On March 1, 2017 I paid nearly $6k for an 8-week training and coaching package put together by Manie Amari. The sales pitch emphasized that this was to help those having difficulty getting sales on Shopify to start making those sales. On the phone call interview before I was 'allowed' to join the course Manie even asked how much I wanted to make a month and said I should be making that within a few weeks. Once I paid my money and had access to the course I was disappointed in that only 3 of 8 weeks of training were available and everything was basic/entry level training that could be found for free (or at least less than $1k) all over the internet. But Manie said he had to start with basics. So I waited... and waited... and waited.... IF the 8 week course began on March 1, the date I signed up, then everything should have been available by the end of April. Since 3 weeks of content were actually available on Mar 1, everything should have been available by the 1st week of April. Weeks 7 and 8 weren't even posted until late July, 2017. And then it was only after multiple promises that the material was coming in May, June and early July (weeks 4 - 6 were posted between late March and I believe May). It wasn't until I asked for a refund (and I was told 'no' based on his no refund policy) that he even began working on videos for weeks 7 and 8. However what he posted wasn't even what I was expecting based on his sales pitch. (As a point of comparison, I later purchased a program for under $200 and learned at least 3 concrete things I could/should do with my store to increase sales while watching 10 minutes of the initial Welcome video for that course. While Manie promised - and failed to deliver - things no one else was teaching, this other course actually is providing that information.)
Additionally, Manie promised 12 weeks of coaching and a Facebook Mastermind group to provide additional support. The Mastermind group was a big selling point for me, to be part of a small and active group (as I was expecting) was something I felt would help me on my journey. Before signing up, I asked Manie how much he'd be in the group and he said every day. However, he only posted in the group if someone tagged him and asked him a question (every other eCom group has the person running the group in the group posting constantly - new material, answering questions, etc. and those groups are free. When I brought this up to Manie he said he wasn't going to post just for 'entertainment' value). More than once a follow up question was left unanswered in the group and some questions that did not tag Manie were never answered. If he spent 5 min a day in the group that was probably a lot. There weren't many questions asked as apparently he was answering questions via email for some of the members of the group and that combined with failing to put up new material made the FB Mastermind pretty worthless. When I requested a refund mid-July (before weeks 7 and 8 were posted in late July, 2017) Manie informed me that I would still have access to the training because 'that was part of the deal' but would no longer have access to his coaching (which honestly did not help me anyway as he did not give me a single new useable idea to implement in my store nor did he ever even make the effort to help me figure out where the problem was) nor the Facebook group because I had stayed in the group 'beyond the time agreed upon'. While it is true I was in the FB group beyond the 12 weeks (8 weeks of training plus 4 extra weeks), so was everyone else and the course hadn't even been finished at that time (it was now nearly 20 weeks since I paid to join the course and the course was to have lasted 8 weeks).
Before asking for a refund, I started asking questions in the Facebook group to determine how much Manie actually knew about running a Shopify store and most of his answers did not make me feel like he had the skills or qualifications to coach me or anyone else (in spite of his claims). For instance, when I asked what needed to be done to prepare for Q4 sales, Manie's response was Q4 was a 'good time for testing'. Every other guru I know of talks of specific things to be doing (one even put out a course last year) to prepare for Q4. Saying it is a good time to test products and find winners is not the sort of coaching I would expect from a program at this price point. I was expecting specific, actionable things to do when I asked a question and I did not get that.
Everything in the course is based on the dropshipping model, a model I don't use and something I made clear before joining the course. Nothing was said until I got inside that it was all about dropshipping. While Manie does do some print on demand (only t-shirts), he had nothing new to offer me.
When I said I needed help with branding my store, Manie's response was that he could help me with that although he was in the process of branding his first store so he'd need to figure it out first. Again, not what I was expecting from a coach at this price point.
It was the same when I asked a question about email marketing. Everything I have read has said if you aren't using email marketing, you are missing a lot as a store owner. Manie's response was he didn't do email marketing and as soon as he learned how to do that, he'd teach it. Considering it took 20 weeks for him to create and post all the content of his planned 8 week course, I have no idea if, or whenever he'd provide any training on email marketing.
One other area that was supposed to be covered in the course was Outsourcing. This was also something I was greatly interested in learning more about yet it was never even covered in the course. The promised bonuses were also never provided (that section of the course still says 'Coming Soon') and it is now September.
I was in touch with several members of the group and no one was making any progress. Manie's answer for that is we weren't 'doing the work' but we were, he just wasn't coaching or providing what he promised to provide. I asked in the FB group if anyone was making progress (no one was though one woman I didn't know was 'hopeful') and magically, someone who never posted a single question in the group or was known by anyone posted a video singing Manie's praises and talking about how he knew nothing about Shopify when he started in April but in 30 days, he had done $138k in sales using Manie's training. Based on past experience in other groups, when someone makes claims like that they are usually making things up. While I suppose it is possible he did those sales, it is highly unlikely, especially as the numbers increased drastically the following month too.
I have contacted Manie on several occasions. He is aware that I want a full refund. He continues to maintain he does not need to refund my money because he said 'no refunds'. Given that he never provided the service I contracted for in the agreed upon time frame and apparently does not have the skills he purported to have when I signed up for his coaching service I believe the agreement is null and void (if it was ever even valid as I never received a copy signed by him).
Hi, OP. Something very similar recently happened to me with Manie Amari. I'm considering filing a lawsuit against him. It would be great if I could get in touch with you and talk to you more about what happened. Please post here if you see this and I'll give you my contact info. (I don't want to post it publicly on here right now, in case you don't see this.) Thanks in advance!
