“Amway how to strike up conversation in Barnes & Noble” was the criteria an ambot used to search Google and ended up at my blog.
Its a big no no for IBO’s to harrass customers shopping at Barnes & Noble. http://www.amquix.info/quixtar_barnes_noble_stop.html
The problem is information control from Amway’s upline cult leaders. Memos like this are not sent out to individual IBO’s but rather to the people Amway considers (cult) “leaders”. It is their responsibility to notify their downline but not everyone gets notified.
Especially IBO’s who signed up after this was sent out from head office. Undoubtedly complaints were coming in Barnes & Noble management for a few years. In its typical tradition of Amway employees working at head office not giving a shit what Amway IBO’s are doing likely nothing was done for the longest time. I’m not sure what threats it took from Barnes & Noble to the big shots at Scamway before the letter was sent out to the Amway cult leaders to deal with the annoying ambots.
I can’t say as I go around striking up a conversation with anyone when I’m shopping at Barnes & Noble. Sometimes I can’t find the book I’m looking for which is annoying because when I checked B&N website earlier I saw my location had books in stock so I’ll ask a clerk for assistance and they’ll lead me right to it. Sometimes someone will be in the same section as me looking for a book but I still don’t strike up a conversation with them. If I was going to and I noticed they were holding a book I’d read I might say something like that’s a good book one of my favorite writers or that book sucks save your money. But not usually. People don’t like to be harrassed when they’re shopping. Even more so if they’re flipping through a book and reading passages trying to make a decision on whether or not to buy. They don’t need some fucking Amway ambot sniping them and saying hey I’m a business owner and I sell books too. Yup B&N will want the throw that fucker out of their store for trying to take their business away from them. Competition!
Bottom line is Amway’s head office doesn’t give a flying fuck what the IBOs are doing. I’ve complained about lies I heard from our upline and head office typical lazy ass response is to claim they are not responsible for anything said at Amway meetings and if we have a problem to take it up with the upline who lied to us.
So really what happens if a manager from Barnes & Noble calles Amway’s I-don’t-give-a-shit customer service desk to complain about ambots sniping customers shopping in their stores. The response they’ll get is - find someone who gives a shit and tell them! Its not like anything will happen to the ambot. What are they going to say? You’re fired. And we’ve just lost another income stream. Ha ha. Not likely.
If you are an Amway asshole and you see me in Barnes & Noble - don't fuck with me!
This is totally off topic of this post, but I recently found your blog and I love it. My fiance recently got into Amway and it sucks. He never took vitamins until he started and heard about how "good" Double x is for you. I told him that's a lie - doctors have said you don't need to take vitamins every day because they contain more than what is naturally in food - but he doesn't listen. He's also bought things like meal replacement shakes, which he is another thing he wouldn't buy if he didn't do Amway. He's so set on not having a job and just working his part time retail job until he makes enough money to quit. Luckily, I graduate in a week and will have an Associates in Nursing degree. As soon as I pass boards I'm looking for a job and saving my money. He can waste his on Amway products, but I'd rather save it and buy a house. I have convinced him to keep going to school though so at least he can get a career when he's not making the money he wants in Amway.
ReplyDeleteAnna's advice is good, and it comes from experience for her. I, too, have seen lots of horror stories on other blogs from spouses or boyfriends/girlfriends where their loved ones became brainwashed by the cult and they found themselves on the outside looking in as they will defer to what their upline (cult leaders) tell them. The upline has no qualms whatsoever of trying to break up a marriage/relationship if the other party won't "come on board" and drink the Kool-Aid. Because they see that person as a threat to the path between the Ambot's pocket to theirs.
Delete"Gambling addiction" is a great analogy. I've read stories of brainwashed husbands pawning their wives jewelry and possessions to get their fix with the approval of their upline who say "she will thank you one day when you can buy her the Hope Diamond." Man, they lay the bullshit on thick.
