Scott-

This is a link I pulled off professional cult deprogrammer Rick Ross's website. http://www.rickross.com/warningsigns.html

Rick Ross was hired by my parents and was successful to get myself out of this business. I really think this link is beneficial because it comes from a credible educated source with experience in the field. If you read all of the signs that Rick Ross points out, Quixtar fits this mold perfectly.

Dear Mr. Larsen,

My parents joined Amway in 1998 and are now in Quixtar. Their business has not shown a single cent of profit to this day. The highest level that they have ever reached is 1000PV (back in 1999). I am having a hard time convincing them that it is a waste of time and money.

They refuse to look at any info on the Internet, because they consider it to be unreliable. They have been completely brainwashed by the "System".

When I told them that there are former emeralds and diamonds who are speaking out against the business, they said that they must be disgruntled distributors spreading rumours. I was then told the story of a diamond in London who was "kicked out of the system" by Bill Britt (founder of Britt Worldwide) for being a womanizer (which I thought was completely irrelevant anyway).

Whenever I read something on the Internet, I ask myself:

1) What is the author trying to say?

2) Is this true? (based on my observations and experience)

I generally do not begin by immediately undermining the author's credibility. I am always sure to apply my critical thinking abilities.

I have tried to direct them to your web site with no success. When I pointed them to certain articles in Forbes magazine (reputable business publication, right?) I was asked "Do you want some magazine to determine your future, or do you want to follow somebody successful like <upline diamond>?" I won't even begin to list the logical fallacies involved in their arguments. They have taken the policy of accepting any evidence (even if contrived or fallacious) that supports their views and rejecting any that opposes them.

This is getting absolutely ridiculous and I am at the edge of my sanity. (I moved beyond cognitive dissonance several years ago.) I have been depressed in the past, partly due to this reason.

Do you have any suggestions as to how I could proceed? Please help me if you can. I thank you in advance for your time and help.

Best regards,
J.

We chose to be terminated by Quixtar. We recently hit almost every landmark. Q12, top 25 recruiting 2 quarters in a row, Group One achievements etc.

We got booted when I refused to quit Pre-Paid Legal. In May of last year they put in a new rule that states you cannot be in another MLM. Quixtar pay is so low you have to sell low quality motivational tools to make any money. And that is when you hit Diamond. They asked me to reconsider and I said no way. The tool business is their anchor and the way I see it, they have no way out unless they want to lose 2/3rds of their business. I had 3 strong legs direct to me. Monthly my sales volume was about 35-45K and all I made per month was $1200-$1500. That's a job, not an opportunity. My Diamond Upline went from Diamond to rough in about 90 days. Oh well.

Patrick and Bridgit Avon

If Amway products are so good and efficient, why aren't they on sale at Wal-Mart?

Let put them side by side with the competition and let the market decide.

As far as I know Amway hasn't change their dubious tactics over the years and right now the Internet is bound to kill them. It's good to have a dream but Amway is a real nightmare.

Dear Scott,

I've read the stuff on your site quite extensively and I am amazed at the accuratcy of things. My boyfriend is SOOOOOOOOO into the Quixtar thing that we recently had a fight because of it. I asked him about the 70% rule and he wasn't aware of it and neither were his uplines. But they were all convinced that it did NOT mean that they HAD to sell RETAIL for it to be a legal business. My goodness! They have all been brainwashed.

My question is, where is it stated (the exact article, law, decree) that is illegal to "buy from yourself". Can you give me the exact document or at least where I can find it (I'll research in every stinkin' website, book or library if I have to) so I can show something to him.

I'm not questioning if it is illegal or not. . .but I guess how can I explain to him WHY it is illegal?

about the scams about the motivational business that actually goes on on the top of the food chain of this business. . .that's another thing I need to convince him about. Please help me.

Please don't print my name and e-mail address in your site.

Dear Scott,

2 of my friends talked to me about Quixtar last night and sold it well considering how little experience they have with it. My friend has been doing it for almost 2 months, but he said his dad has been doing it for 8 years and makes 65K a year. These numbers sound like a "dream". After about an hour of them explaining it to me, I decided I would really look into it because they made it sound like there is nothing to lose except for the sign up fee. Then I searched, "is Quixtar legit", and found your site and read the testimonials. They all talk about the losses and how bad it is ethically. They make some good points but I was wondering if you could provide me with some solid evidence. I skimmed through your website and couldn't locate what I was looking for. Maybe you could direct me where to go and tell me what I should do. I have not joined yet. I just talked to my friend who told me about it, and he told me not to read stuff like the testimonials because they are just because the people didn't put the right effort into their business. Then I told him that people have done it for 8 years and felt scammed. Then he fired back by mentioning the checks that his dad gets in the mail every month. BOTH SIDES ARE SO CONVINCING AND I REALLY NEED TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION!! My friend told me to go to one of the meetings and not read this stuff. I said that the meetings would be completely biased and that I would look into both sides. He understands my approach. I sometimes buy into scams... who doesn't? So I need professional advice if you have it so I can avoid a future disaster.

