### Amway: The Untold Story

## Your Comments, Part 14

(8/96 - 9/96)

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Here are some of the responses I've received to the information on this page. I've left them as is, except for a) removing the names to protect privacy, and b) reformatting them to fit the screen better.

This is a long file...I suggest downloading it to your computer and reading it off-line.

My thanks to everyone who took the time to contribute their opinions.

[NOTE: Some of these messages contain offensive language]

`Desafortunadamente Amway llegó a Colombia.`

God and I bless you

Dear Sydney

I must appreciate the hard work you are putting in to maintain this website. However, I should add that you have no idea what you are doing. I dont want to be harsh or rude my friend, but this negativity will not take you anywhere. Is someone paying you some money to do this. If not then you are wasting your time. There are hundred and thousand of people who are making money as amway distributor because for them, that is the way to achieve there dreams and here you are, wasting your time in spreading negativity and assuming that it is some kind of social service. If you dont want to be an amway distributor then dont be one, but be a sensible guy and stop doing what you are doing. You are probably not a doctor or an engineer or grass cutter or all of them then why dont you speak against them too. Actually its like bieng a jew and spreading negative against christians or vice versa. I am not saying that you are doing any thing wrong by not being an amway disributor. I am sure that you must have a way or a plan to fulfill your dreams. AMway is not for everyone, just like Ph.d or golfing or swimming or presidentship is not for everyone. There are 1.5 million amway distributors alone in USA. The company has been around for 40 years. In 1995 they did a business of 5.3 billion dollars. It is a completely debt free company. Its efforts towards enviornment has been acknowledged by UNO. Dont you see any positive signs here. Do you think that companies like MCI, IBM and coca cola would distribute there products thru AMway marketing plan if it was a fraud or a bogus company.

Again, I have nothing against you my friend. You are probably doing what you think is right to do. But all your efforts are leading you no where (at least financially) while so many so called "AMBOTS" are working towards their better finacial future by following a well proved succesful system.

Thanks for building this site anyway. It really gives me hope that nothing could steel my dreams as you did not my friend, however, you tried your best.

Hello,

Just a note to say well done! You have saved me from a lot of grief!

My wife and I are relatively new Amway distributors -- only a few months. I was bee- bopping around the 'net and noticed your page.

Right off, I'm not going to argue with some of your points (i.e. the expenses concerning functions and tapes and stuff). That stuff is a bit pricey, and that is why we only get one (or maybe up to three) in a month. I have not experienced any "shunning" or like treatment from my up- or sidelines. My direct upline is a Diamond. He's a really nice guy, and I do truly believe he does have our best interests at heart. I digress early... Anyway...

Much of the "cult" behavior you and your sources (reputable enough they are) I can cite from my professional experience as an insurance salesman and former appliance salesman for a major department store chain. Dress code. Subservience to the corporation. Submission to superiors. "Motivational dependence". The only thing Amway has done that they haven't is the holding hands. All of them (and I speak with knowledge of what *other* insurance and large sales-force companies practice) have the "you're not selling, you're helping" ethic going - to make salespeople think less about the fact that what they are doing is being an annoying salesperson.

My upline is in the Britt "family tree", and I have honestly not seen the type of attitude or behavior that your sources have proclaimed. Scooting to a slightly different topic -- Amway isn't the only company where it's muckamucks spout Scripture. Examine other companies, and I'll bet you'll be surprised. Amway embraces it openly; others go to it behind closed doors.

If you can't tell, I'm free-forming this letter. Sorry if it's hard to follow.

Re: Pyramid scheme

The company I work for is one. Many salespeople. Fewer sales managers. Even fewer district managers. Three or four at the top, and a very finite space in which to fit them all. Working on commission. Selling "help" and "piece of mind", rather than "just insurance". Questions like "What do you want to do with your life?" and "Doesn't your family deserve more?" At least Amway doesn't make me feel guilty as hell if I miss a few hours because one of my kids was sick and so I stayed with him a few hours extra to make sure he was okay.

There are trade-offs, sure. Am I skeptical? Yeah, a little. That's me. There are parts of Amway I will do without, more than likely. There is some money I just won't spend. Do I have the desire to make something of it? Heck yeah. In our first month my wife and I saved money for the next three. I go grocery shopping for the family, and on an honest comparison we did save some money. I don't recall it right now, but something like $30. It is below the $60 in the presentation, but then we knew up front that *that* was not a guarantee. We didn't do 100PV. Big deal. Fact is, when the pursestrings are as tight as ours have been, a $30 savings was welcome. It bought us 2 more 64-packs of Huggies Ultra-Trim. (No, I do not buy everything from myself. I'm frugal, not silly.)

At the moment, my reckoning is that Amway is a lot what you make of it. My upline knows and has acknowledged he knows that I'm not going to do what I don't want to do. And he has expressed his opinion on occasion that he wished I did do something particular a certain way. But we got over it. I do call him when I have a question, and I have a lot of them. When I get a "brush it off" answer, I go ask somewhere else.

I am glad to know your watchdog page is here. I disagree with it on a few levels -- but overall it *is* better to know more than less, and I do find much of the contents of your page interesting and food for thought. I am adding it to my "Favorites" list and look forward to seeing what develops on it.

PS I hope you don't think I'm being a dick by the way I phrase stuff or my content. I am kinda playing devil's advocate in this letter, but I do think a page like this is a good idea.

Sidney, I've got to tell you...Amway is a misleading organization. Some people do make it big, but VERY few. i dated a guy who joined Amway about the same time I started dating him. We went to rallies and meetings together, and I tried to be supportive, but I secretly thought it was a little weird. I saw a young man (my boyfriend) spend about 15 hours a week harrassing people, trying to get them into "the business." Interesting how he told them all that "the business" isn't time consuming. And he was becoming brainwashed. Whenever we took a ride in his car we had to listen to the tape of the week. When he spoke about anything he would quote Amway tapes and books. When we went out to a restaurant, he wouldn't talk to me; he would mercilessly detain waiters and waitresses, trying to give them a video or show them "the plan." When we went on a trip to visit family, he didn't visit family; he spent his time at the local mall and pizza joint.

I tried to be supportive; I put up with it for a year, telling myself, "Well, he's motivated. He wants to be a good provider. How can I blast him for that?"

The sad part was he wasn't getting anyone in, and he was getting back about $15.00 a month. He would go to rallies and meetings and get very depressed. It ruined our relationship. He broke up with me because he needed to devote more time to Amway... so he could be a good provider... so his future wife wouldn't want for anything...Admirable, but if he can't date because of Amway, then isn't it a dead-end street? His logic made no sense.

I saw a very intelligent, caring man become a brainwashed Amway freak with no mind of his own. Very depressing, indeed.

I have nothing against Amway, but very few Amway distributors really succeed, and many Amway distributors become difficult to be around (unless you're also an Amway distributor!).

On a different note, I do find the products to be very good. I've never been dissatisfied with them.

If you choose to print any of this, please do not include my name. Thank you! Keep up the good work!

