Over the years, I have seen literally hundreds (if not more) blogs and testimonials about Amway. Most of them decry the pitfalls of being an Amway IBO. Most of the complaints cite the fact that Amway in general has higher prices than comparable retailers and the fact that the system consisting of voicemail, books, cds and seminars ate up any profits the IBO may have made and resulted in net losses for most. One particular Amway apologist bemoans the fact that the internet is full of bad testomonials about Amway. The reason why there are so many negative testimonials about Amway is because over the years, thousands, possibly millions either had a bad experience for the reasons I cited above, or personally know of someone who had a bad experience.
Amway defenders will often cite the fact that many IBOs sign up and "do nothing" as their defense to this. But I will easily point out that I haven't seen anyone say they signed up, failed to do anything or order products, quit and started blogging about a bad experience in Amway. These defenders will also compare Amway to the gym where people sign up and "do nothing". Whether true or not, I also do not see people who sign up and "do nothing" complain about not receiving health benefits by simply signing up. It is a very weak defense. Conversely, I have seen numerous accounts of folks like myself who did put in effort, some for many years, who did what upline advised and did not see the financial rewards that is promoted in "the plan".
Amway defenders will then try to justify themselves, saying that the better business bureau (BBB) receives few formal complaints about Amway. I will agree with this. Many IBOs never bother to file formal complaints to the BBB or to Amway because in many, probably most cases, the person who quits and may have had a bad experience, was sponsored into the business. The sponsor was often a friend or family member of the IBO who left the business. Many will simply leave and forget the episode and chalk it up to a learning experience in life. Some will complain, but really have to ne venue to voice their remorse about joining. Some of us have found the interent to be quite effective in sharing our experiences and our opinions on why the business did not work. This is what one Amway defender calls the "internet war". What I have pointed out is that critics most often simply point out what the IBOs themselves have done. In many cases, the IBO is his own worst enemy. Afterall, critics didn't deny Amway and Quixtar had a connection, nor did critics make up claims about perfect water, etc.
It would appear that most of the problems has a root in the AMO systems, such as WWDB, BWW, LTD, or N21. Now, not all upline leaders are unethical, but it appears that many are, and new IBOs have no way to identify the good from the bad. It also appears that some of these upline leaders will issue bad avice. Advice that is detrimental to the IBOs, but financially beneficial to themselves, such as telling IBOs to never miss a function, or to buy more cds. In many cases, these unethical uplines do not care about IBO success, their goal is just to move as many support materials as possible, so they can fund their "diamond" lifestyle. Sadly, it is also apparent that the diamond lifestyle may be a facade in some cases. An illusion of wealth portrayed as a recruiting tool.
If you recognize some of these warning signs, ask tough questions of your potential sponsor and visit this or some of the blogs linked to this one for more information.
4 comments:
Virtually nobody uses the overpriced Amway products but the brainwashed Amway "distributors" themselves. And they've been at it for over fifty years now so what does that say about Amway value, as in bang for the buck? Not to mention that in addition to paying inflated prices for junk that they wouldn't otherwise buy, like lots of energy drinks and other Amway crap, they spend lots more money on tools, functions and meetings, gas, wear and tear on their usually old worn down cars, etc. And for what? Too get charged up with unrealistic hope and fantasy about getting rich peddling this nonsense? Really? No with at least a 99% failure rate Amway is not a business it is a lifestyle. A lifestyle that revolves around living in virtual poverty in order to feed the Amway addiction to maintain that perpetual dream which never seems to come true.
As for advice from upline, their naked incentive is only to get you to buy buy buy so they can get a piece of your action. Amway "business" yeah, they give you the business . that's for sure.
Yep, it's really sad but in Amway, they are selling false hopes and dreams. What's sad is that many of the people who get sucked into Amway are the very ones who can't afford it but they give it a shot because they are sold on the upside and best case scenarios, not the like result which is net losses due to the tools and seminars.
It's sad to watch an associate of mine continue to prospect for this scam. The encounters most times I find humorous, but usually spiral into a cringworthy circus of humiliation. So when his pitch begins to go soft and brown, I have perfected a move (The Amversion) to blend and vanish into the background breaking any association with him. I await my 00 ranking from MI6. It's truly amazing how he's convinced this "business" is a great opportunity. He makes 0 money at it and just throws money away on CD's and meetings trying to get the fish to bite. His group (LOS) of 20+ years is basically decimated and his upline diamond isn't even qualifying at emerald. It's like watching The Expendables 8, it's ridiculous.
It's sad but once an IBO bas bitten the hook line and sinker, you can't do much except hope they snap out of it on their own. Upline is also clever enough to make it sound as if losing money is success and they'll call you winners or whatever because you are working on your financial future. The brainwashing in Amway can be very effective.
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