| Comment Number: | 522418-07821 |
| Received: | 7/11/2006 7:49:37 PM |
| Organization: | XanGo Independent Distributor |
| Commenter: | Deborah Frazier |
| State: | CO |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
TO: FTC RE: BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY RULE July 11, 2006 Dear Sir or Madam, I am gravely concerned about the proposed Business Opportunity Rule R511993. I believe that in its current form, it could seriously hurt my fiance and I as independent distributors with XanGo, LLC. We fear that it could possibly destroy our small businesses. We have operated our home-based businesses through XanGo since November 2002 and our household currently earns over $104,000 a year. This is our sole income. While this rule claims to help prevent fraud - a noble enough intention - this rule actually threatens our entire livelihood. PLEASE DO NOT DESTROY OUR SMALL BUSINESSES! Firstly, the seven day waiting period clause unfairly raises suspicion on our business, encourages prospective partners to lose their focus and enthusiasm, and is UNNECESSARY! Unnecessary because it only costs $35 to join XanGo. Unnecessary because our products $100 for a case of XanGo comes with a complete 30 day money back guarantee. We have a legitimate business - with customer and distributor satisfaction being a top priority. People buy TVs, cars, and dozens of other consumer items that cost much more and do not have to wait seven days. Why should this law being imposed on my business which costs so much less? In addition, this rule requires that we keep detailed records of whenever we speak with prospects and that we send those records into my company. Can you imagine the MOUNTAIN of PAPERWORK this will create? I can’t even imagine what XanGo will have to contend with, should they have to receive this kind of paperwork from their 500,000 associates!!! This requirement alone will scare people away from joining us in our business! Finally, this proposal requires that I provide a minimum of 10 prior purchasers nearest to the prospective purchaser. This is UNBELIEVABLE! Not only is this truly a nightmare for our record keeping, but presents an UNACCEPTABLE BREACH OF CONFIDENCE AND PRIVACY for all our customers and distributors. In this age of identity theft and personal privacy concerns, it is truly horrifying to require that the names and personal information of people in my customer and sales organization be shared so freely. This is unacceptable to women in particular, whose disclosed information could lead to harassment or stalking. Moreover, this rule allows competitors to pose as potential buyers in order to obtain our customer and distributor base and their data. Since when are businesses in America required to do THIS? Indeed, there are scams and con artists which should be properly dealt with and put out of business. BUT THIS RULE WILL NOT STOP TRUE CRIMINALS. Instead, it deeply hurts an industry in which millions of Americans participate in as customers or distributors! Perhaps there is some wisdom to implementing some of these guidelines for business opportunities that require large investments. But at the very least, businesses like ours which take much less than $500 to start and which provide average American families extra income possibilities should not be subject to such BUSINESS KILLING MEASURES by our government. At the very least, we'd propose that this rule ONLY apply to businesses that require substantial investments, perhaps $500 or $1000 or $? or more. PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW THIS RULE TO GO INTO LAW as it is currently written. PLEASE DO NOT JEOPARDIZE COUNTLESS HOME BASED BUSINESSES LIKE OURS!! AGAIN, OUR FAMILY DEPENDS ON THIS INCOME AND THIS RULE WOULD BE A DIRECT ATTACK ON OUR LIVELIHOOD! Sincerely, Deborah Lena Frazier