Melaleuca, "Mom Team", "Stayin' Home And Lovin It" deceived, mislead, and fraudulently and persistently misrepresented the "opportunity". Rip-off! Nationwide

I joined Melaleuca in November of 2000, I found an ad posted by Kristie Jones of The Mom Team. Moms ~ you can stay home with your children and earn a replacement or supplemental income. blah blah blah ~ Work hard for 40 years or smart for 4? Well being a Mother of 3 who really hated to have to drop her children off at daycare everyday ~ I requested more information.

Kristie called me and presented the opportunity (this was before the live conference calls were ever in place). Join as a preferred customer (order 35 base points every month) and "introduce" other customers and you will earn 7% commission off what they purchase every month. (She neglected to tell me that this is actually 7% commission off of the base point order ~ difference being about $1.05 per customer per month.)

Ok so you introduce at least 8 preferred customers and you advance to Director and start earning 10% commission off of their monthly order. (So she tells me the average order is around $50 per month so 14% of that is $7 per person. Again it is 14% of the base point order ~ so 14% of 35 base points is $4.90.) So far so good, sounds easy enough. Just switch where you shop, introduce other people to the "catalog shopping company" and you can replace your income.

She also promised that I would never have to make calls on my own until I was absolutely ready ~ but guess what? She was never available to make calls with me so I was forced to make them myself ~ if I wanted to enroll customers and make any money. Well you can imagine how that went ~ brand new to the company and not able to answer most of the questions. There is always excuses from my upline about helping us ~ I AM NOT THE ONLY one! Many, many people are left as orphans in this team.

I WAS PROMISED TEAMWORK AND SUPPORT! Yeah, right. It is NOT that easy. Imagine my surprise when my first check was only around $8.00. Don't get me wrong I was proud of that check! I was on my way. Three months later I finally hit Director and my check was around $200. (Also, when you advance to Director your base point order has to be 75 base points a month which is over $120 every single month. But I am still making money right??) Not bad!

My next mission was to have one of my customers to become a Director and then I advance to Director II ~ and then I can earn more money because I get a "bonus check" for my leadership skills. So I run up my phone bill to an outrageous amount (this was before unlimited flat rate long distance). I finally have one of my girls hit Director and I advance. Well bonus checks are not all they are cracked up to be. My Check went to $400! Wow! But it included my one time advancement bonus of $100.

So go out and repeat that and have another customer reach Director and then I would advance to Director III. Well as time went on it was harder and harder to "convince" people that this was for them. I was not working part time ~ I was working ALL the time (another misleading phrase in the original presentation ~ work part time and replace your income.) Well I working 40+ hours a week ~ ask anyone that has heard a presentation and you will know that they tell you it can be worked part time. WELL NOT IF YOU WANT TO MAKE ANY MONEY!

So I finally advance to Director III, well wait a minute ~ one of the customers cancelled so my customer advanced for a minute. I never received my advancement bonus for that because you have to maintain the status for a certain amount of time ~ 90 days.

Another misconception or flat out lie is that you can make this business work with free advertising on the internet! Yeah right, how many Mom Team ads did you have to compete with?

I still was a true believer of Melaleuca ~ and everyone in my upline was succeeding. Right? My husband was really sick in 2002 so I really wasn't able to work the business. I still received a check every month of around $200. Well my husband went on temporary leave, my phone was shut off because I couldn't pay the outrageous bill I had racked up. But Melaleuca was the one for me! I just knew it.

In November of 2002 I started working hard at the business again, recruiting people ~ More like selling. You don't actually sell the product but you do have to sell the business, you have to "not tell the whole truth" (like the money you end up spending to get "quality" leads, money for the phone bill, money for the internet service, money for the products!) to get people to enroll. Like better, safer, healthier products. The ingredients almost look the same to me as the store bought brand. But I still was a believer.

So I started enrolling customers again and still could not advance in status ~ at this time Stayin Home and Lovin it branched off of The MOM Team. Alright, so we had new websites to promote ~ we could advertise for free! yeah right!

My checks were now $800 plus a month, a far cry from replacing my income ~ and I was enrolling people but the attrition rate is so high that it is hard to advance to anything. They say Melaleuca has a 95% reorder rate but that is because people like me who work the business have to place an order to get paid.

I was still at Director II and found that I could not tell the lies anymore, I could not ethically tell people that they could work this business part time and for free and replace or supplement their income. This team and the MOM Team prey on working Mothers and stay at home Moms who really want to do what is right for their families. They target these Moms and mislead these people.

**Here are sample ads from the team room on Stayin Home and Lovin It:

"Not get rich Quick. But Legit."

"Work with a company that makes a difference in our world. Someone we can be proud of and enjoy working with. Have a team to help, train and guide you to success. We are the Team, the team that cares about you."
~Stayin Home and Lovin It!

