Every day my blog gets visitors who are searching for how to get someone out of Amway. Lately I’ve had a few people leave comments about how to get a friend or family member out of Amway.
Unfortunately there is no one size fits all answer for how to get someone out of Amway. This is an evil cult. The Amway commissioned salespeople are built up to think that they are big important business owners and are given this dumb fuck title called IBO = Independent Business Owner. The IBO attends countless Amway meetings where they are supposedly given business advice but instead are actually brainwashing sessions.
And yes I know because I was dragged into many Amway cult meetings. No concrete business advice is ever given. No information on getting yourself registered as a business, getting tax numbers, getting a business bank account, getting a business license, getting business insurance, writing a business plan, creating a profit and loss statement, etc, etc. Some “business advice” given at Amway meetings is to buy from your own store and buy tickets to the next Amway function. Don’t have anything to do with people who won’t support your Amway business. I have a whole bunch more dumb ass “business advice” given at Amway meetings such as don’t dress like a slut but I’m not going over them now.
Oh wait lets not forget this piece of business advice that I have only heard in Amway not in any other business. You must ask permission from the Amway upline before you do anything or buy anything. Cult cult cult cult cult!!!!!!
Because the Amway cult tells you to shun your family and friends people in Amway become your only friends. The only people who can be trusted. The only people who have your best interests at heart. Amway cult leaders brainwash their followers to stay away from “negative” people - that would be everyone who does not want to sign up with the Amway cult or buy shitty overpriced Amway products.
The Amway cult follower has new friends and spends hours with them every night loving and worshipping their Amway cult leader. To please their cult leader they have to buy everything they’re told to buy: premier membership to WWDB, Communikate voice mail, tickets to Amway functions, CD’s, books, and anything else for sale that will make the upline rich.
If they’re a good little ambot the Amway cult leader will lavish praise and attention on them and highlight them at the next Scamway meeting. If they’re bad and miss a meeting or don’t buy enough shit the cult leader will punish them with a fire and brimstone rant and ridicule and mock them at the next Scamway meeting.
But how do you get someone out of Amway? Unfortunately all you can usually do is let the brainwashed ambot dig their own grave. Once they max out their credit cards and drain their bank account they can’t keep tithing the great Amway god. They probably are facing foreclosure, bankruptcy, maybe divorce. When they stop listening to brainwashing CDs and attending cult meetings their mind starts to clear. And they quit. Usually happens inside a year, maybe two years. Any longer than that inside the Amway cult the person is usually a lifer.
I’ve had a few desperate visitors leave comments asking how to get their loved one out and there really is no answer but here are links to resources that might help.
Merchants of Deception is a free ebook written by former Emerald Eric Scheibeler. He talks about the brainwashing and how he only earned about $35,000/year when he was at a level where he expected to be earning at least 100k based on Amway propaganda and what he’d heard from Diamond speakers. He uncovered the real money to be made in Amway was the sale of motivational materials - books, tapes/CDs, and speaking at functions. Its a really chilling read at times. Everything he said about Amway meetings I heard the same thing too. I could have been there. What he described was what I’d experienced. And most importantly he tells how 99% of IBOs will never make money in Amway. Reading
A few years ago NBC Dateline exposed the Amway scam. They covered the brainwashing and showed scenes at arenas that show this cult in action. They catch IBO’s lying - not that that’s difficult! They all lie! The above author Eric Scheibeler is interviewed for this TV show.
Steve Hassan has helped deprogram former Amway cult members and members of other mind control cults as well. There is a 2 part interview on Youtube about the Amway cult.
Pyramid Scheme alert has resources and they deal with all pyramid schemes, not just Amway.
All excellent links, Anna. Depending on how deeply an Ambot is "plugged into the system" of brainwashing equates to the measure of difficulty of getting them out of the cult. Steve Hassan is a good expert on the power of brainwashing. Folks who do not understand exactly how brainwashing works are often bewildered at how hard it is to get someone who's mind has been altered to simply look at facts, black and white statistics and reality. Those who has been brainwashed don't see themselves as being brainwashed. They feel they have been "improved" and though they will say otherwise they no longer can think for themselves. The folks who have brainwashed them are worshiped and believed unquestioningly. If they say up is down and down is up, that is reality to them, and a concerned loved one who shows them that up is up and down is down is ignored as being "wrong". Their personality changes dramatically and they become clones in the image their cult masters have molded them to, their words being almost robotic parroting of what they have been programmed to think and say.
ReplyDeleteGetting someone out of a cult can be very difficult, but hopefully the links Anna has provided will at least give concerned loved ones a better idea of the techniques used and the power of mind control to bend reality in a person. Knowing what they are up against is a good start.
Brainwashing requires constant "reinforcement", which is why cults like Amway require endless meetings, daily listening to mind-control CD's and huge "motivational" conventions to keep the mind off balance and unable to think logically outside of the cult mentality. Once one is separated from the source of brainwashing, then there is hope for the fog to start to lift and critical thinking to return. Kind of like a drug addict breaking free of their addiction. And the addiction in Amway is a phony sense of "belonging" and doing something "amazing" with similar minded drones, each patting themselves on the back as being a part of the "chosen ones", being blind to the reality of their true situation.
Good luck to one and all in their hope to break a friend or family member free of a powerful cult.
~Dave
Thanks Dave. It is hard for people to understand how a retail company that hires commissioned salespeople can be compared to a cult.
DeleteWhat is more amazing is that the owners of Amway do nothing to clean up their image and do nothing about their leaders who are compared to Hitler and Jim Jones. Amway owners don't see a problem with that? This is nothing new of this decade. Amway has been compared as a cult since the 70's that I'm aware of.
Normal companies would not want to have that kind of reputation. But the owners and their hired managers don't want to rock the boat. Amway IBOs are the majority of their customers. Clean up their act would hit them hard financially. Instead they ignore accusations of being a cult or deny it. How can so many victims be wrong?
I just want to cry or scream (or both) reading this...My step daughter has gotten involved with this company in the past year. She says that her up line saw something in her... yeah... naivete & gullibility. I think what they really saw was a lost soul and they flew in like vultures and feed on her fears like carrion. Amway itself doesn't seem to be the issue. Their partner companies are legit and many have quality products. If it were just about being an effective salesperson I wouldn't have a problem. My issue is that she's driving herself into deeper and deeper credit card debt, refusing to pay rent because it doesn't fit into the budget her up line has set for her (yes...REALLY) and she no longer attends family functions because they interfere with her rallies.when we mention it she screams and cries (gee, ya think this is abnormal!?). She's going to have to go bankrupt or worse to finally get it... I hope one day she comes back to us...
DeleteHi Tuesday'sChdyle B. Glad you found us. Sorry to hear about your step-daughter getting sucked into the Amway cult. Yeah those assholes in her Amway upline saw something in her all right. A new stream of income. They probably pumped her up by calling her a "sharp" businesswoman. All cults use a technique called love bombing and she'll be the recipient of hugging and new friends paying extraordinary attention to her and all complimentary, etc. Fake friends. Fake niceness. All to get her money. Amway is the issue. They do piss all to stop the abuse. Well what can they do without putting themselves out of business. Over 95% of sales are made to people who are registered as IBO's. The rest of the world doesn't want to overpay for shitty useless products. If Amway causes any waves for their cult sects that could cut off the profit because some of these cult sects have taken their entire lines to another MLM pyramid scheme. Yeah Amway is all about destroying people's lives, driving them deeper into debt, "counselling" the ambots to skip paying rent so they can attend the next Scamway function or buy more shitty overpriced Amway products. And separating the ambot from their family and friends. Basically anyone that can make the ambot see the truth that they're involved in a cult and a pyramid scheme. And yes many ambots have had their lives destroyed by Amway and declared bankruptcy, gone into foreclosure, and divorce. We don't call the WWDB cult sect World Wide Destructive Bastards for nothing. There's nothing that brings those sick bastards more happiness than destroying other people's lives. There's probably nothing you can do until your step-daughter hits rock bottom. Once her savings are gone and her credit cards maxed she won't be able to tithe the Great Amway God anymore and she'll have to quit. And don't be an enabler. Don't buy any Amway shit because it'll give her false hope that she can actually make money being a commissioned salesperson for this pyramid scheme. The good news is 95% of Ambots quit within 2 years of signing up. The averages is on your side. Good luck.
DeleteThank you so much for your reply... yes, the fact that we don't want to contribute to her financial demise is a sore spot because, in her eyes, this means we want her to fail. In a sense we do because then maybe she'll get back to the business of living!!! All I can do is seek support and ride it out.
DeleteANNA~ HOW CAN SHE SERIOUSLY THINK IT'S SOUND ADVICE TO NOT PAY RENT SO SHE CAN AFFORD MORE SCAM WAY PRODUCTS???
DeleteHi Tuesday'sChylde B. In the minds of those of us who are not brainwashed by a cult, we would pay our rent in order to avoid eviction and pay our other bills to avoid having the phone turned off or calls from collection agents. Its called being responsible adults. At Amway meetings the cult leader tells the audience there is no excuse not to haul ass to the next Scamway function. If the ambot says they can't afford it, then the Ambot is "counselled" to skip paying rent and use that money to pay for the function.
DeleteAnd meanwhile expect an eviction notice on the door when you get home.
On the flip side if you own a house the Amway cult leaders counsel with you to sell it to pay off all the credit card debt that has happened since you got in Scamway and then there'll be room to buy more overpriced Amway shit. And downsize to become a renter. Or take out a 2nd mortgage for the same purpose to buy more Amway shit and eventually be unable to pay. Or "counselled" to skip mortgage payments to get to the next Amway meeting.
Amway cult leaders don't care about NOTHING except getting richer. How many people they have to destroy and walk all over in their greedy pursuit of the almighty dollar means nothing to them.
As for your step daughter pulling off the guilt trip if you won't enable her Amway habit, that's old bullshit that Ambots have been slinging for decades. It'll be any version of angrily accusing you:
"You don't support my business."
"You want me to fail."
"You don't want my dreams to come true."
I've heard just about every Amway lie and line out there. Nothing ever changes in this scam.
Dear Tuesday's Chylde B --
DeleteListen to Anna's advice. She has had years of bitter experience with Amway and the evil people who run the sick scheme.
Telling your step-daughter to skip paying rent in order to buy more of those useless Amway products is only one of the vicious and destructive things that Amway will do. They will give her insanely destructive advice, like selling her most valuable possessions, or cashing in her savings bonds, or borrowing at ruinous interest rates, just to continue being a part of the Amway cult. If she listens, she'll max out her credit cards, be evicted from her apartment, and face legal action from creditors.
You have to tell her: AMWAY IS A SICK CULT. It is not a business in any real sense. It has no potential for profit, since 99% pf the people who join it fail miserably. No one wants to buy Amway's products, and if she buys them on a monthly basis they will just pile up in her apartment, unsold and unused.
And Anna is quite right: DO NOT ENABLE HER. Do NOT buy Amway products from her. Do NOT lend her money. Do NOT make attendance at Amway meetings convenient for her.
This may sound cruel, but it is tough love. You have to be cruel, in order to be kind to her.
Isn't it foolish not to pay rent just to attend "all" functions? How will you stock those amway products when you don't have a house to live?
DeleteAnonymous - I sure wish I didn't have all this experience at dealing with evil, angry bitter Amway losers. But I have it both from being there in person and through this blog. But you know its like when you go to Amway meetings and the cult leader says there's a reason why you're in Amway so you can bless others I don't think they were expecting someone in the room to get involved with a blog like this to help others stay the hell away from Scamway!
DeleteAnd you have very good advice to anyone who has an Ambot in their lives. Do not enable them in all the ways you mentioned plus there's a whole bunch of other ways that neither of us can think of the top of our heads I'm sure. We can not give Ambots false hope that they can actually become bazillionaires if they keep going to Amway cult meetings. Tough love rules!
Anonymous - that's a good point. Where are homeless Ambots supposed to store all those shitty overpriced Amway products they stockpiled?
DeleteI can tell you that sitting down and listening at just one meeting is ridiculous and brainwashing. Many times when the speaker would say something, I would look around and ask myself, "do they really just take this in and accept it as fact?" Like the 290$ everyone supposedly spends on cleaning items and food. Of course we spend more than that, but its unrealistic to think that Im gonna spend 50$ on detergent when Tide is 25$ and will do a FANTASTIC job! Hell, if all the "IBO's" would just do some comparative shopping, they'll see they're paying top dollar for mediocre products.
ReplyDeleteIf thats not enough to get your mind straight, ask yourselves this question you oh so wise IBO's. Why is it that no one else in the world is a millionaire/billionaire from buying their own home products? Why is it that we never see any of the Diamonds massive houses and do retreats or meetings there? Why is it that every IBO you know is broke(and if they say they arent, ask for a tax statement showing only Amway earnings)? Why can you not say the name of the company you work for when talking to others? Do you really think perfect water is more purified than hospital water?
Heres a really important one. Why do I need a voice mail service when my phone has a voicemail/email/txt/sms/fb chat/etc...? Why does your upline still call and txt you? Why not just have a second cell phone used just as a business phone? The price for communikate would easily cover a cheap flip phone with a business account(which btw, most businesses cover for you, but then again those are real and legitimate businesses).
The list can go on and on. Put your brain into common sense mode and ask yourself when was the last time you actually heard any business talk at any of these "meetings" and why do they go on for hours and hours about your "dream" and not about how to build it? Use common sense and realize that the iPad you bought is NOT really a tax write-off.
-Sammy
Sammy those are all good points. And those are questions that a lot of ambots have after they've been in "the business" for about 3 or 4 months. But you don't dare ask your upline for answers. NEVER question upline! Just do as they tell you!
DeleteNo I never bought into any of it and it pissed me off that I couldn't get my husband to understand this was a scam and he was blowing our money. All he wanted to do was spend spend spend on Amway products and tools so he could impress that fucking piece of shit Platinum he worshipped. I did not feel the same way about that Jim Jones wannabe!
We have lost our "loved ones" to this. They have, as you said, shunned us, literally moved closer to their "new family" abandoning their parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. Firmly told us their children will be raised with much more positive Christian morals, higher standards. The upline will sadly be our future's grandchildren's grandparents, not us. We aren't good enough...only from a distance. We don't have the money the upline(rs) have that these two admire. There is a pride they have that makes others feel less than around them, especially if one has chosen not to sign up with them.
DeleteHi Anonymous. Thanks for stopping by with your story. It may or may not bring you comfort to know that your story is pretty much the same as so many others who’ve had relatives and friends brainwashed into the Amway cult.
DeleteFirst thing you need to do is download and read the free ebook called Merchants of Deception to better understand the Amway cult. There’s a link on the right side of this page and also in this post. We did a post about the book last week. Also last week we had a post that talks about how Amway losers think they’re better than everyone else in the world who aren’t inside their Amway cult. Which is what you’ve experienced. I call it the snotty snobby Amway attitude.
Like all cults Amway twists religion to suit their own purposes. Normal people don’t want anything to do with Amway “Christian” morals. Lying, cheating, scamming, and destroying other people’s lives. Their plan to raise their children to worship the Great Amway God is concerning. You can always try reporting them to CPS and report they’ve been brainwashed into a cult and it would be in the children’s best interests not to be subjected to the crazy Amway cult’s religious teachings so they should be removed to have the opportunity for a normal life. But you know CPS. They’ll investigate but if they don’t find any abuse and if the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing are being met they won’t remove the kids.
The law of averages is on your side. Most Ambots quit Amway after a few months when they realize they got scammed and have no chance of making money unless they can scam others. 95% of participants quit Amway within 2 years.
Until then do not be an enabler. If they beg you to sign up to their scam and to buy shitty overpriced Amway products – refuse to do it. The Ambots will get extremely angry with you and accuse you of not supporting their business. These Amway losers don’t get it. If their last name ain’t Van Andel or DeVos then they do not own an Amway business. They’re just commissioned sales reps for Amway’s owners. Ambots will try to convince you that Amway’s prices are high to reflect their high quality – LOL! Amway’s prices are so high because when the guy at the bottom of the pyramid makes a sale, everyone upline also gets a piece of commission from that sale. Plus Amway’s owners have to make a hefty profit on selling their shit. Do not lend Ambots money or you’ll never see it again because it’ll be spent on ScAmway shit.
Amway the Cult of Greed brings financial and emotional distress to the lives it scars. They’ll figure it out one day probably by the summer and you’ll hear from them again. Good luck with all this.
Anonymous at 12:02 AM has just told a truly horrible story! Can you imagine rejecting your parents and telling them they won't be allowed to have anything to do with their grandchildren, simply because they don't support you in Amway?
DeleteI'd advise those grandparents to CUT OFF those two Amway vermin totally. Don't talk to them, don't let them visit, don't buy any Amway products from them, and certainly don't leave them anything at all in your will. Let the two scumbags rot in poverty.
Amway is a sick and evil CULT. It is no different from Scientology or the Jim Jones cult in Guyana. The only difference is that the scum in Amway don't drink poisoned Kool-Aid, which is unfortunate. The world would be a lot better off if they did.
Anonymous - this is how it is in the Amway cult. The same story has been retold countless time in comments on this blog and other places on the Internet. We share our stories so the real world know what Amway is really like.
DeleteThe fucking assholes in the Amway upline order their downline to shun outsiders of the Amway cult. If family and friends won't "support their Amway business" to have nothing to do with them.
If only it could be that easy to get rid of Amway losers! Those Ambots still show up begging for pity sales.
The world would be a lot better off if the Amway cult drank poisoned XS. Get rid of the evil Amway cult and their greed worshippers.
I never really thought of the brain washing aspect. But looking back the ex started listening to Amway CD's in the car during outings and would wake up early to watch DVD's....how is this not illegal!?
ReplyDelete-Evan
Evan - Amway spends more money hiring lawyers than they do paying out commission checks to their entire sales force is my guess! Amway straddles the thin line of the law and when they get challenged they blame rogue IBO's and/or the line of sponsorship groups they belong to but bottom line is Amway is responsible because they do nothing to stop immoral or illegal behavior of their commissioned salespeople. Inventory loading is illegal but all IBO's stock up to get the old PV up there and to have stock on hand just in case they get a customer who wants to buy it. Nowhere in Amway's literature does it say "residual income" because its just not true but every group brags about how they'll have residucal income and plenty of it rolling in for the rest of their lives. Morally most people can not stay in Amway too long because of the person it changes them into - scamming, lying, greedy bastards.
DeleteDon't get me started on CDs! Brainwashing sermons. My husband would play them everywhere! Its my car and I'm driving and I don't want to listen to that shit. If I was in his car he'd be blasting those Amway CDs. It was like being under a big tent with a fire and brimstone preacher shrieking at us!
Once people stop listing to Amway CDs and stop attending Amway meetings the fog begins to lift and then they can escape the cult.
This is exactly what our daughter told us , that we would never see her children when she has them because we are negative .
DeleteHi Anna,
ReplyDeleteI'm back! It's been a few months since I cut myself off from Amway and it's been liberating. I have my life back on track. It'll take me a while before I'll be in a comfortable place financially, but at least I'm not throwing my time and money into a black hole. Therapy definitely helped. Right now, I'm working part time and I'm on track to become a pharmacy technician. Funny that this J.O.B. isn't as evil as my upline and various speakers made it out to be. It actually helps me pay my bills. SHOCKING--I know! I'm glad I don't get texts or phone calls anymore. I can't wait til my membership expires. Then I can completely wash my hands clean of any affiliation with this cult.
Thanks a bunch for your support as well as those in your blogging community. I'm grateful for all the kind words.
Hi iNeedGuidance! Good to hear from you. I think several of my readers were wondering how it was going with you. Glad to hear you made the break from Amway and you're getting your life back on track. You're still young enough to recover. Yes it is very liberating not to be part of this cult and getting texts and phone calls at all hours. Not wasting money getting your upline rich.
DeleteThe Amway cult leaders brainwash their follower to believe their jobs are horrible and the boss/owner is a person to be despised. The lives they have right now are horrible. And the only escape is Amway. Otherwise by the time you are 65 you will automatically drop dead or become broke - no matter how healthy or wealthy you were leading up to that birthday!
Good luck with becoming a pharmacy tech!
I, too, am glad to hear that you are still on the positive path leading away from the mind-controlling cult of Amway. Your upline will call you a loser and a quitter, a person who lost their dreams, but the reality is, Amway is the true dream-stealer as they actually keep people from realizing their dreams with a plan which is really only a badly flawed, money-losing pyramid scheme. And to get out of it makes you a winner in the real world. Yeah, it takes time to rebuild the damage done financially by Amway, but before you know it you'll find true success and satisfaction as a pharmacy technician. No more seeing all other human beings as "prospects" whose finances you can pilfer. No more being a part of a Borg-like collective which discouraged free-thinking, questioning personalities.
DeleteSo let your upline mock you and call you names. As you see them fall further back in your rearview mirror, know that you will go much farther in your life and career where they will be stuck in the Amway mud indefinitely, muttering about how success for them is "just around the corner"... year after year after year.
Good luck and happiness to you as you enjoy your freedom from the chains of Amway.
~Dave
How can i get my friend out of Amway ??? Please give me some tips. SHe asked me to come to the meeting tmr @.@
DeleteHi Anna banna, Can I contact you on how to get my son out of Amway?
DeleteYou really can't "get someone out of Amway". You need to point out ideas so the person realizes what's going on and gets out on their own. Their upline will teach them about negative people wanting them to quit so trying to get them out might cause you a relationship problem.
ReplyDeleteIts been one month since i registered as an IBO. After purchasing products for 100 PV i have actually spent $400, selling is not easy and you have to cross ethical boundries to meet the 50 customer PV target for the month. You fail to find customers, what do you do? Buy again from yourself for the remaining 50 PV creating a fraudulent customer and raking up another $100. This is not inclusive of the shipping and tax charges which means another $100.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry but $600 BS for your own products is just unsustainable. Took one months experience to realize this bull crap. I am glad i came to my senses and now i am out of this scam.
And i agree, the books, cds, materials, seminar sessions are all hypnotizing, mind control tools designed to put in your head that only losers go to jobs but stick it out for 2-5 years in this Amway system and you'l be set for life. But that is rubbish, you will find many stories of IBO's who spent 5-8 good years with Amway and still struggling for financial security. Heck if all the downlines desert your uplines, they will be back to 0 as well and these uplines are spending all their daily time looking to prospect, sell the business and its products. So much for getting your life back and pursuing your dreams.
"If something is too good to be true than it is not true". Cut your losses and get out of this cult before its too late.
Help, I just signed up as my friend recommended it and now i don't know how to get out please help I beg you.
ReplyDeleteI didn't pay any thing besides for a ticket.
Anonymous - your "friend" is using you and only wants to make money off you. His cut of the commission of any Amway products you buy. The reason those shitty products are so high priced is to make enough commission room for everyone in your upline to get a piece.
DeleteAre you sure you signed up with Scamway? I know the upline are a bunch of slimy bastards and I've heard all kinds of tricks on how people have been signed up and don't know about it. Someone - either you or your "generous" sponsor would have to pay your annual fee to be in Amway. I'm not sure what the current fee is $50 or $60 is my guess. If you were convinced to buy the starter kit so you can get PV right away add another $100. You would also have to sign your life away in some kind of Amway IBO agreement where you agree to be a commissioned salesperson working for peanuts. If you didn't do any of those things you are not signed up lucky you! If you did sign up, phone Amway immediately and tell them you're quitting and want a refund.
If all you've done is buy a ticket then you probably have not signed up but instead wasted your money on a function in January called Dream Night. It probably cost around $60 or $70. I don't know what the going rate is because that price is top secret information only available to the cult members. Just ask the friend you bought it from for a refund and give the ticket back. Good luck with the refund because your friend likely has no money to refund you. Call Amway and file a complaint that the person refuses to give you a refund. They'll probably just tel you to go fuck yourself cause they're not helpful at all but that's all I can suggest. Oh and file a police complaint for fraud against your friend if you don't get a refund.
My 22 year old daughter is with Amway, every time I talk to her about it she tells me how important it is and how she is building up her business and she will be able to do all these amazing things. She couldn’t come to my last birthday as she had committed herself to an Amway meeting and now she is telling us she won’t be able to come to her sister’s 21st birthday (in two weeks) as she is going interstate to an Amay meeting (We live in the Northern Territory of Autralia).
ReplyDeleteHi Lucy. Sorry to hear about your daughter.
DeleteWhat you've described is a common cult tactic - removing the follower from their family and friends. Telling your daughter to go to Amway functions instead of Amway functions are only part of it. They are poisoning her against everyone who is not in Amway. That's how the brainwashing goes with this cult.
You didn't say if your daughter is still living at home. Now might be the time for tough love. Another mother had the same problem as you but the son was that age and they told him to get out and take all his Amway shit with him and Amway was not allowed to be mentioned in their house when he came to visit or do his laundry. And he had to use their laundry soap or do his clothes elsewhere. Don't support her by buying overpriced shitty products. That just gives her hope that there's money to be made in this business when all she's getting is pity sales from people who love her.
Things you got going in your favor is that 95% of Amway's sales reps quit within 2 years so the law of averages is on your side. She's young. How much money does she have in savings that she can blow? How much credit card debt? When there's no money left she'll have to quit.
She is young enough to recover from this. Sometimes you just gotta stand back and watch them make their own mistakes. Life lessons.
Thanks for sharing your story. I'm going to use part of it in an upcoming post about how Amway brainwashes their followers into shunning their family in favor of their new Amway family.
Lucy... we're in the same boat with my 21 year old step daughter. She's drinking the cool aid, so to speak, and there's nothing we can do but wait for her to hit bottom. Her credit card debt from buying her own product is mounting. She no longer attends family functions because they interfere with the rallies and her up line is telling her she doesn't need negative people in her life telling her what to do...that's us of course... I wish you well...
DeleteTuesday'sChylde B - what Ambots don't realize until they leave the Amway cult is that the most negative people they'll ever meet in their lives are all part of Amway. The rest of the world isn't as negative as Amway cult leaders.
DeleteYou speak the truth! I really hate what they're doing... I listened to one of their "communikates" and there's no business advise at all, just drones repeating "I'm so happy, I'm so happy" and "Praise God"... I believe in God & I think this probably posses him off too!
DeleteHi Tuesday'sChylde B - like all other cults, Amway twists religion to suit their purposes.
DeleteAmway the Cult of Greed. Where all followers must tithe The Great Amway God.
And there is never any business advice on those tapes or at Amway "business meetings". Just bragging about how rich they are. No sales techniques, no advice on the steps that must be taken to legitimately start up a business. Unless you consider the taunting "if we can do it then so can you" as business advice.
Dear Tuesday's Chylde B --
DeleteThose taped messages on CommuniKate are meant to be hypnotic, like a cult mantra. Keep on listening to them, and you'll go into a kind of trance. This is the vulnerable state that Amway wants its members to be in all the time.
And you are quite correct -- no actual business advice of any kind is given on those silly messages. They are purely "motivational," as Amway phrases it -- which means they function solely as propaganda for the cult. "Drones" is the right word for the robotic voices on those tapes.
All Communikate does is brainwash the Amway cult followers and make the Diamonds richer from their commission on this Amway tool scam.
DeleteI can't work out if this blog is real or not because I live in the UK and Amway isn't so big over here, to my sense of humour this whole blog could be a spoof (if so, it's funny) but my dad is driving me mental and I'd like to get it off my chest.
ReplyDeleteHe's been associated with Amway on and off since the late 80s or early 90s, he actually had a decent amount of sales going when he lived in Italy for a while but lost all his percentages when he came back to England (I don't get how that's ok but then again, I don't understand any of this sales structure at all - either it's all bullshit in the first place, designed to confuse, or he explains it like crap, because I studied law at uni and took the maths exams that you normally take aged 16 at the age of 14, so I really don't think it's me that's missing something). The problem is, he just doesn't shut up about it. On and on. Amway have got a product that does this this and this and it's so this and it can do this and Amway have got another product that can do that that and that and it's so good and why are you drinking the purest, softest, sweetest water in the entirety of England when you can be drinking this water filtered through this expensive water filter and Amway Amway Amway. This weekend I finally snapped - he was helping me do some jobs around the house but I'd been on the go since 6.30am, cleaning furiously since 7am (I'd had the house fumigated - spiders - agh - the kitchen had to be cleaned inside out and my world had been upside down for 2 days). I have post-viral fatigue syndrome - I'm no longer bedridden with it these days - but still, this much physical work was well over the top for me, and on top of all of that, I have type 1 diabetes and at about 2pm I had a diabetic hypo. Although I got my sugars back to a safe level, I was still totally away with the fairies for hours, and I was making us a sandwich lunch and he was still standing there going on about ****ing Amway ****ing AGGGHHHHHH so I went nuts and told him I never want to hear that bloody word Amway ever again. I seriously hope this is the last I hear of it. He sounds literally mad, mentally ill, when he goes on about it incessantly. Jesus Christ Almighty. NO MORE.
The name Zig Zigler is also banned. Who the hell is that freak anyway? Zig Zigler says this! Zig Zigler says that! Zig Zigler is, my dear, a charlatan who has brainwashed you into spending your money on his books/CDs etc to line his own pockets, and you're not knowledgeable enough about the reality of actual business to realise it's all candy floss, meaningless, soundbite-y crap.
He actually convinced me months ago to sign a contract signing up for Amway cos it would somehow help him earn more money one month (I got another lengthy but totally out-there explanation of that, so I'm still none the wiser about how it could possibly have helped). I did it under the strict condition that I had absolutely nothing to do with them and don't give them a penny of my money. But I get bloody emails from them. I'm going to just mark them up as spam so I never have to see them again.
The only good thing about it is that he's a pensioner, so it's not preventing him from getting a proper job any more. He's not right in the head with it. What surprises me more than anything is how anyone can believe that driving everyone around you so insane with your constant sales pitch would be in any way conducive to convincing them to buy the products??! It just made me want to smash his face in, not buy the products. What an amazing business strategy.
Hi Anonymous. Thanks for stopping by with your story! And yup all the bananas that help out here have all had their lives destroyed by Amway in one form or another emotionally and financially. Around here we make the Amway upline look the assholes they are and keep it funny enough for people to keep coming back to be entertained and educated about this scam at the same time.
DeleteSorry to hear about your dad and he's retired now so he's losing all his savings or his social security to the Amway scam buying overpriced shitty products.
Yes people in Amway have no other interests. They talk about Amway constantly or how rich they're going to be one day thanks to Amway and they only associate with other Scamway ambots.
He signed you up because everyone in Amway has to put the screws to their friends and family to sign them up. You got more people in your downline you get higher percentage on your commission check.
Check the blog list in the upper right hand corner. There's one titled something like MLM the American dream made nightmare. It's written by a Brit whose family and finances were destroyed by Amway. You might find the connection there helpful.
I'll probably bring your story up for a future post. This ones kind of old and some of my readers. Might miss your comments which are very good and very typical of family members who are dealing with this cult.
Hi Anna,
DeleteThanks very much for your reply. I'll have a good look around this site. My dad has no savings whatsoever, so at least they can't take that, and I think his rent is paid directly to his landlady by the local authorities, so he fortunately won't end up homeless!
He always was the kind of person to chase a dream of being rich, without having any actual idea how that was supposed to happen. He just seemed to always feel 'entitled' to the world. He's not the brightest button in the box either, so I don't think he'll ever see how stupid the whole thing is. His blinkers are well and truly on. When he was still married to my mum she attended a few meetings and then had nothing more to do with it. We kids even got dragged along once, I must have been 15, and I didn't listen to a word that was said, of course. What 15yr old kid would? I can't believe he actually brought us there, thinking about it now. Aghhh. The whole thing drives me mad.
Hi Anonymous. Your mom is like me, typical woman married to an Ambot who sees through the bullshit and can't stand the assholes in the Amway upline. Yeah taking a 15 year old to a Scamway meeting is pretty dumb. Kids don't want to listen to that shit and be bored to death. Kids also pick up on how creepy Amway is and how creepy all the ambots are. The majority of Amway's victims are people chasing a dream to be rich because in many cases they are disadvantaged socially, emotionally, financially, or in some weakness that these Amway assholes prey on them. Sell the hope not the soap. Did you download a free ebook called Merchants of Deception? The link is in the right side of the page under Amway links. Written by a former Emerald it's really scary what goes on in Amway and it's pretty clear that the only people making money are those at the top of the pyramid who sell tickets to ambots who want to listen to them speak at conferences. That's where the money is.
DeleteJust wanna say thanks for the important job you do Anna Banana! :)
ReplyDeleteI got a friend in Norway who's acted like a new born christian since he joined... spooky shit!!
Hi Anonymous. Thanks for stopping by and I'm glad to hear you think we're doing a worthwhile service here. Sorry to hear about your friend. Amway is no different from other cults who twist religion around to suit their greedy purposes.
DeleteHii,thanx for this page.Can I quit my upline and continue independently? I am not after money or dishonest.just joined Amway for little extra income.But my upline is pushing a lot to do stuff I don't want to do.Btw,I think I will have 50 dollars bonus next month.
ReplyDeleteYou could and sometimes someone will show up here to say thats what they're doing. The problem is keeping a steady customer base for generic products at overinflated prices. Also angers your sponsor and the upline because the only way to make real money in Amway is selling books CDs and tickets to functions. If they're not making money off you they will be very abusive to you.
DeleteI don't bother about my upline's abusiveness. I can anytime block them from my mob etc. I want to continue with honesty and earn whatever little. What if I take decisions on my own? Is it allowed if downline takes his own decision? Can upline complain against him?Till now I have been behaving well with him and I refused to attend any gathering lately. Infact I never attended any.I think there are people like me who don't want to attend amway functions.Can I be cheated in anyway I may not be aware of?
DeleteI don't understand how you can read the stories here and still want, in any way, to remain connected to Amway. It truly boggles the mind to think you're ok with continuing to money in the pockets of people who have no moral or ethical compass. I'm quite certain that there are a number of other ways for you to earn a little "mad money" that is legitimate. You may not be dishonest but Amway is and selling their products independently is still making money for them. Shaking my head....
DeleteTuesday'sChylde B - this blog is here to help people who are thinking of joining the Amway cult realize it would be a bad decision because all they'll have in their future is financial and emotional distress. Mainly this blog is to provide a place of comfort to the friends and family of Ambots. Most people quit Amway inside a year because their morals and ethics kick in and they can no longer continue lying to people about Scamway. And yes there are much better ways to earn a little extra money each month - without laying out hundreds of dollars of your own money to do so. Taking on a one hour shift once a month at any minimum paying job out there will make more money than what most Ambots get in commission from Amway each month.
DeleteDon't let your upline dictate your business. All the emarald and diamond uplines are making 80% of their income from Britt worldwide bww which includes books, cds, meetings, bbs and functions. You should also watch brainwashing in business opportunities by Ethan.
ReplyDeletejust have to expose them to these links and make them get honest it takes more than 10-15 hours a week for the ambots who actually build it. I just woke up out of the cult and feel amazing plz stop wasting money and radically trusting your upline.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - you're right. My husband easily spent 100 hours/month trying to get an Amway "business" off the ground. The thing most Ambots don't get is you're just a commissioned salesperson for Amway and you have to recruit people and make sure they buy plenty of overpriced shitty products so you can make commission. When someone is selling substandard products at overinflated prices and recruiting into a cult its just not easy. Amway is a system designed for failure, based on Amway's own numbers. Over 99% failure rate.
DeleteIf you haven't already done so download the free ebook Merchants of Deception. Link is on the right side of this page under More Information About Amway. You'll feel like you were in the same room as the author even though his experiences were 20 years ago nothing ever changes in Scamway. This horror story will keep you awake until you've finished reading it.
My ex-boyfriend recently joined Amway, around two months ago. He's on a roll. Fishing for new recruits even while we're on dates!! (Mind you, we were in a long distance relationship that was strong for more than a year....up until he started attending those amway meetings) He asked if I would join, and I said no, I don't have the time or funds to join at the moment. We're still in college. He broke up with me the same day. I visited him a few weeks ago and had to listen to an amway cd in his car. Talked about how they can only be successful if they surround themselves with amway supporters. He's told me about how his parents are unsupportive and how much he has to hide things from them. He's been lying to everyone constantly. He's not the same honest, caring, selfless, humble man anymore. He's become a greed driven, dream chasing, liar....I'm worried that he's destroying his relationship with his family and pushing all of his friendships aside just to become diamond. It's only been two months but it's getting out of control already...
ReplyDeleteHi AndeeB - sorry to hear that Amway destroyed your relationship. You're not alone there and this blog is the place where we talk about things like that. Amway - the Cult of Greed. Where the Ambots lose their money, their family, their friends and their minds.
DeleteIt's not much of a consolation but how you've described your ex-boyfriend is how all Amway Ambots can be described. Their lives are all about Amway and they recruit everywhere they are no matter how embarrassing that is to the person they're with. I went through it at grocery stores, gas stations, on vacation, etc. It's just fucking creepy how these Ambots operate and nothing else matters to them except worshipping the Great Amway God. Amway changes nice, sweet men and turns them into ugly sneering, lying, selfish, greedy Ambots.
All Amway Ambots bitch at the people around them for being unchristian negative dreamstealers who won't support their business.
And don't even get me started on cranking Amway CD's in the car. We're running that post sometime soon so stay tuned for a laugh!
You might not think so right now but the good thing is you're no longer in a relationship with someone who will be verbally abusive to you because you're not in the Amway cult. You don't have to put up with financial and emotional distress that goes along with Amway.
The Amway cult is all about destroying people's lives and separating the Ambot from the family and friends. It's no different than any other cult and it sounds like the cult leaders are having great success with him after only 2 months.
You mentioned college so it sounds like you're still young and you can bounce back from this. Find a better boyfriend who isn't part of a weird religious cult where the followers have to tithe all their money and go into debt to tithe even more to their leaders. And the other thing is 95% of IBO's quit within 2 years, most after a few months. Your ex-boyfriend will get out when he realizes he's not making money, Amway is a scam, and he has no more money left to worship the Great Amway God. He sounds like he's young enough to bounce back financially and emotionally.
Move on. There are better boyfriends out there who aren't lying and scamming people and treating them like shit if they won't support their business. Good luck to you. And thanks for sharing your story.
Hi Anna,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the true words!!
I feel the same about these people.
I m also suffering from these disease!!
One of my best friend is an Amway follower. He follows it religiously...his parents are also into it since 17 years. !!! In short their God is Amway!
I m friends with him since 5 years,but there was no such hue and cry about Amway from his side in college days. But now after college its like he has this super plan for himself.
He says that he going to do job in weekdays and Amway on weekends (which takes him away from us) so that one fine day when he will reach at platinum level then he will leave his job and do Amway forever!! ( is it that worthy??)
Okay so one day he was at my home...boasting about all the products and miracles that they do, and in the evening his parents stopped by ( incidently or deliberately -idk) to take him home. They had dinner and discussed with us their plan and I was just not able to express my inside that I don't want to listen your plan!!! His dad discussed the plan and eventually was successful in making two so called legs ,one my parents and one was me. Now this was the time when he was so happy and more happy for me that from now onwards we will be strong friends.
BUT I HAD NO PLANS FOR THIS !!
Some months down the line he invited me to a seminar,then a party, then a picnic , again a seminar and again a party ... But I refused to go everytime with a reason( mostly were a lie). And I think now he has understood this that I don't want to join in gatherings like this.
But I am facing a problem in our friendship...which he will never realize because for him I will the negative human! Who is not into the same business and is no more eligible to be his friend, but what about all the time we spent together.?? What about our relationship.??
All the time in the office when everybody is listening to music and chatting with each other he is busy listening to CDs and so called inspirational audios of Amway on is headphones.
Nowadays he boasts that his life is changing and he is becoming more positive as he is reading some positive books and listening to some super positive stuff which I should feel is a miracle and start listening to it too....!!
And about ordering something!! Ughhhhh...he goes mad ,after knowing once that I want to order something( some stuff which is permanently going to suck it money) ....he will start pinging me after every 5 mins till he receives a notification that his downline that means i have been fucked !!
He is also facing understanding problems with his girlfriend who is not an Amway disciple because he is not able to discuss all these things with her.
He says that one day he is going to be rich! One day he will go LA...one day he will go somewhere on earth....world trips etc etc. And I think he tries to make other people jealous so that they will sign up for Amway for a global amway world trip! Wow!! What a reason.!!
There are endless short stories about this.. And this place is very little to write!
I hope u understood my situation by what I mentioned so,
Please suggest me some tips that I can follow to show him that in not interested in becoming one of them without spoiling our friendship!!
Okay if he earns some extra bucks but I really don't want to loose my friend for those bucks and I don't want to worship Amway as well...!!
Anonymous - when someone is in Amway the assholes in their upline do everything to destroy their relationships with people who are not in the Amway cult. Nothing brings these evil bastards more happiness than destroying other lives.
DeleteYour friend is what we would call a lifer by means of his parents. Anyone in Scamway for more than 2 years is probably not going to quit any time soon. You know not when success is right around the corner. Your friend grew up with Ambot parents and now its his turn to worship and tithe the Great Amway God.
Its nice for you to be worried about your friend and all the financial and emotional distress in his future but he's brainwashed to disregard people who are not in the Amway cult. And he will never stop pestering you to buy overpriced shitty products or go with him to an Amway cult meeting.
Find new friends. Ones who don't like you just for your money. You don't need an Amway loser in your life spewing out negative Amspeak bullshit all day long.
Hi Anna,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the true words!!
I feel the same about these people.
I m also suffering from these disease!!
One of my best friend is an Amway follower. He follows it religiously...his parents are also into it since 17 years. !!! In short their God is Amway!
I m friends with him since 5 years,but there was no such hue and cry about Amway from his side in college days. But now after college its like he has this super plan for himself.
He says that he going to do job in weekdays and Amway on weekends (which takes him away from us) so that one fine day when he will reach at platinum level then he will leave his job and do Amway forever!! ( is it that worthy??)
Okay so one day he was at my home...boasting about all the products and miracles that they do, and in the evening his parents stopped by ( incidently or deliberately -idk) to take him home. They had dinner and discussed with us their plan and I was just not able to express my inside that I don't want to listen your plan!!! His dad discussed the plan and eventually was successful in making two so called legs ,one my parents and one was me. Now this was the time when he was so happy and more happy for me that from now onwards we will be strong friends.
BUT I HAD NO PLANS FOR THIS !!
Some months down the line he invited me to a seminar,then a party, then a picnic , again a seminar and again a party ... But I refused to go everytime with a reason( mostly were a lie). And I think now he has understood this that I don't want to join in gatherings like this.
But I am facing a problem in our friendship...which he will never realize because for him I will the negative human! Who is not into the same business and is no more eligible to be his friend, but what about all the time we spent together.?? What about our relationship.??
All the time in the office when everybody is listening to music and chatting with each other he is busy listening to CDs and so called inspirational audios of Amway on is headphones.
Nowadays he boasts that his life is changing and he is becoming more positive as he is reading some positive books and listening to some super positive stuff which I should feel is a miracle and start listening to it too....!!
And about ordering something!! Ughhhhh...he goes mad ,after knowing once that I want to order something( some stuff which is permanently going to suck it money) ....he will start pinging me after every 5 mins till he receives a notification that his downline that means i have been fucked !!
He is also facing understanding problems with his girlfriend who is not an Amway disciple because he is not able to discuss all these things with her.
He says that one day he is going to be rich! One day he will go LA...one day he will go somewhere on earth....world trips etc etc. And I think he tries to make other people jealous so that they will sign up for Amway for a global amway world trip! Wow!! What a reason.!!
There are endless short stories about this.. And this place is very little to write!
I hope u understood my situation by what I mentioned so,
Please suggest me some tips that I can follow to show him that in not interested in becoming one of them without spoiling our friendship!!
Okay if he earns some extra bucks but I really don't want to loose my friend for those bucks and I don't want to worship Amway as well...!!
I joined Amway last Saturday where i filled a form with my ss# signature and i got my business kit on monday order tuesday and maybe getting my supplies tomorrow but once i sell those supplies i plan to quit orginally i wanted to quit in sunday but the person who convert me to join told me to try it out after reading this i now know i want out for sure never attended a session or listen to a CD so am i okay and also will my information be okay and my personal page be gone if i quit and is my social okay can someone let me know
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Amway sales reps rely on a fast hard closing sales pitch to get recruits to sign up before they can research and find out Amway's a scam and only less than a tiny fraction of 1% of all participants will make money. In other words, Amway has over 99% failure rate. And most people get sucked in by someone they know and trust and sucked in by all the rah rah hype about how everyone's going to be rich.
DeleteMost states have a law called a cooling off period and the time frame varies from state to state but it means you can change your mind and get your money back within a limited time period so I'm pretty sure you're inside it. I think Amway allows for a month anyway just so they're not dealing with each area's different time limit laws.
Good luck selling those supplies. Nobody wants to buy shitty overpriced Amway products. It'll be easier to return them back to Amway as part of quitting the scam within the cooling off time period. Or eat them yourself and consider it an expensive lesson that you got out of quickly.
If you gave your credit card number to Amway or anyone in your upline you need to cancel it. That's so they can't keep charging it with ditto or your monthly standing order or to buy tools or whatever. Trust me on this. If you made the mistake of giving out your credit card number the easiest thing you can do is call your bank and report it lost or stolen and ask for a replacement. And for god's sake don't give out the new number to any Amway scammer!
You're getting out fast enough that you'll be able to recover financially and emotionally. Just stay away from those Amway losers. Once you phone head office and quit and word gets back to your upline you will be under a vicious attack by phone and text messages and just consider yourself lucky you got out when you did.
Way to go! You've saved yourself a whole bunch of heartache and debt!
Congratulations, Anna! Your blog has stopped another Amway recruitment dead in its tracks.
ReplyDeleteI think Ada, Michigan, must be seething with rage.
Anonymous - this blog is here to help people from making a bad decision to get involved in the Amway pyramid scheme.
DeleteAre the fat cats in Ada seething in rage? Unlikely. They're too arrogant to think people sharing their stories online about the Amway hell hole affects their bottom line. LOL! That's what arrogance does to you!
Thank you so much for all the links! I stumbled on this blog in a desperate straw-grasping attempt to get my boyfriend out of Amway. He got involved about 2-3 months ago. I tried for awhile to be supportive and helpful and encouraging but I can't do it anymore. I sit in the meetings and chant "cult" to myself over and over. The conventions they convince you that it would be a CRIME not to attend are honest to god terrifying. They told him that when he goes to this weekend long convention, he should put his phone on mute so that he can't receive any texts or calls from any "negators" (a negative thinker- in other words, anyone who won't agree to join- aka me). His upline is just DYING to get rid of me because I'm "unsupportive" of his success and "jealous" that he'd rather spend time with his Amway family than me.
ReplyDeleteHe has told me time and time again that he's going to make it big, that this is his number 1 priority, that it's the only thing in his life that makes him happy anymore. I know that it won't be long before his uplines finally convince him that I am of no use to him anymore.
I don't understand why he believes that these people actually care about him as anything more than an opportunity for them to make money. I'm hoping he wakes up before it's too late.
Hi Elipsis - I'm glad you found us! And yes this blog is devoted to people like you who are desparate to get their loved one out of the Amway before it destroys their lives and find people who know exactly what you're going through.
DeleteFirst off if you haven't already done so, you need to download a free ebook called Merchants of Deception. You'll see a link on the right side of this page under Amway links. Read it to better understand this evil cult. And if you can do so, get your boyfriend to read it too and maybe he'll come to his senses. If an Emerald with 1000 people in their downline is only making $2-$3,000/month, a far cry from the $100,000+ that Diamonds claim someone at this level will be making which is just one of many Amway lies, then what chance does your boyfriend have of finding and keeping 1000 people motivated in this scam.
Don't go to anymore Amway cult meetings. They're fucking creepy. Its just not good for you emotionally.
You can be sure the assholes in your boyfriend's Amway upline are working him over to break up with you. There's nothing that brings those Amway bastards more happiness than destroying other people's lives.
Most IBO's quit Amway after a few months when they realize they're not making any money, they can't find any suckers to come to Amway meetings, and no one wants to buy shitty overpriced Amway products from them. They also realize they've lost a lot of money tithing the Great Amway God. And they quit. 95% of IBO's quit within 2 years that's why there's always a crunch on to abuse the current crop not to quit "not when success is right around the corner". Amway Spring Leadership is coming up in April and he'll go and he'll be "fired up" for about a week. Once it wears off you might have a better chance of persuading him to quit if he hasn't already handed over the cash to his sack of shit Platinum for Family Reunion coming up in July. The law of averages of him quitting is on your side and hopefully he is young enough that he can bounce back emotionally and financially.
While he's in the Amway cult you will be insulted and verbally abused for being a negative unsupportive unChristian dreamstealer who wants him to fail. And you'll be dead or broke by the time you're 65. How long you can put up with the insults and the abuse well everyone has a different threshold.
And yes, nothing is more important to an Ambot than their devotion to Amway and the fucking assholes in their upline. It is scary the control they have on him and are brainwashing him. They will monopolize all his time so he can't be with his friends and family, the people who might try to reason with him and make him see he's got involved in a scam. All cults do that to their followers.
Oh and all Ambots are "going big" and "going Diamond".
Once he stops handing over his money his Amway "friends" won't have nothing to do with him. They're only friends as long as the money is coming in and they can make a few pennies commission of the Amway shit he's buying. Once he quits those Amway fuckers will be vicious in their attacks against him and then they'll leave him alone.
And it doesn't bring you much comfort cause you're going through this hell right now but I went through it too. I heard all the same things you heard, I got on the receiving end of the insults, I dealt with the anger. And that's why this blog exists because of those fucking Amway assholes.
Good luck and I hope you come back and tell us how its going.
Dera Elipsis --
ReplyDeleteWhat you are describing is a very real -- and very common -- predicament for persons who have loved ones in Amway. This blog alone contains dozens of stories almost exactly like yours.
The good news is that most people drop out of Amway within a few months to a year. This is especially the case if they are intelligent and perceptive. They realize that it is a money-losing proposition, and their original enthusiasm dries up.
The bad news is that the Amway cult leaders will be working on your boyfriend non-stop, trying to suck him deeper and deeper into the Amway spider web. The fact that they have managed to get him to go to those sick "functions" already is worrisome. The "functions" are where the real cult insanity begins to take hold of new members.
Also, they certainly are working right now to get your boyfriend to drop you. They are probably already grooming some single Amway female to try and vamp him. Believe me, these Amway lunatics WILL STOP AT NOTHING! They want to destroy your relationship with him, and they have no scruples about how they do it. They have destroyed hundreds of marriages, relationships, friendships, and even blood family ties in the name of their sick Amway cult.
You have to ask yourself this: Do you love him enough to fight for him, and secondly, does he love you enough to put you first, instead of Amway? Only you can answer these questions.
Talk to your boyfriend's family and other friends. See what they think. Perhaps all of you together can come up with some way to get through to him, and let him see the very real evil that is hanging over his head.
Anonymous - good breakdown of how the Amway cult will destroy her relationship and good advice.
DeleteI think you're underestimating that Amway has destroyed hundreds of marriages, relationship, friendship. I'd guess its in the tens of thousands but we'll never know the real answer. I can tell you that one friend still avoids us because of Amway. Some relationships can't be fixed after this evil cult gets involved.
Anna,
DeleteThey got my daughter at 19 and we just thought it was a mentorship program and that she sold products as she had with cutco for years . Fast forward 3 years and she says we are all toxic and negative. She is marrying her fiance and only his family is invited to the wedding. She has a fb blog that describes her family as complete lovers that had no money and she even lies about past events . Saying she was homeless and in foster care and that we didn't have a car or money for Christmas's . Yes we were low income but we worked hard and we always had enough. My heart is so broken. She's taken her brother who is disabled and alienated him from. Us. We just found out she was in this cult when my close gf and her husband were recruited and after one meeting my gf said it's a cult . My daughter is a go getter , she makes very good money and yet they have taken her from her family that loves her :( I don't doubt she most likely is making money as she's a talented business woman and salesperson. We are at a loss. Do we out her? Tell her we know she's an ambitious? She doesn't even speak to her Nanna, her dad , her brother or my little sister. I am her mother. I just want my daughter bzck
Hi Anonymous. I'm sorry to hear about your situation. By sharing our stories we help others and you know you're not alone. Parents of Ambots have left many comments on this blog over the years.
DeleteAmway the Cult of Greed where all participants worship the Great Amway God and the almighty dollar. If you haven't already done so, look on the right side of this page under more Amway info for a free ebook called Merchants of Deception. It's a true life horror story that you won't be able to put down. The author was an Amway Emerald with 1000 people in his downline and his best year made around 35k.
Becoming a liar is part of the requirements of being in the Amway cult. How do you know when someone in Amway is lying? Their mouth is moving. Or in the case of the Internet, they're typing something. That's why these Ambots come up with rags to riches tales if they make Diamond level. She's practising.
I'm assuming her fiancee is also an Amway Ambot. She would have to get permission from her Amway upline before getting married and that's the only way I can see it happening. If you're not invited to the wedding at least you're not paying the big bucks expected of the bride's family to throw a bash that is suitable for Amway royalty. Many people get married at destination weddings or city hall and don't have any guests attending so you're hardly the first parents out there not to attend your kid's wedding. Maybe the next one! You might be sad about it now but do you really want to attend a wedding of someone who is attacking you and lying about you? Alienating people from their friends and family is a classic cult move.
Even though your daughter is ambitious, Amway is a system designed for failure. Oversaturation of salespeople and Amway's reputation for selling overpriced shitty products is well known. She might make a few pity sales but probably no repeat clients.
Coca Cola will have territories assigned to their sales people so there is no overlapping. They don't hire 50 people to service all the stores in one territory. Same with USPS. You don't see 50 posties delivering mail to your neighborhood. Amway is not a legitimate sales job where the head office makes sure there is no overlapping. It's an Ambot mill. Only about 3% of Amway customers do not have IBO membership into this expensive buying club.
I hate to say this because your daughter has been in the Amway cult for 3 years. She is probably a lifer. 95% of Ambots quit within 2 years. The rest become lifetime addicts. She will have to hit rock bottom before she quits the Amway cult. Hopefully you'll see her again when she's drained all her savings and run up tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Good luck.
Anna, regarding when your husband finally decided to leave and told his upline --- how long did it take, and how many calls and texts did the upline send before he finally quit trying to convince your husband to stay?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - around 7 months my husband stopped buying Amway products and going to Amway cult meetings which infuriated the upline and he endured endless vicious texts and phone calls. One time the sack of shit Platinum phoned from an Amway meeting and put him on speaker phone and berated him with his audience listening. Thats all part of the abuse you get in Amway. That story is nothing new. But its always a good sign when they stop buying Amway shit and stop going to meetings or cut back because they're now starting to deprogram themselves.
DeleteConsider: in what other company on this planet do you get attacked and berated for quitting? Can you imagine the Xerox Corporation or General Electric calling you up and yelling abuse at you for leaving their employment?
ReplyDeleteI can think of only two other big institutions where quitting puts you in danger: The Mafia, and the Communist Party. Amway combines the characteristics of both of them.
Anonymous - I have never been treated badly by any employer after quitting. No attacks. I also want to say that I've gone to any business meeting where everyone wants to hug me to death. Shake my hand, sure, that's normal in real business meetings.
DeleteNot the Amway love bombing that goes on at their "business meetings".
Yeah those institutions come to mind if you try to quit and attacking former staff might be more than just verbal.
Anna, those sex-starved Ambots probably wanted to hug you just to get a free feel.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - oh probably. Actually in my case it was mostly women hugging me cause you know we weren't allowed to be on the same side of the room as the men because Amway is a big old male chauvinist pig club.
DeleteOh fuck that shit. What do you do in your spare time? Hit online dating sites and scam them too?
ReplyDeleteAnna, is this post getting through?
ReplyDeleteYeah I'd say so!
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteReading this makes me sad. My 20 year old son recently got into Amway. He has a friend who lured him in with all the talk about getting rich. We have a friend who was in it for a couple months and then left quickly when he realized it was a cult. We’ve tried talking to him. Til we were blue in the face. We actually talked him out of it once, and then months later he was lured into it again. He gets upset and irritated at my husband and I because we don’t “support” him in his decision. He said he wants to do it so that my husband, his very hard working dad, can retire. Which is a sweet sentiment. But weve always grown up working hard to earn ur money. I’m sick of him wasting his time at these ridiculous meetings. And just reading everything on here that u said, it’s just all such a big fat reality slap. We’ve tried to have our friend who used to be in it to talk to him. He didn’t want to hear it. We’ve tried and tried again. Doesn’t wanna hear it. I just don’t know what else to do. I don’t want to see him go into debt. He’s still living at home right now. And Just now trying to start a grown up life. I’m just at a loss for words and ideas. But thank you for putting this blog up. I typed in the search bar “how do I get my son out of Amway”; and ur blog was the first thing that came up. I’m glad I’m not the only person, parent in this predicament. I just have to keep trying I guess..... before it’s too late. It just makes me sad that someone who was supposed to be his friend, would pull him into something so sinister. But, he was the perfect guinea pig. Low self esteem. No confidence in himself. And these people just play with his emotions and work him up, more than likely for a failure. He’s such an amazing kid. Sweet, sensitive, smart. I’m just clinging on to hope to getting him out.
Thanks for listening
Hi Pepper Lynn. Thanks for stopping by with your story.
DeleteAmway the Cult of Greed. Where gullible people like your son get lured into this pyramid scheme.
All Ambots get very defensive when it comes to how they worship the Great Amway God. You're hearing a bunch of Amspeak including accusing everyone else of not supporting them in "their own business".
Have you tried pointing out to your son that a real business owner, a real entrepreneur, creates their own products or services to sell to real customers. They're not middlemen commissioned sales reps for someone else trying to flog overpriced shitty products that no one wants to buy.
Have you tried pointing out the small print in Amway's brochures where it says only a tiny fraction of 1% will make money. Flip it around. That means over 99% of all Amway cult followers will lose money.
Is he insulting you and your husband because you're not hot shot "business owners" like him and you work a J.O.B.? If not, that will happen soon enough. Amway Ambots are taught by their Amway cult leaders to be nasty sneering snide bastards and look down on everyone who's not in their cult.
Most parents have to pull out the tough love. I've had some leave comments here that they kicked their son out of the house because of how disrespectful he'd become since joining the Amway cult. They let him come home to do his laundry under the condition they use the soap the parents buy and he was not allowed to bring Amway shitty overpriced laundry soap into their house.
Tough love. You're not the only parents going through this.
Oh yeah this blog hits high on the search engines searching for just about everything Amway. The cult leaders hate this blog and I've had people leave comments here that they'd gone to an Amway meeting and were told not to search online for information about Amway and specifically told to stay away from this blog. So obviously that made them check it out and now they know to stay away from this scam. Amway does not like it when people share their true stories of the abuse and financial and emotional distress that comes from being in Amway.
If you haven't already done so, download a free ebook called Merchants of Deception and you'll get a better understanding of this cult your son is involved in. There's a link on the right side of this page under more info about Amway.
Good luck to you!
Dear Pepper Lynn --
ReplyDeleteOne good thing to remember is that most persons quit Amway within six months to a year after joining up. This might happen with your son. The great majority of Amway signups realize very quickly that it is a money-losing deal.
Also, does your son have any prospects for getting a real job someplace? If he actually begins to take home a real paycheck from a real job, he might begin to see that money comes from work, not from stupid seminars and meetings and rallies.
That’s good. The other thing I didn’t mention is that he’s still young enough to bounce back financially and emotionally. Whatever money he loses to Scamway he can consider it paying for an education. He will learn a valuable lesson about never getting involved in another MLM scam.
DeleteThe only thing missing from that post is saying the "secret ingredient" was formulated by some kind of psychic or witch doctor. Or maybe even a Nigerian prince.
ReplyDeleteAlways makes me laugh to see one of those scam ads posting in the comments of a site dedicated to exposing another scam - Amway.
~Dave
Dave - what’s the difference between an Amway scammer and a Nigerian scammer?
ReplyDeleteOnly one of them doesn’t show up here screeching because we’re not interested in their twisted religious beliefs.
The similarities are endless though!
I have a friend that has been in Amway for over a year. I met her through another friend but she wasn't in Amway at that time. We see each other every few months and all she talks about is Amway, the WHOLE TIME. And she talks about the same things every time we see each other. I am afraid she's way too deep into this scam that she says she can't quit because people are counting on her and does not want to upset her uplines. Constantly asks if we want to order from her and I've only bought one thing last year because I felt that but have not this year. She buys lots of products on her own to meet points or whatever and goes to a shit ton of meetings. She has that mindset that she'll retire in her early 30s (she's in her late 20s). She has no life whatsoever because she's constantly going out everyday to meet strangers and try to recruit them but has very few "legs" under her. She was already in debt before joining Amway and I can't imagine how much in debt she's in now. I feel like I can't tell her how I really feel since we're not 100% close and she's like 6 years older than me and she'll be offended that a young 20 year old is telling her how to live her life.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous. Sorry to hear about your friend getting scammed by Amway. Ambots don’t want to talk about anything if it’s not Amway related. Unfortunately that’s what being brainwashed by the Cult of Greed does to a person. It doesn’t matter your age. A brainwashed Amway Ambot won’t listen to you. Their ability to think for themselves is gone. It sounds like she’s still young enough to bounce back financially and emotionally from the damage Amway will do to her.
DeleteHello thanks for your blog. My sister is involved with Amway right now. I tried to speak with her but shes just the perfect recruit. She was already the most stubborn bitch I knew before and Amway is using that to their advantag . I sent her a podcast of a womans experience over 10 YEARS and she completely dismissed it. I said so this woman who was dedicated and committed for 10 years, her experience means nothing to you?? She responded "nope. Shes a quitter and didnt work hard enough". That's when I knew there would be no getting through to her. The rest of the family has decided to just let her lose all her money. It's really sad and shes dragged her boyfriend into it. Which is even sadder because all that money could be savings for a house or a future or literally ANYTHING because its be better than just throwing it away. I dont want to be pissed off at her cause I know that's exactly what her cult leaders want, but it's so hard because shes the perfect candidate and she KNOWS how to piss people off and make them not want anything to do with you. I've been debating at least telling her boyfriend and sending him the links to a lot of evidence so maybe he can save himself since shes pressuring him emotionally to join. But I feel nothing will help them from the way she responded to me. It's sad wanting your sibling to go broke but that's all we can hope for at this point.
ReplyDeleteHi Unknown. That’s too bad about your sister but sometimes you got to let people make their own mistakes. Don’t enable her by buying shitty overpriced Amway products. All that does is give her false hope that she can make money in this scam.
DeleteAmway Ambots are know it alls. They accuse everyone of being quitters who didn’t try hard enough. Total Amspeak. There’s no shame in quitting a scam that’s stealing your money and it doesn’t matter how hard you work in a system designed for failure. The odds are stacked against you being in that tiny fraction of 1% who will make money in Amway.
I just want my daughter back:(
DeleteAnonymous - if it doesn't happen I hope you can make peace with the situation and be available if she quits the Amway cult and tries to mend the bridges she burnt.
DeleteTo Unknown at 6:27 AM --
ReplyDeleteThis is really very sad. Your sister sounds like exactly the kind of fanatical person who becomes an Amway "lifer."
The key to this situation is the boyfriend. If he has backbone and an independent mind, he'll stand up to her and tell her that Amway is not for him, and that it simply isn't a good idea for anyone. Then she'll have to make the decision about breaking with him.
That's a touigh call for a woman, especially if the realtionship has lasted for some time. And the loss of a boyfriend (if he decides to go) will also bring her to the realization that Amway is going to be a very harsh master that demands sacrifice all the time.
When she goes broke, that will be the clincher.