Chelsea, I hope your fiance sees the light and cuts himself loose from the "system" to become a normal person again and regain whatever original personality he had before it was replaced by the Borg-like Amway group-think. Entering into marriage with an Ambot in full brainwashed-mode is setting yourself up for years of financial woes and feeling second place to the "business".
~Dave
That's the other good point Dave. Amway comes first in every ambot's life. Wife is either number 2 or 3 on the list. Most women don't put up with that bullshit for too long.
DeleteOf course. If you go against the flow and start questioning you spouse/sig other (aka, the Ambot), then you are part of the unfaithful who is the main reason your biz isn't growing. I remember tons of humiliating experiences being out with my ex as he chatted up people in stories, restaurants, buying gas, etc. about Amway and feeling 1) embarrassed for ruining the day of innocent people who just needed a few things, and 2) turning a 15 minute shopping trip into an hour-long gruel of listening politely and smiling like an idiot as he explained the lies to another potential recruit. Just sick!
DeleteAnonymous - it is very embarrassing and humiliating to admit to anyone that you are involved with Scamway and listen to your husband lie about how great business is.
DeleteIn one Amway meeting, the speaker asked a potential downline how much he spends on bottled water. He replied $2. If he asked me, I would've either just said I buy 'em at Costco for MUCH cheaper than that, or just bottle my own water through my water filter. He then said if you're going to spend $2 on bottled water, buy the Amway water... it's oxygenated so it's better for you, and it goes towards your PV. I'm no expert on this, but my online research later on confirmed that there's very little to no benefit for water that oxygenated.
DeleteSame deal with the vitamins... they're good for you and you should definitely be buying them for good health.
In a one-on-one conversation with a "sponsor", he had the nerve to use scare tactics like if I need financial help, are my friends going to lift a finger? In all fairness, if I have problems paying bills, my rent, and other expenses, they likely will not be able to. However, I know any ONE my friends will do ALOT more then ALL the people Amway person ever will.
I lied and told him that I knew someone personally who did Amway for a year, and it didn't work out. It was a lie, but I'm confident in the stories and experiences I've read online about that. He then retorted "would you ask a friend about surgery if he wasn't a surgeon"? This is also awful, b/c it implies that someone doing Amway for a year couldn't make it, then having to be in it for at least a year to get significant returns is simply a bad proposition.
I think the most amusing line I've heard was an Amway goon telling the newcomers that there's that WWDB convention coming up... you're gonna spend the gas money anyways, so check it out. IT'S 115 MILES, ONE-WAY, TO THAT CONVENTION CENTER FROM WHERE THE CURRENT AMWAY MEETING WAS BEING HELD... No, my weekend plans did NOT involve driving 115 miles, x2 for a round trip, and if it did, it'd take alot more precedence than a week long brainwashing seminar that I'd have to shell out waaay too much gas money for, not to mention $100 ticket, and 2 to 3 nights of hotel lodgeing.
They tell you Amway is a $50B business like that alone is supposed to be reassuring... McDonald's makes multitudes more $$ than Amway, but I ain't gonna go there more than once month, if ever.
I was amused how when I went to a sponsor's home for another torturous meeting (I believe the only thing that kept me from gnawing off my own arm was playing games on my phone, and making a todo list of things I need to get done when I got home) was the refreshments and snacks she served were the supposedly "inferior" brands. She wouldn't provide any of the Amway beverages and stuff.
That's the most model about Amway and MLMs... It's one thing to do a job, but they want to drag other people in to do the same thing. Never mind how this won't work for me... It really would be embarassing for me.
Hi Anonymous. Thanks for your comments. I'm going to copy them and put them into a new upcoming post because this is an old post and most of my readers are going to miss them hidden way back here. I've been doing some posts lately from comments from people who've been prospected by ambots or wasted their time at meetings so this will fit in for something coming up. And yeah your story is the same as so many others. Heard that old $2 bottle water story a million times. Didn't they brag about all the wonderful powers Amway's perfect water has? Cures just about every major disease out there according to ambots!
