Complaint Review: Melaleuca - The Wellness Company - Internet

Hello,

I personally have been a Melaleuca customer for 7 years and have been very satisfied with their array of all natural products.  I have only recently started on the business end of it(4 months).  Your "friend" probably had just enrolled and was hitting their "warm market" to get off to a quick start. He/she really doesnt know the ins and outs of the company when it comes to policies and procedures. All that being said you did not have to sign up with a membership to experience any of the products.  You can buy any product that Melaleuca sells to have the ability to try it on a "trial" basis.  As far as the cancellation policy is concerned you should have had your "friend" help you with that.  I personally had one of my closest friends who signed up immediately when I started up cancel due to financial constraints(lost his job) and we had no issues. If you have any doubts about the quality of this company you should look up their rating with the BBB and look at the awards they have won from them for their excellent customer service.  Compare that with some big companies out there especially computer companies that preach customer service in their "tag lines" and you would be appalled with their rating.  I understand that someone will undoubtly have a bad experience with a large company at some point in time as it is inevitable. To classify an A rated 25 year old company as a scam over your personal bad experience is going a little overboard. 

My helpful tip:  You can order any product from Melaleuca at anytime without buying a membership.

Another helpful tip: Do your due diligence before signing any contract whether it be friend or family.

 Regards

In response to a couple of the replies to my post:  Yes - I realise that my friend didn't "hold a gun to my head" and as a result of my bad experience I will never get involved with this company (or really any network marketing scam) again.  And, you're right that had I dug a bit deeper I might have been able to learn all of the "rules" before getting involved in the first place. 

The thing is, I buy a lot of stuff online.  A LOT.  Shoes, electronics, cosmetics, books and more.  I have ordered from several different companies. There have been situations where I ordered the wrong size, or where I received the product and for what ever reason decided that it wasnt right for me. Generally when this happens the procedure goes something like this: Call the company, get a return address, ship the product back, get a refund.  With Melaleuca this is not what happened.  I had to call multiple times, send a written cancelation request, call again, wait 4 weeks and still no refund, call again, finally get less than 60% of my orgininal payment.

At the end of the day, besides being a network marketing SCAM Melaleuca markets itself as a company that sells products to consumers.  All I wanted was to try the vitamins.  I should be able to do that without getting the run around.

Bottom line: Reputable companies don't force you into memberships with complicated cancellation policies to get you to buy their products.  I'm not saying all companies that require memberships are bad, I have a costco card and a cell phone.  I'm saying this company deliberately makes the cancellation process difficult so that you have to pay longer and more than the average person would reasonably expect.  And quite frankly as a business model that SUCKS.

Like the other person said your friend didn't hold a gun to your head and make you sign up to try the products.  They have a website and product catalogs and the return policy is self explanatory.  You had plenty of time to see what products they have to offer and how to get a refund if necessary. 

The Attain and Access bars are really good and so is the other food.  Surely you eat.  Take another look at what this company has to help your friend out.  They probably really need the extra income.  Your friend would probably buy products from a company you signed up with.  Help them out, the economy is tough now.  If you aren't going to eat the bars I'm sure someone else like a homeless person would.  Just think about it.

Wow, what a night mare! Thanks for posting this because you saved me from losing my own money...

I currently use the Melaleuca products, and I am also an independent marketing representative. With that being said, I would like to offer information on how to avoid things like this in the future. Melaleuca is not a scam and it is a lucrative business if worked correctly. As an individual with access to the preferred customer product location, there are options for you to review your account, access faq's (frequently asked questions), as well as accessing customer support. There is a section devoted on how to cancel your account right there amidst all of that information. It is your responsibility as a consumer to research what options are available for whatever action you are taking. If you had read through the information, you would have discovered that the process required to cancel your account is as follows: A Marketing Executive may cancel his/her Independent Marketing Executive Agreement, and a Customer may cancel his/her Customer Membership Agreement, by giving written notice to Melaleuca bearing his/her original signature, printed name, address, Customer Number and reason for canceling (to assist Melaleuca in improving its customer service). If an individual or entity is a Preferred Customer and a Marketing Executive, the letter should specify which agreement(s) should be cancelled. Written cancellations received by Melaleuca on or before the 25th of the month will be effective the month received. Written cancellations received by Melaleuca after the 25th of the month will be effective the following month. Cancellation notices must be mailed to: Melaleuca, 3910 S. Yellowstone Hwy., Idaho Falls, ID 83402 ( See Statement of Policies #10 ). Statement of Policies #10 reads as follows: 10. Election to Cancel Agreements A Marketing Executive may cancel his/her Independent Marketing Executive Agreement, and a Customer may cancel his/her Customer Membership Agreement, for any reason at any time by giving written notice to Melaleuca bearing his/her original signature, printed name, address, Customer Number and reason for canceling (to assist Melaleuca in improving its customer service). If an individual or entity is a Preferred Customer and a Marketing Executive, the letter should specify which agreement(s) should be canceled. Written cancellations received by Melaleuca on or before the 25th of the month will be effective the month received. Written cancellations received by Melaleuca after the 25th of the month will be effective the following month. Cancellation notices must be mailed to: Melaleuca, 3910 S. Yellowstone Hwy., Idaho Falls, ID 83402-6003. So, as you see.... it is very clearly explained. I found the first paragraph in the Help Center under: Frequently Asked Questions: (Sub-section) Membership: (Sub-section) General Membership Questions: How do I cancel my preferred customer membership? Statement of Policies #10 came directly from the statement of policies, section number 10. It is, exactly the same information as provided in the FAQ: General Membership Questions. It does not matter why you decided to join. The fact is that you and only you did make that decision. You have to take responsibility for your own actions, because unless someone is holding a gun to your head, there is no way for someone to make you do something you don't want to do. You made a conscious decision to help your friend. There are 2 things that would have helped this scenario before this ever took place.... 1. Your friend should have had all the information ready for you to view, and allow you time to ask questions before you made a decision to join. 2. You should have done your research BEFORE you joined. You should always know how to get out of something before you climb in.... I am sorry that you went through this,but I can assure you that as a preferred customer and a Marketing Executive, I can assure you that this tyoe of situation is NOT the norm..... There are indeed a few other reports here of dissatisfied customers, but there are thousands of members who are happy to have joined and perfectly ok with the agreement they ventured in to. Look at the Better Business Bureau... you will see that Melaleuca has actually received a couple of awards.... It's a fabulous company with fabulous products. I use them and I promote them, however I never state anything that is untrue nor do I try to sucker anyone into joining. It's usually people contacting me; wanting to know more about it.