### Amway: The Untold Story

## Your Comments, Part 54

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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]

Hello everybody,

Many of you may not know me but I just want to convey this message to as many indians I know and do not know. I apolgize upfront for barging like this into your mailbox.

Are you in United States on an H1-B visa? Have you been solicited by somebody saying about an "awesome" business oppurtunity? Yes or No you got to read this and forward this to all the Indians you know in US.

This mail is not anything "against" and certainly not "for" AMWAY There is lot of material available in the NET about the pros and cons about AMWAY and how they conduct their business. All you have to do is search for AMWAY in yahoo. But this is about the legal issues involved for anybody working in US on a H1-B visa. Let me start with what is a H1-B visa and it would be better to quote from a source who is better positioned to explain this. The following below is a from http://www.murthy.com/law/faq.html

"A person on an H1B is allowed to work only for one specific employer which has been approved and authorized both by the U.S. Department of Labor via the Labor Condition Application (LCA) and the INS. Please note that there is big difference between the LCA and the Labor Certification for the Green Card processing. A person on an H1B with one specific employer is not allowed to work for another employer, unless and until the person obtains a second H1B approval for the other employer. It is possible for a person to have two or more valid H1Bs concurrently. For example, one can be for a full-time job and the second one can be for a part-time job with a different employer. A person on an H1B is allowed to invest money in any business or any other enterprise that they wish to invest in. However, they are not allowed to start working for the business or do any work on behalf of a separate entity unless and until they obtian an H1B approval for the other entity. "

And the one below is from http://www.immigration.com/docs/faq/part3.txt

Q: I am an H-1 wishing to start a company. Is it possible? A: [from Rajiv S. Khanna, rskhanna@immigration.com] Yes. Incorporate (open a company) and then apply for either a full-time or a simultaneous H-1 for your own company. There are a few conditions applicable. First, you must be working in your own area of expertise. For example, a Software Engineer may NOT open a company selling shoes. Second, technically, your company must pay your wages even if the company is not making any money. Remember that you cannot use your own company to get a green card.

And finally the official AMWAY site www.amway.com says that the distributors are not an employee of the company but individual business owners.

Now draw your conclusions my friends if you are a business owner you need to incorporate and since most of you are already working here and do not want to go full time in AMWAY business you need to file a simultaneous H-1 visa. And even that will not be allowed as H-1 is a speciality job visa, i.e., this visa is issued to speciality work like software consultancy etc., but definitely not for selling SOAP. Anybody can sell soaps and there are lot of American citizens here doing that. America does not need someone on a temporary work visa to sell SOAP.

Most of the Indians in the business are highly educated compared to the Americans in the business. What I would like to do is advice the would be AMWAY distributors as well as the diehard AMWAY distributors to check with your attorney about the legal issues involved. Do not believe your sponsor about this. What ever you do or don't will either resolve your ambitions to sell soap products or may result in revoking of your visa.

And finally about myself... I am a software consultant, who was befriended by an AMWAY distributor within 2 months of my landing here and tried to "sell a dream to me". I dreamt for a while (1 month probably) and then decided selling SOAP products is not my dream and not selling SOAP will definitely not make me a "loser". I have better things to dream on than just attaining financially independency by "plugging" into the AMWAY system, which by the way is just a dream and will remain a dream for many.

hi i reviewed ur site and i have read many others like it. now i have been a dist. 4 quite some time. i dont doubt much of what is said. the majority is from what i gathered coming from dexters group. im not in his group nor am i 1 of those "amway people" i am plugged into the systemand alot of truth is said there i have discoverd the same principles to work in other areas of life. 4 example the education i decided 2 take on less than a year ago. now im 5000 in the hole. nothin against education but i stay positive minded to get through this. and ocasionally lookin back at achieving my high school diploma and 2 1/2 yrs of hard core job searching and couldnt even get minimum wage. now thats sad. now i found this business and decided not 2 quit period. now of course i learnd about networking and that hole bit though amway and thats how i landed into school. upon my enterance i ran into some advese situations where as i almost dropped out. not business related. but i pushed the business aside and here i am not finished yet and in debt.very quickly. will there be any profit return upon my graduation?? we wont kno that till im done. my primary focus is to be self sustaining finacially and i can thak this business greatly for helping me straightening out my priorities. but im still not quittin. once i hit a few personal goals ive long waited for then ill truly see whats there to be reaped for profit fom amway.

