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A "REAL" ACN Testimonial
Posted by Scambuster2000 on 03/09/2011
I'll tell my ACN story without intentionally making ACN look bad, just so you can judge for yourself what it is like to be involved with this organization. In early 2010 I was recruited by a family friend whom I respected. He had just joined through another man that was a friend of his, whom then became my "upline mentor." He had been independently wealthy, but not because of ACN. In fact, he hadn't profited yet from ACN in the year he had been in it. From what I gathered his previous business was no longer profitable so he turned to multilevel marketing business opportunities. He told me that he and his wife had unsuccessfully sold healthfood chocolates through a multi level company, and had now switched to ACN which they thought was better.
I had been told by my friend to show up to this guy's place to look at some cars. But after some verbal probing, my friend admitted that this was just a rouse to get me to sit in on an ACN prospects meeting. Out of respect for my friend, I attended. There were about 6 people who showed up to the "personal business reception" (meeting) I was at. Nobody was even remotely interested in the proposal besides me, eventhough I personally thought it was an interesting business opportunity. I didn't sign up right away and went to some more formal meetings before signing up. I was pressured to sign up before the end of the month based on the "promotion" they were running. Turns out, they have a promotion every month and just use that as a tactic to pressure recruits into signing up. They apparently want you to feel like time is running out so that you have to join now!
I signed up anyway and got qualified by purchasing a video phone under a two year contract and the $30/month "business assistant" and a new cell phone. The video phone didn't really work very well and couldn't dial basic phone numbers, so I couldn't use it, eventhough I was locked in paying an additional $40/month for two years! My mentor tried to get it to work and he couldn't fix it either. That made me lose confidence in ACN's so called "flagship product" the videophone. It simply didn't work. How was I going to expect people to use this in place of their current home phone if it doesn't even work? Never got the answer to that.
Next came the nuts and bolts of being an ACN rep--recruiting. At this point I was told to draw up a list of everyone I know and call them and invite them to my house for weekly recruitment meetings. I told my mentor even before signing up that I didn't know many people because my family doesn't live in this state and I haven't lived here very long, and that I was concerned I wouldn't be successful in ACN as a result. He said not to worry because I know more people than I think (so he said). This is where things started to go downhill. I was only able to get a few people to show up to meetings, and half of them were confused as to why they were even there. Nobody in any meetings showed even a remote interest. My mentor and his wife put a lot of effort into helping me with this, but they succeeded only in alienating the people I knew. He'd tell me to give him their number so he could call them, and I advised him that probably wouldn't work based on what I knew about the people in question. He said he knew what he was doing and told me to follow the "system" and never judge people ahead of time based on whether I think ACN would be right for them. He tried calling a few people and they were annoyed by his approach and told him to leave them alone.
I continued to be positive and was not deterred by initial failure. I continued going to the weekend meetings and was discretely talking to people at my day job about ACN trying to get them to meetings. My coworkers quickly caught on to what I was doing and began making fun of me at work about my involvment in this "pyramid scheme". It got so bad that even after I stopped talking about it, they continued to make fun of me about it, creating awkward and innappropriate situations for me at my work. I told my mentor this and he told me I need to find a new job. I guess he didn't realize this was my livlihood and I couldn't just up and quit. Once he realized that most people I knew were broke and didn't have any extra money to spend on ACN, he said, "No more broke people." I didn't really know what to do about that because I only know who I know, which I told him that from the beginning.
While this was going on, my mentor was still actively recruiting others in addition to me. One guy he signed up at the same time as me, but that man decided to get his money back a couple days later. The only other person the guy who sponsored me brought to a meeting was his friend who was such a severe alcoholic that he had to leave the meeting early to go get a beer. My sponsor then stopped participating in ACN altogether after that. But I still held strong, not giving up and stayed positive as my mentor kept telling me to do.
There was one prospective recruit that I was hoping to get signed up under me. She was very open to it at first, but apparently read about it online and determined it was a scam. She then got frustrated the next time I called her and told me to stop hassling her or she would report me. This woman was my own mother.
My roommate made fun of me from the beginning, and even tried to belittle me during some of my meetings to embarrasss me in front of my guests and mentor. I began to think the people I knew were just mean-spirited, but then I realized this was just how people naturally reacted to multi-level marketing and what they viewed as pyramid schemes--and they are highly sceptical, negative, and unhelpful as a result. Everyone who was in ACN that I talked to, even my mentor, told stories about how people they knew had done the same things to them. It's something everyone has to deal with in this business apparently.
I had tried to improvise and do things that I felt would optimize my chances of recruiting people, but invariably whatever I did my mentor told me was wrong. Even when he did it his way and the outcome was worse. He kept saying to trust the system, which I continued to do to no avail. When I watched him present to my recruits it was like watching a robot with a plastic smile. It was the same formulated sales pitch over and over and to be honest it felt like a sales pitch from a sleezy car salesman. He'd spend 90 minutes on something that should only take 30 minutes and the people would be squirming in their chairs while eying the door just waiting for him to stop talking so they could leave. Meanwhile he would be continually be going over mundane details pointing to figures on a small sheet of paper that no one could really read clearly from the distance they were seated. It was just plain awkward in my opinion.
My last hope was to get my girlfriend to sign up under me. She had a big family and a lot of business contacts which would have been a great asset with a lot of potential. Unfortunately she was convinced by her friends and family not to join, and we broke up soon after. When finally the people I thought I could count on most to join didn't, I became incredibly frustrated and disheartened and was tired of wasting all this time just to lose more and more money. I had my mentor telling me one thing and everyone else telling me another, and I was trapped in the middle and forced to absorb the strain from both ends. I think my mentor caught on once he realized that even my own girlfriend wasn't joining, and he stopped contacting me. Probably as much cutting his losses as it was him realizing I was done with him and ACN.
I did ACN for about two months actively. During this time I was pressured by my mentor and his wife to go to weekly and quarterly meetings. The weekly meetings became pointless once I was no longer able to get even one person to go with me. The quarterly meetings were huge seminars held in other states that cost $150 to attend, plus transportation and hotel. Even attending one of those meetings would cost me as much as it did to join ACN! And they wanted me to attend 4 of these per year! Fortunately I didn't waste any more of my money by trying to attend these meetings, but my mentors always attended. I can only imagine how much money they spent on those things. That explains why they were so committed, and quite frankly, desperate, to make this business work. It's pretty transparent and sad once you see it for what it is and realize what is actually going on inside these people's heads.
When I joined initially I was under the impression that this would be part time and not cost an arm and a leg. It became clear as soon as I joined that this was a business of desperate people doing anything and everything they can to make this work, including not setting the correct expectations and using outright deception. I remember finding out about the $150 annual fee after investigating ACN online, and I told my sponsor about it in front of my mentor. My sponsor was shocked and said to my mentor, "You didn't tell me about that fee!" The truth is they never tell you about it because why would you join with all these extra fees? The fees are almost unending: $499 sign up+ $150 annual fee + $40/month video phone + $30/ month website membership + 4 expensive seminars a year + the cost of marketing materials + the cost to attend weekly meetings and paying for your guests entrance fees, etc. And if you want to just cancel, cut your losses, and get out....you guessed it....another fee of $200 for early cancellation. At least I know now how ACN is able to stay afloat. They charge for everything!
Now imagine them being honest and telling you before you join about what you ACTUALLY would have to pay and what you can ACTUALLY expect? But of course they don't tell you about any of that because NOBODY WOULD JOIN if they told the truth about their business. So they resort to typical unethical sales tactics and do little more than paint you a mental picture of a pie in the sky that is waiting for you if only you would just "stay positive" and keep feeding money and time into this system.
Looking back on it, I think ACN is one of those businesses that you are either too smart or too dumb to get involved in. Too smart, in that you will not join because you will see up front how difficult it is to be successful. Too dumb, because you will not join because you think everything is a scam and don't really understand a complex business model. But either way, most people won't join. And those that do join are now left to contend with all the people who will not join for the reasons stated above.
I knew that there was no guarantee that I would make money in ACN, and I was prepared to lose all the money I put in, and I did. The business model still makes sense to me on paper, but unfortunately this is a people business, and people are notoriously difficult to deal with when it comes to this sort of business. I realize now that there are some people who should NEVER join ACN because it is not right for them. You need to know a lot of people (preferably with money), and you need to be very socialable and a good salesman. It's unfortunate that the only qualifications to become an ACN representative are a heartbeat and a credit card, because so many people like myself continue to be lied to, manipulated, and then tossed to the side. Then to add insult to injury, they are told they failed because they gave up and were just too negative. But with all that is stacked against you when you join, most people would give up, otherwise continue to lose more and more time and money.
I am fortunate because I was able to absorb this financial loss and move on. I never signed even one person up, so I didn't have anyone upset at me after they lost their money like I did. My mentor, based on what he told me, had a long list of people he got to sign up but whom never made any money. And by "never made money" I mean LOST their money. What's odd about that is he really didn't make much money off of them, so he really just wasted his own time. Like most multi-level businesses, most of the money he brought in went to those way above him in his upline. I recall one of the first meetings I attended where my sponsor showed up in his fancy sportscar and had got not one, but TWO speeding tickets on the way in. That's a few hundred dollars in fines right there. Then when I was at his house a few weeks later, a process server showed up and gave his wife three more photo radar tickets he'd accumulated. This guy was clearly leaking money like a siv due to his own personal indescretions. I drew the conclusion that someone who is that financially reckless would probably do anything to make that money back, even if his business practices are just as reckless. Now this guy was just one ACN rep, but he was the one I ended up with. I'm sure other ACN reps have had better and worse experiences with their mentors.
It's now a year after I joined ACN and I've not heard back from my mentor since we initially stopped contacting each other. I am still trying to find a way out of the $40/month video phone service and I'll probably have to pay $200 to cancel early. So a year later and I am continuing to be drained of my money due to ACN. But hopefully I will soon be done with ACN entirely and can move on wtih my life.
Please note that I have been 100 percent honest about all this. Clearly I do not like ACN, but I didn't have to call it names and be beligerant toward the company or my sponsor. I figured if I put my honest and accurate account of my experience then people can read this and judge ACN for what it really is, rather than being influenced by a bunch of negative rhetoric.
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Posted by old fart on 2011-03-09:
Virtually all multi-level market schemes are expensive Boolcrap and are ALWAYS to be avoided..
You just learned a bitter but valuable lesson, "If it sounds to good to be true".....
Posted by jktshff1 on 2011-03-09:
Excellent review and great information. Thanks.
Stick around, you could be a great addition to M3C.
Posted by Anonymous on 2011-03-09:
My sister-in-law and her husband just started with ACN. They are selling outdated ACN "video phones" and supposedly, deeply discounted cable, satellite, land line & cell phone services. However, from what I have seen, my inlaws are not trying to recruit people "under" them, but rather, they are pushing their products. I don't know if the phone/cable/satellite part is also through ACN or what but I am wondering if it is also a scam? They almost had my mother-in-law convinced but she changed her mind when she found out that they needed all of her account information. Most people have their phone/cable/internet through contracted services these days anyway right? So I can't imagine my inlaws making any money off of this.
Posted by Matthau on 2012-01-04:
I went to an ACN meeting last night and thought it is just another pyramid scheme. All the energetic spokemen and women, the claims of making 35 to 50 grands a month and yet I saw what wear. If you're making this kind of money, why are you driving an outdated Ford Taurus, a Chevy mini van, and wearing cloth that you purchase from Walmart. Nothing against driving a taurus or a chevy mini van(which I happen to own one), but if you make those kinda of moneys shouldn't you splurge a little bit like a Bimmer or a Merc. Only cost a little over one month of your salary. $499 is hard to come by nowaday. My friend or so I thought is about to join. I wish him the best of luck but as for me I'm going to decline his invitation to this coming thursday meeting at his house. By the way, great review. Hope 2012 will be more gentler to you. Good luck.
Posted by Zoso25 on 2012-02-18:
It seems like everyone has the same similar story and it always starts out with a friend or family member. My favorite part is when they tell you about the meeting. They can't explain it where it doesn't sound obscure. MLM companies are all like that too, people convince themselves it's great so they can validate themselves. Eventually though, they realize its a fruitless business for everyone except the ones at the top.
