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.
You can also find the “latest comments” on the bottom right of the 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.
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John Reply:
October 4th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Sroesonline is the worst company to ever do bussiness with. They steal money and never follow through with there promise. There customer service that they said was world class was terrible! I don’t ever want to do work with StoresOnline again
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Jodi Reply:
December 13th, 2008 at 5:31 am
SOL is a true scam! Attending a seminar in Texas - July 2008 - signed up and started working immediately - took over 5 days for the account to activate and when if finally did it was not user friendly - very hard to navigate. The alleged suppliers that offered dropshipping didn’t exist and SOL offer no support what so ever. The only time they would call is when they wanted more money “to get our site up and running”…more money???? We should have had that already with the package we signed up for. SOL also sells your information to telemarketers.
Please - all Texas residents that has been scammed by SOL, contact the Texas Attorney Generals Office. They are currently working on 2008 cases right NOW!!!!
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Steve Reply:
December 20th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I am sorry I bought into this. How can I get my money back?
Jodi Reply:
December 20th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
What state are you located in? They have been banned in so many states already and even in foreign countries…..
Martin Lee Reply:
January 10th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Replying for Steve:
Missouri. St. Louis
Geroge Lopez Reply:
January 18th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Only I want to say StoresOnline and the people who work for them Including Bob Bluhm all SUCK.
FUCK YOU Storesonline, PMI, Universal and the other companies that work with them.
Everybody if you want to buy this fucking product think many times, because they suck your money.
Angela Reply:
January 30th, 2009 at 5:38 am
I have been reading all about you saying you have been scammed. I have a web-site and am working at it, I am getting sales and I do have to work at it. After all it is a business, No business runs without any work and if you think it does, you need a wake up call. You get out of it what you put into it.
I also have a product if anyone is interested in it, it is not a SCAM by no means. I personally know people making $2000.00 to $15,000 a WEEK, I am again tried of everyone saying it is a pryamid, It is not it is a binary system which by the way pays you very well. If anyone is interested and needs money or even better health please call me I PROMISE NOT TO SCAM YOU. This is a business to if you want it to be a business or you can just drink it . This business cost me $39,99 to get in it. You make it what you want it to be the sky is the limit with this company, I will tell you that the company made 1 BILLION in only 3 years and has been featured on Success Magazine 3 times in 2008, Please contact me to hear more at StarlingRN@optonline.net
Thank you.
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Bill Reply:
May 28th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I would like to know more about it. I am about to attend a workshop here in Florida in 2 weeks and started doing some checking on the company beforehand. I am open minded and do realize that a business is only as good as what you make it, provided that the people you contract with live up to their end. Any input positive or negative will be appreciated.
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tom c Reply:
June 10th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
DONT YOU WILL BE SORRY
tom c Reply:
June 10th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Is that so well let me tell you some thing my wife and I worked at it for three months and they still havent got my site up I went to another sorce and got my site up and running in one week so dont stick up for those thieving s.o.b.s they rob people for a living you just got lucky
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Ed Dotterer Reply:
February 21st, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Free dinner, free MP3 player, no money transferred. Sometimes you can scam the scammers.
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Bryan C Reply:
March 9th, 2009 at 2:10 am
Ehh free dinner, free mp3 player, free networking… ehh not that bad. The guy was kind of retarded though on some things… Im pretty computer literate, and when he made a reference to uploading a picture and started showing the code, i just laughed because it wasnt html code at all… but no one else realized that…
Anyways, i bought their deal for 39 bucks, i ended up getting 10 bucks for free for a demonstration, and am having my partner give me 20 bucks (aka spliting the difference) to go to the bootcamp deal. Once again, im ganna go there and network and see if I learn anything new. Im not ganna buy pro or buy their expensive package… but for 39 bucks, ill give their basic system a try. I already have access to a server and have a domain name, etc… i figure if i just use the system and outsource the rest to my providers it wont be bad
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tom c Reply:
June 10th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
yea you keep thinking that way you get what you pat for
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joe s Reply:
June 13th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
At the day long event, it was all about PRO and much of the ’sales talk,’ I mean workshop consisted of sales closing lines to make you feel like you needed to get this NOW. When they took us out to talk about buying Pro, we felt like we were at a timeshare sales event, even offering the lower level ($3400 for one site) for now with the rights to upgrade to Platinum (approx $6000 for unlimited sites) within a year. After about 15 minutes, they did take no for an answer.
There was stretch right before lunch that they went over so fast it was hard to understand. That was on the Merchant account to take credit cards. When they do things like that it makes it seem that there is something there that they don’t want you to know or understand until it is too late.
The whole thing had a lot of the signs of a scam. We just walked away. I did get a few good ideas and I may try some with my other websites.
debbi Reply:
April 16th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
thanks for the heads up i got tickets in the mail and thought i would check out the web site first and seen this i am glad i came here first again thanks
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Helen Reply:
April 16th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
I was about to go to my first meeting with a friend. I am so glad that I read this. Thank you for the heads up.
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Karen Reply:
April 16th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I attended a
the first meeting a week ago with a friend.I was in the process of setting up a website for my jewelry business,and thought it was good timing for me.
I paid the $38 to start up. I have not done anything yet
with the software start up.I was planning on attending the workshop next week,and ran across the complaints online.If you never set your site up,are you safe from further charges?
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Jill Reply:
April 17th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Dear Karen
Do not buy anthing from these people.
Randy Reply:
April 29th, 2009 at 9:05 am
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THESE PEOPLE. THEY ARE PREDATORS. I BOUGHT INTO THEIR SCHEME IN CEDAR RAPIDS. I HAVE A BRAIN TUMOR AND ERRONEOUSLY THOUGHT I COULD OFF SET MY MEDICAL BILLS. THEY ARE OF NO HELP AT ALL. WHEN I TOLD THEM I WAS TOO SICK TO SICK TO DO ANYTHING…I STARTED GETTING MULTIPLE CALLS DAY AFTER DAY FROM A COMPANY CALLED PMI, AND FOR THE LOW PRICE OF JUST $3,000. THEY COULD DO WHAT SOL COULDN’T. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT MY STRUGGLES WITH STAYING ALIVE DIDN’T REALLY MATTER…THEY WERE TOLD, AGAIN IT DIDN’T MATTER. IF THEY ARE CALLOUS ENOUGH TO PREY ON ME, WHAT WILL THEY DO TO YOU?
THEY (PMI) TOLD ME THAT SOL DIDN’T REALLY HELP THAT MUCH, BUT THEY COULD. PMI ALSO STATED THAT THEY WANTED ME TO BE A LOCAL SUCCESS STORY THEY COULD USE IN ADVERTISING. I DID SOME CHECKING AND FOUND THAT THE RATIO OF SUCCESS TO FAILURE IS MORE THAT 20-1. THEY (PMI, SOL) ARE THE SAME ENTITY. THIS IS A SCAM I AM CHECKING WITH THE STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND THE BBB IN IOWA TO SEE WHAT CAN BE DONE.
Ira Reply:
May 22nd, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Hi Jon,
Too many people get sucked into these scams when there are viable online businesses already set up and ready for them without investment. I have been involved in an awesome company for nine years, and have changed my life financially forever. Even the novice can be successful. No selling,no collecting money or billing,no risk. I can be reached at 516-724-7199 or at homebizdreamteam@aol.com for advise.,
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Mike Peters Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Hi Jon
Please tell me about your biz.
Thank you…
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Ira Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Hi Mike,
I would be happy to speak with you about my business. Please email me with a number and good time we can speak.
Your Partner in Success,
Ira
Amy Reply:
June 7th, 2009 at 12:49 am
I have been StoresOnline for 3 yrs and they have been very helpful all the way. Although at times the rep may not be knowledgable of the issues discussed but they’d gladly let you speak w/a supervisior promptly regarding it. All of them have been courteous. It does take time and work on my part to put the website up and running and with the help of rep, it has been easy. I’ve been making money with it.
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tom c Reply:
June 10th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
yea what do you work for them i heard they go on things like this to repair the damge i tell you what i hope i find out when there ma again they wont be bring much home that week ill tell you that
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on July 10th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Hi Jon, you are welcome.
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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.
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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?
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Lou Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Here is the site info you wanted, they say they are Better Business Bureau accredited. http://www.pmicoaching.com/
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Nancy Reply:
November 14th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
That really doesn’t mean all that much. Just go to the BBB website and you will see they have several complaints against them mostly regarding their sales practices and refund issues. Which is exactly what people on this forum are saying.
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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!
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Paramjit Grewal Reply:
October 12th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
After having lost $6000 with the so called Bright Builders also from Utah, I do not understand why I was so stupid to realise that StoresOnline is probably the same or similar company with a different name. I went to their seminar on 11th October at Richmond, BC. Thank God I visited this web site just to make sure that I was doing the right thing. The instructor Marty Huntsman convinced me that if a celebrity could sell his kidney stones for thousands of dollars on the internet, one could sell anything on the internet. It is simple that if it was so easy to sell on the internet why would these instructors be dependent on fixed income? They would be doing it themselves. Later they are going to blame you for not having anough computer skills to do the business. I have spent $25 for the starter package and now will never see their faces againfor the workshop. Thank you all a million times for the advice. I wish these people could live upto their promises. If you hear anything positive about this company make sure that it is not someone employed by the company!
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dwayne Reply:
October 25th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Hi Carol..I am interested in whether you had your Canadian concerns resolved? ie provincial sales tax and paypal issues in Canada. I am a recent customer of storesonline and want to be proactive in solutions. Thanks for your input….Dwayne in sask.
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patricia lazar Reply:
December 11th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I am a Canadian as well and have had nothing but misery from these scam artists! I am trying to not only get a refund of the $6500 we invested, but I really want to get these crooks in jail where they belong.
Anyway, as you can see, I’m mad like hell!
Does anyone know of a class action lawsuit in Canada or who I can write to? And is anyone interested enough to smear their name to get back at them for how they ripped us off - and to stop them from ripping off other trusting people…? Have any of you contacted government officials or newspapers?
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Roni West Reply:
January 7th, 2009 at 11:47 am
I am Canadian and I am with storesonlinepro. I have had my share of problems and then some. However, most of my problems stemmed from ones like UPS. storesonlinepro has helped me all the way. I never had them build my sites. I did it myself. I know to some WORK is a four letter word but it is still the only way anyone will ever get ahead. Anything that promises something for nothing is usually nothing.
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Able Reply:
February 6th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Carol contact me
able0777@yahoo.com
Iam forming an online marketing Business… Import exprot… presenting/routing/reseling already exsisting products
Able
(ONTARIO)
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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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Scott Reply:
November 11th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
We just attended #2 session of storesonline today. Was skeptical so thankfully we walked out early and did not join. Wish I would have seen this site earlier. Could have saved me a day of lost wages. Thanks for your input
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Robyn Reply:
May 4th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Oh no. I am right at the point where I was going to have the programmers program my quick site page and just now decided to do some searching -something I ALWAYS do before committing to anything regarding money. I am more than concerned at this point. The first payment was already deducted from my checking account this morning. I don’t want to say anything until I get more information. What would you suggest at this point?
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pandora Reply:
May 26th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Hi, Robyn, I suppose you’ve purchased the lisence, which will be charge $25 or more for the rest of your business days. My sister and I lost $7,000 , I never got started but already a fee waiting to be paid, and they blocked everything until you pay the licence fee even if you don’t make money. So either you make it work or you just say goodbye to your money and save more fees. good luck
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tom c Reply:
June 10th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Hi contact me i am starting a civel law sute against these people enough is enough any one who wants there money back with intrest e mail carnazzot@yahoo.com together we can stop the scamers
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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.
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bob Reply:
December 18th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
You are an idiot! Maybe people should call you when their credit goes down the toilet because of your great intelligent advise. Maybe when they can’t buy a home they can move in with you and you can keep each other warm with all your hot air…just a thought…
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Donna Reply:
February 5th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Bob,
How is your reply constructive at all?? It was just negative and had nothing to do with what Chris was saying. Comments like yours are not needed on a site like this that real people are trying to make an educated decision.
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tom c Reply:
June 10th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
thats what they count on
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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.
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Victor Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 1:48 am
Hey Tanya,
Just wondering what companies you have tried that have worked for your business. Please let me know. Thanks.
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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.
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patricia lazar Reply:
December 11th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Alvin, I’m totally committed to do all in my power also to put these crooks out of business and in jail if I can. What are you doing and are there others working with you?
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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.
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shirley johnston Reply:
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
This is the biggist scam I have ever known I have been taken big time with paying out over six thousand.I tried to tell them thast I would like to break my contract with them and they would not allow this to happen as they say they do nor do the main part which is Marketing.
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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!
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Thandi Zulu Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I do not think that true, I join in may this year and am doing good they have helped me so much, my be am special, I do not think so, I have others who are happy with stores online, need to know more email below . and this is the website they helped me build in three months my website is best and ranked well than before I new stores on line. Email I will tell you the secret to success
Thandi
http://www.freetoworkathome.net
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Laura Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Thandi, please give me the secret to success. I have been involved with Bright Builders, aka Stores Online, for approximately 5 months now. The salesman on the phone sold me with the statement “We will take you by the hand and teach you how to successfully build and manage an online website”. I paid them $8,146.00 for their services. They have NOT taken me by the hand; they have left me out to dry. They send an e-mail every once in a while, which I’m sure is automated, to check on me. The courses are no more than common sense and very time consuming. I have done everything they have asked of me and I can’t find a niche, so they won’t allow me to go further with my website. I know that I can’t be told what to sell, right? But, one would think that in 5 months they would have at least an idea. I have been selling on eBay since the beginning. I have spent more money paying eBay and PayPal fees than I’ve made selling products. Please tell me your so called secret because I am at the end of my rope. I am very tired, mentally drained and so much more broke than I was before that fast talking salesman talked me into letting Bright Builders take more than 8 grand from me. I am serious…It has been my life long dream to own and manage a successful business. I have a BA in Business Mgmt and a BA in Small Business and Entrepreneurship.. I have been blessed with a loving and supportive husband. He is allowing me to stay home from work to get my business going. Well, now after all of this stuff with Bright Builders, my dreams may be shattered. I am 28 yr old middle class American with a dream…I told BB of my dreams and education the night of the initial sale. I honestly feel that they preyed on my fresh start on life by telling me that I was the perfect candidate for their program. Everything that they have shown me thus far, I learned while in college. I am so STUPID and angry at myself…
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Ricky Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 2:06 am
Dear Laura,
You need to find your own niche and not depend on any company to help you unless they cater 100% to their service more than they do in caring that you pay for their crap. As for Thandi, i’m willing to bet he’s a second party business in a box rep for another company as well. Don’t be fooled.
ANGELA Reply:
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Hi,
I read what you said about stores on line and I too have them I just lauched my website last week. I really didn’t have any problems with them like all the negative people say they have. I would like to know what to do to succeed. You mentioned to email you and you would help out. If you have any tips I would welcome them.
Thank you,
Angela
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Rose Reply:
December 8th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
You must be on their payroll, plus you need to learn how to spell.
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tom c Reply:
June 10th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
dont be fooled
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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.
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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.
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Adela Davey Reply:
October 18th, 2008 at 4:46 am
Hi,
I have only just read your email as I was doing some research about StoresonLine.
Have you actually purchased any websites from them & what have you done with them?
We originally bought in 18mnths ago & havent got any of the 6 sites up and running yet - due to a lot of reasons.
We have just been approached by S.O.L. again with a Mentoring package which will cost nearly $7000 AUS.
It sounds wonderful but it is huge amount to us which we cant afford. They have explained that with their help we will have a site up & going in a month & will be able to pay off this debt fairly steadily with income from our websites.
I like the SOL concept but would like to hear others who have gone down this mentoring track. I would really appreciate your advice or ideas on this.
Many thanks
Adela
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Chris McMorrow Reply:
December 22nd, 2008 at 2:54 am
Hi Adela,
Don’t send these professional scam artists one red cent. If you do, you’ll be throwing your money right out the window … flushing your hard-earned cash right down the toilet. I got scammed myself for three sites for $1800 (as I remember, I think that was the amount). I thank God I didn’t buy more … or fall for the follow up pitch telling me that I needed to purchase the additional service to “really make it work.”
Here’s what happened to me: Bought three sites, but after one year, all my tools were taken away. No access, no support, nothing! Was directed by SOL rep. to another site where I would have to fork over ANOTHER $300 to get my tools back.
I couldn’t believe that all tools and access were taken away. This fact - that you only had one year to get these sites up and running OR ELSE YOU LOSE EVERYTHING - was never mentioned during their glowing presentation. Or, if it was, was not made clear.
To work at SOL, you would have to have no conscience whatsoever. Your only goal in life would have to be to make a buck, regardless of the hardship and loss you would be causing others.
Believe me, I would be extremely embarrased to work for such unprincipled swindlers. I would rather do any kind of honest manual labor - at half the wages or less - than work for these godless, Hell-bound crooks.
I hope the triune God of the Bible (the one, true, only God)will pay back to these “saints” a just portion of the pain and anguish they have caused hundreds, possibly thousands, of other people.
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Erika Reply:
January 9th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Hi Chris,
I bought it 2y ago 3 stores for prize of one…now after two years I was trying to access but could not so I contact them by phone and ask why I can’t logg in. They told me that after one year if I do not publish they will take it away access because it’s no longer free for my use….I’m gonna have to reactivate for 10$ a month till I publish…later when I publish I don’t have to pay $10 anymore. They sent me a form to fill out but I’m not ready to work on my web site yet so I’m going to wait till I’m ready…they told me everything it’s there for me when I’m ready there is not expiration onec I bought license…important is to know your ID number. I’ll post later when I start working on it how I’m doing…I’ll be laid off from my job in Feb.09′ and have in plan to go to school to learn more things about net marketing.
Erika
Jenny Reply:
May 16th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Well, actually, if you read the paper work, it states (and perhaps when you purchased the sites it did not and they have since added the wording) that inactive (i.e.: non-published) sites after the first year would need to pay 100 a year or 10 a month to continue to receive the tools and support. If your site is active then you pay the hosting monthly fee and not the inactive fee. The reason for the monthly fee is simple…they are continually updating as the internet updates and you are paying for access to that. Look, it’s cut and dry…if you don’t know what you are doing…you’re going to have to pay for someone else to do it or to hold your hand. It takes money to make money…hence the idea of gov’t stimulus checks. Storesonline gives you resources and software, not a business and what you do with those resources and software is up to you. You don’t get something for nothing. And if you’re going to pay for websites and then you don’t even publish them with in the first year…why buy them in the first place?
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.
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Ricky Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 2:45 am
storesonline often change their prices. It’s what they do….the more money they can make from you, the better. It’s their trick…..if they can’t make that $6k from you, they’ll lower their prices to suck you in. There really isn’t a set price with them unless it’s too low for them to offer it to you as. A company like this has a “dynamic” sales marketing team that specializes more in their sales than they do in their technical and sales support. This is who they are and they have lawyers to protect them from what they’re doing so they’re very careful in their actions while taking your buck. In the end, they have several complaints against them but I imagine very few, if any, go to court against them. If you are iffy about their service, just think about how sneaky they are when they try to initially suck you in in the welcome session. How they tell you it’s one price ($199) but then quickly change the price to $39 to get you to buy it. They also aim for older people who have moderate to no knowledge of the internet……people who they got through leads of others who are on the know about your situation (ie how old you are and what knowledge you have about pc’s) and incomes. AGAIN, this is more of a marketing company than anything else thats in business for their own marketing purposes. Their strategies are to get the $$$$ out of you with a shitty program that anyone can virtually make and probably costs a lot less but they charge you more for it. It’s like they’re taking a piece of shit and selling it to you but for a higher price. I feel sorry for those out there who have studied and still have fallen prey to this bullshit. LOL. I never studied but I smelled their bullshit from a mile away.
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Jenny Reply:
May 16th, 2009 at 11:43 am
They are a company that sells a product: software. They aren’t selling a business. And go re add the totals: Because here’s the one thing…with stores online you do pay a chunk upfront yes, but with other companies you pay every month. You pay the monthy software fees the hosting fees the merchant account fees, the set up fees for the previously mentioned. The way it looks to me, I have to put in the hard work and the hours…I have to earn my money…but I don’t have to pay a bunch of monthly fees. So, in the long run, I’m going to shell out less money over the years. Let’s be honest here…most website businesses don’t make money. If you want your piece of the pie you have to go out and do the work and learn and get smart about it. If I’m buying upfront and my monthly fee is a hosting fee…which I don’t have to host with them…I can host anywhere I want…If I have a site for the next ten years…I’m going to pay out more money somewhere else. And yes with time they are going to raise their prices. They are a business and that’s how it goes…anywhere. If you don’t have the education or resources to do this, then go get the education and resources first. You don’t need a degree, but if you are obtuse about computers, you need a tutorial. And yep it’s more leg work for me, but they give you the resources to drive traffic to your site. Other companies let you pay them (hefty monthly sums) to drive the traffic for you. I don’t know about you, but I look at the bigger long term picture to see what is really going to be favorable. And if you are terminally ill, you don’t have the funds for something like this, nor the energy either. It’s not overnight, there is no instant gratification. I asked all the questions and I read the fine print. How do you finance thousands of dollars and not do that…I mean come on. I found nothing hidden or scam like about it. And I’m nowhere near elderly and most of the people at my seminar weren’t either.
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Bill Reply:
May 28th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
What about the products and suppliers? I have a business and my wife has an online E Bay store. We are looking for suppliers and quality products that we can get drop shipped and build from there. We don’t expect some one to do the work for us however we do want to be able to service our customers and make sure our name and site has a good rep. So far my wife’s store has a 100% positive feed back and we want to protect that. We were going to the workshop hoping to find other online suppliers to hook up with and set up another online site to generate business through. From what I am seeing here we may want to pass on this company and not waste our time at this sales workshop. If anyone has been there and has done the work and had experience with SOL’s suppliers or drop ship methods we would greatly appreciate the heads up. We are going to the worksop in 1 1/2 weeks from now. Thank you, Bill
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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.
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Ricky Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 2:59 am
Bullshit…..the best programs out there won’t even cost as much as $300 either. Both, you and “reality check” AKA storesonline, work for your own respective competitor companies. I say this more for storesonline which im absolutely convinced is this so called “realitycheck”. Take a hike.
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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
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Thandi Zulu Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Thank you, that you are like , keep on taking the negative guys out off the way thank you for you comment.
Thandi
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bjay Reply:
October 9th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I am going to attend a seminar today. Thandi Zulu, you claim to have a successful website. Have you ever tried what you sell?
I’d appreciate your honest reply!
B.
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Sunshine Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Robert ~ You are probably employed by the company. I would think if you were a consumer, writing a review or commenting on a review of a product, that you would write a little more about your exprience than just a header and two sentences.
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Ricky Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 3:01 am
Ahhhh shit, you’re right. I totally missed them when they came out on magazines such as “people” and “fortune 500″. Do you have any of those back issues?? (being sarcastic)
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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….
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patricia lazar Reply:
December 13th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Oh for sure I am - anyone else? I’m in Canada though.
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Ricky Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 3:03 am
I’m totally in for a lawsuit up the ass!!! Email me.
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Shannon Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
You can count me and my friend in putting these sleeze bags in their place- anybody else from SD interested in making these crooks- close up shop?
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robin Reply:
May 25th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I`m in. i just bought it. 6000.00 is what it cost. its cost to get a drop-shipper. its cost since i bought it. cant get my money back. have not made a monthly payment yet.
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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?
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Thandi Zulu Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
If the Bill will ready my email he will not go for that I know Bill is smart you have to have a good ground to lawsuit. Am happy with storesonline is OK check my website I just join three month ago. go to my site email me I will help you.
Thandi
http://www.freetoworkathome.net
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Raj Reply:
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Why Thandi kkeps on saying go to my website again and again…..!!!!!!!!!!
