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April 18, 2004
New PHPs linked from Quixtar home page
By QBlog in
Just noticed that there are some new Personal Home Pages linked from Quixtar. When I first saw the PHP links on the Quixtar home page (back in Feb. '04) I pointed out that most (if not all) of the links were to Team Of Destiny home pages. Not so anymore. The World Wide Group (aka World Wide Dream Builders) now has a few home pages linked from Quixtar.com. The WWG home pages are little nicer looking than the TOD pages and there's even a directory page that lists them all (very handy).
Not to pick on anyone but I thought it was interesting that Dean Kosage was the only single guy out of 29 featured WWG home pages. Seems like a nice guy but this quote seemed a little bit contradictory to what I'd personally been told by my wife's Quixtar upline:
I had to realize being single was going to make this journey easier, not harder, and to stop using it as a crutch. Some of the fastest Emeralds and Diamonds had been single.I am not doubting the truth of Dean's statement but it's just startling since practically every success story I've ever heard involved a husband and wife.
And THAT got me thinking about homosexuals (see how my mind roams). I'm NOT even remotely suggesting that Dean is gay but I do wonder if gays are successful in Quixtar, or if there are any gays in Quixtar at all (surely there must be, right?). I can't recall a single gay Diamond and in light of Dean's statement, I wonder if it would be easier for a gay man (or woman I guess) to achieve success in Quixtar compared to married, heterosexual IBOs? Maybe it would be and if so, why don't we see more of them? Or maybe we do and I'm not aware? I don't know. Just things I think about on a Sunday evening. No NBA Playoffs on tonight.
Comments
Didn't I see a post somewhere here on Q-Blog or maybe MLM blog about how singles were not allowed on stage at the functins by themselves? many times they had a female with them that may have been single herself or married to another Diamond but they just didn't want the guy in front of an audience as single?
I know I have seen a couple Diamonds in a "profiles of success book" that were single so I'm sure there are a number of them out there.
Dean was married to Rebecca in the first few years in the business. I think she had a business as well. They were married around 1994. I doubt he his gay since there is a lot of un public info about his early days in Amway and many simultaneous relationships with women who all lived in the same college suite.
Dean was divorced due to his violent temper and abusive nature with his wife. He has been known to have damaged quite a few walls and doors.
Many of his downline knew of his temper and potty mouth. A lot of this is documented in letters to his upline when he and Rebecca divorced.
He is by no means gay, but probably can't live with another women due to his uncontrollable temper and abuse. Maybe he has gotten over it.
He ran many people out of the business.
Can you prove any of the things you say about Dean? I know absolutely nothing about the guy and am suspicious of such claims without seeing the evidence.
Also, I never suggested that he's gay. Of course I have no way of knowing but I personally doubt that he is and that's not even important. My point was that, to my knowledge, there are no openly gay Diamonds or high-level pins in Quixtar. I just thought that was odd, especially in light of Dean's statement about it being easier for single men to achieve success in Quixtar.
I think some time ago that there was a lesbian couple in my diamond's group going up the pin ladder.
I asked why there seemed to be so few gays involved. The answer I got (from my diamond) was that they have their own psychological problems to deal with before they can be successful at "this."
Don't shoot me ... they're not my words.
I have to say that the WWDB sites make the TOD sites look like poop.
Deception prevails in the profiles of the 'successful' business couples.....Take a look at the Danzik profile too. Says very clearly that Mr. Howie built his business as a single - this is also how he presents his history in the business. However - it's not true!!!! He was engaged when he became an IBO, and his then wife, Susan, decided to halt graduate school to devote herself full-time to their business. Of course, now they are divorced, and you NEVER hear about her or that Howie was ever even previously married and that he had substantial 'help' building his business to Emerald & Diamond. Old Amagrams show the happy couple (Howie and Susan) as new Emeralds and Diamonds. Interesting too, how a happy new Diamond couple was portrayed in 1996, and Howie and Teresa were married in May of 1997...somebody must not really have been that happy. These are the kinds of falsehoods that are presented that really irk those who criticize this business. The deceptions about who got where how and the blanket statements about sainthood in the ranks of the upper echelons is nauseating. Then when questioned, omissions become outright lies, and the whole issue begins to snowball. I don't know why Kosage got divorced, but he lost his Emeraldship in the process....I wonder why WWDB lets some Diamonds talk about their failed marriages and not others???
i have met dean and just returned fron a spring leadrership confrence. i just wanted to add that i saw at least three newly qualifing platniums cross stage under mr kosage. and there were single as well as couples.
