### Amway: The Untold Story

## Your Comments, Part 41

(8/97)

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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]

`This is * again.`

I have just begun to mobilize my one man Amway wrecking machine in Connecticut. I am vigorously pursuing Amway functions at various hotels around the state dropping literature on cars warning people about the perils of scamway. It's very easy to do. I purchased Dream Builders magazine which gives the dates and times of local Amway functions. When I have the time I take a road trip to the local functions and wedge the flyers on every windshield in the parking lot. I also drop a few off at the hotel bars. I just wish others would join me in my crusade. Luckily I have not been approached by any Ambots in the parking lot.

As for my ex-girlfriend she is a lost cause and I have totally broken all previous plans with her off. If it were not for a personal friend who is an attorney she would be losing her house. I can't help her unless she wants the help.

If you have any other ideas about my grass roots efforts please feel free to e-mail me.

Just got back from a meeting with what I now know is an Amway distributor. I thought it was going to be an interview about helping businesses with marketing plans etc. The word Amway didn't come up until about 45 minutes into the conversation. Most of his presentation is exactly sthe same as what is on yur website...Ray Kroc, Ron Puryear, World Wide Group in Spokane etc. And it just so happens that his distributer will be in town this weekend & I am invited to hear him speak...It seems to me it's still selling soap not the business for the future. thank you for taking the time to post this information on the web.

How does http://www.ina.net work with Amway? If they claimed they are a INA/Amway compnay, is this an Amway subsidiary?

I've read through your page(s) quite a few times and am impressed by the research an effort you've put into it. But I think a good protion of you anger is misdirected. Yes people get sucked into it and yes lives are somtimes ruined, How many times,though, has a gun picked itself up and killed hundreds , or even one person. Obviously never. People pickup guns, though. They kill eachother and themselves. Therefore we try and keep guns away from childen, psychos, postal workers, and so on. Not everyone was created to own there own business. You give a business to the members of the previous list, then they run it and themselves into the ground.

I am an amway distributor. Im also a 20 year old, full time student and part-time Network Analyst at IBM. America is so great because of our Freedom. Your freedom to post your page, my freedom to become financially independent with 5-10 years of hard work and every one elses right to say no to the both of us. As far as people loosing money because of the 'tools', I dont buy that motivational Bull shit, and from what I read that seems to be the #1 mistake of your readers. If you can handle a business, I do recomend this. Opportunity is opportunity, no matter where it comes from.

My only request is that you mention that some ( I think most ) of the dammage is self inflicted,and that the last thing you do when some one hands you a gun is put it to your head. Use it to protect your self and your future.

Keep up the good work and keep this page going. The people have a right to know!!

I am an Amway distributor and I thought that I would let you know my opinion about the business. Yes, I did say business and not a cult. The tapes as were mentioned are only there for support material and are optional, not mandatory to buy. As far as the cult issue goes I would really have to disagree. Why would such companies as Coca-Cola, General Mills, MCI, VISA, etc.,etc.(the list of well known companies goes on and on) be associated with a "cult"? Also, to touch on the friends and family topic you can not hold the opinion of just a few and not everyone. Each AMWAY distributor has his/her way of conducting business. On a personal note, I myself have friends and family that are or were against me being in the AMWAY business but I still have a great relationship with every single one. I have also met many good friends through AMWAY. To say that everyone doesn't profit from this business only tells me that you need to get your facts straight and do a little more researching. The AMWAY corp. has helped millions of families worldwide to pay their bills, have more free time to share with friends and family, and develop a confidence that they never had before.

This is only my opinion. If you would like you could respond to me through email.

Please for your own sake
"Get a life"
Bless your heart
Have a great day

Your site has many interesting bits of information, but nothing that would lead me to dislike Amway. Amway characterises an entity that's successful in a competitive world. Yes it has had it's downfalls, but I don't see why you would spend so much time collecting negative evidence on it.
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.....stooping down to your level....you do realize we live in a competetive world..or are you oblivious to the fact that we do because you haven't bothered to step out your front door and do something with your life. Instead you spend hours on your computer trying to make yourself feel better, trying to compensate for your failure, failure in a world where you couldn't stay afloat....a world so competitve that you are scared to venture out once again. In grade school, you were pushed to be competitve by your teacher. Now, you have only your conscious which you are suppressing through your negative ways. You are scared to fail again. Get up and do something with your life, let go of the past and GO GET A LIFE!

