Bright Light Media (yourownstore.co.uk)
Complaint 92635 Details

  • Date Occurred: 01/09/2014
  • Reported Damages: $14,000.00
  • !

The complaint is against an online dating profile

The complaint is a listing fraud posted on public forums or sites against an anonymous entity

The complaint is mobile text spam or smishing related against an anonymous entity

The company or person contact no longer exists

International boundaries

I would like to take to court Jason West, Managing Director of "www.yourownstore.co.uk" as he is giving misleading information to all his consumers. He is selling online franchise stores via the 'yourownstore' website with a 12 months money back guarantee which at time of sale states: "If you use the provided software and training to generate 250 or more visitors a day to the Website and you don't make an income you're happy with, you can return the Website for a full refund within 1 year of the purchase". I am not happy with the income I am making as I believe they have overvalued this business as I had to pay £5000 for it and they promised that if I followed their advices I would have made £40,000 a year. I have followed their advices and so far I made around 4 gbp. As per 12 months guarantee policy I am not happy with the income I am making and after 3 months I would like to return it. I have sent different emails to them with no reply. When I open a ticket via the helpdesk of 'yourownstore' they close it straight away even if they cannot help with it. I have sent different emails to the Managing Director and he never replied apart from today as after calling several times the customer service no one is ever there to reply the calls for existing customers but they only reply from the sales team which is where I have registered a complaint and the guy over the phone was very stressed and said he could not help and tried to hung up, I then insisted and asked if he could pass on a message to Jason West, which it seemed like he was next to him advicing the guy on what to say as the guy was replying to me over the phone in a strange way like if somebody else was suggesting what to say. In fact soon after I received an email from Jason West, the Managing Director who pasted the terms and conditions straight away without any introduction in the email he started to defend himself. I was also provided with a more detailed policy last week on a word document which seemed to me like if it was prepared no long ago and stated more detailed policies which I was never shown with at time of purchase. Jason West today has also insulted me by email saying that with my attitude I will never succeed in the Affiliate Marketing. I did not reply to him as I find this to be very unprofessional. I have simply requested to be refunded as per terms and conditions that I was shown at time of purchase.

This is what I will be basing my case on. I know that when we buy online there are some consumer rights and I have seen the direct.gov.uk/consumer website and thought that I do have a case. I believe their main priority is to sell the stores and that's it as they do not care about the customers as demostrated that no one is ever there to answer the phone unless you want to buy a store.

I was genuinely finding a way to invest £5000 of my money which I worked hard to save, I also had to buy a new laptop as the software for the website does not run on a Mac, I had to by articles, spend money on advertisement. I have paid so far around £8000/£9000 maybe.

I am seeking for help and legal advice.

Thanks,

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Comments

  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous SBID #0eca7c13ee
  • Posted 04/07/2014
  • Hi there,

    Unfortunately not yet. They don't answer my calls anymore as they must have saved my number. Anyway they only answer to sales calls and on anything related to customer service you have to leave a voice mail but they never call you back.
    I have sent them a Breach of contract letter about a week ago and I am going to wait for another week and then will contact again consumer direct and trading standards and will probably end up to court. It will be a very difficult one but let's wait and see.

    Thanks,

    (Personal information has been removed)
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  • Boblee24
  • Boblee24 SBID #812b5908ce
  • Posted 04/07/2014
  • Hey,
    Aye it sounds tricky. Im also waiting for my money back. Soo far they have refused by email. And sent loads of rubbish about T&C's. I will be contacting my solicitor soon if i don't get my money back.

    Thanks
  • Was this helpful?
  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous SBID #0eca7c13ee
  • Posted 04/07/2014
  • They won't pay you back and will only keep getting back to you with terms and condition and all that (Inappropriate Content Removed). I would suggest you to contact Consumer Direct on 08457224499 and ask them to log the issue with trading standards as if we gain a few complaints they could potentially close them down. If you contact a solicitor it will cost you a lot of money as they usually start by sending them a letter and for this they will ask around £500 to £750 and after that thay will get around £200 p/h. If you want you could do this yourself by following this tips:
    Recorded Delivery Letter (keep a copy for myself)

    To whom it may concern
    Subject: Breach of contract

    State important facts
    What you bought
    When you bought it
    What you paid in total
    What went wrong

    State that the trader is in breach of contract and ask the trader what you are entitled to

    Give them a reasonable time to carry out the request and set a date for that

    Hope this helps and fingers crossed. Please let me know how it goes and I will keep you posted too.

