Storesonline Review
Important Note: This is an independent website and is not in anyway related or affiliated with Storesonline or any of its associated companies. We are neither supported nor sponsored by Storesonline and we have absolutely no dealings with the them. Click here to go to the official storesonline website.
Dear visitor to this Storesonline Reviews website,
I encountered Storesonline (also known as iMergent) a couple of years ago when I saw an advertisement in my local newspaper. After attending their event, I felt I had to write down and let others know about them.
On this site, you will also be able to read not only my personal account of the Storesonline seminar and workshop, but also comments by hundreds of other people about their own experiences with Storesonline.
If you are about to attend their workshop or seminar, make sure you read everything here before you attend the session.
If you are considering purchasing the Storesonlinepro website, I strongly encourage you to read everything on this site including the comments left by hundreds of people, some of whom are Storesonline customers. Hopefully, these will help you make an informed decision on whether the Storesonlinepro website packages are suitable for you.
Look for “Recent Posts” title on the right, and start reading these posts in the following order:
- Internet Marketing Workshop
- Internet Marketing Workshop - Part 2
- Storesonline Review - Part 1
- Storesonline Review - Part 2
If you are already a storesonline customer and would like a refund, please visit our storesonline refund resource page.
If you find our Storesonline reviews useful, do consider linking here or “digg” this website to warn more people know about Storesonline.
Thank you.
on July 8th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Thanks for the warnings. I attended the first meeting last year and missed the second because of becoming ill. I really had my doubts. Thanks for saving me time on attending again.
on July 10th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Hi Jon, you are welcome.
on February 21st, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Stay away from them. I attended a meeting in June of 2007. Purchased a package and am having mega problems getting the website ready to launch. No help from them. Wish I had read this before I attended. Would like to find other people who attended the meeting in Indianapolis last June. Thanks, keep posting.
on February 24th, 2008 at 10:50 am
I have tried to find this “Professional Marketing International” aka PMI firm and cannot find them on the web. Does anyone know if a website for them actually exists?
on February 27th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
In my personal “opinion” I would “allege” Storesonline, Orem, Utah, knows how to sucker you in and string you along so they can SCAM TO MAKE MONEY! Especially Canadian’s like me. Legal or illegal, I don’t know. They leave out just enough information, string you along, until you have no options left but to PAY UP, SHUT UP or walk away, to their financial benefit! I have a site ready to publish but can’t because storesonline, call center type, online chat reps and supervisors are not capable of giving me the help needed (formula needed) to calculate PST tax as required. I was given the option of walking away, paying Progammer $50 an hour to give me the formula, or removing product from my website. I have spent over 1 year making sure I followed ALL their instructions, ie making myself knowledgeable, I have marketed my product, I have written CONTRACTS with a Distributor in place, I have made a relationship/partnership with the Manufacturer, and have set up a Merchant account with Pay Pal (Canadian Account), which storesonline also failed to mentions would not work the same with their “programming” and defaults. I am basically READY to publish my site and today, Feb 27, 2008, I have to consider paying $50 per hour (how many hours?) for the tax formula, or taking needed products off my site, or walking away and loosing BIG TIME! I have lost thousands of dollars of possible revenue waiting for storesonline assistance, in this area and others, due to lack of qualilfied assistance. I have to pay or walk away because removing product is not an option. I am VERY ANGRY! I believe Storesonline has a great business going, scamming people, likely legally!My personal opinion is this: CANADIAN’S, DO NOT DEAL WITH STORESONLINE, OREM, UTAH, DO NOT BUY A LICENSE, or else you can EXPECT HEADACHES, FRUSTRATION BEYOND BELIEF and ADDED COSTS because of CANADIAN issues.
Including, credit card payments, credit card processing (Pay Pal) that will float around and never be processed! Of course Storesonline fails to indicate anywhere that the instructions are geared for USA merchants and NOT Canadian. I am sure Canadian’s, like me, have unfortunately learned a very COSTLY lesson, at the expense of lost future, expected revenues!
on February 28th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I tried to set up web business for my wife because she cannot hold a regular job because of menieres disease,Stores Online ; The Tax Club ; have totally F—-D us out of thousands of dollars!!!!! Do not deal with them.Either I get a total refund, or else I will have to work on getting a friend who is a great hacker to shut them down both financially, and mess with their personal records ;ie birth certs,drivers lics;etc,can you tell I am PISSED????DO NOT DEAL WITH STORES ONLINE,OR THE TAX CLUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on February 28th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
It seems to me that the M.O. here is more time more money repeat>>> If you are within 60 days you can stop payment with your credit card. Im sure that they will try to pursue collections afterwards but who knows if they’ll have time between responding to law suits. Speaking of which I don’t know much about class action suits but I am game. I have been documenting every conversation and attempt for more money since I heard of these guy’s 4 weeks ago. Sure I’m a little embarrassed for being such a sucker but after closing a business tied to the construction industry I was looking for an opportunity. Needless to say I bought in to the dream, ie LIE.
on March 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Hi Everyone, I’m in Roanoke Va just came out of a StoresOnline workshop. Yes, they are good, very good. They show you all the offering and give you all the upfront costs. But I still felt that they did not disclose everything. I felt uncomfortable at their “personal consultation” the person tried to get me to finance when I said I was’nt intereseted in buying at this time. At an interest rate of 18 %. In my session I talked to a lot of people and there were a lot of people of poor or just making it income, elderly men and women who did not anything about the internet and I knew they would fall victum to the sales pitch. It was really sad. I’m glad I did not fall for the $6,000 make your dreams come true pitch. I am still continuing to search for REAL companies who can help me with my internet business. Based on what I’ve read here it certainly will not be Storesonline.
on March 13th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
These people started my site and then cut me off, saying it was taking too long for them to do and completely stopped, leaving the site unfinished. I sent all original material and have nothing to show for my investment. SCAM is not the word, CROOKS…a better and more appropriate description.
Words can’t explain these people… The better question is why and how are they still in business? Well I, for one, will do all in my power to have this situation corrected. I have no intentions to lay down and turn over to these shafters. DON’T GET INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY OR YOU’LL BE SORRY YOU DID. New York.
on March 13th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Hello.
Do not attend Storesonline workshop they are there for one reason to make money for themselves and their croonies like PMI and the Taxclub. They are slick very slick. They leave out all the pertinent information. and them some. There is no way in hell an ordinary person can succeed using their program.Check-out their website see how they use the same old tire success stories all the time. If any Canadians out there has had success with them please make it public.
on March 14th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Storesonline.com is part of Imergent Inc. a “technology” company based in Utah. They are defendants in literally hundreds of lawsuits and have actually been banned from doing business in several states. Google “Imergent” and see what comes up, also google “imergent” with “banned” or “defendent”. Happy reading suckers!
on March 15th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Watch out you potential purchasers. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR VISA NUMBER. When we realised that these guys were scammers we got out quickly (we had 3 days from purchase date so the very fine print said) and we got our money back. We had paid by visa. We thought that was the end of it but no… several months later they start charging us on our visa several times in a month. We can only assume it was because they started ringing us wanting to know how it was going (idiots, we had quit months before) .Watch out guys they will take you for everything you have got.
on March 17th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I just watched your video after reading the complaint that StoreOnline’s seminars target old people ad found that the majority of the images used in SiteBuildIt’s video are clearly over 65. I have been to StoresOnline’s seminar and while they ARE full of salesmen trying to sell you a product, it is no more high pressure than anywhere else. Ever buy a car? StoresOnline offers software to run an online business and marketing support, not a dream. Why complain that they are too expensive.Do your research first. I did. Sure you can have a website for less or even free, but a flat HTML website is about a useful in sales as a business card. Find any company that sells half of what StoresOnline offers in software capabilities alone and the price tag will be $10-20k for one site, now add marketing support to that and you will see that StoresOnline offers all this for ~$1k per site.
No it’s not perfect but it DOES work. If you spend your time complaining, your business will fail. If you spend your time working, it will succeed.
on March 20th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Reality Check, I agree that people do need to research first - but that’s what this site is.
I’m a little lost on where you got your totals from. You can get an awesome, dynamic website with top-notch support for well under $1000 per year. For that matter, I have seen some ‘cheap’ sites that look many times better (and more professional) than StoresOnline ones, and I’m not just referring to sites listed by ‘complainers’. Perhaps before what is now known as the “bubble burst” such prices would be considered a good deal, but 10k for one site is ridiculous for a small business, especially for one that simply depends on dropshipping. StoresOnline isn’t even providing the products!
This isn’t just a case of seagulls complaining about the pickings, something is afoul.
on March 20th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Hi Reality Check,
SiteBuildit offers (more than) what storesonline is offering for only $300/year.
You don’t have to take my word for it as you can check it out for yourself. They offer a 30-day “no questions asked” money back guarantee.
