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The Real Marty · 06-22-2023, 06:43 AM

(06-22-2023, 02:37 AM)Lucky2Last Wrote: He's a charlatan.

Like Trump. Running a for-profit seminar company that sells people on the idea that they can get rich by paying for more seminars.

Trump University: How Donald Trump’s for-profit seminar company allegedly ripped off poor souls who wanted to get rich quick. (slate.com)

People were invited to a free—or “FREE,” as the mailers advertising Trump University declared—seminar, held in a local hotel like the Hilton Garden Inn in Greenbelt, Maryland, the Renaissance Glendale Hotel and Spa in suburban Phoenix, or the Doubletree in Berkeley, California. There, “hand-picked” instructors would begin to school you in the intricacies of investing in real estate so that it could seem like a reasonable thing for someone to do.

And what happened next? What’s known in the industry as the upsell, a pressure-heavy attempt to get consumers to buy in, and I mean that literally. Those attending Trump University’s free seminar were repeatedly told they should sign up for a three-day seminar called “The Apprenticeship Program,” costing $1,495, if they really wanted to get ahead.

And if they did that? According to the lawsuits, the main thing they learned in those three days was what they should say to convince credit card issuers to raise the credit limits on their cards. Why? They needed the money to fund their new businesses. Immediately. If that didn’t work, they could also apply for new cards. Students were told they should remember to include “projected income” when calculating household earnings on applications for new cards. What projected income, you might ask? Well, the real estate empires they would be setting up as soon as they left the class. But first …

Yes, another class! And another. And special mentoring. All of it could be yours—for a price. That’s the upsell. As laid out in a lawsuit filed by Tarla Makaeff, the California woman Trump University countersued, there was the Gold Elite package, costing $48,490, but available to attendees at the “one day only” special sale price of $34,995. If they couldn’t afford that, Trump University also offered Silver Elite and Bronze Elite plans at a limited-time discount.

And how should a student pay for that? Well, you remember that credit card, right?