Chapel Sales, Inc. review: They are thieves! 80

I had a young black man come to my door stating that he was selling magazines and subscriptions in order to earn points towards a scholarship. Originally my husband who had answered the door had told him we were not interested and the young man kept trying to persuade us telling us it was for a good cause. So I decided to buy a dino encyclopedia for my 5 yr old as a birthday gift since he loves dinosaurs. He also presumed to invite himself into our home and ask for cookies and juice that he saw my children eating. I have the original receipt stating the amount of $29. A few weeks later I receive a bill from them stating that I owed an additional $30. I have been unable too find a phone number for them if anyone knows of them...I write this so that noone else will be scammed by them

I had a young black man come to my door stating that he was selling magazines and subscriptions in order to earn points towards a scholarship. Originally my uncle who had answered the door had told him we were not interested and the young man kept trying to persuade us telling us it was for a good cause. We then decided to renew our subscriptions to Glamour and teen vogue through them. My uncle gave them a deposit of 60 dollars, they later sent us a remainin balance of 58 dollars. I have also been trying to get a phone number because this is ridiculous. If anyone has it please let me know.. thanks

I live in Lanham, MD. In 2006 I had a young man come to my door talking that same line as was done to the Fernandez. He said they earn points toward a scholarship. I purchased an African American Bible and another Black History Book -- the damage $128.00. I was to receive my order in about 60 days. I have yet to receive the merchandise or a refund. The company if it was a reputable firm, is being slandered by all these folks crossing state lines lying to people and stealing our money. What can be done about this? The address I have an address in NC. Nonetheless, why isn't anything being done and what can I contribute to help us all get our money back. I do have my receipt and can get the cancelled check and/or bank transaction. I wrote a check.

I have also been trying to get some information on these people, they have robbed me of 132.00. I also had a young black man come to my home stating the same bs about a scholarship fund etc. I want my money back! Please if anyone gets any information on this, please post the information. Thanks!

I just had this happen to me yesterday.. Something in me was telling me that everything was not ok.. But the black young man seemed very nice and professionals. The company phone is [protected] address is 520 Fellowship Rd. Ste E-506 Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054 web www.chapelsales.com.. Has anyone gotten their merchandise?... I only gave this guy $10 just in case it was an honest sale (I wanted to help him get books at a discount for school) but I wasn't too sure so I told him I only had $10 and he said that he would help me out because some customers had given him money and they were not interested in the magazines he would say in the receipt that I had given him $25? That seemed weird but ok..

My story is exactly as the others. I thought my $20 was helping a young person build a scholarship fund. Now I get a bill for the balance of some supposed purchase. This place should be investigated by the state attorney general.

I currently live in Largo, MD and this is amazing that I found this on the web but thank you all for sharing. I was just approached by two black women whom tried to sell me the books/mags. Although I didn't order anything I took the time to observe the ladies and realized that for college students they were not that clean nor look like they were in college. Nevertheless, please inform everyone of this issue and thank you for posting your experience. It help me validate the reason why I didn't order. I asked if they had a website and if I could order another way but they were very persist about getting me to pay them or give money for a donation to little children. Again, we have to find a way to cut this at the head. So that our people are not deceived and taken for granted/nor cheated. Its a shame that we are stealing from our own. Its a shame--the bible says.."the love of money is the root of all evil" their out to deceive and taking no prisoners. Continue to spread it to your friends and family.

I too was ripped off! I bought a subscription to a magazine which I never received!

I live in Severn, MD and I had a young black male stop by my house a month ago and tell me how he had changed his life around and was getting ready to go to college. I decided to help him out by buying a lot of things. However, I only put down $110 (which is a lot). I was getting ready to pay the balance ($150) but something told me to look up this company since I've just received the bills. I wish I did this earlier so I could've put a stop payment on the checks. He did ask for cash, however, I didn't have any on me. I'm going to see if I can stop my order.

