Ms. Cleo.....

[Youngpagan87]

Just curious

[Theres]

seriously?!

[Flar's Freyja]

:rolleyes:

Puh-lease!

[Phoenix]

Of course she is.... along with the hundred or so other psychics she has working for her hotline, I mean it's not like they're doing it for money or anything.... I'm sure the 5.99$ a min they charge is going to charity. HA!

:thumbsup: <-- See he agrees with me!

[Lavender]

It's nice to hear they're doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. :p

[Silver Venus]

I dont know that much of her cos Im in the UK and thank goddess shes not over here ;) But I have heard pretty bad thoings things so I voted NO!

[Laiste]

UHHHH! No!!:rolleyes: I can't stand scams like these that pray on people with problems!:(

[Myst]

Sure. Why not? None of us know her nor have asked her for a reading so how do we know? Everyone has to make a living you know. I have no doubt that she is real. Unless you believe no one can be psychic why assume she isn't?

I do wonder if everyone who works on her hotline is tho being as I know someone who worked for one.

[flar7]

you forgot to vote! LOL;)

[Flaire-FireStar]

;) Ms. Cleo is just an actor hired for her accent.... :dis: (I read that somewheres.... )

[manstranger]

Yeah, i heard that. I love her accent tho.

And that all you ever get to talk to is her "assistent". So there might not even be an actual Miss Cleo.

[Imagi]

My husband and I have great fun mimicking her everytime one of her commercials comes on ROFL! :T

*Dons her turban and mumu dress*
CALL Me Noowww! I'm a gonna tellya ALL about yur future!

Didn't she get sued for charging people while they were on hold? LOL

[Flaire-FireStar]

I think it was the company got sued for plagerizing somone's book. :huh:

[WolfWoman]

The Company that Miss Cleo works for got sued because making call backs to people who call is illegal - they were keeping the phone numbers of people who were calling the service and then calling them back and charging them for it. Also apparently if you call the number and they say the first few minutes are free (like most of them do), they don't tell you when the free minutes are up and when the charge starts and they spend those first few minutes asking questions about you. That's the company's fault, and unfortunately, if she's actually gifted, IMO it takes away from her credibility to be involved in this kind of scam.

[Garnet]

And you have to pay while you're on hold waiting for your free minutes. The state attorney general's office here is investigating complaints about Miss Cleo. According to a show on a local radio station, the accent's fake, too.
I call one of my cats "Miss Cleo" - she finds the 'psychic' an insult. She's thinking of suing.

[WolfWoman]

Wow - didn't know you had to PAY on hold to get FREE minutes too. What a load of .....

It's too bad, kinda gives the good psychics a bad name and it unfortunately takes advantage of people who don't know better.

If I was your cat, I'd sue too!!! Actually, myself and 2 of my friends call a mutual 'acquaintance' Miss Cleo when she 'puts on airs' so to speak. Not very nice, I know, but it is amusing...

[Angelwulfe]

it seems like one big scam to me:rolleyes: she gets on my freakin nerves;)

[WolfWoman]

Call me noowwww for ya free readin'!

[maidenmoon]

Ms Cleo if that is her real name is as phoney as her accent. That has got to be the WORST jamacian accent I have ever heard. My Aunt got ripped off by her. They had her on the line forever stalling and other little tricks to run up the time and never told her anything. She now owes over $200. People like ms Cleo that pray upon people with problems make me sick!

[Myst]

Yeah Ms Cleo is really the one with the problem in that case...

[cydira]

She's just a joke.

I'd like to think that no self respecting psychic or others who have gifts like that would allow themselves to be involved with a scam like that or, Goddess forbid, choose to be involved in a scam like that.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm still trying to make sense if it's ethical to consider charging some one for doing a reading. <shrugs> But that is just li'l ol' me too. :)

G'night... I'm off to bed.

It's an amusing thread, and the accent *and* the turban have to be fake! :D :T

[JuNiPeR]

I was talking to a buddy of mine today, and I guess one of his friends called Miss.Cleo. The reading was pretty accuate. But who knows, I still think its a load of.......

