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:12/02/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  Date: Fri 11/29/2024 Amount: $97.00 Paid Product: "The Cheat Code Webinar Power Pack"Dispute: They did not provide product advertised, but "the **** Playbook."Attempts: Multiple emails sent on multiple days beginning 11/30/2024; went to company website, but no phone number or customer service contact information; contacted my ******************* & started a charge dispute.Response: The company has not responded, and multiple emails now indicate their blocking one of my email addresses.Advertising: See "Product" and "Dispute" line's above.Additional Info: The "Receipt" attachment also provides username and password, but their website requires an email address username. In my opinion, this is a bait-and-switch scam that should be investigated. I took the bait; shame on me.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/05/2024

  We responded to the customer with the deliverables he paid for within 12 hours of his request. However, we have still honored his refund request and issued him a full refund. This complaint has been resolved to the best of our knowledge and ability. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/06/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in the BBB system in reference to complaint ID ********; have confirmed the pending refund with my credit card company; and therefore, I accept their proposed resolution.

  Thank you very much for your assistance with this matter.

  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *******

  43227 Baltusrol Ter

  *******, ** 20147

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/12/2024

  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.

  I bought a course from Growth Tools in October of 2023, The course was focused on learning how to use other people's audiences by being a guest on their podcast. After a long delay, (over a month) was assigned to an intake coach in November. At no time, was I told by that intake coach that the course had now shifted and was not longer focused on being a podcast guest but instead was now focused on lead magnet swaps. I would have withdrawn at that point had I known.I was also never asked if I had the back end technology in place (a tech stack). Without this tech stack in place, it is impossible to use this tactic. I finally got into a cohort in January after I had paid the entire amount owing. $8,000 USD and exactly no value had been delivered for those funds. I attended classes faithfully and checked off my task list and indicated that I DID NOT have a tech stack in place to support my business. GT passed me onto the next phase anyway. In the second phase, I finally approached a classmate to ask what a tech stack was and was horrified to understand that I was missing a critical piece of the puzzle. I was not set up for success. I asked to delay moving into phase three and was told they would make an exception but I would be locked out of the platform (that I had paid in full for) and that if I didn't rejoin in April I would be kicked out of the course. In follow up calls, my my coach admitted that yes, I had been sold the podcast course and yes, the focus had changed and they didn't tell me. (bait and switch) He also admitted that he missed or didn't note that I had checked off "no tech stack". He was sorry , but I didn't qualify for a refund. Starting with *********************** at the top, these folks are arrogant and careless and only focused on making money. GT is also using two names (***************************** being one of them) to sell courses that she has no link to. That is false advertising. BTW, the platform still doesn't work. Don't waste your money with this group.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/16/2024

  *****,

  We began an internal investigation into your complaint this afternoon. Please give us a few days to track down all of the information and communications related to your account with ****************** University and respond accordingly.

  Thank you for your patience,

  ***********************

   

  Business Response

  Date: 04/18/2024

  *****,
  After investigating the claims you made in the complaint, we have found the following:
  The question regarding whether or not a new client has the technical tools and automations in place (a tech stack) is on the onboarding form, and you answered that question with no as part of the onboarding process.
  Because your answer indicated that you did not have a tech stack in place, your customized plan included explicit instructions on how to build a simple tech stack (the that would support the implementation of the training you would receive in the live coaching and accelerator program that you enrolled in (Growth University). The records in our system indicate that you did not view the training/instructions (Call Booking Funnel Playbook) for the tech stack (Screenshot attached).
  Additionally, prior to the start of the live accelerator class, you filled out a ****** form for the accelerator coach, *************************, indicating your agreement to complete several requirements prior to the start of class, including that you had viewed the introductory video from our founder, ***********************, and that you understood and agreed to complete all prerequisites to the accelerator classes, among which was the completion of your tech stack, which was explained in the video. Those response were captured in the ****** form at 5:03 pm on 11/27/23 and transferred to the spreadsheet that ******* uses to keep track of the students in each cohort and their status/agreement/understanding of what is required (screenshot attached).
  Weve attached a copy of your contract as well, in which refund terms are clearly outlined. All of the front end work was put into your custom marketing plan and revenue road map, and the contract terms are that once a client approves their marketing plan, they do not qualify for a refund. However, you did retain access to the guarantee that if you completed the training and did not obtain a client, we would continue to work with you until you did, and that if you did not reach $20,000 in revenue by the end of your second quarter from the start of your accelerator classes, we would have worked with you for free until you hit that milestone.
  In regard to the delay of your entry into the next class, when a client is paused in our system, there is not active access to the platform. Its the way our system is set up, only actively coaching clients can access it. I am sorry if that was not clearly explained to you, as I can understand how that might feel very frustrating.
  We are more than happy to hold your spot within Growth University for up to 6 months if you decide that you want to return and complete the training, including the self-paced segment that walked you through setting up your tech-stack. Just let us know if you would like to do that.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/22/2024

   
  Complaint: 21566660
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  You have not addressed the bait and switch that I encountered after I signed my contract. My coach admitted that that was the case. He apologized. That is not acceptable. I would not have taken this course if I had know exactly what I was signing up for. I signed up for a course in learning how to be a podcast guest, not a course on lead magnet swaps. 

  You have not addressed my coach's failure to check and monitor during phase one whether or not I actually had created a tech stack in order to be successful with this course. You missed this twice -- on during the onboarding with **** and and once after phase one with both ******* and ********. 

