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[Peagles]

Pyramid schemes are one of my pet peeves. We went on a really cool jet boat ride once and the guy there was saying to come see him afterwards to get a free jet boat ride but only if you're a citizen (most people on the boat were tourists and quite often there's benefits if you are a Kiwi so we went to talk to him). We were drenched and crazy messed up from the boat ride and paid $20 to go to some seminar at which we would receive a $200 voucher for Farmers (a legit department store here). Then I read the pamphlet on the way home and Googled it at home and got so angry! We never went to the seminar we just abused them on the phone when they called, told them they could keep their ill-gotten $20 and never call us again. Fucking scam artists.

Now I keep a $20 note on my desk to remind me never to fall for BS like that again.

Never forget.

 

[CSX]

Holy shit at that penn and teller show.

That part where the drink selling guy is trying to get a new customer. The shit coming out of his mouth was WORD FOR WORD the shit I was hearing at the meeting.

 

[Nesotenso]

if you see the words "multi-level marketing", be skeptical.

 

[L00P]

My mom tried to sell maxi pads and claimed that it also worked for men and had therapeutic properties. She was adamant about me using it as an insole for my foot pain I was having at the time and she guaranteed that it would work.

I bet it's because the meeting looked professional and people were really nice, but come on! The product doesn't even make fucking sense. I understand the job in a "company" who sold vacuum cleaners and shit of which she got me into working as my first job ever, but magical napkins?!

Spoiler

I did put the napkins in my shoes and walked around for a bit to see if it worked >_<

 

[Tantalus]

Holy shit at that penn and teller show.

That part where the drink selling guy is trying to get a new customer. The shit coming out of his mouth was WORD FOR WORD the shit I was hearing at the meeting.

That was always one of my favourite episodes of P&T: Bullshit. Hearing the juice salesman say "it's not a pyramid scheme because we have a product!" then backpedal to "just don't worry about the product itself at this point" seconds later gets me every time.

 

[Sorian]

Never trust anyone who's trying to sell me on a job based on how much money I'll make and how fast. Always, always bullshit.

But Devo, look at this nice car I drive and LOOK AT THIS WATCH. How else can you afford these nice things if you aren't pulling in 100k a year with no schooling or prior experience.

 

[To Far Away Times]

That was always one of my favourite episodes of P&T: Bullshit. Hearing the juice salesman say "it's not a pyramid scheme because we have a product!" then backpedal to "just don't worry about the product itself at this point" seconds later gets me every time.

One of my favorite episodes.

 

[Howard Ballou]

One of my friends went for an "interview" with what turned out to be a pyramid/multi level marketing scheme. Basically some guy drove him around, and they got a half day of free labor out of him. It would have been a full day, but he forced himself to vomit and got out of it.

 

[Link Man]

 

[Stoze]

I have a facebook friend who keeps posting shit about WUN ("Wake Up Now"), and it's pretty depressing how transparent it is and how it falls EXACTLY into the pyramid scheme stereotype. He's posted pictures of himself eating at fancy restaurants, posing by high end cars tagged with #wun4life #wealthy, talking about how inspirational his team members are, and posting testimonial videos. It's pathetic.

A couple years ago I had a fairly close friend of mine try to pitch me on Verve, a.k.a. the energy drink scam. Luckily he wasn't too persistent about it and laid off.

 

[The Real Abed]

Real pyramid schemes only last a few years. ACN has existed for 20 years!

So has Herbalife. My parents still take that stuff but I don't know if they still try to sell it to people. I got sucked into this 14 years ago.

No pyramid scheme thread on GAF can be complete without a link to Penn and Teller's "Easy Money" episode.

The best part is that they weren't allowed to call it a Pyramid Scheme right out but were allowed to allude to it.

 

[Necrovex]

No pyramid scheme thread on GAF can be complete without a link to Penn and Teller's "Easy Money" episode.

Man, I barely ever watch Penn and Teller, but when I do, I fucking love it. Thanks for the link.

One of my friends went for an "interview" with what turned out to be a pyramid/multi level marketing scheme. Basically some guy drove him around, and they got a half day of free labor out of him. It would have been a full day, but he forced himself to vomit and got out of it.

Oh lord. That reminds me of an experience that occurred during my internship with the sheriff's office. We got a complaint from a neighborhood about some kid selling some junk. I didn't realize it until now, but that child was roped into a pyramid scheme.