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Melissa Reply:
November 10th, 2008 at 12:15 am
thandi actually makes money, however little when you click the little flashy buttons near the bottom on the left. and the more people go to that site, the better are her odds of selling her product
Melissa Reply:
November 10th, 2008 at 12:14 am
well I’m glad you’re happy with your website.
I think it looks awful… my boyfriend is a web developer so maybe I’m picky, but I do have good taste in design and your site is terrible looking
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Nberry Reply:
December 21st, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I agree it looks awful. And I’m not speaking from a developers perspective. I’m looking at it from a consumers perspective. I just got back from a seminar and spent the 6 grand. I am now going to ask for my money back. It’s not nearly as user friendly as they say and the tools are tools that can be found elsewhere for a lot cheaper. Thanks all for your posts. You saved me a big headache.
Jo Reply:
December 10th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I just tried to go to Thandi’s website. It came up completely blank.
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patricia lazar Reply:
December 13th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Same here - all you get is a blue screen. So much for fast downloading!
pandora Reply:
May 26th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Hi, since your happy with storesonline, are you making thousands of dollars like they said, are you selling products or services. How is it that works for you and not others, I too had lost $7000 ,
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Jill Reply:
April 16th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I say yeah to exposive them maybe 60 minutes and In Canada W5.
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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.
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Jay Reply:
February 6th, 2009 at 6:24 am
There’s a conference coming up in Erie, PA. Im not sure if want to attend, I know its all a big sales pitch. The dinner and mp3 player might be worth an hour of my time, and of course I would spy because I am very skeptical.
I can see how the programming and marketing tools could be worth $339/mo, but does the site actually work? Any site Ive seen hosted by them was terrible in design and the products were crap. I heard the dropship suppliers they had were nonexistent…
What do you think?
I dont have products to sell, but I do have a lot of question.
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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!
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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.
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Gina Reply:
September 24th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Laura, I am in Texas….(Brownsville, Tx) this people came w/their workshop, and we fall into their scam…we feel trapped in this, there’s no one to help us…..we purchased the $6000 kit(six websites…none of them online for now…without success….) at the McAllen Texas workshop Date: 2/08/08(february)…I feel desperate…because I had waste a lot of my time(of course money) trying to figure out how can we get started/working our websites…but just like most of the people from here…It is just truly unfair….to see that this is a MAYOR SCAM….and even worse to loose $6000 dollars that we can use in other things…..It is not good…so I will like my money back as well….what can we do????
sincerely,
Gina.
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Nancy Reply:
September 25th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Gina,
I am in Texas too and have been with SOL since 2003. I have a few websites up and running with some success. I am close to you (Harlingen, TX) and am willing to help you get a site set up. (Free of course). I run my websites part time, but I think I can help you get started. I have the older version of their software, but I believe I can still help. Do you know yet, what you want to sell?
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Gina Reply:
September 25th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Nancy,
Thank you for responding………I’m sorry that I don’t trust anymore….but are you 100% sure that this works??……..I mean how do I know if you are not part of their team…how did you do/run your SOL websites???…..it’s taking me a heck of my time trying to even understand it…….and they told me that it was simple!!!ha! well as I see it… I’m not the only one trying to figure this out….I will loveee!! to see that this can finally works……I will like to work part time on them(my SOL websites) drop-shipping….but I’m sorry I’m out of trust right now……I will need more information from you…….. (nothing personal believe me!!) but I think I waste/trash $6000 dollars….and even my DH is kinda mad at me about this….because as you know this was part of savings/credit…….so He’s really pissed off…..with all the situation……I truly will love to see that this works for real!!…….please send me more information……for example: let me see your websites….what are your sites?? let me verify and confirm with my own eyes that this works………please…I hope you inform me soon…I’ll be waiting…….Thanks in advance…….
Val Zav Reply:
September 26th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Hi Nancy
Just wondering if you are aligned with drop shippers or you sell/ship your own product? I understand that in order to make $ you have to spend $ and put time into something to make it work. We’ll see what happens, I bought it, dont have a choice now.
Sheila H. Reply:
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:38 am
I am getting ready to launch a website and noticed that you seem to be one of the few that seemed to be more positive about it. Can you offer any advice on whether or not to keep going, i haven’t set up a processor or intered any banking info yet. So even though we have spent quite a bit of money already, it’s not to late to back out without to much trouble. Plus you said something about being able to help. Are you doing pretty good at your business? I do have some questions. Sheila
Nancy Reply:
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Shelia,
Not sure if you were replying to me, but I will answer anyway. When you say you are getting ready to launch your website, do you mean you have all the products entered? Have you already paid for the processor?
Only you can decide whether you want to publish your site. There are a lot of things to consider. I have been doing OK, but I still have a regular job. I also have the older version of SOL software which I can customize a lot more than the new SOL pro (so I hear, since I don’t have the new version, I can’t say for sure)
I guess the first thing you have to decide is if you have time to devote to running your business. You will need to have some cash saved so you can market your site and get visitors while you are waiting for the search engines to index your site. It is a lot of work.
Like any business you have to work at it to be successful. If you are looking for a get rich quick solution, then I would say don’t continue. You also need to have a good product that will sell on the internet.
I am willing to help in any way I can. I would advise to stay away from PMI EMS or any other company that calls you telling you they can get you to the top of the search engines. They all claim to be different and they only thing they will do is take your money.
Nancy
DEBORAH Reply:
November 20th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Nancy
I have to agree with you. I believe that all of these people complaining are too stupid to enter into such a project. Their spelling alone tells me that. As I looked around the seminars I attended I could tell almost 90% of them would never make it. They did not have the intelligence or the computer knowlege and skills necessary to accomplish this.(some did not even own a computer!!) I have not yet published my site only because I have been waiting for my business licence. Other than that it is designed as far as I can to this point. Will be finishing it soon and I truly believe it will work. There is no way I could have obtained all of the knowlege that storesonline has provided on my own, that said I actually think 3,400 dollars is a deal. I hope this gets posted so these idiots will realize they are really complaining about their own ignorance.
Deborah
lori Reply:
February 14th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Gina,
I now that you say you have 3 websites that they are up and running.. They look good, how much additional did it take to actually get them up and running?? Did you get the support that you thought you would in order to build your site??
Nancy Reply:
September 27th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Gina,
If you would like to try to make the websites work, please feel free to call me 956-440-1816. Do you have any ideas on products you might like to sell?
I mostly use dropshippers, so I can help you with finding some. SOL has a few good ones on their list too. Although they do have a few on their list I would advise staying away from.
I do still have my regular job, but most of the time I work at home, so I am lucky.
A couple of my sites are http://www.purewaterforless.com and http://www.pampered-dog-gifts.com and http://www.hobbieshobbieshobbies.com
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Gina Reply:
September 27th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Nancy,
I will love that!!! so I think I ‘ll probably give you a call…..because I still want to accomplish something…if I can still rescue the kinda of ideal job/publish website will be phenomenal…..I”ll give a last try…there’s nothing else more to loose….and I still have inside of me(what it’s called)” little hope”….to see if this can finally work……thanks for your information…..really appreciated…..
Karen Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
go to hell you 2 idiots
Thandi Zulu Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I get help you to get your site back , get my website not long ago , you just need to do a few thing to get going. email me below:
and check my website below.
Thandi
http://www.freetoworkathome.net
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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.
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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?
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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.
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Joan Reply:
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
My husband and I attended the 90 min. session, which included dinner (water, chicken croissant, potato salad and small piece of cake). It was good, but hardly a meal. We also received an MP3 player, which they promised.
I am pleased to say, after reading all these postings, that we did not sign up for the longer session next week.
Good luck to all you “burned” people!!
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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
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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.
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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…
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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
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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!
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Lynda Reply:
November 25th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Annie,
How are we to contact you? You didn’t leave email or any type of contact.
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jeff wilson Reply:
December 16th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Annie,Jeff Wilson im interested and im in the Youngstown area.please connect with me because i am interested in joining you in the lawsuit.
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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!!!
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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
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on April 24th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Has anyone from USA or Canada had an experience with their collection department or agency?
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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!!!!!
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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.
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Bea Reply:
October 4th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
IWe bought 6 sites in Dec 2005 and haven’t gotten any going yet. Mostly the problem was discouragement over poor customer service to Canadian customers and also, paying another $500 plus expenses to attend their eBay special seminar, which was absolutely underwhelming. The presenters simply didn’t know anything worth going for, and hadn’t brought the packages they were supposed to have. Lots of ‘good intentions; but lots more problems getting what was promised..
We are going to ‘restart’, having had some help/encouragement today from one of their people who was at the 90-minute lunch presentation.
Please do contact us - we would like to at least visit your site(s) and perhaps you would share some of your hard-earned knowledge with us…?
Thanks for posting - it helps to read about the “get it done” stories!
Bea
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Shaena Reply:
November 17th, 2008 at 1:22 am
I would love to have your info about paypal and canadian issues, I am building my store right now, and had no idea there was a problem, I thought paypal just sortof did it all for you nomatter what currency you used….
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Marie-Anne Reply:
November 17th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Heh Carol:
I’m a Canadian that have published my site, took me a year and yes had a hard time with processors, shipping, etc and decided to only sell to US customers then after all of that I got ripped off .. credit card scam so then I put everything on hold but after reading your comments, I would like to hear more about your issues.
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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.
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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
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on May 3rd, 2008 at 2:30 am
Under NO circumstances deal with these RAT BASTTRDS
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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!
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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
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S.A.McNames Reply:
December 6th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Jeffery, these guys are just awful. I went to one of these meetings around Madison, Wisc. last February, 2008 and bought one web-site for $2,700.00. They are a tolal fraud and I am presently seeking my money thru Utah BBB. Their address is http://www.bbb.org and phone # is 801-892-6009 dealing with the dispute counselor and their fee is $ 75.00. Good luck to you. I am so sorry that you have been taken for such a large sum of money. These guys should be shut done permanently.
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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.
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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.
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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!!!!!!!!
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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!
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Rita Reply:
October 26th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
We only paid the $25, me and my coworker, she paid in cash, I paid by visa. I went yesterday and on account of reading thousands of these comments & reading 20 other websites with similar styles of opinions, I am canceling tomorrow.
You’re right - the sales person was very honest about the $24.95 / month and I shook my head. My only concern is after I cancel - will they keep trying to use my credit card? If so, TD Visa is very fussy and will cause hell to come down on them.
Being a Canadian made me realize that I’ll have more than just tax issues. I’ve spoken 3 times today with their ONLINE Reps & their grammar irks me out. Their English is horrendous and I am not being rude - I don’t have perfect grammar as English is not my first language.
But as professionals - you’d think their communication level would be a bit higher up there?
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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!!!!!!!
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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!
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Rita Reply:
October 26th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Again… Heh…
There’s always a catch - I just couldn’t place my finger on it til the $24.95 / month came out
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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.
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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.
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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!!
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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..
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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.
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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.
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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
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Scammed in South Carolina Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Does anyone know if there has been any legal action taken against Stores Online and Universal Account Servicing in South Carolina? I bought my sites from them in May of 2007 (in North Carolina) but I don’t know it I can get my money back since I am not a resident of North Carolina. Anyone have advice?
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jeff wilson Reply:
December 16th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
please send me the info about cancelling within my 3 day period,i have one more day left and i would love to know what i need to do hit me at jamiefoxx169@yahoo.com,thanks!
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on May 20th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Hi Computerman,
Thanks for the update. Very informative.
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on May 20th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Thanks for the info Computerman, keep it coming!
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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!
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Melissa Reply:
November 10th, 2008 at 12:49 am
No you really didn’t miss much. My lunch at, likely the most expensive large hotel in my town was a turkey or chicken sandwich on a croissant with lettuce. Served with a side of pasta marinated in a rather strong pesto. Mayonaise on the side was served community style in a gravy boat and it had also been sitting a while as the mayo was already beginning to crust on the top. Dessert was very strange looking cookies on the side.
I did buy the SOLexpress 25.00 package. My boyfriend is a developer always looking to improve, and we don’t know much about drop shipping. He did just create his very first payment gateway, e-commerce here we come!
Regarding SOL I haven’t signed in, I hope they don’t bill me monthly, and I really hope the boyfriend doesn’t wanna get up for this 8:30 am workshop this thursday.
During the first seminar I sorda figured it out. Bare with me here. I attended a very similar seminar that happened to be a hypnosis seminar to help me quit smoking. And aside from the topic, the ONLY difference was that my eyes were open. SOL and SOL presenters/hosts need to keep you there and listening to their suggestions to increase your odds of signing up. The other thing I wondered listening to the seminar, even after learning the initial cost is that well, this really isn’t much money, so why do we need to hear all this other crap? My time is more valuable than that.
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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
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Nancy Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Walter, I also live in Massachusetts and have been scamed by storesonline. I purchased my 3 sites in 2003 and never had any luck getting them activated. I am interested in a class action suit. Please let me know if you’re still interested.
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Bryan Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 12:46 am
took three seconds to get it activated… Just dont buy their optimization package… its not a scam, its just a platform for a business… It appears a lot of people on there dont like it because they are either lazy or computer illiterate with no business sense(not directed at you Nancy, its just what I have seen from previous posts)
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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.
[Reply]
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.
[Reply]
Gina Reply:
September 25th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Computerman,
Please help me understand what to do to get my money back….cuase I’m pretty lost and desperate, I wrote to Laura from Texas so we can do something about it here in Texas….(you can see my message here in the posts)….and I haven’t receive any reply from her….actually if you check this message you will see that someone by the name of Nancy replied to my message, saying that she’s from Harlingen Texas(very near from where I live) and that she can help me build my website……..But as almost everybody here….I feel Angry!! without any more TRUST!! this kind of people took it away..(you see I spent $6000 dlls I was fooled by this vampires…this was back on 2/8/08)…..so I’m afraid of almost any business system that promise us the “world”…. you name it by Phone, Mail, INTERNET!! so there has to be something to do about it!! we can’t continue having this kind of trashy dishonest untruthful system poking our eyes and kicking our savings/credit with laughter right in our faces…. leaving us with NOTHING AT ALL!! please I need help, advice on what to do………….my idea is to form groups in each state and sue them!!! we have to do something about this…..
[Reply]
Lizzieputs Reply:
December 12th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Hi computerman, my friend and I unfortunately bought the £3,400 package, one each. We have found it impossible to even start as we only have basic computer knowledge so don’t understand how to even get started. We did clarify that someone with our knowledge could do it and they said yes. They also told everyone at the seminar that you only needed basic computer knowledge, sadly they lied. That was without the other misleading information they gave. We bought it in June 2008 and the research I’m doing at present all comes up with the same problem and that is I live in Portsmouth in United Kingdom and it would appear that even if the court this end rules I have a case they cannot inforce it. I was very interested to read the contacts you mentioned in Utah, I wondered if I worked on both ends ie Portsmouth and Utah I may get a result. If you have any advice, knowledge, help, contacts or anything that would help I would REALLY appreciate it as like a lot of people I’m living from hand to mouth and in a desperate state financially at present. Also if there is anyone else out there that lives in UK that feels like they have been made a fool of and taken for a ride with Storesonline please get in touch as only if we consolidate can we hope to have any affect on them. Hope you or anyone else out there is able to help. It’s a tragidy for me that I didn’t know this website existed before I paid out all that money!! regards to everyone that reads this from Lizzieputs
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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
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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.
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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”.
[Reply]
Crossfire Girl Reply:
March 28th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Alex, OMG, I love your comment, lol.
I went to their 90 min presentation in Raleigh NC 3/27/2009 and right off the bat it was clear to me they were a scam. It was sad to see many people running to pay their $38 for nothing when times are hard.
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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.
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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!
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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!!!!
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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
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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)
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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!!!
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!!!
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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
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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!
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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
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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
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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!”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
[Reply]
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
[Reply]
Madelyn Reply:
February 15th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Julianna & Leonardo — Thanks so very much for your posts. My fiancé and I recently attended the entire “tiered” workshop series and are brand new Pro merchants - no other affiliation with SOL. As a brand new purchaser, I admit I was starting to worry as I read many of the other posts here. Your comments confirmed my growing suspicions about the source of the complaints, primarily:
1) unrealistic expectations on the part of the complainers,
2) lack of implementation follow through, and
3) a lack of familiarity with what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
My comments are for anyone anyone considering attending a Stores seminar. I am posting here simply to provide some balance – to give anyone considering purchasing SOL’s software additional info to be able to evaluate SOL’s product from a place that is not “fear-based.” No product or service is for everyone, but it would be a shame (and unfair) to shy away from checking out SOL simply because of the sheer number of dissatisfied posts here. I have a hunch that there are more satisfied users by far. Scroll toward the bottom of this lengthy post for a “quickie” take on my (positive). Read your way down for some comments about negative posts.
So far, our experience with SOL has been nothing but positive. True, the food was not great — but FOOD is not what SOL is selling, so the agita over the quality of the meal is not relevant and patently unfair.
Yes, SOL does SELL. Very well: an excellent model of how you can make money too (an unadvertised bonus, in my way of thinking). It is naive to expect a company to be in “business” without selling a product or service. That is not evidence of a “scam” or a “bait and switch,” it is a legitimate way to market services: give away something to sell something, like a free taste. ALL businesses use the “loss leader” approach. You will too, if you get your sites up. SOL readily admits they have set things up to encourage you to buy from them – why is that a BAD thing? They don’t MAKE you buy, and we didn’t experience or notice anything but an excellent job from well-trained salespeople, not what I would call “sales pressure.”
Our seminar leaders were very clear from the beginning about what SOL did and did NOT do, and that fees would be required for additional services. They also disclosed (from the beginning), that anyone without computer skills needed to handle that first - not something SOL provides.
Admittedly, they cited an example of a man who made money starting from “way behind the line” — he didn’t even own a computer when he started, and had NO computer literacy. That, to my mind, was included as evidence that the program was not so difficult to navigate that a novice could not master it, NOT as an implied promise that it was so simple a child could use it “out of the box.” They added that this man’s results were not “typical” and that ours would depend on our willingness and ability to do the work required (work they spelled out clearly in the course of the bootcamp).
As they said (often), and demonstrated with screen shots and live web examples, the SOL “suite” gives you the TOOLs to do website set-up and marketing work quickly, and explains what you need to do to expect to be successful. It does not do the work FOR you without an additional fee, nor does it offer custom-designed solutions that you might expect if you paid for a custom designed-from-scratch website site (pricey!). Far from evidence of fraud, I think it speaks WELL of the company that they provide access to SOL-knowledgeable programmer services (in addition to their customizable template-driven do-it-yourself approach), and that it is an OPTION to customize the product. The complaints about the programmer fees (not out of line with industry norms, and not necessary to use the product as purchased) baffle me. That’s NOT a scam, it’s an add-on service and an example of the amount of thought that went into developing and supporting this product.
How is any business to make a profit (the definition of the #1 business objective) if they don’t SELL a product or service at a cost greater than that to produce the product or service? For anything that is not specifically included with the product you purchase, you have to *expect* to pay their employees and vendors for their time and skills, as well as additional fees for additional products. (SOL spelled out what is included in a handout, along with what you will be expected to pay for additionally).
As an example, if you go to a free hot dog roast at a car dealership, it would be unrealistic NOT to expect a sales pitch and unfair to cry “money grubbers” when they offer a really great “buy now” car deal. The quality of the free hot dogs is a non-issue. If you decided to purchase one of their cars, anyone familiar with cars already knows they don’t WORK unless you put gas and oil in them, inflate the tires, etc. Complaining that you are expected to pay additionally for gas is nuts. Expecting to return the car because you don’t want to do (or can’t take the time to figure out how to do) what is required to keep the car running is also unfair, even if you didn’t fully realize what you needed to do to “use” the car when you made the purchase.
If the car dealership above ALSO sells gas, that is not “a scam,” it is an example of a FULL-SERVICE company (unless the car runs ONLY with their gas and they don’t disclose that clearly before you buy – not the case here). Expecting free driving lessons as part of the purchase, simply because the merchant said they would “service” the car is also unrealistic.
If you purchased one of their budget cars, it is also unfair to complain later that it didn’t include the factory airbags standard on the pricier models. Upgraded features for an additional cost is an example of pricing strategy, not “scam or fraud evidence.” Most businesses offer different features at differing price points, few profitable businesses market the most expensive offering first, and “upselling” is a common business practice. It is an unrealistic expectation that you will walk out of ANY “store” without some attempt to upsell. A realistic expectation is that you will receive a clear explanation of what you get at each price point – BEFORE purchase. SOL provides that clearly and well, yet some of the complaints seem to consider it an objectionable sales technique designed to “take advantage” of the buyer. To my mind, it is the opposite, albeit still within a “sales” context.
As for the refund complaints — refund policies and procedures are a legitimate part of business, and refunds are a time-consuming hassle for every company, no matter how they set things up. Expecting SOL to put just as much manpower in the refund department as the sales department is not something you could expect to find in ANY quality business. (I would wonder more about the product if they DID have the manpower in place to give me my money back with the same “quality of support” I experienced before I made the decision to buy – as if they *expected* people to be dissatisfied in huge numbers.)
It is also unrealistic to expect any company to refund your money unless you carefully read and follow their refund guidelines. EXPECT to be on your own here – did you think they were a fully-staffed refund BUSINESS? It is appropriate and usual that MOST of the efforts of ANY company will be focused on activities that add to their bottom line. Threatening a company’s reputation to avoid “usual and customary” business policies is nasty.
So, if you have a legitimate gripe with ANY product or service, you probably will have to expect to jump through a few hoops to get your money back. That in itself is not evidence of “fraud.” ALL online businesses are set up to reduce the hassles of “impulsivity remorse.” Only dress shops allow you to take things home, try them on, and bring them back for a refund some time later. Even THEY have timing and condition-of-garment rules to protect themselves, and you will probably be asked to fill out a form of some sort. Would you take seriously any threat to report a dress shop for consumer fraud because securing a refund was time consuming?
Background for context: No stores up yet through SOL, but I have been an online services merchant with a solopreneur approach for a l-o-n-g time, and am well aware of how very MUCH time each of the items included with their software can take without the help of automation. For over a decade, building and maintaining my website has been a second full-time job (in addition to the many hours a day I provided services and answering unpaid requests for information about my services). 50-75 hour workweeks have been standard for YEARS. Doing it “the cheap way” kept my company small with limited profitability, and me over-worked and close to giving up at many points. The SOL tools will handle what I have been doing “manually” at a savings of *at least* 20 hours a week. I don’t, however, expect it to be “work-free,” and I won’t cry foul because I have to handle the up-front tasks to get the automation set up and running. Relatively rapid set-up of ongoing automation *capability* is what SOL is selling — and, for my money, their product seems to do that extremely well.
Whether they are the ONLY, the cheapest (or even the very best) solution of this type is something to research fully before you buy, if THAT is likely to be a source of a subsequent complaint. I saw enough to conclude that SOL was a more than adequate solution for many of my online challenges to date and an elegant solution for others, which is the point of the SOL free seminars: to see if what they offer is a good enough fit for your needs at a price that is reasonable for what their product does for you. I didn’t want to spend additional hours of research time only to add a few features or to save a few dollars, *and* I wanted to take advantage of their considerable “buy now” discount (standard business approach, by the). I COULD have delayed the decision to purchase to further research alternatives, and I may (or may NOT) have found something I chose to purchase instead — but it would have been completely unreasonable of ME to expect to receive the “buy now” discount if I wasn’t ready to buy at the time, and patently unfair to squawk about it afterwards. SOL offers an extremely attractive discount hoping to encourage anyone “on the fence” to buy NOW. Duh! That’s not “sales pressure,” that’s SALES.
As for the “take no prisoners” speed of the seminars, do you really expect them to cover much at all if they explain in detail every single thing to the satisfaction of every learner in the room? I am highly computer & ecommerce literate, so I kept up with practically everything they said. Still, all I fully understood was what was available — along with relative ease of access and use, along with how to get specific usage info online subsequently — AFTER I bought their product.