Posted by CJM on 2012-07-06:
Mom has been in mlm for at least 30 years. She has always focused on health products. It's amazing how many products she has found. Some were very helpful to people. The aloe drink that really helps peoples health. One that cures this and that. She and a lot of people have been successful at selling this stuff.
A few interesting observations that she made quite clear when I asked her about ACN. She had never heard about it before.
-500? What? That's absurd! (very high to buy into the plan)
-You arent a sales person. Why would you think about soon this?
-Too many energy companies out there. Market saturation.
Mom is an aggressive saleswoman. She could sell a bottle of coke to a coke rep! But she wouldn't go near the telecomm company because she doesn't know the product. Are YOU in telecomm? If not then you won't be selling the product. So if you arent who is?
I'm in telecomm and IT for 25 years. Here are more notes about the product they sell.
Video phone can't compete with Skype.
VoIP is as good as their poor Internet connection with no QOS. Quality Of Service. If you have DSL which is what they sell, then forget a good phone quality.
Is ACN in the top 10 list for VoIP phone service? No.
What phone products do they sell and who makes them? Are they Cisco or avaya? Probably not. A Cisco ip phone is about $150.
go to ringcentral.com and look at their rates.
if you have connection problems. A powere outage. No Internet. Problem with your cell phone. who will you call? You won't be visiting the verizon store. I can guarantee that.
They resell what you already buy. But sans customer service.
Why is it $500. So that they can take your money and drive down the price of their ridiculous products.
Verizon sucks. I hate them. But guess what. Their phone call quality is pristine!
So. An overpriced mlm that sells junky telecomm products is not a good equation.
How do they stay in business? I don't have a clue.
Amway is still around and they sell the same crap that you can buy at the store for the same price.
Case closed.
Posted by Joe McKeon on 2013-05-27:
I am wondering how long ago these posts were made. I recently joined ACN. One of the reasons I joined was because the products I am selling I am already paying for. Someone mentioned Verizon's call quality is excellent. They infer ACN's is terrible. What I find odd is ACN sells Verizon. The rates are exactly the same as if I signed up in a Verizon store. The customer service is handled by Verizon and not ACN. Essentially ACN is a brokerage firm for Verizon and many other well known companies, AT and T, TMobile, Sprint, Dish Network, Direct TV, Comcast, ATD, PG and E and more. They offer some of their own products which have early termination fees right in line with everyone of those companies.
In regards to the high $500 sign up fee. The commenters failed to mention that is a one time fee. I have zero monthly fees. Unlike other network marketing companies I don't have to buy a thing. You don't have to buy a single product. Other companies require a monthly quota. In fact, one post me ruined the $150 annual fee. I have to stress that is an "annual" fee. Once a year. On average successful network marketing companies require you to spend that much monthly in product to remain active in the company. And the training meetings? Did they handcuff you and force you into their car? go if you want to. remember, your sponsor is someone just like you, someone who aigned up because they liked the company. but if they havent had success with it that generally speaks volumes about their own abilities and not necessarily the company.
So let me restate the fees, yes, $500 one time sign up fee, I repeat, one time for the rest of my life. Not a single other required fee accept an annual (once a year) $150 fee for as long as I choose to be active in the company. Aside from those fees? Nothing. There is zero requirement for me to purchase a single product ACN sells or brokers.
I have paid for 2 Verizon phones for the last 5 years. Had I used ACN when I renewed them I would be paying the same rates I am paying today. The only difference is I would be get a commission back from ACN for as long as I pay my bill. The same goes for my gas or TV or any other service they sell or broker. And these are all bills for services I always have and will continue to use for probably the rest of my life. Oh, and I have contracts with the companies on most of them.
What you fail to understand is ACN functions like Expedia.com. They are a brokerage firm. You choose what you are looking for and they connect you to the companies that offer the services. You then choose your plan etc through them (AT and T, Verizon etc). So like Expedia once you buy your Delta ticket you don't deal with Expedia anymore. You now deal with Delta. It is the exact same way with ACN. I would deal with them for my Verizon phone. I get billed, I pay, and all customer service is handled through Verizon. Just a if I bought the phone from them or any other authorized Verizon retailer.
Again, ACN does offer some of their own products. They still offer the video phone. They have their own wireless company similar to Metro PCS. They offer digital home phone or Voice Over IP just like Vonage. But the vast majority of what they offer are all the same companies a majority of people are already using on this planet.
Lastly, I repeat I have only been doing this for a week. But I suggest you actually do your homework before you sign up so you thoroughly understand the business. It would cost me $100K to get the rights to. Verizon kiosk in a mall. I now broker Verizon, AT and T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Comcast, Dish, Direct TV, ATD home security and more and for only a one time $500 fee and a once a year $150 fee. That is pretty darn good. And if you know anything about starting a business or franchising you would no that is not only good, it is a dang good investment.
So don't be bitter. Learn more about your company. Find a new and better mentor. And most of all don't be pushed around and talked into doing things you don't want to or don't have the money to do. And also, do t be made fun of for trying to be financially successful, especially by people who are just as broke as you are and aren't willing to try new things to be successful or change their station in life. Remember the guy at the top didn't trip and fall and land there. It takes knowledge and some hard work. Or you could just spend every extra dollar you have and try and win the lottery!
Do some research, check it out at jandrutilities.acndirect.com. Don't waist your time being a hater. Try a little positive energy.
Posted by DebtorBasher on 2013-05-27:
Well Joe, this one was posted in March 2011.
Posted by Richard on 2013-06-04:
well said Joe McKeown!!! Totally agree with you! :)
from sydney australia :)
Posted by Bianca on 2013-06-19:
What Joe said is exactly what a 'mentor' I met told me yesterday here in Montreal. I went to a really casual and interesting meeting about ACN and the man who talked to me was very informative and streight-forward. Never once did he tell me that the meetings were manditory to attend, he told me come if you want to learn more, thats it... They have conferences everywhere but obviously I would only attend ones that I could get to by car of bus! He told me that there was a one-time fee and obviously an annual fee too. I am a bit sceptical about the $500 but what I understood is that I am not forced to pay for it all upfront and I was definitly not pressured into joining through a monthly discount. How I undertood the company from my short meeting presentation was the company is an online store which removes the need for marketing telemarketing and mass mailing that cost thousands of dollars but relys on relational marketing (aka person to person) I do not think its a get rich quick scam because the two members I met were still working hard (like any other job) to get higher positions in the company. One was working for four years there as his only job and was in a good position making decent money, he was very friendly and knew what he was talking about, he was also very dedicated which is probably why he has had such success in the business, because you really have to work get customers. It knid of reminds me of what Avon is, its a small brochure/online store and uses sales people (representatives) to sell the products to clients. So I don't understand how selling products to family and friends is different than ACN selling things that everyone uses such as cell phones and internet, etc. for (what I understand) way cheaper than oer companies that have overseas help-offices, buildings that customers are being charged to help upkeep and also workers to employ, not to mention hidden surcharges. Whereas ACN doesn't have stores or employees, but reps that get small percentages for actually going out and getting cutomers unlike workers who sit in stores being paid even if they don't do anything... Even is ACN does turn out to be a scam, the positive aspects I was presented and the support given to me even on our first meeting makes me want to understand ACN more to see if everything is really legit. I want to keep an open mind about it but uninformed people who post things that are not even remotely accurate are definitly starting to tick me off. Maybe ask for a different mentor because yours is probably not the best from what you wrote and is not giving you a good impression of the company.
Posted by stas on 2013-06-19:
Thank youMcKeon. Other people have no clue what they talking about. Do some research,do some homework and you will never in your life say that about ACN! 500$ to buy your own franchise? R you kidding me? It should be $5.000 or $50.000 and Donuld Trump doesnt know what he is talking about? Come on people grow up. Get back to reality. Be carful who's adwise you take in life. If you listen to a broke person, you will be broke!!! ACN is the best opportunity that i ever came across. Good luck to all of you. God bless.
Posted by rebecca on 2013-06-28:
A couple years ago an old friend from my country sent me an email. I hadn't heard from this friend in ages and the email was something like 'freedom', it was just spammy marketing stuff. So I moved home in March, and had this friend help me. He's a professional driver, so I paid him (well) to get me at the airport and drive me around to buy a car. Almost as soon as I got off the plane he started hustling me about acn. I needed a phone, badly. He said,' you can do me a favour and help me with my business'. Dude I don't owe you a 'favour', I paid you for your driving. (alot). He wanted me to sign up and buy a phone and replace my kid's phones. No, they have a contract. So he took me to the local phone shop, ( I insisted), I wanted an android like what I had. It degenerated into almost a shouting row and I was almost crying. He was hammering me to just get an Optus prepaid card and he would loan me his ancient phone. This was so he could continue to try to hustle me and I wish I would've told him to shut up then and there. Apparently acn uses Optus network. So, now I have an ancient phone, and I have to buy a gps. I look at his website (just out of curiosity) , why would I mail order a phone!! If I want to do that I'll buy an unlocked Iphone on ebay! So I see a static and hard to navigate website. No thanks. So my gps breaks and is useless, so now I have two paperweights- the ancient phone and the gps, which cost $100. Of course I went to the mall and bought a samsung android for 99$, and my phone service (texting and NAVIGATION,) everything is about 30$ a month. We were sort of dating, I was at his house to use his printer and internet, and he was showing me the videophone. Wow! my dad had one just like that in 1996!! And, if you are in the 'business', why is your internet turtle! slow? I can talk to my friends in the us anytime I want for free! it's called scype and viber. I dunno but I gotta think you'd have to be a complete and utter moron to buy into this stuff- oh and I saw the 'script' and the 'training materials' laugh laugh laugh... ewwww
Posted by don merk on 2013-07-01:
ACN is an excellent company. I was full time with them for 5 years. ACN has some of the best leadership in mlm. The real issue with ACN their compensation plan. Bonus wise, great! Residuals, horrible! IF YOU ARE AN ACN REP, YOUR THE MIDDLE MAN FOR THE MIDDLE MAN. Do the math! ACN branded products are weak. I wanted to support a friend that is in the company. I took a look at there pre paid cell service. ACN offered a 1GB plan with unlimited talk and text for $72 per month on the verizon network. Other companies offer a 2GB plan for $55. THE THING THAT CREATED ACN WILL HURT ACN.........DEREGULATION! Its interesting the company claims because they dont advertise their pricing is great when in all actuality the ACN brand products cannot compete with the current market. It is what it is. Im not in any marketing company now so im not comparing ACN with any other company.
Posted by Jess on 2013-07-02:
I'm sorry u had a bad experience but I'm in acn for about 7 months now and I'm having great success!!! It's not only about the money but the growth I have experienced is priceless!! In my opinion from the start u have had nothing but negative thoughts so I'm not surprised u didn't succeed.. Anything u do takes time !! So to all the ones considering ACN persevere and u will see the results.. Would u take financial advice from a broke person? Probably not, so don't take advice from a quitter !
Posted by don merk on 2013-07-04:
Hello jess. I guess you didnt read my post. I WAS FULL TIME IN ACN FOR 5 YEARS! I was a SC now known as RD. I clearly stated ACN has some of the best leadership in the business. It was a great experience for me. I was financially free before ACN and after ACN. I overode a few TCs, so i know a thing or two about ACN. I wish you the best jess. I was simply replying to a comment. I made a little over $245,000 in the company, most of which were BONUS not residual. Thats all im saying. I can name at least 40 RVP-SVPs who left for the same reason. ACN was built on local-long distance calling. The residuals were amazing then. Times have changed. It just scares me that ACN doesnt have a flagship product to fall back on. When your products belong to everyone else, your destiny is in their hands. Ive been financially free for 35 years so quitting is not in my DNA. I've done what 99.9% of the people in ACN wont do and thats MAKE MONEY in ACN. I just know to leave when the well runs dry. Remember, YOUR ONLY A QUITTER IF YOU QUIT ON YOURSELF, NOT A COMPANY. Never get your transportation confused with your destination!