Exactly! ME too! I am so mad right now. I ordered a book of bedtime stories back in November for $29, and just today received an invoice headlined "second notice" stating I still owe $31.95. There is a note on the inovice stating, "Any difference in price from order copy is either an error by salesperson or due to current price increases beyond our control." The nerve of these jerks! I would fight to get my money back from them on principle, even if it were just $1. I cannot wait to call someone tomorrow morning and bite their heads off! Can they legally get away with this? There has to be a way to shut them down!

wow. I just googled Chapel Sales to find some sort of phone number to call to complain. THE SAME THING happened to me! I got an invoice saying I owed more money...the SAME EXACT STORY happened to me, with the 2 girls at the door, etc. WE HAVE TO SHUT THEM DOWN! Has anyone gotten through to customer service?!?!?!

I actually worked for Chapel Sales back in 2000. These companies usually prey on lost, dysfunctional young people who are wanting to escape their rough lives or neighborhoods. It was a nightmare! Where do I begin? I was such a naive girl who just graduated from high school and was told about this "great" job opportunity. I am from the South and was picked up and driven to Detroit. We lived in hotels and ate fast food everyday. We woke up at 6 AM for our meetings where we were trained what to say and how to act with the customers, in other words, we were trained liars. These meetings usually lasted an hour. We would have 7 different teams that consisted of 8-10 people . They would load us in vans and drop us off at street corners. We would go door to door selling magazines and books. We have this folded "information" explaining how we were earning points for college scholarships and we would choose what books you may be interested in from our list that was usually attached. The van would pick us up 1 1/2 to 2 hours later. We would work well into the night, 6 days a week. We were off on Sundays to do laundry and hang out. There were promises of money that we were making that our managers kept on our "books" but we've never seen any of it. At the end of the day, we would turn our money in to our managers. They would give us no more than $10 to live off of daily. I usually kept to myself. I refused to engage in what the team members were doing. Sex with total strangers, with each other; it seemed like every week someone had to be taken to the clinic to get rid of an STD. I gained like 15lbs the 3 months I was there. I tried to leave, but they kept giving me excuse after excuse..."oh, wait until next week, we can't let you go now." I called my parents and they packed up and was about to come and get me. I just stopped going to work. After about 2 days, they sent me home. 18 hours to get back home on the Greyhound. I was overjoyed when I saw familiar territory. A couple years later a boy and a girl came to my house. Before they even opened their mouth, I knew what they were doing. I immediately told them how they were being used and to go home. I let them come in and rest because it was very hot and I know that they were hungry. I felt so sorry for them. They were 17 years old. I explained to them about all the lies, but I knew they weren’t listening to me. I literally begged them to go home. They were so like me, Naive and hoping for a better life. We actually prayed together, then they left. These places must be shut down!

I can truly undertstand what everyone is going through right now. I too ordered a magazine subscription from Chapel. I pay $12. cash and $16. check with a balance of $24.
It was two young black women with the same scholarship scam and the points. After they left I felt uneasy about the whole thing but shook it off, thinking it was for a good cause. This was Oct. 2007. I have not sent the additional $24. now like Ayesha Ahmad I've received the same notices. Just wrote them an e-mail asking if I can change the magazine subscription.Sorry I didn't see these complaints before doing so.

I am in agreeance with M. I went through the same thing as M did. I was a door to door salesperson from [protected]. I wasn't naive - I just thought that I was running away from my problems and ran into larger problems working for Chapel Sales.

My friend and I were the only ones to be hired and we were taken about 1000 miles from our home state to the state of Texas. I remember being tired from the long drive and having to get up around 6am-7am to attend a pep meeting where it seemed fun at first. This was in the summer - over 100 degrees the first day I went out on the street. I had no idea that we would stay out from 8am - until 9pm, but since I was dealing with major issues at home, I thought I would stick it out. My friend was the smart one, she went back home - got a nice job with the local goverment (and is still there).

After a week or two I was ready to go door to door by myself and do sales. Things were ok - I was getting the hang of it.
It was time for us to travel to another state. We were in a van for hours driving to another state - Tx to Illionois. I thought we would have time to rest, but that wasnt the case. Out to work we went. This time my mom and dad were in the state and visited me. I tried to make them think that everything was well with me, I didnt want them alarmed.