  Your explanation in your latest response that you proactively addressed this shortfall and gave me access to courses after phase one to build a tech stack is straight up fraudulent. You never checked or even acknowledged that I was missing this piece of the puzzle until after I brought it to ********'s attention and asked for a months extension. It was never brought up until I brought it up so how can you respond to this by saying that you proactively gave me courses? That did not happen. 

  And to be clear, every student was given those courses. They were part of the content library in the platform which BTW, did not work properly during my entire tenure. So to that end, this is not addressing my issue but rather defaulting to already established content in the system after the fact. You and the team missed this entirely and was oblivious to the fact that I did not have a tech stack until I brought it up. 

  You do not offer one on one coaching, this is group work with half hour coaching available IF you ask for it. My coach has stated that he missed crucial checkpoints for me along the way which hampered my ability to be successful. You were hands off the entire time and never answered my question regarding landing my first client before we moved into the monthly coaching portion of the program. You moved me forward regardless of my inability to actually execute on lead magnet swaps.

  When I brought my concerns to ********, he indicated that your head coach ******* granted me that month to build my tech stack but that I would be cut off from using the platform. *************;indicated in writing to me that I could have a month, but that I would be locked out of the platform for that month. That is punitive at best and beyond ***** at the least.

  I paid in full for access to the platform so exactly how was I supposed to build a tech stack without any resources??? At no time, did my coach or any coach offer to work with me to set me up for success. Your response was to punish me by denying me access to the tools I needed to use to actually build my tech stack. 

  GU pulled a bait and switch on me, did not set me up for success, provided a platform that was buggy with a UX that was a nightmare, did not offer to coach me when I needed it the most and cut me off from the platform that would have provided me with the tools to get set up for success. 

   

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business Response

  Date: 05/02/2024

  The Growth University program is not a course, it is a program that includes one on one coaching which was more limited in the initial phase because clients start out in 3 back to back accelerators designed to help them install a partnership ****eting channel into their business. With three weekly meetings and a slate full of assignments, the time requirement is more intense and so the coaching sessions are by request during that phase.

  
  There was an acknowledgement of your missing tech stack during your onboarding assessment. Not every client gets the same pre-recorded trainings, as they are added specifically to your interface based on your needs as discovered during the ****eting plan development process, and it is the ****eting strategist who addresses these initial stages with you, not your coach.
  We were able to pull up the original sales call that you had with our growth advisor, ****, prior to enrolling in Growth University. In this call, at approximately the 28 minute **** of a 33 minute call, you asked **** if this was a course for podcast guesting, to which he replied No, this is a program for systematic partnership ****eting and went on to explain that all partnerships are content based, and while that could include podcast guesting, it also included things like masterclasses, virtual summits, and lead magnet swaps- but that though there were different types of partnerships, they were all content based.

  We are more than happy to provide you a link to that recording so that you can listen back to the call for yourself, and will email that to you.

  
  At this point, we have responded to the best of our ability, and the offer to hold your spot for up to 6 months while you work on your tech stack remains open.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/02/2024

   
  Complaint: 21566660
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Arguing semantics with me regarding what you call your offering is both ridiculous and avoids answering any of the points that I have brought against you. There is a common pattern here in your responses that avoids any and all responsibility for falling far short of satisfying both the guarantee that you offer (completely bogus) and your failure to provide adequate support for participants in this "program". What you have yet to answer to is the fact that you locked me out of the platform after you agreed to give me one month's ***** leaving me with no support or resources to actually advance my efforts to use the LEARNING THAT I PAID FOR. That action should be of the utmost concern to you as it violates everything that you proudly advertise you stand for -- support, coaching, high touch -- should I go on? I have the email from ******** confirming this action. I paid full price for the program, you locked me out of the resources and you have no response for that action? You have grossly failed in your guarantee to work with me to land a client in the first 90 days of your program. Please do send me that audio file and please answer that one question for me. Your responses once again demonstrate how lacking this organization is in any form of moral core. Do not send me any further nonsense and just answer that one question -- did you or did you not tell me that you would (I have the email) cut me off, lock me out, cease to support me? The answer to that question is yes and yet you still refuse to acknowledge that action or refund my money. This will be the starting point in my conversations with the media if this is not resolved promptly.   
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business Response

  Date: 05/09/2024

  *****,

  The guarantee in the contract once the marketing plan is approved is to work with you for free until you hit $20k in revenue if you don't hit it by the end of the 2nd quarter working with us. We didn't refuse to honor that in any way. We have responded to you in the initial response that you are able to get access to and complete your program, and that we are happy to even hold your spot for up to six months if you need it to work on your tech stack If you are unhappy with your coach, we can assign you to a different coach. It sounds as though you are rejecting that offer, however? Or are we misunderstanding? 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/13/2024

   
  Complaint: 21566660
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I am still waiting for a copy of the audio file of a call that I apparently had with **** -- please forward that file as offered by you and requested by me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business Response

  Date: 05/13/2024

  The recording has been sent and the offer to hold your place in the program for up to 6 months reaffirmed. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/21/2024

   
  Complaint: 21566660
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  I acknowledge receipt of your email with the recording but it does not mitigate the fact that you locked me out of the platform leaving me unable to source the information  that I paid for (how to build a tech stack) which cancels the agreement that you made with me to ensure that I would be able to secure a client. No tech stack - no ability to generate ANY clients. You locked me out and therefore I am calling on you to refund my money. This action rendered our agreement null and void as you could not fulfill your end of the agreement. Full stop.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/04/2024

  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.

