CLEVER KINGDOM -- True Confessions --

Don't miss the November 2006 update in the lower half of this post.

I have made three *HUGE* mistakes this past week:

The first one was accusing Clever Kingdom of being a scam without doing my homework.

The second one was letting the battle rage as long as it did.

The third was coming back and saying I was wrong -- that I don't believe Clever Kingdom is a scam at all -- without putting the proper safeguards in place to avoid yet another war.

And the fourth (did I mention there was a fourth?) was devoting an entire week of my life to finding what I believe to be the truth.

But I did, so I'm going to share it.

Before going any further, I think it's important to make a distinction between Poor Business Practices, Growing Pains, and a Business Opportunity Scam.

I always do things backwards, so we'll start at the end:

A Business Opportunity Scam, by my definition, is when someone sets up a bogus "opportunity" with the intention of collecting money from its distributors.  The eventual goal is to pocket the cash and clear out before the Feds catch up with them.

I do not believe Clever Kingdom even comes close to matching this definition.

Growing Pains happen when a company grows too fast to keep up.  It can, and does, wreak havoc on people's lives -- from customers to distributors and everyone in between. 

I believe this is a large part of what happened to Clever Kingdom.

It wasn't good for anyone -- certainly not for the distributors or the customers, and it hasn't been any picnic for Melissa White, the owner, who essentially had no life as she scrambled to get things back on track while dodging a group of people who won't rest until, in their own words, "she is stopped."

Melissa is the first to admit that delivering products on time has always been a problem -- one she is working night and day to correct.

I could never run a company like Clever Kingdom myself, so I can't tell you why it's taking so long.  I have absolutely no clue.  I'm not there, and I'm not qualified to judge, but I do believe she has been doing everything she possibly can to correct the problem. 

I know, I know -- that doesn't help anyone.  In fact, empty promises are directly responsible for more than a few of the problems.  But it is a fact that she has happy distributors, and they have happy customers. 

Clever Kingdom has not been a disaster for everyone.

And finally (if you read upside-down), there are Poor Business Practices.

Only a fool would say it isn't a Poor Business Practice to promise a disgruntled dealer a refund at a certain time and not deliver.  I don't know why that has happened repeatedly (and it certainly has), but I would like to believe it has to do with being overwhelmed.

People do stupid things under pressure.

People do stupid things not under pressure.

I don't know anyone who wouldn't go back and do some stupid things over if they could. (I'm doing it as we speak.)

Refunds are eventually made (yes, I can back that up with hard evidence) -- so again, we are not dealing with a plot to take the money and run.

When customers request refunds, they often get gift certificates to apply to future purchases.  This is generally NOT the way a scammer operates.

This is my understanding of things:

Due to LEGITIMATE gripes, some dealers wanted out.

At some point, what I consider to be a MOB MENTALITY and MASS HYSTERIA took over, and things got very ugly.  The drama is incredible!!  Melissa was accused of being a sociopath, a multiple personality, an unfit mother who should lose her children, and more.  It got *WAY* out of hand as far as I'm concerned -- and also more than a little frightening.

The internet has the power to destroy people.

And remember -- this is over T-shirts!  Clever Kingdom has not left any broken lives in its wake.

Many members of The Mob have distorted the facts to suit themselves (yes, I can back that up with hard evidence) -- but in my mind, the worst thing they have done is post all over the internet as if they are STILL owed money despite the fact that almost all of them have long since received their refunds.

I am 100% in favor of warning other people when you feel you've been treated badly -- but do it honestly, and that includes NOT leaving out essential facts.  (Several people have been very responsible in sharing their experiences, by the way; I am not lumping them all together.)

Do I think a Wannabe-Work-At-Home-Mom
should run out and become a consultant
for Clever Kingdom right now?

Personally, I would not.

There are too many problems to fix.

There were three distributors waiting for refunds when I first wrote this (I am updating it 13 days later).  None of them were members of The Mob, and none of them had done anything to deserve such a hassle. 

I am happy to report that all three of these ladies have now received full refunds.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

I do not believe there was ever any intent to defraud anyone. 

The problem is, they had to jump through hoops to get their money.  (One told me, "I can't believe this has taken well over 2 months of countless emails and phone calls to get this solved," and I'd say that pretty well sums it up for all three of them.)  The whole thing was extremely stressful (on both sides, from what I understand), and in my personal opinion, that is not okay.

Should you consider Clever Kingdom as a business opportunity it in the future?

Sorry, I'm not going there.  Only time will tell. 

UPDATE:  November 12, 2006

Now I'll go there. 

Six months have passed, and people are still having trouble with this company.  I learned to ignore The Wild Ones, but I recently heard from a lady who was deeply involved with Melissa and worked tirelessly to defend her and help her climb out of the hole she dug for herself.  She now believes she was wrong.  It seems nothing has changed.  She says, "Melissa is still up to her deceitful ways."

So did Melissa tend to scam people, or was it just a case of poor business practices and growing too fast, as I originally believed?

I still don't know.

What I do know, however, is that this woman has been asked to sign a confidentiality agreement before she can get her $500 refund.  Scam or not, in my opinion, that screams "STAY AWAY!!" as loud as anything can.  If Melissa gave a rat's p'tooty about making things right, she would make the refund and then worry about repairing her image.

It is my personal opinion that you would be crazy to get involved with Clever Kingdom (aka CleverKingdom) now or ever.

I will go so far as to say this, however:

A scam?

Definitely not.  (Update:  Maybe yes, maybe no, but definitely very ugly.)

I believe it all goes back to Too Much Too Fast, Poor Business Practices, and Delaying Tactics with regard to legitimate refund requests (it should be noted that there have been some illegitimate refund requests, and that's a whole different animal). 

The aforementioned Delaying Tactics have caused what could prove to be, in my humble opinion, irreparable damage to the company (what goes on the internet stays on the internet), and I think that's a darn shame.  It seems to me that processing refunds promptly is one of the necessities (and hazards) of doing business, so I can't for the life of me understand why any of this happened in the first place.

Whether it can all be fixed remains to be seen.

That's all I have to say about Clever Kingdom.

That's all anybody has to say on Clever Kingdom.

This board will now reopen for other topics.

Luv,