I didnt like telling the customers that I was a college student and lying to sell a magazine, but I also was under pressure to meet my quota of selling 10/100 - which means 10 magazines or books for 100 dollars. If we didnt meet our quota - we had to sit all the way in the back of the van and be subjected to humiliation by the "car handlers" and if you didnt sell much - you would be allowed $5 for dinner. By this time - I gained a smoking habit , and $5 dollars wasnt enough to by cigarettes and food. So I figured since they woulnt give me over $ 5 or $ 8 dollars a night - that I would go out and get my extra money the best way I knew how. Even if it meant having to lie to someone, unprotected sex with customers, just to make a sale - or taking donations , or simply tearing up the receipt and keeping their money ( I didn't do this one much).

A year after working on this job - I was ready to go home. I was not even home for a week and I got frequent calls for me to come back to work, with promises of being promoted to "car handler" - which meant - no more knocking on doors for me. So like an idiot - who is still running away from my problems - i went back. This time- I went to jail several times ( for soliciting without a license), raped(several times), had guns pulled on me (several times) , been out until midnight knocking on doors, until we collected cash . There was one time I was dumb enough to engage in sex to sell a book with one man - I allowed him to take me to another state - he left me there. The grace of God allow this kind old man to take me back to South Jersey. There were times that I stayed gone all night at someones house - and would go back to work a couple of days later. We always worked six days and Sunday morning was for washing, Sunday nights - we were in a meeting - so really - we had no real time off for ourselves.

-THE ONE GOOD THING -As far as the cash awards that were were telling the customers - WE REALLY DID GET IT-ONLY if we sold the magazines correctly - which means telling the customer the complete truth, that they were just paying a deposit and that they needed to send the rest of the funds in by 10 days. ------ I WAS ONE OF THE ONES THAT DID RECEIVE MY CASH AWARD --- I should have used this money to go home, but I let a supervisor borrow half of it, (thinking that I would get my money back) and the other half I went clothes shopping.

When I was completely fed up with the downward spiral my life took - I requested to be sent home.( I didn't want to just take off and leave like other's tried to do, because if the supervisors knew , they would have the hotel puts the special lock on the door where you couldnt put a key in door to get your things ) I was told that I would have to make enough sales in cash so they could put me on a Greyhound bus. I prayed and asked God to help me make all of my sales in cash - and it happened. I was placed on the bus and made it home.

I waited and waited to receive all the money - that I supposedly had on the books ( over 10,000 ) for the good sales that I made - I never got a dime. only $ 5 dollars a day and somewhere between $10 and $20 on the weekends, and that cash award.
I didnt want to hassle them for the money - I was just happy to finally be at home and dealing with the issue that I had run away from in the first place.

THE OTHER GOOD THING - I got a chance to travel the U.S. - I have visited many beautiful states that ordinarily I wouldnt have even dared to go to, and I have met many people (some crazy, some sweet, some evil, a couple deranged, some sucessful, some down to earth, some perverts, some good hearted )

Whenever I see someone coming to my door doing the same thing. I admonish them to go home, becuase things aren't always as bad as they seem. Some have listened to me, and some haven't - becuase they were as brain washed as I was.
This is a learning experience I wish no one went through, but only through the grace of God - I lived (literally) to tell about it.

