This is the heartbreaking storey of a person who fell for the Amway scam hook, line, and sinker and lost everything. This is the storey of one of my supporters. He joined the company about 1994 and became a (Gold) direct distributor after about a year in the business. Given his personal friendship with me, he was able to sponsor me, despite the fact that I was wary of the Amway organisation. After all, he had taken the "straight" route, and he was going to demonstrate how to do it. He claimed that it wasn't all that challenging. I had faith in a friend and believed that I could follow his instructions and achieve the same result. We had a conversation about how, due to his candour and straightforwardness, he was virtually certain to earn at least $2000 each month for the rest of his life. I was curious, and I wanted it as well, so I signed up and started working right away.
I was excited because I was on track to be the "next one" because I had been successful in getting people to sponsor me. I had piqued the interest of the upline diamond and had been requested to accompany him to some home board plans as well as "special" meetings for the movers and shakers in the organisation. Actually, I was under the impression that I was headed for direct and more. My downline continued to expand, and before I knew it, I was out exhibiting the plan five nights a week for myself and my downline. I was quite pleased with what I had learned and was looking forward to using it. Until that fateful night, that is. During our meeting, my sponsor (a doctor buddy) offered to "coach" me on how to run my business. He noticed that I was expanding and informed me that I should break up with my fiance'. He said that I would be better off single so that I could concentrate on going diamond. As a result of the Amway experience (which my fiancee was supportive of), I became ill. I was taken aback, but my sponsor assured me that he would divorce his wife if his upline instructed him to do so. After much soul-searching and deliberation, I came to the conclusion that money was not significant enough to justify abandoning someone I was deeply committed to. (I have been happily married for 18 years at this point.)
After I made the decision to leave the business, I informed my downline of my decision and the majority of them left the company on the same day. My sponsor had accidentally slaughtered his own golden goose. I was on track to go platinum, but he had killed off his strongest leg, which put me out of contention. His company's stock price instantly dropped below 7500. He didn't give up and kept pushing forward. I assume that at that moment, he began to experience significant financial losses as a result of the significant tools flow that he was paying for. I was an eagle at the time, and he was now footing the bill for all of my group's standing orders (which, according to the WWDB, cannot be cancelled). I continued on my merry way, and I was genuinely happy that I had managed to escape. Because of the tools and functionalities available to me as a 4000 pin, I actually didn't make anything throughout my time there. Being from Hawaii, functions are quite expensive because we had to go to the mainland United States for large functions three to four times a year, making them extremely expensive.
After I departed, I was able to corroborate the tools fraud a few years later, which (I had believed) had occurred. Upline diamonds took to the platform and pledged on their lives that no one made money from tools and functions. I had suspicions that it was an IBO, but some research from Newsweek (the magazine) and other sources revealed that it was a hoax. In 2004, Dateline revealed further more information. My research into the Amway scam had progressed to the point where I was learning additional facts of the scam from the internet at that point. I started blogging in 2006 to assist spread the information about the Amway scam and the instruments that were being used to perpetrate it. My blog has truly provided thousands of people with knowledge that has enabled them to make informed judgments about whether or not to join Amway.
The tragedy of the whole situation is that my sponsor (the physician) never gave up on me. I knew a few of his employees and questioned them from time to time if he was still in business, and they confirmed that he was. I was able to confirm that he is still active by speaking with him. Although it has been over two decades, he is still daydreaming about diamonds, displaying the plan, and attending functions. His children are now in high school, and he lives in a different part of the country than he did while I was in the diamond business. If you ask me, it's a complete waste of one's life. While I was hoping and praying that he would see through the deception and quit, he has been thoroughly and hopelessly indoctrinated. This is, in my opinion, unfortunate. In my professional life, I could have acquired a nice property and saved enough money to live comfortably in retirement. rather than that, he is still trying to realise his Amway dream, which will never come true. Unfortunately, he is not aware of this. With my slightly above average corporate job, I will be retired living off a pension and investments (residual income) before my former sponsor. According to my assessment, the situation is tragic, and I hope and pray that he will come to his senses. However, I have my reservations. I wish him well.
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