Amquix.info Feedback May-June 2007

Dear Scott,

I know that this company Quixtar is a Ponzi Scheme and a person will spend much more money then they could possibly make. Anyway I have this guy who keeps calling me and I would like to let him know that I am aware that this is all a scam but I would like to do it in such a way that he might also realize that he too is caught up in this scam. He spends so much on tapes and stuff and is so brainwashed. Do you think there is a way to help this poor guy any advise I can gove him. Let me know.

Thank you,

John

Dear Scott,

I was in Amway for three years, so I know everything everyone's talking about. After three years, I gave up. But I had tried it because I didn't want to go through life always wondering, "What if, what if, what if..."

At least I tried it, and I failed. Yes, I spent a lot of money on air and hotel fare for functions; tapes, materials, spent a lot of time dropping off ad packets, drawing circles, going to weekly meetings, getting my hopes up, etc. But it didn't work.

I'm single. My upline was not capable of telling people when to have kids, or listing what furniture to sell to be able to finance a function. There's always bad apples in any bunch. So many people are in Amway/Quixstar, that OF COURSE there will be bad apples. And because so many people are involved, why is it surprising that distributors get divorced? Divorce is highly prevalent anywhere.

There are people who have strained marriages and lots of stress as a result of going to medical school, doing their internship and residency. Talk about stress on the marriage, when a spouse goes back to medical school or decides to pursue a PhD or master's in business. But does this mean that the medical profession is a scam?

What about all the crooked people in the legal industry? Does this mean it's a joke when a person spends tens of thousands of dollars to go to law school? Amway does provide an oppty to get rich, or at least, break free from "the rut." Not everyone succeeds. Those are the ones who say it's a scam.

What about people who go to medical school and drop out? Is medicine a scam? What about people who, for years, try to climb the corporate latter, and after 20 years, have gotten no further than lead operator of some small department? Does this mean that the corporate life is a scam?

When a million people try something, of COURSE there's going to be a lot of failures. What about the people in Amway who succeed? They are no longer jackasses of their bosses. So what if Gulick divorced Terri. Plumbers, dentists, school teachers and doctors also get divorced. A business venture can't shake a marriage that already isn't rocky. If a marriage was rocky, Amway broke it up. If a marriage was strong, Amway made it stronger. A couple with a weak marriage could easily get involved in an entirely different business venture (construction business? own a restaurant? real estate ventures? run a resort?) and end up with the same problems.

I do believe that many of the elements of Amway are wrong. Too much emphasis on buying tapes and attending functions. Too much. But we can't deny the fact that this has worked for many people and has gotten them out of the rut. I used to work for a major newspaper. That place was more corrupt than any Amway upline. In fact, corporate life is far more corrupt than Amway, what with discrimination lawsuits, sexual harassment, corporate politics, back-stabbing, come on! And having to ask your boss for permission to stay home sick! This is the corporate life, the REAL scam ! You'd get only one week off to grieve the death of your own spouse! Then you'd have to return to work like nothing ever happened. At least those emeralds and diamonds can grieve for as long as they want over family tragedies and not have to put on a smiley face for some 8 - 5 rut only a week after their kid is killed by a drunk driver.

Sincerely,

Christyne

im sort od confused this is suposed to be a quixtar/amway analysis site but it just seems to bash there isnt one upside just negative opinion so why dont you just call it a bloging site how come you dont do studies oin colleges where you can spend a 100,000 dollars to work at mcdonalds when you get ouy but thats perfectly ok
please enlighten me a little

I noticed that you havent added any community feedback since may of last yr. I'm sure you must have more info to throw out there.

Here's a PDF on Angelo's site.

Call me crazy, but I don't remember reading anything in it about getting customers....
http://www.nardoneassoc.net/mktg/files/real-300pv.pdf

Of course here's this one that was underneath the one above
http://www.nardoneassoc.net/mktg/files/300pv.pdf

I find it funny that these "on the cutting edge" clowns have documents that are over 5 yrs old on their website.

Hope all is well Scott.

Cheers.

John

Bellecera is featured in this months success at home (I think that's the title) magazine for monavie.

Former globalnet emerald Brent Gove is now a realestat broker in Sacramento for remax. He was in the Bellercera line which dissolved
very quickly.

