Internet Marketing Workshop
This Saturday, I will be attending a 1-day internet marketing workshop conducted by a supposedly “leading internet training organisation since 1995″.
I used the word “supposedly” because I have not heard of this company from the internet prior to signing up for this workshop. Isn’t it wierd that a company teaching internet marketing isn’t doing too well for itself in the same area?
Furthermore, I already know most of the topics that will be covered during the workshop; yet I paid $100 and signed up for the workshop.
Why?
The reason is because the marketing system used by the company to generate sales (for the workshop and it’s other products) is in itself worth the price of the workshop.
This is a method that is widely known and I will be able to witness for myself firsthand the masterful execution of this strategy.
I will give the breakdown of this particular marketing strategy next week after the workshop itself.
on June 1st, 2007 at 4:12 pm
My sister and I attended a SOL workshop day. It was busy but was not all that great. A man called Bud took most of the presentation. However, I agree with some of the above but when we attended there was no mention of duplication or anything like that in fact it was the opposite. Eventually, we left early as my sister was unwell and we had decided not to go ahead. A few days later we received a call and was offered a package of 9 weeks training every week with advice for a further 9 months via email etc. We also were offered the website and a merchant account within the package. We are almost ready to start trading and we have had a few teething problems we have continued to go ahead.
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
January 9th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
The workshop is basically a strategic subtile-pressure subversion that essentially does not allow the participant to analyze business obligations and necessary resources prior to signing the electronic fund transfer form which indebts the participant to a high-interest contract. Much business analysis consideration is avoided, because StoresOnline wants to make the sale without any regard for the participant’s need to analyze his or her financial position. If the participant does not sign up to be a customer of SalesOnline, we were told many times that we would never be permitted to attend another workshop nor subscribe to the web site. That is pressure-selling!
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TONY CAVALIERI Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:27 am
I tested the waters on april in ocala,fla.free dinner and a free mp3 player which we never recieved,and cant get a hold of them ,the man doing the show was a ex fbi man????? if anybody has a number for me to call let me know,im not shy tcmuggsey45@yahoo.com
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Tim Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:43 am
We are scheduled for the same free dinner free mp3 player….i figured it was a scam but just wanted the ipod nano on their advertisement…..have you heard anything since? tfoshe@acxiom.com
Dot Reply:
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Customer Support # 1-801-434-8582
jane doe Reply:
November 21st, 2009 at 3:56 pm
an associate and i have attended today’s meeting at the Best Western-Rockville Ctr. Long island, New York location (instr.by “Duane”)..let me know too, if you have other info or other ways to complain. It’s a diversion of a way to use the computer to make money….prettier package..THEIR rules, PAY THEM.-NO DEAL! We wanted to do more research…Dont let anyone scam you! WEBSITES are FREE ANYWAY THESE DAYS! RESEARCH! By the way….it’s been 4 hours and still no confirm on the mp3 player…call csr? HERE I GO!
Peggy Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
we received dinner, m3 player and an ebay floppy 1-866-928-9888 (# from mail ad).
John Doe :) Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
You may contact the MP3 / iPod department, call the CS# posted below, and redirect to that department, surely they will assist you IF….
Keith Kemp Reply:
September 19th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Today I took the bait and will keep track of all my interactions with SOL so I can report back the good,bad and ugly with an unbiased opinion .
My partner and I did not feel pressure concerning if we did not sign that day than we would be blacklisted from ever being invited to another free hotel meal or ipod lookalike attendance gift .
The price to sign this time dropped to forty eight dollars and I asked Judy if I could buy into it this time and she said Yes !!
Now I will be blogging to let you know whats happening to my small foot in the door investment.
Wish us luck !!
Sincerely
Keith Kemp
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Sam Wells Reply:
November 14th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I am interested in hearing of your experience with this. Sounds interesting. If the commitment is no more than $48, I cold go for that. Even if it includes the $24.95 per month, I might try it for maybe 3 months. but I owld not be able to exercise the optoin of buying the software for $3,600. but I would go to the workshop to learn more about marketing if that is what it is about. So, please let me know what happens.
Keith Dewease Reply:
May 1st, 2010 at 7:58 am
Have you been to the workshop? What did you think? thanks Keith
Chris Floer Reply:
May 5th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
I just attended the second event. It only cost me $58 and they promised to train me on how to pick keywords and a whole lists of other things. I thought that it would be worth it. But it wasn’t! All they did was try to sell me their premium package. The premium package costs $6000. If you didn’t agree to buy it, they treated you like an idiot. They are real high pressure sale people. I looked around at all the seniors listening to them. They were all ready to give them their money. These people should be ashamed of themselfs.
Donna Reply:
June 25th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
REPLY TO Keith Kemp & ALL OTHERS WHO WANT TO KNOW ABOUT STORES ONLINE.
Are you stating that they sold the web site to you for $48 … or was this for a seminar.
I am one of those who not only paid $6,000, but bought the PMI training for $7,000 and the ebay training for I forget how much.
I finally developed and sent them my own personal web site, and it was easy to do; but even then (after 2 years of fighting to get it built and even going to the Pres.) I had to spend 2 weeks emailing as each sentence, each picture, each icon had to be sent via separate emails.
Ridiculous.
But more so, I could not log in to make the changes and upload my product … though as Frank Sinatra sang, “I did it my way.” Meaning I developed the site contrary to what they told me.
Now I am facing the task of uploading product … it took me over a month to get someone to understand that I needed to know how to get into the back of the site … there are items left out and items that are not rtg. I need to correct everything myself, as they will only make 1, I repeat 1 change. Now tell me, after all this money and possibly losing sales they won’t give you more time. One change is never going to be enough.
And, I even paid and extra $250 for better programming — they told me to use it on the next site … there won’t be a next site. Hosting alone would cost $185 a month if you used all the sites … they ended up giving me an extra one … big deal.
You should have seen my site … it did not even fill the computer screen and was a mess. THEY SHOULD BE VERY EMBARRASSED WITH SHODDY WORK … ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY ONLY HAD TO COPY MY WORK.
Carolyn Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 9:25 am
What happened next? My husband and I attended yesterday
Barry Smith Reply:
February 4th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Definitely a ripoff with high pressure so called consultants who want you to feel guiilty for not purchasing their product. Fortunately I only lost 38 dollars. So far I have been unable to design a web site using the express. They told me I had until March 5th. to cancel their hosting fee of 25.00, which I will do after reading all of this. I attended the all day seminar and wasted time an money, because I was stupid enough to believe they would give some good information. The only information they had to offer was for me to invest 6000 to upgrade to PRO so they could make more money.
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Connie Andrews Reply:
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:43 pm
How do you cancel the $25.00 fee? I have read through the material, but have not found out where to do that.
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:00 am
Sorry Connie, I am sure they will shed tears defending themselves that they had to rent the room and provide that lunch-style “dinner” they gave you. That is part of the scam, to make you feel like you’ve already gotten something from them — a “free lunch”. They were “buttering us up” with every step of their scam to get us hooked into their finance agreement.
Just feel lucky it was only $25 and not the $6,900 at 24% interest that a lot of us were caught with — and they very cleverly WAIT a month so you are way past the federal provision for you to change your mind and cancel before they show their first slight-of-hand scam gimick, wherein they prod you to start your online store so they can justify the $6,900 fee.
Dot Reply:
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Contact Customer Support 1-801-434-8582
angel Reply:
September 15th, 2009 at 9:04 am
StoresOnline has an “F” with the Better Business Bureau. go check it out. http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/training-program-companies/storesonline-in-orem-ut-2000585
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Scott Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
I got an invite and was planning to go. When I did my home work on the business, I found this site. It was the BBB report that has made me decide not to waste a day.
Thanks
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don Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
went to your deal on oct 29 great presention.redemption coupon no good.
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on June 1st, 2007 at 7:53 pm
ajpl,
so did you take up the package in the end?
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on July 11th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
my mother and i purchased in full three of these sites two years ago and have spent the last two years trying to get at least one of these sites up and running but each time we get wrong instructions or no assistance at all now when i try to get in to my stores on line sites as soobn as i type in my licence number and pass word a message saying invalid id comes up and stores on line home page goes off the web i tried to use their help@ quickresponse to find out why and my email came back saying that stores on line has my email address listed as spam. so after all this and lots of money stores on line now wont even aknowledge me as a custemer if their is any class action law suits going on or if anyone has any info one what i should do please contact me ataswezx3@yahoo.com thank you.
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VReed Reply:
October 1st, 2008 at 4:47 pm
To to http://www.myquickresponse.com and you can start to chat. You will need your license number.
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
February 17th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
My quick response is a telemarketing set-up, it is not part of the actual business organization. I have only received one response from the SOL (Shit Out-of Luck???) organization through My quick response, and it was not sufficient to solve my problem with the financial abuse I received from SOL’s financial co-hort, Duvera Financial. Most of the time, My quick response wanted me to furnish my telephone number, which I have never provided because electronic messages are an excellent legal record. If I had given my telephone number then I would have absolutely no record of what was said, which is what SOL desires, so we cannot prove anythng!
By the way, I worked for The Gallup Poll who does that sort of thing, contracting for telemarketing surveys for banks, restaurants, tobacco companies, and the like, all under the guise of a poll survey with loaded-questions. The My quick response sounds in the background sound exactly like that, a telemarketing set-up, not an office with business staff!!! Heed that warning! This is why I discontinued my association with SOL (Shit Out-of Luck??)
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Dan H Reply:
May 6th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Count me in too. I have some things to share with the world about this company. Just reply to my reply and I’ll fill in the blanks
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Deonna Reply:
May 14th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I just purchased the $29.00 workshop, and after reading the fine print I have to purchase more? How much more should I expect to be paying? I am interested in drop shipping but, not paying thousands of $$ don’t have it. Please tell me more.
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Dan H Reply:
May 15th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
$ 6000.00 + Monthly newletters, more support, more web design because yours still don’t work, side shipping lables just to name a few. We been had
Joseph C Reply:
May 29th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Hello Dan,
Reading about Storeonline and their business pratices. My family and I live in New Zealand. I want out of this company and need proof of their practices. Please send to my email anything I can use. This site is good but details i would like, Joseph C
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:17 am
We paid them $38. at the first seminar and attended the workshop yesterday where they touted the expensive programs and declined. Do you know if they will begin to automatically charge the $25 per month against the card we used? and if so, how do we cancel this? Lastly, are you aware of any reasonable source for this website marketing information?
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Otha Reply:
September 19th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
If you haven’t already, contact the bank your card is with and have them cancel old card and send you a new one.
No one can charge on a cancelled card.
Jan Fenbers Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 7:41 am
My sister paid $5000 a couple of years ago for this program and never used it. I was thinking of picking up where she never started but now I wonder if it is worth the trouble. What can you tell me about SOL.
Thanks! Jan
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Tamika Myers Reply:
July 14th, 2009 at 5:32 am
As the package is already paid for then you will not have the same problems that a lot of people on this site have had – namely, changing their minds after signing up to finance deals for the web sites that they then never used.
So long as you have the license numbers and passwords to the sites your sister purchased then you can log on to their site and contact them through live chat. However, all their tools are only available free for the first year so you will have to pay $10 a month for this service. This is cancellable with immediate effect if you decide to go no further.
I have to say, I have found them to be very helpful and they are always there on the end of the live chat
Miche Bre Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:01 am
Hi, just attended their introductory seminar Friday night, 11-20-09. I was impressed and signed up for th $48.00 workshop.
I went to their website the next day to find out they conveniently left out the $3600 a year price tag for the SOL Pro site.
They made it seem ,or I missed, that for the $29.95 price tag per month, thought this would give me Web hosting, Drop shipping and Credit card Processors. This is what it appeared to be. Unless I am missing something, or just plain gullable and Naieve.
Bottom line, have you made money, any money using their website and services.
you can email me at: michebre@optonline.net
I had a very bad experience few years ago, lost a lot of money with online investing, and want to prevent any further scams.
thanks, for any advice regarding SOL.
sincerley,
Michel Bre
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Tam Reply:
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I recently attended a seminar and bought the $48 website. I was unable to attend the workshop because I was out of town. Now I have one of their affiliates PMI calling me and trying to sell me a $7500 website coaching program.
what else do you know about this?
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Ian Reply:
November 25th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Hey, Tam…
The next time they call you, ask them why they offer only a 3 day return policy, and why they don’t tell you that up front at the seminar. Does that sound to you like a company who is looking out for your best interests? Do a little researching on the net, and you will find there are a ton of companies that have hosting and site builders and coaching for less than a tenth of what Stores Online is charging. Then go look up Google Analytics and then search wholesalers/dropshippers like alibaba.com, and you will see you can do everything they promise without them. Just say no!
Trina Reply:
December 11th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Hi Tam,
I was in a somewhat similar situation. I was invited to attend a conference and was told to gt there an half an hour early to register. I was unable to attend because I was ten minutes late and the door was locked. (Thank God) After reading these comments, I now see that this was a blessing in disguise. I am now wondering how much of my information do they already have and will they be contacting me. Is there anyway I can sure they do try to still get me ivolved somehow?
Christy Reply:
February 16th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Hi, did you go to the class? Did you like it? Please fill in the blanks! Thanks!
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lisa franklin Reply:
July 25th, 2009 at 1:31 am
they are planning a nother workshop in aug 5 2009 in kileen tx i knew this was fake thats why i used a fake credit card cause i cant even creat a site they wasnt gone do me but we ought to take action cause they are just a whole bunch of fakes the guy that came to waco was name ryan i knew this was bullshit excuse my laguage i’m schedule to appear on that day and i think i’m gone give them a surprise with your story i’m going to print it out if thats ok with you in the end we will let everyone know that they r fake.
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on September 30th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
I had the same problem as Stephen when I went to help@quickresponse my email came back saying I was listed as spam. We bought 6 licences & spent AU$6398 in April ‘07 & still can’t get the site up & running.
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Dot Reply:
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
try calling 1-801-434-8582 Customer Support. Or go to online chat. They are ok answering questions most of the time.
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Ian Reply:
November 25th, 2009 at 11:08 am
This is completely untrue. They will say they will answer your questions, but they are not trained in any technical skill relating to computers. They are only trained in customer service, so they likely know less about your problem than you do. Then you’ll run down a number for their programmers, and you’ll be told a programmer will call you, but it will be a customer development person instead. You can learn more on google in 15 to 30 minutes than you will ever learn from their support staff. Unless you want to know what the weather is like in Utah, I suppose…
Ian
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on October 12th, 2007 at 5:37 am
My friend and I are attending a seminar in a week. We already went to the initial luncheon. Will it be worth our while to go to the seminar? Is is worth the money to buy the site? We have no knowledge of on line sales. Of course, the speaker makes it sound like anyone can do it…Can anyone do it?
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
January 9th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
It is difficult for me to advise you on what to do. You do not sound sophisticated about the internet and selling, but you ask a legitimate question. There is a whole lot that the StoresOnline sales presentation does not cover that relates to standard business practices which you must analyze and choose from. The entire purpose of StoresOnline is to make a sale so that you are obligated to their high-interest finance agreement, which in November 2008 was 24% finance interest. So far I have not found the online chat support to be any problem, except it is hard to get answers to critical technical questions, which is not the fault of the representative. I have not yet found StoresOnline to answer by e-message any of my three main questions, and the representative in the chat support site did not know the answers. You do need to follow every instruction they give to you, which appears not so complicated but in actuality really is complicated. Since I am having great trouble connecting with the internet through Quest communications, I have not yet set up my stores. And I have not yet received an answer if it is feasible (I am not asking if it is possible, I know it is) to operate my store out of a public library computer, which I may have to because Qwest has a monopoly here. As the old saying goes, “Buyer beware!” And if you do not have the knowledge, I am not sure what to do, because our country is a corporate-communist nation run by the corporations, and the corporations can literally do anything they want to to take away our money!
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Joe Goodmon Reply:
June 7th, 2009 at 4:55 am
after reading most of these problems I am wondering how true such things really are. I realize that there are a lot of scams out there, but is this really a scam? would I be safe in not going on with this venture. I have only attend the free lunch introduction and somehow never really understood the need for any additional cost. what is that cost for? am i to expect more cost generated requirements? Please help before the 20 of June when I am schedule to attend the all day workshop.
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Well, Joe, let me tell you this. EVERYONE who posts here who has been snookered by Stores Online will tell you that they seduce you with promises that are not promises, only indication of what “some” have accomplished, and yet, they urgently urge and frantically fraternize with you to buy their system! Why? Would a legitimate SERVICE really urge you to buy their offering without first trying to acclimate you to their system? No. If you do not buy now, you can forget about it, THEY won’t give you the time of day because then you’re too late! How does this happen?
First, they fool you by the initial “dinner”. Oh wow, you bought yourself a dinner! Then they promise you a “gift” which, if you notice the audience, they rush for the free gift at the table, they do not do what I did, and that was to ask for the “more valuable” gift certificate to the upgrade worth $45 more than the free gift at the table!
The real sales is when they hold you hostage at the (usually) out-of-town hotel for an entire day. If you leave early, then you leave behind the “free” meal. If you leave immediately after the “free” meal, you miss out on the “deals” they repeatedly suggested but did not tell you about that is only available that day, not after, IF you buy their system! That “all day seminar” is when the real “seminar” (more advanced than telemarketing) sales psychology is employed to hook you.
I am out $750 for the kit (thanks to their entrapment associate Duvera Financial I am not personally obligated because I registered under my inoperative business name) into a 24% credit financial agreement! So I am out of the $25 for the initial “dinner”, out $50 for the seminar dinner, and $750 for the seminar kit, plus, the $160 in out-of-town motel bills for two nights plus meals! And I was “lucky”! ! ! Some people signed their asses away for the full $7000 package at 24% interest!
Let me give you some sound advice I learned years before I was shagged by Stores Online: If you have to sign up and pay “right now”, then walk away. It is not worth the heartbreak that surely will follow. Any legitimate and even partially honest business will say, “Well, okay, go ahead and think on it overnight or for a few days, and then get back to me. It’ll still be waiting for you if you still want our SERVICE or product!” That is NOT what Shit-Out-Of-Luck Online does in the slightest, they want your MONEY!~!!~!!!!
Tamika Myers Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 4:11 am
Its NOT a scam!!
I have had only good experiences from StoresOnline BUT it is not a get-rich-quick scheme and it takes a lot of hard work to set up and run a successful internet business.
You do not even have to use Store Online to host your websites – you can use a cheaper company if you want. You just build your Store with SOL and then get it hosted elsewhere.
Of course you will not then have access to all their business tools, which I have found invaluable.
Go with an open mind but do not agree to buy something you can’t afford or take finance out for it or you will just become another of the embittered people on here all of whom changed their minds when they did not become millionaires overnight.
Miche Bre Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:20 am
There is a statement clearly written on the back of their TERMS Agreement for their one day workshop, it does state the following:
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
If you: (1) do not have a computer, (2) do not have general knowledge of of using a computer, (3) know little or nothing about e-commerce, (4) do not presently have a product to sell, (5 do not have a plan for operating an existing business, (6) do not have sufficient capital to operate an existing business apart from the cost of the software, or (7) fit one or any combination the the previous categories, it is highly recommended that you fix these weaknesses before beginning the process of building a e-commerce website. If you fit any one of these categories and nonetheless choose to purchase this educational package, be aware that it may take an additional undetermined amount of time, depending on your skills and intelligence, to learn how to work with computers and the internet; it may take additional time to find a supplier to drop ship products for you and it may take you still several weeks to several months more to compile all the information needed to construct and publish an e-commerce website.
This is stated clearly on the back of their one-day workshop form that I put $48 down for.
The only problem I have with this is that it wasn’t called to our attention the night of the free seminar when they signed us up for this one day workshop. There was clearly information left out. You do have 3 days to cancel this $48 workshop though.
The only other problem I have is that while presenting their web hosting, I felt, lead to believe that for $29.95 month that this would include, access to drop shippers for potential product, and Credit Card Acceptance Processors.
New to all of this, thought highly technical, maybe I too am just gullible, and Naive.
Miche Bre
Hope this helps.
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Ian Reply:
November 25th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Hey, Miche Bre…
Rest assured, you are no more gullible than any of the rest of us who went into that workshop thinking that a company that size is sure to do what they say they will. It isn’t until you’re deep in the hole and the mud is rising that you realize that they promised you a shovel and gave you a fork. This is a very talented, well-trained, very experienced company, and we all heard what we wanted to hear and didn’t realize until it was too late what we didn’t hear.
Ian
on October 12th, 2007 at 8:31 am
Hi Cathy,
The price of their websites sold is way over-priced.
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
January 9th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I agree whole-heartedly. For services, like they say, the market rate is about $300 an hour for technician assistance, so maybe the high price balances out in the long-run. But I have not yet seen where that is true.
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on October 12th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
You pay $20 to go the seminar, not $100. And the websites Stores Online helps you to set up are known to be the best in the business. Customer service is there to help, all you have to do is take some initiative and call. A lot of online businesses fail, that is not the problem of Stores Online and if you are having this problem maybe you should switch products. All the world needs is a little more initiative and a little less lazy.
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Lynn Reply:
February 17th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Sounds like Jessica works for Storesonline.
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Tamika Myers Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 4:05 am
I am on Jessica’s side.
I don’t understand why, just because someone has something positive to say about Stores online, that people have to make comments like ‘ she must work for them’.
No one was forced to part with their money, no one was foced to sign finance agreements, nor should they have done if they could not afford to make the repayments. Everyone did everything they did willingly AND THEN CHANGED THEIR MINDS because they did not become millionaires overnight.
Stop feeding from each other and becoming ever more bitter.
Either go and make your websites work for you or write it off to experience.
If you bought an item of clothing that the assistant in the shop said looked good on you, then you put it in the wardrobe for a year and when you got it out again it was faded, didn’t fit because you had put on weight or it didn’t suit you – you would not be blaming the shop and demanding your money back so why blame Stores Online in this instance?!
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izzy Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
I agree with you on this one, Tamika. the complaints stated on the page so far seems like train cars the way every one sounds alike. It was different from my experience with SOL. Yesterday,I attended yesterday the free 90 min conference after receiving the invitation in the mail. All throughout the conference I was free to leave when I wanted to to make phone calls, use the bathroom,etc. I did not feel pressured to buy their products nor did I feel like I was hypnotized into thinking the product is the best one for me. I made a conscious choice to pay based on what I can afford to lose for my business. If SOL does not work out for me, it would not be because I feel ripped off but rather through research and doing my own homework extensively, the company would not suit my business purpose, that’s it.
In addition to many complaints from others about spam emails and not being able to sign up for website service, maybe you want to consider changing your email by using reputable company’s name e.g: Co.name.com,net,org,etc and not using free email address that can be mistaken for spam address like yahoo or hotmail.
For those of you who have spent ridiculous amounts of money like $5k-7k, you may not have asked the right questions before you forked over the huge sums of money. Even if you did ask the right questions and if you were unsure about the answer, it would have probably be in your best interest to consult with a free lawyer (every city should have one-check with bar assoc.) , make an appointment and ask then to read over the materials and ask his advise to see if forking over such large sums of money would be worthy to your business. Just for your information, when I asked the speaker about the $6000 mentioned in the contract he told me that I will only pay that money if I wanted someone to do the marketing services for me. If I wanted to do it myself, I should attend the free workshop with free consultation. The free consultation would include ways to market you website and and products in addition to setting up the webpage.
Last but not least: If I feel at all, a reason that anything I have read or heard from the workshop does not coincide with what the speaker told me during the free conference, i will not associate my business with them nor will I recommend it to anyone else but definitely not pay $6-7k for anything, believe that!. But so far I was pleased by the outcome of the seminar. In my views, the speaker spoke impartially and unbiasly about the SOL Co. but he made sure to provide what the company had to offer and the service they can provide for first time users or pros. In the end, lunch was served and the SOL assistance were available to answer questions and those who were interested in signing were able to do so on the other side of the room while one of the helper passed out the free MP3 players as advertised.
For those who did not experienced what I have yesterday, i am sorry for you but please do not discourage other prospective business owners from getting their own experience by attending the seminar themselves and receive information that may help them along.
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Ian Reply:
November 25th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Izzy, if you had asked me to comment the day after the workshop, I would have sounded much like you. I sincerely hope that your experience remains positive, and that you don’t end up having to agree with the rest of us, but the truth is, if we had all done our research before we gave SO any money, none of us would be in this fix.
Did you know that SO has an “F” rating with the Better Business Bureau? Did you know that they have paid out millions in settlements across the USA to keep from having to go to trial? Did you know that there are several states from which they have been completely banned because of their questionable business practices? Did you know that everything they offer you that they say or imply is proprietary is available to anyone with a computer and you don’t have to pay for it?
For those of you who are thinking about going with Stores Online but have not yet committed your money, just take 15 minutes to research the company, check them out with the BBB, and draw your own conclusions about the likely safety of your investment. And Tamika and Jessica – do you really, honestly believe that every single person who claims to have been mistreated by Stores Online is just lazy? Get serious! How many times do you have to hear that cows poo before you start thinking maybe you should watch where you step?
Just do your research, people! No matter what other arguments you may hear that support or criticize SO, their reputation is shady at best, and there is a lot of Government action against them to demonstrate that you are playing craps with your investment if you sign with them. There are a ton of other hosting companies that offer site builders, free domain name, technical support, etc, and they will charge you a whole lot less (1/10th) of what SO will. If you start really looking, and not just accepting what SO tells you at a workshop as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, you will soon come to the only possible, obvious conclusion.
Ian
on October 12th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Hi Jessica,
Just to clarify, the price depends on the country (and currency) they are holding the event. In my case, it was $100.
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on October 12th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
jessica dear, let us not confuse caution with lazy. I have worked hard every day of my life since I was 15 and i am now 55. I worked 3 jobs to put myself thru college AND support my child. I have been an entrepreneur marketing my own crafts, sewing etc to peers and neighbors since i was in 7th grade and i supplemented a full time teaching job to support my family by working on my at home business til wee hours of the morning. But my tekkie knowledge is minimal. i do not care to take such a risk with my very minimal resources after reading the many disturbing comments. i would rather bail while i have the 10 day window of escape opportunity before i end up devoured in debt and the claws of the debtors thank you very much. So please do not cast judgement on folks who don’t have the resources (be it economic, technical. learning curve– whatever-to hang in there until a profit is made) NOT everyone fails due to laziness or lack of initiative or incentive.
