Adam Ginsberg International Adam Ginsberg International Adam Ginsberg gave a deceptive show about Speedings potential to generate passive income; he tricked people to pay $6000 (or more) for his product; Speedlings did not generate revenues Los Angeles, California
On July 9, 2010, I was present at a commercial training at Los Angeles airport, when Adam Ginsberg appeared as a guest speaker.
He promoted a new web-based application called Speedlings. He gave a demo by registering a new domain, then built a new web site, then did some manipulations to show that the new site was generating money every few minutes, from various associated links. He calculated that a site must generate at least $1.00 per day, and if one person builds a new site each day consistently, that person can generate at least $120000 of "passive income" per year, from all 365 sites. He stated that a particular site of his, www.discountlipgl***.com normally generated $14/day for him.
He then asked people in attendance (about 100) to sign up for Speedlings, by giving additional reasons. He said that he would not come back at a later time, that if a person signs up on that day, the cost of a domain name would be "grandfathered in" at $15 per domain.
Furthermore, he gave a guarantee to pay back "double your money" after one year, if a person cannot make a profit after one year. The pre-requisite is that a person must generate 30 sites each month, and must submit a list of 30 new sites to Speedlings each month. The total cost (undisclosed by Adam Ginsberg) to acquire 335 domain credits is at least $6725 ( = $600 x 11 + $25 x 5).
Adam Ginsberg tricked people to sign up, by giving a deceptive presentation. The Speedlings software actually will not work as promoted, because the income (revenue) may never come.
The contract that Adam asked people to sign did not contain any verbal guarantee for "double your money" back.
From my experience with Speedlings, after almost 1 month and with 25 sites, my total revenue as reported by Speedlings was $0.68. Several other users have similar experience, as reported by the "Marketplace" area within Speedlings:
site: www.Climbing-Rock-W***.com after 150 days generated $0.00
site: www.BuyingMin****.com after 273 days generated $2.00
site www.FreeLandsc*****.Net after 233 days generated $0.00
site www.PersonalInjuryAttorn******.com after 225 days generated $1.00
People did pay extremely high cost for Speedlings, with the expectation that they shall obtain the "implied performance" by Speedlings, i.e. to obtain the revenue. Speedlings can generate web sites; however, simply generating new web sites is not satisfactory, because people can obtain (and own) pc-based software packages to create web pages/web sites (e.g. Dreamweaver, Frontpage at a much lower cost, or Kompozer for no cost).
Furthermore, Adam withheld actual cost of buying new domains (i.e. no full disclosure). To obtain a new domain for $15 each, users have to buy a bundle of 1000 new domains ("domain credits") for $1500. Otherwise, the cost for a single new domain (or renewal) is $25. For comparison, many other sites offer a new domain for under $10.
Now, let's consider the whole contract that Adam asked people to sign. He actually did not go over the details of the contract. A contract is considered valid (and enforceable) when there is mutual agreement "meeting of the minds" regarding the details of the contract. The Speedlings agreement/contract might not be considered valid or enforceable, because there was no "meeting of the minds" in the first place. Adam Ginsberg's intention was to mislead, and deceive uninformed people to sign up, and to unjustly enrich himself.
I signed up to pay for the "Gold Unlimited package," with the initial payment of $2297, to be followed by two additional payments of same amount. After nearly a month using Speedlings, I realized that Speedlings is a total failure (based on my experience, and based on additional info. from the Marketplace within Speedlings). My total "revenue" from all sites was under $1.00. At least two other people have written disappointing results with Speedlings, even though the terms of the contract/agreement would not allow people to publicly discuss their earnings, or their experience with the company!
My discretionary income is only approx. $250 a month; therefore, I could not inject extra $600 per month to buy the "domain credits" and to create 30 new sites each month as I planned. I currently pay a fraction of the initial payment each month, which I made on my credit card.
When I contacted Seedlings rep on Aug 6, 2010 to cancel my contract/agreement with Speedlings (and again on the following days), the answer was that I had to pay the whole purchase price, because I did not cancel within the 3 days window after I signed the agreement. However, I would like to emphasize that the agreement/contract allows for a way out beyond the first 3 days, per section 10b(i)&(ii). Also, considering the fact that I did not write that agreement, the contract/agreement must be interpreted in favor of me (the person who did not write it). Again, section 10b contains no condition regarding the first 3 days period, or full payment requirement.
