Thursday, November 10, 2011

Dear Amway:

This is an open letter basically explaining Joecool's position and why in my opinion, criticism of Amway doesn't stop.

Dear Amway,

Why does criticism of Amway continue Ad Nauseum? Because you have not taken any apparent visible action(s) against higher level IBOs who make their living by ripping off unsuspecting prospects and faithful downline by feeding them lines about how easy it is to build an Amway business and how they can ditch their jobs and live on easy street. I saw it and there are countless testimonies and experiences posted on the internet.

When I was an IBO in WWDB, we were fed outright lies by upline. Nobody made any money from tools being the biggest. Downline were taught how long they could string out their mortgages or electric bills so they can attend functions and buy more tools. Yes, IBOs have culpability as well, but the culture of these groups is one of trust and loyalty to the diamonds. Amway's owner, Mr. DeVos acknowledged this in his 1983 speech "directly speaking". But despite the speech, no apparent visible action was taken, thus status quo continued. Even the accreditation system which seemed nice on the surface appears to be a farce. I believe that possibly millions of people over the years have been adversely affected financially because of some of these Amway IBO leaders.

Many of the same leaders who lied to benefit themselves are still at it. A fellow blogger named "Rocket" recently reported a possible violation where crown ambassador and IBOAI member, Brad Duncan is caught on tape claiming that IBOs can make "hundreds of thousands of dollars" a month in Amway. Your response was to make non sensical remarks and then eventually no response when pressed for one. I also reported a WWDB IBO who was making disparaging and false statements about some competitor's products while making misleading positive statements about Amway products. Your response was no response and my comment wasn't even published on your "Amway Answers" blog. Ironically, one of the topics on that blog was about how Amway doesn't turn a blind eye to problems. Yeah, you can say it but your actions show something else.

Maybe someone can explain why actions in other countries indicate that the folks who sell Amway tools are scammers. For some reason, the regulatory agencies in the US have not taken notice of the tools business. The Dateline segment in 2004 exposed the tools and systems. It became a big debate on the internet with critics and proponents. While Amway can claim innocence because the unethical actions were taken by IBOs, or "independent" business owners, I still believe that Amway has a responsibility to reign is some of the sales force that represents them.

Food for thought: Joe Paterno was an assistant and head coach, an icon at Penn State University for more than 60 years. He was fired yesterday because he had knowledge of child abuse occuring at the program under his watch. While he was not personally guilty of this, and did many good things for Penn State and the community, still his inactions may have caused harm to befall innocent children. Ultimately, he had the ability and power to stop the wrongdoing but did not. It is a sad ending for a man who many consider a legend. I wish him well.

Amway can reign in the tool abuse and take control of some of the bad leaders, but apparently has not and will not. The fight goes on.....

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

And who are you joecool? Who made you in charge of this crusade? Who said you have to fight with Amway? If Amway was illegal, the authorities would shut them down. Why do you continue to bash this business? You need to go sit in a corner, have a good cry and get over it.

Joecool said...

Who's bashing? I am stating where I think Amway is deficient. Why they don't do anything about curbing abuse is a mystery to me.

Anonymous said...

anon, you need to crawl into a hole and just die. or i could force you into one myself and set you on fire! =D

asswipe.

**proud Amway hater**

ConnieF said...

Anon: Who is Joecool? A guy who, like many of us, experienced Scamway 1st hand. Now he tries to educate the unsuspecting as to what a lousy 'opportunity' it really is. Who made him in charge of this crusade? His conscience and willingness to post what many know-from personal experience-to be the truth: Amway is a blatant scam!

You say if Amway was illegal, it would be shut down. How stupid are you anyway, to make such an ignorant remark? Madoff operated for years before he was finally shut down. The clock is ticking for Amway.

Anonymous said...

