1/1/2002

Dear Scott,

I believe I may even have sent you an email early on in my business. It was one like all the others that you may have received from the other brainwashed members of quixtar.con. Anyway for that I am sorry.

If this is a valid email address and you would be interested in hearing some of my thoughts please let me know.

Anyway thank you for your time.

Scott,

Thought you would like to know. I appreciate your site. I am still looking around and doing a lot of reading. I am currently an IBO, but have been concerned with the lack of integrity I have seen from some of my upline.

I'm not going to get in to much detail at the moment, but the integrity issues are mainly with things some of them say, particularly when they are talking to prospects or doing board plans. One of the most blatant and most recent was from a Ruby in the business, WWDB by the way. He said in a board plan that "this is not Amway". "I would not do Amway". He has been an IBO for about 5 years, so obviously he did "do Amway", since Quixtar is only 2 1/2 years old. I am going to do a cost comparison spreadsheet on a number of the core line products vs. local grocery stores. I will be glad to forward that to you when I am done. I am sure that I will not find a 30% savings as is constantly being represented. I hope I am wrong and I do find there is, because then I might be able to honestly build the business.

Thanks,

John

I don't wish anything bad upon you but please get a life and instead of pointing out who's wrong, go and fix yourself up and look at what's wrong with yourself first. The more i read about articles trashing other MLM's, the more i realize how stupid you guys are because you end up filtering the morons that get into Amway/Quixtar and we end up getting quality leaders that boost the U.S. economy.

Regards, Furqan

Scott

We have been ibo's for a little over a year now with no results. If this really won't work then what else is there, or should i stick with working for someone else's dream? By the way this article has really made me think...

Hi Scott,

Great Site. With your analysis of the 'System' side of the Am/Quix equation you were able to pinpoint the reason we got out. We keep in contact with our Direct (who is also out now) and treasure that relationship. However, our sponsor and all others in the upline have not made any effort to keep in touch even after claiming to be our 'best friends'. Speaking of our upline.....they preached integrity but somehow forgot to tell us that they were going through bankruptcy around the time we got involved. And to think that we were supposed to take financial advice from these folks. We learned a lot and are confident that the experience made us wiser, as some of the books were very helpful, but don't get me started thinking about how much of our money we provided for our Diamond's lifestyle.

Signed,

Glad to be Free

 Thanks for putting together such an informative website. I was considering joining the business, but was having second thoughts. After reading your website, I'm certainly not joining Quixtar. My only question to pose to you is what your

motivation is for putting up such a website. This question is more for my own curiosity than anything else. Any time I see a critique of a business plan, my first question is to question the source and see what the author's actual motivation is.

Again, thank you for putting out such an informative website.

Bryan

I was approached with "The Plan" about a month ago by a local surgeon. I became intrigued that this "professional" was so excited about the "Business" and wanted me to join. I was telling friends, family, and acquaintances about the opportunity. I was told by my contact that Rich DeVos was a man of impeccable reputation. He owned the Orlando Magic, for Chrissakes!!!! After a month of dreaming about my future, I finally decided I was going to become an IBO..this Sunday. I was so excited, I began entering Quixtar in the search engines (attempting to get a head start on my business) and came across your site. THANK YOU FOR THE DETAILED, REFERENCED,

AND LOGICAL INFORMATION YOU HAVE POSTED. After reading every single word on the site, I can now decline this "opportunity" with a clear conscience. I have a couple of tapes from the sponsor. If there is any mention of "non-profit" on them I will let you know immediately. It's a shame that this model for "dream-building" is ,in reality, a model for "dream-shattering."

Hey!

Great site, just wanted to comend you on all the work you've done to keep stuff pretty objective. So anyway, I just joined, and of course my sponsor has been playing up the whole tax benefits thing, which I've been reaaaally

iffy about. But my question to you is, how much of a 'loss' can you post to the IRS for how 'long' before they raise a red lag(and watch you)? I heard three years. If you have any info I'd greatly appreciate. By the by I'll be quitting anyway, but I before I quit I was going to deduct my yearly cable modem bill, and the new computer system I got for this 'phony' business. Do you know if it's safe to deduct or if I should just bite the cost and take it myself?

Any info or links you could direct me to would be greatly appreciated.

