The Day of Wrath. This was quite a powerful piece to perform live. Who could listen to this and not be thinking of all the unrepentant scammers out there and the many victims left in their wake!
The Day of Wrath. This was quite a powerful piece to perform live. Who could listen to this and not be thinking of all the unrepentant scammers out there and the many victims left in their wake!
Anyone needing assistance please feel free to use this e-mail in addition to the PM system here to contact me: soapboxmom@hotmail.com
Dallas College Richland Campus Music Advising Derrick Logozzo / Melissa Logan / Not NASM Accredited / Out of State Tuition Nightmare!
Love some Bunny! I do!
unnecesarily inflammatory and off topic trolling post removed by moderator
It is very true about MLM. People sign up with these 'business' deals, spend a lot of money upfront because you have to order the products and they make you feel that you are a real professional business person while all you are is a pawn to make money for them. If you are lucky enough to sell some of the items, you still have to continue to purchase more, so there go your 'profits'. If a person tries this with something they use on a daily basis, I will use Jerky Direct as an example, then you can love eating the product and share with friends and family but at an expense of (I have forgotten) but I believe it was close to $15.00 a month. Now you can go to your local grocery store and buy this junk for even less as you want it but with your 'company' you are required to make a purchase even if you have a build up on hand that you cannot sell. You can only eat so much jerky, right!! What about all those other ones out there that sucker people into believing they can make a living selling their products. YOU CAN'T! You might make a little on the side if it is something you really believe in and use yourself. Most people do exactly that and sell very little to the public. Not even enough to cover the costs of the little 'business' you think you have.
When I was down on my luck and could not get hired for a real job, I became a victim of such a program. I don't mind sharing it here if it will indeed help others. I got involved with Herbalife and started my own business, really got serious with it. However, I had to order at least $400 worth of product so I could use it myself to convince others it was great. I will attest to the fact that the products are good and although I lost a little weight it was nothing what the claimed it should be. However there were other benefits such as healthy skin and vitamin balance. I got into selling the products and with my connections, door to door, I did make some money but not a living. I never recruited one person under me and I believe that is where the potential of making money comes in - however, I would not know. The person who recruited me became a total nusiance and called me constantly - even at another place I was working! I stopped answering the phone and should have reported him but things in my life has deteroriated even more with losing close family due to cancer. I was the strong one to help with all the others take care of loved ones, going to doctors, running errands and staying with them. You can see how this made me very vulnerable to a situation where someone was telling me I could earn lots of money but I had to do etc. etc. I finally woke up, realized this was going no where except by bringing me down further. I quit, did not answer phone and finally told this person to never contact me again. I was stuck with product that I gave away, but I was rid of a bad experience that caused much pain and a credit card balance that I could not pay. I made a big change in my life and after several years was able to get back on my feet again. I don't blame it all on the experience with Herbalife but it added to my trauma. I would have been much better off if I had never gotten involved with it.
A couple of years ago a niece of mine was asking on FB about signing up with this company. I wrote to her and advised her to please not get involved, she didn't and I know it saved her from a similar experience. I hope by posting this it will help others to really do their due dilligence before signing up with any program that makes these kinds of promises.
I also noticed above that a comment by scambusters was removed and if this person was supporting MLM or making derogatory remarks about the video, then I am glad it was deleted.
Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!
So tell me what it was, you know how to get in touch.
Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!
Just wanted to say that this is a good thread with hidden truths I have been looking for. Will definetly read more through the posts, but for now just leave this comment.
Soapboxmom: sad to hear about your friend committing suicide. Definetly the most tragic action that can be taken regarding MLM-participation.
By the way, Madoff is still alive in jail right? With his conscience, I'm surprised he can still stay on his feet.
Also, I discuss quite a lot on scam.com. I was only introduced to MLM recently, and have about 1,5 months of experience, so the scam.com-forum has gotten me much valueable insight in what it is all about. But now I think I have gottene what is possible out of that forum. It's all ****-throwing and calling each other names. 1 in 20 posts or so consists of something useful. Hope to get even more insight on this forum.
I'll probably stay at scam.com as well, as it is kind of amusing. And someone needs to stop the MLM-defenders from spreading their lies. I have seen that 2-300 maybe more are usually active in a certain time of the day, but only a small fraction of those are commenting, so that must mean many are probably reading for either amusement or learning if what they have been introduced to is a scam or not.
It is my understanding that Scam.com is not the scam-busting community it was supposed to be but more like promoting and protecting scammers. JMO from what I have read here and seen in scam.com.