Be fair, guys. If they didn’t leave anything for you to purchase, why would anyone EVER pay them for their development time, staffing, seminar costs, etc? How would they stay in business? As I’d hoped, I got a LOT of info for free, but I didn’t expect them to give away the store. To my mind, the “free seminar” was an example of what an online merchant must consider along with a preview of how much more there was to get if I paid for their product - not MY definition of “a scam.”
From what I have seen so far, SOL delivers exactly what they said they would: a full-service product to help an online merchant get a professional-quality website up & running quickly, especially the tools needed to RESEARCH the potential of new target markets, and to position & MARKET subsequent sites.
Since I am not an SOL employee and already have an existing service business designed to pay my bills, I can’t offer to spend time responding to emails or posts about my experience, which is why I took the time and space for a lengthy post. I PROMISE to post back quickly if my experience in the future makes me change my mind about SOL’s product (and would willingly join any class action suit that I felt was REASONABLE, in that case – but I’m not expecting to find anything that would support a change of heart to that degree).
If my sites-to-come become wildly profitable, that’s GREAT, and that’s my goal. But it is not the fault of SOL’s product if MY web-products don’t make me rich immediately (or ever). SOL spells that out clearly too, btw.
What I think is great about SOL Pro is that I can set up MULTIPLE sites without additional fees (other than hosting, which is to be expected, and is clearly disclosed) so my chances of making my target profitability goals are increased immeasurably. With PRO, I also get free upgrades as long as I have at least one site hosted by SOL. I can also use the included (purchased) tools to do research for my existing site (hosted elsewhere), set up sites for friends and relatives for free or for fee, positioning myself as an “online marketing consultant” — charging others for putting sites together with my purchased PRO package, and charging fees for managing their businesses. Stores introduced that concept at the seminars.
SOL Express, the cheaper option, does exactly what they say it will do also – it gets a site online quickly – no marketing tools unless you upgrade – SOL clearly disclosed, verbally and in detailed printed materials, what was included with each option.
Until and unless I see something to change my mind in my future dealings with SOL, for my money, they offer exactly what they say they offer at an excellent value. Free? Of course not. Cheaply? Definitely not. But before you cry foul, check out what each of the products they offer would cost singly, and then factor in the learning curve and time to master a bunch of software solutions that each have their own user interfaces, and the time to make them work together. THEN consider the opportunity cost (the money you are NOT making while you do it all the slow way),. You might conclude, as we did, that SOL is a VERY good value (and that there is no such thing as a free lunch! )
BTW: I am not including my website, email address, or any identifying features to avoid comments that this post is designed to market my existing service. This is a REAL post from a REAL customer whose ONLY “affiliation” with StoresOnLine is that of a workshop attendee and solution purchaser. This post is simply MY experience and opinion, offered at no remuneration, with no fore-knowledge by SOL. (I DO intend to inform them of its existence, because I never post anything, positive or negative, that I do not pass along to everyone cited in the post.)
Hope this helps – best of luck to ALL.
[Reply]
Devi Reply:
February 18th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Thank you for writing. I have been with storesonline since 2005 and now have three websites up. Two are very successful and 1 is our problem child. We have certainly made back our investment many times over but we have also worked at it. This morning I received a nasty email about my testimonial on storesonline, I was quite surprised as I am surprised by all of these comments. Storesonline has been very helpful to us, in fact in 2007 they invited over 150 website owners to a two day seminar for $150.00. They paid for our flights, lodging and two days of advanced training. Only 10 owners came, it was fantastic and we met a number of the people who worked there. That is basically the last contact we have had with storesonline, as we haven’t needed them for help since then. But we do a lot of research, there is so much free information online to help you with nearly any question you have–but you do have to look. When people email me whether or not to participate this is what I tell them:
1. You need at least two years of income because you will not begin to see significant income for that amount of time. It took us 8 months to program the first website and 9 months before we began to get significant free traffic from google, yahoo and msn search engines. Plus, because our first website did not have expensive items in it, we needed more websites to increase our income stream.
2. Research your product and know your drop-shippers.
I researched 3,000 products on World Wide Brands before I narrowed it down to 10 areas we would consider. We then interviewed dropshippers until we found an experienced one.
3. You will make mistakes. We did, some of them very costly and none of that had to do with storesonline.
4. The internet is wild, unpredictable, ever-changing and complicated. If you want security and safe–this is not the business for you. Give you an example, our second site we used two different manufacturers. We got ourselves to number 2 in google and had a nice stream of traffic and great sales. Our first manufacturer could not keep up with the sales and we ended up having to fire them–then our second manufacturer was bought out and then basically out of stock and reorganizing inventory for the next 4 MONTHS. We had 500 people a day and no product that we could actually ship. So we began to manufacture the product ourselves after 3 months of figuring out how to make it. We are still #4 in google and learning more every day, but we are leaning it–storesonline is not responsible for what I sell or how I market it. Our problem with the internet is not with storesonline but with how difficult google can be. They love two of our sites and hate the third–it makes business security a real illusion.
4. Know your personality: I have had my own businesses for 34 years, I know how hard it is to make a business work and I enjoy the challenge. Right now, I am marketing our business through writing articles for ezine articles, my goal is to write 250 articles this year. I have completed 50. But internet marketing is really a solo job. You are on your own with only yourself to answer to. Ask yourself, are you willing to spend the time it takes to learn what is basically a masters level course in business and marketing to be successful? If not, don’t waste your money.
5. If you are in any kind of desperate money situation, do not spend your money on this. This is a business to learn over time when you are not pressured. And yes, you have to have computer skills.
6. For those of you who do not know, to have someone program your sites for you is very costly–we figured our sites would have been a minimum of $15,000.00 each to program and I seriously doubt we could get them done now that cheaply.
Hope this helps those of you who are still interested.
[Reply]
Tamikia Alford Reply:
February 19th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Devi,
I too received a nasty email.
Gene Hutchins Reply:
February 27th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Thank youfor your honest comments. I have worked as a commercial trade credit manager (23 yrs) before down sizing. What a great number of people do not get, is the intense and huge commitment of time and blood sweat & tears that an entreprenuer must commit to be competive much more succeed.
Entreprenuership is not for people who tire easily. They
do not realize that buying “tools” is one thing. Having the skill and adeptness to “use” tools, much less than ‘mastering’ a tool, is another.
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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
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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.
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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.
[Reply]
patricia lazar Reply:
December 14th, 2008 at 10:28 am
We worked for 16 months 18 hours a day 7 days a week. It was a total waste of time.
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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.
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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.
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on June 17th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
the above comments were provided by SOL !
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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!
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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
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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.
[Reply]
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!!!”
[Reply]
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!
[Reply]
Lizzieputs Reply:
December 13th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Hi Alex I’m another Brit that got stung to the tune of £3,400 so did my friend (they gave us a discount of £300 wasn’t that nice of them!). Thanks for the watchdog address I will send an email to them straight away. I’m already in touch with Citizens Advice and Consumer Standards Agency to see what my chances are of getting a refund. If enough of us in UK send emails to watchdog and any other government department hopefully someone will listen. Good luck everyone with resolving their issues with SOL
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on June 18th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
As you can see from the responces I was right!
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on June 18th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
The responces show I’m right !
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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.
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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.
[Reply]
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.
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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).
[Reply]
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 …
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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.
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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!
[Reply]
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!
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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.
[Reply]
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.
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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)!
[Reply]
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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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. “
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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 refund?
[Reply]
on June 30th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Well Alex, my mom and sis-in-law went to the free luncheon. They paid $25 dollars each to go to the all-day workshop (i went in my mom’s place cause she had to work). They offered you free food or gifts to attend the meeting. After you paid the $25 fee for the workshop, all you did is sit, listen, and nibble on a snack (not to mention they’re pretty rude when you have a question to ask).
I doubt they would give you a refund. Sorry if I cause any confusion lol.
[Reply]
on June 30th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Tiffany - as for the refund, as I mentioned in a previous post, I did get a £25 (USD50) check, banked it and its now cleared so I did get my refund in the end - just took a few weeks. just wish i didn’t pay up the money in the first place to save myself the hassle, but i know there are people a lot worse off out there - those that have paid thousands and may never get it back.
[Reply]
on June 30th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
You’re pretty lucky. I asked my mom if she had considered getting her refund back…she said she doubt it.
I really do feel sorry for the ones who shelled out thousands for something they can do for a fraction of the cost.
[Reply]
on June 30th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Yeah. All I can say to the ones who have come back from the initial meeting and found this site is act straightaway - read the refund procedure on the back of the payment receipt, send the email as requested (easiest option on there i thought) and wait for your cheque. i havent spent any extra, had the cheque within few weeks (around a month wait), cashed and cleared within a few days.
Good luck everyone!
[Reply]
on July 1st, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Hi everyone..assholes ripped me and my husband off also..went to both seminars..watched their smiing faces as they smiled..bullshitted and took our money also..ANYONE IN OHIO..IF ANY LAWSUITS..PLZ RESPOND..would like to jump on this ban-wagon…stop this from happening more..getting my money back..thanxs..Dawn
[Reply]
on July 1st, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I’ve read mostly bad comments and 1 or 2 good comments about SOL. My question is, there has got to be an awful lot of happy people doing this or how could this company still exist?
[Reply]
on July 2nd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Hello, I too was taken by storesonline over a year ago. I never did get my web site up and running and I am out over $7,000. I have tried and tried to negotiate with them to buy back or just take back the 6 web sites I purchased. They refuse to take it back and only offer help at a heavy price. So, I finally went out and found the perfect Home Based Business that I was looking for. It is wonderful and profitable and my web site was up and running within 10 minutes of a minimal $449 one time price. I love my new home based business in the Travel Industry and it is going really well, the support with my new business is exceptional. I have no regrets with my decision to leave storesonline and I love my new home based business. If you are thinking about Storesonline, RUN THE OTHER WAY, DON’T DO IT !!. If you want a wonderful and easy home business with minimal cost. Email me at ddg7030@aol.com and I will be happy to show you how. Good Luck to everyone
[Reply]
on July 3rd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Just want to say thanks to Diana for this offer. HOWEVER, guys - keep a clear head as what she’s offering could be a conflict of interest and maybe take her customers away from her?
I hope she’s doing it out of the goodness of her heart but the other possibility is that it’s another home business scammer trying to pray on you at your most vulnerable time (when you’ve already been ripped off) ‘good cop, bad cop’ style.
good luck everyone …
[Reply]
on July 3rd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Ouch. I congratulate you Diana on your success.
For the time being, I’m gonna try my luck with eBay. They’re affordable and much easier on my bank account. I’m still not going to give up building my own website, but like her, I can do this under $500 instead of the mind-boggling $6000 they want from us.
[Reply]
on July 3rd, 2008 at 2:26 pm
It is another home business scammer - surprise surprise!
[Reply]
on July 3rd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Bob, if you are referring to me, I am not a scammer and I am very upset that you referred to me as one. I have a legitimate Home Based Business and web site and I have the right to tell people that there are legitimate ways to have a home based business for very low cost. My site is powered by Travelocity, so I don’t understand what gives you the right to say such terrible things. I was scammed by SOL and I currently owe them over $6000 because of a bad mistake. It’s people like you that say things on the internet that give it a bad name. You should be ashamed of yourself
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on July 3rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I was not - but since you mention it - you are promoting Travelcity and your website on this blog and not telling people how to set up their own website - you are instead suggesting and promoting they join Travelcity so that you get advantage. I understand you are telling people to join conference calls so that they an learn more as your guest of your upline called team freedom, and after the conference you want people to email you to join. Deny that or not!!! - Actually, the way you explain things, how your Travelcity set up the site and power it, you did not want to have your own site and develop it, you wanted someone else to do that for you so that you could have a homebusiness. You are just part of a wider internet business concept that sells people a website to promote their own business - and you actually are marketing and capturing custom for them - you are not running a genuine homebusiness. You are a commission sales person.
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on July 3rd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Bob, I started out on this blog because of the terrible injustice I received from SOL. They ripped me off, with lies and broken promises. You are a promoter of this company (I believe). I wanted people to know there is another option to have a home based business. I invited them to join the conference call to hear about the business. I also said they could contact me if they had any further questions. I COULD CARE LESS IF THEY JOINED with me or not. I wanted them to know there is another option. If they joined under me then great….If not, that’s ok too. I love this business and am very happy with it. As for your comment about me not wanting my own site. You are dead wrong. I had another product to promote and SOL, left me hanging without any help except for the help I had to pay extra for. I am running a legitimate home based business that I love. Yes, I get commissions for any thing booked on my site and also anything I book personally, and I love itI . People need to know there are other alternatives and I am just the Grandma to tell them.:)
[Reply]
on July 3rd, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Thanks Diana for owning up to your interests in respect to your comments about SOL and there are better sites around. I think we all know there are many homebased site offers on the internet - such as this one http://www.no-monkey-business.com/?hop=trafficmac
What we want is software and services to set up our own website and not join a multi-layer sales scheme that rewards from commission sales. There are so many around on the web that get pumped down our throats every day in spam, that now they all look the same as every other scam. People want their own site and not someone elses, thats why they went to SOL. How is your any different? SOL is in 2 businesses - (a) marketing (which is what most of this site complains about) and (b) providing website software and hosting - I read about very few who actually bothered to buy and set up their site. I suspect the marketing seminars are all hype and no substance. Its the same as insurance - pay now and later you never get the benefits you were promised. But in almost 90% of the cases it appears no one has bother to put the effort in and actually set up their site, or indeed check out the representations first - which is what normal business people do. Business is about risk and if you believe everything you hear at a sales seminar then you should be an employee and get out of business. SOL are in it for the money - hold them to their promises and sue if they do not. If anyone wants to set up a class action and sue, then say so and I will arrange a law firm to take the work. But first we need everyone, and I mean everyone, to sign up and pay a contribution to the cost of that. I think few will - but they will keep on complaining.
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on July 3rd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I would happily join a class action suit against SOL. I have read that many others would join too. SOL needs to be held accountable for what they promise at the seminars. I believe they out for the money only. They do not care if the people that buy into them make it or not. ONce the money is paid, your forgotten. This is not good practice and maybe it’s the reason why they have had to change their name a few times. I just hope that people read this blog before they go to the seminar or buy into SOL. I realize that some have good things to say about SOL, but they are few and far between. And that is sad…….
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on July 4th, 2008 at 6:38 am
I have been fleeced by SOL on their meeting in the Uk on the 27th June. Are there any people in the UK who are interested in a class action? I have a credit card where they will be taking money every month, what should I do? Someone please help. I went to the bank and they wont cancel the transaction because they say I signed a contract. All who need a class action in the UK contact me at solosidu@yahoo.com so we can arrange one.
[Reply]
on July 4th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Thank for this site
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on July 4th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Solodidu the email you provided does not function
at solosidu@yahoo.com - who are you - dont you read before I suggested all people register and set up a fund to fight a class action? I want to see every complainant register their interest on this site and say they will pay $5000 each to run a class action - otherwise stop whining - legal action costs money
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on July 5th, 2008 at 12:54 am
I wonder how many people have actually tried to set up their websites, either with SOL or on their own. How many did any market research in the time between the initial meet and before they signed up with SOL. I think not many; hence all in here complaining. I want to have an online business, but didn’t really look into it until after I had been to the seminar; that’s my fault. That said, I think it is possible to be sucessful, but as in all things it will take time and effort; and I dont think anybody at SOL said any differently. How many people have gone to the bank and said I’d like, say, £3000/$6000 to start a business; what would the bank say? Have you a business plan, have you done market research? etc, etc.This is no different. Sure I now see that I can get all the resources elsewhere; as a .net developer I can do my own website. I even have a better understanding of SEO; and a realistic timeframe to get to page 1 or 2 of Google. I think the hardest part is getting a decent drop shipper, but I’m still working on that one. Stop putting all that effort into complaining, law suits and doing nothing and get the website live! I would offer to help as I know HTML,.net, etc but developers do get paid more than people (non commercial) want to pay. Good Luck!
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on July 5th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
My sister got me to go to a SOL conference in NY. I went and was a bit enthusiastic. I am the skeptic of the family. Well, time came for the ‘consultation’ and she bought the 6K package. She’s got a regular job, I’ve been out of work for some time now. So, it became my ‘job’ to be webmaster.
This isn’t easy. There is SO MUCH to go through and I am really confused. God - if you read ALL the stuff in their Merchant Services section - it’s mind boggling!
I have been working on this for WEEKS almost non-stop. Some of it I can’t comprehend. I keep at it, though.
Today I wanted to register a domain. Tried to get into the payment section and it wouldn’t work. So, this being a weekend, I got on the CHAT site.
I said that I didn’t want to use my sister’s credit card, which was listed on the site. The customer service guy told me that he would send me a credit/debit card authorization form in ‘Word’ that I could fill out and send back to him. I didn’t want to do THIS by e-mail; something didn’t feel right.
Well, I get the e-mail and on the form there are a bunch of costs:
$24.95 for web hosting
$200 to Add Processor out of contract
$10/a month for extension of service
$100/yr extension of service
$50 MX record transfer
______ Blank @$50/HR changes request
$150 Programming
______ Blank “Other”
This line on the form BOTHERED ME…..
“If I have not included a check to cover the above marked fees, I authorize StoresOnline Inc. to debit my credit card
for above total amount. ” - and THIS AMOUNT… if I did my math correctly, would come to $535 without any of the BLANKS filled IN!
Something was fishy!
Here is part of the chat:
OK - I am reading this form and my sister has already PAID $6000 for the SOL package. I DO NOT want the fees described ON the form to be charged to MY card!
check select the other
and for the domain registration price list
you may check on http://www.storesonline.com.domain
if you register your domain name for 1 year it will be $14.95
I was thinking about 5 years to start?
OK - let’s go back to the beginning…. ALL I want to do is register a domain. Maybe I am not getting this….
yes that’s right Bev
you need to fill up the form I sent to you
so that we can process your request for domain registration
What I am trying to say is…and maybe I am not getting this - but if I ’sign’ that form - it looks like - to me - that about $500 will be charged to my credit card. IS THIS CORRECT?
For domain registration?????
no Bev
the domain registration is only $14.95 for 1 year
I’m sorry….
How much for 5 years?
let me check on it please hold
OK
thanks for waiting Bev
its more or less $75
No additional charges?
I’d go into merchant services and do this myself but I cannot get in.
Perhaps I should wait till Monday and call and do this over the phone. Would that be something good to do?
??
Yes Bev.
I apologize for the delay Im have a high volume of chat’s right now
-Darwin Atkins has left the chat.
-B has left the chat.
WHY would someone send me a form and just tell me to fill it out with ALL THOSE OTHER CHARGES ON IT?????
Has anyone else had this or something similar?
What about those who attended the seminar in Melville NY on May 30th and what are YOUR experiences?
[Reply]
on July 5th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Bev,
You should not be charged $500. You should be able to get a domain registered from any domain registrar. I would stay away from SOL for that. Go to godaddy.com and register it there. You should not be charged hosting until you are ready to put your site online. Then it is $24.95 a month to host.
The other charges they list is just a summary of everything they charge for. You probably don’t need them to make any changes, you can probably do that yourself. As far as the processor is concerned, look in your contract to see what was included. If you don’t use the processor you signed up with, then they will charge you to add an additional one. (a rip off if you ask me as it only takes them a few seconds to activate a different processor)
The $10 a month for extension of service is if you haven’t published within a certain time frame, they will charge $10 per month. The $100 yr extension of service is for those who haven’t published all their sites, they will charge $100 yr.
The new fees are confusing to me too. I signed up in 2003 and didn’t have all these rip off fees. I was charged $150 when I published a site. This took care of the initial publishing plus a year of hosting. After the year, I now pay 24.95 a month to host. THe mx records fee is a real ripoff. It takes about 2 seconds to make this change.
All I did when I published was send in the activation form and I was able to select 5 email addresses for my domain. I gave them the domain name I wanted to use. My registrar is with godaddy and all I have to do is enter a couple values for the dns servers.
[Reply]
on July 5th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
THis comment is for Bob,
You must be joking. The people on here who are complaining don’t have $5000 to pay you for a lawsuit. Thats certainly not worth the price. Most only paid $6000 or less to SOL. What would be the point of paying another $5000 to get maybe a portion of their $6000 back. I don’t think anyone is that stupid.
[Reply]
on July 5th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Bev,
I forgot to mention. SOL chat is next to worthless. You can ask 6 different people the same question and get 6 different answers. This person obviously had no idea what you were asking for.
[Reply]
on July 5th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Nancy - exactly my point. Everyone has lost their money, but no one will fund the recovery of it because it costs too much to do so compared to the loss. Its the same as insurance, you lose $5000 in premiums, the company never fronts up with the promised benefits, and you just have to right it off as a lesson learnt because it costs more to sue and recover than the loss itself. SOL is no different and they are smart. They charge just enough to make good money from the scam, but not enough to justify any person spending time or money on chasing recovery of the loss, while they make future promises that no one has checked out before paying. Lesson in life, never prepay for what is promised in the future unless you are certain the future is certain. Hey, great site, it teaches all those who complain a life lesson that most seem to not have ever learnt. If people want to recover their money then class action lawyers will be the first to set up a global class action, but only if everyone is willing to pay for the cost to do so. The more people who join the less it costs on an economy of scale basis. Trouble is, you will find everyone will be just complacent and apathetic, enjoying more to just complain than either set up a class action or better still, get on with life and set up the website they always wanted to and recover the cost that way.
[Reply]
on July 6th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Thanks, Nancy! This is all so confusing -BUT- I am going to stick with it and TRY to get the money back that my sister paid out.
The chat people have helped me on some things, but this wknd I have had 2 chats that were worthless. They just TOLD ME to do what I had already done!
I have not activated the site because I have nothing on it yet. I do have products ready to go but the process described at the seminar isn’t as easy as they made it sound. Perhaps it is ME doing something wrong, I don’t know.
[Reply]
on July 6th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Bev,
If you are looking for real help with SOL site setup and optimizing your site, check out http://www.onlinemerchantforum.com The site was started by a group of SOL store owners frustrated with the lack of support from SOL. The help is free and very useful information .
[Reply]
on July 6th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Get the honest people out of Orem Utah and nuke the f—-ing place
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on July 7th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
To Whom it May Concern;
DON’T GET INVOLVED WITH THIS COMPANY OR YOU’LL BE SORRY YOU DID. I AM $12,000 DOLLARS POORER AND MAD AS HELL BECAUSE NOW WHEN I CALL FOR HELP THEY SAY IF I SEND THEM $10.00 MORE A MONTH THEY WILL LET ME WORK ON MY SITE. I HAD ONE SITE UP AND RUNNING FOR 18 MONTHS-SHUT IT DOWN ON JULY 2, 08 BECAUSE ECONOMY MADE ALL PRICES CHANGE DRASTICLY. AND NOW THAT I WANT TO EDIT ONE OF MY OTHER SITES AVAILABLE THEIR ASKING FOR MONEY-TIME TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER HOSTING AGENT!
Capt. Nielsen
[Reply]
on July 7th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Bev - Be careful about getting a domain at godaddy.com. I agree that this is a cheaper option than going through SOL, but in recent months I have heard that domains other than ones purchased from SOL will not work. Just check it out if you can. Good luck!
[Reply]
on July 9th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I got a Store through StoresOnline and so far have found their customer service to be quite easy to work with. I reached their Customer Service department at 801-434-8582. I was told by them that if I had any special concerns these concerns would be taken to a review board by their management and my individual questions would be addressed by them.
In this day and age you simply cannot get an optimal target audience for your business without having a presence on the internet. Three out of ever four online businesses started will fail without the help of a tutor. So far, StoresOnline has delivered for me.