In the first place' Chapel Sales Inc. is the publication clearing house which clears orders of independent contractors. Contracts are given by clearing houses to sales crew managers to be able to receive a commission for made & cleared with C.S.I. it is the responsibility of the individual agent and it's manager's & trainers on how they conduct business with the general public, what they do or what they say. Now a sales pitch is not a crime nor is it illegal.." while yet morally wrong" it's what many sales people do in any business..use a creative sales pitch to increase their productivity. Now' if there is fraud, misrepresentation of the product,monies, receipts or misconduct unbecoming a sales representative at or on someone's property ' then that should be reported to the company so that the company can report it to the sales crew manager and the sales crew manager can deal with it's agents, but to blame or single out the company is wrong.. every agent working is or should be of legal adult working age therefore should know right from wrong.and yes you do sound prejudice because you focus on the fact that your white and make a statement that the comapny is all black " WRONG" there a people of all races, cultural backgrounds etc including white but you stated that after the sales person noticed you didn't want to buy and he/she made note of that then you felted pressured to buty then later canceled and said you canceled once again in the past when living in MD. Sounds like he's wrong and so are you.. but you figure it out.

if you read through what Ms. T's experience was and what she said she went through & did then you'll understand that the blame is not on the company nor clearing house but the individual themselves. They are adults of sound mind. No one is forcing them nor puyting a gun on their heads & don't give me that ### that they felt traped because they are out their alone on the streets handling orders & money and just like she said she would some times through the reciept away and keep the money, so if she or anybody didn't really like where they were or what they were doing they could just take thev money and go back home, take a bus or a train etc: don't get me wrong yes' there are some bad apples outthere in C.S.I. but there are some good stories too' just google door-2-door success stories so don't just read these complaints but read between the lines. Some filing or posting complaints was part of the problem and now that their not in or with the company they make these false fairy tales stories like they was doing door to door.

Mike Bosch - I read your comments.
I wasnt sure who you were referring to when you make the statement that "some filing or posting complaints was a part of the problem and now they are not in or with the company, they make false fairy tale stories like they were doing door to door"

On my behalf - EVERYTHING that I have stated in my comments are true- and I only scratched the surface of what I went through doing door to door sales. There are other things that I can report that happened to me - while I was among my 'co-workers'. - NO NEED TO FABRICATE A TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE THAT I HAVE GONE THROUGH. You sound as if you work for Chapel Sales Inc or some other company such as CSI (lol) - it's all good if you do, but if you don't, or if you have never experienced any situations that I have gone through doing door to door sales, then it wouldn't be right for you to say that these things are "fairy tales" or "false stories"

I admit- this is still a sensitive issue for me almost 20 years later, and maybe I took your comments out of context.

I disagree with the other complaintants putting an emphasis on the ethnic background of the independent contractor - shows we haven't grown much as a human race.

I agree with Ms T For other stories about traveling sales crew experiences - such as Ms.

I'm merely saying for someone of sound mind as a young adult. if you didn't like where you was or what you was doing then you could have left anytime you wanted. you and several others have stated that you were placed on a block to sell magazines and that some of you in order to eat properly you would throw away the reciepts and keep the money' well then you could have thrown away the reciepts and took a bus or a cab or train or what ever & slit" you stated that you joined the crew to run away from a bad situation back home, from what I hear and read this situation was worse so why would someone stay onw, two or even three years. also when someone is placed on or in a neighborhood to knock on these nieghbor's doors they know right from wrong' so they rob, steal, rape or comit a crime and want to blame the company..NO! blame yourself.. now. the comapny is wrong in not doing a proper background check, the clearing house is wrong in allowing sales crews with too many complaints to keep their contracts with them. I do believe in state regulations and proper background checks. but excuses is like an ###-everybody's got them one must blame themselves for their setback, failures & misfortunes.now there are different programs, youth groups, agencies, police stations & churches all across the country, if they need help utilize them. and don't give me that grap that you didn't have the time bacause if you have the time to party on the weekends,hang out after work take short trips to visit family & friends then you have the time for this, especially when you're going door to door because a neighbor willl allow you to make a call to your family or even police or another agancy that would help you out. I just don't see it because these young adults had a choice. "RIGHT from WRONG" now' there are sales crews that allow drugs, or drinking or staying out late or don't do background checks etc: so if you're on one of those cres why stay one, two or evewn three years? I was on a crew in the early 80's and I guess I was lucky that the owner and it's managers took care of it's crew like family with southern christian style family values. and we had a three strike's your out law' if you was a trouble maker or was sneaking drugs on the crew or messed up orders in territory you was gone. fired, let go.I met my wife on the crew, she gave me a beautiful daughter and when my wife died of lukemia I raised my daughter alone. that company always took care of me. I respected the owner like he was my father because I too came from a rough basckground but they molded me into a responsible hard working adult..so maybe I'm impar'tial because of the type of crew I was with and yes we did have some bad apples but they stood out like a sore thumb because we believed in the POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING method so to them other crews- you're only as good as your leaders.