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On March 1, 2017 I paid nearly $6k for an 8-week training and coaching package put together by Manie Amari. The sales pitch emphasized that this was to help those having difficulty getting sales on Shopify to start making those sales. On the phone call interview before I was 'allowed' to join the course Manie even asked how much I wanted to make a month and said I should be making that within a few weeks. Once I paid my money and had access to the course I was disappointed in that only 3 of 8 weeks of training were available and everything was basic/entry level training that could be found for free (or at least less than $1k) all over the internet. But Manie said he had to start with basics. So I waited... and waited... and waited.... IF the 8 week course began on March 1, the date I signed up, then everything should have been available by the end of April. Since 3 weeks of content were actually available on Mar 1, everything should have been available by the 1st week of April. Weeks 7 and 8 weren't even posted until late July, 2017. And then it was only after multiple promises that the material was coming in May, June and early July (weeks 4 - 6 were posted between late March and I believe May). It wasn't until I asked for a refund (and I was told 'no' based on his no refund policy) that he even began working on videos for weeks 7 and 8. However what he posted wasn't even what I was expecting based on his sales pitch. (As a point of comparison, I later purchased a program for under $200 and learned at least 3 concrete things I could/should do with my store to increase sales while watching 10 minutes of the initial Welcome video for that course. While Manie promised - and failed to deliver - things no one else was teaching, this other course actually is providing that information.)
Additionally, Manie promised 12 weeks of coaching and a Facebook Mastermind group to provide additional support. The Mastermind group was a big selling point for me, to be part of a small and active group (as I was expecting) was something I felt would help me on my journey. Before signing up, I asked Manie how much he'd be in the group and he said every day. However, he only posted in the group if someone tagged him and asked him a question (every other eCom group has the person running the group in the group posting constantly - new material, answering questions, etc. and those groups are free. When I brought this up to Manie he said he wasn't going to post just for 'entertainment' value). More than once a follow up question was left unanswered in the group and some questions that did not tag Manie were never answered. If he spent 5 min a day in the group that was probably a lot. There weren't many questions asked as apparently he was answering questions via email for some of the members of the group and that combined with failing to put up new material made the FB Mastermind pretty worthless. When I requested a refund mid-July (before weeks 7 and 8 were posted in late July, 2017) Manie informed me that I would still have access to the training because 'that was part of the deal' but would no longer have access to his coaching (which honestly did not help me anyway as he did not give me a single new useable idea to implement in my store nor did he ever even make the effort to help me figure out where the problem was) nor the Facebook group because I had stayed in the group 'beyond the time agreed upon'. While it is true I was in the FB group beyond the 12 weeks (8 weeks of training plus 4 extra weeks), so was everyone else and the course hadn't even been finished at that time (it was now nearly 20 weeks since I paid to join the course and the course was to have lasted 8 weeks).
Before asking for a refund, I started asking questions in the Facebook group to determine how much Manie actually knew about running a Shopify store and most of his answers did not make me feel like he had the skills or qualifications to coach me or anyone else (in spite of his claims). For instance, when I asked what needed to be done to prepare for Q4 sales, Manie's response was Q4 was a 'good time for testing'. Every other guru I know of talks of specific things to be doing (one even put out a course last year) to prepare for Q4. Saying it is a good time to test products and find winners is not the sort of coaching I would expect from a program at this price point. I was expecting specific, actionable things to do when I asked a question and I did not get that.
Everything in the course is based on the dropshipping model, a model I don't use and something I made clear before joining the course. Nothing was said until I got inside that it was all about dropshipping. While Manie does do some print on demand (only t-shirts), he had nothing new to offer me.
When I said I needed help with branding my store, Manie's response was that he could help me with that although he was in the process of branding his first store so he'd need to figure it out first. Again, not what I was expecting from a coach at this price point.
It was the same when I asked a question about email marketing. Everything I have read has said if you aren't using email marketing, you are missing a lot as a store owner. Manie's response was he didn't do email marketing and as soon as he learned how to do that, he'd teach it. Considering it took 20 weeks for him to create and post all the content of his planned 8 week course, I have no idea if, or whenever he'd provide any training on email marketing.
One other area that was supposed to be covered in the course was Outsourcing. This was also something I was greatly interested in learning more about yet it was never even covered in the course. The promised bonuses were also never provided (that section of the course still says 'Coming Soon') and it is now September.
I was in touch with several members of the group and no one was making any progress. Manie's answer for that is we weren't 'doing the work' but we were, he just wasn't coaching or providing what he promised to provide. I asked in the FB group if anyone was making progress (no one was though one woman I didn't know was 'hopeful') and magically, someone who never posted a single question in the group or was known by anyone posted a video singing Manie's praises and talking about how he knew nothing about Shopify when he started in April but in 30 days, he had done $138k in sales using Manie's training. Based on past experience in other groups, when someone makes claims like that they are usually making things up. While I suppose it is possible he did those sales, it is highly unlikely, especially as the numbers increased drastically the following month too.
I have contacted Manie on several occasions. He is aware that I want a full refund. He continues to maintain he does not need to refund my money because he said 'no refunds'. Given that he never provided the service I contracted for in the agreed upon time frame and apparently does not have the skills he purported to have when I signed up for his coaching service I believe the agreement is null and void (if it was ever even valid as I never received a copy signed by him).
Similar Situation
Hi, OP. Something very similar recently happened to me with Manie Amari. I'm considering filing a lawsuit against him. It would be great if I could get in touch with you and talk to you more about what happened. Please post here if you see this and I'll give you my contact info. (I don't want to post it publicly on here right now, in case you don't see this.) Thanks in advance!