[Reply]
on July 14th, 2008 at 3:51 am
I went to the free ‘conference’ and was a little skeptical of the whole thing throughout… (the speaker creepily touched my shoulder at one point) …anyway ..I am SO glad I decided to google “storesonline scam” just to see what came up. Sorry to all who weren’t so skeptical!
[Reply]
on July 16th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
My girlfriend got the invitation newsletter. It’s a
good thing that I found this website. Would it be ok to attend the meeting just for the free food and and free mp3 player?
[Reply]
on July 18th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I just got the invitation for the free lunch and seminar. Thought I’d check them out first. Since I already have a great website, I don’t think I would have bought into their scam. Glad I checked though. I think I’ll go anyway and make sure I give out this site to everyone there for them to see before they sign on the dotted line. By the way, you can get a web site for $95.00 per year through Pow Web. They have free web builders (I didn’t use them though - I had someone build my site for me). The best thing about them is that there is always an english speaking person there to help you with the technical stuff and the support is free. I would highly recommend this company to someone wanting to do a web site.
[Reply]
on July 18th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Ok, I was contacted by a Consumer Advocate Person today. He states that he can actively help anyone who has lost money through Storesonline, by submitting a list of names, email addresses, phone numbers, $ lost, how many sites they bought, and dates and places of the seminars they attended and purchased SOL. He stated that if I get enough names (they can be anywhere in the world) he can find a pro bono lawyer to take a class action suit for us to get our money back. I DO NOT KNOW THIS PERSON, BUT I WAS WILLING TO HEAR WHAT HE HAD TO SAY. My email address is ddg7030@aol.com, and if you want to join this then email me. If anyone out there has any information about this, please let me know. I am skeptical, but willing to do whatever I can to teach SOL a lesson that they cannot treat people they way they did, and we deserve a refund. I am anxious to hear from everyone with a comment on this. GrandmaDee
[Reply]
on July 18th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Dee, at first glance that sounds promising but then it struck me you said you were contacted. How do you know this isn’t another scammer trying to bait everyone to get private info to try to sell them on something else or exploit them? Why don’t you tell them about this site and ask them to post their company info and contact info themselves? I’m encouraged but I’d like to see something that legitimizes who they say they are before people start sending off private info.
[Reply]
on July 18th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Julia, I like that idea. If he really wants to help us, then he can place a comment on this site. After I wrote my comment I thought, I don’t want to be responsible if this is another scam……..I agree with you, if he is really a consumer rights advocate and can locate a pro bono lawyer, than have him request the contact information. So, everyone, disregard my last comment, and let’s all keep our fingers crossed that this is actually someone who is willing to help us. Thanks again Julia
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on July 18th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
If you guys just google consumer advocacy class action lawsuits a bunch of firms come up that do these kind of cases. I just looked at one called Public Justice and you need to write them a letter and they will look into it. I’d follow their request for info and make sure to include this site for their info. If a few of you send letters to a bunch of these firms you ought to be able to generate some activity from people who actually do this for a living. I am not a victim of SOL so I can’t send a letter myself. I just found this site doing some research for my friend who was taken by them. She is not in the position to contact any of those consumer advocacy groups right now so maybe some of you can who are serious about taking action with this. Good luck!
[Reply]
on July 24th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
If you feel you have been treated unfairly with your online store please give me a call, I can help. (206) 339-7988 Leave a message and I can give you an immediate response.
[Reply]
on July 24th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Helpline,
Can you explain what you have in mind?
[Reply]
on July 25th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Back in March 2008, I posted a comment about how I was trying to get my money back from this scam with Storesonline. Well, after reporting all this to the Attorney General and BBB, I got a $1,000 refund. I had put in around $3,500 total, but at least by fighting and being consistant, I did get something back. So, just don’t give up!! Keep on, and the BBB is who helped me get this refund. Mari Silva is the person at Storesonline that I delt with in getting my refund. MSilva@storesonline.com is her email address and you can call 801-227-0004 to reach her. Good luck!
[Reply]
on July 26th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
their in new orleans with the same shit
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on July 28th, 2008 at 8:43 am
The company I work for has SOL and using a search engine I have trouble finding our product. The person that set up the site keeps tell us the “stats” on the site are great. The conversion rate is the one that matters so who is the one that establishes this rate SOL? Please help me understand what stats matter and where they come from because I feel we could do better with a good experanced web designer setting up a site from ground zero.
[Reply]
on July 28th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Hey-I’m going to one of their seminars on 7/31 for a free lunch & an MP3 player.
Any questions I should ask to BLOW their whole presentation?
[Reply]
on July 28th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Leave your checkbook and credit cards at home. Eat, get your gift and run as fast as you can out the door.
[Reply]
on July 30th, 2008 at 2:10 am
This is WA on 7-29 tues. I am reading this after the two seminars. I paid $50. for two meals and 2 MP3 players. Luckily no one talked to me at the second seminar. I looked into the Express site and tried to do that Domain thing and same as the girl earlier pretty much exact situation. Error on the credit card for me to pay and talked to “chat help” same info given emailed me some “fee” crap page. I’m always skeptical so My husband and i think that the two dinners (which were fruit and chicken pitas) along with the cheap MP3 players was equivelant to a nice date and purchase of a toy for someone’s gift. Otherwise i’d b crying. I really do hope this all stops and everyone gets their money back. We know nothing is easy but a little help does sound nice. And for the people on the positive notes in here. Who are you foolin. Common, try going to areas that have a little more money bet you wouldn’t win them over so well. I noticed the areas StoresOnline picks are in unwealthy areas. Because “Why?” their r more people desperate to try to make money.
[Reply]
on July 30th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I Live in Sydney Australia and I am ashamed to say I fell for the whole Storesonline sales pitch…. So far we’ve lost AUD $4000+ afterpaying off our debt to Duvera I had great trouble building a website- I was not as easy as they showed and the training DVD supplied to help us do this easily was based on their “old software”, so I used their online 24hour help chat but they didn’t really speak english well and it was hard to get my questions across - I found out their chat is based in the Philippines.
Here’s the kicker………..
1 year after signing up they billed us AUD$477.08 on my new credit card that I didn’t authorise them to have and they say they didn’t bill me, so I sent them a copy of my online statement showing “Storesonline as the billing company” it’s been 2 weeks and still no word… Liar, Scam, Unscrupulous….. Don’t do it with them, if I had been smarter I could have had a company in Australia proffessionally build host and maintaine a website for me instanlty for less than half what we lost with no return with Storesonline.
We also purchased 2 domain names through Storesonline and now we have told them we don’t want to deal with them they have made it near impossible to transfer these domain names to Goddady.com
Craig B Sydney Australia
[Reply]
on July 30th, 2008 at 3:03 am
Hey to: T Reed on July 28th, 2008 at 4:02 pm (above)
Hey-I’m going to one of their seminars on 7/31 for a free lunch & an MP3 player.
Any questions I should ask to BLOW their whole presentation?
You bet mate print these pages from Australia-
-StoresOnline customers get $679,000 in refunds after ACCC legal action
See- http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/779638/fromItemId/2332
And- ACCC amends claim against StoresOnline to include new allegations of false or misleading conduct
See- http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/805094/fromItemId/2332
There are heaps of these- I’m going to try for a refund and contact one of these Departments in Australia.
Craig B Sydney Australia
[Reply]
on July 30th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
T Reed!
They will not allow you to ask any questions during the presentation!
I attended the presentation in Reno NV this month and paid the 50.00 fee and was wondering why when I paid with cash the guy taking my money looked irritated now I believe they wanted my debit card number for the future presentaton..
By the way we got breakfast! scrambled eggs,bacon,sausage,fruit and bread-yummy! Plus at the end recieved the mp3 player that even my son could not get to work.
I just attended the workshop on Monday and got a few useful pointers inbetween ALOT of sales pitches and they were wanting a confidental paper filled out so they could offer financing to everyone-I did not fill this paper out but I did stay until the end of the presentation to hear about how to get a website to the top of the search engines and I will be checking into the site that I purchased to see if it is workable before cancelling it . I thank everyone who posted here and giving us all a heads up!
[Reply]
on July 30th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Hello, I was contacted yesterday from the Attorney Generals office in Washington state and they are investigating SOL. I was told that if anyone else in the state of Washington has a complaint, they are to file a complaint. I was so excited that they were being investigated. Good Luck to everyone
[Reply]
Mercedes Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:42 am
We are from Massachusetts and navegate on the same boat. We just contact Attorney Generals office in MA.
Maybe yo can let then\m know
[Reply]
on July 31st, 2008 at 2:41 am
I just attended a SOL seminar last night for the first time. It was interesting. Well I am a blogger so I just made a very detailed blog about the whole thing. After I made the blog I found this site, so I decided to make a link to it for all of you to read. Hope it helps.
http://capitalactive.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/the-storesonline-meeting-what-i-thought/
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on July 31st, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I know this off subject but has anyone looked into SMC?
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on August 1st, 2008 at 10:00 am
2 those of you who responded-Thanks!
I went to the meeting yesterday and lots (35?) bought the Express pkg. I found it interesting that they sked the 6 hr meeting 16 days later-which allows no one to rescind.
Sure glad I’d been to this page B4 the meet–good lunch, crummy mp3 player-Best of luck to all of you!
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on August 1st, 2008 at 10:08 am
To Joanne-SMC’d be great if you could find people willing to pay retail for junk-
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on August 1st, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Mr. Dragon’s review has it’s good points, but the objectivity ends up neutralized with his sarcasm – I read his follow up post about how his StoresOnline blog got the most visitors…does he really care about StoresOnline or was he just jumping on the bandwagon of “post a link on a blog and reap the rewards”…does it matter? Maybe not, but it was worth mentioning.
My favorite parts and “business pointers” for Mr. Dragon’s review are as follows:
“I always am trying to learn about business.” – Good for you - an open mind is required to learn most anything. Objectivity is a common sign among intelligent persons.
“They promise free dinner and a free (128MB) MP3 player to everyone who shows up and stays for the whole event.” – Did you get these items? If yes, then promise fulfilled.
“…no FTP, no domain name, no email or any of that (At least they did not mention this).” – Find out first, then continue writing your review.
“Now here is where it starts to get really bad. They took some polls. First off most of the people there were over the age of 65. Next of the 200+ people there only 7 of the people in the room currently had a website of any kind.” – What is the bad part? The idea that the reason many of the people attended a seminar that talks about the web were not web savvy? Hmm, sounds pretty normal to me. If you were shocked or offended by people who don’t know about the internet going to learn about the internet class, I’m not sure what to tell you.
“Now at the end of the meeting they handed everyone a order form/contract. If you sign it says they will bill your credit card the monthly fee until you cancel in writing. For me it was crazy. But I was surprised when I looked around almost half of the people there were signing up, handing over their credit card info and their money.” – Again, there is nothing shocking or as you’ve put it “crazy” about someone signing up for a service and getting billed monthly, with services terminable by writing. More writing scare tactics…moving on…
“The people who run StoresOnline know that almost all of these people will NEVER make even one sale.” – Who did you talk to at StoresOnline to verify this? Careful of the slander/defamation line – “In law, defamation (also called calumny, libel, slander, and vilification) is the communication of a statement that makes a false claim, expressively stated or implied to be factual…” Up until now, you were obviously NOT a fan of Storesonline, but as a tip for future reference from one blogger to another: be careful.
“They then showed some examples of their clients, like the one who is FIRST on google with the keywords “inland empire thomas guide”. OK anyone that knows about SEO is laughing right now, I know. It was hard for me not to. If you search for “thomas guide” they are middle on the second page, not too bad.” - Anyone who does SEO? I know you said you like to learn about business, but you should probably pick up on the SEO tactic of “low hanging fruit” and keyword strategies as well. Diana is obviously doing something right to show up so high in a Google search. Where exactly is your blog or website in the search engine?
“Everything they were showing was right from 2001.” – Touche, and yet, if most people have never learned the basics, would you really throw them into a 2.0 web environment? Walk before running Mr. Dragon, it’s another learning new things approach that I’d recommend to you.
“… then they told the only lie of the night about how people can go to your site, order something and some of the money is “Wired” to your paypal account while the rest of the money is sent to your dropshipper and it all happens while you sleep with nothing from you. I talked to them later and they said that it really is not possible to do this but they just wanted to make it simple to understand for the people there, and I found that acceptable.” – I’m glad that you cleared that up with them and that the answer was acceptable to you. For being such a bad company, they only told one lie that ended up being acceptable to you…I find this somewhat intriguing as you are clearly against their product, company, and presentation at certain points, yet you ferreted out only “one acceptable lie” – hmm, credibility continues to fade.
“But how many smart motivated business people are clueless, they don’t coexist” – True and yet there are those who are smart, motivated people who may start out “clueless” to something like the internet, and when they find the right fit software and company wise and get the education they needed, they are no longer clueless – it is the process of education, law of the harvest type idea you know.
“I am really impressed with their presentation and how it all works, it was very slick,” – seems that you are upset by the way it was well put together so you couldn’t stab it any further, but you do make up for the professionalism with your speculations of how StoresOnline works.
“Who would of thought you could sell $100 worth of stuff for thousands and still have people lining up. They are able to send out targeted direct mail, then hold a meeting, give away free food, and free gifts and STILL make a profit. I need to figure out how to do this with one of my businesses.” – And there it is folks, in black and white: I NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS WITH ONE OF MY BUSINESSES. His opinion of StoresOnline is that they are basically ripping people off, but hmm, he wants to figure out how to do the same thing he is so obviously criticizing. Mr. Dragon, when you do figure out how to be “very slick” as you’ve put it, the world best watch out – you’re so happy to shame shame StoresOnline, yet you want to know how to duplicate what you supposedly despise…tut tut.
“At least I would only talk to people who I knew could use the product, not just any dumb person with a credit card like these guys do.” – You make a blanket assumption that you know who can or cannot benefit from an online business and assume that is what StoresOnline is doing. If you mail out advertisements and people show up to learn more, then it is really a self screening process and in the long run, don’t you think it might be possible that people might want to spend $50 on a simple website – is that such a despicable business practice?
Oh well, that was fun. Thanks for the blog Martin, I had a good time.
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on August 3rd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
My free mp3 player signals an threat notice from my AVG secuirty software when i plug it into my computer. then if i click to isolate the threat, and continue working my computer shuts down at various odd times. Has anyope else experienced this?
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on August 4th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Due to the great response we’ve had in resolving customer service issues with past and present StoresOnline merchants on these blogs, we wanted to publish the official StoresOnline contact information for those who will visit this blog:
Mari Silva
Director of Customer Relations
Stores Online Inc.
Phone: (801) 227-0004
Fax: 801-426-6712
Toll Free Fax: (888) 416-7370
Email: msilva@storesonline.com
We look forward to hearing from you.
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on August 5th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Well I guess Quince was not happy with my blog. I will address his many complaints. I was not 100% negative on it. I did receive the food and MP3 player as they said, and over all I had a good time at the event, I even met a few people who I gave my card to.
As I said it may work for some people. When I say something is Slick that means it is really smooth and it is not a bad thing at all. And I would like to be able to produce a slick marketing thing for my company. When I said that they know that most people loose money I should have said that if they looked at the numbers they should know. I have never seen ANY business opportunity were even a majority of the people make money. To me it is about how much these people who loose money loose, and watching how they get sucked into it. This is not the first or last company that I have reviewed. I understand low hanging fruit, I have gone after many but as an example it is weak. I did not intend to spend this much time talking or looking into this company, I just wanted to make a blog about what I thought on the day I thought it, nothing more. I don’t deal with this company near to the extent as most of the people on here, and I don’t plan to. But if you talk about being critical, you were much more critical of my blog as I was of this company.
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on August 5th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Well it seems most of the internet online stores really are buyer be beware!
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on August 5th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I’m from Ma and I to was scammed by sol. I attended their workshop in July 2007 and purchased 6 websites and couldn’t get them up and running so I paid a website designer to help me with it and he too could not get my website going. I just about gave up on everything and am now 6500.00 short. If there is anyone out there from Ma who attended these seminars I would love to here from you, Thanks.
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Steve W Reply:
May 28th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
To Nelly Silva - it sounds more like you were scammed by someone claiming to be a website designer. After reading so many comments on things, sounds like SOL’s software is not as intuitive as it is advertised to be, but any decent web designer should be able to work with it, as is proven by the numerous SOL websites that are out there and working.
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on August 6th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Basically it all comes down to this. Getting an online store from GoDaddy or many other sources is about $50 per quarter. There are at least 100 places you can buy this at. But the VALUE of having an online store is 100’s of times more than the cost. You can spend $50 and make $50,000 with ease. So smart people are taking advantage of this, and they are taking these cheap products that are very good and marking them up and marketing them to people that don’t know the real price of the product. This is VERY common in our country. Ink costs about 20 cents an ounce but sells for over $30 an ounce when put in an ink cartage for a ink jet printer. Phone service costs your local phone company less than $1 a month to provide to you yet they charge $30 or more. Caller ID costs them under 1 CENT per month yet they usually charge $5.99.
People can choose to be educated or pay, it is their choice, and in our land of freedom we offer all of these choices. If you are smart enough to find someone to pay $6000 for the product that costs you $10 then you are free to do it, but when people figure out that they over paid you may have problems to deal with.
Jason Dragon
http://blog.capitalactive.com/
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on August 7th, 2008 at 8:14 am
I just attended the meeting last night and bought into it. Wish I had been able to research BEFORE the meeting. I don’t care so much about the $50 charge but I do want to stop the recurring monthly payments before they start. Anyone know what I should do?
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on August 7th, 2008 at 11:48 am
No one made you people buy anything. If you put the time and effort into it, you can make it work. How do you think it works for thousands of other people just like you? They give you the tools, they hold your hand, but YOU have to do the work. It is a business. It is not an overnight success. You will not make a million dollars in one day. The only reason it didn’t work for you is because you let it fail.
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on August 8th, 2008 at 12:39 am
I attended a Storesonline presentation about 5 years ago in San Jose, CA, purchased a license and was NEVER able to use the so-called turn-key website. All they wanted was more $$$ whenever I called to ask for help. They are a total scam. DO NOT go to their seminars. They really need to be shut down!
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on August 8th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Carly -
You have 3 business days to cancel your contract
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on August 8th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Well I just purchased the $50 package and have seminar next week. I have no intentions of purchasing the PRO package…never did… I have been to high pressure sales things so knew they would try to sell something else. My question is has anyone had any luck whatsoever if they didnt spend any more money and just used tools on the express package? It hasnt been 3 days so should I go ahead and cancel? has anyone been charged the monthly fee if they cancelled right away?
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on August 8th, 2008 at 7:08 am
I called and told them I wanted to cancel my account. The rep said it was taken care of but then told me my account was “on hold.” I told him I wanted it cancelled instead of “on hold.” He said this was the only thing he could do and it would not be active unless I called back to change it. He said I would have no charges to my credit card and so far there have been none. I am so glad I did this within the 3 day period.
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on August 8th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Carly-
Smart! They hold the 6 hour conference beyond the three-day cancellation period because most people will wait to attend it, thinking all their problems will be solved at the meeting.
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on August 11th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
My son and I attended one of these seminars in Feb. 2007
My son had just “retired” from working on cruise ships for several years and wanted to get into something he could do from home. I was interested in “retiring” also so I went with him. Boy! They are GOOD!!! They had elderly couples and young alike rushing to buy into this ” Get Rich Quick” program. Of course, all the video testimonials they showed made it all look so easy!
They kept offering better and better “deals” Well, long story short, we purchased 6 websites for $6400. The websites were $4900, which included a 1 yr. “customer support fee” (BS), $999 for Credit Card Processing License, $499 for e-store tax program. The training was free. I paid part of the down with a credit card and the rest of the $900 with a check. However. They insisted that the balance be on a monthly draw from my bank account. We were excited to get started.
Then the phone calls started. My husband thought the Tax Club would be a good idea. They convinced him that they could also take over handling the books for our business we already own. That was another $2600 or so. Then, they charge us $19.95 every month. For nothing. We have yet to get one website up and running and he did not turn his books over to them after discussing it with his longtime CPA. We have had numerous people call us and say they can get us up and running, for a price of course. We have been working on one website as our schedule allows. Although, it is not as easy as you would think I even had one fellow call me and identified himself as someone with StoresOnLine and literally badgered me about not working on it. At one point he alluded to the fact that people like me were losers. Needless to say I hung up on his ass.
Every single person that calls trying to sell us something else is in with SOL. Believe me, if we could get out of it we damn sure would.
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on August 12th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
There have been questions on the blog about getting in touch with Mari Silva. In order to contact her directly, you need to call 801-234-5976 or email her at msilva@storesonline.com. Mari is working with merchants and others who have questions about StoresOnline and seems to be very passionate about her work. She is someone you can talk to and get help from, so I recommend that you get in touch with her.
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on August 13th, 2008 at 3:17 am
I sent her an email on aug8 or 9th and havent heard a word from her. I sent copies to every email address I could find of theirs, also to BBB. I did get a reply from someone that said I needed to send them more info and it would be taken care of. I still dont know yet if it has. I will keep you informed. I also sent a copy to the convention center that is hosting the so called workshop next week to let them know that Storesonline is planning on scamming the local residents of Chattanooga/Cleveland area. Whether they do anything or not is up to them.
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on August 13th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
I attended one of their 90 min seminars the other day, full knowing it was going to be a scam but figured I would get a nice dinner and a mp3 player.I was appauled by how many people bought into this scam. Not only did they purchase the empty $50 binder which charges $25 a month, but were all willing to go back to the all day workshop which is going to shake them down for $3,500. I understand people have a dream to stay at home and be their own boss, while making money, but chances are if they can’t see through con jobs, their chances of having a successful “at home” business is slim to none.
My favorite part for this conference was the dinner, which included, a dry turkey sandwich, a cup of mac salad, and bottle of water( all wrapped in plastic wrap.) Now I am praying the mp3 player works.
I also found it interesting how we were not permitted to ask questions in front of the audience (only on a one on one basis). I wanted to ask the MC “how much do you make a year and do you utilize the storesonline software.
I hope more people that are drawn into these schemes realize that they can purchase software that does the same thing and cost about 1/1000 of what these crooks are asking for. Please people realize that the only one getting rich here are the people holding shares to storesonline.
This is my take on the whole thing- but you can decide for yourself. They sell a great dream but It’s their dream that is coming true.
with concern,
monique
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on August 15th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
In response to mssonya1962@aol.com: I responded to your email message on August 9th - your request should have been completed, however if you have other concerns in relation to your email, please contact me directly at 801-234-5976. Thank you.
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on August 15th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I worked for these guys for a short time. It was a sweatshop. A year ago they had SEVEN different state AGs looking into their business practices. I have since found out that a person can get set up in a business-oriented website for a LOT less than they are charging. Their “premiums” (meals, business organizers, MP3 players, etc.) are trash.
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on August 16th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Hello to everyone who is reading this. I recently attended the meeting in manassas virginia Where they gave away free dinner and a ipod shuffle. I listened to the proposal that storesonline had. They had a speaker that wasnt even working with them. He was terrible,nervous, and admitted he made a part of the story he was telling us was false. He kept studdering,which in my book is lieing. Then they claimed about how many people did this and that. But for real reference, I went and check the better business bureau online. And didnt find them regristered at all. I started a website like this..just with world market systems.and they got me for $100. and stores online is the same setup.pick the product, price, and bla bla bla. my advice, work hard and start your business from the ground up the old fashion way. The internet is easy to make money..but also easier to lose money.thank you very much
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on August 18th, 2008 at 11:09 am
I am from the state of Texas and purchase StoresOline, iMergent & PMI in 2007 and I am out $13,367.00 and would like to know how I can get a refund? I have already contacted the Attornery General of Texas and have not heard back. Does anyone out there know of an Attorney that would handle a class action suit to get a full refund of my money?
