MLM Bot Watch 47

[BSintolerant]

The thread where network marketing / multilevel marketing goes local - not global.

Good post @Perthsmurf, I agree that these threads exist to expose the lies of top bots and that anyone chancing across them should be reading information that shows them that they've been duped.

I cam across these threads at about thread 15, when I was googling MLMs; I didn't know what they were, I just had a friend who had undergone a weird personality change overnight and was 'working alongside' Forever Living. I messaged her asking some basic questions and she said 'some people just hate MLMs' which I though was an odd response so I googled MLMs and ended up here.

I was so grateful for all the information, links, stories on here. I now am very aware of the reality behind the flashy social media presences of these bots and I think that the top ones know full well that they are encouraging people (mostly women) to part with money that they'll never see again. This is what happened to my friend. After spending money on her 'business in a box' then doing her 'launch' and attending a Success Day she went on posting positive memes for a few months then it all went a bit quiet and she deleted her FB. She'd actually blocked me after I had asked some gentle questions about how much money she was making.

I learned quite recently that's she has had a period of depression, which she is slowly coming out of thanks to medication. I am back in touch and we talk about all sorts of things but FL is off limits HOWEVER what worries me is that when I casually asked 'are you still doing that FL thing?' her answer wasn't, as I had hoped 'oh god no it's a bloody scam' but 'I am still using a lot of the products but I've not really been able to build my business while I have been ill, I expect I'll get back to it when I feel stronger'. Which means that all this time (a couple of years) she's been continuing to spend money on the products to stay 'active', while she's been signed off work. This enrages me. Her upline is Homeschool bot and there is a special place in hell for that woman.

Unless you have lost someone to an MLM company and seen first-hand the consequences it has for family and friends then maybe you'll find it difficult to understand why people are so vehemently against it.
People who go down the rabbit hole of trying to work out of what happened to their loved one will quickly hit the same dead end street and come to the heart breaking realisation that there is very little chance of talking them out of this and they effectively have to be left to figure out the horrible truth for themselves, which in some cases can take years.

I myself have seen people's fears and vulnerabilities preyed upon to keep them involved and chasing a dream, even taking the drastic measure of cutting people out of their lives as they have been deemed as unsupportive influences by the MLM uplines.

When the penny finally drops most would just try to slip away unnoticed, too embarrassed at what kind of person they became when fully botted. It doesn't end there either, the realisation of the strained relations between friends and family must be faced up to, these organisations specialise in isolating people from those who care about them most.

There are clearly huge numbers of people lurking here who don't post, either researching what has happened to someone they know is involved in the industry or possibly even current active MLM members who may have had the first few niggles and doubts and are starting to get their critical thinking back.

It's scary realising that you have poured your heart and soul into something that you got involved in with nothing but good intentions, putting it all out there on Social Media for everyone to see but you begin to realise eventually that you have been lied to, deceived and possibly manipulated into doing things you were not proud of.

I've said it plenty of times before, the majority are victims and they shouldn't be too hard on themselves when they finally step away, there is now a growing community of people speaking out about their MLM experiences and you are most definitely not alone.

I'm ex Forever Living. I was so memorable to my upline that she has since tried twice to recruit me on linked in to her "fantastic animal health product"' without any idea that I had already been and failed as one of her bots

It's not an MLM as such but I wasn't too give a special shout out to slimming world too, because there's not much money in it for the consultants running groups while making the corporation rich. I've heard people in both FL and SW trying to recruit women with the same warning - bring your husband (to the meeting to discuss business), they're often the cynical ones who will question the money you will make.

People who do bring their husbands (because, yknow, poor ickle women can't do business thinkings 🙄) tend not to join. The husband knows it's not financially worth it. The flip side to that is the ones who do buy in, then it's dream winner winner chicken dinner for the upline because both partners are invested in making it work.

I wish these threads (or indeed the internet) had been about when I got suckered into MLM. Would have saved me some money and a lot of time.
The only things I don't like about these threads are comments about people's appearance tbh. That does sometimes come across as slightly bitchy but on the whole the nastiness of the MLM factory more than balances this out.

I am glad Castle was reported. All it takes for bad things to happen is for good people to do nothing.

