If you are up late for any reason, you have probably seen these John Clark Infomercials. I have gone to bed with them on because that is the only thing on tv. (We have basic cable - $5.00 cable tv plan.) I remember thinking how great it sounded and what if it was really true? My husband never likes infomercials and thinks that they are all scams. I am beginning to think that he may be right. (Don't tell him I said that.)
And then it gets me thinking, what if there are infomercials that are really true, no gimmick. John Clark very well may have screwed up the integrity of everyone else's business. Because of this, people will always beware...thanks to all the snakes out there.
I am thankful that I don't have the money to invest in something like this because if I did, I may have been one of those unfortunate people that got caught in his scam.
I found it very interesting that Inside Edition's Video showed what the house REALLY looked like and interviewed the people who fixed them up. They said that the houses DID cost that much, but they were un-inhabitable. It costed the buyers 3 times the amount they paid for the house to fix it to make it inhabitable and look like the pictures the infomercial shows.
I also love that they went and interviewed the owners. The infomercial states that the cost of the houses was the amount they owed on the back taxes and the houses were up for foreclosure. When Inside Edition interviewed the owners, they said that was NOT true. They did NOT lose their house to foreclosure at all.
One woman they interviewed said that she paid her taxes, but the city had applied her taxes to the wrong property, the city's fault. They fixed the problem and she did NOT lose her house. She sold her house on her own, it did NOT foreclose.
It's funny (not really) how you can stretch the truth and twist it for your own benefit. It is awful and dishonest. Why lie?
I will be honest, though. I have seen the infomercial many times and they did a great job explaining how it was possible to buy a beautiful house for under $600. I guess next time, I will be better off just turning the tv off.
Thank you so much to Inside Edition for uncovering this story/scam. You have saved one person - ME!
The moral of this story; Buyer Beware, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, Don't believe everything you see/hear, Turn the Boob Tube OFF!
On his infomercial John Beck talks about a two story home purchased at a tax sale for only $521.56.
However, what the infomercial didn't show was what this beautiful home used to look like.
After ten long years and more than $100,000 in renovations, the home's current owner has transformed the once "uninhabitable" home.
Also featured in John Beck's infomercial was a home he claimed was lost after the homeowner neglected to pay $329 in back taxes.
However, Beverly Glover, the homeowner, never actually lost posession of her home. She ultimately sold it herself for $158,000.
Dawn Zuvic and Lani Mapleson say they have each paid more than $10,000 for Beck's tutoring and have had no real estate success.
Gary Hewitt, one of the owners of the infomercial and Mentoring of America says, "We help people. We are a legitimate company."
"You're about to learn how you can start buying homes like these for just a few hundred dollars," says the announcer at the start of real estate guru John Beck’s infomercial. The infomercial airs morning, noon and night all across the country.
In it, Beck says if you send him just $39.95 he'll teach you how to buy beautiful homes for next to nothing. According to Beck, buyers can get incredible deals when people fail to pay their property taxes and the houses are auctioned off by the government.
The hostess in the infomercial says, "We could not be telling you about it on national television if it was not true."
INSIDE EDITION’s Senior Investigative Correspondent Matt Meagher went to Oklahoma where every house featured in the infomercial is located. There, with just a little digging, Meagher discovered, how Beck misleads viewers about the homes featured in the infomercial.
On his infomercial Beck boasts about how a big two story home was purchased at a tax foreclosure sale for only $521.56. However, INSIDE EDITION learned that it actually cost three times as much, which would still be an amazing deal. But what Beck didn't show is what the home really looked like when it was purchased. It was completely dilapidated and took ten years and more than $100,000 for the current owner to make it look as good as it did in the infomercial.
The current homeowner tells INSIDE EDITION the house was “pretty much…uninhabitable” when he purchased it.
Also featured on the infomercial is another dazzling house that Beck says was actually purchased for less than $100. But, that’s not true. County records show it was acquired for more that $2,200 and was a falling down piece of junk at auction. It took four years and $40,000 to fix up.
Beverly Glover was shocked when INSIDE EDITION showed her the infomercial. The infomercial implied that she lost her home because of just $329 in back taxes. Glover says, “That's a lie.”
In the infomercial, Beck claims "[Glover’s home] was purchased free and clear for only $329.90."
However, she actually never lost possession of her home. A clerical error had applied her tax payment to the wrong property. The mistake was corrected and she never left her home until she sold it for $158,000.
Butch Freeman has been treasurer of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma for 16 years. He says he has never seen homes that look like the ones in the infomercial ever sell for pennies on the dollar as Beck claims.
Freeman says that not one of the homes featured in the infomercial has sold for the price John Beck has quoted them at.
As many as 15,000 people a week cough up nearly $40 for Beck’s instructional DVDs and booklets. But that's just the beginning.
Everyone who responds to the infomercial soon gets a call from a telemarketer at a company called Mentoring of America. It's owned by the same people who own the John Beck infomercial and several others like it. This is where the company makes the real money.
