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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: Nature's Own What do you now about Nature's own? Re: Quixtar I happened across your site this morning and read with interest numerous derogatory remarks regarding Quixtar. For everyone's information - Quixtar opened it's door on September 1, 1999. In the first 100 days it did $100 million in sales; in the second 100 days (200 days) it has done $250 million in sales. Of this a total of $70 million has been paid out to independent business owners. So I am wondering - being involved in an organization that cares about your success - pays out great money and provides high end products - WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH THAT?? I think a lot of your readers are brainwashed and certainly need to do more research. Re: Amway/Quixtar My brother has been taken in by these people. He believes that my family are not smart enough to understand the complexity of his business. We have been told that we are evil if we use any type of profanity, or comment on anything that may seem "negative." He has shut off his satellite dish, because he does not need to watch anything, all he does is read their books and listen to their tapes. He sold his boat, and does not involve himself with anything that does not involve these people. I think that they are evil. They start by having you look at what is bad in your life, and how with your association with them is the only way to make things right. Anyone. or any business who uses a persons' weaknesses or dreams for better things to trick them need to be stopped. Re: Amway/WWDB I just want to know how to get my money back for all the tapes and books I bought. If you know the address to world wide dream builders(amway)Ron Puryer's group. I bought tons of them. I just want my money back.HELP!!! Re: Quixtar Hey, I got a call from my Uncle, who hasn't called me in about 3 years, trying to get me to look into quixtar, giving me the spill about how big it was and how you "just sit back and let the money roll in". All the while he was telling me how terrible Amway was, even referring to them with profane language. He also told me to "just look into it", and he only mentioned about one sentence regarding the products that he was pushing. Knowing the Cardinal Rule about "If you wouldn't buy it, why will anyone else" investment. I told him I would look into it. Now I've read yours and other websites, and I'm glad you've put them out here, sometimes even strong people can be tempted by the lure of money for nothing, and a splash of the cold hard facts really helps alot of people put on the brakes before they jump "both feet in, and head first". The main reason I'm writing you is to ask if you know of a good way that I can talk my uncle back from the "slippery slope", I can hear it in his voice, another month and he'll be in to deep. I care about him and my aunt, and I fear this might alienate them from my family, if they try to recruit everybody. What can I do to "open his eyes"? Thanks for any help you can give, Re: Amway/Quixtar I'm sorry that I don't agree with you. I'm new to the MLM "business", and I have to admit that I'm enthusiastic. I'll give it all I can. I want to make money. I want to retire earlier than I thought I'd be able to. I want to be able to spend my time with my family, rather than at my business. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'll get scammed; but I'm willing to give it a try. I'm sorry it didn't work for you. Re: Primerica ...about Primerica Financial Services? I am about to be recruited by this MLM company. Any advise? They claim they are not like a pyramid, because they offer a service and they are part of Citigroup. Can I trust them? Please, I need your honest opinion. I would really appreciate your prompt respond. Thanks. Re: Quixtar/Amway I stumbled across your story on the internet, and just want to say that I got involved with Quixtar last year. Since I've been involved, no one has ever told me that I have to order the tapes or attend rallys to be successful. And I've found nothing in our system that could be taken as cult-like. If I did, I'd have a problem with that. It sounds like your experience was horrible...what a shame. Re: Bigplanet.com Somebody is trying to get me to join Big Planet, the online "shopping mall". This is apparently one of the three divisions of Nu Skin Enterprises. He explained it as "internetworking". I would have to pay $25 to join (by calling 1800-211-6300). Then i would have to get the "I-Kit" which would cost an additional $399.00. This would entitle me to an I-Phone (a phone that hooks directly up to the internet without a computer), using Big Planet as my ISP provider (would still have to pay the monthly charge though!), joining their long distance company, a web page & certificates for 5 free I-phones to give away (to get other people to join). >From then on, if I get someone else to join & they buy from their online shopping mall (bpstore.com) then I would receive 5-45%, and 5% if they switch their ISP provider. Anyway it's all very confusing & i don't have a good feeling about it at all. I was wondering if you know anything about this, I haven't been able to find any information in any of the other e-mails. Thanks, Re: KM.net please tell me who the top 5 people are in kmnet also how many mall owners [ha] they have.also how long have they been around what are their revenues and how much of this is actually generated from sales of goods from their malls [ha] thanks If I send my comments to you about my experience will you print them? All losers like to find others who are losers too. the web is a quick easy way to find other losers who can blame somebody else or something for their failure rather than take responsibility for their own shortcomings. You say that you are doing this to help other people who are hurting. I assume that you are saying that no one can be successful with Amway and that all people are losers like you. The true mark of a loser