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Report: #506412

Complaint Review: The Internet Marketing Center - Vancouver British Columbia

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  • Reported By: Joel — LaSalle Quebec Canada
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  • The Internet Marketing Center 380 2925 Virtual Way Vancouver, British Columbia United States of America

The Internet Marketing Center I paid $9,000.00 for a mentoring program that came with lame coaching, a Mickey Mouse website, no follow up and broken promises about resolving the issue Vancouver, British Columbia

*Author of original report: Problem Solved

*UPDATE Employee: Customer Complaint Resolved

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I signed up for their Advanced Mentoring Program in May 2006 to find and develop an Internet niche market. The cost was $8000.00 US (it came to over $8800.00 CND after the currency conversion), $7000.00 for the program itself and an extra $1000.00 for building a professional website. I had to postpone the program until June 2007 due to my lack of Internet Service at my office, at which time I resumed the program.

 

The package covered coaching sessions over the telephone and by Email, domain name registration and building a professional website. After I chose my niche market, I told them what kind of business I had in mind and they had no objections.

 

It went well for the most part, but the real problem was in building the website. Their webmaster, Bron Fieldwalker of Syndicate Digital did not build it to my exact specifications, wanted to charge me extra money for things that should have been included in the package, and finally posted my site online without my permission and refused to correct the many problems with it. I had other web designers examine the work Bron had done and they concurred that it was basically a Mickey Mouse job done with cheap templates and no layering. Totally inadequate for the business I had in mind. They checked the sites of the other listed entrepreneurs who completed their program, and they found the same thing.

 

The people at IMC waited till later in the program to object to the things I wanted done and they seemed surprisingly ignorant of basic web design.

 

For example, I told my mentor from the beginning that I wanted to build an online store. I understood that certain things like a site manager and a database would not be covered, but the basic site would be. Later on, they told me that shopping carts were not included in the package. I thought they were going to reneg on their promises, but my colleagues told me that PayPal offers free shopping carts. I was relieved, but also perplexed. These people who work for a company that claims to have pioneered Internet marketing since 1996, didn't tell me this fact from the beginning and caused me to worry unnecessarily. Outrageous. On top of that, I had to hire another webmaster to do the work that should have been done properly the first time.

 

In addition, I suspect Bron of trying to sabotage my website. I had some words with him, and told him I flatly refused to pay additional money to him and basically ordered him to give the the files used to create the site, which after some arguing he did. When my new webmaster has working on the site, he couldn't login to the hosting account. The company used by IMC at the time, Hostica, doesn't keep track of who logs in and when, so I can't prove it, but the rules of evidence, namely motive and opportunity, point squarely at Bron.

 

I guess they wanted nothing further to do with me. The only follow up I got from them was another agent calling me about their new Intensive Mentoring Program. I forwarded my complaint to both him and the company President, Mr. Derek Gehl, but got no response. Finally I called them and spoke to an agent in person, Breanne Stern. She was looking into it and was supposed to give me a reply shortly...over two months ago.

This was filed with the Better Business Bureau in May 2009. So far, sill nothing and worse, they say that since the IMC did provide the service (even if it wasn't what they promised or implied), they can't be prosecuted for fraud.

I signed up for their Advanced Mentoring Program in May 2006 to find and develop an Internet niche market. The cost was $8000.00 US (it came to over $8800.00 CND after the currency conversion), $7000.00 for the program itself and an extra $1000.00 for building a professional website. I had to postpone the program until June 2007 due to my lack of Internet Service at my office, at which time I resumed the program.

 

The package covered coaching sessions over the telephone and by Email, domain name registration and building a professional website. After I chose my niche market, I told them what kind of business I had in mind and they had no objections.

 

It went well for the most part, but the real problem was in building the website. Their webmaster, Bron Fieldwalker of Syndicate Digital did not build it to my exact specifications, wanted to charge me extra money for things that should have been included in the package, and finally posted my site online without my permission and refused to correct the many problems with it. I had other web designers examine the work Bron had done and they concurred that it was basically a Mickey Mouse job done with cheap templates and no layering. Totally inadequate for the business I had in mind. They checked the sites of the other listed entrepreneurs who completed their program, and they found the same thing.

 

The people at IMC waited till later in the program to object to the things I wanted done and they seemed surprisingly ignorant of basic web design.

 

For example, I told my mentor from the beginning that I wanted to build an online store. I understood that certain things like a site manager and a database would not be covered, but the basic site would be. Later on, they told me that shopping carts were not included in the package. I thought they were going to reneg on their promises, but my colleagues told me that PayPal offers free shopping carts. I was relieved, but also perplexed. These people who work for a company that claims to have pioneered Internet marketing since 1996, didn't tell me this fact from the beginning and caused me to worry unnecessarily. Outrageous. On top of that, I had to hire another webmaster to do the work that should have been done properly the first time.

 

In addition, I suspect Bron of trying to sabotage my website. I had some words with him, and told him I flatly refused to pay additional money to him and basically ordered him to give the the files used to create the site, which after some arguing he did. When my new webmaster has working on the site, he couldn't login to the hosting account. The company used by IMC at the time, Hostica, doesn't keep track of who logs in and when, so I can't prove it, but the rules of evidence, namely motive and opportunity, point squarely at Bron.

 

I guess they wanted nothing further to do with me. The only follow up I got from them was another agent calling me about their new Intensive Mentoring Program. I forwarded my complaint to both him and the company President, Mr. Derek Gehl, but got no response. Finally I called them and spoke to an agent in person, Breanne Stern. She was looking into it and was supposed to give me a reply shortly...over two months ago.


This was in May 2009 that I filed this report with the Better Business Bureau and the case is still unresolved. Worse, they say the because the IMC did provide the service (even if it wasn't everything they promised or implied), they can't be prosecuted for fraud.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 10/08/2009 02:02 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/the-internet-marketing-center/vancouver-british-columbia-v5m-4x5/the-internet-marketing-center-i-paid-900000-for-a-mentoring-program-that-came-with-lam-506412. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author
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0Employee/Owner

#2 Author of original report

Problem Solved

AUTHOR: Joel Joseph - (Canada)

POSTED: Thursday, December 10, 2009

The people at IMC finally contacted me and a resolution was agreed upon. They refunded me the website-building portion of the mentoring program, 1000.00USD. They initially offered me 500.00USD, but when I pointed out the original price for the webdesign and they verified it, they offered me the full refund.

The key is to do your homework before investing in any Internet Marketing program. They may have been the first ones to pioneer this field, but now they're a dime a dozen. Often, you can find someone who can do a better job for way less, like I did.

Make sure they're clear about what they're offering you. If they're not willing to go the extra mile for you after you've invested a small fortune, they're probably not right for you. If they don't live up to your (realistic) expectations, let them know. If they can't resolve any issues in a timely manner, then file a complaint against them.

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#1 UPDATE Employee

Customer Complaint Resolved

AUTHOR: Stacey Melquist - (Canada)

POSTED: Wednesday, December 09, 2009

To provide an update on this complaint; IMC has resolved this issue.


After speaking with this client and understanding the issues at hand, both IMC and the client came to a mutually agreeable resolution, to which both IMC and the client were satisfied.


Sincerely,
Stacey Melquist
Customer Relations Team Lead
The Internet Marketing Center


 

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