Been a distributor for 2.5 years. Went direct 9 months ago. Making great money. Not sure what else to say except, thanks for preventing saturation in our ever expanding business! See you on the beaches... Well, probably not; you'll be working on your web page!

I just want to thank you for the time you have spent on this web site. Here's my short story and how you helped me.

Two weeks ago I got a call from a person I met recently and whom I respect. He said that he wanted to talk to me about a business opportunity. Although I already have a full time job and a side business of my own, I told him that he could come over. I'm always interested in learning about something new.

He spent an hour talking to me about the system with no mention of a product. I then told him that this all sounded like Shaklee (20 years ago I was a Shaklee distributor). He then told me that the company was Amway.

Actually, I found what he said to be interesting. He said that he would contact me two days later to see if I had any questions.

During those two days I did my homework. First I read all the literature that he gave me. That didn't tell me much except that the average distributor makes $65 a month before expenses and that there is a 10 customer rule. He didn't mention either of these things in his presentation. I also listed to the tapes he left. Frankly, they didn't do much for me and I noticed that they did not talk about any products except that Amway was the best company in the universe.

It then dawned on me that there must be information about Amway on the internet. My searching led me to your site as well as others. I found the information very valuable. It gave me another perspective and made me aware of the way that some people are abusing the system.

When my Amway contact returned two days later, I was able to talk more intelligently about the system. We talked about the abuses that occur in some Amway organizations. Actually, I was impressed by his integrity. He shared with me how he has counselled those in his organization to not buy more tapes and attend more seminars if they were not sellings since they could not afford them. He was interested in developing people and was concerned about their welfare.

After reading the postings on your site and weighing the options, I decided not to get involved with Amway. The implicit cost of time was too much. I need my extra time to develop the side business that I already have.

After reading the stories of people who have been traumatized by their Amway experience, I wondered why the Amway corporate executives do not try to curb the abusive behavior of some of their distributors. It then dawned on me that Amway is built on laissez faire ("let alone")economics. They must believe that the best way for the system to work is to not interfere with it in any way. Although I disagree with this kind of thinking, it does explain to me why Amway would allow such reprehensible behavior.

Since Amway does not take responsibility for the actions of their independent distributors, I applaud your efforts to make people aware of the excesses that some have experienced.

I must say that while I do not want to participate in the Amway enterprise, I can see how, when run properly and with respect for the real needs of the distributors, Amway could be a very positive experience.

Thanks again and keep up the good work.

Thank you very much for providing this information to people desperately seeking help from Amway.

MY LIFE IS SURROUNDED BY AMWAY...
1. I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan (near Ada, where Amway Headquarters is)
2. My grandmother works at Amway
3. My neighbor is an Amway executive
4. My mother is being "recruited" into the distribution scheme

I went with my mom to another neighbor's house and listened to a program called "Home Shopping Delivered" (which is really a scheme connected with Amway). My mom fell for it, but I didn't. I can recognize crap when I see and hear it. My mom really believes that she can make thousands of dollars while keeping her day job, and that she can make all of this cash in as little as 5 hours a week.

THANK GOD I FOUND YOUR WEBSITE - IT SHOWED ME THE NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN TRUTH OF AMWAY. AMWAY IS A CULT. THEY CONTROL YOUR MIND. THEY TAKE YOUR MONEY!

Now if I could just convince my mother not to join. I printed every article I could find on the Internet (Amway statistics, consumer articles, price comparisons, quotes, etc.) and I plan on showing them to her and BRINGING THIS INFORMATION TO MY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE WHEN WE GO THIS SUNDAY. I WILL SHOW HIM WHAT I FOUND AND SEE WHAT HE HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS. SURE, HE WON'T ADMIT THAT THIS IS ALL CRAP AND BRAINWASHING, BUT I'D LOVE TO SEE HIS SCARED FACE WHEN HE FINDS OUT THAT I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING THE SUBJECT.

