Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Amway Uplines Should Be Held Accountable?

Part of what Joecool perceives as the problem with the Amway opportunity is the utter lack of accountability of upline leaders. They may tell you to trust them, to submit to them and simply copy or duplicate what they have done, and they imply that you will get the same results. Many downlines over the years have put in blood sweat and tears into the business only to suffer massive losses following the system. Upline will then place the blame on the downline. Citing that they either did not try hard enough or they didn't put in enough time and effort, or they didn't do things just right. Despite a shockingly low success rate of system IBOs, nobody seems to fault the system and upline as being flawed. And nobody seems to question whether upline is at fault. It's a game of blaming the victim.

In my observations, I would say that many financial systems are similar. Whether it be BWW, N21, WWDB, real estate gurus or other systems, the success rate is low. Many systems that advertise on television will have a disclaimer that a success testimony is a rare or unique experience. I believe it is similar to the systems in Amway. Dedication or continued spending on the system is not the problem. The problem is often the system itself. It can work for some exceptional people. These people were likely to succeed in other venues anyway. The problem is that is does not work for the majority of people.

The bigger problem, is that for many many years, some uplines have lived high on the hog off of the dedicated tool purchases of their downline. All the while, quesitonable or bad advice was given to the faithful downline. Advice such as quitting a job to attend a function, skipping financial obligations such as the rent or electric bills to buy more tools. One upline even said your family can skip a meal because the standing order may contain the one thing you needed to hear to make your business grow. I have personally seen couples lose their homes and go bankrupt because they followed upline advice. Upline to "has their best interest at heart". Granted, the couple has some culpability in these decisions, but uplines who give this advice seem to get a pass.

Where is the accountability? Some of these uplines who give and gave bad advice, are still active today, and some are still giving bad advice to their downlines. Advice that profits upline and drains downline. Even with valid complaints, it appears that many uplines avoid any accountability. For some, perhaps there is poetic justice, such as diamonds having their homes foreclosed. But as many uplines have nobody to hold them accountable, do you really want to do business with these folks? Would you invest your retirement money with a broker who could not be held accountable? Would you have your car repaired by a shop whose mechanics could not be held accountable? I believe the answer is not to these questions, yet many people are asked to trust and follow the advice of an upline who is not held accountable for their advice.

The system is credited for the few successes that are visible, but the individual is held accountable for any shortcomings or failures. IBOs, I encourage you to hold your upline leaders accountable for the advice they give you. If they won't answer tough questions or take responsibility, then one should wonder why the upline should be given your trust.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is comparable to a "weight-loss solutions" where an endorser tells her audiences that just take this pill and do what I did and you will get the results you wanted....

Well, only few people got the results because they did not know that in that solution it says in the bottom "results may vary".

Anonymous said...

Accountable for:

1. Bleeding the bank accounts of an IBO
2. Destroying personal relationships
3. Abusing and coercing IBO as if they are something to be whipped.

Joecool said...

Comparing a weight loss program to a business opportunity is a poor comparison.

Joecool said...

The upline have never been held accountable. I encourage prospects and IBOs to ask tough questions and demand answers from their upline.

Unknown said...

They have to say results may vary, because everyone is different (according to their DNA, although MLM tries to make everyone as similar as possible). This is to prevent any lawsuits from people that did not see the same results as the models who are doing these programs for far longer than their required time, or are career fitness models.

That is completely different from offering someone a terrible business opportunity and exclaiming it is life changing money (for 0.1%). They love to leave that last part in parentheses out.

Joecool said...

When you round the numbers up or down, Amway has effectively a 0% chance of succeeding.

Anonymous said...

I agree, Joe. But the entire thrust of Amway is to discourage the asking of questions. Asking tough questions is called "being negative" or "not being enthusiastic" or at best "detailitis."

Asking tough questions means that you can think for yourself. And Amway doesn't want that in an IBO. For up-line, intellectual independence in an IBO is what sunlight is for a vampire. They just can't stand it.

Anonymous said...

You are doing the great work of trying those IBO's to rethink with their choices before they fall deep in the hole.

Joecool said...

Thanks for your comments. That's why I started blogging. To help others get the information needed to make a good decision,

Joecool said...

True, they want sheep who just follow blindly, but those who can think for themselves will eventually get out. What I hope to do is provide just enough so someone can "snap out of" their Amway induced trance.

Anonymous said...

Yes. Uplines call themselves "mentors" and "coaches" but they can't answer questions from downline when asked about their confusing numbers and vague terms.

Ray said...

Things I trust more than Amway:
!. The guy who installs turn signals in the BMW plant.
2. You get the idea...

Joecool said...

Ray, even used car salesmen? LOL

Joecool said...

That's because the facts don't matter if your dream is big enough.