?

Melaleuca is a scam,

Get used to it, don't try it, stay away from it at all costs. A year ago I was seeking out business opportunities since I have a knack for being social and getting people to hear me out when I want to present something. My son is in his third year of college and I have been retired for sometime, but I really wanted to get out there and mingle with clients, get a web site going and represent a product I could really believe in, that's when I found this program. I contacted them because I liked what I saw, I didn't find much when I asked other professionals in the MLM field about a Melaleuca scam, so I decided to give it good old American try.

You can't go wrong with a company that only charges a buck to sign up right?

WRONG!

I think I played a pretty good intellectual chess game with these guys, I asked them all kinds of questions, do I need to store an inventory, how much do I need to sell each month? They continuously answered no, even when I reworded the questions to make sure I wasn't being shamboozled! I was told no inventory, no stock, and no monthly fee with the exception of sales and advertising materials, and that seemed fair, so I figured, why not?

I probably sat on the phone with a Melaleuca sales rep for an hour and a half, and by the end, I was revved up, psyched, and energized with passion to give this a go. The best part was that I explained to the rep that I wanted to get my $1 sales packet to learn about the company, and that I couldn't afford the advertising packet until the 25th of the following month, I even gave them my credit card info after "Beth" promised me that I would not be charged or sent my kit until the following month. They even asked what my son's name was and suggested that since he's in college, he is in contact with countless amounts of sales prospects and that it would be a fantastic way to earn a little cash while he's there.

I was really impressed with the phone call, and they agreed to send two packets out, one to my son's campus, and the other to my home. I damn near triple-checked to make sure that I was ordering only 1 membership, and my son was to receive only a brochure. She even told me that they understand how tough times are and that it was no problem to schedule me for the next month.

Well, 1 week passes and wham! a 64 dollar charge on my debit card from Melaleuca, and a week after that, two advertising starter kits hit me, and my son. Not brochures mind you, but the advertising materials. So I was calm at first, I figured no big deal, "Beth" must have entered it into the system wrong and they simply made a mistake. Its a complex world full of busy people, we all make mistakes and I'm sure by just calling them, they will reimburse the money and I would see first hand how cool these guys are, after all there is no Melaleuca Scam.

Upon calling, I was told that I was bound to a verbal contract that by providing my financial information; obligated me to fulfill. I told them that "Beth" promised me I would not be shipped a package, or billed until the following month, at which they replied; "Beth has explained to us that she insisted you understood the terms and conditions and that you were well aware of what you were ordering and when you would receive them.

Unfrigginbelieveable.

I can handle the $64 dollar loss, I have a warm nest egg, but I am sincerely disheartened over the lengths these people will go to get their dollar. I won't ever find a kind word to say about this company or its associates and I have definitely began to look elsewhere for a way to make a few extra dollars than some greedy God damn company like this.

Do yourself a favor and avoid Melaleuca, you'd be better off delivering sandwiches for a deli, which is exactly what I'm doing for 9 bucks an hour 3 hours a day, and couldn't be happier.

.

I have been a member of Melalueca for almost two years.  I have never had any problems such as you described.  I think the problem is probably "Beth"

I just  rejoined Melaleuca after doing an extensive research into many MLM companies. I had been a customer many years ago but decided to try other MLM companies but either didn't like their hype nor their marketing plan. 

Melaleuca has an A+ rating with BBB and they have dealt with every BBB complaint. You can check BBB yourself. I also signed up via a verbal agreement. I don't understand how they could have signed up your son without his verbal consent.   You can always contact BBB and complain, I am sure you will get your issue solved, since by BBB records,  Melaleuca have solved every other BBB complaint.

Melaleuca has been in business for 25 years, a long record for an MLM. It is a company based on integrity and the products are top quality.

I wish you a happy life.

It's not uncommon for a distributor to completely misrepresent a company or product or compensation plan or even rip off customers by performing transactions outside of the scope of their authority as a distributor. Labeling Melaleuca a scam may not be 100% percent fair to Melaleuca, I think you may need to determine if Melaleuca's complaince department was ever made aware of the way the Meleleuca rep misrepresented what you were actually signing up for. A solid company usually has a compliance department designed specifically to deal with errant reps, and Melaleuca has been around long enough you'd think they'd have some oversight for this kind of thing.