You might be interested in reading some of these reports on MLM..
"The MLM companies are representative in type, business model, pay plan and recruitment tactics of the majority of most MLMs. The report concludes that the MLM "industry" is a significant contributor to the widening income and wealth gap in America and elsewhere. The business model and business practices of most multi-level marketing companies cause the financial losses, not normal competitive factors or the levels of efforts or talents of the participants.
MLM companies seek to obscure their devastating failure rates by disclosing the number only of "active" participants and limiting the income figures to a one-year or even shorter time frames, thus concealing the factor of the ongoing and mounting losses of new participants. If all the participants over a five-year period are included in the calculations, the failure rate rises even further. Less than one in one-thousand will be shown to have gained any profit at all. The so-called successes in MLM are in the same small group positioned, year after year, at the top of the recruitment organization.
The figures used in the analysis are from public documents of the companies themselves. The percentages and actual dollar figures have been extrapolated to a "per 10,000 sales representatives" in order to provide a more understandable picture and to match data of the companies analyzed. A larger sample is applied to the Amway/Quixtar data.
The copyrighted report is available in PDF format."
www.crimebustersnow.org
Click on the Pyramid and this part is under "News", I believe.
I have just added you to this group in Facebook if you are interested.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/shotline/
Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!
Great, thanks. I have read lots of Jon M Taylor's work, so I already know most of the numbers. But it's good to have some more bullets.
As for Facebook, I'm not to keen on exposing myself as a scam buster there more then necessary, but I'll think about it. I have done some posts on my profile on MLM, and will probably also continue.
What seems most important in the case of MLM seems to be to make people make informed decisions, meaning keeping them out of any MLM. Found this from the FTC today. If every person approached by an MLM read this prior to his/her decision, things would be much different. The person trying to recruit me actually didn't want me to do my own research, as he didn't see it necessary. I can see why he wouldn't want me to.
Most definitely! These are good words of advice:
"Consider the Products
Many companies that market their products through distributors sell quality items at competitive prices. But some offer goods that are overpriced, have questionable merits, or are downright unsafe to use.
Find out what will you be selling. Are similar products on the market? Is the product priced competitively? Is it safe? Can your sponsor — the distributor who is recruiting you — support the claims about the product’s performance?
Almost any product or service could be sold through multilevel marketing, including health, beauty, and fitness products that aren't available on store shelves. Apply a healthy dose of skepticism before buying or selling products advertised as having "miracle" ingredients or guaranteed results. Many of these "quick cures" are unproven, fraudulently marketed, and useless. In fact, they could be dangerous. You may want to check with a health professional before using them — or selling them.
If you decide to buy into the program and promote the products, you must be sure your marketing materials are truthful and that there's solid evidence to back up the claims you make about the products. Before you repeat any claims the company has made, verify that there’s competent and reliable research to back them up. That’s the standard the FTC uses when evaluating advertising claims."
My experience with Herbalife taught me a thing or two. I had a friend who wanted to buy the products but I did not realize how much medication she was already on and she wound up having to see her doctor after taking some of the pills. Thank goodness no harm was done but it scared me. We should all be careful when mixing herbal treatments and prescription medication.
Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!
Scary experience there. Glad nothing crucial happened.
As for the products, I would first ask a person introduced if the products were good etc. Then I would ask this person if he/she really was interested in doing sales on low commission, as that is what it is. When people quit their education or day-time job, THAT'S when it's gone much too far. Some might find it good with some extra cash in a part time job selling products, no problem with that, as long as they focus on selling, not recruiting. I'm kind of old school here, but I see the affiliate marketing way the best way to do direct sales. You shouldn't need more than one level of distributors, it's not fair otherwise.
So even if the products are amazing, I still wouldn't suggest them to a friend because of how the commissions are paid out.
Judy proudly served our country before retiring from the military and being financially ruined by the scourge that is MLM. God Bless her for her service to our country!
Judy Sterling
- February 27, 1959 - November 18, 2010
- Garland, Texas
Judy Gay Sterling, passed away suddenly in the early hours of Nov. 18th, 2010 during her 51st year. She served in the Air Force through much of Desert Storm. She was a long-time resident of Texas, working in the education and business fields. Judy will be remembered by her family, friends and daughter.
DFW National Cemetery
2000 Mountain Creek Parkway
Dallas TX, 75211
Anyone needing assistance please feel free to use this e-mail in addition to the PM system here to contact me: soapboxmom@hotmail.com
Dallas College Richland Campus Music Advising Derrick Logozzo / Melissa Logan / Not NASM Accredited / Out of State Tuition Nightmare!
