If you purchased Dr. Ortiz' book "Lap Band For Life"

Tricia · 12-22-2004, 05:37 PM

And were one of the unfortunate one's that had a "little" $378.50 suprise taken out of your bank account from the same company you bought the book from, here is some info that might help you when attempting to contact them.

The name of the company that processed your payment is called:

Weinstock Marketing (they refer to themselves as "MWP")

The email address for the person I was told that handled the money transactions with the company that actually handled your payment is:

RandyLutz@WeinstockMarketing.com

I have been given 3 phone numbers (good luck talking to a human though)

949-715-7924
949-786-2552
949-394-8741

The charge that comes through in your bank account is listed as: "Savings Net"

I received a phone call from a Mr. Keith Terry on my cell phone, I think he either owns the company or is an executive with the company. He gave me his cell phone number, but I haven't try to call it yet, the number he gave me is: 949-375-2551

I still don't have the funds returned to my account. I have already filled out a fraud claim, and if I don't hear anything in 10 days, I will file a police report at the request of my bank.

Good luck everyone

DeLarla · 12-22-2004, 05:57 PM

What a nightmare! That totally sucks.

La_madam · 12-22-2004, 06:07 PM

Have any of you tried calling Sandy at Dr. Ortiz's office?

She and Dr. Ortiz are fully aware of this error/ mistake on the part of the publishing company. For the record, others have had the same problems and have the charges reversed. I highly doubt this is fraud, It is a mistake. Leatha got her money back and was given the book for free if I recall correctly. I understand your anger and frustration. I too would be upset and Ortiz is my Dr. but I do not blame him for any of this excpet for using a poor decision on a publishing company. I was told by Sandy that the publsihing company fired the company who was doing the credit card charges yesterday because of al lof this..it is obvious that the publishing company comapny and the credit card charging company are not the same.

randy@thesavingsnetwork.com is an email address to the credit company who is doing the incorrect charges to all of your accounts.

Tricia · 12-22-2004, 06:34 PM

Michelle,

I haven't called Sandy or Dr. Ortiz' office because I realize there is nothing that they can do. I also realize that it's not Dr. Oritz fault except for the fact that these same kinds of issues happened a month ago and I think they should have found a different company to handle their business then, but they kept the same company and now a new group of people are getting socked in the bank account.

I won't be satisfied (obviously) until I see the $378.50 back in my account. I know that Leatha was lucky to get her money back as quickly as she did, obviously her bank handles things differently than my bank. In my opinion it IS fraud or theft. This is not a "normal" mistake that has been made. O.K. as a company that made a horrible mistake and charged consumers $164.50 instead of $16.45 I would do everything in my power to make sure that same mistake isn't made again. Yet a month later, we make yet another "mistake" and charge people's bank accounts another $378.50?!?! As consumers, we trusted that when we purchased this book, that we would be charged the fee for that book, not an additional $164.50 or $378.50! Mistake(s) my foot!

It's all DeLarla's fault, she started the Anti-Christmas thread, and I'm actually thinking she might be on to something! (heh heh) Just kidding Lisa! :)

New Hope · 12-22-2004, 07:11 PM

Again, the reason for this thread is as a WARNING against a particular credit card processing company. (See information posted above.) This is in no way directed towards (or should it reflect on) Dr. Ortiz and his book. Hopefully those individuals who have been overcharged will be promptly refunded and no further incidents will occur.

leatha_g · 12-22-2004, 08:18 PM

My account was restored within 3 business days. First, I had to call to dispute the charges, then they explained to me that on the 3rd business day, if the actual paperwork to verify the charge was not processed by the vendor, the charge would drop off my account automatically. Then, they told me since it was in 'pending' status the charge really never went through, it was just held in limbo as an authorization. I was then given a 'special' number for the vendor to call and say to release the 'pending' charge and verify it was an error in processing.

As someone who works in data management, I have seen more than once where a data import can come across with bad data. This appears to have happened this time and I guess before. It is very unfortunate for us all and certainly an unforgivabel mistake, but I seriuosly do not think it was intentional fraud or an attempt to steal our money. I believe it was a faulty data import as they have stated and we happened to be the unlucky guinea pigs who the untested import was cast upon.

I truly believe your account will be restored and you've obviously alerted them that this is a disputed charge. Ask them if they have a number where the merchant in question can call to verify the disputed charges were in fact in error so that your money will be released immediately.

I feel terrible for Dr Ortiz, obviously, he bought into the wrong publishing company to handle his business and now he has more than a bit of egg on his own face. Live and learn, huh? ..

I hope their data imports are tested better in the future...

I'm really sorry you guys had the same problem, but I'm sure glad I had the terrible habit of checking my bank account several times daily to catch it as quickly as I did..

New Hope · 12-22-2004, 10:12 PM

We were hit by counterfeit check fraud a few years ago. It was a lot of red-tape to get it straightened out. But one of the things we did was put a "fraud alert" on all 3 of our credit bureau files (there are 3 independent credit bureaus). What this does is if someone tries to open an account in your name, the merchant must contact you at a number you assigned on your cr.bur.file (home #, cell #, etc.) Obviously if that's not you making that transaction, it won't get approved. It stays in effect for 2 (?) years I think and can be renewed. Just a little extra protection in a not too safe world.

Another thing to watch out for, is if you're standing in the pay line at a store with your debit card. If someone near you is on a cellphone, he/she may be sending pics of your debit card (showing all the numbers). These things can pick up at an amazing distance.

momhappe1 · 12-22-2004, 10:33 PM

Mine was charged this 378.50 thw other day. All of the checks I had writen for Christmas presents all bounced. I am now 500.00 in the whole and have stuff bouncing all over town. I had no idea that this was the company that this Savings Net came from.