Sincerely,

Vincent

Dear Scott,

I sent you a message earlier, but left something out. My friend says there is a big difference between Amway and Quixtar. he said that there is no flaw in the Quix plan. Yet they sound similar to me! Can you tell me the similarities and differences please?

Thanks,

Vincent

Scott,

I have a friend here who has proposed Quixtar to me and I knew right away it was a MLM. I've tried my best to get him out of this "hypnosis" that they've put him in but nothing's worked. I've explained to him how this type of investment was nothing but a phony scheme and how they'll end up robbing him; I even sent him documents on Quixtar aka Amway AND sent him a video clip of Dateline's NBC coverage on Quixtar; and yet he still refuses to believe anything I give him. He's a very good friend of mine and I'd hate to see him get shot down. He still wants to talk to me about it and wants to convince me that this is a good business oppurtunity. Any advice? I don't know what to say anymore.

http://www.amquix.info/aus/culthelp.htm

thought you might find this interesting...

from Lorri Taylor, wife of Terry Taylor -- diamonds originally sponsored by Paul and Debbie Miller. Since Millers' separation and Paul's shenanigans, Terry and Lorri Taylor split off and "plugged in" with Larry and Pam Winters, also originally sponsored by Millers, but big enough now to have their own "thing" without much support and edification from either Paul or Bill Britt.

Note: "Kate" is a unified messaging system which replaced Amvox for all of Britt's (and probably many others) organizations about two years ago.

So, this is a "Ladies Leadership"... Wives and mothers will leave their husbands and children for an entire weekend to go off to Asheville to learn how to be submissive to their husbands by making sure they are still wearing make-up at 3am in the morning when the "warrior" comes home from drawing the circles and is still horny and wants to get frisky.

They are looking at about $280 for the hotel (including taxes), though most will share rooms and pile in a lot more people in than a fire marshall would approve of, $25 for the ticket, travel, food, and additional crap that will be sold to them at the function -- all in all, anywhere from $200 to $400 per person.

I'm sure you already know this but the reason Lorri Taylor asked all her downline ladies to "Identify yourself as with Winter's Marketing" when booking rooms at the hotel is not so that her downline could get cheaper rates but so that Winters Marketing could get paid a fee by the hotel for every single room that registers under Winters Marketing.

I learned about that through someone in the hotel business and I just don't think people are aware of it.

----------------------------------------------------

From: Lorri Taylor [mailto:tayloroffice@bww.com]

Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 8:48 PM

To: tayloroffice@bww.com

Subject: Ladies Leadership

Hi everyone,

This is a follow up email to the Kate that was sent out.

Ladies Leadership will be May 21, 2005 in Asheville, NC at the Renaissance Asheville Hotel, One Thomas Wolfe Plaza, Asheville, NC 28801. Phone, 828-252-8211.

For Hotel reservations call 800-468-3571.

Room Rate is $124 per night.

Identify yourself as with Winter's Marketing.

Tickets are $25 and due to the Taylor Office from the frontline by Monday, May 9th.

See you there, Lorri

Dear Scott:

Reading the list of Amway Emeralds over the years has me curious about a couple named Bob and Wendy Grogan. They were from Long Island, NY, upline diamonds were Charlie and Ann Durso. Bob worked in the comptrollers office for the City of NY, and retired (supposedly based on Amway earnings). His story was even on the local New York City evening news (alarm clock smashing, etc.). Looking at Angelo Nardone's website and pictures, the Grogans are conspicuously absent. Just wondering if anyone knows what happened to them, they were a smart, classy couple.

Sincerely,

Jeanne Martin

Stopped "building the business" after 12 years of making little or no money

Scott

Read with great interest your discussions with Gary Willcox.

I have heard on the grapevine via various other inactive upline/downline that we still keep in touch with, that Gary and Marion Willcox have split up.

When I check my upline direct info Gary's name only appears -not Marion's.

Hey Scott,

I read a lot on your site, as a former quixtar IBO - it helped me to gather the truth about this business

I'm not sure it's anywere on your site, but do you have any stats on the number of NEW DIAMONDS that started from scratch since quixtar came around in 1999. When i asked my upline in WWDG, he told me (rather surprisingly) that there was NOT ONE. So basically all the current Diamonds in World Wide had made it from their AWMAY businesses!

Let me know if you want more info on this!

Thanks and keep up the good work!

Geoff

Amway Quixtar Kingpin Settles Lawsuit to Avoid Multi-Million Dollar Charges of Fraud, Copyright Infringement and Theft of Trade Secrets

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/prweb/20050329/bs_prweb/prweb222106_3

Scott,

All I can say is "holy cow" I never thought I would be writing you. I was told that you were just a loser who had "sour grapes" toward the company. Ah, how things change. I may have some sour grapes myself now. Thought you might get a kick out of this. On the TeamDCI (Florence) Website, I found this "wonderful" promotion.

Click here to see the IBO's who have stepped up to the challenge!

