View Full Version : My dad got sucked into another pyramid scheme
Penguin
6/6/2006, 06:05 PM
This one is where they sell fuel additives that's supposed to increase your MPG by 30%.
Man oh man. My dad gets involved with these pyramid, I mean, multi-level marketing schemes every 3 or 4 years.
I'm still waiting for those huge profits when he was selling pyramid scheme gold coins.
oumartin
6/6/2006, 06:11 PM
i made 150,000 bucks last year selling additives and so can you Penguin! :D
GottaHavePride
6/6/2006, 06:27 PM
Oh, I thought you meant he signed up for a "build three pyramids and get your cat embalmed for free!" kind of thing.
StoopTroup
6/6/2006, 06:38 PM
I had no idea you could Referee a Pyramid Scheme...
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/10.26.05/gifs/pyramid-0543-whistle.jpg
BeetDigger
6/6/2006, 06:42 PM
Those dudes that get involved in Conklin crack me up. They swear that it makes your engine last longer, run cooler, get better gas mileage... and all after the first use. And it's always the guys who sell it that make the claims - go figure. Everyguy that I know who has used it swears that they didn't see a difference and every mechanic warns you not to use that stuff. I swear, if you want to see stuff like this to a bunch of farmers, just tell them to try it but that it works best if you go fill up your car with premium fuel when you use it. They will feel the effects of the premium fuel and attribute it to the conklin and then will buy cases of the crap. Modern day snake oil.
That company's been on the news quite a bit the last few weeks here in OKC. The pills are nothing more than moth balls with some green food coloring.
Kimberlyz4OU
6/6/2006, 09:40 PM
I saw that too Cam...yep, moth balls. Gah, that preacher dude was squirrely.
boomersooner28
6/6/2006, 09:43 PM
That reminds me....a guy I used to have quite a bit of respect for told me about this "new company" and he was getting involved and he was gonna make millions and it's "not a pyramid scheme". He even talked the wife and I into going to a meeting. After 5 minutes of the thick "we are trying to hide this from being a pyramid scheme every way possible' BS, I drug the wife out the door. If the guy did make millions, he sure hasn't come by to tell me what an idiot I am for leaving. :rolleyes:
olevetonahill
6/6/2006, 11:07 PM
My kids Dad got sucked , last nite ;)
oumartin
6/6/2006, 11:40 PM
u r one lucky olevet now aren't cha?
olevetonahill
6/6/2006, 11:43 PM
u r one lucky olevet now aren't cha?
:D
Tonight aint over yet ;)
Jimminy Crimson
6/7/2006, 12:48 AM
It's not a pyramid scheme, it's multi-level marketing! :rolleyes: :D
A good friend I hadn't seen in a long while called me out of the blue several years ago saying he wanted to visit my house to discuss a "job opportunity."
We had worked together in the past so I told him to come on over. I was actually looking forward to hearing what he had to offer because at the time, I was ready for a career change.
After I got off the phone, I told my wife, "Now watch, Brad's gonna pitch AMWAY."
Boy, we had a good laugh over that one.
Boy, were we naive to be laughing.
I didn't even buy any of the carpet cleaner.
I've had several pitches about Amway come my way over the years. The first was when I was 18. A friend of mine, 19, had me and another guy over at his house where he pulled out this big easel and drew out how we could make millions, like he was headed for.
Another'n a few years later tried to pull me in, yappin' on and on about "financial independence." Someone had planted this phrase in his brain; it was like Al Gore in the 2000 debates saying over and over that Social Security must be in a "lockbox."
A few years ago, I was approached by someone else about a "great money-making opportunity." The pitch was that this was perfect for someone looking for a career change; after a few questions from my side I couldn't get the guy to tell me what his business was. That's a dead giveaway you're being set up for the full monty. Because they know most people will scram when they hear "Amway."
Mrs. VJ had been involved in it at one time. When I met her, in her townhouse, she had this huge water filter contraption stuck on her kitchen faucet. I asked her what was up with the thing that looked like a small nuclear device. She told me she had forked over around $350 for it from Amway. And she didn't want to part with it. I finally conviced her to throw it out before we got married.
C&CDean
6/7/2006, 08:01 AM
My kids Dad got sucked , last nite ;)
Yorkie head? No thanks.
Hamhock
6/7/2006, 08:14 AM
There is a less obvious MLM out there called Primerica. They want to refinance your mortgage. Beware...
walkoffsooner
6/7/2006, 09:35 AM
Trusting your fellow human is a hard habbit to break.
soonerjoker
6/7/2006, 09:35 AM
i had a couple friends sucked in on that "water filter" thing, bout 15
(or so) yrs ago. they each ended up with a garage full of that junk.
also have people try to get me involved with "amway" didn't bite. that
was about 30 yrs ago.
i'm not that smart, just too lazy.
colleyvillesooner
6/7/2006, 09:43 AM
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/8306/randall7wl.jpg
It is an investment opportunity, it's really exciting and I wanna get you in on the ground floor with me.