Rob

PS Keep up the ass kicking work

I was given an invitation to attend a meeting early August of 1999 regarding a computer based home business opportunity by a group of former long-time 'friends'. Once I got there I found out about Quixtar. I had been to a MLM

meeting for a diet scam a few years before and it was the same type of thing all over again. The Big Wig from Scottsdale, AZ didn't even mention the Amway connection or the proposed plan until 1 1/2 hrs into the presentation (which lasted another hour). It was a big waste of time for what could have been said in 5-10 min, but I guess that's their style.

That was all before the big launch in September and I was told that if I got on the bandwagon right then I would sail to the top when the website opened. The whole idea of conning my friends into a selfish scam didn't sit well with me so I declined with no regrets.

I just stumbling across your website a couple hours ago and was very impressed with the quality of your presentation. It was nice to see such a well written document that gave clear explainations of the truth without being unnecessarily malicious toward Amway/Quixtar. It gave a lot of credibility to your point and instilled much more trust in me as a reader

than that awfull presentation did two and a half years ago. Thanks for taking the time to put it together. I hope it helps readers measure the real pros and cons before jumping into a scam like Amway/Quixtar.

-Kelby

I had to roll over laughing at the bashing being done to Quixtar/Amway. First of all, Quixtar/Amway hasn't done anything to anyone. Surprised? Why should you be? You know everything there is to know about this organization right? Okay, you go to buy a house from REMAX and you find out that Century 21 has been doing really bad things to people, do you boycott houses? Quixtar/Amway is merely a product line that is supplied to you to grow your business. The vehicle being used is the teaching organization that you sign up under. Just like REMAX and Century 21 do, they teach people how to make money, the houses don't do anything except provide the means to make the money. I have no knowledge of Dexter Yeager but I have met people from his organization and yes, they are pretty angry about things being done in that organization and understandably so after hearing some of their stories. Just because Century 21 has horrendous teaching practices, you shouldn't boycott houses or for that matter not consider being a real estate broker.

Hi, Scott,

First of all, I commend you on your web site. I think it is a great opportunity for people to air their grievances with the system. I have read about the abuses and I am astounded by people who have been willing to put up with this for so long. I find it difficult to believe that I would be the only person who insists on getting the facts. I am the first one to say that I almost did not want to consider the opportunity because of a lack of information, but I also found that information and studied the system before I joined. Much information came from sites not at all associated with Quixtar, because I looked at different types of opportunities. Overall, if you take the Quixtar model, it is certainly not the worst system even if it is not the best. What made me consider Quixtar is that we like many of the products and we certainly do not feel imposed upon to buy the products for our own use. My wife used the Quixtar site to get a complete analysis of cosmetic products and colour selections that are hard to get even in a specialized retail store. Perhaps this makes me biased, but I am at least open-minded about Quixtar as a company that I am willing to do business with.

Second, I think you have to separate the official Quixtar business opportunity from what some of the upline "entrepreneurs" are trying to grab for themselves. I presume that I am not the only IBO who received information from Quixtar expressly reminding me that there is no obligation to partake of any of the training materials. What you need to do is supply your prospects with company approved information brochures (which are for sale, of course) to show the plan. I have no problem with that, because as your site indicates, too many people boast about the system and generate unrealistic expectations that will only contribute to the turnover rate in new prospects. I use a PowerPoint presentation that explains the process in a more organized fashion, such as to explain the way bonuses are calculated, but I must say all the information I used came from Quixtar sources. The brochure crams it all into a 3-panel 8.5x11 sheet, which is hard to understand. As an aside, I make the presentation materials available for free to anyone who signs up in my downline, but if anyone else wanted a copy I would sell them a copy. If it turns out that people like it, should I not be able to sell it?

Third, all the materials offered for sale are optional, and sold at weekly meetings if you want specific books or tapes, so you do not need to subscribe to weekly or monthly mailings. My upline actually devours that information and finds it very uplifting and educational, and he is benefitting from this information. I have known him for a long time and he has changed a lot, which may not apply to some of the others who have been pressured to purchase tapes. As for myself, I have been made aware of the option, but I have not be pressured to purchase, nor have I been pressured to go to meetings. We go from time to time because we enjoy meeting the people, not because it is some kind of duty. Sometimes there are meetings that you cannot attend, but that are taped, and in those cases we do buy a tape or borrow a tape depending on what is available. Most of the books recommended can easily be obtained from the local library, if people are willing to make the effort to go get them. Some of your letters question the validity of the book selections, but what helps or inspires one person may be a turn-off for someone else. I have frowned on some of the books myself, and frankly, some of the audio tapes are downright awful to listen to, but some people claim to love them.