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on August 21st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Hello all, I would like to thank you for this website. It has helped me in my decision to cancel service. Today is my 3rd day and I have cancelled my service. When I called in to cancell, The guy on the phone said everything short of calling me a looser. He was very unprofessional but he did say that they have cancelled my service.( I am hoping that they will cancel) I have called my bank to stop payment on the $4999.00 check. Now as far as them being a big scam, I think that they are very tricky in showing the software. During the presentation the guy acutally created a website in just a few clicks and bam!! The website was created and had everything u needed to publish it….WHAT they dont tell you is that it takes about a month or more to do all the prepwork. You have to create tons of accounts with various other companies. To start a dropship account etc., also there are so many other fees out there its crazy. I will say that I learned a lot of info from the workshop/seminar ..I think if you go to one write down as much info as you can and go out and do the leg work yourself .They give you enough info to really go and do it yourself…Besides one more tricky thing they said no 2 more is 1 they claim to help you with your current site(I already had a web business) They could not touch it! 2 If you tried to have them build you 1st website for you, YOU have to do all the research and upload pictures and everything so YOU do all the work anyway they just put all YOUR WORK together..I thank GOD for this website and helping me to save a ton of money…You guys are great.
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on August 21st, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I went to a meeting in Chattanooga and they said many times that they are all required to have a working website and that they are all making money with them. When I was interviewed by the “high pressured sales person” I ask him about his site and he said that their policy ststes that they cannot reveal any information on their person site. I ask why and he said that he cannot do it. I can only assume that he was not making money or he does not have a site in the first place. Why would anyone not use a successful site to help you sell? It did not make sense and not I am in the process of cancelling. I have called in and got the reps name, time I called and a confirmation number. I then took the information and faxed the info in to confirm my call to them (just in case they say “I never called them”) and I even went so far as to e-mail them!
I want my $5995.00 back!
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on August 21st, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Everyone who “thinks” they have canceled their account,,,make sure you check your credit card statements. We canceled but then a charge showed up. We called again and they have not refunded yet. Keep an eye on your charges and credits!
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on August 21st, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Today I attended the 90mts session in NY. I knew this is a scam as I had attended the full day session 3 years back. But a full day session for 50$ is really worth for the updated information on internet marketing. You may say you can get all those infor from internet. True. But a class room session is really effective. From the last class I got the idea of drop shipping. I have my web site up and running for 3 years. ( not through SOL ). Let me attend the upcoming 5 hour sept 1st session to get the 1/2 an hour worth updates.
By the way in our today’s 90 mt session they didn’t handover the mp3 player. It seems the shipment didn’t arrive and asked all of us to fill in an address form to ship.
I really feel for all those seniors who attended the program who think ecommerce is a cakewalk the way SOL projects it.
I gave cash tob eon the safer side to attend the one day session.
I was surprised how 90% of the attendees were handing out their credit cards - they will realize the pain when the monthlky fee of 25$ kicks in.
Thanks to who ever set up this site.
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on August 22nd, 2008 at 8:46 am
Yes They do have the conference long after the 3 day cancellation so I did lose $50…plus $14 for parking for the day and the gas I spent driving to the event. For those of you who went to the 2nd event though you can cancel that contract because it was separate from the 1st…but I highly suggest you cancel your check you wrote or stop the credit card you used because I cancelled yesterday and still don’t have word from them. I will keep you all posted….
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I have read through all the comments on this review and I can’t help but notice how many of you seem to have wanted success for little or no work on your part. I too went to one of their workshops and was very ignorant to internet marketing but decided I would learn. I spent months and months reading the tutorials offered in merchant services and following through on the information given. My thinking is this, If you want success on the internet it will take literally years of hard work through continual building and promoting of your web site. I agree that the presenters at the workshop make success on the internet seem very easy, but I also realize that is how every company out there markets their products or services. Approximately 95 percent of all Biz owners fail, and I have no doubt you guys easily fall into that category and the only ones posting here are not willing to spend years investing and working a business whether it is online or offline in a traditional business. Folks I am determined to make a success out of my e-commerce web site and I will take full responsibility for it. You guys can dilute your self by claiming SOL web sites are more expensive but It is very competitive with the others out there for what you get. None of the others offer the marketing tutorials and updates to whats new in marketing on the net. Folks, I can go on for hours explaining why 95 percent of the people in this country would rather whine and complain if they do not get rich overnight but after I post this comment I am sure I will get accused of being affiliated with SOL. I can assure you I am just like you guys except for I have a realistic view of how to become a success with a business. Success very rarely comes over night and I’d be willing to bet I had a harder time understanding the builder than any of you. I consider myself very good using the builder now and I got that way by spending hours chatting and learning it. Stores chat support are not specialist in marketing and promoting but they are very good in the builder. To learn how to market and promote to drive traffic is an education in itself and takes time to learn. Review any successful website on the internet by using alexa dot com and you will see most took years to become a success. My website was published in February of 2008 and It took months just to get indexed with the major search engines. Most in here know fully well they didn’t spend the required time to achieve success and they are just full of excuses, they would fail at any endeavor they attempted. After 6 months of very long hours promoting my web site I am happy to say I am having success in sales as of recently. If you are truly doing it right your web site will change consistently and after years of climbing the google rankings and learning hundreds of ways to drive traffic you will enjoy the successes of the other 5 percent who truly put forth effort to become successful. Sorry folks but it is just a sad fact that most people just want something for nothing and will whine and blame someone else if it doesn’t happen over night. I have nothing but rave reviews for SOL’s 24 hour chat support. Ill say it again for the many excuse makers. I am in no way affiliated with Storesonline or any one else . I just happened to see this blog as I was logging in to my back office. For the record, I have more money invested than any of you that have posted here. That’s how it works folks in the greatest country in the world. If you put forth the time, effort and yes, money, you can be successful. If you don’t have the money then ask yourself why that is and how you expect to change that by complaining and blaming?
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I can’t believe how many people feel it is their right and duty to criticize and judge those who have posted their (bad) experience with SOL. I am a web developer and I can tell you that charging people $6000 for an ecommerce website that they don’t create for you is absolutely INSANE! I charge about $4000 for most e-comm sites I create, but I’m creating them in every aspect and even loading their products for them as long as they give them to me in a spreadsheet, and I also provide free training on how to use the back end of their store. Those of you who are so arrogant as to demean others for not being as savvy as you are just plain jerks!
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Hi William,
Thank you for your feedback. Just out of curiousity, you mentioned you saw this blog in your backoffice.
Where was that?
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 9:57 pm
John, I rest my case!!! My point is verified through your post. Noone paid 6000.00 for a web site. It is approximately 6500.00 for the whole package of 6 web sites including ECI credit card processing for all and their in no other provider out there supplying as much info on how to market and promote their site. If a person doesn’t understand the marketing end of it they just need to research it to learn it. I have read numerous post, on this thread, riddled with innacurate info about SOL and I have read about some who couldn’t have possibly worked at being successful in such a short time. John my post was not meant to be arrogant, I just simply know it takes an incredible amount of time and energy to become successful in this venture and yes I am proud of the fact that I work at it instead of making excuses. It seems you posted with more of an intent to advertise yourself to the helpless in here rather than actually reading all these posts. some in here wer’e definitely detered from ever even trying based on the excuses and outright lies about the SOL service. If it weren’t for the great customer service I would have never figured out how to use the SOL builder. They not only provide help but will actually set it up while you chat with them. Any one can make a go of it, but most will just make excuses and hope they can recover their money. You see they purchased a dream but was not willing to support their dream.
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 10:18 pm
To Martin Lee,
If you read my first post I did not say I saw this blog in my back office, I stated I saw this blog link on google when I typed storesonline to get to my login page so I clicked on it because after all I’ve learned, I now know that in order for someone to have their link on the same page as Storesonline’s search results they would have to have a Pay per click campaign (PPC) If a person set up this blog using PPC then they most definitely have an agenda and that agenda is most probably to promote their services or product, but it is a great place for the meek to vent about how the world screwed them.
William,
http://www.mybirdgarden.com
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 10:35 pm
William,
You mentioned nothing about google in your first post.
“I just happened to see this blog as I was logging in to my back office. ”
Say whatever you like but I’ll let people make their own judgement call on whether they find this site useful.
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
William said: “It seems you posted with more of an intent to advertise yourself to the helpless in here rather than actually reading all these posts. some in here wer’e definitely detered from ever even trying based on the excuses and outright lies about the SOL service.”
Well, my friend, where do you see my contact information advertising myself? What an idiot. You, that is.
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
John, I’m the Idiot??? you are the one who was all worked up on phony information you either concocted or just never bothered to educate yourself on the facts. where did you get $6000.00 for one site?
” I am a web developer and I can tell you that charging people $6000 for an ecommerce website that they don’t create for you is absolutely INSANE!”
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Martin, I agree this site is useful. never said otherwise. I was just stating my thoughts and observations. I have no interest in promoting SOL but I find it a shame that many will find this site and be deterred based on only the few who never give it a chance or ones that want success for free.
I truly don’t see the importance of debating how I found this blog so enlighten me please.
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on August 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 pm
William,
It’s not important how you found this site as there are many ways. I was just wondering what sol was up to putting my site inside their back office. Thanks for the clarification.
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on August 24th, 2008 at 4:44 am
William there is no reason to degrade or downtalk the people who post here. I am glad I read these posts. I agree some of the info here has been a little off, but I chock that up to emotion. It’s no fun to realize that you were taken for $6000 more or less. If you read my posts I was very truthful and stated exact facts and numbers. I will say it again SOL is only a software company but they make the presentation in a way that makes it seem so easy, but in reality it is far from it, read my post, and so what if other companies do it. It is not ethical to present something very quickly and then presure people in buying a dream a “Life changing choice”. Please as I said the info they gave was very informative and anyone without spending $6000 can go out do the research and start a business. I think they are running a bit of a scam and also they were very unprofessional when I called to cancel service. My point is this just because people post here doesn’t make them ignorant or lazy or some dumb dream chasers…They are people that were sold on borderline false examples of success and then pressured to buy. Look they are who they are and they know what they are doing we are all adults here so you need to understand that some people will fall for anything and then find out to late what it is, and everyone should know that nothing comes easy and nothing is free.
[Reply]
on August 24th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
24 hours ago I signed up with StoresOnline. After reading these postings, I cancelled my order by fax, certified mail and email, stopped payment on my $50 check, and pray they don’t figure out some other way to get my money.
[Reply]
on August 25th, 2008 at 9:44 am
“William said: “It seems you posted with more of an intent to advertise yourself to the helpless in here rather than actually reading all these posts. some in here wer’e definitely detered from ever even trying based on the excuses and outright lies about the SOL service.”
Well, my friend, where do you see my contact information advertising myself? What an idiot. You, that is.”
From his comments-did not read his entire rant,too long no paragraphs, he sounds like an SOL employee.
[Reply]
on August 25th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Joanne,
Are you kidding? You are making comment on a so called “rant” you did NOT entirely read? Do you comment on how a piece of pie tastes when only eating the crust? Don’t embarrass yourself.
[Reply]
on August 26th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Marty
Your rant was too obvious to be taken seriously-don’t YOU embarrass yourself.
[Reply]
on August 26th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
You all are a bunch of lazy people who don’t know the meaning of persistence. It works. Obviously you never gave it a try and expect to just pay and have money magically flow into your wallet. Try it, apply the techniques and it will make you successful.
[Reply]
patricia lazar Reply:
December 14th, 2008 at 11:02 am
BS We gave it our blood and guts - that’s how hard we tried!
[Reply]
on August 26th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
martin Lee,
Can we talk for a bit or will you just keep banning my posts if they don’t fit your agenda?
[Reply]
on August 26th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
William,
I have not banned any of your posts.
[Reply]
on August 27th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
OK, let’s stop all this pointing fingers, facts, can you get SOL to work? Yes you can, if you know computers and have a lot of time to work on it. From a technology stand point SOL is off the mark by four to six years. Is SOL for a full blown business, no it’s for Mom and Pop operations. Last, $6k for SOL, that is crazy, you can have a good complete custom e-commerce site designed, built and ready to do business for $5K, maybe less. These are the facts because I have just gone throw it where I work because they have SOL. Bottom line it will work, it will take a lot of time to set up, it’s out of date, not expandable cost effectively, and from a price stand point it’s a big rip off!!!!
[Reply]
on August 27th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
I attended a seminar held by SOL at Barkers Island in Superior, WI on 8-28-2008. Very slick presentation, well dressed presenter with hot model type assistant. No questions answered during the 90 min. pitch: these would be addressed at the follow-up workshop which is to be held on September 9th, 2008 at the Holiday Inn in Duluth, MN beginning at 8:30 AM and ending at 6:00PM. I was interested by the discussion but had concerns regarding the website as shown on the graphics before us. Anybody who has done any computer work at all knows that things just don’t get done by a few clicks and “poof” magically the website is complete and accurate. If people go to these seminars and gain info. instead of giving SOL the little money they have for some flowery spoken words and dreams that will be difficult to materialize then they would be better off. I added the location of the meeting for those of you that have been taken advantage of, perhaps this info. will assist you in tracking these folks and detering them from continuing on this path of distruction. Sadly, I informed them that the dates of the workshop would not work for me and I am thankful for this site as it has truely opened my eyes. During the month of September a group from SOL will be throughout the Twin Cities area…..beware.
[Reply]
on August 28th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Ceac I have to agree with you thats kind of what I have been posting myself, they are a software company but it is how they present themselves as if things were so easy. They are a big rip off. My wife does web design and she kept saying “It seems nice but what are we paying 6K for..?” This is why I decided to cancel service and also decided to post here so that NO ONE FALLS for this company.
[Reply]
on August 28th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Bottom line is….Every one of you who keep saying SOL wants $6000.00 for a web site are proven to be purposely lying by your own words. $6000.00 is for 6 (SIX) web sites and the ECI credit card processing for all of them. There are enough items to debate without flat out lying about it.
[Reply]
on August 29th, 2008 at 6:41 am
6 or 16, how many people can use even two or three? Who would have the time to configure them? Once a template is made by a web designer for a site how much is the cost of a new URL, $15.00? OK, so my estimate for 6 custom websites would go from $5K to lets get really crazy with the cushion and say $6K with cosmetic changes and additional licenses for more seats!!! William, what is your take from SOL? To fight a losing battle you must be getting some compensation. A lot of the people posting here have no experience with e-commence, I have done millions of dollars in business do to customer leads coming in from my websites. SOL is banking on the old saying, “there is a sucker born every minute and two to take him” it’s sad but true. People tend to trust the wrong people, especially the elderly which I am told is a prime target for SOL!
[Reply]
on September 1st, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Does anyone know how I can get my money back $50? Just call them and hope they will answer/do it?
[Reply]
on September 1st, 2008 at 7:28 pm
My daughter-in-law and I went to the free seminar today and almost bought into this glad I didn’t by the looks of these posts. We got a free MP3 player a piece and A nice meal though. thanks for the heads up. BUYER BEWARE!!
[Reply]
on September 1st, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Shelley,
Don’t base your opinion for the possibility of success based on the few posters on this site.
There are currently 240 posts in here if you minus Martin Lee’s posts and responses and the ones like you who just happen across this site, who have no evidence but this site to base their opinions on, you are left with just a few lazy people who believe they are scammed in every area of their life and their own bank accounts will surely reflect the level of action they take in life.
This site is a waste of my time but I see it daily logging in to work on my web site and I am on support sites every day with many many successful web site owners from Stores online.
As I said before…as a last resort the do-nothings will always accuse me of being a SOL employee or whatever. Blah Blah Blah. Don’t fall in line with people who have no aspirations in life and who will only try something if it is easy (a scam ).
Everything worthwhile in life takes a lot of time and work, always has and always will. There are only a small few in here if you really count them and If it will make a difference to anyone I will post a list of happy and successful cutomers of Stores web sites.
I calculated the number of happy to unhappy at about the same rate as any other endeaver or business. but their are always the lowly ones at the bottom who will do nothing in life and expect results from it.
They are the ones that would truly scam someone to profit from it if they get the chance. Those are the ones who get mad if it is’nt true that riches will come over night. They always look for the easy road and always fail!
William,
http://www.mybirdgarden.com
[Reply]
on September 1st, 2008 at 8:43 pm
The point is not whether a website purchased through SOL can be made profitable; of course it can, with dedication and hard work, like any other website.
Rather, the issues are:
1. Are the websites offered by SOL good value for money? (The consensus is no, they are not.)
2. Is the support offered as promised? (Again, most people seem to feel that it is not.)
3. Is the marketing of the product appropriate for the target purchaser? Is the marketing misleading? Is there unnecessary pressure to buy?
[Reply]
on September 1st, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Angela
you said:…
The point is not whether a website purchased through SOL can be made profitable; of course it can, with dedication and hard work, like any other website.
I agree
you said:…
Are the websites offered by SOL good value for money? (The consensus is no, they are not.)
I strongly disagree because of the research I’ve done in this area. I have ask many where they can get comparable product and I ask you the same ..
keep in mind it needs to be a product that gives you the same support and the ability to learn the programming end so you dont pay someone forever to adjust your site. the tweaking goes on for the life of the site.
I can’t wait for someone to bring me one of those package deals like SBI because that type of site will never be marketable on google at all
I had my doubts at times with Stores online but they never let me down on the support end and now I am a believer that has seen my site start to take on a life of its own.
Did I spend a lot of time, energy and money?…you bet I did. That is what it takes.
Please show me what the price would be for a site comparable to mine and remember everytime I want to change that site I better know how to do the programming end which takes time and money….hmmmm
you said:…
Is the support offered as promised? (Again, most people seem to feel that it is not.)
Most people???? the one area that makes me hostile is the support issue. I have yet to fail to get help that walks me through every process 7 days a week 24 hours a day!!!
just today I learned how to set up sibling category list that I am building in my back end. they chatted with me for 1hour and 50 minutes.
Angela It’s a big copout of the ones who claim I get something for stating this or somehow I am affiliated with SOL, They can’t bare hearing it might work because then they’d have to admit where the real problem is….themselves!
you said:..
Is the marketing of the product appropriate for the target purchaser? Is the marketing misleading? Is there unnecessary pressure to buy?
Lets not forget I went to the seminar a complete moron about internet marketing and I also got caught up in the hype.
It infuriates me everytime I hear another radio commercial about how you can purchase an Ispeedway.com website package that virtually runs itself and you pay thousands of dollars for it too using their products that they mark up and profit from and their web sites are UNMARKETABLE ON THE INTERNET.
Now I use them as just an example of the nature of marketing these days…everyone is using those tactics but the one whos fall for it and then do nothing claim they were scammed, that they couldn’t help their selves , they were forced, hypnotised or just was vulnerable and the evil marketers took advantage of them, Gimme a break ..the bottom line is they don’t even try and then they tell outright lies about the product they purchased,
Once again for the ones looking for excuses….I AM JUST AN ORDINARY BLUE COLLAR GUY….I do not get paid in any way from SOL.
William
[Reply]
on September 2nd, 2008 at 6:56 am
William,
Lets you and me talk about SOL! I have been working on e-commence for many years and I would love to answer some of your direct statements. If you would like proof about dollars and cents of the web design business please let me know, I have quotes in hand from experienced, reputable website designers. I did not see a response from my post to you? I see you like to talk to people that do not have experience with the Internet. Maybe you should answer my post? Let see if I turn out to be a moron! You like to rattle of stuff but I see nothing you have said that disputes the points I made in my post. Lets chat!
[Reply]
on September 2nd, 2008 at 11:46 am
Ceac
you said:…
“6 or 16, how many people can use even two or three? ”
This line is hillarious considering most succesful retail web owners use more than one site.
I sure hope your at least familiar with SOL and what they offer because by some of your points you show you know nothing about them, but I’ll still oblige you because I am sure at the end smart folks will see you are mostly just promoting what you offer as an alternative but will fail to tell folks they will rely on you (or someone else) and pay forever for services that are always needed in online retailing.
You said:…
“Who would have the time to configure them?”
This is the nuts and bolts of what makes SOL different than what you offer. successful marketers will either spend time or money or both building and marketing their site. What you offer but fail to disclose to your victims is they will pay for yours or someone elses services forever (if they need progarmming changes or updates to their site) and never learn zilch about programming and marketing their own sites
In fact Ill bet you charge extra for the marketing end (if you even offer it) and never disclose to your victims that driving traffic is a very time consuming and costly event and is the most important part.
I ask you now to please provide prices and what your clients get as far as training and information about marketing and driving traffic to their site. You are a con man if you build a site for someone and fail to inform them Its absolutely useless without traffic.
I will absolutely guarantee traffic to anyones site based on what I have learned and researched in the massive amount of info offered in SOL. IT TAKES WORK FOLKS, YES IT DOES
You said:…
Once a template is made by a web designer for a site how much is the cost of a new URL, $15.00?
This is one of your points that make no sense and caused me to ignore you in the first place. I do agree on your price for a URL. As far as prices go…. Value is a perception based on knowledge of the Item in question.
Once again I challenge you to provide to me what services you provide for driving traffic and ranking with google and inbound links. etc etc etc Folks he is a con man if he offers you a site for thousands but fails to inform you it is as useless as spit till traffic starts converting into sales.
You said:..
OK, so my estimate for 6 custom websites would go from $5K to lets get really crazy with the cushion and say $6K with cosmetic changes and additional licenses for more seats!!!
Once again do you provide any material and services for driving traffic to these sites for that amount of money?????If not, you are the con here, not SOL. The only con I see with SOL is the promotion of the idea that it is easy. It is not …So after they purchase your site they better be prepared for the hard part of this endeavor …will you be there and what are your credentials in internet marketing (driving traffic)
You said:…William, what is your take from SOL?
first of all this line is used as a typical copout …I am a blue collar guy that got interested in this type venture one and a half years ago. didn’t know squat and I am of average intelligence. persistence is what it takes….drive and ambition and taking responsibility for your own actions.
It’s hillarious that between you and I…It is you who stands to gain from your self promotion in here…IT IS YOU MY FRIEND. so what do I get?…nothing…absolutely nothing…but you sure hope to.
You said:….
To fight a losing battle you must be getting some compensation.
I can prove to anyone in here it is not fighting a losing battle. Most times I am in another forum of successful STORESONLINE web owners,, most with 2 to 4 sites and it is a great learning site. it is free for the ones who take action. Folks just because there are a few dozen whiners gathered in one site doe not mean others are not making a success of this venture. CEAC and his type ILK are the ones conning you.
You said:…
A lot of the people posting here have no experience with e-commence,
At one time neither did all the others who are either successful or on there way
You said:….
I have done millions of dollars in business do to customer leads coming in from my websites.
Again, selling folks a prepared web site is great and you might have sold millions of dollars worth. Those are numbers…you made the challenge now back up these numbers with some proof….I will provide any proof you want about my claims. Then you still need to answer how these folks will learn about driving traffic…LOL or do you sell the package only to have it sit in nowhere land on the net. Its not free and you know it but fail to disclose it.
You said;..
SOL is banking on the old saying, “there is a sucker born every minute and two to take him”
We finally agree on an issue. Sol uses the same tactics as most to sell and the ones you call suckers in here are truly that if that actually believed the sites would do the work for them.
You said:..
People tend to trust the wrong people, especially the elderly which I am told is a prime target for SOL!
How come you keep saying “which I am told” do you have any facts or figures or do you just troll around sites full of unhappy people looking to promote your services?
Heres my challenge to you…Please provide info about your services, A web site with prices for your services and most importantly, since you agreed most do not have e-commerce experience, what training and support do you provide for the most important aspect DRIVING TRAFFIC AND SEO OPTIMIZATION AND INBOUND LINKS etc etc there is a mountain of it and little ole me can tell anyone how to do it based on the info on SOL.
William
[Reply]
on September 2nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
CEAC,
You said:…
Lets you and me talk about SOL! I have been working on e-commence for many years and I would love to answer some of your direct statements.
So tell me what do you know about SOL other than what you’ve read here?.. you said “lets you and me talk about SOL” well I’ll bet money you know nothing about what is offered in the back end. So you aren’t qualified to talk about SOL…I am!
