Reflections

I received an invitation to what they called a “Seminar on Ecommerce”. The guy that invited me mentioned that the company is partner with some of the highest ranks in the technology sector including IBM, HP, Sun etc. I took this as a great opportunity for networking. However, for some reason, I couldn’t help feeling that this guy was trying to sell me something. Anyway I thought, I would still go as I had nothing planned after work that evening.

The meeting started off as a really negative outlook of how most people spend their best years working for their employers…bla bla bla…living each month paycheck to paycheck…bla bla bla…retiring at the age of 75 etc.–the usual pitch made by typical MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) schemes. The guy rambled on for about an hour requiring participation by the audience asking them about their dreams and expectations in life, often times filling in his own answers to for his benefit.

After an hour of torture, the guy wrote the word Quixtar on the whiteboard. I should have known. I had heard about this scheme from my dad a few months ago.

It was a quick money making scheme alright, except they were the ones getting rich. The membership costs $250 renewable annually at $40. Not to mention the promotional videos and expensive seminars that were additional costs. There were still many that were impressed.

I googled the words MLM and Quixtar and came across a number of references that explain the scam in greater depth. What amazes me are the number of poor souls that were actually impressed and fired up with the fact that this was really the path to success!