This is a true event of how I got duped into AAA-BelAir Pyramid
Scheme.
One day a friend who I never met for so long asked me out to dinner
at Marina Square. Though far and puzzled, I went anyway since I was
free. The dinner goes along well when she started to tell me she
don't like her job and wanna concentrate on her business 'cos can
earn 5 figure income and more. She also asked me whether I have
ever thought of doing business. In actual fact she is digging for
information which I have no clue at that time. Meanwhile she was
busy SMS-ing away.
After a long dinner she said she wanna buy something but didn't,
then we ended up at McDonald's at Marina Square as she said wanna
eat sundae. We continued chatting and she continued her SMS-ing.
Then her fren called her who happens to be at Marina Square to
pass her something. She started singing praise of this lady who
earned a lot of money doing this business of theirs. We chatted and
my friend told her I have intentions of doing business and earn big
money(who doesn't?). This lady then called her so-called business
partner who is also coincidentally nearby at Pan-Pacific Hotel.
So we rushed there while my friend kept singing praise about how
successful they both are and how lucky I was to have this chance
to meet them as they are very busy successful people over and
over.
At Pan-Pacific we headed to the nice & classy lounge area where
this guy in his early 30s dressed very impressively with bright
colored shirt and cufflinks and polished leather shoes. We chatted
on what my dreams are and how fast I intend to achieve success.
Also talked about rich people and poor people mindset(*Rich Dad
Poor Dad thingy*) and he also said to be successful one must change
mindset and recommended me a bestseller book titled Secrets of the
Millionaire Mind. He sounded REALLY convincing with his image of
success and all. In the background, whatever this guy said, my fren
and her partner always agreed by saying Yes.... Yes... Yes as if
on cue. I should've known something was wrong but this guy is good
at psychological mind games and I was hooked. In the end my fren
asked him whether I can attend their seminar on Friday and awards
ceremony and DnD on Saturday saying only those invited can go &
how lucky I was that I can go and kept SMS me the same thing while
I was leaving. I never thought much and agreed on going to the DnD
as well which costs $130!(what the heck was I thinking?)
On that Friday I was told to dress formally with tie as I would be
meeting a lot of successful people. We met at Boon Keng McD where
there're a lot of people my age dressed in long-sleeved shirts and
tie. The ladies wear formal wear and carries LV bags and wore Prada
spectacles and carrying the aromatherapy diffusers. We proceeded to
their HQ; AAA Entrepeneurial Center at nearby Hiap Huat House on
4th Floor where I see lots more similar people dressed in
power-suits and ties and sweating like monkeys under hot and stuffy
weather. The center is open for members only and those invited.
The seminar on friday talks about Life and Destiny, more of those
Rich Dad Poor Dad thing and about how destiny can be changed with
change of poor people mindset. The speaker are really well trained
to deliver powerful speeches and very motivating! Newcomers are
encouraged to dance on chairs and give replies with hand gestures
and shouts. This kind of environement is to open up the potential
prospects to make them feel like a family of AAA.
After seminar is the sharing session, every prospect is
encouraged/urged by their introducer to go on stage and share what
they have learnt from the seminar. Those who don't speak chinese
well or not comfortable are cheered on by the crowd. Of 'cos in
that kind of situation most of the prospects won't dare to say bad
things about the place or the people. Any worries or weaknesses
that the newcomer has, all disappeared with a few loud cheers and
hand clapping.
On normal days, Saturday is when they presented their own
AAA-System/Marketing-plan. There's 1-2-2 where u cut count with
$12k worth of stocks and recruit 1 people in the first month and 2
each on the subsequent 2 mths. Another one is 1+5 where u
cut-count and buy up 5 count positions with $72k worth of stocks
and able to challenge Marquis position with only 2 of the lines
active. Come to think of it, when it comes to all the figures and
the cutting count thingy, their slides flashed by really really
fast. I myself did not manage to catch most of it. Also another
point to note is that none of the rules and regulations of the
distributorship were discussed. E.g. How many days to get full
refund if you want out, which I only found out after I woke up
from the scam. Even BelAir's website did not publish it, I only
found out from their distributor handbook the nite before I decided
to call it quits. They only talked about their system and not
BelAir's. My upline fren did not even know that as a couple they
can share a count position but the upline never told them that. She
and her boyfriend both cut count to get in, Double Whammy!
