Our upline booked a community hall and turned it into Amway Christmas shopping central and all IBO’s were told to invite friends and family to attend and purchase Amway products as Christmas presents.
Most of the products out on display were the edibles - nasty food bars, disgusting XS energy drinks, vitamins, Perfect Water. You know - the type of stuff every kid wants to find under the Christmas tree.
Each IBO had to pay $10 towards the rental of the community hall. There were about 40 IBO’s at this event. You guessed it. The IBO’s outnumbered the shoppers.
The old community hall is on a fairly quiet street about 2 blocks from a busier street. There was a sign on the door advertising to come in for Christmas shopping. Perhaps they would have got more buyers if they’d gone a couple of blocks away and put a sign on the corner of the more travelled road. Or maybe not. First Saturday in December is the biggest shopping day of the year at the malls. Let’s weigh this out. Mall with lots of shops. Lots of variety. Good selection of products. Decently priced. Compare to Amway shopping central at a small mice-infested community hall. Overpriced products. Limited selection.
Five friends of ours showed up. The IBO’s pounced on them thinking they’d get some good sales. One of our friends actually purchased a few products. The pity purchaser who only bought the items to help out Ambot. Decent sale too over $100. I don’t recall the actual amount. May have been closer to $200.
Now here’s the crazy part. Our friend was the only person who purchased anything that day. Out of all the IBO’s there Ambot had the only sale. At the meeting at the end of the day when we were packing up the Platinum berated the group on the lack of sales. Now here’s where you’d think the pompous sack of shit would have some kind words for Ambot because his friend made purchases. Nope. He tore into Ambot saying he had five friends show up and only one of them bought something. I mean really laid into him about how those weren’t real friends because they didn’t support his business and about his general lack of success even though he was the only IBO who made a sale that day. After the verbal lashing ended, like the good cult leader he is, he assured Ambot that they still loved him and they would always be his only true friends unlike the phoney friends who don’t support his business.
Despite all those proclaims of never-ending love and friendship, when Ambot stopped going to Amway meetings and buying products those phonies cut off their love and friendship. Boo hoo. I can’t tell you how much it breaks my heart that those liars don’t want anything to do with us anymore.
Wow. That just tells you all you need to know about the business savvy of your upline. No clue whatsoever about how to retail products. Oh, I forgot, they were building a corporate empire!
ReplyDeleteIf you can't get the little things right, you'll never get big enough to retire to the beaches of the world and build a house in cash.
What a waste of a perfectly good Saturday.
I remember our group doing something like this. Sort of a product expo. We didn't sell a single item but had to pay a nominal fee to have a booth. Just another way to lose money running an Amway business.
ReplyDeletemy upline had lots of loonie ideas even sending out postcards to business opportunity seekers with a mailing list. They then send out business opportunity tapes,manuals books, which talk about the dream and network marketing. The upline diamond claimed 1-2 in a hundred peop sign up after sending out 500 postcards. You'd get a 2% requesting more info. The group had tons of people buying the tapes,postcards,books,mailing list to send off to prospect. The person i knew spent over 4k mailing,buying these system tools to mail off and signed up one person LOL. That one person quit after a few weeks. When he complained about the results his platinum and diamond said "monkey see monkey do".
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this wasn't the only Saturday wasted. Or Sunday, Monday......
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have booths. Just a bunch of tables set up with different products on there kind of grouping everything together like XS on one table, Artistry on another. The hall had a stage and the IBO's set up some chairs in front of the stage and every half hour or so one of the IBO's would hop get on the stage and do a product demonstration. They even did a couple of those fake Perfect Water tests on our friends.
All our upline knew how to do was be abusive. They didn't have to know about retailing. I heard at enough Amway meetings where they tried to bullshit prospects who weren't interesting in selling that there was no selling involved in this business. How many times can one hear "these products sell themsevles".
More double speak. The upline implies you don't have to be a slick sales person, because the products are so superior, customers buy them even if your sales skills suck. In reality, a very low percent of volume is to non-IBOs.
