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"Marx Motivation" aka "773-632-0002" information-sharing page. Last update: 2003-08-09 at 3:37pm CDT
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Marx Motivation Identified! They are a franchisee of UCC TotalHome.
If you want to complain to them, their number is 773-792-3500 (other contact info can be found below). Note: it is also possible that this company is doing telemarketing for other businesses.
List of complaints :: FAQs Thank you for your input! If you have information to contribute, or you want to share your experience, please send email to sam@samswett.com with "Marx Motivation" in the subject. Be sure to mention if I should post your comments and if I should include your name. August 7, 2003—Not Quite Quiet. I've been informed by a reader that Marx Motivation is still making calls (going by the name of Direct Buy now), so I must abnegate my claim of "silence." August 5, 2003—Silence. Considerable time has passed with no news for me to post, so I will consider this page "finished" and won't be updating it unless there is a reason. Thanks again to everyone who contributed their stories! April 2, 2003—Finally they speak: I finally spoke to someone calling from this number on April 2, 2003 at 8:32pm CST. He identified himself, provided the business name as "Total Home" and gave me their phone number. We talked for 20 minutes while I tried to pry some other information out of him. He would only tell me that they were located "a block south of Devon, near Harlem." If you're in Chicago, you probably know generally where this is. I asked for the specific street address, and he would not give it to me. Since he wanted my address, I thought it was only reasonable that I knew theirs first, but he didn't agree. As the conversation progressed, he started to make up information in response to my questions. After telling me no less than five times their general location, I asked him "OK, what's the ZIP code there?" to which he replied "60606." (A lie) He wouldn't tell me the business hours (not that he was required to) but what's the big secret? What he was after was my approval to send an invitation to their "warehouse showroom" that isn't open to the general public. I then asked about the phone number and name used for Caller ID. He was aware that it says Marx Motivation, but claimed he didn't know why it said that. Near the end of the call, I jumped into my favorite anti-telemarketing script and yes, he has flexible hours, gets time off to go to the dentist, good teeth are important for his job, and he uses Crest Advanced Cleaning toothpaste. With business name and phone number in hand, I was able to gather the rest of the factual information on this page. Company Information for UCC TotalHome, Inc. franchisee Mark Magnani's 2Marx Motivation Corp. in Chicago
Better Business Bureau report for UCC TotalHome of ChicagoNote: "2Marx" and the owner's name is listed as Mark. So maybe there's another Mark to make two Marks? Or is it a play on the possessive form of Mark, "Mark's?" Here's a BBB profile.
Property Index #12-01-206-022-0000 data from the Cook County Assessor's Office. Selected Corporate data from the The Secretary of State of Illinois. Entity Name: 2Marx Motivation Corp. Incorporation Date: May 31, 1996 File Number: 58895296 President Name: Mark Magnani 26491 N Ridge Ct Diamond Lake 60060 Personal Information for Mark J. Magnani
[data as of 1993, taken from ProPhone software, version 4th quarter 1994]Magnani, Mark J. 625 Mulberry Pl Highland Park, IL 60035 708-433-9101 [current data] Magnani, Mark J. (age 38? [2003]) 26491 N Ridge Court Mundelein, IL 60060 847-566-9138 Yahoo People Search lists an email address of markmagnani@nwu.edu. Company Information for franchisor UCC TotalHome, Inc. in Merrillville, Indiana Selected data from Dun & Bradstreet for UCC TotalHome Inc., a subsidiary of United Consumers Club, Inc., as of April 3, 2003: D-U-N-S Number: 18-004-1337 Sales: $27,990,000 U.S. (Actual) Employees Here: 180 Employees Total: 200 Line Of Business: Catalog Sales And Franchisor Primary SICs: 59619912 Furniture And Furnishings, Mail Order Secondary SICs: 67949902 