| Comment Number: | 522418-11455 |
| Received: | 7/17/2006 12:00:58 PM |
| Organization: | XanGo Independent Distributor |
| Commenter: | Brian Frank |
| State: | CO |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Dear FTC, I am writing to you in regard to Business Opportunity Rule, R511993. I first of all want to express my appreciation for your concern of the impact on legitimate direct selling companies. I have been involved with XanGo for almost a year through my dear friend Maria who wanted to help me after I was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Multiple Myeloma. I was told that I could not continue working as a school principal. This devastated my family and me not only emotionally but financially. After researching many, many companies, XanGo became the clear chosen path to create financial security for my family, even after I have passed away. All of my skills used to work with a variety of personalities in the school setting have given me the confidence and the ability to succeed in this direct selling company. Using my presentation skills, planning, execution of desired goals for positive outcome and most importantly my desire to care for people by helping them become healthier has motivated me to want to continue living, which was not always the case when I was diagnosed in August, 2004. I understand your desire to protect all citizens from fraudulent business “opportunities”. This rule seems to unfairly target a legitimate company such as XanGo's direct selling business. I would like to focus on a few areas that I believe would be detrimental to my XanGo distributorship and all business opportunities. The seven-day waiting period would be devastating when I told an informed potential distributor they must wait seven-days before they can sign a contract or make a payment. This along with trying to keep even more records would be a time consuming and administrative overload since I collect all records for my business. I currently have an abundant amount of paper work that I feel I am just keeping up with in order to keep detailed, accurate records for myself and anyone else who would like to view my records and notes I have currently filed away. The investment to become a distributor with XanGo is only $35 for one year with a renewal fee $20 each successive year. The elimination of the $500 threshold seems to be more appropriate for companies requiring a greater investment than a direct selling sales kit. XanGo makes it possible for anyone to become a distributor with very minimal investment, which is one reason I joined XanGo deciding against so many other direct selling businesses. The Earnings Claims piece does not seem to help in targeting business opportunity fraud as they will not provide data which is accurate or legitimate. This will only hurt someone like me who carries themselves with integrity and honesty. I am not even sure how the FTC would collect the required data and know this given information is legitimate. One of my biggest concerns of Business Opportunity Rule, R511993 is the impracticality of finding 10 nearest existing sales people when contacting a potential business partner. I contact people in the USA, Australia, England and Canada. I do not have a list of XanGo Independent Distributors in these countries let alone in the USA where I live. I do not even know how I would get a list of sales associates’ PRIVATE information. This brings up privacy and safety issues which the USA continues to focus on since 9/11. This can also lead to corporate liability for ID theft. I do not give out my address or other personal information unless I work with or have business with a particular company. Never do I give out personal information when contacted by someone posing as a business, hospital administrator, credit card company, etc in which I do not know them. I would not give out my personal contact information for someone needing 10 existing sales people in my area to reach a potential client. Again, I want to express my appreciation for FTC's consumer protection priorities. If this rule goes into affect, my family would again be devastated and financially insecure, I do not know how I would succeed with XanGo. Sincerely, Brian Frank