sholum Wrote:

blaah Wrote:

dtcamero Wrote:well if this is his main income source and conservatively he's spending about 20-30万/month living in tokyo, then i could see him burning through all of those subscriptions in a few years time, easy... I imagine that like a ponzi scheme, after a while all the new money was either being spent immediately, or used to pay down the $100/month refunds.
Well it would only take a few years for that to snowball, and like Sholum mentioned, people are less likely to forget about a $2,500 lifetime silverspoon payment than $50 for a sentence pack. So you have more and more refunds requests coming in, and after a while all the new revenue is only paying down the interest, so to speak. This probably explains the ad that Rochel saw for $5,000... Khatz sees this going down the tubes and tries to squeeze out a few more checks from some of his most die-hard, buy-anything people before 夜逃げing.

then his wife leaves him for not being able to support her, he starts getting a little desperate for cash and looks online for someone, anyone that might need his services in web-design and translation, and here we are.

pakapa.com dates from 2009. SilverSpoon was started in 2011.

https://who.godaddy.com/whoisstd.aspx?do...id=GoDaddy

Doesn't mean anything. Most domain names have existed for quite a while, and people buy and sell them to others. Apparently it's pretty good money if you can get some good names.

Picachuxxx's site on pakapa.com only dates from 2014.

blaah Wrote:

sholum Wrote:

blaah Wrote:pakapa.com dates from 2009. SilverSpoon was started in 2011.

https://who.godaddy.com/whoisstd.aspx?do...id=GoDaddy

Doesn't mean anything. Most domain names have existed for quite a while, and people buy and sell them to others. Apparently it's pretty good money if you can get some good names.

Picachuxxx's site on pakapa.com only dates from 2014.

That's my point, it was probably under different ownership when it first appeared in 2009.

ryuudou Wrote:That link is from the beginning of January 2014, and again nobody said he didn't/isn't honoring guarantees. If he was "running from paying people back" he still wouldn't still be paying for his website which was recently renewed in contract well into 2016.

You're just arguing with how people are phrasing it. Everyone understands that he's paying people back, but that he's doing it in $100 increments each month. Some people question whether that's really properly honoring the guarantee, since common practice is that you get refunds in one lump sum (remember that, legally, if an aspect of a contract is not explicitly stated, courts side with standard business practice--but it's a bit complicated here since most people are international customers).

When people say he is 'running from paying people back,' they mean that he's paying back in small installments with poor communication; they don't mean that he's not paying back people at all.

Its simple.

He is not giving customers refunds like promised.

Its a shame, though, because making false claims and offering guarantees that he couldnt honor was totally unnecessary.

Anyone who expects money back guarantees to be honored in the way they want them is setting themselves up for disappointment.

That person paid over time; they should expect returns over time. They bought their car for what usually comes out to twice the price or more, and their house for what usually comes out to 5-10 times the price. Because they paid over time.

Moreover, any company has the legal (and ethical) right to go out of business, and "money back guarantees" will of course no longer be honored. And business models change that change whether 'money back gurantees' can be honored.


If you cannot afford to pay money for a product, then you should not do so.

If two parties make an agreement they should both keep their side of the agreement.

'Khatz' didnt do that.

You don't know if he didn't do it. It said "100+". It's very possible the other payments were at lot larger.

Tzadeck Wrote:

ryuudou Wrote:That link is from the beginning of January 2014, and again nobody said he didn't/isn't honoring guarantees. If he was "running from paying people back" he still wouldn't still be paying for his website which was recently renewed in contract well into 2016.

When people say he is 'running from paying people back,' they mean that he's paying back in small installments with poor communication; they don't mean that he's not paying back people at all.

No. Some people were saying that's why he disappeared which just doesn't hold up.

It says he is being payed monthly.

Therefore it is impossible for the full refund to be received when it was due.

You cant make payment on your own terms unless they was agreed to beforehand.

blaah Wrote:If two parties make an agreement they should both keep their side of the agreement.

'Khatz' didnt do that.