  In Apr of 2023, I signed up for business coaching with Growth Tools/Growth University for $15K. I paid them (3) $5K installments on 4/18/23, 5/18/23, and 6/25/23. Their 100% guarantee was that I would make my $15K back or I would get a full refund.The salesperson I talked with at GU asked me how much $/year I wanted. I said $100K. He told me in an email (attached) it was realistic for me to be making $100K in 6 mo, working ***** hr/wk.As of Sep 2023 (working WAY more than 13 hrs/wk), I had increased my email list by ~10 people, made $0, & booked only 1 sales call.The Terms of Service (attached) offer ROI Insurance described here:***** get a full refund of the difference (in what you paid and how much you made), plus we will reimburse up to $1000 when you hire another coachAs long as you do your work, you cannot lose money working with us. Terms also say: If we look over your body of work and deem you busted your **** and gave it an honest effort, but missed the goal, well refund you even if you dont hit ******************************************************************* Sep 2023, I requested a refund, believing I had met criteria for doing my work without making my money back, but was denied.GU offered me a $1K refund OR 2 more mos. coaching. To mitigate my damages, I negotiated a $1K refund & coaching until I made remaining $14K. After 2.5 more months of coaching I still had made no profits. I again requested a full refund & was denied.My work:Contacted 260 people for Founders calls; Held 87 Founders calls; Pitched offer to 28 people; Sent 134 partner pitches (& follow-***** Executed: 11 podcasts, 4 IG lives, 3 online workshops, 10 LM swaps; Emailed ~40 people on my email list to offer call; Attended/watched a recording of 1 Hot Seat/wk while in original program; Made/used 7-day welcome email sequence; Made landing page Made thank-you page Booked 7 sales calls (no sales) Did 7-day Make You Cry campaign My Results:~70 new subscribers $0

  Business Response

  Date: 04/09/2024

  We understand the client's disappointment in outcomes, but the client did not meet the parameters for conditional refund as outlined in the contract that she signed. In the contract which she attached, you can see in section 6b, subsection 2, that one of the conditions is 20 action items completed per week. There were 5 weeks in which the client did not complete the required number of action items to maintain refund guarantee qualification. Additionally, in subsection 6 of section 6b, you will see that if free coaching is offered and accepted at any point, the refund guarantee is voided as well. The client was offered and accepted 3 months of free coaching, but was in fact delivered almost 5 additional months at no additional charge. Even with all of these factors considered, we still offered her a partial refund of $1,000 to go towards hiring another coach, but she failed to follow through with the information that we needed to process that amount. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/09/2024

   
  Complaint: 21533693
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I was provided extremely inaccurate, unethical, and dishonest information through your salesperson when considering whether to enroll, which I request a direct response to. In addition to flat out lying to me that I could be making $100k in 6 months (when I brought this up with the head coach, he also admitted to me that this was extremely unreasonable because I would have to sign and work with 20 clients in 6 months), I ALSO let salesperson know that I was finishing up a full time job in May and June and would not be able to work all-out on homework assignments until I finished it. He assured me it was ok. After my job finished (mid June of 2023), I completed WAY more than 20 action items per week (some weeks more than 60, which is MORE than enough to make up for the 5 weeks that I didnt do 20). 
  

  I accepted more coaching to mitigate my losses, because you guys refused to honor your guarantee (which I suspect you never intended to honor, on the basis that the head coach told me When people give you their money, dont give it back, EVEN THOUGH the marketing plan that GROWTH TOOLS WROTE FOR ME THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IMPLEMENTING included me offering my customers a 100% money back guarantee. If their philosophy is not to give a customer their money back, they should ABSOLUTELY not be offering a money back guarantee, or writing marketing plans for clients that include that as a component.) However, after another 2.5 months of coaching (not 5 free months, like you mentionedthe head coach and I were working together from January to mid-March 2024), I was still not even close to signing one client. 

  I believe due to the unethical circumstances in which I signed up, I should be considered for a full refund or I am ready to pursue legal action. 

  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 04/23/2024

  ******,
  In response to your claims regarding unethical sales conduct as demonstrated by the email which you provided between yourself and the Growth Tools advisor that you spoke to prior to enrolling in the program:
  The advisor did say that it was reasonable that results could be achieved before the end of the year, which at the time of the email would have left approximately 8 months remaining in the year. He then provided examples of clients who have absolutely done that. However, examples of clients doing it and the calculation that it could reasonably be achieved are not the same thing as a guarantee. Your explicit guarantee was expressly outlined in the contract in terms that you agreed to when you enrolled. Within those terms,the purpose behind a requirement of 20 action items per week is to drive consistency of action to increase results. If there are 5 weeks of inconsistent action, doing more action later doesnt repair the momentum loss.

  
  In our investigation, we have not been able to find any evidence that your coach made the statement When people give you their money, dont give it back, he does not remember saying anything like that to any client,and we would have found such a statement to be entirely out of character for that coach. We can see that your marketing plan did include a money back guarantee written into it, but this is not standard for our clients. We typically would not include that without the clients insistence on such a guarantee. All client marketing plans are co-created with our clients and subject to their final approval before implementation and coaching begin, as was the case in our work with you.

