Ameriplan USA Deceptive business practices, work-at-home ripoff Plano Texas

I had an experience with this company recently that was very negative. I have been searching on the internet for a decent, work-at-home opportunity, and at first glance, Ameriplan USA seemed to be what I was looking for.

I contacted one of their National Sales Directors, who made the opportunity sound really good. I wouldn't have to pay for leads, I could build a residual income of $50,000 a year, and they would train me. The rub came when they wanted $95 up front, plus $35 a month to cover a website and apparently, the dental coverage.

I don't have a problem with paying for certain business expenses, but I admitted that money was tight for me right now, and I might need a day or two to come up with it. I also mentioned that I would need some time to do some due diligence, because in the back of my mind, the old adage, "if it's too good to be true, it probably is," kept coming up.

Things were reasonably friendly between myself and the National Sales Director, whose name shall remain unknown. I did a search on Google for complaints and was quickly directed to the RipoffReport.com website. I don't always believe everything I read, being a skeptic by nature. But I was astounded at the lengths to which these so-called IBO's from Ameriplan went, to rebut complaints. Instead of seeing anything specific, it looked like most of the rebuttals from Ameriplan reps were mostly personal attacks.

The minute I told the NSD about the Ripoff Report, he immediately got defensive. All of a sudden, I was a problem to him. I think his real problem was that I am a person who deals in specifics, and he didn't like that. I asked him for a specific description of my role in the marketing of Ameriplan, including advertising costs, training, etc. I asked for specific information about when and and how I would be compensated.

In trying to get set up with Ameriplan, I used a temporary debit card, because I have been burned with purchases I've made online before, where they say they'll withdraw one amount, and then continue to keep withdrawing more money once they have your account number. Ameriplan refused to accept the debit card; they obviously wanted something in the order of a "blank check," and thus confirmed my suspicions.

I wouldn't give out my bank account or credit card information, because I hadn't had a chance to see anything in print that confirmed my compensation arrangement or contractual obligations. I think that's just good business. I was willing to give them $95 up front, and then furnish bank information, once I got rolling.

Evidently, there must be a high rate of failure among Ameriplan reps because there is no reason that I can think of, to refuse a Visa debit card, even if it is temporary, that had more than $95 available credit on it. My guess is, that if I had offered to pay for the whole year on that debit card, they would have discovered a way to take that debit card. In other words, I think the NSD, despite his claims of success in the busines, was more interested in his "commission," than he was in "making a client."

After trying to decipher all of the pros and cons of Ameriplan, here are the conclusions I reached:

(1) I think the company selectively chooses who they'll compensate and who they won't compensate, leaving you entirely at the mercy of either the company or the IBO above you. This way they can show a few "success" stories in order to cover up what has to be a long list of failures.

(2) I tried to call Ameriplan on a customer service number that was not even toll-free, and was handled very unprofessionally. They gave the name of a person I hadn't even talked to, who was supposed to get back to me about my "New Broker Benefits Agreement" form, and of course, never did. The company makes you do everything through your IBO (read: upline), and I think, in this way, they escape any responsibility for anything that heads south without their direct knowledge.

(3) I think the true nature of the business is deceptively hidden, emphasizing only the dream, and not the precise amount of work it takes to reach that dream. Lead costs are not disclosed, which can be substantial. I saw a web site I was supposed to log on to, that listed a series of links to lead venders, and all of them expect you to order on a monthly basis. No doubt these were "approved" venders by Ameriplan, and my guess is, that Ameriplan gets a cut of this cost, as a fee or commission for doing business.

As for the "product" itself, it seemed clear to me that it will work in very specific situations, thus encouraging a few token testimonials that are probably real, but leaving the majority out in the lurch. Case in point: there is only one dentist in my area of Topeka and he's not even in the phone book, so he must be brand new.

The company has been in business since 1992 or 1993. Surely, that's long enough to be represented by more than one dentist in a town of 100,000 plus people. In areas where Ameriplan has been more active, the plan probably works OK. In areas where they haven't signed up dentists or doctors, it probably doesn't work well at all.

The bottom line, is that the modus operandi of this company seems to be, to let a few people succeed, and to let a few people receive some benefits, at the expense of many who fail, and the many who are too embarrassed to take the time to report it when the plan doesn't work for them. The reason I say this, is because what few times I attempted to reach either the NSD or the company, they used a very sophistocated screening procedure on their phones to make sure I was someone they wanted to talk to.

Otherwise, I would probably just be leaving voicemail messages that would never be answered. As it was, I placed two phone calls to the NSD I had contacted about the business that went unreturned; I had been advised to e-mail him with questions, and when I had some "due diligence" questions, he blocked my e-mail with "Spam Cop."

Ameriplan obviously wants people who don't think for themselves and are willing to spend untold and undisclosed amounts of money to "build their business," and apparently want the right to draft a bank account or credit card account at any time. I asked the NSD repeatedly if this was Multi-Level-Marketing and he said "No," but I think it is at the very least, a variation on that theme.

I have no doubt that my NSD probably was successful, but just because successful people recruit you, doesn't mean that they will allow you to be successful. In my case, had I gone forward with this, I think I would have just been used until my bank account was depleted, and available credit on my credit card depleted.

I was still strongly considering doing the business, but when he couldn't wait for me to give him a checking account number or a credit card number that they could continue to keep drafting, we parted company. Understand that I had seen nothing in writing that explained what my duties and contractual rights would be, as a marketing representative with Ameriplan, and yet they wanted all this money on blind faith.

Maybe a level playing field out there doesn't exist with any company, and while it may be true that 20% of your sales people provide 80% of the company's business, it's still no excuse to selectively decide who succeeds and who doesn't. My gut feeling is that this company allows some people to succeed who don't "question" their marketing methods, and then forces them out, if they either become too successful by management standards, or don't remain a player.

If I could sense this type of treatment early on, I didn't need to wait around until it happened again. Some of the other complaints I read, where the company took residual income away from other reps illustrates my point. The company needs a few success stories to stay in business; I think they treat the majority like they're some kind of useful idiots.

It's too bad, because I think Ameriplan has a good concept: offering discounted medical services at the time of use. The problem is, they've gotten greedy. In the areas where they get the doctors and the dentists to cooperate, it probably works OK. In the areas where the doctors and dentists don't, they just keep selling the "dream."

If this "dream" were all that achievable, you wouldn't see 100 different Ameriplan reps advertising websites on the internet. They'd be able to contact people directly on their own. The opportunity is advertised all over the internet, making me wonder if the market is already saturated.

This opportunity may be for some people, but I think you better have deep pockets for advertising, deep pockets for telephone expenses and answering services, deep pockets for lead acquisition costs, and an extremely tenacious desire to sell. I was told that "interested people would contact me." I'll bet that's a very small percentage of the people you actually sell.

Good luck to anyone who tries this.

Justin Topeka, Kansas