Do I support my friend?

jaylee3

selloptape wrote: »

Might it be the JP one?

Does the second name begin with the letters M.O.R?

TBagpuss

I personally would go for option 3 - I would explain to her that while I am not unsympathetic to her position, I am not comfortable with this type of selling in general, have specific issues with the company in particualr, and that I would not feel comfortable passing on details of my other friends to faciliate her sales.

I would not buy something I didn't want or didn't feel was good value for money.

I might, if I wanted to support her, offer to do so in other ways - for instance by offering to bake some cakes for her to share with her customes at her party, encouraing her to apply for other jobs and offering practical help such as proof-reading / critiquing her CV and cover letters etc.

As A PP has said, would you feel obligated to support her if she had a different job - for instnace if she was working on commission selling life insurance would you be rushing to buy an overpriced or unneeded policy? If she had a waitressing job would you feel you had to go and eat there in order to tip her?

heartbreak_star

jaylee3 wrote: »

Does the second name begin with the letters M.O.R?

I though it might begin with F.L. and involve Aloe Vera...

HBS x

Birdie85

heartbreak_star wrote: »

I though it might begin with F.L. and involve Aloe Vera...

HBS x

^^ I thought it was this too! Someone tried to recruit me and weren't too pleased when I explained that I had a full time job and had no desire to 'be my own boss' in a MLM scheme!

OP - I hope your friend isn't going to start spamming your FB newsfeed with more hashtags than you can shake a stick at about #workingfromhome #livingthedream #aloeforlife

Freeraine

Personally, I would resent a friend who was exploiting my good nature.

Like you, I suffer these so-called "house parties" reluctantly, and have spent wasted hours sniffing obnoxious candles, handling kitchen equipement and examining shoddy, overpriced clothing or tatty jewellery - struggling to justify spending anything on things I don't want or need. I still go to them (because I'm a nice person!) but I never buy anything - I busy myself with washing up or some other supportive task.

But there is a fourth option: Just say No, either directly or indirectly. (ie find reasons why you can't make it, or don't succumb to pressure to buy anything once there).

There are other ways to support a friend in her time of need, and none of them involve guilt tripping and exploitation.

GlasweJen

I have a friend who flogs FL aloe Vera products. At the start I was invited to a "presentation" so that I too could get in on it but you know work, so busy.

Then I got invited to a Facebook group advertising the products but I muted that from my feed.

Now she posts about "going to business meetings" and picks a product to spout about. If she does get any interest (like there's a couple of her friends doing "detox") she will post photos and links and overload with information, i imagine she is willing anyone to bite.

And then I ran out of my favourite muscle product, it goes on cold and warms up on the skin. My muscles are crap, my injury rate high and my tolerance for the smell of deep heat is very low so I tried to get more rub but it's not available in the EU (need to start buying more bulk on holiday), I posted an SOS to Facebook - does anyone have a product like this? And guess who has it!

So I've bought a bottle to try, it's £13 I've paid more for good products in the past. The only problem is while dropping this off I'm also getting samples! Oh crap not samples, need to develop an allergy to a filler ingredient!

thriftyemma

To all those curious, yes it is the aloe vera products. I woke up this morning to find my news feed flooded with pictures of her kids modelling the new range of must-have miracle products.

Thanks for all your comments. I have decided to quietly ignore these particular requests. I have muted them on FB, and have declined all requests for parties. She also home sells a range of clothes and bags. I'm going to go along to one of these, as it's actually something I might buy. And if she tries to sell the aloe products, I'm going to politely tell her I'm not interested in them.

After everything you've all said, I'm also going to offer other help. I'm a SAHM, so I can look after her kids if she needs to pop out for work or whatever.
Thanks everyone.

UKTigerlily

This company is a nightmare, can't blame you for not wanting to be involved. I'd just tell her sorry but you want nothing to do with that company. I knew someone who did it and she constantly tried to push the fat burner type products, when nobody needs those to lose weight and i'd already lost 6st alone and was doing fine. I'd run a mile!

heartbreak_star

Yea, one of my pals tried to push the FL detox plan. I tried to explain it only works because you cut your calories a ridiculous amount, and got "pshawed" at...

HBS x

Petra_70

heartbreak_star wrote: »

Yea, one of my pals tried to push the FL detox plan. I tried to explain it only works because you cut your calories a ridiculous amount, and got "pshawed" at...

HBS x

LOL. I hate these stupid diet shakes and tablets etc (like ALI,) that cost over 30 quid a week, and make a promise that you will lose weight. You only lose weight if you stick to a calorie controlled diet. But without the silly detox and shakes and suchlike, you would still lose weight if you stuck to a calorie controlled diet.

As for the OP, I would simply tell her you don't want to go. As some posters have said, just say yo have no surplus income.

Never heard of FL Aloe vera by the way.