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Report: #577588

Complaint Review: ACN - American Communications Network - Bothell Washington

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  • Reported By: TheKing — Washington United States of America
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  • ACN - American Communications Network Bothell, Washington United States of America

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So...
I have been on a hard job search lately and stumbled across a telecommunications job. 

Sounded good, emailed my resume and everything.

Got a call 10 days later from a guy that is asking if I am interested in a job that I applied for.  I said, "yes, of course."  So then he goes through a small spill, not mentioning the name of his "company" or that it is affiliated with ACN.  So I ask about what company this is for.  He stalls for a couple seconds and tells me, "well... my company is Freedom Express Unlimited."  I said, "your company?  Is it under some other company and if so, what is the name?"  He stalls again and mentions that it is with ACN.  So I ask him what exactly I would be doing and he just mentions getting 20 customers and then having friends work underneath me and get customers.  So I ask him if I actually get money from the sales to customers or if it is from getting my friends to work underneath me.  Of course, another stall... then he says something that made no sense and something about residuals.  Then tells me to meet him at his "business" at 6 PM and he will introduce me to a guy named Spencer (I think the main Vice President for the entire ACN company, you can see him on their webpage) and he will talk to you about what an excellent opportunity this is.  I said okay, I will call you if there are any problems.

So I look around on the internet and here and see that it is just another pyramid scheme and I would have to pay $499 to become an associate (was not told this prior).

So I call him back and ask about the $499 and a bunch of other questions and all I got was stalling and short answers, then changing of the subject and back to how much money I could make if I spent the $499.  I wasn't buying any of it and wanted that $499 to stay right in my pocket.  So he tries hard to sale me and close me on this opportunity like I am out buying a car...  I don't know what kind of employer really tries to sale you on a job.. I thought it was usually the other way around.  So I told him I would wait and think about it, just like if I was actually buying a car lol. 

So needless to say I am not going to the meeting to meet this big shot who was going to fill me with some bullsh#$ so his pockets could get fatter. 

It also makes me ask the question if there are good old fashion reliable jobs out there instead of these pyramid schemes, because they are about all I have found in my search.  NOT COOL AMERICA! 

I would have to just say.. stay away from ACN and its empty promises.  Oh and also stay away from Kirby and RJ Distributing, a lot of false advertising there too. 

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/03/2010 05:10 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/acn-american-communications-network/bothell-washington-/acn-american-communications-network-freedom-express-unlimited-tough-salesman-too-good-t-577588. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author
22Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#23 Consumer Comment

Do Your Homework

AUTHOR: Money Mike - (USA)

POSTED: Sunday, April 09, 2017

Hey,

I was online doing some research on ACN and found this report. After reading I felt the need to post. First off, this is not a job opportunity and anyone representing it as such is shooting two feet at once. This is a great opportunity for those who want to be in business for themselves yet want to have big time support.

There is no need to recruit if you are uncomfortable with that...with all the products/services at your disposal

  • cellphones
  • Point of Sales Machines
  • Solar Energy
  • Internet
  • Dish/Directv and more...

you get a website that you can direct customers to.  I did years of telemarketing for five of the companies I now partly own...so...I just do what they employed (meaning to use) me to do... call a list of people.

I must say I do recruit cuz I got the personality and drive...but not everyone I sign up wants to build a network...for $500 bucks you are a mini communications store...on and offline.

I hope this keeps some dreams alive...remember....only 3% make it to the top moneywise... don't listen to those that dont make money with any opportunity...this one or any other....listen to those that are making it...and you will hear a more optimistic view..

 

Good luck

for real information...visiit the ACN site, take a look at my product page if you want...do your homework...then go with your instincts.

Independent Business Owner (IBO) ACN since March 2017 (yep...brand new..best decision...eva)

https://goo.gl/NA5eGH  ACN Site

 

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#22 UPDATE Employee

limited knowledge complaint

AUTHOR: logical guy - (USA)

POSTED: Saturday, February 27, 2016

I joined ACN last June. I have had limited time to work it. I followed the system and have tripled my initial investment while helping others do the same. I know it's not for everyone but I believe anyone can do it if they follow the system. It takes work but is a lot easier than any other "job" I ever had. I respect your opinion of your bad experience and I'm sorry you didn't succeed but I personally see first hand hundreds of people who do succeed who fortunatly were not deterred by reading posts like yours of a failed attempt to make it. Good luck with whatever you do.

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#21 Consumer Comment

Still up to their dirty tricks

AUTHOR: Casper75 - (Australia)

POSTED: Thursday, October 22, 2015

I've worked several contracts this year & I'm still looking for permanent part time work & someone saw a post I wrote on Facebook about myself looking for work, I got a message basically saying that "My company is expanding Into Australia & we are looking for new people" which is a flat out lie because ACN has been In Australia for over 10 years.  This company was even taken court by the ACCC because they are deemed as a pyramid scheme I did not even need to respond to the guys message as the website was In his profile & one look at the site bought ACN up In lights.  I want a actual job not one that I don't have to pay $500.00 to undertake this company is still up to their dirty tricks even on Linkedin I've seen the same spin from those who are trying to make money after they have been sucked In.

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#20 General Comment

You are stupid

AUTHOR: Realezguy - (USA)

POSTED: Sunday, March 29, 2015

I have been to ACN meeting and I am joigning the company. It is a MLM or networking company. A pyramid is something you recruit people and there is nothing to sell. Like a ponzi scheme. ACN sells telecommunication and energy company (Verizon, Direct tv, ADT etc....)

This guy is an idiot. I have been the ACN meeting and they told everybody in the room the fee to start your own business. $499.00 WHICH IS REIMBURSED TO YOU WHEN YOU SELL 20 SERVICES. I started with myself changing my Cell, my internet, my phone, my cable...boom that was 4 services right there. And the beauty of it is I was paying $404 a month for 4 Android plan with Verizon with 20 gb. Thanks to ACN I still have the same plan same plan 4 I Phones and paying $185.00 a month.

