Dec
A Free iPod From Stores Online! How Cool!
If you’ve never heard of Stores Online, you are missing out on one of the biggest ripoffs in the entire internet marketing world. You might not recognize the name from some sales letter because that’s not how they rope you in.
Stores Online sends letters to people (preferably older people in rural areas that may be seen as more gullible) inviting them to attend a free conference about how to make money on the internet. The conference is held at a local hotel ballroom.
If you attend, you get a free seminar, free lunch, and free gift. Sounds great, except…
Then they sell you their overpriced garbage services for somewhere in the range of $10,000 for a turnkey e-commerce website.
I’ve been to one of their conferences, but I’ll save that story for another day. Today I want to show you the latest flyer I got from Stores Online. (Yes, they are still inviting me back to their conferences!)
Like I said, they offer a free gift for attending. In this instance, the letter said “free MP3 player” and showed a picture of an iPod Shuffle.
Then I was reading the fine print and it said you get a free MP3 player, but you specifically DO NOT get an iPod! LOL!
Here is a scan of the letter:
You can click the picture to see it full size. You can clearly see the iPod portrayed below the “Free MP3 Player” text, but once you read the fine print, it points out that you most definitely do not get one of those for free!
That’s such a funny “bait and switch” I couldn’t resist sharing it!
(For further reading on Stores Online, here is a funny investigation plus a ripoff report.)
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Click here to buy me a beer, because damn, I need to get drunk to forget how much internet marketing sucks!
Lol, that sucks big time. That is the reason i always read fine prints.
Maybe they just don’t know the difference between and ipod and an mp3, and just put a picture of an ipod. Either way, pretty poor level of professionalism.
@Rob
Yeah, I forgot, a lot of people do get that confused.
But in the fine print they specifically point out that you don’t get an iPod, and that the iPod is a trademark of Apple, etc. So if they really were clueless they wouldn’t know to write that statement.
After being to one of their conferences, I have seen just how dubious this company is! They make the average internet marketing guru look like a saint!
I have been to one of there seminars way back, like five years ago… I learnt some stuff, but most of what i learnt was just the stuff that is online for free…
@Timon
Yeah, I remember them saying “and look at our keyword research tool” and they opened the free Overture keyword tool in a web browser! LOL
Those tricky marketing geniuses. It’s pretty spammy in a way but hey, i guess they get a lot of readers.
hmm at least it’s free to attend right? I think I’ll go for the free lunch hehe
Sam
I hate those kinds of marketing. I’ve been offered a trip to Las Vegas for attending a time-share information session. Went to the session, took the free trip, and never signed up lol
10k for a couple free meals..sign me up! haha, always nice to expose bs like this.
Interesting, but not for me. My attitude is always very suspicious to such things.
Hey, this is really funny thing! Thanks! Now I understand, that I should always read the text below attractive picture!
LOL! that was really funny! because that experience happen to me last week.
There are a bunch of scams out there just go to Ebay and search for HDTV and you will see what I mean…
Its like those Tv commercials that say but wait theres more and the give you a crap “gift”.
Sounds like a big scam for me.if not kindly explain to me further.Thanks
Nice way to attract attention! Funny and working, ha!
Really funny! You have so many interesting things in your posts, thanks for that!
Hey brother..
Dude that sucks a$$ big time !! As above though bet the tactic work.. but yeah spam all over it
Peace
Dean
One of the great marketing strategy it benefits both side they get enough strength to make people fool, audience get free meal and free stuff Lol….
so you missed free ipod, you have always such a interesting post…
One type of marketing event, we seen same strategy in online marketing, always need a beautiful cover to attract general audience and exact they did….
This is EXACTLY why Internet Marketers have a bad reputation. It just makes it harder for legitimate businesses to help others out. Because there are so many scammers out there, people have a hard time getting help! They don’t know who they can trust. This stuff makes me very mad.
TomG.
This article really makes me smile! Thank you so much for sharing a very valuable post.
As you told the majority of audience consists of old people who are supposed not to be able to differentiate between IPods and MP3 players. Just another tricky scam.
