In response to James...I've been an Amway (now Quixtar) distributor for 26 years and I would just like to clarify a couple of things you mentioned. First, I'm appalled that you think the products are junk. I do agree that they are more expensive than those you can buy in the store if you look at their overall price. However, because most of them are concentrated, if you look at their cost per use, you will find that most of them are more economical that those bought in a regular retail establishment.

As for deception in recruiting distributors, I would also have to agree that those practices have been carried out by a some distributors, but I would also say that if you check the policies, rules and regulations of the corporation they have made every conceivable effort to eliminate that kind of conduct to the extent of revoking distributorships when nothing else would stop the conduct. The corporation itself has an impeccable reputation and the questionable behavior remains within the distributor organization itself, not in total, but with some individual distributor organizations or individual distributors.

Even the Federal Trade Commission has given it's blessing to the corporation. Several years ago the FTC investigated the company when it was called Amway. Years of investigation were involved and only one very minor recommendation was made by the FTC, to which the corporation immediately complied. You can read the full transcript of the FTC decision on their website, which I would suggest you do before branding us all crooks. (Smile)

Lastly, you are definitely mistaken about the corporation not developing an online business. Shortly after your second experience, the corporation began their website, Quixtar.com, and subsequently virtually deleted the Amway name in North America and Canada. In most other countries the corporation still operates under the name of Amway. The umbrella company for both local and international business is called Access Business Groups.

This is the first time I find myself responding to these kinds of comments, but after 26 years of people writing or talking about this corporation without checking their facts first, I've just had enough.

So until you actually know what you're talking about, please desist from trashing a perfectly legitimate business opportunity which many, many people enjoy and from which they produce income...some small and some very sizeable.

It is too bad that your parents had such a negative experience and I will guarantee you that they just got caught up in one of those distributor organizations that were not conducting the business according to the rules and regulations of the corporation.

Thank you for reading and considering my comments. Dotty3733