Howie & Susan Danzik - Susan had an affair. Howie found out and tried to keep the marriage together, but couldn't. He talked about it on a WWDB stage right after he and Teresa where married.
To Questions...the reason for the divorce is actually none of anyone's business and wasn't my point. I'm sure it was a difficult decision and very painful for both of them. It's the deception around the FACT that as long as I've heard him (over 4 years), he has ALWAYS presented himself as a man who went Diamond AS A SINGLE while working 70+ hours a week. That is simply not true. He WAS married when he went Emerald and he WAS married when he went Diamond. That's the objection - the lie - not the fact that he is divorced. But since you brought it up...remember that divorce is never one-sided. And if Mr. Danzik was really spending 70+ hours at his clinic then building his business at night and on weekends with or without Susan, then he was away from home much much more than he was with his wife. If you're an IBO, you know the man's job is to show the plan, and build the business outside of the area to spur growth. So from that standpoint, I'm certain that he put his business before his marriage and relationship - something that WWG promotes anyway I might add....they teach that if your spouse doesn't agree - oh well - they will once you're rich, so do 'whatever it takes' and they will eventually change their mind! And BTW - don't listen to someone who throws all the blame on the other for the failure of a marriage!
Do you guys work?
"average minds discuss people" ever hear of that?
Shouldn't you guys be trying to get a retirement plan or something?
Go open a restaurant.... or a tire shop.... MLM its not for everyone....duh... but how does that fact help you?
I bet your wives would rather you guys spend some time holding them instead of wasting your time posting nonsense all day long..... about people you've never met.
oh sorry ... your wives are at work still being leased out to their boss for the day for a small fee of $12 bucks or less an hour...for 45 years huh?
confused?
Name 3 of your kid's "best" friends.
Name 3 your kid's favorite colors.
Name your kid's favorite type of animal.
who does your kid have a crush on?
what did your wife/husband have for lunch today, yesterday and the day before that ?
answer those questions right now right here before asking your family the answers.
0/5 right!....
explanation... You just don't cut it!... Too busy being successful right?
think about your home/car/shoes/insurance/quality of kid's education while you answer that... and lie to yourself again.....
--------------what about me?------------
why do I have time to read and reply ?
Its called get a dream and do some work ... I'm 25 ... and I'm done.... here is another time wasting effort you guys can undertake... figure out who I am..... I'm a 25 year old that doesn't have a job and doesn't have to seek sources of income.... at least not anymore.
out of luck....
well that is because I bet you mor*ns first would try to search for me somewhere whithin some MLM scheme like QUIXTAR ... well I'm not in MLM but I know tons of people doing just fine and tons doing poorly....
Its not about what you do...Its about how dedicated and persistent you are about what you try to become successful at....
you guys obviously are successful about posting stuff on this Blog site....
problem is- YOU DON'T GET PAID FOR DOING THAT
sell out to something that matters
instead of complaining all day.
This info and additional info can also be found on www.dateline.msnbc.com
Consumer Alert
In pursuit of the almighty dollar
Dateline investigation: Inside story of business that attracts people with promise of easy money
By Chris Hansen
NBC News
Updated: 7:29 p.m. ET May 07, 2004
Thousands of true believers gathered in celebration at arenas across the country, all convinced they've found the true path to success, to wealth beyond their wildest dreams. The promises are golden, fueling dream they do -- of luxury homes, fancy cars, yachts and private planes. So who are all these people and what are they so worked up about?advertisement
The people are distributors for a company called Quixtar, which says it's had $3 billion in sales since 1999. They say the company's special formula for success has made them rich. But their main purpose here is to tell all these thousands of other distributors that they can do it, too. All they have to do is sell everything from the company's own line of vitamins and cosmetics to name brand appliances and electronics. For that they'll get a percentage of the sales. And if they recruit a ton of other people to do the same they'll get a percentage of the orders placed by everyone they recruit. The more people they recruit, the richer they can get. And richer, and richer and richer. Sound too good to be true? We thought it did. In fact, it sounded a lot like another company that made news several years back. Amway, a hugely successful business that came under government scrutiny, was fined and ordered to stop making unrealistic promises about income to its distributors. RELATED LEGAL DOCUMENTS
• Federal complaint against Amway-Quixtar
• Federal complaint flow chart
• Amway-Quixtar answer to federal complaint
• Amyway-Quixtar suggestions
You will need Adobe Reader to view the links above. Click here to download.