Wow, talk about a great deal/challenge. For buying/listening to 30 CD's a month (at $3.50 each x 30 days = $105.00 X 3 months till Spring Conference = $315.00), I could actually get "special seating" in the "duh, I'm stupid" section at the Spring Conference. What bothers me the most is that there is a list of over 200 "winners" on the website and the list is growing. Please don't print my name if you put this on your sight because some of those "winners" are close friends of mine and I don't want to hurt them or risk losing their friendship or risk a mob of angry zombies at my door.

I thought I was a fairly intelligent guy and yet I got sucked into this thing for a while and really believed that I could make some money at it. The company appears to be fairly legit (overpriced but legit) but the "leaders" in the field are more like vampires, sucking the blood (money) out of the faithful. Thanks for your work! I stumbled across your sight a few months ago and tried to resist the truth for a while but this was the last straw. You are right on track and should be given a medal for continuing the fight.

Scott,

Do you know Mr. John Maxwell? He is a best selling author who I recently heard at a WWDB Convention and he is a leading proponent for WWG LLC as well as Quixtar. Do you and your other negatively charged community of interest actually think that men like John Maxwell and others would align themselves with such a "evil empire" and destroy there credibility. This man alone is, I am sure worth Millions and does not need to extend himself unnecessarily to an alleged cult.

You demonstrate a misinformed cult of negative consciousness. You know as well as I do that if you want to find the negative attribute of anything there is plenty of low hanging fruit. Groups are made up of people and people are flawed, That's what we call LIFE.

Good Luck in life. Actually there is no luck, just preparedness recognizing opportunity.

MB

Dear Scott,

My husband and I were in Amway/Quixtar for 10 years. When we got in, Howie Danzik was married to Susan Danzik. There were at the 2500 PV level. We opened our business kit at their home in Briargate in Colorado Springs. So, it is true that he was married before.

My husband and I tried for 10 years to build the business. We spent a lot of money attending functions, buying tapes, and going to the major functions. We had a little success, but should have given up before we did.

Howie frequently left my husband feeling like a failure when he called for upline counseling. He and Theresa lived in Cedar Heights in Colorado Springs, but it was a rental, not a house they owned. Yet he liked to brag about his beautiful home.

We stuck around for many years and I began to see many of the "success" stories that Howie crammed down our throats at the functions file bankruptcy or face foreclosure on their homes. I verified this information through the El Paso County Assessor's office and the United States Bankruptcy Court Voice Case Information System phone number. I also have access to the NACM bulletins that also relay this information. Our own upline filed bankruptcy and are living a much more modest life than they were before they became involved in this business.

We also had the opportunity to meet Mike and Barb Popovich. Mike would frequently hang out in the hallways during Howie's very long winded opens and trash Howie. He said he would have much shorter opens and people would be out by 10:00 or 10:30 at the latest. He said it was stupid that Howie took so long to present the "opportunity."

One time when Barb Popovich was expecting their first child, we were talking to Mike in hallway and he heard footsteps in hallway. He said, "OH God! I can tell it's her! " Meaning Barb was heading his way, yet they projected this wonderful loving relationship.

We were at a function at Howie's home in Cedarheights after they had they son, Gabriel. Howie was discussing his nanny. He said that Greg Duncan advised him to hire an ugly nanny because they tend to me more reliable. I was shocked at his comments.

One time we attended a function when Howie's upline Terry Felber was in the next room with his downline. Terry finished a good 1 1/2 hours before Howie.

The final straw came with one of the incentive trips to Ron Puryear's River House. We had downline qualify for this trip for the second year. The week before the PV deadline, they were less than 1/2 of the required PV. They purchased over $3000 worth of products to make the River House qualifications. Within two weeks, they had returned it to the corporation for credit on their next month bonus statement. Yet, they were paraded across the stage on several occasions as an example of success in the business. Many people would feel like losers because they did not qualify, yet the people that bought their way to the River House were presented as being highly successful people. .

We really loved Theresa Danzik, she is a very kind and loving person, but at the same time, we could no help that were were constantly being deceived. We really began to question their ethics and finally quit after spending about $30,000.00 over 10 years.

I would caution anyone considering this to take these messages to heart. We did have some positive experiences and out marriage did get stronger. Overall it really is a scam. My husband showed the plan at least 100 times. You may get someone in, but you have absolutely no control over what they will do once they are in. Howie was very good at making them feel like a failure if their downline was not producing. We refused to badger our downline.

Smarter and Wiser in Colorado Springs

Scott-

I wanted to write and say thank you for putting so much work into your website and letting everyone know how much of a scam this business really is. I had a former co-worker call me a few days ago and treated me like I was a long lost dear friend (but when I was working, we hardly hung out outside of work and I had briefly talked to him about three times since I quit the job back in 2004). He got me to go to a meeting and I was uneasy about the whole process. There was no sharing of actual data or studies that the program, just the basics of "You can make millions and be able to retire early! You can achieve your dream!"

