Complaint Review: Kis Golf Country Club And Golf Acacemy - Concord North Carolina

After hardly getting any sleep last night, I got up this morning and showed up at KiS in Concord Mills at 9am to confront them; however, it was closed. I proceed to contact my Credit Monitoring company and spoke with the fraud department. They said it definitely sounded suspicious, updated my file with the information, and recommended I contact the following: Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Better Business Bureau (BBB), NC State Attorney General, file a police report, contact GE to ensure an account had not been opened, and collect the documents from the KiS. I then called the FTC and the supervisor said that was definitely fraud and she created the file for me with reference number. She suggested I follow through with my agenda. After work today, I met with a police officer at Concord Mills to file a police report. After explaining everything to him and showing him the documentation, he then contacted KiS to get their side of the story. Of course, the guy the signed the document gave him a BS story about how it's just for record keeping and just in case we wanted to purchase in the next 24 months yada yada yada. Well then why in the heck did you not sign the contract in front of us in the first place? I still think they are liars and would have sold the contract to GE had they had the chance. Anyway, since no account has been opened with GE, technically no crime has been committed. I'm fortunate though to have been so proactive to nip in the bud before I'm stuck with a huge purchase I did not authorize. The police officer did make copies of the evidence and created a file of the situation in case it's needed in the future. So now I've created a paper trail with my Credit Monitor, FTC, GE (I also called them and no account had been opened as of this morning), and filed the police report. If they are stupid enough to pin this bogus deal on me in the future, then I'm well protected and I actually dare them to. I could really use the money from a law suit. Again, this whole tour was nothing but a huge headache. Had they been more honest or ethical or even intelligent in their business practices, I sale in the future was not out of the question. But they have absolutely lost a potential client, lost the potential for referrals (which I may have done to friends who I know could afford such a luxury), and have yet again been exposed on Ripoff Report for their scheme. I hope many will benefit from what I and others on this website have gone through, in hopes to avoid a similar mistake. Please do your due diligence people, and don't be caught up in these emotional purchases...you'll regret it!!!!

Just like everyone else complaining on this website, we were also schemed into coming in for a "tour" to claim our $25 gift card to Outback (which ended up being to Longhorn) and the 3/2 day/night getaway. We also putted for the Bahama Cruise and I actually sank it on the second try. Of course we were ecstatic, but knew there would be a catch in the end. After we were shown a couple of things (how light the golf clubs are, and one of the simulators), we were taken to the back to watch a "28 minute" video. Our "caddie" escorted us in along with another couple and their "caddie", and we were met by another salesman who also gave his pitch and how it "changed his life." So after salesman #2 (which is the Marketing director for the store) gave his spill, the lights went out and the video I started. I immediately went to my trusty Blackberry and began locating blogs on this company. I was able to read enough at www.golfblogger.com to realize that this was no more than a pyramid scheme for those who could not afford it, but perhaps a decent gig for those who could. After all, who doesn't want a better golf game right? So after the video, we were met by yet another sales guy (sales guy #3), who also told us how this company changed his life, yada yada yada...We left the video room and were taken out to where the display clubs were. This is where they separate you from your spouse to try and sell each of you. We then proceeded to the "sales table" so they could try to close the deal. Of course, the "caddie" showed us the special $8000 vacation package that we could get only tonight if we committed. Then he showed us the prices that went from $3,000 to about $9,000 for various packages. He asked each of us what we thought and I basically told him that we were in no position financially or had the commitment opportunity at this time to purchase. He then says, what if I can give it to you for free? After I laughed at him, he got sales guy #3 back over to "show us the numbers." This is where the pyramid scheme comes in. Every person you send in you get $100. Every person you send in and buys you get another $100. So basically there showing you how it can be done for free. #3 actually told us he did with a credit card and it took him 19 months to pay it off, ROFL. So after telling him the vacation package didn't matter, and neither did the referral system, we were not interested in buying tonight. #3 told the caddie "fine, just write 'em up as a 'turn down' or something like that, and lock the deal in for them." This meant that the caddie can contact me in 6 months (which I told him that would be the minimum) and see if we might be ready to commit. This is where it gets VERY INTERESTING. The caddie asks if we want to sign the Contract Application and I look it over and said fine, but repeatedly made it clear and he confirmed that in no way were we committed or obligated to ANYTHING! So we fill out our names, email, address, and phone numbers, but I DID NOT fill out our DOBs. The caddie checked the "gold package $8,995" and proceeded to fill out the itemized portion: Package Price = $8,995; Initiation Fee = $520; and Net Balance Due = $9515. That's it, nothing else did he fill out! And after I again made sure we had no obligation, he wrote at the top, "Credit Score Too Low." I also made him write, "No Sale" to give me a safety net. We proceeded to sign the Application Authorization and the caddie signed it as well. We were told that this form would be put on file and that we would be contacted in 6 months to see if we were ready to purchase. Now the REALLY INTERESTING PART AND WHERE THE FRAUD BEGINS! Much to my ignorance, the caddie went and made a copy (from a copy machine) of the carbon copy contract. The copy had only 3 signatures: mine, my wife's, and the caddie's. The caddie said the KiS Manager's signature was left off because the deal was finalized and we were "turned down" or whatever the phrase was. So of course, this assured me that there was indeed NO DEAL. My wife and I continued shopping for about 20 minutes in an adjacent store and I received a phone call from KiS and it was the lady secretary or whatever she is. She said that they had made a mistake and did not get our DOB. I told her I purposefully left that OFF the contract to ensure we were not being committed to anything. She said that they needed it to put into their system and that was all. So I then told her I guess we won't be in her system because I was not going to divulge that information until we were ready. She then was baffled for words and basically got off the phone as quickly as possible. RED FLAG! I had actually been reviewing the copy ever since we left the store out of concern, and then I got that phone call. So now my wheels really began turning. I told my wife, "ya know, he just made a copy of that contract, why didn't he give us a carbon copy?" She said, "you're right." So being the red head that she is, I sent her back in there to get the carbon copy. She came back out with the yellow copy and said how rude the lady was. Basically, when she asked the lady for a copy, she got ill and said, "well it doesn't have your DOB on it anyway so we can't do anything with it." Then one of the guys said, "oh just give her a copy!" My wife met back up with me and gave me the copy. I started to look it over and LO AND BEHOLD GUESS WHO'S SIGNATURE WAS SIGNED???? You guessed it! The Kis Manager! Not only had he signed the contract, but in the space for PRIMARY FINANCE COMPANY was "GE (306)". I'm not sure what the 306 means, or if that's what is even on there (kind of not legible), but this flipped our lids! My wife stormed back in the store demanding an explanation and was fed some crap. After a minute or so, I went in there as #2 (the Director) was giving excuses as to what happened. He said they didn't have our DOBs anyway, and it's only to put into the system. He also said that we would have needed to fill out a credit application of which we did not, so our credit couldn't be pulled if they wanted to. I told him good thing because we have Credit Monitoring AND we have Fraud Alerts with all 3 Credit Bureaus. I then questioned why in the heck were we given a copy and not a carbon copy. He tried to give me some lame excuse about how the caddie was in a rush or some BS. I asked him "Do you ALWAYS give the yellow carbon copy?" He says yes and didn't know why it was done this way. I also asked him why it was finalized by the manager AFTER we left the store and we were not given that copy. Again, he said it was a mistake and sorry and didn't know what had happened. So this is where I'm concerned. I know they can't (legally) pull our credit because #1 they don't have our authorization, and #2 they don't have our personal information. However, I am concerned that they would try to sell this contract to this GE company as it seems they do this even when a person's credit is denied. Do we have a saving grace in that we did not give them our DOBs? Will they try to sell the contract anyway and attempt to nail us with our names and address alone? I'm still so p*ssed off about this! I'm going to contact my Credit Monitoring company tomorrow to give them a heads up. I'm also going to go back to the store tomorrow (even though it's out of my way) to ensure they are not going to send my contract to GE. And out of principle, I'm going to confront them as to whether they would have (if they haven't already) sold the contract to GE had they had our DOBs. All in all, it seems like a good product for those that have the money to improve their game. But there sales tactics are shady at best and it became relevant tonight. I really wish I had done my due diligence (and I usually do and feel like an idiot for not doing so this time) before wasting my time. Based solely on the principles of this company and not on their product, I recommend everyone to stay away. As for the Bahama cruise that I won, we won't be going. You have to send $112.50 (port charges, taxes and fees) for each person via money order to CERTS, Inc. Then you have to go through more shenanigans to get a package only valid 1/2 of the year and it's only a cabin that can't be upgraded at all. Lastly, the only ports are in Florida, California, and Texas. So, obviously, we won't be wasting our time. We probably won't be utilizing the 3/2 either because we have to send in a "refundable" deposit for $29.95. "Refunded" at time of check in. I guess the only thing we got out of this is a headache and $25 for Longhorn. For their sake, I hope they don't proceed to try and sell this contract to GE. They will lose, I guarantee it! So bottom line: don't waste your time, and don't waste your money on this fraudulent company! Kis ripoff! Cornelius, North Carolina