Franchises, Selling Or Licensing Ownership / Control Date: 1981 Bank: Citizens Bank Of Pennsylvania Accountant: KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, Chicago, IL CEO: Mr Fred A Wittlinger, Chairman Executives: Ms Lois Acker, Meet Plnnr; Mr Ken Snedecor, E-Business; Mr Jack R Allen, Chairman Of The Board; Mr James L Gagan, Vice-Chairman; Mr Scott A Powell, President; Mr Eugene Deutsch, Chief Financial Officer; Mr Jack L Gagan, Secretary; Mr Frank E Ball, Vice-President; H P Braunlich Jr, VP Finance; Mr Brian Gerstenberger, Producer; Ms Julie Fletcher, Marketing; Ms Margaret Griggs, Manager; Mr Gerald Pannaralla, Director Executive Biographies: Fred A Wittlinger Year Of Birth: 1940 1961 graduated Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN. 1961-1965 employed by Farm Bureau of Indiana, Indianapolis, IN. 1965-1973 employed by IBM, Chicago, IL. 1973-present United Consumers Club, Inc, Merrillville, IN. 1982 president. James L Gagan Year Of Birth: 1930 1955-58 employed by Family Finance Company, Gary, IN. 1958-71 employed by Businessman's Credit & Collection Service Inc, Merrillville, IN. Active in related companies since 1971. Vice chairman of the board of directors since 1988. Selected data from Dun & Bradstreet for parent corporation United Consumers Club, Inc., as of April 3, 2003: D-U-N-S Number: 05-786-7939 Sales: $112,867,000 U.S. (Actual) Employees Here: 175 Employees Total: 250 Line Of Business: Whol Furniture Appliances Household Furnishings & Carpet Catalog Sales Franchisor And Buying Club Primary SICs: 50210000 Furniture Secondary SICs: 50640000 Electrical Appliances, Television And Radio 50230000 Homefurnishings 50230401 Carpets 59610000 Catalog And Mail-Order Houses 67949902 Franchises, Selling Or Licensing 72991202 Buyers' Club Ownership / Control Date: 1971 Bank: Bank Of America NA Accountant: KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, Chicago, IL CEO: Mr James L Gagan, Chairman Of The Board Executives: Mr Jack R Allen, President; Mr Eugene H Deutsch, Chief Financial Officer; Mr Fred A Wittlinger, Vice-Chairman Of The Board; Mr Scott M Powell, Executive Vice-President; Mr Jack L Gagan, Senior Vice-President; Mr Frank E Ball, Vice-President; H P Braunlich, VP Finance; Gerry Pannaralla, Director Executive Biographies: James L Gagan Year Of Birth: 1930 1955-58 employed by Family Finance Company, Gary, IN. 1958-71 employed by Businessman's Credit & Collection Service Inc, Merrillville, IN, which operates as a credit and collection agency. Active here since 1971. Vice Chairman of Board of Directors since 1988, member Board of Directors since 1981. Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of subsidiaries. Fred A Wittlinger Year Of Birth: 1940 1961 graduated Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN. 1961-65 employed by Farm Bureau of Indiana, Indianapolis, IN. 1965-73 employed by IBM Corporation, Chicago, IL. 1973-present United Consumer's Club Inc, Gary, IN, joined as vice pres of franchise operations. Chairman of the Board of Directors since 1988, member since 1981. Formerly co-owner of United Consumers Club franchise, Valparaiso, IN, 1972-74, sold interest. Reverse lookup on 219-736-1100 from 1993 shows a possible previous address: United Consumers Club, Inc. 1808 Dylane Dr. Griffith IN 46319-1485 A search on Indiana locations shows another possible alias is United Consumers Franchising Corporation and lists another number: 219-755-6211. Customer Information Disclosure — documents on UCC site expose data on UCC customers
U.S. documentation for T.O.P.S (TOPS is UCC's "Total Operating System," a business operations management software application)TOPS login page These screen shots embedded in the documentation show TOPS with live data. There are several additional similar screens in the document. Page 26 - member info Page 29 - member list Page 31 - member detail Page 46 - purchase order detail Page 47 - open purchase orders Page 73 - Gurnee franchise data Page 83 - user list Random Info
They are listed in the Merrillville Chamber of Commerce directory
American Budget Counselors has 219-736-1100 as a number also, listed under "Child and Youth Services" (?)