To find out what Quixtar was up to, we took our hidden cameras to a recruitment meeting in New Jersey -- one of hundreds held around the country each week, and where hundreds of thousands of Quixtar faithful get their start. The first thing we hear is how easy it is to make it in Quixtar.Greg Fredericks: “If you're somewhat serious, all I mean by somewhat serious -- if you invest maybe, say, 10 to 15 hours a week in your business. This is your own business -- you could generate in the next 12 to 18 months, an extra quarter of a million.”Tim Sandler [Dateline producer]: “I'm sorry. How much?”Fredericks: “A quarter million.”Sandler: “You're making more than $250,000 -- quarter of a million?”Fredericks: “Umm hmm.”The recruiter, Greg Fredericks, sure gets our attention when he says he himself has made it big on the Quixtar plan. Fredericks: “I owe nobody nothing. You know, today I'm looking at a million dollar home, a thousand dollar Rolex just for kicks. And I just got a brand new Lincoln Navigator sitting out front paid for cash. So things are good.”And he says those kinds of riches are ours for the taking. And on top of getting rich, we'd also be able to make our own hours and spend more time with our family. So at another meeting, after paying $200 for a starter kit, we sign up and are officially introduced to the Fredericks team.The first step is to think positive.Fredericks: “So I don't put anything into my head that's going to cause me to be thinking outside my positive role.”That means, no TV, no reading newspapers.The second – and perhaps most important – step, is we're told to buy motivational books and tapes from top Quixtar distributors.Fredericks: “Reading. I would recommend you start reading. Do 15 minutes to about a half hour a day.”
Those books and tapes are going to cost us, but one of Fredericks's associates says they hold the key to our success. Still, it's not just buying the books and tapes, which can go for about $60 a month. We're also urged to spend money on seminars for about another $50 a month. And within days of becoming Quixtar distributors, we're told of one big event we shouldn't miss.Fredericks: “This is going to be the function of the year.”A few hundred dollars later, we find ourselves on a bus ride -- a 14 hour bus ride from New Jersey to South Carolina for something called "Spring Leadership Weekend." To Fredericks and others it's not just a business trip, it's a pilgrimage.Fredericks: “Lord, we ask you for a spirit of openness so that we might go down to Greenville, South Carolina, Lord, and that we might be changed. In Jesus's might name we say, Amen.”Group: “Amen.”Fredericks: “Let's have a great weekend.” MORE RESOURCES AND INFORMATION
• Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center 1-877-382-4357
• Federal Bureau of Investigation Contact an FBI field office in your region
• Internal Revenue Service
1-800-829-0433
• National Association of Attorneys General
202-326-6000
Contact the Attorney General in your state
• Better Business Bureau Contact the BBB in your region
• Quixtar and more information
At the arena in South Carolina, people have been sleeping outside, like teenagers at a rock concert. When we arrive the next day it's not long before the crowd swells and we're part of a fevered rush to get inside -- 15,000 pack the arena as we thrill to a carefully choreographed show that promises money and everything that comes with it. We're urged by those successful Quixtar distributors on stage to dream big like they do.The excitement builds with each success story. One man says he once ran a car wash. His vision of financial freedom moves the crowd to a chant we hear over and over again.Crowd: "Freedom! Flush that stinking job!"The speakers are treated like superstars, all living testaments to what happens when you follow the Quixtar plan. But there's one who's become an icon. If Quixtar is a religion, one man is its pope. His name is Bill Britt, and legend has it he's worth millions, all because of Quixtar. Bill Britt: “I got into this business for five reasons. Good reasons. The first one was money. The second reason I got in was for money. In fact, that's what all five reasons were.”So devoted are the followers, many in the crowd with us become sleep deprived, afraid to miss out on advice that will make them millionaires. Such devotion is hard to fathom, but we see just how far it goes on the last night of the weekend, when a single candle is lit. Soon the dark arena becomes a tabernacle, a shrine to the Quixtar dream.For some, there is a solemn and tearful promise to their leaders. But are the leaders keeping their promises to the faithful? What the thousands lighting candles in this arena don't realize is that 99.9 percent of them will not only never get rich from Quixtar, but they won't even come close. The freedom to flush that stinking job--that's the promise. And that's exactly what Eric Scheibeler did.Eric Scheibeler: “I thought if I could create a six figure income and spend time with my family, I'd do anything for that.”Scheibeler, at the time a federal auditor, had heard the stories and seen the videos. He signed up, and after