THE FACT IS THIS ALOT OF PEOPLE ARE MAKIN MONEY IN AMWAY. IF YOU DONT BELIVE ME LOOK IN THE AMAGRAM EVERY MONTH. AS FAR AS TOOL GO READ THE SMALL PRINT, AND REMEMBER THIS THAT WHEN YOU GO TO GET YOUR OIL CHANGED FOR YOUR CAR "THAT BUSINESS IS MAKIN MONEY OFF OF YOU FOR THE OIL YOU PURCHASED THROUGH THEM" !!!!!

DONT GIVE UP ON YOUR PURSUIT OF YOUR DREAMS. AMWAY OR NOT!!!

BYE BYE!!!!!!!!!!

I found your website informative. I'm only sorry such access was not available to me 15 years ago when I first became aquainted with Amway. To summarize, I found Amway to be a front for the Religious Right and their seminars and meetings reflected this overlooked fact. One seminar I attended in Dallas, Texas featured an outragious speaker. He was on stage by virtue of his high level in the Yager line of Amway. I will never forget hearing this man tell the audience that gay people had no business being in Amway and that Jews must accept Jesus Christ as their savior to be successful. I left the meeting stunned by not only the extreme views of the man on stage but also by all the applause he received. I remember looking at my sponsor at the time (he looked embarrassed by the speech) and asking, "what does this have to do with Amway?" I never got a satisfactory answer to that question. I think he tried to reduce his philosophy on the matter with this simple truth: What are you willing to overlook in order to make a lot of money?I struggled with this association for about a year. I stayed in Amway that long because I was convinced that dropping out would brand me as some sort of Failure. Meanwhile I kept spending money on tapes and books.

It's a form of cult programming or conditioning; many are not able to step back and rationally evaluate if Amway is really for them. It's too easy to get sucked up by all the talk of winners, losers, and $$$$. Now I just got word that someone I care a great deal for has bought into the New Amway. She used the term "Electronic Commerce" to describe the latest scheme that Amway has concocted. I don't know what that all that means but if it is associated with Amway, it can't be good. I'm worried that my friend, who is 1500 miles away, will make many costly mistakes and walk away tainted by the experience. It's been 15 years for me yet I still have the bad taste in my mouth. Thanks for your
time.

I have nothing but admiration for Amway. They have perfect a method of getting people to work for them and to pay Amway while they do it. As a small business owner, I would love to have a work force that has a .5% chance of getting a pay check at the end of the week. That would do wonders for our bottom line. A bit more seriously, my oldest son became involved in Amway during his 2nd year in college. The result was a negative cash flow, flunking out of school and perhaps most disastrously, a terrible blow to his self worth and self image. It may be that the worst thing that Amway does is to destroy individuals self worth. If anyone can succeed, then something must be wrong with me if I don't succeed. Multi level marketing is not only economically invalid, it is destructive and immoral.

YOU ARE PATHETIC TO COMPILE A WEB SITE BECAUSE OF YOUR OWN PERSONAL FAILURES. READ THE FACTS. IF YOU BUILT THE BUSINESS IT WOULD WORK. UNFORTUNATELY ALL YOUR WEB SITE IS DOING IS DESTROYING AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE LITTLE GUY TO MAKE IT. DONT YOU REALIZE THAT SO MANY PEOPLE NEED EXTRA $- THIS BUSINESS WORKS, IF YOU WORK IT AND GET MOTIVATED-STOP STEALING OTHER PEOPLES DREAMS BY BEING A FRAUD & DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE WITH YOUR LIFE.

Dear Mr Schwartz,

I do want to applaud you use of the first amendment. I'm a strong believer in freedom and free speech and I really do feel people should be able to say whatever they want to, and not have stituations like Oprah and meat. Also I'd like to say that the your page is actual designed very well and you must have taken a great deal of time to put it all together.

However, you missed a couple key issues about the system. For example you failed to mention that tapes do teach people. Case in point: my phone calls to prospects would still be jittery and shaky and rushed if isn't wasn't for No Apologies by Joe Markiewicz. Another: My attitude is better when talk ing to people. My sponsor lives 300 miles away and my direct has lot of other legs that deserve attention. So the tapes are vital to my growth.