They have videos showing some of their customers who are over 65 to tell us age is no barrier to using their software.
on March 26th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Storesonline Ecommerce Opportunity
Storesonline is a great opportunity to create an online store in 3 easy steps. Top quality designs and functions make storesonline an industry leader in ecommerce stores online
on March 26th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Is anyone interested in class action lawsuit against these scum sucking c–k-sucking ,lowlifes who would kill their own family to make a dollar???? PLEASE RESPOND….
on March 26th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I sent info to my local news media and although they’ll do a story on every teenager that steals a pack of gum they did not even follow up on this. I am all for class action LawSuit but we need John Quiones or Bill O’Reilly or some 20/20 type program to really bring some attention to these crooks. Any ideas?
on March 27th, 2008 at 11:47 am
URGENT - URGENT - URGENT
I need all people from Pennsylvania to contact me immediately.
I spoke with the Consumer Protection (Attorney General’s Office) about getting StoresOnLine banned from PA and was informed if there is a reoccurring problem, they can get them banned.
Any PA residents who have been lied to by StoresOnLine, contact me at 610-495-0176 or 610-213-9011 or
stephanie@ushopeurope.com
We need to file complaints with the Attorney General’s Office. Don’t worry about how long it has been. I filed 11 months after I was scammed.
We need to show a pattern of deceit. This should be pretty easy considering the fact these people do not tell the truth about anything.
on March 30th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I attended a seminar on Thursday March 27th in Fairview Heights, IL. My group was offered a package price of $25 just to get started. For that $25, you could walk out with your binder containing the required info to get your site up and running. I thought the price was great considering we were told that the cost is usually $199. I only hesitated because I don’t currently have a website or anything in mind to sell. So I attended for information purposes only. So those who purchased will all be attending the workshop on April 11th in Collinsville, IL. Funny how the presenter told them to be sure to bring cash, checks or their credit card because there would be some great offers to purchase that day only. I found that suspicious because if I paid $25 to get my site going or improve on an existing website - then is the workshop all about making further purchases or learning how to work better with StoresOnline and my website ….. and of course making money? Also I found it hard to spend $25 up front, figure out soemthing to sell before the workshop and regardless of whether or not I do, I will also be paying $24.95 monthly to StoresOnline just so that they can provide me with service.
The only good thing that came out of this for me is that it did give me an idea for a website if I ever choose to have one and they piqued my curiosity about drop shipping. I want to look into the profitability of this as well as putting a few questions to my accountant regarding how this will affect my taxes the next year.
I’m glad I came across this site!
on March 31st, 2008 at 12:25 pm
WHAT CAN WE ALL DO TO GET OUR MONEY BACK???!!! This company has cost me over $3500.00! When I was ready to pay for all the service, they were there. But now that I am trying to get my money back, no one is willing to help. No one ever returns my phone calls. I live paycheck by paycheck and took a BIG chance on getting a website set up by storesonline. I have not made any money off of this, and I have put in so much time and effort into this. Can anyone think of something we can do to get our money back. How can we do this? If anyone knows of anything we can do, please contact me. I am in Texas.
on April 2nd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I have been trying to get my money back 2 days after my husband bought the websites from them. Everyone tells me that I can cut my losses but does anyone realize how much $8000 is to someone who lives paycheck to paycheck. All I am being told is to sell the websites on ebay. Yeah what good that will do. The only way to get my money back is to go to a workshop and sell them to someone who is unfortunately just as stupid as my husband and let them deal with stores online.
on April 3rd, 2008 at 1:19 am
Hi Kari,
If it was less than 3 days, you should be able to get your refund back. How are you going about it?
on April 5th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I am from Cornwall, ON. Canada, and have receieved an invite to the 1 hour session. I was thinking of going for the free meal and business planner. Just wondering if they serve you supper and give you the free gift, eventhough you don’t buy into their business. My thought is to get those scum bags to buy me supper and I would not be afraid to bring up these posts that I have read on this site. I wish you all good luck at getting your money back and putting these guys behind bars.
on April 9th, 2008 at 11:01 am
i have worked on our sit for 2 years it took a year to find a drop shipper that we could work with and the stores on line program it the took 3months to load the first 24 items following there instruction and getting a program to do it for us since the we have added 950 items and were told that our site looks very good but stores on line can tell us or guide us in a direct way to increase traffic to our site and have suggest to use to go international knowing there shipping calculator dose not work they say they have a proven system but talking with many of there services reps there there is not one that has had a successful site of there own it is oh the ship could not delivery or they do not have the time after working all day if this is such a Proven system and it is supposed to give you financial freedom why are there employees not successful oh yes we have put about5 hours a day in to this for 2 years and only can achieve a .01% sales rate on and average of 300 hits a month that comes out to one sale for every hundred visitors that is a far cry from there sales seminar of a min 100 per day with a 10-20 % conversion which would make any one a very happy business stay far away from them at stores on line
thank you
http://www.rndperformance.com
on April 9th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Hi Dan,
a 1% conversion rate is around the industry average. Some sites manage 2-3%, some 0.5%.
10-20% just isn’t possible.
Your font is a bit small, but your other main problem is getting traffic.
Setting up a store is just the start, getting traffic is the other crucial part. Unfortunately, traffic doesn’t come by itself, you have to go get it.
on April 9th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Wow!! My husband and I attended a meeting to introduce us to the company. We got our free planner and had dinner. We also paid $25.00 for the workshop. We attended the workshop in the morning. I was under the impression we would be served breakfast, we were not, it was cold as hell in the room, and they were trying to give too much info too fast. Anyway, we heard what they had to say, watched a couple sitting beside us sign up, we had lunch, discussed it and decided to ask our son and son-in-law about it and what it should cost to set up a website, and left. Thank God….. One of the men giving the speeches even said that the company was only there to make money off of us suckers. How stupid can people be? We did figure we got four free meals and a planner for our $25.00, so we didn’t completely lose out.
We feel we put one over on them…
on April 9th, 2008 at 11:48 am
again stores on line can never answer all comments and statements made and have tried with there customer support team to get traffic put every time we call there is no consistence and this is your font size can not be alter another complaint that was never address hope stores on lines kept bring up problems that they were never able to address and fix Know they are demanding i accept a buy out with out having time to consult my attorney
on April 11th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Anyone in Ohio wanting to start a class action lawsuit against Storesonline or their evil step-chils PMI, contact me!
on April 11th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I just got back from this bogus seminar. Before I left, I asked the speaker guy a question. I asked him do you have a website. His answer was yes 2 but he couldn’t tell me because he works for the company and he was aloud to give that info to us. one minute later ,( after he thought of 2 ) he told me. He seemed like no one ever asked him that questions before. VERY INTERESTING!!!
on April 24th, 2008 at 9:32 am
How do you start a class action lawsuit without having to pay more thousands of dollars,like stores online already ripped me off ???? with no customer support whatsoever,if you think I,m kidding try going to their MERCHANT SERVICES link,what a F——G joke,it is a good thing I don,t feel like going to jail for life for going postal,plus I dont have the gas money to drive to Utah to kick some A-S
on April 24th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Has anyone from USA or Canada had an experience with their collection department or agency?
on April 25th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
has one in indiana filed a lawsuit yet if so contact us at n9vsj_pbd@yahoo.com we will sign!!!!!
on April 28th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I am a Canadian who has designed a site using storesonline. It has taken me 2 years of marketing, research to become computer savy, finding the product of my choice, a distributor and drop shipping in place. I had a terrible time trying to get help with the formulas needed to calculate tax for Canada because I have taxable and nontaxable items and shipping charges. CANADIANS beware, because in cases like mine, shipping charges are broken down, PRO-RATE and serious formula needed from storesonline that they want to charge $50 an hour to come up with for you. I fought long and hard, drove myself crazy fighting with them but finally got the help I needed, at $0. USA does tax differently. If you are selling taxable and nontaxable items, contact me for more details, I’ll gladly provide. ANOTHER PROBLEM though is payment methods, payment processors! Pay Pal and all the ones listed in storesonline, all deal with USA and processing CANADIAN payments is a real problem. I am currently fighting with them about not being able to provide choices of telephone, fax or email orders with credit card payment (virtual terminal needed) and not available for CANADIANS, using the choices provided by storesonline. That is soon to be fixed, I hope because I’m still working with them on that issue. Contact me and I will explain. I am ready to get my site live, refuse to give up after all I have went through and will keep after them until it does happen for me! Fingers are crossed. I think I am the only Canadian to ever get this far and hopefully, think I am the only Canadian to ever publish a site with storesonline. CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE CANADIAN AND HAVE A STORESONLINE SITE PUBLISHED AND DOING OKAY.
on April 29th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Hi Gail,
I’m posting on behalf of Joseph.
