Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromSuzanne C

  Date: 01/02/2025

  1 star

  Suzanne C

  Date: 01/02/2025

  ******! This is a scam. As is the same with other reviewers and complainants, we received an invoice for $265 for something that we did not order. We did not even sign up for a free trial for anything with this company. Following the invoice we received a continuation notice along with a W-9, again trying to get us to send the money. This is fraudulent activity. Left a 1 star rating only because 0 stars was not an option.

  Institute of Business Publications

  Date: 01/13/2025

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the negative customer review recently posted by *** ******* ********* Human Resource Manager with Image Works Displays, ************** **. (Review ID No. ******* While perusing the Internet on October 22, 2024, *** ******** saw an offer for our publication HR Managers Legal Alert for Supervisors. After reviewing the offer, *** ******** agreed to accept a trial subscription to our email newsletter. The offer clearly explained to *** ******** that the product would cost $265 per year for five users to extend the subscription beyond the original four-issue trial. If no action was taken, the trial would simply end and *** ******** would receive nothing further from ***** per the offer, we began emailing our publication to *** ******** to the email address provided to us by her ********************************** Shortly thereafter, we followed up with a continuation notice that *** ******** was supposed to pay in order to continue the subscription. *** ******** was under no obligation to respond to the notice or take any other action. If we did not hear from *** ********* we would simply discontinue sending the publication to her upon completion of the trial period. During the four-issue trial, we heard nothing from *** ******** until she filed this defamatory review against us. Instead of reaching out to us to resolve whatever concerns she might have had with our company, *** ******** went behind our backs and filed a damaging review against us. *** ******** claims in her review that she never signed up for the trial offer to the publication. This is a false statement, as weve already detailed. Even worse, our records indicate that *** ******** received all four issues of the publication during the trial period and that she opened all four issues. According to our records, she opened the first issue on 10/29/24 at 10:04 a.m. Eastern time, the second issue at 11/19/24 at 11:02 a.m., the third issue on 12/10/24 at 11:21 a.m. and the fourth issue on 12/31/24 at 11:32 a.m. The bottom line is that *** ******** ordered the product, received the publication, read the newsletter and benefitted from it, then thanked us by submitting a negative review of our business. Please note that *** ******** has paid no funds to us, nor are we asking for payment of anything to us. It is unfortunate, however, that *** ******** has chosen to bring unwanted scrutiny to our organization because she was hoping she could continue to benefit from the valuable, actionable ideas in our publication without paying anything to us. Once she learned that our intellectual property isnt free, she decided to lash out against us with a slanderous review. You can rest assured that the hard-working men and women employed by our company and their families do not appreciate the damage *** ******** is attempting to inflict upon our business. And theres no doubt that our customers who are using our publication to target illegal discrimination in the workplace dont appreciate the efforts of *** ******** to tarnish our company. Needless to say, we have removed *** ******** from our contact list and we respectfully request that she never again sign up for a trial subscription to any of our publications wed rather not deal with people who have nothing better to do with their time than complain about legitimate business practices in order to bring attention to themselves. Given that *** ******** knowingly agreed to accept our offer, that we honored the terms of the offer to which she agreed, and that her customer review misrepresents her dealings with us, we hope your office will classify her review as what it is: defamatory and false. Sincerely *** ******** President, Institute of Business Publications

• Review fromDavid M

  Date: 08/28/2024

  1 star

  David M

  Date: 08/28/2024

  This company might not qualify as a scam outright, but they certainly operate dishonestly. As the dozens of BBB complaints mention, their tactic is to contact people who tried their free trial of publications and then bill them for a year's subscription.*** ********** typical response to these complaints is to call them defamatory, and explain that after the free trial they send a continuation notice and then cease contact. In reality, what our company received was a physical letter addressed to our ************* labeled "Invoice Ordered By [Person Who Tried Free Trial]". It includes a clear line item for a one-year subscription with a "Balance Due" of $265, as well as an account number, payment terms (they specify net 30, good lord), and a W-9 with their tax information to remit payment. In much smaller text, next to information on how to access their E-Z Pay 1-2-3 Portal, is a sentence that reads "Please pay to subscribe to a full year of 24 issues." I'll generously assume that if you make a payment, they will earnestly send a full year of 24 issues, but to describe this letter as a continuation notice is laughable. It is plainly meant to trick companies into processing the "invoice" under the assumption that the "Ordered By" contact has already subscribed for a year.Don't be tricked into giving them your money. I personally didn't read the free trials so I can't speak to the quality of the content itself; that said, a company operating so dishonestly would not be my most trusted source for publications on ************************** in the workplace.

  Institute of Business Publications

  Date: 09/03/2024

  This is a bogus review submitted by an individual who, for some unknown reason, has an axe to grind with our company. We have no record of ***************************** in our database, which means he never saw the original offer and has no idea what hes talking about. And we have no record of a subscription ordered by an organization called Innovative Justice. In fact, ********************** admits in his review that he didnt even read our publication. As such, the slanderous allegations hes making in his review are, at best, hearsay, and, at worse, a concerted effort to damage our business. Perhaps ********************** has been compensated by one of our competitors to post this harmful review.Furthermore, we have no record that ********************** contacted our company before posting his review. You would think someone working for an organization called Innovative Justice would at least reach out to the company hes trying to damage before posting an adverse review of its business practices. But he did not. Perhaps his version of justice is to spew lies and venom that defame an organization, its hard-working employees and their families without first providing the company with an opportunity to defend itself. It sounds like a twisted version of justice.