Joecool is an idiot. By his own admission he quit because he thinks Amway promised him easy money and easy freedom and didn't get any of that. So, it must be a SCAM!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey It's Jose, an Amway IBO from NY. I used to disagree with JoeCool but I now have come to the conclusion that the Amway business itself is great, but the lack of transparency and the fact I caught my upline Emerald lying to me countless times, especially when it comes to my downline allegedly going to meeting and my upline telling me this, only to call my downline directly to find out that was never the case. On top of that, my upline wanted me to bring people as well, thus more $6 to pay and more money for him to make.
I have decided I want to be one of the few Amway IBO's that REFUSE to promote the tools. I tried the CD's, books, and meetings, and have given my downline my opinion, which is to not even bother going to any of them.
I haven't learned anything from BWW at all, other than what a bunch of B$ the "training" is. It's nothing like the famous fast food corporation Amway is compared to when it comes to training. That fast food company actually teachs people how to run the franchise with concrete, practical teachings. BWW doesn't teach, it motivates people but passes this off as a support and training system. Quite honestly, I feel if you need motivation to run your own reseller business, you shouldn't be in business.
Sure I spent more money than I wanted to in tools, but it was really paid for by my customer sales. Yes it ate a small portion of my profit, but at least I didn't pay for it out of my own pocket.
The good thing about me going to these B$ training is this: As the leader I want to be, honest, transparent, reliable, truthful, I have told my downline the one thing I have been told not to do: Pass negativity (or what they perceive as negativity) to my downline. I have told them to learn the product, use what you actually need to use, and most importantly sell products to make the 100 PV, and the money will come. I told them the point is to make money and, since I went through the crap from my upline, I want them all to know my experiences, and let them make their own decisions. At least I can hold my head up high knowing I am doing things the right, ethical way, which is to just be truthful with what my experiences were and tell them what to do and what to avoid. Unfortunately, it seems I tell them to learn the Amway side and disregard the BWW side. It's worthless.

Anonymous said...

There is no free lunch people. If that's what your upline told you, he is just doing his "dishonest marketing" to get you interested. However it is not an easy way to get rich but it is definitely a possible opportunity in Amway. Amway is a highly respected company. I have known this company for about 30 years now. My uncle started this business 32 years ago and he introduced it to his siblings after that. I have seen too many success stories and even more unsuccessful stories. Reasons being? As usual, there are not many successful people in this world.
Amway has a very good marketing plan and what you need to do is to learn, follow and do it and teach and work with your downlines. If you think you can be successful overnight through Amway, Amway is definitely not for you. Please talk to the "real" Amway people as many other business, there out many "bad" people out there trying to twist the truth for their own benefits.

My uncle and auntie worked their butts off in 1979 for 3 years... literally working 7/24 to learn, to expand their network, to grow the business. They achieved diamond in 1981 and after that their life changed. My uncle was a teacher. He resigned after 3 years when he became diamond. They continue working to more expand further their business although they already had a stable income. They went for overseas holiday 3 times a year FREE with pocket money - flying with business class. My auntie was diagnosed breast cancer in 1999. They stopped all the work and to treat the cancer. Their income never failed to to go in to their account (this is what they are talking about financial freedom when you have a stable network). My auntie unfortunately passed away 3 years after. However the income still never failed to come in as the business is still operating without active involving in the business.

This is a very fair business. You get reward of what you have worked for. No, I am not in this business as this is not my cup of tea (at the moment, as I am not prepared to work my butt off yet).
The easy part of Amway is you fon't have to worry about the products, the quality, the marketing plan, etc. You just have to learn, follow and work it hard 100%. The difficult part of Amway business is about managing people, maintaining good relationship with your upline, downline, sidelines, your prospects, your personality. You are your own boss. So time management is very important.

If you are not successful in Amway, only you yourself can be blamed. If you don't find your upline is helpful & supportive, talk to them or resign from their line. It is easier to have a good support team work sometimes as there will be a lot of down time. Don' be selfish but help each other even some sidelines who are not direct beneficial to you.

Amway Scam? I don't think so. However I do think there are people out there use "Amway" as a tool for their own benefits. For this I urge Amway to keep an close eye on.

MQ

Anonymous said...

^ blah, blah, blah....NEXT!

Anonymous said...

Well said, Jose - and kudos.

---Daniel

Anonymous said...

MQ says "there are not many successful people in this world." What an atrocious lie and insult - or else a betrayal of an astonishing naivete about how the big money in "the business" is made through the sale of "tools", functions, and BSMs. This is well-documented. So, MQ, if the "big pins" in Amway can legitimately be characterized as "successful", then I don't want to be "successful".

---Daniel

Anonymous said...

Yes there are people making a scam out of it. What is Amway doing about it? NOTHING

Anonymous said...

@ Anon November 10, 2011 12:34 PM,
Arent you suppose to be reading a book or listening to a CD. You are not even suppose to read this blog. Just go and bend over for your upline.

ST said...

Just because something is legal doesn't make it moral. It's legal to sell homeopathic "medicine" or host a "crossing over" show, doesn't make it right.