Yes joseph here after I stopped payments by cancelling my debit card I heard little or nothing from them after 2-3 years had gone by I was contacted Palomar saying they had bought my contract from SOL and expected payment. Sent them an e-mail and told them if they were willing to pursue that I would sue SOL and PMI for Fraud and Breech of Contract have heard nothing since also informed them they might want to investigate their clients history.
on April 30th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I am curious as to if a class action lawsuit has to be filed state by state , or; can we as a nation can take them for all the money they have of ours? We are the UNITED STATES with justice for ALL right?Lets take these c–ks–kers down for good!@!!!!!!!!! KRU67@ windstream .net
on May 3rd, 2008 at 2:30 am
Under NO circumstances deal with these RAT BASTTRDS
on May 7th, 2008 at 8:25 am
I bought into this thinking it was all very self explanatory even for people who have no web experience, which I do, per their customer videos at seminar. I have had problems from the beginning with not receiving a video by mail as promised from their “boot camp”, so therefore have made 3 more payments and can’t use the service at all. This is one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made and a very costly one. Don’t get taken by them!
on May 7th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Does any body scammed by sol or the tax club have a lawyer in your family?help put these motherf—-rs behind bars and get our money back.PLEASE, PLEASE… KRU67@windstream.net
on May 7th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I am a web developer who specializes in e-commerce websites and to my horror I recently discovered a friend had been suckered into Stores Online two years ago. She was destitute, on welfare for 8 years, has nothing, and was completely suckered in by these mofo’s preying on her desperation. She most certainly could not afford $300/month, even IF she could get the thing up and running, but she was never able to find drop-shippers like so many have mentioned, and had a difficult time just putting the site together, and she’s quite computer savvy. They put her account in collections within 3 months of not paying and have made her life even more of a hell ever since. It is pitiful to me that these people bait and prey on on people’s desperation and sucker them into signing a contract for over $6000.
on May 7th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Forgot to add that their service from the web developer’s perspective is a complete racket!! You can get an e-commerce site through reputable web hosts like GoDaddy for as little as $25/month or even free through many using Miva Merchant or OS Commerce that is installable in a few easy steps through your hosting company.
on May 7th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I think we should do like Austrilia and make one huge class action lawsuit for the US of A!!!!!!!!
on May 9th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I just attended a SOL (storesonline) 90 minute “free informational” (ie., BS) seminar yesterday (May 8, 2008), which was misleadingly advertised as an “internet marketing seminar”. Of course, when I RSVPed the invitation, the operator refused to provide me with the name of the company, or I’d have investigated them first–and stayed home!
The presenters basically told us that for only $50 we could all walk out the door and start up our very own e-commerce website, which SOL would also host for only $24.95/month!
Might have sounded tempting, except I already have a flat website–that I designed myself for free, and have hosted by “godaddy” for under $5/month–1/5th SOL’s price of $24.95/month. And I’m smart enough to know that a professional e-commerce website costs a whole lot more!
And for all those who signed up and paid their $50, the SOL salespeople also promised a second “free” full day seminar where supposedly all attendees would receive free training on how to design and market their brand new $50 e-commerce website! Yeah right! The real purpose of that 2nd seminar isn’t for training, but rather so they will have an entire day to work on pressuring participants into conning them out of $6,000 or more for their BS programs, not the $50 they misled people into believing was all it would cost!
What I consider especially underhanded and horrific was the way the presenter went on at great length, to convince the participants that $50 was ALL the design and set-up would cost–repeatedly comparing SOL with cable and cell phone companies that, for example, will give away cell phones and waive set-up fees because they actually make their money on the monthly operating charges–and claimed the SOL operated the same exact way! That guy flat-out stated that they were basically giving away the website–because the company really made its profit off that $24.95 monthly fee, and then he placed his hands on his chest to ever so humbly plead his case, practically whimpering as he said, “After all, as long as you’re making money, do you mind if we make a little too?”
And that’s pretty much verbatim! What I want to know is–how does that guy sleep at night? How?
I knew the guy was pulling a scam–I just couldn’t put my finger on it until after I went home and looked it up–or I’d have warned everyone there! As it was, I did warn my fellow participants in the immediate area that there was something very wrong and they didn’t sign up either. I feel so sorry now for all those who did! Especially when they attend that 2nd seminar and get strongarmed with the old “bait and switch” routine!
All of the above contents of this post is my personal opinion, of course!
on May 10th, 2008 at 7:05 am
As all the other post states Storesonline is scam company, who tricked people in attending a seminar with free food. The first seminar is to lured you in and separate the weak from the strong. ( as I was one of the weak).
I fall for all the nice talk on how you could make a lot money selling on the internet, after all it is not as easy as they make it sound.
I attented the first seminar in Jacksonville, Florida back in february, at that first seminar I pay $50, then we were ask to attend another all day free work shop on how to biuld your web site but that was’nt the case it was more of a retail store.I took the finance offer to purchase one storefront, that is the biggest mistake i had ever made. Then we had to attend another workshop again it was a retail shop, and at every work shop there was a different team of people, you never see the same faces.
A few days after the seminar some guy called me from PMI on behalf of SOL, requesting more money for some kind coaching when that was to provided by SOl. Then I got another called from Tax guy who is also asking for money so that he can structure my tax papers in the right way so that I would not be double taxed.
Now there is a outsource company that is doing all the collection of money from who did the finance option the name of that company is UNIVERSAL ACCOUNT SERVICING, LLC they located in ST. Joseph, MO 64502 where that is I dont know.
At that point I wake up out of my dreams. People beaware of StoresOnline. What I would like to know how is all these so called internet company are all located in UTAH.
Another thing that strike me is how come there is no african american on their team.
If there is anyone else besides me in Florida who did attend that fake seminar, we should come together and filed a law suit against StoresOnline. By the way I’ve heard that Florida, N. Carolina, Californa have all taken them to court.
Please lets come together we are entitled to a full refund of all money paid to StoresOnline.
pls email mrhandsomerd@yahoo.com
on May 10th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Hey Martin when you told the collection agency that you would sue SOL & PMI did they report to the credit bureau.
on May 10th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I am trying to find other people who got scammed in Jacksonville, Florida, but so far no one has come forward.
I am just hopig that who got scam in Jacksonville, Florida please contact me at mrhandsomerd@yahoo.com
on May 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Can anyone tell me if “my e biz” is affiliated with SOL. My husband and I just got involved with them and PMI and are in for over $10K. I just got a call from The Tax Club trying to pressure us into using them. After speaking with my own accountant, there is no way I will be using the Tax Club. I with I had done more research here prior to handing out $$ that we don’t have.
on May 15th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Hello, We called our credit card and they said to return the packets to sol, fill out the sent paperwork (from credit card), and send other important papers(timeline , chats, responces,), and they will get our money back. because we are still within our 60 days. There support is a joke,the material does not match their site, and they wouldn’t let me talk to a superior! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!!!!!
on May 15th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
My girlfriend and I just attended the “free” 90 minute seminar last night in Edmonton, Ab. Canada. I hate to say I got temporarily “sucked-in”, but these guys are good! I am glad we only paid the $50.00 sign-up fee. After researching Storesonline.com, I will not be attending the six-hour training session in two weeks, and I will be asking for a refund of my $50.00, but the supper was not bad and we each got a free MP-3 player. When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is!
on May 16th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Attended their informative 1-day seminar for $50 in Ohio in January. I declined the opportunity; they offered to cut price. I wouldn’t buy, but I did try their DIY setup. Impossible! I canceled the monthly $19.95 support fee promptly. They processed it anyway, as I’m sure they do with everybody. Three bogus charges so far. A “Jill” called & promised credit & to prevent reoccurrences. These thieving bastards are still charging my VISA, which I’ll kill if that’s what it takes. I wish any class action plaintiffs the best of luck. The problem is that they’ve already been robbed.
on May 17th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Hello everyone I was trying to get these scum bags to cancel my contract but they refuse to do so. It seems like I have no choice to stop making the monthly payments and a negative score on my credit report. I ask to talk to some one a higher position and I was told Holly that there is no one else higher to talk to, She said that this was the highest I can go. Ask about the president she said i cannot peak to him. So guess I stuck. Ifound another number dont know if it really make sense to call 877-492-6490.