  
  We understand that you are disappointed in the outcomes of our work together and of our enforcement of the contract terms. If seems that we may be at an impasse here.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/29/2024

   
  Complaint: 21533693
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  In response to your comment that 5 weeks of inconsistent action cant be repaired by doing more action later, then your sales person should have advised me not to sign up for the program. I was upfront and honest with him that I wouldnt be able to work full-out until the middle of June. So if, like you are saying, I wouldnt be able to make up for those lost weeks later on, then he should have seen that your coaching program would not be successful for me, and should NOT have given me the guarantee that I would be able to make $15K. Or at least should have warned me that I would NOT be eligible for the money back guarantee (because I was not allowed to see the contract ahead of payment, I did not know all the stipulations, including that 20 action items per week was a requirement, and I also did not have access to the program before payment, so I didnt even know what amount of work was required to complete 20 action items). This is dishonest marketing. He absolutely should not have guaranteed me my money back if he knew that I most likely would not be able to complete 20 action items per week. (requesting direct response to this)
  
  Also, are you asserting that your coaching program is not capable of getting your clients results if they have 5 weeks of inconsistent action? (requesting direct response to this) Because I want to remind you that (in addition to doing 10+ weeks of ***** action items), I also did an additional TWO AND A HALF MONTHS of coaching with your HEAD COACH. If a few weeks of less than 20 action items cannot be made up by weeks and weeks of extra actions, plus 2.5 additional months of coaching, then your program really isnt worth $15K.
  
  I also want to remind you that in your contract it says If you do the work, you cannot lose money on us. And your head coach DID agree with me that I had done the work, and continued to let me know that I was doing the work very well throughout our time working together (this can be found in our video recordings). So, you are still not following through on your guarantee, due to this part of the contract. (requesting direct response to this)
  
  In addition, I absolutely did NOT "insist" that a 100% moneyback guarantee be part of my marketing plan. The moneyback guarantee was an ORIGINAL part of the very first marketing plan draft that your marketing plan expert wrote for me. I accepted it as part of my marketing plan, because I had hired you to give me business advice, so I assumed that all parts of my marketing plan were based on your best, experienced advice (since I have no background in marketing, I don't know what is effective marketing, which is exactly WHY I hired you). Is this not the case? (requesting response to this)
  
  If your head coach doesn't remember saying that "when people give you their ******************'t give it back," I'm sure you'd be able to find it if you went back and watched the recordings of our coaching calls. I believe it was our second to last meeting together? Or maybe third to last? I'd be happy to review them for you and find it to help jog his memory, if you send me the (unedited) recordings.
  
  If we are at an impasse, then I will be pursuing legal action, as well as filing a complaint with the ************* and submitting detailed reviews of my experience with Growth Tools on whatever platforms I can find. It's unacceptable that you are conducting business like this.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 05/02/2024

  We have no new or additional information to offer that differs from our first response, in which we referred to the contract terms in the signed contract which the client herself originally provided. We worked with this client for 5 additional months at no charge, and the client herself has admitted that she did not complete the necessary requirements to qualify for a refund for the 6 months of coaching she received prior to the additional coaching we provided. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/02/2024

   
  Complaint: 21533693
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  You did not respond to any of the issues I listed above, requesting a direct response. You also did not provide me with 5 months of extra coaching, only 2.5 months. As I said, if not completing ************************* the beginning of the program was going to disqualify me from the guarantee, your salesperson (having the information up front that I was not going to be able to give my full time and attention when I first started the program, due to finishing work at another job) should NOT have given me your moneyback guarantee. That is unethical.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/14/2023

  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.

  On 2/28/23 I pd Growth Tools $11987. Their website advertises Coaching that grows your business. Guaranteed. Your business grows or you get a refund plus $1000. Meetings w/3 diff GT reps promised a $5K client in 30 days, 2-3 more $5K clients in 60 days, & a steady flow of 2-3 new clients/mo by 90 days. At 90 days, I provided proof that I had 0 new clients, my biz declined by 53%, my email subscriber list declined, and I had 0 new leads. I requested the *** refund as per their advertising. They denied my request, offering only $1000 or 30 days coaching, and refused to negotiate further.I have documented proof that GT stated that if at any time I was unhappy with my marketing plan, they would work with me to adjust the marketing plan. I stated from the very beginning that I wanted personalized coaching and not to be put into a systemized program. GT put me into a systemized program. I reported my discontent several times, and they never adjusted my marketing plan and kept me in the systemized program.GT violated privacy practices and failed to provide my private data to me. I received access to another clients recording of a private coaching session, yet GT failed to provide copies of my own recorded video calls from the development of my marketing plan on request.GT said I didnt complete 800 action items, yet they promised my coach would keep me on track. They required me to sign the contract without showing me the ***************************************************** with the syllabus, curriculum, ****** list and action items list I requested. I have documented proof that GT said my time commitment would be 1-2 hours per day and that my coach would keep me on track to complete action. I put in 4-5 hours per day, did not reach targets, and my coach never once told me I was off track.GT didnt grow my biz, their coaching made it decline. They violated privacy and repeatedly broke promises. I tried negotiating & provided proof, they refuse to refund.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/17/2023

  ****, 

  We take privacy practices very seriously and will investigate your claims of our team violating said practices.

  Your two main points of contact (our head coach and your coach) are currently out of office and we will not be able to address your other claims until after 8/28. Since we did not record your coaching sessions (recording is standard procedure) at your request, speaking with your coach will be crucial in helping us understand your experience.

  We will follow up with you again the week of 8/28.