I've always wanted to call myself but I wouldn't want to be scammed for a $100 bill!

[Myst]

Sorry I don't have a lot of respect for the "poor stupid" people who get scammed. My fiance's ex wracked up several bills into thousands of dollars each calling psychic lines such as Ms Cleo's. :)

Also, being as I know anyone can learn to use tarot cards, runes, etc. I don't see why Cleo couldn't, or why people don't just learn themselves rather then paying hundreds or thousands for it. *shrugs*

[CoolJ]

geeez...

well i was watching on some Talk show or something of that nature where Miss Cleo showed up and used the tarot cards to tell some1's fortune.... i kinda forgot what happened... she might be real, and if she is, she is a scumbag... if she isn't, she's a lying scumbag :D ... does she actually do it?! no! she has her little assisstants... hmm, let me guess, possibly students wanting an easy way to pay for college ? ;) ... that is so... so,... DUMB!... my mom bought a new deck of tarot cards one day, and used them to tell the guy some things... and she was EXTREMELY ACCURATE of course...and of course didn't charge anything ... all those self proclaimed psychics that charge ppl money are a bunch of lying scumbags... for lack of better words on the forum... ;)

[cydira]

I think this link could describe it all really well. :D

http://www.ashfieldonline.com/d/19990616.html

[manstranger]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cleo0214.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dsfla

Found that link at Witch's Voice. Looks like Miss Harris won't be in business under the name of Miss Cleo and as a shaman, for awhile if not forever.

[GDA]

For those interested here's a link to a short news article about the legal touble our precious Miss Cleo is in. It's about time.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/eo/20020219/en_tv_eo/miss_cleo_s_future_clouded_by_feds

[Flar's Freyja]

Psychic Network Loses Future, Fortune
Companies Behind Miss Cleo Give Up $500 Million in
Charges in FTC Settlement

By Caroline E. Mayer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 15, 2002; Page E03

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57141-2002Nov14.html

Miss Cleo's crystal ball is going dark.

The Federal Trade Commission yesterday said the
Psychic Readers Network, which features the heavily
advertised clairvoyant, is shutting down, after the
agency and several state law enforcement officials
accused the operation of misleading consumers through
deceptive ads, billing and collection practices.

The FTC said the nation's largest psychic hotline and
its subsidiary, Access Resource Services Inc., have
agreed to pay a $5 million fine and forgive an
estimated $500 million in outstanding consumer charges
-- about half their billings over the past three
years.

The total financial redress is larger than the $215
million settlement the agency reached two months ago
with Citigroup Inc. to resolve charges that one of its
subsidiaries had engaged in widespread deceptive and
abusive lending practices. But while Citigroup had to
pay refunds to affected consumers, the settlement with
the psychic network only requires it to forgive
uncollected bills. No consumer who has already paid a
bill will receive a refund.

The settlement resolves a February lawsuit in which
the FTC alleged the network was "permeated with fraud"
-- charging for services that were advertised as free,
billing customers for services never purchased,
threatening to report to credit bureaus people who
challenged their bills and harassing consumers by
repeatedly calling their homes.

"I'm no psychic, but I can foresee this: If you make
deceptive claims, there will be an FTC action in your
future," J. Howard Beales, the director of the FTC's
consumer protection division, told reporters
yesterday.

Beales said the FTC did not name Miss Cleo in its suit
because the agency wanted "to figure out who is most
responsible and proceed to prevent those practices"
the agency believes are deceptive.

The companies' attorney, Sean Moynihan, said they
settled even though "there was no finding of
wrongdoing. There was only a difference in
interpretation of the law. It was an economic decision
to resolve the case."

Moynihan said ARS was moving to close its operations
before the legal actions because its long-distance
telephone provider, AT&T, had announced it would no
longer provide billing services for companies that use
900-toll numbers to provide a pay-phone service.

Nine states made allegations similar to those filed by
the FTC. Eight have already reached settlements with
the network, Moynihan said. Florida's suit -- which
also alleged there was no substantiation for Miss
Cleo's description as a "nationally acclaimed psychic"
-- is still pending.


© 2002 The Washington Post Company