Still, I felt like I didn't have much to lose since the startup costs were low, so the next night I met up with him, told him some personal things I was concerned about myself (which he accepted and shared with me some personal things and that his group was ready to accept me as who I was) and I signed up. I wrote a post-dated check to be cashed when I got paid from my freelance writing job.

I talked about it with my mother and she begged me to do some research, so I came up with your site, saw they were the next coming of Amway and promptly felt sick to my stomach. I immediately called him and told him to tear up my contract and destroy my check. He was disappointed (and told me he hadn't filed my application due to "internet problems"), but said I could consider coming back and signing back up again "if I was ready to achieve my dreams."

The way he talked and how easily he spouted their dogma, I have no doubt that Quixtar has brainwashed him into believing he will be able to live his dreams within 2-5 years. I'm really worried about him and I want to help him pull the wool from his eyes and expose the business for the sick sons of bitches they really are. I know it's a long shot, but if I make any progress, I'll let you know.

I'm passing your website on to my family, friends and as many people as I possibly can. For further information, the business is called Internet Associates and they are based in Western Washington.

Keep up this expose, and I believe one day they will go down and go down hard.

Feel free to use my name and this e-mail in your feedback column.

Fu_k Quixtar!

God Bless,

-John B.

Hello, I'm Jon,

I really naively got involved with Amway - wwwdb into the Ron puryear - dave severn - brad duncan - rick marshal - jerry mcreavry - rod williams line, back in July of '94

Until the end of ' 96 after being abandoned by my uplines { they moved away from here - talk about the so - called love you - yea right. } I spent about $ 2400 during the course of time on the useless tools, rallies, seminars, books, meetings, etc. Now what I was looking for was to have been able to build a small bus, that would've been able to earn me some $ 300 - $700/monthly, but I ended up making absolutely 0.00 $'s. when my sponsor approached me, I asked him { I was in Amway before with same results in the late ' 70's },

if it was possible for me to learn how to do the business, & he said that in wwwdb there is a support system of tools , meetings, etc to help with that, & i nievely fell for it - a sucker. Now the tools & meetings i will mentioned an aspect that i have not yet seen addressed here, & it goes like this... a tool is suppose to help one to b u i l d a profitable business, well here is what happened, i am given the 1st tape, listen to it eagerly for anything to INSTRUCT me how to do it... the tape said this top secret money making ideas -- go to the functions, listen to the tapes, read those books, show the plan .... WOWEE ! , AIN'T IT GREAT ! ! { ? }.

But so i went ahead to get the next tape & guess what it said for me to do to make that sought after income? it said this : listen to the damned tapes, go to the functions, read the books, show the plan.... { now how am i to find anyone to show the plan to ?, i knew no one not one person for me to show plan to , i'm beaten all ready at this point } , Now i go to the functions, guess what? " Oh we just love you soooo much ! ... { ? }... & the rallies - yea there was some small degree of excitement { when new at this } & now i just plucked down some $ 50 or more to hear guess what ? " show the plan ... { oh boy am i thrilled }, read those books, listen to the tapes { ! }. Now when am i ever going to be shown or told how to in practical terms to apply all this into actually building a { BUSINESS } that sells products to real customers when i don't know anyone? or even to realistically find some others to show plan to ? it always came back as ' listen to tapes, read the books, go to functions, show the plan... & i am suppose to praise Jesus for this ! { ? ! } . Some bargain ... i ' d rather to have spent several hundreds $'s to consult with Ray Kroc , Bill Gates , or Martha Stewart & gotten real & usable instruction { mentoring } for my $$$ spent.... so this is it... the tapes , meetings & books in reality do no more than to repeat themselves with most useless cliché's doing absolutely nothing in actual instructing one how to do it... I am Jon Lawyer. feel free to post all this on the message postings - hopefully this will help others to not fall for the useless tapes , books , & functions. Regards Jon ]

Hi Scott,

Do you know if Quixfund.com is a Quixtar sponsored site. It is unusual as it is a donation site to have Quixtar products purchased & they are then sent to troops in Afganistan and Iraq. It is unusual as it directs youto send your donation to a Massachussetts address. I wonder if it is a Quixtar site or if someone is earning pv/bv. Thanks.

Paul Miller has stated that he is marrying "Leslie" his former secretary/mistress in a "small ceremony" in September, 2005

ruby distributor Alfonso Lacson

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/220655_dgst19.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=0

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/waw/victim_witness/znetix/lacson_alfonso_plea_agreement.pdf

upline diamonds Brad Wolgamott and Brad Duncan

scott,

I am an IBO currently, although inactive at this time do to me putting some of the pieces together and really seeing the truth. When i first came upon your site some time ago i thought it was complete junk and didn't think it was true. But after coming back and really looking at the whole thing it just makes sense and it is true. I was wondering if you can send me info on Britt world wide lines of sponsorship I am really interested in learning more about things that are true about them. i used to think that all the negative was only in other groups not britt but after your site and things I have witnessed personally they are not. please and info and links are appreciated

Dear Scott:

Reading the list of Amway Emeralds over the years has me curious about a couple named Bob and Wendy Grogan. They were from Long Island, NY, upline diamonds were Charlie and Ann Durso. Bob worked in the comptrollers office for the City of NY, and retired (supposedly based on Amway earnings). His story was even on the local New York City evening news (alarm clock smashing, etc.). Looking at Angelo Nardone's website and pictures, the Grogans are conspicuously absent. Just wondering if anyone knows what happened to them, they were a smart, classy couple.