a few years working part time in the business, he ceremoniously shot his own alarm clock. He triumphantly quit his day job. And with a limo waiting it was party time as he walked into the welcoming arms of his family and friends in the business.Chris Hansen: “Goodbye boss, hello family.”Scheibeler: “That's right. Exactly. It seemed to be the American dream.”But instead of a life of leisure and more time with his family, he says he worked day and night, buying the tapes, attending the rallies. Still, he made nowhere near the six figure salary he thought he would. In fact, in his best year he made $34,000 and even that didn't last.Hansen: “What do you have today?”Scheibeler: “We're destitute, financially. We'll change that. But financially we have nothing as a specific result of this.”We heard it again and again. People who worked the Quixtar plan, only to suffer in the end.Vicki Mack: “It's hurt us. It's hurt a lot of people.”Vicki and Lindy Mack say they not only didn't make money, they lost more than $35,000 over a five year period. Much of it on books, tapes, and traveling to rallies.Hansen: “That by the way, is like a year at Harvard.”Vicki Mack: “No kidding. I know that. We know that.”So why, despite the promises, did the Macks and thousands of others end up on the losing end of the Quixtar dream? One man says it's because it's based on a lie. And he should know. His name is Bo Short, and for a time, he was selling the dream himself as one of Quixtar's brightest stars. But he says, he began to realize he was part of a mass deception.Hansen: “You see these videos of these attractive couples driving Porches and Ferraris. Panoramic shots of palatial mansions.” Bo Short: “They're beautiful. Right.”Hansen: “Is that actually achievable by selling Quixtar products?”Short: “Based on my experiences, no.”Hansen: “How are people getting all of this stuff then?”Short: “There is another business.”And it's a business that is completely separate from Quixtar, a hidden business that most recruits don't realize exists. Short says many of those high-level distributors singing the praises of Quixtar on stage are actually making most of their money by selling motivational books, tapes and seminars -- not Quixtar's cosmetics, soaps and electronics.Hansen: “This was the dirty little secret.”Short: “That's exactly what it was, absolutely.”Hansen: “That's not what you hear at the conventions.”Short: “No, and that's not what you're told in somebody's living room when you see it either.”In fact, about 20 high level distributors are part of an exclusive club, one that those hundreds of thousands of other distributors don't get to join. For years only a privileged few, including Bill Britt, have run hugely profitable businesses, selling all those books, tapes and seminars -- things the rank and file distributors can't sell themselves, but are told over and over again they need to buy in order to succeed.Hansen: “Why are the recruits told to listen to the tapes and read the books over and over and over again?”Short: “Because it creates a dependency and it creates a habit that keeps you bound to that business.”Vicki Mack knows all about that. Even though she's a medical doctor, a pediatrician with a thriving practice, she found herself slaving away in the pursuit of new Quixtar recruits. After all, new recruits mean new sales and new sales mean more money. Vicki Mack: “We'd be out, just even hanging out at McDonald's at the play places talking to parents.”Hansen: “At McDonalds?”Vicki Mack: “Yeah.”Hansen: “Now you graduated from Berkeley.”Mack: “Uh-huh.”Hansen: “Went to medical school.”Mack: “Uh-huh.”Hansen: “Making a very fine salary as a pediatrician.”Mack: “Yeah.”Hansen: “And yet you're in a mall at a McDonald's on a Saturday trying to sell this thing.”Mack: “Yeah.”None of this surprises Bo Short. Not the commitment of time and money, not the emotion as we saw at the rally we attended.Hansen: “There's a man with tears.”Short: “There are probably many people with tears. And not all of those tears are because they're committed to it. Many of those tears are because they have worked diligently and are not any closer.”Hansen: “If this is not a legitimate business opportunity, then in reality, in your opinion, what is it?”Lindy Mack: “I would use the word scam.”Vicki Mack: “That's what I was thinking too.”Bo Short says, when he and several other high level distributors began to suspect the same thing, they confronted the company's managing director, Ken McDonald.Short: “I said, 'Ken, I believe that people are stealing money and you're letting it happen.' And he didn't respond… And I remember looking at him a few minutes later. I said, 'Ken, kick some of them out. Show people you're serious.' And he looked at me and said, 'What would happen to the business?'”Short says the company acknowledged it had been aware of the problem for decades. How could that be? Remember when we said Quixtar sounded a little like Amway--a company which drew the ire of the federal government several years back for making false promises to recruits? Well it turns out Quixtar isn't just like Amway -- it was Amway. Quixtar is just its