Pyramid Schemes: still alive!? (1 Viewer)

[Tony Whalen]

Sums things up in a nutshell. Number 2 is especially telling, as that pretty much describes what I encountered with Amway Quixtar. Although I never bought into the tapes at all. I told my upline that if I'm incapable of motivating myself, and have to rely on a weekly tape/book, then I shouldn't be in business for myself. Funny..I didn't get much response to that thought.

 

[Bill Williams]

When I was teaching school about 10-11 years ago, there was this one co-worker who pulled the exact same Amway spiel on me. Good thing I backed off before I got in way too deep. I even went to one that was doing the same MLM thing for prepaid phone cards, that was back in 1996, I believe.

Just goes to show that what P.T. Barnum said quite a while back is still true today: "There's a sucker born every minute."

 

[Brian Perry]

One of the most prevalent pyramid schemes going right now is the "former Vegas oddsmaker" -type who will give you the winning team for this week's game FREE! Apparently what these guys do is give half the callers one team and half the callers the team's opponent. After the game, the guy will call up only the customers whom he gave the winning team. He'll convince them that he's on a streak and convince you to pay him for the winner of next week's game. Then he'll repeat the process, giving half the customers one team and half the customers the other team. After about six weeks, a select group of customers thinks that the guy's a genius, having won six in a row.

 

[Scott L]

Just an update, he called 3 times over the weekend, leaving me 2 voicemails. I just didn't pick up. If he cathes me off-guard and I answer I'll just say not interested and hang up if he keeps trying to talk me into it.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Scott, don't beat around the bush. Just tell the guy you aren't interested.

 

[Matthew Todd]

Yea Scott, if you're not interested, just tell him. It will save you both some time

Matt

 

[Scott L]

heheh, I'm treating it like another telemarketing call. I find the best way is to just not pick up. I'll take your guys' advice though, next time I'll pick up and tell him to call me next weekend. :wink:

 

[Edwin-S]

It doesn't surprise me. The richer a person is, the richer a person wants to get. It is never enough. Do you think that low income equates to low intelligence? There are plenty of stupid doctors,lawyers, and engineers. That is why there are such things as malpractice insurance, disbarment proceedings, and building collapses.

Edited to add:

I knew a guy, where I worked, that was/is involved with Quixtar. He gave me the spiel about how much money there was to be made, etc., etc. The usual litany of promises of unlimited wealth if only you reach out and grab the opportunity. After listening to the diatribe for a lengthy time, I finally asked him...."if you are making so much money with your 'business' why are you still here working shitty nightshift overtime calls for this shitty company?"

That was the end of the recruitment.

 

[Ric Bagoly]

Be VERY careful about posting your resume on the Internet. I did mine on Hotjobs and quickly got 2 or 3 pyramid-style businesses crawling up my ass...

If ya think that Amway are the only ones, then your world is a much more pleasant one than mine. Be sure to avoid those companies that request that you "pay for your training materials."

 

[Bill Williams]

Or you can go one better and do this: Put a recording on your voice mail that says, "I'm not home, so leave me a message after the beep. If you are a telemarketer, I am not interested, so do not call anymore. Thank you." That'll also cut down on those annoying calls.

 

[ChrisMatson]

Ever heard of Primerica?

It is a subsidiary of Citigroup.

I received a call from a man that "came across my name as someone that may be interested in some positions that are available."

From their site:


It seems like a sales scheme where you recruit people and also try to sell term insurance, debt consolidation, etc... The thing is that I just move to Iowa in August, I'm a full-time student, and I have no resumes out. I asked how they got my information and the caller said through human resources who probably got it from a web resume posting site. I have never posted a resume online, much less with my new contact info.

 

[Leila Dougan]

Chris, yes my husband got hussled by them when he was looking for a job. I believe they got his contact info from a resume posted on Monster. I think he may have even gone in for an "interview" but bailed after that. They make you pay for your own training, even! Actually I know someone that makes a living from it. I think it's a notch up from Quixtar/Amway, but only a very tiny small notch.

