Boing!Boing! pointed to this long article by a person in Sacramento that starts out being about ugly signs offering a work-at-home scam and ends up being about Herbalife.
After college, my first job was working for a hospital laundry. The laundry had very little handle on its inventory and bought a half-assed system to try to keep better track of it. The whole system was a disaster, and it was my job to get it to work.
I had to work regularly with the manager of the linen facility at a hospital, and this guy was one of those goofballs who it is extremely difficult to fathom how he ever rose to the management level. The guy was a schemer with lots of ideas and wacky business ideas and not a whole lot of brains or persistence to actually follow through.
One of the things he constantly pestered me about was Herbalife. He was constantly telling me about all the weight he was losing as well as trying to get me involved with the MLM scam/scheme. I thought it was inappropriate, but that pretty much summed my view of everything this guy did.
Finally, though, I just wanted to get him to shut up so I agreed to go to his little MLM meeting. If you’ve never been to one of these things, they are really fascinating (but if you’re going to go, do like I do and make sure you don’t bring any form of money with you — I had like five dollars in my pocket, and that was probably to much around these folks).
The entire evening was half revival meeting and half the most manipulative sales pitch you’ll likely experience. The whole idea is basically a scam — there is no way in hell the people like the laundry manager are ever going to get rich. On the other hand, though, the very tiny number of people who are able to convince their friends and complete strangers to throw their money into this are like the sharks of the sales world — there’s nobody better nor more vicious.
The leader of this event looked like a 45-year-old Tom Cruise who was doing too much Herbalife. He was thin to the point of bordering on gaunt. He looked a little bit like a world class long distance runner, except from his skin complexion it was obvious he was probably following a drastic diet to keep his weight low to impress the people he was pitching.
And the guy was slick. Too slick. Con man slick. Michael Douglas in Wall Street slick. He gave some very spirited talk about all the money he had made, the vacations he had taken, the cars he owned, etc., etc. Then, of course, when he’s done he announces some special offer just for newcomers like myself. For something approaching $1,000 we can get $1,500 worth of merchandise to sell, and they start with the nonsensical litany of uplines and downlines or whatever the terminology was.
The cool thing about not having any money with you is you can let the full effect of this hit you. It’s interesting just how easily some people can use your fears and hopes to manipulate you. I could see why people would find this sort of pitch attractive, even though you’d have to be insane to say yes and put up your money.
The sad thing was that while the laundry manager is pulling out all the stops trying to convince me (and, of course, I have to make my decision right now), it’s pretty clear that the big guy is manipulating him. The laundry manager wasn’t a bad salesman but he never was very convincing — and fell hook, line and sinker for the big guy’s pep talks about what a great salesman he was and how determination and drive could make him rich.
Finally, after listening to the pitch several times and refusing several times the meeting is over and I am out of there. Walking out feels like you’ve been trapped in a cave underground for a year and are finally being allowed to see the light of day.
And, of course, I drive straight to the library because now I’m very curious. Of course, this was the early 1990s and by then Herbalife had already had run-ins with various legal authorities over illegal and dangerous ingredients in its products, tax problems by its founder, and all sorts of other issues. It wasn’t a pretty picture.
The next day I have to drive out to the hospital, and while I’m there hand this guy a manila folder asking him if he’s aware of the previous investigations of Herbalife, not to mention all the crap that is in these supplements he’s popping because Herbalife tells him they’re all natural and they’re cleansing his body.
And the color completely leaves his face. For an instant he has this look that is just priceless. This guys’s spent thousands of dollars of his money, persuaded family and friends to get involved, and he hasn’t even done even a cursory investigation of Herbalife. He’s screwed.
But he recovers pretty quickly. He’s hooked. I could have just shown him pictures of his wife with the big guy and he’d still be convinced that Herbalife is going to make him rich. I explain to him that even if I wanted to take Herbalife — which I most certainly do not — I could not because the products were chock full of ephedrine (although, consistent with its business practices, Herbalife never listed ephedrine in the ingredients list).
At which point he turns to me, very sincerely — he’s not trying to insult me at all, he clearly feels sorry for me — and asks, “So you’re just going to have to stay fat?” Which is when it hits me that this guy is totally dominated by his own fears. Fear of being fat, fear of not having enough money, fear of not being as successful as other people, and he’s the perfect sucker for this scam.
