Reported Complaints About Mediation.com

From David McDonald, president of the
Mediation Center in Norfolk, VA to Jim Melamed

On September 3, 2014 1:12:37 PM PDT, David McDonald wrote:

Dear Jim:

I worked for 18 years as a mediator/investigator in the Virginia Beach Consumer Protection office, and I was still duped by Mediation.com.   I feel like I am in a confessional at a Catholic Church right now, as I should have invested my few advertising dollars with Mediate.com.  I had all the same dealings you outline in your long list of complaints (along with your interesting correspondence with their staff).  I was threatened as well.  I would like to see the Florida AG’s Office investigate.  (That is the type of work I did for 18 years!)

Their sales people could sell iceboxes to Eskimos!  They also tried to sell me a service of sending out press releases to 1,000s of lawyers across the country.  They could not produce any list, but they happened to call back one time when my part-time office manager was here and got my credit card # and charged me like $400!   I disputed the charge through VISA and won.  Pronesti was not happy with me.

I would like to take action against them, but I am a one person firm and that time would take away from trying to keep my 20 year business afloat.  However, I could be persuaded to take this a step further.

Sincerely yours,

Dave Mc Donald

President
Mediation Center
Norfolk, Virginia 
www.mediationhamptonroads.com

From Joy Rosenthal to Jim Melamed

——– Original Message ——–
From: Joy Rosenthal
Subject: Fwd: Your submitting a chargeback to Mediation.com
Date: September 3, 2014 11:45:20 AM PDT
To: Jim Melamed

Jim,

Thank you so much for putting up the article about mediation.com. As a follow up, I wanted to tell you about my personal experience, which you can share with others, as well.

I made the mistake of paying them $1,200 for a 2 year listing on their website. They were also going to include a press release, a website analysis and an e-book with a button I could put on the front page of my website. I should have asked for a contract and a money back guarantee.

They did the press release, and the website analysis which basically was prelude to a sales pitch for why they should redo my website. Their e-book was astoundingly poor quality, and I would never put it on my website. So 3 months in, I asked for an $800 refund (prorated), which they refused. I then asked for 1/2 of the $ back, since I was not going to use the 2nd year of the listing. They refused.

Thank you for exposing them for what they are.

Best,
Joy

Joy S. Rosenthal, Esq.
—
Rosenthal Law & Mediation
225 Broadway ~ Suite 2605
New York, NY 10007
ph: (212) 532-4704 * fax: (646) 607-2277
[email protected]
www.joyrosenthal.com

From Joy Rosenthal to the New York Mediator’s Listserve (email discussion group for professional mediators)

On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 11:06 PM, Joy Rosenthal wrote:

Dear All,

Thanks so much for your overwhelming response to my inquiry about Mediation.com. I received over 25 responses, including several who wanted to know I found out, so I thought I’d share the responses. Here are some quotes:

Several people said they’ve received relentless phone calls:

• They kept calling me until I blocked their calls.
• [Their] annoying sales people inundated me with phone calls.
• I have gotten a number of calls from Lee Rough (?) and most recently from someone else from Mediation.com telling
  me I have no web presence, my wb page stinks etc., etc.
• they have been calling me for months
• I have literally received 10+ phone calls from them over the course of the year with 2 of the latest calls this past week. I have repeatedly asked them to stop calling me and they are not honoring my requests.
• High pressured “boiler room” kind of selling never impresses me.

Several said they asked the reps for something to back up their claims and did not receive it.

• what kind of business does not have any written material to send out?
• The phone solicitation caller could not answer any substantive questions except for the cost.
• It seemed very sketchy. I spoke to a guy who was calling me from Boca Raton, FL. Very high pressure. I smelled a rat.
• I asked the rep to send me the written material. She said they had none. Nuff said?
• I asked them so many questions that they chose not to provide me their services. Others are discovering their questionable marketing approach.

A few said they signed up but did not receive results:

• I found that the promises they made never produced callers for me.
• I have not had any results!
• [I] have suffered no sense of loss other than financial about that failure. (from someone who disputed the charges on their credit card.)
• I am not sure how effective it is.
• I’ve had negative experience with them.