Video report explaining the scam (9 minutes, 19 seconds)
Hoovers lists them at Suite #110 at 6325 N Avondale. About Avondale Avenue: 1800 W at 2026 N to 7800 W at 6794 N — John L. Cochran, a real estate developer from Philadelphia, created a community called Avondale that is bounded roughly by Addison, Diversey, the Milwaukee Road tracks, and the North Branch of the Chicago River. He named the community and the street after Avondale, Pennsylvania. Cochran also developed the community of Edgewater. (Hayner, Don and McNamee, Tom. Streetwise Chicago Loyola University Press, 1988) Other Illinois UCC locations also shows a "UCC Total Home - Data Line" of 773-763-6138 at 6325 N Avondale.
On The Web
Web ISP
Grimaldi Consulting Group, LLC :: Their site was defaced [not safe for work] on May 5, 2001.related: Monmouth Internet Background
I thought I was the only one getting calls nearly every day from this forged CallerID name and number,
and it turned into a bit of joke. A friend would be at my place, and the phone would ring, and I'd immediately say,
"Let me guess, Marx Motivation.... Yup!" No one else seemed to be getting these calls and would therefore look at me
as if it were my fault. Symptoms: relentless "dead-line" calls, where you answer, say "Hello" and there's nobody there.
They don't seem to be prank calls so I figured it was a misconfigured computer making the calls. I thought maybe some
telemarketing company had been too aggressive in their system setup so more calls were made than could actually be
answered by the person on their end. I did the ol' Net search, and found nothing. Called the number and
got what I guess is an official Ma Bell recording of "The number you have reached is not in service. This is a recording."
Email from April 17, 2003
Subject: Marx MotivationDate: Thursday, April 17, 2003 18:58 From: [Name Withheld By Request] Unbelievable, I've been getting these calls for more than a year. I've called everybody I could think to stop these strange calls with no one on the other end. No one could help, I was told by sbc it was probably a demon dialer run amuck, and if I or my phone machine didn't answer the calls for a few weeks it would probably stop. I refuse to turn off my answering machine. Today, I finally plugged the phone number into yahoo search and found this site!! THANK YOU!!! I called their office number and politely requested they remove my phone number. The guy who answered said he would be happy to. The end?.... ps I may miss the mystery after all this time.... Email from April 12, 2003
Subject: Marx MotivationDate: Saturday, April 12, 2003 9:00 From: Anonymous UCC Total Home's telemarketing abuse is not limited to Chicago area - UCC Total Home gets fined $3,000 in Oregon UCC Total Home received an immediate Cease and Desist Order by the Colorado AG Email from April 9, 2003
Subject: Marx MotivationDate: Wednesday, April 9, 2003 20:26 From: [Name Withheld] I just got a call from them tonight..saw it on the ID and didnt pick up...I used to get calls almost daily from them about a year ago but I either was never home or didn't pick up. One time they even called at 12:30 in the morning...thank god I'm a light sleeper. I wound up picking up eventually just to get rid of them once and for all. A guy was on the other line and asked for my name with a badly mispronounced version of my last name. I said there was no one here by that name and they must have a wrong number. At that point the guy got irate saying something like "But I talked to you last week (nice lie eh). I know this is you." I just hung up and they never called back...until tonight. Email from April 8, 2003