Posted by Z Bruce on 2013-07-08:
Good work Don! I just wanted to clarify the Flash service through Verizon and the other companies that offer data plans. The $72 (which is actually $78.99) is for unlimited talk, text and 1.56 GB. The other companies offer 2GB for $55, but also add on $50 for talk and text, so you're looking at $105, which is $25/month more that what we can offer through Flash and you're only getting .44 GB more of data. Appreciate the rest of your comments. The well isn't dry anymore. And you can make crazy residual income now. ACN is in the energy and now the credit/debit card transaction industry a.k.a. Merchant Services. You can make 10% personally on every small business and 15% on every big business that uses your credit card services. With 10,000 credit card transactions happening every SECOND world wide, how many would you need in a day to accumulate some sick additional income?
Posted by don merk on 2013-07-09:
ACN was involved with energy in 2000, so thats nothing new. Wish all ACN reps the best.
Posted by TRUTALIEN on 2013-07-24:
I'm not broke or negative. ACN is about recruiting. The reason there is a push for it because that is where the money is made through. The money is in the the CABS (Customer Acquistion Bonuses). The residual income is tiny compared to constantly bringing in IBO's into your downline. DENY IT ACN REPS. It's a recruiting business. Sure, there's good leadership and personal growth but your upline is successful because they recruited and recruited...And now they need you to recruit and recruit. Greg Provenzano said it an international meeting I wentto, "SELL THEM THE DREAM!!!" Stay away unless you can recruit knowing you get paid every time you do.
Posted by Sherri on 2013-07-31:
People are griping about buying into ACN for $500. Amway was mentioned like they are better than ACN. 10 years ago you had to come up with $1000 to get into Amway and there is an annual fee with them too. There is no residual income with Amway if you don't sell or use their products every month. Some of their products are about the same price as the stores, some aren't, but you still have to pay shipping, so Amway is more expensive no matter what the price is in the catalog. I'm not saying ACN is better than Amway or vice versa, but I do see the same tactics used by both companies. At a meeting that I went to for ACN, the speaker at that meeting said something like this: If you're looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, this isn't it. It takes work and it takes time. That is the first honest thing I heard out of either company. Everything I heard out of Amway was the getting-rich stories of the Diamonds and Emeralds and how easy and quick it was- which is something you are going to hear from ACN too. Just take everything with a grain of salt and think before you buy. Just like you put your best foot forward on a job interview and don't tell the interviewer anything bad about yourself, these companies will put their best foot forward also. This is called marketing and every person and every company does it, right or wrong.
Posted by Leo on 2013-07-31:
I have been trying to get recruit for almost 1 full year now by different people involve in the business, I think they just see that I am a hard worker and a have a network of people everywhere! I am actually a sales rep for a very distinguish company and I tell you it's funny that every Acn erson that I come across try's to get me in...
The funny thing is that ALL of them have spencer and a example of how successful he has been, they show me his car and they all shoe me his checks!!!
I'm still thinking to see of it is worth it for me to joint and I have one of the people pay for my business thing the (500$)
Posted by Joe on 2013-08-09:
You mentors are the problem, people below you deal with the problems, so sell your "stuff" somewhere else , you're are just as sleezy as car salesmen!
Posted by Robert Anthony on 2013-08-16:
I can attest to 99% of this guy's experience as I had a "Dud" Iris phone right from the get go and I was always being blamed by the tech. guys as Not knowing what I was doing. Finally after over a year, got a new phone,...works. I got shafted into buying an adapter grey box as well which I did not need. I am being billed for TWO lines, when I only wanted one but TOLD that I HAD to have Two. I am paying out the contract, getting rid of the second line and the Iris X which I NEVER did need. Would I recommend ACN,....I say this: "Read Every detail and small print over and over again". Tape record EVERY call and Save All correspondence. Am I happy, " NOT in the slightest", as Most ACN phone people, (especially Don, (hatchet man, in my opinion), treats one like a dummy and that their crap does not smell! Go with Great Caution :-(
Posted by Jaque on 2013-09-17:
Thank you for telling us about your experience with ACN. This is a great review, you have basically described exactly what it's like to to be an IBO for any these type of companies. I just hope anyone who is going to join should read your story before becoming a member. Awesome job.
Posted by Jaque on 2013-09-17:
Hello jess.I would like to know what you Define as success and How much money have you made with ACN as of today?
Posted by Jon White on 2013-10-07:
I have been approached dozens of times over the past thirty years to join MLM companies such as Amway, Shaklee, Herbalife etc. Although I believe the business model - if done correctly with integrity- is excellent, I couldn't see the benefit to me or others with the products these companies were selling. To my mind, they were the same price or more that could be bought in any store. Then two years ago a friend introduced me to an MLM company with a product everyone uses, but is much more convenient and MUCH less expensive (and better quality) than can be bought in a store. I joined and finally, after thirty years found the right network marketing company for me. Great products, terrific value, fabulous pay plan, professional training and solid track record. I'm proud to be a professional network marketer with SendOutCards...
Posted by third on 2013-10-08:
i just signed up with ACN and now i am alarmed after reading all this comments. can anybody help me get away with this?
Posted by Truthalien on 2013-10-09:
@ Third. If you don't want to recruit and sell noncompetitive products that pay vey little in residual income just walk away. Oh, when they cook you to go to an international training event it's essentially your Saturday meetings but with 20,000 people. Oh, they cost $149 with no transportation lodging fees included. And get ready to lose friends and colleagues when they are not interested in joining your organization...they avoid you like the plague.
Posted by Cameron on 2013-10-09:
I had ACN Voip and just cancelled it. I was paying $37 a month. I had Vonage before and now I'm going back for $12.99. I dont care about helping a friend by paying $25 extra a month to so he can get paid. Good luck selling that crap.
Posted by third on 2013-10-12:
@truthalien im walking away now . im also trying to process my refund from the membership, and voip. i received already an acknowledgment that they are giving me the refund. i cancelled my YBA but any still no response if i can get a refund on this. anyway whats really disheartening is the relationship that was strained with my good friend who is my upline and we are going to see eah other everyday because we work together
Posted by Truthalien on 2013-10-13:
@ Third. Did you sense that the nuts and bolts of ACN revolved around recruiting? In ACN they preach getting rid of negative people aka people who won't join your downline. It's unfortunate, but that's what happens when you try and turn your friends and family into your income.
Posted by Al on 2013-11-05:
You should've got customers, I've only recruited one of my friends, and I know it's tough for people to see the ACN vision, but I was able to make my money back by getting customers which ACN pays you monthly bonuses on. It's not about recruiting, it's about customers! I think once I get more proficient in getting more customers, then I'll get more proficient in recruiting.
Posted by DinSincity on 2013-11-07:
Funny how all these people are putting up the negative comments and completely lying about the company! First of all to get a phone with sprint or verizon through ACN it is only 47 dollars a month with unlimited everything, So go to anyone of those stores and let me see you do that?? You cant even get unlimited with verizon. Second this company partners with billion dollar companys. Do you think cox sprint or verizon would be involved in a scam? I dont think so, Third they are in i believe 23 contries, Go try and open your biz in another country and tell me what you have to go thru to do that. This company is legit the only reason people are complaining is because they dont wanna go out and do the work! Key word "WORK" .. This biz is what you make of it so stop complaining about something you know nothing about. Guess what, if you have a conventional job you are involved in a pyramid scheme. What is our country? There is one president at the top correct? Nothing thru acn is more expensice we either have the same rate or cheaper bankscd.acndirect.com
Posted by jose on 2013-11-12:
Customer experiences:
1. My mom's landline phone.. switched under me.. ended up paying like 2 $ more a month
2. Sister's electricity for her restaurant. . Saved her 2 cents on her kWh rate
3. Neighbors land line. . 10 $ more expensive
4. Att uverse internet max 25mbps
30 $ cheaper than the SAME service but not theough acn.. even the out of promotion rate was 20 $ cheaper
^^^ all Illinois
1. Friend's gad cut by 40%
2. Some verizon tv internet package. The most expensive one was that I could get my friend was the same rate he was getting for the mid grade package he was paying for.
^^ california
These are just some experiences.. Ive hit my 50 customer points to unlock 10% out of all my services I referred along with unlocking the overriding % on my teams services...
At some point you want to work less, you want to recruit ppl that are as hungry as you so the find leaders and suddenly your business can run itself using the weekly meetings to motivate your team and keep that vision in them. Those meetings arent just for new prospects. . They're also to keep current reps motivated..
Your goal in acn is to find leaders. Finding 3 or 4 ppl who will be beasts at acn will set you for life in acn.. because these 3 or 4 leaders will build w huge downline by identifying leaders as well. And in the whole process customers are being acquired .. I've seen two 20 year olds out here in los angeles who I see go from wearing a cheap suit and driving a normal car to suddenly hitting the top production charts in north america then rolling into to weekly meetings in a nice nice car and getting a serious update in their wardrobe. I've had an svp pay for my cousins plane ticket home because the international event was in L.A. and my cousin is from Chicago and didnt have enough money to come... svp made it happen for me and helped my team member make it to the training. . Ppl in acn want u to succeed.
Posted by JDM on 2013-11-22:
Wow, where do I start? I've owned an ACN business for a little over a year now. And folks.....it's a BUSINESS....YOU OWN it. The $500? I don't know ANY business you can open for that little. Get real guys! And the expenses people have mentioned? It's a BUSINESS EXPENSE! You write those off of your taxes....duh! A pyramid scheme? Havethe complainers ever looked at the organizational charts of the place they are employed at? It's a friggin' pyramid! In addition to my ACN business, I work for a human service agency. At the top is the Executive Director. Below him is the COO and the CFO. Below THEM are the Program Directors. Below THEM are the rest of us....Assistant Program Directors....a PYRAMID! Get a clue that ALL business is based on a pyramid.
I get a residual check every month and I have gotten bonus checks. In the original complaint....sure sounds like bad leadership and someone not following the system. If you have people coming to your home meeting that have NO CLUE why they are there, you invited them wrong...PERIOD. Your mistake. The fast start bonus? It is offered to EVERY business owner in their first month....there is no secret there, no come on, and a way to make your money back in the first month. Gee....did any else here get a 3 figure bonus from the regular jobs within the first month they were hired?
It comes down to sour grapes. You didn't run your business like you owned it. If you opened a store and it bombs out, are you going to blame everyone else? The only person to blame is YOU....it's YOUR business and you didn't run it right. ACN in the same way. Run it like you own it (because you do), get customers (I don't seem to have a problem getting them AND save them money at the same time!) insteadof bitching about it because you didn't do it right.
Posted by ray on 2013-11-25:
Joining ACN is like joining a gym. Everyone is welcome to join, but not everyone will have a pleasant experience. Some people will show up 5 times a week and get n shape, some will get a tainer (mentor) and actually follow the routine and eventually get in shape, some people wll take 2 months to get to their goal weight, and some people will take 5 years. Anytime you quit anything after only 2 months, you are not really qualified in posting an opinion about how it didn't work. That's like blaming a gym for your lack of success after not really attending after 2 months of membership. Any success takes time. You have to stick to what you believe and never quit. Only then can you comment on the results. Otherwise, you are just a quitter with an opinion like the other 97% of the broke people in the world. I say do your own research with an open mind before joining anything, and dont let anyones poor experiene ruin your dreams. I wish the best for everyone!!!
Posted by inez on 2013-12-01:
Someone presented me with acn however it's not for me. This chick was trying to talk about how everyone wants more money and how I could get money back from my phone bill or order all my stuff through them and join and make money. Well her a the thing I'm fine with my job I live according to my means and I don't have time to recruit people nor would I ask my friends or family to do this. Supposedly she makes 5 figures a month and that's great but like someone said earlier if your making that much why have a broken car? Not that cars are everything but if I'm going to say I make that much I'm going to have something to show for it. So she asked if I wanted to join and. I said no. She asked if she could call my friends and family I said no. She asked if my friends and family could used more money I said yes maybe nut not this way. So acn is not for me. She made it sound like a scam. Not her fault but I'm not falling into any trap.
Posted by john on 2013-12-09:
ACN is just like being a car sales person. you pretty much have to approach your family and convince them to buy this product from you so you can start getting very little money. They have to recruit more people in order to get more profit so this ACN thing really sucks! One's required to invest too much time trying to convice people to join you which can be very difficult. you're better off investing this time learning some other kind of profession and doing side jobs because nobody likes people that sell product and that's the only way to succed with ACN
Posted by Stephanie Davis on 2013-12-11:
ACN is made up of thousands and thousands of hardworking average Joes and Janes.