Its like I read from another guy saying : Boo h*o h*o, they did not give me any leads, they bad, they a pyramid.

Get a life and go work as a waiter. Everything in life is a pyramid then. I sell life insurance. Dam, the CEO make money when I sell a policy, so is the President  and the Vice President, The Marketing organization, the general agent, the agent, the sub agent...darn Insurance is a pyramid.

Stupid people.

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#19 Consumer Comment

Too Many ACN FEES

AUTHOR: EDGHOSN - ()

POSTED: Thursday, March 27, 2014

The problem I see because I have been to the weekly ACN meetings is that they paint a false picture of success. I is not that easy to keep creating a list of people to call. What happens when you run out? You have to hit the Walmart and do cold turkey calls. To get 25 customers on cell phone service from ACN to make $100/month is not enough money to live on. If you figure it out ACN makes $900 on these customer. Who makes the money here?? The big cheeses in ACN not the hard workers scrapping the bottom trying to get customers.

Be realistic. If a young family with 2 children needs $5000/month to live on to meet all their needs and save for the future you will need to have 1250 customers buying cell phone service from ACN. Of course this would be pretax and you will have to give uncle sam his share. Don't forget ACN pockets $45,000 per month from your hard work. There is something really wrong from this picture. This is begining to sound like your working to make someone else rich.

Oh don't forget the $499 signup fee (what the heck is that for????), the weekly meetings at $5/meeting, could be up to 3 meetings per week ($15). If you invite a guest, you better plan on paying for them too. The annual convention, who know how much it costs to get into that.  You have to have Online assistance support at $39/month to keep you up to snuff on ecommerce.

Of course they say you can write all of that off as business expense on you taxes.

This is not realistic. The work it take to get 1250 customers let alone 25 is not that easy. You will make more money working for a retail wireless company as an employee than with ACN IBO.

Maybe ACN should put 70% of the annual revenues back to their IBO's. I think I'll sign up now less the $499 fee.

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#18 General Comment

ACN is designed to take your money, not make you money

AUTHOR: pumpkin_eater - ()

POSTED: Wednesday, November 06, 2013

For all you folks considering joining ACN, please dont do it. At the least, you stand to lose $500, at the most, your friends, family, your job and all your savings. The average person in montana who joined ACN as an IBO lost $15000. 

A few days ago, I was suckered into attending an ACN meeting and narrowly escaped with my $500 still intact. The "businees opportunity" is quite simple and enticing when you look at it from afar. But on closer examination, it's quite obvious that this is just another type of MLM pyramid scheme similar to the likes of Amway and Quixtar.

You, the IBO, are the customer. The product they are selling is quite simply the $500 sign-up fee, the $150 annual fee, the $40 monthly fee and the fees your pay for all those conferences. You are bringing other IBO's (customers) in who will also pay most, if not all of those same fees. None of you will make money enough to even break even.

In Canada, ACN is required to disclose the “average” income of ACN sales reps. The ACN Canadian website reports the average of just the “active” reps to be only $9 a week. That’s exponentially less than the cost of joining and actively participating.

You have been warned. If you have an intelligence whatsoever, please read other reports on ripoffreport and even a simple google search for the company's financials will give you all you need to make an informed decision. 

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#17 UPDATE EX-employee responds

I did well with ACN

AUTHOR: Theo - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, December 08, 2012

In 1995, I was working at a gas station, barely making ends meet, when I met a man named Greg Provenzano. He told me he had a great business opportunity for me if I could be diligent and motivated. Two years later, I had bought my first home, paid off my college debt, and was financially independent. Greg is a visionary, who in 1995 was already talking about internet television, VOiP, watching movies on a cell phone, and telecommuting.

ACN is product/service driven and not downline driven like other multi-level organizations. I made my money by selling a superior product at an excellent price. I began selling simple long-distance plans, expanded to cell phones, and then moved to selling business phone and fax services. I would still be an independent contractor for ACN, but I used the money I made to start a photography studio and a foster home. I would not hesitate to recommend ACN to anybody who has the motivation, work ethic, and diligence to create a business.

If an independent representative misrepresented the ACN opportunity as employment, then that representative deserves the blame. Don't blame a solid organization like ACN, though. ACN has helped many people become financially independent, and has helped millions of people save money on communication services.

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#16 Consumer Comment

Clarification

AUTHOR: SmallBusOwnerMBA - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, March 26, 2012

Thanks for trying to educate and clarify one person's misguided information.

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#15 Consumer Comment

Thank you

AUTHOR: Antonio - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Thank you.  I think you make a very valid point.  ACN IBOs need to take their business more seriously and professionally and actually learn what they need to know.  ACN is a great company that offers great opportunity.  Individuals that get involved and intentionally or accidentally misrepresent screw everything up and make building business more difficult.  I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this business with you. 

Best regards



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#14 General Comment

Thank You

AUTHOR: Ponderings - (United States of America)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 14, 2012

I appreciate your post with a screen shot of the comp. plan (at least now we are comparing apples to apples) and your willingness to be open and carry on a conversation regarding rates and earnings. It's more than I can say for many reps I've come across.

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#13 Consumer Comment

Out of date information

AUTHOR: Antonio - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, February 13, 2012

The compensation plan you are referring to is more than 1 year out of date.  Ive attached an image of ACNs most recent compensation plan.  Personal Residual Income is no longer based on an IBOs billing volume.  It is now based on Personal Customer Points, as I pointed out in a previous rebuttal. 

Therefore, my calculations are correct.  25 accounts x $40 = $1000.  $1000 x 10% = $100 per month in Personal Residual Income.