Ha ha ha! I shall have the last laugh. I will start a revolution against Amway. The masses will revolt. Amway will perish.

Now I just have to stay away from Amway. Both of my next-door neighbors are Amway people, so is my grandma. I have to stay strong and not let them control me.

AMWAY MUST NOT CONTROL. STAY FOCUSED. DON'T LISTEN. IT IS NOT TRUE. THROW THE BOTTLE OF SA8 AWAY----FOR GOOD:)

Thanks for listening to me. I appreciate what you are doing for us.

Ft. Worth Star Telegram syndicated writer Molly Ivins wrote a scathing column about Amway and tax-breaks granted to the corporation by Congress. It appeared in the Sunday, August 10 issue I believe. Just FYI in case you want to look it up. Sorry, I wouldn't know where to find a copy of the article on the web.

I decided not to be lazy and found you that column I was talking about. It's at:

http://www.startext.net/archives/08081997.arc/news/opinions/columntext/ivins 2.htm

I was an Amway distributor from oh...1990 to 93 or so. I had several people under me and made a little money, but was always dissatisfied with what you correctly describe as the pushy tactics trying to get people to the seminars and buy those miserable tapes.

I moved away from my upline and finally dropped out. What really turned me off though was when they started talking politics and religion mixed in with business. That's what drove me away more than anything.

About a month and a half ago, I noticed in passing that the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) has tightened the laws on Amway distributors as most of them were claiming them as a tax loss.

I believe the new laws mean they can only claim "The Business" as a loss for up to two years, but you'd have to verify this with the ATO.

Having been a distributor, I also had noticed the religious fervour that distributors exhibited. It seems it doesn't matter how often you "Show The Plan" in Australia, the only ones who will sign up are those with an over active imagination, and are ripe to be preyed on (such as I used to be).

Despite being assured that I'd receive help from my upline, I found them to only be available when it came time to collect money from me for meetings.

One benefit from having been a distributor is that I always check the fine print of any document, and will only sign it after 24 hrs of perusing, reading and digesting the information in it.

To all those who detract from your efforts with these pages, just let me say "Wake up and smell the coffee". You Americans are so self righteous when it comes to the right of "freedom of speech" only as long as that speech conveys the same beliefs as your own. Fine, I couldn't make the business work, I just don't know as many suckers as you successful distributors.

Hello Schwartz,

Saw your web page on Amway couldn't agree more. However I am not a broke dream stealing loser as you so wrongly describe all of your web page visitors. I am out to serve the good and stop all chain letter and MLM criminals. It might be a good idea to assume that you do have some visitors who have a similar view as you. Maybe you could count us too.

I'm using my friend's e-mail because I have to tell you...

I was recruited by a guy in the grocery store (seemed nice enough), and went to one of the Amway meetings.

I have never seen so many weenies in one room. What a bunch of day-dreaming dorks. I know they'll just think I'm some negative loser, and that's fine, but holy cow...I just feel really sorry for these guys. Do they know how much everyone laughs at them?

I laughed through the whole meeting, and the guy who recruited me must have thought I was really enjoying myself & getting really "fired up." When I told him that I was laughing AT them, and not WITH them, he couldn't believe it. What a sad little man.

Sorry, Amway. You can't get me!

I am gald I found your site. Very informative.

Two days ago a business associate contacted me about becoming associated with a program called the "Britt World Wide System." My friend explained about how much he could earn and so on. He asked if I was interested in coming to a meeting on Tuesday night at 7 pm. Because I wanted to be polite, I listened on. He spun more tall tales about the type of people (lawyers and doctors) who belonged to this organization and the potential to meet other professional contacts. When he finished, I asked one simple question "is this in anyway, shape or form related to Amway?"

He hedged a bit and like a well rehearsed response said technically "yes " but in substance "no." I agreed to meet him at this function based on our past favorable dealings. As soon as I got home, I checked the internet. Something this good had to be located on the 'Net. I found your page as well as others.

Needless to say, he is at the meeting and I am home. However, I left him a message that I respectfully declined to join his great opportunity - you never known when I may need an Amway toothbrush or something.

Thanks for clearing the air.

Hey Sidney:

Great web site! I've been reviewing your site for at least the last 6-9 months.