It is an equal opportunity wealth builder. White, black, yellow, red, brown, educated or high-school dropout, your station in life doesn't matter
Posted by kim on 2013-12-23:
Who are you??? You are such a very very nice, patient, kink, wise, ,sincere..gentlement. why people could still take advantage of you? Poor you guy!!!
I laughed a lot when I read your testimonial, it is so interest and very compelling. Thank you for making my
night in my reseach before joining the ACN. Of course it is very scary. I never sign up for the company.
Posted by Quark on 2014-01-03:
The truth is most people who call ACN scams don't like the MLM business model so it doesn't matter what company it is. But ACN really offers no savings to customers for their services. I fact a number of them are actually higher than you can get out in the marketplace. I get offers for the same services at or below their prices almost every day of the week in my mail box. They come from affiliate marketers and that is what I think ACN probably is a giant affiliate marketer. You will see that over 95% of all ACN reps remain at the entry level or 1 above for years no matter how hard they work. Their video phone is a dinosaur that no one wants. Save your 500 bucks and a ot of frustration. Are there goo MLM companies out there with good products a REALLY competitive prices-yes there are just not ACN in my opinion.
Posted by bigbry on 2014-01-06:
I was asked by someone I just met to listen to a webinar or phone call for a FANTASTIC way to earn money. I didn't have time to do so, but I googled ACN and also read the good and bad reviews. I've been an insurance agent for over 25 years and have built a nice agency with good renewals/residuals and have some knowledge in sales and running a business to say the least. After reading the comments, good and bad stories, here's my take on ACN: you will alienate your friends, family, neighbors by attempting to get them to join and ask them to recruit others. If you're willing to alienate them or have them think of you as being overly aggressive, then this ACN may be a good deal for you as long as you get the right training, mentors and are WILLING to put the time in and build your business. If you don't think you can CONSISTENTLY recruit people, don't sign up. (Every sales business ends up being some form or another of a "pyramid" idea - it's the nature of the beast.) The majority of people who sign up for ACN will only last a short time - that's the way sales works. And yes, that upline will have benefited from your $499 when you quit. And for me, I'll pass on ACN.
Posted by Akaalis on 2014-01-07:
For all you people who are doing good with ACN I applaud you.
However, the majority of the money you make are from the fees your recruits pay(or bottom feeders), as for the residuals, those are more so accumulative and will take a very long amount of time to amount to much.
ACN is a legit business opportunity, however the tactics they use are exactly identical to that of Primerica, asking you for every f***in number that you have, continually spam calling them, whether it be your sister, friend, acquaintance or your grandmother lying on her death bed. ACN emphasizes "quantity" over quality, that's why they will readily accept "anyone" who joins and can "pay". Even if the people who joined but did not succeed and left, that is of very little consequence to them, because they at least left "after" paying that $500.00 fee(most which goes to the higher ups) and very little of which goes to you(if any).
If you are socially "insensitive" and have a thick skin for harassing every(and anyone) to come "under" you and also know a network of gullible people. Than this business if definitely for you.
But for me? No...my conscience would simply just not allow me to.
Lastly.....if I had at least one piece of advice for this company to improve: stop revolving your meetings on over-the-top hype and exaggerated emotional-arousal, because the actual "burnout" can be alot worse than a caffeinated-sugar "crash" .......
Posted by RealDeal on 2014-01-24:
ACN is not a scam BUT you will lose your friends and respect of your piers aka people who won't join your downline. This happens because you've either called them stupid and lazy or you're bothering the crap of them with your "business." ACN is clearly based on recruiting people. Look up what happened to Fortune High Tech Marketing with the videos on youtube and let us know if their pitch sounded familiar before they got shut down last year.
Posted by TheTruth on 2014-02-03:
ACN is not a scam and you WILL NOT LOSE YOUR FRIENDS and FAMILY. I've been with ACN for a little over 5 months and am currently at the ETL position with the company. Aside from ACN I run a successful traditional business in the construction industry. My goal at the beginning was to generate a second income stream...even if it was a couple hundred a month. This was easy to do on a PART TIME basis and i'm consistently earning $500 to $1000 a month. This isn't huge doe, but compared to my time and effort applied in the 5months, which is minimal, it's awesome to have that extra spending cash! I guarantee that there isn't one person on this blog that wouldn't put an extra $200-$500 a month to good use.
Yes, I called my family and friends to take a look at the business and support me. Did I have to pressure them into using a service? No, they used my services because it saved them some money. Was it a ton of money, no, but it was still a savings and can make a difference in someone's budget. I've had many instances where ACN pricing/plans were about the same as what they were currently paying, so we left it alone. On average I'm helping people save between $500-$1000 on an annual basis.
Did I loose Family and Friends by showing them this amazing opportunity? Absolutely not! If it's not for them, then it's not for them. Will you have friends give you a hard time about what your doing? Of Course! With any business you need to be mentally strong or you will not succeed. I look forward to being razzed by my friends, it just adds to the motivation!
ACN's leadership and training is TOP NOTCH! Yes you will be asked by your upline to attend a regional training event, yes it costs money to go, but it's well worth the investment. Here's why: At your local training, you may not relate to the leaders presenting, but at the regional you may have that "ah-ha" moment by seeing the opportunity presented from a leader not in your market place. Someone you can relate to. This could be the jumpstart to a whole different life! I've been to two regionals and am excited for the first event of 2014!
To the people who are doing their "research" before you decide to start ACN: Just because you find some negativity online about someone's experience as being terrible, or that this is just another "pyramid," I would suggest that you look at your life and where you are today. If you are broke and have been broke for a while, you'll be broke for the rest of your life. It's up to you to decide on how your next 5 -10 years will be. If it's with ACN, great! If it's not, then try to better yourself with another opportunity.
Posted by kam on 2014-02-09:
I attended the seminar this morning and i will tell you this, this bussiness is good for desperate people whom are in bad debt and people whom are starving and r ok with loosing all the respect they have to collect penies and virtually become slaves for the big guys if this is who you are then this bussiness is for you and you will be successfull becuse now after loosing all of your friends and respect you atleast are collecting some penies hoping you will grow big, i looked at one of the guyes who was talking on the stage as a mentor and he was claiming that he is making same amount of money as president obama i looked at what he was wearing and i bet you any money the total value of what he had on didnt top $20 so i waited for the seminar to end and i looked out the window to see what he was driving when he was leaving , i wasent surprised to see him driving an old toyota max value of $1500 so you do the matt, this is a good company but not for you for the poeple who started it not for you once signed up u enter a labor camp doing slavery for the big guy and collecting penies none of these people whom are at the bottom would manage to make living and if anyone is telling you thy make money they are liers do not trust these guys, time is valuble invest in your self dont invest it in doing slavery for a big guy be your own master and run a bussiness where people will respect you not avoid you.
Posted by TGates on 2014-02-09:
I think scam is the wrong word. Misleading is the better description. I have never joined any MLM but have been to few over the years to support a friend. They all get you to believe that u are buying your own business or franchise....lol.NO YOU ARE NOT. Subway etc. Is a franchise. I am sure a lot of people actually do make money but it not from the service you are suppose to sell. It is from recruiting. No matter how they try to cover it up....ITS all about recruiting.
Posted by Cam on 2014-02-18:
Can anyone in ACN verify if anyone is making over $2000-$3000 per month just on selling the selling the service with no downline from recruiting others? I ask this because it seems like you can't make any real money with ACN without constantly bringing in other reps under you.
Posted by Bisham on 2014-02-22:
@ Cam. You can definitely make some money just selling the ACN services. MLM's are not easy, but if you just push yourself a little you can make it happen.
Posted by JBM on 2014-03-20:
ACN is Amway for the 2000's. It is a pyramid scheme that can make money if you are a sales driven person and don't mind alienating those around you.
i bought services through a friend and paid the rate the provider charged everyone. i made the mistake of buy my electricity through them. This is where it falls apart and i ended up getting ripped off. ACN will not be your advocate.
In 3-5 years ACN will no longer exist.
If you are not a driven individual, don't get involved with the pyramid. If you only by service, buyer beware!
Posted by justanotherETT on 2014-03-20:
Here is my honest opinion about ACN. I am an IBO for about a year now. I've read the review and its comments, well at least most of the comments. And it is all very very real
Posted by richie rich on 2014-04-13:
Thank you. I went to this meeting today at the insistence of a coworker I have always trusted. You have confirmed what I suspected. It really is not about selling but recruiting. I mentioned a few people I know who I might be able to "do favors" for. They had no interest in me doing this, only in me inviting them to a pbr at my house.
Posted by Donna on 2014-04-18:
I was invited at the last minute by a friend of mine to attend a meeting that "will change my life forever" last night. Went to her house and encountered a gentleman who talked very savvy like he was the owner of the company. At the end of the meeting I was very dumbfounded because I had no idea what I was supposed to market. I remember hearing the words "recruit your friends and family", "different levels of promotion", etc. but nothing about consumer service. Needless to say, I was vastly confused...especially after I was told it would cost me $499 to join and $149 per year afterwards. But, I first had to start off as me being my own customer to convince unsuspecting victims to sign up for this mystery "service". Well, we started off with my wireless service. I am with ATT under a family plan with 4 members using iPhones...unlimited texts and 15gb shared for $130 a month. Guess what? There is no service for ATT wireless under ACN. Have to either wait until my contract expires to join or cancel. Excuse given to me by Mr. Savvy is the latino people in the area only uses Sprint so it was easy to target them. I shot some negative comments in his direction and was told I would be unsuitable for this company because I was being too analytical and the devil's advocate. I told him I had every right especially if I was to fork over $499 and not being able to even use their service. I also needed to be certified to promote their services? Um, what type or kind of certification? Needless to say, I left my friend's house $499 richer while he was showing her a picture of a pyramid.
Posted by Plantarnon on 2014-04-18:
If you do the math for the number of customers required to have a decent income, provided at the sign up seminar, most prospects don't realize that you will need several thousand people in your customer base to make just a few hundred dollars per month. The math is just not there to allow everyone who signs up to become wealthy. Multi level marketing.
Posted by falbo on 2014-04-23:
I had an equally vague introduction to the scheme from a guy I went to high school with. Adam Junior. This guy told me he was pulling down 50 grand a month. He ran some of these big meetings bragging about rubbing shoulders with Trump and others. They dont tell you things such as you cant actively sell to people you arent friends or relatives with. The numbers needed to turn a profit were simply rediculous and basically not feasible. Basically speaking I hadnt seen this friend for 20 yrs after high school and really lost any respect I may have had for him. 50 grand a month my ass. Im sure other than his conventions he made absolutely nothing from the actual system. Also why use the archaic video phone when you have skype and other more readily available ways of going about it. Its obsolete if the person you're calling doesnt have the same $500 paperweight phone. Silly silly proposition
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ACN & one of their reps
Posted by Dear True on 07/29/2009
I attended a meeting by a so called 'friend' last week, where they said if I invest $500 of my money, I would see $3000 in return next month. (Period)
So it was a no brainer to go to the meeting and see what the so called 'ground-level'/'foundation-level' investment was about.
What made me to believe this was a scam, was the incorrect use of words and hype. After the meeting I did some research of the company, my thoughts were confirmed.
1- the representative said she just started out 3 months ago, and is currently making 7,000 dollars a month. The real Truth is = after searching her name on the internet, she has been in the business for 19 years!!! So even if I asked to see her pay stub, the figures she made would be incorrect to the amount of time she stated to of invested. Who knows if she was making that much at all, and she could also be an inside appointed sales representative of the company. who knows. don't trust M.H.D. off the bat.
2- she tried to tell us how great the video phone is that ACN sells. She hyped that it's only $100 to buy and then only $30 a month to subscribe. All you have to do is plug it into the internet.
And then have someone else buy the phone too so they can talk and see each other.
This product all together is scandalous. I can buy a video VOIP phone for 100 to 200 dollars on the internet, and use it for ***FREE*** if using Skype to Skype calling, and Skype offers a $2-$3 plan a month to make calls outside of skype.
I feel that ACN is taking advantage of people.
My other feelings are that how can I sell a product I don't believe in, which is not the best product for anyone. That in itself is scandalous.
