Tuesday, October 9, 2007

An Open Letter to New and Prospective Amway/Quixtar Distributors

This is a website that is highly critical of Alticor, the parent company of Amway and Quixtar. I want you to make an informed decision about whether the decision to become affiliated with Alticor is the right decision for you. Don't believe a word that anyone says or write. Like any smart entrepreneur, you should do your homework and weigh the evidence. Accordingly, ask your (potential) upline hard questions and demand proof. Here is a list of questions to ask your upline. Do a Google search and read web sites that are both pro- and anti-Amway. Then make an intelligent decision.

Let me first put my cards on the table. There are several reasons that I am opposed to Alticor and many of the Amway/Quixtar Kingpins. The primary reason is humanitarian. I believe that Alticor is a scam. An American starting out in the business has an infinitesimally small chance of making any money--much less become financially independent. Many of the people you see on stage at the rallies are people who are making the majority of their money from the "tools" business--the selling of rally tickets, books, and tapes to their downline (for more information, see the Dateline NBC investigative report on the Quixtar tools scam).

In addition, I am thoroughly opposed to the hidden agendas of the corporation and many of the top distributors, namely Dexter Yager. These are benighted, reactionary hatemongers (e.g., listen to Yager spew hate to his downline). On top of it, those who run Alticor are hypocrites; they talk about the virtues of free enterprise but received sweetheart tax breaks from the US Congress when it was led by the GOP (it's no coincidence that some of the highly-paid speakers at Amway/Quixtar rallies have been Republican members of Congress).

I am also opposed to Amway because many of the kingpin distributors create an atmosphere for their downline in which critical thinking is discouraged. Steven Hassan, a former member of Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, has more information on this phenomenon (note: I also have a web site that exposes Sun Myung Moon).

One good place to start is the front page of this web site. If you have any questions, e-mail me at scoobiedavis77@yahoo.com. Good luck.

Sincerely,

S

7 comments:

ozamwayvictims said...

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For Australian readers see further info at:

http://www.ozamwayvictims.blogspot.com

and/or

http://www.ozamwayvictims.com

Cheers.

quixtarisacult said...

Scoobie...

I want to add that most people signing on to become distributors in Quixtar/Amway Global become basically the only real customers the company has. Distributors are urged to buy a never ending basket full of unremarkable overpriced products to keep their overblown dreams of wealth and success in the business alive. Also they will be asked to attend expensive quarterly meetings designed to keep distributors enthusiastic about a business that nearly everyone loses money in.

There is a major social cost to be paid by people who attempt to dupe others into this con like pyramid scam. Alienation of family, church, neighbors and friends is common. Even when inevitable failure occurs, distributors are taught to blame themselves for the failure. This is why many former distributors say little about the time and money wasted in this bad MLM con job.

Anonymous said...

As a soon-to-be IBO, I can’t help but notice that the largest influx of anti-Amway fire seems to come from the tools system. If the tools are so bad, why should the company Amway be scrutinized when it is in fact the responsibility of the IBOs as to whether or not they should by the things? It makes sense, and is easy to assume, that Amway has the PR department second only to God’s and that they want nothing more than to pump out tools and brainwash the thousands of IBO ants running throughout the country. I’ve researched this company through and through and there is nothing, nothing wrong with the company outside of the cult-like aspects of the tools program. Is Amway the devil for implementing and even profiting off of motivational tapes? If they are, then most churches, community service groups, rehabilitation clinics, and psychology institutions are on Beelzebub’s board of directors. Motivational tapes are indeed like drugs; they make the user feel good. I will admit that the meetings that I have been to heavily promote the use of these tapes, books, seminars, and etcetera, but my upline has not forced me to buy them. The company Amway states repeatedly that the purchase of tools and other Business Support Materials (BSMs) is completely optional. I’m a levelheaded individual and I’m never going to buy that garbage. It’s pathetic to need a book or a tape to tell you how to feel better. I do not have a problem with Amway; I take severe issue with the people who make these damn tapes.

I’ve spent about 4 years researching cults and the effects of motivation. I will openly state that the BSMs are very cult-like. That being said, I would like to reiterate that these BSMs are optional. As morally sketchy as it may sound, it is not the responsibility of an organization when their members purchase any material the organization explicitly states is optional. Amway should not be held at knifepoint because they distribute BSMs to their members, especially when the majority of the blame should be pointed at the Emeralds and Diamonds that make these tapes.

