Forever Products and Aloe Vera - MLM/Pyramid?

zippy2460

On 21 May at 11.15 Forever Living wrote:

Dear XXXXXXXXX,
you are absolutely right. The Business Owner are our face and I am very sorry for this issue. Today we got the parcel back. We will contact the FBO and check this with him. Of course you will get your refund back but let us first check this issue with the FBO.
I will contact you as soon as possible.

Best regards

Stellv. Customer Service Manager Deutschland
Forever Living Products Germany GmbH

zippy2460

Got a message on my answer phone from the seller saying she understands I had to pay postage myself ( she already knew I was paying for it myself which is why she said the company would refund it ). She said we should contact her and she will send us the money.

Success !! A bit of persistence pays off. It's only EURO 8.49 but it is the principle. They really seemed to back down after my email this morning, I have no idea why as they initially seemed reluctant. The matter is now closed and FOREVER LIVING have resolved the issue.

Shrubmaster

Yes, from what I can tell it is a pyramid scheme. My experiences:

1. I used to work in an office where someone sold this stuff. She was a manager and soon had the other women in her team signed up as sellers (alarm bells here due to the power imbalance!). Her biz seemed to be based more around signing up as many people to FL as possible than actually selling product, though she did do this too.

2. I have reason to know a bit about the corporate side of FL and will just say there's a heck of a lot of money at the top of the pyramid and the ethics perhaps are not there to match it.

3. This is a heads-up for those into natural skincare: I've read the ingredients lists on the backs of their skincare products at fairs and the like and every time it's been just as full of chemicals, parabens, etc. as something you'd grab at Superdrug, just with aloe and stuff thrown in too. No way I would put it on my skin when I can buy Neal's Yard or similar for not that much more.

EssexGirl

A woman who I used to see for reflexology spent the entire last session I had with her trying to convince me what a fabulous business opportunity it is & how great the products are. Tried to tell her to stop talking as I was paying for her time not a recruitment presentation, to no avail. Apparently they can "do a deal" on the extortionate "start up fee" that you can pay back when you start earning from it....

She just lost a regular customer in me, I won't be going back.

teamshepherd

I am signed up with FLP, have been since about 2006. That being said I never sold anything and not really even actively tried to. We liked their products and some people we knew were selling them so we signed on under them for a distributors discount.
I love a great number of their products however I haven't used them in a while as I can't afford it.
To say they are a con? They are not really. I know at least a handful of people who ended up quitting their jobs and doing this full time. They travel the world going to all the rallys and have improved their way of life through doing this.
But I realize that I, for instance, never could. I am crap at sales and just don't have that something required to make this into a business like those individuals do. And I know at least a dozen people who signed on and have not gotten anywhere with it.

With a company that is in well over a 100 countries it needs to be understood that even those country reps are distributors who built themselves up and got big enough to become the regional leaders.
Some are super lovely and helpful and all "share the wealth" while others are d!cks.

I am not for or pro this company, these are just my first hand experiences from knowing people who do it, trying it out myself, using the products and attending a world rally in Houston, meeting Rex and others along with many top distributors (Mainly from the US and Europe).

It DEFINITELY isn't for me but I cannot say it is a scam when I have met first hand many who are doing well.
I earned a few bucks through buying products for myself and some randomly for friends and that was all above board taxed and all.

teamshepherd

EssexGirl wrote: »

A woman who I used to see for reflexology spent the entire last session I had with her trying to convince me what a fabulous business opportunity it is & how great the products are. Tried to tell her to stop talking as I was paying for her time not a recruitment presentation, to no avail. Apparently they can "do a deal" on the extortionate "start up fee" that you can pay back when you start earning from it....

She just lost a regular customer in me, I won't be going back.

