CLAUDE JOHNSON GUITAR CONTROL FRAUD

[W Cook]

After I paid for the subscription, I couldn’t access the account using
the ID and password they gave me. I repeatedly asked them to cancel
my account, and three months later they are still billing me. I’m
going to take whatever legal action I can against them. WHAT A BUNCH
OF ROTTEN SCUMBAGS!

[Tony]

Claude Johnson sells guitar tuition materials. Like many others I was a bit skeptical,
until I saw a link offering "free" information that would take me to guitar hero status
instantly. But it seems even the free offerings are not worth the cost; not fraud, but
equally way short of the hyped promises. The "useful" content is so miniscule as to be
non-existent, and buried deep in spam. To sum up the (mostly obvious) info from Claude's
prolific annoying texts, for those who (wisely) didn't sing up,...

Guitar control is the sum of technique, fretboard knowledge and guitar control.

Technique - to play any desired notes without stumbling - requires patience and practice
of major, minor and pentatonic (eg A C D E G) scales all over the neck, plus bending,
vibrato, string skipping licks and arpeggios.

Fretboard knowledge - knowing where the notes are on the fretboard, and their various
combinations in scales, modes, chord voicings, etc. Eg, for the A minor pentatonic scale
(A C D E G, a subset of the C major and A minor scales), play two notes per string from
the 5th fret A string (D) to the 8th fret high E string (C), notice all the degrees of the
scale, the intervallic relationship to every other note, the 2 frets + 2 strings in the
first octave, the V (5th) note (E) on the B string at the 5th fret, and how the A minor
chord falls over the scale notes. Repeat for other positions, scales and entire chord
progressions. It's far more useful to remember relative than absolute note positions,
scales and chords. Eg the 8th fret on the B string is G, but it's more useful to know it
as the VII (7th) note on any A scale, and belonging to any A chord, along with all the
notes around it, such as the A on the 10th fret B string (the root). And you should be
able to see that the G is one half step above the F#, which is the third of the D chord,
which is the IV chord in the progression. And you should be able to see the relationship
between the A7 chord and the D7 chord, and the smooth transition from the G down to the
F#. There are vast numbers of such relationships, which must all be so ingrained as to
require no thought or effort while playing a solo. This knowledge also lets you fall back
on what you know if you get lost.

Guitar control - the direct brain-to-hand connection - completes the picture; eg practice
nailing the first note of a phrase. This one sentence is the sum total of useful "new"
information in Claude Johnson's free "secrets of guitar control", for which one must read
endless self-indulgent waffle, sign up and then endure endless spam emails directed
towards extracting money for even more "secrets". Maybe the non-free course is a lot
better, but after going through so much to get so little, I'm not about to pay money for
more.

Tony

[henryta...@live.com]

I'm glad i researched this befor buying. Thank you for blogging this! henrytamborelli @ live . com

[dmcgi...@gmail.com]

[maxshr...@gmail.com]

On Monday, August 4, 2008 9:29:32 PM UTC-4, W Cook wrote:

I got the free cheat sheet does it cost money?

[Lord Valve]

Mr. Peabody sez - "Quick, Sherman, set the Wayback
machine for August 4, 2008; let's drop in and see if
anybody gives a fuck."

Guess not.

[will...@gmail.com]

I purchased several guitar products from Claude and I found them to be very useful. You guys must be lead guitarists complete with the accompanying snotty, "I am better than you all" attitude. I for one am a mere mortal trying to get better on the guitar and Claude has take me to another level in several of his courses. With an attitude like yours I am surprised he bothers to respond to you at all.

[rebir...@gmail.com]

I agree! They're still at it in 2016

[rebir...@gmail.com]

On Monday, August 4, 2008 at 8:29:32 PM UTC-5, W Cook wrote:

I agree! He is still at it. Scumbag rip-off artist!

[milod...@yahoo.com]

On Monday, August 4, 2008 at 9:29:32 PM UTC-4, W Cook wrote:

Yea i bought some dvds next thing you know the POS is charging my account for things I didn't order its a good way to lose those nasty jagged teeth he has.