    Happy Easter!

    (Personal information has been removed)
  • Was this helpful?
  • youkay
  • youkay SBID #f16c1d4590
  • Posted 05/28/2014
  • I have been taken in by this as well. They were always phoning me when I was thinking of buying a store off them but now they've got my money there's no reply to emails. I am going to contact Watchdog as they're pretty good at exposing scammers.
  • Was this helpful?
  • Boblee24
  • Boblee24 SBID #812b5908ce
  • Posted 05/30/2014
  • Its been nearly 2 months & no contact to emails or letters :(
    Watchdog seems a great idea. I loved watching the program. I'll take a look at their website.

    Good Luck!
  • Was this helpful?
  • John
  • John SBID #bb0c7c4229
  • Posted 06/20/2014
  • Hi Guys,
    I am in the same situation, requested a refund but received a response mentioning terms and conditions. Business model clearly not working, also they opened a website in the same niche as mine, making me an unfair competition.
    If you have legal advise, or been through this road and can share your experience with me, would be much appreciated.
    Thanks
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  • cevens2012
  • cevens2012 SBID #a514e3ef02
  • Posted 08/05/2014
  • Hi everyone,
    I see there are a few other issues on this website regarding yourownstore.co.uk, oh dear! Thankfully I didn't buy anything from them but I very nearly did a few months ago, until I did the research and found many disgruntled customers who were not getting responses as soon as they demanded a refund! Rather than read what they call genuine articles on their website, do some searches on google to see the vast numbers of people who have complained and are still seeking compensation.

    Good luck!
  • Was this helpful?
  • ohgod51
  • ohgod51 SBID #353a34a7ae
  • Posted 08/23/2014
  • Hey, stay away from yourownstore.co.uk and yourownstore.com, its the same company. Allot of people have been taking. Its allot of work and allot of money if you can't afford to lose it.
  • Was this helpful?
  • Boblee24
  • Boblee24 SBID #353a34a7ae
  • Posted 08/24/2014
  • ohgod51, your right. I'm lucky enough to afford to lose it. But if my financial position changes in the future. I will NEVER forget the ill-bred people at yourownstore.co.uk. I WILL hunt them down...
  • Was this helpful?
  • jasonwest
  • jasonwest SBID #61a248fc0c
  • Posted 09/11/2014
  • ohgod51 is Leonard Patzer who unfortunately expected his purchased website to magically gain traffic without putting in any work despite being pre-warned that he was going to have to learn new skills and take action to make a success of the business. After just 2 months he demanded a refund and complained of having no visitors. We explained that it takes longer than that to generate traffic to a new website and that he needed to actually build links to the store and do the work required.

    Since that time we have received a torrent of abuse from the man that is far too awful to publish here. He continues his hate campaign against us via Twitter and repeated emails to the point of harassment.

    Unfortunately some people expect something for nothing despite being told that you get out what you put into the business.
  • Was this helpful?
  • ohgod51
  • ohgod51 SBID #8cac31ba7d
  • Posted 09/11/2014
  • Jason West is Jason West, for those that don't know Jason West!! The hate campaign started when Jason West shut down my admin and is blocking my IP address so that I can't access my Website that belongs to me. Just so Jason West understands I was told after 2 months that my website was up for resale and then I find out that it was never up for resale. Ether Jason West does not know what is going on in his own company or he is a lier. For anyone one who does not believe me there are 78 other people demanding their money back. you can go to Facebook and go to (website owners group) and see all the other pissed off people that have been taking for a ride, I guess all those other people have not done anything ether or maybe Jason West has another excuse for them!!
  • Was this helpful?
  • ohgod51
  • ohgod51 SBID #8cac31ba7d
  • Posted 09/11/2014
  • The other thing that Jason West sales team tell people is that you don't have to know anything about running a website and you can do it in your spare time and make a good income!! All of it is bull crap. You have to know what you are doing right out of the gate or you are going to spent 8 hours a day learning how to run a website and that is everyday for at lest a year and then maybe you might start to see a very small return. You are only making pennies on every sale so please do the math! Ask to look at the training first before buying, do your home work, because like the old saying goes if its to good to be true it always is!!
  • Was this helpful?
  • Leo
  • Leo SBID #706884bafd
  • Posted 09/11/2014
  • YourOwnStore (Bright Light Media Ltd) has never been able to demonstrate its business model work as originally designed and promoted. The presented 'ESTIMATED ANNUAL
    EARNINGS' is pure fantasy and unrealistic considering the numerous Google algorithm changes in the recent months.