ReplyDeleteI just LOVE THESE stories....thanks for the effort they take. I spent a lot of years back in the 90's and after filing for bankruptcy, quit. I was the idiot Ambot who got himself into $50,000 credit card debt traveling across the country chasing the business. What a waste of time and I'm soooo embarrassed now about it.....Austin, Texas /John Merris/Robert Pena group
ReplyDeleteThank you Anonymous from the former Merris/Pena group! Never heard of them myself but I never paid attention to the who's who of Amway. But oh my god - $50,000 loss! I'm sorry to hear about your loss and bankruptcy. Stories like yours are too common and frightening and sadly don't have much affect on IBO's who think that will never happen to them. Were you in a relationship during your Amway days and did the financial and emotional toll end it?
ReplyDeleteAnother former Merris/Pena member here. I bookmarked it after seeing a posting over at QBlog a month ago.
ReplyDeleteWhump!
Good - I just signed up for this and luckily can still get my money back!
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you Anonymous. There are better business opportunities out there that offer a better chance than 99% failure rate. You're saving yourself (and your partner if you have one) a lot of emotional grief and financial distress. The only downline we signed up quit a couple of weeks later after one of our upline phoned to chew him out for missing a meeting and he got a refund.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a decade since I got out and I STILL have wrapping paper I bought from amway to wrap the boatloads of Christmas gifts (amway, of course) I was going to sell at our huge retail open house.
ReplyDeleteSold zilch. shocker
guess I should have listened to more STANDING ORDER CASSETTE TAPES
That's the ticket.
Hi Anna Banana,
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, I wish to congratulate you on your blogspot, an outstanding achievement by any means. Second, I’m glad there are others like me out there, not afraid and willing to confront and defeat once and for all this so-called Amway beast.
I guess I do wish to get off my chest my own story in regards to the great “QUIXTAR” dream-team, the weapon of mass-destruction which was unleashed upon this town and somehow managed to consume my friend and many others whom I’ll have to say goodbye to forever. It hurts me to think back to when she used to be herself and still possessed those individual qualities we humans develop and evolve into from birth. She’s no longer a being but a mere segment to an entity far more sophisticated than I could have ever imagined. I guess I underestimated its brute force due to that “entitlement” personification of my ego when it comes to my own “battlefield”. Her high-school best-friend-forever prospected her as her downline. I was there when it happened, when my friend was invited to a meeting and the opportunity to have her friend show her ‘the plan’. Certain that she would decline anything which involved losing money, I assumed she would be fine. To me, it sounded like the most comical scheme on the face of the earth. By mistake, I managed to get the name of “Quixtar” from one of her water-bottles, which she was so reluctant to have just laying around, this due to their suspicious agenda. She mentioned on occasions about some of her prospects being incredibly “STUPID”…and I quote: “How can someone be so stupid as to not understand the plan”. Googling “Quixtar” I managed to obtain a copy of the so-called “BIZ-BIBLE” and some registration forms at no expense to me. The research was a bit too intense for my liking, but I guess an obsession to one day destroy the “Amway” corporation began to overpower my senses. Through this scavenging I came across valuable information that would forever immune those like me to any topic in relation to the great and all powerful “MLM”! Amazed by the journey the company had taken all these years, and the way it masqueraded under its ample and variant names I decided I would have ‘the talk’ with her whenever possible. When this took place, I found there was nothing more to be done, and the best at least from my part, was to be supportive in an emotional manner. She never once prospected me directly, everything with her has been between the lines and I have to admit twice I accompanied her to a couple of meetings I found to be at best amusing and delirious. Their ‘Diamonds’ are insignificant specimens whom have no bearing in the REAL world of business. Their type is but a laughable inferior kind unable to dissociate independence and dependency.
I have been prospected by an infant of the MLM supergiant using “COFFEE” as their mascot. The lord ‘Organo Gold” has distributors running around whom can’t even afford to own their own laptop, much less their own vehicle to impress me into buying into that authentic ‘miracle’ coffee and organic vitamins.