I have no idea whatever happened to him. A couple months, later I couldn’t take that job anymore and quit. A couple years later I partially mastered my own weight problems and dropped 50 pounds (and I’ve kept it off) without having to throw hundreds of dollars after unhealthy supplements (it’s amazing what giving up fast food and exercising once in a while will do).
Mark Hughes, who started Herbalife in the early 1980s, was not so lucky. He was found dead in August 2000 in the $27 million mansion that he had bought by suckering people. The 44-year-old apparently had all the money he could ever want but couldn’t kick his alcoholism. He died after a four-day-long binge of drinking alcohol in combination with anti-depressants.
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I’m so glad I did research. No joke just 15 minutes ago I got off the the phone with Candce Johnson. I had to send her $199.00 to get stared. You see Im trying to earn money from home, and I was really convinced. So Thank You for finding the time to make this web sit.
i just got off the phone with Roger he wants 299.00 to get started and an additional 24.95 a month for web design tools ect. ,,, he is calling tomorrow at 2pm,,, i will bring up a few things to his attention
ok
Hi Brian,
I was pulled into the Herbalife MLM business and went through the same problems. I am still in the business after 2.5 years but actually took a different turn.
I did my own research and their are pros and cons of the business were these testimony after testimony of all these people making millions, I said ok, not looking to make millions, at least not yet. Thousands would be nice.
My coach was a leech and wanted me to pay $400 to get started and buy $4000 in product to reach a higher level of wholesale discount on the product. I did that and this is what changed me as a distributor.
I thought of quitting and starting my own rant because of the money I lost but developed a strategy to make sure others don’t fall for this. I started recruiting people but would only charge them $100 to start, so basically I don’t make a penny on their start-up kit. Why? So its an introduction of the product, so if they don’t like it, they didn’t lose the farm. I was able to rid my products in 3 months. If you think about it, if I quit, so other person is going to fall for it and lose a ton of money. If I could actually “help” people get started, and really coach them to help duplicate my results, maybe we can get a hold of this problem. Brian, you never have to buy products, its your own decision. I never use any of Herbalife’s tools, I use my own and create most of them through Blogs, weight loss challenges and attraction marketing.
Another problem is the “work from home” signs all over, I don’t do this because I just don’t. Even other distributors don’t understand why they don’t tell their prospects what they are selling (hope that made sense). When I present myself, I am not representing herbalife, I am representing myself, the coach, the network marketer. I want the prospect to know about me, my skills and experience before because it DOESN’T matter what I sell, it matters who is doing the selling. Do you or anyone go to McDonalds because they make the best hamburgers, no your attracted to the name McDonalds. Same with the show Entourage, think about the show’s main character and his group of friends that follow him around like leeches.
I pay $10 a month for a retail and recruiting website, that’s it.
I do believe in the products, lost 30 pounds over a year ago and kept it off. I don’t take every product. I only take the shake, multivitamin, cell activator and energy products. I run a public Weight Loss Challenge in NJ at a local gym. The participants DO NOT have to buy the products. I coach them as a wellness coach not as a Herbalife distributor and I am also a member of the community’s Chamber of Commerce. I really feel there are two sides to the story and yes, there is garbage out there trying to take your money and run. So, please be careful and if you decide to become a distributor or work from home, make sure the coach knows what they are doing and make sure the people around the coach are active and know what they are doing.
I help coach people in any business. I work with another network marketer who does Attraction Marketing training at http://TommysBizIdea.com (this is NOT Herbalife and NOT a business opportunity).
I am just trying to help, Happy Holidays.
Tommy DiPietro
Thanks so much for the info! I really needed another income source, and then am asked to cough up $299! Yeah, that’s what I need, my hopes and fears and base greed preyed upon, and then my problem made worse by having to blow even more of what I do have already?
