Site Visitor E-Mail March 2005
Dear Mr. Larsen:
I was recently recruited by two Quixtar members to join as an IBO. I was invited to
an open meeting where over 700-800 people were in
attendance. They were all wearing dark suits and red ties and had New England Patriots
pins on.
After meeting the leaders I listened to a few speakers. It was very ambiguous in terms of
the presentation on how this Quixtar thing works and
it seemed to be a motivational meeting.
I received some cd's and a $75 ticket for a major conference at Michigan State Univ.
Breslin Center which I returned. I did not pay for it.
The person I met with in the follow up meeting told me you were in jail.
Is that true? If it is I guess you won't answer.
I take it on good faith that I am e-mailing the correct person. I decided not to join
Quixar for the $235 sign up fee. It was too ambiguous and I could
not find any 3rd or 4th party independent sources to validate this so-called business.
Thank you for your information.
Happy Holidays!
Bill
Scott,
i was just browsing on google to find out how to get out of quixtar. i am a recent ibo and
i have one member (my mom) but i dont know how to get out of the business. it is just not
worth it to me and i feel bad because my uplines were friends that will be dissapointed in
me but i can't afford it. if you have any information about how i can retract myself from
the business or do i just do nothing and become inactive?
any information would be of help! thank you!!
ashley
Shawn and Sherri
How am I rude? Can you give me an example?
Do you call helping people to earn an average of $82/month by spending up to $250/month on a system helping people make money?
Actually, I am helping people not to lose money in the business. How much money have you helped people make? Just poll your downline and add up all their net profit reported on taxes if you want to find out how much you are "helping" people.
So will you tell me how much net profit you've helped people earn?
Scott
Dear Scott,
Have we ever met? My Bio and photo is below. I am a friend of Andy Anders, who is no longer in Amway either. Someone forwarded your site http://www.amquix.info/amway.html to me, and as a former Amway Diamond, featured in the July or August 1997 Amagram, I found it quite interesting.
I have of course moved on to much better things (specifically, XanGo) and am poised to be one of the Top 10 Distributors within the next 24- 36 months.
You may wish to dialogue with me over the remaining few days of the Holidays, or after the First of the Year. My contact info and other useful informatin is below. I'd like to compare notes with you, as my son is still "In the Cult."
With Best Regards,
Ed Johnson, J.D., Attorney, 100K Premiere
Hi Scott,
Why don’t you write a book “How to lead a great mediocritic life”. Believe me there are lot of lazy and stupid people in this country who will listen to stupid and failed people.
Thank you for helping people to stay broke!
Siva Balan
Hi Siva,
I'm sorry, I don't any experience on that subject. You sound like you might be an expert in it. Maybe you could help me. Do you think it would really sell?
Believe me there are a lot of stupid people in this country who will believe in any scheme that comes along promising riches and freedom.
Scott
ps. How much profit will you report on your taxes this year due to your Quitar business? I bet it is a loss.
Hi Scott,
It takes guts to succeed in this business. You need to have guts like what I have. You are a quitter. You are a failure. What is that you achieved in your life? How many peoples life is better of because you lived?. If somebody listens to your opinion they are really stupider than you, they will end up where you are.
Thousands of people are very successful, It is the same opportunity given to every one. If you did not succeed then it is your fault. You are an average Joe. This business is not for average Joe.
Put some more of your website, it really helps our business, because it filters all the stupid people; Thanks for doing the filtering job for us, so that we get only people who have guts and who have sense to listen to the right people. It saves lot of our time otherwise we have to spend our time with weak and idiotic people.
S
cott,You may already know this but Randy Siciliano is still in the business in Cincinnati, Ohio. . In July/August 1983 he gathered up what downline he still controlled and went on with business claiming we (the Directs who broke ranks on June 9, 1983) were controlled by greed and resentment of what he had. I know he lost his "Estate" and was renting a home on Rack Acres on the West side of Cincy for a while. The Westin address may be his residence.
I know this is old stuff but I was one of the 20 directs who broke his back when we didn't show up at a seminar where Bill Britt was speaking to the Siciliano group(June 9, 1983). Many of us went bankrupt and lost our homes...yours truly was one of them. Belief is a powerful tool.
If your interested in the mind control he used and the sexual perversion involved contact me. He "counseled" the inner circle of wives....sometimes all night after functions. Told us the way to build the business was through the "woman". Fact is he built his business "in the women" but he finally paid a price.
I am retired from the Federal Gov't but still watch that he doesn't rise to the level he did in the 1980s.
"Helping you navigate the Social Security system"
Dennis
Dear Mr. Larsen,
I just wanted to send you a quick response to the website you constructed about Quixtar/Amway.
My guess is that you will not post any of this information on the site, because it is contradictory to what you are saying, but I want to thank you for at least reading my email. Also, I don't know how old your website is, but is seems pretty outdated by the information presented in it.
When I asked about the "tools" of the business, my upline explained every detail of it to me. Basically, here is what he told me. The tools in the business are for motivational reasons, obviously, however the tools are also a BUSINESS, just like Quixtar. PEOPLE MAKE MONEY on the tools, seminars etc. The tools you buy are refundable and are ALWAYS optional. You do NOT have to buy them to grow your business, and you should NEVER go in debt building your Quixtar business. However, when you SUCCEED in your quixtar business, you will be able to make money from the tools just like anyone else who SUCCEEDS in this business. The key word is SUCCEEDS.
Also, I would like to say "who cares if people make MORE money on the tools" to help motivate other people. We don't complain that Tiger Woods only makes 8 million playing golf but makes 80 million endorsing crap. As a person who makes money on tools he/she is doing the same thing as Tiger Woods. This is no different. For those willing to stick it out and put it together, they too can make money on the "tools".
So, again Mr. Larsen I truly appreciate you posting information for the new people. I believe people should be TOTALLY informed about everything in this business, but also if they are willing they can make a substantial amount of money over a relatively short period of time. By relatively I mean over working 45 years in a meaningless job with about a 98% chance of being broke at 65.