My line of Sponsorship is Britt-Miller-Winter-Markiewicz-Leininger and in this group there are certain books recommended to be read. I've consistently read about a book a month. Not only in Amway related activities but in everything I do my confidence has been boosted. My finacee feels much closer to God and more important closer to me.

Maybe your line of sponsorship didn't do that for you. Maybe you didn't read. I don't know about your group, but I do know that I'm having fun and growing as a person and it's worth it no matter what I've paid. I couldn't have paid that much I'm a college student.

I wish you success in whatever you do and I hope you can finally come to terms with the amway business. I doubt that will ever happen because it is far easier to blame someone than to state "I failed." I hope you can also explain the connection between you and P&G, amway's chief competition. Keep up the clinton jokes though. Those were funny. Why does clinton play the sax? He lost his whore-monica. (say it out loud)

I was just playing around and came across your site. I have to admit, a couple of months ago when I first joined Amway, I read some opinions on your website and was so vunerable at that time that I really had to do some sole searching. SInce then, I have done nothing but research on Amway and the organization I am affiliated with ( not Britt or Yeager). I hope it is clear to most people that Amway provide the products and services, and depending what organization you join, they provide the training and support to build the Amway business. It's unfortunate that there are organizations out there, that mislead people. You join as an Independant Business Owner, period! You become a business owner, there are business expenses, as with any business. And as with any business, it requires consistent, hard work. This business is more of an emotional business than a physical one. I know, that 90% of friends and family will not join the business with me just because I think it's great. Gosh, is that a surprise, would I have expected friends and family to enroll into the college program I had a few years ago just because I thought it was so great! Of course not. The idea is to talk to lots of people, get tuned into people. There are so many looking for an opportuntity, it's just a matter of finding those people. THat doesn't mean hounding people, begging people. Just sharing this with people that have told you that they're looking. We know that only 3 out of 20 will join to build a network. I have always been told the truth up front. ONe of the first tapes I listened to was called "Only a few". I know the odds and I'm willing to go for it. I have never seen a group of people with so much integrity, work ethics, morals, as the organization I am affiliated with. Does this business work, of course it does. I would like to challenge anyone out there that has doubts about the Amway Corp. to read a book that was just released - "An Enterprising Life" - Jay Van Andel. I have never had more respect for any man or corporation. AMway was started by two buddies who worked around the clock and never gave up during their road to success. This is what successfull people do. SHow me a couch potatoe who succeeds in life. All those who are successful have endured lots of rejection, worked hard, stayed focused, had a vision when nobody else could see it. If one wants to live a mediocre life - then be mediocre. If you want to live a great life -then you have work harder, be more peristant, then the average joe. Do you need a dream to succeed in this business, I think so. Something has to motivate you to keep going when the chips are down. I don't think a business has ever made more sense to me then this one. It's certaintly not for everyone - it requires alot of things that people aren't willing to give. Hey, that's great -it would be a little scary if everyone came on board, wouldn't it! There are 20,000 people joining a month now ( INternationally) and AMway has only penetrated less than 1% of the global market and have already acheived 7 billion in sales. Wouldn't want to see everyone get in,would you?

Have a great day

I found your web site a few months ago and read through it, even printed about 6 pages worth of information.. The reason I even found out about this company is because a friend called me up and told me, "oh my god, you gotta come to this guys house with me and check out whats all in it for you". I asked what it was about and they really didn't want to tell me, they just wanted me to come see this guy who I have never even met. Well come to find out, I was told by them that you can make a lot of money by just talking to people. I knew at that point it was a "get rich quick, job" and I was in no way interested.. The more I asked around the more I found out about them and how this little fix works.. I couldn't believe a friend of mine would con me into something just to get my money. I was taken, I told her and her spouse no and that was some 6 months ago if not longer, since then they haven't even as much as breath my name. Nothing, they don't call, they don't come by anymore, hell they wont even return my call.. What on earth has this Amway crap done to their brains? Another friend who has gotten in touch with them says they are HOOKED real hard and they don't even call him. The only way he gets ahold of them is if they answer when he calls and all they talk about is how well they are doing but the catch is, they are still living in a real small apartment, and mind you it's only a $200.00 job, they still only have one car, they still work full time jobs. Sooooooo how well could they be doing?? Not to damn well, right? The funny thing is, the guy who got them hooked is a man who lives on a busy street across from some industries in a rather lower income area! I mean, go figure! They took HIS word and he has nothing to show for this.... Come on.. They are brain washed and desperate as hell... But this is crazy, if they both had real jobs and not $6.00 hr jobs they would have a house and ect. But they are depending on Amway to buy them a new house and new cars... Is this crazy or what! Advice, what should I say or do to "help" them out. These people don't have $$$ to throw around and because they have conned a handful of people into it they think they are doing well. So unless you are in their little "click" they won't even talk to you. I don't get it. It's not like them. Do you have any advice at all?? I mean I wish I could get this information to them, I can't get ahold of them to do so and then they would just freak out because I am so against it.. Also another thing, have you ever heard of Destiny being part of Amway? I had another friend who was into it and found out what kind of joke it was but she talked of Destiny and the dark secretes of that.... Sorry to carry on, I am just blown by how desperate people are to make a buck. They want money but don't want to have to go out into the world and work for it.. It's just crazy!

