TYPICAL COMPLAINT ON Stores Online

RE: StoresOnline.com - poor service experience - have asked for refund of $10,284 In late November 2002, I received a card in the mail stating that I was invited to a seminar with a Free meal at the Holiday Inn. I went along with my daughter-in-law. This was for StoresOnline.com. The representatives intrigued us with their presentation and I ended up paying $20 for us to attend the "workshop" held on November 25, 2002. Actually, the workshop turned into a sales presentation to lure the people attending into signing up for 3-6 or more electronic storefronts. They were sold in packets of 3. The people described a number of state-of-the-art features that I had never heard of and due to my lack of experience in the field of website design and internet marketing, it sounded like a true winner. I wanted very much to have an internet based business that would be profitable. Who could lose when partnered with the knowledge, experience and technological equipment provided by StoresOnline. Since I have worked all my life with very little to show for it, I was very interested in the fact that an individual with no knowledge of computers or website design and internet marketing could with the backing of StoresOnline actually make $40,000 to $80,000 a month selling just about anything on the internet, including dog poop and tumbleweeds. It was assured to us that even if we chose to design and built our own sites, the StoresOnline professionals would review the store front to ensure no mistakes went through to publication. We were sold. We had a number of ideas for some online stores. Using my credit card, I purchased 6 electronic storefronts for $5,199 on November 25, 2002 at the seminar/workshop. I had no doubts that as stated by the speakers that within a month of publishing my first store, it would begin paying off this debt. We were promised 200=400 links to each store through Links4Trade. We got less than 20 from them and posted many of our links ourselves. In December, I was called and told that we had been chosen to be the StoresOnline's Texas Success Team. For $4,518, we were signed on with what I expected to be a sure thing with the Storesonline backing. For this additional investment, we were promised a lot of things, but all we actually got was 10 approximately 20-30 minute phone calls in which we were told to go to this website or to that website, learn this, learn that, buy this or buy that. Sign up for these search engines etc. I ended up spending another $1000 or more doing what they told me to do on top of the additional $50 to publish a new store and have them host it for $139 a year. The professional help promised was never as good as my own abilities. I designed and built 3 stores using their program; however, every time I asked for help, I was told to go to this website and you'll learn how to do that. Or, we charge $50 an hour to do that for you. My stores went public with poor design and errors. Even when someone did look at our stores from StoresOnline, they were not critiqued too closely and improvements were never done or even suggested. The program used by StoresOnline was very difficult to learn to use and so I learned through trial and error. Time consuming and costly. They indicated that even if you did not know what a mouse was, you'd be able to use their program. Not so. Plus when you do build a store using their program, you are tied to their program because to move your site elsewhere means to have to redesign and rebuild much of it. The Online Chat did not work for me because of my computer; however, when I was able to access the Chat Line using my laptop, I would be told to go to this website to get that help or they were completely lacking in any ability to answer my questions. Finally getting fed up with my own lack of abilities and not wanting to pay hundreds of dollars more to StoresOnline, I hired a lady who was profiecient in designing and building websites. I told her to work with the StoresOnline programmer who had eventually been assigned to more or less appease me and keep me quiet as he never actually did much as far as help on my web sites. She was told to contact Customer Support who promptly ignored her and when the new site was completed, she had no idea how to upload it to StoresOnline. This was promised at the seminar to be easy and in no way a big problem. However, her efforts to get help with doing this were basically ignored. With this, I became completely and totally exasperated with StoresOnline and told them for about the third of fourth time that I wanted a total refund of all my investment into StoresOnline and that I would then go elsewhere. My third store, designed and built outside of StoresOnline, is now being hosted by the designer who has done a beautiful job and who also has been very helpful and supportive in my endeavors to build an internet business for a fraction of the cost that StoresOnline was paid. I have asked that StoresOnline refund to me the $10,284 total. So far, I have heard nothing back from them. On 3 separate occasions, I wrote to StoresOnline stating how dissatisfied I was with their program and requesting a refund. The first 2 times, I received a call and was again convinced that I had not given it a fair trial and that things would be different as StoresOnline provided a lot for the money. This time, I have already put into progress moving my stores elsewhere where we will be given the support and professional experience needed. Almost all of the money paid to StoresOnline was paid using my credit cards, which from their point of view, would be paid off before the credit card company even began to collect interest. I want my money back and I think StoresOnline should be stopped from proclaiming success with their backing, as they provide noen. I already knew or had access to much of what they did provide (a program to build a site) and information on how to market your site. All of which is available in books (I have them) and on the internet for FREE. I do hope you can help me in retrieving this, as I definitely will not work with StoresOnline and have taken the steps to get out. The following 3 stores will be located at another hosting site. The last one, ravenswingmassage.com has already been transferred and will be available within 24 hours. Have a nice day! Alice