please excuse my typing..I'm typing this late night after coming from work and I still have a partial visual problem that I guess is slowly coming back after so many years..again' I do feel for those young people in that situation and for those who fell in the hands of a crew that have no respect for people, property or life in general. some only care about quan'tity rather than quality to them the more-the merrier . as a father and know grandfather I do believe these crews should do proper background checks and maybe some sort of regulations or stipu;ations between the crews, company and cities to properly monitor wrong doing or illegal activities but to single out or blame an industry as a whole is wrong, door to door selling has been around since before even your grandparents was around. many people, politicians, celebrities, business leader's , etc: has dpone door to door, selling tooth brushes, shoes, makeup, toy's encyclope'dias etc: so I'm just saying let some of these people who went door to door as a young adult in sound mind who knew right from wrong take to credit for their screws up or crimes too' they quickly take the credit when they have their high day or make the top list or win a cash award or win a trip but when they screw up they want to blame someone else. when you visit a person's house you are tought to treat that house or home like it was your family. so if you go steal, forge peoples personal cjecks or try to beat or rape some'one at their home or throw away receipts to keep the money or have sex for money door to door don't be putting it off on the crew or the comapny take responsibity for your own mistakes or screw ups'

I ordered Movieline Magazine from a young black man myself ...i just walked in my house from a vacation and there he was ...i got the whole college story and all...i too was trying to be helpful to someone i thought was trying to do something positive in their life but in the end here i am 47 + dollars poorer...i was sent a remaining balance bill to which i paid late and also received a late charge so i paid it very quickly...i wish i had realized sooner...but i wll NEVER buy anothermagazine from anyone ever...if i want to read it ill go buy it at the local store and not waste my money ...its a shame cuz the ligit ones will be the only ones to suffer now when it comes to me and my money

MIKE BOSCH

I have read your previous comments that you have made towards me. FACT OF THIS WHOLE MATTER IS - OUR SITUATIONS THAT WE ARE STATING WERE TRUE !
You seem to want to validate the company and disregard the experiences that every person has gone through. OUR EXPEIRENCES ARE TRUE and as someone else posted the websites (i.e parentwatch, traveling sales crews, etc) ALSO LIST THE SAME TRUTHS.

I find it very unmindful, witless, imbecilic, naive, and mindless of you to want to continue to, underrate, downplay, diminish or argue with past employees of their experiences, traumas, heartaches that they went through.

Just because you were with a great company - GOOD FOR YOU ! I believe you are still with the company - because you are so passionate to keep validating the company. As far as you stating that they work mostly southern communities -that would be incorrect. when I was with them we worked the Eastcoast, Midwest, as well as Southeast, and Southern states.

As far as your 'LET'S GET TO THE REAL STORY" scenerio - It sounds real good coming from someone who runs the company, or is in a leadership position within the company. That's an ideal situation. However, that is not the case with SOME people that have worked on these crews. Since you made the statement for us to STUDY THE FACTS, I suggest that you take the time to look on the websites that someone posted and study those facts. EVERYTHING is not peaches and cream as you suppose.

SINCE YOU ARE SUCH AN EXPERT - HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN,NO MONEY BEING SENT HOME- ALL THE MONEY THAT WAS SUPPOSEDLY ON THE "BOOKS" ? All of that money was not spent on motels, and transportation! We stayed in low rate motels with 4 people to a room, and the vehicles were paid off. The manager was driving in a brand new luxury automobile.

THE FACT OF THIS WHOLE MATTER IS -People are writing in to to voice their concerns about young people (mostly African American) coming to their door selling books and magazines, and they felt that Chapel Sales Inc is not a good company.