Hi Anonymous! I'm glad you found me. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteYup I let anyone who wants get whatever off their chest or rant. Even brainwashed ambots who stop by with their canned amspeak responses that they heard off a tape. Those masochists love coming here for punishment!
Sorry to hear about your friend. One of the things that happens to people when they get brainwashed into the Amway cult is the huge personality change. People who were at one time nice, caring human beings turn into nasty, snarling, egotistical monsters. Part of that might have to do with losing so much money. Losing money and having to lie to everyone that business is going great must be very stressful and make anyone angry.
Yup I've heard just about everything. People who are not in Amway are stupid. They are too stupid to understand the Amway business plan aka pyramid scheme. Furthermore people like me are quitters, lazy losers who are broke and will be dead by the time I'm 65. Not to mention I'm a negative unchristian dream stealer and unsupportive wife. These ambots are so original. NOT!!! I heard it when I was in Amway meetings, though not directed at me, just directed at people who are not in Amway. And then more so directly to me since I began writing this blog. Ha! The things they're repeating from their upline I heard a long time ago before they even heard the word Amway.
Some ambot will probably read what you said and leave a comment that you're an unsupportive friend and not a true friend. The thing is when people quit Amway, their Amway friends - their only true friends who really loved them - won't have anything more to do with them.
Once people quit Amway they are often able to mend relationships and get their old friends back. Sometimes not. Depends how obnoxious they were to the friends and family who wouldn't support their business.
Ambots fail to realize that not too many people are keen to pay 2 to 3 times the price for products they can buy at Walmart or Costco. Amway products at best are generic at overinflated prices. Often they are substandard to their grocery store competitors, and Amway products are still overpriced for the shit that they are.
As you have found out ambots go around with the attitude that they are better than everyone else simply by the fact that they are in Amway.
Never heard of the organo gold coffee but then I don't drink coffee so its not like something I would seek out!
I just googled Organo Gold Coffee and "surprise surprise", it automatically added "scam" to the search. Funny to read blogs for it. Same as the Amway ones. Posts talking about what a huge scam and rip-off it is and ones from folks sounding remarkably like Ambots with "sales pitches" using words like "awesome business opportunity" and phony stories of how being poor and downtrodden and the magical business lifted them to financial success. Sounding just as parroted, phony and canned as the Ambot's posts.
DeleteJust another MLM scam using the same tricks and techniques as Amway. Same shit, different pile.
~Dave
It’s funny, the guy prospecting me for Organo Gold couldn’t afford a descent lap top…much less a vehicle. Once I declined the offer to his ‘great business opportunity’, he reminded me to mention this great company to my friend (I had told him a little about her and her Amway venture earlier in our conversation). He was frank: “Tell her once she tires from that Amway-carousel, to give me call”! Once in the parking lot he asked me what route I’d be taking home because he might need a ride back to his place (it was kind-of cold that day-like 25 degrees and windy). I smiled and assured him I was already late on my way to babysit a dog in the next county. He just smile and said it was ok and thanks anyway. I didn’t feel bad about this due to the fact that if you say you’re making 5k a month you should be able to back it up with a great visual (even just to pretend)…AND PLEASE, DON’T FUCKING CALL ME A CONFORMIST BECAUSE I HAVE A 9-5 JOB THAT’S PAYING FOR MY LATE-MODEL EQUINOX AND MY HOUSE!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - someone who is making 5k a month should either be able to save up a couple of months and buy a used car that's not on the verge of breaking down or take out a loan and buy a very nice used car or even a new car. Or at the very least lease a car. Or buy a used moped. He should have rented a limo for a few hours that night if he really wanted to impress the people showing up for his meeting!
DeleteSTUPID ORGANO GOLD DIPSHIT...he couldn't even buy a BigMac Meal, moreless rent a limo!!!!! =)
DeleteNot as long as he's throwing money away in an MLM. No dispoable income!
