Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/16/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 9/28/2022 i signed up with BE ******* , whom we contacted me about starting an amazon store . After hearing their proposal i signed all required documents and paid them the required cost( listed in the contract in the documents i have provided . I was then referred to a company called A.J. Creations . The following is their information : ajcreationsllc.com Aj Creations Llc ****************************************************** ************** The contract was for 18 months total . In the course of this time , not only have i not have they been unsuccessful in getting a working Amazon store up and running as per their promise of the service they provide, they( AJ creations and BE Adstar) refuse to honor the buyback guarantee. They never schedule calls , i have to call them , and then i just get told " please be patient. I used to get a weekly or bi-weekly call explaining any progress or steps being taken to achieve progress . After learning that i don't have additional funds to further sink into buying inventory ( none of which were they ever able to get approval to sell on Amazon, per amazon policy ), they threaten me with using the phone calls they record as a reason for not wanting to return my original investment. For the first 6 months they tried to get approved for only 2 brands . After there was no success in getting the approval , they proceeded to buy more inventory from other major brands without consulting me , and to ask if i thought it was a good move financially . On June 13th , 2023 i was finally approved for the MEDICOM brand , but none of that brand of product was ever purchased . The only other brand i was approved for was MEZCO , on OCT. 13, 2023. Eventually we sold off all the inventory we had ,at which point we were supposed to purchase something else. The last time i spoke to them before Wed. April 11th , was late Dec. 2023 , or early Jan. 2024. I can't make money when they won't contact me , hence the reason i am seeking a refund .

  Business Response

  Date: 05/09/2024

  We are grateful that ***************** has taken the time to reach out to us and voice his concerns.

  We can also appreciate the frustration that sometimes comes along with operating an online retail store.

  We are here to help, and will continue to provide ***************** with the highest level of customer support, which we offer to all our clients.

  Looking over the account, the store was successfully established according the guidelines in the contract. We can see that there has been some difficulty of client getting approved to sell some brands.

  Rather than let our client sit with stuck inventory, we took action and bought out all products that were sitting. We then wired the funds for these products directly to client on 11/2/23 in the amount of $3,580.00 (see attached receipt).

  We then sent client an additional wire directly to his bank account for proceeds from product sales, in the amount of $2,853.89 on 12/15/23 (see attached receipt) These funds were to be used by client to purchase new inventory for brands he was approved to sell. He did not take this advice, and unfortunately spent the funds elsewhere.

  Operating an online retail sales business involves actively replenishing stock and inventory. This is no different than operating a brick and mortar store. 

  If a client chooses to keep funds that are meant to be used for product inventory, the store will most certainly fail, as any business will. This type of negative action places a client in an untenable position, which is something that is out of our control.We can advise, and we can make suggestions, we can even plead with clients to do the right thing. As much as we would like to force a client to make good decisions, we cannot.We would strongly advise that ***************** consider using the funds we sent to him in the amount of $6433.89 to furnish his business with products that will make him profit and get him back on the right path to success. We will be available to assist and will do everything we can to help.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/10/2024

  I reject this response because of the following reasons:

  A. I was guaranteed in my contract that i would be provided with competent and knowledgeable personnel through the entire process. I was provided with neither. What i has happened, is in the past 19, almost 20 months now, i have been left with little to no communication, I have had absolutely no contact from Adstar Marketing LLC since signing the contract. I was handed over to a third-party contract service provider named AJ Creations. A gentleman named **** was in charge of my account, and who on numerous occasions refused to contact me back. Including but not limited to a period of 4 months between late December 2023 and April 2024. A business cannot and will not survive if the people handling the account refuse to do the work.

  B. On April 11th, 2024, almost 19 months into the contract, at which time I had full right to ask for them to honor their money back guarantee, **** from ** Creation finally decides to contact me (this is not the first time I had gone more than 30 days with no contact from them). At which time he said it was impossible to honor the money back guarantee. I tried to discuss the issue and wanted to know why it was impossible to honor said guarantee and was once again ignored. They refuse to answer client questions, instead trying to change the subject to what he thinks should be done next. At which point I informed him that I wanted out of my contract and wanted nothing more to do with him or his company, or Adstar Marketing LLC. There has been no contact since that day.

