Sunday, July 4, 2010

Making A Buck! What is the Cost?

I hate tuna noodle casserole!  Period!  I had a bad experience with it when I was a kid.  I do not remember the details, but whenever it is mentioned, I want to throw up.  By themselves I like all the ingredients that go into making this casserole: tuna fish, noodles, cheese, peas etc.  But when they are put together....yuck...gag...chunks!  However, I love cold tuna fish sandwiches,  I also love tuna melts.  So what is wrong with me and my dislike for tuna casserole?  Probably the timing, delivery, presentation, texture....who knows.....

Back in the early 90's I  had a similar experience  as with tuna noodle casserole,  with a product called N.S.A. Water Filters.  I remember all the specifics of that including the fact that it cost us a lot of money.  It was a good product but the marketing model was a Pyramid scheme [scam].  Recently, A few of you have started marketing a service using a Multi-Level-Marketing scheme {MLM}.  MLM's are legal and pyramid schemes are not.  Click this link to the Federal Trade Commission to lean the difference. 

So what is my beef?  A while back a friend called me, I thought it was just a friendly call.....but no..... it was a cold call, a sales pitch aka telemarketing [is the process of approaching prospective customers or clients, typically via telephone, who were not expecting such an interaction.]  It went something like this.....JC, I have an opportunity that was shared with me and I want to share it with you.....{the name of the service was mentioned along with all the savings to me and my family}...The caller [friend] went on to say.....I don't want you to make a decision right now about this opportunity....take a few days....do some research......and I [caller/friend] will call you back.  I said ok will do.

BANG!  then it hit me.....In my mind I could smell tuna noodle casserole baking in the oven.....well not really.  But it was a similar sick feeling.  So I did the research that my friend suggested I do.  I googled the company name.  The hits from that search had almost all the ingredients to a pyramid scheme [tuna noodle casserole].  It smelled like a pyramid scheme, but it is more like an MLM.  The friend called me back and asked me what I thought.  I told him I was not interested.  This is where things went bad.....for both of us.  I am very opinionated.....I know.....most of you do not think so.....but, I am.  My friend wanted to know why I was not interested [probably part of the marketing feed back that MLM's want from consumers].  I told him that it smelled like tuna noodle casserole [ pyramid].  Instead of keeping it business, my now former friend , made it personal.  He was mad at me at the end of the call and continues to be mad to this day. My former friend even threatened me with a law suit if I mentioned  in my blog the service his marketing team is selling and my thoughts about it.   I strongly suspect that he has told his side of his story to his local marketing team.  I know of a local politician that is part of  this marketing team and has gone out of their way to put the screws to our political party [sitting on petitions] all because they were delivered by me.  That is another story, probably one I will not tell.

I am sure the service that you guys are selling is just as good as all the alternatives.  Yes, there are alternatives.  It is now a deregulated market. My choice is to make my own call  to one of the many  alternative suppliers.   So what is your cost for making your buck?  Your lack of respect for peoples opinions and the fact that you let your  business become personal.   I like and respect you as individual ingredients. But together along with your tactics........to me..... you are like tuna noodle casserole

Happy Independence Day

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