Love some Bunny! I do!
I was involved in MLM system 3 years long.It was not scam company.We had good product -car,property, life insurance and the company behind was Allianz group,very famous and old german insurance company.What I did not like was building up 5 (they called it Pentagon ) direct members in my downline.I did not know how costly it will be - meeting,traveling,hotels and all what comes along was out of my pocket.I learned very fast that you must explode the sales in your group if you want to stay in a business and earn some$ - it's like riding a horse on a thin ice..the speed goes down and you fall in cold water...MLM is a rocket where you need a lot of fuel (sales) if you want to get first cosmic speed...and that's the problem...you can't go below first cosmic speed...or you fall on mother Earth...MLM is
stress,MLM is expensive (both-time and money),MLM IS FORMULA 1..only few reach the highs..the army below works for them.
This is true with a lot of MLM and sales jobs. Up to a certain point I would estimate you need to make double what you would at a job where you don't have to beat your car to death, pay for marketing expense and a grade a wardrobe. Once you get to a certain level of sales it matters less, but then these folks usually seem to load up on big houses, big cars and gaudy jewels to further the image.
"It's virtually impossible to violate rules ... but it's impossible for a violation to go undetected, certainly not for a considerable period of time." Bernie Madoff
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scam-...98399986981403
Agreed. When I was getting ready to graduate college I came across many jobs that offered commission. Well the problem with that was that they were commission only. Now if you have a job with a solid salary with commission on top of it then that isn't a bad thing at all.
Everyone should budget their incomes and expenses, with MLM and commission only jobs it is impossible to do that.
It is really a catch 22, if you can sell, and I mean really sell the world is truly yours. A lot of the entry level jobs I see when I flip the classifieds are there every week. Auto dealerships, home improvement, on and on. If they took care of their folks and people made the incomes claimed then they would not be advertising every week. And some are just patently dishonest, there is one, if you don't mind speaking in front of small groups and making 6 figures part time call blah blah blah. Now how hard could that position be to fill?
"It's virtually impossible to violate rules ... but it's impossible for a violation to go undetected, certainly not for a considerable period of time." Bernie Madoff
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scam-...98399986981403
Egzactly...the hard side of MLM system is that it gives you very low commission when you start in first level so you are forced to recruit and get % from their sales and when you colect specific number of sales you jump in the second level where commission is still to low to make personal sales atractive so you are again forced to learn your below levels to recruit so that the whole structure keep pushing you in next level but all this in given time frame so if you are not fast enough you are out of game...besides there is always possibility that some of your downline just stop working...the system tend to take all your time and mind...you are never at home and if you have kids and you are married then you need really a super woman to understand your job and support it....well,one thing was awesome - payments were tidily managed - every month ,last week,on Tuesday on my drawing-account
Last edited by Mundorf; 06-04-2013 at 05:44 PM.
Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the suicide of my dearest friend Judy Sterling. Jack Weinzierl and Tim Darnell were the top goon and owner respectively of the pyramid scheme that ruined Judy financially and sent her into chapter 7 bankruptcy. That MLM scam was the beginning of the end for her. She could not get back on her feet financially and was rejected by her only child because of her MLM involvement. Last I heard Weinzierl is unemployed after being shown the door by AutoNation. Scammer Darnell is once again peddling snake oil with Isagenix and ensnaring many more innocent victims in the MLM trap.
Weinzierl took no action to help the many failing MLM reps who went hungry, lost their life savings, faced foreclosure and suffered due to losses in the sleazy deals he recruited them into. He has no character whatsoever and I will never be silenced. Weinzierl and Darnell should know the horror of the police coming to the door. The police informed me that the woman I loved as a sister had taken her life and we were the contact she had left for them. Imagine the horror my husband felt as he tried in vain to call her only child as Judy had requested so the news could come from him and not from the police. The police got hold of her child first and we got this:Tweets
- Jack Weinzierl @JackWeinzierl 13 Nov
Silence your critics with your actions and character.
