This document continues and expands our effort to show you the other side of the story, the dishonesty by commission, omission, exaggeration and understatement that is all too common on the websites of those who have criticized IBOs and the business opportunity they represent. As always, we respect anyone’s right to express legitimate, fact-based criticism – in fact, that’s essential to healthy business development. But when critics claim selfless motives while engaging in misrepresentation, we’re going to poke holes in that shield! And when we do, read what they wrote, read what we wrote, and judge for yourselves.

INTRODUCTION
For many years the Internet has been a wonderful source of information for the general public and provided a new and unique vehicle for the free exchange and sharing of ideas and opinions. The Web has also been a valuable resource for businesses of all varieties, and created opportunities for individuals that were never economically available in the past. Existing companies have taken advantage of the expediency and a wealth of information to improve existing methods and create new concepts for growth.

Indeed, in September 1999 in cooperation with IBOAI, Quixtar launched a new business concept allowing IBOs the opportunity to leverage the value of the Internet by engaging in Web-based businesses. Among many other benefits, IBOs are now able to communicate with one another faster and more efficiently. By most accounts, it is clear IBOs are using the Internet more than ever to communicate, and prospective IBOs are using the Internet regularly to search for new opportunities, such as the Quixtar business opportunity.

The free exchange of ideas, open communication, and the right to differ are values frequently advanced in a positive manner by the Internet. These same values have always been embraced by Quixtar and its North American predecessor, Amway, and have been hallmarks in the business from the beginning.

The Internet has also spawned a new avenue for communication traditionally reserved for those in print and electronic media. Now, anyone with access to a computer can publish opinions and make unabated representations of purported fact. The Internet is largely unregulated and without ethical rules or a code of professional responsibility such as those subscribed to by the media and other professions. Regrettably, the ability to publish with free reign on the Internet has led to the emergence of self-proclaimed experts and consumer advocates who, for reasons mostly unknown to others, have made it their mission to attack and denigrate other individuals and businesses. Oftentimes, these critics possess little or no first-hand knowledge or experience in the subject matter about which they assail, and frequently rely on anonymous sources without making even a modicum of effort to independently corroborate the information published. Much of what they publish is specious, misleading and, at times, completely false.

These Internet critics have victimized many individuals and companies in the past ten years, including Quixtar and certain IBOs. Various strategies have been employed to thwart their efforts, including litigation, sponsoring websites responding to the misinformation, or simply ignoring the critics. Because of the zeal of some of the critics, most of the strategies used have generally been ineffective.

Quixtar and some of its IBOs have been subjected to a few, but very loud, Internet critics. Other than taking legal action for interference with existing and prospective business relations, Quixtar and IBOs had generally ignored these critics, given their obvious wayward and capricious conduct that reaches far beyond the consumer advocacy they ostensibly advance. It was generally thought that by responding in any manner would merely energize the critics, affording them the recognition for which they clamor. However, once it became apparent these few critics would not relent, Quixtar and the IBOAI launched their own websites to dispel the false rumors and innuendo.

Moreover, once the attacks became personal and outrageously false, several IBOs decided to communicate directly with one critic who took his website to an unacceptable level by engaging in what can only be characterized as a personal vendetta. What follows is essentially a case study demonstrating what most already knew – that negative and disparaging content posted by the few critics is unreliable, not based in fact, and at times absolutely false.
 

CASE STUDIES

JODY VICTOR
Of the few Quixtar critics on the Internet, Scott Larsen has by far been the most active and vocal. For more than five years, Mr. Larsen has seemingly devoted an inexplicable amount of time and energy focusing on Quixtar and certain IBOs. Tellingly, Mr. Larsen has had almost no experience with the business about which he obsesses – he became an Amway distributor in 1993, and by his own admission was only active for approximately two months. Mr. Larsen has never been a Quixtar IBO.