Every one needs to know how big of a scam herbalife is The money I so called invested was crazy,stupid the $3,000 to be a supervisor advertising. Pti is the other scam that is a training program to do the biss. Some of the stuff they teach you is not what herbalife wants you to do.Like you have to sale so much to stay a supervisor i thought when you bought in to be a sup. you were always going to be a sup.or the 25% you make from dist that you get in to the biss.you have to sale so much to make the 25%.that is just some of the many things i learned the hard way. All i know is i spent a lot of money and i did not make s… what a scam i hope people dont make the same mistake that i made it needs to be advertise so people know how big of a scam that herbalife is
I have to follow up with another comment because of the posts I’ve been reading on numerous forums. When I started my Herbalife business, I started to read this different scam forums to learn what mistakes people were making, so that I wouldn’t make my own. The #1 problem is that your mentor/coach/upline doesn’t really know everything they should know about the business. One of the formulas to success if you were going to start a traditional business is the research you invest into learning about what your going to do. Does that make sense? Ok, I was going to buy a restaurant, inventing $100,000. I am going to research the area my business is going to be, the past performance, the demographics of the area. That type of investment, I am certainly going to do my homework. So, if you are going to start a home business, why don’t you do your homework?
Your going to whine about NOT KNOWING what your getting into when everything is available and right under your nose. I don’t work with a marketing company anymore because I am marketing that system and I am in business for myself, not them. I am active in my community, so I joined the Chamber of Commerce. I work online, so I invested time into myself and branding myself by learning about attraction marketing and building my business on the Internet on a budget. People, learn about it before you do it. If you are reading this, there is NO PROMISE YOU WILL EVEN MAKE A PENNY, YOU MAY EVEN LOSE MONEY. Its up to you, if you don’t have the money, don’t do it. You will have to invest down the road, whether its a website, or an autoresponder, or products for yourself. This business is not a quick fix solution for your financial woes. The number is low that make the business work without have a dime, and those are the same people you see pitching the business over and over and over. I built my business on a budget of less than $500, using http://BudgetingMyBusiness.info
Helen says. Wow thanks for all your experiences ! So just like Rob said I personally think everyone needs to know how successful in Herbalife you can be!
I have been doing the business now for 15 years. I was 29 a mommy of 3 children going to school and happily married. My husband and I had done the college thing graduated. Working the 60 plus hour a week with the communte . I am not afraid of hard work .. Then BANG ! we were hit with the recession . in the 90″s We had worked hard for 12 years owned our own business . People not able to pay invoices etc. This is not a whine session ..For 3 years we worked even harder and the dedt got worse. So .. my first goal was 500.00 dollars extra. around my full-time job and school and young family ..
Now we did not open up a franchise .. we had opened up our own business .. design produce and learn from our failures ..
I was done with my own learning curve .. I wanted to do what I did when I played softball I had hired a batting coach I wanted to improve .. Which I did by the way played on varisty team all through High School and college
So I used the same skills sets when it came to bring in extra money .. Get a mentor who is leverage in with a training system . This creates leverage..of saving me time ..
Did I pay a registration cost . Yes I did .. Hello I pay to register my kids in any program they decide to do.. Or when I went to university .. Heck yes I paid to register.When I married my husband of now 25 years.. got to tell you there was a cost..
Then I started the products.. wow.Brian is one of the fortunate ones .. He cut back, exercised ate right lost weight . I totally agree .. this did not happen for me . after baby number 3 .I was eating right .. I was also doing a exercise program and here is the kicker . I was finishing up my degree in nutrition .My health not a pretty site . My son was turning 3!
So I took the products . lost 40 lbs went from a tight 14 down to a 8. I started to get my vitality back.. Now my success on product was 7 pounds first 4 weeks and 12 inches. Week 5 to week 12 I lost over 26 lbs. What if I had stopped at week 4. Now have kept the weight off for 15 years.
So did the step earned my 500.00 dollars Then I took a percent of each sell and put it back into my business . I just kept doing that .. got up to 2100 dollars still working around a full time job and small children plus being a wife.
I did this for 3 year.. Kept going .. matched my income from my job. Came home to our children full time .
Now my daughter who was 3 when I started is now 19 .. She had a goal in 7 grade . Go to a Ivy league school. She worked hard .. I made sure to have the extra funds for extra ACt classes Extra tutors that we drove an hour to .. She went to public school.. was 1 of 12 accepted at Standford..Wow never would of been able to pay the fees to apply to different colleges. If I had not had the extra funds.!!
