Holy Shit! - I'm an Independent Business Owner (2202 hits)
Category: Business & FinancialRating: 1.43 on 16 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by NotApologizing (Prison-System Educated) (View user info) at 2004-11-04 23:24:41 EST
Several months ago while shopping at Best Buy, I was approached by a very strange but quite friendly man named Kevin. We are both in the auto industry, though he is in a completely different functional track. Anyways, we exchanged business cards and I was surprised to see that he gave me not one, but TWO cards. One was for what he called an 'e-commerce' business that he runs. I didn't think anything of it, and I certainly never expected to hear from him.
You can imagine my surprise when I got a call from him a week later and he wanted to meet with me one on one. I said 'OK' with no intention of actually going (having already assumed that he was a homosexual sadist who liked to dominate young, muscular guys like myself...ahem). He said a date, I agreed to it, then cancelled shortly after. He called again and gave me more details, saying he wanted to talk to potential 'investors' about his burgeoning e-commerce company. I bit.
I quickly learned that he was an 'Independent Business Owner' (IBO) for an online "Sam's Warehouse type" of corporation.
He made a decent case and I asked him for the website. He hesitated, then mumbled the word 'quixtar' and tried to move on. Partially because I couldn't understand and partially because I am a fucking prick, I demanded that he actually spell out the website. He did, then moved on. I found out that I could become an 'IBO' for only $150. I COULD end up being rich. Now I must be fair and say that all his documentation included average income figures which were wholly unimpressive. His explanation for that was that 'it includes memebers who've died, retired, or are simply living off interest income from the money they've already earned and therefore don't report significant quixtar related income'. Liar.
I may be young, but I wasn't born yesterday.
We closed the meeting with him giving me three 'motivational' audio cd's. Aha, the scam begins with him planting the seed of dependency in me. The dependedncy, that is, on motivational materials and the claim that those materials are "essential for acheiving success". I continued to feign interest by agreeing to meet with him again and attend a twice-monthly "mentoring meeting".
That's where I'm at. Oh, one more thing:
http://www.pyramidschemealert.org/PSAMain/home.html
(see articles on Quixtar/Amway)
I love my job. And some of you may be able to tell from my frequent absences from this site that I am very busy and very stimulated by performing my role. I'm also well compensated.
But I'm also (like I said) a colossal prick AND somewhat of a closet political activist...OK, I'm more of a political realist who bitches a lot.
My choices:
1) I could demand a piece of the 'motivational tool' pie. If I could get in on that, then I really could be rich like the others, though I doubt there would be continued interest in me if I make such demands.
2) More likely, I'll go to the meeting and expose the program to the unwitting other attendees. When I meet my recruiting IBO again, I'll certainly play the role and get real excited about the 'opportunity' to become rich.
What I need from you*:
Because I'm not the only cynical, sarcastic prick on this site AND because I think I'll get some funny answers, I want YOU, the ubersite users to script my next step. What should I say to my 'upline' direct IBO? What should I say to the meeting? Hell, just tell me what you think of MLM/NWM and do you have any experiences with it?
*Moment of clarity and seriousness that exposes my emphasis on altruism to follow:
Don't fall for this shit if you're faced with it. The link I provided above should tell you all you need to know about these scams. If you really want to get rich, sell your vagina to losers who lie to people and destroy countless lives so they can get paid. You never know; I might be one of them!
User Reviews
Submitted by QueenAshlee (user info) at 2005-04-17 23:59:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I changed my mind. I hope he invests every penny he has into this bullshit and gets fucked over.
(I kicked him out two days after you wrote that reply.)
Thanks, though. I'm gonna print out that review and keep it around for the next time some IBO accosts me with their B.S.
Submitted by NotApologizing (user info) at 2005-03-31 12:41:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I really wish I had the email exchange still. It was very informative. I made very good points about Quixtar and none were counterpointed.
For starters, you may want to simply let him know what's out there for an opposing viewpoint. Try http://www.pyramidschemealert.org/ Quixtar is probably their most highlighted 'business' along with prepaid legal.
If you actually want to address him yourself, try this rhetoric (which is what I asked to the IBO who tried to get me):
<Think for a moment about the product industry. Any company selling a product seeks the most effective and efficient way to sell that product. By efficiency I mean low overhead. By low overhead I mean fewer people working to sell the product (meaning fewer hands to feed with the profit.
Now think about Quixtar for a moment. Any IBO that targets you will describe Quixtar as a product company. In the next breath though, he/she will try to sell you on a 'system' so you'll join them as an IBO. What they tell you to do then, is buy a certain amount of Quixtar (Amway) products every month, and spend all your marketing efforts trying to recruit other IBO's.
