Thursday, July 15, 2010

Amway - Amway & IBO Accountability?

Over on the Amway Talk forum, the raging debate is how some of the former TEAM members who became Quixtar/Amway critics are being unmasked and how accountable they should be held for statements that may have been false or misleading and possibly damaging to the Amway opportunity/Amway corporation. I agree with this to the extent that the statements were made as facts which were not true and not as opinions or valid experiences. The Amway supporters are decrying these former TEAM critics and claiming they should be held liable for possible loss of business or income that might have been attributable to these possibly false or misleading statements.

And as I said, I generally agree. But I also have another viewpoint on this subject. When has Amway or Amway LOS leaders ever been made fiscally accountable for people who may have suffered financial losses or in some cases, financial ruin as a result of misleading or false statements made that are positive about the Amway opportunity? I'm sure some people, if they were fully informed that some leaders might make up to 90% of their income from the sale of voicemail, books, functions and standing orders, would think twice if that leader is telling you to second mortgage your home or skip a mortgage payment because you "need" to be at the next function. Or if that leader suggests your family skip a meal so you can buy another cd. Who has ever been held accountable for this?

There are certain blatantly false statements made by Amway representatives such as lifelong residual income, willable to heirs, used as a means to entice people to join. I've also heard that the Amway opportunity is a franchise when it is not. I've seen many IBOs lie about their level of income earned thru the Amway opportunity, I suppose as a means to entice prospects to join. Even the profiles of success booklet that the LOSs produce are misleading at times as the alleged wealth depicted may or may not have been a result of income attained thru the Amway opportunity. We even have some supporters making false claims to promote various products such as the perfect water fiasco, or an Amway supporter claimg just last month that Asafa Powell (sponsored by Amway/Nutrilte) was the current world record holder in the 100 meter race, which is completely false. The record holder for the last several years has been Usain Bolt from Jamaica.

Yes, I agree that false and misleading statements against Amway are not right. But one could ask what Amway has done to the possibly millions of people who were enticed to join Amway or purchase Amway goods because of false and misleading statements made by Amway representatives and AMO leaders? I believe that Amway simply pushes the responsibility away by saying they cannot control what their "independent representatives" say and do. But if you cannot control and monitor your sales force, independent or not, then aren't some of these folks "out of control"? If it's out of control, maybe "someone" has to reign control back in?

Maybe it's time for the FTC to review this opportunity again. 1979 was a long time ago and as Amway supporters say, times have changed. (But maybe not for the better?)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The sponsorship of Asafa Powell with nutrilite was terminated right after last Olympics where he did not win any medal. There was communication from Amway specifically stating that Asafa Powell’s name should not be used for promoting the Amway opportunity.
Oh I forgot rules in Amway are just for namesake and when was the last time IBOs followed rules. People from corporation would be there at some portions of functions and right after they leave big pins like Diamond would say “Now we can really talk.”

Kevin said...

It's IBOFightback himself who made up that claim recently:

http://www.businessian.com/are-there-ac ... 42041.html

ibofightback on July 8th, 2010 at 1:18 am

But if you look at companies like the granddaddy of MLMs, Amway/Quixtar, it has products like Nutrilite that have the backing of folk like Asafa Powell – world 100m sprint record holder. And they didn’t approach him – his brother got him on the products! Nutrilite is now the biggest nutritional brand in the world – and you can only get it from Quixtar in North America.

**Very misleading. Asafa Powell is not the 100m sprint world record holder.

Amthrax said...

Kingpin distributors have an awful lot more to be accountable for than us critics. Many of them have been at it for 20-30 years?

Anonymous said...

I heard claims about Peter Island trips being exclusive and costing 10,000$ a night. This is extremely exaggerated. Luxury Link is auctioning a 7-night package with many amenities in the ocean view room for a grand total of 4500$ for the entire stay (http://www.luxurylink.com/luxury-hotels/peter-island-resort-and-spa?clid=563).

Anonymous said...

I heard of http://www.peterisland.com
and because I don't take for granted what a critic says I decided to check it out. Here's what I found.
2010 Nightly Room & Suite Rates up to $2095/night
2010 Nightly Villa Rates up to $23,500/night
Is it worth it? Absolutely! Are $10,000/night conservative? Definitely! Do you have $4500 for 7 nights? Awesome! But always check with the official source first!

Joecool said...

Who cares?

Anonymous said...

I don't think you understand how hotel industry works. What you see on the Peter Island website are rack rates. But, often hotels that have a large supply (vacant rooms) will offer enormous discounts to fill them up through auction sites.

Luxury Link is a very reputable website (its not a critic's creation - there is a whole world outside the business and its critics - so don't claim that by checking the official source, the other source is invalid).

Peter Island Resort is offering a 7 day package for a grand total of 4000$ through luxury link (my link is as valid as you checking Peter Island website). So, if you are a sucker, you can still pay the rack rates.

My point is that if I am not in the business, I can still afford the vacation. I know the vacation is worth it - I just don't think that the only people who can afford it are the "successful" diamonds in the business.

In the business, the diamonds made a big deal about how "job" people could not afford such an exclusive vacation. Not True at all !!

Marcus Stronach said...

Joecool you have a bit too big of a mouth for a man who claims to be an expert on Amway yet proves quite the opposite by his own actions. Be careful.

Joecool said...

Hi Marcus, I have NEVER EVER claimed to be some kind of expert on Amway. I do know that most IBOs lose money so I share my personal experience and opinions so other prospects don't fall into the same trap that I did. Afterall, many upline leaders apparently lie to downline so they can sell them voicemail standing orders and functions.

Anonymous said...

Amway isnt real, you waste so much and get back 3% of what u made, for example if u buy $200 worth of stuff you get back $12, my friend was so happy to get 12 back oh big deal he just lost 188, its a scam dont listen to all the good reviews about it

Anonymous said...

marcus, you're full of crap and a perfect example of why amway is the joke that it is.