Sincerely,

J.M.

Stopped "building the business" after 12 years of making little or no money

My boyfriend and I are at odds on this subject. He says "at least I have a dream". He has been pouring money into it for 8 years. His last check from growing the business was $14.00. He goes to all the functions and buys all the tapes. He is perfect for them. Give, Give, Give. He also says that if I were to go see a motivational speaker I would pay $350. I told him one function is like all the others. (I went to the big one FED). I asked why he couldn't get the business started? The man quotes people from Quick star every day. He listens to tapes all the time. I want to be a positive supporter on this for him but I don't believe in it. Even at all the functions we go to they talk about the same people. Best thing I've heard out of "FED" was, "If you were in grade school your parents would tell you that you could do anything. Since when did parents start telling you that you couldn't do something." Give me a break!!! My boyfriend said he will never quit. It's his dream to build his business. Guess he will have to do it on his own.

My daughter is very involved in Quixtar. They have her convinced that she will make $1,000,000 by August of this year, even though last year she only earned $500 with $6,000 in expenses, mostly relating to "training materials" that she buys from THEM! What can I do to get her out of this cult? I hate to see her wasting her money when she could be saving it for real things.

Thank you so much.

P. H.

Hi,

I have spent the last four hours or so reading much of the material on your site. As an IBO myself, I would just like to let you know what I think of your research and my brief opinion, which you may or may not pay any attention to. Your site is well researched and very comprehensive, however, the problems I found were that the site is extremely one sided and very little positive information about Quixter (i.e. the Amway Business) is given. This makes it very difficult to make and educated decision as no information about non-negative facts is given. I appreciate that the site is loaded with lots of information about why NOT to be an IBO, but there are equally sites out there which have tons of information about why TO BE an IBO. I think further balance in your argument would make your site for informative. The second point I'd just like to raise is that alot of the information presented concerns various PEOPLE in the business and not the actual BUSINESS itself. People will always do nasty things no matter what they are doing, it's an unfortunate fact of human nature. A lot of the information you give concerns people and thier problems with the business, but not really the business itself. You might want to look into that as it somewhat lessens the impact of your site.

Otherwise I appreciate the work you have done, which is clearly extensive, and hope that you can take some of what I have suggested and make it work better for you.

For me, I'm perfectly happy with the IBO status!

Sincerely,

Sean Riskowitz

Hi Scott,

Thanks for your reply. I have asked the same question to some other sites but my point is that I feel your site would be more credible if it included a balanced picture about the business, rather than just mainly negative stuff. There are many people I know who have really taken this business to new heights and enjoy doing it, whilst there are those that abuse it and those that don't want to have anything to do with it. I actually run my business in South Africa and thus came accross your site whilst here in the US, researching Quixtar etc. as the business is run differently there.

I will be declaring an average income from my business this year as I have not had a great year due to many other committments. It's money I have coming in with not much effort this year and for me, that's good enough!

Don't get me wrong, I think your site is extremely informative and interesting, but I think there may be a niche in the "market" for a site that balnces PROS and CONS of everything and then produces conclusions based on all the relevant information, and not just what I've highlighted before.

Anyway keep it up!

Regards,

Sean R

I am a franchise consultant and was recently having lunch with a friend and was discussing my business. A nice young lady overheard our conversation, told me she was in web / marketing / franchising herself and felt sure there were some synergies and asked for my card. A week later she calls and asks for some time to discuss "goals" and see if there's some common ground. Her suggested meeting times were either 6pm or 8pm. I told my partner then and there, "this lady either did not see my wedding band or is selling MLM".

I grant her some time and she immediately introduces the Quixtar opportunity as a "franchise". I even confirm - this is truly a "franchise"? She confirms. This is HIGHLY inaccurate and illegal.

What's worse, after a few more "MLM giveaways" I just point blank ask - "are you sure this is not an MLM instead of a franchise?" "No" she says. "I'm sorry but this really sounds more like and MLM to me", I retort. "Well, that depends on your definition of an MLM" she tells me still never confessing it's an MLM.

I'm in franchising and I know the hoops a true franchise must jump through to earn the right to sell themselves as a franchise. I also know the severity of making claims that you are one when you are not and it's not nice. I'd report it but honestly I just think desperation and ignorance was this person's excuse and I'd rather not mess with the organization at all anyway.