    Save yourself time and money! walk away!.

    Happy to discuss privately with anyone who need factual evidence.
  • Was this helpful?
  • ohgod51
  • ohgod51 SBID #353a34a7ae
  • Posted 09/11/2014
  • To further my point about Yourownstore, as people can see for them selves, Im not the only one that has posted on here about yourownstore!!!
  • Was this helpful?
  • Anonymus31
  • Anonymus31 SBID #2a5b525619
  • Posted 09/14/2014
  • Your Own Store are an absolute disgrace and lie to you about everything e.g. Potential money to be earned, 1-2 hours per day for £50k per year? Really? Testimonials are guys who say how great it is to you on the phone but on the forum they talk about how they have made any money in 6 months? YOS themselves have even admitted the estimated earnings are way to high and have been lowered.

    They have a forum and everyone on there has not earned no where near the amount that was estimated to them and all in all it's a failure. People need to be warned about this awful company who don't care what happens to their customers and I've optimised my site and worked dam hard to no avail.

    I predict YOS will have to be shut down due to the extreme con that it is.

    If it sounds to good to be true it normally is and this is the case here.

    Cheers

    A
  • Was this helpful?
  • realowner
  • realowner SBID #5b84899de3
  • Posted 09/24/2014
  • After reading through some of these comments I thought best that I should speak out. I own a store with this company and although I am not a millionaire with it all, I am very happy with my purchase and the way I have been treated. When I was sold the store, I was told that it was not a "get rich quick scheme" and that I should see it as a fresh business. I used to have a printing shop so now what its like to build something from the base up.

    If you were told that it would make you lots of money very quickly then you have a right to be angry, however, if this is not the case then I am sure that I speak on behalf of the rest of us that are enjoying it, learning and making a bit of cash when I say that we really don't appreciate your negativity and real business minded people know that there is no such thing as a free meal.
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  • jp1980
  • jp1980 SBID #32fe37a6d2
  • Posted 09/24/2014
  • @realowner - why would you be trawling the complaints section of this site for yos related articles, if you are, as you claim, a legitimately happy store owner?

    how do you account for the likes of myself, that were told that i would earn "only" £250 a month after 3 monthes?? How do you account for the fact that i have followed every instruction that YOS have offered for the past 16 monthes, and yet have consistanly low daily hits (less than 20 daily) and have made £0.00 from the site in all that time? I have put in an average of 5 hours every single day for the past 16 monthes....far more than YOS claim i should need to, but have seen ZERO return in that time??? Nothing at all!! Thats about as far from get rich quick as i can imagine! I was lied to - can you offer me any other guidance as to what i may be doing wrong?? As this is a question that i have asked YOS on numerous occassions during the past 16 monthes, with not one reply!

    or is it that you are infact not a "realowner"?
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  • conviction
  • conviction SBID #f361a203fd
  • Posted 09/25/2014
  • @realowner

    Please share your website URL + Google Analytics screen for 2012 + Affiliate Window, Trade Doubler... commission payments for 2012 on my contact page bestphoto.co.uk/contact.html

    Then, we can discuss!
  • Was this helpful?
  • Anonymus31
  • Anonymus31 SBID #b641ed683a
  • Posted 09/25/2014
  • @real owner

    I have to say you're talking utter rubbish.

    YOS claim you will earn money in the first few months and then go on to make £40k upwards. YOS also say its a passive income once you've optimised your account and therefore you don't need to work on it as much. Complete and utter lies and YOS should take responsibility for the deception it bestowed onto their customers.