Greetings Mr Schwartz, My name is * and I am a former distributor in Australia, and I was part of the Yager system. I would just like to briefly share an experience with you. At the time I was 21 and had a group of about fifteen people, and I was touted as a young turk in my particular organisation. One evening after a major function, I confronted my upline Pearl Direct about the tapes and the money involved. He took me aside and said to me that if I had any brains, I would work out that that is where the money is. It reached a point thereafter through disillusionment, concern, a lack of focus...whatever you like to call it, where my momentum slowed and reality set in. Friends of mine were "blowing out" and through personal integrity I wore the cost of the countless tools they had been loaded with over a relatively short period of time. I believe that the entire experience over 2-3 years would have cost me $10,000 in tools, functions, travel, coffees, meetings etc. I must be honest though, in saying that I did benefit from various experiences, mainly motivational, and in fairness, my current success in the financial planning industry (Diamond income equivalent after two years - $150,000pa) has had something to do with my time in the business.

I was reading through some of the letters written to you, and I have to say one thing:

When I was working as a delivery driver for a chinese delivery restaurant, I was approached by the owners sister to join amway, She told me she was VERY successful and that it would cost me ONLY $500 to join (I saw elsewhere only $130 to join) When I replied that I had not a dollar to my name she said that I should think about joining anyway, getting the money any way I could. Well when I asked the owner of the store how long her sister had been doing the "amway thing" she told me that it had been several years, and in that time she had spent all the money from two profitable delivery businesses (much like the one I was working in) on CRAP for or from amway, to the tune of two lost businesses one lost husband (divorce) and two lost homes, That was the success she was trying to get me involved in, I'm glad I was broke, As I was better off then her, richer monetarily speaking. Have a great day, Post if you like, Correct errors if necessary, Change what you like Paraphrase if it so pleases you.