Thought you may like to have the article bellow. Feel free to post it if you desire with "David Roland" as the author.

Feel free to add your comments to mine and/or to edit mine where needed. Also, feel free to put parts of my comments into your comment section and insert links where appropriate if you so desire.

Good luck with your site!

----- Article Begins -----

The following is an article from Amway's publication magazine entitled, "Amagram" dated August 1997, page 44. It is quoted verbatim.

Section: Business Ethics
Article Title: "How to Deal With Inaccurate or Misleading Internet Reports"

The Internet has become a communication vehicle for millions of people worldwide. As might be expected, some users have chosen to post opinions, both positive and negative, about Amway Corporation and its distributors. This has prompted distributors to ask: "What do I say when prospects or downlines ask about negative information they have read 'on the Net'? what if prospects say they are declining to become distributors because of this information?"

In such situations, you can explain that the Interent has become a massive forum for free speech, where people around the world can debate differing opinions. This is a fundamental value of free society. However, with this easy and inexpensive access to a public forum, Internet users should look closely at the person or entity posting the information. Is the poster of the information a credible source? Does the poster have an agenda that might make the information less reliable?

Objections to the Amway business are nothing new. As an Amway distributor, you often encounter people who are relunctant to take advantage of the Amway opportunity. In many cases, their objections are based on fear of the unknown or lack of knowledge. In other cases, they may have been exposed to inaccurate information about the Amway business through word of mouth, television reports, newspaper articles, or other sources.

The Internet is simply a new medium of expression. As with all prospect concerns, here, too, the best approach is to listen carefully to what your prospects are saying, make sure you understand their specific objections, and then answer those objection as you would if they had obtained a less than complete and fair opinion of Amway through a relative, friend, or newspaper story.

To support you ABN AMWAY BUSINESS NETWORK(R) has a section that provides information on many commonly asked questions about the Amway opportunity. The Amway websites also provide information about the Amway business and Amway distributors. And as always, you can contact your upline or Amway Corporation regarding specific questions or concerns.

Ultimately, however, no matter how much information you provide, there will always be some people who can never be convinced of the benefits of owning their own business. As we often here in the business, "Some will, some won't, so what."

------ End of Article ------

----- Comments Begin -----

[Now for a review from an Amway distributor who is disgruntled with the way the Corporation has been recently handling public affairs.]

First, let me say that I have been an Amway distributor for over 4 years, so I have a pretty good idea on the logistics and the hype of the business. In reality, the business is more hype than logistics--$65 per month for the AVERAGE (that means there many who are making LESS than $65 a year) Amway distributor is not very much; furthermore, it's a lowsy business statistic compared to other busines opportunities.

Second, you may ask: "Why are you STILL an Amway Distributor if you don't like what's been going on?" Well, first I like the products (thought this is liking is quickly disappearing); second, I get a little discount on the product as a distributor; third, by January 1998 I probably will no longer be a distributor because I'm tired of the lack of ethics and hypocracy of the Amway Corporation (i.e. Amway says they support Free Enterprise, yet they discriminate against their distributors by restrict many marketing and advertising methods and media).

Now to the article...

If I was a gambler, I'd bet $1,000,000 that this article was an indirect response concerning Sydney's web page.

In a nutshell: Amway's article is focused upon an idea that the Internet is a media "where people around the world can debate differing opinions," and therefore, pay no attention to AMWAY: THE UNTOLD STORY website because it's only one man's opinion. The problem with this concept is that Sydney's page contains mostly FACTUAL information and NOT "opinions."

"Inaccurate information"? I believe that this website has enough factual and documented information that being "inaccurate" is not an issue.

"...their objections are based on fear of the unknown or lack of knowledge." Sometimes yes; however, the objections of this Site are NOT based on fear or lack of knowledge. They are based on FACTS and researched knowledge. If the web author had a lack of knowledge, then surely Amway would tell him so, wouldn't they?

"The Internet is simply a new medium of expression." It is not "SIMPLY a...medium of expression" nor is it a "new" medium. What about communications, education, science, government, or business uses? Furthermore, the Internet has been around for quite some time. Seems like Amway has their own problem with a "lack of knowledge!"