Sean Guy Director of customer support 801-227-0004
sguy@storesonline.com
Somebody suggest file a compliant with the FBI internet Fraud department.
on May 17th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I attended the all day seminar today in Prince George BC Canada and was almost pulled in, but thank god this site saved me. I was at the seminar all day and nearing the end of the day, I had my one on one consultation. At that point I was very excited and really wanted to do this and was going to do their financing option. All I had left to do was give them a cheque for $255.00 and I would receive the $6000.00 package and only had to make payments of $243.00 for the next 3 years. I was about to make some $$$ and “all my dreams come true!!” Except I forgot my checkbook at home. They said they would wait for me to go home, get my checkbook and come back. When I got home I grabbed my checkbook and ran out the door. When I got back to my car I decided to read over the 8 pages of notes I took while the seminar was on…..meanwhile still getting excited about the $$$$ coming my way. Then I thought, there are so many people out there trying to make a buck, I should really look this company up on google before signing up and making payments for the next 3 years. And that is when I found this website. Thanks for saving me alot of time and $$$$, which is exactly what they promised they would give me. I never went back! Good luck to all of you out there that have had problems with them. While we were on breaks I was talking to some people at the seminar and I couldn’t beleive all the people that had already paid there $6000.00. Especially alot of seniors and people who are already working more than one job to make a living. What a scam!!
on May 18th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Thanks to your site, it has prevented my partner and myself attending what we thought might be a scam and now we know it is. Incidentally we are in England in the Midlands area so it looks as though they are spreading their wings. We have enough of these “traders” already. Many thanks to all and good luck with your claims..
on May 19th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Looks like these people are now racketing Australia.
My wife just received an invitation….same jazz as in USA and CANADA,free meals,organizers…
Thanks for the warnings,I will pass it on.
Bernard .19-05-08.
on May 19th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I too, just received an invitation in Brisbane, Australia. Wanting to get off the mailing list, checked out the site to unsubscribe ….. and found this. Thanks so much, it will now go where it belongs…rubbish bin.
on May 19th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
The purpose of this wiki is to allow reporters, law enforcement agencies, investors and customers and prospective customers to learn about the history of iMergent aka StoresOnline, aka Galaxy Malls. This is a company with many, many unhappy customers, and is the subject of legal actions in at least six states.
Testimonials
The StoresOnline Website is full of testimonials that make it appear easy for anyone to make money on the internet. But the fine print says “Testimonial results are not typical and your individual results will vary”. The links below reflect what typical results really are. Testimonials are broken up in the following:
Not Satisfied: 600
Neutral: 89
Satisfied: 95
Leave Your Testimonial
Getting A Refund
If you’re having second thoughts about having just signed up for a very expensive internet storefront, you may be entitled to a refund, and you most certainly are if it’s been less than 3 days since you signed a contract or gave them money. Click on the appropriate link below to get more information.
If you signed up in the last 3 days
It’s been more than 3 days, but you still want your money back
Additionally, there are a variety of actions against the company, some of these have provisions for getting a refund even long after the 3 days.
Current Customers
Based on their annual report, I estimate that StoresOnline has sold about 200,000 website licenses in the past 2 years at their seminars. However, there appears to be only about 20,000 StoresOnline-powered websites now, and about 1/3 of those don’t work.
Legal Issues
StoresOnline does its business by offering high-pressure seminars with well-presented stories about how easy it is to make money on the internet. Their sales people then convince people to spend thousands of dollars on their software package. Many states would describe this activity as a Business Opportunity, which has different disclosure requirements than simple software sales.
North Carolina, Florida, Utah, Illinois, Indiana, California and others have lawsuits against iMergent right now. North Carolina residents can get their money back by requesting it through the AG’s office. The company has been forced to refund money in several places, even after the 3-day “cooling off” period.
State Listings (Stories and Attorney General)
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
on May 20th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Hi Computerman,
Thanks for the update. Very informative.
on May 20th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Thanks for the info Computerman, keep it coming!
on May 20th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Hey Martin when you told PMI that you would sue them did they make a report on your credit report?. If there is anyone in florida who needs help please contact this person she maybe able to help Claudia.Johns@myfloridalegal.com.
We’ve got to come together and shut these mother f……….s down I am really pissed.
on May 20th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Florida Sues Two Website Marketers
‘Business opportunities’ deceptive, suit charges
January 22, 2008
Stores Online
• Florida Sues Stores Online
• Consumer Complaints
—
• More Scam Alerts …
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has filed a lawsuit against two Utah companies for allegedly using deceptive practices to get consumers to buy expensive website-creation products and services.
Imergent, Inc., and StoresOnline, Inc., run seminars in Florida and other states at which they tell consumers they can make a fortune doing business on the internet with the companies’ software and related services.
According to the lawsuit, the companies mislead consumers into thinking their products are easy to use and that they will provide technical support and business partners.
“Many Florida consumers have been victimized by these types of get-rich-quick schemes and this type of behavior will not be permitted to continue,” McCollum said.
Imergent and StoresOnline lure consumers to seminars at local hotels and other venues with offers of “free training,” free meals and free gifts, the complaint alleges. Teams from the companies were in Central Florida late last year and are expected to be in North Florida in the near future.
More than 80 Florida consumers have complained to the Attorney General about the companies, which frequently make sales presentations in Florida. The complaints state that after paying thousands of dollars, consumers found the software and services were impossible to use and they couldn’t get the technical assistance that was promised.
Instead of providing help, Imergent and StoresOnline referred buyers to other companies with which they have contracts and, according to the lawsuit, these companies wanted consumers to pay thousands more. The lawsuit further alleges the companies failed to deliver on helping consumers find business partners whose products could also be sold.
The companies also have lawsuits pending against them by Attorneys General in North Carolina, Illinois and California. Other complaints have led to consumer protection agreements in Indiana, Louisiana, Texas and Utah, as well as Australia.
McCollum’s lawsuit is seeking compensation for buyers and penalties under the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit also calls for changes in the companies’ practices including full disclosure of the limited scope of technical assistance.
on May 22nd, 2008 at 12:25 am
storesonline are back in Australia, even though the ACCC (Australian Competition & Consumer Commission) took out injunctions against them in 2006 and are currently investigating them again. They are still making the same claims for which they were investigated. I have also reported them to our current affairs shows. Perhaps you could do the same in Canada and the U.S? I noted at the seminar yesterday the majority of attendendees were elderly. I suppose the elderly are less likely to be internet savvy and therefore easier to scam. When I got home, I googled storesonline, the first site to come up was the ACCC, documenting their dealings with this company. Followed by all these wonderful forums. At least your complaints are saving some from supporting these scam artists. By the way, we got stung for $50 for our free lunch of sub rolls and cake, and no refreshments at the workshop! At least you guys got a good feed!
on May 22nd, 2008 at 2:26 am
I registered for this seminar out of curiousity as a girlfriend of mine got sucked into the scam. I have an IT background. A friend was good enough to come with me just in case I was not able deflect the sales pitch on my own. I jokingly said to my friend, “Gee, there are a lot of geriatrics here” and immediately I questioned the ethics of it all. I was able to pick up the loopholes from their presentation on its shopping cart. As I had already suspected, even before reading this blog, the $50 outlay is just the beginning of digging deeper into one’s pockets. We were told lunch would be served after people have signed up. We did NOT stay. If the free lunch was subs and cake as per Helen’s blog, I didn’t miss out on much, although I must admit I was hungry and cold when the presentation concluded at 1.30pm. Instead, I bought takeaway on the way back - a lovely Indonesian meal. To Martin and the rest of you who have contributed to this blog - great job, guys. Keep it up!
on May 22nd, 2008 at 11:35 am
I would like to hear from anyone in Massachusetts who has been scamed by storesonline. I purchased 3 sites last year in Springfield, MA. I would like to get a class action suit going against these crooks. I am a senior person who feels he was totally taken advantage of for $6000.00
on May 23rd, 2008 at 5:11 am
They are now operating downunder in Australia.
I went to a luncheon to hear all about how to make money while you sleep. If is sounds too good to be true then it is likely to be a scam,
I did not pay the $50 to join up ON THE DAY , otherwise it is $199, unlike about one hundred others that did, then they fork out more when they go for the workshop. What a scam…..
Hope other may read this and be smart not to join.
on May 23rd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Clara, your story is not suprising
I worked for PMI for nearly a year back in 1998. I have worked for 4 or 5 other similar companies, and have seen it all. There is a slick 2 part sales presentation where the first guy conducts an initial interview, seeing what you want to accomplish with your business. (They are really just trying to find out how much they can sell you, and what you need to hear to be sold)
Next, ‘if you qualify’ which everyone with money available on thier credit cards qualify… they will refer you to their senior director, which they make sound like you are being called by a very successful business person with years of experience, and so on… in fact it is probably a guy in shorts and sandles, working in thier boiler room. This guy will follow a closing script built to make you believe you need help building your business, and they have just what you need.
Invest into this scam, and you will be drug along long enough to let your time to make proper refund requests go by, and then you are stuck with nothing for a ton of cash.
The fact is they will refund your money if you push the right buttons. The first thing you need to do, is contact 2 government agencies. The Utah attorney generals office, and the Utah Consumer affairs division.
Many try the BBB, and these guys could care less. They figure, let the BBB reports go, and you lose a few sales of those smart enough to check it, and even a few of those are still sold after a slick sales guy explains away your complaints, as those who did not really try to make it work.