DeleteChelsea, the advice is coming late, but you need to think of yourself. Leave him. There are plenty of young men out there who are not being taken in by this scam!
DeleteWe don't plan on getting married any time soon so no need to postpone something we haven't even started planning :) I spend time with his upline cause my fiance was friends with him and his wife for a few months before his upline mentioned the business and they're nice and seem to like me. My fiance wants me in the business, but they tell him not to push it on me if I don't want to do it because it's my choice so I don't think they're trying to brainwash him.
ReplyDeleteI have my own bank account and he knows not to ask me for money for Amway products because I won't give it to him (right now because I'm broke cause of college, but when I have money he won't ask cause I don't like spending money on things I don't need). His upline showed him some kind of plan that'll get him to some higher level in about a year and a half (not sure if he said platinum or diamond - I don't pay too much attention). The plan is supposed to get him to some level 6 months after starting it so if it doesn't maybe he'll quit then.
The Amway functions are a waste of money like you said. I went to one with him earlier this month in Louisville and the people that were talking made me angry. One was talking about he would go out to dinner and order multiple appetizers just to sample them and when his parents wanted to take them home he said not to. It made me angry because they got all the food with the intention of only eating a little and could have gotten the leftovers boxed up to give to homeless people (they were in some city). Homeless people don't care if they're leftovers, they're just grateful for the food and it's better in their bellies than the trash. A lot of them also drove very expensive cars that are horrible for the environment and showed off a ton of pictures of them. They're showing a ton of people those pictures that they (probably) have a lot of influence on -buy fuel efficient cars with low emissions and help make the world greener! I felt so out of place there and didn't even go to the rest of it that weekend.
I actually told him the way they make money is by doing the functions and selling books or CDs. His response was that JK Rowling made her money by writing books. I told him the difference was she was writing fiction that was meant to be enjoyed, not a book that was meant for idiots to buy to make her money. He couldn't really say anything to that.
I'll read the book next week - finals and graduation this week. I'm going to hold onto hope that he realizes he can't make a lot of money from this in the coming months and quits.
I know Double X is overpriced. Most of it gets peed out (as evidenced by highlighter colored urine) so it's an extreme waste on money.
Hi Chelsea - doesn't his upline come off as all fake nicey nice?
DeleteIts the brainwashed ambot act!
Ask them for their financials, their profit and loss statement. They'll bullshit you and says its private or personal. Real business owners trying to sell others on a business plan will show their financial statements so that way a prospective buyer/investor knows where things stand financially if its a wise business decision or not.
They have answers for everything. That 2 to 5 year plan you saw? Our sack of shit Platinum showed the same plan but has been in Amway over 15 years. And I'd say nobody tries harder to be an Amway asshole than that guy and he still isn't a Diamond and financially free. And he never will be either.
Right now your fiancee isn't asking you for money. But what about the day when his upline phones to ride his ass that someone else upline needs to meet some goal for that month and they downline has to pull together and buy another 2000 PV worth of products. Do not get any joint credit cards!
Those assholes in Amway have a "who cares" attitude. I wrote a post about it. Who cares if they're not environmentally friendly is what it all comes down to. They can afford it (or give off the illusion they can) so who cares how much it costs or what it does to the environment.
You have to remember that these are greedy materialistic people. They will not share their money or their food. You're quite right. It could have been boxed up and given to someone who is hungry. Like their downline who can't afford to buy groceries because they're spending all their money on Amway Nutrilite vitamins!
Your upline has probably already "counselled" with your fiancee to get a prenup to make sure that you can't get your hands on his Amway business because once he goes "really big" he'll want to leave you and he won't want you to get your clutches on the thousands of dollars that will be rolling in each month from Amway.
They don't seem fake nice, but I don't know them well enough. I'll ask my fiance if he's ever seen their financial statements and if not I'll tell him to ask them so he can see them.
DeleteHe's pretty convinced he'll be making money in 6 months so if he's not I think it'll be easy to convince him to quit. I've already convinced him to not buy the cat litter cause the corn cat litter we get from Petsmart is better. Small steps.