 

[Citizen87645]

I have a good friend who tried to get me to join. I looked into their debt consolidation package, crunched the numbers, and found it wasn't to my advantage and told him so. Don't know if that's the general story with everyone though. When it came to whether I wanted to join his line or whatever they call it, I responded by saying I wasn't interested because I disagreed with the business model. Multi-level marketing programs imply everyone who participates will be successful, but at some point the structure will lead to market saturation, meaning no market for the product. We remark about Starbuck's being everywhere, but there's still not a shop on every street corner, which is what it would lead to if Starbuck's followed a multi-level model. I'm no business person, but that's my elementary take on what makes a sustainable business. I figure this is as educated a response as one can provide, should the person push the matter of why you're not interested.

 

[ChrisMatson]

I knew better than to arrange a meeting with this guy. I wish those that do it all the best, but I wonder how many people lose money going into deals like this?

My brother was involved with a company that starts with "A" and ends with "Y" about 8 years ago. He really thought he was going to retire a millionaire before he reached 30. Well, after driving friends and family crazy talking about his "business" and trying to convince himself that he could make money buying products from himself, he came to the realization about 6 months into it that he had been taken. He ended up losing a little money in the end, but at least he stopped. BTW, he is now over 30 and doing well with a real job.

I love Jack's advice:

 

[ChrisArmour]

I have a really good friend of mine that got caught up in Quixtar. She has been doing it for nearly a year and I know that she has spent a good deal of money on this scam. I dont want to fight with her about it, so I have been avoiding the subject whenever she mentions "The Biz". I just wish she could see the truth. Shes so convinced that she is going to get rich, shes being taken advantage of and it really bothers me. There is an upcoming story that DATELINE NBC is doing on Quixtar, an air date hasnt been released yet. I am going to record it and beg her to watch the program. I just hope she doesnt think that I am trying to shit on her dreams, when I in fact am just trying to protect her. If the DATELINE story doesnt at least put doubt in her head about what she is involved with, I think I need to reevaluate whether or not I need her in my life. This sucks, I hope the story airs soon. Hopefully DATELINE will expose these bastards for what they really are, thieves. They promise you your dreams, and for 99% of the people involved, they make your dreams impossible to achieve(if you stick with their "plan").

 

[Tony Whalen]

Chris, that sucks. Not sure if this will help, but here are a few web sites I found that gave me ammo to get myself out of Amway/Quixtar

http://amnotway.freeyellow.com/amnotway2.htm

http://amnotway.freeyellow.com/amnotway3.htm

(These two links seem to have popups of some kind...just FYI...I'm using a blocker.)

This is a good one:
http://www.amquix.info/

Check out The Untold Story section, as well as the In-depth look into Amway by Jeff Probst, a former Emerald. ("Jeff Probst" is an alias.) Also, the main business analysis page provides a hard look at the business model. Finally, the questions to ask section gives reasonable questions that anyone should ask when they are getting into a business.

The problem is getting past your friend's emotional attachement to the "biz". But these pages will give you hard facts to present and/or question with.

Hope it works out!

 

[ChrisArmour]

Thanks man, I've already done a lot of research on Amquix, I just dont want to get into it with her. Thats why I havent dragged her around the internet in search of info. Check out this website, it's far and away my favorite, with a lot of good info and forums that people regularly post in.

QuixtarBlog

I'm pinning my hopes on the DATELINE NBC story, if a story on a nationally syndicated show doesnt open her eyes, then I'm giving up. What really pisses me off is the fact that in 1999, right after Alticor started Quixtar, I had a friend try to get me into it, shes no longer a friend. I despised them back then, now loathe isnt a strong enough word for how I feel about this corporation.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Typical. I can say the same about the folks that attempted to recruit my wife and me. 'tis a pity.

I hope the Dateline thing does it...do you know when they are doing that story? I'd be interested to watch it myself.

I'll go look at that page! Thanks!

 

[ChrisArmour]

There are a few pages that I am watching that are going to post the date of that show, I will post it here when I find out.

 

[Cees Alons]

Never heard of these before, but I'm shocked to learn that Alticor, the company that owns both Amway and Quixtar, is in turn owned by people called Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel - both having Dutch surnames.

Cees