Isn't this a great country where anyone with a computer, radio or TV show can make any statement they want.People, usually through ignorance, believe what they hear just because they think the person making the statement has knowledge on what they are talking about. Usually, many comments such as yours, come from said ignorance or from just being disgruntled. It is, in fact a great country, unfortunately there are people such as yourself that focus on what is wrong as opposed to what is right or good for the country. I understand the bad news sells better than the good news. It is a shame you have chosen to have a biased opinion and go for the bad. My regrets.

Hi. I just devoured your site. I am not an Amway salesperson or anything. Actually I'm quite the opposite which is why I am writing to you. My cousin is a get-rich-quick scheme artist and is currently attempting to recruit me as an Amway rep/salesperson or whatever they call themselves. He has a background in business and made his pitch to me just last week. I have no business background whatsoever. I currently make 75,000 per year with 2 kids, big house, white picket fence etc. and he insists that I am living in total poverty. He claims Amway can make me financially independent in 5 years if I do what he says (a lot of circles and diagrams ... very confusing. Anyway, my question is this ... What are your best suggestions for me to tell him I'm just not interested in this type of business/lifestyle? He's quite pushy and smooth and has a quick "come back" for everything I said I didn't like about it. He calls once a week (he lives in M; I am in B) to see if I've listened to the series of tapes he left with me last time. I just want this to be over, without looking like a total stooge in the process. I have to admit, some of the things he said were quite alluring, although others I have talked to (two of them are MBA's) have told me what a "scheme" it is and not to get involved. Is it really that hard to make money with this stuff? ... or is it that "easy? Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for a very informative Web site. This is perhaps the first time I have actually used the internet for a source of valuable information, rather than just entertainment. Thank you for your time.

WHAT A SPIN!!! I hope that you're writing a book and will use some UP-TO-DATE

information in it. most of your "quotes" are 10-15 years old! who cares how many people "try" and don't succeed. I've got a task for you if you're up to it. Find the distributors who will at least "say" that they have:

1) been in the amway business for at least 5 years (and within the last 8 years-otherwise you're getting into the 'old' way of doing things)
2) are on or were on standing order tape (and listened to at least a tape/day) for that 5 year span
3) are on or were on standing order book (and actually read the thing)
4) are on or were on amvox (it's a recent tool addition-so i gotta give you some flexibility here)
5) went to a seminar/month
6) attended ALL upline events (including 3-4 conventions/yr)
7) show or showed the plan CONSISTANTLY 15 times/month for that time frame
8) counseled upline monthly

BUT DIDN'T SUCCEED!!! You put so much spin against the business, it's almost like you're too ignorant to understand that it takes work-for an adult time frame to succeed. I constantly tell people to "go find someone who has been doing the work, consistantly, and following the instructions for an adult time frame of at least 5 years who hasn't succeeded." You know what i've found. people who criticise the bussiness because they "knew someone who was in that didn't succeed at it". Yet when you dig deeper you find out that this moron "tried" it for 6 months and expected it to pan out by that time. If you're the "expert" on this thing then you should be able to find someone who meets those criteria. You should be able to find lots! Right? go for it

********************THE OTHER UNTOLD STORY ***************$$$$$$$$$$***

MY WIFE A I HAVE BEEN AMWAY MEMBERS FOR 7 YEARS. WE MADE IT TO ONLY THE PPDS LEVEL OUR UPLINE DECIDED THAT WE WERE NOT GOOD ENOUPH LEADERS SO THEY WENT IN TO THE DOWN LINE AND HAD THEM TRANSFER OUT OF OUR GROUP AND INTO THEIR GROUP.

BECAUSE WE BOTH HAD FULL TIME JOBS AND WE WERE NOT ABLE TO ATTEND ALL THE MEETINGS THIS MADE US BAD PEOPLE ACCORDING TO OUR UPLINE. I WANT TO TELL THE WORLD WE DID WHAT WE COULD DO AT THE TIME.

WE HAD TO WORK VERY HARD TO GET TO PPSD THE TAPES AND TOOLS REQUIRED ARE NOT CHEAP TO GET TO PPSD WE SPENT OVER $ 37,000.00 US DOLLARS.

PLEASE !!!, PLEASE!!!, LOOK INTO THIS YEAGER SYSTEM BEFORE YOU BECOME A AMWAY MEMBER. YOU WILL NOT LEARN THE FACTS UNLESS YOU STUDY THIS ROGRAM.

IF YOU TRULY STUDY THE YEAGER SYSTEM YOU WILL SEE THE MONEY IS NOT MADE WITH AMWAY. THE MONEY IS MADE BY GETTING THE MEMBERS TO ATTEND THE MEETINGS AND BY THE SALE OF THE TAPES BOOKS AND SEMINARS.

AMWAY IS A GOOD COMPANY HOWEVER, THIS COMPANY WILL NOT PROTECT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AGAINST THE BIG PINS (REMINDER) THE MAN THAT MAKES THE MOST MONEY FOR THE COMPANY IS THE BOSS. THE MAN WITH THE MOST MONEY MAKES ALL THE RULES!!!

P.S WE DID HAVE 5 PPDS MEMDERS IN OUR DOWN LINE 2 WIDE 3 DEEP AND THE UPLINE DID THIS TO THEM TOO.

Thanks for providing a well organized site for people to vent their garbage. One thing for sure about amway, there is a lot to say about it and many strong feelings on both sides. Truth and lies, greed and love, Wisdom and folly. this is what makes a human being, and amway is really about human beings. I have seen many people quit Amway, I have seen many people succed at Amway. Most of the people who succeded are under people who quit! Over the last 5 years I watched a person of no polish or salesmanship or cult leader ship or charm build a huge group in the bay area. He just went emerald. the group is as diverse as berkeley where he is based and includes all races and religions. He is well on his way to diamond and others in his down line are moving fast as well. I watched him do it by hard work and nothing else but guts and determination. Unwilling to submit to the cult of defeatism and serfdom that is so popular in our culture. you see in spite of what any one says or thinks, it does work and people are doing it. Today tomorrow and the day after. If my friend had read yor web pages and decided not to build it and instead stuck to his job, where would he be today? People are going diamond all the time. Just not as many as are quiting. And if it can work, for some one else, why not for you? Is truth what you read in the papers or the web? or is it what hits you between the eyes?

I really don't understand what makes you people think that being an interactive distributor for the Amway Corporation constitutes brainwashing. It is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Yes, I use my OWN products that I buy through my OWN business. NO, I am not forced "buy" anything I don't want. NO, I am not forced to purchase tapes/books for tickets for major functions. I will not be penalized for not doing so. Yes, I want my friends/family to have all the wonderful opportunities that owning your own business has to offer, however, I am not asked to disown anyone who is not a distributor.

Go after the "real" scam artists that are ripping off the elderly and disadvantaged. Find a cure for AIDS, pray for world peace, find the solution to world hunger and overpopulation and heinous crimes . . . there must be more worthwhile causes than attacking a concept that obviously you know very little about.

Your statistics on success do not have any information on activity level vs. success.

Do you have any data that shows number of plans per week shown vs. the success of a distributor. Typically it is stated that you need to show about 15 plans per month to become successful.