On his website Mr. Larsen proclaims to be the purveyor of truth to unsuspecting IBOs and prospective IBOs, claiming that IBOs are fed misinformation and taught that facts do not count. A cursory review of his website, however, demonstrates that it is Mr. Larsen who is publishing false and erroneous information to further his own quest. One of many glaring examples can be found on Mr. Larsen’s site, where he has boldly stated that the “IBOAI actually owns the exclusive merchandizing rights for the Amway product lines.” Apart from the IBOAI being a non-profit corporation generally incapable of owning such rights, Amway and Quixtar have always exclusively owned all merchandising rights for product lines. This well known fact is easily discoverable with little effort. Mr. Larsen made absolutely no effort to verify his contention.

One fact learned by engaging Mr. Larsen directly is his misplaced reliance on rumor and innuendo provided by sources cloaked in anonymity. Even when his sources are revealed and admit their information is nothing more than malicious rumormongering, Mr. Larsen presses forward posting the information as though it were true. In fact, one of Mr. Larsen’s principal sources has been discovered to have a record of convictions for felony perjury and misdemeanor obstruction of justice for lying to authorities. Basically, Mr. Larsen makes no effort to check his sources or verify the accuracy of the information they provide before he publishes it on his website.

Mr. Larsen’s relatively recent Web posts and related communications have become personal and bordering on the bizarre. In November 2005, Mr. Larsen posted information he received from an anonymous source concerning IBO leader Jody Victor, his family, and their business. The matter posted was completely false and malicious and published without Mr. Larsen even attempting to contact Mr. Victor about its veracity. Mr. Victor felt compelled to demand a retraction from Mr. Larsen.

Specifically, on his website Mr. Larsen falsely represented that:

1. Jody and Kathy Victor are only periodically qualifying Emeralds;

2. Jody never had a business as large as Crown;

3. Jody caused the family Crown portrait displayed at company headquarters to be retouched by having his former wife removed from the portrait;

4. Jody’s Father, Joe Victor, relinquished any claim to the American Way Association before he died so Jody could not meddle in the business.

Of course, none of these malicious allegations made by Mr. Larsen are true. On December 13, 2005 Jody forwarded a letter to Mr. Larsen demanding a retraction and that he correct the record. Several days later, in response to Jody’s letter, Mr. Larsen posted what he characterized as “Jody Victor Statement Retractions.” Although represented as a retraction, Mr. Larsen refused to accept Jody’s representations and pressed forward with more questions addressed to Jody.

On the same day he posted the so-called retractions, Mr. Larsen wrote to Jody promising to issue public apologies if Jody would “give his word” (which Jody had already done with his first letter to Mr. Larsen) regarding the four issues mentioned above. For the first time, Mr. Larsen revealed he was relying on an anonymous source, who turned out to be a disgruntled IBO. As discussed in more detail below, it became evident that before publishing the false and malicious statements about the Victors, Mr. Larsen made no effort to verify or corroborate the dubious information provided by his anonymous source.

In an exceedingly reasonable effort to conclude the matter, on January 9, 2006 Jody once again clearly and unequivocally advised Mr. Larsen of the true facts. Although Jody answered the questions for a second time, Mr. Larsen did not act as promised. Jody’s word was not accepted and public apologies from Mr. Larsen were not forthcoming. In fact, on January 11, Mr. Larsen for a third time questioned Jody about his pin level qualification. On January 19 and 23, Jody answered this same question again for Mr. Larsen. It became patently clear that Jody’s word, as requested by Mr. Larsen, would never be sufficient.

Moreover, at the same time he was corresponding with Jody and promising to accept Jody’s word, Mr. Larsen was communicating with a disgruntled IBO from whom he obtained the false information. Contrary to taking Jody’s word, Mr. Larsen was hoping the anonymous IBO (name withheld to honor the IBOs right to privacy) could prove Jody wrong. The false and malicious information provided by the anonymous source fed Mr. Larsen’s appetite for publishing tabloid-like posts on his website.

Once the identity of Mr. Larsen’s anonymous IBO was discovered, the IBO admitted to Jody and others, including Mr. Larsen, that his information was nothing more than malicious, unsubstantiated rumor. The IBO contacted Mr. Larsen advising him that the information previously provided was not factual or credible and that he could not be considered a reliable source.