How so?

Am I the only person that every time I see this thread pop up it makes me think of Satoshi Nakamoto?

kameden Wrote:How so?

Generally, if a contract is not specific about how a service is performed it's supposed to be according to standard business practice. That's how lawyers argue these kind of cases if a lawsuit ever happens. And, I think it's fairly obvious to everyone that refunds are usually paid in lump sum.

(And, as I also said before, money received in the future is considered to be worth less than money in the present, so at the very least money paid in installments should be paid with interest)

NickT Wrote:Am I the only person that every time I see this thread pop up it makes me think of Satoshi Nakamoto?

Quasimodo for me... and the answer "up my ass picking daisies" jumps to my mind as well, no matter how much I struggle to resist it. I guess growing up around people who said that a lot when asked where someone is will do that to you.

I really hope that's not the case... He looked pretty young, so it likely wouldn't be a natural death if you're right. Which would probably mean an accident, disease, or suicide... I really hope he's ok.

Picking daisies. Pushing up daisies. Very different things, I would assume.

Myrddhin Wrote:Picking daisies. Pushing up daisies. Very different things, I would assume.

Yeah, not related in any way as far as I know. It's an Irish saying, I don't think I've ever heard it anywhere else (the picking daisies one I mean).

Digging for gold is probably an American regional expression that English speakers don't know.

(Picking your nose)

Also a good one, "Pick a Winner!" as something to say to someone really digging around in their nose-holes.

Tzadeck Wrote:

ryuudou Wrote:That link is from the beginning of January 2014, and again nobody said he didn't/isn't honoring guarantees. If he was "running from paying people back" he still wouldn't still be paying for his website which was recently renewed in contract well into 2016.

You're just arguing with how people are phrasing it. Everyone understands that he's paying people back, but that he's doing it in $100 increments each month. Some people question whether that's really properly honoring the guarantee, since common practice is that you get refunds in one lump sum (remember that, legally, if an aspect of a contract is not explicitly stated, courts side with standard business practice--but it's a bit complicated here since most people are international customers).

When people say he is 'running from paying people back,' they mean that he's paying back in small installments with poor communication; they don't mean that he's not paying back people at all.

Well AJATT may be paying some people back, but I haven't received any monthly refund since October 2014. My total refund currently stands at 42.5%. I haven't emailed in a long time, but the last three of four I sent did not get a reply.

I hope Khatz is ok too. My instinct says he's a good guy. Silverspoon didn't work for me, but I don't blame it, especially considering the state of my academic achievements in general. I think he probably just got overwhelmed with running the business, then had some personal troubles, and just ran for the hills. I imagine an inbox full of murderously angry internet people every day, on top of an imploding marriage would make you want to flee the scene.

As people have said, the problem is that the refund was prominently offered at the point of sale. This was definitely a mistake, even from the buyer's side. Presuming that the money isn't really on the line can undermine your motivation on the bad days, especially with something that runs as long as this process does. If it's a few months you can power through, but more than a year allows for too many bad days to give up and ask for a refund. I'm not saying you can learn to fluency is a few months, just that the refund option doesn't work for this kind of thing, or at this price point.

Anyway, I'm no longer expecting to see the rest of my money, but, then again, I wouldn't be surprised if he reappeared and tried to make good on his promises one day.

thanks for the info.
if he's not honoring your refund then I highly doubt he's still honoring other customers refunds absent a court order.
so that means in my book that Khatz is officially 夜逃げ.
it's a real shame too because that puts a serious dark cloud over his otherwise noteworthy achievements.
although one could see a shady side to, well just about every aspect of his business manner about as soon as he went for-profit.

Long time lurker, just popping in to say I was also a Neutrino (Mandarin) user, and only got one $100 refund payment in October 2014 before everything went dark. I've sent an email about every month to a few of the @ajatt.com addresses, (more-or-less) politely asking what was up, but haven't received any communication in over a year.

