get started for free. but you will still have to do trial offers that is the way the whole thing works. just sign up for free and you can make money with this system, but it does take work. and you will have to do trail offers that you may or may not be interisted in. but most of the offers that you do, you will be able to cancel vary easy by calling them most have good customer service dept.. make sure if you do this that you keep vary good track of the differt offer that you sing up for. you cant just ignore what site you sign up for. this will also help you in the long run as you progress in the system. you mite still have to pay a dollar or two for the trail offers, but you will make more than you spent, if you are smart about it. or insted of all of this and you want projest payday just PAY FOR IT!, dont do the offers that say that you can get it for free if you do this offer. that will save you the headache. i hope this helps!!!