You said:…
If you would like proof about dollars and cents of the web design business please let me know, I have quotes in hand from experienced, reputable website designers.
Since you are looking for the opportunity to promote to these, (suckers), as you called them, I absolutely am very interested in what you offer and I will be very impartial while reviewing it…
In fact if you provide some great ways to promote and drive traffic I will purchase your services. You see CEAC you keep talking about the design and program aspect of web sites and conning these folks into believing that is all there is to it. I am so confident with the information provided in the Stores merchants services included in my purchase, I will use what I have learned to debate you all day long on the internet marketing and promotion end of driving traffic. I hope I am wrong but I get this laughable feeling you are not even involved in that end of it and yet that is the most important part.
You said:…
I did not see a response from my post to you?
Unbelievable you are so arrogant to believe we all should just roll over and talk with you based on a few unsubstantiated claims of which half of made no sense
You said:…
I see you like to talk to people that do not have experience with the Internet.
I see you do too!!! lmao…I spend most times talking to people who are extrenmely successful and do know a bit about e-commerce, Just because I spend a short time answering conmen who are trying to exploit folks who have already proven they are not wanting to spend much time and energy in their endeavors doesn’t make me bad.
You said:..
Maybe you should answer my post?
I am right here, since you so eloquently begged for my attention
You said:..
Let see if I turn out to be a moron! You like to rattle of stuff but I see nothing you have said that disputes the points I made in my post. Lets chat!
You have made no legitimate or substantiated points as of yet…Please provide more than idle chatter about your claims…I am waiting!
William
[Reply]
on September 2nd, 2008 at 7:38 pm
William,
I’m not sure how you read my posts, in fact I’m not sure you really read them completely. I am not a seller, or a designer, or a consultant, I’m a customer like all of the other people here and not owned by any one like you are! So I have no product or service to offer like you do, I have nothing to justify, or sell.
I have a job as a sales and marketing manager that is getting ready to replace an SOL site so I have shopped around for the most experience in SEO, flexible and expandable design and yes, best deal for my company. SOL is not even close to being in the mix. We’ll chat more over the next few days and you can tell us how most all of the people that have posted on this forum, the BBB’s around the country, Attorney Generals offices in a host of states and foreign governments all have issues with SOL fraudulent business practices. Can you say fraudulent? I would also like to go over the definition of the word with you so we can all understand the meaning.
William the wise one will explain it to us how misunderstood SOL is and that all of the consumer protection agencies are wrong. Won’t you William? Stay tuned!
[Reply]
on September 2nd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
You said:..
I’m not sure how you read my posts, in fact I’m not sure you really read them completely. I am not a seller, or a designer, or a consultant, I’m a customer like all of the other people here and not owned by any one like you are! So I have no product or service to offer like you do, I have nothing to justify, or sell.
So your trying to make the case I am owned by someone because I built and marketed a web site selling Birding accessories? You are getting pathetic and wasting my time with your ducking and weaving from my original challenge to you.
You said:…
I have a job as a sales and marketing manager that is getting ready to replace an SOL site so I have shopped around for the most experience in SEO, flexible and expandable design and yes, best deal for my company.
there is nothing wrong with finding the best value that works for you but I know several people that moved there model to a SOL site. You see just because you don’t like SOL what makes you think so highly of yourself that your bad experience, or lack of any experience, is cause for everyone to roll over and listen to you whine about it. Whats good for you might not be good for another. and vise versa.
You said:..
We’ll chat more over the next few days and you can tell us how most all of the people that have posted on this forum, the BBB’s around the country, Attorney Generals offices in a host of states and foreign governments all have issues with SOL fraudulent business practices.
Instead of your usual posturing, why don’t you post the links to the actual sttled cases (not complaints ) but actual verified genuine cases settled. I have friend!!! and you will find less than average geuine complaints. I’m sorry friend but you are shamelessly showing me your lack of knowledge on this issue by posting this.
Most of the cases I read are about shady sales practices. That has nothing to do with the lies your kind spread about their Support or lack of it. Most try for a short time and then join forces with someone like you who whine and lie instead of actually attempting to build it.
Apparently it is you who doesn’t bother to read my post if you still feel a need to insist that somehow someone owns me. Why don’t you go and read every post in here and maybe you will qualify to jump in this debate as you did.
When you use the word “Fraudulent” I assume you will be genuine and bring me evidence of where SOL has used FRAUDULENT Tactics. You brought the word up friend so you better produce cases involving that word because you are not getting any more free rides from me.
You said:…
William the wise one will explain it to us how misunderstood SOL is and that all of the consumer protection agencies are wrong. Won’t you William? Stay tuned!
You are too easy friend…My whole argument is based on actual experience…something you don’t have! You will never win by claiming my experience with SOL is a fraud and your too dim to understand that.
I will be going out of town for a bit but I will always look for e-mails showing you have posted. We had the perfect opportunity for you to do more than just talk but if you read your posts, you still have not produced more than idle chatter about what you can do. You still have not produced more than a few empty words. I just published my first site in February and It has been a long road to get it done so surely you understand I would rather side with the successful ones and do most of my future posting with positive minded and successful people instead of whiners and blamers as you seem to be.
William,
http://www.mybirdgarden.com
[Reply]
Gina Reply:
September 25th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
William,
I’m sorry……but honestly I don’t think that you get this situation…………..
you said: “the only thing that it’s a con with SOL is that they make you believe that it’s easy…..and it’s not”"…..”
My god!!!…William please…….that’s a mayor lie honey!!! so don’t tell us that they are not a rip off because they are………….they told us pure lies…….lest’s be real you think if they tell me that this is going to be a heck of a work…not easy..mmm….that I will have to make a sacrifice for time(extra time that one doesn’t have) you honestly think that I would have purchased their websites??? I DON’T THINK SO!!!….let’s be real here….
you said: “IT TAKES A LOT OF TIME, EFFORT AND WORK…IT IS NOT EASY….AND IT TAKES EXTRA TIME TO PUBLISH A WEBSITE (and obviously earned money)”………..well maybe you got ALL THE TIME OF THE WORLD…… that is why you made it!!! BRAVO!!! but let’s still keep this real……what about being honest, tell truth, a little integrity here!!! I obviously don’t have the extra time or time to do all this………so I am furious for this MAYOR UNTRUTH…for the lie that you said that is not a BIG DEAL!!! well not for you my friend……but for me…that I kept asking again, and again to these people all my doubts(at the workshop) and the 1st question that I asked was….IS THIS DIFFICULT??? they said…”NO”….How many months will I take to publish my first website ?? they said, as long as you follow the simple instructions on the booklet, kit and if you have a question there will be some1 on chat live to help u anytime, anyday……it should take less than 2 months……..I replied: well I don’t have the time to do this my schedule is hectic!!, and I don’t have experience in designing a web……..He answer: This are easy instructions….follow ups…is easy like plugging a phone/making dinner.haha…….even my grandma knows how to do it……all my family is in this….my kids are learning because this is their heritage…………..
SO as you see dear William….it was a bunch of lies…I tried to set the 1st website in a month(back in march)…and couldn’t…..between my job and my 3 year old daughter…..I bearly had time..it was exhausting and In my case I didn’t accomplish anything and let me tell you something about the chat live….well sometimes/(more times than less…o.k) got disconnected….and then everytime will help me a different person…you will have to tell him/her problems from scratch and will take lots of time(that remember!! that I bearly have)…..so you see I’m one of those people that actually tried and well got very dissapointed……..then because for 1 month I was almost everyday in chat Live at midnight(imagine I only slep 4-6 hrs daily that month it was horrible)….the SOL people called me to offer me help…..BUT GUESS WHAT??? paying 2,500dlls more to publish my 1st website and get it ready and done!!….money of course I didn’t/don’t have …because I purchased 6 websites for $6000…..and guess what else they offered me??? they offered me to do this for 1,500 dlls(if I payed w/check right away of course) and they will record my success story in video(just like the ones they show ous in their workshop)…and then I said::: “Well I don’t get it…..so all the success stories/people have payed their spot on air/video for you to show it in your wrkshops???”" what a dissapointment…and he told me: No… only the people we see the potential of making it BIG……..I asked:: SO how do you see my potential?? because of how much money I can pay??? then he HANGED UP the phone!!……so What do you want me to say?? what do you want me to think about SOL??? and they are partner with THE TAX CLUB!! which is a pain in the b..tt..cause they keep calling everyday until they get you….and want to take more money….so what do you want me to think now William??
[Reply]
patricia lazar Reply:
December 14th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Bravo Gina! right on
[Reply]
on September 2nd, 2008 at 10:47 pm
I have a site with SOL and just today chatted live with someone in customer support and got the problem resolved. I will say that getting the site up and running took and continues to take alot of time. So far I have been satisfied, although it is very expensive!
[Reply]
on September 4th, 2008 at 9:11 am
thanks for all the info. I just got invitation to a free workshop these days. I will definitely attend their workshop to eat their free lunch, but will NOT buy anything from them.
[Reply]
on September 4th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
I regret that I got caught up in this company without doing the research. I trusted these people to give all…I say “all” of the details up front. Well, that did not happened. I only found out about the cancellation clause in the contract many days after I had signed it. I am on a fixed income and wanted this online business to be somewhat of a hobby for me since I am a photographer (amateur). Since I have gone to the initial seminar and the full day workshop, I have not been able to afford another cent towards building this business. In fact, I received a telephone call from a man in New York city asking me for another $6,000.00 to set up my tax information. He told me that he was assigned my account by StoresOnline due to the fact that I am a Canadian. I flat out told him “no” due to his rudeness and pressure type of talking. In fact, I had to hang up the telephone in the middle of one of his high pressure sentences.
I would advise anyone to be careful. I am classing myself as an innocent victim who wanted to help my wife before she retires from her formal job. Yes, I regret that I did not have full understanding of what I was getting into. I talked to a very nice man today, Steve, from StoresOnline. I told him that everyone with whom I have talked to from Utah have been very gracious and kind. However, I cannot afford to pay a monthly fee of $29.00 Canadian to keep up my websites should I get their programmers to set them up and get them out on the Internet.
Yes, I am ashamed of my being so much like putty in their hands. I wil simply have to pay the Line of Credit which I have had to set up with my bank in order to prevent paying the high interest rate of 19% with Traverler’s Financial Loan Company. This is the company which was at the workshop in March of 2008.
Yes, I will get through this with God’s help and wisdom. My last direct words to anyone reading this is : CAUTION WITH WISDOM !! (Proverbs 3:5,6)
[Reply]
on September 7th, 2008 at 11:54 am
This is to let any body know that storesonline is a good company. I think the problem I found in people in USA they do not what to read, they expect storesonline to do everything for the them, I tried other companies I think they have the best live customer service. I have have not found anybody treating me bad, they stay with you on the phone for hrs which other company will not do that.If you need to email me here is my email: thandizulu@freetoworkathome.net.
Here is my site storesonline helped me:http://www.freetoworkathome.net
Good luck
Thandi Zulu
[Reply]
on September 7th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Good job stores on line
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on September 7th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Hello, I bought into SOL, but it wasn’t what I was looking for and I did get my refund. I found the perfect Home Based Business for me. I have my own online travel agency, and it is up to me to promote it. Total cost to join and become a referring travel agent was only $459. I can make as much or as little as I want, it all depends on how much or how little I want to work at it. This is perfect for a grandma like me. Check it out: agent.slotstravel.com, listen to the video and if this is something that would work for you, then contact me. I hope all of you with SOL are able to get your web sites working, and for all of you that didn’t. Please check out this other opportunity. It worked for me and my family. Good Luck to all
[Reply]
on September 11th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
StoresOnline is nothing but another scam. I attended one of their 90 minute seminars. They make everything SOUND so simple. They claim that you don’t have to know anything about building a website. Well, if we don’t have to know anything about building a website, who is going to help us out? SOL never helped me out. I don’t even know the first thing about a computer. But, SOL said that they would take care of that. Yeah, Right. After purchasing 6 websites from them for $6000, I never received a call from SOL until it was too late to cancel. The person who contacted me from SOL asked me if I had decided what product I wanted to sell online. When I entered my password, I was able to pick out the names for my websites. But after that, I don’t know the first thing about pasting the picture of a product onto my website. Let alone how to put in a products description and the price of the product. Why didn’t SOL tell us the truth? Why didn’t they tell us that we have to know how to build our own website? The person who did the talking at the seminar didn’t tell us that if we don’t know how to build a website, call this 1-800 number. He just told us that we didn’t have to know anything about building a website. We didn’t even have to know anything about computers. What a liar!
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on September 12th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I attended the initial seminar two days ago. I have been in the computer field for many years and am leary of potential scams having had dealing with the AmWay people over the years. There is information I would like to get from the second session, but have decided to try and cancel the agreement. Since it is late on friday I will see what happens. I design websites and have a good knowledge of the computer industry and currently run some websites. Most people that try to start abusiness will fail. That’s just the truth. So I have no problem with potential failure. I reviewed the binder they provided that evening and think I know why they held them until purchased. Section six has a lot of added charges after the fact. They did not seem to mention any of this during the evening. Curious. So I began to wonder exactly how many hidden charges there could be. I am happy for anyone that uses this service and is successful and pleased with the company. Personally, however, I will always have issues with anyone who gives me any reason to make me think I may not be getting the entire story. I have no problem risking money on an opportunity, but I also require being confidient that I know exactly what I am trying. I would actually like to attend the second session, but I just have too many questions right now.
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on September 12th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
I (like many) reached into my pockets eagerly waiting for my turn to pay my $50.00 fee to receive my binder and was told the next seminar was in 2 weeks and to be there early to request my one on one consultation. Since then I have stumbled upon this site (thank goodness) and was wondering if I bought my binder containing my official liscence to build my website but I haven’t even logged onto it, can they still charge me the $25.00 fee each month (for a site that is not even created )? We were told that our free 45 day trial began that night so do I need to contact customer service to ensure they do not activate a site that I have never actually attempted to create and activate? We were told that we only pay the monthly fee once we send our site live. Another thing we were told was that not only were we receiving our free (no name) mp3 player (was expecting an Ipod shuffle), but due to the high cost of fuel that all people who paid their $50.00 fee would receive a $50.00 gas voucher (but to qualify you must register first thing in the morning and stay for the ENTIRE seminar). So my logic is to attend this all day seminar, drink as much free coffee (and enjoy a deliscious “hot lunch”) and give as many excuses as to why I can’t afford to cough up the money to invest in the marketing tools they are offering. Then when the time has expired (and I STILL can’t afford to sign on the dotted line), extend my apologies to them and politely leave with my $50.00 gas voucher (hopefully it’s not a gas card with no money loaded onto it). Is there anyone reading this who is suppose to attend the Sept 20th seminar in Moncton, New Brunswick? If so, then be one of the lucky ones to “forget” to bring their cheque book with you.
Sincerely yours, Tweety from Moncton
[Reply]
Larry Reply:
November 9th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Dear Tweety from Moncton:
Did you attend the seminar? More importantly did you get the answer to your own questions about the $25.00 fee each month? I like you have NOT logged onto to the SOL site to build my website. After reading all of these review I have decide not to attend the seminar! Any information that you can give me is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,,,Larry
[Reply]
on September 12th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
They didn’t mention anything at the meeting about the hidden charges listed in Section 6. They also didn’t mention anything about PMI. PMI are the people who are supposed to help us when it comes to advertising and marketing our website. PMI told me that if I had one website, they would help me out with the advertising and marketing. The cost? Only another $6,400! If we have 2 websites, PMI told me that they would charge me $9175 to help me out when it came to advertising and marketing my websites. If I have 6 websites, PMI will charge me $20,000! I understand that it costs something when it comes to pay-per-click. But, Sales Online never mentioned how much it would cost us at the meeting? So, Sales Online got $6000 from me. Now, PMI wants another $20,000 from me. If Sales Online would have told me this at the 90 minute meeting, I would not have signed up with them. I can afford $6000. I can’t afford $26,000. I am unemployed. I am disabled. These guys don’t care. PMI asked me on the phone how many credit cards I have. And, they asked me how many credit cards do I have with no balance on them. PMI wants me to max out all of my credit cards to the limit! I asked PMI who is going to pay for the 21.99% interest charged by the credit card companies? The guy told me: “Don’t worry about the balance on the credit cards. Haven’t you ever heard of balance transfers?” How can a person do a balance transfer if their credit cards are all maxed out?
[Reply]
on September 13th, 2008 at 1:54 am
I just attended storesonline workshop yesterday, my father in law ask me to go as a guest. First of all I’ll give you a run down of who my father in law and I am. Martin is a hard working smart man who has owned his business for over thirty years, he’s no Bill Gates by he does well for himself. Me, I’m a mover and a shaker show me where and how I can make a buck and I’m there. I’ve lived in several different states and have seen a lot, done a lot and always make money. Before I continue let me emphasize I don’t steal, I don’t scam (thought about it but I’m better than that) people out of their money and I do not lie (I have avoided the truth here and there once or twice), but I don’t lie. Anyway I recently started to dabble in the internet, I have two websites and Martin asked me to come along to check out this deal he found online. I figured what the hell I can help him out and I might learn something. We also went knowing full well this is an entire day long sales pitch.
Ok so here we are 8:30AM fill out the registration form and waiting to be seated. A nice guy named Jim is standing at the door greeting everyone and then Dave comes over introduces himself and shows us where to sit. After a bit Jim is at the front of the room with about 160 people waiting to hear what we’re in for. He says a few funny things, shows us how easy using the software is and then introduces everyone to the consultants. After all the intro’s Jim tells us he’s going to go over all the numbers first. I’ve sold everything from bubble gum marked up 500% when I was in junior high to $80k cars and everything between legal and illegal (I said I don’t lie I never said anything about breaking the law, those days are long gone though). Well I thought telling us the price first and then building the value as the day goes by was a pretty good approach.
Now the price is uttered and I said to myself wow I can’t believe how cheap this is and started waiving my credit card in the air. Just kidding I told you I know how to make a buck, believe it or not I’m also an undumb person. Although I have to say $6k + $29.95 per month for each of your unlimited websites isn’t really that bad of a deal. Oh I forgot to tell you that I don’t buy anything until I know as much or more than the person selling it. Then Jim says (the kiss of death) “our merchants’ results are not typical and your results may vary”. Can you say class action law suit? Nobody says something like that unless you’re forced to.
Then we get going with what I came for, Bob. Jim lets us know that Bob doesn’t work for Storesonline (yeah right) but he’s going to teach us how master the SEO (search engine optimization). “Hey folks I’m Bob” he says and Bob goes into how Google and the rest of the SE’s work. Oh he also said that he signed a contract with storesonline that when ever he mentioned their merchants he had to say that results vary deal (red flag #2).
Wow I’m long winded. To wrap this up Storesonline isn’t scamming anyone. They are selling an effective tool that can make anyone a lot of money. The thing is, like I said, I have been dabbling with the internet for a little while and everything they have to offer for $6k is in one form or another available online for free. Also when they tell you how easy it is to be on the first page of Google they are leaving out a whole lot of info. Relevance is not as easy as they claim it is at the work shop. What I’m saying is they’re not ripping anyone off, they’re just selling you the tools to succeed on the internet for a very high price. If you have already purchased the “upgrade” don’t feel stupid, use it. You have a lot of work ahead of you but your halfway there. If you buy a hammer you don’t expected it to build a house for you right, but its easier to bang nails with a hammer than with your forehead.
One more thing my consultant Alex didn’t seem impressed when I complemented his company. I didn’t mention at some point through the day you have a personal consultation with a consultant. I told Alex I didn’t see the value in the $6k investment when I haven’t learned anything I didn’t already know or where to look it up online for free. Although what they have going is brilliant. Oh yeah the drop ship deal is stressed quiet a bit and they have 14 imbedded drop shippers included with your upgrade. So I told Alex how I could appreciate that his employer was charging $50 to get you started in the workshop and bring a guest. Then get people to see the value of a $3400 to $6000 investment and you guys own those drop ship companies and the merchant account TVI I’ll bet. What a brilliant idea offer people a chance to legitimately make money and in the process get people to pay you a lump of money and then additional money monthly while their selling your merchandise.
Storesonline and anyone who has purchased the upgrade have nothing to be ashamed of. The only negative thing I can say is they are a bit misleading to how easy success is online. To be honest they do a great job selling the product I even thought about signing up knowing full well it’s not this easy. Some of the tools they include in their upgrade are very good tools.
In closing I will say if you have the $6k to toss out and you’re motivated to make money and work hard this is not a scam. Just remember the money machine that you just plug-in and start spitting out cash doesn’t exist. There are four ways to wealth 1) your born into it 2) you inherit it 3) you win it and 4) you work hard and work smart like most of us.
Thanks for reading,
The Big Tomata@ http://www.ripetomata.com
[Reply]
patricia lazar Reply:
December 14th, 2008 at 11:16 am
“Then Jim says (the kiss of death) “our merchants’ results are not typical and your results may vary”. Can you say class action law suit? Nobody says something like that unless you’re forced to. ”
Our presenter, Cori, never said that or anything else that wasn’t 100% positive - no caveats at all!
[Reply]
on September 13th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Big Tomata,
I am planning to attend the day long seminar with a friend who has a web site selling homes. My goal in attending is for him to gain some knowlege on better marketing his site. Are we wasting our time? Also, is it possible to do a part time thing with the $50 intro site and the info they give at the day long meeting?
I am not looking for fast cash or a “get out of jail” card, just something i can dabble in and make a little extra on the side…kevin
[Reply]
on September 13th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Hey Kevin,
I would say if you can afford to spend a day away from work it’s not a waste of time. I will let you know later if the $50 entry web hosting is any good I plan to work on it with my Father in law in the next couple of days.
At the workshop they go over all the basics to internet marketing so if you know nothing you will leave with a lot more than I got out of it and I’m far from an expert. If you happen to go to my site with the link on my last post you will see I have a long way to go, setting up a website is easy getting traffic to it is not. Storesonline make it sound like it’s a snap. My advise to you would be go to the workshop (if you can spare the time) pay attention learn what you can and also setup a Google account (it’s free) they have a lot of the same tools that SO offers for $6k. When you go to Google search “keyword tools” it’s pretty similar to their keyword analysis or reverse search, you’ll know what I mean after the workshop.
As for your friend selling homes on his website, if he only wants to keep selling homes and not jewelry boxes, shoes or wheat grass. The upgrade probably isn’t the thing for him. Go learn something but just remember it’s a lot harder than they make it out to be.
[Reply]
on September 17th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I attended their conference today in Princeton, NJ. I thought it was too good to be true that for $25 I can purchase a software license and get a web site up and running with a monthly payment of $24.95. After reading these comments I will cancel my agreement before they charge my card. I will also get a new credit card number so that they won’t be able to charge to that number in the future. What a bummer that I didn’t read this before I attended the seminar. Luckily I still have time to get out of the contract. Thanks to everyone for their comments.
Tess
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on September 25th, 2008 at 9:13 am
I attended the first seminar and recieved my free chicken sandwich and was convinced to buy the so called $50 easy 3 step set up website that was $199 lowered to $50 if you purchase NOW.This was to get me an easy set up website and a 10 hr.training course on how to do that!Ya right!!I attended the so called 10 hr.training course with some friends who also went to the first seminar.Before we went we checked with the B.B.B and we found this site.Many lawsuits and complaints!For several hours we listened to them try to sell us the $5998 plan + the extras they say not to worry about because you will not need them ($50 an hr.help ) and other services that we looked up and are actually free!!They passed out a form asking for your credit info.Name,social,address,phone,b-date,residense (own or rent),annual income,have you filed bankruptcy,employer.
They then check to see if you have the credit to purchase their scam.
