Email to Jessica, an Arbot that called me during my “coming out of the orange fog” phase. Carol & Sally are the Arbots that recruited me and signed me up. The response is from Sally.

I’m so sorry, Jessica! It’s been a busy week and I’m just now getting back to you. Sorry about the first email. For some reason my Yahoo! Mail doesn’t work quite right. I don’t have my notes with me, but off the top of my head, here are a few sites to visit. I started out on these sites and then I would see a name that would peak my interest and I would Google the name and see what came up.

The reason MLM schemes cannot succeed is because MLM marketing is, in essence, a legal pyramid scheme. The basic idea is for a sales person to recruit more sales persons. This is very advantageous to those who own the company and supply the products, especially since the sales persons in MLMs are also customers. But it is puzzling why a sales person would think it is to his or her advantage to increase the number of competing sales persons.
This is not to say there is no benefit to MLM membership. You get certain tax write-offs. You get to buy products, some of which you will be happy with. You get to go to inspirational meetings, some of which will make you feel good. You may meet new friends and you may even make a few bucks. But more than likely you will end up alienating some family and friends. You will probably end up buying more stuff than you sell. And you will learn a lot about deceiving yourself and others. You won't be allowed to tell anyone how you are really doing, for example. You will always have to think positive, even if that means lying. You will have to tell anyone who asks that you are doing great, that business is wonderful, that you've never seen anything go so fast and bring you income so quickly, even if it isn't true.
lots of good info
Any Google search on MLM’s will bring up the good and bad. I have checked out a lot of discussion forums and have found that there are a lot of people that love these products. Unfortunately, they are all distributors or consultants. That begs the question to me of whether it’s the opportunity or the product that is attractive. The ones that say they tried it and their face broke out, their eyes got puffy, skin was too oily, or just didn’t see a difference were not distributors or consultants. I was wondering a few things about the products….I don’t remember ever reading that the health supplements were FDA approved. The Phyto and Prolief are not approved as well as far as I can see. It disturbs me that it is hard to find the info about what this product is, but I do remember Arbonne sending out information to its distributors. That pushes me towards believing that they are not FDA approved and are not able to make actual claims, but have put the info into circulation amongst the sales force to protect them from any trouble. But maybe there is info out on the web that Arbonne has approved and I just haven’t seen it. I would still like to know if its FDA approved.
I am actually a little glad that I had the shipping problem because it drove me to look into this business further. Pulling up Arbonne on the net as I did in the beginning gave me 99% positive info. Not knowing anything about MLM’s I didn’t realize that these were all distributor’s sites.
I have sent back my products and I’m hoping for a full refund. If Arbonne handles this part of the process well, I will want to reconsider my position and decide if I want to get into this type of business. It can be very good as I’m sure you know, but it’s not for everyone. I also hope to come across more than just testimonials, exaggerated claims and partial truths about Arbonne. I would like to see more factual information, like scientific studies!
I appreciate your call this past weekend. It made me feel a little better knowing that you shared the same desires for independent thinking. I appreciate knowing that you are not encouraging the same program as Sibley Gammon. I was also encouraged that Carol and Sally have decided to change their marketing format as well. Of course, I am still bothered that Arbonne allowed this to happen and continues to allow it to happen. If they are so irresponsible with our economy then what’s to say they aren’t irresponsible with our “health and wealth” (if I never say that again, I will be so happy)? They claim to want to help people, but I don’t see that proof yet!
Another search that I have done has been on other MLM’s and their lawsuits. Arbonne’s model for success is very similar to the MLM’s that have gone bad. There may be just a few very small differences, but the model is the same. That scares me!
Sorry this is so long! Have a great weekend, Cat

i'm not going to try to respond to all of this, but i'd like to share a couple of things with you. No vitamins are FDA approved. Scott is in the pharmaceutical industry and can talk to you about this. Also, have you looked into the "product knowledge" section of the arbonne website? you can look up all of the ingredients for their products, where they are derived from, and the benefit of the ingredient. you could also google these ingredients to see what others had to say. have you looked into harvest partners (the equity firm that bought them 2 years ago after 2 years of due diligence)? they have a website. harvest partners also owns a percentage of whole foods and evenflo, which i'm sure you know of.don't forget you can find something negative on the internet about anything you "google".

given that arbonne has been around for 25 years, has an "A" rating with the BBB, and is the fastest growing company in the DSA (direct sales association), i feel confident to be a part it. you might also check out :

on this website they have info about their code of ethics, how to avoid pyramid schemes, warning signs of a fraud, a link to the better business bureau,etc.

one reason pyramid schemes are illegal is because the people at the top make most of the money, while those at the bottom don't. if this helps you at all, Jessica is in my "downline" and her check as well as probably a girl's check below her, were larger than mine for September. doesn't that sound like an equal opportunity for everyone to make money?

i don't think you are confident in arbonne as a company, their products, the arbonne business opportunity, or ANY multi-level marketing companies in general. given that, it would be very difficult for your friends and prospects to have confidence in this if you don't. they probably already sense this, given the email you sent out to them wednesday.

i'm sorry this hasn't worked out for you.

talk to you soon,

Sally