    You have not given any substance to your argument against a well documented complaint thread. I personally think your employed by YOS and trying to save the company's battered reputation as said on the above "why would you look for a complaint thread if you were happy?

    Of anyone has £5k to burn then you can get a site like this for less than £200 and you can buy software and a company to host it for less than £500.

    Regards
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  • ohgod51
  • ohgod51 SBID #8cac31ba7d
  • Posted 09/25/2014
  • @realowner

    I noticed you said a bit of cash, does that mean between 40,000 and 60,000?? Like YOS said I would make, or does that mean what it says, a bit of cash!!!
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  • hallj999
  • hallj999 SBID #fd0257906f
  • Posted 10/17/2014
  • if there is any group legal action forming I would like to join in, I am in the same boat and have just sent a letter to yos and to the citizens advice
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  • SanjeevH
  • SanjeevH SBID #8a81a685c1
  • Posted 10/22/2014
  • Just found this on Google. Because I was thinking about buying a store from Your Own Store, no more.

    Just to give everyone a heads up, they are now trying to flog the same scam under a new website name www.YourTravelStore.co.uk, spread the word.
  • Was this helpful?
  • gillianmckee
  • gillianmckee SBID #096b6c9f68
  • Posted 10/31/2014
  • I bought my site - www.bouncyspider.com from them in August 2010 and I have made £1.33. I am optimizing and blogging etc not a bit of attention I would definitely be interested in getting my money back or at least some of it
  • Was this helpful?
  • youkay
  • youkay SBID #c20fa94558
  • Posted 10/31/2014
  • I remember bouncyspider being up for sale. The scam is they make very very appealing websites, seduce you with 'live' webinars (they're not) showing you how much revenue an existing site is making and conning you into believing you can make a ton of money by buying your own 'business' from them. Seriously guys there must be something we can do, is there not a no win no fee lawyer somewhere who could take this on? As we speak there must be people laying out their money to this outfit and they are taking the moeny off them in the full knowledge that this is a dud business to buy.
  • Was this helpful?
  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous SBID #9170d1f8f2
  • Posted 11/03/2014
  • Hi guys, I am the guy that has originally posted this comment and I have been reading all your comments, may I kindly ask you to report all your comments to trading standards and also read this: https://www.gov.uk/consumer-protection-rights
    Buying online - your consumer rights
    They must refund you all of the money back. I got the money back for my website, yes there is still the adverts money and other fees for the business (such as articles, etc), but please you must fight for it. I have also been contacted by Scambook themselves and I might proceed and follow their advices. I will keep you informed!
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  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous SBID #9170d1f8f2
  • Posted 11/03/2014
  • Guys I can confirm that Scambook is going to help us with this. I have just read their email which i am going to paste for you:
    Thank you for choosing Scambook to assist you with your complaint resolution. We have reviewed your complaint and we will fight hard to resolve this for you. If we require more information someone from our Investigations team will be contacting you on further updates.

    Be sure to update your complaint status and submit as much information as possible, you can do that in your dashboard http://www.scambook.com/dashboard

    Please make sure you keep writing all your experiences in here!
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  • jp1980
  • jp1980 SBID #82d467e967
  • Posted 11/03/2014
  • @ Anonymous

