Pyramid Schemes

[knight_shadow]

I almost got sucked into the Prepaid Legal one. One of my line brothers knew a guy "who worked in marketing," so I met up with him to do some networking. Well, our meeting ended up being a sales presentation. It was very awkward, so I left as soon as I could.

Now, my big brother (in the fraternity) is involved in one and will NOT take no for an answer. Every phone call I get is "Hey, how are you? How's school? How's life? Good. Listen...if you're not busy today, my company (never gives a name ) is having a meeting. No pressure at all; we just want to give you some information!"

I've since stop answering his phone calls

[AGDee]

Yeah, I've had an ex-boyfriend PM me to check out his "business".. some kind of juice or vitamin supplement or something. Primerica fooled me into going to one of their presentations. My idiot ex-husband invited an Amway couple into our home once. The worse the economy gets, the worse this kind of thing gets, I think. People think "Well gee, I was laid off, but I can have my own business!" or "If I have a side business, I can pay off those credit cards with all that extra money!" Preying on the weak.. that's what they're about!

[Benzgirl]

Scamway!!!!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AGDee

My idiot ex-husband invited an Amway couple into our home once.

I was just rereading this thread since it got bumped and Dee, I had to laugh at this. It sounds like a Seinfeld episode.

Originally Posted by 33girl

I was just rereading this thread since it got bumped and Dee, I had to laugh at this. It sounds like a Seinfeld episode.

It's worse when you meet a nice hot guy through some friends. You dig on him for a few weeks and get all excited because he asks you to dinner one night. You get to dinner, and once drinks are served, he starts reciting the Amway pitch.

[KSUViolet06]

I'm not sure if this is a pyramid scheme or not, but I used to intern with a girl who worked for a company selling mail order groceries. She was consistently trying to get me to order stuff and it drove me nuts.

Her "sales pitch" went something like this:

I would always bring a snack of cookies or crackers to work because I didn't take a lunch.

Girl: Hey those cookies look good. Where did you get them?
Me: Acme (local grocery store)
Girl: How much were they?
Me: I dunno, like 1.00.
Girl: How often do you go to the Acme?
Me: Like once a month
Girl: Doesn't it frustrate you to have to navigate a crowded grocery store all the time?
Me: Um no, I only go like once a month so it's no big deal...
Girl: Well, what if I could get you those cookes for LESS than a dollar?
Me: It's no big deal really....
Girl And I could GUARANTEE that you'd never set foot in a grocery store again?
Me: Um....
Girl: (cuts me off) my company sends grocerys through the mail at HALF the price blah blah

She handed me the catalog and I checked out my cookies. They were 50 cents WITH 2.00 shipping & handling. I told her no. Yet she continued to ask me EVERY WEEK when I came in.

I finally told her I didn't want any and she was pretty mad. She insisted that people "wasted their money buying directly from the store." There's no way I'm going to buy something and pay DOUBLE in shipping.

[knight_shadow]

^^^ That reminds me of one of my current co-workers. He's doing the online grocery thing too, so any time he sees me with an energy drink or soda, he'll throw out that same pitch. He's also tried to reel me in by offering to give me free samples of the groceries/drinks that he sells.

So basically, it's a brand that I'm not familiar with at the same (or higher) cost and shipping fees. Which is very stupid.

But he still asks

[bluefish81]

Ugh, my sister does something like you mentioned KSUViolet06, except it's for organic cleaning supplies, toiletries and vitamins and stuff like that. They require a minimum order every month of something like $45. Yeah, because I'm going to need to spend that much on cleaning supplies every month. I'm one person. And the place requires a default order, so that if you don't place your order by x date of the month they send you the default order. The people above you, who brought you in get a certain dollar amount of commission or whatever of your sales, and they get so much of sales of the people you bring on and on and on.

[texas*princess]

Does anyone know anything about Ameriprise? When I was in college, they recruited me off Monster.com.... I went to their presentation deal because I figured why not, but decided it wasn't for me...they just seemed like the "ambulence chasers" of the finacial world.

One of my friends... whom I haven't spoke to in awhile, joined them not too long ago, and I happened to see her a few months ago, and now she doesn't leave me alone. Every conversation we have is about "having lunch" but really she just wants me to be one of her clients. I'm a super busy person so we played telephone tag for awhile, but one time she finally answered my phone call and after 20 minutes of random conversation, BAM! She busted out her Ameriprise crap. I've told her already I wasn't interested, but she doesn't stop!!!

Are they on some kind of pyramind scheme? I know they do pretty well if they sell a lot... only because I went to their presentation deal a few years ago.... I would assume their recruiter gets a cut too?