Fred

Alticor Inc., parent company of Quixtar Inc., has announced major business transformation plans. Alticor Inc. has confirmed the transformation with various media including the Associated Press (AP). According to the AP story, “Direct-sales giant Alticor Inc. will phase out its Quixtar Inc. label during the next 1 1/2 to two years and rebuild its Amway Corp. brand in the United States and Canada.” The story cites a memo from company Chairman Steve Van Andel and President Doug DeVos distributed to U.S. employees last week, which explained: “The realities of a crowded and competitive global marketplace have made us realize that we need to 'fly one flag' to put significant resources behind establishing one opportunity brand wherever we do business. That brand will be Amway, in North America and all over the world."

The timing of this business transformation is projected to take place within the next 18-24 months.

Your Board Shares Your Surprise

You should know this news came as a shock to us, too, in the form of a surprise announcement at a Founders Council meeting a few days ago. We were not consulted ahead of time and were not part of the decision. We are sorting through the details and trying to figure out how this affects all of our businesses.

Please rest assured that the IBOAI remains an active advocate for all IBOs. We work tirelessly and proactively to maximize your opportunities for success. We will continue to protect and promote your interests and will remain in close contact with you as more details of the transition become available.

We encourage you to send us your comments!

We understand the confusion this may cause and are in discussions with the Corporation over the transformation. We encourage you to send us your thoughts and concerns via e-mail at pr@iboai.com.

Thank you for your most informative and well written accounts of Amway and Quixtar. My wife is interested in "the business". Being in industrial electronics sales for 7 years I viewed the "plan" with skeptical view. Thanks to you I have more information to discuss this with my wife.

Best Regards,

Michael

Scott,

I assure you, the plan works as presented. That's all I'll say about that. However, your only argument can't be just about the money, can it?

I'm sure that you have your reasons for quitting. But if you ask anyone that has stuck it out, paid the price (bowing out of softball leagues, missing a little league game occasionally, etc.), and submitted to their upline, they'll all tell you the same thing.

"If it were ONLY about the money, this business wouldn't be worth it. Period!"

It's the intangibles - higher purpose, unification of a greater team, higher personal and Spiritual standards, etc. - that sustains a person's fervor.

Please keep in mind that I can't speak for all teams using Quixtar as a vehicle, but I can speak for LTD.

Scott, I don't know your situation. It sounds as though you have some angst and disappointment with your experience. It's probably more likely that your issues are more with your sponsor and immediate upline than with Quixtar as a whole. Quixtar/Amway's business model has been duplicated time and time again (Bo Short copied it, Kenny Troutt copied it, Gary Trudeau used it as a model). And in every case, it's changed a little bit to avoid legal hassles. But also in every case, it's not nearly as effective. Go ahead, crunch the numbers.

I assure you that our team operates at a higher standard than any other team. That's why we're the fastest growing team using Quixtar to date. Two out of the top five most profitable Diamonds come from our team. Two more are from the upline of our team's founder.

In essence, I'm sorry for your unfortunate experience. I wish you'd have come on board with me or my mentor. I know that your experience would have been different. I still don't agree that you should direct a forum to curry favor from other folks that probably have little or no commitment to anything, let alone Quixtar.

No one ever erects a statue of a critic. History is never recorded due to what a critic has to say. I suspect that you are a far better person than those you are trying to get to rally around you. An impact cannot be made by someone whose comfortable among the average. Stand for something constructive; present solutions for all these people.

The finger pointing will only keep people focused on the fact that they didn't succeed, not on trying to get back up.

I hope you understand, I can't divulge my personal successes; save for the fact that I am an infinitely better man than I was before I got into the business.

Sincerely,

Paul Rezac

500 Eas t Pra t t St ree t Ba lt imore , MD 21202-3133 Phone : (410) 332-8600 Fax: (410) 332-8862

I am writing on behalf of my clients, Margaret Ross and The Kamaron Institute (collectively, Ms. Ross), who undertake exhaustive measures to protect their intellectual property, including their exclusive right to use their service marks and textual material. Among the measures they have taken, Ms. Ross has registered the copyright of all content contained at the Internet web site <<www.kamaron.org>> with the United States Copyright Office. See U.S. Copyright Reg. No. TXu-6-253-621.

