Monday, February 15, 2016

Amway Diamonds - Con Artists?

One of the things that Amway diamonds remind me of is a con artist. Now why in the world would I say that? I say that because in my opinion, it is absolutely true. The diamonds stand on stage, showing off trappings of wealth to lure prospects into the business. They then sell them "tools" or training and prmote the tools/training as the key to success. Then when the prospect fails, they say the prospect didn't work hard enough or they didn't do things exactly right. I was an IBO and I did what my upline advised, I had eagle parameters and I still did not have a net profit even at the 4000 PV level. I highly doubt anyone could honestly claim I didn't work hard enough or I didn't do things right. I would have had a net profit but by upline diamond wanted me to re-invest the money into tools - because they are con artists. Yes, I was partly culpable for listening to them but was I supposed to question and argue with someone who allegedly had achieved the pinnavle of success in Amway?

Over the years I have been blogging, I have had contacts with some fairly high level IBOs (platinums) who told me stories of backstage conversations where the diamonds basically refer to the audience as hopeful suckers, knowing that these folks are going to fail. But still they have the nerve to stand on stage and try to sincerely sell hope in the form of cds, books, functions and voicemail. And the audience believes it because deep down, they want to believe that you can work hard for 2-5 years and retire young with money pouring into your bank accounts. Who wouldn't want that? But the diamonds know it's a lie, but they still promote that next function or meeting as if you can expect to strike gold when you attend.

I cam from WWDB (World Wide Dream Builders) and while some groups might be slightly different, they are mostly alike as these groups are for profit companies that sell training to Amway IBOs for a profit and they make a nice profit, even if all the IBOs lose money. There is no evidence that these tools/training does anything to help IBOs succeed. In fact, I believe that anyone who succeeds in Amway, does so in spite of the tools, not because of the tools. When you think about the Amway teaching, most of their "core" steps involve actvities that cost you money instead of making you money. Some of the teaching I heard in meetings involved how long you can put off paying your rent/mortgage and other bills before you would be in trouble. I suppose the diamonds wanted you to spend your last dollar on tools. One diamond said your family could skip a meal to buy more cds because that cd cold contain the one thing that propels you to diamond. These flks were shamelsss and would take you last cent if they could. Two of my crossline IBOs had some difficulty in Amway and they followed upline advice. One couple ended up in chapter 7 bankruptcy and the other couple had their home foreclosed.

While the diamonds have nice suits and nice smiles, you have to wonder whether they actually believe the very teaching they profess on stage. One thing that Amway confirmed was that once you achieve diamond, they recognize the diamond pin forever, even if you no longer qualify. Thus some diamonds might be selling you training and functions and they may not even be a qualified platinum, let alone a diamond. Some old timer diamond from the 1980's such asthe Duncans might have high rankings today but really, they built their businesses in the days prior to the internet and social media. How does that qualify them to teach today, unless they can prove that they are still qualified as diamonds?

In my opinion, prospects and information seekers need to be careful when someone is trying to get you in the business because the diamonds can give you a smooth story and make the business sound "simple" and "doable" but in reality, Amway products can be difficult to sell other than to sympathetic family and friends. And sponsoring is difficult in the US where saturation has likely occured.

But beware of the diamonds, who look and seem sincere, but are more like con artists trying to sell you on a business that you are unlikely to make any net profit, much less earn untold and limitless wealth. At least if you read this blog post, you can detect some of the angles that Amway IBOs use to lure people into the business.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't let their charm, smile and their loving attitude convince you to think that they have their best interest in heart. Deep inside they are wolves disguised as sheep. They only care about profit and they have no conscience when they rip off their downlines financially and emotionally.

Joecool said...

Yes, that is what I saw with my own eyes. They will take your last cent if you allow them. They are shameless when it comes to shearing the sheep.

Anonymous said...

Amway is not about selling products. Amway is about selling Amway to dimwitted persons.

Hell, when you get a Diamond alone, he'll tell you that the products aren't important at all. The only important thing in the Amway racket is getting down-line fired up enough to keep the cash flow steady.

Joecool said...

I recall a function where the diamond said technically, you could buy and bury the Amway products in your backyard because the investment in the 100 PV is necessary to building your team through duplication.

Anonymous said...

Holy shit! He actually SAID that?

Joecool said...

Yes the diamond really said that. And he sounded like he actually meant to say it.

Anonymous said...

Just went to a WWDB held meeting this last monday as a guest. the speaker was Howie Danzik. He came off very slick. After about a hour of him bragging about his life I kind of started to zone out and only half listen. But the one thing he did say that got my attention back was that 1/3 will work hard, 1/3 will quit, and 1/3 will just watch. I was surprised he said that to be honest. I found the whole thing kind of surreal.

What I found really strange was after he spoke he then did a question and answer thing. Normally that wouldn't be strange but people surrounded his chair like one of those old Micheal Jackson stage performances where he had kids surround him looking up at him lovingly. Kind of uncomfortable.

Joecool said...

There was controversy about Danzik back the in day. He says he built his diamond business as a single person and then married Teresa Tsuruda who was also a diamond.

Problem was when I was an IBO, I attended a Howwie and Susan Danzik emerald function. It's like he re-wrote history and removed his wife and divorce.

Funny how two separate diamonds married but they are not double diamonds today.

But yeah, diamonds are seen as rock stars in the Amway circles.

Anonymous said...

Amway is about erasing your past so that you can re-create your future, even if it's fake. So this Danzik guy erases his previous marriage (and the divorce) so that he can put on a new front of blissful family happiness when he spouts propaganda to the IBOs.

What's the Amway mantra? Fake it till you make it.

Joecool said...

Yeah, isn't it odd that he tried to re-write history to try and pretend his divorce didn't exist? Fake it til you make it works for some people I guess!

Joecool said...

WWDB must enjoy having their diamonds re-write histroy. Some IBOs even denied Greg Duncan filed for bankruptcy even with the public documents available on the internet.

Anonymous said...

Amway's defenders are like Hillary Clinton -- no matter what the evidence, just keep on denying the charges.

Joecool said...

LOL, that's a really funny way of looking at it!