Why don't your statistics indicate this? If someone is not doing the work, how can they become successful? Is your information, and the information on the SA4400 misleading? Shouldn't it relate back to the number of plans actually being shown? Or would it be to hard to calculate - honestly?

I only bring this up becuase at Seminars and Conferences the folks doing the work appear to be having success. How do you explain this?

I believe that your analysis needs to consider activity level type data. If someone goes to college for 2 years and drops out - they loose more money than anyone on this board has stated. And, my Electrical Engineering class saw only 22% of incoming freshmen graduate.

Maybe you should have a Homepage on "Education - The Untold Story".

I think your time could be better spent.

Dear Mr. schwartz,

I just run across yor web pages about the AMWAY business and i was shocked. I am a AMWAY distributor that buys the tapes, books, and attend's the functions. My upline pay's the same amount for the tapes, books, and functions that I do. Anybody in this world could benifit from these positive books and tapes instead of some of the trash people read and listen to today. As far as being a cult-well that is far from being the truth. I can quit anytime I want to, but I am not a quiter. I like being around the best group of people I have ever been associated with. I agree that amway is not for everyone and if someone does not want to do it I never mention it to them again. Some people are not willing to work for their goals in life but if they are they can have anything they want in this great country. I just hope you can find better things to do in the future other than badmouthing something that evedintly you know nothing about and have never tried.

I bet that Russia has put together as much propaganda as you have, about the USA. Just as the US has put together many things about Russia. Obviously There are many people who have not succeeded in the Amway business. Why don't you balance all this out with people who have succeeded. As in any business there will be individuals who do wrong things within any organization. Before you degrade a company that has done so much for so many, you need to try it.

The statistics used can be used for anything. How many kids who start college make it all the way through and recieve their degree?? 1 in 4 !! How many Americans are really making it in the world today working 50-70 hours a week and not having time to spend with their families? Who is really making it in America? The majority are not and are desperatley looking for something. If you have anything better and I'm sure the amway distributors will be willing to look at what you have. A bigger and better hope? It sure is easy to sit back and pick anything apart but it's quite different to offer a solution !! What have you got??

Dear Sir,

I have read several of your comments and the articles that you post on your web page and I have to thank you for that. You are stating some of the most true facts about the BRITT ORGANZATION and the YEAGER ORGANZATION. One is that you do say the Pledge of Allegence at every meeting. Now you might ask why I do not refer to Amway in that statement. Amway is just the servicing corporation for all the distributorships, lets not confuse the two. I notice that you state both postive and negative in your articles and I am sure that other distrubors and non-distrubors have told you this, you are doing nothing but helping all the organizations in people fufilling a dream. I am sure that all that negative that you print does nothing but help BILL BRITT, thank you.

You see I am a distrubtor between organizations, and have found that working all your life causes you to be very educated and very broke. I see plently of people who have grown up, went to school, went to college, got a really good job and are broke or are very rich and have no time to spend with their family or freinds. Aren't we as Americans supposed to live the American Way, start our own buisness, and achieve financial independance so we can enjoy life. In case you don't know that is what AMWAY stands for, at least that is how I think about it.

I have not found in life a better lifestyle or a better way of living than being a Diamond. Anybody can do this buisness, but you have to look at the people walking across the stages of the BRITT Organzation, people just you and me. People who have Christian morles and live a Christian lifestyle. I was talking to a freind of mine about the buisness and I asked him when working for somebody changes, he said it really does'nt. In the military(which I have been in for 5 years), they tell you to study hard, work hard and you can retire at 20 years, maybe more if you make E-7, E-8, or E-9. I see plently of people who retire at 20 years in the military who get out and get another job and work until they are 65. That means they have worked,(based on the fact they started working between 16-18) approx 49-51 years of thier life. According to fortune magazine 70% of the American poupulation have less than $250.00 in the bank.

I ask you Sir, If the Britt orgazation cannot offer you financial independance, what does??working hard, see alot of people who work hard and die broke. Invest your money, how do invest money when you don't have it because you are trying to pay your bills off. Get it from your parents or relatives, hahahahahahaha, they are just as broke as you are. I believe with all my heart that becoming a Diamond in the Britt Organzation is the only way to achieve financial success. I really appreciate your time and if you have any further comments, please

I think that anyone bent on such negativity must have a serious problem with his own self esteem. By the way, have you ever heard of someone being sued because they were sucessful and others were jealous. Most of the bad press I have heard about Amway has been from former distributors who were too lazy and shiftless to work and found it easier to blame Amway than themselves. Interesting isn't it.

I think that you will find that you will accomplish many many many times more in life if you find something positive that YOU believe in and run with it.

Amway is a giant symbol about what is right about America!

I would like to respond to your campaign against Amway Corporation and the distributors of their products. Certainly a small number of participants will succeed in Amway. A very small percentage will make that $2000 dollars per month, and an even smaller percentage will attain financial freedom through working the plan. One thing that your article does overlook is the nation-wide statistics on successful people. What percentage of the population of the United States makes over $100,000 per year? And in some areas of the States, what percentage actually makes $2000 per month for that matter? Certainly promises of success are not limited to Amway and its distributors' meetings. From a very young age we are all taught that education is the key to success. And for sometimes 16 to 20+ years we will fervently pursue that education in hopes that when we finish with a Bachelors, Masters, or Doctoral degree we will attain success. Well, that is an even bigger lie than any supposed scam that a multi-level distributor will present. Brian Tracy, a speaker through Nightingale-Conant, states that following a bad plan of success is better than following no plan at all. And the sad fact of the American public is that there is no plan in effect for the lives of the majority of them. They have pursued the education and sometimes have attained the knowledge, but where do they go now? A company will offer them a plan, and they'll take a job. They live from paycheck to paycheck. They manage their monthy bills as best they can, not to mention child expenses incurred, and they have no thought, much less hope of eventual retirement. Today, many of them are worried about downsizing, reengineering, and whatever other term a company in dire straits will utilize. What's worse is that some of them are sitting up late at night surfing the channels in hopes that something will come across that can give them a chance. And they'll see some great, inspirational speaker's infomercial that says that if they order a tape set and listen to it, they'll experience more happiness, more financial success, etc.. Where's the criticism for these guys? What will happen is that these people will listen to the tapes and get all wound up about success, and they'll still have no plan to follow, no way to vent this new excitement. The fact of the matter is that no amount of enthusiasm and time management skills will make a difference if you don't have a plan..., and most importantly, if you don't work that plan. I praise the person that puts the effort in to making a better future, as long as it doesn't violate God's laws and society's laws. The "Untold Story" that needs to be unmasked is the story of the society that won't admit its own failures. It is a story where people are so financially strapped that they seek out all means of making more money. Certainly we can't all be successful, but what's the harm in trying. Besides, my grandmother always told me that I should never put all of my eggs in one basket. And yet how many Americans are putting all of their financial eggs in one job, one venture, etc.. Please give all of these thoughts some consideration and get back to all of us.