  Thank you for your patience,

  ***********************
  

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/01/2023

  Date Sent: 8/17/2023 10:04:34 AM
  

  ****, 

  We take privacy practices very seriously and will investigate your claims of our team violating said practices.

  Your two main points of contact (our head coach and your coach) are currently out of office and we will not be able to address your other claims until after 8/28. Since we did not record your coaching sessions (recording is standard procedure) at your request, speaking with your coach will be crucial in helping us understand your experience.

  We will follow up with you again the week of 8/28.

  Thank you for your patience,

  ***********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/05/2023

   
  I reject Growth Tools response. I have documented proof that they made promises to me that I would have new clients within the first 30, 60 and 90 days and their coaching would GROW my business, and I provided documented proof that my business revenue DECLINED by 53% over last years revenues of the same months as well as other several measurable areas of decline over the 90 days I worked with them. In order to receive any of my private data from them, I had to request the documentation multiple times. They violated privacy practices twice by providing me information on other clients, including a clients full coaching session video and a video including the amount of money clients pay them monthly, and they explained to me that this data I received wasnt very significant. (I consider any financial information to be sensitive, as well as any private conversation between a client and a coach). I have communicated with them in good faith since 7/11/23 to try to negotiate a resolution, and they refuse to negotiate and stated we are at an impasse. Their website states Coaching that grows your business. Guaranteed. The only coaching thats actually 0% risk. Your business grows or you get a refund plus $1000. Their offer of $1000 to get a new coach is unacceptable given the significant decline and loss my business suffered as a direct result of their coaching.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/05/2023

  Attached are the following items:

  1. The original coaching agreement/contract signed by the consumer, ********************

  2. Two screenshots showing the full internal system screenshot of her completed action items and the number of items completed in each week during her time in Growth University

  The Growth University guarantee is conditional, as laid out in section 6b of the contract. One of the conditions is that in order to qualify for a refund, the ****eting plan must be completed as defined by completing 800 action items. An additional component of the conditional guarantee is that each week, a minimum of 20 action items must be completed. Our contract allows for 2 weeks of missing this **** without voiding the guarantee qualification. As the screen shot represents (highlighted), ************** completed only 453 action items and for the first 6 weeks in the program did not complete the minimum weekly number of action items, voiding her qualification for any refund.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/11/2023

  Date Sent: 9/5/2023 12:09:47 PM
  

  Attached are the following items:

  1. The original coaching agreement/contract signed by the consumer, ********************

  2. Two screenshots showing the full internal system screenshot of her completed action items and the number of items completed in each week during her time in Growth University

  The Growth University guarantee is conditional, as laid out in section 6b of the contract. One of the conditions is that in order to qualify for a refund, the ****eting plan must be completed as defined by completing 800 action items. An additional component of the conditional guarantee is that each week, a minimum of 20 action items must be completed. Our contract allows for 2 weeks of missing this **** without voiding the guarantee qualification. As the screen shot represents (highlighted), ************** completed only 453 action items and for the first 6 weeks in the program did not complete the minimum weekly number of action items, voiding her qualification for any refund.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/12/2023

   
  Complaint: 20465736
  
  I reject Growth Tools response because they guaranteed their coaching would grow my business, but their coaching caused my business to significantly.
  
  I provided documented proof that my business declined ?53% in revenue,  ?43% decline in client appointments, ?78% decline in new-client discovery calls, and ?100% decline in newsletter subscriptions. (I provided GT documented proof of decline). See attached within the zip file ******** June 2023 profit & loss statement, January - June 2022 profit & loss statement, Client Appointment Metrics Spreadsheet, Email Subscriber Report)
  
  GT said in my marketing plan explanation that confidence in the marketing plan and achieving expected results was vital to success. Below are 3 examples of how GT went against what they told me.

         GT said (@ 27:44 of marketing plan video) we cannot work on action items day after day if we dont see where it is taking us. If we dont believe in the plan. We will always be measuring confidence level and adjust the marketing plan as needed.
  o   When I reported decline and my lack of confidence in the marketing plan, they did nothing to adjust the marketing plan and told me to stay the course.
         GT said (@1:21 of marketing plan video) when you do the first strategy, you get the expected result, you move on to the second strategy, get the expected results.
  o   I never achieved expected results, and they told me to move on to the second (and third and fourth) strategies, without getting any expected results.
         GT said (@23:23 of marketing plan video) if you are slowing down, your coach will reach out to you to move you on to make sure you are accomplishing your marketing plan in a timely manner.
  o   My coach never suggested that I was moving too slow or not keeping up with my action items as I should.
  
  
  
  I reject Growth Tools response because their 800 action items requirement is an unreasonable expectation that does not achieve results.
  
         GT software did not give me access to 800 action items to complete within the 90-************* plan. (see attached screenshot, the title of my marketing plan states 90Day Plan). Every Monday, the software unlocked 20 action items. 20 action items x 90 days (**** weeks) = 257 action items. 257 does not equal 800.
         GT claims that most action items are linked to partnerships tasks. Yet, GT sent me a video @3:05 stating that between two coaches only 5 clients EVER turned in completion of their partnership tasks, proving that GT knows their clients are not succeeding in their prescribed partnership strategy.
         GT told me to expect 1.5-2.0 hours of work per day to complete action items provided. I worked 4-5 hours per day and still did not complete their requirements.
         I often had to wait several days for new action items to be unlocked to complete.
         Many action items were dependent on responses from 3rd parties, out of my control, suspending progress.
         While I was waiting for more action items to be unlocked, and because I didnt have confidence in the marketing plan provided, I adjusted the marketing plan myself and created my own action item list of over **** completed action items (see attached in zip file). GT did not accept these action items, even though it shows proof of complete ownership of my business as they stated in the contract.

