Leandro Andrade stole $153.54 worth of videotapes from a Wall Mart in California. No one was hurt. Leandro received a 25 year prison sentence.
Sterling Childers stole $260 from a Liquor store. He was unarmed. Sterling received a 30 year prison sentence.
Hmmmmmm.
Jesse Willms stole $460,000,000.00 from US consumers. Jesse beat the system and didn’t get charged. 0 days in jail.
There’s no doubt that Jesse utilized deceptive marketing practices that duped customers into trials that they thought were legitimately free. Instead of properly disclosing terms, Jesse deliberately hid them from customers in order to gain the highest yield possible on his media buys.
The media doesn’t quite get it. They keep saying that he got in trouble for selling “free trials.” NO! There’s nothing illegal or even unethical about selling free trial offers. When companies offer trial offers that clearly and conspicuously state the terms, consumers are afforded a great opportunity to try the product prior to committing long term. Examples of consumer friendly trial programs are:
These programs make it easy for customers to try the service/product. If customers want to cancel, they simply go online or pickup the phone and voila, their membership is cancelled.
So then why is Jesse Willms getting sued for $460 million dollars for his trial offers?
Simple:
1. He hid/obscured terms from consumers.
2. He made it unreasonably hard for consumers to cancel and get refunds.
In return he received thousands of consumer complaints to the FTC, State AGs, and the BBB. That prompted a federal probe into the myriad of other questionable practices Jesse engaged in.
Instead of shaping up he hopped from one scam to another in the DR space. It’s all a power trip to Jesse. He beat the US consumers, he beat the US banks, now he appears to have the upper-hand with the US government.
His schemes remind me of a quote from P.J. O’Rourke “Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.”
So, what are your thoughts on Jesse?
Evil Genius?
In Over His Head?
Clever Businessman?
Oh here’s my legal disclaimer: In America, You’re Actually Guilty Until Proven Innocent
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