A couple of years ago I attended a Rich Dad Poor Dad seminar at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Calgary. I entered the seminar with enthusiasm, and left in anger after the “instructor” (more like sales guy) berated me for questioning his methods, not taking notes, and then for taking notes on my blackberry. In particular he took shots at me for not writing down acronyms that were important, even though I already was aware of these terms as they were a part of both my everyday job and my economics background. I eventually got up and left, telling the VP of sales who sat patiently outside the door waiting for an influx of anxious buyers that I had never been so disappointed in a brand that I had previously had so much respect for.
It turns out that the presenter on that day was not a representative of Robert Kiyosaki himself, but a Canadian firm who’s reputation is shady at best.
CBC marketplace this week aired a 30 minute segment on the company, their scam, how they lure consumers and their deceitful tactics. What they describe with their hidden cameras and analysis is exactly what I saw two years ago at a seminar put on by the very same group. While I cannot be sure that the presenter was the same, I can assure you the presentation was. Whats worse, I recently had a client who had attended one of these seminars try to convince me that she knew more about mortgage financing using an almost identical line to this presenter. That client is about to get herself into a world of financial trouble.
Don’t just think this is an issue isolated to Rich Dad Poor Dad either. That same company I talked about last week with the shady mortgage scheme, well they also give presentations that are very similar to the ones described in CBC’s video. Not only that, but that company has all kinds of awards and recognitions from independent sources who much like the consumer are also unaware of their deceptive practices.
You can view the CBC Marketplace report here.
PS. I do recommend Robert Kiyosaki’s book in my book club section. Why? Because it is a really good read with a lot of really good information in it!
Dude–it’s Robert Kiyosaki, not Richard. Oh yeah, you should go see Garth…he’s coming to Calgary on March 31, hissy fits on tow . Ya know you want to.
Woops, my mistake.
Actually I went and saw Garth in Red Deer a couple of weeks ago. He actually mentioned me in a couple of his posts, we had a good little chat. I traded him a copy of my book for one of the first 40 copies of his. He actually has some pretty good advice in it. Doesn’t change the fact that he still throws hissy fits to get his point across.
Oh, and in person he is not as harsh as he likes to make himself sound ;).