I don't plan on getting a joint credit card. I try to stay away from credit cards because I don't like spending money I don't have. I have one regular credit card and one store card right now to help build up my credit and have no plans on getting any more.
I can tell they have a "who cares" attitude. They made it very obvious at the function. They stand there and tell people about their lavish lifestyles, but it's supposed to be about how to make money in Amway? Seems more like they want everyone to envy them and sell as much as possible so they can try to get the same lifestyle.
If my fiance ever talks about a prenup he can forget about getting married any time soon after that. I feel a prenup is a trust issue and if someone wants one then they don't trust the person they're with.
Chelsea - they're ALL fakey nice. That's part of being a brainwashed ambot.
DeleteIt'll be interesting to see what happens when he asks for proof of the money they're making in Amway. FYI - most ambots make their money in Amway in the form of filing false tax returns based on their upline's advice. They write off everything related to Amway - all those vitamins they buy, water, energy drinks, tickets to functions, meals, gas, etc. They use Amway expenses as deductions against the income they earn at their regular job to get a refund. That's the secret to earning money in Amway! The unfortunate thing is when Uncle Sam catches up with them ambots don't do too good in tax court paying back the refunds and getting fined.
Yeah, they're all going to be making money in 6 months. Our sack of shit Platinum said we'd be making close to $100,000 after 6 months in Amway. And he also says Amway is not a get rich quick scheme. Most people probably think making 100k in 6 months is pretty quick.
You also have to remember your fiance is being brainwashed by a cult. The'll tell him to get a prenup and that has more to do with protecting his (non-existent) Amway assets. He is also being brainwashed to believe the only person(s) he can trust is his Amway upline because they have his best interests at heart. In other words if he stays in long enough he won't trust you or anyone else from his non-Amway world either. He will also become an increasingly nastier person.
Yeah, they're all fakey nice. At the time my ex and I split up we were still buying products from our upline even though we had stopped being core. Don't have the time or desire to explain all the gory details, but I was the one who moved out, so ex kept our products and I had to buy more from our sponsors. My first and only phone call to the sponsor wife (Kelly) was interesting because I thought she was my friend, but wow, was she cold! It was clear that my ex had gone airing our dirty laundry over the separation to our upline and they believed it was 100% my fault, and to make it even crazier, she almost charged me retail on the products because we weren't together anymore. Friend? Not likely.
DeleteTakes awhile to get out of the habit of buying those shitty overpriced Scamway products doesn't it?
DeleteNot me of course!
Amway friends are only friends as long as you're giving them money. No $$$ ambots tell you to fuck off you're outta their life!
The only thing his uplines have told him is to keep track of mileage and the functions he goes to for Amway, they never mentioned anything about the products he buys. When he does his taxes next year I'll make sure he goes to an accountant since they know what they're doing more than his uplines.
ReplyDeleteHe was told he should be making around $3,000 in 6 months so if he's not then I think he'll see it's not worth the time and he's better off continuing his education.
I'm hoping he doesn't stay in long enough to believe the only people he can trust are in Amway. It hasn't changed his personality yet and he's not a nasty person. He knows I speak what's on my mind so if he does become a nasty person I'll let him know. He's always been kind-hearted and if I can list ways he's changed then that'll be a reality check for him and he'll realize what doing Amway has done to him. I told him I miss our "us" time on Sunday nights so he's skipping his weekly meeting to spend time with me this week. As of right now I still come before Amway because if I want him to spend the time with me instead he does.
Chelsea - our accountant refused to take anything Amway related stating "I deal with legitimate businesses not pyramid schemes". Our accountant can write off just about everything pertaining to our legitimate business. Keep all receipts except for groceries and the accountant will try to figure out whether or not they can be business expenses. Our sack of shit Platinum used to say to buy food bars, break off a piece to give to someone, and that way you can write it off as marketing and promotion expenses. Those bastards have an answer for everything. Uncle Sam might disagree!
