Amway/Quixtar: The Shame of it All!

“Always call it “The Business” in public.”

To not divulge the name of 'Quixtar', 'Amway', or 'Amway Global' in public doesn't exclusively apply to the deceptive curiosity invite practice--where people are basically duped into seeing the Amway business proposal; but is routine public procedure designed to shield distributors from the shame of being involved in such a lowly regarded affair—this despite all the current reputation rebuilding efforts that the Ada, Michigan, Alticor executives have embarked upon. Distributors are taught to only use the term “the business” in public to keep their involvement secretive. Distributors are taught to act very cult like indeed by their upline mentors and the never ending training materials they purchase from the tool kingpins.

The Amway name is generally held in low esteem by the general public--for good reason. Recruiters are forced to seek out the naive and vulnerable to sell their scheme on. The 'shame of it all' can only be explained away in a carefully controlled recruitment environment; not inadvertently leaked out in a restaurant or social setting. Most knowledgeable people would avoid attending an Amway recruitment meeting if the name 'Amway' was revealed inadvertently or purposefully upfront (as it should be). Many skeptical people ask the question 'Is this Amway?' and never receive anything more than obfuscation as a reply. Attendance at a Amway recruitment meeting is considered a waste of time by many people. (This is why I have proposed a Do Not Invite Initiative which would work similarly to the national do not call list for telemarketers.)

Seriously, why would anyone want to be involved in an affair that invokes such shame on the part of those distributors currently involved?

Why would someone want to be involved in a situation where it is disguised or denied to employers—a embarrassing situation for many employees. Most importantly, why would anyone want to describe this stinker of an opportunity as a great opportunity when it is absolutely not. To knowingly do this is indeed criminal intent to defraud! Amway is about as welcome as a stinker in a car, and who wants to admit to anything that vile?

Have you recently been tricked into seeing the Amway 'opportunity' fraud? If so, you've found the information necessary to see through the carefully crafted deceptions of 'the business cult'. You do not want to find yourself in the unenviable desperate 'hope and a prayer' situation of having to acquire an incredibly elusive 'downline' who really does not want to be found.

Amway Global is a terminal disease which has a nearly '100% rolling failure rate'.

Striving for success in a scheme isn't anyone's idea of real success. Just the fact that it invokes shame in those desperate enough to engage in its fraud should make any thinking person avoid it like the black plague.

Amway Proponents Deny the Financial holocaust and Perpetuate Fraud on Consumers

Amway apologists actively deny that the vast amount of Amway adherents have lost money and most likely will lose money in their 'opportunity'. To know this fact, to deny it, and then perpetuate a fraud on others is dishonest and meets all the elements of the crime. People have been hoodwinked to believe falsehoods about Amway by its apologist proponents, but the facts exist which show that Amway historically has resulted in nearly a 100% rolling failure rate. If you were made to understand that you were participating in consumer fraud, would you continue, or would you do the right thing--quit?

I have authored an exclusive article entitled The Quixtar/Amway Financial holocaust; the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Fraud on Quixtar Cult Intervention which I invite you to read. Controversy isn't shrugged off when consumer fraud is afoot! Click here to be magically taken their by the World Wide Internets. ... you know what that is don't you pee wee?

Amway Distributor Exposes Emerald Kingpin as Fraud On You Tube

Rocket of the Rocket's Rants Blog put a link to a You Tube video in the body of his post today. This video depicts an 'IBO' who debunks his upline Emerald as a fraud. Unlike most completely brainwashed cult followers, this distributor at least still has some of his mental faculties intact. He says he likes the products, but then he proceeds to warn others not to screw themselves over, to become a "prosumer" and go to Circuit City. The video is self explanatory and a wonderful Amway Global embarrassment to behold!

This whistle blowing 'IBO' says Amway "is a pyramid." Sounds like this 23 year old retired Emerald--supposedly making 6 figures a year--actually has to buy tools for his downline on a credit card because he can't afford them with the credit card he presently has. Indeed there is something very fishy going on here! He has to sandbag his downline and explain why they haven't gotten their tool order yet! Eric Scheibler described all the financial problems he experienced as an Emerald distributor as well. When does the faking ever end, and when does the making it begin?