is to see if they can drag as many people as they can into the same shit hole that they are in. You are doing a good job. Re: Quixtar Hello, My names ** and recently a friend of mine has been trying to recruit me for Quixtar, now...He told me how much money you can make and basically shot my ideas of it through the roof, I was amazed at how easily he made it sound. Almost to the point where I found myself wondering if this was too good to be true, so I decided to visit the actual Quixtar site and I have to admit I was dissapointed in what I saw, I expected bigger names in the merchandise category and basically all I saw were names of companies and products that i've never heard of before...I've been a stock broker for about 3 years now and i've made alot of money doing that, but when I heard him talk about how easy it is and how the money just rolls in without doing much work, I was so excited at the prospect that I couldn't sleep that night...I took some time and read everything you placed up here on this site, It's nearing May and the most recent article was Dec-6th...I'd really be interested in hearing your thoughts about the newer articles on Quixtar...I read your story and I hope your marriage is doing well, and also financially I hope you've been able to rebound from this... thank you for taking the time to read my letter Re: Equinox Hi my name is ** and I had just read your article and I am now curious if I should take a chance with Eqiunox. Can you write me back and give some advice please I would greatly appreciate it. Thank You, Re: Quixtar Hi just wanted to drop you a quick note to say that I'm really sorry you didn't have a positive experience in your business venture. I'm currently affiliated with Quixtar.com and I have nothing but positive things to say about the company, partners, and site. I'm very successful in the business world outside of Quixtar and I can tell just by reading some of your material that you wouldn't have any more luck trying to run a McDonald's franchise. You don't have the attitude or intelligence to be successful in business and I really find it humorous that you spend all of your free time trying to develop a site that really has no good content. Maybe I should start a site (Just like yours..lol) and get everyone who dropped out of college to write me and explain why college was a waste of time and money.Get a Life!!! Sincerely, Re: Quixtar I am one of those who should have tried to find out a little bit about Quixtar before I went to a meeting. I did go, and was an Emerald's Dream. I believed everything and went to the next function. I bought just about everything that they sold. Ron Ball, Trudeau, Goads, Amagram, plus I also got on Eddinfo and book and tape of the week or month club. I don't know how I missed Amvox. I begain to question things when I tried to cancel my reservation for the Cincinnati function. Convention Planning is next to impossible to reach. I emailed twice and faxed, but never got a reply.I recently got a CREDIT for 161.00. I put a deposit of 220.00 down. I questioned where Don Storms income came from. I was told he pays 1 1/2 million in taxes. They let me assume he paid that on what he earned from Amway. My upline won't say where it came from. Eric sowers is the Emerald. He was in a different line before, but won't say who was his upline was before Storms. Mike Pickering from W.Va. is in my upline but won't say where his upline is from or where is other upline went.. By the way, Sowers is from Glenshaw Pa. When I first met Pickering he was a direct. Once he was called a Silver. When I asked questions about who was making money, Sowers admitted Pickering wasn't. I questioned this because of what he drove and he worked odd jobs while his wife went back to teaching. I have talked to Sowers refunding what I spent on tools. He said he would buy back any unused material. I bought alot of tapes from him that where already without celophane. Of course you read a book and it is used. I haven't added everything up yet or tried to see him to get my money back, but will do soon. Amway is sending me form to resign. My wife sent back a box of products today. On one of the sites I read that Profiles of Success wasn't used at opens. That is where I bought mine after it was shown. This is a compact as I can make it. I type with two fingers. How can I find out who Sowers was with before Storms?. Any questions, email me. Soon to be ex IBO Re: Amway I'm not sure if you recieved my last e-mail so I'll start-over. Thank you for your web-site. Our experience in Amway lasted 14 years. Yes, that's right, 14 horrendous years. It's a miracle that my husband and I are still married today. Unfortunately, the rest of my family didn't fair as well. We finally came to the realization that we were in a mind-controlling cult. The founders, Rich and Jay, had a chance in the early eighties to legitimize the tool, tape and function aspect of the Amway business but they chose to look the other way because Dexter Yager and other diamonds had threatened to pull their organizations out of Amway. When I say legitimize I mean put PV & BV on the Yager's System. How do I know all of this? Well, like I said before we were in on the "ground floor" of this whole mess. It's like a house of cards, ready to crumble, I can only hope. I can certainly identify with everything you've said. If it were'nt for web-sites like yours to really help us see the light I don't know where we'd be. We lost so much money in the business; more than 100,000.00 at last count. Not to mention the IRS who has hounded us for more than 4 years. There's so much more but this is all I have time for right now. Thanks again for keeping this info going. Re: MLM Addiction HI there I myself am not a Mlm but my husband is . WE are currently seperated do to his on going addiction to Mlm. He also started in Amway and after that dream fell apart he and his wife ended thier Marriage. He moved to Florida where we met and soon married. As soon as we were married I saw a side of him that blew me