Multi-level selling traps and JWs (page 2)

hippikon

Miracle Wheat was quite big too for a while

The first guy i ever worked for was a dub. Anyway, there were so many sisters in our congo, I guess, who were into selling tupperware etc that he started up a cosmetics company "Pretella" of Melbourne. Sending sisters door to door selling shampoo and face cream. I worked for him for a year when I was a kid, filling little plastic bottles with shampoo and spooning face cream out of big tubs into little jars.

Dont know what thats got to do with this thread though...

Edited by - refiners fire on 10 December 2002 5:32:3

Pathofthorns

Few people have the massive social connections that JW's have, or the presumed trust of each other solely on the basis that they carry the JW label. I also think many of these scams appeal to those with limited incomes that also are greedy and want a quick buck with little work and no education. This also fits many JW's.

The "get by" work ethic of the Society along with their "all u need is a high school education and Jehovah will provide" philosophy left many in a bad situation as the world changed and became more complex and the workplace demanded more. Sad to see JW's preying on each other with these sorts of scams just to get by and in the end, most are worse off anyway.

Path

wednesday

My hubby and i had much the same experience as RF, we were invited to a "party", and there was a lot of really nice food, and well we were love bombed and as soon as we started asking questions about things and actually we told them we were not interested in buying anything or selling anything-they escorted us to the door!!!We were stunned-and had never seen anything like that. We were very young and did not figure it out , or we could have played along for a while and got to eat.!!

link

Can I provide info on the exception that proves the rule?

I personally know a brother in our local congregation who receives a monthly cheque from the Neways MLM outfit which is never less than UK3,000.00. He has not worked for four years.

He says that he just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

link

Wolfgirl

My parents got into that Herbalife stuff. And Shaklee way back when I was a little kid (late 70s, early 80s). Last I was in, I was getting harrassed by sisters from various congregations about a long-distance telephone plan. I had suggested that this one family and I get together at some point (for dinner/movie/you know, fun), and when they said yes, they invited me to a conference for the phone plan. I declined, and they never invited me over to their house, ever.

apple829

All of the good-intentioned dubs i know got into these ventures not to get rich, but with the hopes of making just enough money to quit their secular jobs and pioneer full time.

Sherryl

Mary

I believe it's a combination of people's ignorance, lack of education and the desire for a shortcut to easy wealth. Seeing as Witnesses are strongly discouraged from getting an education, hard work ethics or even being able to think for themselves, alot of Witnesses are an easy dupe.

Some brother who cleans floors for a living, has a wife who doesn't work plus two or three kids........yep, he'd be an easy target. These multi-level selling traps promise enormous wealth with virtually no effort necessary....for someone with limited education, a dead-end job and bills piling up to the heavens, they're more than willing to believe this crap.

TR

Amway recently morphed into "Quixtar". My brother got into it, and invited me to a demo at his home. I went to show it was a scam. The salesman was brilliant! Best fast talker in the world! Could have even been a 'hovah elder! After the meeting, I mentioned all the red flags. He joined anyway. Two months later he said, "you were right."

TR

Mulan

Another view, here. I have had a positive experience with MLM, which is not the same thing as a pyramid scam. With a pyramid, only the ones at the top make money. With MLM, I have seen many people come in, work damned hard for a year, and make 5 figures a month. It can be done. They tell us it's all about who you know and who "they" know. You keep recruiting, and eventually you can hit it big.

While it's true, Amway has a reputation for deceptive recruiting technicques, the business of MLM is not always bad. I have been involved in 3 of them, and have made money with all.

When we left the JW's, I was able to promote in a bigger way, and developed a large downline (over 500) all over the world, and made good money too. That company went through some changes, closed in some countries, and I lost many of my downline. But, with my web site, I am making money (always over $1000 a month, and one time it was $3500), and I do very little now, but process product orders, and go to few meetings (maybe 2 a year).

MLM is going through a paradigm shift, and is being done differently now, than it was 10 years ago. Most recruiting is done through emails and telephone, and not meetings. I would have much less income if it weren't for MLM.

Edited by - mulan on 10 December 2002 11:1:40

Multi-level selling traps and JWs

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