Subj: Re: Amway Wives
Date: 97-10-02 02:00:31 EDT
From: To: Exambot
Kelly,
I would be very interested in forming a mesage board on AOL for spouses
who chose not to be
part of the dream and what happened to them. It would be a good place
for people like
me to get some support while they are going through all of it.
I have been surfing the web for the past few days and am AMAZED with
what I have been able
to find.
My only hope is that the marriage counselor we are about to see has some
experience with cult
deprogramming because I think that is what we really need. Then again,
the fact that my
husband has agreed to counselling speaks volumes to me about the chances
we will make it.
Thank you for your response,

Subj: Please...........help me!
Date: 97-10-03 12:46:36 EDT
From:To: exambot@aol.com
Plese, Help me!
I' m an italian netsurfer and one of my best friend is going to
loose his mind (and money) and to become an amway tool!
I need especially italian related material , supports, all the
luck of the world and your help to save him!
Thanks

Subj: Worldwide Dream Builders
Date: 97-10-13 23:01:25 EDT
From: To: exambot@aol.com
Thanks for the info on this group and its connection to Amway. Tonight
I got a call from a woman my husband met at a home show a couple of
years ago. She said that she thought he was sharp and smart and would
be a good candidate for Worldwide Dream Builders. Funny thing, though,
she wouldn't really say what it was all about or how someone associated
with WWDB would make $60,000 net a year; she just wanted to set up a
meeting time at our home! She did mention that Amway is WWDB's
"servicing corporation", whatever that means. Fortunately for us, we
are hooked up to the internet, so I did some surfing and found your page
which was the first time I'd been able to link negative aspects of the
Amway experience with "Worldwide Dream Builders". I had a feeling my
gut instincts were correct. Thanks for spreading the info! I think
you've just saved us at the very least a miserable hour of our lives
trying to say no to people on the Amway bandwagon.

Subj: New web page
Date: 97-10-15 16:23:33 EDT
From: nomore.scams@usa.net (nomore.scams@usa.net)
To: ECZQ78A@prodigy.com, Jonbet@aol.com, skhan@bnui.com,
exambot@aol.com,
lord13@wwnet.com, vandruff@best.com
I'm sending this notice to some of you who have recently e-mailed me.
I thought you might like to take a look at my new "MLM Survivors
Webpage". The page features no fancy bells and whistles, and this is
obviously
just a beginning. My goal for this site is to provide a hopefully
encouraging and informative site for those who have been victimized by
MLMs.
I'm not going to be like Sidney Schwartz or Russell Glasser and post
everything that comes to me; if somebody sends a "get a life" type
message,
or one that's particularly adamant about how wonder MLMs are in the face
of all the contrary evidence, I won't put it up there. But experiences
of MLM survivors, and thoughtful commentary by pro-MLM folks will be
featured.
Eventually, I'd like to see some support groups formed for all of us
Survivors. Heck, if they can do it for alcoholics and people with weight
problems, why not for people who've been under the influence of
commercial mind control organizations?
Anyway, please visit at
http://home.onestop.net/nomorescam
Let me know what you think!

Subj: response
Date: 97-10-17 18:24:32 EDT
From: To: Exambot
you are great; this is helping my friends who are getting sucked in!
Subj: web page gossip column

Date: 97-10-21 10:15:24 EDT
From: To: Exambot
Interesting gossip column, I have found that
criticism is nothing more than a justification of ones own failures. What motivates you to maintain this site?
Do you have a business venture you would like to share with me?
Please email me your responce.
Have a greate day.
How do you know if you are on the right path? Measure it by the critics.
Ain't it Greate