"It is a pyramid!"

Amway/Quixtar: Opportunity to Flush Your Money Down their Loo !

Here is how multi-level marketing works in the direct selling industry. Almost all businesses operate off of some variation of the Amway system. Regardless of the hype recruitment people try to make recruits believe about their opportunities; these supposed opportunities almost always work out the same way for people foolish enough to believe the claims which are complete Du Du.

What follows is a description of how direct selling schemes really work out for people foolish or desperate enough to believe in them. The money that is supposed to come your way after striving and struggling in a MLM pursuit is always at the end of the rainbow where the little green suited Leprechaun plays a shell game with the MLM Pot O' Gold and even if you were lucky to locate the end of the rainbow you are only left so much further behind the eight ball.

Recruitment made during periods of recession, where many people have lost traditional jobs, seek to attract desperate people into their direct selling schemes like Amway, MonaVie, Usana, Herbalife and many others. Recruits will be asked to squander what resources they do have buying what most people would consider unnecessary overpriced products or services. You will be encouraged to do three things with an emphasis being placed on the first two:

(1) buy products
(2) buy training (to include attendance at meetings, rallies, and seminars)
(3) sell products

All three require you to send your money to the company with the third hopefully allowing you to retain a margin between your price and the retail price.

Buying MLM overpriced services or crap when you are operating on emergency unemployment funds makes little sense. Providing a company with overhead expenses to promote their profits makes no sense at any time. Even if you manage to recruit or sell a few bottles of "Dr Du Du", you still do not come out on top after figuring in your overhead costs which you must provide out of pocket.

Expenses, considered overhead include the following:

(a) transportation
(b) use of your facilities, phone
(c) time
(d) accommodations
(e) applicable taxes

One of the biggest scams in almost every MLM proposal is that you are convinced that you own their business. Please, don't swallow that camel! They own the business contractually speaking. You send them money for (1) and (2) and then you may also send them the majority of the money you receive selling a few bottles of Dr. Du Du (or whatever product or services your company offers) while you get to retain the marginal difference between your price and the retail price: the gross profit. I've noticed many distributors sell the product at their cost and make zero margin which makes the pursuit a sham business.

You become the “mark” that is supposed to sell the company's products, which, by design, are so priced as to make this very difficult, if nearly impossible. Even if you are persistent and succeed to sell a few bottles of the Dr. Du Du, then the margin between your price and the retail price will provide you with what your company attempts to make you believe is your profit, which in reality isn't unless you manage to sell enough to overcome your own costs; the overhead I described above.

It shouldn't be any surprise that your real profits from selling a few bottles of Dr. Du Du will most likely only offset a substantial loss in the end, especially if your time is factored in correctly as a monetary amount; after all your time is worth something isn't it? And even if you do not use “universally accepted accounting principles” and provide your time as "gratis", most likely the bottom line will still result in a significant loss. Most distributors will never actually be able to sell enough Du Du to realize a profit even where their time is considered free, which really is an impossibility.

You therefore find yourself flushing number (1) and (2) down your MLM loo which is what these sham MLM businesses are designed for you to do! You end up with the crap and they end up with your cash!

Amway Partner Stores Revealed: More Deception From The Bait and Switch Masters

One selling point Amway recruiters for the Business Cult use to help convince skeptical prospects to join "The Amway Cult" is the Partner Store spiel. You will be lead to believe that by joining Amway Global as a distributor you will enjoy fringe benefits much like a person joining a buying club might. I will not go into a long description to debunk the really bad deal many buying clubs present, but much of the downsides to these Amway partner stores reveal the not so great of a deal these partner stores really represent.

Perceptive has provided the following information and the following narrative on how these Amway partner stores operate from a very informative comment left on this blog in answer to my question to him about how these partner stores work. Perceptive felt that this would be a good subject of a post and I agree.

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Amway Partner Stores Revealed ... by perceptive
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QIAC : “ Are you trying to represent that Amway product prices for goods bought from secondary retailers are competitively priced? These partner stores have a Amway price on these goods do they not?”