What does deciding not to become an Amway distributor have to do with "never being convinced of the benefits of owning a business?" Does one have to be an Amway distributor to become aware of the benefits of owning a business? Apparently, Amway believes so. Since Bill Gates isn't an Amway distributor, I guess Amway thinks he doesn't understand the benefits of owning his own home based business.

Some will be suckered by hype, some won't be suckered by hype, so what!

A fool says: "If the dream is big enough, the facts don't count."

A religious man remembers: "For what man builds a tower without first counting the costs?"

A wise man says: "How can I use facts, statistics, advice, and common sense to discover the best way to get me where I want to go?"

------ End of Comment -------

I don't expect an answer to this one, but I am interested.

"How much do Proctor & Gamble pay you more or less than a Direct Distributor"?

Hello,

Just wanted to thank you for posting the information on Amway. A close friend, who just got suckered in himself, and has tried (with another 'expert') to tag-team me into this scam, emailed me that he spent 2.5 hours reading the material on your page and has had an epiphany.

Long live the Internet!

After reading through the articles you provided, i only have one comment, "you are so PATHETIC!!" Spending hours in front of the computer making this page instead of go out and do something that's productive for a change.

I've been an Amway distributer for over a year now, and yes i'm a very active distributer. Being involved in the Amway business has changed my entire life. I'm only 21 years old and because of Amway business, now I have 5 countries of distributership and houndreds of people under me. Because of Amway business, i travel all around the world, meeting new people everyday, and exiciting things happens all the time.

Maybe a lot of people know Amway, or even just heard of Amway, but there's so much more than just over priced products and nonstop meetings. For me, Amway is not just a business anymore, it's a way of life. We have to brush our teeth everyday, why not change to a higher quality product. Instead of going to costco, buying hundreds of dollars of products, and on the way out the worker has to check your receipt and see if you have stolen anything from them, OR you can use the products that is related to your future. Now everytime i think of it, hundred of people wake up everyday, brushing their teeth with MY toothpaste, every cent they spent goes to MY pocket. After 5 or 10 years, you will still be sitting here, critising about God knows what, I'll be in Hawaii, enjoying the sun and checking out sites. So critisize all you want, and I will see you in 10 years, HaHaHa....

I really enjoyed your site.

Hey Sidney!

Wow! This is an outstanding site! Thank you so much for researching Amway and making the results available to everyone. I don't have much time now, but I will write back soon with my own Amway-broke-my-heart story. If at all possible, I would be interested in hearing about your own experiences with the company and what prompted you to establish this site. Again, thank you!

Dumela

I found your page very intresting as amway is now opening in my country(south africa).

Thanks
Energy to you

P.S. Dumela is hello in Zulu.

You are obviously a LOSER without a clue!

Let me just commend you on your web site. Having worked at a major resort along the eastern coast, Amway conventions were annual. We had all the "big guns" present. Funny how (95% percent of the time, easily), just after a scamway person would tell me about their vacation homes, expensive cars, etc. , their credit cards would always decline with the banks. As disgusted as I am by Amway, I always looked forward to asking them if they had payed for the luxury items with the credit card. Needless to say, I never received a smile from them. Ah, but how good it felt.

Anyhow, keep up the good work.

neighbors are in the "fold" spending money, going to events its been three years plus he's hitting up everyone in our church....again

I'm an Amway distributor, and I don't think this is a cult. How stupid is to say that!!! If this was a cult, everybody would be Diamond or above by now, since we would be doing what the "leaders" say. But no. Everybody does it the way they like to do it. After all, you do YOUR business the way you want to. I know it works, because it is working for me. Unfortunately, some people don't have the gutts to go on, they quit and then they put the blame on a business oportunity. It doesn't matter. In acouple of years the people who listened to you is going to regret it. Too bad Good luck with your endeavours, whatever they are.

Thank you for the information about all of our WONDERFUL friends at amway. I also got the "complete" pitch today at work. The poor guy who is attempting to recruit me really is acting like a zombie and wishes for me to attend a seminar tommorrow evening. I have printed out all of the lawsuites and evidence against them and will attempt to do a good deed for all of the "sheep" at the meeting tommorrow and show them that their sheperds are acually parasites looking to suck their bank accounts dry. I feel it is an obligation for me to do something so some single mother or college student(like myself) gets robbed due to these crooks. Again many thank-yous, I'm going to drop quite a bomb on them tomorrow evening.