He was dropped off in the neighborhood to sell stuff, and someone would come by later to pick him up.

 

[icy_eagle]

So has Herbalife. My parents still take that stuff but I don't know if they still try to sell it to people. I got sucked into this 14 years ago.


The best part is that they weren't allowed to call it a Pyramid Scheme right out but were allowed to allude to it.

I have this one aunt who has pretty much alienated all her relatives with her insistent Herbalife BS. All the e-mails dad received from her had something to do with herbalife, and it got to the point where she'd sneak a mention of the product into christmas cards. I have no idea if she's still doing it though, as dad ended up blocking all of her e-mails.

 

[Conor 419]

I started a pyramid scheme once, still making cash from it now.

 

[Schmo Florez]

This thread brings back some memories.

A girl I knew from high school suckered me into sitting in on a 2by2.net meeting. She roped me in by saying we were going out to dinner. I had a bad feeling when she offered to drive. On our way to "dinner" she said she had to stop by her house. I was thinking I was going to score some poon when we walk in her house and there's a bunch of chairs and a white board set up. Right then I knew I was screwed.

The presenter pulled in diving a Prowler (this was in 2001) and goes on about selling internet subscriptions. You had to recruit people into the company to get more money of coarse. The most surprising thing was at the end of the presentation all but two of us in the room jumped up and cut this guy a $250 check.

 

[Conor 419]

This thread brings back some memories.

A girl I knew from high school suckered me into sitting in on a 2by2.net meeting. She roped me in by saying we were going out to dinner. I had a bad feeling when she offered to drive. On our way to "dinner" she said she had to stop by her house. I was thinking I was going to score some poon when we walk in her house and there's a bunch of chairs and a white board set up. Right then I knew I was screwed.

LOL

 

[fluffydelusions]

I once posted my resume on craigslist and dude got in contact with me said he had a job for for me. Gave me his address. Turned out to be his house. Arrived like wtf. Was invited inside. Guy had a box of some weird energy drinks he was sipping on trying to get me in to sell them. It was like a commercial he was sipping on them then turned them so the label was facing me. So weird. I just left.

 

[dr3upmushroom]

I was invited to one by a friend. Didn't realize it until I noticed the weird collection of people. It was like watching a guy lose his sanity.

 

[John Rabbit]

i had a guy try and sucker me into one of these over the phone while i was at my job. he claimed i had sold him some merchandise and he was really impressed by my sales skills. he went on this pretty lengthy thing about wanting me to bring me onto some kind of opportunity. i had to break it off and tell him that i wasn't in sales, but loss prevention, and that it was impossible that i had sold him anything. he persisted that i in fact, had sold him a large bundle of stuff, and after he was unable to give me a description of any of these supposed goods, i just hung up on him.

i found out 2 days later some other employee had fallen in with them and given my info (after i had expressed being unhappy at my job). slimy fucker.

 

[ZackieChan]

There was a great episode of the Planet Money podcast earlier this year about Herbalife, but they explain pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing pretty well. Check it out:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/01/16/169468312/the-fight-over-herbalife

 

[joe2187]

Oh god, ACN.

I've run into them, a friend of the family I havent seen in like 10 years comes over two months ago and throws this ACN crap in my face, has the whole Donald trump video spiel and powerpoint on his (extremely shitty) laptop. I sit through it all and laugh at everytime they talk about making money without giving any details on what the fuck they even do.

I quietly closed the laptop and took it outside my front porch, when he went to go bring it back I locked the front door.

 

[CSX]

Oh god, ACN.

I've run into them, a friend of the family I havent seen in like 10 years comes over two months ago and throws this ACN crap in my face, has the whole Donald trump video spiel and powerpoint on his (extremely shitty) laptop. I sit through it all and laugh at everytime they talk about making money without giving any details on what the fuck they even do.

I quietly closed the laptop and took it outside my front porch, when he went to go bring it back I locked the front door.

oh man that donald trump video. They showed that vid in beginning of the presentation. That and pictures of all these business magazine covers that featured ACN

 

[Village]

I like the art,

So I would like the context of this anime character

 

[massoluk]

Was working in compliance department at a bank. These pyramid schemes came up alot. Really annoying when doing research about them online and all the results were obviously testimonies planted there by people involved. 10 pages of Google searches saying the founder was director at World Bank, YOU CAN TOTALLY TRUST HER.