Perceptive: This is a confusion that a fair number of NON-Amway people have.

Here's the real story:

These 'Partner Stores' have the SAME PRICE for Ambots, as well as regular NON-Ambot folk who go directly to their store/website.

So, Circuit City--which is a 'Partner Store--has the same prices on its website for both groups.

Except.

The Ambots log into the Circuity City website THROUGH THEIR QUIX/AMWAY website. So, the Ambots/Quixbots get a small - VERY VERY SMALL - percentage rebate from Amway. The 'rebate' is NOT comparable to what you would get from buying Amway MANUFACTURED products - average of 25%.

Here's why. Circuit City already has a pretty low profit-margin DICTATED by competition with OTHER retailers. They can't give away a whole bunch of their profit margin back to Amway. BUT. They do know that Ambots/Quixbots, being Ambots/Quixbots will RELIGIOUSLY Buy From Their Own Business irrespective of the cost, so they have got a CAPTIVE MARKET in IBOs. That justifies giving a small percentage back to Amway to get a base of customers - RETARDS who won't do ANY price-comparisons and blindly buy from that site.

It basically becomes a "marginal-cost" question for Circuit City - if your marginal-cost for gaining an additional sale - the small percentage paid back to Amway - is virtually ZERO - it makes sense to pay that marginal-cost to get that sale.

Let's assume CCity has a Net Profit Margin of 8% on it sales. Even if it gives away 1% of that back to Amway, it is getting a WHOLE NEW BLINDLY LOYAL CUSTOMER BASE for virtually free. All they had to do was to reduce their profit margin from 8% to 7%! No additional advertising or any other marketing costs needed!

Think about it -

WITHOUT this arrangement with Amway, these Ambots/Quixbots would NOT be inclined to purchase Circuit City's products - UNLESS - Circuit City offered better value compared to other retailers. Once Amway is on board, however, PRICE IS NO LONGER AN ISSUE FOR AMBOTS/QUIXBOTS!

The Ambot's argument is this - "Look, if you - a, Non-ambot - bought anything from Circuit City it would cost you X Dollars. But me - an Ambot - also pays X Dollars for the same item, but I also get a rebate check back for Y Dollars, so my actual total cost is only X-Y Dollars. Less than your non-Ambot cost of X Dollars."

EXCEPT.

What the Ambot doesn't realize is that the NON-Ambot does NOT restrict his choice of retailer to Circuit City. So He/she is free to check out Best-Buy, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and a whole host of other retailers to possibly get a better price for the same item - even AFTER factoring in the Amway Rebate, i.e. Less than X-Y Dollars.

Case in point. Porkchopjim, in trying to make the same point I am making here, made a bet with Tex that he could find the same product cheaper elsewhere, EVEN AFTER TEX FACTORED IN HIS AMWAY REBATE. PCJ looked up a Camera on the Internet and within 30 seconds found a retailer selling it for less - rebate be damned.

Just like in your wife's daughter's case.

You searched on the Internet and found other retailers selling the same laptops for half the price. Did she get a 50% rebate from Amway on that laptop? I'll bet a THOUSAND DOLLARS, no.

And here's one VERY IMPORTANT POINT that retarded Ambots/Quixbots don't pay attention to.

IF – Circuit City's Net Profit Margin is 8% and it gives back 1% rebate to Amway for purchases made by Ambots/Quixbots....

then that 1% rebate paid back by Circuit City to the Amway Corporation, is split up among MULTIPLE AMBOTS upline all the way up to Platinum.

If you are a newbie IBO at the 3% bracket, and you bought a camera form Circuit City, the REBATE you get on your purchase is actually 3% of the 1% of the purchase price. What does that come out to?

A WHOPPING 0.03%!

FRIGGIN 3/100ths of 1%.

What do the COLLECTIVE UPLINE of that hapless newbie IBO get on this purchase? 25% less 3% - of the 1%. i.e. 22% of 1%.

0.22% - About a quarter of 1%.

And depending on the number of people in between that IBO and his upline platinum, that amount is really spread thin between a bunch of people.

