John Cummuta developed this material. He has a website where you can read all about him and his Christian witness, as well as investigate and purchase the program.

Unfortunately, they also license it out to multiple third-party vendors who market it in their own way. Always, though, they use Mr. Cummuta’s picture, direct quotes, and signature – blurring the lines between “his” and “others”.

One of the big things advertised with the program is a “Double-Your-Money-Back Satisfaction Guarantee.”

In addition to generally being able to return the products for a refund within 30 days, they offer the following:

I’m so confident in the value of my Debt To Wealth® online course that I will give you an entire year to try it and if you aren’t satisfied for any reason at any time during that year I will pay you the $39.95 back PLUS another $39.95.

(I would also ask you to write me a personal, descriptive letter/email to explain why, because I am deeply interested in your success and any way I can help.)

I purchased it (without knowing any differently), from a third-party vendor. The version I got was all downloadable content – audio, video, and print.

Shortly thereafter, it became clear that Wolf was not going to have an easy time finding a summer job in this economy. We tightened our belts. And I sent this letter to their customer service people (after some drama about unreturned phone calls and invalid email addresses):

I would like to return my “Debt to Wealth” purchase for a double refund, as advertised. My account is listed under [my name and email addy].

I have reviewed a number of the available products, but I have found them not helpful for two important reasons:

- They are all “tied” to my computer. As a busy mom of small children, I would be much better off with an actual CD that I could play in the car, and an actual book that I could read while nursing the baby.

But more importantly:

- They do not offer any guidance for those in our extreme financial situation. In addition to the staggering debt load from a failed business, we now have no income, as my husband has been unemployed for two months now, with no real prospects in sight. The idea of managing our credit score, etc., is just something out of a whole different reality right now. It’s useless – whereas my refund will put another tank of gas in the car.

Thank you.

That certainly satisfies their requirements as stated above, wouldn’t you agree?

They didn’t.

Dear Tiffany,
In order to get the money back guarantee you need to tell me what part of the product you tried and failed with. For example, what technique did you use, how did you use it and what was your result. That is the only way we can issue that refund. So get back to me with that info when you can.

Derek

Although I gathered by this point that it was hopeless, I did go ahead and respond to him, thus:

As you can see from what I DID write, I tried and failed in even being able to USE the product.

I cannot apply techniques that have no application in my life. That’s the whole point!

I cannot create a budget for $0 income. I cannot prioritize things with $0 income. I cannot strategize for eliminating my debt with $0 income.

There’s three right there…

Needless to say, I never even got a response to that one.

So I started digging around online, and found John Cummuta’s site. I was startled by the pages of information he has about salvation, and his personal faith.

I emailed his customer service people directly. I told them that I realized I bought this from a third-party vendor over whom they probably had no control… But that it was a shame that he was allowing his good name and Christian witness to be debased by association.

The response I received was from a woman whose signatue line and email address imply that she is perhaps with the materials’ publisher. After determining where I had purchased, she assured me that it would be taken care of.

I got a call back, after her intervention, from someone at the original vendor. They were more than happy to refund my purchase price, but continued to insist that somehow I had not met their criteria of having tried techniques from the program and failed.

Which:
(A) I believe I did, and
(B) Is not at all what the guarantee says!

I sent another email to the woman who emailed me from John Cummuta’s site, as well as the original Customer Service people laying this all out.

So far I have heard nothing, but hopefully they will agree to uphold their guarantee, and avoid further damage to Mr. Cummuta’s reputation and Christian witness. If not, I will certainly feel compelled to continue to discuss this “scam,” as well as filing a Better Business Bureau complaint, just for starters.

Why do people think they can say whatever they want, then simply refuse to stand behind it? Is that truly the level of dishonesty that has become the norm in this society? Even for those promoting themselves as Christians?

It’s very, very sad…

Please go read The Princess and the Chick Pea on Breastfeeding Moms Unite!

This blog will remain the hub for family photos, kid stuff, and the like.

