Have you ever had anyone from Herbalife inform you of a potential problem you may encounter upon consuming soy on a regular basis?
Did you know that most diet powdered products contain soy?
If you answered no to either one of these questions, then you may want to read my earlier post too: Soy May Hasten Osteoporosis…. and here’s an article posted on a US Government website titled, Effects of soy protein and soybean isoflavones on thyroid function….
When I first discovered the Online Business Systems website, I thought the opportunity they portrayed to be very professionally distailed; therefore I was quick to give my credit card number for the $9.95 US Funds… charged for shipping me a decision pack. After all, their website clearly showed me that they were registered members of the Better Business Bureau. Their website assured me, their decision package, as they called it, would be jam-packed with detail enough for me to make my decision as to whether I wanted to join them to make money from home.
Heck, this opportunity was presented to me only a few months before being forced out of a job (early retirement), with no prospects for re-employment. So, when I came across this… what I thought to be a “great offer” …yeeeeeaaah! You can bet I was anxious to get started.
When their package finally arrived… albeit the old style decision package… I was furious for their purposeful non-disclosure of the company’s name. I immediately telephone the numbers that were handwritten in the back of the decision package.
On my second attempt to contact someone, finally a lady picked up the receiver. I told the lady point-blankly that I was upset with their not stating WHO the company is. My immediate thought was that this had to be Amway… but alas, it was… Herbalife? Go figure!
I was shocked at what I perceived to be a reputable company, masking their business in such secrecy. Hello? This SHOULD have raised a big, red flag for me… but, nooooo… I took bait! Truly, I thought it would be awesome… to be able to help those with weight problems, to gain their self-confidence back again. It would feel so good to be able help others, making this a win-win situation, for a change… OR… so I thought.
After all, Herbalife products have a good reputation, don’t they? And, I learned that REAL live doctors actually head up the research on all of their products. Impressive, huh?
Most of us out here looking for a real honest to goodness means of earning a living, really have to remember; starting your own business IS a costly venture, no matter how THEY want to “slice it” for us.
When you don’t have any extra cash to lend to an idea… and, in fairness… $3,000 to start your very own business is NOT that expensive… BUT, without a great, safe product (regarding Herbalife’s meal replacement and protein powders), no matter how terrific a business plan may be… you really have nothing. That’s what makes ANY sum of money invested… wasted money.
Here is what it cost me for the better part of 3 months (click on the image for a closer look):
So, a Merchant Account will cost you $75 to accept Visa and $35 to accept MaterCard… MONTHLY, whether you use it or not. Oh! And, if you sign a contract covering a term like, say, 3 years (that was THE only option available when I signed up!)… and you decide to quit for ANY reason BEFORE the 3 years has passed… well… you pay a penalty cost, determined by “the Merchant Account” at the time the account is terminated. Believe me, it WAS a hefty charge for me! So you can add another $400 to the total shown in the screen print above, because that’s what it cost me AFTER this screen print was taken and published here.
And here were my profits (click on the image for a closer look):
This is real money I could have used to live on after my job ended in September 2009.
Having then been diagnosed with osteoporosis (detailed in an earlier post titled “Soy Consumption May Hasten Osteoporosis…“), and learning what I did regarding soy protein… well, by November 11, 2009, I terminated my Merchant Account, and requested a bill be sent to me for any remaining funds owing. This was followed by my emailed resignation to The Online Business System (OBS).
Having been left with several unsold Herbalife products that I couldn’t use, and a box of OBS paraphernalia I no longer needed, I decided to place an advertisement on Craigslist. Here’s the ad I used:
$1,000 worth of Online Business System paraphernalia FREE
4 decision packages (1 BRAND NEW style), 6 new binders for distributors… AND 7 seminar tickets… plus paraphernalia.
(click on the image for a closer look)
Someone flagged my ad within a few hours of posting it, and even though I reworded the title for each posting… I tried 3 different times… each time my ad got flagged. Craigslist automatically deletes flagged ads to protect against anyone running an illegal advertisement. What was so illegal with my ad? Hmmm, could it be that OBS monitors what is being said about them online? Well… that’s my bet!
There were a few interested distributors who emailed me, having seen my ad BEFORE it was flagged. To each and everyone who requested details, I sent an emailed response of:
You get all that is pictured above FREE when you buy my unused/unopened (sealed) Herbalife inventory listed below (click on the images for a closer look):
All this for ONLY $500… plus shipping.
If you live close by… you can save yourself the cost of shipping by picking the package up. Now, hows that for one sweet deal?