I am not an amway rep.
but it appears you are a loser to.
What kind of biss do you have?

i read your articles and feel that any one who thinks positive about anything is looked at as being and colt. even jusus christ was condemed by his own people but it seems he has the biggest following in all diffrent religions. It i usally nice to get all the facts about something before making a comment. I also feel all the comments listed are based on people who were affialiated with jurky poeple in amway.l

do you intend to post amway's countersuit against P&G?

I love your amway site!!!! amway sucks and most of the people already know that. Is there any way that I could mirror your site? I hope you will never let it down. Later.

Here is a document that I created to convince my mother and father, both retirees without much financial savvy or support, that Amway was not an easy path to worry-free retirement.

There may be things in it that are worded badly or do not conform exactly to Amway company policy. You would know more about that than I do.

Incidentally, I chose Toyota as my example solely for my father's benefit. He's a Toyota fanatic; I pointed out to him that he had spent aproximately one hundred times as much time researching his new car than he did researching Amway.

Anyway, he cut his losses ( about $300.00 ) and got out. His upline still calls him, but he's resisted so far.

I got my initial information from your site, so thank you.

================================================================
Toyota Distributor Agreement, as written by the Amway Corporation of America

Congratulations! You have just joined ToyotaWay, the most successful independent distributor network in the world. Thousands of people just like you have found financial independence through the ToyotaWay system, the most successful marketing and motivational program ever devised.

Toyota automobiles are the greatest vehicles on the road today. They are more powerful, get better mileage, and cost substantially less than competing brands. Rigorous testing in Toyota's own labs have proved all this. In the accompanying Toyota-provided literature, you can clearly see that almost four of any other brand of automobile would be required to provide the value of just one Toyota!

Almost 2.6 million people have joined the ToyotaWay program, with hundreds and hundreds already being Diamonds. Think of that! Almost one percent of one percent of the men and women in the organization are already living the dream, with hundreds of thousands more (that's almost 3% ) well on their way to joining them!

How do you become a successful, affluent Diamond? It's so easy! Just put 7500km on your Toyota each and every month, or have 6 people in your downline put 2500 km on their Toyotas every month, and that's it! Or, you can distribute accessories and household products from all sorts of major manufacturers, all of which have point values equivalent to mileage, to as many people as you can sign up! What could be easier?

Of course, you must pay all costs for fuel, oil, maintenance, etc., but these are provided at up to 50% less than any competing brand, and it all goes directly to your Plan as well, so you are actually saving tons of money! After all, you?d have to buy all that stuff anyway, and from anywhere else it could cost you up to 50% more!

In addition, you must convince 10 different people each and every month, to purchase products from The Toyota Corporation. But, that's not difficult, is it? Almost everybody already owns a car, and it needs gas, oil, accessories, etc. anyway! And, you are able to provide hundreds of these products at substantial savings over their usual suppliers! And it all contributes to your Plan!

Once you are established, you may want to assist others in becoming Toyota Distributors themselves. You will provide them with everything they need to get started. You will ensure that they conform to ToyotaWay's high standards.

We encourage you to approach everyone you can about joining ToyotaWay. We will not tell you how many other people have already approached them, nor will we give you and sort of territorial protection, like other franchise operations do. We do not provide financial assistance, case histories, audited financial statements or legal advice. All of that is up to you and your upline, whose continued success depends on you. If you want to keep being successful, you'll have to work harder than the other Distributors in your area ( How many? We don?t provide those figures) since you?re all competing for the same available dollars.

We do not release the numerical results of any of our tests. Instead, we provide the opinions of many satisfied Toyota owners, all of whom are Toyota distributors themselves! Who would know better just how superior our cars are than people whose financial future depends on selling them?

