The cult of Arbonne
Discussion
So, with the advent of amazon, social networking, mums groups etc the role of the avon lady seems to be on a sticky wicket. However, in it's place is Arbonne, the cosmetic products that seemingly do miracles (at a price, of course).
The thing that gets me though - the salespeople seem to be not only metally brainwashed, but they're seemingly purposefully taught to completely lie and miss-sell the tuff on offer. If it was an isolated incident, i'd assume it was 1 or 2 mis-informed sales-mums - but i've seen the same "it's all natural, no chemicals in it, not like other products; other products have petrol in"..
Todays bit of wizdom was on the local mums group facebook thing, a mum wanted a sun cream for a kid with excema. Token arbonne sales infiltrator reckons the best bet is their 28 quid kids sun cream. "Contains no chemicals whatsoever" claims the Arbobb salesmum. Now aside from the fat that a bottle of no chemicals would be a vacuum, i thought i'd google the ingredients as a custared test:
My question is this - aside from the social law of "please don't turn every social event into another sodding sales pitch," is Arbonne breaking any rules by employing these sales tactics? All the sales are on comission - so can Arbonne simply skim over the concept of selling via inaccurate statements becuase technically it was not an Arbonne employee that said the lie?
Tl;dr?
If your missus has a mate who joins Arbonne, prepare for permanent torment.
The thing that gets me though - the salespeople seem to be not only metally brainwashed, but they're seemingly purposefully taught to completely lie and miss-sell the tuff on offer. If it was an isolated incident, i'd assume it was 1 or 2 mis-informed sales-mums - but i've seen the same "it's all natural, no chemicals in it, not like other products; other products have petrol in"..
Todays bit of wizdom was on the local mums group facebook thing, a mum wanted a sun cream for a kid with excema. Token arbonne sales infiltrator reckons the best bet is their 28 quid kids sun cream. "Contains no chemicals whatsoever" claims the Arbobb salesmum. Now aside from the fat that a bottle of no chemicals would be a vacuum, i thought i'd google the ingredients as a custared test:
arbonne website said:
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetyl Dimethicone, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Chlorphenesin, Coco-Caprylate, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Glycerin, Magnesium Sulfate, Phenoxyethanol, Polyglyceryl-2 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Sodium Chloride, Stearic Acid, Tapioca Starch, Tocopheryl Acetate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Water.
Now i admit it's a few years since i did chemistry, but it appears to me that this product has quite a few things that a layperson would think of as a chemical, rather than a natural ingredient - especially the conjugated aromatics (that make a sun cream effective).My question is this - aside from the social law of "please don't turn every social event into another sodding sales pitch," is Arbonne breaking any rules by employing these sales tactics? All the sales are on comission - so can Arbonne simply skim over the concept of selling via inaccurate statements becuase technically it was not an Arbonne employee that said the lie?
Tl;dr?
If your missus has a mate who joins Arbonne, prepare for permanent torment.
No, nothing that sinister.
My wife (and therefore i) have someone in our circle of friends who has gone from interesting to arbonne salesmum. I can't stand her now, and have to bite my lip a lot.
My wife mentioned today's mum discussion thing and read the claims out to me. I offered to reply calling custard, but was told that doing so would be detrimental to my health. As a result, I've come on whinge on here instead..
My wife (and therefore i) have someone in our circle of friends who has gone from interesting to arbonne salesmum. I can't stand her now, and have to bite my lip a lot.
My wife mentioned today's mum discussion thing and read the claims out to me. I offered to reply calling custard, but was told that doing so would be detrimental to my health. As a result, I've come on whinge on here instead..
It's a bit like the aloe vera one. Their products are a bazillions times better than anything you can buy. Their juice means you can lose 10lbs in a week.
But the stuff you can buy from a health food shop for a fraction of the price with the same ingredients just won't work at all.
Not to mention the constant harassment and messaging offering special offers only available for that day and you're helping them build their network by taking advantage of the 'cut price' offers. Oh do you want to try for free? No obligation to buy but I will harass you for weeks to come.
And people wonder why I want nothing to do with mother and baby groups....
But the stuff you can buy from a health food shop for a fraction of the price with the same ingredients just won't work at all.