away. He was an addict to mlm. WE have been married 13 years and in that time he has tried at least tem MLM. The latest thing is Melaleuca. I could not take it any more and we seperated. He is so far gone that he quicked another job and hopes to make it big. When we talked about trying to work things out he only could tell me about the fact he was a dreamer and talked mlm. IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR HIM? He lost his first wife and four children and now loosing myself and three children .Are children are grown he adopted them upon are marriage. So two wives seven children and two grandchildren are not a great enough loose for him does this mean he is hopeless. If you have time please e-mail me at * Thank you HI! I wound up on your site as the result of doing research for an a AIR PURIFIER for my office - WHAT A TREAT! This site is awesome! I've been in the DR business for years but got side tracked by MLM back in the early nineties. What a mistake! Worked my ass off for months and months just to get a stupid check for $300 bucks a of which maybe $50 was profit (if I was lucky!). Frank Vandersloot and Melaleuca really had me going there for a while... For 50 years this industry (networking) has been promoted as the ultimate home based business opportunity - and it's a total fraud. In direct marketing I have to work very closely with fixed and variable costs. My business consists of two things primarily: Psychology and Mathematics. When people get in MLM they never look closely at the math (even I didn't!). WE just get all emotional over duplication without looking at real marketing costs! For 50 years 10% have sold the dream while the other 90% live the nightmare... I live in CA where there are more AMWAY distributors per square mile than anywhere in the world. I never minded the "friendship with an agenda" part, but I always minded the lies about no one making any money off tapes, books or functions. This industry needs to change. They are some (a few) good aspects to it. For example, I met my best friend through NM nearly 10 years ago. I've also made some good business contacts over the years as a result of NM's approaching me. However, the industry (as whole) has a lot of evolving to do. I MEAN A LOT OF EVOLVING. I'm actually considering getting in Network Marketing again because of the compressed pay plans and because I'm so bored of Direct Marketing. I'm still not sure, though. I would love to hear other peoples feelings on some of these new companies using the compressed pay plans. Please email me below. I make plenty of money in Direct Marketing but I do miss some of the group dynamics of network marketing. I may be wrong but the compressed pay plans look like a change in the right direction for this industry. Regardless, this site is a work of art and I want you to feel free to contact me if I can be of any assistance in promoting this information. Sincerely, HI Folks, Great page. I myself am not an Mlmer. But my husband is he started with Amway which destored hisway ofthinking and after many years of trying everything he is now in Melaleuca. Again I am hearing the same old speach just different mlm. Funny he never blames the mlm for his failures but always says it is because he does not get enough support from me or famliy. When you really pin him down he'll say he the failure the program works. He is know 58 years old a total failure . We are currently seperated do to this. He just gave up another job to make it big in Melaleuca he claims this is differnt and it will work . He clams to have a friend who grossed 75.000 last year and he thinks he can to. Sick If you get a chance please e-mail me back soon * Help Re: Equinox ive been with equinox about five years i havent made any killer money, but i have some friends that are doing extremely well.so that tells me right there that the business works.ive spent several thousands of dollars on seminars,but i feel i havent wasted my money, because i have something that can never be taking away from me.sorry, you feel that way, im going to keep going.i give credit though for giving it a shot.everybody dont win the lottery,but you did at least purchase a ticket. good luck! Re: Quixtar I think what you are doing is great for all of the frauds out there but when you bash companies and people involved with these companies that are genuinely making a living, you make it harder for them to help other people. I can't help it if some people would like to think that as soon as you get involved with a MLM company that you will instantly be rich. But for those people who will work it like they would work any other business the opportunities are endless. You should show your readers the truth. The bad, and the good. Many people are making good money in MLM. Re: Amway/Omegatrend My name is **, I live in ***, Western Australia I am a person who has failed dismally at MLM. I joined the "International Dreambuilders" (IDA) group of Amway distributors in 1985 and I devotedly stuck with the program for ten years which included the network break-up which took me out of Amway and into Omegatrend. I spent a lot of money on it and made very little money out of it. I absolutely understand people's bitterness and disappointment from failure in this type of business which builds our hopes so high. Yet, I will never speak against it! If it were not for these people approaching me and teaching me a better way to see myself and others and to deal with people in general I would not have attained the other successes in my life. MLM is not immune to people doing the wrong thing and it is just like any other business where it often seems that the rewards are not commensurate with effort. I eventually (it took nine years) made the decision that I had given it my best shot, and it was time to move on. When we get disappointed like this there is a grieving process which we go through. I stress GO THROUGH! We should come out the other side as wiser and better people. I commend your web site for providing an avenue for people to