   

  
  I can provide these videos as evidence upon request. They are larger than the 8MB limit.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/19/2023

  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.

  Growth Tools refuses to refund/cancel outstanding payments of ******** despite financial hardship in paying. The sales guarantee was heavily restricted in the contract, but I had assumed I would be able to obtain clients through their program due to their being a marketing company and asking for so much money. They are arguing that I didn't work hard enough to obtain clients through their program and wish for me to continue in their program and pay the fees.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/19/2023

  The Contract between GT and *****

  Business Response

  Date: 05/25/2023

  We are truly sorry that we are unable to provide the resolution that you wanted. As we explained throughout our conversations, ******** is a third party financing option. They financed your investment with Growth University, so your contract for payment terms is with Wizebank, and not Growth Tools.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/30/2023

   
  Complaint: 20080818
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have now disputed the payment via Wizebank as cancellation can only be approved by GU, whereas Wizebank can only offer me a payment plan option. The option of defaulting through Wizebank, with possible repercussions to my credit score, as GU has suggested, is not an option offered by ******** and is unacceptable to me.

  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

  Business Response

  Date: 05/30/2023

  I'd like the consumer to provide their contract with Wizebank to help facilitate this case, as that is her contract for her payment terms, not our contract. This case is like demanding a car dealership cancel the car payments through the bank while the consumer keeps the car. We literally cannot do what she is asking ** to do.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/02/2023

  I'd like the consumer to provide their contract with Wizebank to help facilitate this case, as that is her contract for her payment terms, not our contract. This case is like demanding a car dealership cancel the car payments through the bank while the consumer keeps the car. We literally cannot do what she is asking ** to do.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/09/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 had signed up with Growth Tools on September 1st believing the mission statement: "The only coaching thats actually 0% risk. Your business grows or you get a refund plus $1,000."Not true. This is a predatory practice that has harmed me and dozens of people in the last 2 years since Growth Tools/VideoFruit/Growth Hackers' inception in 2020. The "ironclad ROI guarantee" presented in all their advertising is a bald-faced lie to lure people in to sign the contract, and use the "honest effort clause" as a way to dodge promissory fraud or intentional misrepresentation.One of their salespeople *********************** gave me a guarantee in writing over email. "#1. Roadmap Guarantee: If you arent totally in love with the 7-Figure Roadmap we create for you if you dont get unreasonably excited by it and see it as the best path to growing your business, we require you to ask for your money back. Our goal is to bring you to tears with this plan."When I was presented with the first draft of the revenue roadmap, I was disappointed with the quality of the work, did my research, and was horrified at what I found. I asked for a refund.I was denied & ignored. The company claimed I was no longer eligible for a refund and mysteriously held my contract until the end of December. They also used wordplay like calling the first draft of the revenue roadmap "part one" to claim that they haven't presented the "full marketing plan" yet.They've slipped up enough times for me to capture this on paper. I lost $4,418.49 and blocked any other payments once I realized what I was dealing with.What is especially disturbing is that they have a video online on how to limit refunds with the method I described here, "we used to have a bunch of refunds until we figured this out" Not surprised that their CEO *********************** is a supporter of the confederate flag, The damage GrowthTools have done to people who want to legitimately help others & better their lives is genuinely disgusting.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/23/2023

  This response is in regard to the Videofruit LLC / ******************** filed on 1/9/2023, and assigned the complaint ID of 18709926.

  
  

  We have agreed to offer Heysum a full refund, and we are in the process of drafting the refund agreement and will send it to him for review by tomorrow, Friday, January 20th. Please see the attached emails as evidence of our ongoing conversation.

  
  

  Thank you!

  
  

  *****************************

  Chief of Staff

  Growth Tools

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/24/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/14/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 April 25th of, 2022, I paid Growth Tools LLC $9,367 for coaching services to help me grow and expand my new coaching business. The program consisted of 90 days of exercise and meetings, which should have netted me $10,000 in new business utilizing the techniques taught in their Growth University program. During the next **************************************************************** on a client dashboard showing what we were responsible for each week. There was an awareness of my status, but never any accountability was provided. At the end of my 90 days in the program, I requested a refund per the policy outlined in their contract, and it took them over 30 days to respond. They rejected my request because I failed to follow their contract and did not set up 1-1 zoom meetings with the coaching staff to discuss being off track to meet my 10k goal. However, their contract also has a clause as part of the guarantee that states. "The heart of the condition on this guarantee is that you give it an honest effort equivalent to the result you want to see. And ROIing in 90 days is a significant result, so youll need to work your face off to get there. Ultimately, you give us the right to use our discretion to make that judgement call. If we look over your body of work and deem you busted your **** and gave it an honest effort, but missed the goal, well refund you even if you dont hit ******************* one of the other specific conditions above. And the opposite is true. Do a crappy job hustling, mail it in and check off 50 action items on day 89 without doing them or just give it a half hearted effort and we will not approve it."I asked them about qualifying under this clause, but they didnt acknowledge it. Instead, they said they investigated even deeper and found that I didnt attend the required number of Masterminds or other vague and nondescript meetings. I furnished evidence of the contrary and included several items claiming they were in breach.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/29/2022

  Hi ****,

  According to the examples in your complaint, you are correct that you failed to meet the qualifications for refund eligibility according to our mutually-signed terms of service. You hoped to qualify under the "discretion" clause in the contract in order to secure a refund outside of the terms, yet still refuse to accept the outcome when we did not use our discretion in your favor.