DeleteThis is my actual Organo-Gold story in three parts...
ReplyDeleteMr. Organo Gold distributer (former customer) decided he would invite me to his upcoming barbecue (with friends and family) to hangout and have a good time. He had never spoken to me before regarding anything other than customer-service requests.
See, I work for a public library in town so I get my fair share of crazies, killers, and stinkies (I know-not an actual word). I knew where he was headed with this due to the fact I had researched the “programmed-upgrade” of your typical MLM unit. His model base however, differed greatly from the fancy-formal 2nd generation BIZBOTS resembling “The Men in Black” invasion. This recent downgrade waltz in binder in hand, casual-dress, broken lap-top and no transportation to make it from point A to B (failed design I believe). His appearance was less than desirable, as I’m by far more used to the clean-cut first-class penguins.
He informed me there would be an issue with viewing the “Organo Gold” plan on his lap-top, as it was broken, therefore we’d have to revert to his trusty binder. It took about two hours to help him accomplish my prospecting and therefore tap into the category of the investment. Oh, by the way, I insisted we not meet at his home for the barbecue plan, as I’m rather more on the side of an introverted nature. Large groups of people don’t settle well with me! So we decided to meet in McDonalds instead and have lunch while talking about “THE GREAT COFFEE”…it’s simple, it’s coffee!
After our worthless two-hour discussion, he assured me I would have the adequate assistance to prospect and sample the products. He as well introduced the three packages that Organo Gold had available for their recruits: Standard-49.99, Premium-499.99, Gold-1399.99. Holding on to my laughter, I tried my best to explain to this individual my philosophy about “personal-business”. A small business is an entity that revolves around an independent idea and foremost a unique new service or product. This new business-element contributes to a community by generating revenue to both-owner and community. I guess I’m old-school when it comes to the “American Dream” of owning my own business! He insisted this was a legitimate way of earning a descent living and maybe even making a medium fortune along the way.
...continue with part-2 next...
Ha ha most ambots don't want to meet at McDonalds even though the coffee is good enough and good price. They usually like to go to Starbucks - even though they bitch about Starbucks at every Amway meeting and all it Bigbucks and laugh every time they hear on the news about locations closing down. If not Starbucks then some equally expensive gourmet coffee shop.
DeleteHe told me if I showed up, he would buy me a BigMac Meal, but once I got there he said I'd have to take a raincheck on that because he couldn't afford it at the present time. I told him it was fine (yeah, like I FUCKING went just to hear him flap his shit-of-mouth around). I bought myself a MacMeal and he watched me eat it!!!!!!!! =)
DeleteYet another lying MLMer with no extra money because its all being invested back in the business.
Delete...continue with part-2 here...
ReplyDeleteAccording to his story, he began earning $200.00 a week, which after two months turned to $500.00, and finally $1,000.00 a week. In his point of view he had the potential to go as high as possibly $4,000.00-to- $5,000.00 a week if he really became involved in “Organo Gold”. His excuse as to why not becoming completely involved in “Organo Gold” had to do with something along the lines of having to go to school part-time and a part-time job as well. I wonder why these wealthy-business-distributors have to keep either full-time or part-time jobs in order to survive…I mean they are making $5,000.00 every week, right? Anyway, he asked what my goals were, I informed him I’m not a man of ‘goals’, if I have the available resources at hand, miracles happen for me, if I don’t, I only get to live once and I’m not going to be chasing no stupid goals to fulfill my life…I have more important things to do than waste my lifespan dreaming (SEX).