Finally, Mediate.com has published 2 articles on the topic – here’s a link to one and here’s their update.
I did not receive any replies from people who’ve had positive experiences with them.

Thanks again – wow !!

Joy
—
Rosenthal Law & Mediation
225 Broadway – Suite 2605
New York, NY 10007
ph: (212) 532-4704 fax: (646) 607-2277
[email protected]
www.joyrosenthal.com

From Stephen Kotev to Joy Rosenthal

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: [NYC-DR] Observations about Mediation.com
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 08:49:21 -0400
From: Stephen Kotev

Thank you Joy for sharing your findings.

To me, this really speaks to the ‘buy local’ principle. If you have attended any national Association for Conflict Resolution or American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution conference, Jim Melamed and Clare Fowler were probably there with Mediate.com. You had a chance to meet with them in-person and have a face-to-face conversation. Jim and his co-found John Helie, have been with the CR/ADR community for decades.

They know us and we know them.

In our work, our reputation is everything. We have come to rely on these personal relationships to help us evaluate trainers and provide recommendations. When we stray from this relationship we are left to our own devices. So thank you again Joy for taking on this project and sharing your findings.

All the best,
Stephen Kotev

From Leslie Samet to Jim Melamed

On Apr 21, 2014, at 10:51 AM, Leslie Samet wrote:

The caller stated she represented Mediate.com to several people contacted, not just me.

From Jim Melamed to Leslie Samet

From: JAMES MELAMED [mailto:jmelamed@Mediate.com]
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2014 12:11 PM
To: Leslie Samet
Cc: JAMES MELAMED
Subject: File 1404868 – Attention David M. Fox

Dear David and Leslie,

I am very sorry to hear of Leslie’s difficulty. Her difficulty, however, is NOT with our company, but, rather, with another company “Mediation.com.”

For starters, our company, Mediate.com, which is owned by Resourceful Internet Solutions, Inc. NEVER makes cold calls.

The other company of which I speak, Mediation.com, does NOTHING BUT make aggressive cold calls.

Leslie in her complaint form indicates that she received 3 calls from phones in Broward County, FL. This is the headquarters of Mediation.com. Mediate.com, our company, is located in EUGENE, OREGON.

For further information on this other company, Mediation.com, see:

http://www.Mediate.com/articles/mediationdotcomfraud.cfm
and
http://www.Mediate.com/articles/FraudUpdate.cfm

Please note that I receive complaints each and every week about Mediation.com. They have caused our company and our industry great damage.

I encourage the State of North Carolina Department of Justice to vigorously enforce all possible sanctions against these snake oil salesmen.

Please confirm that Mediate.com is cleared of all wrongdoing in this matter and have this complaint will be properly re-directed to Mediation.com.

Thank you,

Jim
James C. Melamed, CEO
Mediate.com
541 345 1629

From Susan Carpenter to Jim Melamed

On Feb 14, 2014, at 1:56 PM, Susan Carpenter wrote:

I saw your articles and warnings about Mediation.com and wanted to share my experience with you.

A while back, I was contacted by Mediation.com and I checked out their website and called back to cancel the upcoming sales pitch I had scheduled. The sales person called back and asked if they had done something wrong and I said no, it was just too expensive for me and I did great with Mediate.com. He kept calling to harass me about that sales pitch and so I contacted Mediation.com and told them to leave me alone. I never wanted to hear from them again.

Well, a week or so ago, I got an email from Mediation.com, but I made the mistake of thinking it was from Mediate.com. They mentioned a feature that I did not find on the website (Mediate.com) and so I replied to the email asking where that tab was. The sales rep called back and said Mediation.com and I realized my mistake, left him a message to say oops, my bad, and he continued to call several times per day. Today, I finally decided that I would call him to help him stop wasting his time and mine, and tell him that I had already decided that Mediation.com was not for me. He clearly became upset and started asking why I would not give him a chance, blah, blah, blah. I had to be at a meeting and so I hung up on him. To my surprise, he called right back. He asked if he had done something wrong to which I replied, “This is wrong. You are not respecting my boundaries or the fact that I said no, take me off your list. This is a clear indication of this company’s way of doing business and I certainly would not do business with you after this.” He started calling me names, telling me that my website sucks, “You suck as a mediator”, and on and on. I told him to kiss off and hung up, and he still called two more times! I did not answer.