We understand that you are the registered owner of the following domain name <<www.amquix.info.>> You may recall that in April 2006, I wrote to you regarding certain materials that had been copied from Ms. Ross's copyrighted Internet web site, including content, layout, color and size, as your own on your website, www.amquix.info. I have attached a copy of my April 27, 2006 for your review.

Within days of my April 2006 letter to you, Ms. Rossís copyrighted materials were promptly removed from your website at www.amquix.info. However, within the last several days, Ms. Ross has learned that you have once again placed certain of her copyrighted materials on your website. See http://www.amquix.info/humor/ross_casey/ross_casey.html. Again, as you neither asked for nor received permission to use any textual material contained at www.kamaron.org, you have willfully infringed on Ms. Rossís rights under 17 U.S.C. ß 101 et seq.

...even after a follow up letter to Mr. St. John, still no response......another baseless threat from a lawyer.

Scott,

You may want to start a "Who Moved Their Cheese" website for Mannatech.

Did you see the recent ABC 20/20 news broadcast?

http://www.20-20.the-wellness-channel.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX7SpEsD3Cs
http://www.rickross.com/reference/mannatech/mannatech4.pdf

Paul
p.s. type "who moved their cheese" in at google, for the complete list (if you didn't know).

Most people will not make any money. I do not like it because relationships are strained due it. When people try to recruit their friends and family it can cause a lot of problems. In some MLMs some people manage to make some money.

I think MLMs are the penny stocks of business opportunities. Most will lose their money and the penny stock is designed to make the issuer rich.

Hey Scott,

Thanks so much for your hardwork into the site, it saved me a lot of time.

An IBO phoned me up telling me he was a business associate of my friend and had his own ecommerce company that worked with microsoft that he was planning to expand. I am 20 year old student based in Canada looking for a part time job and this sounded to good to be true so I attended one of their meetings to find myself in an infomercial with 40mins of the hour spent discussing how we would live our lives if we retired. I knew of the guy who called me and he had a good rep so I decided to meet with him anyway and he proposed the 6-4-2 plan and since then I have spent time researching when I came across your site.

My question for you is that will all its cons, do you think there is anything to gain from joining up? not my upline or his upline or ever furhter up may not be making money but a select few are getting very rich, is there a potential to tap into that income? also is there anything to gain business experience wise? If I keep mind all that you have said, and precede with caution could this be benefical? or am I setting myself up like everyone before me?

Perhaps I could be your test subject and see if there is way around the scams to make money? Please advise.

Thanks,

Wes

Scott,

Thank you for your informative website. I thought it funny that in the emails you posted, the ones that are from those claiming to be raking it in, resort to personal attacks rather than hard evidence that contradicts what your saying.

My sister in-law Loreanne, her husband Jesse, my brother in-law, Billy, my sister in-law Andrea, and her girlfriend, Dez are all in the BWW system. They are all smart, creative people.

I've seen the plan twice, once after Billy convinced me to check it out, and again when my wife was asking about it. Both times an upline named Yogesh showed the plan.

I noticed something fishy right away but I found it hard to articulate the questions I had sitting through an hour of "the plan". I also felt that if I asked "hard " questions I might embarrass Billy or Loreanne and Jesse (present fot the 2nd meeting). I didn't want to be interpreted as hostile towards the "legitimate businessman" who took the time to drive 3 hours to where we live to show us a way to "financial freedom".

After the 2nd meeting I did research and found your site and others that went along way toward explaining things for me. I also downloaded "Merchants of Deception". Then I had a knee-jerk reaction. I emailed the .pdf of the book to Jesse and Loreanne and told them I didn't want Quixtar anywhere near me or my wife. Billy lives nearby and at the time was leaving Quixtar materials and Amway product around my house. I boxed it up and told Him I didn't want to see these
things in my house-ever.

I believe they now see me as irrational. In fact they may be in the right if they do, because I wish I had taken the time to talk about it with them calmly. Hopefully, an opportunity will present itself.

Here is what did not like when I was being shown the business:

1. When Yogesh was asked "Isn't this Amway?" He said that it wasn't and that Quixtar was completely new and seperate from Amway. This may not be an outright lie but it is a deliberate misrepresentation of truth.

2. When I said that I didn't want to be a retail salesman, Yogesh said that I wouldn't have to be. All I had to do was buy the products for my home and convince others to do the same. I now understand that this is a pyramid scheme.