 

[Kater]

I like the art,

So I would like the context of this anime character

It's a character from 'Welcome to the NHK' if I remember right. She is also part of such apyramid scheme thing

Spoiler

and tries to get the protagonist of the story to join.

 

[Dai101]

How else can you afford these nice things if you aren't pulling in 100k a year with no schooling or prior experience.

Just join a cartel and start from the bottom. They're more legit than this pyramid schemes.

 

[Hockeylover01]

I work for an insurance company and I am a manager with a team of 4 people. I get paid off my own sales and the sales of my team (like a pyramid scheme). I tell people that its a legal pyramid scheme lol

 

[Gartooth]

A bit of background, I live in west Michigan and attend a college there. A lot of the buildings are named after DeVos probably because of all the funding the university has received in return. Anyway I'm in the process of taking an internship prep class and had a lecture by some Amway reps a month or so ago. All they did in the lecture was provide some background info about their company and how it operates, then they proceeded to actually talk about relevant stuff. (Such as what to wear to interviews and the like)

It is funny though, they asked who knew about Amway's products (acting like they were household name brands) and nobody had a fucking clue. Someone I think also asked them about pyramid schemes which they quickly denied. I looked them up online later and found out everything I needed to know, which admittedly freaked me out a little given their fake "prestige" and bringing to light how scummy they are. Its a bit sad that they are allowed to come to the school and interact with students promising a great opportunity, just because the company gives a ton of funding to the university.

 

[M-PG71C]

I remember this shit during college. Fuck that shit. When you work somewhere like Mickey D's, at least you know you are going to get a paycheck, a free uniform, and a free hot meal.

These schemes are going to take your money and you going to find your own damn meal. :/

 

[CountBlack]

One of my really good friends tried to get me into Vemma this summer. Exact same thing happened with me.. told me not to google it, the CEO of Vemma changed his name because he had a lawsuit against his real name. $500 start up and everything.

We got into a really big fight about it, and I told her its a waste of money and you'll never make the money you put into it back. Especially when you have to pay $120 a month for their special Vemma package. Smh. We didn't speak for a couple months until now.. and I found out she quit Vemma right at the end of summer.

Spoiler

And she told me I WAS RIGHT.

 

[Krev]

At this point, getting suckered into going to a pyramid scheme meeting is almost up there with getting suckered into a pyramid scheme. You gotta see these coming.

But you have to go anyway, just to experience it for yourself.
OP was cathartically hillarious for me. Those meetings are scary shit.

The overly enthusiastic crowd were likely planted. That's how they did it at Usana

They don't need to pay anyone to be a plant. All the 'salespeople' who roped someone into a meeting have been instructed to cheer at certain points.

 

[Memento_Mori15]

You know, I thought I would never ever be asked to joined a pyramid scheme..yet this happened around August. A former teacher, yes a former teacher, wanted to recruit her old students into a pyramid scheme. I wanted to burst out laughing, but held it in while she tried to convince a friend. We both said no thanks and walked away. I was so disappointed in her when I kinda had respect for her back when she taught us.

 

[dluu13]

I had an acquaintance cash me out of the blue one day under the pretence of making sure all his phone contacts were still recent. He then said something like "oh by the way, would you like to be part of an exciting business opportunity for enthusiastic young entrepreneurs". I was never able to get a straight answer from him about what it was. "oh it's a business opportunity" all he would ever say. I turned it down, and then looked up his Facebook profile and sure enough it was full of Amway stuff.

 

[DXLelouch153]

remember kids always live life by this saying
"nothing is ever that easy"

 

[BPoole]

I had a similar experience from a company called Primerica. I was studying at school and this dude just comes up and starts grilling me saying I don't need a degree to be successful and many of their employees make $60k+ with no degree. I looked into it after he left and saw it was on of those multi tier marketing companies that target college students. He wanted me to cone to a meeting but I declined

 

[UncleSporky]

I keep wondering to myself whether there is one of these out there that is actually a great idea, good investment, really does work, but nobody gets in on it because they're afraid it's a pyramid scheme.

I mean obviously there isn't, it's just one of those things.