What is so interesting to me.. Is that In my Herbalife experience I have always decided how to run my business .. Yes my mentors let me know what is out there .. IN the end it my choice. Just like when I decided to be a mom .. I committed up front do I have bad days as a mom yes . I also have outstanding days! Do I have bad day as a Independent Herbalife Coach Yes .. I also have outstanding days! I just always remember the big picture.
I really do think it comes down to educating your expectations.. And then you need to start whatever the journey is for you .
Thank you very much. I just put $189.99 into the drain with Herbalife, thank GOD I didn’t have the money to become a supervisor, other wise the lost would had been huge.
Thank you for sharing this, it is really a scam, the products taste like cardboard.
Interesting comment about the products. I didn’t know you can actually eat cardboard, I would not know how it tastes, lol. Sorry couldn’t help myself. Again, another person that thinks they worked the business and failed, yet probably did nothing to help build her business.
That is why when I sign up a new team member, we go through all the costs of the business. Start up, supervisor upgrade, websites, merchant account, small advertising budget.
REMEMBER, this is your OWN business, NOT a job. Think of it as if you invested $100,000 in a restaurant, people just don’t take it serious enough. Its not a scam, the coach may be but the business is not.
Open up your mind and pay attention to the details, its right there in front of you.
Tommy
Tommy, could i possbly work for you ?. You sound like a really nice, genuine guy : ) .
Hurts to see when the company I work with has bad press…Been with Herbalife for about 8 years. It is a business not a job so investment is required. BUT here is truth…it costs only about $57 +tax/ship/handling to get registered…all the rest is bunk. Yes, there are scammers out there, that is why you must educate yourself about investing in a home business. No real home business will be successful with out investment, but hundreds and thousands of dollars is NOT good for a new person to spend. I was burned in the past by the fact that I didn’t know what I didn’t know…so I wrote a book about it…get it if you want…do don’t… you decide…go to lulu.com and search “About 10 Things You MUST Know Before Joining an MLM” by Wesley Williams. Herbalife is a viable way to earn real money, but only if you know what to do and know how to keep YOUR eye on YOUR finances…sorry for all who get pissed off at MLM’s like myself…just remember…you also get flyers from food delivery places, and realtors, and cleaners, and politicians, and scouts, and singles groups, and…well, you get the idea. Big ole “sorry” to any who have felt scammed. If you want to vent more, contact me….
I would have no problem helping you out. Are you already a distributor? If so, we can set up some one-on-one time to review what you have been doing. If you looking to start a brand new distributorship, we can discuss a plan that would work for you. You can click my name and leave a message on my site or call me directly, I am in New Jersey, 908 578-0646.
Tommy D.
Herbalife IS GREAT!
LIke people have said; Its your own business NOT a job. Make sure you research before, ask questions, use the product. It speaks by its self. All I know is that I’m helping people everyday changing their bad habits, and the greatest reward is watching them see results and feel better!! Herbalife is a train of FULL opportunities, whether you are looking for just a better nutrition or to start your own business, and the train will keep going and growing with you or without you. Its YOUR choice. If you didn’t succeed at this is because you didnt input enough hardwork into it, and if youre just looking for PEOPLES OPINION, PLEASE DON’T LISTEN to these ball of retards talking BS that they don’t know. If youre looking to join, do some real research, learn what it takes, get some real testimonies, its a GREAT opportunity.
I love Herbalife
Wow the Herbalife fanboys are out in force. Just do some research on the history of this shady company and its founder.
@Brian Carnell: Dear Brian:
Thanks for your open comments. I was lured into the Herbalife saga without knowing it was Herbalife at all!! I looked into one of the numerous junk mails I get, filled in a short form, let them have my $49.95 for my “training” packet which was a book and DVD of testimonial after testemonial of my upcoming fame and riches with “the business” and “the product.” When my mentor called on some kind of conference call and began reading from the script with her boss in the background, I was stunned when the word HERBALIFE finally was spoken! I am a current and past business owner so when I asked some hard questions (taxes, inventory costs etc,) the phone fell silent. When I said I would not sell a product I have not tried, I was told they would send samples then click the phone went dead. And oh yeah, they wanted another $149.00. I then researched the product from a HEALTH stand point. STAY AWAY and read for yourself!
Hopefully “Deb” will discover Herbalife is not that great after all……
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