3. Towards the end of the 2nd time I saw the plan Yogesh told me that we should think about what he had said and not do independent research especially online. I consider myself to be smart enough to evaluate the things I read online and if the business is legitimate what would they have to hide (quite a bit it turns out).

4. Before the 2nd showing was over we were told of a seminar in LA or San Diego that we should not miss as it was going to be "the event of the year". This weekend would only cost us $200 as a couple. We hadn't even bought the start-up kit yet.

Between these two showings of the plan I accompanied Billy to Sacramento for an open meeting. He kept talking about how great this speaker was going to be. As great as he might have been, his name escapes me now.

Here is what I hated about that experience:

1. The speaker said that as an IBO you had to drop the "broke losers" from your life. This included friends and family who might have a negative opinion of Quixtar. When I asked Billy about this afterwards he just laughed it off.

2. The speaker gave very little information about the business. This was all motivation and no eduaction.

3. The speaker used slick one-liners to motivate the crowd.

4. The speaker preyed on rational human emations and twisted them into fear. Fear of never achieving, fear of feeling stupid...etc.

I had meant to keep this short as you probably get a lot of these things daily. Even if you nevver read this it was nice to get thisstuff off my chest.

thanks and keep up the good work.

Neil

In case you didn't save Jim Dornan's first letter dated 5th May, here it is, reposted on ibofightback's site and removed again.

-- Neeraj

--------------------------------------
Dear Leaders,

I am writing to you today in response to a recent communication between the Company and the IBO leadership. This development has arisen from a filing by the DTI (Dept of Trade and Industry) in the UK against Amway. Because of relationship with Amway the DTI has also included Network 21, and other support systems in the UK in their "complaint". We have been fully aware of the situation for some months. We have been in full dialog and discussion with the company throughout the past few days, and we are understanding of their strategy and their need for strong actions to remedy the problem that has been highlighted by this government agency.

I am sure this will indeed be a time of trial for our UK friends, as well as you who have businesses in the UK, but much like with China, I am also sure we will discover how resilient they are, and be proud of the commitment and trust they will show in moving through this period of uncertainly.

I can assure you that although this action by the UK regulatory body is based on what we believe to be distortions, half truths and largely isolated incidents, and although I know The Company, N21 and others will defend it vigorously, we also recognize the power of such agencies…. and therefore the seriousness of this issue. The company in UK must take strong action at this point, and we are preparing to support this effort to reposition our UK business and the training aspects in a way that allows for healthy long term growth and stability.

We believe, based on conversations with the company, and also based on the accusations in the documents that our N21 leaders, as well as our tools and meetings, are among the most responsible presented. We have an excellent reputation regarding the responsible conduct of our affairs. We feel we can work with the company there to have our materials vetted and approved (those that are not already), and we can as always submit to any content review of our seminar programs.

We know this may lead to a further tightening of the approval process in Europe in order to assure that no IBO misrepresents the company or product without consequences, but this could very well be "good" for those like N21 who already endeavor to be responsible. A "housecleaning" of irresponsible IBO's and systems could be a good thing for all.

We will be deeply involved at all levels in the follow up discussions on how this will play out in the UK and then obviously continue to dialog on what actions if any are needed elsewhere. No need to worry, as we have survived such things many times in our history. Many people attack our business for many reasons; jealousy, ignorance, prejudice, competitive advantage, etc. We all know that when properly done and taught…this is still the best place in the world to make a positive difference in other's lives. Let's keep doing just that.

We are currently undergoing a similar discussion in the US regarding a better way to form "business relations" between the support/training systems that we all value and the company, so that we can protect the brand for all of us. Jeff Neuber has been on a special task force set up by Doug and Steve and the Founders Council here to address ideas to improve the way we all deal with the reality of systems and their value, while addressing the concerns of the market. It has been a healthy and open discussion.

I am sure that some will see this as a new "threat" to our right to operate separate training and support operations globally, and our existence as "independent" entrepreneurs". I choose to see it as a path to a better future where we can operate openly and effectively while partnering with the company to assure responsible behavior. We have always done just that.

I ask you all to pray as always for wisdom and God's protection as we seek solutions to this current issue in the UK…. and then to find appropriate ways to address the issue globally. Keep dreaming and building because we still know what we have is something others need and want. No change in that fact. We will keep you in the loop on this as we learn more.

