Miss Gullible

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I always like to browse scam forums to see what is going on and it seems that currently many people are receiving emails and letters from a kids clothing company called Magic Kids Inc. These letters are usually titled, “Get Rich With No Work”. Now I can understand the appeal of that, but it sets alarm bells ringing straight away. We all know that simply isn’t possible, but it seems to be working to lure people into this MLM company.

I have done a lot of research on people’s experiences with Magic Kids Inc and let’s just say they are not happy. Magic Kids Inc is rated F with the Better Business Bureau, that is the worst rating. This is because they have a lot of unresolved complaints that many times they have not even responded to.

Of course, the sales letter is filled with testimonials of how new distributors followed the plan and made thousands in their first day. The company suggest waiting 2 months to make $3000. This figure is absurd based on the many reviews I have read. People are lucky to make their joining fee back.

The fee for a starter pack is $147 -plus $28 shipping. With this you would receive a handful of leaflets and business cards. You give them your credit card info or a postdated cheque and are charged a month later. The packs take about 2 weeks to arrive.

The main complaint with the company is that no matter how much work people put in and how much money they spend, they do not make any orders, or very few. One lady on Scam.com writes of her experience:

When I first received the 16 page letter detailing the opportunity to become a dealer it all sounded wonderful and very doable. The letter said you must respond within 24 hours to get more free tools to start you off and they wouldn’t even charge you for a month in good faith. He also guaranteed that if after a month you weren’t pleased a full refund, and then went on to say give the business a good two months to make at least $3000 if not more and if you’re still not pleased after actually giving it a good shot for two months you could still have a full refund. My computer had crashed so I didn’t have a way at the time to look up the business but everything looked really great and doable. I should have found a computer somewhere and checked it out first, now I definitely wish I had!

So I ordered my kit for $147, it took a couple of weeks to arrive and came with a couple of flyers and about 10 business cards. I quickly gave those away. The kit also came with all kinds of perk reports on things to order to help perk up your business so I read intensely every report he had. They all said respond within 5-7 days to be able to get the great deal. I choose the perks I wanted–to receive 80% commission instead of the 50% every dealer gets, to be a dealer affiliate and receive $100 for every dealer I signed up, their clothing package to show to retail shops (that came with catalogs, envelopes and letterhead paper), to order their Directory that had retail shops, wholesalers, and non-profit organizations, and then off course ordered wholesaler postcards, dealer postcards, business cards, catalogs, and regular flyers to mail and hand out. It took another couple of weeks for everything to arrive that I needed to start advertising for the business. Meanwhile I had spent about $2500 on my credit card to get the business going with all of the perks. Their advertising reports have great marketing in them, if they would only follow through with what they said it still looks like a great business.

While I was waiting for more flyers, postcards and business cards to arrive I read and reread everything in their manual on how to advertise and succeed with the business. I was committed to giving my best and at least a full two months of work to try it and see how it worked. I received my first batch of flyers and business cards, wrote my ‘discount’ code on each one (this ties the customer to me and that is how I am supposed to receive commission) and then that weekend drove a 100 miles to the nearest mall and handed out 300 flyers and business cards to people with kids and buying items in clothing stores. That first weekend was August 8th (easy for me to remember since it is my birthday) and the next three weeks I proceeded to continue advertising for them with all of the ways they recommended in the manual. After 3 weeks my online account still showed 0 orders. I called the helpline and spoke with a coach, told her all of the work I had been doing and asked how come I didn’t have any orders? I asked her if their tracking system was not working? She seemed offended that I would ask that. She said I just wasn’t trying hard enough and that sometimes it takes a little while for people to order and that I needed to be more positive about it. I asked her how come all of these testomonials were saying they got orders in the first day or two from handing flyers out, doing mailings to wholesale companies, and the other things I was doing. She said because they had contacts of retail stores and they already knew those people. Funny, that wasn’t one of the several things mentioned in the manual was that you needed previous contacts in order to make money. In fact he had said you don’t have to bug your friends and neighbors like typical MLM to make money.

So anyway, I concluded every business takes a little time and I was committed to the two month mark so I kept advertising. By then I had received my computer back as well, so I even started advertising online in several forums I am a part of. After two months I had given out 300 flyers and business cards at the mall, mailed wholesale postcards to botiques and wholesalers from that list and then the non-profit flyers to the non-profit organazations (200 total addresses on the directory list), sent out messages to 43 yahoo groups that I was already a member of–mostly kids clothing and mom’s lists, advertised 359 posts on Mom’s forums (they keep track for me, that’s how I knew), mailed out postcards to home business seekers and put out ads for that side of the biz, signed up a local homeschool group of 120 families as a fundraiser for them and gave each family a catalog, handed out my remaining business cards and catalogs to folks around town and to retail stores, and then I also did two newspaper ads in two papers that each canvas 2/3 of the state.

By October 7th and all this time and work handing out, writing addresses and mailing it still showed 0 orders for my account. I just simply do not believe that is even possible. Their testomonials alone from mailing postcards to wholesalers were saying many wholesalers and botiques made $2000 and $3000 orders. I believe this company has made thousands of dollars off of my efforts but has not given me a dime of it.