In addition, Amway has ceased promoting their program as a job replacement system. It is offered as a “secondary income opportunity,” they do not say (nor is it to be expected) that this program alone will offer financial independence. They write in their brochure that the average income for an IBO is about $115 or so. Long gone are the days of $250,000 in a week and instantaneous financial freedom. I’m going to start the program soon, and I do not expect to quit my job anytime soon.

You mentioned that IBOs are discouraged from critical thinking. I spent about 6 hours researching and scouring the internet (including amquix.info) and fired them at my upline. He was able to answer them and was fairly upfront about the cornucopia of information on the internet that tries to light a fire under Amway. I continue to hold my critical and skeptical view at every meeting and encourage all my team members to do the same. In that same light, I contend that Amway Global as a company is a legitimate way to generate a steady secondary income.

My point is, Amway as a company and opportunity is not the personification of business debauchery. The tools system is optional, and if you’re smart you’ll stay away. I’m keeping everyone on my team off of them because, like every other blogger with a chip on his shoulder about “the system” has repeatedly stated, the BSMs are a money-suck. Leave Amway alone, they have a long dark history but they have since made amends. There’s little that this blog adds to the anti-Amway front beyond unifying the annoying and whiny bloggers who want to fight “the system.” At the very least fight Amway with something beyond the BSMs system.

And I would like it to be known that I have yet to make any money from the system.

Anonymous said...

Hello my name is Adrian. It has been one week of me being an IBO, and I have already made the money back that was invested. Amway does work, yall are just too lazy to find out for yourselves. Remember this is not a get-rich-quick scam. You have to bust your balls off to make profit. In the end its how good you are on sales and how persistent you are. Everybody knows nothing comes free nor does it come by you sitting right across the T.V. waisting your time. There are 2 kinds of wealthy people:
1. A person that was born into a rich family.
2. Those who were persistent in having an idea and converting it into success. So basickly speaking, the ones who busted their butts off.
So if you are reading all this negativity in this website and is fixing to believe someone that was not willing to work and just hate. Then do yourself a favor and leave this website. Negativity is not going to get you anywhere, only positive thinking and believing on what you want to achieve in life.

Christiansburg, VA meeting attendee said...

To say that people that don't believe in this BS don't work hard is just stupid. I work my ass off at everything I do and was still smart enough to stay away from this. When my potential upline tried to tell me that there's "no risk involved here," I knew it was time to get out. The other issue I had was that of the 150 points that you had to get per month (of course they never took the time to say what points were exactly and give examples of products that give you X number of points; they were too busy telling me how many nice cars I would have and what a great house I would be able to build) - of the 150 points, 100 were supposed to come from you. From you "buying products you already buy." The only products that are set in stone that I buy monthly are groceries. And even then I don't buy the food every month.

So I stuck with my gut (and head) and declined the LTD/AMWAY offer. I guess to the Amway IBOs I'm a lazy piece of shit who doesn't deserve the EXTRAORDINARY wealth that will come with Amway, but to me I'm level-headed, smart enough to stay away and not willing to take on this risk. I think I'll just go out and get a regular ass part-time job (like I was looking for anyways).

Christiansburg, VA meeting attendee said...

O and Adrian, seeing that in your infinite wisdom you decided to be an IBO, I would have thought that you'd realize that instead of being Anonymous and saying "Hello my name is Adrian," you could click "name/url" and tell us that you're Adrian there.

Charlie said...

Oh my gawd. My older brother got into Amway many years ago. He is a hard-working man, and I have to admit, he works much harder than I do at EVERYTHING. So how did the Amway experience work-out for him? Not so well. Of course, he still has his regular job.

Despite the fact that we have totally seperate adult lives, we always engaged in gift giving around the holidays. Usually about $100 per family member. Before his Amway daze, he used to give me fantastic gifts. Then when be became an Amway distributor, I'd get a box full of Amway STUFF. I would agree, the things that Amway sells is of a medium to high quality - BUT, it is also overpriced. I got a very small desk lamp one year and I saw what he paid for it; $50! Back then I could buy the exact same desk lamp at Service Merchandise (remember them) for only $25.

In summary. Amway is a cult that convinces people to buy their quality products at about twice what you can buy them for at the retail stores. Enough said.