| Comment Number: | 522418-07128 |
| Received: | 7/9/2006 3:34:42 PM |
| Organization: | Independent Affiliate of Vitamark International |
| Commenter: | Gery DiMarco |
| State: | TX |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Dear Sir or Madam: I am writing this letter because I am concerned about the proposed Business Opportunity Rule R511993. While I applaud the intention of the Commission to provide greater protection to consumers, certain proposals actually take away some of the benefits of owning a home based business and open the door to a myriad of other problems. I believe that in its presented form, it could prevent me from continuing as a Distributor in Vitamark International and destroy the businesses of 10s of thousands of small business people in a number of companies. One of the most difficult sections of the proposed rule is the seven day waiting period to enroll a new Vitamark affiliate. This waiting period will give the public the idea that there’s something wrong with me or our plan and also reflects badly on me. I also think this seven-day waiting period is unnecessary, because Vitamark already has a 90% buyback policy. This waiting period requirement will require additional detailed record keeping taking away from the simplicity that makes this a viable income opportunity for millions of Americans. Then I have to send in reports to my company adding additional time and costs to both myself and the company, further decreasing profits or otherwise forcing additional mark up into the product to cover the expenses. This is a burden on the sales affiliate as well as the consumer. Please realize we are small home business people and this burden will hurt or destroy our businesses. I find other proposed requirements to be grossly unfair to us. Requiring a business opportunity seller to disclose the number of cancellation or refund requests received in the last two years is not an accurate measure of an opportunity's legitimacy or success possibility. There are a number of reasons people cancel their enrollment and fraud is probably the lowest reason. The majority are traditional buyer's remorse and the urging of uninformed outside interests such as friends and relatives. Somebody’s Uncle Louie who had a bad experience, quite possibly because of his own inability to follow a proven system, should not be permitted to cast a shadow over what a Vitamark affiliate offers a prospect. Do Firestone Car Care, and McDonalds franchise applicants get a list of all recent legal decisions against other franchisees? How many traditional companies that hire independent sales reps are required to disclose how many sent their sales kits back for a refund? Where does a newly enrolled business opp. seller get the required number of references for his or her first prospect? Which ones do you think the company will provide them with? The most successful and happiest, of course. Finally, a proposed rule requires the disclosure of a certain number of purchasers nearest to the prospective purchaser. I am glad to provide references, but in this day of identity theft, I am very uncomfortable giving out the personal information of individuals (without their approval) to strangers. Women may be subject to sexual or racial harassment so this part can’t go in at all, unless the FTC passes an addition to this rule prohibiting sexual or racial attacks related to this disclosure. Additionally this could result in the release of names of business associate to individuals attempting to obtain names for other fraudulent purposes such as their own prospecting efforts weakening the entire providing company's foundation. I fear enacting these proposals will do little to stop the countless numbers of crooks who attempt to legitimize their scams under the guise of a home business or MLM business opportunity. I have seen many scams on the Internet and been approached by many crooks. Yes, they hurt my business– they violate the current rules all the time. How much are my taxes going to increase or whose budget will be cut so that you have an adequately sized staff to enforce these requirements? Sincerely, Gery DiMarco