4/29/2010 9:41 AM (PST)

Hi Marianne,

The company has an A- rating and is a BBB Accredited Business with the LA BBB. They currently have 93 complaints. Complainants allege dissatisfaction with the quality or effectiveness of purchased products, or difficulties obtaining refunds. The company responds to complaints by issuing refunds, credits, or by providing explanations of their policies on refund eligibility, so they have given proper consideration to anything that was filed. You can access the full report here:

http://www.la.bbb.org/Business-Report/Herbalife-International-of-America-Inc-20585

4/29/2010 9:53 AM (PST)

Erin, thank you for respondng to my question about Herbalife. Should I then feel comfortable in investing in this at home business?

Marianne

4/29/2010 10:01 AM (PST)

Marianne,

I reviewed the complaints on file and the complaints regarding their home business opportunity resulted in dealings with local distributors instead of dealing with the corporation.

I suggest if you decide to start your own business selling their products, to work directly with the corporation.

Thank you.

4/29/2010 12:15 PM (PST)

Marianne, I was once an Herbalife distributor - and thought the company is legit, it is awfully hard to make meaningful money from it. You have to bring in lots of other people and it takes full-time dedication. In today's economy, people aren't buying much. The difference between what you have to pay for the product and what it sells for is very small. And, at the time I was associated with them, they seemed to keep raising the price. You also have to but all the product literature, etc that further eats into the little profit you make.

4/29/2010 9:07 PM (PST)

I have been checking out this home opportunity also. It all sounds great, but you sure do have to invest alot of money it seems to make any money. I can't help but wonder if the only ones making the real money are the ones that are trying to sell me. Not really sure what to think on this yet. I know it's working on a pyramid scheme, which usually means that if you don't get in it early, you're really just making the other people money and spending yours. Would love any input anyone else has on them though.

4/29/2010 9:15 PM (PST)

Sabra, you have to build a LARGE customer base to make any money - and that is not easy to do. It may be based out of your home, but you'll spend a lot of time trying to contact people. Even little ads in the local AdPak or its equivalent costs you money and very few people actually respond to them. It usually takes face-to-face contact to gain any interest - which then may or may not result in a customer. I stayed in it for probably a year+ and finally got out of it because I was working way too many hours for what I was getting out of it.

4/29/2010 9:24 PM (PST)

Thank you for your response MK. I really do appreciate it. I guess right now I'm just glad I haven't invested any more than what it took to get to the second package and find out the true details.

4/29/2010 9:30 PM (PST)

You're welcome, Sabra. That's just my experience. It's like Avon and all the rest. And you're right: you usually don't find out many of the actual requirements until AFTER they've already signed you up. Best of luck in whatever you undertake!

5/14/2010 10:52 PM (PST)

heard about "Income at home" from some radio advertisements on talk radio. It was endorsed by several different radio personalities (Dr Joy Brown and Glen Beck among others) and it is rated A- by the BBB which is the highest rating that this type of business can get. The decision pack cost 49.95, but you can receive it for only 9.95 and they clearly inform you that you have 15 days to decide and will not be charged the additional 39 dollars if you return the package...they even send you instructions on how to do that. There are two ways to do this business. 1. where you contact people you know, or by advertising in the news, fliers, and by setting up weight loss challenges (among other ways). This way costs less than $80 to get started, with some products to try. 2. the second way to do this business is online. this costs currently $399 in the USA plus $49/mo for hosting a site. in Canada the cost is about 30 dollars more. For this price you get a site with a professional business office, a training coach, a training book, carry bag and products to try out, a month's worth. I did sign up with this about 3 weeks ago. The coach calls you every day or 2 initially to make sure you know how to get started. The online site has a day by day training, or learning modules, like you would get in a college learning lab. you get included a free 800 number, e-mail, an appointment calender with reminder service. The learning is intense at first but basically they teach you how to get around in your site, how to advertise or buy leads, so you are only presenting this business to people who have expressed an interest. I was very impressed with this learning system. You also get several sites to advertise online. I have been involved with other network marketing systems. This system makes it easy to make contacts and you never have to leave your house to do it. To do it online, it helps if you have some computer literacy, but you can learn this at your own pace over time. There just are a lot of features to the site and it is like starting a new job, except it is not a job, it is your business, and has great growth potential. The cost of the site is exceptionally low. As far as sites go, you get a big bang for your money. Because this is a Network marketing system, many people have to network to build their businesses. It is not your local hardware store. For this reason, it is hard to present consistency as far as a public image is concerned. You have to advertise to grow this business, but many curiosity seekers are looking for easy money and become disgruntled with paying 9.95 for a pack of info with a cd and dvd. The pack is clearly advertised for 49.95, but they hold off charging you the rest for 15 days, until you have had time to review the material and to return the pack. In network marketing you are dealing with many personalities. That is both an asset to the business and a deficit. You get a different response depe

7/19/2010 10:47 AM (PST)

Yes, I too was sold on the idea because of their BBB rating. You pay their initial 9.95 s&h fee to start but then you end up paying more and more for more information about their products and company info. It seems I keep paying just to get answers as to what to do next. What alarmed me was they desperately urged me to pay for their $2,300 package up front in the third day I talked with them without their prospective customer list they promise and I didn't even sell one product yet. It seems I keep finding out these hidden fees as the game goes along. I'm ready to pull now before I spend too much for hardly anything. And with the responses above I'm not sure I want to play this game anymore. Does anyone know if their products are approved by the Food & Drug Administration?