I called the company October 7th, one day before the two months that I had actually been working the business, to request a refund since it was showing no orders for me. I told the lady all of the effort I had put in, everything I described above, thankfully I had kept fairly good records of what I had done. I told her how Isaac’s letter had said that even after a person had given the business a full two months good honest try and wasn’t satisfied they could request a full refund. But the lady told me that the two months included the date from when the kit was ordered, which is not at all what the letter said, and it took two weeks just to receive the kit and then another two weeks just to start receiving the materials needed to start advertising for them. I kept iterating that that is not what the letter said, but she just said that I did not qualify for a refund. I asked to speak to her supervisor so she put me on hold, when she came back she said that the supervisor was away from her desk but that she would call me back that afternoon. It’s been over 24 hours and I still have not received a call back. I am going to call again tomorrow and be a little stronger with them, if I do not receive a full refund of all charges made by them I will file with my credit card that they are simply a scam and I want the charges reversed. I am glad I used my credit card, and that is the only thing I am glad about. I’m sad that I wasted all of that time and energy trying to really give it my all. If they would have simply paid me for my efforts as they said they would I believe we would have both mutally benefited, I’m sure they received many many orders from the advertising that I did and I deserved to be paid the agreed amount for my efforts.

Caitlin
Cordell, Oklahoma
U.S.A.

I think Caitliin sums up what this “opportunity” is - a giant scam, that has squeezed a lot of money out of a lot of people. Please beware people on scam forums offering to try MagicKidsInc with no fee. They are just referring to the month trial, before your credit card gets charged.

If you have received the sales letter please do not fall for this very expensive scam. The clothes themselves are sourced from company liquidations and that is why they are cheap, but some people have had problems with refunds and have found the quality not to be up to scratch.

Remember Caitlin’s story is not a one off. Magic Kids Inc are responsible for scamming hundreds of people.

If only it were that easy. I swear I am completely addicted to Coke, or LA Maxi Ice (a cheap diet cola) to be precise. It is my health vice. I don’t smoke or drink alcohol, yet my health is really suffering from something most people would assume is no big deal.

Perhaps this is how smokers feel about smoking. I drink at least 2 litres of diet Cola every day and increasingly when I lay down at night I feel sick. Nearly every other night I have to actually get up to be sick. Gross, I know. Whenever I feel this way my mind wanders to Coke and even the thought of it makes me feel sick. Every night I swear off it for life. However the next morning comes around, my stomach feels better and I start to drink it again. The thing is, I really like the taste and I can’t think of any other drink I could replace it with. Coke is so comforting and delicious.

So drink it, some of you may say, but I really should point out just how dangerous drinking Coke is. Here are the things in Cola that can cause you damage:

Caffeine - This is the stuff that keeps me awake at night. Sure it gives me a buzz and helps me get over that afternoon slump, but it also causes headaches, fatigue, stress, cardio problems, gastrointestinal problems and liver damage. It also affects libido (not good!)

Corn Syrup - This stuff may make the drink taste oh so sweet, but it also turns to fat easier than any other sugar and inhibits copper metabolism, which leads to destruction of connective tissue and arteries.

Aspartame - The worst culprit of all. This stuff is really damaging my health and can be found in all sorts of foods and diet drinks. It causes a whole range of health problems including blindness, depression, insomnia, seizures, nausea, hives, balding, ulcers, suicidal tendencies, ADD and Alzheimer’s and these are just a few of the side effects. These effects can show up after many years. There are even support groups for people who have suffered Aspartame poisoning.

You really should check out the Sweet Poison website to find out more about Aspartame. It has loads of really useful information. The FDA took a lot of persuading before they allowed sale of Aspartame and unfortunately most of the side effects remain a closely guarded secret. This is due to the fact that the diet industry is worth trillions of dollars and as we all know when it comes to the government, Money Talks.

Most of the illnesses can be cured by just stopping your intake of Aspartame That means avoiding diet drinks and diet products such as NutraSweet.

I am hoping now that I am armed with this knowledge I can fight my cravings for Coke. I know it sounds silly, but it is really hard to resist. I am ashamed I have let it get to this stage where my health is already suffering, but if I stop now I should get healthier. It amazes me that governments let these kind of drugs sell, but then again they will do anything for money. It just shows you really can’t trust anyone in power.

From when I was a young teenager, to quite recently I have received many sales letters from an English company called Streetwise Marketing. They are a legitimate company that sells information products via direct mail and also online.
The first letters I received were selling a product that would give me the information I needed to be able to make money from home and if I was willing to work hard there would be no way I could fail.
The letter (as is often the case with info products) did not tell me exactly what I would be getting, rather it sold me a way of life that I could live if I followed instructions.
Well, when I received the book, it was about running bootfairs. It suggested finding land and holding regular bootfairs, where you charge each car that comes in. That is not a bad idea, if you have access to land, or perhaps if you are doing it for charity, people may lend you their land, but not for a 15 year old girl who lives at home.
Another time I sent away for a work at home info product. When I received it, it was how to set up a business painting stars on ceilings. I mean, seriously, even I can see that is not going to make loads of money. I have also bought books on arbitrage betting, blackjack and all sorts of other schemes and nothing is ever quite what the sales letter makes out.
Plus, I have never recieved a refund from Streetwise Marketing, despite asking for them. The company will not refund you until you fulfill requirements, that are just too hard to meet.
Streetwise Marketing products are usually thorough and could work in some circumstances. However, for an average person with a small amount of money to invest, they are definitely not suitable.
The most money I ever lost through Streetwise Marketing was on a scheme where you pay over $2000 for a pack of information on direct marketing. The end result was meant to be that you set up a company a bit like Streetwise Marketing. Hmmm, sounds fishy to me.
When I realised it would not work and that I would be as bad as the scammers, I asked for a refund and they said no. Interesting.
Don’t waste your money. Streetwise Marketing was how I first got into debt. Getting credit cards to pay for these so-called “money making schemes” is never a good idea.