What are the odds that a newbie Ambot could actually find a price for the same item at another retailer that is LESS than their Ambot Price, EVEN AFTER FACTORING in the MINISCULE rebate?

Here's the best part.

The THIEVES who own the Amway Corporation, the Devos's and the VanAndels' know this but, it is a good recruitment tool to keep Ambots in, so they use it unashamedly.

....Perceptive - the Quixtar-Amway-Infiltrator
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QIAC: Thank you perceptive for your much appreciated contribution. After some reflection on these partner stores, I believe they possibly do provide the Amway distributor with a very, very small savings over the same product purchased directly through the same partner store, but in my opinion, the initial outlay to sign up to be an Amway distributor (which has to be renewed on a yearly basis) more than offsets any potential savings. This is the same type of situation that makes most buying clubs an equally a bad deal. The up front cost to enjoy savings that may sound promising at first many times are just not there.

I actually fell prey to a buying club proposition some years ago. Actually after my wife and I signed up (in conjunction with a credit card that I had at the time) we were charged in the neighborhood of around $50 to be a member for a year. At that time I had been buying a lot of electronics. To my dismay, nearly every product that I was in the market for I found at substantial savings over the buying club price elsewhere. I just don't know about other people, but I am a firm believer in saving money where I can. There is nothing wrong with frugality. At the end of the year that I was in the club, I never purchased even one item from the them. Again, I have to question my reasoning for even allowing myself to be sweet talked into joining.
Like in any recruitment offer, the promise is made to sound so much better than what the actual circumstance of the deal is. Perceptive points out the reality of the small return one actually receives, and couple this with the limitation of choice and freedom to find a better value elsewhere?

It is not hard to understand how much bang Amway and the recruiter get from the rather deceptive selling point these partner stores in reality are! I might add that many buying clubs have come under increased legal scrutiny in recent years and some have had to shut down and reimburse participants in court ordered settlements. Amway ties their quasi-buying club partner stores to the distributor's “Independent Business Owner” status which makes many a person not fully realize how these partner stores really work or even realize that they are not the wonderful deal they in turn misrepresent them to be to others. Once a person believes Amway's dribble about 100 percent product loyalty, they are set up in typical "mark" fashion to be taken advantage of by Amway which baits them with dreams of riches and switches them to what most people in Amway experience, failure, which the distributor has already been conditioned to blame on himself. Thanks to perceptive: Now I know and NOW YOU KNOW.

Crazy Fox Fronting For Herbalife Exposes the Hypocrisy of the Direct Selling Association!

Readers might remember that I awarded the first annual wine house trophy to Amy Robinson, blogger over at directselling411.com. Amy is basically the online mouthpiece for the Direct Selling Association. Amy touts the DSA's Code of Ethics as being the holy grail of membership that all DSA member companies must subscribe to and abide by. All well and good you might say. Member companies are forbade from making exaggerated income claims to prospective distributors, but obviously this requirement does not apply to marketing efforts made by the likes of Crazy Fox who have recently run commercials on national media. Surely readers have seen this red cartoon fox on their TV sets making "crazy as a fox" income claims for an undisclosed work at home opportunity. Let me suggest that these commercials violate the DSA's code of ethics for their making exaggerated and unsubstantiated income claims.

Crazy fox directs interested people to log onto their web site. This is a sophisticated approach to the curiosity invite whereby interested people are asked to submit contact information: name, address, email, telephone number; the whole contact list monte! Okay, a visitor to the site provides the details and then clicks. Immediately a second page pops onto the screen which is similar to the first page; it extols all the thousands of dollars in money that can be made in a relatively short period of time, from a week to a month, working at home. It asks visitors to send for a "free" information packaged by paying a shipping and handling fee of about $10. Hmmmm?