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ibrahim Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:04 am
Guys thanks alot for everything u said, because i just got 2 tickets for a simenar and now no way that i’m going thank u so much ,but dose anybody know if there’s any other serious ,honest websits as far as online business or to work from home stuff ?if yes please let me know ,because i looked for some and it came out nothing but scams.thanks again
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sally jamieson Reply:
November 17th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Hi Ibrahim, did you find a good website company? – check out http://www.traff1k.co.nz – if you havent
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hevyn Reply:
November 27th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
storesonline is NOT a scam…they simply provide u with the tools to make ur online business a success. I truly feel it is what you make of it. It is NOT a “get rich quick” scheme! It is, just like any other business, something you have to put time and effort into in order to succeed. If u are looking for that fantasy of “sitting bak, doin’ nothing and making heaps of money in the process” then storesonline is NOT for you.
It is ultimately up to you! YOU are the creator of YOUR destiny…if u think u will fail then u will! If u believe u will succeed…THEN U WILL!
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
February 17th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
For a person who wants to hide behind the pseudonym of “hevyn”, such words are incredibly brave and well-meaning. Not a scam? Depends on what the motive is.
StoresOnline is NOT in the business of helping people. If they were, they would not ENTRAP people into a “product” that shackles them to a high interest finane agreement with their conspirator, Duvera Financial. Instead, StoresOnline would be working WITH the “customer” to ensure that the customer can both afford and can achieve the program according to their ability and financial capacity. That is not the case. The only consideration is how can they maximize their interest-bearing and fee-charging income, and that is it. That makes SOL (Shit Out-of Luck???) be a total sales scam, for which the phrase “buyer beware” is already too late for a person once they walk into the workshop door. They are just that slick! Like any other sales gimick I have ever seen!
Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:42 am
The information they provide is valid, software seems good quality, but any program marketed in this way cheapens the value and reduces credibility. Add this to the tidal wave of complaints for almost every facet of the program and you have a bad opportunity. I think you can tell that I don’t work for them, but I did attend their all-day workshop.with high-pressure “today only” offers. No way.
on October 13th, 2007 at 9:49 am
There are many reasons why an online business might fail to take off. Paying for highly overpriced services is one of them.
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on October 13th, 2007 at 10:02 am
I have just attended your 90 minute semiar in the UK, very interested and have booked to go on the Workshop, but after reading some of these comments am very concerned that there are operational problems here of not being about to contact StoresOnline, can someone please put me in touch with StoresOnline to confirm that there is no such problems we are very like to buy this e-commerce product at the workshop. Thanks for you time.
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on October 15th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I pray that everyone reading this blog takes these complaints to heart and stays away from StoresOnline and all of it’s seminars, free lunches and false promises. And no Cathy, it is not worth the price and not everyone can do it either. Their “manager” has made my wife cry twice now attempting to get anything she can back from our poor judgement. They told us they had to be fair but they sold us 6 websites for just over $4000 when we were almost waling out the door after they asked for over $6000 (anf got it from many more folks) . How is that fair so don’t pay $6000 and please don’t even pay $4000. I wonder if they will even go lower because it really doesn’t cost them anything. And $20 a month to host a “site” is unheard of anymore. I pay $5 a month and have never missed a beat. THere are several hosts that offer that or better prices around the www. Please if anyone wants to get a class action and really get this pathetic excuse of a company where it hurts, please email me at goodpasture@gmail.com and I’ll do everyhting in my power to see it through. Jonathan
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livian Reply:
November 17th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
my husband and I attended a presentation today,recieved our redemption coupons for free mp3 players.Haven’t been able to find the online forms we are to complete.Thank God we didn’t purchase anything.Yes, we would like to join you.
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on October 24th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Two years ago I purchased three websites from Storesonline. I am not a tekkie, but I am a hard worker, determined entrepreneur, and so on, just like everyone who has emailed on this subject before me sounds like. Anyway, I found a particularly good dropship company in my state that I have been very happy with, as I also purchase their products and sell them at flea markets, bazaars, etc. Due to a very hectic and busy schedule, I finally completed two sites in a year and a half. Take into account that this was my fault for taking so long, not theirs. I did not want Storesonline to build the site because it would cost quite a bit and I was determined to complete it myself. Whenever I came across a problem, I emailed the Storesonline live chat and they quickly helped me every time. I launched the two websites in July of 2007, and now it is my job to market them on the internet, just like any normal type of brick-n-mortar store would have to do, although it is a little more trickier since this is an internet business. I have checked with similar types of businesses as to what SOL does and SOL is very reasonably priced. Yes, SOL has some affiliated companies that will contact you to see if they can sell you a marketing package or be your coach (don’t do this one – very expensive and they will call to badger you to get the website completed. I didn’t use them, but they did not make me feel comfortable on the phone), but it is ultimately up to you to figure out how you want to run your business. If this were a real brick-n-mortar business, you would be looking at so many overhead expenses every day, every month, that it would make you sick! I work for a workers’ comp carrier, so I definitely know the cost to have employees that many people overlook. Anyway, just recently I have signed up with a marketing company that will be working behind the scenes on my websites to update the keywords, meta tags, and submit my websites to hundred’s of search engines, directories and put links on my sites so I can be listed on Google’s first page. I hope that everything works out, but again, we are all accountable for our actions. It’s not easy being an entrepreneur, since there are many risks involved and your hard earned money at stake. I have always held back in the past because I was afraid of the unknown and of failing, but I’ll never know if I don’t at least try, and this is a pretty inexpensive way of trying. Good luck to everyone who chooses to go this route.
Lisa
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VReed Reply:
October 1st, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Are you able to assign passwords to specific areas of your site? I recently found out that my administrator capabilities have been deminished. Does this cause a problem for you?
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Katrina Reply:
November 11th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Hi
Did you just use your express or pro site because I dont really want to spend that much on a pro site and I would like to know if you used the standard express site and built your own???
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mike Reply:
March 8th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Hi….So how are your websites doing now? How successful were you in getting your website to appear at the top of the search engine pages…or at least page1:? To me, that sounds like the whole ballgame right there and if you cannot get your site to the top and also to interlink with other similar sites etc….that also puts you at risk of getting no site traffic.
My wife and I went to the SOL seminar 3-8-2009….and stayed for about 5hrs of it……I didnt feel in your face pressure to buy, but they did soft sell you,
On what will you do if you dont get on board, where will you be in 1 yr, 5yrs, 10yrs? They also said You need multiple streams of income, not just a job that can be downsized? All true, ofcourse…..but to blindly sign up that day at the seminar seemed very risky and foolish for $6000+ at 24% interest…so we didnt. So far I am only out the $38.00…but out of a room of about 200 people…I would say 60 to 80 signed up….hopefully they dont have buyers remorse today……..Anyways, maybe you can shed some light on how your sites are doing and advise us all of tips that are working for you if they in fact actually are, or advise if you came across any more reasonably priced Drop ship wholesalers that you can create a website with……..Peace!
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 am
Can you share the contact info for this company? “Anyway, just recently I have signed up with a marketing company that will be working behind the scenes on my websites to update the keywords, meta tags, and submit my websites to hundred’s of search engines, directories and put links on my sites so I can be listed on Google’s first page.”
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Thomas Ortega Reply:
April 25th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Hello Lisa just wanted to know from an entrepreneur, like myself, have you found other companies that will assist you in creating this website in a better and more efficient manner than SOL
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on October 24th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Hi Lisa,
good for you. Perhaps you want to share with the rest of us the address of your 2 websites?
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 5:34 am
Martin don’t waste your time her SOL websites r a rippoff!!! don’t know who she thinks she’s fooling? give the world credit they r smarter than her!!!
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on October 24th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Sure Martin,
You can check them out at:
http://www.dvynegardendecor.com
http://www.dvynehomedecor.com
Thanks for your interest.
Lisa
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 5:30 am
the school house picture frame can be purchased all day any day at the $$$ stores for $1.50. also it looks as though you purchase from ABC and other catalogs and try to make money off people that don’t know better!!! huh??? i’m rite on it!!! yes?? so other’s will be SOL like you and your defense for SOL SCAM!!!
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CYNTHIA Reply:
March 25th, 2009 at 5:48 am
wHAT RESOURCES DO YOU USE TO SET UP YOUR SITE? I JUST ATTENDED A WORKSHOP AND DID NOT SIGN UP. ANY HELP OR ADVISE WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:00 am
Very nice websites! I hope you respond to my earlier reply. Thanks, Tony
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on October 26th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Hi – i am due to attend a workshop in London on November 3rd and now i am wondering if i should give it a miss. i will get a free power sellers guide to ebay which would be useful as i have just launched an ebay shop but will i get anything else out of the day other than a hard sell. i am a website novice so i would need all the help i can get and i have spent all evening ready complaints after complaints on Storesonline. will i get some usual knowledge from the website. i promise to leave my chequebook and credit card at home!!!
i am bringing a friend who hopes to launch a shop on ebay shortly so we both need extra tips and advice as we both have limited knowledge. we have no money to give them so we definitely won’t be buying but now i am wondering if the workshop will be a waste of time.
thanks for any response before next Saturday.
Cheryl
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
January 9th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Ebay… ha ha ha! Even StoresOnline says that Ebay is a very difficult venue to sell on. The StoresOnline presentation tells how to circumvent Ebay and still get on Ebay anyway, but it takes a lot of work on our part to get our store listed in the correct ways to sell in multiple venues.
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dd Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I don’t agree with you about SOL. I agree it is what you make of it. If you work with them and follow the steps you can do it. As for ebay, my ex has been working it for years and he is as computer stupid as a person can be. A few years ago he was out of work for 6 months and generated enough income to keep from starving, losing the house and managed to pay his bills. Truly if he can do it anyone can do it.
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on October 27th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Cheryl:
I can for one definatelly say it will be the biggest waste of time there ever was. On top of that you will be subjecting yourself to the biggest con artist on Earth. These guys are PROs at getting your money. I said right off the bat that there was no way I was going to spend the $8000 they will originally ask you for, but the further your out the door they will go down to $6000 then $5000, then $4800 then $4000 final offer – BAM they got us for 4K. THey stole $4000 dollars from us because when we were aware of what we did and read through everything (BTW which takes more than the 3 days they are legally obligated to offer a refund) about a week or so later we asked for a refund and my wife has been in tears 2 or 3 times now asking them for anything and all they will budge is say they can “help us” build a website and ohh… charge us $25 a month to host it forever ((that is $300 a year BTW)) I will spend a 40 hour week full time right now to anyone in the world that reads this to help them build a website if you host it with me for $25 a month and sign a contract for min of 2 years. Here’s what I’m going to do though is pay resellerguru or a dozen others $100 a year to host as many sites as I want for a 1 time $100 a year and collect that $25 a month from you ((FOR EACH SITE)) for a long time wether you market your site and make anything of it or not ((because I don’t care if you succeed or not – well maybe just a little so you don’t stop paying me the $25 a month per site fee – hint **sarcasm**). Sound fair??? Please save your money. Pay someone through guru dot com or google ‘website builders for hire’ and pay a couple hundred dollars for a great start on your website and then pay hostmonster dot com $5 a month (($60 a year)) to host it and if you want spend a couple hundred more for promotional help. There is companies out there to do it for you but I recommend a semi- do it yourself with excellent tools and support namely SEOELITE which you should find on the first page by googling “SEO Software” if you want. So spend $600 to $800 insted of $4000 to $8000 and I promise that you will be better off.
AS far as eBay I have tons of eBooks I’d mail you including the one you referenced if you want if you just give me your email. I have a gmail account ‘goodpasture’. I woud like it if you go to this place and warn everyone there not to waste their money and at very least go home and read all the stuff your reading on the internet. Hope to hear from you. Thanks, Jonathan
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oscar Reply:
June 12th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
thanks jonathan ireally appr. ur advice, I 2 went 2 the shop and shelled out $4,000. I knew i should of looked 4 any flaws with this SOL. I had 2 litterally change my whole bank account and shred my card, and put a stop 2 any further charges. I do have some comp. knowlegde but these people don”t have a f#*&n clue they gave me the run around, never got the help I needed…..
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on October 27th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I just bought 37 websites from StoresOnline after attending today’s seminar and it was fantastic. I have made a million pounds already. Unfortuantely Jonathon, you are wrong and StoresOnline is right. *this is not a typical case and individual results may vary
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Lynn Reply:
February 17th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Ben,
How much did storesonline pay you to post your comment? Confess please.
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 5:44 am
Ben you r so into SOL why don’t you buy all the one’s out that got screwed,then you can b reallyyyyy wealthy? huh? bet you don’t think that highly of ole’ SOL huh?? u r full of bull!!!!!shit!!!!!!!
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Jeff Reply:
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Ben was making a joke, people. Get a clue.
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:05 am
That’s ridiculous. You either work for them or think we’re all stupid out here.
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Emerald Belle Reply:
August 15th, 2009 at 9:25 am
What are some of your websites?
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on October 28th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Hi Ben,
lol. That’s the biggest joke of the day.
So you made a million pounds from your websites within a day after buying them.
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on October 28th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Yea Ben … Thanks for a great laugh. I needed that!
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on October 29th, 2007 at 12:59 am
I had attended the introductory seminar a few days ago and paid the 20.00 for the full day one. I am suppose to attend it with my friend who went with me and also paid 20.00. But after reading all the horendous reviews of this company here and in other sites, I guess I am going to stay away from them! Thanks for warning us in advance!..I guess that is some consolation for what you went through that you have helped others from being scammed.
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on October 29th, 2007 at 8:46 am
StoresOnline can turn wine into water! Unfortunately they haven’t yet worked out to reverse the process. Further, they turn your water into bottled piss.
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on November 7th, 2007 at 1:22 am
Obviously, they haven’t figured out how to turn bottled piss back into water yet.
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gloria minter Reply:
January 16th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
All of you who have complaints about this company should contact your Consumers Advocate of your state government and they will take these guys to court. You pay taxes for this service. Crooks should not be allowed to operate. There must be some people who have gotten success with the group or they would not still be in business.
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 5:47 am
Ben is getting rich off SOL! tell everyone to sell out to BS BEN ha-ha-ha!
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
February 17th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
NASA has already figured out how to turn piss into drinkable water, or so they claim. I wonder what it tastes like? Can you sell that on SOL ??????
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on November 14th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
We purchased 6 sites in November 2005 and it was the worst mistake of our lives. Not only do we feel that SOL doesnt tell you everything, especially all those other little bits you have to fork out etc, but then a firm called PMI calls and tells you they can enhance the SOL package and when you get it it is exactly the same presentations and presenters, even using the SOL marketing workshops examples in their tutorials. And they charge you the similar money in $US. Oh yeh they give you a guarantee of money back…what a joke…not worth the paper its written on. As for contacting anyone in authority from SOL forget it. The only people you talk to are the quick response people and I must admit most of them are very good and patient.This is SOL getting 2 bites of the cherry, but you cant get anyone to contact you about this, its all hush hush, and they deny knowing PMI!!. We have one site up and running but I now think the internet market is being saturated. How can you sell a product on line, eg digital cameras, when everyday people can log into any wholesale site and purchase the same camera as you are trying to sell for the wholesale price? Take a tip from us dont get sucked into their free lunches and quick spiels. I have worked hard most of my life but find this very frustrating, most of my savings went into this under the false hope;that any one can do it; even a little mexican lady…Bullshit!!!!
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on November 26th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
We purchased 6 websites from Storesonline in 2003. From what we have learned since then, it is way over priced. You can get them now without going to a seminar for less than $200 Our biggest complaint with them is the down time and slow loading of the websites. So far we moved one site off of Storesonline to a faster server for far less than the $24.95 a month they wanted for hosting and that site is doing very well. The site is http://www.cookforyourhealth.com
Their monthly hosting cost is not too bad though when you compare it to Yahoo stores.
If I had to do it over again though I would not buy from Storesonline. I also stay away from any company that aligns itself with Storesonline and PMI. In my opinion PMI is a much bigger ripoff.
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Linda Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Nancy,
how were you able to move the website from SOL to another server. IF you would please elaborate I’d certainly appreciate it.
Thank you
Linda
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Nancy Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Linda,
I basically just rebuilt the site from scratch.
I exported the product info from the SOL site and imported it into my new site. Then I had to go through each product and create a separate page for it. I used Dreamweaver to build the site and ecommerce templates for the shopping cart.
I also had to create redirects for each product and category page. It was a lot of work, but worth it in the end.
I wouldn’t recommend a newbie do it though. You do have to be careful of where you move to and the shopping cart you use. SOL has an advantage that they are responsible for the security. If you just go get hosting somewhere you will be responsible for that.
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on November 26th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I had a look at the two websites of Lisa dyvinegardenndecor and you cant tell me you got this front page from the SOL package. You must be pretty good with a computer to have such a great looking site, however not all of us are that much of a whizz at the computer, so we are stuck with the mundane pages and fonts that SOL has to offer. Good luck to you, we are working on our second site, but get more sale on e bay for the same products we sell on out first site, at a fraction of the cost.
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on November 27th, 2007 at 9:03 am
I looked at Lisa’s sites too and they are SOL sites. They are the earlier version of the stores. I am using the same template on two of my stores. http://www.indulgeinchocolate.com and http://www.pampered-dog-gifts.com
I am using a different color scheme, but it is the same template. I have also customized my template a little bit by moving the navigation to the left side and featured to the right.
In my opinion the older templates were better because you could customize more. I tried the new 5.0 builder a little bit, but don’t have the time to mess with it. I have heard others say that you cannot customize it the way you can with the 4.0 builder.
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on November 27th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Thanks for that. Some of the templates SOL are offering now are plain boring. I am not a computer whizz but I will give your suggestion a go, anything that can help. My present site is ok, but i know it could look better.www.samscamerashop.com
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on November 27th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
If you are interested there is a forum for SOL users. This forum was started by other SOL users to help those in need. We are not affiliated with SOL. There is lots of helpful information there. You can check it out at http://www.onlinemerchantforum.com
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:16 am
Thank you. I bookmarked this site but don’t know how to use these forums. So many subjects, topics. My sites are hosted at 1and1 and cost peanuts but they are powerfull and pretty much offer all this stuff.for very little. I just wish I knew the difference and how to use the information I got at the SOL workshop.
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on November 27th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I am looking at your sites and it totally suprises me that you spend 5 and 6 thousand dollars and more for them. ((PLUS $29 a month to host)) which is very slow on load speed BTW. I’ve spent $10 on eBay and bought a much nicer looking site several times. I’m not saying that simply to put your sites down but would like to make a point that I could take that same $6000 dollars and go to a site like elancer.com or guru.com and post a project for bid and have someone build me a site with the professionalism in look and feel of amazon.com, ebay.com, etc… It would be a top notch website with that kind of bankroll. Plus don’t get me started about hosting for $29 a month. There are literally thousands of places on the web that are better and cheaper. I spent $200 for 24 months hosting at hostmonster.com and as many websites as I want as long as I keep within something like 300 gb of space and 300 gb of bandwidth. I wish I had a problem keeping within those constraints let me tell you. SOL uses high pressure sales tactics to get people like me and you to spend way to much of a template looking website that isn’t worth nothing and your going to lose your money and time. I don’t want nothing from a anyone who reads this except to ask you to please not go to hte free dinner they will offer you to entice you to get started on their sales pitch. Please save your money and check out the websites listed above to create your own unique websites. Thanks, Jonathan
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on November 27th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Thanks nancy
I will
Cheers
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on November 27th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for the link. Interesting forum we have there.
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on November 27th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
I agree with you Jonathan that SOL sites load very slow. This has been a major issue and is the main reason we are moving our sites to other hosts. The monthly cost is 24.95 though not 29. We did not pay $6000 for a site. It was around $4000 for 6 sites. This is certainly still a ripoff.
SOL markets to people who do not know anything about running an online store. They do have a lot of tutorials and information available – which most people seem to overlook.
They are expensive, but certainly not the most expensive out there. (for example volusion, monster commerce to name a few) Just SOL tactics are questionable.
You can now purchase a SOL site for under $200 without going to a seminar. The site is storesonline express (or something like that). Even at that price though, still a ripoff. Also stay away from their merchant account company. They charged us $999 to get the merchant account. Now I hear they are trying to make everybody have a separate account for each website. At the seminar they tried to tell us merchants accounts were very expensive and hard to get.
Overall I would not advise anyone to start business with them. But, if you already invested your money with them, you can make it work.
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hevyn Reply:
November 27th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
storeonline now offer “:unlimited pages” for $3000 (usd).
The first site is built free by their technicians.
I have done some extensive research as far as pricing and plans go…(new zealand only)…and what they offer is a real bargain!!!
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:18 am
Yes, I can see that. Not.
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on November 28th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Went to the seminar today. Boca Raton Florida. Actually it was the second one. I paid 25 bucks. It was interesting but they kept hammering the special ”today” only deal. The minute I get a hard sell I looked for the nearest exit.
After lunch, I checked to see if my wallet had all its contents in it and ran as fast as I could. They kept the room ice cold and told us it would be a working lunch. They also told us not to listen to anyone in the restroom about what they thought of the seminar. I had a bad feeling
all morning. Glad I did absolutely NOTHING with them.
BE AFRAID BE VERY AFRAID!!
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:20 am
Very well presented but poorly marketed and priced. I wish somebody had a CD out there with the same information that I understand is readily available on the net.
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on November 28th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
HaHa Joel..
That is so funny. There was only 2 things that got me to buy. They told me a lie and said I’d have use of their tools for life and I thought I could use that for whatever I do on the internet. And the fact that my wife wanted to give it a go and I thought well she can try and if not, I can use their research tools for life. The lie is that you either have to pay $100 a year to access their tools (after the first year of course) or you can if you pay the rediculous $25 a month hosting fee for the rest of your life. That is as Paul Harvey says the rest of the story. I am after a full refund right now from StoresOnline and if anyone can please offer assistance, Please email support at my website address (hanoverlutheran.com) I really want to get together many people that stores online has screwed out of their money and create a class action lawsuit. If there are any lawyers out there, please email me and I can help with the leg work if you are interested in this. I want to put these people away where they belong and keep them from taking old people’s money and money from people who have no business on the internet trying to make money. I don’t know if there is anything to it or not but at the seminar I went to, there were I’d say 80% of people 60 and older. Anybody else see this as the case? Anyways Joel thanks for the great laugh and I’m so glad you got away. We were actualyl headed out the door and they stopped up half way out and then nocked $2000 of the top for the same 6 websites. They don’t care about you that is for sure!
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on November 28th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
The main reason I got away was my wife took my credit cards and checkbook as I was headed to the seminar. She continously texed me saying ”DONT COMMIT” you need to talk it over with your business partner.
Also, I noticed more than half the people in the room where over 60. They had NO knowledge of even the computer basics. They should not have been there!
To me, that was there customer. They would hand over money they did not have and would be totally lost.
Again, something is rotten in Denmark! RUN AWAY!
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on November 28th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Good luck with your refund..they will NEVER give anyone a refund. That is what I am led to believe. They told me I could sell the storefronts to other people, my response was I am not that much of a bastard to get someone else hooked on rubbish and lies. You can NEVER get anyone to speak to you in authority, only the help desk, and they know nothing about the financial side ( I can believe that). I have faxed letters to them, I have addressed them to their NEW Customer SERVICES MANAGER, never got a reply from him either…so much for customer service. If you can get a lawyer that can file a class action, count me in…Good luck
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:23 am
This is a common threat throughout most of the complaints. I love the information but can’t stand SOL, which I didn’t buy a thing from except the $38
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:23 am
I meant “Thread”, not “Threat”
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on November 30th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Hi Joel,
your wife saved you! lol
Hi Sylvia,
Storesonline do give their refunds if you pursue them hard. If you read the comments here, you will notice that there are a few people who have gotten their money back (but mostly within the first 3 days).
For periods longer than that, it usually requires a greater coordinated effort (perhaps by AG) to get the money back.
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on November 30th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
believe me i have tried very hard to get them to even consider refund, even when i said I would keep 3 fronts, and they refund me the other 3, as i know I will never use them, as so do they.
Wehen youre on the other side of the world it makes it more difficult also, so i am stuck with 6, unless I can figure out a way to persuade them to refund me, at least halef but i dont like my chances
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on December 1st, 2007 at 8:29 pm
ALL:
I have contacted a very good firm who handles class action lawsuits. I am getting more information together. I would really love to hear from everyone interested in pursuing this together.
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on December 1st, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Just reading through the above posts and I get the impression that Jessica works for Storesonline.
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:25 am
Beyond a doubt is a mole
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on December 8th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
I am going to the full day seminar next week fully enlightened now I have read about this company. I will enjoy the lunch and spread the word about what I have read to as many people as possible…I will consider it my community service for the week. I am prepared.
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Billy High Reply:
September 24th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Went to seminar today, chicken salad sandwich,slice of orange,scoop of potato salad, 2 cookies and tea. Glad I didn’t buy!
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:28 am
No tea, no orange slice, no potato salad. Yesterday at Pechanga in Temecula CA. Dry sandwich and some pasta with water to drink. We got screwed on the lunch but owe our not getting screwed on the deal (ordeal) to this information.
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 5:51 am
Good for you!!! at least we all know Winson can make chicken salad out of chicken shit!!! you go!!!!!!
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on December 8th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Hi Winson,
Good work!
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on December 13th, 2007 at 10:55 am
One of the website building solutions that I have always recommended as an alternative to Storesonline, “Site Build It” is having a 50% offer until Christmas.
You can watch this SBI video tour to see how SBI can help you start your online business.
http://www.storesonline-reviews.com/go/sbi-video-tour.php
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on January 13th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
In response to Johnathan, We are also trying to get back the money that we paid Storesonlinepro two years ago $4700.00 for three websites . My wife and I are in our seventies and thought that we could start some kind of online business to suppliment our pensions , but this was a mistake . After signing up we tried to publish one website and after a year of trying realized that we could not do it I e mailed stores on line and asked them if we could at least get back half of the money we paid them part of which was for credit card processing which we have never used . They quoted the three day period which we had to cancel, I did not see that clause until two weeks later (my oversight) but I was not ready to complain at that time , as we were still trying to work on a website .
My last resort was to e mail the office of the Governor of Utah’s complaint department , since doing this I have been in constant contact with Ms Amber Henderson of the better business of Utah and she has contacted Stores on line on my behalf . The address is Ms Amber Henderson Better Business Bureau 5673 South Redwood Road #22 Saltlake City, Utah 84123 I should finish with , I am still looking for my refund. Jim Dobinson
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on January 13th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I purchased 6 sites from Storesonline on December 15, 2007 in Brisbane. On attempting to make a start I found that my password didn’t work. At that time started reading comments about Storesonline and realised that I had made a huge mistake. I was fortunate to have sufficient time to cancel the contract. I sent email, fax and registered letter. I had no response other than the computer generated reply to the emails. I then phoned Storesonline twice and was told the accounts department was not available. I contacted my credit card company ,and as I had fulfilled all of the necessary requirements for a reversal of the payment, they began the process of entering into a dispute. I again phoned Storesonline and informed them that they would now be dealing with my credit card company. The payment was reversed the next day.