  C. Due to the lack of ability of the employees, and the refusal of the service provider to contact me when I have tried to contact Adstar Marketing LLC (they blocked my phone number), i am intent on separating from these 2 companies and my contract. They are not trustworthy in my opinion and i feel that people should be wary of them . 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/29/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I may not get back ****** but the contract that I signed said that if the business they are setting up for me is not working or not happy with then after 18 months my money is garenteed back to me. They set a lot things for me to help me make money. I been in it for 21 months and I have not seen any money. I have not made money. The man who told business said this to me: ************** you are putting down is for a fully automated Amazon FBA storefront with a branded product. Dont worry. Ill call you will go over it again with you. Dont forget about a couple things here. The amount of income youll make on a monthly basis, the fact that we have an A+ with zero complaints with the Better Business Bureau, and a complete money back guarantee for a period of 18 months. You are in good hands. Get some rest and Ill call you Monday buddy.Guarantee for a period of 18 months.***** Remember, we run the storefront for you for a 30% split. 70% goes to you. I and my team will guide you through this and your duties after we set everything up are ****. Thats why we have the rating we do *****. Because we know how to run Amazon storefronts. Youre going to be able to have those last ***** years in comfort. Youre doing the right thing and you were only wrong about 1 thing. I do care about my people. Im always here for you.***** Yes, everything is moving in the right direction on schedule. Remember, building this business is a 3-4 month process so thats when youll see results! Have a great weekend *****!***** So you see their promises. Our meeting on phone were short. The said once they put on back burner why I dont why. They gave me name of my business but didnt talk what the name would be. But I went along with it. Because theyre the professionals . But Im depressed and very angry that they didnt take me under their wing and get things moving. It never really moved. I paid a the Internal revenue in ******* $161.00 dollars for Business license, but that never explained to that I had file on the 20 of every month. So thats my fault but I not making any money but you still have to file. so. But really comes down to do care about me. I dont think so or the would got out of their way and do something for me to make income.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/08/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This business solicits people that have shown an interest in making income from home then practices high pressure sales attempts to get the customer to invest money to make income from selling online and with Amazon. Promises income within 4-6 weeks of making your investment and offers a money back guarantee while giving you their sales pitch saying they will refund your money at any time if you are not happy with their service. They tell you that you can use your credit card to make the investment and the sales that you make will pay off the charge you made to your credit card after the first month or two. They are supposed to create a website for your products and then advertise on social media to bring sales to your website that is then fulfilled by Amazon. They did in fact create a website that I can see but it is down and inaccessible 40-50% of the time and after six months of waiting for sales to come in I have not seen a single sale or received any income from my investment. This company is obviously a fraud preying on people looking to make money from home. Luckily I made a relatively small investment compared to what they tried to get me to do. I invested $3000 but they had initially tried to get me to cash in my 401k and invest $30000 in their scheme! They even have you look them up on BBB to show that they have an A+ rating and tell you that they wouldn't have this rating if people were unhappy with them and that it is because they refund anyone that is not happy but, I have now been fighting with them for two weeks to get my refund and they refuse to issue it. I want my $3000 refunded immediately.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/15/2023

  It takes patience and dedication to work toward the goal of having a profitable business, and so many these days are not willing to put in the time and legwork the process requires.

  We have a strong desire to provide the highest level of customer service for *****************, as we do with all of our clients. We have dozens of success stories from our clients over the years, and many of those can be found in our reviews. The clients who do not succeed, are usually highly impatient and don't grasp the concept of business development and long term strategy. Also factored in to business planning, should be the state of the economy in general, inflation, interest rate hikes, and buyer hesitancy due to political conditions. It is not surprising to see *** and downs in the retail industry as these factors change.

  We have had our attorneys review the signed, legal, documentation and Service Agreement ***************** provided. We have read and re-read the cancellation policy on his contract. We also have copies of all these documents. We have found no guarantee of earnings, no promised timeline, nothing of the kind.

  What we did find is clear language directly where ***************** initialed during the legal Docusign process, stating that no refund is available after three days. See Section 1, article b.

  We also found in Section 13, a clear statement that "No earnings are guaranteed whatsoever".

  We would like to resolve this matter with kindness, and provide ***************** with support and guidance in an effort to make his website profitable. We have no desire to turn ***************** away, or refuse him the services we provide to all our clients. We offer to kindly move forward and make every effort to continue working with ***************** to help him succeed.

  We find it unacceptable for this complaint to proceed as the allegations made by ***************** in his complaint are unverified, unsubstantiated, and very close to libel.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/19/2023

  Typical response from a company hiding behind a contract, no I do not have it in writing but, Adstars salesman told me when selling me their service I would be making money in 4-6 weeks and after 6 months I have not had a single sale! To insinuate that I am impatient is an insult! Again, I was told I would be making money in 4 to 6 weeks, and I waited six months!!! That is not being impatient! I have done everything this company has asked of me in a timely manner and have nothing to show for it after 6 months! Their salespeople send you to the BBB website and show you that they have an A+ rating and say, "We wouldn't have that rating if they didn't take care of their customers" and tell you if you are unhappy with their service, they will refund your money at any time but that obviously isn't true! They get your money and then hide behind their contract to keep from refunding your money as they promised verbally.