Regards,

Marc

Scott,

Oh man! Well where do I start? My boyfriend and I have just got back from our first function. Let me just say that I felt it was complete waste of $1100 (between 2 days of missed work the cost of the bus, ticket, hotel and spending money.) We were NOT informed of the religious part on Sunday. We have been involved in the business for a month and I was skeptical from the beginning. My boyfriend had heard from a guy at work (our upline now) and after 4 months of me saying NO WAY I decided to give it a go. I had researched it on the net even though I was told not to (nobdoy tells me what to do). My boyfreind was at his witts end with his job and I was willing to try anything. So we gave it a go. I began to notice little things like how the wives had all submitted themselves to thier husbands. My boyfriend and I live together and are not married and after 2 weeks they were asking questions like so when are you planning to get married? You aren't married and you live together? That was when I got suspicious. We were told that if we were not completely satisfied they would reimburse 100% of our trip.

I started to listen, read and believe but part of me just couldn't. The fights my boyfriend and I have had since this started! Unbelievable. But during the function we saw the light. We went to our tuesday meeting and tried to do the right thing and say our goodbyes and see if these guys were good to their word. They treated me (the women like crap) and my boyfriend they said they were more than willing to sit down with him and chat. You know they are not wrong and neither am I this isn't about that it is about their mind set and ours and ours is just different. I cannot support something that is in my eyes morally wrong.

What A Joke About Being Free. If that is freedom i;d rather be broke than submit myself to anyone.

oh thanks so much for that i needed to vent!

ash

Dear Mr. Larsen,

My housemate recently became involved in Quixtar. I see him spending all his spare time on this business and making purchases that he never would have made before because he says he is "buying from himself". We have a decade's worth of paper towels in our basement, for example. Anyhow, I'm sure this is all the same old story that you have heard before.

My problem is, I am very concerned that he is going to quit his job and focus on something like this full time...and fail miserably. Your website (amquix.info) has provided a great wealth of information as I try to collect data that I can present to him in an effort to get him to quit or at least understand all the facts about this business. But, although we have been best friends since a young age, he has never listened to me or respected my opinion about...well, anything. Without going for the full "intervention", I have had several conversations with him on this Quixtar business and no matter what facts I provide he always has some counter ("these products are better quality", "I need these vitamins", "you have to ask 10 people to get 1 yes", etc.). It seems that trying to talk someone out of the Quixtar business is like trying to talk someone out of their religion. My friend, who is a professional engineer and an extremely smart man, seems brainwashed (he goes to meetings at least twice a month and now is going to some big rally this weekend in Maine). I don't think I can get through to him.

How do you get someone to quit Quixtar? What kinds of things can you present to them? Is there anyone out there who has successfully convinced a friend to give it up before they do something like quit a good job or lose their life savings? I need help. Is there anything on the web or on your site that deals with this topic?

Sincerely,

Michael S

Hi, Scott.

Thanks for the great public service you're providing by hosting this site.

Unfortunately, *I* was an "Ambot" for several years, suckered in by the promises of riches and by the motto "If the dream's big enough, the facts don't count..." (The fact that you're making NO money, for instance!!) Finally broke free.

Thanks, again.
Randy

Hi Scott,

I just wanted to share some of my thoughts to your statements on this website! I see that it does cost money to make money. This is not a get rich quick scheme which most people are looking for. I was introduced to the business in May and I honestly didn't know what I was seeing, I was handed some information and listened to the information in my car. I do believe that what they say on these tapes/cds are the truth. There are enough facts about the future for the younger generation to get into Network Marketing. I don't believe that all of these Fortune 500 companies are out to scam everybody! In the group that I was sponsored by they didn't pressure me on paying for the system & I do see where it is valuable to teach people how to build there business w/ so many DIFFERENT approaches. Everything is based on volume not position so I doubt you know what you are talking about. Amway was the Past and Quixtar is the Future. What I find of most people that I have talked to that has something negative to say about the business is people that have no goal, dream, vision & are very negative and STP to a couple people. Maybe they weren't on a Great team and didn't have the Leaders that they needed to succeed. I know I can call my Upline whenever I want to ask questions and counsel w/ them. Also the only reason you don't talk to other people about the business is because all people develop at different paces & sometimes they never develop and then bash the company. I also do insurance and when you are in sales and you need to Network people drop out all the time especially because the Managers tell you about the $$$$$$ you can make but once you become a Rep for the company you realize you are on your own and if you make it great if not then they quit & then bash the company. But it is up to all of us to keep our dreams in front of us and stay teachable so we can succeed at anything we decide to do. Many people just want to blame another person or company for there failure.

Thanks,

Erica Apple

Hi Scott,

I feel bad you had a bad experience and a bad group that didn't help you but it's like Jerry Meadows says: you can have a good idea but be w/ the wrong people and you'll never see the money!

I hope that you just can see the future and see the positives not the past and all the negatives it's no way to live! I also have a friend that was in the Amway business and was w/ the wrong people and believes his negative views. Unfortunately it's not the only business that he quit. You can't fail you can only quit.

If you ever feel that maybe you want a new chance w/ a great group you can always email me and I will show you. Products don't move People, People move Products!!

Keep your Dream Alive! Don't Put Down other People and their Dreams no matter what you believe you can destroy people and there ability to have a better life if that's what they choose. Life is about Choices!