    Hi buddy - so you have been successful in getting all your money that you paid for your site refunded? Can you tell us the process you have gone through and how long it took please? I have been told by YOS that they are attempting to sell my site for me as we speak - that was 5 weeks ago + sam davis stated that generally it takes them 3 weeks to sell a site - sam was supposedly dealing with it personally and asked that i not ring them, as the time he spent answering my queries stopped him finding a buyer - not that he ever actually answered my calls, Paul Veal did and now they have sent all calls to answer phone. Sam Davis has made no contact at all and paul veal now uses the excuse that my complaint on here had turned a potential buyer away and that i need to have the complaint removed before they can sell. So, essentially they are attempting to blackmail me to stay quiet and not reveal the truth about their company, and then they will attempt to "sell" my site for me? Given their untrustworthy track record, i feel begrudged to believe a word they say on anything at all, and if there is a way to get what i paid back in full, i would really love to hear it please?
    I appreciate your help.
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  • gillianmckee
  • gillianmckee SBID #096b6c9f68
  • Posted 11/03/2014
  • Most people, like myself, bought into this as a business that would have to be worked at and not as a get-rich-quick scheme. I have worked hard at it - Seo (some paid for), articles, blogging, optimizing, getting 'likes' Facebook promotions - you name it I have done it - I have had my site for a year and 2 months now and I have had one sale of £33.00 through Asda of which I earned £1.33. I did not have the money to throw away like this and they promised me I would be at least earning £45,000 a year if I worked hard at it! I am now lost and don't know what to do. This was my future - I cannot work at a regular job due to a disability and I am now £4500 down with nowhere to turn. I am so hurt at their lies and promises.
  • Was this helpful?
  • jp1980
  • jp1980 SBID #82d467e967
  • Posted 11/03/2014
  • let me guess...that first sale came relatively soon after you bought your store? If so, i see an obvious pattern emerging - i have "earnt" £18.80 in 18 mths of solid work, like yourself. Thats 2 sales. The first came within days of me taking owvership...the second some time after, but thats it. I have heard 3 other owners who are in the exact same boat, who also have only made 1 or 2 sales, the first of which came very soon after owning their site. Is it too far fetched to conclude that it is actually the YOS lot who buy those first items from each respective store, in an attempt to "encourage" the new owner that their new store is as good as they were led to believe at the point of sale? The YOS lot could very easily price this action into their site sales prices, meaning that we the owners are actually buying that first item, yet never receiving the product of course. I just think its too coincidental that more than a few new owners "sell" their first item within days of taking ownership of their store. I have been in contact with a competitor of this outfit and have learned a few interesting things about our friends Jason West and Sam Davis. I am currently working to locate them and once i have, i shall be visiting them and i shall let you all know their locations and the outcomes of my visits, if you so wish
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  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous SBID #9170d1f8f2
  • Posted 11/03/2014
  • Hi, I feel exactly as you do I started complaining after 3/4 months as I have noticed it was utter rubbish and I worked so hard and had almost £5 commissions but that's it. It's not worth it. I was lucky to be one of the first complaints and dealt directly with Jason West we agreed I would give him all my articles plus my ".com domain" and if you think I had to buy a pc to run their SEO software which runs only on Windows i am still down over 2k and i also spent lots of my spare time and had to take a loan which I am still paying back with interests and because I did not make any considerable profit out of the business It was not a good investment at all that's why I am waiting Scambook investigation team to get back to me but my biggest advice is to keep sending Jason West formal letters and report this to trading standards, keep all the evidence. Jason West is a scammer and became rich thanks to all of us who worked very hard to save every single of those pennys. That is why I am still fighting for justice. Scamming innocent and honest customers some of them with disabilities which counted on this particular business even more due to the fact that cannot do other jobs make Jason West and hist team a bunch of ruthless people with no interests to the business. They deserve to be in jail and we deserve justice. Guys please keep complaining as it's the only way to get your money back and the justice we all deserve. Bombard them with phone calls and make their life miserable that's what I did. I used to call the sales team as they would not answer to any other number and send plenty of emails to Jason West.
    Please all do the same and keep updating this complaint section as if we stay united we can win.
    Thanks!
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  • youkay
  • youkay SBID #c20fa94558
  • Posted 11/03/2014
  • I'm afraid that I think he will keep selling these 'businesses' and take the money from people until the last possible minute then pull the plug on it when his back is to the wall with all the complaints etc, close it down and walk away without any of us seeing our money. Sorry to be negative but he clearly didn't get where he is through honesty and transparency in business did he?
    However I won't give up and will complain to Trading Standards as you suggest.
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  • DUPEDBYYOS2
  • DUPEDBYYOS2 SBID #24502f1db6
  • Posted 11/06/2014
  • The store I've bought from YourOwnStore (BrightLightMedia) was said to make £70K and cost about £5400, -
    My store is now 13 months old and I have optimized it for 100%. I have made no money other than the £30.00 I did receive because family members bought something through my website, to see if it worked. I have not had any other customers buying from my store and visits have not even reached 250 a month let alone the ‘just’ 250 a day as they stated by YOS would be an easy target to reach.