Not to mention the constant harassment and messaging offering special offers only available for that day and you're helping them build their network by taking advantage of the 'cut price' offers. Oh do you want to try for free? No obligation to buy but I will harass you for weeks to come.
And people wonder why I want nothing to do with mother and baby groups....
The "we own the aloe industry and make sure high street stores can never get stuff this good!" company?
One of my former school friends now does that, all about relying on friends not wanting to return stuff, or being conned into becoming their rep. All she does is post crap from her Business Consultants page, because they're all self employed and selling a lifestyle, not overpriced aloe.
One of the "Lifestyle Management Coaches" that she's constantly spamming on about has this beautiful snippet on her website:
One of my former school friends now does that, all about relying on friends not wanting to return stuff, or being conned into becoming their rep. All she does is post crap from her Business Consultants page, because they're all self employed and selling a lifestyle, not overpriced aloe.
One of the "Lifestyle Management Coaches" that she's constantly spamming on about has this beautiful snippet on her website:
Crazy Lifestyle Management Coach said:
I'm now one of the top business coaches in the UK with a team of over 4500 globally and a turnover of over £5 million. I'm hugely passionate about helping people change their lives and that's why our team is so successful.
I have now developed a luxury six figure income, travel the world with this incredible company and am given a share of the company profits. When I started I thought I could maybe earn an extra few hundred pounds a month, life is now very different, yours can be too!
£5m turnover seems impressive, but when you say £1111 per person...I have now developed a luxury six figure income, travel the world with this incredible company and am given a share of the company profits. When I started I thought I could maybe earn an extra few hundred pounds a month, life is now very different, yours can be too!
Bullett said:
I have a friend of a friend on that bandwagon. Every fecking post on FB is about it.
Maybe this kind of friend abuse can help bring an end to the evil that is "social networking" .The idea of recruiting people to sell to friends and family was around long before the internet was even on computers.
An Ex Gf who now lives in Melbourne works for Arbonne. She tried to give us in the UK a few discounts to try products for our other halves but i didn't take up the offer.
I dont know all the details but seems similar to Olay model, and my ex seems to be doing very well out of it.
Most make up, health care stuff isn't any better than others just the name and price they charge differ.
I dont know all the details but seems similar to Olay model, and my ex seems to be doing very well out of it.
Most make up, health care stuff isn't any better than others just the name and price they charge differ.
Some Gump said:
Mum-Ra has a beauty range now? Well I never!
Made me chuckle (some probably don't get the Thundercats reference)My wife's friend has been brainwashed into the Forever Living cult, constant messages to the wife asking if she'd like to help her with "her" business and strangely no further contact once she declares she has absolutely no interest.
What she fails to grasp is that whilst she recruits further friends and family, her customer base is dwindling. Clearly not a long term sustainable business but she's earning between £800-£2000 per month more apparently. I did ask why there was such a range in the earnings but got no reply!!
A friend of mine got into Arbonne some years ago, when it seemed to be taking off in the UK.
She's now an SVP and yes, she's got the white Mercedes. Travels the world and is apparently doing really well.
The facebook posts are all about how great her "business" is doing and how great the company is, and seems to focus more on that than the actual products.
Posts alternate between "here we are in Las Vegas at the quarterly conference, with all my fab colleagues", and inspirational "you can do whatever your heart wants" type nonsense.
As far as I know, the products are OK, but overpriced versions of Olay or E45. Pyramid selling works for those who get in early enough at the top, but I'm just waiting for the whole thing to implode.
I have several other friends who were hoodwinked into joining the "family", only to quietly drop it when they realised that their sales demographic was already exhausted.
She's now an SVP and yes, she's got the white Mercedes. Travels the world and is apparently doing really well.
The facebook posts are all about how great her "business" is doing and how great the company is, and seems to focus more on that than the actual products.
Posts alternate between "here we are in Las Vegas at the quarterly conference, with all my fab colleagues", and inspirational "you can do whatever your heart wants" type nonsense.
As far as I know, the products are OK, but overpriced versions of Olay or E45. Pyramid selling works for those who get in early enough at the top, but I'm just waiting for the whole thing to implode.
I have several other friends who were hoodwinked into joining the "family", only to quietly drop it when they realised that their sales demographic was already exhausted.
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