[TheCat]

They are worse than ever. I have been burned by these guys in the past, and just made the mistake of ordering a piano DVD course that I didn't realize until too late was a Guitar Control product. Same old crap, endless pop ups after you order, no emailed receipt, so you are screwed when they overcharge you and sign you up for their "club", even though you clicked "no" a thousand times during checkout. Had to cancel my credit card after they sent me 9 DVDs instead of 3, charged me 3 times what I paid at checkout and signed me up for their "club" against my wishes and charged me for that as well. I hate these people, you will too. AVOID. Any positive reviews are shills, not real people - these guys are criminals, scam artists. Some of their products are okay, most are shit. None of them are worth the hassle of dealing with the fictitious Claude Johnson. It is your Johnson that gets clawed, make no mistake. I hope they get busted by the FBI for Internet fraud, because, make no mistake, that is what they are doing.

[TheCat]

Ditto, total crooks, bastards, criminals - ripped me off, had to cancel my credit card.

[chucky...@gmail.com]

Sweet

[gailbo...@gmail.com]

Somebody give me a phone number to cancel please post for all any sight without a phone number is FRAUD

[Nil]

On 16 Jun 2016, gailbo...@gmail.com wrote in alt.guitar:

> Somebody give me a phone number to cancel please post for all any
> sight without a phone number is FRAUD

You could try the phone number that's on his web "sight", but I think
1-800-CLU-LESS is probably a better choice for you

[dannya...@gmail.com]

THIS CLAUDE JOHNSON IS A LAZY ASSHOLE SHITTY TEACHER....DON"T BUY THIS GARBAGE........IT IS AN DISGRACE TO GUITAR PLAYERS>

Danny

[Nil]

On 20 Jul 2016, dannya...@gmail.com wrote in alt.guitar:

> THIS CLAUDE JOHNSON IS A LAZY ASSHOLE SHITTY TEACHER....DON"T BUY
> THIS GARBAGE........IT IS AN DISGRACE TO GUITAR PLAYERS>

Why should anybody believe you? You are nobody, as far as I can tell -
no history here, no details for your claim. You appear to be a stalker.

[helgem...@gmail.com]

I had a feeling I'd been burned by this fucker. I'm in Australia & bought a DVD package got a $2 guitar tuner & 3 no brand packs of strings. No DVDs no responses to my Emails I'm out of pocket near $ 300.If I get anymore grief from this shit bag I'm catching a flight stateside to track him down.

[peterlo...@gmail.com]

My husband has been to the bank and cancelled his bank card. They have taken money out of his account despite the fact that he has cancelled this crap product month after month after month......

[kitw...@gmail.com]

Same here. I bought a small bottle of Rock-Tips for a dollar or so. I did not sign up for anything else. Now I am billed $20 monthly for NOTHING! I am really pissed off because this has caused me to go overdrawn at my bank with consequent overdrawn charges. I am English but live in France. Can anyone tell me how I can stop this fraud from here? Any ideas? Thanks.

[notbob]

On 2016-10-22, Andy <nos...@no.no> wrote:

>> here? Any ideas? Thanks.

Dispute the charge to yer credit card carrier. If they do nothing,
cancel the card.

nb

[theheav...@gmail.com]

I got scammed by Claude Johnson guitar control. It's a simple scam others on this page have been scammed the same as me. I signed up to get free music cards just pay postage. Once they had my credit card details they charged me for the postage and debited me monthly after that for a completely different product I never ordered my $14.95 charge has now become $210
Guitar control are scamming people.
Do NOT give them your credit card details ever!!
I have requested a refund from them six times and guitar control just respond with more lies.
If you stole $200 from a till in a store you would be charged by the police. Guitar control are committing white collar crime and getting away with it.

[tsch...@gmail.com]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WdYcgZJN4nc

Is he a crook? You be the judge...

[mick...@hotmail.com]

Hi everyone, I'm in Australia and I purchased a product from Johnson Last year. I have been overcharged for the product and have sent six emails enquiring about the overcharge and received no replies. I can only conclude that he is a rip off. I've closed my account and had to starty a new one that he can't access. Besides being very angry I'm very disappointed to know that there are scum like this still operating. He is a complete maggot and will come undone. If I lived in US I would hunt him down and hurt him bad. I'd break every thieving finger on both his hands and cut out his tongue. Aussie Aussie Aussie chop chop chop

[mick...@hotmail.com]

[mick...@hotmail.com]

[mick...@hotmail.com]

On Tuesday, 5 August 2008 11:29:32 UTC+10, W Cook wrote:
> After I paid for the subscription, I couldn’t access the account using
> the ID and password they gave me. I repeatedly asked them to cancel
> my account, and three months later they are still billing me. I’m
> going to take whatever legal action I can against them. WHAT A BUNCH
> OF ROTTEN SCUMBAGS!