Like this, but for easy money:

 

[amnesiac]

No pyramid scheme thread on GAF can be complete without a link to Penn and Teller's "Easy Money" episode.

Holy shit. I legitimately feel bad for those people. That one fruit drink guy working 10-12 hours a day for 9 months trying to recruit people.... jeez. The fact that you have to point out that it is not a pyramid scheme is funny.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

No pyramid scheme thread on GAF can be complete without a link to Penn and Teller's "Easy Money" episode.

I'm not sure why I was slightly shocked to see dick and tits immediately. You may want to mark that as NSFW for the slow people like myself.

 

[adj_noun]

I was thinking I was going to score some poon when we walk in her house and there's a bunch of chairs and a white board set up.

Right then I knew I was screwed.

Beautiful.

 

[Fury Sense]

Man, I wanna start a pyramid.

 

[Dai101]

Man, I wanna start a pyramid.

Can join you? Afterwards we can make a kickstart.

 

[sca2511]

They don't need to pay anyone to be a plant. All the 'salespeople' who roped someone into a meeting have been instructed to cheer at certain points.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Wrong choice of words.

 

[aceface]

I don't understand the people who get brainwashed by this shit. I mean, it's obviously a pyramid scheme.

 

[Stoze]

I don't understand the people who get brainwashed by this shit. I mean, it's obviously a pyramid scheme.

That's the most depressing part about it. They may have been people who've had seemingly good common sense before, but somehow, either just because they are too easily persuasive or don't fully understand how the process works, they literally get brainwashed by it. They don't realize the complete bullshit they are spewing until they are done with it, and they snap out of a trance. Seeing that Penn and Teller video actually made me feel really bad for those people. Especially the fruit juice guy, I mean 9 months and 1500 in the hole and he still believes in it. It's like an addiction.

 

[Coreda]

I know someone who is involved in something similar (in their case health products). Basically thought the same thing initially, but they seem to trust the system well enough.

It seems to boil down to 'get in early, start recruiting people under you'. If they put in enough effort it may work, but the way my friend pitched me on these things is surreal - all I'm thinking is, "mmmhmmm".

It's hard to believe anything they say when it's so outside their usual persona, and obviously rehearsed marketing spiel, but they enjoy it so I'm not one to rain on the parade.

I also thought Bitcoin was going to be as popular as the next custom Linux distro back when it each was less than US$1. Couldn't have been more wrong on that one.

 

[dalVlatko]

That's the most depressing part about it. They may have been people who've had seemingly good common sense before, but somehow, either just because they are too easily persuasive or don't fully understand how the process works, they literally get brainwashed by it. They don't realize the complete bullshit they are spewing until they are done with it, and they snap out of a trance. Seeing that Penn and Teller video actually made me feel really bad for those people. Especially the fruit juice guy, I mean 9 months and 1500 in the hole and he still believes in it. It's like an addiction.

If you look him up he is still doing it lol

 

[industrian]

I see the Penn & Teller: Bullshit episode has been brought up. That episode is mandatory viewing for MLM pyramids.

How do these pyramids even work? It's always about recruiting, but never about products or services...

Never underestimate the "one born every minute..." mentality.

If you look him up he is still doing it lol

That's fucking depressing. Because he's obviously not got the spine nor mentality for direct sales techniques or methods (as in: he's too nice.)

 

[shakin_haitian]

I have this one aunt who has pretty much alienated all her relatives with her insistent Herbalife BS. All the e-mails dad received from her had something to do with herbalife, and it got to the point where she'd sneak a mention of the product into christmas cards. I have no idea if she's still doing it though, as dad ended up blocking all of her e-mails.

I have a ton of relatives that do the same thing, except their product is some weird thing called a jesus, which is suppose to keep this ghost that lives inside of me from dying or some really insane shit.

 

[Cheddahz]

My first reaction, lol

Wasn't their meeting

Spoiler

literally in the middle of nowhere?

Welcome to the NHK is such a good anime and everyone should watch it

 

[GamerJM]

At this point, getting suckered into going to a pyramid scheme meeting is almost up there with getting suckered into a pyramid scheme. You gotta see these coming.

This is what I thought when I read the topic title, but it seems like OP's experience wasn't something you could easily see coming.

Also, lol at the "Start the beat" thing.