My bank is working on this too. However, the money it is costing me is really making me mad. Not to mention having to go to places I shop all of the time and pay a bad check.

My bank has till tomorrow to fix this. Then I will contact the above and see what is going on. This is very disappointing to me.. I hope this outside company knows what they will have coming to them. I am NOT going to pay all of those NSF charges my bank charges. Over 150.00 as of now.

I am glad to see that some of you got this strightened out right away. I know my bank is working on it. But what a bad time to not have any money. I had to borrow money from my mom to have enough gas to get to work.

leatha_g · 12-23-2004, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momhappe1

My bank has till tomorrow to fix this. Then I will contact the above and see what is going on. This is very disappointing to me.. I hope this outside company knows what they will have coming to them. I am NOT going to pay all of those NSF charges my bank charges. Over 150.00 as of now.

I am glad to see that some of you got this strightened out right away. I know my bank is working on it. But what a bad time to not have any money. I had to borrow money from my mom to have enough gas to get to work.

This is a terrible thing, however, please talk to your bank. I was told that since I reported this as disputed that if, in fact, it was a an error on the merchants part, those charges from the bank would not stand. I didn't have anything bounce, however, so I'm not sure what can be done about the merchants charges. :( Geez... I'm so sorry this happened to you. Definitely, I would have this company pay for these charges, if possible.

I had a check altered once, for a higher amount and my bank repaid me the lost amount then took it on themselves to have this repaid by the vendor who I had written the check to. This doesn't always happen, I suppose, but my bank went to bat for me and assured me I'd have no problem from this vendor. One of those nice perks of small-town living, maybe, but a lifesaver nonetheless.

I really hope you can get this reimbursed. :(

Tricia · 12-23-2004, 02:46 AM

I'm also fortunate that I did not bounce any checks. What a mess and a headache. I know how you must feel right now dealing with all of this.

Leatha, I think you caught your charge early enough to where your bank could fix it pretty fast. Most of us didn't realize this "mistake" until the money had actually been taken out of our accounts. When it gets to the point where the funds are actually taken out of the account, then in most cases there is a 7-10 waiting period while the bank contacts the merchant. So most of us have to wait at least 7 days before we even have a clue as to whether we'll get our money back or not.

I was told that my funds would be back in my account within 24 hours. We'll we're working on 48 hours and still no funds.

I order a lot online and have done so for years. This is the first thing that I've ordered that has been screwed up like this. And to think that this happened to a bunch of people a month ago and it's happening again but for much higher amounts?

Data import can come across with bad data? I don't work for a bank, I'm a LAN Administrator (Local Area Network) so I have a small idea about computer errors or system errors, but for this kind of error to occur over a month long period to several people in this magnitude is just inexcusable. Especially by a company whose ONLY purpose in business is to handle money transactions over the internet?

I'm not blaming Ortiz, although I do think he should have canned WHOEVER (the publishing company or marketing company or joe blah money company) who continues to make these "mistakes" after the first round of overcharges.

Momhappe1, I sincerely hope that you can get all of this resolved very soon. I would recommend calling the number I posted for Keith Terry. He told me that this only happened to 5 people. What are the odds that all 5 people visit this message board? I think Mr. Terry has grosly understated the number of people that this has happened to. I've counted 5 people that have posted on this message board that have had $378.50 taken out of their accounts.

Yeah the little letter that I received stating how sorry they are and that the funds would be credited back to my account within 24 hours looks and sounds wonderful. Too bad the funds still aren't in my account over 48 hours later. Too bad that the company handling all of the orders for the book don't answer their phones.

Laserjock · 12-23-2004, 03:27 AM

I question this being such an honest mistake. My company is involved in providing specialized testing in support of clinical trials. Our reputation is built upon the data we deliver to the clients and often involves thousands of data values queried, manipulated and converted to one of several formats and electronically delivered to the client every month. This involves 100s of trials for many clients, so you can imagine the number of data points involved.

Our error rate is practically nil. Here is a company that is supposed to be a major force in online marketing that has now overcharged TWO different amounts over a period of time where it should have been caught the first time and fixed. If this is an honest mistake, then I am surprised they are still in business when you look at the ratio of these errors to the number of books sold. Pretty friggin high by my estimation.

Unfortunately having almost $400 "oopsed" out of someone's bank account is unacceptable and I don't give them any room for comfort in their excuses of a "bad data transfer". Not acceptable. Randy better pull his personal checkbook out and start putting money back into some accounts...only then will I believe his sincerity. Merry friggin Christmas Randy...

leo · 12-23-2004, 07:05 AM

Wouldn't using a creditcard be a better alternative? I am not sure that was available as a option.

DeLarla · 12-23-2004, 07:36 AM

Don't even bother talking to a bank representative - instead demand to speak to a supervisor. The bank can't keep your money unless you authorized the charge. They have to fix your account, so don't hang up till it's fixed.

**Iluvharleys** · 12-23-2004, 07:40 AM

I used a credit card, but by the time I discovered the overcharge my bank had paid it. I just checked my account and it has not been credited back yet. I just sent another email to Randy telling him if he had to take it out of his own account they better have it back in mine by noon today! They know they made a mistake, but this is taking way too long to fix. While they are earing interest on the money too many of us are hurting waiting for our money. I am fed up with them! I have had companies credit my account while I am on the phone with them, why can't they?

Tricia · 12-23-2004, 08:20 AM

Alright, I just called Keith Terry's cell phone and he gave me the run around. When I told him that I still didn't have my money, and he told me I would within 24 hours and it's now 36 hours he told me that he thought all of this had been taken care of and that he would have to contact his accounting department.

I told him that I don't care who was supposed to take care of it, that he needed to wire transfer funds back into my account today or legal action will be taken.

This is a bunch of bunk. And as you can tell, I've run out of patience.