new incarnation with many of the same players.Eric Scheibeler and the Macks began as Amway distributors. And many of those same high-level Quixtar distributors also began with Amway. So did Bo Short, who says he decided to walk away from the business and all the money that came with it.Hansen: “You were a poster boy for this outfit. You were on the company yacht. Are you now turning around and biting the hand that fed you?”Short: “I don't care if anyone thinks I'm biting anyone's hand that fed me. I'm telling the truth.”Quixtar declined to be interviewed on camera. But its managing director, Ken McDonald says in a letter that Short's recollection of events is "misleading" and he questions Short's "motivation" for speaking out. Short does run a small direct marketing firm himself and Quixtar considers him a potential competitor.Quixtar also says it "prohibits" its independent distributors from making exaggerated claims about income. As for the company's income, most of that comes from the sale of products, not from tapes and books and tickets to rallies. In its contracts, the company discloses that some distributors do make money from those sales but that buying those materials is "strictly voluntary." As for Bill Britt and some of the other top-level distributors we saw on stage, they also declined our request for an on-camera interview. But their lawyer told us in a letter that the income claims we heard are "not promoted or endorsed" by Britt and those other top distributors. He also wrote that buying the books and tapes is "voluntary"... and that how much they make from those sales "is not available." So how much does an average Quixtar distributor really make? Well, only about $1,400 per year. What's the source for that figure? It's Quixtar itself. You can find it in the fine print of the company's own registration materials. That's $248,600 less than what our recruiter, Greg Fredericks, said we could make.We caught up with him at one of his recruitment meetings.Hansen: “We're doing a story on Quixtar and Quixtar distributors.”Fredericks: “Okay.”Hansen: “And these folks here work with me.”Fredericks: “Oh, great.”Hansen: “ And we wanted to ask you a couple of questions.”Fredericks: “Sure.”First we reminded him about the money he said we could make.Hansen: “Are you really making...”Fredericks: "I'm not disclosing that.”Hansen: "A quarter million dollars by working merely 15, 16 hours a week?Fredericks: “[affirms] But I'm not going to disclose to you my information as far as my personal income.”But what he did let slip when he didn't know the camera was rolling was that one of the elite distributors we saw on stage is making most of his money from the motivation business.Fredericks: “Probably three quarters of it.”Sandler: “And that's from seminars -- holding seminars?”Fredericks: “Seminars, rallies, functions, motivational tools, tapes, books, speaking engagements, appearances.”But he didn't seem to remember saying that.Fredericks: “I don't know where that number came from. You're mentioning a number, three quarters of what his income is...”Hansen: “That's what you said, not what I said.”Fredericks: “Did I say that?”And that's about all he had to say. Later we found something else about Fredericks. Back in the mid 90s, he was arrested and charged with possession of crack cocaine and is still wanted by police to face charges in North Carolina.What about others involved in Quixtar? Both the FBI and the criminal division of the IRS are making separate inquiries into at least two top distributors not focused on in this report. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of true believers are drawn into Quixtar every year, dazzled by the promise of the good life. But unless things change, says Bo Short, it's a broken promise that will leave broken hearts.Short: “I think people are being hurt. Because understand, the majority of people in the audience believe, or desperately, desperately want to believe this. And they sit there with their hearts in it. What about them?”Some former high-level distributors have filed a lawsuit against Quixtar in federal court, accusing the company of antitrust violations and conspiracy. Quixtar disputes the allegations and says it hopes the matter will be resolved through arbitration. © 2004 MSNBC Interactive
MORE FROM CONSUMER ALERT
Dean Kosage...I once got into an email argument with the guy when he accused me of (get this:) Racism!!!!!! Looking at the picture and reading the blurb, you would hardly think that he'd be the type to do so (I would expect some color in him, or at least enough Lib Arts college education to allow such thoughts).
The gay angle would make some sense, in this way. As long as he (IF he's gay -- key word IF) wasn't an outright "flaming faggot" he could be a useful token to show WorldWide Group's tolerance towards those of "alternative lifestyles (as compared to, say, Dexter Yager)." Plus, his outsider status would give him some freedom to do various sorts of baiting with critics. Not only that, but his lines would be different enough to at least trap those unused to his line of attack.
Posted by: Don | April 19, 2004 7:23 AM