Disappointingly, as soon as the distributors discovered they could have the $1,000 worth of OBS paraphernalia for free IF they purchased the remaining unsold Herbalife products from me for only $500… well… they all slipped away into silence.
Truly, I do not understand their reasoning. Inspection of the products would have been “a given.” The products remained sealed and all expiry dates were way off at the time I offered these products for the super, discounted price. My asking price was WELL below what any of the distributors would have to pay for these products from Herbalife …and, not one of them made me a counter-offer.
Needless to say… the OBS paraphernalia went in the recycle box (though the dvds went in garbage), and the unsold Herbalife products were disposed of in an environmental-friendly fashion.
Still not convinced?
How Herbalife Only Scams the Sellers – Clicking the image below will take you to YouTube, as the owner of the video will not allow embedding his/her video
And, be sure to check out a doctor’s video review below:
To top those two videos up, here’s on from abcNews Herbalife Investigation: American Dream for Sale? and The Whistleblower
Here’s even more information: http://www.factsaboutherbalife.com/
If you want to be able to tell the difference between legitimate direct selling and pyramid recruitment schemes, I recommend you get Robert FitzPatrick’s free report: http://pyramidschemealert.org/about-2/board-of-directors/robert-fitzpatrick/ without further delay.
Credit for Header: image by geralt network person networking pair on Pixabay
I was never so disappointed by a company OBS in my life! Maxed out my credit cards for this and a lot of the testimonials I have read here also happened to me. I am now in bankruptcy! They should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of people who are just trying to make a living with what looks so genuine! Went into a depression as we now have bad credit maxing out our cards to follow the instructions of the “coach” with the OBS to seemingly make money! The technique they have requires years of scamming skills that is for sure! I am even surprised to see any form of advertisement for them on the internet at all!
Am so sorry to hear you were shafted dagglermc. No one likes to be forced into bankruptcy for being handed a dream that sounds so perfect that we naively believe in them like this …and, Thank YOU for sharing your story here.
I appreciate to your work wonderful job.
Thanks for the post.
Thank you Jay!
I was reading over this and just thought I should point out that if you were paying $75/month for a merchant account you clearly did not do your research. I own a credit card processing business and we do them for $10/month with no sign up fee. I don't even know of a competitor that charges a $75 "inactivity fee". Also, sounds like OBS took your money, not Herbalife. If you could not sell their nutrition products to people it is your fault not theirs. I am not sure why you would pay for leads either when the Herbalife business model is face to face interaction and wellness coaching. Did you not read whatever they sent you? Sorry OBS cost you so much, and best of luck in your future ventures.
Dean
I'm glad you asked Dean,
PSi Gate was the merchant account I was forced (yes, forced) to use… and I still have my documentation to prove it.
Whether it was OBS or Herbalife who forced the merchant account on unsuspecting newbies to their network, as far as I am concerned, it is totally irrelevant. I feel that Herbalife cannot claim they knew nothing of this issue, and hopefully they have rectified this from happening again.
As for Herbalife's products… I offer you this post: https://trishparr.com/soy-consumption-may-hast… and ask you this, would YOU offer this sort of product to unsuspecting customers? Well, I refused to… so, you are correct, it IS my fault for not selling their products.
Don't blame the company or the products for you not doing work. Personal development is all I have to say. The company has taken care of me, and my team. Sorry your sponsors weren't who they needed to be. But you're missing out on Herbalife!
Thanks for your input Lynzee. I'm glad to hear from one person who is claiming to actually be making money selling Herbalife. However, I wouldn't even dare to sell a product that causes early onset of Osteoporosis, so I believe it's a lot more than "doing work". Here's the article I referred to: Soy Consumption May Hasten Osteoporosis
Herbalife is amazing. You all will never know it's blessing unless you've been to an Extravaganza, or been around an awesome team like I so fortunately have. I won't go into the details of how much Herbalife pays me each month, as next month it will be even larger. It's an amazing company to work for, and bash it all you want, but it's the number one nutrition company worldwide; pays more people a 6 figure income than ANY other company of ANY kind, in ANY country. We have over 100 million customers and leadership that any company should envy. We're making a difference with these AMAZING products.. maybe your body doesn't like soy, but it's been working for millions of people for 32 years now..
Thanks for your input Lynzee. I'm glad to hear from one person who is claiming to actually be making money selling Herbalife. However, I wouldn't even dare to sell a product that causes early onset of Osteoporosis, so I believe it's a lot more than "doing work". Here's the article I referred to: Soy Consumption May Hasten Osteoporosis