Friend and FRICKING MLM!

[thatselementary]

Hope to keep this as anon as possible.

Have a friend (close one) join a cosmetics MLM (you know the one). Every day, she's badgering me to buy things and tickets to play her games and I politely bought stuff to begin with but now I'm fed up, I don't want it but I don't want to hurt her feelings. She's a single mum just trying to get some money for her kids but used this to guilt me. What do I do, AIBU to be firm even though it will cause a rift?

I'd just be honest and tell her younique is utter shit, and I couldn't be paid to put it on my face. She's likely to lose money, lose friends and end up very isolated.

I got sucked into an MLM once.

The first thing you have to do is print your Facebook friends list and then add names off your friends & family who aren’t on social media to it.

Once you have your list compiled you have to start working your way through contacting them all! From people you went to school with and haven’t seen since to people from your first job and 3rd cousins twice removed who you haven’t seen in 20 years! You’re told if they don’t reply to make a note in your diary to follow up and then follow up again and keep getting in touch until they respond. And if they say ‘no’ don’t accept it as a ‘no’ think of it as a ‘not right now’ and to make a note in your diary to contact them again in 6 months! It’s ruthless. You would think that anyone in their right mind would not do this, but you’re promised that putting the work in results in a six figure income, free luxury holidays, range rovers, etc!

I cringe so bad when I look back now. It’s so, so embarrassing!!! Not to mention also the time and money wasted.

You either need to tell your friend straight or ignore her. She’ll come to her senses soon.

I have a love / hate feeling about Stacey Dooley but if she did an investigation into MLMs I'd watch it.

Is Tropic another?

But Hana, you're part of the problem - getting people to buy things they don't really need/want.

And why "hun"? It's really patronising, and gets a lot of women's backs up.

I've been spammed by one who messaged me to say the aloe Vera shit would cure a significant vitamin deficiency I had at the time that was making very unwell. Another message me asking why I didn't want to be a woman supporting other women. Another who said her company did so much to support domestic abuse charities and why would I refuse to support that (I name change frequently but even under this username it's entirely obvious that I spend my life helping, empowering and supporting women who have suffered horrendous physical and sexual violence). There's another one still faithfully flogging her cleanses 'last two left at this price' every month. It seems it's only her and her long suffering husband who use them and I can never tell the difference. People I actually respected and thought highly of got sucked into this stuff a few years ago. Luckily they have quietly seen the light and we just don't talk about it anymore.
Your priority is your family finances not her desperate attempt to salvage hers. Some very kind suggestions above to close the conversation that hopefully will help the friendship last after she's left ten boxes of this shit in the garage gathering dust

@Whoknows11 yes Tropic is MLM. Here’s a list for you

mlmtruth.org/master-list/

The 'hun' thing really annoys me...don't people realise how thick it makes them sound !!!

That's not really a friend imo.
I'd ditch her

An ex-friend of mine who was a bit vulnerable lost his entire inheritance to MLM buggers. That money was his only chance to at a house deposit. All gone in 18 months on courses, products he couldn't sell, and something called 'tools'.

My friend has just been sucked into "Coral Club" which sells - and I'm not kidding - "healthy water". I had to listen to a 20 minute lecture on why normal water is poison.

Not a lot of info on Coral Club online at the moment so it looks like its a new player in town.

Ask her if there's any dihydrogen monoxide in the healthy water she sells.

Just thought of this thread. Someone was trying to recruit for what was clearly an MLM of some sort on a facebook group I'm on. I replied

I assume that this is a multi level marketing company ( a bit like a pyramid scheme). Please can you tell us how much new joiners will be expected to pay and how much of that will go.to you and your up lines?

She deleted her original post which seemed to take my reply with it and sent me a private message

"hun I know you must be feeling very stressed with everything going in at the moment but none of us need your negativity. I'm only trying to give women a hand up.. something you obviously dont care about.Take your negative feelings elsewhere"

She called me Hun and then she blocked me

Anyway off to find somewhere else to cast my negative doom and gloom.

Love it, @listsandbudgets! How dare you be negative, hun! We had someone post on a local families group who does Usborne Books - who knew they were an MLM?! I was really disappointed to realise that, especially as my school was approached by one woman and we bought lots of books through her - I thought she was a selling rep like you get selling to bookshops, not a self-employed-type hunbot.

I watched that documentary on iplayer, it was very interesting. I can see lots of it happening with my friend; the positive posts, the posting several things a day, the way her texting style has changed etc. I really hope she's doing okay with it all.

Didn't realise so many people hate the word hun, yet it's used daily ....

'Hun' it's so fake, patronising and cringey. And these schemes infantilise women rather than empower, 'I can't believe I get to play with make up!' ick! That's not running a business or having any self respect.

And the out and out lies are diabolical with some, downright embarrassing with others. I do wonder how many genuinely believe the shit they spout.

If she keeps on about it you'll have to decide whether to maintain the friendship or bite her.

I mean, I know MLM-bots are annoying, but we don't have to sink to their level.

I have a one-woman crusade to take down the many MLM posts that get made to local parenting groups - no doubt the current situation has made the recruiters salivate as so many women with children will be losing jobs and/or struggling with working with no childcare in place.

It drives me insane. My friend is doing two at the same time and not making a profit from either. She’s failed at two other MLMs in the past so don’t know why she thought these ones would be any different. And now her husband has started doing one so she’s pushing that too. I’ve just muted her because I’m sick of the constant posts. They just see us as potential customers not friends.

She called me Hun and then she blocked me
Classic Hun-move, hun

I've just had a pm from a Yooooooooooonique bot asking if im interested in any products....she even used 'Hun'..she must be getting pressured from her upline.

Lots of posts recently from my hunbot, with photos of her lounging on her sofa at home with her kids "working" and "another day in the office" type thing.

I feel like posting back a photo of me in my slippers because I'm currently working from home (half the time anyway), as are many people. It's just not worth posting about right now, surely?

That's funny; choosing now to boast about working from home.

Had anyone seen the Eternal Vitality on This Country? I am watching it now and it’s reminded me of this thread.

Yes I have @YesIDoLoveCrisps 😂 poor Kerry.

That's true about the working from home thing. Now a lot of people have done it around managing looking after kids, I bet it's not so appealing any more!