Oh?
And it's not a pyramid scheme. Alot of people thinks it is a pyramid scheme.
But it's not.
It's almost guaranteed you can double your money, maybe even triple it in the first year alone.
I get hit up at least once a week for one or another. Drinks, cleaning stuff, business at home, internet sales, etc, etc...I really hate the concept. I hate the ones that make people buy a bunch of product that they are stuck with because they can't sell it. Several years ago when we first got married my wife and I got into one from a guy in our church. It was the silver coins deal. Sounded great, we never saw a thing from it. Thats the only one I had ever done and I pretty much swore off getting involved in one ever again.
The sad thing is that there are some pretty decent products out there that people won't use because of the mlm part of them. This cleanse thing I've been doing is an example. I have tried(and keep trying) to find something that is similar enough to get good results thats not in a mlm program because the cleanse is beneficial and works but being a mlm company, it turns people off(including me at first.) The only reason I did go ahead and join is because it only cost like 30 bucks to join and then just bought the stuff I used at cost which saved me money. I still feel weird telling people about it and if there was any big up front cost I wouldn't recomend it to anyone...ever.
Norm In Norman
6/7/2006, 10:20 AM
Are you guys trying to tell me that you don't want to drive a new expensive car within 6 months? You guys must be idiots.
mdklatt
6/7/2006, 10:25 AM
Trusting your fellow human is a hard habbit to break.
Not for me. I don't trust any of you ****ers farther than I could throw you.
How is this not a pyramid scheme? [/Jim from The Office]
mdklatt
6/7/2006, 11:00 AM
Two signatures in a row with "poop" in them...a banner day on the SO! :D
EDIT: Make that three in a row.
Penguin
6/7/2006, 11:34 AM
I did a search for that pyramid gold coin company that my dad was with.
I got this: http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Delivered/pyramids.htm
Search for the word "gold" and there's an article about half way down. The owners got 10 & 11 years in prison.
Norm In Norman
6/7/2006, 01:49 PM
WHY DON'T YOU GUYS WANT TO BE RICH??? Normal people want to be rich. Don't you want to be normal?
TexasLidig8r
6/7/2006, 01:53 PM
The Texas Attorney General didn't think much of this scheme either.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=139215
Veritas
6/7/2006, 02:00 PM
MLMs == the prostitution of your personal relationships
Penguin
6/30/2006, 12:08 PM
Great, I just found out that my in-laws are in a pyramid scheme. They are selling Xooma X2O "tea bags." You add it to bottled water and it transforms it into "your source of Ultimate Fuel (tm)."
They gave us a free sample and I guess after a month of using it, we are supposed to feel super duper and then we'll be begging them to let us to join their "compensation plan (http://successcourse.com/home.cgi/XA1525/compensationplan.html)."
Why can't I get away from these pyramid schemes! They're all around me!!!! :mad:
SoonerInKCMO
6/30/2006, 12:32 PM
Why do you hate alkaline water? :confused:
Penguin
6/30/2006, 12:58 PM
Why do you hate alkaline water? :confused:
Oh, OK. I looked up the definition of alkaline water (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?snake%20oil).
Interesting stuff. ;)
The Texas Attorney General didn't think much of this scheme either.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=139215
now if we can just get him to go after homeopathic medicines, we'd be all right...
but I don't know of any pyramid schemes that are needed for those. people seem to lap em up without the pyramids....
SoonerInKCMO
6/30/2006, 02:37 PM
now if we can just get him to go after homeopathic medicines, we'd be all right...
Why do you hate water with memory? :confused:
You and Penguin are just a couple of water haters.
GrapevineSooner
6/30/2006, 02:51 PM
I had a pair of guys at a park my daughter was playing at approach me about an 'exciting business opportunity'. Even gave me their website address which lead to...nothing really. (first red flag)
Then they came over to my apartment. As soon as they showed me pics of multi-million dollar homes and fancy *** cars, I knew it was a Pyramid scheme. But since I have a little evil in me, I let the guy get all the way through his spiel before he finally started to get the hint I wasn't interested.
He gave me one last opportunity to join when he said 'Does this even interest you just a little bit?'
I told him no and to get the hell outta my apartment.
crawfish
6/30/2006, 03:09 PM
I'm really shocked and dismayed that nobody ever posted a copycat thread with the article with Mangino's daughter...
Penguin
6/30/2006, 04:22 PM
I would, but it is poor SO etiquette to make a copycat of your own thread.
Hamhock
6/30/2006, 04:27 PM
I would, but it is poor SO etiquette to make a copycat of your own thread.
Two words that I never thought I'd see together.
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