One of the greatest things about ACN is that the Co-Founders of the company along with the Circle of Champions (20 of the top IBO who are selected to work with the Co-Founders on a Board of Directors) are always looking for ways to improve our company.  New services and compensation plan improvements are announced nearly every quarter.

Saying that someone on the my seventh level is at the bottom of my pecking order is like saying that Im at the bottom of someone elses pecking order and I dont consider myself to be below anyone.  I am part of a team.  There are dozens, probably hundreds of people whose team I am part of, but Im at the top of my business and everyone on my team is at the top of theirs.  Successful ACN business owners dont focus on what the guy above is making from our efforts.  How many people have done what I have?  Thousands have but even more have not and Ill tell you why.  People are weak.  People hear about it, they like it, they trust their own intelligence and based on reviewing a simple compensation plan and a sound business model they decide to get started.  Then they go home, or get on the internet, or make a phone call and they talk to someone like you, a negative pessimist that couldnt possibly accomplish what others have accomplished in this business and who does everything he or she can to smash the dreams and aspirations of the excited new business owner and make him or her feel like an idiot.  Why?  Just because you cant do it?  Because people dont like you?  Because you have no friends or contacts?  Because other people have said no to you and smashed what dreams and aspirations you had? Because of the beliefs and prejudices instilled in you by your daddy?   I dont know.  May you are none of these possibilities.  Maybe you are surrounded by people that love and admire you.  Maybe you are extremely wealthy and devote days at a time coaching and teaching others how to achieve wealth and accomplish what you have.  Or maybe you just suck and have nothing better to do than jerk off on the internet all day long looking to smear around as much crap as you can.

Weak people quit because they dont get customers and I hope other ACN IBOs out there read this part. 

Go out and get 50 customer points.  Spend $499 to purchase your business then go out and get 50 customer points.  Do whatever it takes.  Offer to mow your neighbors lawn for a month.  Baby sit for a friend.  Ask for a favor.  Our customers have the benefit of getting the best pricing available for the services they are already using from companies they are already familiar with.  An IBO that gets 50 customer points will make an average of $100 a month.  It doesnt matter if its a little less, a little more or a lot more.  If youre getting a check for 50 bucks a month from ACN, youre not going to pick up the phone, call ACN and say you know I quit.  Please stop sending me those checks.  Its not worth the trip to the bank to deposit 50 dollars.  People quit ACN for the exact same reason they close the door on any other business, no customers.  Its just a whole lot easier to close the doors on a business that cost 499 dollars than it is to close the doors on a business that cost 499 thousand dollars. 

Belief in what we do is all it takes to reach any position in ACN.  Some people have tons of belief in the beginning and promote through the ranks quickly.  Others dont.  For those that dont, get customers which will earn checks.  Checks create belief.  Belief will lead you to other entrepreneurs.  Other entrepreneurs will lead you to whatever position you want.  It doesnt matter if certain PEOPLE want to put you down, tell you that it doesnt work, tell you that its a scam or anything else. 

Documentation wins every time.  If everyone you know is negative, go meet me new people.  Team together with the people that are committed to succeeding and shut out the rest.

I get paid by ACN.  My wife gets paid by ACN.  I brought my own mother into this business and she is getting paid by ACN.  Because of ACN I'm making it possible to retire the woman who gave up her life to create a great one for me. ACN is a great business opportunity and it pays very well the people willing to do the work. 
   

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#12 General Comment

Amazed

AUTHOR: Ponderings - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, February 13, 2012

Wow, considering you are an ACN rep, I would assume you knew your own pay structure a little better. You claim that with 25 personal customers (at $40/month billing per customer) you would be making 10% commission? In my book, 25 x $40 = $1,000, not $10,000 (which is the required monthly billing to earn 10%). So, with 25 personal customers (remember, according to the ACN compensation structure, you require 40 personal customer points to earn commission from your 5th, 6th, and 7th levels) and $40/month per customer bill, you're actually making 1% commission, or $10 (this assumes that your commission earning rate is the entire billing volume, which we both know is not realistic).

Further, congratulations, you were able to show me (but not really) how much work is required to earn (approx.) $3,000/month in downstream commission! Can you post what the statistics are on how many ACN reps currently have a structure 7 levels deep with the number of IBOs doubling at each level (with 64 IBOs on the lowest level)? I'm sure it's pretty rare, rarer than ACN would ever want to admit. However, if you have personally achieved this level, then I applaud you (as I never stated it was impossible). But what kind of market share does ACN require so that the person on the bottom of your pecking order can actually hope to achieve the same earning rate?

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#11 Consumer Comment

I'm really getting tired of correcting you...

AUTHOR: Antonio - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, February 10, 2012

Your inability to understand a very simple compensation plan continues to amuse me.  By the way Are you from New Zealand?  

I still own and operate a successful business.  I am also still a consultant to other business owners.  Im an expert at identifying ways of improving business and increasing profits.  When I examined the ACN compensation plan I immediately recognized its potential and decided to join.  If you find my criticism of your abilities harsh, its because identifying errors and problems is part of what I do for a living and Im not at all afraid to tell you when I find them.  I can almost hear your mind thinking right now  Ah ha!!!  He is still working!  But hes a successful ACN Independent Owner.  That must mean that hes rich.  But hes still working.  Yeah sure, I bet hes rich.  Ha ha ha!  Ive been involved in ACN for 3 and a half years and no, ACN has not made me rich.  Nowhere in the compensation plan does it state that you will become rich.  If you would visit the website of an IBO and watch the video entitled The ACN Business Opportunity Presentation you will not see anywhere in the video where it is claimed that ACN will make you rich.  Any intelligent and realistic entrepreneur understands that starting any business involves hard work and risk and is ok with the fact that he or she may never get rich running the business in which they choose to open.  In fact since youre so good at looking up statistics, look up the statistics on how many small businesses survive the first 5 years. 

