Complaint Review: Sitesell.com - SBI - SBI-E - Sitesell

DR. Ken Evoy, CEO of www.sitesell.com makes false and misleading statements. Here's what he say:

The Guarantee:
No product is perfect for everyone. And I do not want you to own Site Build It! unless it's right for you. You don't want that, either. On the other hand, neither of us want you to miss what Site Build It! delivers, due to procrastination. That's why I encourage you to take full advantage of the Guarantee as your "free trial." In other words, purchase SBI! and then decide... Try it -- just follow the Action Guide.

Register your domain. Build your site. Watch traffic build from Google, Yahoo!, etc.. Enjoy your growing business. But if you decide (at any time) it's not for you, simply tell us and let us know why SBI! failed to meet your needs (so we can keep improving). Of course, it does NOT matter WHY -- if you think it's not right for you, it's not. We'll refund you right away. No strings. Better, actually. Keep the domain name that you register (at our expense since it's included in the price), as my thank you for giving us the opportunity to do business with you. No ifs, ands or buts. This is an absolute guarantee. No time limits. Ask for your money back anytime. SiteSell.com will refund you 100% within the first 30 days of purchase, and on a pro-rata basis after that, for whatever part of the year remains.

How can we make a Guarantee like this?... Because Site Build It! OVERdelivers, no matter how high your expectations.If you have any doubts about whether we'd actually refund you, click here to see why this guarantee has teeth. Click here to return to the Guarantee.

This Guarantee Has Teeth I will always honor this guarantee. Our internal company motto is "no unhappy customers." Regardless of that, SiteSell.com has grown to the point where it would be foolhardy not to honor our Guarantee. We have sold tens of thousands of copies of our SiteSell publications. Our refund request rate is literally under one-tenth of one percent. But we always immediately obey these requests.

Now for the teeth...

We are members in good standing of the Montreal chapter of the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU ("BBB"), an internationally respected, non-profit consumer protection organization. Now let's say I refused someone (I wouldn't, but let's "just say"). That person would report us to the BBB.

Check on our track record by calling them at 514-286-9281. Ask them about our company (SiteSell.com -- quote them company number 7048) -- you'll see that our record is spotless. Close this Window and Try SBI! Today Risk-Free
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NOW people of the world, would you think from reading this advertisement and guarantee that he meant anything other than an uncontional guarantee? Well he did. Craftily hidden in the text was within 30 days, go back and see if you can find it.

I have reported him to the BBB and I am hoping someone will see this like the good folks on (URL removed by ripoffreport.com) and run a story on this dishonest merchant. Here are the letters I wrote trying to get my money back:

Dear Natasha,

I sent an email to Ken Evoy on the 29th August, I have not heard back from Mr. Evoy. Therefore, I am going to the next step.

In my letter, I alleged that Ken Evoy used misleading, deceptive, and false advertising in order to make me buy his product. Under the Canadian Government Competition Bureau guidelines, he has indeed broken the law. Here is what the Government has to say. Taken from: (URL removed by ripoffreport.com)

Misleading Representations and Deceptive Marketing Practices. What Is the Competition Bureau? The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Competition Act. What Is the Competition Act? The Competition Act is a federal law governing most business conduct in Canada. It contains both criminal and civil provisions aimed at preventing anti-competitive practices in the marketplace Unfair or Deceptive Business Practices
Generally, and unfair of deceptive business practice can be thought of as a representation that has the tendency or effect of misleading the average person.

Misleading Representations and Deceptive Marketing Practices Provisions of the Competition Act. The Competition Act contains provisions addressing false or misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices in promoting the supply or use of a product or any business interest. All representations, in any form whatever, that are false or misleading in a material respect are subject to the Act. If a representation could influence a consumer to buy or use the product or service advertised, it is material. To determine whether a representation is false or misleading, the courts consider the "general impression" it conveys, as well as its literal meaning.