Undaunted by this revelation, Mr. Larsen contacted Ken McDonald, former Quixtar Sr. Vice President and Managing Director, again inquiring about the Victors’ pin level. Naturally, Mr. McDonald verified exactly what Jody had conveyed to Larsen multiple times.

Mr. Larsen even contacted William Halliday, long-standing attorney for IBOAI, questioning Mr. Halliday about whether Joe Victor (Jody’s Father) relinquished his ownership rights in the American Way Association before he died. This was a question Jody had already answered for Mr. Larsen on three separate occasions.

Finally, to maintain even a modicum of credibility and dignity, Mr. Larsen posted the belated public apologies he previously promised Mr. Victor in the first instance. These public apologies were posted on February 7, 2006, nearly two months after Mr. Larsen promised to do so if only Jody would give his word. By signing his first letter dated December 13, 2005, and all subsequent correspondence delivered to Mr. Larsen, Jody gave his word and more.

We are left to wonder why Mr. Larsen did not invest the small amount of time it took to contact Mr. McDonald and Mr. Halliday before he launched his malicious and disparaging Web campaign against Jody and his family. Instead, Mr. Larsen conveniently chose to rely on an unreliable, anonymous source without ever attempting to independently verify the truth of the information. Mr. Larsen then had the temerity to use this and other misinformation in support of his claim, as described on his website, that he is the voice of honesty and reason when it comes to Quixtar and its IBOs.

While his motives may be unclear, Mr. Larsen’s intent is really not difficult to discern. The smear campaign against the Victors using false and malicious information is not an isolated incident. In fact, a simple review of Mr. Larsen’s website reveals an entire devotion to negative missives about Quixtar and its IBOs. Not one positive story or post can be found, which is mildly astonishing since the company and its distributors have been in business in one form or another since 1959! Under these circumstances, the considered approach would normally be to reject Mr. Larsen out of hand. But, when his Web posts became more personal and malicious in nature, the Victors and others felt compelled to respond.

Feeling the sting from his previous montage of admitted errors, Mr. Larsen still could not let the matter go and continued to search for anything negative relative to the Victors about matters occurring nearly 25 years ago. For almost two months after posting his retractions and public apologies regarding the Victors, Mr. Larsen’s website was essentially silent relative to Jody and Kathy Victor; however, during that time Mr. Larsen was engaged in a clandestine effort to dredge up any pejorative facts he could find that would tend to discredit Jody and Kathy.

Specifically, on April 6, 2006 Mr. Larsen published a new post making false and disparaging statements concerning how the Victors achieved their Crown pin in 1981. According to Mr. Larsen’s research and information obtained, once again, from unnamed sources, the Victors obtained their Crown pin by less than honorable means and were referred to as “Cookware Crowns”. In Amway jargon, “Cookware Crown” connoted a distributor who acquired the Crown pin through an implied circumvention of the spirit of the qualification rules. Moreover, Mr. Larsen falsely accused Jody of “publicly disseminating false information,” and “lying on the IBOA [W]ebsite.”

In his zeal to manufacture support for his caustic approach, Mr. Larsen once again astoundingly relied on sources whose reliability and objectivity were suspect at best.  At the insistence of the Victors’ attorney, Mr. Larsen revealed the identity of his sources – many from the same tiresome group he used for drawing his other erroneous conclusions about the Victors (Bo Short, Eric Scheibeler and Bruce Anderson). These sources have no connection with the Victors and were not even distributors in the 1980’s. Moreover, by Mr. Larsen’s own admission, even these sources reported that the “Cookware Crown” issue was nothing more than a rumor. Consistent with his past conduct, Mr. Larsen chose to stretch this rumor and report it on his website as fact.

In fact, Jody and Kathy Victor achieved their Crown pin in August 1981 by sponsoring twenty (20) Direct Distributor legs (25% level for at least three consecutive months), an accomplishment much more difficult than what Mr. Larsen described. The Victors and many others remain mystified by Mr. Larsen’s continuous obsession with twisting obscure events, even some that occurred 25 years earlier.