Fourth, there have been no misrepresentations about the effort involved to build a business using Quixtar. Having gone through the process of being recruited I am astounded by some of the things I have read on your site. There are explanations of how the bonus structure works. Hell, I can show you that if you find a hot prospect every 2 weeks to can make a $100,000 annual income level in less than 6 months. That is a mathematical model, some people find a number of great go-getters to start downlines, while others find only retail prospects. What is important is to understand the potential, and then to focus on what you need to do in order to chase that potential. What is technically possible in 6 months may take 18 months to do at a slower pace, and people must understand that you do not have control over the process. I do not use pressure tactics, and I have produced clear information that explains the plan and how to present the plan, and to make sure you have the information to answer questions. I want a prospect to make an informed decision, how else would they be motivated to replicate your efforts? If you do a con job, you can only succeed with prospective con artists.

Fifth, from what I know Quixtar handles the money, not some upline. What is owed to me is not determined by someone who can use his/her prejudices to withold money. Considering the number of references to people having their bonus payments confiscated I am sure that if they contacted Quixtar or the business management team they would see some action. This kind of behaviour would only jeopardize Quixtar, and they do not benefit in any way. Some of the stories published on your site made me wonder how naive people could get to be so taken advantage of. Without making specific references, I would not allow anyone to take advantage of me for a day beyond when I became aware of the scam, let alone for the time periods various writers describe. Some of the scams described have nothing to do with the Quixtar business but with naive people who take everything at face value. Every IBO must adhere to the proper Quixtar business practices, and these people clearly have not read or understood the rules of business conduct or they would have uncovered the truth.

Sixth, there definitely is a disconnect between the information provided by Quixtar about the 70% retail rule and what the business building practices are. I cannot say for sure if this is the result of deliberate deceit or of ignorance (I know, the end result is the same). They way I understand it, and how I explain it, is that you focus on finding IBO's to build the business downlines. Of the people who are positively disposed to Quixtar, there will be a 25%-35% positive response to building a business, the other 65%-75% can then be focused on retail. It takes a lot of time and effort to build a business, but you can make your life easier if you focus on the right prospects, and if you are honest about the effort involved in building a business. I think that the costs are very low, the risks are minimal, and the opportunity to learn is great if you are not being subjected to some of the predatory practices some writers described. One possible problem is a "cookie cutter" approach to prospecting by people who copy the plan used by their upline without understanding how that plan works. Would these people sell insurance without learning about the products or the sales plan?

Last but not least, there has been a lot of commotion about the price of Quixtar products as compared to Walmart prices. You are possibly cheaper shopping at Walmart, although we certainly cannot find everything we need from Walmart. When we analyzed the products for a "Ditto Advantage" option we looked at all the products we could get from Quixtar. We then reduced the cost to unit costs, before we compared prices. For example, paper towels are more expensive until you note that the rolls are 3 times as many sheets as a local discount brand, which then makes the Quixtar product the cheapest all around (for this area, at least). Of an initial list of approximately 40 products we found 35 products to be competitive or to offer superior qualities that make them preferred selections. Should I make a 20 minute trip each way to and from our local Walmart to save a little on the other 5 products? If you take the Quixtar view that delivery of products is a boon for dual income commuter families that would seem to be a non-argument. If I lived closer to a Walmart, perhaps I would think the alternative more attractive. As for some of the derogatory comments about Amway products I should note that I have run into people who find that Amway SA8 Laundry Detergent is the only one they are not allergic to. I guess people have different preferences.

In conclusion, everything that was available to me was available to other people if they would have made an effort to research the business opportunity. When people did not research the opportunity, they should be thankful they invested in such a low-cost opportunity, because it would have been a probable disaster no matter what they would have invested in. Your site should at least put people on notice to pay attention to what they are getting into, and that it is not without effort that you may be able to build yourself a business. I have started a number of business ventures, I know how long it can take to see results, and I wonder how someone could reach the conclusion that a Quixtar business would establish itself without much effort. Anyone who is chasing a "Get Rich Quick" scheme is setting him/herself up for failure or is an easy mark for a scam artist (and I am sure some of the people described fit that bill). Thanks again for all the information you have collected.

Sincerely,

Frits

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