What Are the Possible Penalties? The Act provides two adjudicative regimes to address misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices. Under the criminal regime, certain practices are brought before the criminal courts, requiring proof of each element of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt. On summary conviction, the person is liable to a fine of up to $200 000 and/or imprisonment for up to one year. If convicted on indictment, the person is liable to a fine at the discretion of the court and/or imprisonment for up to five years.

Under the civil regime, certain practices may be brought before the Competition Tribunal, the Federal Court or the superior court of a province and require that each element of the conduct be proven on a balance of probabilities. The court may order a person to cease the activity, publish a notice and/or pay an administrative monetary penalty. On first occurrence, individuals are liable to penalties of up to $50 000 and corporations are liable to penalties of up to $100 000. These amounts may double for second and subsequent occurrences. Advertising Dos and Don'ts The following "Do's and Don'ts" will help businesses comply with the Competition Act.

Do's:

Do avoid fine print disclaimers. They often fail to change the general impression conveyed by an advertisement. If you do use them, make sure the overall impression created by the ad and the disclaimer is not misleading.

Do fully and clearly disclose all material information in the advertisement.

Do avoid using terms or phrases in an advertisement that are not meaningful and clear to the ordinary person.

Do charge the lowest of two or more prices appearing on a product.

Do ensure that you have reasonable quantities of a product advertised at a bargain price.

Do, when conducting a contest, disclose all material details required by the Act before potential participants are committed to it.

Do ensure that your sales force is familiar with these "Dos and Don'ts." Advertisers may be held responsible for representations made by employees.

Don'ts:

Don't confuse "regular price" or "ordinary price " with "manufacturer's suggested list price" or a like term. They are often not the same.

Don't use "regular price" in an advertisement unless the product has been offered in good faith for sale at that price for a substantial period of time, or a substantial volume of the product has been sold at that price within a reasonable period of time.

Don't use the words "sale" or "special" in relation to the price of a product unless a significant price reduction has occurred.

Don't run a "sale" for a long period or repeat it every week.

Don't increase the price of a product or service to cover the cost of a free product or service.

Don't use illustrations that are different from the product being sold.

Don't make a performance claim unless you can prove it, even if you think it is accurate. Testimonials usually do not amount to adequate proof.

Don't sell a product above your advertised price.

Don't unduly delay the distribution of prizes when conducting a contest.

Don't forget that no one actually needs to be misled for a court to find that an advertisement is misleading.
The application of the general impression test is particularly important where:

The representation is partially true and partially false, or the representation is capable of two meanings, one of which is false;

The representation is literally true but is, in fact, misleading since it fails to reveal certain essential information (see Non-disclosure of Material Information, chapter 3);

The representation is literally or technically true but creates a false impression, for example where the advertised results of a test of a product may not be significant to its use or efficacy but the representation makes it appear otherwise (see Inappropriate Claims, chapter 3);

The representation is literally true insofar as the oral or written statements are concerned but the visual part of the representation may create a false impression, for example where it depicts a model which is different from the advertised product (see Use of Illustrations, chapter 3).

Natasha, I have been patient, I have laid out what I want and why (your product did not deliver, false promises, misleading advertising, bait and switch) and just to clarify one other point. The time frame that Ken Evoy cleverly hid from the average person was also deceptive, why? Because no one could read his 600 page document, (He stressed it would take 10 days thats 80 hours to read it) Then set up the web site, test it, add Google ad sense, automated emails, auto responders, the list can go on and on but the point is No average person could do everything within 30 days. Therefore, his guarantee was not feasible, nor would it qualify under the Canadian Consumer Act.

I am now prepared to contact the Canadian Competition Bureau, the BBB, and go to a major online forum to publish all of our correspondence in order to get my full monies paid back.

Below is the last letter I sent to Ken Evoy and Janice acknowledged receipt of it. However, Ken has not responded so as a last resort, I am giving your company 24 hours for the time stamped delivery of this letter to comply with a full refund, or I will definitely go to the next step and seek compensation as provided under the act.