Well, that’s what I say ‘blackhat!’ lol I receive one of those on my Junk folder. I wondered, how they got my email as I don’t ever recall giving it to them or subscribing to any of their newsletter or products. Really cunning!
We need more people like you to take time to expose the bad boys. Good post!
You know…I almost went to one of these seminars but not to “learn” anything. I figured that there would be a ton of people who had no clue how to make money online. How much easier would it be to grab a few more followers and sell them stuff that actually works?
@Leo
I know exactly what you mean.
But the StoresOnline staffers were quite vigilant about making sure that doesn’t happen! I bet they would have escorted you out if you pulled out a business card.
This is very funny! Great post!
wow,
I am from france, and It makes me remember of some add where an add, telling that you woudl recieve your weight as GOLD, the thing was that your were recieveng a “weight” in Glod which actually was that kind of weight that you use on a balance to weight something.
That was funny actually, to know that people wre believenig all that crap!!
Anyway good blog, it s always fun to see that some marketers have no ethics at all and that on the pther hand there are still people believing them!
Ciao
I think it is a big scam. I am a type of person who are not easy to believe in any things. Unless I prove it and see it for myself.
Thanks for sharing that story. It seems like the internet is a safe haven for scam artist looking for anonymity. You should also be careful of the ads that tell you you can blast your emails to millions daily…Thanks
I’ve seen so many online scams I just ignore them completely. I wonder if visitors are ever going to learn to ignore ads completely. Probably not.
Wow! In this day and age? Can not something be done about this?
This is great! When I got engaged to my wife, we got a call that said come here for a free trip to one of five resorts!! Yeah, we had to listen to a 2 hour cooking demo first!! Never did see the trip…
Now a days, people can say anything they want and if it doesn’t work out, then there are no repercussions for lying!
Very nice hahaha..
)
Ya i got one ipod like this ………… i have joined one computer course they given ipod , whether tht course helping me or not ………
that ipod helping me lot
So what’s the catch? Great offer though, I’ll try my luck too. Thank you for sharing
hay you got knowledge from ipod then it is good i also try for this thanks for sharing good information.
That’s sad that they show a free ipod, and then give away from random mp3 player.
The bigger outrage is the fact that they sell ecommerce stuff for $10,000….
Has there been any come back from them on your review of their scam? It will be interesting to know how they reacted.
It says that you can choose an mp3 player on the day (not and ipod) or recieve a mail-in redemption coupon for the ipod shuffle. So you do get the option of an ipod – you just have to send off for it… And then more than likely never recieve it but they covered themselves.
I suppose for every one reader here they have ten readers over there. And those readers are dumb and they have 47 USD conveniently in their pocket. That leaves 3 USD for coffee. Grrreat!
My episode of this scam began with a TV commercial here in Sacramento. Called the number, got my ticket mailed to me and was 30 minutes early to the (ahem), seminar. To keep it short, we did get the free lunch, did get the ALL DAY spiel (testimonials and all) and after lunch they broke up us into groups. One group ready to pay the $7,600 with their *instant financing* and one group for skeptics.
I knew what the deal was the first ten minutes of powerpoint slides:
An overpriced hosting contract deal and some junkie cookie cutter websites for ONLY $7,600!
The funniest part was helping this guy out in his $300 suit, to get his laptop connected to the internet. They were using the hotels WIFI connection and his Norton firewall was blocking the signal. After watching him fumble for ten minutes, I finally walked up to the front and whispered to him: “Are you running a firewall”? He embarrassingly replied yes, and shut it down. Like magic, he was connected!
If you want a good laugh and a free lunch, go to one of these events: The food ain’t bad, but the rest is just a scam!
Well, thise guys are worst gangstas! They should be sent to Jail since it´s an abuse. Those scammers are worst than drug dealers since they rip off honnest and poor people.
Olivia
One thing I forgot to mention was the free gift offer. Oh yes, there was a free leather day planner they offered if you attend the seminar. Turned out to be a cheap no name vinyl planner that came in a cheap box.
Since we had just moved to the SAC area (I just retired from the military), we had planned to visit downtown anyway, so we thought we take in the seminar, then visit “Old Town Sacramento” later on in the day.