  The reality is, the contract outlines the bare minimum action needed in order to make an ROI in 90 days. You were able to secure at least two partnerships and two more clients during your time working with us, and no doubt you would have started experiencing the snowball effect had you not quit putting forth the effort necessary to achieve the desired results. 

  We did offer you a settlement agreement and additional consideration to hire another coach, but you did not accept it. 

  I'm sorry that our working relationship has come to an undesirable point. 

  We wish you well and all the best in your business endeavors. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/30/2022

   
  Complaint: 18401001
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I do not understand how not having two meetings with coaches who felt i was performing very well in the program would have made a difference. i did the ******************* 90 days which is the bulk of the program while also attending the required meetings (even though you claim i did not), participated in the self coaching "masterminds".

  You marketing and system talk about 

  1. ... look under the hood of your business and find 2-3 opportunities for growth you've never thought of before and coach you through implementing them

  2. Youll get a behind-the-scenes look at our elite program, Unfair Advantage, where we personally install our proven partnership marketing system in your business and coach you through implementing it 

  Neither ones of these things were ever offered or given to me, this feels like a bait and switch. The "program" you provide for $10,000 is made up of emails, and what you call "partnerships" which is really just grass roots marketing efforts. Never was i shown anything which i had "never thought of before" and no one EVER took a deep dive into my offering. Instead your service provided a boiler plate road map with simple language changes which when coupled with not knowing what the actual program is, looks great until you start to execute and realize there is no meat or understanding of the problems i faced in my business and startup. When i raised problems with coaches or talked about my struggles in my weekly reports (which i furnished on-time and faithfully every week), they were never addressed. No effort was made or suggestion was even made that i should reach out and talk to someone. Instead i was told to keep working my action items and the results would show.

  Even in this response you are encouraging me to continue with the program, and thereby continue to pay $1000 a month, in the hopes that if i just do more the results will show.

  You sit behind this "guarantee" and even push your clients to offer similar guarantee's in their offerings but you never talk about upholding them and it's obvious from our interactions that you never considered the entirety of the work i did when offering me the "settlement" which was 10% of the original fee and wasn't even close to an actual compromise. If you truly believed in your offering and saw the amount of work i did and can show/prove you would have been ashamed to only offer 10%. even a 50% refund initially would have been a true sign of good faith.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2022

  Hi ****, 

  Two things: 

  1. When working with us, you agree to Extreme Ownership. You agree that we provide you with coaching advice and do not in any way do the work for you. This is not a done-for-you service. You are responsible for taking action toward your mission.

  2. It is clear you no longer believed in your Marketing Plan or that the action you took was not leading you to the results you wanted to see. There were countless opportunities for you to take ownership and bring this up to us. The first opportunity was when we presented your Marketing Plan to you initially. Had you rejected it, you would have been eligible for a full refund and we could have parted ways amicably. Additionally, you could have expressed doubt in your Marketing Plan at any point and we would have worked together to adjust it and make sure you were taking action you believed in.

  We are sad to see you quit! However, your account remains ineligible for a refund under the policies outlined in Sections 5 and 6 of our Coaching Agreement and Terms of Service.

  We wish you the best in your future business endeavors.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/05/2022

   
  Complaint: 18401001
  
  I am rejecting this response because: They have failed to address any issues about their program or offering that i have brought up.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  Business Response

  Date: 12/06/2022

  What else can we say or do that would make this right by you, other than providing a refund that you disqualified yourself from based on a signed Terms of Service agreement?

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/20/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/25/2022

  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.

  March 31st, 2022, I bought a $7900 coaching package from Growth Tools. For three months I paid an additional $1,000/month for monthly coaching, in addition to the $7900 for a marketing plan for a total out of pocket expense of $10,900.Growth Tools won my business with their money back guarantee. They claimed that I could accomplish all 200 required items by spending 90 minutes a day. I spent 2 to 3 hours a day; and believing this would get me the results I sought, kept slaying the entire 90 days, unaware of what my "action item" count actually was. I spent ***** hours weekly, and I was unable to meet all of their actions. Because I put the time in, but was not able to accomplish their list of 200 items, reaching only 69 by their count, they denied my request for a refund. During my time coaching with them I dealt with sub par customer service - where I was locked out of my account for a week, and lost the ability to work towards my goals. I asked for a refund by day 90, per the contract, and it took them 90 more days to get me a response. I reached out multiple times to get anyone to respond. Their first response was a template and it claimed I didn't reach out by day 90 which was untrue. The second reason they said was that I only completed 69 of the 200 action items I was required to do. That was true by their count - though, as I stated before, part of their contract said it should take 90 minutes *** per day to complete their 2-3 items a day. They grossly underestimated the time the actions items would take a new entrepreneur like me - and made no effort to take that into account when taking me on as a client. They took my money, as unqualified as I was, and doomed me to fail before I had even began. I request my initial $7900 investment back for poor business practices.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/06/2022

  According to our contract, the deliverables of our coaching program are as follows: 