Regards,

Ken Evoy
CEO
Site Sell

Sunday, August 29, 2004

Dear Ken Evoy,

RE: Natasha Vincent at Support said NOKWhat do you say Mr. Evoy

Re: Support Question, Reference#JI7DB6

My order # 1021222213103436

My recorded email address is:
I have been corresponding with Natasha Vincent since July 28th 2004 in regards to a full refund. Her final word is that I am not entitled to one.

Now, I am no Attorney but the conditions of your published guarantee on several web pages could be construed as misleading, misrepresentation, false inducement to buy, and bait and switch tactics. Let me explain.

You had so much emphasis on ANY TIME, NO STRINGS ATTACHED, WELL REFUND YOU RIGHT AWAY, NO IFS ANDS OR BUTS. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE GUARANTEE, NO TIME LIMITS. No Judge could convincingly conclude that these words go together with Ask for your money back any time. SiteSell.com will refund you 100% within the first 30 days of purchase.

Your sales letter with all the preceding promises was designed to leave such an impression on a reasonable persons mind that it was an iron clad, fully refundable guarantee and because of such statements made, there was a high probability of making the mistake of actually believing no another condition was true.

Because of the way you phrased it, formatted it, and highlighted and bolded key words, and not others, your carefully crafted, cunning, and deceptive phrasing misled me. Intentionally or not.

Your sales letter would not have or could not have been misleading or deceptive if you had phrased it in a straight and truthful manner as follows: At any time within the next 30 days., No ifs ands or buts. This is an absolute guarantee within the next 30 days. No time limits, within the next 30 days. Under these conditions, you could not be accused of misleading or deceptive advertising. However, you did not do this.

Secondly, what you actually did in several of your sales letters was induce me to buy your product with forward looking statements. Here is an announcement your company made on Sept 04 2002, pasted from:

SiteSell.com Announces Major Enhancements to SBI!

Dr. Evoy closed by saying, "These enhancements are the continuation in our quest to make SBI! the ultimate e-commerce value bundle, the only system of tools that enables even the most non-Net-savvy small business able to succeed on the Net. And wait until you see what's coming in the fall... the ability to sell e-goods, any electronic product, exactly the way we do here at SiteSell, including your very own affiliate program."

Ken, this is what I wanted; this is what I thought I was buying. This was the most compelling part of your inducement to buy; you promised to release in the fall of 2002 a site that bundled all the tools to sell e-goods EXACTLY the way you do, including our own affiliate program. I remember this well in the emails I was receiving from you at the time. A 2-tier affiliate program, a cash collection machine, full service web site, auto responders, e-zine, unlike any other product on the internet today, you were going to give me exactly what you were using then. Exactly what I wanted and thought I was buying.

You further induced me later in the December; with, you wont suffer any price penalty when we get it online in early 2003, well give you 3 months free service and to make it really worth your while, well give you a 2 for 1 SiteSell package, right now, if you buy.

The bases I bought your product under were to have the same functionality that you had and were using at SiteSell right then before Sept 2002. I had no intention of holding onto your product for 20 months waiting for you to deliver. All I wanted was the features you promised in your forward-looking statements in early 2002.

I was effectively, unable to use them, and test them, within your carefully hidden 30-day guarantee, neither then nor even today. This means that your guarantee has no validity what-so-ever for the promises you made. Your guarantee is null and void because you promised it would have the functions I wanted but it didnt and still doesnt. I never registered a domain name because your features where never delivered, hence what I bought it for, it was incapable of doing.

Thirdly, I accuse you of a tactical bait and switch, intentionally or not, you redefined your product, and the terms of what I actually bought it for. You delayed by saying you were coming out with SBI-E, then E-Commerce, and the list goes on, and on, with new enhancements, but never the enhancement I bought your product for. I repeat: The same functionality that you were using in 2002. That was the bait, the switch is the other irrelevant products that I dont want or need, but you offered them as a replacement of what you promised, (full functionality the same as you use at Site Sell).