Maybe try slowing down when you read and examining each paragraph more carefully.  I did not write that you can make 50% from downstream energy accounts.  First of all, I was clearly talking about PERSONAL residual income.  Secondly, this is the excerpt from the compensation plan:  IBOs will receive commissions on 50% of the customers actual energy usage, excluding taxes and surcharges. Commissionable revenue percentage may be lower for Large Business accounts depending on rates and terms offered to customers.  At this point I really dont know why, but I assumed that you understood that meant an IBO could earn up to 10% of half the energy usage.  Here is some math for you:

Energy Bill (Procurement Only):  $100
Amount Commissionable:  $50
IBO Compensation if 50+ Points:  10%
Total Commission paid:  $5
10% of $50 is FIVE DOLLARS

And yes, you are correct that ACN RESERVES THE RIGHT to cap commissionable billing for energy at $1/therm (for gas) and $.135/kWh (for electric).  Look up the historical costs for the last decade of natural gas and electricity from your local utility and determine how often the procurementcost has been over these amounts.  By the way, PROCUREMENT is what we get paid on which does not include delivery.  We get paid for the gas and the electricity, not for getting it to the customer.  Delivery goes 100% to the utility. 

Can you please, PLEASE, specify where in the compensation plan it reads that you must reach the position of SVP to earn compensation of 8% from the customers on your 7th level of business?  ACN may want to know this so that they can request a refund on the thousands of dollars theyve paid me over the last few years.  I am not an SVP.  I am a TC (Team Coordinator).  Even a QTT (Qualified Team Trainer) can earn compensation of 8% from the customers on his or her 7th level of business.  

Here's some more math for you, since you like math so much...You = Qualified Team Trainer with 50 Customer points earning 10% from personal customers who recruits 1 individual that becomes an ETT. An ETT is an IBO with a minimum of 7 points who recruits and directly sponsors 2 IBO's who acquire a minimum of 5 points. For simplicities sake we will assume that everyone from this point on become an ETT with the exception of you, the lone QTT at the top with only 1 directly sponsored IBO.  We will also assume that everyone aquires just 10 accounts at an average bill of $40. 

QTT:  25 Customers x $40/customer x 10%= $100 commission

Level 1:  1 IBO x 10 Customers x $40/customer x.25%=  $1

Level 2:  2 IBO x 10 Customers x $40/customer x.25%=  $2

Level 3:  4 IBO x 10 Customers x $40/customer x.25%=  $4

Level 4:  8 IBO x 10 Customers x $40/customer x.50%=  $16

Level 5:  16 IBO x 10 Customers x $40/customer x3%=  $192

Level 6:  32 IBO x 10 Customers x $40/customer x5%=  $640

Level 7:  64 IBO x 10 Customers x $40/customer x8%=  $2048

Total Commission earned by the Qualified Team Trainer with his one recruit:   $3,003 per month.  $3,003 per month of residual income from the work of 127 IBOs who only get 10 customers.  But all that work for just 3k a month!?!  Funny, I have just a little more than 127 IBO on my team.  Obviously not worth the $499 investment and three and a half years of working an extra 10 hours a week and being really good to people.  I mean, three thousand dollars a month isn't jack.  That not nearly enough.

You are right about one thing, we do present a dream.  We present a dream of financial independence, of wealth and of freedom.  Fortunately our formula for achieving this dream is not as risky or deadly as the dreams of early American settlers or even modern immigrants.  Our formula is not as costly, risky and binding as the more common formula of mortgaging the house to rent the space, purchase the inventory, hire the employees and pay for the advertising while fighting off the state and federal regulators.  Our formula requires a one-time investment of $499, an annual fee of $149 and a little good old fashioned hard work and being good to people.  Have you looked up the statistic on how many people that spend 4 to 8 years in college that are actually employed in the field in which they earned a degree?  Have you looked at the statistics of what percentage of the population earns more than 40k per year?  How about 60k?  How about 100k?  Do you know how much the average household needs to earn yearly to not be considered to be living in poverty?  Are you aware of the current economic climate and unemployment rate?  

Heres two things you should know.  The Golden Rule:  He who has the gold, makes the rules.  Also Look around!  The old system is not working!  Why do so many people believe that all they need to do is go to school and get a good job and everything will be ok?  Because he who has the gold makes the rules!

There is no risk involved in becoming an ACN Independent Business Owner.  Anyone who believes that putting $499 on the line is a risk, is broke and will likey stay that way. I'm attaching a picture of your 1 year old compenstation plan document for your review of Overriding Residual Income to support my example above.

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#10 General Comment

Why All the Personal Attacks?

AUTHOR: Ponderings - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, February 09, 2012

You know how to distinguish when someone knows their arguement is unravelling? They lower themselves to personal attacks. So now I'm an "idiot" who doesn't do his research?

While I will admit that I based my calculations off the ACN New Zealand Compensation plan, it seems that most of my calculations (as you admit) were in your favor. Here's another great thing about the internet: you can search documents such as the ACN USA Compensation Overview. So I'm not accused of "making up statistics" (which I had not done in the first place; they were only calculated for a different country), I provided a link to the PDF of the US compensation structure.

Here -->  http://c0004016.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/7-COMPENSATION-PLAN-OVERVIEW-FEB-2011.pdf

None of it is really more favorable than the one I outlined previously. You claim that an IBO can make up to 50% off downstream energy accounts. Well, if you read the fine print on page two of the linked document, you'll notice that the commissionable billing cap for energy is $1/therm (for gas) and $.135/kWh (for electric).

