| Comment Number: | 522418-01182 |
| Received: | 6/6/2006 7:12:47 PM |
| Organization: | Weekenders USA |
| Commenter: | Ann Wolverton |
| State: | CA |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Federal Trade Commission/Office of the Secretary 600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20580 Re: Business Opportunity Rule, R511993 Dear Secretary of FTC, I am concerned about the proposed Business Opportunity Rule R511993. I understand your desire and need to protect the public, but his rule puts an undue burden on distributors, and in fact will make it impossible for me to continue as a distributor. The 7-day waiting period is particularly troublesome. Weekenders sample paks are priced from $150 to $488, and people often spend this amount of money without a 7-day wait. This also gives the impression that there is something wrong with our Company or system. Weekenders already has a 90% buyback policy for all products, including sales kits purchased by a salesperson within the last 12 months. The rule about releasing information about lawsuits, regardless of the outcome, seems grossly unfair…this puts Weekenders at a disadvantage even though the company has done nothing wrong. The proposed rule about disclosing 10 prior coordinators nearest to the prospective coordinator brings up a number of concerns, mainly the issue of identify theft. I am happy to provide references, but this is giving out a LOT of private, personal information to virtual strangers. Also the idea that the new Coordinator’s information will be shared in the future is a huge red flag to someone thinking of joining the company. We are very careful about not sharing personal information without a person’s consent. This rule would make it virtually impossible to recruit new people. I have been a Weekenders Coordinator for over 9 years. I depend on the income from my business, but these new rules would make it difficult if not impossible for me to conduct this direct-sales business. I feel strongly that anyone signing up for a direct-sales business needs to conduct their own due-diligence and ask for references and check out the company and the representative they are speaking with. The rules you are proposing would put undue burdens on our company and our distributors, and make it too cumbersome to sponsor new people into our Company. Thank you for allowing me to share my concerns with you. Sincerely,