Thanks again for your time.
JWillett
Hi Jwillett,
Thanks for the letter. I think you should take some time to read up about the characteristics of a pyramid scheme. Unlike your analogy with Tiger Woods, Amway/Quixtar tools business products are sold only to the distributors themselves. It is very different from the Tiger Woods situation.
http://www.amquix.info/quixtar_pyramid-q-a.html
http://www.amquix.info/quixtar_pyramid.html
http://www.amquix.info/quixtar_pyramid_rebuttal.html
Regards,
Scott
Ps. How much profit have you reported on you taxes due to Quixtar?
Hi Mr. Larsen,
Thanks for the email and information. As for your question about my reported taxes, I have been a distributor for Quixtar for about a year now. Turning a profit has yet to happen, so still reporting a loss at this juncture. However, I will tell you that my cost versus the money that is being sent back to me is roughly 75%. Meaning I only pay for 25% of what I order at this time.
Obviously, i won't give you dollar figures just because that is personal. I will be honest and upfront with you. With your questions.
Thanks again.
JWillett
Hi Mr. Larsen,
I reviewed the info you sent me in your last email. I reviewed all three and in each I find exactly why Quixtar is a legal entity. Besides, if it was illegal wouldn't the government have shut them down? i mean they are billion dollar company, second fastest in the world to reach that number.
Also, would people such as Circuit City and Office Max be partnered with Quixtar if it were an illegal scheme? Anyway, again, I truly appreciate the info and I believe that if people are 100% honest and upfront with the peope they sponsor there were be a lot less confusion and problems. Because, bottom line, if this all were illegal it wouldn't be around today. The business plan is simple, but putting it together, just like any other traditional business (which i have experience in), is tough. A traditional non-franchise business, has only a 5% chance of succeeding in the first 5 years,and an additional 5% chance from 5-10 years.
Take care and thanks again,
JWillett
Dear Scott,
I read your website and i am very concerned.....
Recently a "gentleman" named Nico from Florida came to a local sub shop where i work and got college students at USC to subscribe to credit card at citi bank. He then contacted me to do marketing with him in the area. He payed me in cash so i was exited. I was then contacted by a diamond Jumoke from Baltimore and we had a web conference and he made it was if my life was going to change. Then after our 3rd web conference he said hed need 175$ for books and tapes.... 75$ for bww registration.... then 100 dollars to attend a conference in Charlotte NC. I'm a poor struggling college student. He keeps setting up meeting and i don't know how to say no. And even more freakish is that my boss at work has been a member since he was 16!!!
I really need your advice... i want out.....but i don't know how....
Siincerely,
David E Feldman
I just spent the last hour searching for Amway/Quixtar information and stumbled upon
your site. I believe it was divine intervention, because my heart is aching for my best
friend who in the past three months has become totally and completely sucked into her
"business" as a Quixtar distributor. I don't even know how to talk to her
anymore. They've brainwashed her, and I'd like to track them down and ask them how they
sleep at night.
My best friend's father abandoned the family this past April. In his wake they've suffered
financial ruin, forcing my friend's Mom to work three jobs just to keep the house and pay
off the credit card bills he left. Someone talked my friend into Quixtar, and now she's
absolutely convinced this is the way to save her family; she's in college and because of
Quixtar she's seriously considering changing all her long-term goals because she believes
she'll be retired in another five years - "And that's a generous estimate," she
tells me. She's talking giant houses and world travel. She wants to show her Dad that they
don't need him. I feel like this is exploitation. The way she talks about these people at
her meetings, they must know about what she's been through. And according to the
testimonies on your site, her "friends" and "mentors" must also know
that she has little chance of achieving any of that through Quixtar.
I've been skeptical, and now I'm understanding that my gut feelings were not unfounded.
Thank you for providing such helpful information, and such a wide breadth of it. I hope to
intervene in the next week or so, as I'll be heading back to college soon and I don't know
if it's something I can do long distance. I'm so afraid for her and so angry at these
people, but with the knowledge your site has helped me with I'll be better armed to talk
to her about this and hopefully get her away from Quixtar. Again, thank you.
Claire
Hi Scott,
thank you for putting up your site in German as well. I was aproached by people in Germany to join Amway. They even presented the"plan" to me. Luckily I am a verry suspicious person and question everything I hear especialy when it sounds to easy. It was quite interesting to hear them explaining everything without mentioning the A-word. The first thon they covert were the various products and companies involved. Knowing Amway from the US, I imideately smelled a rat. However it took them half an hour let the cat aut of the bag. When I called them back I asked some stupid questions based an the information retrieved from the net. They bacame offensive rightaway and asked how I obtained my intormation. The lady dismissed everyone like you as an idiot right of the bat. Thats when I endet the converation before she could get abusive towarts me. This people are completely brainwashed. Unfortunately I could not remember the sit mentioning a ruling of a german court stateing, that nobody could make any money out of Amway because the system is flawed. Keep up the good work, however I think its useless because "A sucker is born every day"
merry christmas
Tom
Scott -
Thanks for maintaining your insightful website. I have been out of the business for, gosh at least 8 years. I signed up in 1993 in the business. At that time double diamond had been recently invited by Dexter to begin utilizing Dexter tool and support system.
I find it intriguing to look back at the deceptions. Though I had no problem with LOS or double diamond evey time I did ask questions I got the same response. When you need to know that you'll know.
The information we were ALWAYS told is that there were no profits on the sales of tools!!!!!!
I attended Dexters second YMNI course upon a special invite from the D-Diamond.
Your website has been nothing short of a peak into the dirty little secrets of the Amway/Quitar business structure. Keep up the great work.
I have been recently approached by an old school mate who is really
excited about a new business he wants me to get involved in. I smelled MLM from the
beginning and asked around and spent some time researching online. I have good reasons to
believe he is talking about Quixtar. He would only tell me that it had to do with internet
commerce and it was difficult to describe. Later that week he called me from a meeting at
which there were other men who wanted to meet me within the week. Neither of them would
give me any details over the phone, insisting that I must meet with them in person to
ensure that I received the correct information. Do you have any advice as to how I
might discourage my school mate from getting into something he might regret later. I would
be interested in trying to prevent this business idea from affecting too many lives in my
small town community. I have been a victim of MLM's preying on my sense of greed in
the past. Your website is overwhelming.... What your story and connection or past
connection to this group? Jason
sincerely
Dan L.