On another note, you claim that you are making about 8% commission on downstream customers. This would put you at the level of SVP according to the attached PDF. I congratulate you on accomplishing this, however, where can I find statistics on how many SVP exist in the entire ACN organization? Or, does ACN not want to readily release this information to the public? I won't go on arguing with you as you don't seem to back up any of your claims with actual statistics on how much you earn and you seem very defensive when somebody presents simple figures that may not paint the most positive picture of ACN.  Readers can take a look at the linked and determine for themselves what the probability is that they will strike it rich. The problem I have with ACN reps is that they present a dream (which is not necessarily out of the realm of possibility) and hope to hook a few uninformed people with complicated compensation structures. If the facts and figures would be presented and explained up front to any individual who was considering becoming a rep (before hastily collecting the $500 initiation fee) and the individual still concludes that they believe it to be an opportunity worth pursuing, MORE POWER TO THEM. From personal experience, this sadly doesn't happen.

 

One last question: if you ran such a "successful business" previously, why did you become involved with ACN?

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#9 Consumer Comment

There's a lot you're not aware of

AUTHOR: Antonio - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, February 09, 2012

Perhaps youve exhausted your supply of reading comprehension ability during your eight years of getting educated, or perhaps its a lack of reading comprehension ability that made it necessary for you to spend so much time.  Regardless of the reason youve failed in properly understanding both the ACN compensation plan (if in fact youve read the ACN compensation plan documentation) as well as the

statement I made in the last paragraph of my previous rebuttal.  I never stated that someone is dumb, lazy or negative if they dont want to go into ACN. 

To spare you and others the trouble of scrolling up to the paragraph I am referring to Ive copied and pasted my actual paragraph below:

--In summary, owning an ACN business is definitely NOT for everybody. If you are dumb, lazy, negative and the type of person that people don't like ACN (or any business for that matter) may not be for you. If you are intelligent, willing to work hard, are good to people and have a desire to improve your life then going into business might be a good fit for you and I would encourage you to properly review and consider owning an ACN business.--

I think we can move on from this subject now and we can move onto the topics of Personal Residual Income and Overriding Residual Income. 

Personal Residual Income, youre just a complete mess on this topic.  The statement you made about only being able to earn on the first $30 of energy bills is NOT TRUE.  The following is taken directly from ACNs Compensation Plan documentation:  IBOs will receive commissions on 50% of the customers actual energy usage, excluding taxes and surcharges. Commissionable revenue percentage may be lower for Large Business accounts depending on rates and terms offered to customers.  

You also stated that Personal Residual Income is also not true residual income because I'm sure you had to go out and build your customer base (and continue to have to do so as some customers quit their service) as people weren't lining up to sign up for ACN services under you to begin with.  I find this comical.  Of course I had to build my customer base!  Every business owner has to build their customer base no matter what the business is.  The good thing is that we market services
that everyone actually uses and customer retention is much higher than you imagine.  My wireless, satellite TV and home security customers are under contract and are very happy with their services.  I have multiple home phone customers that have been with me for years now. 

I have business phone customers that have been with me for months and are extremely happy with their services and have no intention of cancelling.  I have energy customers that are just as happy and your statement about ACNs flagship product is way out of date.  We still offer the video phone but it is not a major focus.  In fact, IBOs get more points for selling voice only digital home phone service then we do for selling video phones.  Our focus is all of our services.  We provide great value on whatever a customer may need.

I am happy to admit that your estimates on my personal residual income are high.  You got me there!  I actually make less than your estimate of $9000 per year.  Shocking, isnt it?  ACN is a Multi-Level-Marketing or Network Marketing business model.  It is not a Do-It-All-Yourself Marketing business model.  An individual that strictly wants to make commissions on what he or she sells should go sell cars or real estate or something else with much larger price tags than a wireless phone bill.  Ive had plenty of people tell me that they are not interested in building a team and they only want to offer services.  I tell them not to purchase an ACN business. 

The great thing is that you CAN NOT WIN a debate with me on the topic of Overriding Residual Income.  I have the checks to prove you wrong.  The customer base that I receive monthly commissions on that are from the team that I override GREATLY
outweighs the customer base that have personally created.  I earn 8% per month on the hundreds customers that the dozens of IBO on my 7th level below me have acquired.  The reason we work hard to get a minimum of 50 customer points individually is not to make a residual income from those customers, its to make an overriding residual income from the team. Your Statistics above made absolutely no since and were not based on ACNs compensation plan but perhaps on your own flawed understanding. 

You call my statements condescending and argue that ACN IBOs are the lazy ones who jump at the opportunity to make a quick buck, instead of earning it through some other more ethical means when it is you that lacks the intelligence to properly understand the words that I have written and the compensation plan that ACN offers.  Its you that insult people you know nothing about because you view ACN as some get rich quick scheme due to your lack of understanding.  Many people grossly over estimate the amount of money they will make in their first 5 years of building a successful ACN business and even more unfortunately grossly under estimate what can be made after the first 5 years.  This is a business that an individual adds on a part-time basis to their workload and diligently and professionally grows over the course of time until it becomes worthy of full-time attention.  It takes the opposite of laziness.  It takes hard work and dedication.  And Ill put my years of a professional career outside of ACN as the owner of a very successful business and consultant to other business owners along with my education up against your 8 years any day of the week.  You should keep your mouth shut and quit writing inaccurate reports just because you dont have the ability to build a successful business with ACN or the ability to understand the compensation plan.

The thing I dislike about the internet the most Any idiot can write anything and not be held liable. 

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#8 General Comment

Re: Antonio

AUTHOR: Ponderings - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, February 09, 2012

I was not aware that ACN updated their compensation structure just this year. Nonetheless, the claims I made up above were regarding overriding residual income of all the tiers below any given rep. I haven't seen you provide a rebuttal for any of the stats I gave (except to update some customer point values for a specific service). You claim that any rep can qualify to earn overriding income at any level. I never refuted this. My problem is the percentage. At level 2, you're making .25% commission, at level 3, you're making .5%. This is not income you can sustain a lifestyle on.