Telemarketers follow a script that says the potential buyer is being considered for a select team that will be trained by John Beck himself, but that’s baloney.
The telemarketers urge people to put up to $15,000 on their credit cards to pay for private over-the-phone tutoring, and say they’re almost certain to make that money back in just a few months
Dawn Zuvic of Mississippi and Lani Maplesden from California both say they fell for the pitch.
“I know that there's always money to be made in real estate,” Maplesden tells INSIDE EDITION.
Zuvic says, “I was always hoping that eventually that I would be able to be make a good living at it.”
They each paid more than $10,000 for the tutoring and have had no success.
“It makes me cry a lot,” laughs Maplesden. “I'm still paying on the bills.”
Dawn Zuvic says her mentor talked her into buying a tiny piece of land in Pennsylvania at what was supposed to be a huge discount.
But, INSIDE EDITION found property records showing the land had been bought for only $585 and then sold to Zuvic for more than $2,595 only five months later. That wasn't a discount, it was more than a 300% markup!
The land was sold to Dawn Zuvic by none other than John Beck himself! She's never been able to resell the land and has now had to take a second job as a waitress.
Zuvic tells INSIDE EDITION, “I felt like, like I was taken.”
Bill Mitchell of the Better Business Bureau in Southern California says John Beck's infomercial has generated hundreds of complaints and the company has received an “F” rating.
“Their real business is selling blue sky, hot air,” Mitchell says.
John Beck wouldn't talk with INSIDE EDITION, but INSIDE EDITION’s Matt Meagher caught up with Gary Hewitt, one of the owners of the infomercial and Mentoring of America.
When Meagher asked Hewitt if his companies were ripping people off, he replied, “Absolutely not. We help people. We're a legitimate company.”
When Meagher asked how his companies helped people, Hewitt responded, “Why are you confronting me like this?!” He says that Mentoring of America is not a scam. “It is not [a scam]. First, first of all...you have your facts wrong.”
His attorney later supplied INSIDE EDITION with a list of 13 people who said they had a good experience with the program, earning between $550-$39,600.
But Lani Maplesden isn't convinced. She's $20,000 in debt and in danger of losing her home. She says if she could talk to John Beck, she’d ask him, “How can you sleep at night? Do you have any conscience at all?”
The company says they dispute the Better Business Bureau's ratings system and claim they work to resolve consumer complaints. As far as the houses, they say Beck never states in the infomercial that the homes were in the condition shown when purchased.
But what about relationships? What’s the appropriate etiquette for dating on Facebook, and what should you set your relationship status to?
We can’t help on matters of the heart, so instead we bring you this PSA-inspired spoof, “Facebook Manners And You”, created by dating site YourTango. With almost 200,000 views today, the clip is turning into a YouTube hit.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
As you can see, we went back to Best Buy and exchanged the Dynex webcam for an HP webcam. I am pretty satisfied with it. I am by no means a movie producer and would not need all the fancy/technical things that come with some of them. I wanted one that was easy to use and had some flexibility as far as features go and of course, a good price. It turned out that this HP webcam was actually $10 cheaper than the Best Buy Dynex generic one...so again, Discount Diva does it again! :O)
Although, I noticed that their website says the Dynex webcam is $39.99, which is what we paid in the store, but the HP webcam on their website says $83.99. I would set myself into a coma if we paid that...
We paid $30.00!! How Fanatically Frugal is that!
And now introducing our first video starring my TooheyBugs; Daniela, mostly and Jacob!
Daniela singing to her new Kid's Bop cd that came with her Happy Meal at McDonald's; Delilah and Girls Just Want To Have Fun.
We went to Best Buy yesterday so that Shawn could get the parts he needed to fix his computer. I have been wanting a webcam and finally got one yesterday.
The problem is that I'm not a loyal shopper and I go where the price is the cheapest. I have blogged about a few of those instances. Getting this webcam is another one of those to add to the list.
The webcam, Dynex brand - a Best Buy generic, was the cheapest by about $20. But it doesn't have much for controls and looks great when you are not recording or taking pictures. As soon as you record a video, everything is delayed by about 10 seconds. This is an important feature that wasn't written on the package and would have to be one of those learn from mistakes circumstances.
As you can see from their website, they really didn't do much with it. This is important people!!! Get with the program Dynex!
I will be packaging this back up and exchange it for something that I should have gotten to begin with.
Again, I didn't save money...I saved $20 for something that doesn't exactly work as intended and now the time and gas to get back there, just to do it right, like I should have to begin with.