Challenged yet again by the Victors for his false and disparaging content, on April 17, 2006 Mr. Larsen immediately issued another retraction and apology for “jumping the gun.” In correspondence between Mr. Larsen and the Victors’ attorney, Mr. Larsen on several occasions agreed to not publish any further material or comments about the Victors. Only time will tell if Mr. Larsen will keep his word.

BILLY FLORENCE
Soon after Jody Victor engaged Mr. Larsen, Billy Florence wrote to Mr. Larsen demanding a retraction and that Larsen correct the record concerning disparaging statements he posted about Billy and his business. Mr. Larsen had stated on his site that the Quixtar approved SA4400 used by Billy was “overly deceptive”, essentially accusing Billy of fraudulent business conduct. Billy’s letter pointed out to Mr. Larsen that his allegations were based on an entirely erroneous analysis of the SA4400 and the Quixtar Sales and Marketing Plan.

The errors made by Mr. Larsen should have been apparent to someone who represents that his “site presents common sense business analysis and realistic views of the Amway/Quixtar business” (emphasis added). Specifically, Billy found four significant mistakes in Mr. Larsen’s post, which render his analysis of the Plan fatally flawed, arbitrary and completely unreliable.

Mr. Larsen’s errors included:

1. An allegation that Billy created the SA4400 he uses and simply stamped a Quixtar copyright on the document;

2. An assertion that an IBO with two qualifying legs must have at least 2500 PV in side volume to qualify for the leadership bonus;

3. Carelessly misrepresenting what the SA4400 explicitly provides regarding over what period of time the income potential may be earned (inaccurately claiming the SA4400 shows total income potential per year, instead of over a two year period);

4. Improperly calculating and grossly understating the leadership bonus available to an IBO with two qualifying legs and 7500 PV in side volume.

Mr. Larsen relied upon these false and misleading assumptions to support his premise that Billy is deceiving prospective IBOs by using his customized SA4400.¹

In response to Billy’s letter, and in similar fashion to Jody’s case, Mr. Larsen posted a new Web page admitting his errors on all four issues. While Mr. Larsen conceded making numerous errors in his analysis of the SA4400, he made a futile effort to deflect criticism, claiming he has never held himself out as an expert in the Quixtar business. This self-serving declaration belies the actual facts. A casual review of Larsen’s site reveals his unfettered and express desire to be considered an expert in all matters Quixtar related. The site contains numerous links to a myriad of Quixtar and IBO-related subjects, even offering an alternative sales and marketing plan for Quixtar to employ.

Mr. Larsen is attempting to have it both ways. On the one hand, when his mistakes surface and are revealed to the public, Mr. Larsen admits he is not an expert and that his sources are not always perfect. In contrast, he indisputably holds himself out as an expert and the foremost critic of Quixtar and its IBOs.

If Mr. Larsen is taken at his word that he does not consider himself an expert and that his sources are not always accurate, most troubling is his unabated willingness to cast aspersions on the integrity of Quixtar and its IBOs. For example, in one of the pages on his site Mr. Larsen characterizes the Quixtar business as “Americas [sic] most respected fraudulent marketing scheme.” He accuses Billy and other IBOs of engaging in fraudulent behavior and refers to the Quixtar business as “America’s most popular commercial cult.” These offensive and insulting themes can be found throughout Mr. Larsen’s website.

Mr. Larsen admittedly was an Amway distributor for only a period of months over 12 years ago. He acknowledges that he is not an expert in the Quixtar business and relies on sources, anonymous and otherwise, that provide inaccurate information and, in Jody’s case, unsubstantiated rumor and innuendo. There is little to no effort made by Mr. Larsen to corroborate any of the charges he levels against Quixtar or the IBOs. In sum, Mr. Larsen’s website provides anything but a good faith, objective analysis of the business.

To determine Mr. Larsen’s real motives, examining several of the links to his site prove illuminating. Astonishingly, the site contains a link to a page exploiting the personal tragedies of IBOs and their family members. This page has no legitimate business purpose and is designed only to embarrass and humiliate individuals and families. Some of the types of information include the following:

• divorces,

• confidential details of personal relationships,

• medical conditions,

• personal family tragedies,

• and a section containing negative rumors and innuendo.