There is a solution to your problem, and I can help you get what you desrve, which is your money back. I am not selling anything, and am not looking to get you to pay me more money to help you. but I know what to do, and how to do it fast. I know this site does not allow me to send you contact info so try sending email to tj89123 at hotmail dot com and I will help you get the money you lost.
Certainly file a report with the BBB, but remember they do not care about these negative reports. Just know you are simply adding to the credibility of the other complaints, and you make help detur one person from sending them money.
Hang in there, and good luck in your search for a resloution.
on May 23rd, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Dont know if the last post That i made is legit or another scam, but i did sent off an email to see what will happen.
on May 24th, 2008 at 8:59 am
What computerman meant was that the comment he posted on May 23rd, 2008 at 5:10 pm was a message he took from somewhere else.
He has sent an email to the email indicated to see what happens.
on May 25th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I am in Texas and was sent 2 complimentary invitations to this same seminar in early June. I happen to start researching this company and came across this site. I am so glad that I read this because now there is no way I am going to their seminar.
on May 28th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I went to the Seminar in Springfield, IL a couple months ago and we had the worst time getting on to the site to start launching. My CC was getting rejected so they said that they will do it for me if I would e-mail them my cc info. I decided it sounded to fishy, now I am getting charges on my account. They said they can not refund my card, however; I can cancel with them by e-mailing at hosting@myquickrespond.com. I sent to that e-mail address and it came back with a deliver failure. Does anyone happen to know the correct e-mail address?
on May 28th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Folks, if they are still charging your credit card for the hosting fee, send the credit card company the records of your attempts to cancel the arrangements, and institute a chargeback. That will reverse the transaction and charge them a fee for doing it.
But you will have to have your websites off their servers first, otherwise they are charging a legitimate hosting fee. That’s probably best arranged by arranging for a new web hosting service and getting them to transfer your domains.
If the charges are for a loan you have taken out, that’s another matter.
on May 28th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I attended the stores online conference .in sydney .They are targetting innocent people without any computer knowlegde,Beware of them and stay away from these jokers
on June 1st, 2008 at 8:09 pm
In Sydney, Australia, definately go to the “Free Lunch” seminar at FIVE DOCK (Sydney, NSW, Australia).
They served the most tender roast lamb & vegetables; or a fish dish…
Very nice & FREE!
Just don’t buy anything from them.
on June 1st, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Always tell them “I am a professional Pornographer and want to sell Adult Porn on the Internet, and was thinking of selling cocaine on the site as a side business”.
The Terms & Conditions of their $24.95 Per-Month-Hosting offer SPECIFICALLY STATES “We cannot host Adult content or anything illegal on our sites”.
on June 2nd, 2008 at 3:36 pm
This is a conversation i had with customer service Monday 2nd
Started: Mon 02/Jun/2008 03:10 P.M.
Ended: Mon 02/Jun/2008 03:31 P.M.
Thank you for contacting StoresOnline chat support. This is Chris, how are you doing today?
i am doing fine
how about you
hello Robert
I am doing fine
Thank you
Good to have you on chat!
thanks
How may I help you today ?
i am looking to sell adult movies and toys on my site is that ok for me to do.
sure
you can do that
But you are not suppose to add images which is prohibitted
Otherwise there is no problem with the Adult movies marketing
so how will i sell my products with out putting images
you need to add images
but while adding credit card processors they will review your web site
and what will happen then
they will advice to make changes before they attach merchant account to yuor web site
what changes
like image ( if you add Nude images) , other prohibitted quotes etc
yes i have to add nude images to market my products
so you are actually telling me i cannot do that
yes , you are not suppose to add those images
I am a professional Pornographer and want to sell Adult Porn on the Internet
becasue most of the time Merxchant account compny willl not agree to add their processor at that time
then i cannot do business with storesonline and will have to find some else to business with
Robert, you may talk to our superviso about this
can you advise me on what course of action to take
Shall I give contact # please ?
yes.
Please call (801) 434-8582 during business hours from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm Mountain Standard Time, Monday through Friday.
whats da name of the supervisor
it will connect to Phone support group
you will get support person and you may ask for supervisor at that time
they will guide you further
do notr worrry abotu that
ok will call now.
Okay fine
Is there anything else I can help you with?
yeh one other thing can i sell cocaine too.
Nope
why not.
I am sorry to say that - you need to get permission from State goverment for that
we are not the authority to take desciopn on this topic
robert, Is there anything else I can help you with?
-robert dey has left the chat.
on June 2nd, 2008 at 3:44 pm
OMG! You are hilarious. Thanks for making me smile on an otherwise serious Monday! Hey, can I order some coke? Oh yeah, you don’t have an online store for that yet. Darn!
on June 2nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Reality check!!! Being a entrepeneur is about having a “unique business”. How much success are you gonna have anyway if this company gives thousands of identical websites to it’s customers. It’s clearly a scam. Besides, why would I trust another site that claims you can purchase from Ebay, Amazon, ect? Me, the customer, would go to the OFFICAL site and not some suspicious looking web page ranked 1003 on the yahoo or google search bar!!!!
on June 2nd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Hey I’ve got a suggestion, why not we all send american greed an email to check out StoresOnline. I think we send them lots of email it may catch their attention, if any one is sending email to them here is the address americangreed@cnbc.com
on June 3rd, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Hi, I’m not to savvy with the internet and kno zero about setting up a website.
I have a/ product & b/ An information/help system to sell. I have been stuffing around for years.
All I have spoken to quote $thousands to set up a decent website.
One set up by a friend for me, on my testing in a search using all the relivant words finally found my site around page 18; far too far back for potential customers to search. As a result I got no hits even.
I can’t afford $ much.
Went to meeting with wife & enjoyed it plus meal was very nice. Also got free organiser each.
I signed on & paid $50 for two months.
As overseas at time of their WORKSHOP I cannot attend. (I intended to go to later WORKSHOP).
$24.95 per month is not a great amount especially if it works for me. If my products are not wanted, O.K. I can pull out.
BUT some things worry me. How can everyone be put at top of the list or even on the first page?
Has my $50 just got me into the ‘bus terminal’ & to get the ride I will have to fork out more?
Ihave been bouncing this around in my mind :- $25 per month x 40,000 clients equals a pretty tidy amount. Is this their stratigy? OR is it a ‘come-on’ business that wants the max from all? Or What?
on June 4th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Hi Warren,
Paying $24.95/month or whatever other amount will not get your site to the top of the search engines.
It takes a fair bit of work and search engine optimization to do so.
If you have a decent site with a good salesletter that can convert visitors to buyers, the fastest way for you to start is to advertise your site using google adwords. You can budget some money to test it out.
And if that works, ramp things up by starting an affiliate program.
Good luck.
on June 4th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Oh, and if you are selling just one or a few products, you do not really need any shopping cart system.
on June 4th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Dear Warren,
I went to a workshop and the way you get your website to the top of search engine is to desribe you website with as many words possible that describe your website. So say I’m selling dog stuff. When I go to set up my website, when describing it, I would put words like: Doggy beds, doggy blankets, dog treats, dog toys, dog crates, doggy playpens, puppy mats, puppy treats, ect., ect., ect.
This is exactly what they told us in the workshop. My dad has a website and I told him about it and so he tried it and he actually made it to the first page of searching. He is with godaddy.com and only paying $5.95 a month and didn’t have to buy any websites to set his up. All he pays is $5.95.
Unlike my husband and I who ended up paying over $7500 for 6 websites and if we were to ever activate any of the sites we would have to pay $24.95 a month to have the site active. That’s for each site active too. So if I have 3 sites active I’m paying $74.85 a month.
I think I would rather get rid of my sites through storesonline and go through godaddy.com for $5.95 a month. It sure is a hell of alot cheaper, and I know the tricks of the trade now.
on June 6th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Just like to say that I attended a 90min presentation here in England, UK and from the word ‘go’ had a ad feeling about all this starting from the sales pitch and ending with the ‘too-good-to-be-true’ testimonials and the today-only offer that started at £199 and dropped to the affordable £25. It’s as if they sat down a dn figured out the most monmey they coulkd get out of the most attendees! The whole thing screamed ’scam’ to me but they have done a good job and got tme to spend £25 cash which I thought wasn’t a total loss as it secured an entire-day workshop at a hotel with a free hot lunch so I eppected to get something for my money at that workshop.
This was yesterday. Knowing I only got 3 days to cancel and being suspicious, I decided to check on the web for any reviews and stumbled onto this site. My fears were confirmed and I’m glad I’ve not had the chance to spend thousands yet and still can claim the opriginal £25 back even!
Guys, would appreciate any feedback from the UK. There is a workshop for thew whole day on 17th June at the Hilton in Coventry and anyone who went please drop a line here or email me: oleg_star1 at hotmail dot com.
I’m sorry to hear about some others who have gone to spend thousands on this but we live and learn and thanks to trhe people running sites like this one and all the other people posting comments.