But hey, live and learn....and if you're not learning, you're not living! :O)
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Some signs of how President-elect Barack Obama will use his massive Internet following are starting to surface. The President’s weekly radio address, a staple of American politics since the Franklin Roosevelt administration, will be posted to YouTube, starting this week with the Democratic address (the party not in power has also traditionally broadcast a weekly radio soundbite). The videos will also be posted to Change.gov, the President-elect’s transition site that launched last week. According to The Washington Post, the Obama administration is also likely to launch a YouTube Channel for The White House after taking power. As a candidate, Obama (and rival John McCain) made heavy use of YouTube, utilizing the service for broadcasting speeches, campaign rallies, and political commercials. While placing the weekly radio addresses online in video will be a first, the current administration offers a full archive of all of President Bush’s weekly radio addresses as sound files at WhiteHouse.gov. While this is certainly another sign that the Obama administration will continue to make social media and transparency an important piece of his Presidency, critics are quick to point out that he still has not updated his Twitter account since November 5th after winning the election. Presumably, we’ll continue to see new tools come out piecemeal as the transition team decides how to best utilize the Web.
Barack Obama YouTube Spotlight
Here it is….Obama’s first YouTube video for his Weekly Address. What do you think?
If you havent seen Barney the White House dog's attack video - its worth the 30 seconds or so.
Presidential pooch Barney wasn't leaving the White House without a bite.
The black Scottish terrier snapped at Reuters television correspondent Jonathan Decker today, nipping the reporter's right index finger as he leaned down to pet him.
"He totally got me," Decker said after Barney snarled and snapped at him.
"Totally broke my skin. Well, now I have a story to tell."
Barney, one of two terriers kept by the Bush family, was out for a walk when the incident occurred in the White House driveway. Another reporter captured the whole thing on videotape.
Decker was treated by a White House doctor, and wound up with a bandaged finger. He'll remain on antibiotics for a few days while the wound heals.
I have always loved this song, it really speaks to me. It took me a few times of listening to it to be able to with dry eyes, but my heart still beats louder when I hear it. This song will be forever lasting with me. As election day neared, I began listening to it more and more and now that it is over and President Bush will be moving out of the White House, I am on a kick with this song. I am like a child who watches the same video over and over again. Thank you Pink for finding the words!
Dear Mr. President, Come take a walk with me. Let's pretend we're just two people and You're not better than me. I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.
What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street? Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep? What do you feel when you look in the mirror? Are you proud?
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry? How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye? How do you walk with your head held high? Can you even look me in the eye And tell me why?
Dear Mr. President, Were you a lonely boy? Are you a lonely boy? Are you a lonely boy? How can you say No child is left behind? We're not dumb and we're not blind. They're all sitting in your cells While you pave the road to hell.
What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away? And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay? I can only imagine what the first lady has to say You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry? How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye? How do you walk with your head held high? Can you even look me in the eye?
Let me tell you 'bout hard work Minimum wage with a baby on the way Let me tell you 'bout hard work Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away Let me tell you 'bout hard work Building a bed out of a cardboard box Let me tell you 'bout hard work Hard work Hard work You don't know nothing 'bout hard work Hard work Hard work Oh
How do you sleep at night? How do you walk with your head held high? Dear Mr. President, You'd never take a walk with me. Would you?
Below are Barack Obama’s remarks as prepared for delivery tonight in Chicago:
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.President O
Elizabeth Holmes reports from Phoenix on the presidential race.
John McCain conceded the election to Barack Obama, ending a nearly two-year long campaign for the Arizona senator.
The Republican presidential candidate had no introduction. He simply stepped to the microphone and graciously congratulated his Democratic opponent on his victory.
“In a contest as long as difficult as this campaign has been his success alone commands my respect,” McCain said to a chorus of boos. He repeatedly urged the crowd to stop with a “please.”
McCain offered nothing but praise for Obama, despite a bitter battle which included repeated attacks from both sides. “I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president,” McCain said.
The rowdy audience on the lawn in the middle of the Arizona Biltmore hotel wasn’t feeling the same. They booed repeatedly and yelled profanities at the mention of Obama. “Bullshit!” one man yelled.
McCain, joined on stage by running mate Sarah Palin, continued his goodwill speech despite the crowd’s reaction. “I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together,” he said.
McCain also made note of the moment in history he was part of—the first time an African American was elected to the Oval Office. He remarked on how far the country had come since President Theodore Roosevelt invited of Booker T. Washington to the White House more than a century ago.
“America today is a world away from the cruel…bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States,” McCain said. “Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this the greatest nation on earth.”
Several senior aides have said throughout the day that McCain was running in the toughest environment possible, what with the unpopularity of President George W. Bush and the Republican Party as a whole—compounded by the recent economic turmoil.
McCain wasn’t out to blame anything specific during his concession speech. “I don’t know what more we could’ve done to try and win this election,” McCain said. “Every candidate makes mistakes and I’m sure I made my share of ‘em.”
He did take time to thank his campaign staff, including campaign manager Rick Davis, senior strategist Steve Schmidt and his close friend, Mark Salter. “Thank you so much, a lost election can never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.”
Real Estate Infomercial Investigation:
