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The following posts have been reprinted in their entirety from posts e-mailed by readers of this website, except that headers, names and locations have been removed. These posts express the opinions and experiences of their authors, and this site publisher makes no representations about them in any way whatsoever. Re: Amway/Quixtar I was sucked in because the guy I was dating got in it. Did you notice who attends those meetings? People who are lonely, poor and vulnerable. I am Catholic, and was really put off by the religious functions tied in with Amway meetings! I mean, do you get down on your knees and pray at your desk everyday? The kicker, the upline person in my group said that she would pick her Amway Business over her marriage and dump her husband for the sake of the business!! Once I went to a meeting and put the guy on the spot asking very blunt questions about AMWAY and he was significantly annoyed with me. I don't date the guy anymore, but I can tell you, he has the anti-social personality to get sucked in. Listen, if you "IBOs", and I use the term loosely, are listening, get out while you have your marriage and family intact. You have no idea how destructive the brainwashing is to relationships. By the way, and this is the most appaling, I had my "colors" done by the upline's wife(I looked like HELL). She mentioned her mom died of cancer and I said, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry", she said "Oh, never mind that, it's just that her skin looked so good in the casket because she used Amway skin care." My sister died of cancer in July 1998, so I took great exception to this. And, don't EVEN think about having a contradictory opinion to these people....they crucify you for being individual. I used to refer to the "meetings" as "Cult meetings", and I still feel this way. And they answer every question with, "Have you read this book, or that book?" Don't they have the ability to answer a question without a book? Please, don't do this to your friends and family. People are turned off to Amway, and with good reason, don't you think? Thanks for letting me vent. I also want to say that if I ever get my hands on my "upline" (dislike that term), I am going to tel them that they were picking on the wrong individual---and that's whatI am, an individual. Thank you. PS - Why don't we send these notes to Quixtar? I bet we'd have them falling off their "books, tapes and propaganda".
Thank you for bringing me to my fellow survivors!! I was with Equinox for 3 months in 1996. I was only 3 people downline from Bill Gouldd, but my Director was literally psychotic. He was a former plumber (problem #1-any yutz can be in an MLM) and had a short man's complex like you wouldn't believe. I called the company to order some product, and was taken in at a vulnerable time in my life, and they honed in on it, inviting me to my upline's La Jolla mansion, and forcing me through their brain washing tactics to spend money I didn't have and fly first class to Indianapolis for "building blocks" training. My director (who was male) got us (I am female) a SHARED room, and since I didn't have a dime to my name after buying my 5,000 dollars worth of Essence, I had no choice. In the evenings, he would drink, and get moody because I wasn't paying enough attention to him. He verbally abused me the entire weekend, played to my deepest insecurities about myself, and made me question my entire life up to that point. When we got back, I was so emotionally drained, I considered suicide. I ignored him; HIS upline finially called me and said "What's up?" When I told them all that had gone on, including the sexual advances, they dropped me like a hot potato. I could have persued it, but I felt that he could probably hide from the whole "independent contractor" bull. It's weird, because Bill Gouldd is a very powerful person, he has an aura I cannot explain. And I liked the products; I still use a number of them. But if you have ever worked in the professional corporate world before, and then you work with a bunch of freakshows lying through their teeth everyday, I just couldn't deal. I lost alot of money, but thankfully my husband stuck by me, and thankfully I was able to prevent him from loading his shotgun and taking out my director. Does anyone know what happened to the makeup line and Essence? It seems to be gone. I checked the website, it looks like they have lost alot of products. It's too bad. Greed is evil, and evil is the antonym for life. Greed will kill you. Peace.
Hi I can believe that you have received lots of nasty e-mails from people and that they are Gouldd's minions. I was suckered in back in 1995 and finally filed for bankruptcy in 99. There are friends i'm afraid to call because I introduced them to the company and they lost money. Sound familiar? I'm sure it does. Anyway, do you have any info
on the civil suit? I'd like to get some of my 40k back! I hope
they send Gouldd to jail!!! P.S....thanks for this site... Dear nomore.scamz, My brother (aged 39) has been involved in Amway for 10 years in England. The rest of the family thought it either harmless or stupid, but did nothing about it. We were recently shaken out of our complacency when we realised his marriage was being destroyed by it. His wife had become opposed to Amway, and he seemed to prioritise the business above her. As far as we can see, it has been of no financial benefit to him whatsoever. He seems to have no friends outside of Amway, no social life, and he parrots the Amway mantras like someone brainwashed. He may soon have nowhere to live. He is ruining his life. He has fallen out with our parents, our other brother, everyone who might help him. We have no idea what to do. I feel better already for seeing this website, but I still haven't the faintest idea how to help him, since, as you can imagine, he thinks everyone who is down on Amway is somehow spouting propaganda. For any advice you can give, I would be eternally grateful. sincerely
do you have any positive testimony regarding mlm?
Thought you would like to know, that Judge Gilmore has ordered P&G to pay approx. $500,000 in legal fees to defendants, due to P&G's "bad faith" litigation. By the way, interesting how you make the point of China temporarily shutting down Amway in their country. Hmm. Yes, I guess your right. I would trust the communist government of China , who just recently got blasted by Clinton's State Dept for human rights violations. Also the Clinton administration is scrambling over renewed threats to Taiwan. Thanks for the motivation!!! Have a nice day. Part II Hello again. I do want to thank you for your efforts to halt illegal pyramid schemes. We are in definite agreement there. FTC is doing the best they can. However, there is a difference between pyramid schemes and legitimate MLMs recognized by our government, the courts, the press, other businesses and foreign governments. Even some universities are teaching MLM. You may not like them, but they are deemed legal and proper through our legislative and legal proceedings. To be more specific the FTC has used Amway's policies as the ethical benchmark for other opportunities in the network marketing industry. The FTC said Amway injected a vigorous new competitive presence into a highly concentrated market. Also a site like yours does not suprise me, because ANY business has its critics and detractors. Virtually every major business deals with lawsuits. If everyone believed with critics and detractors everytime, free enterprise would cease to exist. You can't satisy everybody all the time. Yes, there are bad apples in the Quixtar/Amway 2000 business. There are "bad example" distributors, so I agree with you there. But to quote an old saying "don't cut down the tree because of a few bad apples". Most distributors are good decent people. Therefore, your site has some benefits and I do agree with you in some areas, but we also have major disagreements. I will respect you for your opinions. Can we respectfully disagree? Have a nice day.
My name is *. I've been in Equinox for 3 years, and I'm really not active any longer, although I still use some products, several of which really are good quality. Honestly. I've spent money I didn't have on trainings and on trying to maintain my business. I didn't make a whole lot, but I did make some money. I don't doubt that there are horror stories out there. But the people who say that they bought a whole bunch of product and didn't sell any of it. I personally sold over 15 thousand dollars of product while I was active. And I sucked at retailing Seriously. So, if some people can sell the product, and some can't, is it the product that doesn't sell, is it the company that doesn't work, or is it the individual's efforts that are in question? The only variable is the individual in question. Hello. Unfortunately, in any opportunity to make money, undesirable characters are almost always involved. So some of us got stuck in offices with scummy people, or scummy sponsors/upline or whatever. My only issue with the kind of letters I read are that people want to blame others for their decisions. Yes, I understand there is pressure to do things that many former mlm-ers later regret. I ruined my credit because I poured everything I had into my business. But this is precisely the point everybody is missing. When you join an mlm, you are starting YOUR OWN BUSINESS. And guess what? Businesses FAIL. All the time. So just because my business failed doesn't mean that mlm's are all a scam. Equinox puts out great products and great training..but not everybody, in fact lots of people, don't become REALLY successful. That's a given. But most businesses fail. Look at the statistics. How many restaurants close after a year or so? Does it mean that restaurant businesses are a scam because so many fail? It's really sad how many people have a victim mentality. Instead of saying "You know what? I know businesses fail all the time. I tried to start my own business and it didn't work. Are there things I was pressured to do? Maybe. Probably. But in the end, they were MY decisions, and I have to be ACCOUNTABLE. I'm not going to look to blame my judgement, or lack thereof, on somebody else. Just because businesses fail doesn't mean capitalism is a scam. So just because I failed at mlm and other thousands or millions of people have, doesn't mean it's the companies' fault, or that mlm's don't work. Part of the fault might lie with the distributors, part of it might lie with the owner/leadership. But the BOTTOM LINE is that I control my life, I make my decisions, and I HAVE TO OWN THEM. And I have to live with the consequences, accept them, learn from them, and MOVE ON !!!! " I find that too many of us always want to blame somebody else for our mistakes. Let's pull our collective heads out of our #&*%@! I think americans in general are tired of excuses and whining. Just do something. Learn from your mistakes, become a better person, and do something else with your life. I'm not saying there isn't a need for this type of website. All I'm saying is there's an awful lot of sorry sob stories. Not that they aren't valid or true or painful experiences, I just see very little desire by anybody that posts letters on these websites for saying "you know what, I could have done things differently. It was my decision, I'm aware of that." Some people may think the trainings are overpriced. Maybe. But then again, I spent thousands at UC Berkeley(graduated), law school(quit). And in comparison, Mr Gouldd and Advanced Marketing Seminars, combined with the experience of "doing the business", have taught me more than all the formal education combined in my lifetime. And they were way cheaper then school was. I have no regrets, even though I ruined my credit. But like I said, in the end, the bottom line was, that was MY decision. I choose to own it, and be accountable for it. I'm not looking to blame it on anybody else. We need to stop wallowing in our misery and regret, and put our heads down, rise above, and move on. Like the sports company says, "just do it".
Yes, in the past I was duped to join the Amyway network 21 scheme that it promises it will help me to makes a lots of potential extra income. But to my my dissappointment with the amount of effort I had put in, the results is almost as good as zero. Recently, a friend of mine had introduced to me about Skybiz 200 and I was told that this not another sort crap pyramid scheme nor neither a direct selling company. My question is this the truth? Please kindly advice me about Skybiz 2000 wherther it is another sort of pyramid scheme, or can it classified it as another type of direct selling company?
scratch and pat on your back.. thanks for your useful, provocative website as a fellow divorce survivor, i perceive some courage and stamina on your part personally and professionally congratulations I would be interested on your latest take on Rexall thanks divorced dad of three schoolage kids in **
You may have already seen this but thot I'd pass it along if not. My mother won't give up sending me this stuff! My mother has been in Amway for over 30 years . She's 76 years old and still believes she's gonna make a million in Amway, in spite of the fact that we had to bankrupt he last year with $30k in credit card debt (primarily from cash advances & building inventory & buying tapes, catalogues - sure you know the agenda). I've had your site bookmarked for about 2 years now & really enjoy reading any updates. Maybe someday I'll write my story. Sincerely,
Thank you I just wrote my letter and boy will you be surprised. We actually do enforce the rules as best we can. Im sure my letter to the man will be thrown in the trash. He cant see past his nose that far. Also you never sent me a response to the numbers I sent you or were you speachless! Also I talked to Doug by email he is doing well. I don't hate people like you its fun to have a good argument it makes the blood flow. Ruth do you play with the stock market just want to see how diversivide yopu really are. Well got tp go play with the kid's. Also if you would tell me how much you make off your book I might buy it. But I haven't seen you disclose that info yet. Sound's like you do the samething you accuse the upline off doing! That is not disclosing your profit!
Hey Ruth, Hope all is well with you. I love the changes to the website and the community that you started. Received the following today <snicker> What do you think the best response is to this load of crap? I would like to write something subtle yet (of course) bitingly sarcastic. Boy, I cant wait for April :) Chris ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- Dear Chris Per Equinox Policies and Procedures, section I(K)(3)(h), Use of the Company's name or logo on buildings, vehicles, etc. is prohibited without the express written consent from the Company. Also, per Equinox Policies and Procedures, section I(K)(6), Representatives are strictly prohibited from advertising or promoting the Equinox opportunity or its products and services by any means of mass media including, but not limited to, television, television merchandising channels, computer networks, national or international advertising, or any other form of promotion or communication where the person-to person nature of the business is inhibited. I would also like to point out that Equinox Representatives are entitled to a 100% refund per Equinox Policies and Procedures section III. Neither the Federal Court nor the "receiver" coordinate or manage refunds. Therefore, you are directed to cease and desist the practice of using the Equinox name for any purpose on the internet. You are also directed to remove your website, icanseetheocean@aol.com, immediately and respond to my attention that you have done so. Failure to do so may result in legal action. If you have any questions you may contact me at tgaskill@equinoxinternational.com., or call me at 702-877-2287. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
I recently applied with Equinox after the whole local training and vidoes of "Financially Independent" people. I knew it was like any Amway scam. I decided to go with it part time just to see if there would ever be a return for my time. I ordered 240$ of products and called some of my friends. They laughed at me not even knowing what I was going to do. I even had a friend come down and check it out. She left before it started. I noticed that the people who went down to the local office never came back for the next training or the next day. I spent a week working with them and made up excuses for not having anybody to call. (I really didn't know anybody and the people I did know I didn't want them to laugh at me) We are in an Army town and everyone I know somehow or another is from my husband's unit. I haven't went back down to their office for sometime now. I felt threatened by the way they offered the whole deal. I was told if I could find two interested people from my warm market they could work with me. I knew what they were really saying was " If I could find two people who are dumb enough to invest 5 grand each we will work with you". I've decided to work else where and get paid paychecks every two weeks and just live the normal good old life. I do want others to know that they don't care about the "Enviroment and Health Awareness" spill that they give you. I have 240$ invested in their products and have not used any except the breath spray. Not saying I have bad breath but It's like candy! haha P.S. I thank you for your site. It will hopefully bring thought to others who haven't invested a penny.
Hi there, Just wondering about news on Skynary/Sky Biz 2000. Vancouver Canada Television ran an article on this (CKVU) February 23, 2000 and also listed the RCMP website as lising it on their illegal pyramid site. Just wondering if you have any reports or links about this that you can pass on. Thanks!
I AM TRYING TO GET MORE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE "LAWSUIT" BY KATHY TAYLOR AND THE PHONE NUMBERS LISTED ARE WRONG. I WOULD LIKE TO CALL THE ATTORNEYS OFFICE MYSELF AND CONFIRM THE VALIDITY OF THIS CLAIM. COULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO FORWARD ME THE PROPER NUMBERS SO THAT I CAN CALL FOR VERIFICATION? THANK YOU
I was never told about any of these rules when I got in. I was reading in one of the books that came with my kit when I saw the 10 customer rule. I was curious about this rule and asked my sponser, his response was " don't worry about that they don't enforce that rule, nobody has any customers that they sell to". My active time of distributorship was from Nov. '98 to Nov. '99 but I wised up when I had about 5 to 6 months of active distributorship left. I was sponsored by a Emerald Direct. Give 'em Hell THANK YOU for your helpful sight. I thought that they were scamming! Just wanted to see what others had to say and you made it clear!
Hello, I have read your pages, and I find some truth there, and have no real concerns with what is said, but I do have to come to the defense of the Amway Corp., and the products. Yes we are involved, but at a retail level, and secondarily on a sponsoring level. I will agree that not all Amway products are bargain priced, however after long term use(since 1986) I can honestly say that most of the Amway produced products are a cut above the rest, and well worth the money. We have tried to go back to cheaper brands, but came back to the products because they flat out work better- and we are very happy with them. As to the use of tapes, and books etc-- early on in the history of mlm there was not a lot out there but just look at the internet today- it is exploding with mlm tools, tapes and e zines- just take your pick. It is possible to be in any mlm and use the high quality generic information that is available- often for free. I will not mention companies but there are many professional generic companies with fantastic rsources, and a very low prices. Do not give up on Amway/Quixtar because of the AMO's- try looking elswhere for the promo materials, if the AMO's are not your cup of tea- after all it is our business- right? It worries me that this site may discourage folks from giving mlm a try- just when mlm is going mainstream with many new companies coming to the net. Just pick carefully, watch your early spending, and treat it like any other product oriented business. Best of luck to all! Sincerely, |
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