    The time I have spent on my store is around 30-35 hours a week instead of 1-2 hours a day I was told was all that was needed to make this a success. I was never told I would have to write so many articles, no mention about article spinning (I had never even heard of it) it was all easy work; even a novice could do it.

    After I had bought the store it became clear an article of at least 400 words had to be written for each category in my store. My store has more than 100 categories so that’s a lot of writing. As my writing isn't great I had to outsource most of it, which has cost me a further €600,-
    Besides more articles had to be written for article spinning, needless to say I haven’t even gotten as far as that.

    Now I've come to a point where it’s no longer fun to work on my store as all the effort I have put in is not paying off. I had dreamed to be able to work from home and give up my regular job but this is a dream that I can forget about.

    In my opinion YOS is misleading people into buying these stores with the unrealistic promises they make. So far we have not been given any real proof of any of their stores making real money. We have asked for that proof many times and we now believe they are unable to give it to us as it doesn't exist.

    What worries me most that this company is rapidly expanding into other niches :www.myjobwebsite.co.uk,www.yourtravelstore.co.uk, and luring unsespecting people into buying a business that doesn't work.
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  • Kaptain1
  • Kaptain1 SBID #190bdc248f
  • Posted 11/19/2014
  • I am so glad I found this page. Like all of you above, I have been conned into buying an online store that is a complete waste of money time and effort. I am also trying to pursue a refund and no one at YOS has even bothered to contact me or get in touch. I would be greatful if anyone can assist me on what to do next. This needs to stop and this company needs to be closed down! My website myyummymummy.com has been a complete disaster and doesnt even work properly.

    Thank you
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  • unhappy-victim
  • unhappy-victim SBID #562ea3f3fe
  • Posted 11/19/2014
  • @Kaptain1

    Welcome and thank you for sharing your experience with us. You will be contacted through your website contact form on how to join the other forums/facebook yourownstore owners unbiased reviews and other groups very soon.
  • Was this helpful?
  • Kaptain1
  • Kaptain1 SBID #190bdc248f
  • Posted 11/20/2014
  • Thank you but suprise suprise my contact on my website doesnt even work! Imagine that! my email is (Personal Information Removed) I would love to hear from you or anyone else that has been effected by this too! Thanks
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  • Dave
  • Dave SBID #b9d4fb9bb3
  • Posted 06/13/2013
  • Would someone please be able to give me the process for starting to reclaim some/all of you money from Your Own Store. I purchased www.thetoysroom.co.uk last year for £4,500 again same story as others was sold the line of easy set up, no previous web experience, 1-2 hours per day, etc.....

    It won't surprise any of you that in the last year we have earned the princely sum of £12! With a portion of that being me purchasing Christmas presents for our kids. I look back now and am angry both with YOS and myself, we borrowed the money to purchase the store but we saw it as a way for my partner to work from home, look after our children which would cut down our childcare costs. It seemed like the perfect solution.

    I was reassured by the sales team at YOS that my little knowledge of computers would not hinder me, I followed the training step by step spending endless hours at the same time as having a full time job setting up the site getting it to any maintaining a level over 90%, blogging regularly, reviewing products, linking to other sites and tweeting. All for little or no difference to the site traffic.

    If anyone can advise I would be extremely grateful as we are desperate to try and recoup whatever we can.
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  • Leo
  • Leo SBID #d30098ef90
  • Posted 06/14/2013
  • I can suggest you private message a group of store owner taking legal action against YourOwnStore on Facebook. facebook.com/YourOwnStoreOwnersFeedback
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  • Fraz
  • Fraz SBID #d83b18b8b7
  • Posted 06/27/2016
  • Hi Guys
    Can anyone tell me where it ended up. Did anyone manage to get money back ?
    I am still struggling to get my £4000 back
  • Was this helpful?

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Business Profile Summary

  • YourOwnStore.co.uk (Bright Light Media Ltd.) logo

Company Statistics

  • Complaint Against YourOwnStore.co.uk (Bright Light Media Ltd.)
  • Complaints Filed: 32
  • Reported Damages: $265,743.94
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