A letter in Dear Abby caught my attention. The husband is
complaining his wife got scammed into an MLM 2 years ago. She spends all her
time trying to recruit people and spends $700/month on products. Her so called
business is everything to her. The wife says she’s not a “quitter”. She thinks
she’ll retire rich. And the husband signs his name “brainwashed”.
How many think this MLM scam is Amway?
The only thing that makes me stop and go no shit is she makes
$250/month.
Commission on buying $700 Amway products a month for self
consumption would be around $25. Unless she has clients she’s bullying into
buying products every month then she could be making commission on the
difference between wholesale and retail.
And I’ll say it again. Amway’s “wholesale” price is still 3
or 4 times higher than a similar better quality product would cost at a regular
retailer.
Or the wife is lying to her husband about how much money she
really is making like all Amway IBO’s do. Adding on an extra zero.
Or it’s a different MLM with a MUCH better compensation plan
than Amway!
As you can see from the answer Dear Abby has nailed it –
pyramid scheme! Are there any other pyramid schemes out there besides Amway who
fill their garages through of useless shit they can’t unload? Well you know
I’ll say its possible but Amway is the only scam MLM where that’s a well known
practice. And the advice is part of what I tell people who show up here saying
they’re married to an ambot and its destroying their marriage. Get counselling,
either from a real marriage counsellor or clergy or whoever - or counsel with a
lawyer and figure out where to go from there.
DEAR ABBY: My wife is a nurse who works 36 hours a week.
Two years ago she got duped into working for a multilevel marketing company.
All she does now in her spare time is try to recruit people. She is never
home. We have two kids. She spends $700 a month on products and makes only $250
a month.
Her so-called business is everything to her. She won’t get marriage
counseling. She says she isn’t a quitter.
I want a divorce, but I hate the consequences of ending a 15-year marriage.
I need help. It would be so easy to cheat, and I have been tempted more than
once, but haven’t done it.
We are in our 40s, and I feel like a single parent. What do I do? I’m so
frustrated. She is basically working for free and thinks she’ll be able to
retire rich from it.
— BRAINWASHED
DEAR BRAINWASHED: The business venture you have described
may be a pyramid scheme. Many people have ended up with garages filled with
inventory they can’t unload and nothing to show for it.
If she refuses counseling, then YOU should consider it for yourself, because
what has been going on in your marriage for the last two years is unfair to you
and your children. Then you can get a clearer picture of what your next steps
should be.
Not trying to nitpick, but the advice seeking husband was not the one who mentioned a garage full of stuff, so the wife may not be in amway. Also, there are other MLMs that can leave the so-called IBO ending up with a garage full of crap. My extended family member is one of them.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for a better response from 'Abby'. Perhaps she was trying to avoid a potential lawsuit from amway.
Anonymous - I'm sure ambots aren't the only ones hooked up to a pyramid scheme who have a garage full of shit they can't unload! Can you imagine the bad publicity if Amway tried to sue Dear Abby. Something that Amway and Ambots hate is a little thing called the 1st Ammendment. Dear Abby obviously covered up the scam MLM. I mean whats easier to write multilevel marketing company or Amway. Dear Abby doesn't want outraged ambots flooding her mailbox defending their beloved employer isn't a pyramid scheme and accusing Dear Abby of being a pyramid.
DeleteHere's a woman who has been married for fifteen years, and has two children. One would think that extensive life experience of that sort would have taught her something.
ReplyDeleteBut No -- she gets swept up into this off-the-wall MLM scheme (Amway or something else, what's the diff? They're ALL rip-offs!)
I think this example from Dear Abby shows that Amway and all MLM rackets are a form of mental illness. They are a contagion of the mind that, out of nowhere, just seems to hit ordinary and otherwise intelligent people like a bad case of the flu. Why should this woman take a $450 loss every month, and not stop to think what's she's doing to herself and to her family?
Anna, you were the one who finally put your foot down with Ambot. Well, this husband should do the exact same thing with his wife. Give the bitch an ultimatum! Tell her "It's either me and the kids, or your fucking MLM! Decide!"
Anobymous - you'd think that but jus goes to show that relatively intelligent people with all sorts of life experience can get sucked into a cult or a scam even though they'd probably never think something that stupid could happen to them. Also maybe it's not the wife. I'm sure Dear Abby switches up some details to provide anonymity to writers. Perhaps it's the wife writing the letter about the husband and the dollar amount of monthly commission was changed. But yeah some sort of mental disability going on with cult followers though they'd all deny it.
DeleteI can think of a few other nonsensical MLM (pyramid schemes) this could be, and I believe with that much of a return it probably isn't Amway. She could be a part of Le-Vel, "It Works", R+F (Rodan and Fields), My Jeweler, Pampered Chef...etc. etc. they are all evil spawns of the Amway promise...recruit people to buy our crappy or ordinary product at 400-infinite percentage points higher than market value and watch that residual income come flying in!
ReplyDeleteHi Ben. Yeah it could be just about any scam MLM out there but Amway is the grand daddy of all pyramid schemes. Plus some words used such as quitter seemed to be Amway trademarks. But really do Pampered Chef and other MLMs out such an emphasis on destroying families and spending all their time with cult followers instead of their family and friends and other normal social activities. I know. Just watch all that residual income flying in - bazillions of dollars every month while the participant sits back and does nothing for the rest of their life.
DeleteThis is part of the Amway hypocrisy. They preach to their cult members not to be quitters, except when it comes to quitting on their marriage, family, friends and life itself outside of the Amway cult.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - quitter and loser are some of the insults Ambots fling around especially when someone leaves the Amway cult. And as you pointed out Amway wants their Ambots to quit their jobs, quit their family, quit their friends, and quit all other non-Amway activities. But they don't want you to quit their cult!
DeleteShe tells her hubby she makes $250 per month when it's really (most likely) just $25? I guess she is faking it until she makes it! (with him at least)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - she probably does that a lot!
DeleteI've got a new advertising jingle for Amway. I'd like to see it on billboards all over the country:
ReplyDeleteATTENTION EVERYONE! Grab hold of the exciting Amway opportunity:
Low-grade SOAPS
For half-wit DOPES
Who live on HOPES!
LOL! That's a good one!
DeleteHey Anna! Huge fan! Your blog inspired me to start my own. Check out mine and follow/promote if you would please! Would LOVE to hear your feedback!
ReplyDeletehttp://financialjonestown.blogspot.com/
Way to go for starting up a blog! I took a look and very accurate description especially of how ambots are too broke to buy a cup of coffee. Meanwhile they're going around with a stupid smile and lying about how business is going great. We'll get a link up to your blog soon. The person who keeps this blog up and running is kind of busy right now but it's on the to do list LOL.
Delete