But most of our “commentary” writing – whether Christian, cloth diapering, or cola – will be moving to a new home at As For My House (from Joshua 24:15).

We’re working on planning it now, and would certainly welcome your input. Some of the things we are debating are:

Logo. Do we need a logo? Should we use a photo? Should we have something that’s Christian, something “house”, something “family”, or ?

Color Scheme. I’m leaning towards earth tones, but a lighter palette because I find dark websites depressing. I’m designing the theme myself, so this is quite an adventure!

Organization. What we’re thinking now is to focus things by a kind of “He Said / She Said” top level nagivation. Not that everyone can’t read everything, but guys may want to read Wolf’s “side” to see things about being a husband and father, and my posts on cloth diapers and breadmaking may appeal more to women. I’m not sure yet how exactly to make this work using WordPress as our content management engine, so it will be a learning experience.

Any other thoughts?

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been the subject of a lot of attention and misinformation in the past few years.

[see comments broken out below]

Thanks for your consideration.

Mark on behalf of the Corn Refiner’s [sic] Association

One thing I found interesting about the comment right off the bat is that it is apparently a generic response to people posting negatively about HFCS, and addresses many of the common concerns – some of which I had not even mentioned in my post.

Let’s start at the beginning and look at his remarks.

Both HFCS and sugar contain the same simple sugars (glucose and fructose), they both have the same number of calories, and your body metabolizes them the same way.

According to WebMD, glucose and fructose are NOT metabolized the same way by your body. 

They say it’s not a big deal, since (despite the name) HFCS is about 55% fuctose to 45% glucose – not a huge departure from the roughly 50/50 ratio found in table sugar and other sweeteners.  I don’t know how significant that differene really is…

I did mention the fructose issue in post, as something raised in my cursory literature review, but this is not a big issue for us since we are not a diabetic household.

The American Medical Association in June 2008 helped put to rest misunderstandings about this sweetener and obesity, stating that “high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.”

This is not an issue I raised, nor one that ever occurred to me.  Doesn’t that just say “eating junk food maks you fat?”  Duh.

There has been significant confusion about just how much high fructose corn syrup is contained in everyday foods. It is true that this highly versatile ingredient performs numerous functions besides sweetening that make it useful in many food preparations. But it does so in most cases using very small amounts. How small? You would need to eat 87 bowls of cereal in a single day to reach the recommended daily allowance of added sugars from high fructose corn syrup. For bread, they would need to eat 39 slices.

I find this statement misleading.

Sure, there’s not too much sugar-or-HFCS in a slice of bread.  But there’s a whole ton more in a can of soda pop, or fruit chew candy, or cookies.  And I’m imagining that how much there is in “a bowl of cereal” varies pretty widely.

HFCS is also so universal that it’s hard to even track the total cumulative amount. 

• It’s in your cereal, your jam, your yogurt, your granola, and your juice. 
• It’s in your weight-loss shake and your health-food protein bar. 
• It’s in your bread, your peanut butter, your cold-cuts, your soda, your cookies. 
• It’s in your chicken nugget coating, your ketchup…  Ack!

And furthermore, the very premise is a dodge.  The point it is trying to make is that you don’t get more HFCS every day than the amount of SUGAR that’s “allowable.”  An while they may be metabolically smilar, there are still other issues which may cause us to choose agains HFCS.

NBC Nightly News recently did a report about the misperceptions on HFCS http://bit.ly/m1YHT

This is a complete fluff job, with nothing new to add to the conversation.  I guess some people will believe it if they hear it on the network news.

The clip also leans heavily on the above point that HFCS is not any greater a cause of obesity than sugar, which is not one of the biggest issues I’ve heard discussed.

3rd party testing also shows that there is no quantifiable levels of mercury found in HFCS http://duketox.mc.duke.edu/HFCS%20test%20results4.doc

He cites a study that says NO, The Washington Post cites a study that says YES.  I’m not going to take sides, since I don’t have the inclination to go through and try to evaluate the research methodology of either one.

Again, though, this is a very peripheral issue in terms of people’s concern with HFCS.