3. All you have to do is invest in $500! -- yeah right!!! not.
after listening to the representative and other ppl who where in the program, they kept repeating how they have to make a lot of follow up calls and hustling to get their accounts to payback.
Not to mention there is a $30 additional fee to maintain your website, and another $150 to $200 annual fee to stay a member. And you have to buy into the program with 3 services. I currently only have one cell phone service... why add 2 more services a month to add to my bills?
Well I didn't get suckered into this pyramid scam. I did my research first.
If you want to invest in a money making career- invest in yourself! I am hitting the books.
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Posted by Anonymous on 2009-07-29:
"they said if I invest $500 of my money, I would see $3000 in return next month"
Yeah, you gotta wonder what kind of 'friend' that is. Good for you for not falling for this!
Posted by Anonymous on 2009-07-29:
Excellent job you did by first researching the company. From what you describe it sure looks like a pyramid scheme. Yet they have been investigated in a few countries and found to be operating legally, but just barely. From what I've seen online about ACN a person can actually make good money, but, you need at least 43 people 'under' you to start making any real money. Most lose money because of all the fees ACN charges.
Posted by Dear True on 2009-07-29:
more.. legitimacy: (if you do get suckered into this, you can sue the upliners and co.)
Posted by PepperElf on 2009-07-29:
i like my skype. combine that with my tracfone and ichat and i have no need for any high priced phone plans or landlines
Posted by Anonymous on 2009-07-30:
One thing that makes these operations legal is that it is possible to make that kind of profit in a short time.
Posted by Dear True on 2009-08-02:
operations that make a profit are not all legal. i would have to disagree. It is how they go about to get their profits.
Posted by DigitalCommando on 2009-08-02:
The russian government in cooperation with the big telecoms there are going to make skype and its equivalents illegal to use there. It is cutting too deeply into the pockets of the telecoms and they are also saying it is threat to national security because they can't eavesdrop on skype phone calls. it's not going to be long that this BS will pop up here as well.
Posted by Anonymous on 2009-08-02:
The $500 is a front end (front loading) binary or matrix. The back end phone sale keeps it legit in the AG's eyes. All the money is being made on the front end by recruiting more people. I would bet that less than 5% of the sales are on the back end sales. The States AG's love to dig into these operations.
Posted by Marketer NOT Seller. on 2009-08-11:
I agree with you completely, it is so sad the people that get sucked into this. Yes, I'm sure there are a few people who succeed in this. But, every rep says the same BULL.. i mean.. lines, it is like a written script, "how many people do you know own a cell phone?" "Why work 8 hour shifts?" "The video phone is only $99.. yesss $99." "I made $3000" did they mention that the check comes in increments??
Great Review!
Posted by Dear True on 2009-09-28:
skype should not be made illegal. if it is cutting into the profits of telecoms, then that is how the world turns. the buck is passed somewhere else. oh- and they can't really stop skype. there are 3rd party apps that tunnel skype through.. lol
Posted by Lifemates on 2010-10-24:
If you are willing to back stab and mess up your friends just like this supposed friend that almost messed you up, then you can make money. Who wants money like that, who wants to be evil and mess up all their friends. Also they always exaggerate the figures to get prospects excited. You would probably have to sell off a lot of friends to be making the $7000 a month.
Posted by Carolina Girl on 2013-07-29:
Just attended a "personal business meeting" that a family invited me to attend. I went out of support for her. I was the only who showed up....From the vagueness of her phone call, I should have known something was up but I wanted to support her. From the start of the meeting, I knew there was something wrong. The ACN rep had this video phone out...so strange...but she never made a call from it...hmmm...I knew from the video segments and phrases such as "tremendous earning potential" and "the integrity" of the company that something was wrong...So what if Donald Trump endorses it....That doesn't mean much to me. As he was reading his script, I was wondering just how much he was being paid...I just hate it that my family friend is into this....$499? Not a possibility for me...The rep was suggesting I get a small business loan...even skip my monthly car note...uh? huh? Attending all these meetings? Huh? I am glad to learn that there are fees for some of these meetings...Well.... I am fine with schlepping for the State for the next twenty years....MLMs are not for me...
Posted by Sandra on 2013-10-31:
What research did you do...google. Lol. Maybe if you actually followed the system for 1 year you would see success. You can re-coop any loss on your taxes. This is simple but work. You are going to work anyways so do something else to generate income.
Posted by Nopers on 2014-02-17:
@ Sanrdra...I tweaked your post that better reflects ACN.
What research did you do...google. Lol. Maybe if you actually followed the "recruiting" system for 1 year you would see success. You can re-coop any loss on your taxes. This is simple but "recruiting" is work. You are going to work anyways so do something else to "recruit" and generate income.
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ACN and its Culture of Hype, Deception and Guilt
Posted by Angeldude98 on 06/26/2013
CALIFORNIA -- I was recruited into ACN by a family member who I like and respect. She asked me if she could hold a business meeting at my place to show me a great business opportunity that would help me become an independent business owner, and asked that I invite at least 5 or 6 friends or people I knew. When I asked her about it she said it was a franchise and that I would be investing in it and I would get awesome returns very quickly. I thought it sounded great, though I was skeptical at first. But then I reasoned that it must be investing in stock from this franchise.
At the meeting she proceeded to show us a DVD presentation of the company, the business model, and the potential profits you can make. She went on to explain how everything works. It was interesting that she refused to answer questions anyone had. She'd only say that questions would be answered later and continued with the presentation. Every time someone would ask something they would either get an evasive answer, or told to ask later (I would later learn that that is a trained tactic that you have to use to keep people focused and to get them to listen to everything first). Then she mentioned that to sign up you have to pay a one-time sign-up fee of $499! That's when she lost everybody. No one was interested in spending that kind of money, especially in this economy! But she hyped it up saying that is was nothing compared to the returns you could get. Then she began to outline the business model.
Here is how it works ( Mind you, you find out about all this only after you pay the $499 fee and start building up – a recruiter will never disclose these details until they have your signature on a contract and you turned in your money): Once you pay the $499 fee to sign-up, you're officially in, as a TT (Team Trainer) but you're not qualified yet! In order to qualify, you have to first purchase their flagship product, a Video Phone that connects to the Internet (after all you have to have the product to demonstrate, right?). The Video Phone costs over $100, plus a $30 monthly service fee (forget SKYPE and MSN and all the others that you can use for free!). You do that, and you're still not qualified. You have to have 3 services with ACN, so in addition to the Video Phone, you have to switch over 2 services of your choice from your regular providers (Cell phone, Internet, Home Security, Land-line phone, etc.) to ACN! Plus, you have to dish out another $30 a month to maintain your own ACN website! Wow, pay all that and only now you're qualified and are a representative at their first level, QTT! Oh, and there's also a $150 annual membership fee to stay with the company (but no one tells you this... I found out on my own after doing my research!).
So now the fun started. Actually, I didn't even sign-up myself. She did. She used her credit card to pay the fee as I wouldn't have money until my next paycheck. That's how much she wanted me to join, so now I felt somewhat obligated to at least give it an honest try. Needless to say, no one else at that meeting signed-up.
I quickly learned that she and everyone above her were my "up line" (the ones that would train and mentor me in my "business") and that in order to succeed, earn cash bonuses and move up the ranks, I had to build a "down line" of people under me. That means I had to recruit, recruit, recruit, and then help those I recruited recruit others under them, and they afterwards and so on. At the same time, I had to make sure they all bought the Video Phone and switched over their services in order for them to qualify and for me to earn customer points (I could also get those by re-selling services to customers from all the major cell phone, DSL, land line and home security companies). The bigger the "down line" and the more "customer points", the higher your rank level (you have to earn each level one a time before you can earn the next one):
Level 0: TT - Team Trainer (Entry level)
Level 1: QTT - Qualified Team Trainer
Level 2: ETT - Executive Team Trainer
Level 3: ETL - Executive Team Leader
Level 4: TC - Team Coordinator
Level 5: RD - Regional Director
Level 6: RVP - Regional Vice President
Level 7: SVP - Senior Vice President
What really gets you is that they tell you that at first your main income will be bonuses for recruiting and earning customer points, and after that if you build up your "down line" and get more and more people to switch services, you eventually earn a lot of money through residual income (a percentage of people's bills from these services goes to you). Sounds too good to be true? Sounds like a MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) Pyramid scheme? It totally is on both counts!!!
I have to admit that I smelled the rat early on, but it was too late. I'd already invested my money and felt obligated to my family member so I was determined to make it work. I started organizing meetings to which hardly anyone came, and after several weeks of trying I was only able to recruit 2 of my friends (I feel guilty about that even today). My "up line" did her best to come and try and help me out, but it turned out to be futile as none of the people I knew had $499 to spare and they'd all bail out as soon as they put 2 and 2 together and figured out it was a MLM Pyramid scheme.
This type of business model can end up alienating you from family and friends because the first thing a recruiter will tell you is to make a list of all the people you know and start inviting them (obviously, if you know people with money, much better)and if they refuse to keep bugging them until they come. Then you need to do everything in your power to convince them to sign up - of course, after you have been meticulously trained on how to do it. Needless to say, Team Trainers are required to attend a lot of training meetings and seminaries so they can be "qualified" to train others. Of course, each one costs an expensive entry fee. Your "up line" will tell you over and over again to follow the system and that you absolutely must attend the trainings because there is a certain way to do things and get results and if you do it on your own, you will fail. They tell you that you can't do it unless you are trained first (brainwashed would be a better word… you are brainwashed to think ACN is the best thing in the world and you are trained meticulously on how to get people to part with $499 and everything else!)
And here I come to the other part of this company that really bugged me – The training events! To begin with they all cost money with the International 3-day events that take place in major cities costing about $150 (not including transportation, food and lodging of course… you pay those on your own!). I had to attend several regional trainings and meetings and all they were about was just hype, hype, hype, rah, rah, rah, and TCs and RVPs trying to convince and recruit attendees to sign up for this "tremendous business opportunity"! Of course there were a lot of positive testimonies (some even tearful) about how good this was, how their lives changed, blah, blah, blah… (great actors, I must say!). Then they would go on to tell stories on how they recruit people and how stupid and foolish where those who refused to sign-up because they were not "seeing the light" and were "unbelievers" and too lazy and contented with their mediocre lives (at that point to me it sounded like the type of pitch a cult would use). I totally felt that they encouraged a culture of superiority and browbeating. They would say in those stories how those that refused to sign up and take advantage of the opportunity were stupid and losers, and they would laugh at them and feel sorry for them. I have to say I did not like this one bit.
Then my "upline" (my family member and original recruiter) calls me up one day to tell me I should go to the International event in Charlotte, NC (I live in CA) the following weekend. Of course, I can't afford such a trip at the time, so she tells me that she'll cover everything (airfare and hotel) herself, but that I need to go because I couldn't miss this, it was the greatest opportunity of my life, and so on… All I had to pay for was the $150 ticket to the event. So she books me on the red-eye flight to Charlotte that Friday night. She has me travel with another of her recruits. We get there at around 6 am or so and our hotel is not ready because check in is not until 10 or so. So we go to get some breakfast and wait until check-in time. Finally, I get to my room. I'm sooo sleepy as I haven't slept since the day before! I go to bed at and have less than 2 hours as the first meeting at the Time Warner Arena starts at 12. I make it there, and I 'm astounded at the sheer number of people!!! The place was packed to capacity with thousands of hyped-up ACN members!
I was part of our regional team, and we all sat together. Well, that first day was about 8 hours of training, testimony, hype, rah rah rallies, and more training (no breaks or lunch… I had to go on my own against the scowls of my teammates for missing out!) By the time is over I'm beat. We go to dinner and I find out from the team leader and my "upline" that everyone in the team is expected to be at the Arena's door lining up at 4:30 am to get the best seats! Never mind the thing didn't start till 8. When I protested, I was literally belittled in front of everyone for being lazy, that I couldn't miss it, that is was too important, that it was my future, etc. blah, blah… in other words, I was made to feel guilty about protesting for my right to get a couple of more hours of shut-eye. How dare I when ACN was the most important thing? Didn't I know that personal needs go out the window?