There may have been a disconnect between the customer service department and the compliance department, maybe worth checking into. If you go that route and still get the runaround then I think you're completely justified in your Melalecua Scam post. I try to give most companies selling a consumable nutritional product the benefit of the doubt ( unless they say that it cures cancer, makes you taller, regrows hair, alleviates halitosis or otherwise makes you irresistable to the opposite sex ) until proven otherwise. Well, unless they also sell magic bracelets along with the nutritionals.

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. It did occur to me a few times that in a lot of these types of cases, it may very well be a bad service rep, and to be honest, I'd have been willing to overlook that if they simply had some type of protocol. At the time of the call, there was no quality assurance recording, at least that I was made aware of. That basically leaves me high and dry as for any type of proof that a specific arrangement was made. I did get the company to agree to refund one signup fee, so there is a bit of progress, I decided to eat the other and wash my hands of it.

I can see where you guys are coming from because I was coming from the same place as far as observing what appeared to be a truly legit company, but the actions of that rep really ruined the taste for me. She was really very "evil" to be verbally colorful about, in the way that she really took to my situation and went all out as far as trying to help me, only to completely turn on me in the end. If she is even a hint of what to expect from the people involved, I just don't feel secure about it.

I can see however if she has them all fooled, and makes good sales that its her word over mine, and that the company is probably doing what they feel as the right thing, which also says a lot in regard to getting at least half of my money back. I just feel as though it would not be a wise thing to do to follow through with the opportunity. Had something been done about the rep (and that would require a better system for monitoring all of their business communications) then I would definitely have seen a more efficient machine.

Hello Crytex....

I am at a loss for words in regard to your story...I have been working with Melaleuca for quite a few years now and I could not be happier. I'm not as inclined to believe the details of this story as some others seem to be, and this is the kind of post that makes me question someone's validity entirely. Unless something has changed, Melaleuca does record for quality assurance, they did when I got involved 13 years ago, and I see no reason why they wouldn't now. Melaleuca is a solid company with a solid service, and when a company is that sharp, its funny how many of these kinds of posts pop up on various MLM review sites and discussion forums. This company has an entire set of guidelines in its starter materials that deal specifically with interactions between rep and recruit, and I am shocked to say the least if your story is actually true.

Melaleuca is not a scam, they sell a variety excellent products which have all been highly successful on virtually all supply fronts. We are talking about very popular body gels, soaps deodorants, cleaners, lotions, nutritional health products. Melaleuca doesn't even allow its Marketing Executives to place Melaleuca, its products, services, or compensation plan in directory listings or ads so it seems highly unlikely that a rep would collect information about your son and mail out a kits on his behalf, let alone against your specific wishes. I strongly feel based on what I know about my company that you are either leaving out some pretty vital details about your story, or that you have completely fabricated it in an attempt at hurting your competition.

There is a reason that Melaleuca is as successful as it is, A) product quality. B) an excellent and versatile compensation plan, and C) because melaleuca specifically does not engage in the kinds of things you have described here, and on the off chance that this actually did occur due to a very bad sales rep, the company would have refunded your money simply because you requested it, without disputing the validity of your bill, the company is not in a position to fight you over every cent, it simply doesn't do that.

If you can show me any kind of substantial proof at all that this occured, I will personally refund every cent you paid on behalf of Melaleuca. That is the best I can do to represent the validity of my point in expressing that this company is a legitimate, highly successful opportunity for anyone willing to do the work and build a foundation. I can also tell you that had this company were to find even the smallest shred of validity to your description of "Beth" she would have been completely removed from service entirely. Melaleuca doesn't tolerate those types of methods and strives to honor any deals made with phone center associates, so long as those deals conform to the rules in our company handbook.

Best regards, Travis.

"I am at a loss for words in regard to your story...I have been working with Melaleuca for quite a few years now and I could not be happier. I'm not as inclined to believe the details of this story as some others seem to be, and this is the kind of post that makes me question someone's validity entirely. Unless something has changed, Melaleuca does record for quality assurance, they did when I got involved 13 years ago, and I see no reason why they wouldn't now. Melaleuca is a solid company with a solid service, and when a company is that sharp, its funny how many of these kinds of posts pop up on various MLM review sites and discussion forums. This company has an entire set of guidelines in its starter materials that deal specifically with interactions between rep and recruit, and I am shocked to say the least if your story is actually true."