Mediation.com needs to be put out of business. Period. Share with all of your mediators and I am going to report them to the better business bureau. I tried to find a phone number to report this rep to the head office, but you cannot get anyone else, except by their contact form. I submitted it, but suspect it will go directly to him so what is the point of that?

Susan

Susan Carpenter,
Mediator, Life Coach, High Conflict Program Instructor

From Jim Melamed to Susan Carpenter

From: JAMES MELAMED admin@Mediate.com
Subject: Re: experience with Mediation.com
Date: February 14, 2014 2:55:54 PM PST

Hi Susan,

If it is any comfort, you are far from alone.

It is amazing how many professionals they offend . . . to the point of getting in fights with many on the phone.Pretty amazing.

Their entire business is based on cold calling.

We have never made a cold call in 18 years!

If you could use a bit of levity, feel free to listen to them trying to sell me! http://www.Mediate.com/products/docs/Mediationcomcall.mp3

Would it be acceptable for me to share your note with other Mediate.com members?

Thx for your support.

Jim

P.S. Remarkably, I bet they keep calling you!

From Mediate.com Employee to Jim Melamed

From: Alexander Stuehr
Subject: Mediation request
Date: December 2, 2013 11:07:23 AM PST
To: JAMES MELAMED

Hi Jim,

Artie Rosenblat called wishing to speak to you about Mediation. Sounds like he is looking for mediator as he asked it you were practicing and asked that you contact him.

His number is 561-326-6221

-alexander

And, now for a belly laugh or two, listen to Mediation.com’s sales pitch to Mediate.com CEO Jim Melamed. A classic!

From Anju D. Jessani to Jim Melamed

On Nov 29, 2013, at 1:43 PM, Anju D. Jessani, MBA, APM – Accredited Professional Mediator wrote:

Jim.. the calls continue from Mediation.com. I tried to send you a message from Mediate.com but had trouble entering the codes for some reason. Received two today

1. Received a call from Mort Aronstein 561-232-3378 who left a message saying he found me on the website of NJ mediators and and was calling about some mediation matters. When I checked caller id it was from 561-620-3205, the phone number for Mediation.com

2. Received a call from Paul McCormack 561-325-6217 who left a message saying he was calling me about a divorce mediation matter. When I checked caller id it was from 561-620-3205, the phone number for Mediation.com

I have seen a number of press releases of people who have signed on with Mediation.com . E.g.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/mediation/laurencejcutler/prweb11331203.htm

Regards, Anju

Anju D. Jessani, MBA, APM®
Accredited Professional Mediator

From Jim Melamed to Anju D. Jessani

From: JAMES MELAMED jmelamed@Mediate.com
Subject: Re: Mediation.com – From Anju
Date: December 2, 2013 9:13:24 AM PST
To: “Anju D. Jessani, MBA, APM – Accredited Professional Mediator” [email protected]

Anju,

As you and thousands of others have experienced, these folks are both relentless and deceptive.

They get professional mediators to return their calls because it sounds like they have a case for them, and then they turn on the high pressure directory sales techniques.

Their deception does not end there.

IMHO opinion, you are wise to not return their calls and to warn others of your experience.

Thanks for the heads up!

Jim

From Ronald Roman to Jim Melamed

From: Ronald Roman
Subject: Questions about Mediation.com
Date: April 25, 2013 2:17:03 PM PDT
To: jmelamed@Mediate.com

I had received a very interesting call from a company claiming to be Mediate.com, I initially missed the call, so when I called them back. The lady on the other end of the phone said, “Mediate.com how can I help you?” I told I missed the call. Can you connect me to someone who can help me with this. I had to call back four times before being transferred to someone.

When I was transferred, I spoke with a man named Tony claiming to be from a company called Mediation.com. He gave me some kind of song and dance about LA shutting down their mediator panel, and other counties were going to be doing the same thing. He wanted me to go on an internet demo of how the program worked. He also wanted me to pay him $450 dollars.

While I was talking with him. I googled his company, and couldn’t find it anywhere on the google. I wanted to let you know that there is some company out there claiming to be from New York. Claiming to be Mediate.com. Their number is (561)620-3205.