So, there you have it.  That was the length and breadth of his “rebuttal.” 

A lot about not causing obesity, and nothing at all about the issues of biggest concern to our family:

• Made from corn which is typically genetically modified.
• Two of the enzymes used to create it (yeah, it’s a big chemical process), are genetically modified.

There is a study showing health risks from a Monsanto corn, and the NY Times reported the European Union’s proposed ban on two varieties fron DuPont (other good links here to more information, mercury studies, etc.)

• Increasing concern about corn farming in general – economically, environmentally, etc.

This is from a comment left on a study comparing the carbon footprint of ethanol (corn-based fuel) and gasoline at New Scientist:

Industrial-style corn farming is arguably one of the most ecologically damaging activities carried out in the U.S., causing devastating pollution of the two largest river systems in the country and creating a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico the size of New Jersey (http://www.smm.org/deadzone/ , etc.).  Corn requires more water and fertilizer than any other crop, and the most toxic insecticides and pesticides.

Similarly, corn farming is described as “a nightmare” by Ken Green of AEI (a DC think-tank), also in an article on Ethanol.

• It is simply so processed(see above), when many of us are trying to eat more naturally

Perhaps least-scientific but most-cited: It’s a weird, toxic thing that makes kids act crazy.  In our house this includes:

• Wolf gets his ulcer-like stomach pains after drinking YooHoo, which is very high in HFCS. 
• Jewel used to get stomachaches on a semi-regular basis right after eating… and we noticed a connection to the amount of HFCS consumed.
• Jewel becomes a totally zoned-out zombie if she eats a high HFCS “treat” after dinner or at any other vulnerable time
• Nick is far more ADD-like after eating high HFCS foods
• I get a migraine much more often from a high HFCS food than from an otherwise-identical item sweetened with honey, sugar, etc.

MOVING ON… 

What I actually wanted to talk about was, as I titled the post, how our life has been since we banished HFCS.

Between HFCS and the Pepsi boycott, Wolf and I are both without our favorite soft drinks. I’m missing my Mountain Dew, and he prefers Caffeine-Free Pepsi.

I’m not much of a soda drinker anyway, but with certain foods – like pizza – it just seems like the right choice.  You know how certain foods call for red or white wine?? 

We’re also trying to switch over to less expensive, more natural options, like iced tea.  Thanks to our Klean Kanteens, we can travel with anything and everything.

And the best new thing we’ve found? 

For those times when you just really want a soda, there’s Winn-Dixie (store brand) “Natural”.  Well, certain flavors.

The Black Cherry, Root Beer, and Grape are really, truly yummy.  The Cola we’re not crazy about, but it might do in a pinch if you really crave cola.  Orange and Cream is, um, not recommended. 

If only they had a Mountain Dew flavor…

There are other small-bottler and “natural” sodas available that are HFCS-free (typically sweetened with cane sugar) – but most of them are marketed as “Premuim,” with a price tag to match.

The Winn-Dixie Natural costs more than their regular line sodas, but at $2 – $2.50 for a six-pack, it’s quite a reasonable alternative to the big brand name sodas.

Some thing we haven’t bothered to replace commercially.  We’ve found simple recipes for everything from ketchup to tartar sauce, at places like RecipeZaar and Debt Proof Living.  We bake our own bread.

Less ulcer pains.  Fewer migraines.  Not as many stomach aches.

It’s hard to imagine there’s not something to this.

Nick left for his summer experience with Worldview Academy in Denver.  A 7 am flight (checking bags), get to the airport around 5:30, leave home by 4:30 at the latest – so we got up at 3.  AM.

And since it didn’t make sense to go home when our church is so far north of us (on the way home from the airport), we got dressed and ready to go. 

We did have the pleasure of stopping at Krispy Kreme on the way back, since we had some time to kill.  I never buy them from the grocery store, but I also rarely pass up these infrequent opportunities to get some “Hot Now”!

After church, the little ones and I took Wolf to Outback Steakhouse (the Kendall, FL location) for Father’s Day.  A good steak is probably his favorite thing to eat.