So, he insisted there must be something I’ve always wanted to do in live, and he was interested in finding out more about me. I gave in and confided in him that my biggest dream was to direct porn. I told him that since I was gay, I had always envisioned myself hiring these gorgeous male-specimens on a one-year contract to model for my personal website. There would be an initial invested on my part of about $20,000.00, and I was close to that figure about now. I continued to explain to him that over the years I had on my own developed into some-kind of a reject-webmaster, and had acquired the necessary skills to launch this little project of mine. I do however dream that I will someday do this, I just need some time! All this time he’s on the other side of the table with the weirdest look on his face I’ve ever seen. I mean, I thought he was about to have a seizure within the next five minutes…but I continued. I told him porn sells itself, and I had come up with a unique idea, which would revolutionize that industry at the present moment. I insisted I had reached a level at which there was no longer a satisfactory point in my porn collection, therefore leading me to find alternative ways of pleasure (trust me, this is all true). At this point, he cut-in and assured me he would never judge me, as I assured him I wouldn’t give a flying-fuck’s-ass if he did (whatever floats my boat-right)…but that this Organo-Gold opportunity would therefore help me develop better business skills in order for me to accomplish those dreams. I told him there was nothing passionate about selling coffee, nevertheless selling someone else’s dream. That I was built to realize my own dream, and I knew how to market my own idea (I mean, really-porn, how can you fail).
...continue with part-3...
Ha ha! That is perfect! Perfect answer to tell someone in Amway who is prospecting you what your goals and dreams are. To produce (star) in porn movies!
DeleteOn an aside there was a fellow in our line who is gay. He told us that our sack of shit Platinum and another man in our upline were "counselling" with him to turn him straight! Can you believe that! Its all part of the problem that the Amway cult and their cockeyed views on religion and what they consider traditional families - that they want to destroy anyway. They even went so far as to put blockers on this guy's computer so he wouldn't be tempted to look at gay porn sites.
Just a case of Amway assholes who can't mind their own business and their fucked up views of what are unnatural relationships.
HOLYSHIT...I WOULD HAVE KILLED THOSE FUCKERS, NOBODY TAKES AWAY MY GAY-PORN!!!!!!!!!!!
DeleteYup just one of the joys about being involved in Amway - putting up with homophobic ambots.
Delete...continue with part-3 here...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I went on to tell him that whenever I deal with money, I usually make sure the investment pays off at least 70% the first two months, I need to see some revenue which can sustain my recent investment, otherwise I can’t justify a prolonged life-support on my newborn. He asked me how much I had saved up till now to start on my dream-business and I told him I had $17,896.00. Two more years and I’ll begin to cradle my baby (I hope it at least lasts me enough to bring in my initial $20,000.00). His eyes widened and he suggested I could buy by way up the latter in his business, that he knew some people above his guy (the guy whom prospected him). He assured me there were many branches and levels of business in the Organo Gold system. I insisted I wasn’t interested in their dream, and would never drop a penny on something that didn’t mean anything to me…but thanked him for thinking about me and showing me the plan. He packed his stuff and we walked together outside, and as I was heading to my vehicle, he asked what I drove. He recalled me driving a Camaro the previous year. I replied that base-model has way too many bugs for me to handle and I had to trade it back in for my 2012-nox. I mean, the Camaro is a wonderful car, I just assumed I could handle all of the problems that accompany a sports vehicle (not to mention the cops just love it to death). He proceeded to ask what route I would be taking home, and by mere coincidence we were going the same way. He announced he had gotten a ride earlier to make it to our appointment, and it was about 15-degrees (bitter-cold) outside for him to wait at the buss-stop, and then walk the few blocks towards his house once he gets off the bus. I apologized but informed him I had to go babysit a dog at some guy’s place over in the following county, and it would take me about fifty-minutes to get there…I smiled and continued walking without looking back at him ( I guess he took the bus). I mean, if you’re making $1,000.00 a week you should be driving a 2012 jaguar right? I’m just the poor scumbag working for a living and driving a Chevrolet unite…the types of vehicles for the unwashed-masses right? I would never be able to experience the fortune of “Organo Gold” and live out the dream of being liberated for the rest of my life. Oh well…poor, poor me!
...the end/thanks for reading...
Thanks for sharing your story!
DeleteJust read this story about scamming the scammer and it's drop dead hilarious! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteConnie - some people are able to think fast on their feet and really mess up these scammers! Give them an answer they've never been counselled on how to deal with!
Delete