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely

Ronald Roman

From Jim Melamed to Schoeppl & Burke, P.A. (attorneys for Mediation.com)

From: JAMES MELAMED jmelamed@Mediate.com
Subject: Fwd: Questions about Mediation.com
Date: April 25, 2013 2:29:57 PM PDT
To: Carl Schoeppl [email protected]
Cc: JAMES MELAMED jmelamed@Mediate.com, John Blair [email protected]

Carl,

This is totally unacceptable and actionable.

What is your response on behalf of Mediation.com?

These misrepresentations by Mediation.com must stop immediately. I have already sent two cease and desist letters to your clients for the same behavior.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and your prompt response.

Jim Melamed, CEO
for Mediate.com

From Tom Pronesti of Mediation.com to Jim Melamed of Mediate.com

On Apr 24, 2013, at 4:59 AM,info@Mediation.com wrote:

You continue to interfere with my business. I am going to make sure every one of yourr members is contacted and knows about how you treat your customers (ie Polisner) and we are going to make everyone orf your members our customers!!!!!

From Jim Melamed of Mediate.com to Tom Pronesti of Mediation.com

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: [FWD: Mediation.com Inquiry]
From: JAMES MELAMED jmelamed@Mediate.com
Date: Wed, April 24, 2013 9:43 am
To: info@Mediation.com

Tom,

I have no idea what you are talking about.

If you want to attempt to professionally and respectfully explain any concerns you have, I am pleased to professionally and respectfully respond.

JIm

From Tom Pronesti of Mediation.com to Jim Melamed of Mediate.com

On Apr 24, 2013, at 9:21 AM, info@Mediation.com wrote:

Jim,

You never have any idea what we are talking about but we are done playing games with you. We have tried to ignore you and go about our business but you just won’t stop interfering with our business. If it happens one more time we are going to stick it up your butt so far it will reach your tongue.

You want a war you are going to get one!!!!!

From Jim Melamed of Mediate.com to Tom Pronesti of Mediation.com

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: [FWD: Mediation.com Inquiry]
From: JAMES MELAMED jmelamed@Mediate.com
Date: Wed, April 24, 2013 9:43 am
To: info@Mediation.com

Tom,

I have no idea what you are talking about.

If you want to attempt to professionally and respectfully explain any concerns you have, I am pleased to professionally and respectfully respond.

JIm

From Tom Pronesti of Mediation.com to Jim Melamed of Mediate.com

From: info@Mediation.com
Subject: RE: [FWD: Mediation.com Inquiry]
Date: April 24, 2013 11:34:58 AM PDT
To: “JAMES MELAMED” jmelamed@Mediate.com

You can copy anything you want to my attorney including this

Fuck You!

From Jim Melamed to Schoeppl & Burke, P.A. (attorneys for Mediation.com)

From: JAMES MELAMED jmelamed@Mediate.com
Subject: Fwd: [FWD: Mediation.com Inquiry]
Date: April 24, 2013 12:02:01 PM PDT
To: Carl Schoeppl [email protected]

Carl,

If you can do anything to control your client here, that will be greatly appreciated.

I truly have no idea what he is talking about.

Thanks,

Jim Melamed

From Jim Melamed to Schoeppl & Burke, P.A. (attorneys for Mediation.com)

From: JAMES MELAMED admin@Mediate.com
Subject: Fwd: [FWD: Re: [FWD: Mediation.com Inquiry]]
Date: April 24, 2013 6:41:10 PM PDT
To: info@Mediation.com, Carl Schoeppl [email protected]

Gentlemen,

I think I now understand that Tom was somehow again thinking that Mediate.com is sending spam mail to Mediation.com directory members.

This accusation is absolutely false and defamatory.

As you will see below, an apparently shared client, Joseph Caulfield, also received mail from “[email protected]”

This is not us. We have never sent spam and will never send spam.

Please do not accuse us of such things with no basis in fact. This is twice now and must be stopped.