Thanks for letting me speak,
Misty
Hello Scott,
I'm still trying to figure if my story is "negative"..... Here it is and use it
if you can.
Started in biz April 2004. Saw plan from upline, met Diamond in the next week, and went to
a function 2 days later. My Diamond told me that when one reaches
Diamond in WWDB that they become a partner and an instant millionaire. I thought nothing
of it, but another income stream. After 1.5 years my wife were on
average CORE (10 plans/mo, 300PV personal/clients, system, counseling, etc) and we reached
(through some "pay to play" coached by our "pay to play" upline
"bought" Rubies) Double Eagle 3,000PV. This qualified us for a trip July 2005
and I felt guilty the entire way. I appologized to my wife, upline, and Diamond
(even though "dumping" extra inventory on a few of our downline to qualify was
their idea - we went forward with it)and want to appologize to our downline for
misrepresentation. Since... I have read your site, book, FTC, case law, etc and have
scaled back our biz to retail. Thankfully my Folks who are involved live
1500 miles away so our "bought" Rubies upline cannot directly brain wash them.
However, are biggest leg is following the lead and "paying to play" on credit
cards and buying travel trips across the Pacific Ocean for "can't" miss
Leadership meetings with our Diamond.
It's tearing me up to see this. My Diamond was in town a couple of weeks ago and I met
with him and my upline. I had 20 objective questions laid out along
with my research (FTC, Postma Memo, Directly Speaking, etc). With his charisma said he
"agreed" with me on these issues - however, "what does 23 years ago
(Directly Speaking) have to do with today?..... we use our 'system' income to expand our
biz. If we used our Quixtar income to expand our biz - it would lower our standard of
living." That got me the most - "lower our standard of living" using
Quixtar income to expand??????!!!!! Expansion includes a Hummer to show
the plan and Lear jets for some Diamonds!!! BS! My wife and I make about $500 a month
profit from our downline and customers. We are not in the "system"
anymore and are PISSED at the lies and manipulation! We are unsure of which direction, if
at all, to proceed with this business?!!!! Hope this helps. Any feed back would be
appreciated!
Regards
DJ
I was approached by a former teacher of mine, someone who I had trusted. From his
e-mail, I knew almost off the bat that it was Quixtar, but I figured what the heck, I'll
give it a shot and watch this meeting. I saw the plan from a 21 year old who was difficult
to understand from their rather strong accent. They werent of this country and had dreams
of building a business to help their family. It sounded good... I never went through the
pack...figuring whats $45...little did i know it would siphon off almost $4500 from my
life in about ten months.
I went all in -- Kate, standing order, the whole gig. They said, this is what you need to
learn to get what they (diamonds, in my case, Wolgamott) have.
So I dove in. I began doing my own 1 on 1s almost immediately, and got shot down eleven
times. Finally, my sponsor, who had just been in only a few days longer than I, decided he
would begin doing the 1on1s for me to 'add credibility' -- since I was only 18.
He began doing that, and I began to get the 1/3 effect. 1/3rd would say no, 1/3rd would
join and do nothing, and 1/3rd would quit (well, my upline said would 'build the business,
but thats not what happened)
I saw Dean Kosage's EDC attitude in person, and got 'into gear'. I began listening to 5-8
CDs a day. I began reading --an hour -- two hours a night. I had trouble sleeping before I
got in the business so I justified staying up to build my business. It was a lot more
tiring than just laying in bed awake.
The first blow came when my first growing leg got blown out at FED. One of them was a JW
and quit almost instantly when they saw all the flags and all the God-praising
"businessmen" -- this caused his upline to get shaken. Not ten days later had
his sponsor brought a college buddy to a plan who brought all the dateline stuff to him.
This blew him out. The 'leg' was dead. I kept rolling, from October until the end of
January, I was at every single meeting within five hours. We'd drive to Portland and back
in a night, after seeing the plan we'd seen a hundred times before.
My sponsors sponsor was as 'fanatical' as I was in the system -- we rode a lot of places
together. I put 15000 miles on my car and never broke 400 pv. I braved one trip to
Portland with him in which he nearly got us killed. He was waking up at 4am, working 12
hour shifts, then trying to build the business. He fell asleep at the wheel _WHILE_ I was
yelling at him to stay awake and pull over and we crashed into the center median.
In January, our Emerald told us he would do no more plans for us because we let him down.
He told us to be CORE for 90 days and we'd be Eagle. So I did. I would spend hours meeting
new people having good, quality conversation -- but I felt so DIRTY thinking that at some
point , they might see the plan. In March, I was going to go read my book in Starbucks
(becuase hey, you can read, have coffee, AND meet people, right?) -- a few miles from my
friends and former roommates house, I decided to go say hello on the saturday afternoon to
him and his family. I was involved ina collision on the way. My car was totalled, and i
didnt have collission insurance.
The next two weeks, my upline kept calling me to see if I was 'doing anything' to build
the business -- despite needing another car...paying off the bills...not asking about
injuries...etc. I was off tapes since my car (cd player) was wrecked, so I began to think
and deprogram. It was then that I found this blog.
I carpooled to leadership...and it was there that my life changed.
You see, I received a call that weekend, from the love of my life whom I'd been seperated
from years ago through no ill circumstance or arguement...just drifting away. She called
me out of the blue after tracking me down from contract info I left in a letter I wrote
almost a year before. I knew if I were to reunite with her, I was going to marry her...so
I made the decision mentally right then and there to unplug from the system totally. I had
already been off tapes for almost two weeks. It took me almost 2 months to cancel my
standing order as I slowly weaned away as to not be verbally assaulted from my
upline...and now they're gone...its interesting how they'd "always be there for
me" and yet now they don't even know that I'm engaged.