Finally, because Speedings did not deliver the results as shown in the demonstration on July 9, 2010 (misrepresented revenue potential), the software tool (product) did not meet the "implied performance" of this product. I believe that all Speedlings users should be allowed to get their money back (prorated or full refund), with no string attached (e.g. wait after one year, and pay additional $6725 to Adam/Speedlings to create more sites as his verbal conditions). This is the "specific performance" I am asking from Adam Ginsberg and Speedlings.
To prove that I am actually an user of Speedlings, and have paid outrageous fee to "access" and "use" this product, I have included below some actual email exchanges between me and Speedlings' rep., with some texts omitted, partly due to privacy.
An unfortunate user of Speedlings from Calif., USA.
------------------------------------------------------ Some email transcripts below --------------------------------
Tue, August 10, 2010 6:46:34 PM
Re: [#542***] Urgen request- cancel Speedlings membership, to be effective immediately
...
From:
************ <************ @yahoo.com> [Chat now]
...
View Contact
To: ************ <************ @adamginsberg.com>
Cc: ************ <************ @yahoo.com>
Speedlings _ offers (market place, p3).pdf (20KB)
Hi A********,
Thanks for your assistance.
.....
Your terms in section 10b allows for cancel after 3 days. Your terms did not specify that full payment is required to cancel. I made the initial payment already. I want to end the contract/membership per section 10b. .
Regarding your other comments. I notice that Speedlings has a new feature called marketplace, where people offered to sell domains. Also, from that marketplace, I observed that several domains had revenue of $0 or $1, even though these sites have existed for 100-200 days (see file attached as proof). (In his training, Adam Ginsberg stated that each site should generate at least $1.00 per day; how misleading he was). Certainly you (or others) can sell the domains that I "leased" (not owned) in that marketplace.
My calculations for the cost incurred:
1/ Cost for domains. The cost for one domain is about $11.44 ~ 12/year (please verify here: http://www.godad***.com/domains/search.aspx?ci=8969).
So, the cost for 25 domains is $12 x 25= 300. For 30 domains: $12 x30 = 360.
2/ Cost for hosting 25 sites. $8 per month x 25= $200 for the first month. (please verify price of $7.95/site here: http://www.hostga****.com/shared.shtml). You can help to delete all my 25 sites contents immediately, to avoid future cost.
3/ Cost for the software. The cost to "access" (but not own) Speedlings is set artificially high, not at fair market value. There are several offers that I found at $197 (software package to own). Two examples are: http://affiliate-niche-site-pro*******.com/
and another: http://www.xsite****.com/
Again, Speedlings did not allow us to own this software at all. And the numbers reported in "visits" and "revenues" may not be reliable (I believe that they were manipulated during the workshop). Did you (Speedlings) do the validation on the software, to ensure that it will work as intended, and all the outputs (e.g. revenues) are correct?
..
In summary, your net = $2297 - (300 + 200 + 197) = $1600. My net is -$1600.
----------------------------------
Tue, August 10, 2010 9:30:10 AM
Re: [#542***] Urgen request- cancel Speedlings membership, to be effective immediately
...
From:
As******** G******** <********@adamginsberg.com>
...
View Contact
To: ********<********@yahoo.com>
The Terms and Conditions state that each site built will cost a $200 fee if a cancellation is allowed. 25 sites x $200 = $5000. You have only paid $2297.
T&C:
10. Cancellation / termination
a. If you decide to cancel your membership or leave Speedlings:
i. within 3 days from the date of payment of your first installment .
b. You will not receive any refunds on any deposit or Speedlings Fees you have paid if you: (i) simply change your mind; or (ii) feel you have made a wrong decision; or (iii) you dont believe youre generating the traffic or income you expect.
----------------------------------
Fri, August 6, 2010 1:10:02 PM
[#542***] Department Transfer
...
From:
Billing <*******@adamginsberg.com>
...
View Contact
To: *************@@yahoo.com
--please do not reply below this line--
Your ticket was transferred to the Billing department for further review.
: ''
Regards,
A****** G******
Billing Representative
Adam Ginsberg International
***********@adamginsberg.com
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Joe
Austin,Texas,
U.S.A.