Subject: Marx MotivationDate: Tuesday, April 8, 2003 9:00 From: Anonymous Websites about ucc totalhome/ direct-buy/ interior home/ united consumers club scam: Media Coverage http://wbz4.com/lyons/local_story_063165203.html http://www.newsnet5.com/news/specialassignment/news-specialassignment-20000211-185155.html http://bcctv.ca/olsen_ucctotalhome.htm http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/services/ucc/ Court Info http://www.sconet.state.oh.us./rod/documents/2/2002/2002-ohio-3806.doc Numbered paragraph 8 is where it says that UCC claimed that it was not contractually required to provide assistance to customers. http://www.mlmlaw.com/library/cases/mlm/state/nyniemiec.htm A NY court found the membership contract "grossly unconscionable" and that "Club membership is nothing more than a cleverly disguised method of selling nothing but hopes and dreams." Forums http://www.thecomplaintstation.com/cgi-bin/frames.cgi?0511 Archived Complaints http://www.thecomplaintstation.com/u/unitedconsumersclub_toc.htm Email from April 3, 2003
Subject: Marx MotivationDate: Thursday, April 3, 2003 16:06 From: [Name Withheld By Request] yep, I've been getting these phony calls as well. i called the 773-792-3500 and spoke with a 'Jesse' today; she told me that they do indeed make telemarketing calls. i asked her if she can take my number off their list. she took down my number and told me it would be taken off this coming saturday when the guy who 'takes the numbers off list' gets back from vacation. we'll see. if they persist in calling, i will have to either take a personal visit to their office (i live in relative close proximity), or report them for the harrassment. Email from April 2, 2003
Subject: Re: Marx MotivationDate: Wednesday, April 2, 2003 22:47 From: [Name Withheld By Request] Hmmm...Sam, You can post our messages, but please dont include my name or email address. My reason for this would be if this silly person eventually finds your page, I wouldnt want to egg him on. And, yes, I do know it is a him and not a computer. The other night, my nephew was over and was watching cartoons. When I saw who was calling, I answered the phone "Yabba Dabba Do". He spoke! He asked me if I was Mrs. XXX and I said "Yes". He then asked me if I was the head of the household, to which I said "Yes" (although I am not sure my husband would agree with this!). Then the jackass hung up! Anyways, I belong to an email list for Chicago women and someone complained about Marx the other day. I sent the woman and email and am waiting to hear from her. I will send her a link to your website. Let me know if you get anymore details. I am getting privacy manager, but I dont think it will help since "Marx Motivation" is not an "Unknown" number. Email from April 2, 2003
Subject: "Marx Motivation"Date: Wednesday, April 2, 2003 20:17 From: Mark E. Levy I've been getting these too - two today. I'm really getting pissed off. You may use my name. Mark Levy Email from March 31, 2003
Subject: Marx motivationDate: Monday, March 31, 2003 10:52 From: Jeffrey Margolis I caught your site because I keep getting calls from Marx Motivation (773)632-0002. I am starting to log their calls, cause they keep calling and hanging up. Privacy manager didn't work, nothing has worked to get these morons from stop phony-phone-calling me... So far, I have counted these calls 2/16 - 1:40pm 2/15 - 2:37pm 2/24 - 7:45pm 3/15 - 4:31pm 3/12 - 7:47pm And 3/30 - 6:50pm These are only the ones I wrote down - but they keep going.... We should pool our internet resources, and go get these guys...!! Any interest? BTW: I am in Chicago, are you??? Email from March 23, 2003
Subject: Marx MotivationDate: Sunday, March 23, 2003 19:55 From: Rachel Elisabeth That's so weird. They just call me and hang up. One time they paused for like ten seconds and then asked for my dad. Whatever it is it sure has a creepy name. peace Email from March 19, 2003
Subject: Marx MotivationDate: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 21:13 From: [Name Withheld By Request] Sam - I recently did a search on Marx Motivation, as I keep getting hang-up calls from this number. I searched and saw you also received the calls. Did you ever find out who the caller is and do the calls ever stop? Any info would be helpful! Call Log
Eyeballing 6325 N Avondale (credits to Cryptome for this idea) ... Look at the maps first to orient yourself.
Net resources: FCC :: Terminology :: Caller ID untrustworthy Special thanks to Steve for his help in compiling this information. |