Thank you for alerting me to the problems encountered with storesonline and overpricing. I have saved my AU$5998 and intend to research other ways of building a website.
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on January 13th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Mari
You have just won the lottery!! I cant believe they made the mistake of giving you a password that didnt work…lucky you.
You are the only one I know of who has got their money back.
I have been trying to register with MSI for credit card transactions since November, they told me it would take three weeks. i complained to SOL because we had paid for this part of the agreement, but as yet no response….funny that…I am a dope…did I really expect a response…no no no
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on January 24th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I would love to take the complaints to another level and recoup some of my losses. I purchased 6 websites at a financed total of $8,000+. At this time I am making payments of $254 a month. That may not sound like much to you all but for me it is one-third of my income. I am disabled and living on a fixed income (SSI). To supplement this I attended the SOL meeting and bought into the hype. I got caught up in the moment and all of the excitement — now I will have to live with this for the next 6 years.
If anyone is serious about taking this further, or if anyone has gotten their money back after the 3 day cooling off period, please let me know. This is a scam. In fact I was phoned by a fellow named Josh who informed me that in order to make my websites work to pay for themselves, I would need to invest another $11,457. He told me I could just put it on my credit card (which I don’t have) or borrow it from a bank or family member. I tried to tell him that I am on a fixed income and can’t afford what I am already paying. He then brought in the big gun, Brian, who tried to tell me that I was never going to be any better off than I am now because I was not willing to make the $11k investment. Well I thought the $8k was going to get me to a better place, not make me poorer than I already am.
HELP!! Can anyone offer any advice?
ME
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:33 am
Would that be Brian Deutsch (sp)?
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on January 24th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I have no idea how storesonline get people to their seminars, but it is very sad that a number of their “victims” are elderly or disabled.
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Katrina Reply:
November 11th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
TRUE THAT MARTIN
I just went to a seminar in Rotorua, New Zealand today
I had a one on one consultation and we were talking about the price. I said at this time it was too step and then the consultant said HE couldnt even afford to pay that price right now.
What does that tell you he works for stores online the pay must not be that great and why does he have his own stores online site when he promotes how cold it is and life changing??? We had a lot of people their over theie 60s half the class and many people with disabilities. I left early its still going right now and people are already purchasing their sites.
THIS IS A BIG PYRAMID SCHEME!!!
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on February 17th, 2008 at 2:17 am
Please read this carefully and believe me it is the truth – my personal experience with StoresOnline.
If you are thinking to buy anything from this company, you will sorely regret it, take my word for it! I believed these guys and they have frustrated me, lied to me, deceived me and have even threatened me. But after pitying myself for so long and thinking it was my fault because I signed a contract, I have finally taken action. If you believe you have been suckered into this scam by StoresOnline, you owe it to yourself and others to get out and put these people to shame.
I have been having a running battle with them and now I am having the upper hand and StoresOnline has agreed to cancel this phony and dubious contract. I am in touch with the Utah BBB which has been extremely helpful so far. I have even spoken to the Division of Consumer Protection in Utah and I will still report this company. I have reported them everywhere I can possibly think and I will keep reporting them everywhere on this planet.
I have insisted that this company must pay back my money which they took by subterfuge, don’t let any idiot deceive you by selling you more lies about all the SOL nonsense. I am a proof and have discovered so much lies, you will knock yourself again and again for falling foe this scam.
I will come back here to publish my accounts or refer you to the cases in case anyone wishes to take a cue from my approach. I will be happy to see everyone in this world get their money back and let people like Jessica (shes pisses me off so bad) and her like go to StoresOnline and be deceived right into debt, penury and frustration. If you have worked so hard for your money, never allow the devil called SOL come anywhere near you. But if you wish to burn your dollars like someone setting paper on fire, then do please go ahead. But rmember, you have been warmed.
** Note:: This is a serious real life experience and I am not writing lies about this company but the truth which I speak all the time.
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on February 23rd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Please look at stores on line exposed as well.
ALSO, please look at BBB as they have been sued over and over again by Attorney Generals. They are not even allowed in the State of California now.
Obviously, they are theives and the General Attorney’s know it.
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Libris Fidelis Reply:
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:32 am
This is interesting information. For a company like this based in Orem Utah, I doubt very much that Church of Latter Day Saints would approve of SOL’s tactics.
Their finance “associate” (probably set up by the same gangsters) is Duvera Financial, which is a snotty and inconsiderate bunch. Duvera Financial is based in Carlsbad, California !!!!!!!! So if (Shit-out Of Luck) is banned in California, their finance arm is based in California.
When I had troubles with Duvera Financial, they said under the laws of California…. however… I signed my contract in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the Five Seasons Hotel, so, that to me places their contract under Iowa laws, but I am not definitely sure about that.
But Duvera Financial is the “spider web” function of StoresOnline, and StoresOnline is the “bait”. That is the major default mechanism for we victims because it is an organized, psychologically-schemed trap, NOT a business assistance service. They want our money, period, and they have a set-up to hook us like fish. That is the bottom line.
And their very down-played warning of “this does not represent the success of what your StoresOnline store will achieve” is just pretense to appear to be legally responsible — in truth, that seldom-repeated phrase or phrases like that that they only occasionally mention in their workshop are just legal-wrangling to hide the fact that MOST of their victims will never be able to sell online the way they present.
Look folks. Selling online you are “in a goldfish bowl”, which is an old sales term. There are literally tens of thousands of sellers online, each vying for customers to sell to. No matter how StoresOnline positions your “store” in the internet, in most cases we are still selling THE SAME PRODUCTS wth only a few exceptions due to uniqueness. I went through this buying “swap meet” products, and if you do not have something unique that people want, and you know how to access or buy those products, almost nobody is going to want your product. The entire salesmanship strategy is to convince someone to buy something they do not want and cannot use by exciting their impulses, and StoresOnline does just that.
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 6:01 am
I GOT A INVATATION TO THEIR SEMINAR FOR FREE!…ALSO FREE DINNER!…AND A FREE MP3 PLAYER!! AND FREE INTERNET MARKETING STRATEGIES TOO!!! BEING THE CLOWN I AM I’M TEMPTED TO GO JUST TO SCREWW IT UP FOR THEM!HA-HA-HA! PAY BACK WOULD BE HELL WHEN I FINISHED WITH THEM! HA!!! I COULD REALLY MAKE A CIRCUS OF THEIR SCAMMING ASSES!!!
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John Doe Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:52 am
Went to a seminar yesterday for the free lunch and mp3 player. Lunch was ok (turkey & cheese croissant, a bit of pasta salad, a few pieces of fresh fruit, and a cookie, but no beverage other than water). No mp3 players on-hand – had to go to http://www.storesonlinemp3.com/redeem to enter my info. Surprise, the redemption code was rejected! Went to online chat; service rep at the other end indicated that the mp3 player will be sent. We’ll see. By the way, the ticket said a free ipod (you pay s&h) or other mp3 player (no s&h). No ipod option on the redemption coupon or the website. Furthermore, the mp3 player only has 512 MB of memory – the cheapest mp3 player listed on Walmart’s website ($14.88) has twice the memory.
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Tony Ruiz Reply:
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:36 am
I attended their “workshop” at the Pechanga casino yesterday in Temecula CA. but bought nothing. I’d already read lots of negative comments but hadn’t found this site. I only wish there were some means of getting it across to their prospective suckers. I felt like getting up in front of the audience and telling them to do some due diligence
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on February 23rd, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I meant Attorney Generals know it.
I have also filed a complaint with the Attorney General here in PA and it is now my life’s mission to destroy them.
People have gone into bankruptcy because of them. They are stealing people’s life savings and tricking people to go into debt they cannot afford thereby causing bankruptcies.
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on February 23rd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Hi there guys, especially those outside the US. We have been scammed not only by SOL but also PMI. They are targeting SOL customers out of the USA witha fast track to the SOl storefronts promising all sorts of whiz bang ideas and help. When we got the package the lessons were the exact spiels that the boring SOL presenters gave in their seminars..boy are we pissed off. We have lodfged complaints against both companies with the BBB. I beleive that PMI are even worst bastrads than the SOL mob and I never throught i would say that. If there is scum of this earth ten these two snakes crawl together. beware of PMI, especially is you live outside the USA
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on February 24th, 2008 at 8:27 am
WOW… I can’t believe how active this blog is with people getting swindled by Stores Online. Stores Online is the biggest scam I have ever had the pleasure of being part of. I get part of my $4000 they stole from my family every time I make a post. I know I can make a difference and hopefully warn people against going to their highly suggestive (should be illegal) sales pitch “free dinner” meeting. I have actually had lots of people email me and ask for alternatives and I found what I think looks absolutely wonderful. It’s called Site Build It and you can check it out by clicking right here or copy this addres in your browser address window. http://proof.sitesell.com/internetmlm.html
They offer everything you need for $299 a year and they give you a 30 day money back guarantee (instead of the 8 day Stores Online give you which they are legally obligated too BTW and you won’t get that information in the meeting but according to SOL you have to read your contract after your pumped up 10 miles from their snakes … uhh I mean sales people LOL) and Site Build It comes with all you need including unlimited support ALL for $299 a year – no bolt-ons as it states on their website. I haven’t honestly tried Site Build It yet because I already started something different before I heard of them and it’s working pretty awesome for me. You can check out my first site at http://www.cheapbibs.com if you want. There is a link at the bottom to the BANS software I used to build it. Bans cost $99 for unlimited websites but you have to have your own hosting which I paid $249 for 2 years at Hostmonster and I can have unlimited websites with up to 100 MySql databases and much more. Anyways check out Site Build It or BANS if you like and email me if you have any other questions please. I HATE STORES ONLINE. I am always interested in helping with a class action lawsuit against stores online if anyone is interested and hopefully has some resources or knowledge to get it started. I’ve talked with several others who would be interested so basically we would need an organizer and I think the people would be there honestly. Thanks, Jonathan
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on February 24th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Hi Sylvia,
In actual fact, PMI is affiliated with Storesonline. That’s how they get your contact numbers.
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on February 24th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I know now that they are affiliated, but ask them at SOL about PMI and all they ay it that they are awware of them but not associated with them…another bloody big lie… I have reported them to the BBB as well, as i think what they do is somewhat worse than SOL
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on February 25th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Hello,
I am currently working on the website thru PMI and StoresOnline. It has been a struggle for me. I am not that great with computers, but am learning. I have learned alot, but there is alot more to learn. I feel like there is not end. I hope it is not a scam as I would really like to have a website.
All the comments on the chat is really quite scary. I there anyone in Canada that has comments or concerns.
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on February 25th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I would really like some feedback from Canadian customers who have dealt or are dealing with PMI and or StoresOnline.
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on February 25th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Debbie – you should really check out the merchant forum. I know of a couple of people who are from Canada that frequently use the forum. This was put together by other storesonline customers who were frustrated with their service. Yes, you can be successful with a storesonline store. It is hard work and frustrating at times.
I am personally moving my sites to another server, but I probably wouldn’t have even started this if not for buying these sites at the seminar. Storesonline is costly, but not so outrageous compared to others that offer the same features as storesonline. PMI on the other hand is a total ripoff in my opinion.
Anyway checkout http://www.onlinemerchantforum.com You will find lots of free help there.
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Carey Reply:
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:20 am
I just went to their full day seminar yesterday ALONE! I had requested the consultation which was to be after the first break. After hearing the price I told the guy no point in it as I was not paying that much money. He didn’t bug me again. For $58 I got 2 free lunches that were good, a free mp3 player, a free website that I can monkey around with and a ton of info that I had no clue about before. The presenter was in you face, informative and funny. I’m glad I didn’t read this forum b4 going or I might not have gone. I quite enjoyed it. I didn’t buy their website(s) $3000 or $6000 Canadian but I’m the type of person who doesn’t finance a down payment for a house either. Cudos to those of you making a valient effort with your purchase cause that is what I would do. As for the rest of you compainers, well my guess is you didn’t listen very well at the seminar. It’s not a get rich quick scheme. They said that in the presentation. It requires EFFORT on your part. Don’t give up and don’t blame them. They have been in business for 12 yrs so they must be doing something right. Even McDonalds gets sued but I love their burgers.Those complainers who spent lots should go into their forum and seek the help they need to get their sites up and running.
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on February 26th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Debbie, the PMI part of it is as big as scam as SOL. Its just a rehash of the seminars using the same boring speakers. There Web biz marketing..is so called to jazz up the site if you are not that good, as we are, but we didnt see any jazzing up, just a few lines added, or changed in our overall descriptions.
It has also taken me from November to last week to finally get on line with MSI International for my Merchant card processing, which we paid about $1000.00 AUD for, for each store. And that was after having to make 3 international phone calls to SOL, as we couldnt get any satisfaction from them. I doubt we will ever get the 6 stores done, as getting products wholesale her in Oz is not as easy as the US and I am not sure about Canada. Customs over here is very strict with imports so it makes the job doubly hard.
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on February 27th, 2008 at 6:55 am
In about April last year I attended the Stores Online seminar in Sydney Australia, & landed up paying $4600 for 6 sites!
At the time, before I went to the seminar I was looking at adding pages & links to my existing website & also looking to invest in an email marketing system.
That was probably going to cost me about $2500 Aus dollars.
I thought through Stores Online, I could transfer the hosting of my original site to them & then through their “tools” would be able to add products, pages etc.
I also liked the idea of their permission based marketing of e-newsletters integrated with their system. (I’m not sure how that works – I’ve never been able to test it!)
I spent quite a few months going through their training cd’s etc & when I started trying to use the system I found it impossible!
Eventually I told the programmers to copy the site & paid another $150 programming fee for that.
The site looks terrible, & I would never dream of going live with it as it would be a huge step backwards & would definitely make my business look extremely amateur & unprofessional.
I told them that I was unhappy with the site, but they said that was the best they could do.
I recently went to some local web designers & showed them the Stores Online system & asked them if they could help get my website incorporated into one of the stores online web templates – to make the site look professional.
They quoted me between around $500 to try & get it looking professional on one of the Stores Online templates & so I told them to go ahead!
They came back to me, however, & said that they spent a lot of time trying to get my site to look professional on one of the templates but were unable to achieve a half-decent result & so refused the job!
I have now given up with Stores Online realizing that I have been totally scammed!
If experienced web designers here say they have never seen such a complicated content management system, what chance would I have!
I would also now never trust them to host my business websites anyway.
In terms of their 3 day cooling off period – how can you investigate all their web building software in 3 days?
How can we get our money back!!
Also, is there anyone in Sydney, Aus that has experienced similar?
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on March 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 am
We have recently purchased one site and are having a lot of trouble understanding the directions on how to set everything up.Tracey is drawing a small disability check and I am working all of the overtime that I can get just to get by.Since Tracey is unable to go to work at a “real job”, we though this might be a good way to help make ends meet.So far it looks like we may have been too hasty.I wish I would have found this review page before we went to the seminar.So far we haven’t spent too much on our dream,but like I said we are just getting started.Neither of us are computer whizzes,so that makes all of this even harder on us.Just wanted to vent a little and say HI!!!
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on March 2nd, 2008 at 5:33 am
Hi we have a bit of computer knowedge and we found it difficult. I think everyone in this forum wished they found it before they committed. At least you only outlayed for one site, most of us bougth 3 0r 6 for outlays of anything from 3000 – 6000.
Good luck
PS Dont expect a refund from SOL either..we have all tried..believe me
Just make sure that if a company called PMI ring to offer assistance at a price, dont fall for it…they are in cahoots with SOl and they just give you the same info as the SOl seminars with the same presenters and all and in my book are bigger scam artists than SOL if that is at all possible
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on March 19th, 2008 at 9:51 am
SOL has now blown its way into our small Canadian Community..I planned to attend, but thought I would first do a little research, after spending a few years in the states , I was aware of “IMergent” and its problems, but happy to say
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on March 19th, 2008 at 10:02 am
SOL Is Now The World’s Biggest Scam :Hello to everyone,I am so very sorry to hear that this Saga continues ,now my Niece has become another Statistic ,who just recently this past Sept 2007. invested her savings into buying a 6 site ripoff extravaganza deal .Whereas she received 6 perfect Inoperable sites for only $5700 Total, not including all her Credit Card Interest Fees all this with an Added BONUS COMPANY’S SPECIAL 3 DAY NO RETURN HIDDEN POLICY CLAUSE !!! .
She now is trying to recoup her losses though , per my help, suggestion ,is now contacting the AG’s Office UT.,The Consumer Protection Service now serving Orem UT. As you really must attack Vermin where they live to get any positive results .Also if you did not know already I also found out recently that SOL does not operate or cannot make any sales to consumers even in their own home state of UT.Now hopefully this info should help some new prospect think fully before making one of the biggest mistakes of their lives.Sol is now dangling from a thin thread and maybe very close to having chains placed on their front doors in UT. It is also so very true that they are affiliated with the larger, more Fraudulent Famous Company aka PMI,could possibly even be a Div. thereof.So now If you do happen to ever hear the two names mentioned in the same sentence please hold onto your wallets and purses and run fast for the hills!!!
Good luck!
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on March 19th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Hi again
I contacted the Better Business Bureau in Utah about both of these companies and the results are this. SOL has agreed to refund me half of my initial outlay which is ok with me, however if Ihear that they are closing down, or being closed down, I will go for the jugular. PMI, at the time of purchase offerred me a full money refund if my site didnt perfom in 6 months,. Now they have agreed to repay the whole of my investment, As yet I have not had a release form from them, but will be contacting them shortly. I will let you know when I have the cash. If you want to register a complaint with BBB just google BBB Utah and they have a form that you fill in to regiter the complaint. Make sure you use a separate form for each comopany.
Cheers
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on March 19th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Sylvia: I emailed the SOL rep I have talked too so many times before and told him that they agreed to refund half of your money and that we would also accept half of our money as well. We were previously told that the only way they would refund money is if the person was gravely ill or terminal and they also told us if they refund for one person, then they would have to refund for everyone. My first though is Why don’t you come up with a product and customer service so that refunds isn’t your main concern anymore but whatever right? Anyways as you all can see by the post right above me, that is all crap just like StoreOnline is crap.
Stores Online doesn’t seem to get the fact that I will make posts, reports, websites, and anything else I learn until they refund my money and pretty soon I’m going to charge them double to make up for all my time as well. I’m not bitter about it anymore but I’m just doing what is right. If I never get my money back, I will have told thousands of people about this company before they even go to the seminar and sway them from going. I just filed a report at RipOffReport and I strongly encourage everyone who has reported on this blog to do the same. StoresOnline, iMergant, and PMI already have over 350 complaints on that site alone. I believe it gets pretty good attention from StoresOnline as well. A few say they were offered a refund, a few say they are basically just giving up and hundreds are probably not even resolved. Please go there and tell your complaint about Stores Online. I also encourage everyone who has been ripped off by StoresOnline to also post blog entries, forums, create polls, and even help in getting a class action lawsuit filed and do whatever is possible to help this company from hurting other people and their pocket book.
thanks,
Jonathan
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on March 20th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Hi Sylvia,
Good job there and thanks for sharing. It seems that SOL have more problems with the authorities in Utah.
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on March 20th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
My husband and I paid the $25.00 for the all day seminar. Fortunately I took the time the day before to visit the BBB website and read through all the ongoing law suits..Still we attended just to maybe learn a little about online sales…Little we did learn as the morning was spent trying to convince us to part with $6000 for unlimited web sites and blah blah balh!!! I did manage to get one good round of laughter after the speaker held up his cell phone and said “I have the vice-president of Microsoft on my SPEED Dial and that’s how big we are” and I yelled out ” Then call him right now and invite him to lunch.” That drew a laugh as he turned red as a beat and blubbered something about not abusing their relationship. We did stay for lunch only because we had already paid for it . And then I began talking to the people around us about NOT wasting any more time or money on these hyper- active scammers. My husband knowing what a determined heckler I can become escorted me out shortly after lunch. Then I stumbled on to this site tonight and I am so glad to hear that my intuition is still in tact..for being an old person (55 and getting younger) Thanks for the tips from thoughs who succeeded in other venues as I will not give up on my persuit to find my place on the internet.
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on March 25th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Wow! Well, call us lucky! We went to the evening seminar to learn more about how we could make our millions.
Although my husband was sold immediately, I am a little more pessimistic. We purchased the software for $50. That price included both of us being able to go to the full day seminar. I noticed an unusual number of elderly people at the seminar as well–it’s too bad they have to prey on anyone, but the elderly? Really? How sad!
Unfortunately, I threw my back out and am unable to go to the one day seminar tomorrow. He was upset as he wanted me there to help him decide whether this was worth going forward with. I called SOL to see when they’d be back in our area for us to attend and was met with an agitated man who informed me it would be 3 to 5 months before they’d be back. When asked for a date, all he could do was quote “3 to 5 months”. That rubbed me the wrong way.
My husband wouldn’t go without me, so he went online to see where they’d be next so that we could hopefully to to that seminar. When he typed in the SOL website for the Yahoo search engine…the first site to pop up was SOL Beware. Intrigued, we read on and are very thankful for my bad back.
You have no idea how thankful we are to those of you that have posted your experiences here. (Save Jessica–an obvious mole for SOL.)
Keep spreading the word! Save as many others as possible from WASTING their money on such a scam.
Like the cliche goes…If it sounds to good to be true…it probably is!
THANKS AGAIN AND STAY AWAY FROM SOL!!!
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on March 26th, 2008 at 8:55 am
I just want to thank all of you protector for helping me to save my little hard earn money. I was going to pay for the Onlinestore, but I had this funny feeling in my stomach the day before. And I feel so good now that I’m reading your Blog. I didn’t have the money myself, but I did bring a friend who had the money for the website. I did some research the day before and I had a little knowledge about what was going on in there attempted to get my money for the website. Well, after lunch my friend and I decide to leave to go home and the person doing the talking summons one of his worker to stop us from leaving. I said all of this to say sometimes that funny feeling is the key to saving some hardship later. Thanks again for this site!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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on March 27th, 2008 at 11:36 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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on March 27th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Stephanie: I would love to please hear your progress with this personally. The Attorney General is probably the only route I haven’t tried yet and apparently from what I hear, is the best one. Please fill me in with your details and help me with Missouri.
MISSOURI RESIDENTS:::
Please call Jon and Katie at 573-243-3729 or email sol@blazzo.com
I feel if we all work together it will have more pull. I encourage others who have had issues with StoresOnline in other states to file right along with us. Lets stand up and get our money back from these people one way or another.
Jonathan
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on March 27th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
TO ALL CANADIAN RESIDENTS!!!!
Please give me some feedback regarding PMI and StoresOnline!! I am currently working on a website. They had said it would take 5 – 10 hours of my time a week. I am not really sure sure if I am getting anywhere. I have spent a lot of hours(a lot more than 10 hours a week.) and I not getting anywhere fast. I would like more feedback from Canadians who have purchase the PMI package!!
Debbie
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Mill Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Debbie, here’s another Canuck. My neighbour Pam and her husband signed up with Stores Online. I spent weeks trying to help her make everything work properly for her – and I’m a professional web designer. The system is very poorly designed, the help system points you to links that either give the barest of token answers or don’t exist any more, and it’s probably the slowest site I’ve ever come across. Working with the products pages is cumbersome and probably the least user-friendly database I’ve ever used. (I give workshops on databases regularly).
Working on her Stores Online site was a nightmare that did not justify even a fragment of the hours we spent just trying to get everything to work smoothly – and if *I* can’t do it easily (a web designer thoroughly familiar with both internet marketing and with many different shopping carts and “storefront” hosting companies) – then I have to say that I too suspect the Perfect Jessica is about as real as The Tooth Fairy.
And by the way, both my friend Pam and I are two of the hardest working people I know.
And a *3-day* back out period? I thought the law said it was 30 days.
All I know is, enter the name of any other shopping cart/storefront service on the web, and you’ll barely hear a whimper, compared to the litany of horror stories I’m reading just on this one site alone about Stores Online. (And Pam and I both had problems with password access and getting help from Customer Service.)
I’d have to say, strictly from my experience, it’s the worst system I’ve ever attempted to use – and with great companies like Site Build It, Kagi and InternetBasedMoms, the thousands everyone paid is dismaying.
Pam is now trying to get her money back, so if anyone knows of a class action suit, I’m sure she’d be interested.
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on March 27th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Debbie,
You should really check out our forum. It is for people who have SOL sites and has a special section for Canadian merchants and the special problems they encounter. It is not affiliated with SOL or PMI in any way. Sorry to hear PMI got to you, but since you already made the investment, you can be successful with a SOL store. Go to http://www.onlinemerchantforum.com and check out all the useful information and help you can get there. Its all free and in my opinion, much better help than PMI or EMS.
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on March 31st, 2008 at 2:34 am
TO ALL UNITED KINGDOM RESIDENTS !!!!
My brother and I attended a SOL ‘FREE dinner’ and got a sandwich. We were caught hook line and all the sinkers we had.
We bought two sites each for £4000. We were told about 100’s of ‘Dropshippers and sites and yes … in UK’ We tried to find these sites and where ripped off. I believe the seminar leader gave us a site and we subscribed £50 and got squot nothing in return. (Might have been his own)
We tried to set up the sites and could not get any joy from SOL who sent back info saying “it only works in the US”. Great help when you are sold a product in the UK! I sent off info again and received a reply saying sorry all the google search info is only based on US info. At this point I gave up.
And just incase you wondered about the PMI, yes they tried to get us to buy into the SCAM but when we suggested to the salesman that we would carry on trying ourselves, he replied in such an aggresive manner that Both my brother and I had to put the phone down on him in seperate calls.
We thought it was our fault we couldn’t get things working. SOL made us both feel like we were so stupid. Got to give it to them, ‘they are good at what they do’.
I am thinking of writing to my local MP with this. ANY SUGGESTIONS?
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on March 31st, 2008 at 2:42 am
All i can tell you is to take it to the Better Business Bureau in Utah. i got satisfaction through them. Google BBB Utah. They have a complaint form which you fill in and submit. They get back to you pretty quickly, and as i said i was able to get some satisfaction from them Good Luck
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on March 31st, 2008 at 8:53 am
I wanted to share with everyone a few more blog post to read about StoresOnline i just found this morning. Check out http://rad-box.com/?p=113 and http://rad-box.com/?p=120 to see what Aleks from Australia has to say about Stores Online.
thanks, jonathan
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on April 10th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
This message is for Maxine,
Hi Maxine, I was just reading thru all the messages and I came across your message. I was very upset by your message which was written way back January 14th 2008. Did you deal with Stores On Line or PMI? My heart goes out to you. That is really low on their part. Did they not offer you any advice as to what you can do with what you have invested so far?
Do you live in Canada or the USA?
