Free referrals...???

I got this call a few days ago from a company  wanting to know if I accepted referrals.Of course I said yes and agreed to the fee.I was to call a man in the company back.I did so and got linked into a web seminar.It was all free and no hidden fees for the first 45 minutes.I thought I was doing great(the only agent in my area to get all the referrals from this company).Should have known at that moment something wasn't right?!?! But I decided to stick with the program to see the outcome.After another 30 mins. of my time I was told I only needed to pay thousands of dollars to be that one agent. I was actually disappointed at the cost,because the program did sound interesting,but how can you trust anyone or any company with up front costs to that extent;especially with no guarentee of referrals and being from a small area like myself.