Together we will beat the scammers!
on June 6th, 2008 at 12:35 am
Just wanted to say, thanks guys for your comments, I just e-mailed a cancellation request to the company to the e-mail they stated on their cancellation slip and requested a cheque fro £25 to be sent to my address. I’m glad I had enough sense to pay cash as who knows … Someone suggested they are getting a lot more spam after giving their email address to Stores Online as maybe they sell those. Well, credit card numbers are valuable too … (well thats just a speculation, but I wouldn’t put it past them after everything else I’ve read here)
on June 8th, 2008 at 3:53 am
I have an interesting story: My friend and I attended the 90 minute presentation and were invited to attend the full-day seminar as we purchased the $50 webpage.
Oddly enough, we were raring to go to buy SOL package. Sounded like a great deal, with all-inclusive options which would just require “adding water” to make everything go; one-stop-shopping for idiots!
Due to some financial complications we made arrangements to meet with our “salesman” the following day at their next seminar in another part of South Florida.
Interestingly enough, I have had to chase him down for over 1 week now and have had neither response to email, phone, nor ESP. I thought these people would be chomping at the bit to get our business and our “hard earned and not easily parted with” money, but they have acted as though we have leprosy, or some terrible disease. Now that we have $5998 dollars and all these great tips on how to do business, where do we go to get all of this in one bite-size portion, or all-in-one-place?
Can’t believe all the negative stories and how lucky we are to have come out with our scalps intact!!!
on June 8th, 2008 at 4:03 am
By the Way, I wanted to mention that during the reading of all these posts, I did notice many discrepancies in the pricing and what you get for the monies you spend.
At the May 28th seminar in North Miami we were offered UNLIMITED websites for $5998.
SOL would design and develop (ostensibly) your first website.
For $29.95/mo, SOL would host your site. There were other charges as well to take Credit Cards, etc.,
Seems interesting to me that they offer so many different packages and pricing plans nationally and worldwide.
Good luck to all who purchased… in fact, I ended up here tonight thinking perhaps to purchase a SOL package from some disgruntled person… anyone wanting to sell their plan could contact me.
Thanks
on June 8th, 2008 at 4:22 am
Hey there everyone out there.
My partner and I purchased out 6 websites about March 2007 and have slowly been working on this. Yes we also purchased the PMI Marketing and all we can say is WOW. We spent a lot of time researching what we wanted to sell and looking for suppliers, we constantly asked for assistance from Stores on Line and PMI.
We launched our first site http://www.luresforfish.com about February 2008 and then soon after in March 2008 our second site http://www.beltbucklescustomized.com. Currently we have another two sites that will go live in the next month or so. This one in particular http://www.learnonlinehomebusiness.com is really fantastic - we can teach you and are putting together some very basic programs that anyone can do.
By doing what we do we are getting to meet a lot of interesting people from all over the world. Yes, you do have to be careful, no doubt about that.
Please we welcome anyone to stop by and have a chat with us at our email metamorfyou@yahoo.com.
We are an example of how you can make this work.
It’s not just going to be a snap of your fingers and you have a million dollars, please people get real.
Thanks and please, you are welcome to stop by anytime.
Cheers
on June 8th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Julianna and Leonardo,
You have some nice looking sites.
Qn:
How do you intend to get visitors to the site?
It would be difficult to get good SEO rankings for those pages.
on June 8th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Hi Blessed in miami I read your post, and if you are interested in purchasing a SOL plan please contact me I will be very willing to gave it over to you. In your post you did not leave no address of contact number, but here is mine email rdeygy@yahoo.com, mrhandsomerd@yahoo.com, robertdey@clearwire.net phone 904-238-0451, 904-406-8324, 904-237-6815 please contact me as soon as possible.
on June 9th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
we got our invitation to go to the seminar,a friend suggested to do research on this,thanks to this web site we will not be going.We were very surpised what we found.I hope you all recover your loses.
on June 10th, 2008 at 3:24 am
Just attended a Brighton (England) 1st presentation.
Don’t believe the hype!
Even the free dinner was useless (2 stale sandwiches). Total waste of time - will not be signing up for anything!!!
on June 10th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Oh yeah, the so-called free dinner turned out to be a couple of sandwiches and a cheap cake. As for drink - bottled water. Thery really didn’t live up to the picture olf a restaurant dinner pictured on the invitation! … which advertised the event as being worth £100 (or $200) so I expected something nice … yes I put my hands up - I am guilty of glutony … Lol
on June 10th, 2008 at 10:16 am
They really are scamming big time here in the Uk. They have a new workshop at the Hilton hotel in Croydon Walington London, on 23 June 2008. I am passing all these thread to the police fraud dpt. hopefully they will all be carted away. heheheheehehe!
on June 10th, 2008 at 10:20 am
The guy is very slick and what a pity to see very old people being taken advantage of by scums like these ass-wipes..Hope they rot in hell if the cops don’t get to them first and with any chance using the proceeds of crime Act we have in the Uk to take away all their ill gotten wealth….hahahahahahaa1
on June 10th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Computerman -
What package did you purchase? The unlimited site package or the 6 websites? I attended the full day workshop today and didn’t buy into the hype. I kept hearing about more that you would have to pay per month. I think they do have some very useful tools, but was not willing to pay the up front cost. I was thinking the same as Miami, but not at face value. Maybe someone just wants to recoup some costs. I did confirm with them that the sites are 100% transferable. I can be reached at jzysk@comcast.net.
Good Luck to Everyone
on June 11th, 2008 at 4:03 am
I’ve read all the comments on this site and this has opened my eyes and I have woken up to the fact (that I already belived) that this outfit are a disgrace and have a big money making scam! I’m in the UK and went to a hotle marketing meting (5th June) and signed up for £25, the site is all US based and yu cannot change the $ Dollor sign for £’s Sterlig! Its less than useless! The site brings customers to THEM and NOT you! I tried to put a site link up to my website and they took it off!
I’m glad I did not go to the semiar, by the way I had a choice to go to either the morning one with breafast or the afternoon one with ‘dinner’, this was a cold sandwich with a glass of water, what was the breakfast like, I wonder!?
WARNING: KEEP AWAY FROM THEM!”
on June 11th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I am a storesonline merchant and can not understand where you guys are coming from. I purchased the sites. Built them, published them, received support when required and have a successful website. It works with paypal. I am not resident in the USA and have no problems. I suggest that many people are blaming the company for their own short comings.
on June 11th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Sonia,
Please share some of your sites with us then? We would like to see them. Also, why are you searching for a StoresOnline review if you are a happy customer of SOL? Hmmmm, I smell a rat.
on June 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
No not a rat at all! I was sent this by a friend who “happened upon this site” and sent me an email. you can check out http://www.xtremewetsuits.com we are doing very well.
on June 12th, 2008 at 3:41 am
Hey there everyone,
Well thank you to those people who have stopped by and said hi.
We are currently putting together some packages…. so you can get started with your online business.
Our site http://www.learnonlinehomebusiness.com (under construction) will be up an running in the next few days.
In the meantime if you are really wanting to know about signing up for SOL drop us a line at metamorfyou@yahoo.com we will tell you what we have experienced in the past 15 months…
Cheers
Julianna and Leonardo
on June 12th, 2008 at 3:45 am
Hey Martin Lee,
What makes you think we don’t get the traffic to our sites….
You would really have to get into our http://www.learnonlinehomebusiness.com and see how else we get visitors to our site. SEO is not the only way., by far.
cheers
Julianna and Leonardo
on June 13th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I can see that so many people got into s.o.l. & p.m.i. well I to paid over $ 13,000.00!. I going to try to sell my websites (3) and move on and keep my head up. Anybody have any Ideas will like to hear from you, please contact me @ ggraf518@comcast.net, anyone from illinois have same problem with s.o.l. & p.m.i. we can work together the more people the better chance on getting your money back!. thank you, gary
on June 13th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Was going to the seminar in about 2 hours. Thought I read up on this company. Found this website and decided to save the gas. A couple of complaints is on thing but these guys sound like they screwed people worldwide. Thanks for saving me time.
on June 17th, 2008 at 8:04 am
I really do not understand how you all can sit here and honestly say that storesonline does not provide good customer service. Every time i have had a problem they have fixed it for me immediatly. When i go to myquickresponse.com most of the time they will do it for me. No offfense but obvisiously some of you are not willing to take the time and do the work it takes to do this properly. I worked 7 hours a day 5 days a week for about 2 months and i got mine published with no problem and i am getting orders. Before you start complaining i advise you do a little work.
on June 17th, 2008 at 8:10 am
If you want to be succesful in this world it takes hard work. Money and great wealth do not come easy. Its sad that all of these people who are bad mouthing this company are to lazy to utallize the tools storesonline provides to there full potential. Getting on here and complaining DEFINITELY will get you nowhere. If all of you spent as much time on your website as you do complaining you mite be succesful. Best of luck to all of you.
on June 17th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
John and Scott - Thank you. It is good to hear from like mined hard working web entreprenuers. It does take time and hard work to be successful - In anything in life. I have found the sol support fantastic. My site is getting good traffic. It is rating on the search engines and life is good!
