AMWAY: Is Selling Amway Child Abuse? Amway Kids Weigh In.
If your parent is an alcoholic, there are many groups (AlaTeen, AlaTot, Adult Children of Alcoholics) available to help you cope.
But what if your parent (or parents) sell Amway?
>
Unfortunately, UnhappyFranchisee.com is all you’ve got. Think of the comments section below as your personal Adult Children of Amway Salespeople (ACAS) cope group. Feel free to share your thoughts, experiences and feelings so that other ACAS’s don’t feel so alone, and so that potential Amway IBOs (Independent Business Owners) will consider the effect that joining Amway may have on their families.
To start off our virtual ACAS cope session, we will post a message we just received from “R.” R. reports some of the devastating effects that his/her father’s foray into Amway had on him/her and their family. As a result of her father’s Amway pipedream, R.’s family was subjected to financial hardship, embarrassment and loss of friends. R.’s father forced the children to listen to “long, boring tapes,” a practice that many consider child abuse and could have long-term psychological effects.
Here is R.’s story in its entirety. Feel free to add your own or comment below.
“I don’t have a lot to say, I don’t even know details about how the company works, but I do want to share my experience.
“My father has a tendency to trust people who tell him he can make ‘easy’ money. He is a very honest man, don’t take me wrong, but he is also very naive. We have lost a lot of money every time he gets involved in some sort of “business”.
“When I was about 10 years old my father became involved with Amway. He was completely brainwashed by the idea. Everyday, while we were in the car driving somewhere, he would listen to these really long, boring tapes. We would beg him to turn it off, but he said he had to listen to them because he needed to learn. I have no idea what he learned, I guess nothing.
“My mom told him many times that Amway was not a good idea, but he was obsessed. He spent money we didn’t have buying these overpriced, crappy products that we never used, and the stupid tapes he made us listen to. I think he had to pay for seminars too, I am not sure.
“He tried to get other people to join Amway, but everyone was dodging him. He became this really boring “salesman” nobody wanted to talk to.
“Bottom line is he never made a dime. It only cost us money. Instead of being an extra income, it became an extra expense that we could not afford. Finally, he ended up getting out.
“I am not saying it is a scheme, because honestly I don’t know and I could not care less. The truth is, the average Joe that becomes a member doesn’t make any money. The odds are completely against it. My aunt was also a member… I actually thing she was the one who convinced my father to get in… and she didn’t make a dime either.
“I don’t want to offend anybody, but I have seen the consequences of getting involved with this ‘company’… I don’t think it is worth the time or the effort.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOUR PARENTS BEEN INVOLVED WITH AMWAY? WHAT HAS BEEN THE EFFECT ON YOUR LIFE?
Share a comment or story below.
The scary thing about this story is that I have seen numerous stories very similar to this on various forums and blogs.
The sad thing about this story is that R.’s memory of his/her father is going to be of a gullible multilevel marketing salesperson who wasted their precious time together by making them listen to inane tapes rather than communicating with each other.
Jeez, who wants their kids to remember them as someone “naive” that others’ avoided? What a legacy.
Shekhar: if Amway sells birth control, use it!
anyone read the ebook…
Merchants of Deception?
its free and downloadable.
Interesting read and an eye opener for those who love the mlm industry.
Discover the success and truth bout MLM
http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/ni/comment/merchants_of_deception.pdf
Cheers
My father is also involved with Amway and insists that we, as his children must take part in every aspect of his involvment with the company. He tells us to order products, especially food items, that are rarely eaten. Now i get yelled at about once a month if i decide ive had enough of his talk and he asks me, quite forcfully to watch one of his insperational videos from the successful people of Amway. It has become part of my routine and while i would not call it abuse, i would say this has had a major effect on the way i look at my father. I really appreciate that others have had similar experiences because i have felt quite alone.