That said, let's go through a few calculations based on the figures you provided to determine about how much money you are making from your personal (i.e. direct) customers. You say you have over 100 personal customer points. For the sake of argument, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you have 150 personal customer points. Let me also me generous and assume that each point is an individual account which means you would have 150 service accounts (in reality, you most likely have less as some services count for more than one point). Someone might believe that you could make out pretty good (not a millionaire, by any means, like the ACN execs would have you believe) based on the fact that if you have, for example, 150 energy customers (and bills are pretty high now in winter, let's say $200/month), you could be making 10% x 150 x $200. Wow, not bad, that's $3,000/month in personal residual (remember this term "residual", we'll come back to it later) income. However, this is not the case. You see, if you look at the fine print, you discover that ACN puts a cap (aka the "commission earning rate") on most of its services. For energy, you can only earn commission on the first $30 for residential customers (you max out at $125 for business customers consuming over 150 mwh/month). All phone access plans and internet plans, the cap is 50% of the bill (puts it into perspective when you learn that most of these plans are less than $100/month). The only plans you can collect commission on 100% of the monthly bill from is the digital phone service plan (approx. $25 to $40 a month). My guess is, however, that people aren't lining up for this service (this fad started in the 90s and for all intensive purposes, died there). ACN however, is banking on this item as its flagship product.

In this light, let's recalculate your monthly personal customer income. I'll be generous and say that the commission rate is $50 (in most cases, we know it's less). So you have 10% x 150 x $50. This equals $750/month (remember, you are most likely making less because you probably don't have 150 customer accounts as it's not a 1 for 1 ratio of points to accounts). This is also not true residual income because I'm sure you had to go out and build your customer base (and continue to have to do so as some customers quit their service) as people weren't lining up to sign up for ACN services under you to begin with. At this rate, you're making about $9,000 a year. Is it something? Yes. Is it something I'd invest so much time and effort into? No. Keep in mind, if you are making this much; you are believed to be a successful ACN rep because 10% is the highest earning rate on personal customer accounts.

Also, I find it condescending when you imply that someone is dumb, lazy, or negative if they don't want to go into ACN. I didn't spend the last 8 years of my life getting an education to be (indirectly) labelled as such. I would argue that the ACN reps are the lazy ones who jump at the opportunity to make a quick buck, instead of earning it through some other more ethical means.

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#7 Consumer Comment

RE: Some Statistics

AUTHOR: Antonio - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, February 08, 2012

You need to do a better job of doing your homework and "research" before making false statements and providing inaccurate information.



The following is ACN's current compensation plan as of 02/08/2012:



Personal Residual Income

  An IBO with 1-29 Customer Points earns 1% montly residual from all personal customers

  An IBO with 30-39 Customer Points earns 3% monthly residual from all personal customers

  An IBO with 40-40 Customer Points earns 5% monthly residual from all personal customers

  An IBO with 50+ Customer Points earns 10% monthly residual from all personal customers



Here are some of ACN Services point values

  Natural Gas:  1 point

  Electricity:  1 point

  Digital Home Phone Service:  4 points

  Video Home Phone Service:  2 points

  Wireless services from Sprint, Verizon, Nextel, TMobile:  1-3 points

  Wireless service from Flash Wireless:  4-6 points

  Satellite TV:  2 points

  High Speed Internet from Comcast, ATT, Verizon:  1 point

  Business Phone Service:  4+ points



It is NOT required to have any downline IBOs to earn Personal Residual Income.



You can argue if you want that customers drop services, but I personally have over 100 personal customer points and dozens of happy customers consisting of all of our services.  None of them are so unhappy with Verizon, Dish Network, Comcast, ACN Digital Phone Service, Natural Gas or anything else that are canceling. 



Next topic:  Overriding Residual Income

ACN IBOs can qualify to earn Overriding Residual Income though 7 levels of IBOs below them.

It DOES NOT matter how many directly sponsored IBO or legs an IBO has.



To earn Overriding Residual Income from levels 1&2, an IBO must obtain at least 10 Personal Customer Points.



To earn Overriding Residual Income from levels 3&4, an IBO must obtain at least 20 Personal Customer Points.



To earn Overriding Residual Income from levels 5, 6 & 7, an IBO must obtain at least 40 Personal Customer Points.





In summary, owning an ACN business is definately NOT for everybody.  If you are dumb, lazy, negitive and the type of person that people don't like ACN (or any business for that matter) may not be for you.  If you are intellegent, willing to work hard, are good to people and have a desire to improve your life then going into business might be a good fit for you and I would encourage you to properly review and consider owning an ACN business.



Best wishes to all.

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#6 General Comment

Some Statistics

AUTHOR: Ponderings - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, February 08, 2012

"The only way you earn money from ACN is by getting customers."

This is what we call a straight up lie. In fact, the majority of money earned in the ACN "business" is from signing up reps under one's self.  You can google "ACN Compensation Plan" to find a PDF document of the pay structure for the organization, but I'll give you a little taste of what it takes to starting making even 1% residual income on your sub-organization's customer's monthly bills.

To earn 1% commission, you must be a level 4 rep, or a "Team Coordinator". This means that you must have at least 3 organizations under you (read -- 3 reps) that contain 200 customer points each. What does it take to get 200 "customer points"? Well, if you sign up a customer to either an energy account (gas, electric) you get one (1) point. If you're lucky enough to get someone to sign up to a digital phone service plan, you get a generous two (2) points. So, take a moment to think how many customers are required to bring in just 1% of the organizations service bill. It should put things into perspective when ACN admits that their market share is only about 2% (so this 2% of revenue is split between all of the ACN reps in any given region).

I won't even bother to go into the detail about the fine print and how you lose customer points and stop collecting revenue if your customers drop the services. Of course, people would only drop the service if it was poor or problematic. Well, all it takes is another google search (try ACN+complaints) to reveal that there are countless customers who drop the service because of: 1. low quality 2. poor customer service.