By the time I make it to bed it's like 11 pm. Only about 4 hours to sleep. This was already Saturday and I hadn't had a full night's sleep since Thursday night! The next day I was up with the rest of them (against my better judgment and the fact that I was already exhausted) at 4:30 at the Arena's gates. We waited for over 2 hours before they opened the doors. Finally we went in and spent the next 12 hours (from 8am – 8pm) listening to more training, testimony, hype, rah rah rallies, more training, and over emotional award ceremonies. Only a half-hour lunch break all day. When it was over, I thought I'd finally get to go to my room early and sleep! But to my horror we are told that we are all going to another hotel for a super important after meeting with our whole regional team (about 300 people or so) and we couldn't miss it. I soooo protested again and was again belittled with the guilt trip. So we go.
I can hardly keep my eyes open. At that meeting it was just more of the same! Pep, pep, hype, hype, rah, rah… I was so sick of it! It's like they want to drain out everything out of your brain and stuff it only with ACN so you can't think about anything else! It's literal, intense brainwashing!!! I try to get up and get out only to be stopped by my companions. I can't understand how they don't seem to be as tired as I am! Finally I just get up and go to the back. My "upline" tries to stop me and I tell her I have a headache and need to step out. I find a couch right outside the doors of that hotel ballroom where we were, and of course I'm so exhausted it doesn't take me long to doze off. Then my "upline" comes and sees me and she wakes me up. I never saw her so mad! She got all on me about how dare I do that when I have this opportunity, that I can't be missing out, that it's too important… blah, blah. By that time I shut her and everything else out.
I managed to stay awake (but like a zombie) until everything was finally over at 11, and they still wanted to go to dinner! I excused myself and said I'd rather go back to the hotel to bed. They reminded me that the next day (Sunday) was the last day and they again wanted to line up at 4:30. This time I put my foot down and said "No way!". More belittling, more guilt trips, but I wouldn't bite. So they finally said that I could do whatever I wanted and good luck finding a seat the next day. I finally went to bed at around 12 and was up at 7 (thing started at 7 with a religious service as it was Sunday, and the actual closing meeting started at 9). I got a good 7 hours of sleep, but I was still tired as I had a lot of sleep debt! I got to the Arena around 8:45 and the closing meeting went on until 2 pm when everything was finally over!
After that, my upline tried to talk to me about how I would benefit from all this, how it was for my own good, how it was my great opportunity, etc. But I was done. At that moment I decided that ACN and all it's hype and exhausting training and sales pitches and recruiting schemes definitely were not for me.
I went home and put all my ACN stuff away for good. And I don't regret it one bit! The only reason I put up with it all is because I felt obligated because she paid for everything. But to me, it's not worth it. I lost my money, and nearly got ill with over-exhaustion. It took me one full week to feel recovered and finally refreshed.
ACN is a Pyramid MLM scheme that will not work for the vast majority of people that sign-up. The business model may make sense on paper, but doesn't really work in the real world unless you know a lot of people with money already who want to try something new. Plus, you have to be passionate about selling and have no scruples about convincing people to come up with all that money even when you know they are most likely to fail, and you have to have the willingness and the ability to endure those endless trainings and events. Yes, I will allow that there is a very small number of people who actually make it somewhat work for them, but that is the total exception. They are those who don't do anything else but that and live and breathe ACN. ACN is definitely not for everyone.
It is a type of scheme that will drain you of your money faster than you can think. You will lose a lot before you start making even the smallest amounts, if any. Yes, I see it as a scam (though there are those that say it is not because Donald Trump endorses it - yeah right, pay a guy a few millions and he'll endorse anything - it's good for business!). My best advice? DO NOT SIGN UP UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! You'll work your butt off, dish out money, get super exhausted, and not see a penny come back until you at achieve at least TC status! And that can take forever! Stay clear of ACN and go find a real job or start a real business of your own!
As for my "upline" I think she's still with them. I don't blame her though. I know she had my best interests at heart and she was more than genereous with me. It was my fault for not saying "no" right away. Plus, I was going through hard times and at first it sounded good. But it definitely wasn't for me. I do wish her the best of luck and I still love and respect her, but I wouldn't get back into this for anything in the world!
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Posted by Old Timer on 2013-06-27:
Well explained review. I had heard most of the same about ACN. Nothing I or anyone I know would have any interest in.
Just about any MLM will only pay out for the top 2%. The 98% is funding the 2%. I guess it's good work if you can get in the 2%.
Posted by AnnaMolly on 2013-06-27:
Well put. I hope that many people read this.
Posted by Soaring Consumer on 2013-06-27:
I think a bunch of state's attorney generals should investigate this fraudulent agency. Seems like the type of thing that should be aired on CNBC's American Greed.
Posted by Pearlfection on 2013-07-01:
I actually went to a private meeting yesterday about joining. I didnt say no however I wanted to do my research before I became a partner. Thanks for the information.
Posted by mike vercruse on 2013-07-06:
acn.I was introdced through a "friend".It sounded good on paper and everyone hates having a boss.In acn your upline becomes your annoying boss and you pay.I was over with this after a few weeks.I also signed up for one of their three day brainwashing events but never went,thank God.I realized that the meeting were the same crap everytime.It was an expensive lesson.Dont do it,they will drain your bank account and drive you crazy.I never want to hear those three letters in the same sentance again!
Posted by Smilingdee on 2013-07-12:
Thanks so much for your review! I attended a meeting with a "Facebook Friend" who didn't reveal the true purpose until we were all present. I listened to the presentation, and her upline aggressively pursued everyone in attendance to sign up right away. One person even offered to give us half of the $499 to get started. I told them no and have been receiving texts and calls daily for a week. I finally had to be stern and tell them to STOP CONTACTING ME!
One thing that really didn't sit well was the advice to break existing contracts with Sprint, Verizon, Comcast that would result in penalties only to open new accounts with the same providers under ACN. $$$$$
Posted by Luckyme on 2013-07-14:
Last summer (2012), my husbands friend kept requesting we get together to hear about a great opportunity he had where we could make a lot of money. I immediately said no (I'm a skeptic), but this friend kept persisting. My husband finally agreed to change our phone service over to ACN without my having a chance to look at the cost.
The friend stated it would be less than our current AT and T bill. As it turns out, it was about $4 difference, but I believe some of the same services were not available in our area that were available with AT and T, so it was not completely apples to apples.
We moved about 6 months ago. I decided to switch back to AT and T. When I called ACN, their customer service rep was very rude. I requested a message on our cancelled line to state what our new number would be and they told me it was NOT something they offered. So again, not the norm for a phone company.
About 2 months later, I received a call from our friend asking why we changed service. I felt pressured, like I needed to explain and a bit annoyed that we were being pressured by this friend! Well what kind of company is this anyway that one account matters to a rep?
This same friend visited over the weekend. I asked how his ACN business was going. He stated he's "almost" got his $500 investment back. Really, it's been a year now. And, he attended a rally in Los Angeles last month. I know this man. He is a great sales person, a very personable and hardworking father and husband. He's also got a full time career job, but he has worked hard on the ACN business. If he can't get his business going, well good luck to the rest of you.
I for one am happy not to be associated with a company that has all the trappings of a MLM scheme. Sure there is a product, but it's all about bringing in new reps.
Posted by jake z on 2013-07-18:
I understand what a lot of you are saying.. but my own story is much different. Ive been with ACN for 8 months and have been very successful. In the beginning i was very nervous about the company seemed like bs to me.... wanted to find out for myself, which i did. If you stick with the game plan it eventually works. my first month i made my 500$ back with the "quick start bonus" and was able to save 80$ on my cable internet and phone a month. only been to one regional training. Also have helped a lot of friends and family save on there monthly bills. so im very sad to see all the negativity towards acn but just maybe thesse comments are coming from ppl who cant handle a couple rejections in there lives...... fast forward to my life now.... (8-9 months after my start date) im and etl well on my way to tc and my soon to be wife will be retiring from the corporate world in the next months....
im not a college educated man as you can tell from my typing/wording, i wasnt born with a silver spoon, i make pizzas in kenosha wisconsin and i seen an amazing oportunity and i ran with it.... im running to the best years of my life
Posted by Capt. OBVIOUS on 2013-07-25:
99/100 it WONT WORK. I've seen my friend lose so much because of that worthless company that he had been brain washed by. It's actually very creepy when you hear the rhetoric that they program these "entrepreneurs" to spill out. If you get into ACN be prepared to alienate yourself from your friends and family the first week because thats who is pushed to be your clients. And Jake Z you can go shove it dude.
Posted by Truthalien on 2013-07-28:
ACN is a recruiting scheme all day long. The money is in the CAB (customer acquisition bonuses). One i did the number crunchig it just did not add up. The residual pay is criminal. It's challenging to sell the product because the benefit to the customer is meager. The trick is to recruit, get the cabs, and sell the dream to your downline who can't sell the service either. I'm not negative or poor, I just don't like how ACN is structured around recruiting. Open your eyes Jake Z. You're in a pyramid scheme whether you admit it or not. Ask your upline if more money is made through CABS or through the residuals and get back to me.
Posted by Really? on 2013-07-29:
If you were not provided a document stating you could cancel the transaction within 72 Buisness Hours, they violated your rights and the law.
Posted by Chrissiann on 2013-07-30:
You are a sweet and honest soul. Thank you for warning us! That sounds exactly how religion operates! Scary!
Posted by Joe on 2013-08-04:
You actually have 10 days to cancel. From what y'all state is Jesus a pyramid scheme to?? He had 10 deciples that spread the word to people they knew and people that they knew. It works the same way Idk about any of u but I'd rather make residuals on what 254 people do that just residuals on what u make. Figures are estimated with 10 services between me and my mom we have 8. Which r services we already use like her cell phone through Verizon. Like her dish network like her adt home sercurity, and Comcast Internet and I was able to save my mom 70 dollars a month on her bills. The only scam is that lazy people can't put their effort in acn but they can put their effort in bashing a company that has help 100's of self made millionaires. There is nothing different between u and the person next to besides the will to want it. If your why is strong than ur how you will find way.
Posted by JAV on 2013-08-06:
Today my friend kept bugging me to go and I finally made the effort to go. Only to find out what everyone here had stated as being true. You must pay $499 to start and recruit tons of ppl to gain anything back. I suggest you take everyone's advice and stay far away from them. They like to suggest how "bright" and "intelligent" you are and you feel suckered into believing your friends. But DO NOT DO IT!!! Be smart and get a job somewhere else it's the safest thing to do. I hope my advice will help any of you but stay far from these ppl and do not listen to them when they say they can change your current bills and get you better prices.
Posted by Julie on 2013-08-06:
Last night I attended an ACN presentation. I was invited by an old friend I wanted to support. It was clear from the beginning that it is a pyramid scheme. My attitude of scepticism was picked up by the presenter. First he tried to get me to agree with him, which I would not. Then he called me out, announcing several times that he didn't want to make me angry. He was trying to discredit me so I wouldn't influence anyone. After the presentation, he pulled me quickly out of the room. He knew I wasn't falling for their spiel. I apologized to my friend, told him I hoped it works out for him, and left. After reading the review, I know I did the right thing.
Posted by Truthalien on 2013-08-09:
@ Julie. You were a "rotten apple.". Seriously, in ACN training they tell you to pull anyone not interested at the meeting because of what you just said. They do not want you influening people who are interested in joining. It's unreal.
Posted by Dj on 2013-08-21:
@joe wow my dad just said the same thing about Jesus and the 10 disciples.. Trying to get me to understand the "business" what the difference IMO is that Jesus doesn't force you to spend $499 to join. People don't realize that only 2% of the top actually make money from these.. They try to tell you that this is different than any other service. But in reality it's just the same.. Waste of time and money... Do me a favor people go to school and put it the hard work that actually matters...
Posted by Tony on 2013-09-06:
I paid the 500.00 because I was tired of my landlady telling me how good of an opportunity it was. Worse 500 I ever spent. I would have rather donated 500 to a homeless person. ACN is a scammmm
Posted by Jay on 2013-09-07:
People, That is the best review about ACN I have ever read. Everything said is true. I made the mistake of joining in 2007. All this SVP and RVP are basically hand picked by the founders and so forth. Basically giving them an open line of cash to pay peoples way in to established their down line. This what i have been told anyways. The system does work if you have the capital to wait for a return
Posted by jenstar on 2013-09-21:
Rotten apples...lovely way to speak about the people you love and care for, if they decide acn is not for them. And it's reinforced all the time. I attended a meeting where they told us that if you don't attend the international meeting in Adelaide then your business will fail! Obviously the $39 a month that includes all the online business tools and training you need is not working! So you keep paying $10 per meeting to watch the same DVD you had to buy for your home meetings. Acn is very clever in the way they use "fear of failure" and "fear of loss". Be very wary of this unethical company if you value your friends, family and relationship.