Debbie
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on April 12th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Debbie,
I dealt with SOL but the others called and tried to get $11000 out of me for a marketing plan. Thank God I had the good sense not to buy into that. I have not gotten any money back but hope that they will reconsider. I have filed complaints with the BBB and others but nothing as of yet.
Thanks for your message.
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David Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 4:18 am
I went to the free lunch today. I did not have a credit card with me or a check. They offered me a payment plan that I could live with. THey said I could come back tomorrow and pay the initial down payment of $300 with monthly payments of $344 a month. I decided to google them and found this site of all the problems people are having. I thank all of you who have posted info on SOL. It has saved me from making a huge mistake. I am also llike most of the people at the seminar. I am disabled and 56 years old. Thanks to all of you for helping me to make the right choice. David
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on April 12th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Debbie,
I forgot to add that I live in the US.
Maxine
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on April 15th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Hi all,
I just received an invitation letter yesterday from this so called Stores online. First thing that caught me was the special free breakfast, lunch, dinner “dinner for two” which will be held at some of the known hotels here in Toronto. And man, I am so thankful to have had browsed into this blog!! Really stay away from this gate of hell!! They will eat you alive!! I shredded the invitation into pieces right away!! Evil!!! There’s nothing free that comes from the devil!!!
God bless you!!
Jovic – Toronto
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on April 17th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Go eat their lunch. You do not have to buy! Get the free gift as well– if there are few buyers than takers the economics will sort this out. Never reject a free lunch! Be strong!!
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on April 23rd, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I realize that most complains posted about SOL is about their hard sell on 6 websites for $4000 to $6000.
We just sat through the first seminar and paid $25 to buy that Storesonline express + first month hosting free + 2nd training. We were told that we can turn the hosting on/off anytime and (therefore no need to pay monthly hosting fees anymore).
Just wondering if anybody encounter trouble when you ask them to turn off the hosting. We wanted to limit the overall cost to the current $25?
Thanks, peter99jansen@gmail.com
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on April 28th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
To Debbie:
I am CANADIAN. I have a storesonline website. I am ready to publish but still have problems that need addressing by storesonline. Serious problem with payment processor and getting a company that can process CANADIAN payments. Contact me Debbie, I will be happy to discuss in detail. It has taken me 2 years to get to this point, not all storesonline fault but I needed to become knowledgeable on computer, online selling etc.. It takes a lot of time and work to learn everything before designing your site, if you want to be successful, but getting help from storesonline, when needed, is like pulling teeth. I REFUSE TO GIVE UP and am determined to see this through and then keep my fingers crossed that my site is successful. Me email address is freedom59@msn.com (London, Ontario, Canada)
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on April 28th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Debbie: Fellow CANADIAN here again. Just wanted to add, I don’t know if storesonline is a scam or not, but I do know that they try to get you to pay for things that I really don’t think you should have to pay for in order to get to the point where you can publish your site. I am still working on getting answers so I can get my site published, hopefully before the summer is through! Have been at this for to long and worked to hard to give up! I refuse to give up, and being an entrupreneur is hard work, so…keep plugging at it girl! I’ll give any info and help I can to help you. Contact my email: freedom59@msn.com (LONDON, ONT. CANADA)
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on April 28th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Hi Carol,
Good luck with your site.
At some point in time, you will need to refocus your efforts from “making” the site to marketing it because that is where the money is.
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on April 29th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Hi Martin Lee:
Thanks for the response. I spent the first year doing just what you suggest. I found the product I wanted to sell, decided on, and found my target market, and wow oh wow, it is there and I have really “marketed” myself. Problem I encountered as of late is this: firstly, being CANADIAN and choosing Pay Pal as my online payment processor etc.. what Pay Pal indicated was not fully the truth, I cannot process according to setting up my shopping cart following storesonline info. Pay Pal will not work they way it is needed (especially will not work for CANADIAN) And secondly, because of all that, I have tried to find a Canadian company to register with to process my payments, specifically to allow me to offer and process online, telephone, email and fax orders, and also mail-in orders if the customer provides a credit card number. Also I would like to offer interac on line payment method. That is ABSOLUTELY out of the question with Pay Pal or any of the payment processors you will find in the “affiliates” with storesonline drop down box. I need storesonline to integrate, so the “platform” of the canadian company I choose to process my payments will work. Forgive me if I am not using the proper computer lingo language. SOL does not want to help, does not want to work with the canadian companies to enabe us canadians to use a company that will enable us canadian merchants to process our orders. Working on that issue right now with sol. I have marketed, have everything in place and ready, have people waiting to order, to list me (marketing!!) but cannot publish until I can get storesonline to work out the issue of canadian payment processor. That is what is holding me up from publishing. However, I will likely then find another problem I have to deal with SOL. I’m still refusing to give up, after comming this far!! I am willing to pay a canadian company to process my payments but noone seems to be able to integrate with the programming and things the way sol has set up their system!! That proves to me that sol intended from the get go to make our lives hell and make as much $$ off us as possible, telling us we have to pay for this, pay for that and pay for everything that SHOULD be available for us to get our sites live. IF THERE ARE ANY CANADIANS USING SOL SITES, PLEASE TELL ME WHO YOU HAVE USED AS YOUR PAYMENT PROCESSOR because I need to process credit cards, telephone etc.. orders and need a “virtual terminal” to do it, that will do it for canadians, in canadian funds. I also need to accept interac on line that will go to canadian bank pages for canadian customers. HELP? You can email me at freedom59@msn.com if you prefer.
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on May 2nd, 2008 at 6:01 am
So I have gone through the Internet Marketing Workshop in Canada recently, there are new changes to their TODAY ONLY workshop offer.
Now with SOL express, you already have your store with shopping cart integrated with paypal, the only thing you are missing are the advance features. So as expected, they get this Brian from California (bald, Nicholas Cage looking) to talk about advance features and internet marketing tips, to be honest, I do not find this Brian too hard sell on the SOL advance features and it actually contain some useful information regarding eMarketing.
As for the “Workshop today only” offering, they changed a bit. It now offers two options: $3000 upgrade to PRO (Pro upgrade, merchant services, first site programmed, ECI merchant account, bootcamp training 6 hrs) or $6000 (unlimited site upgrade, merchant services, first site programmed, intergrated drop shipper, ECI, boot camp).
Thanks to Martin Lee and this site, we already know what to expect so we make the best out of it and learn some new things. Out of the ~300 audience, maybe 20-25 people signd up, so the fill-rate was not exactly high, maybe CANADIANS are more conservatve.
As an IT professional, looking at the product & service offering, I cannot say they are really ripping you off in terms of what you paid for and what they give you. In fact, I would charge my clients similiar and cannot match 50% of their “PRO/advance” offerings. Everybody has to make money, so the offering is not exactly unfair in terms of pricing.
However like many of the above said, there is questionable ethnics (nothing illegal) on the approach they do business. It is not necessarily that is illegal but just the ethnics is very questionable sales techniques. Out of all the audience, it seems they on purpose targeted the elderly, disabled, and low educated people; the proportion is a low higher than other groups….. maybe these people are more easily attracted by “get rich” scheme? I don’t know.
As with any one successful business, there are always at least nine failing ones. SOL only offers an enabler, to succeed in business, persistence and drive for success is the more important factor. To all those that are willing to dedicate the effort and hardwork, I wish you all the best luck.
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on May 8th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Hi Carol,
do you mean paypal cannot be integrated with the storesonline shopping cart?
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on May 9th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Hi Martin:
What I mean is, storesonline has multiple options that merchants can use, include for payment methods and payment processors. Pay Pal is one payment processor listed. As a Canadian, I called Pay Pal, very clearly stated I was CANADIAN and a Storesonline merchant. They knew storesonline well, or so stated. I set up a Pay Pal merchant account, and my Pay Pal rep told me what was included, ie: payment methods my customers would have the option of choosing. In turn, I followed SOL instructions to the letter and set up my shopping cart. I had already secured a distributor who would drop ship my products using Purolator as the “carrier”. At the end of it all, I started doing “TEST ORDERS”, used the pretend credit card number provided by SOL, just for this purpose of doing test orders. SOL said you could follow your order through, get the email confirmation, just like a real order, just as if you were a “live, online customer” processing an order. It all seemed to be working. However, talking with my CANADIAN bank, I learned it would NOT work, if I was “LIVE”. That is when I contacted Pay Pal again. They now explained that with Canadian SOL merchants, they had payments floating around in virtual land, never actually being processed through pay pal because of the way the merchant set up the shopping card following SOL instructions, that are meant for USA merchants who have Pay Pal PRO accounts, which are NOT available to Canadians. We can ONLY have Pay Pal STANDARD merchant accounts. If Canadian, DO NOT follow SOL instructions. DO NOT “ADD” payment methods show by SOL. You MUST only put Pay Pal as the “payment method” and as the “payment processor”, then, as the customer goes through the checkout, Pay Pal adds their own credit card payment method option page-nothing to do with SOL. Only then will credit card actually get to Pay Pal for verification. The USA merchant options and payment method options are completely different than what is available to Canadians. Besides, most of the payment processors are set up to deal with USA, not Canadian, unless our customer wants to pay in US funds and we, the merchant, want to set up a USA bank account. Storesonline has not included much choice for canadians, have not listed processors that offer or provide sercices that will offer what canadians need. Therefore, it limits our ability to make as much revenue as we possibly could. They do not offer “virtual terminal” for Canadians, for us to process “telephone, email or fax” orders, and they do not offer Interac on line for Canadians to pay directly from their Canadian bank accounts. That limits our revenue and order possibilities, limits our customers choice of payment methods to only online credit card. I don’t want the world, only the same options to make as much money as US merchants who can offer more payment choices to their customers. Storesonline has not integrated with Canadian payment processing companies. Who you talk with at SOL are not the ones who decide but, it seems like everything costs EXTRA and thousands of dollars to consider. To integrate with a Canadian processing company, they might, but they also will charge every merchant to do the integration on their site. That is not fair. If I give them the URL and info needed to do the integration with a Canadian company, for us CDN sol merchants, why do they say they will charge every sol CDN merchant to do the same integration on their site too? Ripping us off, for sure!
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on May 10th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Hi Carol,
Thanks for clarifying. As mentioned by so many other clients, their customer service is bad.
Based on what you say,
“You MUST only put Pay Pal as the “payment method” and as the “payment processor””
Does that mean it will still work but without the sol shopping cart functionality?
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on May 11th, 2008 at 5:29 am
Like Mari (Jan 13 2008 blog) we also attended SOL sales spin in Brisbane Dec ‘07.
After attending their 2hr presentation a few days earlier we turned up on the day quite excited at the futue prospects we thought we were to be offered. Despite their hard-sell technique I thought they were above-board, however my partner Julie was very wary on the day. Despite this we proceeded and forked out $6000 on credit card for 6 websites.
A couple of hours after coming home that night Julie decided to Google “stores online credibility”. Well, I can tell you, we just felt sick reading all the negative press. Immediately we emailed (a few times) and faxed them our desire to opt out under the “3 day cooling off period” clause. We received the standard automated response to our emails but heard nothing more. Over the next few weeks we just kept annoying them with emails and phone calls. Amazingly, about 6-8 weeks later we received a full refund. I thought we had no chance of getting our money back……. and I’m sure had it been one minute after the 3 day deadline we would have been sunk……. like most others on here.
I would love to hear of any other seminars these thieves are holding here in Brisbane in the future. I would go along quietly, armed with discreet little printouts and stuff one in the pocket of every person there. I would make it my mission that they would not sell one website that day.
Oh yeah….. do you notice that they wont let anyone ask even a single question during the hard-sell day?! Of course they wont……. they’re afraid someone might stand up and mention blogs lke this. How good would that be……. stand up and in a very loud voice question them on all the bad press and see how long it takes before they all swoop like a pack of seagulls on a hot chip and throw you out the door.
In the end we were very lucky, but these rip-off bastards need to be exposed and I applaud blogs like this one in aiding that cause. Good job!!!
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on May 13th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Today I received an invitation and tickets from this place to attend a conference and dinner. I am SO glad I took the initiative to research them before falling for a free meal! After reading these comments there is NO WAY I will be calling in my R.S.V.P.!! I have been both a seller and buyer on Ebay for years, so don’t need help with that. I also have my own website as I am a hobby breeder of AKC Pomeranians. My site was built for me by my husband and is hosted through GoDaddy. I am absolutely appalled that this place even exists!! I have a lot better uses for the money these people want to charge for a product that, from what I’ve read, is totally useless!!! I’m sorry for those who have been misled and want to thank you for saving many others the misery.
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on May 14th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Hey MJ I am happy that you read all the review of StorseOnline they’re a bunch of scum bags, just out to rob people of the hard earned money. I got sucked into that trap . I am trying to have my contract cancelled and they r giving me the run around. I will be calling them every day until they cancelled it. Added to that there is a law suit filed against them with the state attorney here in Florida. I am just hoping that everything goes well.
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on May 14th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Computerman: I wish you only the best and hope you’re able to get your refund. I wonder how many other people here in our small town received the same “invitation” I did and I also wonder if they’ll do any research before attending. Please keep everyone posted as to your outcome and the outcome of the suit with the State Attorney.
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on May 15th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Hi Martin I have just received a invitation through the post from storesonline.com and it looks like they are spreading there wings over the pond so I have put a warning on my blog and a link to yours as you have encountered them before.
Yours Alan Martin
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on May 15th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Hello I am here once again to report about the status of contract with these scim bags, I made a call today again to get an update on my contract and I can tell you i did behave nice at all. I was told they r reviewing my case. i saod ok but I will be calling again tomorrow. If anyone calls them ask to speak to the supervisior, mails seems not to work. I will keep u guys posted.
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on May 15th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
The only way to get staisfaction, some not all, as they wont refund the total, is to go the the BBB Utah website, and place a complaint. Works with PMI also
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on May 24th, 2008 at 10:37 am
This is a chat with customers support 2 day
Welcome To Storesonline Storefront Support! Good to have you on chat, how may I help you today?
are you interested in buying over my License
I apologize robert, but storesonline do not but sites back
you can sell them on reseller sites link ebay
i am talking about storesonline i am asking you.
dont you work with storesonline
dont you have websites which is being hosted by storesonline
guess the sites you have are all up and running and making money
yes I do work for storesonline , but on buying the sites back , we do not have this policy implemented
what i am asking you has nothing to do with storesonline
if you have sites up and running why cant you buy another one
I apologize truly Robert, I really want to help as much as I can , but I dont have money to buy another one
why not
that means that the sites you have are not making any money or you dont have any site at all?.
it’s only one i will sell you for $500.00 i’ve already paid $700.00
Once again, I wish I have the money so that I can help you out. But I do have other responsibilities also and I need to prioritize those first.
I suggest that you sell the licenses on reseller sites like Ebay
ok. what if i gave it to you free
no one else wants to buy a licenses from storesonline
so i figure i would get someone who works with storesonline to buy it.
Okay , we will check on the management if we can do buy it back
when will that be
I will send an email today and we will check that first thing on tuesday
so who will respond to my request.
you will
I can tell you what they will say..they cannot buy it back jus as you told me.
I will contact them and as soon as they have responded to the request , we will get back to you
are you sending the email now?. when you do please let me have the ticket number.
you already know what they will say.
Okay please hold on as I create a ticket for that
ok
thank you for waiting
the tracking number is Ticket 23077110
what is the name of your site if you dont mind telling me.
it is under site construction but I do plan in selling refurbished turntables , im working on it now
ok. i thought is was that easy to build the site, so how come u r working there and urs in under construction, u have all the programmers close to u.
Okay here is the site I am did previously http://www.tipid-racing.com
I did*
I removed the underconstruction site
ok.
okay
looks intersting
okay thanks
you still have lots of work to do.
yes
but it should’nt take u that long.
I understand robert but im full time here as a customer service representative
sounds like u work 24/7
:O) sometimes we do double shifts
which means that u do have time cause u wk double sometimes.
but we do assist more that 3 merchant most of the times so I prioritize merchants first
any way got to go look after my baby. nice talking to you and looking forward for a reply.
Okay thank you robert for your time
please do Feel free to contact us if you need any further assistance.
We’d love for you to fill out the survey after you click on the “Done” Button. We appreciate your comments and suggestions regarding your recent experience. I hope I have given you excellent service. Thank you and have a lovely day!
u too.
thanks bye!
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on June 3rd, 2008 at 7:33 am
Oh My God!!!!! Thankyou everyone for your comments
I was supposed to be going to the full day seminar in 2weeks- I think not now.
For Craig, UK……. I think you should fight them all the way- contact your Bank or Credit Card Company for help. They will have the knowledge and the power to help you. I would also contact Trading Standards….I’m sure they’d be interested to know that they’re selling a product/service that works in UK but in actual fact doesn’t.
Good Luck with everything
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on June 4th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I just got two free tickets to a dinner for 90 minutes. They say it is a $120 value for the dinner and presentation. I am wondering is it worth it just to sit there and not buy anything and have dinner,an organizer and a mystery gift on them for the night.It doesn’t cost me anything and if there this bad they should at least by me dinner if they think I will be suckered in now after reading this. Thanks for opening my eyes BEFORE I go.
can anyone shed any info on the free 90 minute dinner conference?
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on June 4th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Hi jenni
Dont know where you are but, in Brisbane all we got was a plate of sandwiches…fancy of course… wow..some coffee, and after dinner mints, and some fruit…definately no fancy steak or chicken spread and nowhere near $120.00, and the gift coulnt have been that memorable as i dont recall getting it…I think it was an organiser…probably about 10.00 bucks worth. If you do go along at least try and warn as many people as you can…these companies are poisonous. Good luck
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on June 4th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Sure, it is worth it. People have problems with the way StoresOnline sells its software, which is understandable. With any sales model there will be Pomp and Circumstance and they’re counting on a decision being made at the event.
But look, here’s the truth about StoresOnline. Their software works. It is going to take some time to get used to, regardless. But it works. I’ve used it and I like it. Some people don’t like it and therefore they think it won’t work because they become frustrated. I mean, how are you going to feel if you buy a $1200 software and you can’t get it to work for you?
StoresOnline also has good customer service. It has recently been improved. Many of the problems you’ll read about were from their previous customer service. They grew faster than their infrastructure, and therefore customers became frustrated. That appears to have been changed.
The next thing you should know is that if you don’t have a clue how to run a business then you have no reason to attend. You’re going to learn how to use a software to begin a business or take your business online. But it takes more than technical knowhow, you need business sense, marketing, etc.
There is plenty of money to be made online, and StoresOnline is one option. I like them better than Yahoo!Stores, which I used before. They take a portion of each sale and end up costing a lot, lot more than StoresOnline.
But, keep an open mind, make an informed decision…but remember that as good as a software might be, no matter what product you’re selling, how good a deal it might be, you’re taking a risk starting a business…online or otherwise. So be careful. Not because this company is dirty (I really don’t think they are), but because they’re trying to sell you something that you simply might not need or want.
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 6:23 am
U SORRY SACK O SHIT U SUCKER STOP HELPING SHIT OUTTA LUCK SCREW PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SUCK IT UP AND TELL THE TRUTH.THE TRUTH IS NOT IN YOU ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
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on June 5th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Hey David sounds like you are one of the scum bag that work with storesonline, glad to hear that you have no problems and sounds like you are making millions. Since you are making all that money, why buy another web site from someone who has one to get rid of. We all know that starting a business has lot of risk and it takes a lot of work, but not when storesonline mislead plenty of people. on that note good luck to you.
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on June 5th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Hi david
what a lot of rot you speak…I bet you are a SOL ring in…, next you will be singing the praises of PMI..another load of bullshit. They say they are not affiliated with SOL, but beware folks…they are…between them they tell enough lies, make deception appear to be ok, and have no conscience as to who they rip off. Anyone knows starting a business is risky, but when you are told you can get all the products you need from this wholesaler and that wholesaler…may work in the US (although even US buyers are finding it hard) but not overseas.That is after more hard earned dollars are wasted joining all these wholesale sites. Cant believe you think the SOL programme is easy….did you design it for SOL
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on June 5th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Hi Sylvia,
You are on point sound like david is part of StoresOnline scamming scheme, or he works with PMI, and the Tax Club who is actually saying that you must use your credit to the max. Like I said before we all know that business is risky, but not when storesonline gives you names of dropshippers and they are not, they are dropshipping directory. Then say how easy it is to build your web site and get it up and running in a couple of days. Not when you send a request to storesonline and they have to call you with a block number so that you cannot call them back. Is that helping people of robbing poor people, how does these guys sleep at night. there is an old saying ” all good things will come to an end”.
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on June 5th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Hi again
All i can say is I am glad to be rid of both SOL and PMi thanks to the BBB in Utah…good riddance to bad ruvbbish
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on June 6th, 2008 at 10:32 am
hi,
i attended the seminar in luton.i even received an mp3 player.surprise surprise the website that has the instructions for this is not available.
idid not purhase their material and glad did not after reading all comments.
most of the people there did buy the package for £25,hope they do not buy anything from them on the 19th june at the workshop in london.
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on June 7th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Hi All,
I have some good news – I got a bit of a refund from SOL!
I paid $4600 for 6 sites in March 07 & was having major trouble with them as does everyone.
I was going to file a complaint with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission as well as with the Better Business Bureau in Utah, however I decided that my first action was to write to Stores Online describing all my comlaints in detail. I wrote about why I bought the package & my goals to incorporate their “tools” into my business. I listed all my complaints in detail regarding their unuser friendly software, customer support, non toll-free international telephone support, their programming etc.
I explained that I felt I had been sold a product under false pretenses & that their system did not work anywhere near to how they described in their seminar.
I stressed that if I did not get a favourable response that I would be taking every step possible to reclaim the funds.
To my surprise, a couple of days later I got a call from SOL telling me that they were going to refund me $2200. They then sent an official letter of release of my contract that I had to sign, & also wrote in lots of legal jargon that if I agreed to the refund, that I was not allowed to make any further complaints or reports about them.
I signed the letter, & thought let me get something back first & then I’ll see from there. I have received the cheque & my accountant has said he could claim the rest back as a deficient asset in my business. I must say I am happy with this result after all the pain I felt over the last year. I am also happy with the fact that I don’t have to worry or think about SOL ever again! I am still debating whether it’s worth putting any further complaints to ACCC or BBB in Utah. I think they are starting to realize that they need to refund some people because of all the complaints they are getting. I reckon the best route to go is to write an official letter of complaint to SOL first, outlining in detail all your frustrations with them. If you don’t get any favourable response from that – then I would file as many official complaints about them to BBB & all other business bureaus in USA.
I hope you all manage to get something back from them!
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peter Reply:
October 6th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
hello mark, mark am i able to get your details as i am in australia as well mate
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on June 7th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Hello Mark I must congratulate you on your achievments with SOL. Its nice to know that you wrote them and they reply, that really dont happen, most time they will call you back with a unknown number so no one can call them back. I do wish that everyone can get their money back. All of the complaints they are getting are almonst the same, so its not like people are making false claims. Again nice to get some kind of refund.
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on June 7th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Hi All!
I attended the 90-minute seminar and paid $50 for the SOL Express website that does not include the $24.95/mo hosting fee that begins when you get your site up. I planned on going to the all day workshop on Tuesday. I have read several of the posts and am not sure. I am not dense, I know many of you are wondering why I would still consider going. If any of you have been to the all day event, was there any useful information that you can share or say that it was worth going to take notes? I am considering trying to get my $50 back as I don’t want to try to get my site up and running with this kind of company anymore, but I would if the workshop might be useful for the information I would still go. I am interested in getting my site up and running, being the top of search engines, and I do have a product. i don’t care much about the drop ship that they hype so much. I find it hard to believe that sellers will give you some of their profit for putting up a website to sell products like they already do. any info for this would be great. Thanks everyone!
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on June 7th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Started: Sat 07/Jun/2008 07:27 A.M.
Ended: Sat 07/Jun/2008 07:49 A.M.
Thank you for contacting customer support, how may I help you?
Hi Robert!
if i make a change to any template, will anyone who uses that exact template will be affected too?.
No, it will only affect your site.
that is if i make code changes to change the layout f the template
I am afraid Rober that you can change the code of the template as only our programmer has the access to change that.
But just in case, that you could. I think it will affect the template of other merchant using that same template
ok. that is what i wanted to know. again that was what not i understood at the seminar.
can take the template to another company to do my hosting?.
One moment please
i was told that i can make any change at any time by the host of the seminar.
Thank you for waiting
Robert, I am not really sure if that is possible at this moment. But I wish to check it with the proper department is you can use the template of storebuilder to other hosting company.
If you would not mind, I will send you an email update once I got the correct information.
ok.
Thank you for taking it to consideration
will u be willing to buy over my website?.
Sure, why not if I like the product.
what product r u looking for?.
I am looking for flower
well u can take over the site and ur flower products to it.
Do you mean, you want me to build your site?
no. take ownership of the site
i need to get rid of it.
I see, I apologize Robert I don;t have money to take the ownership of your site.
why everyone that works with storesonline doesnt have money to buy another site.
I am just a plain employee here and I also have a family I am taken cared of.
Also, I apologize as per company policy we are not allowed to do that.
i figure working with storesonine u should have websites making lots of money online
it was said at the seminar that all employees of storesonline must have website
Yes that is correct Robert, but for me I just used it for testing purposes only.
so who is telling the lies, is it you or the host at the seminar?.
We don;t lie to your Robert. The host said is true, we do have a website.
But it depends on us if we want to use it for business. As per company policy too we are not allowed to explaine further details about this.
yeh right.. its all bout company policy when it comes to employees having web sites.
-robert dey has left the chat.
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on June 7th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Hi Jenny it would be nice to attend the all day workshop just for the information that will be of good use to you and your internet business, but if you are planning to do business with storesonline I will suggest no, unless you are a lover migrane headaches then go ahead with storesonline. If you look around you will find lots of company that will biuld your website for a lot less and even the hosting fees. If you are interested in someoneto build your site check out this site http://www.k3designz.com
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on June 7th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I would only do business maybe with the $50 site that I purchased. If I attend the all-day workshop, I don’t think they will refund me, so I will just have the site. I may just rack that up to a $50 loss, but if the workshop actually has valuable information than I would at least go and scap the $$. I promise all of you that I won’t give them anymore of my ard earned $$. I will also try to warn as many people as I can. I already can’t stay the entire day anyway. I was wondering if it’s all sales hype to buy the Pro Package or if they actually give some useful tools. Can anyone comment on this?
Thanks!
Jenny
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on June 17th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I attended the seminar as a guest of my business partner today. It was informative to a point. Hard sell for sure. I learned some interesting things but would NEVER purchase anything from anyone with their sales tactics.
It was worth the price of admission……….nothing for me. Fifty bucks for my partner. Check out the company. Beware.