Oh how I love reading your page! My friends from church are getting involved in Amway. I see the danger signs already. They say things like, "I can't complain, I don't have to worry about private school tuition anymore..." HE is NEVER home anymore. SHE is home all the time with their rotten kids. Their house is full of Amway stuff. I'm sure we won't be on their friends list much longer since I've rejected the plan already.

They're going to meetings and rallies on an almost weekly basis. I'll post here some more to tell you what happens!

After looking at your articles,comments, etc., appears that:

1. you are a disgruntled ex-amway distributor or,
2. you are in a competing Multi-level.
See ya

Just read some more of this drivel. all the time spent making this page, you could have become a direct distributor. oh well, what's a few thousand dollars a month extra

Living in the heart of Amway region (Ada, MI, just 20 miles from my abode) I am not a dealer or a consumer of any of the products. My only direct connection with Amway is a personal friend of mine who works as an audio-visual technician for the corp. Jay VanAndel and Rich DeVos have invest an awful lot of time and money into the West Michigan community. They have been able to do this because simply put, in spite of your obvious predjudice, Amway works. Your criticism of Amway and the fact that you have apparently invested so much time and energy in "dissing" them seems to indicate that you simply have too much time on your hands. Maybe you should try a hobby, or better yet....how about a money making endeavor such as direct marketing. Tupperware perhaps?

The Amway business is by far the most execiting and profitable business around. I love some of the comments made that take on a negative flavour. Any one that knows anything about business recognizes the start up cost for the Amway business are a joke. Typical business cost $40-50 thousand and up. I guess the questions that needs to be asked for those people looking at the Amway business, is did you talk to someone who actually worked the business for a least a couple of years. Someone that got results. Or like most of us do talk to the people that failed, therefore it probably doesn't work.

Mr. Schwartz,

I have previously sent in a reply asking for those who were getting out of the business to not throw out their tapes, but to contact me as I will use them and can pay shipping and in some cases some compensation.

That offer still stands if anyone else is interested contact me at tmartin@trib.com.

I thought I might give you a little background on myself. I am 20 years old. I am a pastor in a nationally recognised christian denomination. I am also a computer programmer for a large local organisation. Prior to that I was a consultant to several large corporations and businesses. I am not a college graduate and in fact turned down scholarships to quite a few colleges and universities, both academic and athletic.

I am not a stupid person and have never been accused of being one. I am currently an Amway distributor and I intend to stay an Amway distributor.

One thing that many of the people who write you do not seem to understand is that there are huge differences between different downlines. Not all of these differences are black& white. Some downlines promote building a network focused on depth others focus on width. There are strong reasons to focus on both. I have only been a distributor for a month and a half, but am planning to be quicksilver in October at our leadership convention. If you don't know quicksilver is just a goal that you attempt to reach. To achieve it you gain 5 in width and ten in depth within a ninety day period. I will not recieve a large gain from this achievement, merely the satisfaction of knowing that I will retire before I turn thirty.

I have read all of your comment pages, some repeatedly, and have noticed several things that I would like to comment on in a rational manner. If you object to my opinions and are willing to discuss them in a non- confrontational manner please e-mail me at the address that is included above.

First of all, if you haven't stopped to take a look at the plan yourself then you really have no business commenting at all. Only an imbecile would think that he had the whole story just from what he has heard secondhand. That includes those who only look at those web pages that are negative about Amway. If you don't bother to at least try to find out the facts and understand the facts of both sides then don't bother to express yourself. Doing such only allows those around you to see you as what you are, a buffoon.

Second, I am amazed by the people that continue to push that Amway is an occult organisation. My mother has been involved with Amway since I was an infant although she simply bought products for herself. I, of course, had heard vague mentionings from people who were not associated with Amway that it was occult. I later found out that these people had only heard these "rumors" from others who had heard them from others who had heard them from others...etc. They were not based on fact. In my experience the people who are involved with Amway are for the most part strong upstanding members of their community. My upline diamond is a gentleman by the name of Brian McConnell. He was a youth pastor and music minister in Canada. He left his church to pursue further education at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. He did this based on the faith that the Lord would provide. When they arrived in Tulsa, neither he nor his wife had a job. Judy, his bride, realizing that God helps his children, but doesn't give them free handouts and knowing that Brian would not be able to work while attending school became a commercial real-estate agent. Shortly thereafter, they were introduced to the Amway corporation. To make a long story short they are now diamonds and have helped thousands of people strive for dreams that they had never imagined before. The McConnell's are not materialistic people. Their lifestyle is incredible, yes, but why shouldn't they be allowed to enjoy the money they have made. I am impressed by the strong core of christians that are leaders within the business. Services are held at all major events and I look forward to seeing the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City filled with people praising the Lord Jesus Christ. The prayers that are passed down the Amvox system are a blessing to my wife and I. We thank God for the people we have met through Amway. I was hesitant about the materialistic motives behind growth in the business at first, but soon found that very few of the people involved really were looking for materialistic rewards. The main motivator behind growth is choices. If you make $20,000.00 per year you don't have a choice whether you live in a 2 bedroom house or a 10,000 sq. ft mansion. You are limited to driving a car for 10 years instead of buying your wife a nice vehicle to safely transport your children in. Anyway, material goals are something comprehensible to most people.

Third, if you are going to get invloved in this business you must look at it as a second job. Surely it is a second job which has an incredible possibility for growth. You must, of course, dedicate time and effort to your new job in order to ever see any productivity come forth from it. Most downlines will counsel that you should not leave your regular job until you reach at least the emerald level of distributorship. This is just common sense because prior to this level you are still not totally solid in your downline. Some people talk about retiring at direct. My own silver lost a 4000 pt leg right after he hit silver. He is still very close to silver, but if he had quit his job he would be a hurting unit right now. So, you must keep up your regular job. In order to grow this business you must actively promote it by seeking prospects and making contacts. This is an area where many people get quickly discouraged and disheartened. Usually the first people that you contact are those closest to you, your family and friends. In many cases these very people will laugh at you. This is usually not because they are financial experts who have looked at the Amway system and after close examination come to the decision that it does not work. No... they might know someone who 10-15 years ago was in Amway and bought a huge stock of product to retail. In many cases they do not even have this much reason to disbelieve the system. No, sadly the reason that most of these people do not want to subscribve to the system is because the concept that anyone can be financially successful is beyond their comprehension. It makes them uncomfortable. I have been extremely lucky within my family, in that, although none of them have signed up yet they all recognise that the system can and does work. I contacted my uncle who is a partner in the largest accounting firm in the state. His only warning to me was that I needed to realise that the system could only work if I followed the system and dedicated time and effort to my business just as if I was starting any other business. He is comfortable where he is at right now, and is at a point in his career where he does not have to dedicate 100 hours a week to his firm anymore and is making well over $10,000 per month. The rejection of those closest to them is hurtful and in many cases is enough to cause them to quit right then and there. If they make it past their close friends and relatives they are still going to be rejected on a regular basis. Dexter Yaeger still gets told no. To build this business you must be willing to take rejection.

Fourth, as far as whether or not it is dishonest to not tell people that you are in Amway. I have been asked this question before by people that I have contacted. My response to them is "If I had called and said, "Hey Dave, I'm in Amway and I really think that you ought to take a look at it!!" what would your reaction have been?" They almost always reply that they would have probably hung up on me. In most cases these people when I don't tell them that it is Amway are interested and don't mind that it is Amway when I do tell them.