Thank you,

Jim Melamed, CEO
for Mediate.com

From Jim Melamed to Schoeppl & Burke, P.A. (attorneys for Mediation.com)

From: JAMES MELAMED jmelamed@Mediate.com
Subject: Re: Mediation.com, LLC
Date: April 15, 2013 3:34:56 PM PDT
To: Carl Schoeppl [email protected]

Hi Carl,

This is simply a heads up that two different Mediation.com employees have, on their own initiative, contacted me by email over the past couple of months concerned about fraudulent practices at Mediation.com.

One of them recently sent me the sales script for the company (attached):

This script includes a number of material misrepresentations. Your client’s statements about being the premier online directory, authoritative google links and exact domain matching are all seriously misleading.

I don’t know what to say other than I now better understand why the company is constantly looking for new employees and why there are so many rumblings in the marketplace of people feeling misled and taken advantage of by Mediation.com.

Thanks for being sure these material misrepresentations end.

Jim Melamed, CEO
Resourceful Internet Solutions, Inc.
home of Mediate.com and Arbitrate.com

From Mediation.com Attorneys to Jim Melamed

On Mar 11, 2013, at 2:06 PM, Kylie Bellisari wrote:

Dear Mr. Melamed:

Please see the attached correspondence dated March 11, 2013 from Carl F. Schoeppl, Esq.

If you have any questions or require further information regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me or speak directly to Carl.

Regards,

Kylie Bellisari, Administrative Assistant
Schoeppl & Burke, P.A.
4651 North Federal Highway
Boca Raton, Florida 33431-5133
Telephone: (561) 394-8301
Facsimile: (561) 394-3121
[email protected]

From Jim Melamed to Schoeppl & Burke, P.A. (attorneys for Mediation.com)

From: JAMES MELAMED [mailto:jmelamed@Mediate.com]
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2013 6:08 PM
To: Kylie Bellisari
Cc: Carl Schoeppl; Michael Burke
Subject: Re: Mediation.com, LLC

Hi Kylie, Carl and Michael,

Thanks for your note.

Unfortunately, your clients are once again wrong, as I advised Tom Pronesti twice in writing, below.

As you can see by these two exhibits, not only did we not send the spam of which Tom is concerned, but we received the exact same spam!

We have never and will never engage in such spamming behavior.

After you review these exhibits, if you agree that your clients are simply wrong in these regards, as in 100% wrong, I would appreciate an apology. If ever there is a case of false accusation, this is it.

Further, As also evidenced, I do not mind respectfully communicating with Mr. Pronesti or Mr. Rough to straighten out any misunderstandings, but I do mind Mr. Pronesti’s false and slanderous accusations and his fowl language (I am sparing you those emails for the time being).

I appreciate your ensuring that Mr. Pronesti’s false and slanderous accusations and fowl language ends, now.

Thanks for your attention to this matter.

James C. Melamed, JD, CEO
for Mediate.com

Exhibit 1:

image001.jpg

Exhibit 2
image002.jpg

From Mediation.com Attorneys to Jim Melamed

On Mar 11, 2013, at 5:04 PM, Carl Schoeppl wrote:

Dear Mr. Melamed:

I appreciate your prompt response.

Thank you for clarifying that you had no involvement with the spam e-mail campaign.

Sincerely,

Carl F. Schoeppl, Esq.
Schoeppl & Burke, P.A.
4651 North Federal Highway
Boca Raton, Florida 33431-5133
Telephone: (561) 394-8301
Facsimile: (561) 394-3121
E-mail: [email protected]

Michael Burke (Lawyer for Mediation.com) to Jim Melamed

On Oct 12, 2012, at 1:53 PM, Michael Burke wrote:

Dear Mr. Melamed:

Please see the attached correspondence dated October 12, 2012 from Carl F. Schoeppl, Esq. in connection with the above-captioned matter.

If you have any questions or require further information regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me or speak directly to Mr. Schoeppl.

Regards,

Michael W. Burke, Office Manager
Schoeppl & Burke, P.A.
4651 North Federal Highway
Boca Raton, Florida 33431-5133
(561) 394-8301: T
(561) 394-3121: F
[email protected]

Reply From Jim Melamed to Michael Burke

From: JAMES MELAMED jmelamed@Mediate.com
Subject: Re: Mediation.com, LLC and Arbitration.com, LLC
Date: October 12, 2012 2:52:47 PM PDT
To: “Michael Burke” [email protected]
Cc: “Carl Schoeppl” [email protected], “Stephanie Toma” [email protected]

Hi Michael, Carl and Stephanie,

Unfortunately, you do not seem to know your own clients very well!