They were performing for social media at someone else’s expense with the sole intention of sucking in new recruits.

I see Broke has got himself a J. O. B. Genuine congrats if you're reading!

And he's single again.

Maybe this is the fresh start he needs and he can wave goodbye to the chaos of serial MLMs

So he has a job (for a charity whose name he cannot spell) and has split up from his GF again.

I'm glad he removed his status about how everyone relies on men and thus men only have themselves to rely on. Pure mysoginy.

Back in touch with his kids though. Seems very coincidental to happen at the same time as his separation from his on/off squeeze.

Any bot who gets a proper job is a good news story.

Not convinced. You know when you are in town and you are accosted by people shaking tins? Some of those charities will be the old favourites like Cancer Research UK, or Battersea Dogs home. We know what they do and why they raise money. Unpaid volunteers will be shaking those tins.

Then you have other 'charities' with names you haven't heard of but are pretty generic, like "Helping small cute children with cancer". The people shaking the tins will get paid a percentage of what they raise. Their manager will get paid a percentage of what the person shaking the tin has collected. The person who owns the 'charity' will get the rest except for a teeny amount which will be distributed to already established charities, about 1% of what is collected. It's all legal and reminds me of another scheme.

Not exactly how it all works but roughly how I remember after being disgusted by this in the past.

I'd like to see him give up the MLM business though. I still get the impression that a JOB is just a bit of steady income he reckons will tide him over until MLM riches become his reality. I mean, he got a job sometime last year which lasted all of a few weeks IIRC.

I'll have to see it before I believe it with him.

Yawn is working with a dig charity. And shilling forever shite to dog owners. She really is something else!

I hope not for dog use, given the toxicity of Aloe?

Yep, I suspect broke is working as a Chugger.

Its a hard job with little reward. :(

I was going to ask if there are problems with aloe for pets. I'm sure they have a vet who claims it's fine

It's not a proper job though. I know the type of company he's gone to work for. All target orientated and only paid if you sign someone up and they then keep the DD for 2/3 months. They are basically glorified MLMs just without the "start up" cost.

I hate people pressurising me to donate to charity. I regularly donate to a few, which have been chosen due to personal connections, I don't want to be sweet talked into giving money I can't afford to a charity.

@Whiterangey - actually, the vast majority of the tins being shaken for 'old favourites' (large, well-established household names we all know & trust) are being shaken not by volunteers, but by paid staff employed by agencies that this work is farmed out to.

The charity may provide the branded collecting cans & bibs, as well as letterheaded collection sheets and a brief spiel about what they do, but the people collecting will be doing famine victims one day, mistreated animals the next.

The same is true of their telephone campaigns. How the agencies work may differ (set rate or commission for their employees, or for the charity using their services), as may the size of their cut, but it is not the case that this only applies to the smaller, less reputable charities (I know this is slightly off topic, but the workings of charity funding is something I have researched).

This will make some of you chuckle

This is the preview page for FLP Reviews

My favourite was simply titled "Cult"

www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Forever-Living-pyramid-scheme-Reviews-EI_IE5273.0,14_KH15,29.htm

@JasperRising - Forever Lying did indeed have an in-house bet who would vouch for the miraculous properties aloe has in treating pets.

I also believe he owned the spring water bottling company that FLP branded and sold to bots for three times the price it was selling without the logo.

*vet, not bet

Love those reviews!

The positive ones are full of MLM bingo phrases

As John Oliver said in his wonderful critique of MLMs, "The dog is now walking!"

So Yawn's gone from deaf humans to dumb animals. Who will come under her desperation radar next? Estate agents? Flashers? Carmelite nuns? The demonically possessed? Well, there was that scene from The Exorcist involving projectile vomiting which looks a bit like aloe juice. #lawofreaction

Castle Bruv bullshitting again. New recruit has made '£1000 profit in 3 weeks'.

If sales commission is 15% (is this correct?) at entry rank, he has sold over £6,500 worth of aloe shite in 3 weeks - pull the other one Bruv, it's got bells on.

Also, that would just be the profit on sales, not accounting for expenses (delivery etc.), so for net profit, the sales would have to be even higher. What a wanker.