Fifth, as to if the tools are a waste of money. One of your readers wrote that all self-help and motivational books are inherently anti-christian. I invite this person to read some of these "anti-christian" books. John Maxwell is an internationally renowned writer and speaker who is highly regarded by most all christian organisations. Churches pay thousands of dollars to send pastors and staff to his conferences and seminars. His and the rest of the books that are promoted by the Yaeger system all have a very high moral principle involved in them. Besides that side of the tools, there is the fact that the priciples taught in all of the material carries over to all walks of life. A side note, my uncle the C.P.A. who was not interested in the business right now told me that whatever I do with Amway pay attention to those tools because they will help you with everything else I ever do.

Sixth, as for those who would make a decision on anything based solely on what they read on a few biased web sites. You probably would never have been successful at building an Amway network anyways because about the third or fourth person that told you no would have convinced you that the system didn't work would have convinced you. Any intelligent person can see that the system works. But, just like any other small business it only works with dedication and perseverance. There is no such thing as a free lunch in Amway just like there is none in the rest of the corporate world. If you want to be lazy and get rich start buying lotto tickets and playing Bingo and quit wasting my time.

As for you Mr. Schwartz. My heart goes out for you. You are a person who has a deep down self image problem. It is a pity that you must take it out on such an upstanding company as Amway. I guess on the other hand that they are one of those companies that can withstand the bad publicity. I pray that somehow your defamation of the Amway corporation leads to positive personal growth in your life somehow.

I would enjoy corresponding with anyone out there especially other distributors, but please do not feel it necessary to spam me.

tmartin@trib.com

P.S. feel free to leave my e-mail address in the message. I look forward to the discussions it could generate

Lifes Experiences

Your home page made my day

I was approached by my very best friends recently about the Amway Business and I new they were in it now for some 3 or 4 months and finally I went to one of the local small rallies here in Milwaukee, WI. OK, no big deal because I was in Amway in the late 70's to 1982. I thought it was strange that it cost my friends $5.00 to get in and that everyone there was very well dressed, acting like people they really weren't. Have tou ever heard the term "Plastic"used in reference to someone? Also the direct up front that did all the hyping asked a few of the distributors where they were from and they all came from northern Illinois and few if any but ourselves were from Milwaukee. The plan presented was similar to the one I new from the past but it was just a plan. Nowhere was an Amway product to be found much less talked about. They called this the team approach to business, with resources in one corner and the system, which was their separate business plan in the other corner. HMMM! OK. At this point I didn't concern myself with how they presented the plan but more on the new Amway retail opportunities. The next week after talking a few times about the products available etc. I thought I would join in again and said that I would and asked how much it would cost. The answer was about $350.00 . If the kit cost $137.50 where does the rest of the money go and for what? Oh, they said that their sponsors have a business kit that is essential to have in order to do well in this business, really! I went home and gave some serious thought to all this and the day before I was to go and pick up the kit I called my friends and I grilled her on why I needed this excess baggage and did it have Amway's logo on the box and was this material etc. from Amway? She said she didn't think so, Hmm again. Another strange thing that bothered me was although the tape they gave me to listen too was really good, done by some economist telling about the alchemist theories, I couldn't figure what ever happened to the Amway logo that used to be on the tapes years ago. I called them up the night before I was to go and pick up the kit (as I said before) and told them that I didn't want but to just get in the Amway business and we talked and argued a little over the way they were told to sponsor. We hung up and 20 minutes later they called me back and had apparently called their upline about what I said and they apologized for their misunderstanding about the facts. See, this group is selling the TOOLS. I was really bothered by this rogue, black hat, line of distributors. I couldn't find any number to call at Amway legal department, I even called my old Direct Distributor with my questions about all this but was unable to get through to them, so in desperation I thought, What the hell, lets see what I can find on the internet and Yahoo came through. I found this home page of yours and couldn't stop reading, there was so much to consume I had to copy most of it all to disk or burn up all my months on line time. I haven' t felt this good about myself for some time now because I was loaded for bear so to speak with evidence about some things and now the ball is in their court as to what they want to do with this thing. Obviously I'm not in and they are thinking it over. I hope they can cut their loses and move on with life.

It bothers me to think that our government can't or won't listen to the cries of the honest people trying to make an honest dollar. This is a good business idea but I think Rich and Jay are not in control over their idea any more. Some heads should roll to make an example for others to see what will happen if this isn't turned around. Because of the amounts of money we are talking about here it puts these rogue distrbutors in the class of drug dealers. Government wants to know why the younger generation is so bad and act like they do, well with distributor icons like these and their thinking about people, what else can you expect. Morals are out the window. The white house and state government should get tough on these so called pyramid sales groups.

I hope this gets in Amways mail box!!

This site is a perfect example of "dis-information" on the web. If any reseracher does a literature review of AMWAY through business journals and Articles, they will find mostly glowing praises. Most compaies have "lawsuites" against them. Do you know how may lawsuite GM, or Time-Warner has agianst them? Look it up. So what? Because people disagree with the way Amway does buisness, it doesnt make it bad,or illegal. Nowhere on this page has an objective "business analysis" been presented. Does the business concept work, what do the business reviews show. Certainly not!

Your one article from an Amway distrubutor completely misses the point- distributors BUSINESS OWNERS, not people with JOB METALITIES who have been fed "dis-information" all their lives through sources like these, and the "popular press". Almost every active distributor is aware of the facts that products are not neccesarily competitive, but theres more to the products and thats quality and ownership. From and end-user point of view, I love the products as compared to "brand names". Doesnt matter what consumer reports say. Talk to people who have used the products. Nowhere in the cosumer reports-which is not the end-all source anyway-is the concetration factor of Amway products mentioned. Look at Amway Japans and Asias business profiles. A cult is an organization which restricts growth and learning. In my several years of experience in acedimea and corporate America, I have never experienced such a strong motivational push for PERSONAL GROWTH. Most books recommended by the Suceesfull distributors and NON-AMWAY motivational books. We are always encourged to "UPLIFT". Just wanted to share some thoughts from a active distributor who isnt necessarily "turning" big bucks profits, but has the dare to dream.

WHY DO THE AMWAY "RECRUITERS" TELL YOU "DON'T WORRY ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN, THEY WILL STILL BE THERE IN 2 YEARS AND YOU CAN ALL ENJOY A TRIP TO DISNEY WORLD". THEY ARE ALWAYS TELLING YOU TO NEGLECT YOUR FAMILY TO REALLY BE PROFITABLE.

It's unfortunate that many people with goals and dreams of a better life will see the Amway business plan and look to the internet for factual information only to find the sad cynical attitudes of some individuals who chose to QUIT at their Amway business and as a result have failed.

The bottom line is that if you never quit you will succeed. Period. This holds true for anything in life. And quitters would rather blame Amway for their failure then look in the mirror and just say with a smile, " Oh well, I tried and I guess I am just not cut out to do this business. On with my life.

