| Comment Number: | 522418-04937 |
| Received: | 6/28/2006 9:27:53 PM |
| Organization: | Roelke & Associates |
| Commenter: | Karin Roelke |
| State: | CA |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
When I signed up as a business owner in the Quixtar business I was given full disclosure on the expected return on my time investment. As with any business the reasonable expectation was that my time invested would correlate to success. When this business was shared with me it was not presented as a "get rich quick scheme" Rather, it was presented as a legitimate business that required work. I share this busines in the exact same manner. The investement was less than $200.00 and in my experience that is not a lot of money for the valuable tools provided, such as a personal website, selling materials, and intrductory products. Also the intial investment was 100% refundable from the corporation. In my personal experience the corporation has refunded the registration fee to associates of mine who no longer wanted to participate in the Quixtar business model. Not only is the registration fee refundable but any product or tool from the corporation is refundable as well. I have personally been sent a check for products I returned. With the minial investment and with the money back guarantee, which is unlike a lot of businesses, the 7 day waiting period for an individual to register is unecessary. The 7 day waiting period is not a consumer protection but a hinderence on commerce. I do not have to wait 7 days to go to walmart and buy shampoo or wait to buy cosmetics from Nordstroms. Also being required to provide a prospect with 10 names and references is unecessary as well. First of all, privacy for the people who choose to work with my business is of the utmost importance to me. There are people who voluntarily allow me to use them as references but there should not be a requirement when there is not a requirement in other industries. For example, I hired a videographer for my wedding. He provided me with only 2 references. He was not required by law to provide me with references. He eventually stole my money and I never heard from him again and it was in an amount over $1000. The point here is that it was MY OWN FAULT FOR NOT INVESTIGATING ENOUGH into his background. Unfortunately, the dishonest people (in similar industries as well) will still ignore the requirement of 10 references. However, Quixtar has the checks and balances in place to protect the prospective person from fraud because of the way people are registered in this business. I recieve no money from the individual or the corporation when I register someone in this business. The individual signs up with all password protected information and I see no financial information from the prospect as well. All of the ordering is online so I do not handle checks or distribute product. This also ensures the person will get 100% of their money back if they are disatisfied. The 10 references rule will also disadvantage a person who is just starting in the business because when you are new it takes time to build up your network and partnerships in this business. I know when I started I definitely knew less than 10 references but I still wanted to go out and build my client base. If I had to provide 10 references in my first two months of being involved in this business I would not have been able to provide that information. The rule to provide a prospect with all litigations and fraud claims (regardless if they are true) needs to be eliminated. "Alleged fraud" is very different from being guilty of fraud. When I make a substabtial investment and was "sold" a product, like a new car, the salesman does not have to provide me with all of the product liability claims or fraud claims that are alleged against that particular product. Anyone can make a false claim or allegations and there are people who will make claims without merit. Let others reputable public sources, such as the Better Business Bureau or publicly traded multimillion dollar companies like Office Depot or Barnes and Noble determine the legitimacy and track record of the Quixtar business.