Just one thing about the start up fee. It doesn't exist. The guy I signed up under told me that that money is for the pack BUT you technically don't need to spend that money to get in. You could just sell that amount of products.
But if you buy the pack right away then the person you signed up under gets the points.
Thats why they push the whole gotta get to know the products and use them yadda yadda.
But if you wanted to do this, you could without start up cost with a bit of a plan.

gbeanz

As I understand it you are expected to pay £200 for the starter pack which presumably you can use to sell or for samples, but then they seem to expect you to attend training seminars and events - do you have to pay for those? Are there targets for number of events, sales etc?
Not thinking even remotely of joining by the way, just interested as to how much of a swizz the whole thing is.

Credit-Crunched

flyboy80 wrote: »

I don't really have to wait 2 years to get back to you - oh BTW - last week I pick up a bonus cheque for near enough what I used to earn in my "corporate" job yearly. Don't want to believe the hype? I am sure somewhere on the FLP website you will see a picture of me with my big cheque....my life is good - that's really all I care about - I love seeing those that spout what little they know about FLP - and those bitter people who did not want to put the effort into building a business deride others who are doing well. Each to their own I say - I hope FLP lasts another 36 years! :j

A few genuine questions for you, if you could answer them I would appreciate the honesty.

- You run your own business? What is the exit strategy, does it have an intrinsic value that you can sell for in 20 years time?
- What is your turnover compared to NET profit
- Are you a ltd company or sole trader?
- How is your income treated for taxation purposes?

Many thanks

Cadjunkie

My husband recently setup his own business within the sport coaching / tutoring industry (fed up of being treated like a junior at 40+ and being over looked when promotions come up). We both work full time (him often unsociable hours) but neither of us have the opportunity for additional hours at a decent rate of pay. We cannot afford for one of us to be out of paying work therefore he needs to set up his business at the same time as working. Having discussed at length our financial options we have ruled out re-mortgaging, business loans or in anyway putting our house up for collateral against a business. Enough of the background my husband has a friend who is an FBO and is building up her team and he agreed to go, I went to support him but with a very skeptical mind! I sat and listened and heard many different reasons why people had joined from young people to elderly people from different backgrounds. They don't state their products are miracles nor do they state at any point their products cure, it was stated they may relieve/reduce symptoms of certain ailments. To cut it short. My (we) have joined and paid the £200 and as my husband will be advertising the fitness side of Forever, I have agreed to help with the beauty side of forever. Now I am more than happy to report back here in a few months and let you know how wer're getting on be this good or bad but my main point of writing this is that it's not for everyone not everything is and we're all different and we do what we need to do to get on in life, I am willing to give this is a go as I don't want any loans or the worry that if his business doesn't work, we haven't the stress over having to sell our house. Can we afford to lose £200? Yes we can. Can we walk away with no issues? Yes we can. Are we planning to pummel our family & friends? No. If people don't want to buy the products then that's fine but until you give anyone the opportunity to try then they how does anyone get to know. Even after typing this out I am still skeptical and not exactly sure whether this will work or not.

hymob

Hi Cadjunkie, I joined FLP some years ago, the jell etc seem to be good products but pricey, so it has not been successful for me. However I have recently joined a wellness company that concentrates on all non toxic products, no parabens etc. guaranteed, yet these products "out perform the usual brands" and the big difference being they are actually "cheaper than Supermarket products", the company have been trading for 30 years with many many awards for products, staff and customer treatment, but only in the USA, now launching in Europe. My partner has been suffering from Menopause symptoms for the last 2 years, their new wellness all encompassing health product has absolutely rejuvenated her with abundant energy, something she has been missing for so very very long. The products efficacy is supported with laboratory reports from the top University lab in Europe (19 Nobel Laureates) in the Freiburg Study, the team is headed by the scientist that invented the device that detects free radicals in the live human body, he has reported such outstanding results, this product addresses all major wellness concerns, Blood pressure, Blood fat, Cholesterol, Free radicals, Heart rate, Glucose levels, Inflammation and C-reactive protein, with a full Lab report on the effect on all of these issues, so exciting times ahead with people delighted with it all, encompassing Health, Cleaning products, Skin Care, all child, pets and our health + the environment taken good care of, no child proof tops needed on any of the usually Toxic products, once only £19 to join, an excellent business indeed.