express their feelings about their experiences and perhaps publish information on some of the bad guys. My experience did no involve any 'bad guys'. I had to take responsibility for my own decisions. I had to forgive "the business" for the unfulfilled expectations and forgive myself for my failure in it. If we hang on to the hurt, the disappointment and bitterness we are not moving on and we only hurt ourselves. Re: Amway/Quixtar Wow, I'm a little confused. You seem very distraught over the somewhat absurd concept that these businesses of Amway and Quixtar are in existence only so Diamonds can sponsor more people to buy tools and attend functions, not consume products. Aren't you even a little concerned that many of the messages on the tapes and at the functions are promoting the products, and that some of these people will thus end up buying products? It's a good value for the money too. Personally I don't have time to shop for mundane, repeat-use consumables, and I really appreciate and enjoy the convenience of having the high-quality brands shipped right to my door for about what I used to give away to "the store" when I was an amateur price-shopper--and getting a nice check each month too. Also, why is it not addressed on your site that "The Diamonds" started out exactly where you did--at zero with just a kit and a dream--and had to be committed to work their tails off to REACH Diamond in the first place? I could see it if they got to start OUT at Diamond and just begin selling motivational and inspirational materials to other people. One last item for your web site. I'm a doctor. All through school I had to buy books, tapes, and attend seminars and teaching classes put on by other doctors who were in life where I wanted to be. (Sound familiar?) And at the end of a long odyssey of sleep deprivation lasting many years, I graduated, in debt and not having made one penny off this information. (Sound familiar?) But I did it because I originally wanted to help lots and lots of peopleand make money doing so. (Your doctor did the very same thing, and chances are pretty fair that when she's seen her last patient for the day, she's out the door to go show the plan and get FREE from all this debt and long hours and stress and being controlled by others.) The only difference is, we were REQUIRED to listen and attend, or we'd have been KICKED OUT and forfeited all our money. In Amway and Quixtar, the opposite is true. Love, Re: Quixtar I just want to offer you my biggest thanks. My husband and I just finished a meeting with a Quixtar IBO in our home. When the IBO left, I turned to the net to find facts. I came to your site via search and am so thankful for what you are doing! I'm sure you invest a lot of time into your site, but you are the savior to the people! Okay, okay, to avoid "IBO-like" hype, I'll just say truthfully, how grateful I am for providing a balanced and fact-based look at an MLM. My husband and I are a very young couple with three small children and only one small income, as I parent full time. You don't know how much we can ill-afford to lose $100 the Quixtar IBO was requesting. Thank you, thank you again for helping me and my family. Sincerely, Re: Quixtar Ruth, thanks for your email. I have been reading Larsen and more for the past 3 hours. Good thing I don't have to be up early. Re: Amway This evening my husband and I were invited to a close friend's home on the pretext of having some drinks, snacks and a "chat about a business proposition". When we arrived there were about six other people including our friend's mother and a another couple we are acquainted with at our local yacht club. Firstly, having read the web page with the description of a typical Amway person (neat, "power-dressed" etc etc) that's exactly what our friends and acquaintances looked like. Now, there's obviously absloutely nothing wrong with a neat appearance. However, there was something about this scenario which didn't quite "gel". Our friend, who runs a sign-making company, is normally dressed very casually, in jeans, golf shirt etc and always enjoys a good "pint or three" whenever we prop up the bar together at the club. This evening, however, having been invited for drinks there wasn't a beer or a bottle of wine to be seen. I assessed the situation very quickly and insisted on opening my own bottle of wine and having a drink, while the visiting "up-liner", or whatever they call themselves, got a bit twitchy and said that I must wait until after her presentation. Undeterred I opened my bottle of wine and poured my husband and myself a generous glass of plonk. I have concientiously buying into any pyramid/MLM schemes for years and have developed quite a nose for these "business discussion" so if I am forced to sit and listen to their diatribe I am damnwell going to relax and have a drink while I'm doing it. Somewhere in one of these web-pages it mentions the feeling of offence at being approached by close friends to be recruited and I must admit that's EXACTLY how I felt. In fact, my blood was boiling. However, I maintained a cool exterior because it'snot worth even trying to debate the point once these people are hooked. Yes, they went through the whole caboodle of promises of gazillions of Rands in such a short time - the charts, the dangling carrots and all (yawn, yawn, blah blah blah). What is it about these schemes that makes people buy into them anyway? Once they have lured you into their homes to come and listen they're like a dog with a bone. I studiously avoided getting into discussion at the end, yet when I left I had this motivational selling book thrust into my hands "for a quick easy read over the weekend". They're like religious zealots. Anyway, I thought you may be interested in knowing that the whole snake-oil show has indeed rolled into this quiet little backwater called Knysna. Must dash - I have to go and brush my teeth with good old R3.50 Colgate and put some laundry into some NNB (No-Name-Brand) suds! Regards. |
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