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on June 20th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Can’t believe everything i’ve just read! I went to the 90 minute ”dinner” with my friend last week and unfortunatly paid the 25 pound license fee but def will not be going to the all day workshop to try and be sold an overpriced basic looking website! thanks for the info guys! Reading this forum has been time well spent! My advice (and I should have listened to my own before being sucked into a sales pitch) is do your research through google, spend some time and get some free advice and resources for starting up an online business online….theres plenty out there!
I’m such an Idiot! should have known something was wrong when they promised you ”Dinner” and brought out sandwiches and Crisps!! and not even a cup of tea or coffee in sight! only water! Cheap Basterds!
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on June 24th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
me and my girlfriend went to a seminar for stores online express, we didn’t pay anything but we’d considered joining except we didn’t bring any money, we did a reveiw on their informaton on their site just recently, but didn’t find anything useful in telling us anything we wanted to know, and we did a search regarding it and found this page as a result
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on June 27th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Went to the SOL workshop a couple of weeks ago, and must say myself, my sister and her boyfriend did get sucked in by the SOL pitch. I had my cheque book and the rep accepted a down payment of £500 and took my debit card details for ‘future’ payments, fortunately I listened to the little voice in my head – for starters ‘how can anyone offer credit to someone who is bankrupt? with not credit searches or indeed any verification of ID? Was able to cancel the cheque and the whole thing within the 3 days. Must be a few of the lucky ones! Am still thinking about starting up a website where do I start? anyone good enough to advise
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on July 27th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
I too purchased a website from SOL, for $50. Wow i got out cheap, but it is still not done. At first the pass word did’nt work, but they got it to work.
Now i tried to go back in to work on it somemore, and my password does’nt work any more. PLEASE save your money, don’t give it to those con artists.
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on August 7th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
My husband & I went to a luncheon in Tucson. The food was wonderful and we each received MP3 players (which I won’t use but they did follow through with what they said they would do.) We did spend $50 for a license for the StoresOnline Express software and will be going to the 6 hour session in a week. I can’t complain about the $50 if we just set up a basic site – you can’t get much cheaper than that and we had really nice lunches and received some good info. I will go to the other session with the hopes of at least getting some good info – but will be wary of purchasing much more. But have to say that most programmers charge a few thousand to create a site. Why have people been buying 6 sites? Seems if you are off in so many directions you would have problems being successful regardless of the hosting company. They were up front about the 3 day recision, did not promise riches for all. So has anyone had problems with them turning off the site when needed as they said they would do for seasonal businesses?
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on August 8th, 2008 at 10:54 am
If you have questions about what you purchased or if there are issues that need to be resolved, please contact Mari Silva:
Mari Silva
Director of Customer Relations
Stores Online Inc.
Phone: (801) 227-0004
Email: msilva@storesonline.com
If you have questions about your StoresOnlineExpress site, then you can also visit http://www.myquickresponse.com for chat support or password assistance.
Best of luck to you with your online business endeavors.
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on August 12th, 2008 at 5:23 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 3:40 pm
I recently went to one of their lunches and workshops.
I have been in sales related jobs for over 23 years, direct sales to the public a total of about 7.
The work shop isn’t a work shop, it is not for you to learn anything hands on. It is a classic sales enviorement where the public can be controled and through a lot of sales tech get you to agree on making the purchase. Every thing the speaker said, the way he said it, the mannerism etc, etc. is all geared to get you in the mood and in agreement, in other words to get you to the sales close. Especially when you had to commit then and their or you wouldn’t get the “SPECIAL”.
I have also been researching on working on setting up my own website. A few years ago you couldn’t find someone to make you a website for less then $2000. But recently, you can get host companies to do them for $400 or less.
but more recently you can get it for a lot less. I paid $70 for a whole lot of information on dropshippers and a lot of e-books on how to get or improve sales on the internet, including e-Bay. This package included a step by step, with step by step videos on how to build your very own website. incredibly simple approach. I had not done this myself before and I was able to built my very own website. But if you want to sell a whole lot of items, your going to have to place each one, product page by product page. Which was one of the reasons I went to the workshop to see if I could figure out how to do this.
SOL, do seem to have a lot of good tools, including what I was looking for, and I also found out that doing a general store is hard on promotion, because your not zeroing in on a nitch, so you will have to promote broughtly, which is very expensive.
Any way to make a long story, not much longer. Be very aware that you will be indirectly pressured to buy, and that is the main goal of the work shop. And to make perfectly clear that I see SOL’s prices, compared to what I have seen recently, are at least triple what I have seen. But I have to say, in their favor, is that there were some tools demonstrated that I have not seen any where yet, but that doesn’t mean that their are not out their and that they are the best, and might be found at considerable lower prices.
Keep in mind the other meaning of SOL -S… out of luck!
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on August 17th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
i amhaving a alot of problems getting started. i to will be looking at a way to get my money back… i do not have confidence in stores online…… i believe they make it so easy… its been almost a year and still i am having problems getting start… i have no money to pay someone… i have a family of 6 children and no more money top spend on build up a web business that i thought i was able to do it so easy.
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on August 29th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I purchased storesonline back in 2005 and love it. I have had only great experiences with their customer service staff and built my site without any further training just used customer service with any question or problem I had.
I think you get the point =)
Just like someone said above, you can’t be lazy, it takes work. Any business you do will take time and effort as any business owner, nothing is done all by itself. I doubt you will find any website designer to build a full eCommerce site like stores online for less then what Storesonline sell theirs plus you learn nothing and everything has to go through someone else and there is really not much hands on to your own business. And its expensive every month to have someone host it. So I am very happy with Storesonline and am currently building my third site (I purchased six). It is easy and you do not have to know anything about the internet and how sites are built, just follow the steps and put time and effort and you will be successful. You will have frustrating times and thats when you chat with customer service at any hour and they will walk you through it and you will be so relieved and move forward. Its worth it if you want an online business or to boost a business you already have and want to take it to the next level. Storesonline was the way to go for me. It will be as sucessful and profitable as you allow it to be, its up to you, not the computer.
Plus you have to always be on top of the new ways to market your business/site. Don’t depend soley on storesonline although they have great resourses. Netowork with other website owners and see how others are promoting their site. There are hundreds of ways to market your website for free that work WAY better then through Google and paid advertisements (though they help a lot too). I guess I just want all to know from someone who has been a Storesonline customer for years, it is no scam what so ever of any kind. Most of the complaints are that it is harder then they thought, well then work harder and make it work for you! Its the easiest way to build a website on your own and the least expensive in original purchase as well as monthly fees.
Ok i am babbling
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on August 29th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I attended their sales pitch over a year ago, bought into the whole thing (like a dumb person) with one exception…I agreed to pay with their finance company. After I realized that I was not getting anywhere with the site I was attempting to build, I put a stop payment on the finance company. That caused quite the stir. I started getting some nasty letters from them, but that came to a screaching halt when I told them I would not speak to them without my lawyer present. The last time I heard from them was in the fall last year. I thought I was free of them after that…wrong! SOL sent it to a collection agency and I have received two letters from them (almost 6 months apart) telling me that I need to pay in full within 10 days. After reading pretty well all of the messages here I can safely say that is not likely going to happen. I am a Canadian who refuses to be dumb anymore. If there are other Canadians out there that have the same (or similar) problems with this bunch of rip-off artists, please let me know via this blog. I will be checking often to see what people have to say.
Lenora
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on August 29th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Jessica, how much has SOL paid you to say all those nice things about them…heaps I bet. You must live in their world where dropshippers, and wholesalers are just crawling all over you to buy their products for your site. What a bunch of dumb asses you must think we all are. There have been posts on this site and others by people who know the computer and internet inside out and even they have struggled. No one one this site will believe any of the bull…. you are sprucing. I got half my money back and I dont have a thing to do with them or that other mob who sell the SOl packages under a different guise, but you dont know that until you hand over the hard earned. jessica get off this site and see how many hundreds of people have been conned big time by these shysters
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on August 29th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Wow! Quite a response! I didn’t mean to make anyone angry. My only reason why I posted anything was to give the people that have purchased from SOL some hope that it is real and if you stick with it you will see that. Thats all. No one paid me anything, I WISH! That would be quite a perk. I don’t make millions of money off my site or anything but I love it and its fun for me and profitable. It happend to be exactly what I was looking for, but I know its not for everyone. I am not claiming SOL is going to make you millionaires or anything just an easier and less expensive way (in the long run, the big picture) to build a web based business. And No Dropshippers are not like SOL make it seem or claim but there are a lot more compaines these days willing to dropship (Go to a tradeshow, its so worth it!). I have a few suppliers that I am their first person that got them started with dropshipping. Once you are a loyal customer of theirs for a few months then you present to them shipping their products directly to your customers and most say “Sure, just as easy…” Some don’t. Its business, its your business.
But I am sure you don’t care about anything I have to say and that is perfectly ok with me. I just works for me and I was just trying to give a different perspective for those that really want to give it a shot. Good luck with your ventures what ever you choose to do. And I will take your advice and stay away from these forums, thank you for that
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on August 30th, 2008 at 12:22 am
What a joke..You can get web building for a fraction of the cost SOL are asking, and monthly hosting fees for near nothing, not to mention their Money handlers. Ok if your in the Us but try getting a merchant serive for Australia you nearly have to give blood to get hooked up, and they ask for more fees on top of the $1000.00 SOL ask..Dont tell me they are not scammers…
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on August 30th, 2008 at 11:00 am
ok can’t help it one more…I bought 6 full ecommerce websites for $1000 US for each and pay $24 a month for each, only once they are published. Thats it, they have gotten no more money from me. Maybe they don’t have that deal anymore. I pay nothing more for customer service and didn’t fall for any of there “extra” training programs or whatever they call them. I have one fully functioning live website that I built with only the help of their customer service (no extra costs) here in US and it took me 8 months (I have two small children so not much free time). I wanted something with full control and mine only. You shouldn’t be paying any more fees and if you are then they have changed things since I purchased and that sucks.
I stumbled across this site on accident. I had just chated with a customer service rep at SOL and they were new and didn’t know what was up really so I went online to search for the key word Storesonline jobs to see if they had ads out for employment, just to see how they went about hiring their reps, just pure curiosity and i came across this and just took a look and boy oh boy. So the only affiliation I have with SOL is I “fell” for it and have am happy with them and my website. My second website is for my dad and his plumbing business, it will be published soon. I had fun building my sites and hope nothing happens to SOL or I just may get screwed more then all of you think you have been!!!
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on August 31st, 2008 at 5:17 pm
he he sylvia i agree its harder to do it Australia
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on August 31st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
and to top it off they asked me for more money here as well. it is not as easy as it looks. they gave me the impression that it was hard… i looked on other websites, and in Australia they have a history of deciet and lies. i had a look on the ASIC website that is in charge of AUSTRALIAn business and it dealings with overseas companies that trade in australia… if any1 can help me get this going without paying a cent i will come back on here and apologise, and see if it will happen.. i am open for help.
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on August 31st, 2008 at 11:31 pm
You know Pete, I can and am willing to help you. I am a bit apprehensive to put my email address here so I am not sure how to suggest you contact me. I believe in what SOL is trying to do. I do agree they make it sound SO much easier then it is but it is easier and less expensive then learning how to build a site by yourself and having to learn HTML. Maybe you would be willing to give me your email??
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on September 1st, 2008 at 12:18 am
hello jessica and thanks for your reply, would it help if i place a alias email of mine for you to contact me?
thanks
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on September 1st, 2008 at 12:21 am
Hi Pete and Jessica,
I will link both of you up.You don’t have to post your email here.
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on September 1st, 2008 at 12:22 am
thanks martin
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on September 1st, 2008 at 12:23 am
if you can do that, i think it would be nice for some help, if u agree thanks jessica
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on September 1st, 2008 at 12:44 am
sure.
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on September 7th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Wow….a lot of angry people! You know, some of you (not all, obviously) may have benefited from SOL if you had put as much time and energy on your business as you are complaining about it.
No one force anyone to buy thousands of dollars worth of websites. Of course they are going to try and sell….that’s what they do. However, a good entrepreneur knows what they need and how much they need. If you are just starting out then buying 6 website does seem a bit ridiculous, don’t you think? Espechally if you don’t have the resources.
So stop blaming the company and put the blame where it belongs…..YOU! If this was a scam, they wouldn’t still be in business. Besides……they provide you a WEBSITE not a business. The business and it’s promition / marketing is suppose to come from YOU. Whether you are successful or not, is up to you not SOL, they give you the tools only.
They can’t be responsible for everyone’s business, that would be ridiculous. That would be like you are working for them…..not yourself. Come on, be resonable!
For the record, I am NOT associated with SOL, I am from New Brunswick, Canada and I work for time for our Government. I have been wanting to start my own business on the site for some time now and I’m researching all my options. I have and still am considering SOL even with all this negative feedback because I know what they offer and what my role is. There is no “magic” website that will make you rich!!!!!
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on September 7th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Very well said Seagull! You hit on some very good points
Good luck in your search!
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on September 11th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I did not find this site soon enough, We fell for the lunch and bought the $50 website and free workshop 2 1/2 hours away. we should not have gone it was a big waste of time and money. We went with an open mind and money $6000. when it came time for the one on one i was still a bit unsure, but had 3 hours left to deside. when we were talking to him i said i was not sure that i wanted to spend the money, he told me that if i was looking at this as an expence to walk away and that we did not understand what it takes to start something! I said “screw you, you dont know me, both my husband and i have are own businesses, i screenprint and he commercial mows, now dont tell me that we dont know what it takes to starts something from the ground up because we do!” We walked right out the door. If i could get my $50 back i would. The only up side is it was a nice day away with my hubby, we spent the rest of the day messing around town:)
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on September 12th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Do not believe what they tell you at the StoresOnline seminars. They may be the only ones to have the “reverse search tool” exactly as they have created it, but there are other alternatives. Check out google trends, and Keywordlizard.com. I just found a company that does almost the exact same thing, and will be pursuing Drop Shipping through them. They have different packages that include your own website with direct access to 350,000 products. Please, do not waste 3000-6000! You can do virtually the same thing for $199 and the merchant account issue is already taken care of.
Blessings to you all… And good luck!
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Donna Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Your information was interesting and I am interested in learning more about alternatives for reverse search tools other than using SOL. We are trying so hard to get started, and apparently feel for the SOL quick sell.
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Martin Lee Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Hi Donna, try:
http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
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on September 12th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Hey, if any of you are interested, click on my name above, for more information.
Again, blessings and good luck…
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on September 13th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
to all those looking for a web based business look else where. storesonline make it look easy to do, but it is very hard.
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on September 13th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
if anyone knows were a good dropshipper is please email.
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John T Reply:
February 21st, 2009 at 6:51 pm
The BEST place I have found for drop shippers, is at http://www.worldwidebrands.com all their drop shippers are pre-approved by worldwidebrands and most if not all are free to join. However, http://www.worldwidebrands.com charge a lifetime $299.00 membership. The drop shippers found most other places including SOL charge a monthly fee and there is absolutely no guarantee
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on September 13th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Hi Pete,
I have found DropShipDesign
If you would go through this link, http://www.dropship-business.com/index.html?aid=254122 I would appreciate it. I became an affiliate with them, and anyone can do so. The price for you to join is the same, whether you go through an affiliate like myself, or directly to the source.
I think they have a good program, and a good value. Just keep in mind that there is a lot of competition out there, and your best bet is probably to focus on a smaller niche market. Or, be willing to make smaller profits but aim for high volume.
Good luck to you!
Sarah
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on September 13th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
thanks sarah but no thanks. i dont think its a good one. i think its like sol u pay and pay and pay.
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on September 14th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Hi Pete,
I appreciate your thoughts. As far as the company that I just joined, I didn’t see fees going forward, other than the $67 annual fee. Did I miss something? I don’t want to involve myself in a business like SOL, so if you noticed something that I didn’t, I would appreciate the “heads up”.
Thanks!
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on September 19th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Yes, these people ARE scam artists and no you cannot put all the blame on the people who fall for it. They intentionally prey on people who are looking for a way out. They are well trained in their tactics and are trained to make you feel like a dumbass if you DON’T buy into their bull. There are some pretty fool-proof red flags to look for in cases like this. 1. if it sounds too good to be true…it probably is 2. Never, ever, EVER fall prey to high pressure “you have to buy it this minute” tactics. 3. When the speaker talks down to the audience, but cleverly disguises it by saying how “sharp, smart, great” the audience is 4. Being made to feel like a dumbass for not taking advantage of thier “wonderful” product. My friend and I went to the 90 minute seminar today in SC and right from the start I had a bad “gut” feeling. All the red flags popped up at some point. I never even filled out the first piece of paper, but you can bet I ate the free meal and took home the free MP3 player. It’s feels like a VERY small jab back at em! Anyone that tells you you HAVE to buy into it today is basically saying “we dont want to give you time to check us out” and “let us get you sucked in now before it’s too late”. I was not at all surprised to find this endless supply of bad reviews. How do these people sleep at night? I’ll tell ya how they sleep at night….on the mega comfy pillow top king size beds they all bought with YOUR money!!! What assholes… they have no conscience.
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Deb Reply:
October 15th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Did the mp3 player work? We are considering going, eating and leaving with a new mp3 player.
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E. Reply:
November 7th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
It works fine.
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John T Reply:
February 21st, 2009 at 6:59 pm
The food is not worth your time and the MP3 player is not much better its about one and quarter inch square and less than half inch thick easily lost
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John Doe Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:19 am
Now John, the size of the mp3 player isn’t really a valid complaint
As for the food, I do believe it depends on the venue.
steve Reply:
April 9th, 2009 at 7:22 am
wife and me went to 90 minute seminar got the dinner got very cheap mp3 player paid $38.00 for express package. that also included all day seminar. after reading these comments will not be going, glad i’m only out $38.00. thank all of you for your comments.
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on September 19th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
…*before its too late…..as in too late for SOL to get thier hooks in you. BTW….interesting note:
SOL = shit out of luck
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on September 30th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Hi,
In a mail this month I received an invitation with two free tickets to attend a 90 min. Conference from StoresOnline.com locally. They offer a free lunch and a free MP3 player for you and a guest. Do you learn anything there or do they only try to sell you something? Is it similiar to the timeshare seminar where they constently try to persuade you to buy into their sites? I already have an Ebay Store and make a small profit, but I am not interested in spending lots of $$$$$ for anything else. I am satisfied with my Ebay Store. Just could use some helpful tips to boost sales and so forth.
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on October 1st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
You may want to to some research and find out if there is a less expensive way to obtain e-commerce websites. Also, learning the website building software takes some time. It is also time-consuming uploading products–especially with several variations such as size/cost. I’m finding out it’s good to Duplicate! Duplicate! Duplicate!
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on October 3rd, 2008 at 7:54 am
Good Morning
All
I was one of the first to enter a statement on this sight it is terrible that people are still getting ripped off i myself lost £ 4000 2 years ago all i wanted to do was to work from home I have now given up with OSL but will still help you to fight in anyway .So i have spent the last 2 years searching to find something at a low cost to work from home 4 weeks ago i came across a website so i investigated further i have only been involved for 4 weeks this is the best thing i have ever done: there support & training is amazing and you work with some fantastic people and the Business is all mine ( the Business is for anybody ) good job as i am just a average Guy with no special skills i wish i had found the site 2 years ago just take a look you wont regret it if anyone is interested feel free to contact me on this site or on my address below and i will send you the link Thanks & Regards Brian
infobrianwisdom@ymail.com
PS Hope this will help
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on October 3rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I am grateful to have found this site just days before attending their all-day workshop which I paid $25.00 for. My wife and I will attend without our cheque books and credit cards, and enjoy the lunch. I am one of those people knowing very little about using the computer and internet as a tool for business use, though have used it to play on for years. I’ll attend with the mindset of learning what I can about language, jargon, tools and possibilities as I embark on my research into cyber business and it’s possibilities. I thank everyone for taking me off the wave of manipulation and deliver me back to a well grounded place. Cheers.
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on October 6th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
just found an interesting article from the net from the Australian consumer compitition association—-> ACCC commences proceedings against StoresOnline for alleged breaches of s.87B undertakings – http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/800473
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on October 8th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I am in Canada. I got an invitation for myself and a guest to attend their conference. Free dinner, free mp3 player, and free confrence admission each for myself and my guest. Anyone just go and take adavantage of them? We already know we will be purchasing NOTHING form them. Just curious if anyone has done this? Thanks for any info.
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on October 15th, 2008 at 5:12 am
My husband and I attended the conference, but after the gentleman did his sales pitch (mainly the 199.00 down to 25.00) people jumped at such a deal!!! Thank God I did’nt come prepared to pay any money or I may have fallen right into this scam!! There is nothing new under the sun…if it sounds to good to be true…it probably is. On the drive home my husband thought that I was being to critical of SOL but as soon as I got home and logged on to (what else but) the internet he soon saw that my suspicions were valid.
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Jeff Reply:
October 15th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Wow…I attended the conference today in Asheville, NC with my wife….I did pay the $25.00 for the binder with the login ID and password to do a mock website. We were givin a date of Oct. 27, 2008 to attend a one day workshop….the speaker even said to bring the checkbook!!! I noticed several people get up within the last 10 minutes of the conference and leave….Well, I won’t be going to the conference after reading about these vultures…I’ll chalk up the $25.00 I spent today as a learning lesson…Thanks for the heads up
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on October 17th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
The mp3 player I received works fine. It doesn’t have much memory, but good to put a few songs on and it’s very small which I liked. If I had read this website BEFORE I went to this seminar, I definately would not have gone as it would have been a total waste of my time. But free lunch and the MP3 player softened the blow a little.
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Jay Reply:
June 5th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
would u mind giving me the redemption code you used to get the MP3 player? I have tried mine several times, but it always says “denied”.
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on October 22nd, 2008 at 11:14 am
tommorrow (10-23-08) i will be attending the $50 paid for already 1 day seminar. went to the 1st one and got the tuna sandwich and the knock-off mp3 player. after readin all the info about SOL ill definately keep it all in mind. i paid $50 so im gonna go check it out. objectively. i ll post my review tommorrow. SOL is now very suspect…
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sally jamieson Reply:
November 18th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
how did you get on?
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on October 30th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
WOW! So many extremely interesting and scary comments here – particularly with all the BBB and attorney general complaints that have been filed throughout the US. I attended the one day “workshop” (high pressure sales pitch) yesterday out of curiosity and the intention of obtaining some new knowledge on internet marketing (which I admit I did get)… but with no intention of buying without doing a lot of due diligence checking. When it became apparent that this was going to be a high pressure, sign on today thing, I knew to just to play hard to get.
What I saw was an incredible exhibit of lemmings being led into the sea. Out of the 100 or so people who attended, I counted 32 who fell for the ‘today only special pricing’ deal, obviously without having the benefit of having first done their homework and being able to read the comments on this site. Every one of them paid the $5,998 upgrade to SOL Pro! These were people who apparently walked right into a scam without knowing it and will eventually discover they have been hood winked. Most were either low income/low education or middle-age, who financed the whole thing according to what I saw and heard them say.
Early in the morning of the session, I knew something was not just right when the sales crew started talking about being able to finance the $3,400 Single Offer Upgrade or the all-inclusive $5,998 Platinum Offer Upgrade… and they wanted everyone to fill out the information form that asked for their US Social Security Number. Anyone who provides their SS # in writing to total strangers is crazy in this day and age of identity theft. No telling where that piece of paper could end up… maybe out in the dumpster for some crook to get and wreak havoc. I refused to put my number down, and it was obvious that they realized they might have a reluctant prospect on their hands. But just about everyone in the room obliged them with this number that is like gold and can ruin your life if it falls into the wrong hands.
The six or so sales guys were like vultures circling the hotel ballroom we were in all day long. The longer the day went, the more pressure they exerted with repeated visits to each person they saw as being interested. I gave them some excuse and told them I could not/would not pay at the end of the day without doing some deep checking on the company. They pretty much left me alone after that, although I did talk on the side with several who seemed like nice guys. But 32 suckers plopped down/financed $5,998 without knowing what they are apparently getting into… unless SOL has straightened out their system prior to yesterday and now offers a program that is extremely convincing on the surface. There was one fellow from the Caribbean who was sitting right behind me who was still being hot-boxed by a SOL sales guy in the last 15 minutes of the session. I listened as this sales rep pulled every trick to try to get the fellow to put the $5,998 on his debit card – but he didn’t cave in, thank goodness.
Well, well, well… guess who I just got a call from? A guy who introduced himself as being with “Storesonline-PMI.” He started to put the big squeeze on, and I told him I just happened to be on this site and was reading some very interesting comments from many unhappy SOL customers and prospects. He quickly thanked me and hung up.
I wish everyone good luck who bought into this SOL program with all the great intentions. It sounds like a very incredible system – too bad it’s plagued with all sorts of back-end problems, unless they have been straightened out and SOL is actually on the up & up. With all the legal complaints, it just doesn’t sound like SOL is the company to partner with, though.
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on November 7th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I recently attended the SOL Breakfast session because they had so many applicants so they are still going strong. In Australia. Although it does present as a very good way to make money “while you sleep”. I still subscribe to the theroy if it sounds tooo good to be true…it probably is. I am due to go to the next session next Friday…and probably will can you give me some Relevant questions to ask to bring this to the notice of everyone else there????
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sally jamieson Reply:
November 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
have u been to the session yet
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on November 7th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
The free lunch and MP3 player were worth the bus fare, and since I had nothing better to do today, I feel I’m ahead. Their product is pedestrian, overdone, and overpriced. I suggest just grabbing a book or two from a reputable publisher and learning more. When you’re ready, grab a copy of osCommerce (101% free) and sign up with one of many hosting companies (hostpapa.ca, $5.95/mo).
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Eroca Reply:
November 26th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
What can you do with just having a hosting company? I thought the whole idea was to have the merchant acct set up for you + the fringe technique to get your domaine name at top of major srch engines
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on November 11th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
TRUE THAT MARTIN
I just went to a seminar in Rotorua, New Zealand today
I had a one on one consultation and we were talking about the price. I said at this time it was too step and then the consultant said HE couldnt even afford to pay that price right now.
What does that tell you he works for stores online the pay must not be that great and why does he have his own stores online site when he promotes how cold it is and life changing??? We had a lot of people their over theie 60s half the class and many people with disabilities. I left early its still going right now and people are already purchasing their sites.
THIS IS A BIG PYRAMID SCHEME!!!