CLAUDE IS A COMPLETE SCUMBAG RIPOFF MERCHANT. I've BEEN ROCKING FOR FORTY YEARS AND THIS GUY THINKS HIS SHIT DON;T STINK, HE PLAYS LIKE HE'S BEEN DOING IT FOR SIX MONTHS. NO CONFIDENCE AND NO REAL KNOWLEDGE. LEAVE HIM ALONE.

[demsw...@gmail.com]

I can't believe how far back these posts go. I tried this scam artists program, then got smart and got a real teacher. Cancelled my membership, which they confirmed, yet they still took my money. Finally had to cancel the card to stop them. I will write a negative rewview every place I can. Scumbag

[scs...@aol.com]

I ordered a dvd which was delivered. Later that month, my credit card was billed another $20 for no service or product!!! This prick should be in jail for fraud!!! NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THESE SCAMS ARTISTS!!!!!!

[jef...@gmail.com]

I purchased the $1 Chord Mastery DVD. Not only did they never ship it, they billed my account twice for $1 and then $19.95. I'm calling the bank to have this charge reversed.

This POS is obviously a fraud.

[Incubus]

On 2018-06-22, jef...@gmail.com <jef...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I purchased the $1 Chord Mastery DVD. Not only did they never ship it, they billed my account twice for $1 and then $19.95. I'm calling the bank to have this charge reversed.
>
> This POS is obviously a fraud.

Are you sure the DVD didn't pertain to silent chords?

[jef...@gmail.com]

Yes, I only ordered the Chord Mastery 8.0. After reading other posts here I now realize that this is something being done to a number of people so I am going to report to the local police and the justice department.

[Incubus]

I have written a comprehensive book on chord mastery, which I reproduce below
for your edification:

Practice.

[rpmu...@gmail.com]

I got scammed too by signing up for the $1 offer and got zero response followed by $19.95 charge on credit card. Card co have now blocked further charges. Of course email and phone calls yield nothing.

I hope someone can hack into this asshole’s system and kill it with a suitable piece of software. Anyone know any helpful Russians?

[t.n.o...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, 5 August 2008 11:29:32 UTC+10, W Cook wrote:
> After I paid for the subscription, I couldn’t access the account using
> the ID and password they gave me. I repeatedly asked them to cancel
> my account, and three months later they are still billing me. I’m
> going to take whatever legal action I can against them. WHAT A BUNCH
> OF ROTTEN SCUMBAGS!

I know what you mean he got my money with this lie. Try the course for a full 365 days if after that then return it for a full refund "hell I will even pay for the return postage you can't get fairer than that. Well, guess what here's the trick you have to apply before 365days are up, to apply for the return kit before the 365 is up and he must receive back within the 365 days allowed. Well what that means is you can't get a full 365days trail, ok so I sent an email saying that I gave it my best shot but felt it just wasn't doing it for me I did this at the end of the eleventh month and he disqualified me for not doing everything within the 365 days allotted time because he starts the time as day one on the day you pay for it and it took six weeks to get here so there for I was well and truly out of time by two weeks He says I did not comply so no refund I pointed out all the trickery and that no where could I find any of the bs crap that he spoke of so people be "WARNED" do not buy anything from his organization.

[ht3s...@gmail.com]

On Monday, August 4, 2008 at 9:29:32 PM UTC-4, W Cook wrote:
> After I paid for the subscription, I couldn’t access the account using
> the ID and password they gave me. I repeatedly asked them to cancel
> my account, and three months later they are still billing me. I’m
> going to take whatever legal action I can against them. WHAT A BUNCH
> OF ROTTEN SCUMBAGS!

I tried to cancel way back in Feb 2018 and as of today Oct 2018 thay are still taking from my account a total of close to 400 dollars!!! thay say thay are not take my money but my back said they are!!! DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS WEB SITE THAY WILL STEEL YOU BLIND!!!!

[stratrat]

close the account?

[Nil]

On 08 Oct 2018, stratrat <nomail@_INVALID_.gov> wrote in alt.guitar:

> close the account?

I get the distinct impression that this long series of "I HATE CLAUDE
JOHNSON" posts are all from the same person. They are all one-offs from
senders who have no history before or after their single post, who all
write in similar language, in similar style, with similar use is
CAPITAL LETTERS and EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!