So when I heard that story, I decided that if the Emerald was going to quit, theres
something seriously wrong. I'm a mathemetician, always running probabilities and numbers,
and the whole time in Quixtar I denied that part of me.
I sponsored eleven people in one year. My highest month was 336 pv, with 220 of that being
personal (for a single...thats a freaking lot). I was the only one who ever bought in.
And yet, with all this, there were TONS of my kate messages (in excess of 15) getting sent
out to other lines of sponsorship -- some even made it outside of Wolgamott's Diamondship.
At leadership, platinums that I had been meeting from around the area paraded me around to
their groups -- edifying me to their guys ... I didnt know why -- I wasnt even 'eagle'.
Why did they edify me? On Kate, they told me "this is how you go diamond" and
would play one of my messages -- but I didnt have any PV to back it. I only had one client
(which, i got scolded about by my upline Eagle, saying "why dont you sponsor
them?")
Why did they edify me? I hadnt DONE anything but lose money.
They deified the "Road warriors" and the diamonds -- hearing how being with
Wolgamott is like being a warrior, charging into hell with a sword in your hands ready to
die for eachother(him, being Wolg). It was motivational yes -- Damn Tracy is good at that
speach, it is so motivating -- but no one thought any different. It was deification.
And of course, demonizing everything that was not controlled by them. Jobs, your boss (I
happen to like my boss, and my job, and waking up in the morning to do it -- but a few
months in the system, I began to hate my job, dispise my boss for keeping me down, and
wanted to be 'free' of that)
Granted, I'd still like to have '6 saturdays and a sunday' but Qx certainly isnt the way
to do it. If it is, certianly being in the SYSTEM isnt.
Think about this -- Woods was an alcoholic drug addict -- Alcott was a cokehead -- and a
number of others, too. People change, yes, but if they'll do that, will they put on a
smile while they milk your money out of you in tools, kate, and now BIZINATOR?
And what the FREAK. If this business is so low cost, why does worldwide keep coming out
with PAY services.
I have a theory on why premiere was invented. The cost is almost the same as the minimum,
but it incentivises people to spend just a little bit more.
In addition, can 'services' provided directly from worldwide be a pyramid? you get the
$41/mo service from worldwide (actually a delaware company I believe called diamond
memberships or something) ....interesting...
Thats that...there it is...why did they edify nothing? is it because the way to be a
diamond is to fanatically pour money into the system....lose money every month, nearly die
on the road at night, jeopardize your job...yeah.
I let my sponsor know he could buy some info systems back from me, and he wanted to 'talk
about it' -- after I explained why, telling him [and showing him the worldwide statement
that they intend to make a profit from you] -- he said that he took that as a positive
that there were profits outside of just quixtar (yeah, because you can't get them in
quixtar)
Man, you are one sick, sad dude. If Quixtar is so bad, why did you spend probably
months creating your am/quixinfo website to try to prove it? It seems to me that your alleged “bad,
illegal, mafia” description of the corp. would prove itself out, IF it is so bad
and illegal, it would not survive. What
do you think you know that the lawyers of major corporations like Disney, Office Max,
Barnes & Noble, just couldn't’ see when they investigated Quixtar prior to
becoming a partner?
Wow… I can only say I’m sorry that you couldn’t motivate yourself for success. With your tremendous failure and the phenomenal bitterness I see between the lines, you must mount yourself on this horse daily to completely consume yourself with vindictiveness. You will go to an early grave with this tremendous grudge tearing you apart every day. In all sincerity, I feel very sorry for you. Let it go man. Your life is worth living but not like this. You aren't hurting Quixtar but you're killing yourself with the poison of anger, bitterness, shame and frustration it takes to continue this idiotic ranting. I'm going to pray for you that you can let it go and get your life back.
S. Tish
Ok, I'm sick and tired of the Disney arguement. Would Disney go in business with Worldcom and Enron? Amway did!
I just finished reading your insight on the Quixtar business. I have to say you did a great job of explaining what is the downside of the Quixtar business. To tell you the truth, I was almost convinced. However i can't agree with you on the fact that the Quixtar business is " America's most respected fraudulent marketing scheme". I find that the basis of your argument is not correct. Your statement "Distributors are required to sell 70% of what they buy from Quixtar to others, to avoid being an illegal pyramid scheme". I am an IBO in the Quixtar business and this statement is false. I don't know how the business worked before I got into it, and maybe that is what you're basing your opinions on. However, I'm not a distributor because i don't sell anything. All i do is drive traffic and volume to the website. My question to you is what's a pyramid. A pyramid to me is where a guy at the bottom can never make more than the guy above them or the guy at the top. In this business if i'm not 1 point bracket ahead of my downline i don't get rewarded for their business. I can tell that you are an intelligent person just by your analysis of the Quixtar business. I want you to think about this. Aren't our modern day corporations a pyramid? The guy at the bottom can never make more than the guy at the top. So what makes them legal? If you want to have updated information so that you can make a more effective argument go to www.economicpower.com and www.thisbiznow.com. The economic power website is a 3rd party website that talks about what we do, which is affiliated marketing/endorsing. Thank you for taking the time to read my e-mail. I hope this can help you in your analysis of the Quixtar business. I would love to hear back from you with your input.
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for the note.
I guess if you want to know about the intent of the 70% rule you should read a little history:
http://www.amquix.info/quixtar_pyramid-q-a.html
http://www.amquix.info/quixtar_pyramid.html
http://www.amquix.info/quixtar_pyramid_rebuttal.html
Your personal definition of a pyramid is a lot off base.
Modern day corporations are not pyramids because they are not even like th FTC's definition.
"Pyramid" Definition from FTC vs. Equinox April 2000, is the same as FTC vs. Trek Alliance June, 2003
"Pyramid scheme" means a sales scheme, Ponzi scheme, chain marketing scheme, or other marketing plan or program in which participants pay money or valuable consideration to the company in return for which they receive:
- the right to sell a product or service; and
- the right to receive in return for recruiting other participants into the program rewards which are unrelated to sale of products or services to ultimate users.