FIRST I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE MY BACKGROUND, IN ORDER THAT YOU WILL UNDERSTAND MY QUALIFICATIONS TO RESPOND TO YOU. I HAVE BEEN AN ACCOUNTANT FOR OVER 30 YEARS. MY PROFESSION IS THAT OF AN ANALYTICAL NATURE, ESPECIALLY IN ADVISING PEOPLE ON BUSINESS VENTURES. FIRST LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE SOAP. IT HAS WON MORE AWARDS FROM THE GOVERNMENT FOR IT'S EFFECT ON THE ENVIRONMENT THAN ANY OF THE NAME BRAND PRODUCTS. YOU SEEM TO SOME SORT OF AN AVERSION ABOUT INCOME EARNED ON TAPES,BOOKS,SEMINARS AND CONVENTIONS. BEFORE JOINING, I RESEARCHED THE COST FACORS OF OPERATING THIS BUSINESS AND TO MY SURPRISE, IT'S MONTHLY COST AVERAGES $200.00 - $300.00. IF YOU RESEARCH THIS, YOU WILL SEE THAT IT IS THE SAME AS SOMEONE WHO SMOKES 2 - 3 PACKS A DAY. WHEN YOU ATTACK PEOPLE FOR THE ANY PROFITS THEY EARN, WHICH THE LAST TIME I CHECK, IS WHAT MAKES THIS COUNTRY THE BEST, WHY NOT DO SOME COMPARISONS. FOR EXAMPLE, HOW RETAILERS MUST WORK ON 400% MARK UPS. HOW AFTER PARENTS PAY LARGE AMOUNT OF DOLLARS TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN AND THAT ONLY 1 OUT OF SIX MIGHT GET A JOB IN THE FIELD OF THEIR STUDIES. IF YOU TOOK TIME TO STUDY THE COST OF TAPES, BOOKS, SEMINARS AND CONVENTIONS, YOU WILL SEE THAT IT IS AN EXTREMELY COST EFFECTIVE EDUCATION, THAT IS, IF YOU WANT TO LEARN. CURRENTLY, AMWAY REPRESENTS 85% OF THE FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES. AS AN ACCOUNTANT, I THINK THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE REPRESENTED BY THE BEST LEGAL AND FINANCIAL ADVISORS . AMWAY IS IN 50 STATE AND OVER 74 COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. DON'T YOU THINK THAT IF ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE PROFESSING, SOMEHOW AMWAY WOULD BE FOUND OUT. IN FACT IF MY STATISTICS ARE CORRECT, THERE ARE OVER 15000 CORPORATIONS PER MONTH WAITING A 5 YEAR PERIOD TO JOIN THE AMWAY DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. AMWAY HAS PRODUCED MORE MILLIONAIRES THAN ANY OTHER BUSINESS AND HAS ALLOWED MORE PEOPLE TO RETIRE EARLIER THAN ANY OTHER BUSINESS. AS FAR AS COST OF PRODUCTS, A NATIONAL INDEPENDENT SURVEY COMPANY STUDIED AMWAY'S DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND FOUND OUT THAT A FAMILY OF FOUR PARTICIPATING IN THE SYSTEM CAN SAVE CLOSE TO $600.00 PER MONTH. AS AN ACCOUNTAN, I HAPPEN TO KNOW THAT MANY FAMILIES CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS. I CAN CONTINUE BUT I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS IS FALLING ON DEAF EARS. IF NOT AND YOU WOULD LIKE TO EMAIL ME BACK, I AM AT

Very interesting site. It seems that for years now those doing the Amway business have been saying the same thing and those bashing the Amway business have been saying the same thing. That is what is great about America, We are free people( at least for now)

What I find intresting is that everyone thinks that what happens in the Amway business is specific to the Amway business. Kind of like how people are so shocked that Clinton lied? He always has always will.

The amway bussiness is not perfect it has flaws, but so does every other business in the world, swhy do people bash it? we will never really know. But the more it is bashed the harder those of us who believe in it will work.

I have a founders Direct business web site * .Some of us do not do all the crap you post so it would be nice if you would mention that. We do make money on the tapes so what it is business and people now that the day we sign them up. Yeager does not control all of Amway and will become less of a player as time goes on, becase ther is a movment to build the business with true integretiy.

Keep up the good work you weed out the weak ones for me. I send all potential distributers to your page to see what we are figthing. Most join. Thanks. We will win and you inspire me to succeed.

Hope you Have something to build in your life instead of tearing down. TO accomplish dreams is much more exciting than stealing them. It does not have to be Amway, ther are alot of great way to win big in life and we support all dreamers.

jeff, just wondered if you had any answers to legal questions of being done wrong in Amway? We are Pearls who were never paid any of the "fringe benefits" you have talked about, and were kept from going Emerald by our Diamond who was qualified as an Emerald. He did some very shady things, and wondered if you knew any of the legal avenues we might take to recover some of our unbelievable losses. would love to talk to you. Know several Emerald couples who have and are going through very similar stories, Want to help bring this to a halt, feel Amway should help more than they seem to be.

Dear Mr. Schwartz.

All the things that I read about on these sites of what happen to other people I had experienced, I actually felt threatened and almost had left my husband..

I met a man in chat he was from another country lets say Canada, I am from the Northeast part of US...he seemed really nice... We started to email each other than he mailed me a tape but wouldnt tell me up front what it was about..we continued to email one another.. All though he knew I was married, he kept pressuring me to move where he

was at...we could work together in Amway...this all started out as a friendship in none other than a cancer chat.. I finally started questioning him and upon doing so he began to get obnoxious. He even told me he wouldnt talk to me unless my circumstances changed, I guess meaning I got divorced he knew I was married, and also knew I was sick.but that did not stop him...