I was very hesitant what a scam
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sally jamieson Reply:
November 17th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
this is very distrubing – apparently there is quite a turn out at each session -
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on November 14th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
I went to the first meeting, all intentions was to get the free meal and Ipod Shuffle. I signed up for the 2nd meeting and took my sister (that recently lost her job as it went to MEXICO) and I signed on the dotted lines. $6000.00 down the drain. We have tried all day today to get this going and have ran into to many walls. SOL said for Michigan I have a 3 day cancellation law and it has been only 1 day and I am canceling already. This program is so hard to get going. As we sat here all we found was $$$ for this and $$$ for that. Has anyone have any issues of getting their contract cancelled?
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on November 17th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
these are very distrubing comments – they are in NZ at the mo selling their concepts
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Katrina Reply:
November 18th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I am not interested in stores online I would rather go to an independent website tech and pay them to do it instead
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on November 17th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
No I did not go to the next session, having read all the data posted here. I did notify ACA in Australia but have heard no more about it.
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on November 18th, 2008 at 2:24 am
I recently attended a introduction workshop with an opened mind. As they asked I listened and took notes and through the session I had a list of questions to query, that the speaker said they would come around and answer them all at the end. Well at the end they were too busy handing out the papers to sign up and showing the whole room step by step how to fill it out and pay without even answering questions first. So the slyness of sign and pay now and ask questions later put me off straight away. Also while some people were signing up, I was reading the fine print on the back and a few things just didn’t add up. I’m glad I trusted my gut instinct and this website review has also reassured my decision. I’ll will be forwarding this site to friends that also attended the session and help them make their decision clearer.
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sally jamieson Reply:
November 19th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
where are you from Johnny? NZ?
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on November 22nd, 2008 at 5:32 am
tassie
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on November 25th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
the food was ok and i got 2 mp3 players, at least a got two chrismas present for my kids.
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on November 27th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I have recieved three threatening letters because I refuse to pay for the web-sites that I purchased a year ago. The last letter claims, and I quote “If you ignore this letter you give us no furtheralternative but to refer this account to our client’s Legal Department for possible further activity. If a judgment is rendered against you, it becomes a public record and additional costs may be added and passed on to you. An immediate reply with a check or money order will avoid such activity. You can expect the utmost consideration by getting in touch with us.”
What should I do? Anyone got any bright ideas about this? I refuse to pay on the grounds that they hid the bail-out clause so deep that it took me a week to see it. What do the rest of you think?
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on November 28th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Get on your computer and google Better Business Bureau in Utah. They have a site with a complaints link and you can fill out the complaint against SOL there. There must be about 1000 complaints against them so far. It will take time..but believe me it works. Thats all I can say on the matter
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on November 28th, 2008 at 5:34 am
How can these idiots from SOL keep ripping people off? My wife and I paid for 6 sites several years ago and have been sorry ever since.I certainly would love to get our money back!
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on December 3rd, 2008 at 9:16 pm
We just received the letter in the mail for a free lunch or dinner, and an MP3 player (or send away for a free IPod – doesn’t say which one and I wonder if you’d ever get it if you went for the IPod as you’d only be given a certificate to send away for it – less S&H charges) for each person who attends.
I immediately knew it wasn’t on the up and up. I am reluctant to call it a scam since they do provide a service, but the technique sure is scam like.
Hubby wanted to go for the free lunch (thanks for the 411 that it’s chicken or tuna sandwiches). He thought we had nothing to lose and a free lunch to gain. Of course, he’d succumb to this type of scam if left on his own, LOL. I immediately ran a web search as I knew there would be many people with strong opinions about the so called, company.
I’m now wanting to attend so that I can print out about 10 copies of this entire thread and hand them out in the bathroom so those people take them back to their tables and share with everyone else.
IMO, this is what everyone should do. It’s unfortunate that some people are a bit naive or are so down on their luck that they’re looking for any means to financial security that they can find, but it’s more unfortunate, even slightly criminal, that there are those out there who would try to take advantage of their gullibility.
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on December 5th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
We listened to the presentation today and thought they had some great ideas. However, we were not informed at the 1st luncheon the cost of this program would be. Today when we met with our consultant, he basically told us that “if we have to worry about the cost, we probably shouldn’t be here” He was very rude and wanted to make a quick sale. My wife and I had considered possibly doing this in the future, but after his rudeness, there is no way that we would consider this purchase.
Too much buy now or never options. He also said if we didnt do it today, we would never ever be allowed to do it. Therefore…….we chose not to do it and I bet I sleep better tonight than some of the others that were at the conference in Columbus Ohio.
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Eroca Reply:
December 6th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I just went through that, and will NEVER do anything again with time out to let a lawyer read the fine print and ok it.
Also the business form for the 1 day seminar is different than the business form for the training day. Grace period is stated differently. Also if over age 65 (which thank God I am…angels were watching??)…I had to scan and email ID with pictures to verify my age…..now to wait and see if I get my $200 deposit.
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on December 7th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I just bought the pro package for $ 6,400.00 and I hope I can get my money back. Can anyone tell me if the three day cooling off clause, is business days or are weekend days included in that ??? I bought this yesterday 12/06/08. I am going to try and call them to cancel tomorrow. Please let me know if anyone has any advice to protect myself, and make sure they obey the law to cancel within 3 days.
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Jerry Reply:
December 7th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Robert…..Just curious……which seminar did you attend? I was at the one in Columbus and almost signed up until I was insulted by the consultant…..My wife and I left the seminar as soon as the consultant was done with us…..even though the main speaker was still giving his presentation.
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on December 7th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
TO ROBERT
I cancelled. Over age 65. Wording is different on business form for 1 day seminar than form for TRaining.
Check yours, one says 3 days and another says business days.
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on December 7th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Jerry, I was at saturdays columbus convention center that lasted from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
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Mike Reply:
December 8th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
We also attended the December 5th seminar. We did not buy the package (because of other current investments pending) but have a few thoughts. We like the concept and knew before we went to the seminar that we needed a reverse keyword search engine to determine what the most sought after products to sell for a website would be. They seemed to offer a very good one. We also like the idea that we could offer others a website with their own merchant account and access to the reverse search tool for key words for all the popular search engines. With the unlimited product you could in effect provide multiple websites for as many people as you like for a fee to offset your initial $6400 investment. I can understand a lot of peoples negative reviews of this company because they may be new at setting up and running a merchant website. I was also surprised at the amount of negative reviews for SOL. However I am still interested enough in the product to ask if anyone who didn’t like what they bought is willing to sell it to us? Let us know your thoughts maybe we can work something out. contact mike at the Compass Investors Group at chile69@gmail.com
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on December 8th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
My name is Joe, I recently signed up with stores online and I found it was tough to be able to make money on my website, i found this great company to market my website and now im doing so good im making lots of money and its awesome. the company is Future Ranking out of Seattle, wa. They do an excellent job i would contact them the guy i contacted was Andrew…his email was Andrew@futureranking.com
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on December 9th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
If anyone needs help with marketing their website feel free to call me 425 296 0276
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on December 13th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Hi all,
wow! I went to this conference dinner and let me tell ya, Run don’t walk to the nearest exit! I was first told I couldn’t use my lap top ! HUH ? isn’t this about E-commerce? Eventually they relented and I used my laptop for notes Next thing .. We were rolling along guys presentation was over which by the way Anything he mentioned if you search Google you can find such as Reverse Search engines. Well I’m a pretty good public speaker and I noticed some of the tactics he used were commonly taught in public speaking , ok np there.. We got to the end of the presentation and LO and Behold here come the sales pitch…. 1st If someone tells you this is a buy it now or you can’t have it deal that’s your 1st clue they don’t want you to research them. Think about it! If your legitimate and your delivering what you promise you shouldn’t have an issue with offering a slightly higher price for after the conference type deal! 2nd clue and he stood right in front of me and did this and I about fell outta my chair , the guy gives his price of 199.00 for the software license then in the same breath says I’ll give it to you for 43.00 Now hold up… BIG drop in price eh? As a speaker you watch for reaction to your price or presentation and then adjust it accordingly<—- bad idea As a a business partner the first thing I learned if you believe in your service or product NEVER drop your price if you do you are showing less confidence and instilling that in your customer wouldn’t you agree? Then as he stood in front of me he said the worst advertising words I could think of in history.. “But That’s Not All” OMG was that hard maintaining my composure at that point.. I think he noticed it because he never stood by me and my partner for the rest of the night, until that point he thought he had me sold LOL. We ate the dinner then got our lil mp3 player and BOLTED. Stay away from these guys.. and look they even paid to be on top of the search engines.. hmmm not alotta confidence in their own product I see!
Sherri
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on December 13th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
By the way the site you see when you go to our site ComputerProsPlus.com was coded by our office manager.
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on December 13th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
One more post for now .. you guys like research check this out: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/team4/1419114/detail.html
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Tamikia Alford Reply:
December 14th, 2008 at 7:05 am
This article is 6 yrs old.
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on December 14th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Yes I realize the date of the article Tamika, however most people would realize if that’s 6 years old and today on this site people are complaining there is OBVIOUSLY an ongoing issue. So thank you for your diligence.
Sherri
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on January 16th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Gesh people! Storesonline is not a scam and they are not crooks. They wouldn’t still be around (US and Internationally) and running websites. They just use a bad pushy sales method that freaks a lot of people out and others it works and they get sales. I do not agree with the way they push their products and force you go for it or not but thats how they do it and I guess it works for them. It sucks but it doesn’t make them frauds in any way. I purchased 6 websites from them and NO it is not the “point and click” user friendly process they talk about in the seminar and you do have to have lots of patience and TIME. I am computer literate and it still took me a year to get my first site off the ground and running and its never done. But I never gave up, you have to work hard to make money, there is NO quick way to run a business and get rich. I had invested a lot of money and there was no way, no matter how aggravated i was that I wasn’t going to give up! So if you are uncomfortable with their company then don’t buy into it. Simple as that. No need to get all angry and start posting your anger all over the place. And if you did buy into it and now you’re angry, fix your attitude and get on the phone with their customer service reps (its free!) and they will walk you through buidling your site, they are ALWAYS there to help. There was no way I was going to be able to build it all by myself.
No I do not work for Storesonline and NO nobody “put me up to this”. I am just a hard working mom and wife that LOVES having my own website with three other sites in the making. Am I rich? nope! but I am making an income and very happy and there is so much room to grow and make more of an income. I pay a wopping $24 a month for each of my published sites (not the sites i have not created) for life and that is it. You can’t find that price anywhere for a fully functioning e-commerce website. Yes you can find ways to build free websites but not e-commerce sites….and if you do, go that route for sure! you must have found a gold mine
Good luck to you all looking for a business, we are so lucky to live in this country and to have the opportunities we have to start a business of our choosing. =)
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Danny Reply:
February 15th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Hi Jessica, please tell me your website addresses?
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 6:30 am
BLOW THAT SMOKE UP SOMEBODY’S TAIL THAT BELIEVES IT!!!NOT ME!!!!!!DO U ENJOY SCREWWING OLD,DISABLED PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR MONEY? I BET U DO!!!!!
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 6:33 am
JESSICA DEFINATLEY WORKS FOR SOL!!!!!! JUST AS WAS SAID BACK LAST YEAR WE HAVENT FORGOT!!!!
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Peter Jansen Reply:
March 6th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Jessica definitely have not heard of open-source software, TONS of free stuff out there. Only thing is if you are willing to learn or not.
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on February 4th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Hehehehe…my husband and I went to one seminar with the free lunch…turkey croissant sandwich with tomato, lettuce, mayo…potato salad (best part of meal)…cheap box cookies…water. My husband and I had no money, and we have frugal, cautious brains…so, free lunch, and free MP3 player. Flash forward a few months…my mom got two more tickets in the mail for another seminar in a city 45 minutes from the first one my husband and I attended. Guess what the now *dinner* menu consisted of? Yep, turkey croissant sandwich with tomato, lettuce, mayo…potato salad (not nearly as good this time, and a smaller portion, no less)…small, overly-sweet brownie (not *too* bad, but I can sooo much better from scratch at home)…water. Didn’t bother sticking around to fill out a form for another MP3 player…they made you wait for a while at the second seminar, so they could give you a paper to fill out on the way out…
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on February 4th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
sorry…sent my message out before I was finished…anyway…we didn’t want to wait for the MP3 paper at the second seminar, so we left early. So, in essence…I got to take advantage of StoresOnline for two free meals for me, one for my husband, and one for my mom…but I thought, after my mom and I again didn’t bother purchasing squat: How can anyone trust a company that serves cold turkey sandwiches, potato salad, and plain water at an invitation-only dinner?
Even soup kitchens in this country serve hot meals at dinnertime. Just my two cents…
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on February 14th, 2009 at 5:41 am
[...] Comment on Internet Marketing Workshop by Jessica [...]
on February 15th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
ok, u wanna one more story of loss b4 ur convinced storesonline is a scam? b i went to the 1st seminar, the food was mediocre but i bit the bait and paid them $50…
went to the second and left early. i was curious… and thats what they get more than anything. is people that r just willin to spend $50 to get nothing… i sat in a room withall the people that paid, as i did… easily 250+ people were there. thats alot! at $50 just to get there? and nothing did i get from them that i could not and had not found already myself on the internet. (google chrome ILY!!!)
so snap people, in order to get to the top of these search engines is to pay!!! and NOT storesonline either… all they do is feed off the feeders………..
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kathy smart Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 6:36 am
AMEN!!! YOU TELL THEM! LISTEN TO SPIN SHAW!!!!!U GOTTEM PEGGED!!! TAKE A BOW,U DESERVE A STANDING OVATION!!!APPPLLLLAAAUUUSSEEE
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Peter Jansen Reply:
March 6th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Oh looks like they increased the fees to $50 to get the the 2nd seminar. LOL It was only like $20 before for 2 people, so we figure we get a day of entertainment to see con artist, it’s worth the fee.
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on March 12th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
STORESONLINE is NOT TO BE TRUSTED!!!!
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on March 13th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Went to dinner at Hilton Garden this past Wednesday, the guy giving the sales pitch looked miserable, the food was bad, same turkey sandwich and bad cookies as mentioned above, the MP3 they gave to us before we left. I paid the $38, and have the training seminar next week. Is it worth it to attend? Will I learn anything about drop-shipping and where to find wholesale products? Just wondering, email me if you can. I would never pay $25 a month for an web-site, hostmaster is only $5. Anyway it’s a free seminar.
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on March 24th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
ATT: EVERYONE!
DO NOT…I REPEAT…DO NOT SIGN UP NOR GIVE STORES ON LINE ANY $$$$ They are only out to “rip you off!” Go into Google.com and type in StoresOnLine and read the MANY COMPLAINTS against them from other people who have been ripped off by them! Then read the Utah Department of Commerce letter, WARNING people NOT TO SIGN UP WITH STORESONLINE because of the many complaints by many other people! This is a “Bait & Switch” SCAM by these people!
They promise you a “meal” & and “FREE” promotional item [this time it was a miniture IPod] [and the meal wasn't too good, neither!] and then they handed you a form that they ask you to fill out, and then you’re told to give them $39.00 as a down payment, then they tell you to come back opne week later for “training” and they expect you to pay the FULL AMOUNT at that session [AND they don't even give you a luncheon, [since it's a 8 hour session - you have to either bring your own lunch or buy it out somewhere!]] And there isn’t any REAL Tech Support – as they tell/promise you! It’s a SCAM and a RIPOFF! DO NOT..I REPEAT….DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY MONEY!!!
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joanne Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
thanks for the info. i just attended last night to one and did NOT sign up but, there were a lot of people that did.
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on April 8th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I just went last week, am supposed to go April 14th to Sioux Falls, this makes me wonder what is going on. I am unemployed and can’t afford to get screwed like this. I was wondering about marketing and drop shipments and how do you make contacts. If they don’t help you provide with search perameters in finding product then what do I need them for?
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Rebecca Reply:
April 10th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Supposedly after you purchase the pro edition then the company helps you with the contacts. But who has thousands to spend on a maybe. I got my money back by closing my card, but I am saddened by this because I thought this company was really willing to help people get started. When I paid the thirty eight dollars I thought I was making a good investment, when I actually went into the account hardly anything worked everything needed to be upgrade to pro. Now that I have educated myself on this I think that it was a waste of time. The only good decision that I made was closing my card, so as not to encounter any future hassles with refunds with this company. Seems like the best way to make money out on the net is by selling you items on e-bay or amazon, you can set up a whole store on those site for a lot less than 6 grand.
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joanne Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Hello,
So does anyone know of a REAL good company to go with to Market your website in order to get to the Top of Google, etc.(the nuts and bolts about it) and not a Ripp Off?
Thanks
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Lorraine Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Joanne, for about ten months, I have been attempting to build my network marketing business on the Internet. I was scammed for $2,985. by Dotless Domain. I only lost $38. to StoresOnline because I did a Google search after the first meeting. Shopify.com is the only web that might meet our needs at a reasonable price. However, I have no idea if it will get us to the top of Google, Yahoo, etc. If someone has an answer, I too would like the info. Joanne, check Shopify.com and let us know what you think.
on April 9th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
get out while the gettings good! total rip-off!
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on April 27th, 2009 at 6:08 am
I was unable to accesses http://www.storesonlinemp3.com/redeem for the MP3 player.
Please help…
Thank you.
Jerry
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Lorraine Reply:
May 1st, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Don’t spend any time and energy trying to get the MP3 player. It is a piece of junk!!
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Jay Reply:
June 5th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
u got that right
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on May 4th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
I have went to the workshops, and have signed up for the express website. I have also recieved lots of help from them with calls, emails, chats. They are great, and really help and want ppl to be successful. WEll atleast they were to me!!
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on May 5th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I went to a storesonline workshop with a partner about a month ago, and yes we split the price of pro package for $6000. The latest version of the pro package includes unlimited websites, but with the price of hosting and other monthly fees I can only see running a single site at a time. The main reason for my post though is to warn people who have already given $6000 to storesonline about PMI. DO NOT give these unethical scam artists one second of your consideration. When they call, and they will, tell them you are not interested now or ever. Their latest ploy is helping you build and market 6 websites for $12,000 using what they call “Other Peoples Money” (Your credit card!) On a follow up call before they could get me to their closer I told ‘Brian’ don’t bother I’m not giving them my money. What ensued was a 10 minute heated if not abusive exchange ending with ‘Brian’ telling me I would not be successful and hanging up on me. Not a big deal for me, not the first time I’ve wrestled in the dirt with this type of individual. Unless your psychologically prepared to wrestle with a python in a toxic mud pit, stay away from these pirates. Obviously storesonline’s association with PMI raises a big red flag!
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on May 6th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Count me in too. I have some things to share with the world about this company. Anyone that feels it necessary to seek an attorney about this company, let do it in a class action suit
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Debbie Reply:
June 1st, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Count me in too. I have put in a lot of money and time. After two years, I’m still not in the 1st page or even 10th. So much for for their marketing stratergy.
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on May 7th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Count me in also as something is very wrong with so many people having a problem to get started. It will be a year for me and now Storesonline wants me to renew at some ridiculous price of $1100.00. I am going to try to find work and pay travellers off as fast as I can.
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on May 8th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
These people are a joke…Con-artists….they do all the talkin ..without answering any questions….1 1/2 hrs of crap!!! they really never told you how much money…or how hard it is .. too do this ..only how much it would cost ….Please people in IL ….These people are a ripoff …p.s.i like the portable credit card machine Mr webb had …..at the end
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on May 14th, 2009 at 2:20 am
We just attened the May 8th conference which lasted 6 hours. We were very impressed with the info we received, and we sighed up with stores on line pro. We also belong to another company which we are disappointed that we signed with them. In fact stores on line gives the information in an way that makes learning easy. If stores on line came to our town first we would signed up with them instead of the one we already own. The first company cost us $9,999, and stores on line cost us 5,995 and they were easy to talk to regarding finacing, there was no pressure and they gave us many different ideas to try. I received a call from our sponser on monday May 11 to welcome us to stores on line and gave us phone numbers to call him with any questions. I don’t understand all the bad reviews. Shame on them. They never gave stores on line a chance.
Kathy
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Dan H Reply:
May 15th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
your one in a thousand, is your site up and running, are you listed on the top on the web page as promised, your idea was great when you told them what you were going to sell—I bet there several others now useing your ideas and if I was a betting man I would bet they copied your idea and use or sold it to some one else. When I told them what I was going to do they said I had a great idea. After several times trying to get my site up and running I found out that over 2000 other people are now selling my products
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Dan H Reply:
May 15th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
just keep reading all the blogs on several site about this company we all can’t be wrong
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on May 14th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Hi,
I’ve been reading through a large portion of the comments here trying to get an understanding of SOL. I have been hired to work on the SEO for a company’s site who attended SOL. He says he spent a lot of money, but I’m not sure if he made the $6k jump. He does have an ID number and various numbers he’s given me for SOL. I can’t even fathom what exactly SOL does except host a site?
Can someone explain what the promise is? From what I gather, you purchase this ’service,’ build a website yourself, host it with them for too much money and then what? You work on SEO yourself?
(if my assumptions are correct I have no idea how they are so convincing. SEO is done by those of us who are familiar with it and it’s TIME consuming. Pay ME $6k and I’ll try to figure out google’s algorithms FOR you! haha)
I saw mention of drop ship companies. This company owner I am working for does his own shipment in house. I apologize for not understanding, but there’s so much BS it looks like I can’t fully understand what the service is they are offering.
I’m actually getting PAID to figure out how LEGIT this is since they’ve squeezed so much from this particular company.
Please let me know what you can!
Thanks. E-mail me @ brittanygrass@gmail.com
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on May 14th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I just went through the orentation and found it very informative
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Dan H Reply:
May 15th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
take your check book to the next one you’ll need it
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on May 16th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
I attended the free conference today with a friend of mine, who has just been laid off from her job. I wanted to help her but it sound like I may have created more of a problem for her. We invested $38 each but we felt deep down there was a catch in it, so we will attend the workshop and get the information and hopefully it will be useful. Thank you for the info you have put out there I wish I had accessed this before attending. Anyway it is water under the bridge just have to learn from this and move on.
I feel for the senior citizens and those who are on a fixed income how can other human be so unfeeling towards their fellow man, what goes around comes around, I hope in the future the will not be needing a bailout like some of the ones we had recently.
Thank you for all information.
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on June 1st, 2009 at 8:46 pm
After reading all of the posts I do not want to waste my time attending the workshop. Does anyone know if it’s possible to get a refund of the $38 fee for the workshop? Do I need to be concerned about the license number that was given in the packet? I don’t want to start getting a charge of $24.95 for hosting put on my AX card that I used for paying the $38 workshop fee.
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Nancy Collins Reply:
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:17 am
I checked the back of the yellow copy of my workshop “Business to Business Order Form” and saw information on how to cancel. Stamped on it was the date of June 2, 2009, so I had enough time to cancel (they give you until midnight). I went online to the live chat and the representative was very accomodating (no questions as to why I didn’t want to attend). He said he would put in the order for cancelling, and I did receive an automatic email with a tracking number. I checked my AX account and saw that I hadn’t been billed yet for the $38. Maybe they wait for the 3 day cancellation period before sending the charge through. Anyway, I’m really glad to have found this site before I wasn’t anymore time or money.
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on June 5th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
This evening, a friend and I attended StoresOnline “free dinner and MP3 player” internet sales conference at a hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. I already have a website that is quite functional and lucrative, but I wanted to learn more about the sales marketing techniques of StoresOnline. I had received an invitation to attend the conference in the mail, and I thought, “why not go, see what it’s all about” so I invited my friend to come with me, and we went. The ballroom the conference was in was obviously set up for many more folks than showed up. My friend and I sat at a table in the back of the room, and there were 2 older ladies that sat at our same table, to our left, and a couple that sat directly in front of us with no one else at their table. The conference “guru” opened the talk and started a PowerPoint slide with bulleted information about what tools are needed to be successful with selling products on the internet today. The main driving point was that “you don’t get customers to your website because they can’t find you online.” Excuse me?? SOL thinks that THEY have access to all of Google’s, Yahoo’s and Bing’s (formerly MSN) search algorithms?? I don’t THINK so!! Anyway, my friend and I (she is also techno-savvy, as I am) remained quiet while this guy continued to spout inanities about websites and drop shipping and how you can make money while you sleep; I was taking notes as my friend (who was obviously bored) held her cell phone in her lap underneath the table and text-messaged a friend of hers, keeping the phone on Silent mode. Once the “talk” was done, the “host” removed himself from the room while 2 young gentlemen circulated the order forms so you could order the “StoresOnline Express” package and sign up for the next all-day seminar. At this time, our “dinner” arrived, which consisted of a ham & cheese croissandwich with a tiny, sad pickle, dry pasta salad and a cookie. No drinks were offered; there were water pitchers on the tables. My friend and I were talking about something unrelated to the conference when one of the young men came up to us and demanded to know why we weren’t filling out the order forms. We both said that we did not want to attend the next conference, nor did we want their website. He then asked us, “well, what’s the problem here?” and he kept pressing us to fill out the order form. The order form basically gets all your personal information such as name, address, phone number, and it also requires a payment of $38 to go to the next step in their procedure. Again, we politely refused. He went away, and a few minutes later, the other young man came up to our table, got into our faces in a rude way, and demanded to know exactly why we weren’t filling out the order form. He asked if we wanted a different day than the one originally set up for the workshop. We politely declined. He got angry and said that we obviously had no idea what we were doing, and that we were passing up a great opportunity. In our minds, we were thinking, “Yes, we are passing up an opportunity to pad YOUR bank account!” This guy went away, then a few minutes later, the man that gave the talk (his name was Shaun Shelton), came up to our table and proceeded to tell us that we were rude, that we had disrupted the people around us and that we had generally behaved in a reprehensible manner and displayed an extremely poor attitude. My friend was on the verge of laughing, and so was I, we were so surprised by what this man was saying. I asked him, “Are you saying this because we didn’t fill out your order form?” Shaun snorted and said that that had nothing to do with it. He then told us again that we were rude and our attitude was horrible. I merely said, quietly, “I am sorry that you feel that way.” He walked off and went to the front of the room and started giving instructions on how to fill out the order form, refusing to look at us the entire time. After that, he ended the conference and held up the MP3 player that they were giving out. The other 2 ladies at our table remarked that they were shocked at the way that Shaun had spoken to us, and they expressed admiration at the polite way we handled it. I asked them if we had disrupted them in any way, and they laughed and said no. The couple seated in front of us were listening, and they commented that we had not disrupted them, either. My friend and I had had enough, so we went by the table on our way out and picked up our MP3 players. Shaun claimed that it holds 300 songs, and I see that it has 1MB capacity. It’s charging as I write this, so I will see how well it performs after I download songs into it. It only accepts certain song formats, and AAC (which is the file extension on iTunes downloads) is not one of those. Go figure. However iTunes has a feature that allows you to convert songs to other formats, so I will go that route. In any case…I am glad to have visited this site before actually going to the SOL conference, it did help me to be better prepared for the slick, very persuasive marketing these folks are well trained to do. I did not care for the treatment my friend and I received for not wanting to fill out the order forms, but I suppose we had to pay for our “dinner” and the MP3 players somehow. If you do go to the conference…BE PREPARED, as the author of this blog suggests. Read reviews and know what you might be getting into if you fill out that order form and go to the all-day workshop. BE AWARE that you can do all of what you need to do with websites and online selling yourself, with a very small investment for a website template and a nominal fee for hosting your site on a server. These things are not difficult to learn….just do a little research and you can do it yourself. Why pay someone like SOL thousands of dollars and get almost nothing in return? I’m certainly not going to do it.