   I invested this money knowing that it was a risk and that I could very well have nothing to show for it down the road and that I may never get the money back, but this company does not deserve to have an A+ rating with the BBB! They are not honest with their customers, they do not follow through with their promises and evidently, they aren't proficient with their jobs either because I have other products that I sell on my own without any advertising that have had more success than this supposed advertising company.

   The only response that is acceptable to me is a full refund of my money as I was promised by their salesman and regardless of what their contract states I want my complaint to stay on BBB to show that they are not an A+ rating company! They lie to people, do not come through with their promises and are inept at their profession.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/25/2023

  We have had meetings with upper management, and have received approval for the following offer to *****************:

  We agree to refund ***************** $1500.00, and in addition to this, we agree to maintain our relationship with him and work hard to help him achieve success with this business.

  We understand ***************** is frustrated, but we strongly believe this program will reach positive results given more time. We agree to honor ***************** contract and provide all services with no reduction of services on account of the partial refund.

  We hope this offer will be seen as an effort to make it right, and to continue to make it right for this client.

  Thank you,

  ADSTAR TEAM

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/18/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was contacted about a marketing opportunity that comes with an 18 month full money back gaurantee. There were packages ranging from setting up a website that would see roughly $2000 in sales a Month once going good ( about 2-4 months to see results ) to selecting a product to start producing and selling that would see profits from $5000-10,000 a month once going ( longer results time of 4-6 months to see results). I decided I would go with the website option and as I could make the $5000 buy in but not the $35,000-$50,000 buy ins, but wanted to use the profits made to eventually go that route. Adstar would set up a website and populate it with products from a product category with-in there list and help market the website to get it to the top of the suggested site on various web search engine platforms. Was told that the website is automated, don't make changes without talking to them first and it would be self running. When I asked why not market and just sell themselves, the reply was that it was due to tax benefits and at anytime with-in the first 18 months, if I was not satisfied, I would get a full refund, less any profits I would have made from the said website. i started talking with them in March and decided to give it a shot in April due to the money back gaurantee. To date, I have not seen a single sale from the website and have inquired about this several times about not seeing sales. In September I decided that I wasn't going to wait the full 18 months and go ahead and request a refund . I did get a call from a female saying that they have gotten my request and someone would be calling me back to process the refund. I have not received anu calls back and I have called them on several occasions leaving messages and have heard nothing back. At the time they were courting me about this, one of their selling points is that they had be pull up the BBB website to show that they had an A+ rating with no complaints. now I am seeing several complaints

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2022

  We here at Adstar Marketing are deeply saddened to hear that one of our clients is having a poor experience.

  With so many happy clients who are achieving success and having great results, we were obviously quick to look into ** ***** account history with our company to see what might be going wrong in this isolated case.

  Here is what we found:Our first scheduled appointment with ** ***** from the Fulfillment Center was on 4/05/22. He failed to answer

  Since that date, we have recorded a total of 34 customer service calls to ** ***** ****** We record all of our calls and keep excellent records

  Of those 34 calls, 17 were appointments that ** ***** missed, and our calls went unanswered

  In a business like ours where marketing on the internet is involved, momentum is vital. We tell all clients that success is contingent upon them making all of their appointments, and going through all their trainings correctly and thoroughly

  With all of our clients, it is absolutely CRUCIAL that they keep their scheduled appointments and follow through

  On occasion, we would call ahead to verify that an appointment was coming. Then ** ***** ***** would fail to answer

  
  Here is a list of the DATES of phone calls that we have full digital recordings for:

  10/12
  10/4
  9/26
  9/22
  9/05
  8/25
  8/18
  8/04
  8/04
  7/20
  7/13
  6/28
  6/14
  6/07
  5/31
  5/26
  5/19
  5/19
  5/12
  5/10
  5/09
  5/05
  5/03
  4/29
  4/28
  4/27
  4/25
  4/21
  4/20
  4/19
  4/15
  4/15
  4/12
  4/05

  We
  here at ADSTAR would love to see ** ***** ***** succeed, and we are willing to
  put forth every effort to make that happen.
  We
  have attached the legally signed Service Agreement and Invoice for reference.
  Our refund policies and terms are stated there in clear language.
  It
  is our sincere hope that ** ***** ***** will recommit to his business, get
  serious about this program, and diligently make his scheduled appointments. We
  believe this will result in him experiencing what hundreds of other happy
  clients have, namely success.
  
  Respectfully
  

  ADSTAR MARKETING