Next time, remind me to officially move our Father’s Day celebration to a different day.  Ugh!

It seemed to start out well.  Although they were busy, we were able to be seated right away.

Then came the annoying-but-trivial:  The menu says, “Ask your server about our fresh-brewed flavored iced teas!” 

Actually, all they have is the generic “Sweet” and “Unsweet” tea.  You can also order flavored lemonades (made with syrups) from the bar (no free refills).

So anyhow, we ordered.  Wolf got a steak – big surprise.

We ordered a Grilled cheese sandwich for Jewel, and asked what kind of cheese was on it.  American.  Eeeew!

When we asked about options, she said there was also Swiss.  Not a kid favorite.

At our insistence, she agreed to check with the kitchen, and indeed, a Cheddar Cheese sandwich was made.

Why was it such a struggle?

I ordered Prime Rib.  Medium-Well, end cut if possible.

The piece of meat I got was pretty thoroughly (over-) cooked on the outside.  But the inside was dark pink all the way through.  It looked about like this illustration of “Rare” from About.com Steaks.  While the middle was more towards pink, there was perhaps even less brown border than this!

Clearly, this was cooked at WAY too hot a temperature. 

I can only assume that they were trying to hurry things up, knowing it would be a busy day.  Bad idea!

The bread was also a little bland and stale, and we wondered if perhaps they had baked ahead yesterday to accomodate the holiday traffic.  Again – Bleah!

And isn’t it common to serve or offer steak sauce with a steak, and horseradish with prime rib?  We had to ask for both, and then further ask for sour creme to go with the straight horseradish.  What a hassle this meal was!

Anyhow, the waitress came and took my meat back to the kitcen.  I said to Wolf, “The only way that is going to have any hope of being cooked right is if they butterfly it.  Otherwise it will just be totally dried out and gross.”

Guess what?  Yeah – it was totally dried out and gross.  At this point I was sad to hear Wolf say that his steak, while thin enough to be relatively done, was also dry and tough!

The manager came over while I was taking Jewel to the restroom, and told Wolf he would make me a new steak.  That was not necessarily the resolution we wanted at that point, since the meal was over and the kids were fussy, but he was in such a hurry he didn’t even ask.

He brought the plate back, and the new Prime Rib was cooked…  Adequately, I guess – probably in all fairness it was cooked to Medium; I wouldn’t have sent it back if it had come that way the first time.

Just for reference, Medium-Well should look like this (again from About.com):

Unfortunately, by now the kids were squirmy, and we just needed to get going. 

I explained this all to the managers, who stood there with a blank face.  I felt very awkward, and didn’t know whether to stop or keep talking…

Eventually, he took it to pack up to go, and also agreed to take it off the bill.

But it didn’t feel like a “warm and fuzzy” resolution, nor like a happy Father’s Day experience.

It’s not like Outback doesn’t have packed-to-capacity traffic on other days (every weekend!), so I’m not sure why this happened.  But it sure did shake my confidence in them as a nice place to get consistently good food and service.

It even comes in different sizes (and thus prices), depending on your needs.

And best of all?  You can win one free from Go Graham Go!  Just check out this post, and leave a comment to enter.

Good luck!

I have to “update” the post I was creating, before I even got it published! In the great tradition of such Internet scams, many of the websites fishing for “clients” for these products are changed regularly… Just so that we CAN’T pin them down and (a) get any resolution, or (b) warn others.

So I’ll continue, but be aware that the “feeder” websites may be different by now.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Internet is full of scams.

Yeah, no kidding.

But it does seem like they are becoming more and more subtle, trying to trip up even people who are aware of the scams that are out there.

Take a look at this “news story” advertised on Facebook about a woman working from home: http://www.themiamigazettenews.com/?c=us&l=red&id=malepari33.

They actually bought the domain name “The Miami Gazette News” for their pitch letter!

If you go to http://www.themiamigazettenews.com/, you see a similar story, but obviously targeting a different audience. Interestingly, they have the exact same “comments” (testimonials), and the declaration that comments have been closed due to spam.

