You were BANNED? What happened to LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP??

Continuing on the broken promises theme - it seems that a LOT of Kimkins members are being banned from the Kimkins.com site for various violations on the fly. Such as, things that were not laid out initially in the TOS (Terms of Service) or agreed upon in their contract. Apparently, membership to the site includes an unspoken vow to not speak harshly of the founder or the plan, in any public, online forum; to not question the legitimacy or validity of the founder or the plan, or any portion thereof; and to avoid engaging in private discussions with other members regarding concerns about....well, the founder or the plan!

These members who were banned can only determine that their offense was posting their concerns on other message boards or discussing it in private messages with other Kimkins members. How is Kimmer able to read private messages? And most disturbingly - why would she feel the need to? I can't believe the administration of that site would stoop this low - but apparently, that is indeed what took place.

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a warning system in place. I'm being told by many that they were simply blocked from the site, had their logins deactivated, and received a terse email that stated that they were no longer a part of the program. Depending on the level of your alleged violation, you may be offered a refund via Paypal - or you may not. From what I'm hearing, the majority of the refunds being received are for the original $14.95 memberships, but not the $60 memberships. This is extremely unfair and somewhere in all of this there just has to be justice! You paid for a LIFETIME membership, but only received access for a short time before you were kicked out? Would you stand for that from any other company or organization? If you paid for a lifetime membership at your local gym, and they revoked your membership because you expressed concern to another member that you thought their treadmills were dangerous and in need of repair - would you sit back and take it? Of course you wouldn't! You would call your local news station and proceed to marching on the sidewalk in front of the gym with a big sign!

Just because Kimkins is an online entity doesn't mean that you have no rights as a consumer. You have several avenues for justice and don't be intimidated into believing that you have to just suck it up and eat the loss of your hard earned money. Kimkins has not fulfilled its end of the contract with you - your membership included lifetime access to the site and a free ebook. Banning a member without refunding their money is clearly a breach of contract, and the ebook has yet to be written so that should have never been advertised in the first place, which is not only another breach of contract but also false advertising.

I've compiled a short list of just some of the places you can turn to for help on securing a refund of your Kimkins membership fee. If you know of any others, please feel free to add them to the comments section and I'll expand the list as necessary.

FTC - The Federal Trade Commission accepts and investigates all types of consumer complaints, including those involving online transactions. Go here to fill out the form and include as much information as possible regarding your membership and its revocation. They are a government organization and very busy, so please don't be discouraged if it seems to take a little while for them to respond to you. I have have great success with them in the past and I know that they do respond and act as appropriate.

Better Business Bureau - don't underestimate the power of this organization. They do make attempts to resolve the situation between the two parties, and an unsuccessful resolution by the company will result in a negative report on their file with the Bureau, which is accessible by the public. They have streamlined their reporting process so that you can go to one site, http://www.bbbonline.org/consumer/complaint.asp, and have your complaint filed and directed to the appropriate BBB office that would handle your case.

Paypal - if you paid through Paypal, they do have a Resolution Center for non-performing merchants. Although they may initially claim that your complaint is without merit, don't give up. Refile your complaint, and request a mediation, if necessary. Multiple complaints against a seller will result in their account being frozen until a resolution is reached. (Please note that Paypal is a secure site, so to ensure safety, I did not provide a direct link. Go to their homepage, click on Help on the upper right, and then look for Resolution Center near the bottom left under Resources)

What's that saying about the squeaky wheel? If by chance you don't feel up to the fight and just want to write off your monetary loss as a lesson learned - at least consider filing your statement with the various consumer complaint sites so that others might be protected from the same fate. It's important to get the word out so that people who are considering joining Kimkins can be aware of their limited freedom of speech, or current Kimkins members can be forewarned that their memberships are hanging by a slim thread and they need to watch their backs!

There are several consumer complaint sites online, but The Ripoff Report is the most popular. This website is the voice of the internet for disgruntled consumers. No, they don't have the power to get your money back, but you can make your voice heard and perhaps keep others from losing their money in the future. Go here and file a free report about your membership with Kimkins and their failure to deliver as promised.

Some others are:
Complaints
Consumer Affairs
The Squeaky Wheel
My 3 Cents

Good luck, and leave a note in the comments on how you're progressing - we really do care!