


Home




The WritersWeekly.com Forum is officially closed.
You are welcome to browse the archives of past
discussions below, but there are no new discussions.




Everything has moved to our new website,
where you can comment on articles
and submit questions directly to us. Please join us there.




Statements appearing in these forums represent the opinions of the authors
of each post, not the opinion of WritersWeekly.com and/or BookLocker.com.
It is currently December 7th, 2016, 8:07 pm

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: November 18th, 2009, 10:57 am 
Offline

Joined: August 1st, 2003, 9:52 am
Posts: 1874
WARNING ABOUT The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us

This outfit is running ads on Craigslist under titles such as: Technical - Health Care Writers

However, they are not hiring! You get to their site and see it will cost you $99 to $499 to get job leads from them.

WRITER BEWARE!!!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: December 22nd, 2009, 1:51 pm 
Offline

Joined: August 1st, 2003, 9:52 am
Posts: 1874
INDIVIDUAL ALLEGES HE'S OWED A $55 REFUND. THIS FIRM STATED THEY WERE REFUNDING HIS MONEY, DID NOT, AND NOW REFUSES TO DO SO. THEIR SITE STATES: "ALL MEMBERSHIPS COME WITH AN UNCONDITIONAL 90 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!"

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: COMPLAINT about The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us / Greg Baughman
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:18:31 -0500
From: Angela Hoy
To: greg@apbw.us, scott@apbw.us

December 17, 2009

Greg Baughman, Director - greg@apbw.us / info@APBW.us
The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us
15713 Ambiance Dr.
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
P 877-332-7292

WritersWeekly.com has received a complaint about:
The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us / Greg
Baughman / Gregory J. Baughman

WritersWeekly.com is a publication that publishes information for
and about freelance writers. The publication is the
largest-circulation freelance writing ezine in the world.

As part of that information, WritersWeekly.com publishes a Warnings
section on its website and in its newsletter. This warning section
contains reports about publications that are unprofessional in
dealing with writers, haven't paid writers money that is owed to
them, who have not abided by their contracts, or who have unfair
contract terms. These reports are used by WritersWeekly.com's
subscribers
to decide which publications they should and should not work with.

Your firm has been submitted to us for inclusion in the
WritersWeekly.com Whispers and Warnings section.

Step one of our investigation of this report is to gather all
relevant correspondence between your publication and the person
submitting the complaint so that we can piece together that person's
side of the story. Step one of our investigation has been completed.

-------------
THE COMPLAINT
-------------

HH (name not published here but was, of course, provided to the APBW)
alleges you owe him $55.00. Per the emails below, you
promised to refund his money via paypal on December 6th. He did not
receive a refund and alleges you are now ignoring his emails.

See complete allegation under my signature.

-----------------
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
-----------------

The second step in our investigation is to send this communication
to your firm to get its side of the story. If you have evidence
disputing these allegations, or would like to make your own
statement about these allegations for publication in our report, please
email angela@writersweekly.com within two business days.

***All correspondence for our investigations must be in writing and
is subject to publication.***

If you do owe this person money, we strongly suggest you read
this article before responding:
http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest ... 32006.html

Our report on your firm is scheduled for inclusion in our
publication next Wednesday, though it may appear in our Whispers and
Warnings forum before that time.

If there is no response to these allegations, WritersWeekly.com will
still publish this complaint, but our readers will not be able to
read your side of the story.

We appreciate your prompt response in this matter.

Angela Hoy
Publisher
WritersWeekly.com

~~~~~~~~~~~
ALLEGATION
~~~~~~~~~~~

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Fw: Welcome to the APBW
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:54:31 -0500
From: HH

It was this email that he sent a response back stating he sent the
refund through PayPal, which he did not do.

~~~~~

----- Original Message -----
*From:* HH
*To:* Greg <mailto:greg@apbw.us>
*Sent:* Saturday, December 05, 2009 4:38 PM
*Subject:* Re: Welcome to the APBW

Since you failed to do the honorable thing and give me a refund, I have
been forced to play my next hand. I have contacted the BBB and Consumer
Department, along with a couple of other agencies.

If you only did me right you would not have been put into this
situation. Now you will have to deal with the legal system and the
government.

HH

~~~~~

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Fw: Refund of $55 Through PayPal
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:51:54 -0500
From: HH

Here is another email I sent but no response was received.