Subj: SCAMWAY
Date: 97-10-21 13:11:23 EDT
From: To: exambot@aol.com
Hi Kelly,
Thanks so much for your interesting source of info. I have visited most
of
the scamway sites and find yours the one that I can relate to the most.
I
too am an ex-ambot. Although I was not in the system for a long period
of
time, I have been surrounded by it for the past two years. For the past
14
months, I've been on an anti-amway campaign.
My sister and her husband were sucked into Amway about two years ago by
mutual acquaintances of ours who live in NJ. We live in NY. My
brother-in-law and his upline were continuously handing me tapes, books,
and
of course cornering me with 'the business' talk. They were relentless. I
missed talking and seeing my sister (since we were always very close and
she
was spending a good amount of her time with her new 'friends'), so I
tagged
along to about five or six of the Open meetings held at hotels. We had
to
drive to either Long Island or New Jersey -- which was 50 - 60 miles
each
way. Nobody seemed to mind. We all drove together in my brother-in-laws
surburban, a Diamonds tape always plugged into the cassette player so we
can
all be fired up. Everyone looked so professional in their suits,
dresses,
smiles, daily planners. HA! During every meet everyone swayed and sang
to
'God Bless America'. Afterwards, our group went to the diner and
continued
their business talk there, and before the night was over the direct
distributor would always ask me -- 'when are you signing on' -- 'you
have to
get the wheels turning' -- 'you could have duplicated yourself a few
times
by now'. The truth was I was still skeptical. I was concerned that this
seemed like a couple organization, and I am a single (divorced) mom. I
was
promised that once I sign on, every man in my upline would become my
"surrogate husband" and be glad to show the plan and their wives would
assist me with paper work. All I had to do was supply my list of
prospects.
They all seemed anxious since I work for the LARGEST international
organization and had many contacts. It seemed too easy. If they can get
me
in, then I can certainly get others in. I paid my $154.34 sign up fee
PLUS
$193.23 for tools -- since you can't possibly start your own business
without having the proper tools. I was fired up and ready to start. One
slight problem, I found that I couldn't deceive my friends, colleagues,
family. The pv system was a hell of a lot harder to earn than they made
it
seem during open meetings. Everytime I would talk to people I would tell
them right from the start -- it was AMWAY. My upline kept insisting that
I
shouldn't mention AMWAY, but tell them its a Florida based multi-level
marketing network. Our Diamond was D'Amico International. One day I got
a
call at work from an extremely excited upline informing me that our
Diamond
was in town and invited us to meet him at a restaurant he would be
dining
in. We all arrived around the same time, some coming from Brooklyn,
others
from New Jersey. We waited anxiously in the bar area of the restaurant
occasionally stealing a glimpse of our Diamond and his wife dining with
a
Pearl couple. As they were being served their desert, he gestured for us
to
come over -- using his index finger. Immediately about five of the men
in
our group pulled breath spray out of their pocket and gave a quick
squirt.
We all proceeded over to have the honor of meeting them and viewing
photos
of their luxurious possessions -- Barf! Although I was mostly on the
sideline observing, I cannot believe that I partook in such a meeting.
Everyone was in awe. In retrospect, I believe that if this Diamond would
have asked any of his pions to get on their knees and kiss his feet, the
group would have formed a line awaiting their turn. -- How sickening!!
A few weeks later, I was having my first group in to show the plan. I
was beginning to realize that things did not seem right. I started
asking
too many questions but nobody had any real answers. I decided then to do
some research myself via the internet, and that's when I became aware of
all
the scamway sites. I mentioned these sites to my immediate upline and
within
24 hours I must have gotten ten phone calls from my 'concerned'
up-up-line
trying to get me back on track. A Pearl called to give me his direct
number
in case I have any other questions, I can call him direct. He told me --
"Stay away from the Amway sites, -- anything you read is from the 'lazy
losers' who didn't work the plan hard enough." Shortly after that, I
chalked
up my $347.57 as a bad investment, and got out. The only thing was, my
brother-in-law & sister were now even more determined than ever that
they
were going Diamond.
My sister and brother-in-law have a very successful business. They own
a beautiful home in an exclusive neighborhood. They drive a late model
car
and a Chevy Suburban. They enjoy water skiing from their own beautiful
boat.
They have three children who are all in the best private schools. Sounds
impressive -- the thing is, they had all of this BEFORE they started
Amway.
My brother-in-law and sister worked extremely hard to build their
business
from scratch, and I would hate to see them lose everything to Amway.
About 8 months ago, they started holding open meetings at their home. I
was under the impression that they were doing well building their
downline.
And often wished them luck. The truth was, they needed to have a more
central location and wanted to avoid the 50 - 60 mile trip sometimes
twice a
week to the hotel meets. Any Brooklyn/Queens based Distributor (not
necessarily in their direct line) was invited to bring their guests and
attend. They were opening their home to complete strangers, not even
charging the usual $5.00 per head open meeting fee. They were serving
these
people snacks and beverages out of their own pocket. My sister had to
clean
up after they all left, including her bathroom that a couple of dozen
men
and women used. After a few months of this, my sister began opening up
to me
and definitely was starting to sound fed-up. I let her talk and I
listened,
because I noticed that if I bad-mouthed Amway, she immediately defended
it.
She admitted that she was never whole-heartedly into Amway, but agreed
to
give it a year of her time to pacify her husband. Now almost two years
later, SHE WANTS OUT! They have not made a single penny, on the contrary
have spent thousands. They do not have anyone as serious as they have
been
to go out and work the plan in their downline. Her husband is still a
firm
believer that he is going Diamond. They are beginning to have marital
problems. Of course their upline is telling my brother-in-law that it's
common to have Amtiffs,-- she'll come around, and not to let anyone
steal
your dream. Don't they realize or care what they're doing!! My sister
and
brother-in-law have been married for 18 years. I would assess their
marriage
to be a healthy, caring, and open one. Amway is truly the WORLD WIDE
NIGHTMARE BUILDERS. My brother-in-law is not interested in reading any
of
the 'negative' info available. He believes that everyone he meets
through
Amway are sincere, caring individuals, and anyone not interested in
signing
on is not worth his time, --he'll just move on to the next victim. He
believes that if he shows you the plan he is honestly giving you a
golden
opportunity. He believes that it takes some people longer than others to
become diamond, but eventually, if you stick with it, you'll make it. I
believe his energy is being wasted, but who am I to talk -- I'm just one
of
the 'losers' that was too lazy to work the plan.
If you got to this point, thanks for taking the time to read my story.
It took 14 months to vent this!
Keep up the great work,