Pay for grant info? Hold on a minute

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - They go first class when they hold seminars in downtown Grand Rapids hotels. People pay $1000 to get in the door -- and then maybe more, according to the Better Business Bureau.

The company, the National Grants Conference, gets an F rating from the Better Business Bureau.

"They earned that F," said Ken VanderMeeden of the West Michigan BBB.

The bureau closed 207 complaints the last three years, 154 of them about performing according to their contract, and 36 complaints about making full refunds.

The BBB said there's a pattern of complaints from consumers who said they were led to believe it would cost a thousand dollars only to find they had to buy expensive software on top of that.

It's misleading at best. A participant pays $1000 but the National Grants Conference comes back and ask for another $3000 - $5000.

Target 8 investigators tried to ask the seminar presenters about that during a break in Friday's sesson, but before our photographer could raise his camera, someone grabbed his wrist.

"Look," the person said, "we had a complaint from somebody about, turn that off, this is, like, a private room, you need to, it's not public now."

So they kicked us out and told us to call their attorney.

We couldn't reach either the attorney or their headquarters in Florida by phone.

In addition to National Grants there are other companies in the same business. The usual criticism is that much of the information they provide for a big fee is publicly available if you look for it.

"A, that information is free of charge if there are grants. B, it's highly unlikely there's money just given the average person on the street," VanderMeeden said.

But the National Grants website says they not only help you find grants but help you apply and follow the process, claiming that it's not as simple as filling out a form and getting a check a week later.

Still, the Better Business Bureau said the company has provided no documentation about the success rate consumers might expect when joining the program."