----- Original Message -----
*From:* HH
*To:* Greg Baughman <mailto:gbaughman@justwrite-llc.com>
*Cc:* Grecko0123@yahoo.com <mailto:Grecko0123@yahoo.com> ; Greg
<mailto:greg@apbw.us>
*Sent:* Monday, December 07, 2009 12:51 PM
*Subject:* Refund of $55 Through PayPal

I got word that I was to receive a $55 refund through PayPal. PayPal
told me no such transaction has occurred.

I don't like being lied to just so you can get rid of me. I am not a
naive person. I will leave you alone and promise never to call or write
you once I get notification from PayPal that you refunded my money. When
I am assured of that you will never hear from me again.

Regards,

HH

~~~~~

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Fw: Welcome to the APBW
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:50:51 -0500
From: HH

This is an email I sent to him with no response.

~~~~~

----- Original Message -----
*From:* HH
*To:* Greg <mailto:greg@apbw.us>
*Sent:* Tuesday, December 08, 2009 3:12 PM
*Subject:* Re: Welcome to the APBW

I just got off the phone to PayPal, and they asked me to verify the
PayPal ID you sent the refund to. You may have inadvertently sent the
request to the wrong ID. This may be the reason it has not shown up in
my account.

I understand your frustration with me by my tone in my previous emails.
I really do not want any animosity between us. I just want my refund. So
if you will do me the favor of checking to see what ID you used, this
will hopefully clear up the matter and I won't have to contact you again.

Thanks for your help.

HH

~~~~~

----- Original Message -----
*From:* Greg <mailto:greg@apbw.us>
*To:* HH
*Sent:* Sunday, December 06, 2009 8:35 AM
*Subject:* RE: Welcome to the APBW

PARAPHRASED

Greg Baughman, the director of The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us, stated the BBB is not the legal system and said they welcome any inquiries. He then provided their contact info.

He also stated, "Your refund has been issued by PayPal."

He then claimed he has nothing to do with it and that no further action is required from him.

He asks HH to immediately stop his correspondence.

~~~~~

APBW RESPONDS

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: COMPLAINT about The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us / Greg Baughman
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:12:26 -0500
From: Greg <greg@apbw.us>

Good Evening Angela.

With all due respect to Writers Weekly and what it was designed to
accomplish, it is not a practice of the Association of Professional Business
Writers (www.apbw.us) to disclose to sites such as Writers Weekly any
explanation for our business transactions and internal decisions. If we were
Affiliate Partners, or - if you were (HH)'s legal counsel or a
consumer agency then we might consider providing a dissertation.

We do however, repute any unethical businesslike conduct on our part. As per
your designated areas of reporting;

1. " As part of that information, WritersWeekly.com publishes a
Warnings section on its website and in its newsletter. This warning section
contains reports about publications that are unprofessional in dealing with
writers (We are not a publication, we provide training, certification and
placement assistance)

2. haven't paid writers money that is owed to Them (We owe (HH)
nothing), who have not abided by their contracts (we do not enter into
contractual agreements with our members)

3. Who have unfair contract terms (Again, we do not enter into
contractual agreements with our members).

We have over 500 satisfied members and 1 unsatisfied member. (HH)!
This should be explanation enough.

I will take the time to inform you that (HH) was extremely
unprofessional in his dealing with Association services personnel and we
will have absolutely no further dealings with this individual or
institutions unknown to the Association claiming to represent him.

In addition we will not be refunding his down payment of $ 55 for it has
come to our attention that our member services representative was absolutely
accurate with Association fulfillment policies regarding what (HH)
purchased and in addition (HH) received considerable time and effort
from Association personnel. We do not offer our time for "free".

Our position is that we have cancelled (HH)'s membership and will
accept no further payments or entertain any further correspondence from him.


Finally, the decision to take this further is yours. I would urge you to
carefully consider your next action.

The Association feels that Writers Weekly's claim to its ability to publish
defamatory web based commentary at the whim of an unknown third party is
unethical in its own right.