We must ask ourselves why an IBO represents a bigger opportunity for Quixtar than customers. That is, why would a PRODUCT company be trying to increase the number of hands it feeds from sales profit? The answer is that Quixtar, and 99.5% of its' IBO's do not make their money on product sales. What is the KEY difference between an IBO and a simple member-customer on the Quixtar website? Simple, the difference is that an IBO wants to make money as a successful Quixtar 'distributor', where a consumer only wants to get good deals on Amway products. You're probably asking yourself "hmmm...why would a product company NOT encourage me to bring consumers to the website, to 'direct traffic' as they say...?" Because, a member-consumer at the website is not interested in the real money maker for the 99.5% of Quixtar's profitable IBO's. What is that money maker? Books, CD's, Tapes, DVD's, & Seminars to teach and motivate IBO's on how to sell Quixtar. These items are commonly referred to as 'tools'. A member-customer would have ZERO interest in tools. While the Amway Corporation has a great interest in member-customers, the company itself has little to no control over how it is represented by IBO's (hence the I for Independent). No, the IBO's want you to become a distributor so they can charge you $40 for a $15 book, or $150 for a $45 set of tapes. They want you to pay $100 to $500 for a seminar. Only an IBO would do that--a simple customer would have no interest. Add that to the IBO & membership fees, and you can see that most people who are making money in Quixtar could care less about selling the products.>
Try that one. I believe pyramidschemealert.com has a link to the datelineNBC story (streaming video) that is very informative. Good luck. The slope gets increasingly slippery the longer he's in it and the more money he spends (escalation of commitment). IF you'd like, you can have him email me at:
monk_e_ninja.at.yahoo.com
Goood luck.
Submitted by QueenAshlee (user info) at 2005-03-30 22:48:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Any ideas that might result in me still being married afterwards?
Submitted by NotApologizing (user info) at 2005-03-28 13:17:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Ashlee,
I told the guy to go fuck himself. Actually I asked a lot of valid questions in a very long, condescending and pointed email. HIs response (which I felt FULLY validated my point) was, in a nutshell:
"YOu're lazy and you're just looking for an excuste NOT to work hard in Quixtar. Now gimme back that book I 'lent' to you..."
Typical. Don't answer any of the questions I asked, and then request your 'tool' back from me. If that doesn't prove everything ever said about quixtar, then shucks I don't know what does.
Submitted by QueenAshlee (user info) at 2005-02-21 09:20:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
So what I said before, I guess I jumped the gun. The hubby and I had a fight in January, which involved me going to my mom's house for about a week. I came back, only to learn that the first thing he did was renew his membership and shell out another $40 bucks to these people. I can't get him to see the logic that his "mentors" have been involved in this for years, and both still have full time jobs. Did you do anything at all with this? I think I'm gonna need some help getting through to him. I can barely find him under all their hype...
Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-11-05 13:23:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Yeah, it's such bullshit and I can't believe how long this thing has been going on. Over the past 5 years numerous people have approached me, and I'm like go blow ya'self. Let us not forget "Pre Paid Legal" what a fucking scam that is. I got into a huge fight with one of my "so called friends" over this shit. She's like what if you got to jail, blah, blah, blah. First off I'm going to do any dumb shit that requires me to need a get of jail pass. Please. Oh, and this is the same loser ass friend that tried to sell me the QuickStart BS!
Submitted by firefly (user info) at 2004-11-05 13:06:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by QueenAshlee (user info) at 2004-11-05 12:58:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
My husband fell for this shit about a year and a half ago. While I managed to distract him enough that he doesn't return his "mentors'" phone calls and didn't renew his membership, I STILL can't convince him that this is a pyramid scheme.
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2004-11-05 12:47:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 just for the pic.
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2004-11-05 11:43:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Amway is such a scam. Run.
Submitted by Monarch (user info) at 2004-11-05 11:14:52 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
For the record: Yes, I do have a reason for putting a -2 on this post.
The author is wrong. It isn't worth it to argue, as he almost certainly would not listen to me. (Being able to prove my point does absolutely no good if someone doesn't want to listen.)
If you want to see this kind of thing, go rent Conspiracy Theory. Mel Gibson does a much better job of it.
Submitted by funk_boy (user info) at 2004-11-05 06:56:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
kitty!!
Submitted by Monarch (user info) at 2004-11-05 01:30:33 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by The_Masked_Ejaculator (user info) at 2004-11-05 01:09:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I can ejaculate for hours, we should bottle it and sell it to rich people so they can feed themselves on my semen. You silly little fucker you.
Submitted by CoachMagirk27 (user info) at 2004-11-04 23:37:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I have 30 dollars of stock in mattel.
HOTWHEELS LEADING THE WAY!1!
Submitted by NotApologizing (user info) at 2004-11-04 23:30:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
One more thing:
Rich DeVos, the founder of AmWay NEVER approved of his distributors getting rich by selling motivational tools. If you listen to his audio on that link above, you'll see that his own company was whored out from under him. He sounds like a stand-up guy and sincerely bothered by the way things went with Amway.
If you go to Grand Rapids, MI, you'll see that name everywhere and realize that there was once a legitimate company behind the scams that arose.