YOU CAN SUCCEED IN THIS BUSINESS!!!! REGULAR PEOPLE DO EVERY DAY. THE AMWAY BUSINESS PLAN WORKS. AND IT WILL WORK FOR YOU IF YOU HAVE GOALS AND DREAMS AND NEVER QUIT UNTIL YOU ACHIEVE THEM. GOD BLESS ANYONE WHO ASPIRES FOR A BETTER LIFE FOR THEIR FAMILYS. AND GOD HELP ANYONE WHO IS HURTING INSIDE BECAUSE THEY QUIT.

Sincerely, A person who will never quit.

You appear a little unsure of the Amway facts. This is not a problem, as I've meet many people like that.

I have read with interest your Anti Amway web site. Unfortunately some of the web pages don't download too successfully. I reloaded some of them until I could no longer be bothered. I am sure this is a temporary problem and will be fixed next time I log on. I checked my modem and server by using your link page. I found another < jackie?> page and all the info downloaded without a problem.

I am bewildered at the level of anti Amway feeling in the local community and have been trying to discover it's origin. I suspect the majority of it comes from people like yourself. I have no background information relating to you, so I can only assume you are not a Diamond direct distributor ie. < you never made it> , maybe you never tried.

Undoubtedly, this type of business is not suited to everyone, and everyone that forms a distributorship is not guaranteed of success. However, these two facts don't reduce the value of the opportunity. Many people get into businesses that they are not suited to, and many of them fail. Often they loose considerable amounts of money. Your web page quotes an influential figure as saying that , and I quote loosely, < they either make it or loose their shirt> I suggest, to maintain credibility, that you either supply details of anyone that has < lost their shirt> ie. been made bankrupt or you remove the reference from you web page article. By this I mean bankrupt as a direct result of their investment in an Amway distributorship, whilst complying with the guidelines set out by the Amway corporation.

Any fool can buy into an existing business, one that has been successful in the past, ignore prudent advice, and find themselves loosing vast amounts of money. I'm sure you know plenty of them.

Furthermore, judging whole instances by the experiences of a few is a flawed and unreliable practice, otherwise I could assume the entire internet doesn't work simply because of a few minor problems with your web pages.

If there is something genuinely wrong with the opportunity that Amway presents, then I would like to know. If your article is simply Amway bashing, by an < almost made it, ex distributor> then that is OK. There are plenty of failures, so you are in good company.

I look forward to your reply.

Sidney,

I have so much to contribute that I think I can do so in small tidbits at a time. So here's one.

Not surprisingly, WWDB's emphasis on recruiting leads to claims by the "big Business" recruiters that are farfetched and outright lies. For example, a Ruby Direct in the Dan Yuen/Dan Mcdermott line of sponsorship used to say in his board plans that Bill Gates is involved with getting his computers marketed through the Amway "funnel." He said that Gateway 2000 computers, which were available through Amway USA, were computers from Bill Gates. In his presentation, he would ask rhetorically why would Bill Gates get involved in something illegal? I pointed out to him that he should verify his information because according to Success magazine Gateway 2000 has nothing to do with Bill Gates. He said he would check upline which leads me to wonder if this bit of misinformation came from upline in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised if there are many more instances of similar deception going on in order to try to persuade prospects how good a deal this "business" is.

I know that our former sponsor found it morally all right to mislead prospects into thinking they were to be "interviewed" for a potentially prosperous position. (And he sees himself as a devout Christian.)

Because of this tendency of overzealous distributors to bend the facts when they are recruiting, I begin to wonder about some of the other claims said. In particular, they say that 2000 people are signing up each day, so you better get in now. Whoa there, cowboy. Where does this claim come from? Will Amway verify this? Or is this something started up by WWDB Diamonds as part of their constant effort to keep people in and to recruit new people?

For those who support Amway in particular and MLM's in general, don't you think that the entire industry's reputation is so bad that it is in everyone's interest that no misinformation and lies are spread anymore? That people's dignity should matter more than what money recruits will bring you?

If you want to really know about Amway then research my friends, research!!! If you want to bash around a company and the people who make it up, then you don't need all the facts. Just pick out the negatives that you can find, and keep hiding the whole story. If, however, you are looking for the facts, then research. Research the good and the bad. Put forth all of the facts, not just those that you have chosen to support your emotional reaction.

Then research other network marketing companies for comparison. Then research this nation's corporations, and this nation's history. If you can find me a better solution to financial freedom in today's economy, I will listen. That is what seperates the winners from the losers in this world. The winners are at least open-minded enough to listen to the whole story before dismissing the opportunity presented therein.

Only an individual who does not listen to the training that is provided in the Amway business could "lose his shirt". Initial start-up cost is lower than most any other opportunity today, with a great deal of training, information and guidance given in return for that small fee.

The Amway Corporation, like any other business in the world, is only as good to you as the people who present it to you. Therefore, if you meet an Amway distributor with an abrasive personality, you will react negatively, not only to that person, but also to the opportunity with which they present to you, including the company itself. This reaction would be exactly the same if you had a negative dealing with a well known, and forgive my terminology, "well-liked" company such as Kraft, Coca-Cola, Magnavox, Panasonic, or any of the other Fortune 500 companies that deal with the Amway Corporation.

If you want to display all the negatives of the Amway Corporation, then give all the negatives of the rest of America's corporations. Then list all of the positives of each one as well. When the facts come out, we'll see who has the last word. Did "those friendly soap-peddlers" mention that Amway Corporation's executives have held seats as Chairman of the Board for the United States Chamber of Commerce? Did they mention that every year new people join, and new people become financially independent? Did they mention that the investigation by the Federal Government found no fault in the Amway Corporation, its structure, or its sales and marketing plan?

Even I, as an Amway Distributor, do not know all of the facts about this great and awesome company known as Amway. I did however, at least have the intelligence to research thoroughly before forming an opinion. So while those of you with no vision, and no dreams continue to forge away at those same old jobs, those same 40 hour work weeks (if your lucky), and stay stuck in the rut of debt, and misery, I will work my dream, with the help of the Amway Corporation, and the spirit of Free Enterprise that this magnificant country was founded on. Then you can come watch me walk across a stage to be awarded for those accomplishments. You can come visit my new home (paid-off), drive my new cars (paid-off), and then tell me that this opportunity doesn't work. Tell me, when after your forty-years of hard work all you get is a dwindling pension check that won't even feed you, much less pay your bills, that the Amway opportunity doesn't work. Tell me, after youR biggest reward for a job well done was a cheap watch, that we are all crazy cultists.

Those who can not dream, can not work for a dream, or simply don't have the guts to try, will always try to justify why they don't. The easiest way to do that with the Amway opportunity is to bash the Amway Corporation. Unfortunately, once all of the facts are present, there just isn't anything to bash. Many great men and women in this country know this well. Some are a part of Amway. Others are simply those who lead our governments, our great Fortune 500 corporations. These are the people who know the facts. They know that the Amway Corporation's plan has made more millionaires in this country than any other business. Did you know that one? Or was that just another fact that was conveniently overlooked?