Posted by Bulldog 61 on 2013-09-23:
Lke anything else you get out what you put into it. my ACN people made it very clear to me that this was not a get rich scheme. It does work if you work at it. It is easy to bad mouth ACN when you fget fed up and don't succeed. But most of these people don't really understand business anyway. Insurance companies work the same way. Pyramids are illegal and if this was they would have shut it down. Those who say it won't work need to look at themselves in the mirror.
Posted by Truthalien on 2013-09-25:
Open your eyes Bulldog. ACN is based on recruiting. That is where the money us made...selling the "dream.". You will lose your friends and be only associated with other acn people. The majority if acn customers are IBO's. RECRUITING SCHEME ALL DAY LONG.
Posted by Truthalien on 2013-09-25:
@ Bulldog. It's a recruiting scheme. All the TC's and above know this and will never admit that the real money is creating a reccruitng machine and collecting the CAB's. THIS IS WHERE THE MONEY IS MADE. Selling the services will not make you money. Look up FORTUNE HIGH TECH MARKETING and get back to us. They were similar to ACN and got shut down. They were heaving recruiting based MLM and they sold some of the same services including Xoom Energy. Sorry, dude, you're in a straight up recruting based MLM.
Posted by ACN FOR REAL! on 2013-11-14:
Interesting that these comments seem to come from most that have not pursued or followed the business plan that ACN ( a 20 year company) has set the foundation for! Myself ( with ACN for 9 months) and 5-8 family and friends (with ACN between 1-7 Years) have been EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL with ACN! No you are not going to get rich over night and they do not anyway , shape or form push that!!! ACN is work just like any other start up independent business! You need customers and/or ppl just like any other business..what's wrong with making $ on essential services that you are paying for anyway! Most of the negative feedback are from ppl who did not want to invest the time and energy or received no support from friends and/or family. Then you blame ACN!! They offer weekly training(FREE OF CHARGE) and your entire back office is a whole university of webinars , messages and foundation information for each step of the way!! If you have any business experience or have started your own successful venture you would realize that the initial fee and 1 a year maintenance is quite modest. It is not for everyone..(someone still has to cut the grass,and check us out at the grocery store) but, for those who are not afraid of READING, LEARNING and UNDERSTANDING before dolling something negative, schemed, etc.....IT DOES WORK!!
It's quite obvious that WE SUCCESSFUL ACN IBO's are busy building our businesses and you all negative (don't know what your talking about Nellie's), did not follow the process and take the time to understand it. You will probably remain exactly where you are......Having TOO much time on your hands to write negativity about a business you couldn't grasp or take the time to learn!! ACN 20 YEARS AND STRONG!!!!
Posted by andre on 2013-11-16:
i was thinking about joining ACN just now...read this review, gotta say NO know...thanks so much for being a REAL person! thanks for so detailed!
Posted by j r on 2013-11-18:
I really wish people knew what they were talking about before they bash a company. Honestly, this is sad. The initial review of the company is all wrong. The way he explained the comp plan is wrong. And then people jump up and bash it. Yes it is a MLM. Thats pretty obvious. Scheme? No. And because people actually think that people in the company makes money off people joining is another wrong assumtion.
Posted by JDM on 2013-11-22:
Scam? LOLOL, ya right. I don't know any scam that pays you real money. I own an ACN business and just got a REAL check today for REAL money. And I've gotten bonus money too. Hardly a scam when I can drive to the bank and cash my check for REAL cash. Pyramid? EVERY business is a pyramid with someone at the top, then some people below, then other people below them. EVERYONE on here works for a pyramid "scheme" so open your eyes. Do some REAL research from people that are successful in their businesses, instead of reading the scrawls left on the bathroom walls (by using Google), because someone whining when they didn't run ther business right.
Posted by angeldude98 on 2013-12-13:
After a long time of not knowing anything, I heard that my "upline" and her family did leave ACN. Looks like they finally had enough of them! However, I was approached by them again to enter in a different yet similar company that they got into, but this time I flatly refused. There's absolutely no way I'm tripping over the same stone twice!!!
Posted by I want my family back on 2013-12-15:
My brother called me one day, very excited about this amazing thing that he couldn't tell me about until I attended a meeting. I declined, but since this, he is in with both feet. So is my mom, sister, other brother and uncle. It has put a real strain on our family because I see thru this and so does my dad. We're both successful engineers, but because we don't believe in the 'business' and refuse to participate, we are complete idiots, apparently. Forget about how it works or the potential to earn, this company shreds families and life long friendships, I have watched this terrible thing unfold first hand. I want my family back ACN!
Posted by Kim on 2014-01-20:
ACN sucks the life out of you and those you know. Everytime my spouse goes to a meeting he comes home and fights with me about changing our services! It's more expensive and not as good as what I have now, so I won't change!
He has now walked out on me and his family because of ACN - is it really worth that much? Sounds like a cult to me! ACN sucks!
Posted by WMC2204 on 2014-02-02:
Anyone that thinks ACN is a "scam" just simply doesnt have what it takes to succeed! Period! So instead of bashing an amazing company that is the largest provider to the Ronald McDonald House in the WORLD and gives average joes an opportunity to live their dreams, why dont go back to your real pyramid scheme, YOUR JOB! Every business uses a pyramid model but with ACN you can make more $$$ than your upline. Can you make more money than your boss? I dont think so. People are going to naturally have negative stories because they dont want to come to terms with the fact that they simply werent good enough to succeed. This business is based on love and support. Every IBO needs the love and support of someone to succeed. ACN is the single greatest business model in the world. Everyone starts in the same place and has to work to succeed. There is no favoritism, there are no bs promotions. You get results you get paid! I know WORK, is a foreign concept to most of us americans. So recruit foreigners lol. If you signed up n didnt succeed its your fault! Thats called accountability people. :)
Posted by Dawn on 2014-02-04:
I recently was recruited into ACN through my Electric Service. My Husband's brother is an ACN representative. We had the contract for one year when I noticed that the rates jumped, so his brother talked us into renewing the contract. We renewed, but I changed my mind and decided to cancel. The contract we had stated that had 14 days to cancel with Xoom Energy. His brother told us NO. I was wondering if anyone would know... is there another contract with ACN that I haven't seen. Any response would be helpful! Thanks!
Posted by tgates33 on 2014-02-09:
I love how all the ACN members defend by stating "it is not a pyramid scheme". Please understand that pyramid scheme is to say MLM as Kleenex is for tissue so please stop telling us its not a period. In your defense it is also not a scam or illegal. However it is all about recruiting your friends and family. It is not about signing u up for service.
Posted by Jonathan Howler on 2014-02-20:
Recruiting and learning scripts to make people join to get services from companies where people do work is not work. They tell you at the meeting that you will have a storefront and clients. You're not selling anything but souls. And who gives anyone 500 for nothing? Why not give the 500 straight to the Ronald McDonald House? Lol. And business trips that you pay put of pocket to learn scripts for meetings in living rooms with videos of Donald Trump. Let's not forget he's been bankrupt twice. He has enough money to take risks. I don't. Jesus wasn't at the meeting. If he were. I'd follow him right out the door. It's just plain dumb. You don't get your money for nothing I want my... I want my MTV. Not ACN.
Posted by dealman on 2014-03-02:
Thanks for the detailed account of what happened to you. It helps a lot of people who might have otherwise lose a lot of themselves to this horrid company that thrives off people's greed.
Posted by Saqib on 2014-03-18:
I am in ACN for the last 3 months, I am ETL and soon going to hit TC, ACN is a proven system for the last 21 years, I know a lot of people who are making a lot of money in ACN, ACN made it very clear in its 1st slide of presentation,
Success as an ACN Independent Representative is not guaranteed, but directly influenced by an individual's specific efforts.
No one is guaranteed income as an ACN Independent Representative and not all ACN Independent Representatives make a profit.
ACN is not for everybody but anybody can get success in ACN if they work hard.
My advice to you do not join ACN if you are not ready to work hard because it will just produce another story of failure.
Posted by knm on 2014-03-29:
This is a total pyramid scam and the services they offer are not any cheaper than going thru the actual company. There are so many red flags it is ridiculous. I actually attended a couple of the meetings and thankfully chose not to get involved. Unfortunately a friend of mine joined and he is going to quickly lose me as a friend because of his nonstop pressure to get services from him. Please don't drink the kool-aid people and run as far as you can from this company!!
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Future Independent Representatives Beware
Posted by Fired up on 02/16/2009
BROOKLINE,, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- A friend of mine recently joined ACN. ACN is a form of pyramid scheme/scam (depending how you look at it). After he attended 1 half hour long meeting, was told the history of the company and told how much money he could make(the independent representative told him that he had made $14,000, and that the person that he had signed on under had made $42,000, that very month), he was sold. He was told that there was a one time fee of 498.00, and that he needed to sign over at least three communication services that equaled to a certain amount of ACN points.
He was told that he should find at least 2 more people to join at the $498.00, switch 3 of their services, and then they each find 2 more who switch over 3 services, so on etc. You get paid very small percentages of the communications bills of the people who joined under you, and paid larger percentages for them paying the 498.00 to join. Just sit back and watch it take a life of it's own, see the money roll in. Soon you could be out fishing all the while making money. He did not read the contract, did not check prices on the television, cell phone and home telephone services and did not ask for check stubs proving the stated incomes. 25 days after joining he was told that he had only thirty days to change over his 3 services, that he would forfeit his 498.- if he did not comply.
He soon found that the particular home phone service that suited him did not yet allow him to keep his current in state phone number which led him to have to carry 2 cell phone bills (so as not to lose his home number)that he would change over when the in state numbers became available, he then changed from cable to satellite dish and had to add a temporary secretary service (offered by ACN) for 29.95 per month (to give him his needed points)in place of the home phone. This service tracks all of the IR's that you've found to join and any moneys you have earned. It was then also recommended that he attend several training sessions to learn how to present this fantastic business opportunity to all of his friends, that cost only 10.00 per session. His significant other was angry that he was not told all of this before joining, not to mention the added costs of switching all of their sevices, connection fees etc. She did some checking into ACN and found that there was more. There is a yearly renewal fee of 149.00, there are also fees between 5.00-10.00 for the processing of each monthly check to you (assuming you make any money and of which the contract mentions without listing any amounts. And last but certainly not least it also says in the contract that no IR is to tell a prospective IR how much money that they have made, that there is no guaranty that you will make money, it all depends on how hard you are willing to work to find others to join.
Can you make money with ACN? Anything is possible though not probable. It will take you some time to recoup the 498.00 and the rest of the fees. The fact that they are not honest and up front about their fees, and boast of their incomes after having themselves signed a contract forbidding them to do so. (After much prodding from my friends significant other he finally asked for a copy of the reps paystub who actually did provide it, though it was for the month that he mentioned at the meeting it was not for $14,000.00 but rather $ 7000.00). While I chose to look at it as false representation my friend chose to see it as proof that he was making money with ACN, and if he could do it so could my friend.
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Posted by Tamara on 2013-07-11:
ACN its not for anyone... And its not a get rich quick type of scam i dont know where u got all the info about adding services what i did i switch the services i had to different ones to make residual income of those services. I only been with acn for a bit over a month and im able to see what this company can do for myself... Get facts before you tun your mouth about something you havent even done yourself and just looking from the outside... If you think people are dumb for signing up i think your dumb for not doing it
Posted by Glib on 2013-07-11:
@Tamara, how much are you making percentage wise on those residuals? Does that monthly amount add up to $500, or even the $150 renewal?
Posted by TRUTALIEN on 2013-07-24:
@ TAMARA. How much time is spent on recruiting than selling the service at your training sessions? The money is in recruiting. Ask your upline on how much of his or her "residual" checks are from the CAB's compared to the residual from their customers. They train you to lure people to your meetings bec without the truth because if you told them that you get paid when you recruit way more than selling service nobody would sign up.