I don't know about you, but that fee put me "off my feed"! Well, just like similar phishing schemes, the visitor has had his/her contact information basically ripped off. What can a person expect who has fallen for this "crazy fox scam"? Well, you can expect to have your email bombarded by spam. Okay, you say, I've seen enough of this crazy fox, and block the emails. You are not going to escape these marketers that easily. What's next? Yes, the phone will ring probably within one or two days and guess who is going to be on the other end? Yes, a Herbalife distributor offering the golden opportunity of MLM riches distributing Herbalife products and your chance to also recruit Herbalife distributors. Yes, Crazy Fox is a prospecting system for Herbalife, the MLM health products pyramid scheme which operates much like the Amway product pyramid scheme. Crazy Fox is merely a front for Herbalife, a company in good standing with the Direct Selling Association, which I now must question and criticize.

Seems that the DSA makes a big deal about all of its members following their Code of Ethics which specifically prohibits member companies from making unrealistic income claims. Seems like Herbalife has discovered an ingenious way to get around these code provisions and is thereby prospecting unwary dupes using this crazy fox scheme, which also "sells" this supposedly free ($10) bullcrap information package, another con of gullible TV viewers who fire up their computer and log onto crazyfox.

Herbalife may technically claim that it has not abused the income claims section of the DSA code of ethics, but basically recruits people who have been exposed to the Crazy Fox cartoon exaggerations. I have to ask Amy Robinson, "Doesn't this present an obvious disregard for the DSA and make a farce of the code of ethics that you constantly pander as being the final word in protecting consumers from being exposed to exaggerated income claims?"

Herbalife is just another example of a DSA company that Amy Robinson has in her basket of MLM DSA companies who use questionable income claims to sell their con MLM opportunities onto people desperate enough to believe them.

Amway, as I have described their recruitment tactics also use a second party approach to make their own incredible income claims--their band of renegade distributors. Of course Amway, like on Mission Impossible, disovowels any involvement in these claims to stay in compliance with Amway rules. Anyone familiar with how these MLM con men roll will immediately recognize that these folks take it upon themselves to make these misrepresentations regardless of what the fine print, the company, or the DSA says is permissible. Prospects get duped one way or another regardless of what minor details like the RULES say!!!

Amway Global Cult Intervention has pointed out consistently how the DSA attempts to put lipstick on their MLM pigs and marry them off to unsuspecting people who believe all their "hogwash"! The Direct Selling Association has supported the continuing exploitation of youth who are victimized by traveling sales operations and represent the likes of Herbalife, Amway Global, YourTravelBiz, Mary Kay, Kirby, Southwestern Company, Usana and many other very questionable companies they falsely proclaim are operating under the highest of ethical considerations. I find this to be totally false, and that the DSA itself is just as unscrupulous as the companies they permit to do business under their good housekeeping seal of approval. Beware the DSA and absolutely trust not a thing they say or a company that they represent! Amy, keep up the good work, you just may win the wine house trophy again next year!

The Death of a Quixtar Salesman. What Can Be Learned From a Modern Day Willy Loman?

There's nothing wrong with traditional capitalism nor with opportunity as it is for people to make what success they want out of their life here in these United States. I am always happy to hear that someone is making a successful go in their own pursuit, whether it be working, operating a equipment rental business, or whatever. Don't be deceived by Quixtar saying "their" business is really "yours." Their business has benefited them handsomely leaving in their wake thousands and thousands of believers who have lost.

What I see happening is that these dream selling con businesses intend to take away what people receive from their legitimate pursuits. These MLM scam businesses take from their distributor's day jobs/business. They promote a dream whereby people send their hard earned money to someone else in exchange for pursuit of a nearly unobtainable dream.

Amway has been in business for nearly half a century and has enriched itself along with a relative handful of top of the pyramid kingpins while leaving nearly all the rest involved having contributed and in the end having lost money and time. They may have their over priced consumables along with a closet full of tapes to market on eBay when it finally all comes to an end, as it usually does with these pyramid schemes.

As bad a risk that the stock market may present, it is by far and away a better potential investment than feeding your green backs down a MLM rat hole whether it be Quixtar, MonaVie, Mary Kay, or any other pyramid scheming operation. It is best to be very very skeptical of an investment in time and money that has such an incredibly bad track record for return.