Do the math. It is possible to make money with ACN, but, it's mostly the people at the top who are doing so. ACN itself lists the odds at 1 in 100 that a rep will ever break even on the inital $500 investment.

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#5 General Comment

Real Talk

AUTHOR: defguy - (United States of America)

POSTED: Tuesday, July 26, 2011

I will keep this short and simple and possibly respond to any other replies with more detail if needed. I used to be an ACN representative and was recruited straight out of high school at 18 years old. This was several years ago. My mom was extremely skeptical of me spending $500 but I was able to drag her to one of the meetings where the Regional Vice President (RVP-3 levels up on the pyramid) told everyone that I had so much potential and would be a millionaire by 28. Nothing unusual, I later learn thats pretty standard in any pyramid scheme- Read Network Marketing or Multi Level Marketing.

The reason I am writing this report is because of the Company itself and its product. I worked really hard on "My Business" being promoted to Sales Representative Trainer in the record time of 1 month. I did this by renegotiating ALL of my clients contracts with their current companies and demonstrating how they will get all their Cancellation Fees money back in 1 year or less and how Digital Cable was superior to the land lines used at the time (This was actually true). However every day I had to go over and reset the modem for at least one of the customers I recruited as well as deal with the pain in the a*s of my mom complaining she will get fired if she cant answer our home phone (Which I had to reset almost daily) when she is on call. While digital Internet and phone service was (as of now everyone has it) the future, ACN was seriously lagging as their product is truly inferior.

After dealing with this for 6 months (No exaggeration) I dropped the business. The product was substandard and calling in every day to tech support did nothing. Neither my Team Coordinator nor Regional Vice President could do anything to help, they were dealing with the same problems themselves and just got by on promising everyone the world if they just go into business for themselves. I helped all the clients I recruited renegotiate contracts with REAL phone service companies and apologized for their Double Cancellation fees (Yes ACN has its own Cancellation Fees). It was a very humbling experience.

What did I get from the other ACN members? "Well its not for everyone." LMAO But in all fairness it was one of the best experiences I ever had. Doing serious business ie renegotiating contracts with big phone companies, attending weekly "meetings" dressed in my best and dealing with customers on a daily basis as well as getting used to rejection on a grand scale ALL at just 18 years old has really prepared me for business a lot better than my peers in college. Being about to graduate with a BBA I know that ACN is an unsustainable business model and why and can apply my knowledge and experience to starting a real business in the future and Im still young enough to become a millionaire by 28 if I play my cards right.

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#4 Consumer Comment

A few more answers

AUTHOR: Antonio - (United States of America)

POSTED: Saturday, March 13, 2010

I think the individual from Answers did an excellent job of explaining the legitimacy of ACN.  Since the questions were directed to me, Ill also briefly answer from my experience. 


 


Question #1:  Ive never earned any money from recruiting people to join ACN.  I have earned several small one-time Team Customer Acquisition Bonuses when members of my organization met goals of acquiring a set number of new customer accounts. 


 


Question #2:  The $499 we invest to start our own business in ACN is more than reasonable in my opinion.  In fact, I would have been willing to pay a whole lot more.  Knowing that ACN has millions of customers around the world, Im sure that it would survive if the start up fee was discontinued but come on, its a business!  I own an automotive business that cost me tens of thousands of dollars to open and operate.  It costs me thousands of dollars every month.  Opening a cell phone store in a mall would cost thousands of dollars a month in floor space alone.  If it were free, we would get even more people that dont take our business seriously.    


 


Question #3:  Im in the 5 figure range currently.  Ive also been involved for only 14 months.  ACN is not a get rich quick opportunity.  Some people have made a lot of money in their first few months but thats really not the norm.  I operate my automotive business 6 days a week from early morning till late afternoon and have very little time to dedicate to my ACN business but, the time I have invested thus far has saved my home from foreclosure. 


 


Question #4:  Family and friends?  Absolutely!  It was a friend who invited me to look at ACN.  She saved my home.  The first thing I did was offer the opportunity to my family and closest friends.  Some came to look, some didnt.  Some joined, some didnt.   I thanked all of them and show my love and appreciation to them every day.  No Representative should try to convince or force anyone to join.  Were not here to alienate relationships.  Not everyone will want to be part of this business and thats totally ok.  My best friend told me it was a scam and to get my money back.  I said thank you, but I think I can do this.  He watched my progress for 8 months and then invited himself to join. 


 


Question #5:  I was simply referring to your report.  You stated that you had been on a hard job search.  As for running out of people to talk to about ACN, Ive personally brought 15 people into the business yet my team is over 100 partners strong.  I find at least one new person to talk to per day just by going about my daily life.


 


My final comments on ACN  Its a company thats going places that no other company of its kind has gone before.  Its changing the industry standard.  Its becoming more socially acceptable and is earning respect.  Soon, there will be no more reports like yours. 


 


I offer my best wishes to you of health, prosperity and happiness.


 

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#3 Consumer Suggestion

Answers

AUTHOR: Nico - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, March 12, 2010

Hello sir,

I am a former representative of ACN and hope I can put an ease to your worry about the company.  I am not the same person as the one above but allow me to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

1.       The only way you earn money from ACN is by getting customers. You earn a percentage of their monthly bills every month for the life of the customer (Residual Income). You do not get paid for just recruiting people. The advantage of recruiting is that you also earn a percentage of money from their customers bills as well (similar to the hierarchy of traditional businesses).

Note:  The definition of a Pyramid Scam is any company who neither has a product or service that pays people to recruit other people. A company must make its profit through customers.  Anything else is definitely a scam and there are quite a few out there.

