On March 6, 2014, I responded to an online ad, which was apparently endorsed by several television news networks touting a $198.95 opportunity to make money from home by developing my own website. While on that site, there was a place to click which offered more information, for an additional $97.95. I thought, since I had already invested almost $200 for “some” valuable information, the additional $97.95 would just enhance something already worth checking into. I was contacted the next day by one of your sales reps and given the spiel for your product that was guaranteed to work, provided I completed the instructional videos and followed the instructions of the coaches provided, dedicating 10 to 20 hours per week to the task. I was further told that the initial outlay of almost $300 would be credited back to my MasterCard, if I purchased the instructional/mentoring program through Digital Success Institute.
I don’t consider myself gullible and have been using computers since 1990, both in DOS and with the advent of Windows, so I felt pretty confident that I was tech savvy enough to do this. That, coupled with the promise that I would be refunded every penny I had invested if I was not satisfied with the product. I thought it was a great opportunity for me to learn eBay selling strategies and to create a web site to sell things on line, especially since the second person I spoke to, Travis Robinette, assured me there would be plenty of instruction and lots of videos that would explain every detail, as well as expert technical support to assist me in the creation of my web site. He also promised to refund the initial $300 charge to my MasterCard. (This was NEVER refunded, despite contacting Mr. Robinette by phone after several months of checking my MasterCard statement to verify that it had been, although he reassured me once again that it would be.)
With all these assurances, I gave my credit card number and signed the contract for the product and services offered, to the tune of $8495.00, being further assured that that amount would be deductible as a business expense. I had been assured that getting a business license would run approximately $300, and was told there would likely be other affiliates of DSI contact me, but that I was under no obligation to purchase anything offered. However, when those contacts were made, it was very apparent (at least according to their spiels) that without signing on with the company that created my LLC and the one that would do my taxes, I would be opening myself up to all kinds of possible legal ramifications. So, feeling I could trust what I was told, never having set up a business before, I shelled out another $1810.00 to WCAP Financial to set up my LLC, and yet another $1495, plus a recurring $19 per month to set up and file any tax-related items on behalf of my LLC. The fact that I have made no money on my web site – not even one conversion! – says that I will not be able to claim any expenses incurred on my taxes. Nothing from nothing equals nothing!
I was also informed at the onset that there would be a recurring $39.99 charge by your affiliate, Ignite Builder, for hosting my web site and providing technical support in the building of the same. That made me feel even more confident in my abilities to perform well, knowing I would have the pros at my disposal.
So, being excited and looking forward to “learning the business” of E-commerce, I began my journey! I purchased merchandise (a wedding store in Orlando had gone out of business and I laid out $2,500 for approximately $20K retail value for the entire inventory), and went to work listing things on eBay, directly as instructed by your lessons and approved by my coach. Great, but for one thing – people on eBay want something for nothing and by the time shipping and eBay’s and PayPal’s charges are figured in, unless you give it away, the item just sits in eBay collecting more charges. So, that turned out to be not as described, even though I did exactly what was recommended, even down to investigating what was selling on eBay before I purchased the wedding items. Nobody shares the information that selling high-end items on eBay that China can ship for pennies on the dollar just doesn’t garner much interest by the average eBay shopper.
Well, I thought, maybe eBay just isn’t my thing, although I did make some sales after dropping prices and practically giving items away. So, on to dropshipping I went. I followed the prescribed courses, but here things got a little hairy. I needed a web site before I could dropship, so I began by getting a domain name – two actually – and began to build a site. Then the phone calls REALLY started coming, with people telling me I would NEVER get hits on my site – that I needed to have a web builder and the experts to put all the proper HTML codes in so I would be found on Google and other search engines, and on and on, always offering to do for me what I could never do by myself using the methods and tools I was given.
Being loyal and true to my contract, I refused to accept their offers of “let us build your site and we will get back most of the money you paid for a bogus product.” So, I truly HAVE tried everything I could do to make this work.
I did put my foot down when I received numerous phone calls trying to get me to sign up with the big boys, like DOBA for dropshipping. One of the most daunting issues I have had about the whole dropshipping business has been that so much of the time I was not able access the back end of my domain! The entire 4 weeks to include the end of June and first part of July 2014, I was not able to access my site, even though I had loaded merchandise from three dropshippers onto it for sale. I was charged the $39.95 for the service, but never had any access to any of it. After 4 weeks and several emails and phone calls, my site was accessible again, but by this time, I had lost the wind in my sails and was beginning to realize that I had probably made a serious mistake by investing so much money into something that was destined to fail – not to mention MUCH MORE time than the original 10 to 20 hours per week that I had committed to in order to make this thing work!
I have gone to DigitalSuccessInstitute.com (now new format not showing instructional videos) and WhyDigitalSuccess.com numerous times, followed instructions explicitly, and have never been able to be successful in getting my web site to show up on a Google search, despite doing all that was required, not to mention being premature in building a web site and getting dropshippers before the site was even accessible to the public – something that has cost me another $29.99 per month to one of the dropshippers because I have yet to sell the requisite $100 worth of merchandise per month.
Contacting Ignite Web Builder has proved fruitless, as well. Most of the time, even if I type www.candlescentsandbaskets.com into the search bar, all I get in return is a screen showing UNKNOWN DOMAIN. This is more than frustrating!!! I get the same screen if I try to connect to Ignite through the WhyDigitalSuccess.com’s E-library site! I’ve included a copy of what I get when I try to access my web site, which is the same thing I get when I try to access Ignite Builder from the link on your “educational” site – only without my site, of course.
I am now unable to access Digital Success Institute online at any of the web sites I was given. I don't think this company is even in business any longer.
