Beware of offer for money-making conferences in town
A company from Utah is in town, marketing ways to make extra money on the Internet.
Maybe you got an invitation in the mail for free conferences through the Labor Day weekend with complimentary breakfast, lunch or dinner. The conferences are scheduled at hotels in Olympia and Tacoma.
The mailing is from a company called StoresOnline, which offers Website-building software to people who want to use the Internet to make money.
The company's website includes its own You Tube video showing people at its training seminars conducted at hotels across the country. The people in the video appear excited and about their prospects of using the company's software to develop an Internet business.
But StoresOnline's rating with the Better Business Bureau is "F," the lowest rating possible. The BBB says it has recorded more an 800 complaints about the company's practices and at least eight states have taken legal action.
Since 2007, either StoresOnline or it's parent company iMergent has reached settlements with the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Wisconsin, Connecticut, North Carolina and Florida. The company has also been taken to court by the government of Australia. The allegations include exaggerated and deceptive claims, inoperable products, failure to disclose the consumer's right to cancel and failure to provide refunds.
I called the company's Utah headquarters to get their response to the less the favorable feedback. The company's chief legal officer, Jeffrey Korn, returned my call and said most of the BBB complaints are from years ago and have long been settled.
Korn made a point to explain that 800 complaints is a very low percentage of complaints based on the more than 10 million people it's seen over the past 10 years. Korn says that largely because of the past legal actions, StoresOnline has made substantive improvements.
"And we continue to make improvements in the way we do business," Korn added. "We make it abundantly clear that to make a profit on the Internet you must have the right product, you must market it properly and you have to spend the time necessary to do it properly. Without all three of those factors, you're not going to do well in any business."
Korn told me: "We make very clear who we are, what we do, how we do it , what the software can and cannot do, who it's right for, and who it's not right for."
"We're not perfect, but we have award winning customer service. We have superb software and the percentage of complaints compared to the number of people we've seen is quite low. We strive to correct any errors we make. We work hard to make certain people understand if our software is right for them and provide the pest experience possible," Korn said.
As for what takes place at the free conferences at local hotels, Korn said that during the first 90 minute session, you're offered a $40 software program that you can buy and take home to test drive for two weeks. If you attend the follow-up session, you're offered the company's upgraded software, which is priced at $3,000 to $6,000.
When questioned about whether consumers are given clear information about their rights to cancel as required by law, Korn said the cancellation rights are clearly disclosed. You have the right to cancel and get a refund within three business days. Customers over 65 years old have 15 business days to cancel their contract.
For more information:
StoresOnline no thrift shop for hopeful Internet entrepreneurs
BBB: StoresOnline, Inc.
StoresOnline.com
Maybe you got an invitation in the mail for free conferences through the Labor Day weekend with complimentary breakfast, lunch or dinner. The conferences are scheduled at hotels in Olympia and Tacoma.
The mailing is from a company called StoresOnline, which offers Website-building software to people who want to use the Internet to make money.
The company's website includes its own You Tube video showing people at its training seminars conducted at hotels across the country. The people in the video appear excited and about their prospects of using the company's software to develop an Internet business.
But StoresOnline's rating with the Better Business Bureau is "F," the lowest rating possible. The BBB says it has recorded more an 800 complaints about the company's practices and at least eight states have taken legal action.
Since 2007, either StoresOnline or it's parent company iMergent has reached settlements with the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Wisconsin, Connecticut, North Carolina and Florida. The company has also been taken to court by the government of Australia. The allegations include exaggerated and deceptive claims, inoperable products, failure to disclose the consumer's right to cancel and failure to provide refunds.
I called the company's Utah headquarters to get their response to the less the favorable feedback. The company's chief legal officer, Jeffrey Korn, returned my call and said most of the BBB complaints are from years ago and have long been settled.
Korn made a point to explain that 800 complaints is a very low percentage of complaints based on the more than 10 million people it's seen over the past 10 years. Korn says that largely because of the past legal actions, StoresOnline has made substantive improvements.
"And we continue to make improvements in the way we do business," Korn added. "We make it abundantly clear that to make a profit on the Internet you must have the right product, you must market it properly and you have to spend the time necessary to do it properly. Without all three of those factors, you're not going to do well in any business."
Korn told me: "We make very clear who we are, what we do, how we do it , what the software can and cannot do, who it's right for, and who it's not right for."
"We're not perfect, but we have award winning customer service. We have superb software and the percentage of complaints compared to the number of people we've seen is quite low. We strive to correct any errors we make. We work hard to make certain people understand if our software is right for them and provide the pest experience possible," Korn said.
As for what takes place at the free conferences at local hotels, Korn said that during the first 90 minute session, you're offered a $40 software program that you can buy and take home to test drive for two weeks. If you attend the follow-up session, you're offered the company's upgraded software, which is priced at $3,000 to $6,000.
When questioned about whether consumers are given clear information about their rights to cancel as required by law, Korn said the cancellation rights are clearly disclosed. You have the right to cancel and get a refund within three business days. Customers over 65 years old have 15 business days to cancel their contract.
For more information:
StoresOnline no thrift shop for hopeful Internet entrepreneurs
BBB: StoresOnline, Inc.
StoresOnline.com