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Evita Reply:
June 5th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
WOW!!!! I’m sooo glad that I found this web-site!!! My daugther and I have a resevation for next week June 9, 2009 at the South Coast Winery Resort and Spa in Temecula, California. After reading your testimonial, NO WAY I’m going!!! I aplaude your courage Dona, I would not have the gots to confront a situation like that. Thank you so much for the eye opening facts.
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Josh Reply:
September 12th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Well..I gotta admit. If you were as condescending and overbearing at this event as you are on this site… I’d think you were a jerk too. Maybe the guy should have kicked you out. You obviously came for free stuff. Freeloader
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Donna G Reply:
September 12th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Well, Josh, all I can say in reply is that perhaps you should read more than just MY review of this company. As far as my being a “freeloader” as you put it, I did not NEED this cheesy, 3rd-rate MP3 player, and that was not why I attended the event. I attended to educate myself on other companies’ marketing techniques. I was neither condescending nor overbearing at the event until the sales people got in my face about just why I was not signing up for their poorly-supported and over-costly program. Maybe YOU should attend one and find out for yourself just what it’s like. For more info, read on for more comments. Incidentally, SOL’s BBB (Better Business Bureau) score is an “F”!! HELLLLOOOOOOO!!!!
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on June 6th, 2009 at 7:18 am
I was the friend that went with Donna G to the presentation. The presentation was dubbed by Shaun as a business meeting when he spoke to us for being disruptive to the session. It was not a business meeting, but a way for the company to get unsuspecting people’s money. What I did not care for in the presentation is the lack of information about the business strategy behind the web site…the nuts and bolts of running a business. The presentation focused on all the people that could by the product you post on your web site and you as the web site owner do not have to do anything. I felt this strategy and line of thinking was a false presentation of how to run a business. Shaun kept speaking louder to pressure people to sign up for the web site and the workshop. The two assistances were also very rude when approaching Donna and I as to why we were not signing up for a workshop that would train us in a day to have our own web site. I do not care for the pressure sell, so for those of you out there that want to be bullied into spending your money then this is the company for you!
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on June 8th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
I am only posting a comment here because my Google analytics statistics found that my site (www.theinternetnewbie.com) is getting traffic coming from here and I want to make it CRYSTAL clear that I am in no way affiliated with StoresOnline.
I agree with the main author that their marketing model is very good, and I’ve attended a few of their workshops just to see how they operate. Because I run an online training academy that teaches Internet marketing I won’t comment directly on the company itself, but I can say that there are more effective and less costly ways to learn how to market online.
Again, my site is NOT affiliated with StoresOnline in any way.
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on June 10th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
I just attended a so-called Stores Online “workshop” today and BOY am I glad I was smart enough not to take the bait! While reading all the negative comments here about SOL, I couldn’t help but nod my head in agreement, and shake my head in disbelief! The workshop I attended (in Sharonville, Ohio) was filled mostly with middle-aged and elderly people, and out of around 80-100 people there, almost HALF of them signed up for a PRO “upgrade”.
The man sitting next to me commented early in the day how he could have a website built for $600 – $1000 and wasn’t sure that SOL was such a good deal…as the day went on, he appeared stressed – taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes….then during the afternoon he whipped out his credit card and went for the full $6000 unlimited websites “upgrade”. That stabbed at my heart then, as I did not feel he really WANTED to do it, but had been pressured into it….and that was BEFORE I even read all these bad reviews! : (
I went into the “workshop” with the attitude that I was NOT going to invest a bunch of money without investigating the company and having the opportunity to think about the purchase (i.e. – a few days/weeks). My grandpa is a wise man and has always said, “If it’s buy today…walk away!”
I do think that the services offered by SOL MIGHT be a decent deal, considering that you are getting a fully functioning eCommerce website. However, a lot of the supposedly proprietary tools they have are available completely FREE online – such as keyword density analyzers, reverse search engines, drop ship databases, etc. It will take more work, but can be done for a LOT less $$!
Now, that being said, after reading these reviews, I don’t care to do ANY business with SOL. Also, I would like to share a problem I had before even attending the “workshop” and my experience with the “one-on-one consultation”.
I was unable to attend the workshop on the date given at the first dinner conference (where I paid $38 to sign up for the Express store). So they were more than happy to sign me up for a different one a few days earlier. I was told it would be Tuesday, June 9th in Sharonville, Ohio. I signed up for that one. Monday night SOL called my home for a confirmation that I would be attending. My dad took the call, but thought the street name they mentioned was weird….well, I drove the 40 minutes to the Cincinnati area on Tuesday and guess what???? There was NO workshop scheduled for that day. I was given the wrong date for the workshop not once….not twice….but THREE times!! It was listed as Tues., June 9th on my receipt for the $38 Express store, also on a special sticker that the SOL rep put on my Express store envelope (so I would know where and WHEN to attend), and thirdly in the June 8th phone call for confirmation!
I called Storesonline with a phone number in my Express packet and gave the rep an earful about having wasted 1.5 hours of time plus about $7 in gas driving to the workshop on the WRONG date. She was very polite, said she would record the complaint and apologized. I was satisfied.
Okay, so things were going along fine in the “workshop” today…but i had already decided I would not fork over any $$. I have been selling on eBay for about 5 years and have started my own website. So I wanted to stick with my Express store and see what i could do on my own.
Then, in my one-on-one consultation, I told the SOL employee exactly that – I said I was not at all comfortable investing that much money at this time, and didn’t feel I was motivated enough right now to follow up on that investment with enough work to make the $$ spent worth it. He immediately got very defensive, almost angry – “Why not? Natalie, tell me, is it just about the money? We have options for everyone you know!” He said he and his wife had their own websites and he KNOWS the techniques work. I remained adament that I did not want to upgrade but would like to ask a few questions about Express. He looked sulky, and just barely gave me responses to my few questions (like can you add your own pages to the Express website, and do you pay the $24.95 monthly fee starting 30 days after your “dinner” event or when your site is published??? The answer to the first was – Yes, IF you know how! Okay, I went to college and majored in fine art and media desing, I do know HOW to build my own webpages, thank you very much…The answer to the second – you pay the monthly fee starting 30 days after the dinner – and obviously, they don’t care if your website is none-existent at that time! You have to call in to cancel the $24.95 fee, where you will undoubtedly be given another hard sales pitch. So much for turning the website “on” and “off”.)
After this consultation, in which I was led to believe I would be helped and given answers about the Express website, which I DID pay good money for…and instead I was treated like CRAP b/c I did not want to fork out $3400….I was totally turned off.
I stuck around til the end b/c it was only about 1 hour left anyways…I wanted to learn how to make it to the “top of the search engines in 3 days!!” Afterall, that was one of the most hyped techniques that we would be taught! I also wanted the free eBay CD (which probably tries to get me to buy something else from SOL).
The top of the search engines “technique” they teach you is to pay for clicks. In other words, advertise! Well, duh. I did learn a little better about how ppc works, but it was not the “free” technique I was led to believe I would learn.
So all in all, if you have only attended the “free dinner” and received a free MP3 player…and maybe signed up for a $38 website, count yourself lucky to have gotten out so cheaply! The full day “workshop” is nothing but a hard sales pitch and you will NOT learn anything more than what can be found FREE, completely FREE online by searching for SEO techniques and tools. Save yourself the time, hassle and grief….just take that day you would’ve attended and read up on search engine optimization and website marketing online!
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on June 10th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
P.S. – I just remembered that I also wondered throughout the idea…if StoresOnline is sooo great at getting your website found, why do so many people struggle with trying to “figure out” search engine optimization?? Why are there designers and coders and even people who do SEO for a living still puzzling it out? Why doesn’t everyone just have a StoresOnline account??? LOL
Oh, and I haven’t seen this mentioned here either…I looked up the StoresOnline Better Business Bureau report on the US site. Guess what their grade is there? F!!!!! Just read the report for yourself, it says it all about this company. They have had government action taking against them in multiple states and even a foreign country! (Australia) Here’s the link:
http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/training-program-companies/storesonline-inc-in-orem-ut-2000585
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on June 14th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
attended your storesonline meeting
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on June 23rd, 2009 at 11:11 am
This service is a crutch for those who don’t want to take the time to exercise due diligence and find the services they sell. Without SOL. One might try 1and1.com where my sites are hosted, and looks like they provide many if not all the same services at a fraction of the SOL ripoff prices. No seminars, but all the stuff is available to those who care to seek the very best.
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on July 5th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
I purchased my 6 websites on 01/31/2008 Athens, GA. I now have the strength and means to fight this untrustworthy company with bad product and am doing so. I have officially requested a full refund both verbally and in a written letter. I then sent the letter to the StoresOnline, Inc. physical address and cc’d it to the attorney general in CA (because I recently moved to CA and didn’t know which state would handle it), UT, and GA, state senators in CA, UT, and GA, and the BBB of Utah. I also included supporting documents with the letter requesting a refund and why.
I did receive a response from SOL but it is a pressured attempt to get me to sign a quick fix to the initial and larger problem. (They offered free programming for 1 year and hosting for 3 months). The issue is the company is not trust worthy, the product is faulty, their business practices deceptive, and I am completely unsatisfied with the product after making reasonable attempts to work with the software. Normally this would work with any company that respects it’s product and customer.
Does anyone know what more I can do? Where can I send more complaint letters to? Has anyone had any luck with getting a full refund?
Update: They are now offering half a refund but I would only have access to one of my websites… if I only keep 1 out of 6 websites then I should receive 5/6 of a refund. They are also making me decide by the 29th… so for as slow as they move I’m being forced to decide in one week. The point is that the product is faulty… so I still think a FULL refund is warranted.
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Jessica Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
- I now have until July 7th because I requested an extention because I just found out that GA sent a letter asking Jeffery G. Korn, Chief Legal Officer, for a response to my complaint stating that this “issue may fall under the purview of the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act”
Looks like GA is finally taking action. I urge other GA customers to file a complaint if you are unsatisfied. I still maintain that a FULL refund is warranted.
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on July 9th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Hi,
I must say after reading these complaints I’m very frightened about going through with the workshop. I feel like canceling the whole thing right now. So far I haven’t invested that much that I would be at a huge financial loss.
Help…truly what should I do?
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robert hall Reply:
December 25th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Went to Atlantic city oct.5 first thing we were told ,was that they did not want us to ask questions….If we had question;s they had to be directed to the support online. We were told in advance this was a work shop. They thought we were idiots…We didn’t last 20 minutes Left in a hurry…
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on July 10th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Cancell do not give them a cent it is a rip off
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on July 18th, 2009 at 9:43 am
I wish I had seen all of the content here before I purchased the platinum package … I’ve had nothing but headaches
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on July 18th, 2009 at 9:47 am
further to the above comment … I have put them behind me and learned from my bad decision … I have found something else that is working quite well for me … lesson learned
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Jessica Reply:
July 24th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Yes Larry, lesson learned but perhaps you could be helping your self and others if you complain formaly to the appropriate channels. Please write your Attorney General, complain to BBB of Utah, and send a letter to StoresOnline. You will be helping yourself and perhaps save others from learning such a painful lesson. You also will encourage the state you live in to do something about StoresOnline and companies like them. Most Attorney General’s have websites were you can submit complaints online so then you just need to spend a little time on a well written letter and $0.44 on a stamp to send it to StoresOnline and then just copy and paste onto the BBB website. It’s easy and effective.
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Larry Reply:
July 24th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
I’m not aware of anything here in Canada similar to what you describe in the states … I have complained thru the channels available to us both verbally and in writing but little, if anything, can be done unless I want to sue them … at this point that isn’t worth pursuing – just throwing more good money after bad … I wrote the startup costs off against my 2008 taxes and moved on with a lucrative other venture … as I said before “lesson learned”
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on July 30th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Been to the siminar dinner was ok the MP3 is nice looking forward to the workshop!
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on August 1st, 2009 at 12:48 pm
[...] Internet Marketing Workshop | Storesonline Reviews – An … [...]
on August 8th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Hello, i went to the seminar dinner today (8/8/09) and paid out $48.00 and now i am very scared because i used my credit card. Are they gonna take more money from me if i don,t go to the next meeting on Aug 19th 2009 or am i lucky that it’ll only be 48 dollars, plus i can,t even get the free mp3 player from the website on the coupon………Please help
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izzy Reply:
October 15th, 2009 at 12:05 am
It is illegal for any company to charge additional fee on your credit card other than what you signed for. If it does not indicate that you will be charged a recurring fee (even in fine print-so read carefully) when you sign your name no additional fee should be incurred on your credit card so don’t worry. If you should see additional charges on your credit card without your consent call your credit card immediately and tell them to reverse the fraudulent charge and give them a copy of your receipt.
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on August 13th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I just returned from one the the StoresOnline seminars. I attempted numerous time to get on to the web site/page to receive my free MP3 player, with NO results. It appears the website does not exist. If there is another way of of accessing this site please advise. I do have my doubts after reading these reviews.
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Tarun Ramnani Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 9:57 am
I was able to order the free MP3 player. you have to enter the address of the website on the top of your browser. the website address is http://www.StoresOnlineMP3.com/redeem enter the address at the very top
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on August 19th, 2009 at 12:12 am
I just attended their marketing conference as they call it. They sent an invitation in my mailbox with two tickets. For attending I would get free lunch and a mp3 player. They are in Kingman, Arizona. I live in Bullhead City which is an hour away and I decided to attend because I was going to go to Kingman for a physical. It seemed very convenient since I was going there anyway. The conferecne was held at the Hampton Inn and Suites right around the corner from the hospital I had to go to. We all had to register and then at the door the speaker was asking people why they had come and then was asking them to take a seat. I turned to the people I was in line with and told them that I should tell him that I was only there for the free lunch and mp3 player for my wife. Ofcourse I didn’t say that and he didn’t ask me anything and I took my seat. I noticed a lot of elderly couples, a few young guys and some ladies with their friends or coworkers. I listened carefully to the enitre presentatation and at the end two guys passed out the registration forms. I politely refused to take one and passed them on. There was a coupled next to me and they looked at me puzzled. The other guy next to me looked at the form suspiciously. I told them that I was not going to sign up. And I told them not to sign up either. The couple next to me signed up anyway. The guy to my left didn’t sign up. I told them that any company that makes you feel that you have to sign up the same hour or you are a loser is not right. I told them that I needed to think about it and digest the info. I am so glad I did. Because tonight after reading all the comments, I know I made the right decision. They signed up a lot of people for the work shop in Lake Havasu on September 2nd. Lake Havasu is about an hour and a half from where I live. I feel like printing all these comments and going to the workshop and warning all those people not to attent. Also there was going to be another conference tonight. All those people. I feel so sorry for them. When I was going to leave the speaker asked my why I hadn’t registered. I told him I only had $70.00 in my account. He said if I keep doing what I have always done then I am going to always be where I am at. I believe in this statement but he used it to make me feel guilty. But I left, I paused in the hall and almost turned around to go back and give them my money. What a fool I would have been. My wife would have killed me since it is all the money we have to get us through the week until pay day. I am glad I left there with my skin intact.
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on August 19th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Hello, my name is Jazmin Jasso, and about 5 months ago I had a horrible experiance with at &t. I was shedding away about 4,000 a year, behind on my payments and was paying up to 300 dollars a month because I was always behind on them. We almost had a year trying to run our local business with a LOT of competition and we were hardly getting any veiws on our website with at&t and we were getting NO calls for ne w jobs. Our problem was that we were getting most of our bills paid by one big company that we were working with– which sadly was about to shut down. The last few months they gave us a LOT of work, because they were cleaning EVERYTHING out. But we knew that as soon as they left, with the pay we got from them at that time, we’d be able to survive for about 3 months.., then we’d be screwed. At around that time we got a letter in the mail from SOL… I DIDNT want to go. Thought it was a scam… etc. My dad made me go (this was my dads business, I was only his secretary). I went with my cousin, didnt wanna go alone. Everything that has been mentioned here was said and done, and they pretty much brainwashed me…. well not really, but they were very convincing. So I went to a second workshop….. and this time my dad came, and he completely was brainwashed and we signed on for about 5000 dollars the pro deal, with unlimited websites, one time pay only of 5000 dollars, and only 30 dollars a month per website after that. Which in comparasin to at&t was already better because we were paying the SAME amount…. per year. and remember, we were really behind on our payments.
And we were generating no traffic…
So a few weeks after purchasing the website (oh i forgot to mention that i called that same day and cancelled my at&t contract EVERYTHING was to be taken down within a few months… like 2 or so… but it actually took like 3), anyways after a few weeks I contacted customer service and got set up for my free website design that they would desgin for me for free. And within a month it was ready, and ready to publish, (I had to tweak a few words here in there beacause they didnt add any keywords… I did all the meta by myself etc) SO i purchased a domain name for it and published it, submitted it to google, msn, yahoo, and did directories for it etc…. it took about another month before i could even find it on google… lots of research and work and submissions and tries finally got me to appear on some of the first pages under certain keywords. Type in Alpha Waste into google and i will appear… although Im still trying to figure out how to do the same iwth youtube and msn. SO far i’ve managed to work with google. Although it may not be my website website that appears… its my ads, and trust me, any link leading to your website helps you PR. So 6 months later, we’re generating enough income without the one big company that we were depending on. Getting at least 3 new jobs every week. And we’re working on it.
Storesonline isnt a magic tool thats gonna work overnight. You need to put work into it. And I have ALWAYS found their customer support to help me. It might be pricy, but the way we see it is that money comes and goes on things that we sometimes dont need… why not spend it on something that MIGHT help… even if you lose the moeny, you always have a chance to gain it all back. Im working on my second website right now, and hopefully next week it’ll be published, =)
you can see my website at http://www.alphawaste.org
We deal with trash– and right now we’re making an okay living…. not rich, but not as tight as we were before.
If we can manage to double our work, my dad wont even have to work anymore, and we can hire our first employee… im not saying that storesonline is what made it happen… but I do love their customer support, and the fact that Im getting a huge hang of the website deal, how to build it myself, and that I have complete control over it- where as to at&t- i had to call in EVERY LITTLE change and it’d take months.
Stores online just gives you the tools… you have to be willing to do research and put time into it.
Hope this review helped someone, even though it was super long.
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on September 16th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Hello folks, just got back from an SOL “conference” that I was induced to go based on a slick invitation I had received in the mail. Shaun is definitely making the rounds and in overbearing fashion too. First, he stands at the doorway before attendees can get into the room to feel them out. When he saw I had circled 5 (on a scale of 1 to 10) on excitement(?), he commented it is important to attend with enthusiasm. I said to myself, sure, you want a sucker, not a market-smart consumer.
Shaun is neither charismatic nor warm, compared to presenters at other events I have attended over the years, so I was a bit surprised he was the best SOL could bring out. His smiles are contrived as a result of him being uptight and intense. He allowed no questions during the session and often told the attendees to “write this down…” as instructing grade school children.
The talk was a sales pitch for SOL products and services, of course, but he wasn’t convincing because there wasn’t any assurances that they are worth buying, only a disclaimer on the bottom of each slide saying something to the effect “the example is NOT typical and results may vary.” Add to this the lack of any testimonials from successful clients, only a few examples of websites that looked semi-boring and semi-pro, I decided more research was needed before I could turn myself into one of their benefactors.
The fishing expedition was in full swing when he started talking dollars and cents. Regularly $199 but attendees could get the Express for just $48. Hosting and support was $24.95/mo but $9.95/mo if you just wanted hosting and no support. The one-day workshop at a later date, when one could turn Pro from Express for $3,600, is worth $750 but attendees could sign up for free.
This was not “…a fun, relaxed and informative Conference led by a nationally renowned instructor…” as the innocuous invitation would have you believe. The instructor, namely Shaun Shelton, is a nobody. I searched him online and he could not be found among several Shaun Sheltons returned. It wasn’t a conference, or even a seminar. It was just a set-up for invitees to open up their purse. As soon as I saw through all this, my partner and I just sat their waiting for the lunch that was promised.
The lunch consisted of a small sandwich, a small portion of macaroni salad and a cookie plus one tiny strawberry, delivered on one plate. There was no drinks of any kind, just the same water out of the pitcher. It wasn’t anything special but it could have been worse, and probably was the best thing out of this event. The only thing is that this was supposed to be a lunch event but we didn’t get to eat till 2pm, a full two hours after the talk started at noon.
We got up to leave as soon as we were done eating, and Shaun met us at the door and asked “Did you sign up?” When I shook my head, he just uttered “Too bad.” Yeah, I’m sure it was too bad for him but not for me. I was sitting near the front so I couldn’t tell how many people signed up but I did see at least half a dozen in the front rows do it, so all wasn’t lost for Shaun and company.
Oh, we got the MP3 player of course. Let me just say that if you think lunch and MP3 are worth the time spent, you couldn’t be further from the truth. I already explained how cheap the lunch is, well, the MP3 player is even cheaper. It comes in a white box without a single letter. Inside, you find a player, a pair of earphones, and a one-foot connector but there are no instructions. The player must be connected to your computer for power in order to play because it doesn’t contain any battery or space for one! I listened briefly to two pre-loaded songs and the quality is absolutely horrible.
In conclusion, I suggest to those contemplating of attending one of their “conferences,” forget it. They are not worth your time, period.
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on September 19th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Thanks to everybody here for your comments.
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on September 21st, 2009 at 8:42 am
I attended a workshop today as well. I did not take the bait, however going there without a solid business plan the workshop did give me a lot to think about. I realize this type of marketing is all based on human nature and pure, raw emotion. I’m sure some people do make money, but the majority do not. Sure, it’s just like anything else, you will get out of it what you put into it, but if the opportunity is so great why not be up front and honest and let people make educated decisions? Because the emotion will run out and a lot less people would sign up, making the company a lot less money. I never make any decisions about anything without doing my research first. No matter what it is we always get three estimates or quotes on anything we do to this magnitude. If your company proves to be who they adverstise they are, most likely they will get my business. I resent the fact that these companies think people should jump at the chance to spend $3-$6K without any advance notice (in this economy) based on a stranger telling them to do so or the deal is off the table. I didn’t even understand the deal yet and they were handing out forms to be filled out by noon with your name and social security number, so they can run a credit/back ground check on you (most likely) while you are enjoying the show! I am looking for a site or a business that stands behind themselves and knows they have a good thing, is committed to helping those who want to be successful, succeed, but experience tells me that is not productive for these companies. Like anything else, the bulk of their profit is probably in people who sign up and do nothing with this. However, it all makes me wonder at the end of the day if a honest day’s work is not the way to make a lot of money EVER! Sad, but true. In any event, I wish everyone who took the bait luck and much success with this and I will be curious to hear how it goes.
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on September 21st, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Before you do anything with Stores Online, even wasting your time with the 90 minutes workshop (which is simply a hard sell spiel with no valuable content) please check this out – http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/training-program-companies/storesonline-in-orem-ut-2000585
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on October 3rd, 2009 at 2:04 pm
My husband and I went to the free dinner & seminar. We are probably a bunch of suckers because we were sucked in hook line and sinker hopefully we’re not screwed but if we are at least it will have cost only $48
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on October 8th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I would like the MP3 Player
Redemption code is JPY8TNTPGMJ
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Miche Bre Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:36 am
You need to go to http://www.StoresOnlineMP3.com/redeem and fill out their form in order to receive the Mp3 player.
There it will ask you to put in your Redemption code.
Hope no one has stealed it by now, I wouldn’t have posted it in this forum.
You could also call them at: 801-434-8582, hours of operation are M-F 10am to 7pm Mountain Standard Time.
Hope this helps.
Miche Bre
They indicate it takes 6 weeks for you to receive it
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on October 11th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I have not recieved my MP3player as of now. It has been more than six weeks. Is there some reason why Please let me know.
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jennifer Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
hi… im still waiting on mine mp3 player also… have you heard anything back yet?
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Ginger Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Yes, there is a reason why you didn’t get it. They simply said that to get you there. They will not follow-through with the MP3 Player if you didn’t buy into their program.
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on October 12th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I went to the free dinner seminar 9/25/09 and I fell for the drop price for SOL 48 dollars. Then on 10/7/09 I went to the second seminar for “training” and the 48 dollar site was not being promoted it was a site for $3600 or the platinmum $6000 both upgrades. I purchased the $3600 package. At the seminar they made it seem as if you could not do much with the $48 dollar site(express package). I now realize after puchasing the 3600 dollar package that maybe this was not such a good idea. The reason is that I’m reading the paper work in the package and there are so many other fees that they did not make clear to me and I can see how this will soon become expensive overtime before I make a dime. This does not include the 18% interest attached to the payment plan. I sent SOL a notice of cancellation today after reading this website(which by that way thanks). I tried calling and sending a message by chat and I got no response, I guess they are closed since it is Columbus day. Well any way I sent a fax and an email. I have my fingers crossed that this will be over soon. I have not used any of the product and this is day#3. I should have known better and done research before making such a purchase. I am finding that most of what they offer I can get so much cheaper on my own. Many of the tools they offer with the “upgrade “package you can get online for free or for a much lower cost than $3600 or $6000. I’m not saying that SOL is a scam, maybe someone out there in SOL land is making money. I just realize, hopefully not to late that this company is not for me and I will get a website another way.
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Sharon Reply:
October 15th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Thank you so much for the warning. We are about to attend a seminar. My husband has been very ill and is still recovering from a liver transplant. We are in serious need of income, not outgo!!!! Thank you for taking the time to warn people!
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on October 16th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I just went to the SOL seminar yesterday with my mother and we made sure to get there early enough to basically look over the people throwing this thing. Now me…I am open minded to financial opportunity including the net as much as anyone else with a reasonable amount of caution. My mother on the other hand is one that is skeptical to the last and in all honesty that (thank God) will never change. She is generally the one bringing me right back down to earth when I get to juiced on something with a smackdown of reality.
However, I must say the SOL free seminar was actually something that caught my attention especially after an in depth conversation with the speaker. I personally am a network administrator and found the discussion (as I would call it) exactly what it had to be…informative, educational (from a beginners standpoint on the internet), and completely voluntary (as far as how much I was going to sit and listen to). Suffice to say after all was said and done I was there to evaluate and maybe take a chance.