  Deliverables: Your Service includes the following:
  Pillar 1: Revenue Roadmap: Onboarding call, deep dive into your business to find the right growth opportunities, full sales funnel audit, roadmap
  including your vivid vision, goals, perfect avatar profile, irresistible offer, and marketing plan.
  Pillar 2: Training: Daily tasks/action steps, private playbook access, on-demand video training, checklists, worksheets, and swipe files, over the shoulder tutorials, and coach reviews
  Pillar 3: Unlimited coaching: coaching you when you need it, a team of coaches with a variety of specialties, unlimited email coaching support, a second set of eyes to review your work and provide feedback, expert accountability, and adjustment of your marketing plan every 90 days
  Pillar 4: Inc **** Mastermind: Mastermind matching w/ others at the same business stage, bi-weekly hot seat sessions, peer support, weekly client only access and content (CEO ********** Funnel Spotlight, Shop Talk studio access, etc) 

  We upheld our end of the terms of service and can submit documentation regarding our working relationship with *************** 

  ************** disqualified herself from refund eligibility due to the terms in the contract, which she did not meet by the 90-day ***** Our signed terms of service is attached. 

  The refund eligibility terms, as found in our signed contract, are as follows: 

  Guarantees: You have access to two guarantees with this Service:
  
  a) Mandatory Refund Policy: If you arent totally in love with your marketing roadmap, meaning you cry or get unreasonably excited by it, we require you to ask for your money back. And you get to keep it.
  
  Note: This is an unconditional money-back guarantee that is available at the point of us presenting your roadmap to you. Once it is accepted (via email confirmation, verbal confirmation or clicking the approve button), the mandatory refund policy is no longer available. If you do not accept the marketing plan and would like a refund, you must do so within 30 days of receiving the plan.
  
  b) ROI Guarantee: If you dont make 100% of your setup fee investment back within 90 days of coaching (after you accept your marketing plan), you are able to request your money back. Well give you a full refund of your setup fee and coaching fees.
  
  Also, youll be eligible to request an additional $1000 to hire another coach.
  
  You must meet certain conditions to qualify for this guarantee:
  
  Depending on your starting point, making your full investment back in 90 days can be EXTREMELY challenging. Its akin to trying to lose 50# in 90 days. Doable, but hard a** work. So, if you want to be on this hyper aggressive growth track, you have to work like a maniac. We've quantified what that means below so its not ambiguous
  

  You must complete 200 action items. Meaning, you execute (at minimum) 2ish action items per day. These typically take ***** minutes. But, remember, if you choose this hyper-aggressive track you must go above and beyond at every turn. This is the MINIMUM needed. Do the minimum and get the minimum results. And if you are launching/validating a new product (meaning youve sold less than $20,000 of this product) you'll need to hold a minimum of 25 sales calls and use our sales script. We'll teach you how to set up your calls, coach you on how to do the call, and even give you feedback on your calls (upon request) and do everything in our power to make your ROI happen. Your part is to do your 25 calls.
  

  You do all of your action items on time. Meaning, every action item we assign to you will have a due date. You have a maximum of 3 days to complete them. We will give you two passes: meaning you can have 2 action items in your first 90 days that you complete after their due dates. This builds in a little room for life to happen". But you need to proactively reach out to us before missing them so we can be aware, make adjustments and make sure this doesn't throw you off track.
  

  Missing too often means you arent working like a maniac and is akin to missing days at the gym when trying to lose 50# in 90 days. It seriously compromises your ability to hit the goal. So, if you do need to miss 2 action item due dates, you MUST tell us via email before it goes past due so we can work with you on a make up plan.
  
  Basically, do your work on time. Tell us BEFORE you miss a due date if you need to push one. And miss no more than 2 total. You must work VERY hard to hit this ROI goal. Well drag you across the finish line and do, literally, everything in our power for you to hit the goal. But you must be working HARD.
  
   You must make all of your payments on time. Meaning within 7 days of being invoiced for any setup payment plan fees and coaching fees, the invoices are paid in full. You have work to do. If you are sandbagging on paying, you cant be working your face off and well have to spend our time chasing you down for payments and not coaching you. Pay your bills on time homie. Otherwise, dont whine about not making your money back. :)
  Remember: ROIing in 90 days is HARD A** WORK. You must go into INSANITY mode to do it. Well support you, hustle with you and give you everything you need to do. But 1% less effort than pure insanity mode will not get you to ROI. Make sense? Good. Keep reading...
  
  Your posture is one of sheer hustle and Insanity Mode. Meaning you take absolute ownership of your business, you take massive action and you take consistent action. You arent deferring to us, expecting us to do the work for you. Youre using us as the coach and wise sage we are, but YOU care more about YOUR business than I do. It should be impossible for me to care more about your business than you because youve fully embodied it.
  

  If you do all of the above and still dont ROI, thats on us for not guiding you well. So, to request your refund, request it via email or the client portal between day 91 and 98 after approving your marketing plan.
  

  The heart of the condition on this guarantee is that you give it an honest effort equivalent to the result you want to see. And ROIing in 90 days is a significant result, so youll need to work your face off to get there. Ultimately, you give us the right to use our discretion to make that judgement call. If we look over your body of work and deem you busted your **** and gave it an honest effort, but missed the goal, well refund you even if you dont hit ******************* one of the other specific conditions above. And the opposite is true. Do a crappy job hustling, mail it in and check off 50 action items on day 89 without doing them or just give it a half hearted effort and we will not approve it.
  

  YOU MUST WORK HARD IF YOU WANT INSANE RESULTS.