Do what you feel you must....

Sincerely,

Gregory J Baughman
Director
Association of Professional Business Writers
on its members behalf or any additional/future correspondence.

~~~~~

WRITERSWEEKLY RESPONDS

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: COMPLAINT about The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us / Greg Baughman
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:10:06 -0500
From: Angela Hoy
To: Greg <greg@apbw.us>, scott@apbw.us

Hi Greg,

Your site offers an unconditional, money back guarantee.

See:
http://www.apbw.us/Content/Documents/Do ... ocId=70651

When can (HH) expect his guaranteed, unconditional refund?

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

~~~~~

APBW RESPONDS

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: COMPLAINT about The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us / Greg Baughman
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:01:15 -0500
From: Scott Gianforte <scott@apbw.us>
To: 'Angela Hoy'

Dear Angela,

Our web site states "Also, there is a 90 day money back guarantee with your
membership order." This is not an unconditional Guarantee. (HH) made
a partial payment. we spent our time processing him, vetting him, preparing
his coursework, and searching for available jobs. He then decided (a week
later)that he didn't want to use the Association. So we stopped his
membership and will not expect further payments. However we do not work for
free. We will not return his initial payment. (HH) was rude ,vulgar and
did not act like a professional.

Thank you,
Scott
Member service manager
APBW

~~~~~

WRITERSWEEKLY RESPONDS

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: COMPLAINT about The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us / Greg Baughman
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:23:11 -0500
From: Angela Hoy <angie@booklocker.com>
To: Scott Gianforte <scott@apbw.us>, greg@apbw.us, (HH)

Hi Scott,

You said: Our web site states "Also, there is a 90 day money back
guarantee with your membership order." This is not an unconditional
Guarantee.


The words on your website
(http://www.apbw.us/Content/Documents/Do ... ocId=70651)
specifically state:

"ALL MEMBERSHIPS COME WITH AN UNCONDITIONAL 90 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!"

(HH) paid you $55 to purchase this:

"Finance your Premium Membership $55.00 (USD) Subscription period:
Monthly Automatic renewal: yes $ 55.00 per month for 5 months. When
paid in full membership converts to a yearly membership status. Total $
275.00" (http://www.apbw.us/join_apbw.html)

He paid for one-month of his premium membership. So, he did buy a
membership. He did not buy a service of "vetting him, preparing him for
coursework", etc., because no such individual service exists on your
website.

Is all this stress and the obvious resulting bad publicity really worth
$55, Scott? When can (HH) expect the unconditional refund of his
$55 membership fee?

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

~~~~~

APBW RESPONDS

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: COMPLAINT about The Association of Professional Business Writers / APBW / apbw.us / Greg Baughman
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:38:28 -0500
From: Greg <greg@apbw.us>
To: 'Angela Hoy', 'Scott Gianforte' <scott@apbw.us>

Angela,

You have been informed of our decision.

This is a formal request for you and any organization or individual you
represent to cease and desist inquiries, correspondence and any other form
of contact, including advertisement, verbal communication, written
communication or otherwise.

This request is made as of the date and time stamp on this email (electronic
correspondence)and is noted as being 10:33 a.m. December 22, 2009.

If you wish to proceed, please do so by and through legitimate counsel using
formal and appropriate methods.

Any further contact will be considered as harassment, subject to all and any
laws within the State of Maryland.

Sincerely,

Gregory J Baughman
Director
Association of Professional Business Writers


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?p=67364
forums.writersweekly.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2016-50
34704
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:OQZALYPA3VA3N5UMRIPMYFYQH7BUMBRO
<urn:uuid:bfc5cb4b-ca4c-40c0-9851-99638f7b7073>
2016-12-08T00:07:42Z
216.252.193.26
sha1:RJLOJ2X6TECZCLG4WFVEGJYN7MDWNLWI
<urn:uuid:c6327934-6a6e-4e1f-a7cf-19bc1d003b88>
http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?p=67364
response
<urn:uuid:8fd66e7f-f683-430e-a6cd-ecaf66e253d6>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2016-50
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for November 2016
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf