Video Professor Sues Anonymous Critics
from the buy-my-product dept
If you watch enough TV, you've probably come across the commercials for "the video professor" who offers DVD videos teaching you how to do things like use your computer. The commercials involve an appeal from the CEO and founder of the company to "buy my product" and promote how you can get a trial for "free!" However, if you look around online, you find many, many complaints that the company ended up charging people money for the supposedly "free" products. What is actually happening is that when you sign up for the "free" trial, you're actually signing up for a subscription to receive other training videos periodically. The problem is that many people don't realize this -- and claim that they were mislead (in many ways, this is similar to the Amazon Prime mess that still hasn't been cleared up. Whether or not the company clearly explains to buyers what they're signing up for is open to debate.However, with such widespread criticism for its practices online, it isn't surprising that the company is concerned. Of course, rather than addressing those criticisms, instead the company has decided to sue. Greg Beck writes in to point out that the company (which tells people to look for reviews online) has sued 100 anonymous critics of the company claiming trademark violations and defamation. Lots of companies seem to think negative reviews constitute a trademark violation, but a review is a perfectly legitimate use of a trademark. Defamation depends specifically on what the reviewers said, so it's difficult to judge that aspect of the lawsuits. However, to tell people to look for reviews online, and then go out and sue a bunch of folks who negatively reviewed your product seems like highly questionable activity.
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Filed Under: infomercials, reviews, slapp, video professor
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The VIdeo Professor... however... is a fucking idiot.
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Re:
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Sharp, pointy stick.
In any event, now a lot more people are going to have negative things to say about the Professor, as well as hear about the negative reviews.
Maybe someone should sell a CD to him entitled "The Streisand Effect: Pros and Cons" to him. :)
..I, not being a lawyer, have to wonder if suing someone ever has a good outcome... maybe we should just do away with it altogether.
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Re: Sharp, pointy stick.
I swear I am going to make a CD like that and sell it to large corporations! That could be so much fun. I could use barbara streisand footage and maybe even have someone try to sue me for copyright or trademark violation in the process! This could be a lot of fun lol....definitely beyond youtube worthy...and of course, sell it in youtube but laugh as corporations buy a CD of it.
ohhhh man, please, anyone want to help with this project find me via my blog usagemayvary.blogspot.com
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Re: Sharp, pointy stick.
LOL
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Re: Sharp, pointy stick.
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The product I was selling was the Video Professor. I can tell you that the fact that it was a subscription was never deliberately concealed; however the offer was presented in such a way that you could easily end up with a subscription that you didn't want.
Eventually I went to my boss and told him that I wasn't totally comfortable with the way that the video professor offer was being presented to people. Well long story short, I was told that I didn't believe in the product (this was right after graduation from PSU with an MIS degree so I didn't believe in it), and I was moved to another section within the company. Then I quit two weeks later when I got a real job.
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As The infamous Joe correctly points out - Nothing is 'Free'
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Put up or shup up
So unless the people that reviewed the product did not unknowingly sign up for future products...
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Re: Put up or shup up
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Dvorak on Video Professor
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Disbar the attorneys
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Re: Disbar the attorneys
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Re: Disbar the attorneys
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Amazon Prime
;-)
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Re#10, #4
#4, maybe since you would use her footage, you could convince Streisand herself to sue you, only making it that much more popular and awesome! You CD/DVD would be proving itself right!
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Re: AC #11
I agree ... So, in order to avoid possible legal repercussions, I will refrain from commenting on the complete absurdity of using frivolous lawsuits that waste everyone's time and money in pursuit of the ludicrous goal of stopping anonymous comments on the internet about your crappy product.
there - see, I didn't make a statement. I stated very clearly that I wasn't making a statement.
Besides - Neal brings up a good point - there needs to be some sort of serious pain felt by attorneys who engage in these sorts of asinine lawsuits. example: S-C-O. In cases like these, I feel that the lawyers (and/or law firms) themselves should be held liable along with the company they represent should they lose the case. That would probably go a long way towards making these ambulance chasers think twice before embarking on a case like this one.
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Re: Re: AC #11
If the world is lucky, this could be taken as collusion.in a frivolous lawsuit. (IANAL, so I'm not sure as to exactly how this would be framed)
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Re: Re: AC #11
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Can't even update the commercial
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I'll countersue
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I am suing all posters
Respect my authoritah!!
Hippies
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Class action
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Re: Class action
state any specific name!). I am in the middle of "negotiations". I am from Florida, the masters of the
class action lawsuit (i.e. Phillip Morris, etc.)
If my "negotiations" go as others have gone, I will seriously consider class action. I'll keep ya'll posted.
I took on one of the largest insurance companies without a
lawsuit and won!
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Video Professor
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Re: Video Professor
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Video Professor
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OTOH, frivolous lawsuits do impose costs on the victim. Even though Video Professor will probably have to pay their legal costs, it will still eat up the victims' time, perhaps serving as a warning to others wanting to tell their stories.
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slapp
(( slapp = Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Partitpation ))
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Lawyers
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Try my product...
They make their money from the "Shipping and Handling" charges. It doesn't cost anywhere near that much to mail a CD-ROM. They just overcharge and take the difference.
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Wow! Clever move!
Genius!
I alone have told about two dozen people about that amazing company and their wonderful products. Please do the same and help spread the word about what a wonderful company this is.
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Yes, SLAPP them back
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Video Professor
This is a much more scary thing than whether or not I was a savvy or naive buyer.
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"misled"
Also, he says "try my product", not "buy my product", the implication being that you can try it with no obligation.
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The Video Professor
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Re: The Video Professor
This is absurd given the thousands if disatisfied people on the web alone. Keep on telling your friends and I will continue to dig up dirt on this guy. And there is plenty to find. Can you believe the BBB gives this guy an A?
Maybe we should blacklist any company who deals with him or any cable station that allows him to mislead American people whose First Amendment rights he tried to take away. Should such a man even be allowed anyway near our troops.
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Video Professor Sucks
I personally think Video Professor is nothing more than scammers selling junk.
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Re: Video Professor Sucks
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Video Professor Lack-Luster. (100% SHAT)
Opps did I say something bad about the Video Professor? Damn... add me to the list of Defendants.
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Video Professor's Litigation!
Can you imagine where this would lead? Let's warp this ahead in time and say that Video Professor is successful in his suit against the defendants in this case. According to your article, he promises to take this all the way up to the Supreme Court. Would this not have a chilling effect on every negative review of a product, movie, politician, corporate business practice, restaurant, movie etc.? Could not this open the legal floodgates for anyone who has received a negative review claiming the same cause for libel and defamation? I would lead you to another similar celebrated case being fought against a book review at various places on the web.
http://richarddawkins.net/article,1546,PZ-Myers-sued-for-a-negative-review-in-a-blog-post,Bo ing-Boing or
Here
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/20/writer-sued-for-a-ne.html.
Would this not suppress every critic out there or limit their comments in a fog of possible litigation?
The bottom line is this. Can a person or a corporate entity who has unlimited financial and legal resources be able to use the judicial system to suppress the Free Speech of outspoken critics who he KNOWS does not have access to those same resources? Litigation in the court system is expensive.
A lawyer can bury the other side in paperwork with legal tactics and strategies using depositions, interrogatories, subpoenas, delays, appeals etc. There is no way that the average consumer has the economic resources to legally fight such a strategy and they knows this. So in effect, they are able silence their critics by De Facto litigation. However, the chilling aftermath of all this is a suppression of the basic First Amendment Rights.
In the W. R.Grace & Co in the Woburn case and in Libby, Montana, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/grace03.shtml. Didn't Jan Schlichtmann's Law Firm end up in bankruptcy?
These cases do not merit the free speech dicussion above but only shows how corporations and individuals can use the legal system to advance or protect their business practices from consumers.
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Video Professor Lawsuit
Thanks to the Internet and sites like this and mine that continue to expose these crooks to warn and inform consumers.
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I'm one of the guys being sued
THIS IS A NOTICE FROM INFOMERICIALSCAMS.COM ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS.
Why am I getting this notice?
You are getting this notice because you are one of 100 people (known as 'John Does') who are being sued by Video Professor in connection with an anonymous posting that you made on the infomercialscams.com website. The case is known as Video Professor v. John Doe 1-100, Civil Action No. 07-cv-01726-WYD-CBS, and is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (Denver).
Will my identity be revealed?
Video Professor is asking the court to order infomercialscams.com to reveal identifying information about you, including the name and email address that you provided when you registered to post. This information may also include the 'IP number' that you used when posting; this number can be used to identify your Internet Service Provider which may have further identifying information about you. Infomercialscams.com may be forced to reveal such identifying information that it has, unless a motion is filed on your behalf in federal court to block such disclosure. The rest of this message provides you with information about the reasons that Video Professor has given for demanding this information, and what you can do to respond to Video Professor's demand.
What is Video Professor claiming?
Video Professor claims that the 100 John Does, including you, are engaged in false advertising in violation of federal law and defamation in violation of Colorado law, and also alleges several other claims under Colorado law.
What specific statements is Video Professor's lawsuit about?
In response to a demand by our attorneys, citing your First Amendment right to anonymous free speech, Video Professor has specified the following message from you that was posted on the infomercialscams.com web site on 8/10/2007 allegedly contain false and defamatory statements. The underlined words are the specific statements that Video Professor claims are false:
Video Professor has provided the attached affidavit from one of its officials, Bettye Harrison, as well as a chart that reveals the following basis for its claim that the underlined words are false:
VPI does not make unauthorized charges to customer credit card accounts. This is specifically verifyable because VPI records and archives each and every one of its telephone purchase transactions. If the identity of the poster is provided, the recording will reflect that the charges were authorized by this customer or that no such transaction ever occurred.
2. Video Professor provides a telephone number in each package shipped. When calling Video Professor Customer Service, the customer is also advised of the option of e-mailing their request or faxing their request.
What do I need to do to stop my identity from being revealed? Do I need my own lawyer?
If you want to prevent the disclosure of your identifying information, you may wish to obtain your own attorney to file a motion to block disclosure on your behalf. That motion can be filed in federal court EITHER in Nevada OR in Colorado (your attorney will decide). So long as you or your attorney notifies us by October 31 that a motion to quash has been filed on your behalf, we will object to disclosure until that motion has been decided.
If I can't get my own lawyer, will your lawyers help me?
Our lawyers are reviewing the materials supplied by Video Professor to decide whether, in their opinion, Video Professor has shown enough evidence to be able to learn your identity. If they conclude that Video Professor has NOT shown enough, they will file papers making that argument with the Court unless Video Professor improves its showing.
However, you should not count on our lawyers filing on your behalf, or on their succeeding in such an argument. The only way to be certain that a motion to block disclosure is filed on your behalf, assuming that such a motion is justified, is to get your own lawyer to file it for you.
Our lawyers are willing to consider representing individual posters on our web site. Their names and contact information are listed below. The Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco is also willing to consider such representation. You may call EFF's intake coordinator, Eva Galperin, at 415-436-9333, extension 111. Another resource to consult is the web site http://www.subpoenadefense.org/legal.htm. The American Civil Liberties Union is willing to provide information about opposing subpoenas to identify anonymous Internet speakers. For information, contact Christina Juhasz-Wood at cjuhasz-wood@aclu.org or 212 549-2640.
Who are our lawyers?
The lawyers representing infomercialscams.com are:
Paul Alan Levy
Deepak Gupta
Public Citizen Litigation Group
1600 - 20th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009
(202) 588-1000
FAX: 202-588-7795
litigation@citizen.org
Who are Video Professor's lawyers?
The main lawyer representing Video Professor is:
Gregory H. Smith, Esquire
Fairfield and Woods, P.C.
Wells Fargo Center, Suite 2400
1700 Lincoln St.
Denver, Colorado 80203-4524
303-894-4459
FAX: 303-830-1033
ghsmith@fwlaw.com
The entire complaint filed by Video Professor, and the entire chart of allegedly defamatory posts from infomercialscams.com, can be accessed at http://www.infomercialscams.com/vptable.htm
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Video Professor Litigation
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Video Professor Litigation
Its nuts. Its unamerican. It also is apparently a lousy lawsuit.
The nonprofit law firm Public Citizen sent them this letter, and posted on their website. http://www.citizen.org/documents/videoprofletter.pdf
It is killer.
Separately, I sawan article that ran on google news about a law firm going after Video Professor http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071023006 473&newsLang=en
I guess they are filing a class action and offered to represent the people VP is going after for free. Check out www.vplitigation.com Pretty interesting.
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Video Professor's
What if one of those 100 people is on disability meaning NO INCOME - they can't "hire" an attorney to help them against a corporation who has unlimited financial reserves and a lawyer on retainer for every negative word said about them.
Personally I hope VP is told they need to just suck it up.
Besides, I always thought a little criticism was good for a business - It lets them know where things are working or not so they can improve.
What's the point of having the Freedom of Speech if any corporation or company who gets their feelings hurt can demand the persnal information of an individual who wants to be anonymous just so they can sue them over a little negative feed back about their product?
Isn't that how it was with Hitler and others like him who couldn't handle criticism? Oh wait, they just had you killed. This is the day and age of suing anybody for whatever turns you on.
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Re: Video Professor's
state any specific name!). I am in the middle of "negotiations". I am from Florida, the masters of the
class action lawsuit (i.e. Phillip Morris, etc.)
If my "negotiations" go as others have gone, I will seriously consider class action. I'll keep ya'll posted.
I took on one of the largest insurance companies without a
lawsuit and won!
P.S. I AM disabled and they cleaned out my bank account
for food, etc. for the rest of the month. (4 weeks!)
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America is the land of sue
Ultimately, everyone's gonna hate VP whether they win or not. If they win the case, they probably won't care if sale decline. Actually, sale could depend on whether if the change their business practice and hidden fee (speaking of hidden fee, do not buy Red Excerciser with its $14.99 Free Trail thru your TV).
Why VP decide to sue could be 1) They're good image is turning into Lindsay Lohan because of the Internet. 2) Customers are declining. 3) They're not making any money like they use to because of the free information on the Internet. 4) read first paragraph. 5) IT'S EASIER TO MAKE MONEY SUING PEOPLE THAN SELLING CD. 6) THE COST OF FIGHTING THIS LAWSUIT OVERWEIGHT THE COST OF PRODUCTION AND ADVERTISING TO MAKE THE CD.
Conspiracy theory: $6.99 to send a CD in a paper envelope only cost $1.39, this practice is very similar to sellers found on Ebay. Of course, VP could say $6.99 covers handling, labor cost, material, and all. But no one in their business mind would charge only $7 to breakeven. Since it only cost around $1.39 to ship, .05 cent for the paper envelope, .30 cent for the CD, and .10 cents for the printing. VP should profit $5 for anyone that accepts the free trail. So if 10,000 people try the free trail, VP already make $50,000 on shipping. Not to mention the information it could sell from these suckers. It also says it 8 million people had already tried. How many actually satisfy or stay with the program? It probably a inflated figure like AOL subscriber. Hey you know, this is not a bad idea for VP to try AOL's aggressive method of sending everyone in America a free CD and claim on its accounting as a sale.
How I love America, if you don't make money, you sue them. I have a feeling VP is going to lose this case, make a bad name for itself and eventually go into bankruptcy as if it isn't there already. Who knows.
Ohh, and if VP boy scouts are reading this...tell your boss to make a CD entitled: How to Sue. It's time he move from his Window and graphic learning CD to something like, How to create a websie like MySpace and How to money charging high fee and using free trail. I might be interested in buying these CD's so I can learn to scam.
Just my two cents.
Disclaimer: All materials, contents, texts, languages expressed here are for entertainment purposes. It does not represent the view or opinion of techdirt.com, or its members. Techdirt.com will not disclose any IP to any money hungry company that threathen lawsuit against the freedom of speech. Company that violate this will know the power of free speech and Internet. Have a nice day and try to turn negative comments into a positive view.
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This is another pathetic attempt by another failing business that try to rip people off by using the business model implied consent. Anyone business that use this model should be avoided.
Negative comments are meant to revive the business model and customer relationship. I hope Video Professor and other businesses that try to sue John Doe and Jane learn a valuable lesson here. If there's more negative comments than positive, it must mean a) your product/service sucks b) your payment method is too aggressive c) your customer service is terrible and/or d) people are not sastified with the result. Instead of wasting your time on the Internet for these negative comments that can scare your business and try to get rip of them by suing them, improve the product or service so that there's more positive comments on the internet.
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Video Professor Problems
Just my 2 cents worth!
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Video Professor's Business Practices
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Video Professor yelled at me
I called Video Professor to return the disk and get an RMA number.
The rep Kelly was making various offers to get me to keep it,including sending me three more programs to let the one I have bill.
She was being nice and making small talk as is her job and I casually said something like "Gee, if you send me three maybe I can sell them on Ebay and make a profit" He had me repeat myself as if she didn't understand and then started yelling at me "That is illegal!!!" I advised her selling my own stuff was not illegal. She put me on hold, probably to get a supervisor to yell at me. When she came back I told her to just give me the damn RAM and we would part friends. I accused her of screaming at me and she claimed she was "only doing her job" and that only VP could sell their wares. I told her that since she was obviously representing the legal dept at Video Professor she should go to Ebay and look a at the 200 + people who are indeed selling their product...
Lesson learned. Don't make small talk with Video Professor reps
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Video Professor Bummer
I was about to buy into this free deal and you headed me off at the Scam Pass. I am surprised at myself because this is definitely not my first rodeo
Mega gratitude's.
MR Bill
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Video Professor Scam
On top of everything else, he is definitely antagonizing people by flashing his phony credentials all over the television landscape at disgustingly frequent intervals. If nothing else, he should be run out of business just for being a Jackass. Too bad there's no law against it.
Dave Harman
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Have they stopped suing yet ?
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try to get a refund from them
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Video Professor complaint
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returning video Professor learn e bay
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returning video Professor learn e bay
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VP
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Re: VP
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john scherer helps American Troops
How many military families have had monies taken from them under false pretenses, false advertising and through hidden affiliate links, which John Scherer promotes. VP practices
have probably taken advantage of these struggling families.
I HAVE NO DOUBT THIS HAS HAPPENED OVER AND OVER.
How many residents of Naperville, IL would want to see the good name of their community besmurched with this guy advertising to being related to town founders. They must be rolling over in their graves. As a former resident of both Naperville, IL and St. Charles, Il. I think it necessary to inform the powers that be, that this man is using the names of these towns to promote himself while keeping hidden the hundreds of serious complaints against him all over the internet. He is sullying the good names of the towns he claims to be from. Napervilles crooked son?
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video prof
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Just another scam
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Agree with Karen
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Don't buy no more tv ads crap
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Video Professor Sucks
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Video Professor
The real point is this - read it anyway! (the user agreement and the terms of contract). When I did, I saw imediately there were hidden charges, which they DO disclose IF you take the time to read.
So that's why I say let the buyer beware.
Long story short, I'm not doing business with Video Professor because of what I read and what I've heard (since after reading the VP User Agreement and the Terms of Contract).
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Attorney General
1525 Sherman St.
5th floor
Denver, CO 80203
(303)866-4500 (303)866-4500
Fax: (303)866-5691
* Consumer Complaint Line - in Denver and Out of State - 303-866-5189 303-866-5189
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VIDEO PROFESSFORS
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Video professor
We'll see...
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