I DID THE MATH AND IT DOES NOT ADD UP
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, September 29, 2010
ACTUALLY, IT ADDS UP TO A NICE PROFIT ---- FOR MR. GINSBERG.
IF GINSBERG IS HIS REAL NAME.
LET LOGIC PREVAIL WHEN YOU HEAR A FAST TALKING PRESENTATION AND DO THE MATH AS HE TALKS....
$120,000 IN PASSIVE INCOME IN THIS ECONOMY? MAYBE.
I ALSO LIKE THE SPIEL THAT GIVES YOU NO TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHAT HE SAID AND YOU HAVE TO SIGN UP FOR IT NOW OR NEVER!
DOMAIN CREDITS, CARBON CREDITS. THE PRINCIPLE APPEARS TO BE THE SAME BY ME.
AND THEY WANT TO CHARGE YOU A CANCELLATION FEE PER SITE WHEN YOU WANT TO MAKE THE BLEEDING OUT OF MONEY STOP????
I AM REALLY GETTING SUSPICIOUS HERE!
OVER $6,000 TO MAKE CENTS?
SOUNDS LIKE YOU GOT ROOKED INTO A YUPPIE SCHEME.
NEED AND GREED WILL EMPTY YOUR WALLET EVERY TIME WITHOUT JUDICIOUS RESTRAINT AND WORKING THE NUMBERS AS YOU GO.
I NOTICED THE GUY WHATEVER HIS NAME IS RESPONDED TO YOUR POST AND HAS THE CHUTZPAH TO GET YOU TO REMAIN IN THE PROGRAM AND WILL PROBABLY TRY TO GET MORE MONEY OUT OF YOU.
YOU SHOULD TELL HIM, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND TAKE THOSE FIGURES YOU POSTED HERE ALONG WITH ALL DOCUMENTATION AND CONTRACTS TO A GOOD ATTORNEY.
WHY DID YOU NEED TO INVEST IN SOMETHING NAMED "SPEEDLINGS" ANYWAY?
JUST THE NAME ALONE SET MY SUSPICIONS IN GEAR.
SAVE YOUR TIME CONTACTING ME, GINSBERG OR WHOEVER YOU ARE.
I HAVE NO INTENTION TO PUT MY HARED-EARNED MONEY INTO WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE DOING HERE.
Calif-USA-citizen
Montclair,California,
USA
Updated Status, by Alfred
#4Author of original report
Wed, September 29, 2010
This is Alfred Le. I previously posted under the user name "Calif-USA-citizen." Thank you, Adam Ginsberg for your time and attention in responding to my complaint! I have been in touch with a Vice President of Speedlings, who has answered my questions. I am very happy with the conversation we had.
As a result of my discussions I am happy to update my comments here and
remove them at:(((Redacted))) I have contacted the admin of the two sites and they are very helpful. I would remove them from Rip Off report if I could - but they don't allow that option here.
I will post another status update on this board (ripoffreport) in the next
few days. Great thank to the admin of ripoffreport for their help.
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
speedlings
los angeles,California,
United States of America
In response to Alfred Le
#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, September 17, 2010
This is Adam Ginsberg, and I'm posting this message in response to the false claims and allegations made by Alfred Le (posting as "anonymous) on this Message Board. This will be my only comments on this subject. Previous Speedlings comments were made by office staff (and not me as claimed). I was reluctant to post this commentary, however after many unanswered emails and phone calls to Alfred Le (in an effort to simply discuss his frustrations with him, and do our best to resolve his frustrations), I felt it necessary to post my thoughts on his claims. More on my opinion of Alfred Le in a moment.
Please note, my comments are not intended to be defensive in anyway but when someone chooses to make comments and claims with the sole purpose of disparaging my name and my reputation, it only makes sense to give you my viewpoint of the circumstance.
Speedlings is an amazing product with hundreds of successful users all around the world. These are real people who are using Speedlings incredible technology to make a positive impact on their lives. You can read a few of their stories here:
SpeedlingsSuccess.com
Speedlings is offered to people both online and offline in many ways including the live seminar that Alfred Le, along with thousands of others, have attended all around the world and is not deceptive in any way. In fact, it's 100% transparent. The presentation is 90 minutes in length and of that 90 minutes, almost 80 minutes of it is pure content and instruction that members of the audience can implement, regardless of whether or not they decide to invest in Speedlings.