The article touts the merits of a couple of online business programs, leaning heavily on the “Google” brand name. It says you can sign up for one for $1, and the other for $1.95.

Well, “Google Biz Kits” actually goes to a site called SpeedyPaycheck.com. “Google Cash Club” is www.CashSecretClub.com. Both of these list (in small print, on an obscure “Contact Us” link) the same corporate name and Las Vegas mailing address.

If I’d looked, I would have found plenty of warnings about them online…  Like the Yahoo Answers post, or this one from Reviewopedia.

But I had to know… In the name of research, I forked over $1.95 for each (the $1 was wrong, already!) and looked at what was offered.

• It was… Disorganized.
• It was… A bunch of common sense information about selling on eBay.
• It was… Discussing how to go into business for yourself placing people’s advertising links.
• It was, presumably, in the end, a route to get a franchise selling the same shtick to other people.

But then came the other shoe.

My bank called me and asked if I had authorized a charge for $81.23 to a company called “Internet Profit Center.”

Ummm, NO.

They actually cancelled the card that had been used for suspected fraud. It took me a while to track down the charge.

Interestingly, when I got their phone number off the bank website and called, the operator answered with this speech – all in one breath before I had a chance to speak. I admit I am not sure of the exact wording, but this is very close:

Thank you for calling (whatever business name she used), this is Elaine. You signed up for a seven-day free trial of our program online on June 2, and since you had not cancelled by June 9, your Visa card ending in **** was charged for the first month’s fee of $81.23. How can I help you?

Well, that answered most of my questions right there…

Except for the fact that I was not aware I was signing up for a “Free Trial” of a paid service. (And I cannot imagine what value they were providing on an ongoing basis – but that’s another issue).

Elaine assured me that it was all spelled out in the Terms and Conditions I had agreed to when I registered on the site (more on this later). She said she could certainly cancel my account, but that since the charge was valid it was not refundable.

As you might imagine, I asked to speak to a supervisor.

She refused!

Wow.

I was told that there is nobody there who does anything but cancel accounts, and for anything else I should use the Contact form on the website.

I did that, but haven’t heard back. Surprise, eh?

I called again, and this time the rep was (relatively) happy to let me speak to a supervisor.  Hmmm. 

The supervisor I spoke to was Anna Mendez (or that’s as close as I can gather, since she was not willing to spell or repeat it), and she took the hostility factor to a whole new level.

She insisted that it said I was signing up for a subscription in the Terms and Conditions. I explained that I had them in front of me, and that was not what it said.

When I offered to read the section to her, she said, “Go ahead and read it. I don’t care.”

She refused to read me the portion which allegedly stated something different, of course. Then she abruptly said Good-Bye.

Astounded, I asked if she was just going to hang up on me. “Yes,” she said. “This is a pointless conversation.”

I did call back and ask if another supervisor – or her supervisor – was available, but I was told that she was the only supervisor there. The representative suggested that I discuss it with corporate.

And the other one?

Second verse, same as the first…

A charge for $69.90 showed up on my credit card – my bank didn’t catch on to this one, for some reason.

I called and spoke to Laura, who – like Elaine, above - assured me that I had clicked the “I agree to the Terms and Conditions,” which clearly state… (blah, blah, blah). 

Her supervisor, Whitney, started right down the same path.  (At least they didn’t try to keep me from talking to a supervisor).

The crazy part?  What saved the day, apparently, was an unrelated crisis at work that caused said supervisor to utter an expletive.  I gasped and said “Excuse me?!”  She said it wasn’t directed at me and put me on hold.  She returned with an apology, an explanation that there was a crisis and she did not have time to review my information, and an offer to credit back the  full fee.

Whew.  Or something.

The Fine Print, Revealed!

