:confused: I have a friend that is signed up with this webhost after attending a seminar where the guy told him how much money that he would make. He bought the whole package with a merchant account, and has spent about $250.00. He knows little about the Internet, and does not even have an ISP. They insured him that he did not need to know anything to be successful in ecommerce. Now they are trying to sell him an excellerated program - the cost is still unknown. He suggested that it is between 5 and 10 thousand. Has anyone heard of this company or know anything about it? They say that they started in 1998 (conceptualized?) on the about us page, but I do not see any major companies that are hosted by them or anyone endorsing them. http://www.unimweb.com/aboutus.htm

Looks like a scam to me. Stop payment on those checks! Issue chargebacks on them credit card bills!

2385 NW EXECUTIVE CENTER DR STE 270
BOCA RATON FL 33431-8582

Seems to be an address maintained by The Intelligent Office

http://www.theintelligentoffice.com/

It's for businesses to pretend that they have an office. This type of service was actually mentioned by inkhead here:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41394

The domain names are registered to:

brian zeiler
smartwebstores
1501 lombard st apt 2302
oxnard, California 93030
United States
bzeiler@excite.com
Phone: 8052074316
Fax: 9499004656
Registrar: Go Daddy Software (http://registrar.godaddy.com) Domain Name: SMARTWEBSTORES.COM
Created on: 04-Dec-01
Expires on: 04-Dec-02
Last Updated on: 31-Dec-01
Domain servers in listed order:
DNS1.OHGOLLY.COM
DNS2.OHGOLLY.COM

The websites are being hosted on medsolutions.com's network. I wonder if they're even aware. The the DNS is maintained by ohgolly.com which is ran by ipowerbiz.com.

Everything seems to point back to a "work at home" offer provided by ipowerbiz.com, and their resellers:

http://www.worldwidescam.com/ipbiz2.htm
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/employment/ipowerbiz.html
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff6672.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/co4/resolution/
http://www.netscalped.com/2001_archive/0000005a.htm
http://opportunitiesknock.com/redflag2.htm#ipowerbiz
http://www.slatkinfraud.com/inv_2001_4b.htm

This is what the BBB has to say:

Nature of Business

The company is an e-commerce solutions provider and direct sales company. The company sells computer hardware and software.

Bureau File Experience

Mail sent to this company was returned by the post office as "moved; left no forward address," "forward order has expired," or "unable to locate." The Bureau cannot trace addresses of companies or principals. General information is available upon request which may assist you.

This company offers a multi-level marketing business opportunity selling portals, or websites, along with the ability to recruit others to the plan. The cost to ivest ranges from $399 per year upwards to $2000. We rate this company as having an unsatisfactory business performance record based on a pattern of unanswered customer complaints. Complainants allege after investing in the plan, thier websites never materialize, their calls are not returned, and the company fails to pay commissions earned for recruiting new associates. Most recruits requested refunds. The company has responded to a few complaints by issuing advisories detailing their company policies, or explaining why recruits are ineligible for refunds. Most complaints are unanswered. We advise caution with any offer advertising high earnings along with testimonials and claims of little or no work. Such Get Rich Quick offers usually promote a theory or idea of how to earn money using methods which may be difficult to implement and sometimes legally questionable. Some consist of little more than common sense suggestions. While the company making the offer makes money, we know of no Get Rich Quick opportunity which ever made the buyer a millionaire. Information published and sold on money making methods may be interesting and helpful, however there is no real proof that anyone earned the high income claimed in advertisements. According to policy, the Better Business Bureau does not endorse, recommend or disapprove of any company, product or service.

Mark, Thanks a Million. I told my friend Frank that I thought that this smelled like a scam. I will call hin immediately and tell him the bad news. He is in for about $250 now, but on Friday I believe that he would have committed a larger sum of money. I have been looking at Christian Web Host and Burlee as good ecommerce sites to start a new e-commerce site. What do you think of these Mark?

Just wanted to clear up that we have NO affiliation with these guys.

There seem to be a lot of companies with names similar to yours knox, as I remember in another post.

Ipowerbiz.com also has no affiliation with ipowerweb.com, which appears to be a reputable web hosting company. :)

Jeffrey,
I have no idea what kind of ecommerce you're looking for. Do you need a storefront? You might post here asking for suggestions once you hash out what exactly you need.

If you're friend is looking to resell web hosting for a reputable company, he can get a lot of great information on these forums, as well.