[OOhsoflyDELTA#9]

Wow...its crazy that this thread was posted tonight because today is the one year anniversary of my joining a Cashflow to Wealth marketing company...I know there are some useless companies out there but not all of them are....I know more now then I ever I thought I would about my finances and how to break the cycle of debt so many Americans are caught up in...but thats what my company is about..I sometimes get misty thinking what my financial future would have been like without one of my friends introducing me to our system..I was clueless and probably would have had to work until I died....I know some companies try to get you to push huge amounts of household products or what not and other useless stuff...as far as being pushy, I'm not at all when it comes to my business, I feel like this, I mention it to people I feel like can truly understand the concept because IMO everyone who isn't wealthy needs it, but everyone can't and will not be able to grasp it, it takes a great deal of discipline....I guess maybe its because we don't sell anything...this is the first time I've even mentioned it on GC and I post almost everyday...

ETA: businesses formed in a pyramid formation are common...take Mickey Ds for example...corporate is on top, you buy a franchise you fall under the top...you pay a fee and a percentage of your sells go to corporate...its a pyramid structure...every store opened makes up the body of the pyramid...the scheme thing comes in with companies where only the top brackets make any money because the requirements, quotas, or whatever are too difficult to reach for the people in the "body" of the pyramid...

[AGDee]

What makes a franchise different than a pyramid is that there is only one level below corporate. Each franchise doesn't try to get others to buy franchises from them to make money off of them. Your own success isn't dependent on how many other people you get to buy franchises. It's only dependent on how well you run your business and if you made a smart business decision in the first place (chose a good location, in an area where there was a need, etc).

[bluefish81]

Originally Posted by OOhsoflyDELTA#9

ETA: businesses formed in a pyramid formation are common...take Mickey Ds for example...corporate is on top, you buy a franchise you fall under the top...you pay a fee and a percentage of your sells go to corporate...its a pyramid structure...every store opened makes up the body of the pyramid...the scheme thing comes in with companies where only the top brackets make any money because the requirements, quotas, or whatever are too difficult to reach for the people in the "body" of the pyramid...

Ya lost me here.
I see McDonalds as this:
McDonalds Corporation
Franchises Franchises Franchises

I don't see other middle people here. Only the corp is getting a cut of your profits

Something like, Amway works like this doesn't it? A will be the top person. B is the next person in the line and so on. They all get a cut of E's profits. E needs to bring on more people to make $$.
--A--
B--B--B
C--C--C--C
D--D--D--D--D
E--E--E--E--E--E

Am I wrong with my thinking?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by texas*princess

Does anyone know anything about Ameriprise? When I was in college, they recruited me off Monster.com.... I went to their presentation deal because I figured why not, but decided it wasn't for me...they just seemed like the "ambulence chasers" of the finacial world.

All I know about them is they put fishbowls in restaurants for you to drop your business card to "win a free lunch" for you & your coworkers. Turns out, one of the conditions of the lunch is that an Ameriprise rep comes to your business and gives a talk. I think everyone is starting to get wise to it now.

[ZTAngel]

Originally Posted by 33girl

All I know about them is they put fishbowls in restaurants for you to drop your business card to "win a free lunch" for you & your coworkers. Turns out, one of the conditions of the lunch is that an Ameriprise rep comes to your business and gives a talk. I think everyone is starting to get wise to it now.

I dropped my card in one of those at my favorite local Thai restaurant and got the call from an Ameriprise. I told the guy that I didn't want to listen to his speech. He promised that he would only take 5 minutes of our time. He was true to his word. He gave a short sales pitch and then left me and my co-workers alone for the rest of lunch.

Those pyramid scheme companies prey on recent graduates. I graduated in 2003 when the economy was not so good (similar to what it is now!). It was tough finding a job back then for those of us who had a degree but little experience. Wenworth contacted a friend of mine and asked her to come in for an interview for a marketing position. She was all excited so she put on a suit she just bought for the interview with new shoes and headed over there. As soon as she got to the office, the hiring manager asked her if she had some time to follow around another marketing representative so that she could see what she'd be doing on a daily basis. She said sure. She had no idea what she was in for. It turns out that this job required their sales associates to do door-to-door sales of coupon books in the rural towns in Central Florida. My friend spent all day going door-to-door in her new suit. Keep in mind that it was the summer in Central Florida which means it was 90+ degrees. Then it started pouring but the sales associate wouldn't give up. He still dragged my friend door-to-door in the rain in her new suit which was dry clean only. She was basically held hostage since this sales guy was her ride home. Her "interview" begun that day at 10am and didn't end until 6pm. LOL. I love telling that story because I'll never forget how pissed she was. She called me crying and screaming all at the same time.

I think there was a thread like this a while back and I believe we all determined that Enterprise Rent-a-Car was a pyramid scheme as well.

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally Posted by bluefish81

Ugh, my sister does something like you mentioned KSUViolet06, except it's for organic cleaning supplies, toiletries and vitamins and stuff like that. They require a minimum order every month of something like $45. Yeah, because I'm going to need to spend that much on cleaning supplies every month. I'm one person. And the place requires a default order, so that if you don't place your order by x date of the month they send you the default order. The people above you, who brought you in get a certain dollar amount of commission or whatever of your sales, and they get so much of sales of the people you bring on and on and on.

Melaluca. I went to it last year and it sounded pretty good, but like you said I don't need that much crap every month for one person and you had to place an order.