I only posted my experience to let these complaintants know of the situation from an ex-sellers point of view. I let them know of what I did sometimes - just to make a sale.

I had valid sales -because I DID get get my Cash Reward. I was one of few that received one - because I DID tell the customers the truth in order to make the majority of my sales - There were people that were with the company for years and never got their cash award becuase they didn't have valid sales. So this does prove that CHAPEL SALES INC - is a valid company , my issue was not receiving the so called money on the books. About 5% or 10% of the WHOLE time (2 years), I didn't tell the truth, which I did admit - it was wrong, and if I could apologize to those people, I would.

I posted my story to let other people that have gone through the same situation that they are not alone in their experiences, that I have gone through the same and maybe worse situations.

As far as not wanting to go home a failure, those thoughts ran through my mind, because I was told I would make $500 - $1000 a week, when I was hired, and I found that it was a little hard to make that quota. However, if I would have lied to the people, like a majority of the high sellers did (this is a fact that I know ) - I probably would have made $500 and $1000 in sales, but those sales would not have cleared.

Sharise - I knew of Yolanda Rivera's crew - I met them in 1990 in Georgia.

MIKE BOSCH - If you are still on the road - Get your quota ! and leave the ex-independent contractors alone.

SHARISE - I hope you and every ex- independent contractor reading this will go on to bigger and greater things. Be healed from the experience that you went through

TO THE COMPLAINTANTS - Sorry that you have to read the ramblings between Ms.T (myself) and Mike Bosch. The purpose of all of my postings were to let you know of some of the situations that I went through doing door to door sales with Chapel Sales Incorportated. There are some good door to door sales representatives that are really trying to make a living selling books and magazines, carpet cleaners, vacuums, etc. Everyone is not a liar that comes to your door.

There are good companies out there, with bad apples. It's not easy - especially in this day and age - to discern the intentions of the person knocking on your door. We would like to be able to trust people and not be paranoid about everyone ( expecially after reading these posts) but the truth of the matter is - you simply can't trust everyone. So what do you do at that point, how do you handle everyone that knocks on your door? Me, personally - I don't by anything - expecially magazines and carpet cleaner - because I have been there and done that and I encourage the seller to go home.

MIKE BOSCH - I have said what I had to say, and you have said what you had to say. Any other responses you need to make towards me, about me , in reference to me or my situation or anyone elses situation really is NOT important. I can't believe that I allowed myself to get caught up with debating with you over sales crews, (but since it has been 17- 18 years of me getting this off of my chest, I am glad that I did). In essence, our rebuttals will not help the complaitants to get their money back.

O.K. you're right' not everybody's situation is or was yje same and maybe when I started out in the early 80's there were better road manager's with honest business practice but when I was reading these post it sounded like people wanted to sinlge out the industry as a whole and say that's the norm with this type of business, that's what I wanted to clear up and yes there are bad crews out there, crews that don't do proper background checks, crews that allow smoking or taking drugs on the crew, staying out late, fighting or do what ever they want as long as they see sales that's all that's important to them "QUANTITY" not "QUALITY" and as for thosae manager's not to pay monies left on people's account is wrong if it's correct. I know on our crew back then you would get an account book for your self to keep track of your business, your sales, your cancellations etc: one would write their business in daily and check or compare their records with their manager's . this was our own personal accont/business note book given to us by our manager's to keep track your everything. after the weekly meeting with our manager's they would print out our info and give it to us to keep as proof.
and I have checked out the parent watch web site and it's very disturbing to know that this is going on and that some of these young people went through those horrific situations but again I say' YOUR ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LEADER'S and that holds true in everything- politics, religion-sports, entertainment and business.
If a crew leader is not doing proper background checks and they hire people with past criminal history and stick them in an environment that allows drugs, smoking weed drink daily stay out late nights etc: all of this is a combination for disaster. also' remember company clearing houses are like franchises' people expand from within the organization and branch off to run their own crew, now every crew is responsible for their actions and their people's actions to a certain extent. so yeah' maybe I was a bit one sided because of my past experience but you yourself have said when someone tell's the truth door to door and explain the receipts correctly the people get's their book's and the agent's get's their cash awards.
you see' it's a combination of everything and ewverybody's got to take the blame or credit for it.
1. fill in the orders correctly and explain everything to the customer before leaving .
2. keep track of your work & accounts- remember you're an INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR so going over your book's and keeping a copy is and should be the norm.
3. the crew managers should be doing the proper background checks on people hired and should not allow DRUGS or DRINKING or fighting on the crew.
4. if and when an agent see or is exposed to this they should ask to leave A.S.A.P
5.two wrongs don't make a right.meaning if you are exposed to this' that does not give you the right to STEAL ORDERS, or go do other ungodly things door to door.
maybe things have changed since I was on the road because alot of new managers have gotten their chance or number to be able to start their own crew butr if their going from good to worse and allowing this to go on then SHAME ON THEM remember' A FOOL AND THEIR MONEY SHALL SOON PART.. if your not taking care ofd your business it will soon fall apart.

