Complaint Review: Advent Product Development - Pawleys Island South Carolina

Hello to all

I am a 50-year-old electrical electronic engineer. I spent 17 years working as a lineman splicer. It was during that time that I came up with my invention. They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Well the place where I was working had a large number of homes that were feed with direct burial cable. In addition, the electrical subcontractors that put in the services used aluminum wire and then did not install it correctly, so within a few months, they started to fail it then became my partner and I job to find and repair the fault.

We had a fault locater but in the terrain that we were dealing with it was not very accurate and it was slow. As bad as it was to be out there at 2:00PM in July. Trying to find a fault in a street light feeder cable. It got much worse trying to find a fault in a main feeder to a house at 2:00AM in January when there is a family with a sick child whom has no heat because there is no power to run there central furnace. I am not particularly fond of digging test holes either. That is missing the fault by several hundred feet. I said there has to be a better way.

After much thought and some calculating and a few test circuits I came up with the Super Tracker which I used successfully for the remainder of time I was there.

One of the people that I worked with kept trying to get me to market it but I was afraid to try after getting ripped off for Teddy Ruxpen in the 80's. He even made suggestions for some improvements. As he rode Motocross for a number of years and his hearing was not nearly as good as mine. He suggested visual indication.

Well I never seem to have time to do any thing ells to it until the summer of 2006 when by the stroke of a pin (clerical err) I was put off on workers comp. There was nothing wrong with me at that point. At least that would stop me from doing my job. This was repercussions from an earlier injury. I was upset at first. Then I said hay this is probably all that I will get out of all I had been threw a paid vacation.

Shortly after being placed back on workers comp salary replacement, I received a call from a friend of mine who wanted to know if I could come and locate a fault in a cable for him. It was on a pivot that is one of those things, which Farmers use to Irrigate there fields. With the pivot not working, the field dries out crops die bad thing. Therefore I said sure I will be right out. Well it took me about 30 min to check 1800ft of cable and find the Initial fault, plus an additional compromise in the cable that had not yet blown up but would have shortly.

When I got back home I started thinking right now I have the time that I need to redesign the Super Tracker and ad all the new features that I had been wanting to and never had the time. With a couple trips to the hardware store and Radio Shack and about 190-230Hr's at my workbench The Super Tracker II is born. I had just begun the testing phase of The Super Tracker II. When my friend called again. He said we have another boggy (Fault) I told him I just finished redesigning the Super Tracker. That I now have the Super Tracker II and that I was hopping for a chance to test it in the field. Vary convenient that you called.

I found the fault so fast that I was both impressed and disappointed. Once I had the equipment setup, I had the fault located in about three- 4 min. That seemed somewhat uneventful. I told him that I am going to walk the hole thing and I found a second boggy near the other end of the cable. This one like once before had not blown up yet. When we drove the marker stakes had they been long enough they would have been right threw the fault but this cable is 7ft deep.

I now was feeling quite confident with the Super Tracker II. I started looking for someone to help me get a Patton and market it. That is when I found Advent Product Development. (APD) I checked them out on the web and could not find any bad stuff about them at that time. I did find some bad stuff on a couple of other firms. Moreover, maybe I am not very good at finding stuff out like that on the net well I tried any way.

So I called and spook with a man named Alfonso B Island (Abe) at there Sandi ago CA. office and he wanted me to come and meet with him to discuss my invention. Therefore, we set up an appointment and I made the 400 mile round trip. I took my proto type with me and gave him a demonstration. He was vary impressed with

The Super Tracker II We then went into his office and he explained there program to me.

He Explained that the program was in two parts phase one and phase two. In phase one he said that they had an attorney do a Patton search and a marketability study and right a full report, which I would receive. He said that phase one was going to cost $1190.00 and that it was the most risky part because if something turned up like it in the Patton search.

That was it and I would be out the $1190.00 but if it came back good, it would be on to phase two, which would cost between $8000.00-$12000.00 Dollars. He went on to tell me that in phase two the money would find me. That it was a sure enough thing at that point that I would have investors lined up wanting in.

I explained that I did not have that much money to invest into it that I had talked to a Patton Attorney prayer to getting hold them APD and that he wanted $7500.00 to do a Patton whether a Patton was obtainable or not and that I just did not have that kind of money ling around.

That is when I got hold of APD. I thought that APD would help me get it to market for a shear of the profits. He explained that APD could not directly invest in my invention because that would make them a partner. That would make it a conflict. That would be illegal. He then explained that APD got 20% of what ever I made off the deal whether I license a company to produce them or sell the Patton out right. Then he said that if I did not have the $1190.00 that he could arrange financing with Triad a finance company that they often use. He said that I would only have to put down about half $595.00 and make the rest in three Monthly payments.

I decided that this was my best option. I gave him my ATM /Debit and signed phase one agreement. We shook hands he said good look and I headed home. Shortly after making the last of the three Monthly payments, I got a call from Abe he said its good news. Robert I have the report back and I need you to come down so I can go over it with you. The Patton search shows that you have a Patton able idea.

In addition, the main office is vary excited about it. They think it is a good product so we need to go to phase two. I said so how much do I need now to go to phase two he said that would be $9240.00 However that I could finance half that with $5040.00 down I said well I dont have that much right now I will have to look for an investor or two. As you said, I should have no problem finding an investor now. I will get back with you later after I find a prospective investor or two. I will bring them with me so they will be able to hear what is in the report as well.

Over the next year, I talked to many people, Friends family coworkers so on. No one had the money. They either had it tied up in something ells or just did not have it or maybe some of them even saw this site and were scared away. Over this time, Abe called a couple times just to see how things were going. And I called him once a couple of months ago when I thought that I mite have found an investor. When it turns out that, my investor backed out I decided to make a trip down to meet with Abe and go over the report. I thought that maybe with the report in my hand that I mite be able to convince some one to invest.

About three weeks ago, I got a Letter from the regional director of APD Dave Heine. That letter stated that they thought that my invention had such potential that they were dropping the cost of phase two from $9240.00 to $5950.00 and pre-arranged financing so that all I needed $1995.00 which I had in savings. Which I quickly with drew to get things started on phase two. that was late Friday 11/9/07 on Tuesday 11/13/07 I got to work and my work partner whom was one of the people that I talked to about investing and he was still looking in to it and discussing it with his wife.

He handed me a hand full of stuff that his wife found on the internet about APD. Showing that they were previously, NISI (National Invention Services Inc) and they had been prosecuted by FTC for fraudulent and misleading practices. After which they changed there name and between this site and several others there are latterly hundreds of horror stories there is even one video on you tube. Moreover, the bad thing I cannot find any thing positive on them at all anywhere.

And though I have not officially been ripped off yet until they fail to deliver on there promises well with all that smoke there has to be some fire so, I tried to stop the ATM /Debit card payment but my bank said that it would take up to three days for the stop payment to take effect. So it went thru now I have to try to get my money back from APD and when they refuse then I have to file a claim with the claim's dept at my bank and let them handle it.

Bottom line I have to start over now. However, whom do I trust? Is there a firm out there that will do this honestly that actually has the resources and Expertise?

If there is how do I find them, how do I tell them apart from the scam artist's is it just luck? Has any one out hear ever actually gotten any thing marketed threw any one of these firms? On the other hand, does any one know of a documented case of some one who has had success? If so, please post it. Thank you

PS I will update this as things develop good or bad.

Bob

Barstow, California

U.S.A.