In the Speedlings presentation I state, over and over, that making money online is not a get rich quick scheme and go on to say that most people will not generate huge profits in the first year - as they wouldn't in most any business they start.
The contract that is signed when Speedlings is purchased, along with the online terms accepted prior to creating sites states the following:
EVERY EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE TO ACCURATELY REPRESENT THIS PRODUCT AND ITS POTENTIAL. EVEN THOUGH THIS INDUSTRY IS ONE OF THE FEW WHERE ONE CAN WRITE THEIR OWN CHECK IN TERMS OF EARNINGS, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL EARN ANY MONEY USING THE TECHNIQUES AND IDEAS IN THIS SOFTWARE. EXAMPLES PROVIDED ARE NOT TO BE INTERPRETED AS A PROMISE OR GUARANTEE OF EARNINGS. EARNING POTENTIAL IS ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON THE PERSON USING OUR PRODUCT, IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES. WE DO NOT PURPORT THIS AS A "GET RICH SCHEME."
ANY CLAIMS MADE OF ACTUAL EARNINGS OR EXAMPLES OF ACTUAL RESULTS CAN BE VERIFIED UPON REQUEST. YOUR LEVEL OF SUCCESS IN ATTAINING THE RESULTS CLAIMED IN OUR MATERIALS DEPENDS ON THE TIME YOU DEVOTES TO THE PROGRAM, IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES MENTIONED, YOUR FINANCES, KNOWLEDGE AND VARIOUS SKILLS. SINCE THESE FACTORS DIFFER ACCORDING TO INDIVIDUALS, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SUCCESS OR INCOME LEVEL. NOR ARE WE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF YOUR ACTIONS.
This information is also shown live, during the actual sales presentation multiple times.
The actual fact is, that at no time, is any income ever promised or do we guarantee a result on a per site basis as there are many different ways to earn money online with Speedlings - which is simply the fastest website building software available for sale.
The law does state that businesses are required to provide a 3 day right of cancellation, which we do. We are not required to provide an extended guarantee even though we choose to do so. This is a "performance" guarantee, designed with the sole purpose of provided a "back up" plan for any person who is concerned about their profitability after one year.
It is true (and this is 100% disclosed both verbally and in writing) that a new user would have to create 30 sites per month for 12 consecutive months to be eligible for the performance guarantee offered by the company, as a benefit of using the software. And, yes it's true that the user would have to purchase domain credits to do so. What Alfred Le fails to mention is that these domain credits include the domain name, the privacy and the hosting for each site. The combination of these three, at the Speedlings pricing is far less than it would be elseware. And, the 12 month performance guarantee is set up to include a refund of both the initial software investment AND the domain site credits. In the worst case scenario the user gets ALL their money back if they make the effort as required. If there's no effort, there's no reward. If there's no effort, there's no guarantee.
In case you wonder whether it's really Alfred Le who created these posts, I'll refer to the following email sent by him:
"From: Alfred L <alfre********@yahoo.com>
Date: August 31, 2010 6:17:09 PM PDT
To: Sc** *Lab*** <s****ll@***merci******ions.com>
Cc: Alfred Le <alfre********@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Overdue Account Notice
Hi Scott,
Just to let you know that I have informed Speedlings to cancel the membership.
I have contacted Stephanie, and Ashley Genre in billings of Speedlings.
They are well aware of the situation.
There should be no further charge for Speedlings account.
For the record, I have posted my experience with Adam Ginsberg and his Speedlings on the web site www.ripoffreport.com <http://www.ripoffreport.com> . You can check it here.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/adam-ginsberg.aspx
Report: #634338
Thank you.
alfred"
It's the same information he continues to post, over and over again on various websites including this one.
In his commentary Alfred Le says he was promised certain things, but what he fails to mention is the reality of what I actually said. How would I know? Well, I actually said it - and it was recorded as most of these presentations are for these reasons.
So here's what really happened with Alfred Le:
Alfred Le purchased Speedlings On July 9th, 2010. When he purchased Speedlings he signed a legal binding agreement (on both the front and back).
Then, on July 13th he accepted the terms of agreement (again) online. This is required prior to creating a speedlings site.