I am still hurt and angry by what this man pretended to be, and what he really was.

I am glad I did not bite , whether here in the northeast or run off to join him in whatever amway tells him they are going to do for him... I am grateful for your site...it opened up my eyes...I do wish there was someway to warn other people that these people will stoop to come into chats where women or men are sick, and prey on the sick...

Thank You

I strongly suggest that you know all the facts before you print them on the web. Have you ever been, or talked to a distributor before you spouted off about how bad they suck? If the person has real motivation and ambition the business is a wonderful chance to make something of yourself. Why not ask some real questions first?

My name is *. I am an Amway Distributor. I believe that this business is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Those who have failed at this business failed because they gave up, or they didn't want it badly enough, or other reasons. One of the most important things I have learned in my life, even before Amway, is to never give up on anything you want or believe in. I understand that some people may have valid reasons for quitting the business, but it cannot be blamed on the system. There are so many wonderful possibilities! Amway is and always has been debt free, and they continue to rise each year. Last weekend, I met a multi-millionaire couple who became that way because of this business. There are also many, many more multi-millionaires, and I plan to join them. I'm sorry you feel so strongly against our corporation. I also feel sorry that you have been so misleaded somehow. You seem to devote a lot of time with an anti-amway campaign. I don't expect a response from you in regards to my letter, seeing how strongly we disagree on this matter, but all I ask is that you remember my name. In a few years, I will write you again, and tell you my success story, when I am a Diamond.

I feel sorry for you that you would put nothing but negative comments about Amway on your pages. The truth is that the Amway business is no better or no worse then the people who run their own business. You are prinitng the truth from the looser prospective. People loose in regular businesses all the time and Amway is no different. It is what you make of it. Be real people you get nothing from nothing. If these people would have applied real effort they wouldn't be talking bad about an oppertunity that is awesome. If it were not for the effort I put into Amway I would have had to move to some trailer after my husband was killed by a drunk driver, instead my house payment and then some is paid by the residual income created from the work we put into it over 10 years ago. It is not a rip off to me and my two children live the same lifestyle as they did when their fater was alive because of it. Sincerely sorry you only print loosers stories.

If you like P&G it`s O.K.Other people like Amway.What`s your problem a.........hole?

Sydney, Thank you for the great web site. You have undoubtedly saved many people both their money and their time by showing what Amway is really all about. I wish I could afford a billboard along a busy southern California freeway and just put your opening graphic and you web site address on it. So many people would see it and go there that Amway's already declining distributor base would decline even faster. Thanks Again,

Here's a copy of message I sent to one of your mirror sites.

Enjoy!

The comments posted on your site, the testimonials, etc..., are chillingly accurate.

I was recruited into a network called "Network21". I went along with the group with some reservations. I kept on analyzing their "system". But there was something that disturbed my wife and I about the whole thing.

After reading the material on your site, I could finally put my finger on it. It was a "scam". The testimonials from others peoples posts, were eerie to say the least. It described to a "T", exactly what goes on in these organizations. The brainwashing, the pitches, the words... everything described "word for word". My sponsor and our DD are trying desperately to
make me see the folly of my decision to leave the flock. Which to me only serves to portray them as "cultists". They are Jesus freaks with a twist! They use greed, money, material possessions to sink the hook into you. You are expected to obey, to follow the "System" without question, otherwise, you will be a failure in life. Glory to the "Diamonds", for they and only
they, have the answer to all your problems and desires. BULLSHIT. I feel sorry for the ones who swallow that crap. I was in for only six weeks or so. I was encouraged to charge the tapes, kits, etc on my VISA card. Network21 is reputed to have the lions share of the Amway market. Using a conservative figure of 500,000 followers @ 4 tapes a month ( a tape a week) @ 6.00$ US per tape.... ummmm lets see, my calculator says... 12,000,000.00$ That is TWELVE MILLION, US DOLLARS per MONTH. The hell with selling SA8 and toilet paper! In Canadian currency that would be 18,000,000.00$, I could live like a "Diamond" on that kinda money, hell, I could buy a diamond mine. There are somewhere around 3.5 million Amway distributors in the entire world. Lets see, 3.5 million @ 4 tapes a month @ 6.00$ US = 84,000,000.00$ per month X
12 months = egads! My calculator ran out of digits! OVER A BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR folks. Is this "big business"? Don't need to be a rocket scientist to see where the money is! Who gets this cash? Only a very small handfull. And
don't forget, there is also some serious cash generated from the sales of videos, books, seminars, and other "tools".
Mention must also be given to Amway products to the tune of 7.9 BILLION $ in sales last year.