They then work very hard at selling this to you $5998 Plan).They asked why we didn’t want to purchase this and we told them what we read.Because we read the comments on this website and had info from the BBB they very quickly pulled us from the room during the speech.We were brought into a hall and around the corner away from everyone.They asked why we still came if we know about the lawsuits and complaints?We explained that we were told we would get training for the website that we already purchased and that we were not here for any other reason.He said that they do not train you!The only purpose of this conferance is to get you to buy either the $3400 plan or the $5998 plan and if we were not going to buy either of them then we should just leave now instead of spending the next 4-5 hr.here.WE WERE THEN TOLD THAT IF WE TELL ANYONE IN THE CONFERANCE THEY WILL FILE A LAW SUIT AGAINST US!!!!!THEY EVEN HAD OUR MEALS IN THE HALL SO THEY COULD QUICKLY GET US OUT OF THERE.As you can tell it is just a scam!!!They just want to rip people off.They say in the meeting they do not do anything except send you to the people that do and those people charge you too.It broke my heart to watch this elderly women give her credit card to these people and get charged $5998!!!!I spoke to a lawyer today and was told there is nothing they could have sued us for.It was all truth!!PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!!!
THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING THIS WEBSITE!IT SAVED US A LOT OF HEARTACHE!
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on September 25th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I had received the so-called complimentary Conference invitation in the mail at work.
My first impression of the envelope was “fishy”. Opened it up, smelled even more fishy.
Did a research on the Internet, it’s an out right scam.
Why would I pay someone $5000 to $10,000 to build me a business on the web when I can do it by myself at under $300?
Domain registration = $10.00 per year.
Business license and business registration (for tax purposes) = $200.
A credit card for PayPal account.
Your own computer on Ubuntu (free OS) and OpenOffice for productivity software and some other open source accounting software…
Shoe string budget all for under $500…
Anyways, I’m shredding the spam mail… it was annoying to receive them at work.
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on September 25th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Is there anyone from Texas(McAllen, Harlingen,Brownsville) that were scamed like me…..we need to get in touch…cause this is not right!! I purchased 6 websites for $6000 and it is unfair…..for the people that say that we don’t try and want magic to happend, I’m one of the persons that really tried and didn’t accomplish anything….What really bothers me the most, is the dishonesty, untruth, not a bit of integrity…to tell you that this actually takes a heck of work,effort and time……….see I asked again and again at the workshop if this was difficult?? they told me,” NO”…….I asked if it would take a lot of time to publish or design the website?? and they laugh and told me that it was easy following instructions(booklet)like connecting a phone or even cooking…haha!! bozos!! they told me that even grandmas of 65 yr/old were doing this…and even family teaching their children about it as a future heritage!!!…so as you see bunch of LIES!!!………like I said….with all my hectic daily schedule and even taking care of my 3yr old daughter in the afternoons …I started trying and trying to do this around midnight(cause that was the only extra time that I had) even sleeping only 4-6 hrs for the entire month…It was stressful and horrible I even got sick because of my poor rest)……and didn’t accomplish anything…..tried to get manufacturers as a drop-shipper…(thomasnet, doba, alibaba….you name it!!)all for nothing…sending letters, everyday for a dropshipper….so as you see I tried…..finally give up…when Storesonline called me to offer me help. cause they were seeing that I enter everyday/midnight to chat live……but they wanted more money !!!unbelievable!! they wanted me to pay them $2,500dlls to get the 1st website done and ready /publish and start earning money…but I told them after I payed them $6000dlls for purchasing them…I did not have anymore mone!! silly of me(makes me wanto to throw up…I’m mad as hell)…..then something rang like a bell in my ear……something fishy..when this person asked me for $1,500 dlls instead of 2,500 payed in check right away and they will do everything and even record my success story!!!….so I said…wowowo hold it there…you mean that all the record success stories that you show inyour workshops…have to pay extra money(after paying for the kit plan) for their appearence??? and he said:: NO, only the ones that have a high potential! really …..How do you see my potential?? because of the money that I could pay you or how?…….HE HANGED UP…people……then I started recieving this TAX CLUB phonecalls…asking me for more money to help me understand finances and how to pay my taxes….so this it’s just unbelievable is just another RIP OFF company!!! and for the people…that is saying that this SOL real works……How do you know??…you just talk and talk and talk……cut the bla, bla ,bla and give me examples statistics….how much time/how many years did you take to publish your websites????….so please understand that if SOL would start their workshops by saying the truth..meaning….that this actually takes a lot of time/years, effort, more computer learning(not just basic skills) since we have to design it and even know about technical problems ..so and on, follow ups,and most of all LOTS OF OUR MONEY !!!! How many people would SOL have?? how many websites or plans would they sell??? NONE!!!!!!……. N O N E
wake up people please smell the coffee because honestly I didn’t…………….so beware of them!!!please any people from Texas…..reply to me ….it is time to do something about it!….. it’s our savings/credit out there for God sake!! this DRACULAS are sucking it all!!! and leaving us with nothing………
[Reply]
William Reply:
September 25th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I read these posts and I feel sorry for some of you. First of all, some in here are not being honest with others as well as theirselves. Is earning money on the net easy? NO!! Is it possible? Absolutely!! I post and read on a site filled with SOL owners every day who are having success with their sites and some earn a substantial amount of money.
We all agree you can find some of the same info for free that SOL offers in their back end but they SOL has done the leg work already. Most of the SOL owners I communicate with daily are people just like you trying to create a future except they don’t make excuses, lie to theirselves as well as others, and they take resposibility for their actions.
I wish all of you good luck but I am sorry to say that if your whole life is dictated by the few who look for sites like this just to have an excuse for not trying, you will remain mentally and financially broke forever.
Success is a journey, not a destination, and only a few will attempt the journey while others look for ones to reinforce their excuses.
Sorry if I offended anyone, That is not my intention. It is just sad to see this.
William,
http://www.mybirdgarden.com
[Reply]
Nancy Reply:
September 25th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Gina,
Sorry if I offended you by offering to help you set up your site. I am not a big fan of SOL either. However, I have been looking at several alternatives and overall SOL is an average value. They just charge most of ther money up front. Sure you can get web hosting for less and a free cart. But there are many problems with that. First of all the security is taken care of by SOL, if you just get hosting you will be responsible for a lot more. SOL takes care of a lot of behind the scenes, security issues. For the same features as SOL you would pay about $99 a month for a Yahoo store, plus a percentage of your sales.
The bigger rip off is all the companies that come after SOL like PMI and ECI payment processor which they charged $999 for is a huge ripoff.
SOL isn’t really any different than all those other late night TV ads for work at home, real estate courses, websites, weight loss etc. Anytime you see results not typical, beware.
There are many reasons why some people are successful and some not. Some just get lucky with their product selection and some already have business experience. It takes more than just hard work to make a good living online.
I just think if some of the people that do all the complaining would focus their energy on their business and building a website, they could be successful.
Nancy
[Reply]
Gina Reply:
September 27th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Nancy,
I’m not offended in any way,(I’m just out of trust…but I had my plans and idea in healthcare…which SOL people told me by then…that it was a great idea….and then came to see the reality later…..)like I said before, I really tried to set my first website! really! and it’s being/was a heck of a work, and I got all confused, pissed….doors were/are still closing and most of all I feel desperate, because of the money we payed…..I’m not a computer expert!! I only have an average skill/computer, I was very honest with them…I had my doubts at the time of the workshop and explained everything to them(SOL people) but they lied in front of my face……I believed them!! how..silly how stupid was I!!…I told them my situation, I honestly told them if it was not easy follow up instructions and fast! I couldn’t make it…not because of lack of effort, or lazy….just because I didn’t have TIME!! they told me: “On the contrary…this is too easy, and you will begin to earn money in two months…that’s why it’s worth paying this kind of money”…..Now you judge!! didn’t they lied about it!!??? gosh I wish I could rewind/turn back time ….so I could tell them NO!!…… you see I had a hunch!! but what bothers me the most….is that they kept brainwashing me……until I falled!!!! …..so like I told you before there’s nothing personal…..just these kind of situations makes you learn the hard way, and probably almost all the people here…including myself are on shock about it!! that’s why we don’t have any trust left………
[Reply]
on September 26th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Hey William,
From what I can see you started complaining about people with bad experiences with SOL way back on Aug.23rd.!So glad to see you are so busy and doing so well with your new website! Your so successful that you still have time to talk down to people who have been skrewed by SOL!You have an answer for everything and it’s usually by trying to make people out to be stupid,lazy,fools!You sound like a salesman.Sure your not with SOL???I’m sure you will be wining because you were asked that question again!You wouldn’t admit it if you were.SOL TRICKS THE AVERAGE PERSON INTO BELIEVING THAT ANYONE CAN DO THIS WITH JUST A COUPLE CLICKS ON THEIR KEYBOARD!!!THAT IS WRONG!THEY SHOULD TELL PEOPLE THE TRUTH ON WHAT IT TAKES TO SET UP A WEBSITE!SOME PEOPLE ARE NEW AT THIS AND ARE RELYING ON THEM TO TELL THEM THE TRUTH!THEY TELL YOU ANYONE CAN DO THIS IN 2 MONTHS!BULL!I guess some people aren’t as smart as you William.
[Reply]
Gina Reply:
September 27th, 2008 at 2:04 am
See….. dear “SMART” haha! William,…..Dear Chuck said it all!! without giving a bla….bla bla…. if you know what I mean!!….and I’m not so convinced that you are “smart” because you act “Silly”…… first of all not being clear about what I meant!! (that..thanks to chuck …he got it….and guess the rest of the normal smart/average people too) and secondly cause……..if someone tells you (let me give an example….mmm..apples? no, beans? no that;s too basic…so you can understand it!!) let’s say that they want to hire you (imagine an “x” company)paying you more money that the $$$ you are earning right now….(a very promising job….bla…bla …bla they tell you that is a GREAT JOB opportunity…promise you the world if you want to….) then cause this interesting offer… you decide to quit your current job and then …let’s say that you go with this new company that promise you the world of money and bla…bla..other things let’s say a great health insurance for you and your family too…….then at the 1st month or so…of working with them…you come to see and confirm that they are not what they told you they were and aren’t even paying you what they promised you in the first place….and the health insurance sucks!!……..and you come to realize that you were better before this….I GUESS YOU WOULD BE PRETTY PISSED!!! don’t you think…….this thread somehow against this SOL company it’s not about………if you don’t want to do bla bla, bla, if u want magic haha!! some smart (talking like a little baby boy) (don’t make me cry buhuhu!!!!! )this is about TELLING THE TRUTH! BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO SCAM NORMAL/SMART/AVERAGE PEOPLE….PROMISING THINGS AT A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME!! TELLING THAT IT’S SO EASY……SO FAST……SO GOOD!!THAT YOU ONLY NEED TO PAY…FOLLOW”EASY INSTRUCTIONS”(which are not so easy)AND BANG….. IN LESS THEN 2-3 MONTHS YOU CAN EARN MONEY!!! …..THAT’S A BIG LIE!!!!! and also you/we have heard the REAL THING from THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MADE IT!!…….!!! THEY ARE TELLING US!! THAT IT’S NOT EASY! IT TAKES YEARS, TIME AND LOTS OF EFFORT!!! AND OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE WE GAVE OUR SAVINGS/CREDITS/$$$(IN THIS) WITH SO MUCH SACRIFICE THAT WE ARE NOW IN DEBT…. AND MAKES US EVEN MORE PISSED WHEN WE HAVE TO KEEP WORKING(IN THE PLACE WE WERE DREAMING OF LEAVING BECAUSE THIS “SOMEHOW” WONDER OPPORTUNITY HAA) TO PAY THIS CREDIT……AND ALSO FIND EXTRA…EXTRA TIME TO GET THIS WEBSITES PUBLISH….SO IN 2 OR MORE YEARS YOU CAN FINALLY START EARNING SOME MONEY!!!….hahaha…….THEN WHY DOES “SOL” STARTS THEIR WORKSHOP BY SAYING??? : “if you want to be your own boss, be finally an entrepeneur…this is the moment and the right choice that in 2 months can change your life forever” SO CUT THE CRAP WILLIAM …..IN CHINA AND IN USA THIS IS CALLED : L I E….SCAM!! RIP OFF!!………GUESS YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU IN OTHER LANGUAGE!! WELL HERE IT GOES (some spanish) ESTO SE LLAMA TRANZA, ESTAFA, AQUI Y EN CHINA……NOS TUZARON,NOS TRANCEARON, NOS MINTIERON..NOS VIERON LA CARA.. NOS ROBARON Y ESO NO ESTA BIEN…PORQUE SI HUBO MENTIRAS DE POR MEDIO, DE HABER DICHO LA VERDAD, TU REALMENTE CREES QUE ESTARIA MUCHA GENTE DESCONTENTA/INFELIZ/INSATISFECHA CON ESTA SITUACION???.jeje can you transalate that??….SO ZIP IT WILLIAM……IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH OR SAY SOMETHING HELPFUL….GO TO YOUR PLACE AND CONTINUE SCAMMING POOR PEOPLE TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD AND WITH LOTS OF MONEY!! RIGHT!! BUT JUST REMEMBER THAT:
“WHAT COMES AROUND, GOES AROUND”
[Reply]
on September 27th, 2008 at 3:07 am
William::
other thing…….then Why are you one of the few(haha) “WHO”…… that keeps getting/posting in this thread???? I really feel sorry for you!!! If you think that Success it’s just a journey and not a destination….Every Journey has their own destination…..but I guess people like you wouldn’t know the difference, cause your Success is this Journey of entering to these sites that you don’t like haha! and your destination doesn’t end because you are so miserable and want to make people miserable!! in other words: Dear, William:” GET A LIFE”, you are so bored and unhappy with the life you have…… that you need to come here to feel better! to FEEL ALIVE (what a con….. and arrogance will be your failure)haha, I’m sorry for you + your so complicated life…….good luck to you too!! good to have people like you that makes this site more truthful, realistic and great in so many ways….because if it wasn’t IMPORTANT you weren’t be here….you wouldn’t pay that much of attention …would you?? hahaha……………guess then…you are in the wrong place…. “Dear William”……………A little advice::: Please go on and live your life, your dreams, free your soul, your mentality haha, your arrogance, be happy …preach/scam in other sites…In other words: “HIT THE ROAD WILLIAM”……..
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on September 27th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Hi Gina,
I’m glad you agreed with my post.I also do not think William is very smart.I think he thinks he is smart!!!Smarter than the rest of us!I also think he is here to answer all the bad comments against SOL.If he was an honest man he would tell the truth about how SOL gets into your pocket with false promises!They take advantage of people who are looking for something better or are no longer able to do the type of work they are doing.They prey on desperate people ,people who need an income and they tell them this is easy.Even their grandma or grandson can do this in 2 months they say!Then when people cannot do it because it is not easy like they say, then you pay more to someone who does.It’s a scam to get more and more money out of you and they do nothing!I am very lucky that I came across this site and had contacted the BBB before I paid more than my $50.(william,guess I am not that stupid,I investigated SOL before I purchased)!Please to anyone out there,check with the BBB.SOL has been sued in many.many states!If they are honest and have nothing to hide then why did they pull me and my friends from the second so called course and into a hall away from everone when we asked them questions about these posts and complaints to the BBB????Why did they threaten to sue us if we told anyone in there???
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Gina Reply:
September 27th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Chucky,
http://www.storesonline-reviews.com/wp-content/themes/sumanasa-design02-10/images/post-a-comment.gif
So you were the one with this shocking testimonial from this MAFIA SOL group!! ha, what a bunch of unethical people!! to threaten you and your friends, about it!! ha!!but in the other hand, I wish that I was that smart…like you and your friends!!.(congrats for not falling)….. In reality I was “weak” to fall in to their ugly plans/Trap……I hate to admit that “they GOT ME” yeah they did!!)somehow they were smarter than me) they are/were like this little” invasion” taking(braiwashing) our brain cells out of our system……and well, yeah that’s what happens when we get “weak”…..so now I have to pay and deal with the consequences…………Nancy( which lives near to my place/city) can probably help me to finally get 1 website ready……so as I do not have anything more to loose, I’m going to give it a try…….I ‘m stuburn ….so…..in this case probably will be a “+”….hopefully I make it through and well….. yes! definetely I think learned my lesson……..for some reason I sadly thought that this SOL company was the greatest deal!! that fianlly I had a chance to be an entrepeneur…working from home and earning “good money” (of course without working for someone else)…..needless to say, I was wrong, I was fooled!! but I think that if we are not having our money back, if we are not going to SUE….we need to somehow at least (try)get them working(our websites)………I hope I can!! I know now it will take lots of time + lots of effort…..but I’m willing to do it!! I’m not a quitter….so it has to be some good result of this…….(being positive, I hate to be neagative)……may take years which I…grrrr kinda hate…..but the only way to really find if this truly works(like I said without the bulls..lies,without the somehow magical formula”fast, easy,rewarding” haha that SOL promised)… what else can I do…..???…….It’s sad, stressful but it’s the Bare, rough/hard reality…………
like: “Do it yourself the hard way….even paying large amount of money” I mean what was the purpose!!! haha…well get them rich$$$ of course!!!………SOL…should stand for: SYSTEM OF LIES!! or SCAM OF LIES!! SOL………….
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on September 27th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Gina,
Stop it!!!Stop beating yourself up!You are not weak and they are not smarter than you.They just have all the right words to say and they know how to get your money!Believe me,when I left the first seminar I was prepared to pull out my credit card at the next session.I am just very thankful that I read these comments first!You are not a weak person!!I can’t tell you that enough.They prey on people like us.I’ve had surgery and no longer able to do the work I was doing.I to have a dream of starting an online business.They almost had me too.The comments I have read scare me.PLEASE be very careful!Try to find someone that will help you with your website.I hope they don’t charge you more and more on top of what you have already paid.Sounds like they make it so you need to pay the $50 an hr.in order to set it up.There are also hidden charges.Check with the BBB.Try to find out if there is or has been a lawsuit where you live.Try to get in on it.Also,the lawyer I spoke with the other day said to call the attorney generals office.See if they can help you get your money back.I’m not sure if you have help me hank on your news stations.If you do,try that!Please do not give up.
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Gina Reply:
September 28th, 2008 at 12:34 am
Dear Chucky,
Thanks for all your support, it’s so nice to see that there still nice people in the world like most of you/the people from this site….you are so right!!!……Honestly,I too want to have my money back…….and I’m so dissapointed from this situation, that to only even see the SOL package and re-/review everything/trying to re-itiniate this job/websites…made me want to throw up……for some reason I’m not interested anymore…I don’t even want to see the DARN SOL KIT AGAIN!!!(I hate to admit it…but I’m still Pissed about all this injustice) so today…..(all afternoon) I had to go out and take stress out!!……… I really wanted to give it a try…..but it kinda of freaks me out to have to deal with this whole situation, and like Nancy said…… that they (SOL) pretty much have the control….they have the security codes…etc…etc….so……actually this means making bussiness with them(even If I do not want or agree on it….make these darn websites work with another company it’s not an option, and that hits me very bad) also accepting their scam/plan/lies/trap……and well I refuse to do that(that would be a suicide/nightmare)..so I’m going to figure it out….. like you said…my own way to recover from this…………….need to think straight!!……….so thank you for all tips and advice…I’ll talk to you later……..fingers are cross for the best!!……
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patricia lazar Reply:
December 14th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Gina, I know exactly how you feel! I am not in the position to write off the $6000 + as a tax refund. I am now living on disability and whatever art I can sell on my website (which is NOT with SoL). I am so furious about this - it just eats me up alive! I feel for you.
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on September 28th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Do not attend nor purchase from Stores Online. They are a slick outfit that know what buttons to push to get your money. They never discuss thier cancellation policy, and cancellation is virtually impossible. Very unethical company!
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on October 1st, 2008 at 1:49 am
We recieved the SOL invitation in mail a few weeks ago, right at the time we were talking about updating our old wedsite, so we decided to go in case they might be our website solution. We didn’t find anything suspicious, since we thought the reason we recieved the invitation was because we are listed business owners. We expected they would try to sell something at the conference, business is about making money, who would give out free training, food and gift if they don’t want something from you? My husband and I went to the conference this morning, and was surprised at the arrival to see that half of the audience are seniors, and many looked low-income people(sorry to judge people by their look…), we thought it was a business conference… and were definitely overdressed for the occasion! Anyway, to keep it short… The presentation was very impressive, and indeed they didn’t mention anything about the $6000 package they would sell at the training session, and indeed they made it look very easy to creat a wedsite with just a few clicks. We didn’t buy or sign up with anything since it was not what we want. A saleman came to ask us why, we explained to him that they don’t have what we need, he tried to sell us another expensive packge, we declined, he then made an impolite remark and left us alone. Until then we didn’t realize it was scam since what they sell at the conference was just $25 and a $20+(don’t remember exactly how much) monthly charge.) About half of the people signed up at today’s conference for the training workshop. Now I have just read the posting on this website and realized it is a scam. I feel sorry for those senior and low income people who signed up today, especially the two who are disabled, I hope they will not fall for the bigger scam at the workshop.
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on October 1st, 2008 at 10:17 am
I too attended the SOL invitation semminar and to make a long story short bought the 50.00 website and attended the workshop and even with the hard sell sales pitch did not purchase anything else-unlike the other two people at my table.
I did recently attend a seminar for a company called AT HOME PROFESSIONS what a totally different atmosphere!
Questions where welcomed and answered during the seminar and discussions encouraged. All costs where give up front and afforable monthly payments 55.00 a month plus the course was eligable for goverment student loans.
This company had nothing to hide and it showed.
I only post this message to point out there is a better way to run a seminar then the SOL way!
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Lorie Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
SCAMMER Well yes there are a lot of them out there. I’ve just read a bunch of these letters and I have to agree with you all, it is all crap, the real meaning of SOL is S&%T Out of Luck
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on October 1st, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I recieved an email from a friend who also went to both the seminars with her mom.They had to leave early.A salesman followed them to the door and asked why they were leaving?He tried to get them to stay.They explained that they had a family emergency and had to go.Very sarcastically he told them “well ,I hope that what ever your so- called emergency is it’s a good enough reason for leaving early”!HER DAD DIED!They were very rude to her and her mom because she had to leave.Stay away from this company!
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on October 3rd, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Sorry for those who did not make this is the Website I got from them, they have great customer service I have no complains about, if you want you contact me go to my website and I will show you the secret they gave my business is doing well most on the things they said are real. My be you do not have patience.
Thandi
http://www.freetoworkathome.net
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on October 6th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Well, I knew this was a scam, even when I agreed to go. We’re headed out in a few minutes for our seminar and “dinner and mp3 player”. Hope the player holds a bunch of songs, I need a new one….. LOL. Gee, thandi, you seem to be here a A LOT talking these people up. So, tell me, how much is StoresOnline paying you?
Anyway, thanks everyone for letting me know what questions to stump these idiots with. I’ll do my best to enlighten the others attending all about meta tags and what-not to get their OWN sites in the search engines, etc. I have a really good web server that charges me just $55 a year, and there are some really good software programs out there to help with making web sites, etc. With a little leg work to get your drop-shipping in place, ANYONE can do this for next to nothing.
Anyway, off for a night of fun! LOL
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on October 7th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Martin Lee,
There are only a few legit whiners in here. You are a con who is shorting Stores online stocks. The few actual poor souls in here believing they were scammed and choose to not even try are being conned by you and the rest of these posts are from you or associates of yours Martin.
Folks, give online selling a try and stop wasting your breath in here.
Good luck to all of you.
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patricia lazar Reply:
December 14th, 2008 at 11:26 am
William, how do you know who tried and who didn’t bother to try? You are making a stupid assumption and it is very offensive to many people. How about YOU stop wasting your breath and our time here?
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William Reply:
December 14th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Patricia,
I do understand you belive you were scammed and that you are letting it eat you alive. (your own words) with that said, How the heck do you propose to generate income, when, instead of marketing and promoting your existing web site, you shoose to rant, rave, and tell falsehoods to the point where you believe it yourself. Noone denies you believe you tried, but you temporarily failed, and need to move on and stop blaming others.