But, alas, those of us who dream, and build a better and brighter future for our children, and generations to come, need those of you who make excuses. Someone has to be my maid, and my cook, and my secretary. Someone has to produce all of the products that I will buy. So I must sincerely thank those of you who justify yourselves, and diminish the dreams of others. Without you, this business wouldn't work!

See you on the beaches of the world...sorry, forgot that you won't be there!!!!

Sincerely,

GET THE FACTS!!!

After reading the hundreds of comments posted here, I can get a pretty good picture of what an Amway distributor is like:

1) Anyone who differs with their views is an immature, broke loser and horrible parent/spouse.

2) They all claim future financial independence although I have yet to meet one who has actually achieved it.

3) They excel at the use of profanity.

4) They are very defensive about a business in which they are putting their financial future in.

If I had to pick someone to advise me in financial independence, it certainly would NOT be an Amway distributor.

I've known him for about a year now and he seems like a good person. However, he has been trying to get me to join Amway for some time now, and he won't take no for an answer. And it's not just a sales pitch. He keeps on and on about how he is going to retire in two years and be rich. He keeps giving me these tapes to listen to and says "all I want you to do is to objectively listen to these tapes", and I said ok. After I listened to one tape and reading some literature, I was still not interested. I told him this and he ignored it completely. It's like he didn't even hear me! Like he was doing a monologue! He just said "Well you know, J, the way I see it, you can either go on working for someone else, letting them tell you what to do, telling you when you can take a vacation, telling you how much money you can make, and essentially how much you are really worth." He really wants to drive this concept home, about how companies don't care about you, how they use you, and in today's economy, are laying people off left and right. He knows that I was fired from my last job and knows that I have a questionable attitude toward companies in general.

I agree to a certain extent to what he said about companies in general. But on the same token, I firmly believe that "Amway" is not the answer, at least not for me. But he refuses to listen. It's like he is using me (probably suggested to him by his upline) for his pet project. Yesterday, he did the same thing. He came by and dropped off more tapes. We chatted for awhile and then he asked me to listen to the tapes. I said ok again but warned him that I am not interested. I also showed him your page. He read some of it and said "Well, you know, you can dig up dirt on just about anything, for example, the Catholic Church." I said I'm not trying to dig up dirt, I just trying to find out more about Amway.

To any event, he asked me to listen to the tapes, I said ok. Then he said "Well I'll come by next week after you've listened to the tapes and decided to sign up, and we will get going on calling some people and start making some money, ok?" I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say! It's like he was trying to use the Jedi Mind Trick on me!!!!!!! Maybe I should just refuse to listen to the tapes from here on and tell him to get away from me (by the way, he told me that he doesn't want anybody to sign up until they've listened to at least ten tapes). I'm not that worried about it that much, if worse comes to worse, I'll just tell him to screw off. I'd like to hear you input on this. I hope you read this message and any advice you have will be very appreciated.

All I can say is if you buy a small business and never open the front door it won't work either! The whole point is potential - the actual work is up to the individual. As an Amway distributor I can promise you only a complete idiot could lose money in this business (yes even if you never sell one single product and only buy them for your own use). As for those law suits - what a joke (I suppose they also think they could cross the road blindfolded during peak hour and not get run over!

I am an Amway distributor and proud of it. I am a businessman and I got into this business because the numbers added up and all the people I have met are ethical and honest.

You know, all I know as a businessman, is what I have seen and what I have learnt. I am willing to look at any and all ethical business ventures and I consider this one of them.

I have seen the successes and the failures. There were many successes in my family with regard to this business. There will always be successes and failures in any business. But for those who surf into this page and then make a decision based on the information contained here; well, they are being done a disservice.

Get information here by all means but also get information from an Amway distributor who is in the business. The "Truth" as we know it is never one sided nor does it only have one face. There are many aspects to it. It could be a good business for some of those who reject it. Some people may even need it as an alternative avenue. At least encourage them to find out more.

One thing I do know. In life, one should never assume that the ultimate truth lies only in your own thoughts and perceptions. That is arrogance and pride personified. Yes, you do have a point of view but encourage people to look for other points of view before they make a decision about something as important as owning a business of their own.

You must be very angry at Amway or you would not spend the time and the money to maintain a page like this.

All the best.

To whom it may concern;

After briefly seeing your Web page, I noticed that you have a lot of time on your hands. I am a Amway dist. and have a fast growing organization, that I have put a lot of time and energy into. The thing I asked myself before starting my business was: (The social security commission say's that by age 65, if I work a job for someone else I will be either dead or broke by age 65, or I will be part of the 2% that makes it fincially.) is my boss going to pay me enough money to bring my wife home to raise our child, and the answer was no. So what businesses are out there that you can sucedd at age 22 yrs. old. (The small business administration says that 68% of businesses that start in the US fail with in the first 5 yrs, however the 32% that make it, out of the 32% about 90% of that percentage are franchises: MacDonalds, Subway, etc..) I did not have at age twenty two over $100,000.00 in the bank to start a franchise (the highest sucess rate of any business system) so I started the next best thing, an Amway business that allowed me through the same type system to become sucessful. If people think you can start a business and become wealthy without having any type of investment, go back to sleep becasue you are still dreaming. Another question I asked myself was: (If I have to buy deoderant for the rest of my life, I have the choice to pay full retail and give that profit to another man so that he and his family could live a better life, or I can buy the deoderant from myself and keep that profit for me. Hmmmmmm! I like to eat, so I could buy, Oreo's, Captain Crunch, Lipton Tea, Quaker Oatmeal, Famous Amos cookies, and so on, from another man so that he can keep the profit and live a better life or I can buy it from myself amd keep the profit to make my life better, hmmmm. Especially on stuff that I was already going to buy anyway.) Tough choices, huh! Now about the tapes, if anyone is forcing people to buy them, they should have their butt's kicked, however since most people are still working a job when they go into business for themeselves they can not spend their time during the day teaching people how to think as a business person thinks (Ex: Ray Kroc the owner from MacDonalds, could not teach all other 17,000 MacDonald owners individually on a one on one situation how to run a MacDonalds and how to get it sucessful. So he invented Hamburger University and a learning system so that people could learn the system and the mind set that would help their store make money.) In the tapes and books we use it is the same thing, so if you are putting down the system you are also putting down MacDonalds, Jiffy Lube, Coca Cola, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, SubWay and all other Franchises, because they build their business the same way.) How important is Amway and all other franchises, (If you had (3) one dollar bill's in your hand and those (3) dollar bills represented all of the United States Gross National product the revenue in other words in an entire year, franchises would have produced (2) of the one dollar bills. So as you can see the system works.) the tapes become very valuable in the time essence if you work a job, they allow you to maximize your time. Now since everyone owns his own business as a Dist., you could make the choice not to use the tapes if you wanted to. I probably wouldn't use them if I didn't have a job and could spend all day training people and teaching them how to do stuff. I have attended rallies to hear people's success stories, and I have never seen any tapes being sold. As in amway as in anything you do or look at, there are always it seems like people that give it a bad name (Ex: I was a manger of a store for a certain company and my Dist, Mgr. was caught making love to a married employee, the Dist, Mgr. wife divorced him, and the employee retained her marriage, now does that mean all Dist. Mgr's for this company are that way. No of course not. I have seen with my own eyes people doing not right stuff in Amway, but it doesn't mean that they are all bad.) The untold story about if you work a job for fourty years, is the facts in the opening sentences of this summary of facts. Lets face it Amway is not for everyone, because not all people wear or buy deoderant and want to make a profit on it instead of the store. Neither do all people want to make a good living for themselves, they rather work 40 yrs. and be in the 98% that fail at age 65, but some probably would want a better of making it. You or anyone can do what ever you want to be sucessful, as long as you don't quit and you have a good or service that is in demand in this global market place, and by using some kind of system to become sucessful. Hopefull this clarifies a lot of the mis leading information that you have.