I also had a young man come to my door in Nov 2007. I bought $167 in magazines from him. I still haven't received any of them so I decided to google Chapel Sales to get a phone number. I came upon these complaints in which one of them had the telephone number and address. I just spoke to a lady who informed me that it takes 90-120 days to start receiving the magazines. I hope this is not a scam!

I never open the door when I see someone I do not know knocking but I mistook a young man knocking with one of my neighbors. The guy would not stop talking and he identified himself and asked if he could come in. I ended up buying something more to get rid of him than because I was interested in what he was offering. I gave him a check. After the young man left, I went online to look for information about his company and I came upon this page. Needless to say, I thought I had made a terrible mistake. I followed the indications on the company's website to cancel the transaction and sometime after that I received my uncashed check in the mail. No problem.

on 12/18/07 I was approached by a young black man named Jay Hill (he showed me his license) who told me he needed points to earn his scholarship. I noticed that he was unkempt and his teeth were rotting out of his mouth but he gave me a believable sob story about how this program was helpng him and others go to college and I believed him. I even checked the BBB BEFORE I made the purchase and while there were alot of complaints, I also noted that most of the complaints were resolved so I felt reassured. And he also did the trick "Look you neighbor just purchased $200 worth of books!" In retrospect, I realize now that was probably a fake receipt that he shows everyone. Anyway, I purchased a Childrens Bible for my 5 yo and gave him a check for $31 and sent another check a week later for $32.95, both of which cleared my account within 10 days each. So far, over 3 months later, I haven't received a thing. I even contacted the company 2x and a person named "Vicky" called me both times, 1st she gave the excuse that they had the wrong address (not true) then the 2nd time she said the 2nd check needed to clear (?). Both checks had cleared months ago. Both times, she said I would have my book within 7-10 days. I'm fed up! I filed a complaint with the BBB and if anything I'm only out $63. Thankfully I paid with check so I have proof of purchase. Now I know why they don't take credit cards. I feel so taken! He even came into my home and I offered him and his friends a drink. Never again! I am going to warn my entire family against crooks like these. Both company and salespeople are to blame. If you've been taken by these crooks, file a complaint with the BBB NOW! Link is here>>>
https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/GetStarted.aspx

I totally agree with several comments and if anyone
does find a way to prosecute I'd be more than happy to join in the suit.
Last August I purchased, by check, a dictionary for my grandson who turned 4 years old. I have been constantly asking my daughter who lives in another city if the book had arrived as I had it sent in his name to his address. As you can guess, no book.
I'm out the money and my grandson is out the pleasure of having a dictionary full of pictures he could refer to for educational purposes.
It's too bad people have to steal from honest hard working people who think they are helping out.

I agree with all of the complaint that is post. How could an company like this have kids traveling all over the country selling books for them and the are not delivering there product. Well I know for a fact that this is legal to take money from people and don't deliver the product. They are truly thiefs and to write a check for refund and it bound is also a crime. One good way to put them out of this business is when those kids come to your door or your family door make sure you tell them about the scam artist they are working for.