Mr. Evoy, the effect is the same, no matter what your intentions were or are. The fact is that I have suffered, you have misled me whether intentionally, or not, you have not delivered despite your promises of always OVER DELIVERING.

I have been fair; I have waited over 20 months for you to deliver. But now I have had enough, I am fed upXwhos patience is infinite? You, your product and your staff have used up all of my patience.

I want all of my money back. Plus, I believe I am also entitled to as a gesture of good will on your part interest on my money for the last 20 months. Since I have lost the use of my funds, you've effectively disabled my ability to make use of those funds because you didnt manage to deliver, you kept me hanging on with your repeated claims of imminent release and always over delivering on promises. It is voluntary on the interest part, thats up to you to be honorable and gracious. But the real question, Ken Evoy is K

Do you intend to give me my money back or not?

If I dont hear from you in Seven days from today, I shall reasonably conclude that you intend to frustrate me further and in such an event, I shall take such steps as necessary to exercise my proper rights.

Regards,


PS. Ken here are some sites as promises that I have captured on the web to validate my points.
1. Pasted from (URL removed by ripoffreport.com)

PRICE

SBI! is competitively priced at $495 (USD) per annual subscription: less than 1/10th of the cost of comparable products. At this affordable price, customers receive the entire SBI! system with all the services, including a domain name, site-hosting, an e-zine subscription manager, broadcasting of up to 5,000 e-mails/month, search engine submission, and much more! Purchasing these same services individually can cost thousands of dollars. With SBI!, you get a complete solution for one low annual fee.

SiteSell is able to keep prices low becase it builds and houses its own proprietary tools. There's no expensive third party software to maintain, so SBI! can easily be offered at a much lower price point. And that's exactly in line with the needs of small businesses. Click here for a detailed price comparison.

CUSTOMER EDUCATION

SBI! is as much a process as it is a product. The "Action Guide" and online-help that are included with the system provide the user with comprehensive, step-by-step support at every stage. These educational tools are designed to instill solid, preparatory practices for conducting online business, even before the user begins to build their site.

100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

SiteSell has chosen to go against the trend of offering customers a crippled or limited trial version of software. Instead, we offer the entire SBI! system with this guarantee: "Purchase SBI! today. Use it. Even register your domain name (it's included in the price). If at any point in time SBI! does not exceed your expectations, we will refund you immediately and you can keep the domain name that you registered as our thanks for a chance at your business. No forms to fill out, no questions asked."

2. Pasted from


3. Finally, pasted from

Dr. Ken Evoy of Site Sell
Dr. Ken Evoy, Internet Marketing Expert
Dr. Ken Evoy is a Canadian physician turned entrepreneur. He is a well-respected Internet Marketer throughout the world and has written numerous highly-acclaimed ebooks and is the creator of Site Build It, a revolutionary site builder designed to make small business owners find success on the net.

I'm a huge fan of Ken's and have been since my first days of Internet Marketing. I was fortunate enough to be turned on to his famous ebook. This ebook made the difference between toiling endlessly trying to find success on the net and attaining it almost instantly. Of course, it's still been hard work, but MYSS and all the Site Sell tools provide you with what you need to get there.

Let me be the millionth person to say, Dr. Ken Evoy does not make or sell crap. All his products have an unconditional no-questions-asked guarantee. And he stands by this guarantee. How do I know? Because being 7 months pregnant with my second child in less than two years, I thought I should purchase Site Build It to build yet another website.

After some thought and realistic planning, I realized that it just wasn't possible to start a new project with a baby on the way (DUH!). I contacted the good folks at Site Sell and said I needed my money back. It was promptly refunded.


Anca
Irvine, California
U.S.A.

sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! 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.