| Comment Number: | 522418-05551 |
| Received: | 7/1/2006 11:30:11 PM |
| Organization: | WebTrends |
| Commenter: | Ken Holland |
| State: | AZ |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Dear FTC, We are Ken and Kim Holland of Glendale Arizona. My wife and I have been Quixtar IBO’s, within the WorldWide Dream Builders (WWDB) mentoring organization for 4 years. Our goal then, and still is, financial freedom (the Diamond level). There are 5 steps to Diamond. We’ve finished the first (Eagle) and will soon reach the second (Double Eagle). All we do is to show folks how they can save money by buying through the Quixtar portal, or make money by showing others how to do the same. Most of our business time is spent listening to the worlds best leaders teach on how to become better humans, which has benefited us greatly as a family. In brief, what is TALKED about in churches, WWDB teaches us how to DO everyday with the Quixtar business vehicle. This has been a huge benefit, even more important than the money. Since we began, we have had the best WWDB mentors on earth (free of charge), and a 100% money back guarantee on products. We were told that if we did the work consistently (the 9 Core steps), we would achieve the Diamond level. We were guaranteed only the opportunity to succeed. We received all the information and help that we needed to make an informed decision, and we have provided the same to every prospect of ours as well. Prospects spend about $130 to register in Quixtar as an IBO. We receive nothing from registering anyone. If they quit, we just give them their money back and wish them the best. We have many concerns with the proposed FTC regulations. The major ones are as follows: 1. The requirement of a 7day waiting period. Most prospects have already invested much more than 7 days in making their decision to register. Telling them to wait another 7 days to satisfy a government regulation would make no sense at all. It would also be a huge negative to them as far as them sponsoring anyone else into their business. The net result would be to significantly reduce anyone’s ability to make money in the direct sales industry. We already provide 30 days for prospects to get their money back after registering. Further, at registration they are provided literature that clearly states they are not ever obligated to buy or do anything if they choose not to. Solution: Eliminate the waiting period, at least for opportunities like Quixtar where a prospect can get his money back if not satisfied. 2. The requirement to provide References If I were able to provide such a list, my prospects could choose to register with another IBO. I do not consider that to be fair, sense I was the one who did the work to contact the prospect in the first place. Further, a new IBO is not likely to be able to provide such a reference list for their prospects, since they typically do not know other IBO’s. This rule would also violate the privacy of the other IBO’s, by providing strangers (my prospects) with their private information (names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mails, etc) on how to contact them. All prospects are already given many opportunities to meet with other IBO’s within our own line of sponsorship, before and after registration. Whether they choose to do so is entirely their decision. Solution - Eliminate the requirement to provide references. 3. The requirement to provide a “Litigation List” Who exactly is the seller being referred to in this odd requirement? If the “seller” is an IBO, then I would be required to list all the litigation (with or without any merit) ever associated with Quixtar or other IBO’s! Alticor (now 50 years old), which owns Quixtar, already has the finest reputation on the planet, as you already know - if you’ve done your homework. It just seems to me that a company like Quixtar, that has that kind of a long-term reputation in the international business community, ought to be enough. For the FTC to ask Quixtar IBO’s to provide a “Litigation List, would be like requiring some one trying to give aid to a dying person, to first provide that dying person with a “Litigation List” for the company/profession they represent. If the FTC wants to require such things, make sure that you also require it of every recruiter – for every corporation in America before they are allowed to hire anyone. Solution - Eliminate the requirement to disclose past litigation, atleast for companies like Alticor/Quixtar. 4. The requirement for a Specific Earnings Disclosures We in WWDB already provide prospects with an FTC reviewed form (formerly the SA-4400, now the Business Overview) that shows the expected income of an IBO that consistently does the required work. Most prospects find it informative, and very detailed already. The Overview also includes the FTC wording of the SA-4400 defining an “Active IBO” and the “Average monthly gross income” for same. It makes no sense to complicate it further by adding any more details. People get into a business and build that business because of a dream, and team of mentors that are willing to help them achieve it. Bog them down with all the fine points possible, and you steal their dream and their team. Solution – Eliminate the requirement for a Specific Earnings Disclosures. If additional disclosures are needed for Quixtar organizations other than WWDB, require a simple, standard, easily understood disclosure such as "average monthly gross income for 'active' IBOs." 5. The requirement for Financial Substantiation They seldom do, but if a prospect asks me how much I make in the Quixtar business, I tell them what I make and others make in the Quixtar business. I also mention the fact that my association with WWDB has vastly improved my marriage, my association, myself as a person, and made me a better citizen of this country. For 30 years WWDB has had less than a 2% divorce rate. My business has already brought a working mother home so that she can raise her own kids (this was her Dream), which is priceless to her, her 4 kids, and my wife and I. For the FTC to require me to provide prospects with something like tax records to prove my Quixtar income would be intrusive and inappropriate. If I went to work for someone at a job, the FTC does not require that employer to do the same for me. Employees are told what to expect for compensation, and that’s all. There is no “Financial Substantiation”. Solution - IBOs should possess substantiation for any claim but should not be required to disclose it except when required by the FTC and similar state agencies in an agency investigation. Sincerely, Ken Holland