ACN Sucks. "Do Not Get Involved"

ACN Scam

Is ACN scam (fraudulent or deceptive business scheme)? Good question. On one hand, it is legally operating MLM company, selling phone services, Internet, videophone. It operates in many countries on 3 continents. On the other hand, there ale lots of controversies about ACN.

MLM

First controversy is that ACN is a MLM. Many people think that all MLMs are scams. It is not true, MLMs are legally operating businesses. BUT, some people in MLMs may act dishonest and with no morality at all - they will lie to you in your face, promise fast riches, suck you into some schemes for making money of you. This is why legal MLM systems have bad opinions.

ACN rep drop out rate

It is no secret that in MLMs drop out rate is very high. Some people joke that it has higher human resources rotation than MacDonalds.

Many ACN reps will enroll anyone into the business, without aptitude test (although they may say that they need to check you capabilities). Anyone willing to pay $499 is accepted and makes them profit :)

The drop out rate may be only estimated, it is believed to be more than 50% yearly, some people assume that it is 98%.

Typical income

What is the typical income of ACN rep? That is a tough question. Some reps just join and do almost nothing, so their income is zero (and they have big expenses). Some work hard, use gimmicks and recruit lot of new people and earn substantial income.

Why is it hard to estimate income? Income rules changes. The percentage of phone bills earned by reps changes. The number of customers you must have to earn bonuses from new reps changes.

Do the math!

The income has two sources: phone/internet bills and new reps.

First source is small. The market is very competitive (many different providers) and the percentage of revenue is small (less than 2% usually). How many customers must you have to earn $100 monthly, if you get 1% or 2% of their phone bills? Do the math. if you have 40 customers, with 30$ monthly bill each, that sums up to $1200 in bills. 2% of it would be $24. Monthly.
Some may say - but there is also income from downline, from levels below, up to the 7th level. Well, theoretically it is. In practice, sometimes it is not. It is no easy to build structure 7 levels deep andmaintain it, especially when drop out rate is high. This income is low but residual (if you keep the downline and not let it vanish due to drop out rate)

Second source is big. But it resembles pyramid scheme. This income is high but not residual.

There are also some Customer Acquisition Bonuses (CABs) - if you are on the level of "Executive Team Trainer or higher" - so you need to rise in the organisation first.

To sum up - high recruiting bonuses, small residuals income. The income thus depends on how many reps you recruit.

Expenses: about $499 (may change in time and be different in different countries) fee to join. Annual renewal fee (about $100-$150). Monthly fees - a few dollars. All is about $230 yearly ($499 more in first year). How many customers do you need to brek even?

Don't do ACN if you don't like it.

ACN - fbi & ftc

If you heard that FBI is after ACN - you probably heard bout Accenture Ltd. or Andersen Consulting. About FTC - it is possible, but I have no details yet. If you know something, leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

Complaints

There are many complaints about ACN. Not only are people complaining at forums, but also to institutions like Better Business Bureau, FTC, ACCC etc.

Legal battles

The Bureau of Consumer Services in Pennsylvania got complaints about "slamming" - switching to different provider without consent, and "cramming" (overcharging).

At 2004 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigated the Australian Communications Network Pty Ltd (Australian ACN). Alleged breach of Trade Practices Act from 1974. At 2005 ACN Justice Selway judged that australian ACN attempted to induce people to take part in a pyramid selling scheme. But federal court appeal reversed decision and ruled that "recruitment payments" did not fall under the definitions of the law. ACCC appealed, The High Court of Australia refused the ACCC's appeal.

SAS ACN Communications France was said to be gulity of misleading advertising by the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris at 2007 and ordered to pay 15,000 euros.

ACN complained against Pacific Bell at 1997 for violating 202(a) and 252(i) of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 202(a) and 252(i).

Legal advisory committee

ACN has legal advisory committee, consisting of retired judges and attorneys, like Robert Stephan, former Kansas Attorney General, Chris Gorman former Kentucky Attorney General, Grant Woods (Arizona Att. General), Warren Pengilley - University of Newcastle professor emeritus, William P. McKeown, a retired judge from Canada Federal Court Trial Division and Supreme Court of Ontario.

Their task is to make the business more credible, and to assure the business is legal and ethical.

Pyramid scheme

Is ACN a pyramid scheme?

ACN is not pyramid scheme. But there are several resemblances. So anyone yelling "ACN scam pyramid scheme" shall take into consideration, that ACN is not a pyramid, although it resembles one.

What is pyramid scheme (snow ball scheme, chain scheme)? It is a scheme in which people pay fee to join, and then earn money from fees of those who have joined. Moreover, there is no selling of real products in the structure, sometimes no product at all, sometimes some 'fake' products (like 4 motivating books for $1000 etc).

Why ACN is not a pyramid? It sells real goods (phone services, video phone, Internet access).

Why ACN resembles pyramid? First, it is a MLM, all MLMs resemble pyramid somehow. But real MLMs are not pyramid schemes, they are legal businesses, so is ACN. Secondly, it resembles pyramid because the fee to join is quite high and the income from phone services is quite low (unless you have lots of customers.) The income of a rep from recruiting new reps may vary in time and in different countries, but in some times and places it is substantial in comparison to phone bills income. There is one important point - you need to sell services to get money from recruiting new reps. So it is unlike pyramid, when you just recruit new people.

Fraud

Is acn a fraud? Is ACN bad? Is it a swindle (swindle = cheating or defrauding). In my humble opinion, Do not waste your money. Due to reasosn explained above.