Expand- Jack Weinzierl @JackWeinzierl 12 Nov
If you do everything with a focus on excellence (not perfection), you immediately separate yourself from the masses. #refusemediocrity
Judy left detailed instructions for her service. She asked me to sing several songs, but I just couldn't stop the tears from flowing to honor that wish. I hope her story will keep others from getting involved in the scourge that is MLM and be a reminder to everyone that the reps that are losing money are victims. The people at the top of these deals know 97% or more will lose and are happy to lure in warm marks and relieve them of their money. Recruits may be desperate for money, or be deeply religious looking for a way to honor their beliefs. They may be doctors, lawyers, CPAs or other professional people who are unaware of the inherent fraud that is MLM. The real truth behind MLM must be shared. I don't want more Judys being buried or millions more being harmed financially and emotionally. How many more families have to be destroyed??? It is high time law enforcement act against these obvious scams and protect the public.My Dear Friends !#$% and Heather, November 17, 2010
I have provided a complete “Check List” of what to do step-by-step to contact my family,
etc. But first, just take a deep breath and read this letter together and give yourselves a
few minutes to process this. I think this will make the most sense if you read this letter
first then go to the document titled “Check List” which will lead you through all the other
documents I have provided in a logical manner.
FIRST- Please, Please, Please DO NOT take on ANY guilt about my decision. As I will
explain below, it had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with what you did or didn’t say or
do or what you could have/should have done. Also, please do not allow my family to
put any guilt on you for any reason just because I was living here at the time. You guys
were great and took much better care of me than they were ever willing to do. Don’t let
them or even yourself place any guilt on you that you should have “seen” or “known”
what I was planning. I purposely was extremely careful not to drop a hint or leave any
information where you could find it and purposely maintained a very normal day to day
life. I am determined and do NOT want to be rescued or saved. I am perfectly content
with my decision. Also, please do NOT allow the hyper religious ones in my circle make
this out to be a thing of the devil or I’m going to hell - - I don’t believe that for a minute.
God knows my heart and understands all the details of my life. They DO NOT!!!
SECOND – You have my profuse gratitude for being exceptional people and amazing
friends! You have always treated me with respect, care and as if I was one of the family.
You’ve done everything you could for me short of giving me the master bedroom and
your wallet <Grins>.
You have been SO very kind in so many ways and SO willing to do everything possible
to help me get back on my feet. I am forever indebted to you for saving my storage unit,
especially the photos, Eileen’s school work, etc., that I want to pass onto her.
Over the years and during the time I have been in your home you have invested large
amounts of money in helping me and NEVER once made me feel guilty or as if I owed
you anything in return. You have no idea how freeing and relaxing that has been for
me. You were always so flexible and willing to help in any way. And the cooking is
awesome.
I am SO VERY, VERY thankful for the peaceful (emotionally not noise level – LOL)
haven you provided for me to just rest from all the craziness and stress of the past few
years while having time to put the photo albums, etc. together for Only Child.
THIRD - My decision was made the day I found out that Peggy had returned my
inheritance property to my brothers. Until that moment in time I had lived through some
horribly difficult and scary times, (without food, nearly homeless and fighting for my
health), struggling to balance making a living while trying to regain my health. And even
on my worst day I always had hope and found a way to press on.....
Only Child told me I could not have any place in her life or communicate with her what so
ever until I have a “regular” salaried job. Only Child also
wants me to have benefits and a retirement account.
Anyone needing assistance please feel free to use this e-mail in addition to the PM system here to contact me: soapboxmom@hotmail.com
Dallas College Richland Campus Music Advising Derrick Logozzo / Melissa Logan / Not NASM Accredited / Out of State Tuition Nightmare!
Love some Bunny! I do!
The more people who read that moving letter the better they will understand the high crimes and price that the serial scammers cause and hopefully the judges will start to put the leaders and pimps underneath the jail and throw away the keys.
Someone go read Kiyosaki on Amazon... It's hilarious.
I think it's at the bottom of Q&A for "Business for 21st Century", Kiyosaki's MLM Pimp Book.
Someone asked "What should I do if my family hates MLM and I'm not finding any success?"
You gotta read his response. He talks like one of those fortune tellers.
---
A MLM Skeptic (not a Cynic) covering scams, critical thinking, and psychology
http://amlmskeptic.blogspot.com
From back in 2010 here on REALSCAM.com
(Not so)Mysteriously, much of the information linking Mr Kiyosaki and "Money and You" seems to have disappeared from the web.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing
Today is the fourth anniversary of Judy leaving us. I will never forget. Jack Weinzierl and Tim Darnell have Judy's blood on their hands. God bless our Judy and all the victims of financial fraud. I will continue to devote my life to exposing the scammers responsible for this horrific devastation.
Anyone needing assistance please feel free to use this e-mail in addition to the PM system here to contact me: soapboxmom@hotmail.com
Dallas College Richland Campus Music Advising Derrick Logozzo / Melissa Logan / Not NASM Accredited / Out of State Tuition Nightmare!
Love some Bunny! I do!
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