I also wish the rest of you the all the best with your website endeavours.
on June 17th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
the above comments were provided by SOL !
on June 17th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I cannot believe these people who go to a seminar and call it a rip off. Has no one ever heard of negotiating a deal on terms. The whole world fundamentally knows that before handing over money you sign up a contract and make sure the contract is written your way. You get the chance to enter into a contract and word it the way you want. Buyer before and negotiate the terms. What have we got here - a lot of babies who want to be spoon feed and change their nappies. No one forces you to sign up. You can learn it all, go away and research other similar services and compare, and then decide. What’s a matter with you - your not normal consumers who operate on the basis of checking out the goods and services first. In this day and age of internet fraud and consumer rip offs by the multinationals you need to check everything and believe nothing.
on June 17th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Mike
Best check your facts buddy. There are actually people out here that know how to make a success of things. You suggesting that we work for SOL shows how poor your thinking actually is and is evidence as to why you are not a success.
on June 17th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Mike S - I know some of these people and they do not work for SOL. There are 2 issues here (1) The seminars (and who knows what is said at those by hyped sales persons) and (2) the SOL service. I am considering using SOL and have been checking out other sites and comparing. Every normal person knows that you need a good product or service to make big money on the web, and it better be information related and not product orientated. SOL is a shopping cart system, what does that say. I have 4 brilliant information sites to set up that will sell information that is of interest globally. Forget the hype that you set up a site and suddenly the gold roles in. That is sales hype. If you are actually thinking straight there are 2 fundamental rules (a) you need to be tech savvy to run a site and (b) you need a good product or service - if you dont have those then dont do it or go out and get them. After that you need heaps of time and patience and energy and ideas and so on….the basic rules never change. Whatever site idea you have it must be able to bring value to the customer and make the customer’s life easier or be helpful. Those who thought they could make millions by just having any old site and actually the scammers because they hoped they were going to get other people to buy on their site based on some sort of belief that by automatically having a site “your in the world of I have a site and suddenly the world is my oyster” - get real and wake up. If a 14 year old school girl can make a few million selling a travel brochure to a beautiful holiday resort she went to by getting paid by the travel agents that get the referrals then you should all be ashamed of yourselves complaining.
on June 17th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
To BOB THE BLOB: You said that you might be interested in working with SOL, right? So I have 6 websites that I am selling for $8000 that my husband bought from them. This is how much he paid for them and we are willig to drop the price down to $6000. I am a Web designer and unfortunately cannot work with these websites. Not because I don’t want to spend the time on them but because of personal reasons. I did start to work on one website, which if you do decide to buy any of these websites, I will make sure it is like new. SOL did tell us that everything is transferable. So if you want them I would be happy to sell them to you.
That goes for anyone that is interested in buying some more sites. However if you only want one site they will be sold for $1500 each.
Just contact me through honeyalmondcandlefreak@yahoo.com.
on June 18th, 2008 at 7:39 am
It’s funny how when you get the invite to a conference it doesn’t identify the company presenting it so you don’t get a chance do go on the web beforehand to check out reviews to see if it’s worth going to.
I was suspicious from when I got the invite but thought would give it a gowith an open mind, but if I knew who they were and went on the inet and found this site I wouldn’t have gone to the conference and saved myself £25.
By the way I have applied for a refund as per their terms by emailing them with a request before the 10th June deadline and not had a reply from them yet. Does anyone know how long it takes as they don’t tell you that? Also, has anyone in the UK managed to get their £25 refunded?
on June 18th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Hi Alex - UK
Just got back from the workshop in Coventry (UK), like you I also coughed up £25 at the initial 90 minute meeting.
At first I was taken in by what I thought was a great opportunity, then they mentioned the cost(s). I was’nt prepared to use my cards to pay, then the rep mentioned the payment plans. The promotional offer( one time only) was £3′700 at an APR of 21%, which over 24 months would mean that I would repay over £16′000!!, the cheaper!! plan of £1′900 would equate to somewhere near £10′000. My daughter who came with me was skeptical to say the least and found this site while checking them out on Google. After reading all the comments I realise that I can have a site built for a fraction of the cost, and use the information that I walked out with to help me. Maybe this company needs to be referred to Watchdog!
on June 18th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Hi just got back from the coventry presentation, my wife and I left before the end, what a sales propoganda day We had to leave, it was mind destroying I just could not listen to anymore of their blurb and as for paying 3700 pounds for their so called platinium package well wake up people that is a lot of dosh to pay for basicly nothing, please do not get sucked in. all the best Phil
on June 18th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Dear John from June 17th, 2008:
You must be able to speak whatever language they speak in India if you think their Customer Service is great.
In my personal experience, I had to repeat my questions over and over again and even gave the great patience of re-wording my questions several different ways.
Even then, I never received an adequate answer and on many occasions I was given wrong answers. What little I did manage to accomplish I figured out on my own.
Needless to say, I gave up on their crap and went with Microsoft Web Building Software and at least I can trust Microsoft. Not to mention it cost only about $400-
Furthermore, after working with Expression Web, I have discovered that SOL’s crap is very outdated and slow.
on June 18th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Neville - UK
Thanks mate, why didn’t I think of this earlier?
I have just been on the watchdog site and submitted a report. For your reference I am quoting its full contents below (hope its OK with the rules of this forum):
“This scam requires urgent action, not so much to help myself as the thousands of other people being scammed right now around the UK.
I am not hyping this up or exagerating - this really does need to be addressed ASAP!
There’s a lot to explain so rather than me typing it here and missing something out, please take a look at this site: http://www.storesonline-reviews.com/. I have been afeected by this as well and you can find my comments under the alias ‘Alex’ on the main page of the site.
Please look into this ASAP as there are people being scammed out of thousands of pounds per person right now.
You can contact me any time, preferably by email. Thank you very very much!!!”
on June 18th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Sorry, for anyone not living in UK - Watchdog is a major scam investigation govrnment agency here in the UK. If you’re interested you can find them at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog
Don’t give up guys - we can do it!
on June 18th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
As you can see from the responces I was right!
on June 18th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
The responces show I’m right !
on June 19th, 2008 at 1:03 am
What is the matter with you people. All you are complaining about it the cost and the service. If a company/business costs itself out of the market then no one uses it. If SOL want to run seminars to attract people to consider the deal, so what. No one made you go or sign up. Buyer beware motto. Check things out before you sign up.
on June 19th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Presumably everyone who went to these SOL seminars want a website so they can make absolutely millions on a website or at least have a regular income so they can stop working. Well the good news is that I have such a website concept. It is so valuable and information orientated that if we all got together and set up our own site managed by professional experts then we would all recover the funds lost to SOL and more. How about some people showing some interest in recovering their position and setting up a website as originally desired? If we all got together and put some dosh in the pot to buy the expertise we need then we can own and have a professional site without all this hassle.
on June 19th, 2008 at 1:13 am
You said it Bob. I think this is a fantastic idea !!!!
We definitely need to stop complaining and start doing.
on June 19th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Geez, why complain about SOL? No one was forced to sign up. Like any business sector there will be those who make it and those that dont. I signed up; but have canceled, not because of SOL, I am a web developer and can do it myself if I’m willing to put the work in. Using SOL would save me time, but I can create websites the way I like them (using C# and ASP.Net). No one is forced to use SOL. What SOL do is put all the pieces together in one place and they should be applauded for that; their tools Reverse Search etc, are really good. For e-Commerce you need a site, most ISP’s provide SSL, Cart packages and site templates. You would source the products as per normal; so nothing new there, and would have to set up the customer database, but most people know how to use Microsoft Access or a college student should be able to do it. But again that’s what SOL are doing for you. What I would say is that it would be very helpful if you are technically (web) aware; a course in web design (HTML) would go a long way; but you can buy books (online even!) You could ask a company to write an e-Commerce system for you to your own spec, but what would that cost? Much, much more than £3K? Its NOT a scam. It’s an idea; what you do with it is up to you! I have a site http://www.doublehandful.com (not SOL) that I don’t really use any more, but got 4000 hits this year and I don’t advertise it. But SOL has given me the inspiration to get it finished as well as some useful tips about Search Engine Optimsation (SEO).
on June 19th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Has anyone in the UK applied for a refund for the original payment of £25 and not heard anything back?
I have sent the email off (as instructed in their refund procedure statement) on the 6th June (the next day after the conference) and not heard back.
I will give them 28 days to reply (generally a standard max waiting time for a refund) and will then take this up with CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau).