I did not check my spelling, so if their are a lot of typeo's, I apologizes.

I just have to make a short comment!! It does not matter what you say cause we are making money and you are not!!

I've been reading your articles on amway, and I just want to say KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

I have a brother who joined amway about 4 yrs ago and I've seen a complete change in his personality. I'm convince amway is a cult, only from the behavior I have personality witnessed. It has been difficult to obtain information from him because he feels I do not support his amway belief's. It refreshing to be exposed to some information from this company, please continue to get your word out there!

P.S. I wish the Hanrahan's much sucess!

Thank you!

To the person in the 10th set of comments who wants to sell his system tapes, I ask that you reconsider that option. If you are disgusted with the system, why would you want to perpetuate the deceptions by getting others to buy those tapes? I know you may be wanting to recoup some of your expenses, and that there may be those who are willing to buy them at a lower rate, but do you really want to continue the spread of the system's hype? Getting the Direct to buy back the tapes sends a better message. Or put them where they belong--in the trash (which is what I did).

At World Wide Dream Builder functions, we were asked to write on our cheques the name of our Diamond and our Direct. The reason given was so that in case of any bounced cheques, they could be passed downline through the line of sponsorship. Of course it could also be a way of knowing how to divide the profits from the functions. No wonder cheques were carefully scrutinized at the door before you were admitted in.

dear mr shwartz:

who made you mad? i am a new amway distributor at age 45 and i know what is out there as far as opportunity goes: nothing without excessive risk and investment. i've been there, hundreds of thousands in debt with little hope of success. this is a simple program with almost no investment. so what's your problem? how are you doing with your business? are you willing to share your opportunity with others? i am. this program is so simple: just use the amway products and share the idea with someone else. is that so bad? now they have an opportunity to succeed. please give me an answer for the average working person out there. i anxiously await your reply.

This is all very interesting. I was an Amway distributor and I hated every minute of it. Fortunately I got out quickly, so the losses were miminal. Perhaps you may wish to consider showing some of the good points of the Amway businesss (if you can find any). The whole website appears to be Amway bashing (not that I mind). But its been my experience that anytime information is totally slanted in one direction, it tends to lose credibility with the astute reader. However, if you believe that you are conveying an objective and true picture of the Amway business, then your website is doing a good job of informing people. Good work, and good luck.

Mr. Schwartz

Why on earth have you chosen the Amway Corporation as a target for all your negative frustrations. I am a successful engineer who analyzed the business to death two years ago before getting involved. Anyone who truly understands the business realizes that it is pure genius. Unfortunately, there are so many lazy people looking for a free ride that they will quit the business without ever putting in the effort to be successful and then blame their failure on the business. No business or person is perfect. I wish I knew where your anger toward the business comes from. There is such a great deal of positive information that you could explore and share if you chose to. You obviously have encountered someone in the business that I would consider a bad apple. Every organization in the country has them. Don't base your opinion, on what truly is the greatest business opportunity on planet earth, on one or a group of bad apples. You are hurting a lot of innocent people that only want a better life through this business opportunity by spreading nothing but one- sided negative information. I only wish you really understood the business and the fact that we only succeed by helping others not by taking advantage of them. I would really appreciate a response. Thanks for your time.

How many people actually make money on this stupid scam. And what is actually ment by making money? Is it 60.00$/ month, 2000$/month or what? I heard the percentages of people making money on this is small. Amway makes me sick!!!Please satisfy my curiosity.Thanks!

I just want to say thank you for creating this web site. My wife and I were in Amway for about 2 years and lost over $10,000 dollars in books, tapes, rallies, and every thing else those assholes told me I had to buy to become successful. Once we decided to quit I felt like the biggest failure in the world. The people that sponsored us were our best friends. It hurts to have you own friends look at you as a couple of loosers. Once I found your page and began reading what other people felt I was relieved to know that it wasn't just me. Currently a friend of mine and I started a small internet consulting business, mainly for advertising on the webs online services. If your would like for me to promote your page just let me know. I would even do it for free, because I know that there are others out there like me who fill like a failure. I would also like to let others know, who haven't yet joined Amway, the truth about what is going on.

Again thank you and God Bless

Maybe we could form a group of ex-Amway distributors and call it

MyWay.

Hello,

I too fell victim to Amway twice. The first time they made it sound too good so I joined without understanding the concept fully. That is their plan. You won't understand it the first time you see it. The second time was with different group of people who claimed it was different with their group. The night I saw the plan he had me make out a list of people who I knew who were looking for an opportunity. He then said he would call them and set up meetings to get them in but I had to join in order to get credit for it. I think that was a sneaky way of getting people in. I thought about filing a lawsuit over it but I didn't think I could win having been in it before. i spent hundreds of dollars going to meetings, buying products, and going on trips only to get nothing in return. If anyone out there gets approached by someone and won't tell you what it is unless you come to a meeting, Just Say NO! I love your page on Amway. My old upline came over two weeks ago trying to get me back in. Now I have some ammunition the next time he comes over. They say if you can do so much business volume then you get a check. I spent a hundred dollars and got a $6.00 check. That's not good business sense

Of the many people out there who've been harmed by Amway, it would seem that there would be more sites listed under the "Anti-Amway sites" heading than just your pitiful waste of time.

If Amway is such a bad idea, what is your answer. For someone to spend time and energy bad mouthing Amway, you must have your own agenda. Were you a distributor who didn't hang in long enough or

have confidence in himself and decided to quit? My basic question here is "What's your motivation?"

Sir Schwartz: Bravo, Kudos, and all those other Yuppie type terms of actions deserving recognition. Nice going on the information you have here. I re-visit your page every month - thanks for the update on the lawsuits. I am glad that something is being done in the courts to curtail this Amway business garbage.

Lastly - what is your history with Amway? Were you or some other close friend/family member involved? Or are you the Ralph Nadar of MLMs? Drop me a line and let me know.

Again - keep up the GREAT work on exposing this HIGH PRESSURE Pyramid scheme. "If it walks like a pyramid, sounds like a pyramid, looks like a pyramid - its a pyramid."

Dear Sidney;

I am considering signing up, having listened to the tapes etc. My mother had a basement full of Amway stuff she never sold.

I appreciate your site. Now if I sign up, I will know what I am signing up for - the motivational business, not the soap business.

Thank you.
Thank you.

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