Well, I am now signed up and I must say the experience was great, the energy the room had (even when we were all leaving) was even better. Now as far as the all day thing I am going to later this month I don’t know but as far as money coming out…that ain’t gonna happen, and the whole 25 dollar thing a month…well we were all told that unless you use the program u aren’t charged…now unless there is something that is in black and white that I haven’t noticed as of yet…I think this company like others will always have thier bad reviews…but facts are facts…to make money you have to lose some…and to be successful…you have to work harder than most to achieve it and not depend on a program…or company to have it in a box ready for you.
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on October 19th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Cancel my workshop On Oct. 30,2009 at Anaheim.
Return my $ 48/. Thanks.
Jayant Gandhi & Asha Pandya
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on October 19th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I was a guest at the lunch in on september 5th… i was not interested in anything they were selling but, my friend was. either way we received our vouchers for our mp3 player’s and have yet to receive them… my patient are wearing thin, who do i speak to about this.!!!???
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raybo Reply:
December 19th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Good luck on your MP3 I attended Nov 2008 got my MP3 May 2009 I got another in -vite 3 months ago I have YET to recieve my NEXT MP3 I still have my REDEMPTION COUPON ( 2 ) ONE FOR ME AND ONE FOR MY FRIEND.I guess I got 3 more months Each coupon has different Redemption code I’ll call 801-434-8582 in Jan 2010 The cookie was good . sandwich OK But NO DAMN DRINKS CLASS ACT
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on October 24th, 2009 at 10:22 am
My wife and I attended an initial 90 minute seminar locally in Ann Arbor, Mi. We decided to attend the all day training in Dearborn, Michigan that we paid $48 for.
We expected to at the very least to come away with a better understanding of what they had to offer or what possibilities we would pursue with an online store.
Instead we were pressured from the minute we entered the meeting by the 12 so called associates who routinely pestered us during the presention to make a commitment. The training was more faith based with little or no factual information of any value presented. For awhile I thought I was listening to a preacher in church. We left after about 5 hours and about half of the particpants were leaving.
I have to say after hearing what they had to say and seeing the people that were signing up that they were taken advantage of in a high pressure sales presentation. Many of the attendees were older and I sure many others out of work (Detroit area has 17% unemployment).
What ever you do do not trust this company with your money or future! All they have on their minds in selling $6,000 of a fairly tale!!!!!!
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on November 5th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Hey… if you want to fight back at Stores Online, join us and together we will take down the giant. Email your story to nomorestoresonline@gmail.com, then tweet everyone you can reach and tell them not to use Stores Online! Tell them to tell everyone they know how crooked this company is! If we join together we can tweet the entire world…
Ian
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on November 12th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I bought the software licenses and a full day of training workshop for $48, I was going to attend the workshop this weekend, but after reading all of this, I am not attending. It has been over 3 days, so it looks like I will not get my Money back. THe fine print says that you can get your refund only if you are 65yrs or older within 15days. Any suggestions?
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Ian Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Erin, it may not be helpful to you in the long run, but if all you lost is $48 then thank God and move on, because you’re probably right that you won’t get your money back. If you want to be a part of fighting these so and so’s, however, send me your story to nomorestoresonline@gmail.com and tweet everyone you have contact with that this company can’t be trusted. Somehow, we will set their pants on fire…
Ian
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on November 19th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
I think we have been had a smooth talking guy .Where is the form I think we are being lied to November 19,2009 .I think a law suit is fitting for this company.
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on November 19th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
hi, i am an attendee of the 11/19/2009 seminar, and on this site have read some of the posts and just want to say that i am assuming that the people that spealed out there presentation tonight have families to feed just like we do, and i am sure would do any possible job/work they can find to make a buck. i am sure there are alot of people in this world that have/and wont admit to scaming someone for that very reason. i am a christian, and dont condone/or aprove of such a thing, but no one is perfect. and if people get scammed then the scammer will “get theres” one day! what comes around goes around. i also want to say, i am one of many unemployed people in this economy today/with mouths to feed, and i am going to try this out; but i am definately not going to sink 3,000-6,000 into it. no way! we will see what happens. and where is that “form” to fill out to get the mp3 player?
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on November 20th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
I really enjoyed the seminar this Friday night at thw whydal hotel… It was a great experience 4 me. the best part about it all was the give you all the right information to make money on the internet. I missed out on the good pricing give away they had this time…I didn`t have the funds on my card…so its back 2 working4 someone else and hope-ing and praying this chance of alife time will come my way again. Thanks Joann Lawrson on Friday 20th 2009 You really inspired me!! I hope that you will keep a frist time ever been invited 2 a seminar girl like me back agan…I learned a lot..Happy Holidays and thanks for the MP3!! Now I have to find a little kid 2 show me how to work the thing!!LOL!!! Kaynee
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jane doe Reply:
November 21st, 2009 at 4:00 pm
how did you receive your mp3 player…step by step please..Kayne Harris…or is it? this is an independant review site…i’m sure StoresOnline “employees” get paid to do this well…a “Good” reply here or there! keep ‘em coming mr or ms ; }
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jane doe Reply:
November 21st, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I agree with T. Furman….but at least when scamming…stay focused on your fake name…one of the commentor’s person’s name stated “Kayne Harris”….and ended with “Kaynee” who’s comment was that? which seminar did you attend “Kayne” or “Kaynee”..Please help with our mp3 confirm! (LETs SEE)
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Jill Reply:
November 21st, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Count your blessing that you had know money to give them because this has been a nightmare for everybody on the face of the earth. Do not give them anything.
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on November 22nd, 2009 at 7:26 am
The form, actually a redemption card, was handed out, leaving the seminar.
You then have to go to their redemption website, http://www.storesonlneMP3/redeem and enter the redemption code on the Redemption coupon.
Hope this helps, Miche Bre
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on November 24th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
11/24/09 Just attended a conference for stores online They were very informative and I did not feel pressure to buy. Some people did buy ,but it was not for me.The “Dinner” was a chicken salad sandwich and some pasta salad,which was very good.I have not been able to redeem my coupon for the MP3 player we were to get as there is no website for it.They said they could not hand them out as some people at the hotels steal them.All in all it was a good evening.
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on December 2nd, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Today, Dec. 2, 2009, my friend and I attended a 90-min. Stores online conference. Lunch was a catered box lunch and a bottle of water handed to you on the way out. Nowhere to eat the lunch! We bought Mexican at the restaurant and fed the lunch to my friend’s ducks. Cannot receive the MP3 player (was given a card to redeem on-line). Hard sell, high pressure so much so that you could really see it clear as a bell and after I was told by one of the stores online men that the hotel lied to them about seating for lunch I realized HE lied to me because the caterers brought the lunches in ‘to go’ cartons with a plastic bottle of water. Lots of people signed up for the Saturday training at $48 a pop. Most of what the salesperson taught us I knew already and I also know what they were ’selling’ anyone can get for free on-line. Anyone can set up free websites and manage them theirselves and can set themselves up on google, etc. and also be first in line for web domains with a little computer savvy! I could tell most of the people were street people and/or computer illiterate to some degree. What a scam! My friend and I were laughing the whole time with how obvious the hard sell really was. We own our own businesses and now have heard it all!
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Debigalmstarr Reply:
December 5th, 2009 at 12:57 am
okay, horsebucket can you help a girl out not illiterate but not a lot computer skills. how can I do this without getting hemmed up. I am in Gary and that’s scary enough. I already paid $48 and the seminar is this tues on the 8th. so get back at me
thanks hunny!
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Ian Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Hey, Debigal…
I cannot possibly emphasize enough – do not give SOL any more money! If you want to go to the seminar and soak up whatever information you can, then do so, but keep in mind that anyone who says you have to buy now is only interested in your money, not your wellbeing.
You can find lots of webhosting companies that will set you up for next to nothing, with site building tools and technical support, and you can use Google Adwords for free to test out what search terms will work best or not. Consider your $48 a worthwhile investment in how to escape high pressure salesmen, and walk away while you still can!
Ian
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Frank Reply:
April 13th, 2010 at 11:10 am
I went to the one in Atlantic City. Paid the $58 learned some interesting things, bought the exress software but basically found it lacking many tools from the PRo upgrade but I thought the price was redicilious for the upgrade. They tried three times to talk me in to it unil I finally got feed up and told the salesmen aka consultant off. It worked outgood for me though I won about $1600 in slots after the conference at the casinos. The Mp3 player is suppose to come in about 4-6 weeks so we will see. I am thinking about trying the express software for a month or two but do not know if worth putting the time in now using their strategies if it is a scam. They did have customers who supposely are doing great on the program. They did seem legit but they may have been flukes.
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on December 3rd, 2009 at 10:03 pm
I received my “free” workshop notice in the mail and decided to attend, as I have done with many other wealth conference announcements that I had been informed about.. The facilitator iwas a fast talking guy who got your name and some basic information about the people who were there first & used them as examples throughout his presentation–to make it seem as though he was really into helping those persons with their business ideas.. I did learn some basic knowledge that I was seeking, in regards to how to set up a basic website. The price offered for the next all-day mtg., was very reasonable-$48.00 so quite a few people signed up. You have to listen with all your might because the presenter did slip in amounts of $4,000.00 in comparison to other companies, who he kenw for sure would charge you $ 6,000.00-$8,000.00. I knew then that they would get you in the end, if you continued with them. My son informed me later, that all of the information they were attempting to sell us could be found on the internet for free.The dinner was a cold chicken sandwich w cold bow-tie pasta & water.Dinner? I returned home to redemm my free MP3 player & could not even locate the proper place to register the redeemption code. Oh, well…Then, I tried a few days later & read all of the negative comments about this company. Pages & pages of disgruntled folks, who like myself, were seeking to learn how to better their lives, invested their funds (I didn’t!), & ultimately got duped out of more money. Do your research BEFORE you get involved. Look up these companies’ histories prior to attending their workshops, then you’ll know whether to take a chance or not go. Maybe Santa will bring me a REAL MP3 player! Happy Holidays!!!
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on December 10th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
A friend and I went today to the free seminar. We listened to Ryan. $24.95 would be deducted monthly for hosting fee.We did pay $48.00 for the workshop fee for next week. Then I came home and checked the Company. After reading all these sad remarks. I opted to cancel next week. I was able to get through to a nice agent who didn’t have my info yet as I just got back this afternoon. But she did take down my info and gave me a ticket # that will be used as verification when they call again that the reservation has been cancelled as well as the monthly fees etc. We are holding our breath hoping that all will go well in getting a refund. The service agent was very kind. The number I called was 1-801-431-4675.
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on December 24th, 2009 at 5:04 am
In November 2009 I signed up for the full $6000 package to have the research tools and the unlimited websites. The tools are interesting, but I soon became overwhelmed with the amount of due diligence required just to select a product with a reasonable chance of success with online marketing. Then a few days ago I received a call from the “testimonial division” saying that they wanted to coach me to success. After going through the presellection process for an hour we were informed that they would have a team of experts work with me, giving me weekly assignments (requiring 7-10 hrs. a week) to get me up to speed, get the site set up and bringing in cash. They guarantee that in less than 6 months I will be making money and that I will have my initial investment repaid in 6 months or less. If not they will continue to work with me until I do. All this for only $15,000!
Even though they may not be outright lying, they are not totally forthcoming. To me it underscores the requirement for a business like this for not only tools but the knowledge and skill to be able to make the tools work. Too much smooth talking. Byer Beware.
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on December 28th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Has anyone out there actually invested all the money that Stores Online and PMI has asked for. I made the initial investment up $8000 which includes the Asset Protection software. Now PMI is pressuring me to spend much more and illuding to the fact that to obtain real success in the Internet retailing business, you will need to spend much more. I understand that you still can spend more money on marketing such as key words, but your actual return on investment should scale to the amount of money you are willing to invest. SOL and PMI want all their money up front and are not even willing to provide me with a written proposal. I feel if I am going to spend the $18,000 they are asking for, I would at least like a contract outlining what their deliverables should be. If anyone has paid PMI I would like them to comment as it seems fishy to me.
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Ian Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Marty, it sounds like your instincts are telling you something is not right, and you should listen to them. What exactly is it they are going to deliver for $18,000? Why does it cost so much? Can you get the same service somewhere else for less, or can you do it yourself? Oftentimes what you don’t hear is more important than what you do hear, and SO will not tell you that you can get everything they offer either WAY cheaper, or free, somewhere else. Google Adwords does basically the same thing as SO’s reverse search tool, and it’s free. Spend a few minutes researching online and you will quickly find out that SO is charging way, way more than anyone else, and you won’t find out what is not included until it’s too late.
Ian
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Marty Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Ian,
Thanks for the reply. I have been in the software business since 1985 or a very long time and we would at least give our customers a written proposal when we were proposing work. Stores Online wants their money up front and they are very obscure about what they are going to actually deliver for the money. In one breath they indicate that I have everything I need and in the second breath, they are telling me I cannot be successful without spending this money with them. I agree, this is not rocket science and with a budget on Google I can most likely accomplish the same thinks without them.
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Alan Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Marty and everyone else, I was also ripped off from Stores On Line and that Legal Software Program to the tune of $7722.00. It’s been a year in 11/2009 and my site is still not up and running. Customer Service can’t seem to get the shipping right and now SOL does not have the shipping calculations for the United States Postal Service or Fed Ex, which does not leave much. I filed a complaint with the State of Utah and sent an email to the Attorney General of the State of Florida in an attempt to stop SOL from doing business in Florida. To my surprise there was already a lawsuit filed which includes a class action and the State of FL has me complete and email a response for a full refund from SOL. If I can just get my money back I will be thrilled. But I hope the State stops SOL from even holding these seminars in Florida. The entire thing is a fraud from start to finish. Everyone should file a complaint with the State of Utah where SOL is from and also in your home state where you purchased this junk. Good Luck to all.
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Marty Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I think the most frustrating thing is that they have all been trained by Tony Robins the authority on persuasive selling and they have become experts at marketing themselves. I don’t believe that everything they sell is bad, but they do a great job of selling the ease of this when I know from working in software sales and development since 1985 that this is never easy. They need to work on helping everyone get their sites live first and focus on marketing those sites once they are live. They through the sales at you very fast, faster then you can absorb the information. I feel really sorry for those people who have literally no knowledge of software development. I must be extremely frustrating for them.
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on January 4th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
I’ve had my Storesonline website for 3 years now. I am actually quite pleased, but then perhaps I have different expectations. I use this to supplement our bricks and mortar location and it is not our sole line of income. While learning to create the website was a process, I am pleased that I persevered and created my own site. I must agree that they have quite an aggressive marketing strategy, but it is your choice whether or not to hire them. I had no website or design experience and we are making sales – actually it quite surprised me as all these marketing companies (other than Storesonline) told me people wouldn’t be able to find me. There is lots of information out there if you are willing to make things work – it just takes time and patience. My plan for this year is to get 2 more sites up and running.
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on January 15th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Hi,
I attended a meeting on the 26th of October and was given a certificate for a free mp3 player. My Redemption Code:f4rd2kmff7y. Please let me know what happened to the player
Cheryl Hickey6
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on January 21st, 2010 at 10:01 pm
they was here today selling it for $58 i knew something smelled rotten when he lowered the price dinner no mp3 is what i was going for and free tips but he was saying u have to come back
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on February 2nd, 2010 at 10:43 pm
inquire about MP-3 player ;said they would send verification they have received my certificate for player ;it’s been over a week and no response.
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on February 3rd, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Yes,It’s been since at least last October of last year since I even from anyone from your company. My freind recieved her MP3 player. Please let me know if I will recieve on or not. I would like to be a part of you program but If not also let me know.
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on February 19th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Hi all what a nightmare for all mixed up in this. Out of curiosity i went last night(Rhode Island 18th feb 2010) to one of their conferences mainly to check out how they run these things and what was on offer.
After reading through the complaints here and how the session was ran i can confirm that. The pre-sell and story line are just the same now as it was 10 years back.
I have contacted there support line today.
Spoke with a Micheal from the Phillipeans and asked that he put me down for a refund for my $58 dollars spent on the night to have my license blah blah. To be fair i can’t take it out on a poor outsourcer but he was helpful and confirmed that he put i for a refund and gave me a tracking number it will take 7-10 days to receive payment i have been told.
Now off to my local bank to get more advise so as my credit is not harmed in any way.
I will return to post here again later and provide information on my progress.
PS i have something special in the works to halt these guys…
Sparky
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on February 19th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
http://www.atg.wa.gov/pressrelease.aspx?id=23550
Above is a helpful site i found regarding storesonline and action suits Washington State Attorney General.
Hope its of some use here
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on February 26th, 2010 at 5:17 am
I’ve posted at least a dozen and a half comments, more likely close to or more than two dozen comments, yet only ten show in Stores Online Review.
To date, StoresOnline’s associated “finance company” Duvera Financial of Carlsbad, California returned my $6900 contract at 24% interest back to StoresOnline, since Duvera refused to change my account name over to my business name as StoresOnline assured me I could do, and then StoresOnline turned my $6,900 “account” over to PROBABLY their other arm of business for collection, to Universal Data services of Saint Joseph, Missouri. I am confident by my business organization knowledge of corporations that both Duvera and United Data are connected in some way with StoresOnline’s investors/owners as “separate” organizations in a spiders’ web of interests and operations.
Since StoresOnline and Duvera have refused to accommodate me in a way that I would willingly continue to be their scam victim, I quit dealing with them after repeatedly telling them I was cancelling my account with StoresOnline, especially since I never activated my account in spite of StoresOnline’s repeated electronic messages to me that I would lose important benefits if I did not activate my online store with them. Well, I never did.
As a result, I contacted my State of Iowa Attorney General to ask for an investigation into StoresOnline and to have Iowa ban StoresOnline from doing business in Iowa (in addition to a very similar formatted at-the-same-hotel seminar on “How To Become A Millionaire”, and all Iowa Attorney General office did was to act as an intermediary arbitration agent, and has done absolutely nothing in my and in Iowan’s behalf.
This default mechanism by state and federal governments is exactly how StoresOnline gets away with their scam, and they do not violate US Postal laws since their seminars are conducted in the hotels, not by mail.
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on February 26th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Hi I attended my first training it seemed interested. I wanted to go for the next one but unfortunately I cannot attend because I am working full time. I was told that if I do not attend my name would be taken of the list
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Frank Reply:
April 13th, 2010 at 10:58 am
You did not miss anything except the sales pressure of constantly telling you you are a 80% a (loser) if you do not get the Pro upgrade for $6,000. I told them three times I was not interested – I was Do-it-yourselfer and if your express program was a piece of shit then you should have not sold it to me.
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on March 9th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
It is March 2010 and they are still at it. I received an invitation to a free conference. Thanks for the website. I will pass on it. I enjoy a good BS session but I would just as well go to a vacation time share event. At least they promise to only keep me 90 minutes.
Eric
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on April 14th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
I went to the seminar and yes, I signed up for the workshop. After researching SOL (check out the BBB!), I’m thinking I shouldn’t waste my Friday. Does anyone know what happens to the initial Express website that cost me $58? Maybe I can use it to play around with before doing things on the real site that I will get elsewhere. Only next time, I’ll checkout the company BEFORE I spend a dime.
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on May 3rd, 2010 at 7:53 am
Me and my boyfriend went to the free conference thing-we received our mp3 player (nothing special but who cares..it was free!) and our free dinner (again nothing special-but still, free
) We also received a website (only one, to split between us, but whatever) for free, that normally costs 200. We got 45 days of free hosting (allowing us to pretty much set up our website for no hosting fee) They suspend the website automatically after 45 days and if we choose to keep it, or when we want it up and running, all we have to do is call them.
So all in all, not a bad night. We paid the 63 dollars between the two of us to go to the full day seminar thing two weeks following. Havent gone yet, but even if nothing comes of this, I dont regret paying that money as its a full day of education. If I learn one or two things, I figure its worth my money as we get free lunch too…Ill make up my decision of whether its worth it to be their customer after this seminar in two weeks. But the free conference wasnt a waste.
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Joseph Reply:
May 7th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Hi Emily,
Are you sure they will suspend the website automatically after 45 days? I just worry that SOL will charge the software fee (10/month) and hosting fee automatically (I used a credit card to pay the $58) if I do not call them to cancel it?
Thanks
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on May 4th, 2010 at 11:19 am
I attended the dinner yesterday (styro box with a croissant and brownie). Recieved a mail in coupon for the M# player. Mailed it today. I signed up for May 21st for 2 of us to attend the workshop for $58.00. I did this knowing the “hard sell” would greet us but I decided that what would be “dangled in front of us” by way of information on Search Engine Optimization, Drop shippers, Traffic, linking, social networking, email marketing, affiliate programs, etc. would be well worth the time and the $58.00. I aleady have a nice website but could use some “marketing assistance. My husband will go with me, we’ll both take notes and WE WILL leave the checkbook and credit card at home. They will tell you that you have to buy then to ‘get the deal’, but we are in a very bad economy. If they want you bad enough as a client they won’t turn you away for taking a little time to make up your mind. If they do then thank your “common sense” that you didn’t become entrenched in something that would come back to bite you in the pocketbook.
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Joseph Reply:
May 7th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Hi Karen,
I paid $58 (using credit card) on 4/30/2010 and the workshop will be on 5/13/2010, too.
Have you noticed that the $58 is for “One Express Software License” (with 45 days free trail), and one day training workshop? In the package they gave you, there is also a “Certificate of License” talking about the hosting fee $24.95
Do you think that if I do not buy any package from the workshop, will they charge the software fee and/or the hosting fee if I do not call them to cancel the account before 45 days? Will they charge me vs my credit card which I used to pay the $58?
Thanks
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tommy Reply:
May 9th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
It is a scam, they will make money either way. I have attended one yesterday and did my calculation. But first let me answer to Karen. Here is how it works:
1) you are invited and promised Mp3 and dinner (you won’t get MP3 – you get a coupon to mail to get MP3 player and if you want one with screen like pictured on the invite you need to add $14.95 to it; the dinner you get only if you stay to the end – including waiting for everyone to make payment …and you get a cold cheap “dinner” and no drink unless you like tap water.
2) they make sure to not to give you any details how it works so that you sign up and buy $58 seminar. (out of 100 people 40 of them signed up – so they got the money back for their $5 dinner plate.
3) let’s assume you have attended the $58 seminar, then you get a “free” hosting and design of you website for monthly fee of $24 usd (you can find much better deals on internet for $3.99 up to 7.99 if you do your search). With that you get the “express” version (BTW the name is stolen from Microsoft who uses that name for Express Database that won’t work for large databses).
3) since the “express” version will not get your website on top of the search engine, you are going to pay $24.95 and waisting your time and money. So you are asked to buy for $3500 the service to get you on top, plus pay buy yourself any addition fees to google, yahoo etc. You are paying for tools that are on internet for free like reverse search engine or vertical portal definition.
At the end you are told that they don’t guarantee any profits (to cover their back).
Karen, the free 45 days start from the first seminar not from the one for $58, that means you are left with 3 weeks of “free” service.
they will also tell you that you can do drop shipping – don’t count on it , if drop-shippers would know it they would ship it by themselves. You are just paying for their search engine – in short.
SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM
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on June 9th, 2010 at 9:53 am
I just wanted to weigh in and leave my thoughts with you all.
First off, I have years of computer experience as a programmer, and recently as a web developer. I wanted to attend the workshop to gain knowledge of the business as far as internet marketing ideas since I wanted to create that type of business.
My wife & I both attended a free workshop, then paid to attend the all day workshop. For the money we paid, we received good quality meals, and lots of information on internet marketing. With my background, I can make the statement that they delivered a lot of very good information to all that were there.
We of course were asked to make a purchase but did not do so. I did not feel it was overly high-pressure as far as the sales tactics. My reason to NOT buy was that I decided I would do internet marketing using my own experience and work skills. In other words, I can do what they are teaching.
As far as the information given in the all day workshop I will say it was very informative and “right-on” as far as what internet marketing consists of, how to do it, and what is involved.
I currently am doing internet marketing and have developed many websites, done SEO work, etc.
As I read the above comments I can tell most of you did not go into the workshops with the background I have, and it seems that most of you have an expectation that this is “easy”, and you will start making money right away with little effort. This is not going to happen.
It is my opinion that SOL did a good job of explaining that this is NOT a “get rich quick” scheme.
If you want to be successful, it will take work on your behalf. When you purchase their product it is not a guarantee that you will make money. Is this any different with any type of business? I do not think so.
As a side note, and to give justification to the product cost, as an example, I have invested many thousands of dollars and untold hours developing the skill set to do internet marketing and web site development.
It is my opinion that if you want to get into this business, the cost that SOL charges is NOT out of line.
One option is to do what I did: go to college and take courses costing thousands combined, spend a couple years in school, study hard, invest money in computers and software used to develop websites for you business, and over time you will have spent a lot more money and time then what they charge. One benefit is you can and will save a lot of time purchasing their product versus the route I have taken. In the end though, there is NO guarantee that you will make a profit. This is what ALL people go through when they set out to build a business, any business.
I clearly heard the SOL people explaining in the seminar you will need to do lots of hard work, spend time working the system, and still there is NO guarantee you will make a profit.
I overheard several people talking like this will be an easy thing to do. It is not true.
If you do not have the background or skill sets, this is in my opinion, is a quality company to go with. I have not attended seminars of other companies, not do I know if there are other companies offering this kind of product.
It seems like many of you are mad at losing your money even though your were told you might not make a profit. How many of you really put in the time and effort to become successful? If you did not make a profit, it is really you that is the problem? As I read the above comments I am appalled at the number of people that purchased the product and never developed a web site. You can’t make a sale if you build a web site.
I do not work for SOL. I did not purchase the SOL product. I am an independent web site developer & internet marketer doing the same things they teach and making money doing it.
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Anthony Reply:
June 24th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
well said
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on June 24th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
First off i would like to thank all the good people who posted on the site. I went to the seminars and all the did was try to sell their product they give a shit about us. Just another which is the last one i have went to. I am a foreigner and like i have been told many times by Americans. “nothing is free in America” this is a corperate nation so i will leave these get rich quick schemes and do it the old fashion American Way. Work hard and live to the fullest
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on July 8th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Me and my boss went to the seminars thinking is was on how to sell Ebay, which I do at work.
We loved what we were hearing. My boss has worked with other website designers which took longer than 2 years for hardley anything and a bigger bill than what Stores online is charging. We love that we are in charge! I only call the support when I have a question or I don’t understand something. The website is looking great and I am currently winning in the race with the web designer as I type!
This is a powerful thing! It does cost a lot of money, but it’s cheaper than going through a web designer and not getting what you want. Plus free websites online don’t give you any outside the box designs!
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