Here’s the presumably relevant paragraph from the TERMS AND CONDITIONS link (which, surprise, surprise, is identical on both sites except for the amount):

By purchasing this product, you agree to adhere to the termination agreement as outlined on the order page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email, which is that you, the buyer, are not entitled to a refund of the upfront cost of any shipping and handling that may or may not have been charged to you for delivery of said product. Furthermore, any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product are only free during the said allotted time of the free trial period as outlined within the product sales page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email. If you have not cancelled the free bonus within the 7 day trial period (if offered on product purchasing), you are agreeing to purchase the bonus material and/or service at a monthly reoccurring cost. The resource center is billed at $68.21 monthly. This can be cancelled at anytime simply by calling 1-800-235-1364 or by calling the customer service number provided in the confirmation email and stating your desire to cancel said bonus material. However, in order to not be charged any future reoccurring cost, please give ample time (2 business days) to be cancelled out of any reoccurring billing system before the next scheduled charge to your account (this does not apply during any trial period). Not cancelling trial programs constitutes authorization, by you, the buyer, for any charges (as outlined) for the associated bonus service until your request to cancel has been received by our customer service staff. By not cancelling the bonus program during the trial period or prior to two days before a scheduled billing cycle, you agree that any reoccurring charges billed to you will be non-refundable. All products are shipped via USPS.

So, there are so many problems with this “agreement,” it’s hard to imagine anyone thinks it’s useful.

Let me start at the beginning and walk through a few of them.

• I’m agreeing “to adhere to the termination agreement as outlined on the order page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email…”  Except that there is NO text of that sort on those web pages – and no confirmation email at all!  They contain only a link to this (Terms and Conditions) page.
• I’m therefore “not entitled to a refund of the upfront cost of any shipping and handling that may or may not have been charged to you for delivery of said product”.  There’s no “delivery,” as it is not mailed – only online.  And I’m willing to lose my $1.95 in the interest of research – THAT refund is not what’s at issue.
• Here’s where they begin to discuss the core of the matter:  “any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product are only free during the said allotted time of the free trial period as outlined within the product sales page, confirmation of order page, and confirmation email.”  Again, the sales pages say NOTHING about a Trial, and NOTHING about 7  Days.  (check it out here: https://ssl.encryptedprocessing.com/~stores/store/secure/195/).  And, also again, there was no confirmation email.
• Just to focus down, “any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product “.  This clearly states that the product I purchased for my $1.95 access fee is “THE PRODUCT,” and that anything on a 7 day trial is an ADDITIONAL product.  When, in truth, they now state that the $1.95 was for a 7 day trial of THE PRODUCT, and the recurring monthly fee is for continued access to THAT SAME PRODUCT.
• And again, to focus on another facet, “any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product “.  Again, this suggests that in addition to “this product,” there MIGHT be OTHER products which are offered as a free trial (and phone reps did refer to these possible “bonuses,” even though I never saw any).  Which logically also means that “this product” is NOT a free trial.
• And once more, ”any free trials that may or may not be offered with this product “.  If “this product” was itself a free trial as they contend, then for these additional products to be free trials it would need to say, “any OTHER free trials” or “any ADDITIONAL free trials.”
• And just for a bit of amusement – why does it discuss products being “shipped by USPS”, when all they offer is online information and nothing is ever shipped?

Okay, I could keep going…  But I hope you agree by now that (a) it doesn’t say what they claim it does, and (b) it would seem to be specifically written to snag people for that first month’s payment.

Score as of this writing:  Tiffany 1, Scams 1

I’ve sent a written complaint to the first company’s corporate headquarters, filed a complaint with the BBB, and disputed the charge with my bank.

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion… 

It’s “Made with Beef & Pork, Turkey”

Oh, my!

I’m sure it’s made with Beef and Pork… But why are they calling me Turkey??

 Left Brain Grocery List

Hmmmm.

Presumably, they want you to

They also need punctuation between the “I Do” and the “HAVE YOUR WEDDING…”

It would sure be nice if sign-makers took some responsibility for proof-reading the things they’re asked to create, rather than just having you sign off that you approve it.

Of course, it would be nice if a business cared enough to make sure their advertising investment was correct!