My biggest disappointment was not the let down from the event, it was all the poor folks who got suckered into the scam. I know there was a few senior couples who were applying for this “scam” package. I really wanted to say something to these folks, but it was their event and they had paid for the conference room; it was their show, not mine.
Bottom Line: Any event, and I mean any offer as well, that promises a free gift is a scam. If their product was a genuine investment, why would they be leading you in with a carrot on a string?
But hey, if you are like I was that day, just killing time, grab the free lunch!
fine prints are blessings from heaven LMAO. if you don’t read fine prints, you can get in serious trouble or end up paying a lof of money for something that is supposedly free.
@Tony
Thanks for the comments, they bring back even more memories of this thing! I think I got the free day planner myself.
But yeah, they’d make bogus statements and everyone would “ooh” and “ahh” and I would cringe, knowing I couldn’t warn everyone not to spend the money.
In Germany there was an company, which give for 15 inivations an ipod nano for free. The registration took 20 Min, but I was free of charge. Crazy…
Haha… i was wanting to write something like tat. looks like i have to change my mind. i agree, This stuffs suck!!
Anand
Yeah! it is sucks! LOL!
Ya, I attended a StoresOnline seminar in Trenton, ON, where at the end we had a choice of a no name mock ipod shuffle or we can take a “coupon” to be amiled away with $10.00, to cover shipping, for a free Ipod shuffle. Hm… that was a few months ago! And my money order HAS been cashed. I emailed them about 3 times, I’ll try again tomorrow. Don’t really expect to ever see it though!
Isn’t this illegal?? Somebody sue these mfers. It can’t be too hard to track these guys down.
So, they are taking advantage of people with their overpriced guru information and then not even giving you a quality “gift”. I am sure it is one of those knockoff MP3 players that barely work.
Some marketing scheme I believe. People will always do almost anything, even blackhat as it is just so they’ll make a sale. Be wary of ads and read the fine print as there maybe some downside to the purchase.
atleast they are giving free lunch. When will be the next conference? I got a lot of friends doin nothin now a days
maybe you all guys have don’t the many for their products, I’ve experienced it personally,, and I can say ABSOLUTELY “FABOLOSO”!!! I got the nice Apple ipod as FREE gift, this is trully LOL to you guys!!!!!
)
Another online scam. It was really a famous client baiting tactics. Here in my country, large electronics supplier do this kind of things.
They will call you right at your home and will tell you that your phone number won a free gift from their company and you must go there to get it, or else, it will be forfeited.
When you reach their company, their staffs and employees will congratulate you (nice script from them) for winning that gift.
But before claiming your free gift, you have to buy a kind of crappy thing that is too expensive, and you cant use generally.
If you refuse, they will tell you, “ohh, im sorry but you already acknowledge your gift and we recorded our conversation, we cannot accept your refusal”.
What happens next? Well it depends on the customer if they will accept the offer and be frightened by the store’s harassment or just leave the store and tell them, It Was a SCAM!
And that is how they do some kind of client scams.
I never trust these “free gift” for attendance. Nothing in our world is for free and so it would be in this case.
Lol what a rip off.
Thanks for the useful tips, I believe that there’s no such thing as free lunch.
It’s amazing how many people are looking for that “turnkey” website tha that they just set up and forget while their millions roll in. They don’t seem to realize that if it was that easy to make money online than everybody would be.
That doesn’t surprise me. Stores Online is known for making money mostly by scaming people into buying stuff they don’t need so I guess that was a logical next step for them.
Sorry about your loss, but “bait and switch” has been around a long time. Just goes to show you it’s not so much the fact that Internet Marketing sucks, as it is that certain someones in Internet Marketing suck…some more than others. Hang in there…
Frank
Just wondering no new post for a while? When’s the new post coming. Love your blog always have something useful for the readers
Its funny, reall intresting ipod free.but cool post about ipod.Thanks this useful tips….nice
Well, I guess I am one of those that may be scammed. I purchased a Stores Online Express website for $38.00, regularly $199.00. I was thinking about drop shipping. You guys say that Stores Online is scamming people who can get this information free online. Where can you get this information for free at? I did send in for a free ipod a week ago. I thought this was a good deal and purchased an express for my son. He was laid off from a job he had for 5 years. I thought this would help him out.
this is funny! When I’m young i always skip the fine prints and was gullible enough to be cheated by them. Now, I always read fine prints before making any decisions.Lots of companies are always placing tricks in fine prints.