For example, why do they not indicate who runs Mediation.com or Arbitration.com on their sites? Perhaps this has to do with the existing fraud complaints against them? Or is this due to their complete lack of dispute resolution expertise?

Please note that all of the research done by Don Philbin that disclosed your clients’ bait and switch directory system was done without my knowledge. I did not know of these fraudulent practices until Mr. Philbin shared his impeccable research with me and a number of other leaders in the ADR field. Your clients’ bait and switch directory practices are insulting to the ADR and legal professions and to credible businesses generally.

I have now received many dozens of complaints regarding Mediation.com. Some of these have been published, but I have saved some real plums. Here is another one received just today:

Dear Jim,

I just read your page on Mediate.com re: the confusion caused and appropriations made by Mediation.com. Like several members of your site, I have also had a “hard sell” from Mediation.com, back in the Summer. Because we are a nonprofit community mediation center member of Mediate.com, I basically said that we couldn’t pay for any membership and just tried to get off the phone politely. The caller kept calling, calling, calling. I last heard from them a week or so ago, and in no uncertain terms told them that I could not buy anything from them, period. Now I’ve read what’s going on, and for the first time, went to look at the site. I was looking at mediators from Tennessee (my state) and Knoxville (my town) and also filtering with the different kinds of mediation to see if I knew anyone. So, long story short about my browsing: I found an old friend listed, Bob Ritchie (Robert W. Ritchie). under “child custody mediation”. Bob was an amazing CRIMINAL LAWYER who DIED IN 2006. And there was his full bio on the Mediation.com site. If the scheme they have is to put people on the site and never intend to refer cases to them, but simply use them as bait..using dead people makes perfect sense I guess. Yikes. It also lays rest to any assertion on their part that they are getting mediators off a central list of some kind, publically available. In Tennessee, there is a public list for listed Rule 31 mediators on the TN Supreme Ct website, www.tncourts.gov. But Bob Ritchie would not have been on it, nor any list, except a bar memorial list.

They also have listed as a member Jack B. Draper, a very senior attorney who does civil mediation and arbitration—think labor disputes, car wrecks, etc.—-as a child custody mediator. His actual firm page is
http://www.adhknox.com/jack-b-draper.html, at Arnett Draper Hagood in Knoxville, TN. The Mediation.com site’s page is: http://www.Mediation.com/memberprofile/jack-b-draper-37901-b5.aspx

To clarify, it was Lee Rough who approached us. We had what I thought was a measure of good faith discussions, until it became clear that Mr. Rough was on a fishing expedition. Fortunately, my business advisor was a witness to most calls. All documents will also show that we have at all times acted in good faith, in stark contrast to your clients.

Plainly, a number of the practices at Mediation.com and arbitration.com are illegal. I have practicing attorneys asking me to represent RIS and Mediate.com in state, federal, FTC and UDRP complaints. These attorneys are prepared to donate their time to ensure that “right” is done in this case, which is of course very gratifying. They and we will vigorously respond to any and all legal actions by your clients. Specifically, we will pursue injunctive relief, actual damages, punitive damages, and fully cooperate with all investigative actions in these regards.

Unfortunately for you, your clients are simply not credible, whereas Mediate.com is one of the most respected dispute resolution organizations on earth. Your clients have absolutely no dispute resolution expertise, they refuse to disclosure their identifies, they do not even show prices, and they have brought hard-edged call center cold-calling techniques to an industry that is based on truth and integrity.

Please do talk to your clients about ending their fraudulent bait and switch directory practices and getting us written confirmation that they will cease and desist using my name and the name of Mediate.com, and we can then consider possibly bringing this matter to a mutually acceptable resolution.

A final note: Each and every word I have published in these regards is 100% truthful. There is nothing to correct.

Let me know your additional thoughts.

Have a nice weekend,

Jim Melamed, CEO
for Resourceful Internet Solutions, Inc.