Mind you, there is a lot of money to be made (by a select few), but I can't "lead the lambs to slaughter", as I possess something called a "conscience". I am a sales professional, I possess fairly good people skills, I have what it takes to go Diamond. But to me, its "dirty money", money made on the hopes and dreams of friends, relatives, family and acquaintances. The guy/gal who will run up their credit card debt to follow a dream. A dream that will for the vast majority turn into a nightmare, leaving them broke and disillusioned.

I guess I have lost my new found "friends", the daily phone calls of "How you doing my dear friend?" and "Give our love to your wonderful wife", will most certainly cease. (Thank God). They will no longer give me the time of day. These are "genuine" people? "True" friends? I, all of a sudden, am dirt under their feet. The black sheep, an outcast! IT FEELS SO GOOD...

What the heck, I already have a BMW (not new), a sailboat (only 28'), and a full time job (a decent one). My BMW, boat, Harley-Davidson, Chrysler, home, my daughters braces, etc, were all paid for with honest money. Money I didn't have to milk out of innocent victims. Yes, I now refer to my ex-prospects as victims. At least, next spring, I will be on my boat most
weekends, and NOT in someones living room drawing circles on a Saturday night.

I feel like such a failure, maybe I'll go shave my head and live in the woods (Yeah, right!). I'm also gonna miss paying twice as much for my every day consumables. FYI, Colgate or Crest toothpaste is 1.29$ retail. Amway's "Glister" 4.61$ (Canadian $) at distributor cost (wholesale) for the same size tube. Furthermore, Glister left a funny "aftertaste" in my mouth. Guess
I'll have to go back to that crappy Crest stuff, hope my teeth won't rot and fall out! When I went to business school, wholesale was usually less expensive than retail. I guess I am cerebrally challenged and just don't understand the mecanics of business... DUH!

Toilet paper at twice the price! Do you realize what we use toilet paper for? And after its soiled, we flush it into the damn sewer system. Pay twice the price? I got 3 females in my house and 2 bathrooms. Any idea just how many sheets of toilet paper I flush out per day?

Well, time for me to get off my "soap box", I did sort of ramble on here. Wanna do "Amway"? HAHAHA

You know, I have to laugh at the whole thing... when I think of introducing my upline as "... a friend who owns a very successful business!", what crap, a bold faced "lie". He has been in it maybe a month longer than I have, and has not only not made one red cent, but has spent a load of money on "TOOLS". HA! "Successful", get a life!

There is a BBS, or Business Building Seminar, next weekend in Kitchener, Ontario. Cost 40$ for wife and I, distance 700km each way, 1,400km return, which is 840 Miles for you Americans for a 4 1/2 hour meeting. Thats 7 hours to get there, 4 1/2 hours of brainwashing, 1 hour for dinner, and a 7 hour drive back home. Well, do you have any idea just how exhausting a weekend like that is? Do you know the chances of falling asleep at the wheel are extremely high? There is always the option of going on Friday nite and staying in a motel, if you got the extra bucks to spend. Many people are doing the straight down and straight back home thing. No thank you!

Sorry, I can't seem to stop! I think I will put all this down on a cassette and offer it to ex-Amway distributors for 5.99$ US. Lets see at 25,000,000 ex distributors @ 5.99$ = , God, I gotta go for deprogramming! Look at what they have done to me!

From: "Brant McDonald" <brantm@hotmail.com> To: Schwartz@teleport.com
Subject: hi hi there sucker
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 18:26:55 PDT

man, you really don't know anything do you. me and my amway cult buddies on our way right now to kill you. you're lucky if you get to read this because you will be dead soon. amway is not a cult. my parents are in it and are pretty well off. we just built a 4,000 sq. ft. home and are buying new vehicles with amway cash. you think we could buy this working on a farm? NO YOU IDIOT! if you only knew. bet you wish you could take FREE trips to hawaii and go to california and anywhere you can think of. see ya punk.