Jim Dornan

Mr. Larsen -

I have a close friend who has recently joined the Quixtar scam. I'm pretty upset about it. He tried very diligently to get me and several of our close friends involved. Since hearing the pitch, I haven't been able to stop thinking about this thing. It is by far the most insidious pile of crap I have ever heard. It seems to work like a parasitic cancer through friends, families, and workplaces. The emotions this thing brings forth have been devastating. At first, I was completely and utterly offended that one of my good friends had the gall to introduce something like this into our circle of friends. I didn't want to talk to him about it ever again and I wished he'd never brought it up. Upon closer research of how these organizations prey on people during low moments in their lives, I now feel horribly for my friend and his family. What went so wrong in their lives that this looked like a good idea? I really feel like I've been a bad friend - not being there when he needed me. They want so much to believe in this thing that they are completely unable to see the obvious shortcomings in it. I am concerned for their future. It is horrible to watch otherwise
smart people get caught-up in this get-rich-quick scheme.

Unfortunately, my efforts to convince him to get out of this before he gets too much time and money invested have been to no avail. It has put enormous strain on our friendship and sadly, the more I try to get him out, the more I seem to fulfill their own prophecies - "those people don't want you to be rich and they're not your true friends" type of hype, which of course, couldn't be further from the truth. People like their diamonds and the rest of the cronies aren't selling business ideas or even energy drinks - they are selling false hopes to good people. Their actions are certainly immoral and ought to be found criminal. I'd like to call a meeting with all my friend's uplines - all the way up to the LOA leaders- I'd like to tell them, like a friend would tell an addicted friend's
drug-dealer, to never bring this crap into my friend's home again. If they did, they'd have to answer to me.

Anyway, I am writing you to say thank you so very much for your website and its information. I know that what you are doing is not easy, and I want to congratulate your perseverance. What you are doing is necessary and is, without a doubt, the right thing to do. Keep up the good work and keep the
fight alive.

Take care,

-Jason

Hi Scott

I have just come across your website, and have found it most interesting!

As you probably know, all IBO's in the UK have been sent an email from Amway UK telling them not to sponsor, not to hold meetings, not to sell tapes, etc. etc. whilst the Department of Trade and Industry makes an investigation.

The DTI have asked anyone who has lost money to contact them and tell them the story.

If any UK people read this, this is the email address to send your complaint:

cliff.callaghan@dti.gsi.gov.uk

This is our story - a very edited version, but your readers might be interested:

My husband and I lost at least £30,000 in Amway, (not including the enormous sums we spent on the expensive Amway products, which I would hate to calculate). If we had stacked the proverbial shelves in Tesco's during that time, we would have been far, far better off!

We became distributors in 1991 and were 'active' until 1999, achieving a 'pin level' of Sapphire, which was immediately below Emerald. I don't think Sapphire exists any longer, but in the whole of the organisation to which we belonged, only two other couples achieved that level out of thousands of people. We had one Ruby, 4 qualified Directs and about 10 Silvers in our personal group.

We were originally told we did not have to sell the products, but simply consume them ourselves, and introduce, 'sponsor', others who would do the same (though some years later, this changed and a little retailing was advised).

We also were repeatedly taught that to be successful we had to be 'in the system' - in other words, be on Tape of the Week (£4 ea), Book of the Month (anything from £3.99 to £12.99) and attend all functions put on by our 'upline Diamonds'.

The functions, which were often run in conjunction with another Diamond group, were usually over a weekend and at a big venue, e.g. Leicester, London, Harrogate, etc. The cost of these was around £75 per ticket plus the cost of a hotel, petrol, etc. Once we qualified as 'Directs', now called 'Platinum' we were expected to help at these functions, and very often were unable to see any of the speakers.

It would have been absolutely unthinkable to miss one of these. In fact, one of the tapes said 'You only miss a function because of a death..... yours'

In addition to the 'functions', there were monthly meetings on a Saturday. Again, Directs had to pay full price for tickets (around £10 ea) and do an awful lot of work behind the scenes.

