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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Seminar Draws Complaints Man Running Pricey Workshops Accused Of Deceiving Consumers

A Las Vegas man running seminars and pricey workshops in Spokane and Boise this week has been accused of deceiving and misleading consumers in two other states.

After his $19 seminars on how to turn profits on federal loans and grants, Wayne Phillips then recruits people to a personalized workshop that costs $595.

Phillips’ business practices concern the Las Vegas Better Business Bureau, which gives his company, National Education and Training Services, an unsatisfactory rating.

The Washington state attorney general’s office in Spokane began examining Phillips’ activities Thursday after receiving a complaint.

“I thought he was going to give us the information” about government loan and grant programs, said Richard Hart, a computer software engineer who attended Phillips’ seminar Wednesday at the Spokane Red Lion Inn. “It was really a pitch to give him a lot more money.”

Hart described the seminar as four hours of Phillips talking about himself and his accomplishments, spliced with “morsels of information” about government programs.

“I’ve seen better actors,” Hart said.

Mario Sanders, a “business consultant” of Phillips’, said the seminars and workshops come with moneyback guarantees. “Our philosophy is real simple: If you’re not happy, here’s your money back.”

Sanders also said considering Phillips gives seminars in about 50 cities a year, the complaints are few.

Phillips attracted more than 100 people to his two, four-hour sessions at the Red Lion on Wednesday. His first seminar in Boise Thursday night was expected to draw about 60 people.

Phillips also has scheduled a Sunday workshop for 18 people, at $595 per person, at the Spokane Ramada Inn at the airport. The workshop would provide more tips from the man whose recruiting letter says, “I want to tell you something you’re not going to believe; Uncle Sam really wants to give you money!”

The Las Vegas Better Business Bureau reports the company has failed to respond to some of the 26 complaints about its business practices the bureau has received in the past two years.

The bureau offers the following information about the company:

Phillips’ company has been investigated by attorneys general in Alaska and Minnesota. A 1983 settlement with Alaska required Phillips to refund seminar fees to some people.

In a 1993 case in Minnesota, Phillips was stopped from holding seminars in the state. The state argued his brochures gave the impression he was affiliated with a government agency. The attorney general also maintained the mailings overstated the ability of consumers to profit from government loans and grants.

Sanders defended Phillips and the company, asserting the problems in those states were “minuscule in nature.” He said the accusations resulted from nitpicking over a few words.

On one Phillips brochure he quotes Entrepreneur Magazine as labeling him the “country’s leading authority on obtaining and using government loans.”

Peggy Castillo, a spokeswoman for the New York publication, said no article in the magazine ever made that statement.

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