I hope the best for you and your journey! I will just tell you a great book to read: Frank Feather The Future Quixtar Consumer -- it's a great book and he's not in the business.

Keep the Faith,

Erica

Scott,

This yr I didn't do taxes since I was new to the business.

Where are you from? I live in NJ and prior to seeing the plan from my business partner, I was approached from somebody and they asked me if I wanted to sell makeup? I said no. Well Well a couple weeks later I see the plan from a different perspective and guess what I loved it. How long were in the business and what was your team (if you had one) some people get into this business and never do anything w/ it or they never really try!

How plans did you show? What's your presentation/approach? I'd like to know what happened since I do like to hear stories. What do you do now?

Thanks,

Erica

Scott,

I was in quixtar, and joined at the age of 21. After four months I moved very fast and qualified as an eagle in the BWW organization. I was even recognized in front of 18,000 people at one of the conferences that they hold. I was told how wealthy I was going to be, and how I would retire before I graduated college. We were pushed to keep increasing our "personal circle" of points by buying more and more products. We would be pressured into driving from Pa to NC and back in one night to listen to a guy talk on religion and spirituality. I was told people in my group would not be able to have big businesses because they were not Christain and have not let Jesus Christ be their savior. At these conferences they would have an "optional" congregation on Sunday's where alter calls were performed. At this time I was on pace to graduate with an Industrial Engineering degree from Penn State University, and because of the hectic schedule and the "junk" that was told to me, I am barely going to graduate, and it has taken another year due to poor grades. I also was almost engaged, but so much pressure and lies were told to my girlfriend at the time that she decided to leave me because I was acting like a robot and telling her how she had to change and how my "upline" is always right. At the same time I managed to rack up over 10 thousand dollars of debt, all while supposed to be "making money" because I was an eagle 4000. I can go on and on about things that were said and were done, some of them almost are unbelievable they were so outrageous. It is humiliating that I even bought into these things, and it has been six months now and I am still in the recovery process of mending broken friendships, relationships, and finances. The reason I am writing you is that I'm sure you have had the Quixtar faithful bash you since you have not taken part in the organization. I have bashed people the same way, but I also did take part, and was more successful than 99% of people in that organization will ever be. I have spoken at the conferences, seminars, and group meetings. I personally sponsered 19 people by myself, and my group is now 158 people total. I have driven thousands of miles after midnight, and have spent thousands of dollars on products. I am now 23, and am fixing my life day by day. Some things will never be forigivin, or the same at that. Not one of my "upline" that cared about me so much has even given me a call to see how I am. I am not bitter, for it was the biggest learning experience I have ever had in my life. I want you to know that you are not doing a bad deed, because I support every person that sees this business for what it is before they jump into the mess. Yeah, some of them have more money than they know what to do with, and thats great. In the end they are the ones who have to look in the mirror, and I knew I couldn't do it anymore. Keep up the awesome website, and keep informing people of what they are really getting themselves into. If you need any help or support let me know, I would like to do what I can.

Jonathan S

Hi everybody! This is Robin Weber, more excited than I can possibly tell you, after having had Paul Miller on the board in Charlotte tonite. We had
a great turnout, about 40 people as best we can tell, with somewhere between six and ten guests. Paul was amazing and Leslie was just so inspiring! If
you couldn't be there, make sure to ask someone who was about it all.

Good site-

As I unplug from the system and reflect on 15 years-overall it was a good experience (expensive though) and my family has benefited from being in the business. I tried to leave several times but either my wife or my upline changed my mind. I finally could not take it any more. I had a stack of shrink wrapped CD's that I wasn't going to listen to so I told my wife we were done. She still wants to go to the open-a lot of the people in the business are friends, I am sure our upline will want us to stay away from active distributors so we don't negatively influence them.

My question is why has there not been a class action lawsuit against the AMO's-I am still enriching BWW as you can see by my email address, but when I got in and until recently there was no mention of tool money-in fact, like most people I was told that my upline wouldn't make money until I made money. He made money on the first tape I bought. The Asian Indian groups are tool Nazi's-they will say from stage that if you aren't on standing order plus a few more tapes you won't get any help. I asked to get off of SOT and was told by my upline that they believed in us too much to lets us get off-they said that was the first sign someone is quitting.

I know an attorney could line up a crowd of people to sign on. I am not to keen on enriching lawyers but maybe Alticor will wake up.

Best Regards,

Pat R.

Keep up the excellent work, Mr. Larsen. I don't know whether to laugh or cry because people are so gullible, but I was once bamboozled by Amway/Quixtar,

so I support you.

Jeff Phelps

SCOTT,

THIS EMAIL IS NOT MENT TO AFFEND YOU IN ANY WAY OR CHALLENGE YOU. IAM JUST WONDERING WHY SPEND SO MUCH TIME MAKING SOMETHING LOOK SO BAD? GRANTED THERE ARE BAD SIDES TO EVERYTHING. THERE ARE GOOD THINGS THAT COME OUT OF EVERYTHING. YES THERE IS SOME GOOD THAT COMES OUT THE AMWAY/QUIXTAR BUSIENSS

WOULD YOU NOT AGREE? YOU COULD SPEND TIME TAKING A SIDE OF ANY BUSINESS MAKING THEM LOOK GOOD OR BAD. WHY ONLY FOCUS ON THE BAD SIDE OF THE AMWAY / QUIXTAR OPPURTUNITY.