For the purposes of this definition, "sale of products or services to ultimate users" does not include sales to other participants or recruits in the multi-level marketing program or to participants' own accounts.
So how much traffic (cleints and members) do you drive to the web site? How much do you earn on retail markup?
Scottps. How much profit will you be reporting on your taxes this year from Quixtar?
I briefly looked at the 3 links you sent to me, but i was only able to skim over them because i have to study for finals. However, I do plan to take a closer look at them. I just got started 2 months ago and i currently have 3 IBOs and 2 members. I'm getting a check in at the beginning of this month for about $7.50. I don't get a tax form until i make $300 in a given year. I'm a part of the Britt organization. My group doesn't do some of the things that you mentioned in terms of forcing us to buy support materials. I only buy the book of the month because that's the only one that's useful to me long term. The CDs don't help me that much. I'm also not forced to go to any function, but i am going to one in january just to see what it's like. If it doesn't do anything for me then i'm not going to waste my money and go. If someone doesn't have the self confidence to say to themselves or their upline that they don't need the education, then thats on them. However, i'm not one of those people. All i can speak on is the group that i'm a part of. I can't speak for every group in the organization. I know when i talk to people, i do it with integrity. If i don't think the all the support materials i let them know, but i know everyone may not do things with the same integrity as me. You mentioned the legalities of Quixtar, and why it's illegal. If it's illegal then why are companies constantly joining our website. Companies such as Disney, Office Max, Barnes and Noble, and Circuit City? Thanks one again for taking the time to read and respond to my e-mails. I'm just trying to learn both sides' perspectives.
Amway come here in Finland year 1999. My female boss, who is in amway, told it to me almost year ago. I`m not interested in Amway at all, but she don`t listen me! She talks almost always about Amway, many meetings between the members - and a change to earn much money. She don`t leave me alone from Awway, and my boss is very aggressiv to sell this "bisness" almost to all customers who come to visit. I´m very boring.
Now my boss is not to satisfy to my job to her, she find many mistakes about it. She thinks that I am lazy and "a little bit stupid" when I dont want to join to AMWAY. I fell myself unuseleless, and bad worker.
I love God and my family most in the world, and I want to gime my most time and interest to them. I am a Jehova`s Whitness. I go to the work only for necessarily living, it can never be to me the most important thing in the world! Not even Amway - it would take too much time and money. My family is rather poor, I haven`t money even buy clothes to myself - I and my husband buy to our children most clothes and shoes. They need them more than we!
That`s the way of Amway in Finland, too. And many influenced people are with it!
Greetings from "PiKo". I don`t want to tell my truly name. I don`t want difficulties to myself and my family!
"Hannah Prins" hprins@bak.rr.com
Scott,
I guess it is official that Paul and Debbie are done. I saw this week's SOT on the Miller website:
1121 - BWW508 / BWW508CD
It's your turn - Paul & Leslie Miller
I tried to paste a picture of the site into this email but it did not work. I wanted to
let you know. Kepp up the good work.
J
Subject: Thank you so much!
Hi, I am a 19 year old busboy for Carabba's Itailian Grill. I recently
joined Quixtar and became an IBO. I want to know where you got your information about the
business because I have personally met Emeralds and have seen the checks that they have
made. You probably joined the business and did not want to put the work in and had a bad
experience with them. You were probably one of those IBOs that did the average 33 PV that
the IBOs without a dream do. I can understand in so instances where if you have an upline
that is not doing anything it would be more difficult to build the business. If you have a
dream you will do it. If you are not willing to change your life for the better then, yes,
i suggest not joining the business. Right now my Upline Platnium is working in my business
because he sees me putting the work in and making the right decisions. Just becasue you
had a bad experience with something does not mean you have to write bad things about it. I
know that it works because it is working for me. If you are really serious about your
"so called" website, you will post this e-mail somewhere. Hope to hear from you
soon.Sincerely,
Growing Eagle in the business
Hi David,
I got a lot of the information from Quixtar.
Did you see their net profit reported on taxes?
Scott
no i did not see the tax information, it really does not matter to me
either way. I know by my 20th birthday I will be making enough to quit my job and do the
business full time. Anyway...may I suggest the book The Magic of Thinking Big it will
change your way of thinking.
Sincerely,
Future Platnium
Bruce and Wendy Anderson are are now MonaVie distributors.
http://www.monavie.com/rank/advancements/
Hey Scott,
There's a blog by a guy on some vigilante trip
;-), www.quixtaramwayinfiltrator.blogspot.com.
Thought you might want to check it out.
PHILIPS
Scott
I own a small store. Please tell me how it is better for me to buy from say, Walmart or Meijer than it is from my own establishment?
Thank you
Todd
Hi Tod, It is simple economics. It is better to buy from Walmart or Meijer when your cost from your own suppliers is higher than the cost from Walmart or Meijer. Say if you buy item x from your distributor for 2 dollars yet you can buy the same item from Walmart for $1.50 then you should not only buy from Wal-mart but change your suppliers. It is that simple. If your sa8 costs you 0,21 cents a load yet you can buy Tide for 0,18 cents a load and you feel both do the same job, then you are economically foolish to buy SA8. If the SA8 is cheaper then buy it. I hope this helps. Scott
Dear Scott
Thankyou for your quick reply. My question now is sould I sell my 75 year old family business because my family and customers can drive 20 mi to Walmart to save $1.50 ? Is there any value in a store a mile or two away? Has my family been stealing from our customers all these years because our prices are not the lowest in town or have we been robbed by our suppliers because they charge us more than Meijer? I look forward to your responce.