I got one of those in the mail too. I was going to go for the free iPod…and perhaps learn some tips. Fortunately, after reading this, I am glad that I did not! Thanks for making us aware.
hahahahahaha!! Great Post
Having perused this post again I now see where the catch is…conniving swines! Always read the fine print if the offer seems too good to be true. Conmen abound in this world and the internet is their great new hunting ground.
Nice Post, thanks
come on dude atleast you are getting free lunch and they say there is nothing like free
I was actually one of the suckers these guys reeled in, all they done at the 90 minute thing is try to sell to you, they just keep saying so and so made this much money with our services, at one point they go, “lets talk about affiliate marketing, you might want to take notes” and all he done was talk about essentially the definition of affiliate marketing, nothing about sales or traffic generation
at the end they tell you for a tenner you can come to our one day conference, and again all that is is selling you, some poor sods actiually paid them well over £2000 for their crap
Sorry to hear that. For every scam, there is a sucker. Doubt you will be fooled next time.
Well we can complain about scammers but the truth is that as long as people fall for that stuff being a scammer will bring a lot of money. And people will always fall for offers like this one.
Such online offers really suck.They are just a waste of time and some people still believe that there is someone out there really distributing free gifts like Santa.
Actually it would be very surprising if people didn’t invent any scams in order to make money.
Pretty spammy lol
But as they said at least it is free to attend lol
This types of marketing strategies not good for business.
very misleading imo
A few months ago my friend invited me to go to a free conference about marketing, where we have free lunch and at the end we get gifts. First I thought that it was fraud but later I understand that the excellent presentation and it opened my horizons for a new job.
this is the type of marketing that gives internet marketers a bad name.
Interesting by the way, but I agree with the post from Ipod Adapter
LOL that’s hilarious. Yes I hate those things, even the ridiculous spam emails I get sometimes claiming you “get $500 visa cards free”..
There should be a law against people like these.
By the way I love your site. Totally my kind of humor. LOL.
There are too many people out there bait & switching it always pays to read the fine print
i see these ads all the time. i figured it was ripoff like anything else. thanks for the info.
this is when you definitely have to read the fine print. i hate this crap.
This is the most common marketing stunt, show something and give something, more like “conditions apply”.
Many people are get blind, when they read the word “free” and don’t read the fine prints, unfortunately
Hah. A free iPod. Who believes this stuff? Ok, I got suckered but we’re not all that smart
There is never nothing free in life. always read the fine print.
right! Only the Dead is for free!
Yeah scams like that are all too common, that is why it is always good to read the fine print. I see that they will probably give out a cheap mp3 player, but they do give you a mail in redemption coupon for the ipod shuffle… that is just ridiculous.
-Randy
$10,000 for an e-commerce solution? They most likely provide you with a subdomain off of their own domain. Then they charge you for it, you build the site as much as you can, and when you decide it isn’t worth it because you most likely will fail, you forfeit your property and the intellectual property that you have built becomes their own.
Anyway, the free ipod that isn’t an ipod doesn’t shock me as much as this scam to con you of $10,000. No ecommerce website should cost you that much to build, unless it is an ultimate customized solution!
Taht are marketing trick and all of us have to be careful about it…internet is great but sometimes can be dangerous….open eyes my friends….
bey
I am so sick of seeing scam like this…and to make matters worse…no matter how many reputable people call them out…they just keep coming!
Keep up the fight my friend. We do our best to call out scammers like this whenever possible.
OMFG, you mean…it says it’s an mp3 player and it…OMFG is an mp3 player? THE BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How dare they give what they actually advertise? Where the hell does it say that it’s an iPod, you retard?