DID YOU HAVE A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH THE BUSINESS? WHAT IS IT. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO MAKE SUCH A SITE?

RJK

 Scott

First off great site! Allow me to tell my story, it rehashes many of your emails and speaks the same. Unlike others it took less than two months to figure out quixtar/amway and left with many wondering how I could think such things about this 'fine' organization.

Back in late 1998 I had just graduated with my BS degree in finance/banking. I was back in my hometown trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life. A good childhood friend, who I will call 'Jeff', contacted me about 'owning my own business' and 'writing my own ticket to success'. Now this friend of mine, God bless him, didn't have the first experience at owning a business. He didn't understand a balance sheet, income statement, obtainable goals, etc. I also need to note that he had just lost his brother to a prolonged illness. The family was still very much grieving the loss at this point.

Anyhow I was invited over to their home to see 'the plan'. I also was to meet a very special guest, none other than BUBBA PRATT and would be able to see his motor coach. The fact that Pratt was supposedly a former football star at the Univ of Florida or that he owned a deluxe motor coach did not make much of an impression upon me. I was still interested because I wanted to hear the angle they were selling me. There were several others there attending this meeting. I guess this was a 'feeler' phase and was the hook to see if anyone would bite. Additionally Bubba had someone there to assist him and I assume he was trying to build his downline. Bubba proudly boasted this assistant and 'Jeff' were on their way to being successful. I am sure Bubba saw dollar signs in his eyes since I am from a small town and Jeff's father is very well connected due to his role in the community. I was also able to see all the glossy photos, images of supposed wealth, the legendary Bill Britt, etc.

Anyhow one thing led to another and the phone calls began. First it was one a day, then two a day and finally sometimes three a day. All them from my friend trying to ascertain my impression of 'Bubba' and my thoughts on the business, along with the opportunities of mythical proportions of wealth. Also consider this family was grieving over the loss of their son, this made them emotionally vulnerable and they bought it all!

I was then asked to attend a rally/conference. This time it was to be hosted by TIM FOLEY. I found two things that struck me as odd. Foley spent the whole time telling everyone how he struggled at first, slowly building his business and then making to the Amway status that allowed him a life of luxury. I kept asking myself, "Okay Tim, good, but HOW did you get to this level?". While I contemplated this question I began to think about how much this old building we were in cost to rent for a few hours. Now they charged $20-25 a pop to get in the door and no, I didn't pay my freight, the ones who invited me did and they gladly did so for me.

Well after a prayer, Mr. Foley offered a rather rushed Q&A session. Once again more balderdash! Well I began to do a quick 'guess-timation', say $20 a head and the room could not have cost more than $200 for the two hours. There was about 50 people in attendance and with a easy net of $800, I suspected a significant portion of this going to Foley's pockets. Well Mr. Foley, looking back this is so cheesey, posed with attendees for photos. My friends insisted that I have my photo taken with him. While he and I shook hands I mumbled loud enough for him to hear the following "How much does a place like this cost to rent for a few hours?". Well he didn't reply back and quickly scooted away. He knew I had figured this out very fast. Also there was tapes and tools desk, which only screamed 'scam alert' in my mind.

My friends kept pestering me more and more. My father intervened and agreed to buy the Amway kit so they would get off my back! Well I get the kit but before I know it I have to sign up for Quixtar now. Once again I teamed up with my friends and traveled to another county, about an hour drive, to sit in the living room of some stranger and listen how great this business was for them. Well their home didn't scream wealth at me and I felt like a complete goof, wasting my time listening to more balderdash. Also my friends were going to another rally, this one for the price of $50 and I had to pay my way this time. I declined and explained to them what I suspected. At this time of their involvement they refused to believe me. I was later informed that for $450 I could attend the 'Pratt Family Reunion' held at the Omni in Orlando. Once again I declined and they quit calling.

I am lucky and extremely intuitive I guess, it took me less than two months to hold on to my wallet and save myself some grief. As far as an update, well my friends are no longer involved in Amway/Quixtar and oddly enough our relationship has been reconciled. They have never mentioned this episode to me since. Foley has been named in several lawsuits over the past few years and thats all for the better. I would be interested to know if Pratt is going strong these days. I for one am surprised that Amway/Quixtar has a 'leg' (pardon the pun) to stand on these days.

Feel free to post my message. Keep up the good work!

Regards,

Jay

Hi Scott

Thanks for all your hard work. This one's kinda fun, considering that I heard Cliff Minter preach from stage And on tape how nothing could touch the Amquix biz due to its strength and diversity of product line.

Looks like this new "Snake Oil" is the real answer to all mankind's woes

http://www.ezleadcapture.com/frutav/npreslar/