On June 9, 2007 I purchased 2 magazines from Chapel Sales (nice name, as if they have some religious organization affiliation...). It is now June 11, 2008 -- one magazine came after speaking with Chapel Sales on several occasions. The second magazine has never came and Chapelsales.com is "no longer available" and no answers at the phone number on my sales record. BUYER BEWARE!

It is incredible to see how many have been scammed with this thieves. Using young girls to sell you a subscription on magazines that unfortunately, will never receive. In my case, I got the visit of two of these girls in my apartment complex. By the time (December 2007), I was new in the neighborhood, actually, moving to Florida from a different country and it was not until today that I got to confront the fact that this company and it force of salepersons are nothing more than thieves. They get to you by asking for your help due to the fact that if they get to achieve the accumulation of some points, based on sales, they would get a tuition money for college. What a punch line ( who could resist) and to make things worst, despite the fact that the subscription seems to be more expensive than buying the regular one directly from any of these magazines companies, you simply fall for the idea that you might help these kids get thier "dream" of attending college by helping them buying from them. How sad is this. I ended lossing $117.00 for two magazine subcrition and luckly, so far I just got one. Sure believe this will be the only one I'll ever see. However, this will not be unpunished. The rest of the world must know about this classact burglars.

I just wanted to say that the men and women working for this company are trying to do something with there selfs i know because i used to work for the company the thing is we get scamed to we are told we will make alot of money and if we dont like the job they will send us home after 8 weeks well i was there 8months before i met some people who help me get home they give you 3 dollars a day for lunch $10 when you check in at night tahts if you sold something and 15 on the weekend if you sold something i lost 100 lbs in those 8 months we work from 7 am and sometimes didnt get in until 12 or 1 am alot of us were so far away from home and parents couldnt afford to get us back and we were all over 18 so we had to lie to the customer just to eat its a job i regret and to top it off i fell for the son of the owner at the time and now i have a child who im and gretful for but i have raised this child for 11 years by myself so dont take to mush out on the crew its the owners and the company that are the crooks

I have seen these kids many times and it's always the same sales pitch. I have seen them in Memphis, TN and Baton Rouge, LA. They are often very pushy and sometimes rude. I have also had them ask to come inside my house for a glass of water. I refuse to let any strangers into my house but I'm not without compassion, so I did actually try to order some magazines one day. I was suspicious though and tried to research Yoli & Associates on the internet. AFter realizing that they did not appear to be a reliable company, I had a stop payment on my check of $57.00.
The bank stopped the payment so I thought that was the end of the ordeal. Almost 2 months later, the "company" tried to pass my check again but this time for $82.00! Luckily the bank stopped it again.
Then another month later I received a letter in the mail stating that my balance was seriously overdue. The letter threatens to turn me over to a collection agency. They stated that my balance was $57.00 and that I'm being charged a $25.00 collection fee. What a coincidence! That brings the total to $82.00, the same amount that they tried to run my check for a month prior to the letter being sent.
I have called the Better Business Bureau and they said this is not a legitimate business and they have received other complaints as well. An investigation is underway and they've put me in touch with the Atty. General Consumer Protection division. We all need to shut these people down!

To everyone, I would like to say thank you. I live in Trenton, SC. I ordered books from 2 black gentleman.They took a deposit from me on 2 orders for about $55. Leaving me with a balance of $55. I got scared after hearing and reading comments from other people. So I didnt send any more money to them. Thanks everyone. Maybe if everyone contacts the betterbusiness bureau in their area, maybe we can get our monet back. THAT WOULD BE OUR FIRST STEP. IF ANYONE NEEDS THE # TO TYPE IN WITH THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU ----CHAPEL SALES.INC---520 FELLOWSHIP RD., SUITE E-506, MT. LAUREL, NJ 08054. TELE#[protected]. WEBSITE www.chapelsales.com(email address is no longer working).