The sharing session continues after the marketing plan. By now the
newcomers are all hyped up and ready to go. It's like a
rollercoaster ride with the adrenaline rush. It's that sudden rush
of excitement and encouragement that got most of us trapped without
time to really investigate the good and the bad. They also imposed
an interview to screen out the people with high ambitions/greedy,
or those who wants in 'cos they were made to believe they can
change their family's life. It's all psychology at play especially
with their team of believers. They also said the product is the
best and no need much publicity, we only need to believe in the
system 100% and the AAA Team 100%. Those who failed to answer all
100% during interview with the upline Marquis will be failed. But
they are not easily let go, back in the gathering room, the lower
level Marquis with the help of their brainwashed teammates will
encourage the poor fellow to raise his confidence level so that the
next time he will definitely pass the interview by answering all
100%!!!
Those who passed will now have to come up with $12k to cut-count
and they urge you to do it the next day usually at Marina Square
Food Court. In there, there were some 20+ year old kids who just
finished Poly/Diploma, one girl is still below legal age of consent
at 17yrs old, some even get their brothers and sister to join after
they cut Count! It scares me to think of how they get the
investment $ from and how they gonna pay it without a steady job!
The prospects who are so confident now are told money is not an
issue and they will help to raise it. One of the way is swiping
credit card at the stockist center or apply more credit cards since
some cards can be obtained in 24 hrs. The main way is calling up
friends with a prepared script which they claim has a 99% success
rate. Let me tell you, it is 99% success rate! They've used the
oldest tricks in the book! Repetition of the same phrase but not
revealing what is the problem and using the 2 choice choose 1
method to get $ even at lower amounts. The more calls you make the
more daring you are to ask for higher amount of money from your
list of friend. And they claim it is now time to see who your real
friends are. Yeah rite, those who lent you the money will become
potential victims themselves! At that point, the thought of
disgrace never crossed my mind. I kept telling myself I'm doing
this for my future and family. They have brainwashed me into
thinking that what I am doing now is alright and I will be able to
repay them back when I am successful.
Those who have difficulties to raise the money are told to take up
the franchise rights with $1000 first and come up with money
slowly. This is their way to earn something in case the guy dropped
out if he failed to come up with the large sum. Here is one thing I
would like to expose. I myself took up the 1K franchise rights
first to get products to enjoy. The stocks came from my upline's
upline Marquis! And I paid her instead of my fren who is my upline.
I wasn't even brought to the parent company in Commonwealth to be
registered as a distributor! After I quit I tried asking her upline
Marquis for the $1k back but I wasn't able to 'cos in the pretext
of showing me how to use the product, they opened it and it's
non-refundable! I was partly tired and most of the time and I
didn't get to think properly, all I thought was that I am on the
road to success. Their meetings usually last til 12-2am from Friday
to Monday as they tend to drag till very late. And we are required
to attend the same classes even though we've been to it before--
more brainwashing!
Tired brain + Power Seminars = Brainwash
After the interviews and they think you have high chances of
cutting-count, they will pass you a cd where a powerful lady
speaker talked about the qualities that are needed in order to
succeed in this business and AAA. And do a homework to be submitted
to the Duke.
1)Leadership
2)100% believe in the system(AAA)
3)Love the team
4)bla bla bla...
I've uploaded it to putfile.org, it's abt 16MB and I am not sure
whether the audio can be streamed thru Internet Explorer.
http://media.putfile.com/AAA-New-Distributor-Orientation
Some other thing worth mentioning abt this audio recording is that
the newbies who are not yet successful and no experience in this
business are told they have no rights to ask them any question!