Thank you
Todd
Hi Todd, Of course any economic analysis includes shipping and transport costs and other intangibles. You asked me a simple question about YOU buying from your own store versus buying from Walmart. You did not ask me about your customers' preferences. A rational person weights all the costs. If people are buying from your family store then they feel there is more value from you than driving to Walmart. What your customers do is one thing, what you do is another. A customer can be irrational but a businessman needs to be rational. Whether you buy from your own store depends on your marginal cost. If your stores's marginal cost of products is higher than Walmart's' including shipping/transport/etc then you would be economical irrational to buy from your own store. It basically means you need to change your wholesaler to Walmart from whomever you have it now. Once you change your wholesaler then buying from your own store is rational. If you stores marginal cost of products is lower than what you buy it for at Walmart including shipping/transport/etc then you should buy from your on store. Many small store buy from Sam's Club because it is cheaper than their other wholesalers. It is that simple. Did you eve take an economics course? Surely you got my e-mail from my Quixtar website. Are you looking at Quixtar or are in Quixtar? If you are in Quixtar are you buying from Quixtar or your family store now? Scott
Hi, I'm in the usual situation of
having a friend talk to me about A2K (the Australian name for Quixtar). Having researched
it (good information, analysis and links on your site, by the way) I have no intention of
opting in, however in seeking balance I've tried and failed to find the equivalent
pro-Amway version of your site. Are you aware of any academic/intellectual defenses of the
Amway system? IBOs don't seem to do the analysis themselves - if you're not a 'dreamer'
personality you'll naturally want an explanation of the mechanics of the system which only
seems to come from the critics. Surely amongst the x million IBOs there must be some
inclined towards this way of thinking that can produce a reasonable apologetic?
Cheers,
Rodney
Hi...I like your site!
I just got off of an instant message conversation with my sister who is way into this "business", as they call it. We spent over an hour arguing about this. I was trying to tell her that she is in a cult and she is brainwashed. She, just like all the rest seems to have a pre-programmed response to everything. IT IS SO FRUSTRATING!
I feel sad that people are buying into this. I am glad that I found your site so that I could find out the real info about this lie of a company.
Any advice for dealing with her?
Thanks...one angry and sad sister of a quixtar robot.
--Mindy
Scott,
Oasis Life Sciences just announced their newest Diamond - Mark and Patty Middleton. My old
diamond ( I was a silver) from Quixtar under Tim and
Cindy Kline- Had heard they had lost their house. Just gets better and better- just glad I
found your site last year before I tried to start again!!!
Life is great being free from all that stuff.
Always enjoy your site additions!
Thanks,
Keith
Scott,
How ya doing? I'm a 20 year old college student looking to make some extra cash on the
side. My boss at work kinda got me into Quixtar. The only problem is I am really ignorant
when it comes to this stuff. I am a fairly intelligent person but gullible at times. I
have read over most of the stuff on your website. I had a few questions for you. What is
the difference between Amway and Quixtar or did it just change names over the past couple
years? And what exactly is an IBO (What does it stand for/define)? Was your website made
like clear back in 1999 when only some of this stuff is true as of now? Or is all of it
true today?
I'm not going to put a dime into books, seminars, tapes, or meetings. So if say my boss
buys all this crap (which I prolly won't look at anyways) and gives it to me, will I
really be l losing money doing the business? I went to the link of the Quixtar Efficiency
and it seems a little bit overkill on the actual involvement (for me at least). I'm a
college student and I prolly won't put more than an hour a week into this business. Is it
really worth it? Or am I going to find out that I'm ripping off my friends that I refer
and feel guilty? What are some good strategies to actually making this business work if I
am considering doing this (if any)?
I'm the kinda guy who believes that life requires hard work, and it usually does. People
go to college, get a degree, and get a good job. That's life. Yea, it sucks working 40
hours a week for the rest of your life until you retire but that's reality. That's why you
don't get stuck with a job you hate. But after attending one of these Quixtar business
meetings (I showed up in a t-shirt and jeans while everyone else had on suits and ties)
they made it sound like making 60K a year is easy and attainable in a short amount of
time. I'm thinking, what kind of hard work are they actually talking about? And it sounds
too good to be true... They are telling me by the time I am 22 I can have my future set
and not have to worry about the security (losing) my real job. One of the gentlemen claims
he is the CEO of Midwest Wireless and making 120K a year. He said that he eventually plans
to quit this job and work entirely for Quixtar (meaning he is making more than 120k?). I
find it hard to believe... I don't know if I'm surrounded by a bunch of lies or people
just trying to make me spread it to my friends so they can make more $$$. There are about
15K college students on campus, so they prolly see us as a goldmine, especially since we
are looking for "savings." Some of my friends claim that they make a good $300 a
month. Maybe they are just saying that to get me to join (not really my close friends).
After coming across your website, it completely changed my views on things. I'm sorry to
bother you with all my questions. I would greatly appreciate if you could take time out of
your day to answer my email. I have another quixtar meeting with the CEO of Midwest
tonight, to try and get me "started." It seems odd that he would meet with just
me at 9 PM on a tuesday night. I don't know how it is going to go but I thought I'd drop
you an email with "innocent" questions before he brainwashes me. I'm sure there
are both sides to the story (success and just a hoax) but I want to know what it's gonna
take and if it's actually worth it...
Thanks,
Ryan
who said amway or quixtar had to
save a marraige? from what i've seen it's helped more than any other business alone. I
mean seriously when's the last
time the law off or the factory even tried to save a maaraige. you gotta be kidding...
Clark
Dear Clark,
A lot of the WWDB diamonds do.
Howie Danzik
I've got a recording of Howie Danzik saying if you have marital problems that WWDB can fix them. They obviously did not help Howie fix his.Scott
Scott,
Thanks for responding. either way it seems that the stats for couples staying together in wwdb are higher than the national average and maybe any organization by itself, but even if it's not that doesn't mean we have to dog on it. I've learned plenty about good relationships from the wwdb. obviously no one can guarantee that you'll stay together nor that the diamonds will, but at least they are trying. I don't see many other organizations/companies talking about that. I think there is a lot to be said for that.
Clark
ps--as for howie danzik I'm pretty sure he's still married to theresa...
Hi Clark,
Yes but Howie is not still married to Susan. See their Diamond Profile of Success from the Amagram.
