Repeated elevated SG readings

I have now brewed 2 batches of True Brew, a Bock, then an Amber kit. In both cases, I am faced with a high SG reading. These are my first attempts.

Bock
I took the advice given here and swirled, moved to higher temp and waited. No change.
After a few days I took the advice of the local shop and added another yeast pack and yeast food, pitched it in and waited another week. NO RESULTS! Same SG. (1.024 - kit says 1.014-12) No bubbling, no krausen.
I got a little disappointed. I am bottling this today, after it sat in secondary for 7 days, upon the advice of the shop.

Amber
I remembered to get an initial SG this time. 1.032 while kit says it should be 1.043. This concerns me.
1 week in (and I know I could give it more time in primary, but I'm not going to) I again have a high SG. (1.018 vs 1.01-12) The fermentation seemed very active, but obviously wasn't sufficient.


My 3 concerns are
1) The alcohol content will be significantly low, and the sweetness quite high. Not what I want or intended.
2) Potential for bottle bombs
3) Now I have a pattern of inability to reduce SG. I want to immediately get 2 more batches brewing, but I need to find out what is going wrong, so I don't run quickly but in the wrong direction.

I appreciate the suggestions in advance.

Just shooting in the dark here, but are you making a starter for your yeast? And, what kind of yeast are you using? Liquid? Smack pack? Dry?

I do not know how to describe yeast. I guess it is dry. This came with the True Brew kit.

I am following the package instructions. Adding yeast pack to cooled water that I boiled. After 10 minutes, added it to wort.

I know why I got no fermentation on the 2nd attempt on the Bock. I added yeast to 110 F water. I was told they die at 98F. DOH!

U talking Starting Gravity or Ending Gravity?

Yes.

I described both.

Both ended high by .009 and .006.

As an additional bit of info...after bottling these two first attempts, I immediately brewed 2 more. The obsession is in full swing.

I changed one thing and got improved initial SG. This seems unlikely, but here it is.

I think the SG is low because the sugars are less than advertised. So when emptying the malt syrup into the brewpot I tossed the whole can into the pot while it boiled. This way, the cans were totally empty and clean, all syrup getting into brew. Before, a small amount remained in cans. Can this possibly result in a low initial SG? The two readings were both right on vs the advertised initial SGs.