May God bless your work. Job well done. I will share this information with others.

the only thing you are mad about is that you bought a bunch of tapes and then didn't have the motivation to actually go out and do what the tapes said to do. You shouldn't have quit. Your a quitter. If Amway was a cult, then everyone would be successful. And obviously "The System" is the way these diamonds and crowns have become successful. I am sorry you had a negative experience with Amway, but I am sure that it was only your fault that it was a bad experience, because you are a quitter. You have motivation enough to make a worthless website full of lies, but not motivation enough to become financially free and happy through Amway. See ya HUB

I found your web page during a search for AMWAY and their new International Connections scheme. They are now taking the tact of calling it e-commerce. I got sucked into an hour long "chat" because I made the fatal mistake when I met the father of one of my son's class mates (we just moved to the area). I asked "so what do you do?" He comes back that he's working in e-commerce and that there were great opportunities . Being in the computer field I naturally said that it was an interesting area and that we should compare notes someday. needless to say the warning bells didn't go off when he called a couple of days later to ask if I was busy because he wanted to talk to me about what he does. Thinking the guy is just being friendly to the "new guy in the area" I said sure come over for coffee. When I started to tell my wife that this guy was coming over, her first question was "what's he selling".

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! the bells went off loud and clear, so I tried to get him to change the time and ask him more details. this is when he starts getting a little evasive and starts mumbling. so not to be rude I let the guy come over. When he walks in the door wearing a tie and sport coat at 9:30 at night I know I'm in for a sales job. I should know because I used to sell Life Insurance for the one Snoopy advertises, but that's another story.

He starts with small talk and then whips out this glossy trifold brochure about International Connections and getting a 7 digit number and linking it with other people's numbers. (smells like Amway) I'm not biting at this so he starts talking about the products we all use and how much money you can save by buying direct from the distributor. (Tastes like Amway) I'm still not biting and he goes off on how the thing works, with knowing people all over the world and getting them interested and the computer system that takes care of keeping track of all this being run by amway and the money you can save. Whoa there big fella and go back to that part about Amway. Oh didn't I tell you this was Amway. You are familiar with the products aren't you. you guessed it, out comes the shoe polish on the hand and the concentrated soap product that washes it off. Bells, whistles and red warning lights are going off everywhere and I'm trying to politely get this guy out of the house. the hard sell comes next with the testimonial cassette tapes and the video about the water purification system. I promise to listen to them and call him in a couple of days. (as the punchline goes "good thing we didn't step in Amway").

I know this is probably a long note but I figured there are other people out there who might be taken in by the "make money off the Internet line". When they used to start off with the "save money by buying direct line" I would always say "sure come on over so long as it isn't any of that Amway sh_t!" This would flush them out right away. I must be slipping since I moved to this new location. I'm adding your web page to my favorite list. Thanks for the information published.

I really don't understand how people can "go broke" in amway. My wife and i have been distributors for three years and we have found the over head to very low as compared to other companies. I own a personal chef service and my weekly over head for that far exceed that of my monthly amway business. As far as loosing friends and relatives due to our involvment we haven't had that happen eiter. I guess its because we have learned people skills and that the amway oppurtunity is not for everyone, just like my personal chef service. Also my upline or sponsor has helped us out tremendously over the yers, from going to show the oppurtunity to others, helping us get some good marriage counseling, and even financial help when i had surgury on my foor twice last year. Maybe not everybody is as blessed as i am to have a wonderful upline who walk the walk and talk the talk, but i do blive that some people just need to own up to the fact that they needed to change or didn't do the work required, because amway is work and nothing in the litature that i've ever read has promised success. Although i do feel remorse for those who failed at their amway business and went bankrupt I think it shows that they need some financial guidlies taught to them about how to spend money esp. on business affairs because the average person does not really know very mch about busines in the first place or how to manage expenses or one.

let us nt become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up!

Keep up the good fight.

Hello!

I love your site and it's helped me to make the decision to leave the Amway business. Scary stuff. Glad I'm getting out after only 4 mos.

I was curious about your reference to the IMO system of Amway. I haven't heard of it. Where could I get more information on it - on the web perhaps - that would be clear and accurate (not Amway's version).

I appreciate your help. Thanks for your time.

Ex-Distributor in S. Calif.

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