Propaganda from these MLM tool kingpin weasels and their motivational organizations merely "talk the talk" but do not really "walk the walk"! Their assurances and promises should not be viewed as an absolute guarantee like many people believe them to be! Folks have flushed billions into the coffers of these con men supported pyramid schemes, and many believers have passed from this life having never attained the golden ring on the Amway merry go round to success where distributors endlessly go round and round.

Recently a Quixtar devotee and immediate up line to distributors I know of suddenly died having spent over a decade showing the plan and believing in first Amway and then Quixtar without ever achieving even the first major rung on the Quixtar ladder of success: platinum. Sadly, it became a tearful real life situation reminding me of the Arthur Miller Play "Death of a Salesman" which portrayed the experience of one Willy Loman. May this man's untimely passing serve as a reminder about the deceptions of Quixtar and how truly difficult success in this cult business is to actually achieve.

As an investment, Amway is absolute insanity! You throw money at these tool kingpins (like Orrin Woodward, Greg Duncan, Dexter Yager, and Ron Puryear) and the product company they represent believing in the deceptions of success they weave thereby making you a victim of self deception for which in the end you can only blame yourself. You are being lied to and in the face of what I am telling you, will probably choose to believe their deceptions and not me.

People investing thousands and thousands of dollars from year to year could many times retire early and enjoy the beaches, but in the end find themselves working until retirement after following this Quixtar god and end up blaming themselves for their Quixtar failure instead of the "system" which worked to make others successful, but in the end did not work for them no matter how much they believed and worked it.

For those that manage some degree of stage walking success, will it be worth it to basically get there on the backs of so many other people's loss? Shouldn't this become a moral issue for you and for the present group of motivational leaders who preach the message of greed? You don't want to fall into the category of people that P.T. Barnum described and make yourself victim to these dream weaving liars. Their so called success cult is anything but!

My views come from my heart. Many years from now, you might recall that I said them and wish that you had really listened. What do I have to gain? I am not trying to sell you on anything but the truth put upon my heart to speak. Unlike Orrin and the rest, I am not selling, but giving away freely. Are you going to believe someone who tells you something from the heart or believe someone who tells you something motivated by a different agenda: greed? I may not be around much longer to deliver this true message of hope, so it is critical that you hear it now! My loved is torn by the business cult but other families can avoid a similar situation. I pour my heart out feeling that I've said all that I can say.

If you have a situation or anything needing personal discussion, email me at quixtarisacult@gmail.com

Continued Exploitation of Traveling Sales Crews Supported by the Direct Selling Association!

Exploitation of young people working in traveling sales crews in the direct selling industry is a despicable situation! Recently while I was doing research on Quixtar I came across this traveling horror caravan of greed and youth exploitation which has raised the hairs on the back of my neck in ire!

On March 25, 1999 seven youths were killed and five others badly hurt in a van roll over crash near Janesville, Wisconsin. This accident occurred when the driver who did not have a drivers license attempted to change seats with another occupant while traveling at high speed. The van was occupied by members of a traveling magazine sales crew which included Malinda Turvey, daughter of Phil Elenbecker who has been working tirelessly to see legislation passed in Wisconsin which bears his daughter's name: Malinda's Law.

Malinda's law seeks to make widespread changes to the way traveling sales crew companies in Wisconsin operate. Among other measures, the proposed law would:

• Require employers of traveling sales crews to register with the state before conducting business and carry permits showing they are licensed to sell.

• Mandate that members of sales crews be considered employees and prohibit the use of independent contractors or minors.

• Require traveling sales crews to post a $10,000 bond or equivalent when registering with the state, and to pay employees at least twice a month.

• Limit the times of day when sales crews may be in the field.

If passed, Wisconsin's bill would be the most restrictive in the country says Phil Elenbecker. Under the bill, traveling sales crews would be defined as two or more people who travel together and live away from their permanent residences while selling.

The Direct Selling Association opposes passage of Malinda's Law. One member company of the DSA, The Southwestern Company has lobbied the Wisconsin legislature to defeat and/or make changes to the bill which would render it nearly meaningless and allow the exploitation of their youthful recruits to continue; these independent contractors, mostly college students, carry out door to door selling of books and publications in the state. Another door to door selling company has also been actively involved in shooting down Malinda's Law: Kirby vacuums, another member of the Direct Selling Association coven. Amy Robinson, how do you defend the DSA in this situation?