DeleteTo earn $3000 in a month from Amway your fiancee would have to have signed up about 100 people and they'd need to be buying lots of Amway products. And then do it again every month. Does he know that many people who want to sign up with Amway and buy overpriced useless products? Most IBO's can not find one person to consistently buy hundreds of dollars of Amway products each month. They might get the odd pity purchaser, a friend or family member who will buy a few things, but unlikely.
Ambots alienate all their friends and family thanks to their Amway business.
4 to 6 months is usually when most IBOs start to think that the promised money just isn't there and think about leaving. Their upline will be riding their asses saying "You can't quit now not when success is right around the corner." Or "You're not a loser are you. People not in Amway are losers." "I didn't think you were a quitter. Good luck with your J.O.B. You'll be dead or broke by the time you're 65 because you're not in Amway."
Heard all the bullshit before!
That's very brave of him skipping a meeting. He will have the assholes in his upline phoning and texting him giving him shit about not being there. But at least its a start to getting him out of Amway.
One night my husband missed a meeting and this was close to the time that he was quitting. Our sack of shit Platinum phoned him and chewed him out. And my husband just sat there (driving at the time) and took it. Too bad he didn't pass the phone to me! I would have given that fucker an earful!
""Chelsea - our accountant refused to take anything Amway related stating "I deal with legitimate businesses not pyramid schemes". ""
DeleteLOL... that's gonna get me through the day.
Since 99% of the things the diamonds say is bullshit, I have no doubt that most of their stories of excess and waste are just meant to be of the "I light my cigars with 20 dollar bills and wipe my ass with fifties" boasting lies. It's all smoke and mirrors. And even the diamonds who really do make money tend to be cheapskates and playing a money shell game to keep up appearances, which is why you'll hear stories of diamonds having their homes foreclosed upon. When on the stage it's all about "show", and pretending to be Rockefellers.
ReplyDeleteThat's how the Amway game is played. It is NOT a true business. It is built entirely upon "dreams" and emotions. Getting people to think only about "when I'm rich..." and not pay attention to the NUMBERS. Sort of like buying a lottery ticket and sitting around with friends talking about "spending" all those winnings you'll have when it hits, and ignoring realities such as having a 1 in 176 million chance of hitting the jackpot. IBO's are encouraged not to think of such things as the reality that only 0.05% of them will ever make enough money to quit their real job which supports their Amway gambling addiction. They are told not to look at the hundreds of dollars being spent a month on overpriced crap, most of which they wouldn't have bought other than to make their quota, as well as the motivational (brainwashing) CD's, books and functions. They don't want them doing the math, calculating the hundreds spent versus the $10 "bonus" check they get. They call that "negative thinking". They make up apples and oranges comparisons to starting up a legitimate business. They always leave out the part where other businesses actually have more than a 0.05% chance to make a profit as they are selling products or services to the general public that they want, whereas Amway is all about recruiting into the pyramid the money to siphon from the bottom to feed the top of the pyramid, and trying to keep those losing money "motivated" to continue letting it happen with promises of "success is just around the corner".
Depending on the degree your fiance will allow himself to be brainwashed in the coming six months will determine if he keeps a clear head to see that the original promises made have shown any signs of happening. The problem is the "goals" seem to shift and change as time goes on while "plugged in to the system".
Should he at that point get out of Amway, you'll see a 180 degree turnaround in regards to the "friendly" love being given by the upline. Once they are not making money off him he will be a pariah in their eyes and used as a strawman to mock and make fun of during meetings with other downline, an example of a "loser" and a "quitter" who didn't have enough "dreams". As with any friend in life, it's the ones that stick by you no matter what who are the real ones.
~Dave
Only 99% of what they say is bullshit? You're being too kind Dave!
DeleteHow do you know when someone in Amway is lying?
Their mouth is moving!
