One
of our readers is being harassed by his boss at work to sign up to the Amway
scam:
Just wanted to stop by and say I really enjoy your
blog! I’ve been reading it from start to finish, and I enjoy your candid
commentary along with the horror stories other victims of Amway have shared.
My boss, of all people, brought me here. He doesn’t know he brought me here. He
doesn’t know I know he’s part of the Amway pyramid scheme. He thinks I’m easy
prey; a new recruit ripe for brainwashing.
He’s been subtly grooming me to become part of his scam, or “business
opportunity” as he calls it.
The way he’s doing it is devilishly sly, and had I not had a bad run-in with
Primerica (another pyramid scheme), he may well have gotten me.
The subtle product placement - he always has an XS energy drink in plain view,
or a bottle of his Perfect drinking water nearby. The Tip/Balance/Twist tests
he performed when I questioned the claims of his miracle water. Boasts that he
would be a millionaire within a decade. Mysterious meetings that required a
suit and tie. Talks about how I could save money on household goods if I bought
them from myself.
This all built up to a discussion one day after work, when he talked about an
upcoming business meeting he was having with his partners. I asked for more
info, but he said it was very secretive and he’d have to talk to his partners
first.
The next day he said he’d talked to his partners, and that they thought I’d be
a great candidate. Could I come to their next meeting, and did I own a suit?
Recalling my experience with Primerica, I wanted to know more about the
business so I could research it a bit, and be able to make informed decisions.
I asked what exactly this business was and if he had any literature on it.
In response, I was given a link to WWDB and asked to read testimonials by the
Puryear and Duncan families.
Right then and there I knew something was very, very wrong. The whole
testimonial was a bunch of feel-good ass kissing, along with these people
rubbing their wealth in my face. I don’t care how big your yacht is, I want
facts and figures about your business. None of these testimonials provided any
factual business information.
Frustrated by this secrecy, I Googled WWDB and the Puryears and the Duncans.
This led me to Amway, and to countless horror stories of people whose lives
have been ruined by it.
After much work, I did find the facts and figures I was searching for. And as I
suspected, it was all a sham. These “Diamonds” at the top of the chain live a
charade. They barely pull in six figures, most of which is from their
tools/speeches (NOT the Amway business plan!). They put themselves in financial
peril to fool their cult into thinking they’re rich!
And if you’re not that fraction of a percent on the top, you are losing money!
You are bullied into buying junk you don’t need, alienating friends and family,
taking on debt, and told that success is right around the corner!!
No thank you. I’ll keep my J.O.B. At the end of the day, I know I earned my
paycheck and didn’t have to sell my soul to get it.
So thank you very much for this blog! Your efforts, as well as the wealth of
knowledge here, spared me a lot of pain and heartache. I’m so glad I was able
to avoid going down the scAmway path.
When I speak to my boss again regarding his “business opportunity” I will
politely say I’m not interested. If he persists, then the gloves come off.
LOL at Perfect Water. Is that still running about $43 a case? No thanks. I'll gladly pay my $3.34 for a case of Daisani at the local Target. Or 3 for $10!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - you're right. We can buy a 24 pack of a known brand name water for under $5 at Walmart or Target and sometimes on sale for even better price! Sure beats getting scammed by Amway's unPerfect Water LOL!
DeleteThe problem is that when your boss tries to persuade you to do something, you are generally under a great deal of pressure to satisfy him. After all, he pays you, and can fire you. Ask any pretty girl who works for a male boss to tell you about that problem.
ReplyDeleteIf you work in a large corporation, and there's somebody above your boss, you could always complain to that person that you are being pressured to join something that you don't want to join. Or if there is a Human Resources department, you could file a complaint with them for on-the-job harassment.
I have heard about persons who run fast-food franchises like Burger King or Taco Bell who are also involved in Amway. They sometimes try to pressure their employees to come to Amway meetings and get involved in the racket. I can't understand how anyone who is running a profitable fast-food outlet would need to be in a dip-shit MLM money-drain like Amway, but apparently it happens.
You're right Anonymous. People often feel obligated for after hours socializing because the boss has asked you to be there.
DeleteAnd those are good steps to take if you're being harassed on the job for any reason.
The only people who buy Amway's Perfect Water are perfect assholes.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - seeing as how the only people who buy Perfect Water are Amway losers it's goes without saying that automatically makes them assholes! Amway loser = asshole.
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