As 'Directs' we were expected to buy a stock of tapes and books to furnish a 'tools table' at the 'Getting Started' meetings we held all over the country. We had to fund these meetings - pay for the hotel room and travelling expenses, and the attendees paid £3 each. Sometimes we took enough to cover the cost of the room hire, but very rarely. Often we would be £50 or £60 out of pocket on a single night on room hire alone. We ran several of these meetings per month in different parts of the country. We paid full price for the tapes and books, but then had a very tiny 'tools bonus' at the end of each month, according to the quantity of tools which had passed through our hands. Usually this worked out at £20 - £30.

There were also events specifically for the women - to do with dress sense, make-up, etc. The ticket cost for these weekends was over £300, and Directs were expected to go to every one. (In fact, I attended only one, as I simply could not afford to go to the others, and I remember being hauled over the coals for not going). I think there were about 4 of these meetings in all.

All this time, as Directs, and later Sapphires, we were earning a few hundred pounds a month from our Amway bonus - occasionally over a thousand, but every penny of it and more was sucked out of us to buy more tools, attend more functions, run meetings, etc., etc.

In addition to helping with the official meetings, we also worked our socks off with our own group - holding meetings for them, encouraging them to 'sponsor', teaching, counselling and advising - all the things we as 'Leaders' were expected to do. The mileage on our cars was terrific, 40,000 a year was the norm, but we had our people to 'look after', and they lived in Scotland, Cornwall, Kent - even France! We also had businesses in South Africa, the Philippines, Norway, Germany, Holland.

The tapes continually exhorted us to 'go the extra mile' and 'if you don't quit you'll make it' (go Diamond that is!)

The visiting American Diamonds who came to speak to us encouraged the whole meeting to pay £25 each to register for a trip to Hawaii. Every year just 12 or 15 people would qualify out of the perhaps one or two thousand people who had registered.

We went to America several times to attend Yager functions - and although we were encouraged to go, on these occasions, no pressure was put upon us to do so.

We qualified for many foreign trips: Hawaii, Florida, Bahamas, Turkey, etc., but some of these ended up costing us a lot of money too. The Amway company functions were free, but the Diamond-organised trips were expensive. We had to buy our own food and even pay for a special meal for our own Diamonds!! They were also very miserable affairs, because we seemed to spend most of our time being told off for not 'staying around the Diamonds' or not being there to look after our own Diamonds every second of the day - not to mention feeling thoroughly frustrated because everyone else seemed to be more successful than us!

When we went to see our Diamonds in 1999 to tell them we were no longer going to be 'active in the business' we told them that we believed that no-one in the whole of their organisation was making any money except them. They did not deny it. We told them that our group thought we were making money, and were thus encouraged to 'keep going'. We said we were not prepared to mislead them any longer.

The guilt we felt towards our group was enormous, and lingers still. We felt that we had completely misled them, and as a result many of them had lost money, lost job opportunities, missed out on family life, lost friends, etc. - some of them sleeping in their cars at weekend functions, and selling TV sets, etc. to pay for the tickets. I know this sounds unbelievable, but it really did happen.

We missed out on 8 years of precious time with our three sons - always putting 'the business' first because we really believed it was the route to 'financial freedom' and we would all benefit in the end. We chose to 'do Amway' full time after a few years, thus missing out on many other more lucrative employment opportunities. We also had absolutely no spare money and were drawing on all our reserves just to keep going, all the time believing that we were getting nearer and nearer to our goal.

One day my husband stopped listening to the tapes, and suddenly he realised that we had been brainwashed. (As a 'Leader' you were expected to listen to at least one tape a day - usually several). The 'system' is extremely clever, and there were many more intellectual people than us who were drawn into its clutches!

It is no exaggeration to say that when we stopped building the business, the effect was devastating. Firstly, the huge guilt of letting others down, and in a strange way, that included our Diamonds who had become friends. Secondly the crushing debt we were in. It took us eight years to get out of debt, and even now, we do not have the private pension schemes, etc. that 'normal' people have.

There are still many people who will support Amway and the 'system', but those are people who treated it as a bit of a hobby or a club. They enjoyed seeing lots of people at the meetings; they found some of the books helpful and some of the tapes amusing - but they never really believed they could 'Go Diamond' or even 'Direct' - and if they missed a meeting or two, or didn't bother with Tape of the Week for a while, it didn't really matter because everyone knew they weren't 'serious'.

