An Ex-IBO Testimonial

We received an email from an Ex-IBO recently who granted us permission to share it. We have posted it here on the blog rather than the website due to the technical problems we've encountered with the site.

Hi Guys

I am fascinated to have researched Amway on the internet and have read The Merchants of Deception. It brought back the many memories of the hours of effort I put into the program many years ago.

In fact I was an IBO in the eighties. It cost me a lot of money and nearly my marriage. My wife was regarded as a negative force and I was a total one eyed supporter of Amway.

I remembered when New Zealand started how a plane load of us went over there to start up our own international legs. It was at all our own individual expense. I did not make a dollar.

Every time a new product came to Australia e.g. the jewelry or the burglar alarms there would be a great deal of excitement with all true believers buying up big. I brought up big even though I was disappointed in the quality of the products such as the jewelry. It looked like cheap costume jewelry to me. But I was a good little ambot and did not say anything negative. Frankly when I look back on it, the whole thing was a joke. I thought that Amway must have dumped some of those so called new lines on the Australian market because they could not sell them in America .

I wanted financial security for myself and my family so I put up with the “love bombing” and the awful meetings. The tape of the week, book of the month program had just been introduced. I was constantly listening to tapes and looking forward to the day I could go fulltime. I must admit it did distract me from my JOB. But I genuinely believed I would make diamond. Talk about delusional. As I recall I think I made it to 15%.

Eventually after about three or four years I slowly gave it away, much to my wife’s relief. But the fact of the matter is that I blamed myself and to a degree her, for my lack of success. It always niggled at me. So in finally researching the internet I have been able to expunge the last vestiges of “could I have made it?” from me.

About ten years later very close friends of ours (he being an airline pilot, she been a registered nurse) joined again and immediately prospected us. It was like the return of a bad dream. Our children played together and we were very close. My wife and I discussed it in detail and decided that we would not take up there offer. In so doing we realized that we would be regarded as negative. All those bloody awful Amway one-liners came back to me. You know if your friends don’t want it then, “they cannot be your real friends can they.”

And that’s what happened. It pretty much ended the friendship. So shallow, so predicable so annoying.

Once again they had the dedication the credibility and the connections. Her brother laws were a CEO for a major engineering company and a medical specialist. None of them could make it work. All of them still defend the program.

We see them occasionally but it was never quite the same. Eventually they moved interstate.

My wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. I am extremely happy with my lot.

Best Regards

Bernie

Thank you Bernie for taking the time to share your story. Although your experience happened some years ago, unfortunately experiences like yours are still happening today. We are glad that your research has cleared those obvious lingering doubts/ "what if's?" you had from leaving the "business" and you've moved on to enjoy a happy life.

Care to share which AMO you were involved with?