A close examination of Southwestern Company quickly reveals a pattern of exploitation of its representatives that is nearly similar to the “methods of operation” of other traveling sales crews operating in Wisconsin. Southwestern claims that it operates more ethically than the other rogue traveling crews in Wisconsin and points to the DSA code of ethics exactly the same way other disreputable companies under the DSA umbrella do for some degree of respectability they believe the DSA represents.

Southwestern Company deserves to be singled out for exploitation of its recruits whom it terms to be independent contractors much the same way that Amway/Quixtar distributors are "Independent Business Owners." This turns out to be a very advantageous situation for any company (Southwestern, Amway, Kirby, along with almost all MLM companies) because they can sidestep labor laws designed to protect employees in a employer/employee relationship. Youths working for Southwestern Company report that they many times work 80 hour work weeks and must attend Sunday sales meetings as well as travel long distances to attend meetings in Nashville. They also claim that earnings are withheld to the end of the summer selling season making them basically enslaved to the situation they find themselves in almost the same way as the other despicable traveling sales crews operating under the National Field Selling Association, another disreputable trade association.

When direct selling companies (to include the likes of Quixtar/Amway) incorporate independent contractors, they basically insulate themselves from responsibility for any bad situation that is part and parcel of the the industry and completely avoid labor laws which might protect an hourly worker from such deceit and abuse. Just as Amway "independents" are exploited out of countless hours of work and even brainwashed into basically "paying" the company instead of the company "paying" them, these traveling sales independents become responsible for their own actions although they are actively generating profits for the companies they represent. At the worst the exploited go out and exploit the public by many times misrepresenting themselves and making untrue claims. This sound exactly similar to situations I've described where Quixtar reps misrepresent themselves and the business opportunity?

Victims of these direct selling companies go out and make victims of others through recruitment, misrepresentations, and deceit. Sadly this is the way most of the DSA companies operate. At the worst end of the spectrum, there have been murders, rapes, and robberies. At the other end of the spectrum, people have been victimized by cons, and schemes perpetrated on them and for which they in turn perpetrate on others. My last post compared and correctly condemned modern direct selling companies. The DSA should hang its head in shame for supporting companies with their toothless code of ethics which attempts to provide a veil of accountability and respectability to the likes of Southwestern, Quixtar, Kirby, YourTravelBiz, Crazy Fox Herbalife, Mannatech, Usana, as well as others operating thinly veiled product pyramid schemes.

People recruited into direct selling businesses (all of which have the potential for making door to door sales) are many times not given background checks, and regardless of past criminal behavior are free to go out and knock on doors or show the plan to success to anyone. Just ask the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, who claimed he didn't kill as many people when he was working his Amway business. I am looking into whether any of his murder victims were also recruited into the Amway business by Ridgeway?

Kirby salesmen have a long history of problems and some have been convicted of heinous crimes: murders, rapes, cons, and thefts. For more information on Kirby crimes click here. Kirby, a DSA member has also actively opposed Malinda's Law. The despicable DSA has opposed Malinda's Law and therefore furthers the exploitation of youths in the state of Wisconsin as well as all the harm done to them and people receiving a knock on their door from a questionable gypsy seller. The DSA fears that implementation of this protective legislation will open the flood gates and cause other states to consider enacting similar legislation to protect their citizens.

One of the end results of the Federal Do Not Call list is to bring door to door selling back into prominence; think about that the next time you get ready to set down to diner--your phone may not wring, but your door may!

Amway Global Cult Intervention advocates passage of state and federal legislation to curb the continued exploitation of our Nation's youth, protect its citizens, and take away the "independent contractor" loophole which allows direct sellers to continue the exploitation of the distributors, crew, and citizens. I have placed a list of links in the right hand panel of this blog that I ask every reader to follow. There is wealth of information too numerous to describe as part of today's post. Please support the Parent Watch Organization, sign a petition. As informed consumer you can hopefully correctly handle a situation where it is your door that receives the knock knock joke, only thing is, it is no joke!