Just believe 100% in the system and it will bring them success! So
the homework is to write down each and every word in chinese that
the speaker in that audio recording is saying and remember it in
heart. We all know how hard it is to write each and every word
without rewinding and listening again and again right?. This all
never occurred to me like a brainwashing at the time because I was
already brainwashed! It sends shivers to my whole body to think
back of it now! Another reason to complete the homework is that if
you don't the Duke won't accept your case at Pan-Pacific
hotel.
Also for 2 weeks after cut-count we are warned not to talk to
others outside this business as they claim outsiders who are not
successful will pour cold water on us. Also happens that within 2
weeks, if you decide you want out, you will get 100% refund on
unused items. I was lucky I only used some small items. Items like
diffuser lamp, facial cleanser, cosmetics and promo items are not
refundable after 14 days! The nite I cut-count at Commonwealth, I
already took out the above products as they cannot be stored at the
stockist center. I never even questioned why is it that they're the
one who came up with the stock list and not me. I was so
brainwashed to not ask any question that I took out the products
that nite worth $6k, half of my investment already! They also
demand that we use the products from head to toe, inside the body
to outside. That's because unopened goods are not refundable and
that's where the upline Marquis get their income from! My fren was
unlucky as she already started using a lot of her and her bf's
products. They just terminated their distributor rights last night
and only managed to get back ~$2k from their goods. Both of them
lost about $28k!!!
So I was in and continued going to their HomeParty. Where the main
activity is not about the product usage but instead the newbies are
sent on stage to practice the exact same Power Speeches at the
seminars word by word! This is how they ensure the cycle repeats!
Those newbies who can speak well will be loved and groomed further
by the Duke and Marquises as the Duke himself will help in handling
the newbie's cases. Now the newbies have to fight for survival
among themselves! The Duke will at this stage tell the newbies they
are no longer new people and they must start to be independent!
This is the stage where those who make it will go all the way,
those who don't just suffer in silence and drop out or con more
people.
I was lucky that my upline finally came to her senses after her
performance at work suffered and the boss and her colleague
supported her to come clean and save her friends. Her upline
Marquis is very persistent, they kept calling and SMS-ing her at
work 'til she broke down and cry. They also tried to persuade her
to buy up the remaining 3 count position ($45K) to qualify for
challenging Marquis as she has 3 Counts under her. Imagine the debt
she would incur if she continued on.
After she came clean with me, early next day I pack up all the
goods and head to Commonwealth and terminate my distributor rights.
All within 7 days of cutting-count! The upline Marquis was
persistent in calling me and non-stop SMS me the whole day after I
quit. I never accepted any of her calls as talking to her would be
a waste of time and they're all masters in brainwashing. I demanded
whatever money that I can get back including the AAA member fees of
$420; ($60 per mth for rental of the office) which is really high
for so many people! And they say it only covers a small amount of
the monthly rental!
I feel that this cannot go on any longer and more and more people
will suffer! Friendship lost, family broken up and no trust among
humans at all! Thinking of the poor young souls who already got so
deep in debt really made me so mad at them! $12k is not the only
investment, still have to fork out $300 or more to buy the
power-suits, shirts and tie to look successful, taxi fare to go
home as the meetings lasts til 1-2am most of the time, books,
future seminars, etc etc...
Below are the list of names of the Dukes and Marquises linked to
AAA:
1)Duke Diron Chua (Camps at Pan-Pacific Hotel, also speaker)
2)Duke Pamela Loh
3)Dukes Neo Lih Yaw & Neo Lih Huey (who claimed their mom is
the best fried oyster seller in RedHill)
4)Marquis Mike Lim (Camps at Pan-Pacific Hotel)
5)Marquis Hui Shan
6)Marquis Hwee Hwee