This and other pages to which Mr. Larsen’s site is linked appeal solely his prurient interest.

Another troubling fact about Mr. Larsen emerges from his publications. When Mr. Larsen publishes grossly inaccurate information that disparages and defames IBOs, his reputation in his trade or occupation is not tarnished or adversely affected. Mr. Larsen answers to no one and is guided only by his own ethics and moral compass. In other words, Mr. Larsen risks nothing by taking a wayward and cavalier approach to Quixtar and its IBOs. Conversely, Mr. Larsen’s invectives about IBOs, such as Jody and Billy, have a direct, adverse impact on their businesses. Substantial time, effort and money must be expended to repair the damage caused by such false and disparaging comments. The use of these valuable resources is diverted from what IBOs do best – engage in building and helping others build a successful Quixtar business.

The difficulties created by Mr. Larsen’s erroneous and fabricated publications are compounded when republished and promoted by other bloggers. Several Quixtar critics have adopted Mr. Larsen’s defamatory statements and caustic theme to advance their own crusade against Quixtar and its IBOs.

These bloggers report as true Mr. Larsen’s publications with very little or no independent research having been performed. The republications allow for the false rumor and innuendo to be spread exponentially. Though Mr. Larsen retracts his untrue statements after being shown that his information is false, the bloggers who repeat his misrepresentations and rumors let them stand.

Debra Masselink is a Quixtar critic who believes in and supports Mr. Larsen to a fault. Ms. Masselink is a frequent blogger, engaging with several other bloggers in endless criticism of Quixtar and IBOs. Ms. Masselink on several occasions repeated Mr. Larsen’s April 6, 2006 publication accusing Jody Victor of “publicly disseminating false information” and “lying on the IBOA [W]ebsite.” Moreover, Ms. Masselink failed to correct or even modify her negative comments, even after Mr. Larsen retracted his statements and apologized to the Victors.

Unabated by Mr. Larsen’s admitted errors, Ms. Masselink incredulously suggested that Mr. Larsen was “just gathering more evidence.” The Victors were compelled to retain legal counsel in an effort to dissuade Ms. Masselink. A demand letter from counsel evoked a retraction and an apology to the Victors from Ms. Masselink. Ms. Masselink claimed she “did not respond to Scott Larsen’s retraction” hoping to “let a dead dog lie”.

Not surprisingly, Ms. Masselink was unable to follow her own credo; her rancor against Quixtar and the Victors get the better of her. Soon after she issued the retraction and apologized to the Victors, Ms. Masselink complained to the other bloggers that she would have responded favorably to a friendly or “nice” letter from the Victors. According to Ms. Masselink, a “threatening” letter from legal counsel was heavy-handed.

But Ms. Masselink and her fellow bloggers who cry out for a friendly, less hostile, communication environment, refuse to adhere to the ethics they espouse. Prior to accusing the Victors of lying, publishing false information and generally engaging in dishonorable business tactics, neither Mr. Larsen nor Ms. Masselink attempted to contact the Victors to engage in a “friendly” dialogue. Under any reasonably ethical communication standards, a person accused of such conduct should be permitted to respond before the allegations are published.

Regrettably, this is the environment several critics have created. They publish false and disparaging statements about Quixtar and its IBOs based upon inadequate research and information obtained from unreliable sources. Prior to publishing their invectives, these critics fail to provide the IBO under attack with an opportunity to refute the allegations or place the dubious information in proper context. Conversely, when the critics’ errors and missteps are exposed, they remarkably complain because the targets of their malicious attacks failed to educate them with a friendly telephone call or a kind note.


¹In a transparent effort to save face, Mr. Larsen could only point out one relatively insignificant issue concerning the SA4400. The SA4400 prepared by Quixtar for Billy was first published in November 2004. Just prior to its publication, a rule change occurred in the sales and marketing plan, causing the SA4400 to actually understate potential earnings. The SA4400 was modified in a timely manner to incorporate the change and republished only two months later, in January 2005.

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