ToyotaWay is not an illegal pyramid scheme. This was proved by an FTC decision in 1989 which states that, because of the Ten-Customer Rule, ToyotaWay is perfectly legal. As long as you faithfully sell Toyota products to ten different people, or sell an equivalent amount to a couple of people other than yourself each and every month, you are not violating any laws. Of course, should you not accomplish this, then, according to literature published by ToyotaWay itself, you are a member of an illegal pyramid scheme. So, make sure to make those sales happen, since they are the one and only thing keeping ToyotaWay from being declared illegal by the FTC.

You may not use anything other than Toyota-approved literature to advertise or generate sales of our products. This includes any so-called 'independent' tests, reviews, comparisons, magazine reviews, newspaper articles, etc. These ? independent? tests are actually being provided by people or companies that do not understand the Toyota Way and want to keep you from succeeding as a Toyota Distributor.

You can be a Toyota distributor without buying the Sales Tools or the Motivational Aids. They are optional. But then, so is success as a Toyota Distributor. ALMOST NO-ONE WHO DOES NOT LISTEN TO OUR TAPES AND ATTEND OUR MEETINGS AND FUNCTIONS EVER OWNS THEIR OWN TOYOTA.

Seminars and meetings, which are entirely optional, will be attended only by people who already drive and sell Toyotas or who are planning to be Toyota owners themselves. You must pay to attend these important events. People who are satisfied to drive other brands of automobile are to be discouraged from attending, as are those who wanted to be Toyota owners but were unable to do the work required to succeed. We can learn nothing from those who have failed.

We do not release figures that actually show how many Toyotas each Diamond owns, how long it took them to become Diamonds or what it actually cost them to achieve this. Instead, we publish all sorts of literature, which you must buy, that shows .0012% of our distributors actually going on fabulous trips and seminars which they don?t even have to pay for! Why? Because people like you, who haven?t yet become Diamonds, pay their way as well as their own! Think of the day when You finally break out and have those beneath you pay your way to these fabulous events!

Trust your upline and the people above them. They are always right because they have money, material possessions, and Toyotas of their own. Ignore those who say that over 99% of the people in ToyotaWay never succeed, even though a careful analysis of our own annual results ( which the FDA forces us to publish ) proves this to be true. These people didn?t have what it takes, and you do. Trust your upline, listen to the tapes, attend the meetings, and before you know it, you'll be a Diamond!

After just a few short years at this pinnacle of success, it'll be time to retire, secure in the knowledge that a shiny new Toyota will be parked in your driveway for life. Just remember, you?ve worked very, very hard for this. You must continue to put 7500 km on it each and every month, or sell an equivalent value in products,or you will lose it. If you are unable to do so, someone you have legally designated must drive it for you. If they are unable to do so, you must, regardless of your health or mental condition, drive your Toyota 7500 km, or the Corporation will take it back and give you nothing in return.

This document was created using literature and statistics provided by solely by The Amway Corporation of America. Wherever possible, I have used phrases and references directly from Amway's own advertising.

Hello again Sidney,

The Late Show Top Ten List Website has a funny list titled, "Signs you're in a bad cult." http://www.cbs.com/lateshow/lists/970404.html

I especially like #9.

Keep up the good work.

Keep up the good work. I'm glad I ran into your web page before getting sucked into the Amway thing.

I had my first meeting with a nice couple last night. They are both Psychologist and used every trick in the book to temp me into becomeing a millionaire overnight.

I heard that they are a christian cult and you become their slaves as you get deeper involved with this organization.

The funny thing about the whole scene is that DON'T THEY EVER SELL PRODUCTS????????!!!!!. All they talk about is getting people to work for you and to keep you and your family and children from starving. (I'm single by the way!!!). I was willing to buy a box of soap from them but it seems as though those products are only for amway distributors to use!!!! I don't get it!

Take care. Email me back if you know more web pages about the Amway Christian Society.

The information you have here is accurate and gets to the point. The Internet/www is turning out to be the #1 place where people can go to find out about the things their prospecting Amway distributotor didn't/won't tell them. I finally got the full picture through your site back in late February after being in Amway for almost 3 months. I found out more about Amway in 3 hours looking around sites like this than I did in my 2 3/4 months as a distributor - thanks. Here I went all the way the hell up to Maine to attend the Owen Winter Conference to find out more when all I had to do was click a mouse button, oh well - win some, lose some.