95 percent of most businesses will fail within 5 years and some give up while others continue to move forward while not seeing a set back as a failure.
I also went to the same seminars as you and I can tell you I read everything and the only area I agree with you, and others, is that the builder interface was indeed hard for me, but persistance and determination will over come all for those who are determined to succeed.
Trust me, the 5 percent who succeed are the ones who take their lumps and move forward.
You are angry at SOL and anyone who won’t get on your band wagon. Well why would we get on your bandwagon just to go down in flames as you seem to want to do.
Patricia, SOL uses heavy marketing tactics just like most every other businesses, I’ve read all their fine print and didn’t sign until I did. You need to move on because you have a nice web site that needs your attention.
just my opinion,
William
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on October 7th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
OK,William,
You let me know how I am going to pay for this entire package in view of the fact that I am on a fixed income with not resource to continue paying for another part of this program? Please, answer that questions!
You may be one of the very fortunate people who have other income to support this business until it gets off the ground as it were.
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on October 7th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Well, me and my guest when to the dinner thing on July 23,2008 and I do not have my mp3 player yet, but my guest has her’s. I been waitting for 2 or 3 mouths and no mp3 player for me. That’s stupid, She lives with we and we have the same address and they could not seen both of them at the same time.
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Chanmell Reply:
October 7th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I even called them on aug.26,08 and Sept,30, 08 and I am tired of waitting on them, If I don’t get my mp3 player, I will proble will sue them.
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on October 7th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Chanmell,
The MP3 player is worth like 10 bucks on eBay. Are you seriously going to sue because someone did not send you a handout MP3 player? Wow. Grow up.
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Mark Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
More like a .50 cent mp3 player…and the picture they used on the flyer was an actual ipod shuffle, lol
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on October 8th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
To Martin Lee of Oct 7,2008
I can understand where you are coming from Martin. I thought the same thing. But let me ask. I we are wasting our time then somewhere in yourself there has to be question otherwise, why would you have been reading all of these ? Let me ask some questions. How long have you been involved with SOL ? How far have you succeed ? Are you satisfied with the Customer Support Help Line ? Are you making head way to all the claims they have made ? Were you told of the 3 day dead line before you signed up if you signed up ? Did you sign up ? How long ago ? I am not a gready peson and I only ask that my package be cancelled along with my returning the entire product and I get every bit that I invested and walk away. I do hope you don’t skip over some of the complaints that you read. You will see a pattern for those who have paid their amounts. They are no longer receiving admittance into their accounts. They are considered spam. When the contract is up and they got all their money, you are no longer needed. Maybe not everyone goes through this but a few do. I can see why also. It’s all their in black and white. If you just open your mind to both sides and take note but have the invisable sheild of protection for yourself, you’ll see what I mean. I’m not using a rude tone or manner here. I’m calm of the entire thing. It’s dog eat dog, and for us folks who are just trying to be kind hearted and be heard, I think you need to be listening seriously
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Martin Lee Reply:
October 8th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Roxy,
You mean William and not Martin right?
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Roxy Reply:
October 8th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
William,
I am sorry. Yes you are correct. I meant William. The letter was addressing Martin.
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on October 8th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Hi Gord !!
This is in reply to your letter of Oct 7,2008. It was a kind letter and that kindness is something I appreciate. Especially since hope is looking cloudy and the happenings lately that I have been enduring. I won’t go into detail but it sure feels close to one of the ultimate sins of which no one would have to bother with using me anymore. I know that emotions can take you beyond norm or the true reality and we can’t let them be the controlling factor. I have equal to if not worse things on my back, than SOL. Prayer is always a plus and graceously appreciated. I do have , I hope good news. I did get a response from the Mari Silva that was mentioned I believe from Jack. She stopped any further withdraws from my account for my monthly fees for SOL. She is going to investigate my case and get back with me in a about a week. It would be worth a try yourself. It’s the best I can give to anyone at this point. She seems like a nice and helpful person.She didn’t get rude or controlling or abusive in her letter. Give it a try .
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on October 8th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Hello, Roxy,
Thank you for your kind advice. I will phone Ms. Silva on Thursday.
I believe that God is teaching us through this experience. We must remain teachable and kind. I believe that Williams is in the learning process, too.
I have already taken out a Line of Credit to pay the credit office, TRAVELERS ACCEPTANCE, to prevent high interest payments. It has put a strain our budget for sure.
I will continue trusting my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to help me through this. I did this in such innocence because I trusted the person and people at the day long workshop. I did not believe that they would have hid the “three day” information from me.
Thank you so much once again for your encouragement.
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on October 9th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
This is to everyone. The fact that these people have made a quick buck and hid some facts and mixed around extra expenses into the material reminds me of a phone company story. There is a phone company that originated out of called Sage. This company is very awesome ! They are all employees that had came together from other phone companies like At&T, Sprint and other popular names. Because they saw the light on what the company was doing to rip off the consumer, they didn’t want to be a part of it at all!!. I was told about this from a Christian friend of mine that I had known since he was 6 years old. When he told me about this company, I called and I had their service for a while. I COULD NOT BELIEVE HOW MUCH I SAVED !! And you never had to deal with an automated service device. You always had a rep to attend to you. They were very curteous too. They only have availability in certain territories in certain states and were slowly growing. But I kept their number because I do check back with them once in a while to see if I can get their service again. I ended up moving and they didn’t service my iddy-biddy town. Infact we only have one phone company and they are very expensive. If anyone is interested, I’d be glad to help. YOU REALLY SAVE A LOT ! WHICH SAVES A LOT.
But the reason of the story is : one of the last things Jesus said before he died was the famous words which no one practices. ” Forgive them Father ; for they not what they have done .” The heart can turn to greed in a matter of minutes or a matter of days. Some of these guys at SOL may have been deceived too just like the phone workers until they really see the light. It doesn’t hurt to pray for them and the miracle of a changed heart could spark the help we actually need to end our own misery. I know it helps releave some of my own stress. Trust is the boss in the sky if your heart is pure and not full of what they have, you just might be surprised at yourself and find enlightedment. To much anger causes Bitterness which is like a poison to whole being.
Anyways. I’m signing off for now. See ya all later & have a great night ! Roxy
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on October 11th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Roxy, what you said it’s very true!!! but the only thing that kind of bothers me, is some people like “William” trying to defend SOL behavior……..and keeps coming into this site to prove them wrong!! and that it’s unaceptable………..Can someone tell me just one thing!!! Why isn’t any good SOL testimonial in the computer??? why in the world, we do not have any positive reviews here and in all the Cyberworld (Internet…such google etc)from SOL posted??? Why even in YOU TUBE, we can actually find lots of video Tapes from reporters(from lots of chanels in different cities) recorded their SCAM????…….why can’t I find those “TESTIMONIALS”(video tapes) that they show in their workshops from people that suposely made money (good income ) with this websites????………So…..I raise my case!!! No more questions your honor………How can I contact Mari Silva??? need to talk to her……en see if I can have my money back!!!
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on October 16th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
The number of storesonline web packages for resale on eBay should be a tip off that many people don’t /can’t use their “opportunity.” Of course most won’t say anything bad..because they need to unload a purchase they aren’t/can’t make use of. I attended the initial meeting, pd. the $$ and even thought about buying their product but when they checked my credit (good in the 700’s) and tried to finance me at an outrageous interest rate, I was worried about being pressured to buy and left w/o purchasing. Just as a footnote - I never did get the 6 mo. of “O” magazine that they had promised as a gift for attending. After reading this site I’m glad I didn’t plunk down anything!
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on October 18th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Hi Adela - I did not buy a storesonline package from the seminar. I was intrigued enough that I followed resale units of SOL on eBay - even bid on a couple (I’m watching one now that has had no bids and is $99 US and has had no bids in at least 4 days of watching.) At this point, after reading a lot of posts, I’m so glad that I didn’t buy as it sounds like a lot more work for questionable success than I’m willing to put forth. If I had a burning hot idea of something I wanted to sell I might try….but then again, after reading a lot of posts about the lack of results I might try another way to buy/build without so much up front cost and so many fees to maintain. Also, there was a unit on eBay for .99 cents and I actually visited the link and wasn’t impressed at all with the site and with how it was built - the owner said they had put over a thousand dollars over and above SOL to build it - I felt “WOW is that what you get for your money?!?!?” That auction ended when the person pulled their .99 cent SOL site off the auction with only one bid in days. In your case - I don’t think I would put out another 7K for a mentoring package. As they say, learn from history - if many haven’t made any money in a year what are the odds that most would in the next year(s.) I don’t mean to be cruel, but that is my opinion.
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on October 29th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Happy!! For the most part,
I am not happy with the money we spent $6000, but we do have a site up and running and are generating sales. http://www.diecastcorvette.com We did get help from the merchant services and are some what happy with the opportunity that stores online provide.
It is not easy work and does not put it self together but with some time and effort a site can be put together and successful. Our site is #1 ranked in google and yahoo with certain keywords, One of them being diecast corvettes.
PMI - this is a whole different topic, they gauged us for about $6000, Do not sign with these guys. PMI gives you nothing you can’t find out on your own. There has also been other companies that call to offer marketing packages, stay away. They don’t do there homework, they are quite surprised when I tell them I am ranking #1 in google. Do not sign with any of these guys, they are out to get as much as they can from you for very little in return.
If you plan to go to the Seminar, yes there is valuable information even if you choose not to purchase the web packages.
If you need any advice or help with your website let me know maybe I can help you.
Dan
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Irvina Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Hello Dan,
I went to a Seminar a few days ago and spent $25.00 to purchase a website. They did say that they give 24/7 customer service and I am suppose to go to an all day Seminar on November 21st. I do not plan on purchasing any more from them. I do not have the money. Can you tell me if it is possible to learn anything from them to start a website to earn money. I am not looking to become a millionaire, I just want to earn a living without worrying about loosing a job. I thought working for myself would be a good step in the right direction and I have been wanting to start my own website for the past two years. Your input would be very much appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you.
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Dan Reply:
November 7th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Hello,
and yes they do have useful information, at least at the one we went to, the speaker was very good. My wife and I though the investment would be wise.?!$
We went to the seminar and had already research and done many of the marketing ideas that they had, like google ad words. If you have not delved into any research on your own yet then by all means go and see what the have to teach you, like link exchange, directory listing etc. They will pull you aside and try to tell you that “well it’s only $ much per month” just tell them it is not in your budget, they won’t kick you out.
If you can find another way to build a website, and I’m sure there is many, you might as well take the info you get from these guys and run with it.
They make it sound like everyones a winner, but no matter where you build your site it will take some time and work. I hope this has helped you and feel free to contact me again,
thanks, Dan
[Reply]
Dan Reply:
November 25th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Feel free to contact me @ dandruar@diecastcorvette.com
roy Reply:
February 13th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Dan,
I just spent $6K on the platinum package.
Today is my 3rd day refusal, Feb.13,2009.
Do you still feel that you got your $$’s worth and continue to do so?
I know nothing really about this Internet sales and don’t really have a product….are the imbedded shippers good ones, etc..
Should I begin the process or jump out now before deadline.
Thanks your insight,
Roy
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on November 1st, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I have found that stores on line is quite helpful. We had a few problems with our website, and they worked on it till it was fixed. Although it did take a month. PMI on the other hand is a rip off. We paid about $13,000. for their so called mentoring. This consisted of about 5 pre recorded calls, and access to a number of other recorded calls. We are also involved in an other mentoring group. This group gives you 3 calls a week, that are live, you can actually ask questions and get answers. The cost for the year, 150 calls is $6,000. And that is with Bob Proctors life Success Consultants. A lot of their mentors are world renowned speakers and teachers.
All in all Stores on Line is not a magic pill. You still have to do the work. But if you are not lazy, things will come together.
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on November 6th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I just came out of their seminar. I was there as a guest with my colleague Joe who had registered for $25.
Cons:
1. I am wounded how they expect someone to purchase their product when during 7 hours seminar they even did not show pages or functions of their $6000 product. Such a waste of time.
2. Speakers have no knowledge of computer or web site what so ever. They are simply tapes like those after hours TV FOOD MIXER shows. For this reason they keep just talking and no question is allowed. If you dare to interrupt and ask something they simply humiliate you and make fun of you to get control of their speech back.
3. Lunch was very late 13:35 and just for 15 minutes, I should have my lunch on time right at 12 other wise I get headaches.
Pros:
1. If you are in a business of marketing and delivering speeches, such a remarkable arrangement and consistency. They keep people’s ass stick to the chairs for hours and hours with bunch of none scenes crap, and times flies without even you notice.
2. Good for teachers and instructors and marketing guys to learn from these guys how persistent they are in their daily scam.
3. No doubt, nice place and good food in Hilton hotel
Cross Examinations:
1. If they have such a wonderful tools. Why they are not appearing on top of Google and other search engines? Try it yourself with type of business that they have.
2. Why they find people and contacted them in a old fashion ways, (mail, newspaper, e-mail) instead of same way that they expect you to promote your bossiness?
3. Search internet and see if you can find any of those testimonial from other sources?
4. Why there is no good comment anywhere posted about them?
5. Why they don’t take advantage of other Google advertising or YOUTUBE and so on to post their seminars?
Happy that I did not waste my entire day there and left 15:30.
IT Manager
Computer Engineer
Cisco, Oracle and Microsoft Professional
Toronto, Ontario, 2008-11-06
[Reply]
on November 7th, 2008 at 7:34 am
I read through all these posts and I just want to know 2 things:
1. Did anyone get a refund of the money they paid (for over a year) from Stores Online or the Attorney General’s Office in SC or NC?
2. If so, can you please telle me who to contact? I already have an attorney but the sneaky **** SOL people have some arbitration clause - all I want is to save my credit really.
By the way, to those going on and on about hard work. Let’s make it clear,
I tried for a whole year to get SOL to fix problems so that I had a functioning website. In less than 3 months with a private web-developer I was able to create something well beyond anything SOL can make (including the distribution house and drop ship backend). Not everyone who got scammed is an idiot with no experience. SOL promises a backend that would cost 1,000s and full options to create a custom site and then they show their true colors and don’t provide technical know how and support to make that happen. And you cannot create your own custom Front End…that is a lie. You are stuck with some version of their templates and not much more. I had SOL reps telling me that there was no recourse for me, when my site was so screwed up that no one could even read what it said, because that is how the system is set up and the reps said that they would try to help me on the side, if I promised not to tell. Months into this venture is when the full scam is revealed. If you think you are too smart and you work so hard that nothing could go wrong for you…think again. Lots of people who have been scammed by SOL are real business people like myself who have years of experience and know how to work hard. That is why the Attorney General of so many states has blocked SOL from doing business in their states. A scam company knows what to say and what to give in the beginning so that you are not aware of how you are being scammed until later. For those who have made your websites work with SOL, you are the few…be thankful. For the rest of us who know how to use plug and play applications and who know how to talk to technical support…you’ll know it is a scam when you find yourself dealing with them…then it will be too late.
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on November 8th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Nothing to learn from these crooks. They just keep you there waiting with crap speeches, meanwhile their trained, pushy sales rep will come and pick people one by one to give them “personal private consultant” that is all about buy this or otherwise you die!!.
During the session they do not give you any information and it is not educative what so ever.
If you are really care about your new personal home business, spend that 8 hours at home to do some homework, you can find 100 times more and better information for free on internet.
Here are some good points to start with. All for free and fully descriptive. If anybody needs help, post notes here, I’m going to be a regular visitor of this site for a period, just because they wasted my time and so many poor people, which are seeking for a hand of help, not push down the cliff.
http://services.google.com/training/websiteoptimizeroverview/2995095/index.html
https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=31769&src=top5
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
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on November 9th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Hi, I bought into the SOL, and found that it wasn’t for me. I wanted a home based business that I could do on my own without added costs involved and they (sol) kept trying to get more and more money out of me. I was able to get a refund from them, and we have parted ways. I now have that home based business, that I am enjoying and the total cost to join was only $449 ONE TIME FEE. I love it, it’s fun and very enjoyable. I get all the perks, and they are great. If your interested in learning how you can also have this wonderful home based business, that you promote on your own, at your own speed, and enjoy all the perks whenever you want. check out my website, view the presentation, then contact me and I will personally guide you through the process. Your WEB SITE IS UP AND RUNNING IN 10 MINUTES !!!! Then all you have to do is promote it. What could be easier? you make as much or as little as you put into it. Check it out and contact me. GrandmaDee
agent.slotstravel.com
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Gina Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 11:38 am
GrandmaDee(Diana)……I have seen your website……my question is?? how do you promote it?? what do you do??? or have to do?? how many hours do you invest in this??………aprox…how much can someone earn being consistent and resposible with it???…Is it easy or time consuming???………….Isn’t this like MMC( Millenium Marketing Concepts) how it’s this job different and better?? please, need to earn some home base money!!………I will appreciate if you can help me with this please…… thank you.
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on November 13th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Gina, basically, you are a travel agent promoting your website. We are a nationally traded company, with major write ups in Success Magazine and others. We have weekly phone conferences, that you can attend and listen anonomously, just to get information. If you go to agent.slotstravel.com and click on the company presentation it answers most or all of your questions. My personal email is there for you also. I absolutely love it, but it is not for everyone. No it is not MLM because you are actually selling a product. Airline, hotel, rental car, cruises, cars, golf pkgs flowers etc. You can make alot or a little. My son supports his family of 4 with this home business. I have it for additional income during my retirement. But for me it is the perks. I get to fly first class 75% of the time for Free, I get upgrades at my hotels, etc. I would love to tell you more, I even have a great DVD that I would love to send out to anyone interested. The cost to join was minimal, my site was up in 10 minutes, I earn thousands of dollars in tax write offs, that pay for it over and over again. There is a monthly fee to keep Travelocity updated and current. But … if you get 6 people to also get into it, that fee is waived, so ultimately, you have a web site for $449 (one time fee) for the rest of your life. And if you don’t ask 6 people to join, the monthly fee is $49 and you save that in tax write offs at the end of the year anyway.
get my personal email address and I will send you the DVD, but please go to agent.slotstravel.com and click on all the informational tabs. You will be happy you did. I look forward to hearing from you. GrandmaDee
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on November 13th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Gina, I am sorry I was rushing out the door when I posted that quick response. How I promote my business is in talking to everyone about it, when I am at the grocery store, I talk to the checkers and give them my business card and ask them to check out my online travel site when they are planning a trip. I also have taken DVD’s to major companies and shown them how they can have their own travel website with their company name and use it for all their business travel, and the commissions come back to them. Most companies just book a ticket online and never get a commission check. Major companies are loving this. They take their normal trips, and every month the company gets a check in the mail. I promote mine by word of mouth. But you can do it however you want. The support of this company is by far the best I have ever seen. You get help when you need it. There are conventions, meetings, seminars all over the place that you can attend to learn the art of promoting your business. I personally have only attended 2 locally. My son and his wife have attended over 100 in the last two years, and of course they are making alot more than I am. For me this is tax help and I enjoy the perks. I am sorry I rushed this morning. Please email me if I can answer more questions. Good Luck to you
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on November 14th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I’m embarrassed to say that I got taken in by these vultures back in 2004 and I’m still paying off the $6,000. I got taken in because like everyone else, I was and am looking for a real opportunity. If anyone knows of one, I’m all ears. In the meantime, I just got an invitation to attend one of their events which I’m going to attend. I also intend to raise my hand to ask a question and will loudly ask why they don’t talk about how many Attorneys General have files on them and then warn everyone in the room to run to the exit.
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patricia lazar Reply:
December 12th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Good idea! Please make sure to take a tape recorder with you and webcam if they will allow you, and TAPE the session to have proof of their false promises and guarantees! But be careful - their big guys hanging around the back of the room look like Mafia!
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on November 15th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
David,
Thank you for your vigor to attend the meeting and to expose this company. I got taken in by them in March of this year. Yes, I am also paying off $6,127.00. I am on a fixed income and cannot continue to pour money into this program to the amount of $29.00 per for them to maintain the websites; thus, I did not set up any. They almost SCAMMED a Christian College into having their workshop there. I prevented that from happening.
We Canadians have no recourse but to pay off the debt.
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on November 17th, 2008 at 1:20 am
I went to a Storesonline full day workshop in Tauranga, New Zealand today. They sure were sucking in so many people here today and it was very frightening seeing how easily so many people were getting duped into parting with $7000 of their hard earned money. They were very convincing and most of their workshop was based around their reverse search engine tool which you can get for free anyway Wordtracker from http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com - even wordtracker’s full service is at a fraction of the cost of Storesonline system. I’d seen this site before so knew all about them so I tried telling a few people there to beware so have managed to save a few from getting ripped off. Its sad when other people in this city has lost a lot of money recently in scams and finance company failures and yet they are not doing their homework first.
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on November 18th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I am a happy StoresOnline customer and my feedback can be found on:
http://www.storesonlineexposed.com/index.php/Testimonials?mode=display&story_id=804
I won’t repeat what I said on that medium, you can read it there, but I have 2 successful StoresOnline sites:
- http://www.AllNaturalElements.com
- http://www.HealthyHeartHelp.com
How and what you spend your money on is under no one’s control but your own. Has anyone ever heard the term “Buyer Beware?” This is an “easy” business to get into. It does not take a lot of special knowledge to be successfull with this business.
Above all, please remember that you are buying a tool, not a business. The tool is used to aid your business in its running, not give you a business to run. To be successful in the business, you need to educate yourself in the proper ways to build the website and market it. StoresOnline provides this information as well and they don’t charge you anything additional to use it. Now if you want to pay someone to do everything for you, by all means waste your money. If you are going to spend money on something, it should be education. Just like you would do your research on any school, you should do your research on who you are buying this education from.
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patricia lazar Reply:
December 12th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Stores Online is supposed to educate US in the proper ways to build the website and market it.
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Tamikia Alford Reply:
December 12th, 2008 at 11:15 am
StoresOnline does educate us in the proper ways. You just have to READ the documentation that they offer. The documentation is relevant. The probelm is that the BUSINESS is changing. StoresOnline is not responsible for teaching you the business. They are not responsible for teaching you to build a website properly either. How do you know what you are being told is correct? How would you know the proper way unlss you did your own resarch? Would you take my word for it, just because I told you it was right? Would you buy a car without test driving it or having someone you trust looking at it to tell you it’s a good buy? Would you decide to open a restaurant just because someone was selling a customizable ready made building equipped with kitchen, tables, chairs and a bar? Of course not, you still need to know something about running a restaurant business. This is no different. You have to do your own research and seek out your own education so that you know what you are buying will help you.
Bottom line, don’t buy something without fully understanding what it does and how it will help you. Don’t take one person’s word for it, do your research. StoresOnline isn’t the only company selling this sort of product. Do your comparisons. Even if you go and make a purchase, you get 3 days to change your mind. You should use those 3 days to do extra research, try to seek out the people in the testimonials, really decide if this is the product for you. You can’t blame a company for bad purchasing habits (impulse buying, no research or knowledge of the subject matter, etc.)
In life, there is always going to be someone out there selling you something. You can’t depend on the person trying to make a sale to teach you everything you need to know about the industry. Do you expect the saleswoman at the shoe store to tell you how high heeled shoes are bad for your feet if you don’t have proper support or for the the saleswoman in the clothing store to tell you that while that dress is in style this season, it’s not a good choice if you have a sweat gland problem or will be sitting all day? You have to make your own decision. In business, the smart decision is an educated one. Selling things on a website is not just about building a website, it’s also about the product, economy (supply/demand, pricing, timing), marketing, and many other factors. StoresOnline is selling a website building/managing product. It’s not their responsibility to teach you how to build and manage a retail business. While they do teach you some, it’s your responsibility to learn the rest.
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patricia lazar Reply:
December 12th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I’m sorry to s