I don't know or care who this "Claude Johnson" character is, and maybe
he is a bad guy, but this reeks of a smear campaign.

Anybody who sits back and lets someone make multiple unauthorized
charges to their credit card deserves what they (don't) get.

[%]

max out the card first

[jef...@gmail.com]

I ordered the chord master for $1. Never received it and then they billed me a month later for $19.95. My credit card company was able to block them so I never received another charge. The guy is definitely unscrupulous and if you think we are all the same person then you are an idiot.

[Nil]

On 08 Oct 2018, jef...@gmail.com wrote in alt.guitar:

> I ordered the chord master for $1. Never received it and then
> they billed me a month later for $19.95. My credit card company
> was able to block them so I never received another charge. The
> guy is definitely unscrupulous and if you think we are all the
> same person then you are an idiot.

Oh, yeah? Then how is it that you stumbled on this Usenet newsgroup,
having never participated before here or anywhere, just to post your
little screed? How is it that all you little screeders sound the same,
and all pop out of the woodwork just to drop one turd, and then are
never seen or heard from again?

I call "shenanigans"! I think you're all the same disgruntled customer
grinding the same axe.

[Incubus]

On 2018-10-08, jef...@gmail.com <jef...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I ordered the chord master for $1. Never received it and then they billed me
> a month later for $19.95. My credit card company was able to block them so I
> never received another charge. The guy is definitely unscrupulous and if you
> think we are all the same person then you are an idiot.

I ordered 'Blues Buster' for around £2 taking into account the exchange rate.
Although I did receive it, I was charged £25 for the first month and then £30
each month thereafter. When I complained, I started receiving death threats
and was followed by some men in a black Mercedes. When I complained to the
Police, dead animals started appearing on my doorstep. Now I am afraid to
leave the house but, looking on the bright side, I have mastered the Blues.

[Nil]

On 09 Oct 2018, Incubus <incubus...@gmail.com> wrote in
alt.guitar:

> I ordered 'Blues Buster' for around £2 taking into account the
> exchange rate. Although I did receive it, I was charged £25 for
> the first month and then £30 each month thereafter. When I
> complained, I started receiving death threats and was followed by
> some men in a black Mercedes. When I complained to the Police,
> dead animals started appearing on my doorstep. Now I am afraid to
> leave the house but, looking on the bright side, I have mastered
> the Blues.

...AND you've earned the right to sing them. Can't put a value on that!

[syed...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at 6:59:32 AM UTC+5:30, W Cook wrote:
> After I paid for the subscription, I couldn’t access the account using
> the ID and password they gave me. I repeatedly asked them to cancel
> my account, and three months later they are still billing me. I’m
> going to take whatever legal action I can against them. WHAT A BUNCH
> OF ROTTEN SCUMBAGS!

this is very bad situation they should provide you service

[%]

at least stop paying them and document when you cancel

[ja...@averettcompany.com]

My advice do not buy anything from Claude or Guitar Control his brand. Someone needs to report him to the state his business is located in. What about the FBI ? His petty crimes are not only in the US but also foreign countries.

[%]

On 2019-12-22 11:41 a.m., ja...@averettcompany.com wrote:
> My advice do not buy anything from Claude or Guitar Control his brand. Someone needs to report him to the state his business is located in. What about the FBI ? His petty crimes are not only in the US but also foreign countries.
>

just because you say so with no evidence

[ceca...@gmail.com]

On Monday, August 4, 2008 at 6:29:32 PM UTC-7, W Cook wrote:
> After I paid for the subscription, I couldn’t access the account using
> the ID and password they gave me. I repeatedly asked them to cancel
> my account, and three months later they are still billing me. I’m
> going to take whatever legal action I can against them. WHAT A BUNCH
> OF ROTTEN SCUMBAGS!

I bought it, signed in with my email account and learned to play. First learn how to log in or maybe you should just pick a different instrument.
I learned the songs and then I learned the ones I wanted to learn and I went through all the lessons. Even the last most difficult one.

[Nick Vaughn]

Amazing to know this skidmark is still out there! It was years ago, I believe when he first started his scam. After contacting him daily for at LEAST a month, I did get a refund. There was no continual payment at that time. "Money back, no questions asked"....True! He just ignored refund requests. His entire class sucked big time.