Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Roger Hamilton - XL members demand refunds

The media articles Roger Hamilton doesn't want you to see

http://rogerhamilton.wordpress.com

Radio 93.8 Live, Singapore English News 2/12/06

Roger Hamilton, XL Results Foundation & XL MembersAbout 30 members of the business network club, XL Results Foundation, met uptoday to discuss plans on getting their money back.They had paid thousands to be life members but said they weren't getting thevalue for their money. A meeting with the club's owner, British national Roger Hamilton has beenscheduled for Wednesday. Wu Shang Yuan with this report.
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Close to 70 local and international members have voiced concerns about theFoundation, after paying between 3,200 and 5,400 US dollars for themembership.They want a total refund of close to half a million US dollars from RogerHamilton, a wealth consultant from the UK.

The life members had wanted out, after realizing that training and mentoringworkshops, organized for them by the Foundation, weren't useful and they wereunable to get the business contacts they'd expected.However, the members were told they had to find buyers of their memberships, ontheir own.

One of the life members Adelaide Chong received a call just a few days ago fromthe Foundation.I already informed Roger that I wanted to transfer my membership and leavebecause I think someone else can take advantage of it. So they say well, theoptions is the first one, you find your own. The second one is they have agentsbut they'll charge some commission - I say I'm not going to pay anycommission.

Members like Ray Bigger also had doubts about the Foundation's promise ofdonating part of the money they received to charity.In the last two years, there's been no photographs, no press releases, noannouncements of any money made to charity. And I'm saying why?!

Mr Hamilton had said in previous reports that his Foundation is looking intothis matter and that it'll look into requests for transfer of memberships.With a meeting scheduled with him on Wednesday, life members are hoping thatthe matter will be resolved by mid-December.ends/...




Nov 25, 2006 - The Straits Times, Singapore
Unhappy with business network club
These members demand their money back
40 out of 69 vexed members gather outside club premises
By Tanya Fong

DISGRUNTLED MEMBERS: More than 40 life members of XL Results Foundation outside its Cecil Street office yesterday, including a 13-year-old Singapore boy (second from left in the foreground) representing his doctor father. -- MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

THEY saw it as a no-risk investment - a way to expand their business contacts and perhaps make some money.

Instead, 40 individuals who bought life membership in an exclusive business networking club gathered outside the office of XL Results Foundation yesterday to demand their money back.
They are part of a group of 69 disgruntled members who claim they were duped by the company's director, millionaire consultant and author Roger Hamilton, who they said promised them the company would buy back their membership at the same price, or at market value.

Instead, members who had bought into the club in order to sell their membership for a profit claimed they were unable to do so. The company, they said, also did not come through on its promise to help them resell their membership.

Although prices increased from US$3,200 in 2003 to about US$8,000 (S$12,400) today, 36-year-old Mr Lai Kum Loon, managing director of a car parts company, said: 'When I wanted to transfer my membership, I was told I had to find my own buyer.'

What is more, members also said they did not get access to the large network of business connections the company promised them.

Among the crowd outside the XL Results office yesterday were five Britons, a Malaysian who came all the way from Malacca and a 13-year-old Singapore boy representing his doctor father, who was at work.

They all wanted to withdraw their membership from the four-year-old operation, which was known formerly Competitive Edge.

The total value of these memberships is about $460,000, more than twice XL Results' reported net profit of $207,612 for the 2005-2006 financial year.

One Singaporean member, Miss Sarah Kong, complained: 'They simply did not provide the contacts of the other members, or those from other countries.'

The club currently has more than 300 life members in Singapore, and about 900 others in 15 other countries.

Membership includes access to the company's training and mentoring workshops in South-east Asia, subscription to its monthly XL Magazine, as well as use of its worldwide networking website.

The complaining members may be on sticky ground, however. Copies of the life membership contracts seen by The Straits Times do not state that the company will buy back life memberships or help find buyers.

Nor is there any clause that says life members have to find their own buyers.
Mr Hamilton, 38, a Briton who is a Singapore permanent resident, is currently in New Zealand on a business trip.

The millionaire, wealth consultant and author of local bestseller Wink And Grow Rich, told The Straits Times on the telephone: 'Today's visit was a press stunt by a group, many are not our members.

'We are looking into this matter. Any member who has concerns can come directly to us and we will look into their request for a transfer and facilitate it.'
tanya@sph.com.sg