• Review fromEthan H

  Date: 04/19/2024

  5 stars

  Ethan H

  Date: 04/19/2024

  These newsletters are extremely valuable and have provided extensive knowledge to me, my supervisors, and my employees at an extremely low price.

  Institute of Business Publications

  Date: 04/22/2024

  Thanks for your positive comments, *****. We work very hard to make sure our readers get timely, useful and actionable information from our publications.

• Review fromHEATHER L

  Date: 02/14/2023

  1 star

  HEATHER L

  Date: 02/14/2023

  This is nothing but a scam and they are relentless. I have received a statement for $265 stating I signed up for a trial when I most certainly did not. They then sent a copy to our Accounts Payable department who immediately thought it was a scam as well. I never requested a free trial. I would not need the information they are providing so I would not sign up for anything like this. You should see the attachment with their "trial" newsletter. It's absolutely ridiculous. They again, today, sent me an email regarding the above. They do not give you a choice to unsubscribe. Soooo, if I subscribed like they say, shouldn't you have an option to "unsubscribe?" THEN, you try to contact their "customer service" it puts you through to only a voice mail. DO NOT fall for this scam.

  Institute of Business Publications

  Date: 02/15/2023

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the negative customer review recently posted by Ms. Heather L****, Payroll Supervisor for Upstate Cerebal Palsey, Utica, NY. (Review ID No. 340623)
  While perusing the Internet on December 29, 2022, Ms. L**** saw an offer for our publication HR Manager’s Legal Alert for Supervisors. After reviewing the offer, Ms. L**** agreed to accept a trial subscription to our email newsletter.
  The offer clearly explained to Ms. L**** that the product would cost $265 per year for five users to extend the subscription beyond the original four-issue trial. If no action was taken, the trial would simply end and Ms. L**** would receive nothing further from us.
  As per the offer, we began emailing our publication to Ms. L**** to the email address provided to us by her (***************************). Shortly thereafter, we followed up with a continuation notice that Ms. L**** was supposed to pay in order to continue the subscription. Ms. L**** was under no obligation to respond to the notice or take any other action. If we did not hear from Ms. L****, we would simply discontinue sending the publication upon completion of the trial period.
  On Feb. 14, 2023, Ms. L**** sent an email asking that the account be cancelled. We immediately processed her request and have sent nothing to her since that date.
  Even though the account had already been cancelled, Ms. L**** still chose to lodge a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in an obvious effort to damage the good name and reputation of our organization.
  In her complaint, Ms. L**** makes several defamatory and inaccurate statements. First, she claims that our business is a scam. This is an outlandish accusation, especially considering her experience with our company: She ordered a trial subscription to our publication, benefitted from the four issues we sent to her and paid nothing to us. If it’s a scam, it’s not a very good one.
  In addition, Ms. L**** states that she didn’t order the trial subscription because she has no need for our publication. Keep in mind that we can’t stop people from signing up for the offer once they see it on the Internet. We can only trust that individuals are smart enough to know which products could help them perform their jobs and which couldn’t. Apparently, in Ms. L****’s case, she doesn’t know enough to avoid accepting offers that aren’t relevant for her. Perhaps she should review her organization’s job description for her position to find out exactly what she is and isn’t supposed to be doing. And one wonders whether her managers at Upstate Cerebal Palsy know that Ms. L**** spends her time surfing the Internet signing up for products that apparently have nothing to do with her job. The bottom line is this: Ms. L**** did agree to receive our product. She might not remember having done so, but she did.
  In addition, Ms. L**** says our publication is “ridiculous.” Considering that we have thousands of subscribers who find our newsletter a valuable tool to stamp out workplace discrimination, we can only speculate that Ms. L**** didn’t like our product because she thinks workplace discrimination is a good thing. We’re left to ask whether the employees of Upstate Cerebal Palsy know that a supposed supervisor within their organization is actively trying to destroy a publication intended to eliminate workplace bias, and has effectively positioned herself on the side of unlawful discrimination.
  Please note that Ms. L**** has paid no funds to us, nor are we asking for payment of anything to us.
  It is unfortunate, however, that Ms. L**** has chosen to bring unwanted scrutiny to our organization because she either didn’t read the offer or didn’t understand what she was agreeing to. You can rest assured that the hard-working men and women employed by our company – and their families – do not appreciate the damage Ms. L**** is attempting to inflict upon our business. And there’s no doubt that our customers – who are using our publication to target illegal discrimination in the workplace – don’t appreciate the efforts of Ms. L**** to tarnish our company.
  Needless to say, we have removed Ms. L**** from our contact list and we respectfully request that she never again sign up for a trial subscription to any of our publications – we’d rather not deal with people who have nothing better to do with their time than complain about legitimate business practices in order to bring attention to themselves.
  Given that Ms. L**** knowingly agreed to accept our offer, that we honored the terms of the offer to which she agreed, and that her customer review misrepresents her dealings with us, we hope your office will classify her review as what it is: defamatory and false.
  Sincerely
  Jim M*******
  President, Institute of Business Publications