But for those of us who flung ourselves into it, believing it to be an incredible opportunity, and that if we just worked hard enough we would 'make it', it was a serious fraud and very damaging. We were taught to 'do whatever it takes', and that is the attitude we adopted for the whole of the eight-and-a-half years we were active.

Our Diamonds were as innocent as us at the beginning, but, we believe, found themselves in something from which they could not easily extract themselves. In fact, it has probably become something of a nightmare to them now. However, the bottom line is this: they made an awful lot of money; we lost a lot!

I fervently hope that the DTI will be successful in ending this massive corruption and fraud, and thus save others from the fate we and countless others have suffered.

Best wishes

Angela

You are providing a wonderful service for anyone who is truly interested in analyzing Amway as a potential business opportunity.

I only wish your site had been available in 1980 when my boss invited my husband and me to his house for dinner. (Of course, I didn't know at the time that Amway was the real reason for the dinner invitation.)

My husband and I were young newlyweds. Both of us worked as artists in a publishing company. Neither of us came from families with wealth. In fact, we were paying off school debts and had paid for our own wedding.

I was only 24 years old at the time, and it was flattering to be approached by the head of my department at work--to be singled out, as it were--and asked to come to his house! Naturally, I was excited, thinking he might have noticed how ambitious and hard-working I was. I remember feeling disappointed afterwards that he really was looking to recruit us into Amway.

After dinner, we received the presentation. We'd never even heard of Amway. My boss and his wife were very gracious, lovely people. Of course, I couldn't say, "No" to him; he was my boss, for heaven's sake. (It may sound ridiculous that I couldn't say "No", but I was naive and I honestly didn't want him to be disappointed. He was also a formidable personality.) The presentation was truly remarkable. The plan looked simple enough. "Yes, we could do this," my husband and I thought.

Our story isn't unusual, based upon what I've read of many other distributors. We went into Amway with total and complete commitment. We bought the products, including nutritional supplements. We went to meetings and seminars. We even attended a huge convention/rally in Kansas City, during which we were actually invited up on stage!

We bought tapes and books. We listened to tapes constantly; on the way to and from work, lying in bed at night, while cooking dinner, while eating, while bathing. We traveled 300 miles in order to give presentations. We lived and breathed the Amway philosophy.

In short, we bought things we couldn't afford to buy, and we spent an inordinate amount of time focusing on Amway. Ironically, we never cared about getting rich or living the life of an Emerald or Diamond. We never really were motivated by the Amway dream of owning a huge home, a luxury car, becoming millionaires, etc. We were motivated more by the idea of having some financial freedom so that we could start a family, buy a home, maybe start a small business someday.

I was never comfortable with Amway's message. I was never comfortable deceiving people (lying to new contacts, for example). I was never comfortable trying to hype myself up by living the "fake it 'til you make it" life. I was never comfortable buying their high-priced products every month. After two years, we simply got out.

Yes, we are the typical "Amway losers." I suppose that's what Amway devotees would call us. But I suppose in this case, being a "loser" really translatesinto being a winner. I'm just grateful we got out when we did, or we would have lost even more--more money, more time, more energy, more self-respect.

I recently did some research about TV evangelists who are constantly asking for money, and I saw a tactic they use which is also employed by Amway. They both blame the victim when the desired promise/result doesn't appear. For example, evangelists make outrageous claims, such as, "If you send in this $58, God promises He will return it tenfold." Then, if your tenfold never appears, they simply say, "Well, you didn't have enough faith." This absolves them of any responsibility for their egregious behavior.

Likewise, Amway builds up the hopes of new distributors with outrageous claims (many debunked in your website), but when the Amway dream is never achieved, they are told, "Well, you didn't work it hard enough."

This is the cruelest cut of all. Because distributors never know how many in their upline are "faking it til they make it," they have no realistic basis upon which to compare their own efforts. They may be working HARDER than people in their upline. They may be spending more money, putting in more hours, listening to more tapes. But alas, how will they ever know? They can't evaluate themselves in a realistic fashion, so they are left feeling guilty, asking themselves, "What am I doing wrong??" We went through this cycle ourselves, feeling guilty and ashamed for not getting better results for our efforts.

The truth is that they aren't doing anything wrong. What is wrong is the system itself.

My hope is that people will look at your site with an open mind.

Thank you.