On July 9, 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 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 (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.
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