While listening to only the "positive information", I discovered that.. - soaps like Tide clog up the municipal sewage systems
- only Amway made the true environmentally safe products
- I was on the ground floor of a business that was about to take off
- self-consumption was the way to making money, retail selling was something everyone was eager to ignore - and were mostly successful at doing so.

In fact, an upline was very proud of the fact that he got to where he was (where he was was not clear) through self-consumption and sponsorship, not retail selling. I was told that our line of sponsorship didn't emphasize retail selling while others did.

I could go on, but I can't remember everything and I'm sure most if not all of what I went through is brought up here. No need to repeat the same thing, I know my experience was'nt isolated by any means.

What did bother me during that confernece was the emphasis placed on religion. I'm not a very religious person and I don't have a problem with people who are. However, I began to realize as the conference went on that the religious overtones became stronger and stronger. It got to the point where I felt I was being bombarded or hit over the head with this religious hype. I didn't say anything, but it made me somewhat more uncomfortable about the whole thing. Now I'm learning that Amway is using and abusing religion to sell soap in it's competition with P&G.

Now I know that some of those people I saw at the confernece were slime. It seems to me that Amway is twisting religion and the law to become Big Brother as told in the book '1984'.

And one more thing, the sale of motivational materials is still first priority over the sale of products. The "new Amway" was barely freshened-up.

Well some people are loosers, and others do what is necessary to make it go. In case you didn't know, it takes several years to get it all set up to support you. The usual small business takes 5 years or so to be self sustaining, if you don,t go broke. This takes a very small investment, and has greater reliability in the return than virtually any other small business. If you think you will get rich in six months, then I suggest you waste your money on the lottery!

First of all, I'm an Excel rep. That statement alone separates me from every Amway distributor you'll ever meet; I have no reason or desire to hide the fact that I'm an Excel rep. However, most of the negative responses I encounter sound like, "This isn't Amway, is it?" Amway's reputation has probably cost me more customers and reps than all other factors combined.

Most of the vituperitive responses you've gotten from Amwayites contain the false-dilemma fallacy that Amway is the only, or even the best, game in town. Happily, I've helped some Amway distributors see it differently; they're in my downline.

Greetings Mr. Schwartz.

I was intrigued by your "expose" of Amway. I'm a former distributor who dropped out by simply being out of the country for a bit.

Your site is very professional, in good taste, and generally fair.

The income statements were very useful, and confirmed my suspicions.

However, ALL the price comparisons you present do not take into account the following:

1. Trip expenses involved in purchasing non-Amway brands. You provide shipping expense for the Amway products, but do not provide any guesses as to how much it mightcost me to rive/ride/walk to the neighborhood store to purchase these items.

2. Time expenses for the same action. It takes me (or my wife) several hours a week to go shopping. Contrast that with a few minutes to fillout the SA-1 (Ok. also add the time it takes to call my upline, put a stamp on it, etc.) Would it be fair to add an hourly rate to the expenses for the non-Amway items?

3. Environmental "friendliness." Many non-Amway items generate several times the volume in waste since they are not concentrated. Example: Reynolds 75 yard wrap. Generates about 3x the waste as the Amway product. (ok. so Reynolds also has a 200 yard box, which gens about 112.5% waste).

In closing, although there does seem to be a greedy agenda among some of the uplines, generally few start with the goal to deprive others of their money.

It all starts with the same dream: financial independence.

Some prefer to be on their own, while loosing money, instead of being employed by some faceless corporation - the new, subtle form of servitude.

Sid ol' buddy, this website looks like a full time job to me. What do you live on? Maybe you own the company that Dex and the boys employ to duplicate the tapes? If so, your cost overruns must be enormous! You have my sympathy Sid. I just wouldn't have the patience to keep up the crusade. Go to it, if it keeps you off the streets! P.S. Yeah, I'm a distributor, I make good money out of it, I work my butt off at it (my fault, I tell 'em upfront what it is). I also own 3 other conventional businesses, and have a full time job. At the end of the day, it's my choice to do with my life as I please, as it is for anyone else. Have Fun, see you on the next turn of the wheel.

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