2.       Becoming an Independent Representative of ACN is the same as becoming a contractor to sell their products (just like Direct TV does). As a contractor, you are a business owner working for yourself. You control your hours and how much you want to work. To make it short and simple, the $499.00 you pay to ACN gives you the rights to use their products and tools to build your business.

 

For example (Im sure you dont need it but this is for any other concerned reader): Wal-mart does not produce its own products. They use other peoples products from other companies and sells them to make a profit.

 

3.       Although I never made millions, I have made a lot of money from the company. I do know personally quite a few people that are millionaires now because of the company. The very first person I recruited into the company was a high school friend of mine from Nicaragua. Someone youd never expect to be in business. He now drives a Mercedes Benz and never wears anything less than $2000 with all the Armani and the Louis Vuitton that he has.

 

So yes, it is possible to make the amount that they say you can make. But let me be up front with you and tell you that not everyone will be able to do so because not everyone has the work ethic to do so. To succeed in ACN as with any other company requires a great deal of discipline.

 

4.       Every single person that I personally recruited into the business is a close friend of mine. Some are doing great and working harder to become better. Some quit and started other businesses using the lessons they learned. And some quit to go back to the old school way of making guaranteed money by getting a job. Which is ok because business is not for everybody.

 

5.       Like I said in my #2 answer, you come in to ACN not as an employee, but as a contractor/representative of the company. Some sign up with ACN using a business name. The person who introduced you to the company was probably a rookie of the business. Although the way he presented the business to you was misleading. He probably did it because he was new and didnt know how to present the business to you correctly. Which is why he probably wanted Spencer to do it for him. Spencer is one of many Vice Presidents of the company. He is not the owner. He is like you and me. He is also a representative that was recruited into the company and succeeded in achieving what he wanted to get out of it. Although I never worked with him personally, I was lucky enough to have met him.

 

Multi-level marketing businesses are legitimate businesses not to be mistaken as pyramid scams. Some consider multi-level marketing to be easier to build than traditional businesses because a system is already in place which anyone can follow. Not to mention $499 is a lot cheaper compared to what it would normally cost you to start a traditional business (let alone your own telecommunications business).  I have never heard of a successful company today that didnt cost anything to start at the beginning. If you have let me know because Id be interested in learning what they did.

 

Lets say you joined ACN, but didnt do anything and didnt make any money this year. When tax time comes you are eligible for a 1099 in which you can use to right off the $499 since its a business expense.

 

ACN also hired the assistance of multiple former US Attorney Generals to help them make sure that everything that goes on within the company is legal. You can find out more information about this if you google ACN Integrity.

 

In case youre wondering, I left ACN because I believe I found a better company for me with a product that fits more of what I want to do with my life. Its also multi-level marketing and actually cost twice as much as ACN. And I have to pay it every month to replenish my products. In ACN you only pay one time because they sell a service that people can order online so that you dont need to buy the product before you sell it. I dont look at what the company is worth to join. I look at what the company is worth to me, how much profit I can make and the value it can put in my familys life. To succeed in business takes a totally different mindset than that of having a regular job.

 

In closing, ACN is a great company which will open many doors for you if you choose to become part of it. It has been around over 15 years and spread in over 20 countries. If it was a scam, the company would have been terminated a long time ago. I can tell that you are a smart person. Research the company yourself starting with the website I gave you above. You will find negative things about the company in peoples blogs but thats no different than any other company in the world. The question you have to ask is are these people business experts with the proper bank account to know the difference from a good company to a bad one? It is up to you to find out for yourself. If ACN is not for you, look for a different company, or learn about how a company succeeded so you can do what they did to succeed as well.

 

I hope the information I gave you helps and I wish you good fortune in your future endeavors.

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#2 Author of original report

A Couple Questions

AUTHOR: TheKing - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, March 07, 2010

I just want to ask a couple questions for the independent rep.

1.  Do you get more money by selling more products or getting more recruits under you?
2.  Why do you have to pay a 500 fee up front?
3.  Do you make anywhere near what they say you can?  6 figures?  7 figures? 
4.  Did you pull family and friends in underneath you?
5.  Why do you say I don't want to be in business for myself?  I would love to actually!  But a legit business that I created and not recruited.  Only so many people can recruit til there are no people left...

This sounds to me to be pretty multi-level, but even more like a pyramid scheme considering the up front fee... 


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#1 Consumer Suggestion

Freedom Express Unlimited problem

AUTHOR: Antonio - (United States of America)

POSTED: Saturday, March 06, 2010

I am an ACN Independent Representative.  I am NOT employed by ACN.  Although Id like to read more specifics on what predicated your initial contact with the ACN Independent Representative that you are complaining about, after reading your story I completely understand your frustration.  It sounds as though you may have answered some type of advertisement for employment but when you were contacted, instead of being offered a job the individual tried to sell you a business opportunity. 

 

About the company, ACN Inc., in my opinion it truly is a fantastic company that provides top notch services to millions of customers around the world.  Its also my opinion that ACN strives to provide excellent customer service and competitive prices to its customers and lastly I feel that ACN provides to individuals wishing to be in business for themselves an incredible opportunity to share in the exploding trillion dollar telecommunications industry.

 

Obviously sir, you are not one of those individuals looking to be in business for themselves.  You are an individual that needs a job and it sounds like you responded to an advertisement that sounded like it was supposed to be just that, a job.  If that is the case then absolutely you should be upset with the outcome.  In fact, I too am upset with this situation because it damages the credibility of our business and makes it more difficult for individuals such as myself to be successful.  Independent Representatives are NOT ALLOWED to advertise our business opportunity as any type of job.    If this is truly the case, the individual responsible needs to be made aware that these deceptive practices are not tolerated.  I urge you to please gather all of the information you can and contact ACN Inc. directly to report this problem.  You would be doing a great service to everyone by doing so.  

 

Thank you.

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