Forever Living stall at school fair

[NotOutingSelf]

Today I went dutifully to the summer fair of the school where I was a governor, and was somewhat startled to see a Forever Living stall there. AIBU to think the school really shouldn't be promoting something that is basically a pyramid selling scam? I know only too well from personal experience how much hard work goes into organising a school fair, and really don't want to attack the committee members in any way, but WIBU to raise the issue in a low-key way with the head?

I don't think I'd mention it at all, people aren't stupid, I guess they will have done what I did last week at our fete, walk on by. Give people more credit, op, generally they aren't stupid. It seems like you just want to be involved in some way still & this is your way of doing so, just my observation.

You say most people aren't stupid, but all the people I know who have been sucked in are educated (nurses, teachers etc) but we're at a vulnerable point in their lives whether due to illness/ redundancy etc
I am a solicitor with a background in business law and a strong science backgroubd too I found it fairly easy to spot how awful the forever scam is, but had my training been different then when they targeted me at a vulnerable point in my life (Ill with a chronic illness and consequently not in work) I can see how easy it would be to be persuaded, they are very forceful, almost hypnotic, in their approach. People get lost into forever and alienate their friends and family

Apologies for all the typos!

As much as I think FL is a horrible con, I don't think they should be prevented from coming.

On the other hand, it might be possible to have a disclaimer in the school's/PTA's publicity for the event along the lines of There will be third party stalls ... We thank them for their support ... Their presence should however not be taken as the school's endorsement of the products/services on offer. Not those words but that message.

I'm not a solicitor with a strong science background but even little ol' me knows how crap they are. The stall at our fete was dead as a dodo, word is clearly getting out.

My point is they prey in people at their most vulnerable. So dismissing people who get sucked in as "thick" is to blame the victim. They are very persuasive and if you read some of the other threads you will see just how alarming they are.

"It seems like you just want to be involved in some way still & this is your way of doing so, just my observation"

Nighboat, you're another one who needs to RTFOP. I already am involved, due to being a governor. I only went to the fair to show support for the school and parents and contribute to the fundraising, given the choice I'd rather have spent yesterday afternoon collapsed in front of a fan.

Nightboat, you may be able to work out how crap they are, but obviously if everyone else could they wouldn't exist let alone grow as they have done. Have a look at the other threads I linked to.

I have read the fucking op, cool your jets.

Yes, you're right, tell the head, it'll make allll the difference.

There's a recent thread on Netmums which, to me illustrates why FL shouldn't be anywhere near a school fair.

That thread seemed to be populated by lots of younger mums with not much money, many of whom had been taken in by FL and were struggling to hit targets, were losing money, were genuinely wondering why they weren't achieving the "success" they had been promised.

And FL con artists were then replying with stuff about if they only worked hard enough they would succeed, they shouldn't expect to make all their money back straight away, blah blah blah.

Plus lots of emotive stuff about how FL is great because it enables you to see your children (because obvs those of us who work full time don't care about ours).

Having a FL stall at a school gala lends FL a certain gravitas. Gives it a validity. It can't possibly be a scam if an official body like the school is supporting it, right?!

In the op you said you were a governor.

I think wait and mention it a bit later, I agree with both sides here, having a lot of experience on the PTA/organising side of tjings but having never heard of FL till that recent thread. I'd say (as an organiser), I'd want to know if this was not appropriate, but not in the immediate aftermath of the fair. Send an email in a couple of weeks.

Some people on here seem to have a grudge against Forever Living but are not able to debate the facts in an objective fashion.

Is anyone able to answer the question I raised above as to whether the business model for Forever living is any different to Phoenix Cards, Pampered Chef, the candle company (can't remember name), Jamie Oliver, Neils Yard or Pampered Chef etc? If so, anyone wanting to ban FL from fairs would have to ban all these companies.

I would also like to know if the issue people have with Forever Living is the mark up on the goods or you are saying the products themselves are no good. What facts do you have to support this? My mother and I both use the purple moisturiser which is about £14 a tube, lasts a fair while and appears very good. Every birthday my mother (who has never been to an FL party or met a FL distributor) asks for this cream as it is the best moisturiser she has found.

The distributor I know (through having her details on the product) who once had a stall at the summer fair is a normal nice person. She has never hassled me once to be a FL distributor or buy any more products. When I need the cream I phone her up.

I do not like the idea of the sales structure of FL or Pampered Chef etc and would never work for either of these companies or even host a party. However the fact that they have been around for some years must indicate that some of the products are worth buying and not available readily in other shops.

Read the forever thread in Money Matters muzzy

I Think that if you're lucky enough to find a sales person that doesn't hassle you and over push then it's not bad at all. The products are fine, slightly over priced, but if you're happy with the price fair enough. It's the constant pushing on FB and untruthful statements/trying to recruit that annoys me.

throwingpebbles - have looked at the thread, started reading it and it is very long. Please could you reply to the points I've raised or summarise the part of the other thread you think is relevant to this thread

Agreed honey, people selling a product is fine but selling a " dream" not really appropriate at a school fair.
It wouldn't bother me really as long as there was no recruitment going on

I work part time for a charity and we recently had someone wanting to have an FL stall at one of our fetes. The board said no, as we don't want to give the impression that the charity supports it. The person running it at OP's event was probably a governor or something. I would expect any charity (and the PTA usually is one) to be more careful about what kind of business they are allowing their image to be associated with.

I LOATHE Forever Living for a few reasons.

A dead friend of mine was approached by them after losing a Fallopian tube and having serious adhesions to her internal organs, then having a round of IVF that was successful, she was approached by a Forever Living seller that was also supposed to be a close friend and told that "hundreds of women have conceived miraculous aloe babies from taking X,Y AND Z. I was fucking fuming how low can you get really!

And also I have seen the cancer curing posts and to me it's all deeply insulting to the HCP that work tirelessly and train for sometimes over a decade to become experts in the fields of fertility and oncology ect only to have some idiot after a quick buck claiming that witches piss cures all! I've seen people post about cleaning their carpets with the products and saying it really is a miracle product.

Sorry I'm really passionate about this as I find it so exploitative and wrong! It's actually evil

Sorry, just clocked the OP is a governor, so presumably would have known if the stall holder was one, or on the PTA. Hopefully bad judgement rather than anything less savoury then!

Not dead, dear friend

Muzzy, businesses like Jamie Oliver's and Neal's Yard don't try to push their products by claiming that they cure conditions like autism, lupus and cancer; nor do they work on the basis of sucking in vulnerable people to sell the products by making inflated promises about what they can expect to earn.

muzzy in essence the points being flagged are

• they make awful claims about being able to cure severe illnesses

-they suck people in to becoming distributors and encourage them to spend large amounts of money on courses and motivation days etc

• they target people who are vulnerable
• there is a lot of suggestion that they are fraudulent in how they operate and are essentially illegal pyramid schemes and the products are just a cover for the actual business of trying to make money out of their "distributors" buying all the training products

But seriously, the thread is well worth a proper read and so are the links to other sites within the thread

pepperoni that is awful