What your accountant did is pretty funny. That's insane how many people he would need to have under him to make $3,000 a month. His goal right now is to get more customers because the only one besides himself right now is his mom. If he can't find customers that'll buy things every month that might help deter him from Amyway :)
ReplyDeleteIf he does decide to quit in 6 months and his uplines tell him that he's a loser if he quits then I have a lot I can say to counter that. My fiance is in school for engineering. He already has an Associate's in small parts electronics (or something like that) and only needs to take the high level courses at a 4 year school to become an electrical engineer. His upline is 9 years older and is working in retail because he'd rather work there and try to make money from Amway than look for some kind of job pertaining to his major (he has a degree in some kind of art or something). My cousin and her husband, as well as my fiance's high school tech teacher, are all engineers so he has connections that can help him get started in the field once he has his Bachelor's. He can be making at least $60,000 a year by just finishing school, which will take less time than his upline has been in Amway (he's been in for 4 or 5 years, but claims he didn't start doing much until my fiance started).
If I see any texts with his uplines complaining that he's not going then I can use that as proof that they want Amway to come before everything else. It shows that they don't think relationships are as important as Amway.
@Dave, my fiance actually told me about a story of a diamond or platinum (can't remember which) who took a prospect to Wendy's for lunch to tell him about the business. At the end of their lunch meeting the diamond or platinum guy told the prospect he owed him $8 for lunch. That story alone shows how cheap they are. My fiance works retail part time and the first time we ever go to dinner with a friend he always buys their dinner for them. He (obviously) has no where near the amount of money a diamond has and has always done this.
They definitely play up the dreams. I think that's how my fiance's upline got him interested in Amway. Saying things like "what do you want to do with your life" and after my fiance said the typical things like owning a house, having a good job, good car, etc. his upline said "what else?" His upline told him to imagine all the good things he could do if he had the money to do them and said that Amway could help with that (or something similar to that). They used the possibility of achieving anything to lure him in.
Chelsea - everyone who's been in Amway for more than 2 years says the same thing - that they weren't doing anything and they've recently just decided to "become serious business builders".
DeleteThey ALL have the same lines. Lies.
No one in our upline had any kind of spectacular job. Mostly sales, retail, clerical, labor. Not making much but most of them were in their 20's. All very jealous of us that we already owned a business, owned a house, owned cars that we paid cash for, etc. Tried to destroy all of it. Told us to take out a loan against our house to "invest" in our Amway business aka buy more Amway shit. I refused. Tough shit on those Amway assholes that my name is on the deed! I also refused to sell my newer model car and buy a $200 shitmobile to drive around in and use the money from the car sale to "invest" in Amway.
You know people get to a certain age and stage in their lives and they don't need to be driving around in rustbucket clunkers that have a short life span left in them. We work hard for what we have. We're not going to sale our house just because some jealous Amway asshole who's a renter orders us to do so and that way we'll be able to pay off the credit card that is used to buy Amway shit and then start all over again.
Fucking morons with BAD financial advice.
Yup everytime we met at a coffee shop the Platinum would order my husband to buy him a sandwich and coffee. He never paid for it. Cheap son of a bitch or just broke from being in Amway?
My ex (because of Amway) was in WWDB and he always talked about hanging out in B&N waiting for someone to "ask him about his success". Yeah, right! I wish I had seen this post and repeated it BEFORE dumping his sorry ass!
ReplyDeleteAnder476- I'm sorry to hear your relationship was another casualty to the Amway scam. Not many relationships can hold up to handing money over to a cult, dealing with assholes, and the other bullshit that goes along with the Amway cult.
ReplyDeleteWWDB = World Wide Destructive Bastards
That's kind of funny your ex would hang out at B&N waiting for someone to get some telepathic message that he's a "business owner" and ask about his success. That's kind of like someone who is hitchhiking but instead of sticking their thumb out they're just standing there looking hopefully at all the cars whizzing past!
Its not too late! You can send a link of this post to your ex and say how glad you are you dumped his sorry Amway ass!
Love it AB, World Wide Destructive Bastards is totally right on.
DeleteI always spent my half an hour to read this webpage's posts everyday along with
ReplyDeletea cup of coffee.
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