Travis, I see no point in arguing over the likelihood of the company or the products. Melaleuca screwed me as far as I'm concerned, if not through a bad rep, then they screwed me by not taking action against a seriously vile sales associate. In fact the better me wants to tell you that I really appreciate your offer, and I think its a very noble action on your part to make something right on the behalf of a company you seem to really stand by. The other side to me wonders if you are not unlike the associate I spoke to, that you already know I have no solid proof because the call wasn't recorded in any way, so I don't really win as a concerned customer do I?

All I have is my story, and I assure you its the truth. I am a very patient man and I leave room for people to make mistakes, bad calls, and errors, but I can't sit here and praise a company that clearly just ripped me off. These kinds of things are what this section of the boards are for, and if no one reports this kind of crap then someone less well off than me is next in line for a wallet scrape. I would not have enjoyed knowing a company I worked for and believed in, would do something like this, and I sincerely commend your efforts in regard to Melaleuca's name, and in being willing to personally reimburse me, but I want to see action directly from the source before I change my opinion or stop warning people.

Oh my god dude, chilax....

I can understand where you're coming from if this really happened, but seriously, you're going to mess up your blood pressure and develop whinititis from stressing over your 65 bucks. I get your point, you got had, it happens to us all at some point, but damn... you really have a need for justice huh? I won't knock you for hitting a few forums about it, but you do realize you have wasted more than one day getting word out that this company, or one of it's associates got the better of you. You said yourself you got some cash saved away, so take the loss and move on, you aren't going to see justice because there is none in business scams. Look at TVI Express, it raked a portion of a whole continent over the coals and they're still sitting pretty on a nice comfy seat of cool crisp bills. Do yourself a favor and go to a spa, or go for a walk man, see a movie.....

I'm not sure how you quote someone so I'm going to go ahead and copy/paste what Crytex said.

Travis, I see no point in arguing over the likelihood of the company or the products. Melaleuca screwed me as far as I'm concerned, if not through a bad rep, then they screwed me by not taking action against a seriously vile sales associate. In fact the better me wants to tell you that I really appreciate your offer, and I think its a very noble action on your part to make something right on the behalf of a company you seem to really stand by. The other side to me wonders if you are not unlike the associate I spoke to, that you already know I have no solid proof because the call wasn't recorded in any way, so I don't really win as a concerned customer do I?

All I have is my story, and I assure you its the truth. I am a very patient man and I leave room for people to make mistakes, bad calls, and errors, but I can't sit here and praise a company that clearly just ripped me off. These kinds of things are what this section of the boards are for, and if no one reports this kind of crap then someone less well off than me is next in line for a wallet scrape. I would not have enjoyed knowing a company I worked for and believed in, would do something like this, and I sincerely commend your efforts in regard to Melaleuca's name, and in being willing to personally reimburse me, but I want to see action directly from the source before I change my opinion or stop warning people.

Crytex, I am the source as far as I'm concerned. You show me something, a bill, proof of membership, give me the distributor ID that came with yours, or your son's packet and you have my word I will reimburse your money plus 20 dollars. I'll pay you by check, Paypal, or in Melaleuca product credits, you choose. My personal challenge to you is to show even the smallest bit of evidence so that I can see you aren't a disinformation agent with a competitor. I see nothing wrong with that as a request and I would think you might jump at the opportunity to be reimbursed for your troubles.

I wasn't trying to make it sound as if you were lying, but there are many sources of bad information in this industry and its important that I have some type of criteria for dissernment. I can understand being irritated but you should know that in doing some research of my own that there is no "Beth" on record that works in or around the call centers that would have recieved your call, so I'm baffled as to who you spoke to that even confirmed she exists. Having learned this,  I am trying to figure out on which end this issue seems to have surfaced.

Please update this post so I have an answer, I would appreciate the opportunity to make this right for you.

May I say what goodness there is in Mr. Travis Walton for coming to fix this situation, I am very happy to see such care that a company can rely on its great members to represent it properly. This is something not seen very often and should be commended whenever possible. I too would like to see if Crytex returns to claim his refund, and I only hope that he does not refrain simply out of pride. We all understand that you feel you have been ripped off but the best solution is to create a great out come even if it means being wrong. Please consider this as truth my friend.

Namaste

Yeah, I gotta admit that was pretty cool, and unexpected. Where is CRYtex anyway? mwahahahahahahah...just kidding bro. I really am sorry you got chumped, it definitely sucks. I have come to the conclusion, based on my research mostly, but also with a hint of TW that I just don't see Mlealeuca as being a scam. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure its like any other legit MLM.