"I am a mom of 2 girls and was looking for something I could believe in. I found it. I am proud of who I work with, and what they do. And even better, I get to work from home the way I want to, with my kids by my side. No selling, stocking or delivering products and we don't have to run around chasing people. Let me share with you what is changing my life."

"Stayin' Home and Lovin' It" is a support team that provides free websites and training to women who want to enhance their lives by partnering with a premier wellness company and work from home."

I was mislead by all the "hype" the present to us. And team work that is promised is basically non existent. My Father passed away this past September and I had to take off so my customers that were actively working the business went to my upline for support and guess what??? THEY DIDN'T receive any! So what happened? I lost around 5 or 6 customers. All they brag about on their live presentations is teamwork, teamwork, teamwork. You have all the tools you need to succeed. Well once you enroll ~ good luck to ya! Follow the step by step training and you can do it! IT IS A BIG RECRUITING GAME!

I was mislead, deceived, fraudently made to believe that you can succeed with little to nothing out of pocket. They played on my most precious assets (my children) I feel like I had a verbal contract with this team but I was the only one who cared about the people I actually introduced to the company and team. Melaleuca has approved these online teams so are they not responsible for the actions of "leaders" of these so called teams??

Stayin Home and Lovin It also has a "Right Start Training" call that basically brainwashed you into believing that every product we buy from the store will cause you to get cancer, add, adhd, and any other illness you can think of. It is a major scare tactic for Mother's especially. They are not just misleading but flat out lying about Melaleuca's products being safer and healthier.

**Here is what the products say: Melaleuca formulas as read on the labels.

Pre-Spot Plus:
"A Proprietary Formula Containing: Surfactants: (these are wetting agents and since the type/s aren't listed could be anything, even ammonia) Enzymes: (two commonly used both from animal enzymes such as hog pancreas)Melaleuca oil Frangrance and Colorant."

"CAUTION: Eye irritant. Keep out of reach of children. In case of eye contact, flush with plenty of water. Call physician if irritation persits. If swallowed, drink water and call a physician or local poison control center....etc"

Mela Brite: (exact same formula although the mix of ingredients may vary)"A Proprietary Formula Containing: Surfactants, Enzymes, Melaleuca oil, Frangrance and Colorant."

"CAUTION: Eye irritant. Keep out of reach of children. Prolonged contact may cause skin irritation. In case of eye contact, flush with water for 15 minutes. Call physician if irritation persits. If swallowed, drink water and call a physician or local poison control center. Rinse hands after use...etc"

Sol-u-guard:
Active ingredients:
n-Alkyl (c14 50%, c12 40% c16 10%): (this is not a complete formula but is a strong alcohol derivative of synthetic fatty acids in alcohol) Didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride 1.875%: Dimethyl benzul ammonium chloride 1.248%: (these are both ammonium salts that can cause vomiting, nausea etc if ingested.
Inert Ingredients 96.877%(this means that 96% of this formula is probably water or some other unnammed ingredient, I would want to know what it is)

Precautionary statements:
Hazardous to humans and domestic animals.

Warning:
Causes skin and eye irritation. Avoid contact with eye, skin, and clothing. Wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling.

Moistursil Bath Oil:
Contains hydrogenated Polyisobutene (a plasticizer/petroleum oil ingredient used in lubricating oils, adhesives, etc. Cetyl acetate and Acetylated Lanolin Alcohol: (acetate is a common ingredient in this type of formula and lanolin is derrived from sheep oil glands and some people are very allergic to it. PEG 8 Dilauate, T36-C5 Melaleuca Oil, Lanolin Oil, Squalane(is made from various sources and a good lubricating oil)

Caution:
For external use only. Avoid contact with eyes. Keep out of reach of children.

(The second ingredients are Petrolateum and synthetic wax. There are a lot of people who are allergic to wheat germ oil and it has no real value to the skin. The entire formula is made up of waxes and ingredients that make them soft) It would we a waste of money unless you wanted to polish your furniture with it.)

Melagel:
T36 C5 Melaleuca Oil, petrolium and synthetic wax, wheat germ oil, cocoa butter, stearic acid, beeswax, ozokerite, glyceryl stearate & PEG 100 stearate, stearath-2, stearath-21, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), retinyl palmitate (Vitamin A) & cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) and Corn oil.

When I first started we were taught to use the term non-toxic but now we are not allowed to say that ~ only non caustic.

This team has no integrity ~ they stoop to any level to introduce new customers. The whole time I have been a customer and a member of this team ~ no one takes responsiblity! Not for the lies and misconceptions that lead us Mothers to believe that we can succeed in this business.

Valarie
Columbus, Ohio