I do not understand why Howie says he was single going diamond. http://danzik.wwdb.biz/ He wants to rewrite history.
I've listened to his tapes and he was only edifying Thereas when he was married to Susan.
Scott
maybe so. everyone makes mistakes. me. you. it doesn't mean the quixtar business isn't legit. just cause someone doesn't do exactly what they believe to be true and are trying to teach others to do doesn't mean his work or business isn't ok. i don't think those things should affect my business at all. did it affect your business. are you not active bc someone that believes in marraige got divorced before? anyway...
clark
Hi Clark,
You are right those things should not affect your business. I don't know why the business even talks about such things.
So how much profit are you reporting on your taxes due to Quixtar?
Scott
I'll be honest with you...none, I got registered
in 2002 and then "sat on my butt," well no, I actually sponsored a few people
but was off and on...just after fed this year I have been going strong and my
circumstances are forcing me to continue(maybe a little more than the big dreams) right
now so i will keep going. I have been stp-ing a few times a week now for over a month and
things are right on track. I will worry about the tax thing later. too bad I didn't just
keep going 3 years ago, but we all have our reasons for not I guess(unless we're the ones
that do it asap)--but I still believe we can all do it no matter the time. look at the
grosboll's and the gonser's..and so many others that took so long. but I am doing it and
seeing results. however, none to claim on taxes yet...yet.
keep dreaming,
Clark
Hi Larsen Scott,
I have a Question for you:
What induces companies like Misrosoft, Barnes and Noble, Sony corp. among many others, aside from Mastercard and Visa to endorse the Quixtar business through their links on the Quixtar website? Ironically, wouldn’t their reputation and accountability be at stake too, when they participate in this apparent ‘pyramid’ scheme?
Would you consider this to constitute proof of any kind about the legitimacy of the business model?
Please throw some light.
Thanks,
Satyajit das (NewYork)
Dear Satyajit,
I've never seen these companies actually endorse the Quixtar business opportunity. Some might have a marketing relationship with Quixtar but that does not mean they are endorsing the business.
Scott
My
name is Chris and I am a business owner up here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
I was recently approached by a guy who I grew up with as a kid. This guy said he was
in a internet business and would like to talk to me about it more. When he came with
his books and rhetoric I knew right off the bat that it was bad news. So I declined the
offer to become richer than I’d ever be in a traditional business, lol , but my
employee volunteered to try it out. So I stayed out of the matter and decided to do
some research on Quixtar. I found a lot of bad stuff including your site that was
the most clearest for me to understand. The problem is that I’m not too sure
what is exactly legal or not in the world of MLM a.k.a. pyramiding. This gentleman
explained to us that we did not think right, that we thought like poor people and that
with the tools his business uses we would be 5% thinkers and retires in half the time it
normally takes. He called 401K’s a bad investment hinting that his business
would be a wise investment I guess. I read in my research that claims of
“investment” are not right but I don’t know if it’s illegal.
Also I asked him how the plan actually is employed and he said that the key to success is
in the people you recruit. I don’t know if that’s legal to be promoting or
not either. I had a lengthy discussion with him last night when he came to my
business and was hoping he would have some answers to these questions of legality.
He said his business was no different than Amazon.com, and I just shook my head and tried
to explain how invalid that statement was. I gave him an option of doing all the
research, good or bad, and getting back to me within a week on the legality’s of what
he’s doing, before I started telling people I know about his business
“facts”. But I don’t know exactly how to counter claims he has
because I haven’t been involved with this stuff so long. Hoping for some
advice. By the way my employee is no longer interested in his business (so-called).
Chris
S
Scott,
Scott I was hooked
into Quixtar in 1999 when I was 20 years old. I
was in college and someone in my extended family showed me the plan. I’d hate to admit that I was
I thought about quitting school and doing it full-time (unthinkable!). Being a broke college student, I was “gifted” all the tapes and CD’s so I didn’t take a financial hit. I left the business after 5 months. The turning point was the first time I felt I was on track to alienate someone. I was finished. My friends were more important to me than any business. Referring to my friends; my “up-line” used the term “negativity” which translated to “logical” for those not in the business.
Thank goodness, I stayed in school. I not only stayed but got my Masters as well. I am now married to a wonderful woman with a wonderful job and couldn’t be happier.
While the people in the “biz” promote “freedom” they give it up and compromise everything in their lives; including peace. I was never peaceful during the 5 months I was involved. You feel the weight of the world on your shoulders to make it work.
My brother emailed me your site. It’s wonderful. You truly do a public service to those that are thinking about entering, leaving, or promoting this form of business. Scott, I also get many laughs reading the feedback. My brother and I want to dig up some old tapes and listen to them for kicks.
Kevin
Please don't publish my email address - wouldn't want to appear negative to some people.
My older sister is a naive young women (22 years
of age) who is easily phased by anyone who claims to be a Christian and strong in their
beliefs. Of course, she was easily sucked into Quixtar because of their supposed
easy money-making benefits and mentions of religion/spirituality. I sent her info
linking to your website as well as others, and as I expected, she had the following to
ask: Why is it recognized by the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business
Bureau? What response would you happen to have for that? I really fear for
her, and I know that I will probably just have to have her learn on her own... However, am
I wrong? Before I contacted her, I had done brief research on those websites without
finding any negative info. What do you think?
P.S. I would greatly, greatly appreciate recent information/references since they will
hold up more in comparison with mistakes the company made back in the 70s, etc.
Well, thanks to the power of Google
and my wife and I being skeptical about everything and having been in a book sales job
before, really couldn't accept what Keith, the recruiter was telling us about Quixtar.
I've been to one meeting with him already and have a scheduled meeting this Tuesday with
one or two of the "heads" in this region. Upon reading up the info on your web
site we found it to be a bit dated, but knowing how businesses are, wonder if time hasn't
changed a thing for Quixtar's methods. With my original gut reaction believing this was
too good to be true, looking into the business on my own, and finding your website
research into Quixtar, I think I'm just going to go to the meeting on Tuesday to say
thanks but no thanks. Pretty much, the front the recruiters would give back 20 years ago
hasn't changed a lick and I could have almost quoted Keith word for word with your
warnings. Me being a hard worker, dedicated and active, and Keith, seeking me out like a
missile to give me an offer that can, "Change my life."