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No refund from ACN after being lied to
Posted by Richelle.najar on 09/23/2003
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA -- I gave ACN $499 of my money with the understanding that it was a one time fee. I just found out after a family member read it on a website that there is a yearly renewal fee of $49. After looking into it I found out it was true and it had just been raised to $99. Now keep in mind this is after being told you pay a one time fee of $499. Not to mention you really aren't starting your own business you are paying them to be a contractor. Well I was very unhappy about this once I found out and thought I should get a refund since I was unaware of this fee, well ACN tends to disagree with me and denied me a refund after being 9 days over the 10 refund mark. Even though I was told one thing and turned out to be another. So I was scammed out of my money. I am in the process of filing a formal complaint against ACN.
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Posted by Anonymous on 2003-09-23:
Who is ACN and what do they do? Your complaint is too vague to be as helpful as it could.
Posted by Anonymous on 2003-09-23:
ACN is a Utilities company that signs you on as an Independant Representative for the price of $499, there pitch is that for $499 you can start your own business, when really you are just contracting for them , you then use a warm network(your friends & family) to switch from what they preach are monopolized companies such as SBC to ACN. This is their pitch at first then it is more of how much money you can make by bringing in new recruits, don't know why but pyramids come to mind. So that is their pitch, they provide services sch as local and long distance gas & internet. But from my own expereince as being a customer for myself , there phone service is terrible, for onw it takes them up to two weeks to change the service over to ACN then they forgot to change my voicemail over so I was without voicemail for three weeks, i had to call 4 times before it finally switched to voicemail , then it does not beep or alertyou that you have voicemail, and just yesterday I had left message for a job prospect, I had checked untill late evening to see if their were any messages and there weren't. i checked again this morning and there were two messages from yesterday early afternoon including the phone call I was expecting, so is there service better than SBC? I personally say NO! Hope that cleared things up a bit, here is their website if you would like further info. check out there terms and conditions for join us now.www.acninc.com
Posted by Anonymous on 2003-09-25:
If ACN tells you it is free to switch back to your old phone company, that is lie. It is $35.00 to switch plus 9.95 to add back your voice mail. Also if you go through ACN to change back, all that happens is you have no dial tone and no phone number any longer, you must go through SBC to keep your same phone number. Also ACN voicemail has delayed messaging, you don't receive your messages sometimes until the next day.
Posted by acnshawn on 2008-08-10:
It really stinks that some was dishonest with you when joining ACN. I am a rep that came into the company in 2008. Did ACN provide you with a rep agreement?
Posted by neutral on 2010-08-11:
You should report any ACN reps that break regulations and lie to you to get you to join the company. Dont just complain on here and hope it makes everything better. Complaining here does not correct the wrongs of your friend. Report that "friend" and get them out of ACN
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ACN in Canada - Customer Review
Posted by Juanito Jr on 04/06/2011
ONTARIO -- A friend of us told us about this company and gave us a demonstration of the Video Phone. Having most of our family in other provinces and countries we really liked the idea of being able to see them.
We were told that if we were to transfer all the services, 2 phone lines and the internet we would get a discount and that the service was going to be the same or better, at least they promised higher internet speeds and unlimited download. For the phones is unlimited long distance service.
Our mistake was to transfer all the services to ACN. One of the lines was transferred to a digital box and the other one to the Video Phone. I kept the old internet just in case, good thing that I didn't cancelled immediately.
Since transferring the lines I have had nothing but complaints from my friends and relatives about the connection.
1. Very bad Echo.
2. Beeping noises.
3. Hard to hear, sounds like I'm calling from a cave.
4. Suddenly be cut off.
and so on.....
I work a lot from home, so imagine my FRUSTRATION with the ACN service. They replaced the digital box, the ACN internet modem and I was calling almost every single day to get this fixed. Guess what? at the beginning the customer service was very good, we SPENT hrs on the phone trying to the problem solved. But after countless times and hrs I still was having problems. At the end one of the technicians told me, "the problem is that you are using the internet and making calls at the same time and that interfers with the phones..." and this was just one of the responses I got. Anther technician told me, "I can't understand what you are saying, do you hearme me?" and I say yes, and he said, "then the problem must be in my line not yours" (No comments).
So any ways, this was very FRUSTRATING. But this was just the beginning, when I tried to cancel the service because I could no longer have a good conversation on the phone, the Customer Service became rather "HOSTILE". They wanted me to keep talking with the Technical Support, they cut off the conversation a couple of times and didn't call back, etc. I think they wanted me to get tired of calling them. so I called my previous service provider and switched the phone numbers back with them and now ACN is charging me for the cancellation almost 350 dollars for the 3 devices. Interesting enough, the video phone calling to other video phone was working fine, so I told them, give me another phone number for the Video phone and I will keep the service of the video phone with you. but no, they say that because I switched the number back to the old company, that is considered a cancellation.
I will put a complain with the CRTC and see where it all ends, but this has been really a TERRIBLE experience with ACN. Right now my friend who convinced me to switch is trying to get the some help from the regional director. But lets see how the company respond to them.
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Posted by DAnielle on 2013-07-01:
I use the Internet phone and it works just fine. I have not had any problems. Even when I use the Internet at the same time. You do have to have a strong Internet connection.
Posted by Stan Kapoofniack on 2013-12-14:
ACN is a poor product at best. Customers, sadly, are better off with one of the legacy telcos(Bell, Rogers, Shaw, Telus, etc whose product and customer service is better and more dependable)
An internet search for ACN will bring up numerous complaints and videos showing problems with the product.
If a person had no problems with their phone/Internet before signing up with ACN and now has problems with connectivity, ACN is the problem.
A reviewer who made the comment that the reason for problems with ACN is the lack of a strong internet connection would only be correct if the original connection was a dial-up connection.
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Easy to get in, hard to get out of contract
Posted by Mrs. Consumer on 06/04/2010
I got ACN phone service just to please a family friend - one of their agents - who came to my house with the equipment already at hand so I couldn't say no. Anyway, the very same night, I got connected to ACN and I was signed up to automatic bill payments through my credit card. After a few months, I wanted out. called customer service and paid every fee. Immediately, my line was cut. I thought that was the end of it but they kept deducting from my credit card. I called their cutomer service repeatedly, but I was transferred from one unknowledgeable attendant to another. I asked for the supervisor, I asked for the customer service manager... I told them they have to stop deducting from my credit card! No result. Our family friend couldn't help out because he said these things should be settled with the customer service. I ended up cancelling my credit card (CIBC) and what did I get...??? A letter from a COLLECTION AGENCY saying I OWE ACN!!! Sucks!
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Company Response on 06/11/2010:
Mrs. Consumer we are sorry to hear that you have had a bad experience with ACN service and getting properly disconnected. We have prepared managers in call center to help handle your case. We recommend you call 877-226-1010 and let them know that your account is closed and that you should not be contacted by a collection agency. Hopefully they can resolve it for you and we apologize for the inconvenience.
ACN Inc.
World Headquarters
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Posted by Cameron on 2013-10-14:
I had Vonage before switching to ACN and now I'm going back to Vonage because I cannot fax on the acn line. On top of that Vonage cost less at $12.99 per month plus tax. Acn was $37 after taxes. How can acn refute that?
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ACN- Not Something I Would Get Involved With
Posted by Kryssy828 on 02/16/2010
I was introduced to ACN about a year ago. After attending a meeting, it was obvious to me, it was not something I wanted to be involved with. ACN promises one time fees, very little work for a lot of money and that they are the only company that uses specific products. Unfortunately, I do not believe this and I find their methods of pursuing new 'agents' as disturbing. First, they will tell you to come to a meeting because some person will be there that knows more and will be more informative. They do not tell you what the meeting is about, so to start with it is extremely creepy. All of a sudden, you pay all kinds of money, lie to your friends, family and even strangers to get them to your 'PBR' (the weird house meeting) and lose all your credibility as a human being. This is not something that should be encouraged. Just ask yourself, if this is such a great opportunity, why isn't the entire world working for ACN? This is a time of struggles, when every buck counts. ACN targets people and makes them believe they will have thousands each month. They are taking advantage of people in desperate times.
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Posted by Anonymous on 2010-02-16:
Sounds like a typical pyramid scheme. You are wise for not getting involved.
Posted by kpc on 2013-06-16:
I am a fairly new IBO with ACN. (joined in March) NEVER was I promised big money with little or no effort. I was told that with good work ethic, drive and determination, it was possible to make a really good living. I have several family members involved and all of each work hard to make a living which will include residual income. ACN is NOT a get rich quick scheme and they have never said that you will get rich in no time. Have there been people that have made 6 and 7 figure incomes with ACN? Yes. But, not without lots of hard work.
Posted by Truthalien on 2013-07-28:
The money made is in recruiting. Once you figure that out you will understand why you are pushed to build a downline. The cabs outweigh the residual BY FAR. You will lose friends over this I guarantee it. ACN is a pyramid scheme all day long. Yes, there are products to sell but they are not very advantageous to your potential customers. Ask your upline if more money is made in recruiting than the residual income and see what he says. Oh, google Fortune High Tech Marketing and get back to me. They sold Xoom Energy just like ACN does. Be careful of the rah rah cheerleading you see everytime there's a meeting.
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ACN could work, BUT UPLINE REPS LIE
Posted by Marketer NOT Seller. on 06/16/2009
ACN is demonstrated as a "get rich fast opportunity" while others will argue over and over again that ACN is "the best company" I beg to differ. ACN can work and will make you money if you don't mind telling lies to your "warm market" also know as your family and friends. The upline I experienced never tells the truth, all they ever say is, "Trust me!" In reality, you end up spending the $499 (which is the choice of the person), BUT they don't tell you that you will be getting all your points by signing up YOURSELF for services. Then they say, "if you don't have the money to start this opportunity, you're not in the right job." They get you to sign up for services you don't even need and end up paying $29.99 EVERY month for your own website, and wireless services that appear free for the product but then your representative signs you up without telling you it's going to be $70 a month!
So basically, if you don't mind being lied too and not even knowing your own business then this is the job for you.
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Posted by Slimjim on 2009-06-16:
I think the problem here clearly is with your particular upline rep. Obviously that person failed to disclose quite a bit. Of course, find any MLM biz rep that doesn't sensationalize or omit a few things when recruiting.
MLMs just don't work for the average Joe, only the gifted salesperson.
Posted by old fart on 2009-07-29:
If it sounds too good to be true, etc, etc,etc.....
Posted by Dear True on 2009-07-29:
so true. all the reps lie. the one i listened too told me she was only working it for a few months. i googled her name and she has been in the business for 19 years.
all of what you said is true. and i wasn't fooled for it either.
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Hate ACN
Posted by Lafilce on 06/07/2012
QUEBEC -- I have been dealing with ACN for about a year now - sometimes late with payments and yes that is not good but MOST companies will work with clients especially if you speak to them and not just leave it. ACN WILL NOT budge - there are no payment plans period. The customer service is brutal to get through to them and get an answer and if you are not happy with who you are dealing with - there are no managers to speak of! Seriously? Every company has a tier of staff and someone in charge that you can speak to and that person usually has some kind of power...not in this case.
ACN cut told me they didn't want to continue with service for us even though I had paid my account in FULL. They got the payment and then sent me a letter saying they no longer were going to provide service...I figure good, done with you then...oh no! Then I get a letter saying because I didn't finish out my year with them I owed them a cancellation fee of $150!!! Are you kidding me...you cancel me and then charge me for cancelling - they cancelled me April 24 and my one year was May 4...hmmmm do you think they did that timing on purpose? My services when I paid them in full were paid up to May 22 so technically I did finish my one year commitment would you agree??
I finally got hold of supervisor and guess what, there is nothing they can do about the charge but they should not have disconnected me since I paid so if I sign up with rogers or telus with an account for acn they will waive the $150 fee - WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!@!@
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Posted by Alain on 2012-06-09:
You can file a complaint with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission via http://crtc.gc.ca/RapidsCCM/Register.asp?lang=E Other complaints regarding ACN complaints can be found using the keywords 'ACN Telecom Complaints' using a Bing, Google, Yahoo, etc. search.
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