AJATT did a lot of good for me back in the day, so this whole ordeal kind of bummed me out.

edit: clarity

dtcamero Wrote:thanks for the info.
if he's not honoring your refund then I highly doubt he's still honoring other customers refunds absent a court order.
so that means in my book that Khatz is officially 夜逃げ.
it's a real shame too because that puts a serious dark cloud over his otherwise noteworthy achievements.
although one could see a shady side to, well just about every aspect of his business manner about as soon as he went for-profit.

I just searched my Japanese dictionary for 夜逃げ and here is the only example sentence:

"借金が返せずに夜逃げした.
He did a midnight disappearing act because he couldn’t pay his debts."

So is Khatzumoto potentially in some kind of legal or financial trouble?

I wonder if he simply ran out of money to settle all the refunds and is paying them monthly on a rotating basis. I doubt software engineers make a lot more than those in the West. I really don't want to think of him as 夜逃げ, especially with all he did for AJATT.

So he hasn't been giving refunds since last October? I really hope he didn't decide to disappear with the money, but if he did, why would he leave the site up? Surely the hosting & domain cost some money, and if he was super desperate, then wouldn't he take it down? Hmm... This keeps getting odder.

dtcamero Wrote:so that means in my book that Khatz is officially 夜逃げ

yo that reading is racist man

To all the people asking for refunds: Don't you feel a little bit guilty about doing it? I mean you did use his service and everything.

Why should they feel guilty when the service didn't deliver what was promised?

kameden Wrote:To all the people asking for refunds: Don't you feel a little bit guilty about doing it? I mean you did use his service and everything.

ya what they purchased wasn't just access to an rss, it was guaranteed fluency after a thousand days. as a business model that is pretty astronomically stupid unless it was a scam from the start, which I don't want to believe. I really want to think he thought this would work. anyway if you didn't become 'fluent' (whatever that means) you were entitled to all your money back after that 1,000 days... if i recall correctly to pay for it all at once cost $1,500 or so in the beginning but kept going up and ended at several thousands.

i'll add that since he is someone who did self-study to an accomplished level, his parlayance of the word 'fluency' is so slimy that it gives me doubts about his genuineness but whatever.

here's the guarantee off his website:

khatzumoto Wrote:The Fo’ Shizzle Fluency Guarantee

Neutrino guarantees you fluency. Guaranteed fluency: if you’re not fluent in Japanese at the end of 995 days of faithfully executing the simple, easy, quick, straightforward atoms spoonfed to you by Neutrino, you can have a full refund. No questions asked. In fact, if you just decide partway through that you just don’t like it, you can have your money back. That’s how sure I am this works.
<...>
Succeed or get your money back. Fluency or your money back. The days of messing around are over. The people who take your money to help you learn should take responsibility for the results. I mean, I’m almost perfect. But even I’m not all the way there. Things happen. If and when they do, you don’t have to pay for that imperfection.

However. While a freakin’ cool person, I am also a practicing jerk, so there is one condition: the hypothetical refund will only be processed after Day 995 of the process, regardless of the cancellation/request date. There are three major reasons for this:
1) To give me time to skip the country with your money and head to my secret villa in Panama with my concubine, Esmeralda. What, I never told you about her? Two words: h ot.
<...>

bokusenou Wrote:So he hasn't been giving refunds since last October? I really hope he didn't decide to disappear with the money, but if he did, why would he leave the site up? Surely the hosting & domain cost some money, and if he was super desperate, then wouldn't he take it down? Hmm... This keeps getting odder.

I used a garbage email address to get an ajatt sentence pack for free a few years ago, and until september of this year I had been getting almost daily emails from an ajatt account with his ideosyncratic self-helpy language advice. here's a copy of the last one:

khatzumoto Wrote:Dearest _____,

Knowing a language is an ongoing process, not a discrete event. A living habit, not an acquired skill. A magazine subscription, not a book. You're never "done"; you're simply either progressing or regressing.

Take care,

Khatzumoto

my guess would be that he is still hoping to catch a few fish that haven't yet caught on to his dissappearing act.