Still, I would appreciate your time and opinion into this.
Regards,
Christopher
Hi
Scott,
For
the sake of accuracy I thought I would sent you an update regarding the note on the
unsuccessful marriages page –
EDC
Bert Gulick is definitely divorced as he appeared at Free Enterprise Celebration in
You
can’t help wonder what else some of these people are hiding when you consider that
most if not all of the people who have separated/divorced have got up on stage and boasted
about how great their relationship with their spouse was can you?
Please
feel free to update the site but don’t use my name as I still have business dealings
with active IBO’s and I don’t particularly want to completely burn any bridges.
My son & soon-to-be
daughter-in-law are involved in Quixtar here in Texas. There upline mentor is Jeff Moore.
There is also a Jeff Raines involved. And another gentleman named Jack Dorey, but I am not
sure how you spell his name. They recently went to a conference in Seattle WA. Do
you have any information about these guys? They seem nice enough based on what my son
says. But my motherly instincts and the Holy Spirit have made me feel a little leary of
this company. I just don't have a peace about it. Any info you can give me would be of
great interest. I realize you are probably very very busy, but the sooner you can respond
or at least let me know you got this email, the better.
Thank you.
Thank you for saving my time money
and my integrity and providing income figures facts and business analysis. Your website is
a vital recourse for me as I have been like a sponge trying to find any reasonable
justification or evidence for continuing with my group. I did my due diligence and can
find no reason to continue and I thank you for providing vital consumer information. A
found recently a more less known resource and wanted to highlight its significance to you.
I read a a pastor's of our group's business. It clearly admits that is a buy from
yourself and teach others to do the same. To summarize what we do more briefly, let me
just say that we change where we shop, and we can achieve three things by doing this:
first, we save time, second, we save money, and third, we can make earn extra money. We
accomplish these things by building a group or community of people doing the same thing *
shopping online through the Quixtar internet portal and encouraging others to do the same.
This website is part of my continual project that quixtar intentional misleads and
exploits recruited by not informing them about the retails sales rules as tier BV is
rolled up unless they meet the 50pv 10 customers or 100cash requirements. This group
strives on misinformation and false to provide any income or answers to cortical
questions. Instead they hide behind partner stores, the FTC and BBB. Please continue
and document your progress any evidence that they are
violating federal pyramiding rules will eventually overcome their belief. Continue
spreading the Truth.
Hi there, i was just introduced to the "plan" by one of my friends father's whom, is supposedly a top-dog in the business. Showing the plan to about 9 college students, all good friends, it sounds like a win-win situation, obviously im not going to invest money before researching it, and have found very little supportive information about this on the internet.
My question to you is, how does it all work? All i got was the glamour out of the speech (of course) and was interested in the real facts. Any help would be much appreciative. Thanks in Advance
Chris
Hey Scott, I read your article on quixstar buisness program. It has raised many questions
in my mind. The thing is, is that I have been asking myself the same querstions that you
talk about in your article. I knew from the start that this program was too good to be
true. I went to a few weekly meetings with a friend, and the whole business sounded so
great that I knew there had to be a catch. The only thing is, that I couldn't see the
catch. Directly after a meeting, I felt like quixstar was the best thing in the world and
that everyone that didn't know about it was missing out. You are absolutely correct when
you say that these diamond leaders are incredibly charismatic. Everything that comes out
of their mouth about the business seem like the word of God, absolutely flawless. And in
fact, with the information that they gave me, the business plan was absolutely perfect and
would work. However, the catch for me was that I knew there were things they were not
telling me. I knew there had to have been failures that didn't make it, or flaws in the
plan, but they didn't talk about any of that. That is what scared me. AT first I wanted to
become an IBO right away, I had so many visions of how it was going to work for me. But I
decided to wait a month or two and see how it worked out for my friend before I forked out
the $150. One question I did have, and you confirmed, was why they needed to charge $150
to become an IBO if they were making so much money off selling products? I figured there
must be millions of IBOs, and if each payed $150 then that is a loit of money someone is
making.
The key thing to do in situations like this is to read up on the history of the company.
In the Vietnam war, soldiers and citizens were brainwashed by the media into thinking that
Vietnam needed saving from the communists and that the war was just and for the good of
the world. I personally spoke with veterans who believed this notion until they began
reading up on the war and discovered that the US was at fault for the condition that the
country was in. The US had been Vietnam's oppressor for decades and that the war was just
a politcal way for the US to open up markets and fight the communists. The US government
failed to inform the public of these facts, and it is the same with Quixstar. They make
their plan out to be flawless and utopian, but in reality it is not.
However, many people have made money in quixstar. That is the most alluring part of the
program for me. I just really want to make some cash. You seem to have a history with
quixstar and know the ins and outs of the pragram. I knew from the start that there had to
be some trick that they were not telling me, a trick to success. There had to be some
loophole or strategy that would work most efficiently. I am still interested in quikstar,
I want to explore it a little bit more before I either become an IBO or drop it all
together. The question I had for you is this: Is there a way to become successfull as an
IBO? DO you know anyone that has taken the business model and become a success?
-Peter
P.S.
I forgot to mention that after those meetings and listening to tapes I felt like quixstar
was the best thing that ever happened to me. And in the meetings they tell you that a key
to success is staying positive, not to listen to sources of negetivity because they just
discourage you and make it harder to become successful. I hate being brainwashed, and it
pissess me off. ALso, they claim to model their business off of walmart and Mcdonalds. I
personally hate walmart with a passion and Mcdonalds makes awful hamburgers and rips off
poor people. Why would I want to work for a business that is modelled off of those 2
companies?
Thanks
My
name is Casian and I’m a grad student in US.
Amway
has been an unknown subject to me until a month ago, when my mother enthusiastically
joined the business back home in