Will let you know what happens …
on June 20th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I just came out of their workshop. Fortunatelly, I woman sat next to me, had stopped me when I was about to sign this Mo….Fuc….ers form for $50 to attend the marketing shop next Friday. After she told me all about this ash……es, I really enjoyed the meal, I took eight organizers which I may sell for $3 dollars each, and I handle about 60 copies of internet reviews about them and I passed to the people attending their seminar. F….ers.
on June 21st, 2008 at 6:46 pm
My husband and I attended the first seminar on Thursday, June 19. We paid our $50 for the notebook and was planning to attend the second seminar the following week. However, a woman was outside the hotel where the seminar took place, she was talking to everyone who came out with a notebook. She had paid $10,000 and could get no help from SOL to get her website up and running. She was having trouble with cancellation and getting a refund. We decided not to attend the second seminar. I’m so glad we did especially after reading the comments posted here. I sent my cancellation email the day after we attended the seminar. I’m so glad we didn’t invest anymore. I will keep an eye on our credit card to make sure there are no additional charges. Thanks everyone!
on June 23rd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Pam - might be a good idead to cancel your credit card with your bank and get a new one reissued to save you the hassle of constantly remembering to check your credit card bills for unauthorized transactions and what if they appear under names you wont recognize to disguise SOL? You never know how long it will take before the put a sneaky charge on? I myself paid cash as a precaution to avoid that very danger so maybe a lesson for the future to use cash whenever possible? Of course it makes sense to use credit card over the net where the transaction is remote so you may not receive the goods you paid for …
anyway, good luck!
on June 24th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I attended a StoresOnline seminar in 2003. I fell for it like so many others. However, I got real lucky because all they got out of me was the $1,000 down paymnent. It became very clear very fquickly that it would cost so much more than the $6,000 they told me about in the seminar. Bottom line, DON’T FALL FOR IT.
on June 24th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Hi,
Just as a note to Bob and Sonia I too believe that people should not complain as much, but there is a difference between complaining and reiterating the truth.
I went to the seminars in question and did end up buying the six sites for about 6 grand with all the bells and whistles. After getting home I tried to immediately sign in and work my magic on the internet. I was not able to sign on for 4-5 days and was not told or shown that I only had 3 days to cancel. well, after finally signing on and sampling the software that I had bought I decided that I did not want it as it was something that I could have done on my own reading out of a webpages for dummies book. well, only then was I informed that I had gone over the three day limit and would not be able to cancel my purchase. Thinking that I was stupid for not seeing that in the very fine print, I proceded to try and build a satisfactory website with a company that my wife had a membership to that would dropship for us. After about 2-3 weeks of working on this site we had a decent amout of items added to the pages and wished to have it posted and just add more to it when we had the time. This is when we started to have the major problems.
First of all, the supposed built in credit-card proccessor that I purchased for about a grand I was told would need to be written into the pages to be useable, and that it would take several days to do so. Second, we chose not to purchase a domain name through the storesonline site as they were 3-4 times more than those that we had found and we were told that the storesonline servers could not be directed to that particular hosting service. Looking to rectify these problems I again contacted Storesonline through the telephone service where I was directed to a lady with an Indian accent so thick that I could not even understand 3 words out of 50 she spoke. Finally I told her that I could not understand anything she was saying and asked to speak with someone who knew a little better english, when I was told that I could not be transfered at that time. Well, I thanked her for her time and hung up, calling back a couple of minutes later and acctually getting someone who spoke english as a first language.
Thirdly, and the real kicker for me, I, being like many here, did not have the entire 6 grand for the up-front costs and chose to finance. Which I strongly suggest no one to ever do with these people. Well, after signing papers with Storesonline for this option I went for almost 3 months without seeing a bill, and then, out of the blue, we started getting phone calls from a place called Universal. As I am the only one on the contract, when my wife answered once and the lady, who she said could hardly speak english, asked for me, she told her that she was my wife and asked who was calling and what for. She was told that she could not take a message and they would not tell her what kind of company they were other than a “financial company.” Thinking that this sounded suspicious we researched the name and found that many scams were being conducted by a place in the US called Universal, so when they called again we promptly hung up. This set up a string of harrassing phone calls 6-12 times a day from this company from 7 am to midnight for nearly 3 weeks straight. when I finally talked to them and threatened to report them to the police for harrassment they told me that they held my contract for storesonline and that I was now past due three months and was being reffered to a collection agency. I informed them that I had not even recieved a bill yet and that I thought my service had been canceled, as I had given up trying to get my site up due to the insurmountable problems I was having that were, I was told, all on my end. Thinking that they had canceled service from the time that I had contacted them earlier and that was the reason I had not recieved a bill.
Since then I have recived notices from another company, Palomar and Associates threatening me with lawsuits to force “unwilling” payment. After a couple of these notices I have Finally recieved my first official bill from Universal printed and sent 3 months from my seminar.
I really am just tired of all this hassel and would like nothing better than to just give the d-mn package back like I had originally wanted to do and get on with my life.
Anyone with advice on how I could accomplish this would be most welcome to e-mail me at Animeleagon@yahoo.com
Incidentally I would sell all six of my sites for the same $$ that I bought just to be rid of them.
on June 24th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I have purchased the $50 website package and am planning on attending the day-long marketing seminar on June 27th. Based on what I’m reading, I don’t plan to buy anything additional, but my question for everyone is this: is it worth my time to attend the seminar and perhaps glean valuable, usable information that will assist me? If so, I will attend. If I MUST buy more in order to reap any benefit of gained knowledge, then I will not attend. Thank you for your opinion(s)!
on June 25th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Maureen - hello from UK.
I’ve been to the $50 meeting too which cost me £25 which is the same as USD50. After the meeting I came across this site and after reading it decided to opt for a refund.
However, during the meeting I got talking to another guy who gave me his email address to stay in touch to see how we both got on. OI told him about this site and he too was cautious however he figured that the £25 may be worth attending the all-day workshop at the hotel to gain valuable knowledge about building sites in general so he went.
Below is the feedback I got from him (hope he doesnt mind me posting it):
“It was good. The whole day was very informative and learnt a hell lot about setting up a shop on line and they had to discuss the various strategies in order to market their software.
They asked initially £2200 per site per annum….then made an offer of one off payment of £3700 for unlimited sites with full support forever.
one could transfer the sites to ones children as well.
Not a bad software compared to the ones I have been looking at in UK.
I did not commit and stayed clear saying it was too rich for myself.”
The rest is up to you. Bear in mind that the packages seems to differ in different countries so dont assume you will be offered the same deals.
Whatever you do - keep a cool head!
P.S. I did get my refund of £25 as a check and now banked it - will let you know if it clears OK.
on June 26th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
We are also out 6000. We tried to start a web site but got no help from them. We were so excited about this business apportunity. Invested the money to make money, instead lost 6000., we tried to get our money back , but that didn’t happen either. They know how to scam people and make sure they keep the money, I don’t know of anyone who has succeeded with SOL. They go from state to state and country to country, does anyone even know what the company in UItah looks like, is it even there. I don’t know how they sleep at night.
on June 26th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Hi Mary
Go to Sonia’s website - she got it up and running with SOL and thinks SOL is the best thing around. See her website at http://www.xtremewetsuits.com/ - Shes presently working on 4 more sites and they are pretty damn good. Ask her to explain why SOL is so good.
on June 28th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
i’ve been to the seminar this afternoon in dunwoody, ga. the whole thing felt rushed (even though it was from 1pm til 7pm and maybe later). they wanted me and my sister-in-law to invest $6000 for the pro website (i’m sure you all know what that is). i’m pretty sure you can do the same marketing techniques at an affordable price. safe to say, we left during the seminar…and didn’t regret one thing (except for the $25 fee).
on June 29th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
SOL is not all that great. Their sites are so slow and the sites you build are not search engine friendly unless you really know what you are doing. Their customer service is even worse. You can ask 6 different people the exact same question and get 6 completely different answers.
They want you to pay $60 an hour for a programmer when all you have is a very simple question. They will not answer it, just tell send request to programming. The programmers tell you things cannot be done when I know they can.
Then they never take responsibility for their server problems. Its always something with them. I had a problem with the order form a few months ago and customers could not complete an order. They tried to blame me saying I made a change to the template. Well, I hadn’t made any changes in over a month and I had been getting orders all along. I only made a small change to one of my sites, but all my sites had the same order form problem and nobody could order.
Finally the next day it was all fixed. But nobody could order for two days. They also do not give refunds for down time like every other host. Just sorry for the inconvenience.
Well sorry does not pay the bills and they need to start taking responsibility for their actions. Like last January when they made a server upgrade at 2pm. Their reply was “We didn’t expect to have any problems, Everything will be fixed until the next update. “
on June 30th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Tiffany - you mention a $25 fee. I thought the initial meeting was free and its only the follow-up all-day workshop that cost $50. At least thats how it was with me here in the UK.
Are they really charging for the first meeting and not offering a