Digital Success Institute, LLC. Reviews
On March 6, 2014, I responded to an online ad, which was apparently endorsed by several television news networks touting a $198.95 opportunity to make money from home by developing my own website. While on that site, there was a place to click which offered more information, for an additional $97.95. I thought, since I had already invested almost $200 for “some” valuable information, the additional $97.95 would just enhance something already worth checking into. I was contacted the next day by one of your sales reps and given the spiel for your product that was guaranteed to work, provided I completed the instructional videos and followed the instructions of the coaches provided, dedicating 10 to 20 hours per week to the task. I was further told that the initial outlay of almost $300 would be credited back to my MasterCard, if I purchased the instructional/mentoring program through Digital Success Institute.
I don’t consider myself gullible and have been using computers since 1990, both in DOS and with the advent of Windows, so I felt pretty confident that I was tech savvy enough to do this. That, coupled with the promise that I would be refunded every penny I had invested if I was not satisfied with the product. I thought it was a great opportunity for me to learn eBay selling strategies and to create a web site to sell things on line, especially since the second person I spoke to, Travis Robinette, assured me there would be plenty of instruction and lots of videos that would explain every detail, as well as expert technical support to assist me in the creation of my web site. He also promised to refund the initial $300 charge to my MasterCard. (This was NEVER refunded, despite contacting Mr. Robinette by phone after several months of checking my MasterCard statement to verify that it had been, although he reassured me once again that it would be.)
With all these assurances, I gave my credit card number and signed the contract for the product and services offered, to the tune of $8495.00, being further assured that that amount would be deductible as a business expense. I had been assured that getting a business license would run approximately $300, and was told there would likely be other affiliates of DSI contact me, but that I was under no obligation to purchase anything offered. However, when those contacts were made, it was very apparent (at least according to their spiels) that without signing on with the company that created my LLC and the one that would do my taxes, I would be opening myself up to all kinds of possible legal ramifications. So, feeling I could trust what I was told, never having set up a business before, I shelled out another $1810.00 to WCAP Financial to set up my LLC, and yet another $1495, plus a recurring $19 per month to set up and file any tax-related items on behalf of my LLC. The fact that I have made no money on my web site – not even one conversion! – says that I will not be able to claim any expenses incurred on my taxes. Nothing from nothing equals nothing!
I was also informed at the onset that there would be a recurring $39.99 charge by your affiliate, Ignite Builder, for hosting my web site and providing technical support in the building of the same. That made me feel even more confident in my abilities to perform well, knowing I would have the pros at my disposal.
So, being excited and looking forward to “learning the business” of E-commerce, I began my journey! I purchased merchandise (a wedding store in Orlando had gone out of business and I laid out $2,500 for approximately $20K retail value for the entire inventory), and went to work listing things on eBay, directly as instructed by your lessons and approved by my coach. Great, but for one thing – people on eBay want something for nothing and by the time shipping and eBay’s and PayPal’s charges are figured in, unless you give it away, the item just sits in eBay collecting more charges. So, that turned out to be not as described, even though I did exactly what was recommended, even down to investigating what was selling on eBay before I purchased the wedding items. Nobody shares the information that selling high-end items on eBay that China can ship for pennies on the dollar just doesn’t garner much interest by the average eBay shopper.
Well, I thought, maybe eBay just isn’t my thing, although I did make some sales after dropping prices and practically giving items away. So, on to dropshipping I went. I followed the prescribed courses, but here things got a little hairy. I needed a web site before I could dropship, so I began by getting a domain name – two actually – and began to build a site. Then the phone calls REALLY started coming, with people telling me I would NEVER get hits on my site – that I needed to have a web builder and the experts to put all the proper HTML codes in so I would be found on Google and other search engines, and on and on, always offering to do for me what I could never do by myself using the methods and tools I was given.
Being loyal and true to my contract, I refused to accept their offers of “let us build your site and we will get back most of the money you paid for a bogus product.” So, I truly HAVE tried everything I could do to make this work.
I did put my foot down when I received numerous phone calls trying to get me to sign up with the big boys, like DOBA for dropshipping. One of the most daunting issues I have had about the whole dropshipping business has been that so much of the time I was not able access the back end of my domain! The entire 4 weeks to include the end of June and first part of July 2014, I was not able to access my site, even though I had loaded merchandise from three dropshippers onto it for sale. I was charged the $39.95 for the service, but never had any access to any of it. After 4 weeks and several emails and phone calls, my site was accessible again, but by this time, I had lost the wind in my sails and was beginning to realize that I had probably made a serious mistake by investing so much money into something that was destined to fail – not to mention MUCH MORE time than the original 10 to 20 hours per week that I had committed to in order to make this thing work!
I have gone to DigitalSuccessInstitute.com (now new format not showing instructional videos) and WhyDigitalSuccess.com numerous times, followed instructions explicitly, and have never been able to be successful in getting my web site to show up on a Google search, despite doing all that was required, not to mention being premature in building a web site and getting dropshippers before the site was even accessible to the public – something that has cost me another $29.99 per month to one of the dropshippers because I have yet to sell the requisite $100 worth of merchandise per month.
Contacting Ignite Web Builder has proved fruitless, as well. Most of the time, even if I type www.candlescentsandbaskets.com into the search bar, all I get in return is a screen showing UNKNOWN DOMAIN. This is more than frustrating!!! I get the same screen if I try to connect to Ignite through the WhyDigitalSuccess.com’s E-library site! I’ve included a copy of what I get when I try to access my web site, which is the same thing I get when I try to access Ignite Builder from the link on your “educational” site – only without my site, of course.
I am now unable to access Digital Success Institute online at any of the web sites I was given. I don't think this company is even in business any longer.