2010-07-13 01:20:32 user terms user domain terms and conditions
2010-07-13 01:04:58 user terms check terms and conditions
Alfred Le then went on to create 25 sites of a 22 day period. (4) sites on July 13, (2) on July 20, (1) on July 24, (1) on July 25, (4) on July 26, (7) on July 27, (1) on July 28, (2) on August 4 and (3) on August 5th.
Why is this important? Because here's what Alfred Le says:
"From my experience with Speedlings, after almost 1 month and with 25 sites, my total revenue as reported by Speedlings was $0.68. "
The fact is that NONE of his sites were 90 days old. (5) of his sites were less than 3 days old when he requested to cancel this program and the oldest site was only 22 days old.
Alfred was never promised that he would make money in the first 30 days. This is stated in the live presentation (and in writing) more than one time as I have the audience repeat it back to me so they fully understand.
Alfred Les sites that he created, actually look great and over time definitely had the potential to generate significant revenue. He was off to an excellent start.
Alfred asked to cancel Speedlings on August 8th and was advised that a) his 3 day cancellation period had expired and b) that he had already set up 25 sites, which would invalidate the refund of the first 1/3 of his payment for Speedlings. He didn't pay in full, he financed the program. We also explained to Alfred at that time that our organization did NOT process his payment and therefore could not issue him a refund, and he was advised at that time that if he had further refund requests he should contact the organization that did charge his card.
While we can appreciate Alfred Le's comments:
"because Speedings did not deliver the results as shown in the demonstration... the software tool (product) did not meet the "implied performance" of this product. I believe that all Speedlings users should be allowed to get their money back (prorated or full refund), with no string attached", the fact remains that 1) Alfred Le, nor anyone at anytime, has every had "implied performance" of the product and 2), legal contracts are binding regardless of what Alfred Le would like to believe.
The reason Alfred has chosen to publish his comments anonymously (as he states is: "the terms of the contract/agreement would not allow people to publicly discuss their earnings, or their experience with the company!")
The actual terms are as follows:
13. Miscellaneous?a. Your use of Speedlings must comply with all laws and regulations applicable.?b. You must not:?i. make any comments to any third party which defames, denigrates or disparages Speedlings, including its directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, contractors, or any other person involved with SMI; and?ii. make any statement, or permit or authorize any statement to be made, which is calculated or reasonably likely to damage the reputation or cause other damage to Speedlings, or Speedlings, including its directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, contractors, or any other person involved with Speedlings.?
At the end of the day, here's the bottom line. I've been helping people positively change their lives for more than 20 years. In that time I've learned that some people will follow the program and others will give up after just a few weeks and then blame everyone else for their lack of results. For the person that follows the program, we guarantee their success - if not, they are refunded in full simply by following the terms of the extended guarantee. For the person that doesn't follow the program, we cant be held responsible for their actions and lack of results and calling me all the names in the book won't change the fact that they simply haven't made the effort necessary to change their own life.
No one knows my presentation better than I do. No one knows what's said, written, presented and recorded (just in case people like Alfred Le feel the need to make false claims) since I created the presentation. What is demonstrated is real and what is said is truthful. Heck, we all make mistakes and we all experience challenges in our life, but that doesn't give anyone the right to make public attempts to negatively impact someones business simply because they have misunderstood what was told to them.
Lastly, I don't post anonymous comments. I'm not hiding from anyone. I'm not making false claims or accusations. As all Speedlings users know - if they ever have any questions (good, bad or otherwise) they can call us toll free at 888 355 7770 5 days a week, 12 hours a day. Or, they can open a support ticket at SpeedlingsSupport.com. Or, they can ask ME personally on the weekly 90-minute coaching webinar (that 500+ speedlings users attend live each week). Either myself or our amazing Home Office Team, located in West Los Angeles, will respond as quickly as possible either by phone or via support tickets answered 7 days a week, 15 hours a day.
So Alfred, if you have any further questions or would like to seriously discuss your challenges, please open a support ticket and leave your best phone # and time to call you OR you can simply call us and leave a message for me and I will be more than happy to call you back.
By responding to this message Alfred, and not contacting us directly, it becomes abundantly clear to anyone reading this that your sole intent is anything other than resolving your own personal situation. We hope you choose to do the right thing.