Mary Kay Opinion 276

I had a terrible experience with Mary Kay. I had a (at the time) good friend recruit me. She kept telling me that she keeps thinking about me and how selling Mary Kay would be so wonderful for my life. I went to a meeting with her and the National Director was speaking. She was a great speaker and at the time I thought she would be an amazing woman. I am a stay at home mom and my husband and I were on a very tight budget at the time. My friend knew this and knew that we were having a very hard time financially. They were giving out free "starter kits" at this meeting as a prize and at the end of the night the National Director asked me if I was going to sign up. I told her that I would think about it and she asked if I would have signed up if I would have won a kit. I said "yes" because I would have nothing to loose. She said that if that were the case, she would see what she could do as far as "letting me win a kit". She told my friend to call her in a couple of hours and she would let her know if she could somehow get by with it. By the time we got to my friend's house she had already talked to her director and made it sound like I would get my kit free. When we filled out the paperwork, she asked me for my debit card information. I was shocked because I told her that I did not have the $ already. I told her that I would talk to my husband. She kept saying over and over again "all it is is a $100 investment" or "you only have to come up with $100. I came up with the $100 and signed up. When I got my kit, I called my friend and asked what to do to get started. She told me that before I could become "active" and get the wholesale price on the items, I had to order $200 wholesale/$400 retail worth of cosmetics. (remember......only $100?????)

So I contacted everyone I knew and came up with enough for the order. My friend called me and said that to even be successful at all in this business, you have to make an inventory order. She said that it would be in my best interest to order at least $1500 ($3000 retail price). I told her that she knows our situation and I would not be able to do that. It was hard enough for me to come up with the starter kit. Then right from the beginning she was discouraging me by telling me I would not be successful unless I bought all of that inventory. She even had the National Director call my home to try to get me to buy the inventory. She asked me if I had any credit cards. I told her that we cut up all of our credit cards and that we did not want to get anymore. And on top of that I told her that my husband would never go for that since we purposly cut up our credit cards so that we would not get more "in debt". She proceeded to tell me that if my husband would not agree that we should buy all of this inventory, that meant that he does not "believe in me". She also tried to convince me that I would be less of a woman if I even talked to my husband about getting inventory and said that I should just do it myself.

I made very little $ with Mary Kay and did talk to everyone I knew about it. I am not complaining about that......I basically wanted to sign up to get the discount anyway since I did use their products anyway. I was never told that you have to spend a certain amount every so often or you do not get the discount. I went to make an order one day for a customer and could not get the discount. I was furious. Then when I DID talk to her, she said that she was getting ready to win a car and it would help her out if I would stay active. She knew that I was in the middle of moving and I told her that I was going to try my best to get the $200 wholesale/$400 retail order before the end of the month because I wanted to stay active. I was not able to make the order. She left me a VERY rude voicemail a night or two before the last day of the month telling me that "SHE NEEDS A PHONE CALL FROM ME ASAP AND MAKE SURE IT WAS BEFORE 5PM THE NEXT DAY). I was so mad at her tone that I refused to call her. She left me another message telling me that if I did not make this order that she would not be able to get her car. She also said that if I did not order that the National Director would have to place an order on my behalf(which you are not supposed to do).

I have no problems helping a friend out at all. I would have been more than happy to make the order if I could. But I was NOT going to spend $200 for makeup that I did not need so that she could benefit and I would be stuck with stuff I did not need and waste my money.

I have been nothing but LIED to over and over again since I started. My so-called friend got so wrapped up in this company (BRAIN WASHED) that she did not care about my business or my finances, or my marriage for that matter. The only thing that she cares about is that she makes money. She purposly did not tell me all the bull that goes along with it and all the $$$$$ that they want YOU to spend so that it can go into her pocket. Not to mention that I would have been stuck with tons of makeup that I would never get rid of. And i have read other opinions about the brain washing!!!!!! I would get phone calls from people I never met in Mary Kay telling me how "beautiful" I am. It is so fake that I want to puke. (my friend even admitted that when she does a skin care class...she fakes her sweet, happy-go-lucky, everyone and everything is beautiful attitude).

I asked my friend and several people above her to e-mail me certain info and tools from meeting, etc. and never once did I receive anything until they wanted me to order.

I feel I have been used to get $$$$$$ in someone elses pocket. I don't treat my friends and family like that so I guess that's why I was not as successful as my friend has been.
LoriJean - 08 Aug 2005

THIS IS JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE of how screwed up things can get in Mary Kay! Your friend became so desperate and brainwashed that she didn't even know what was right and wrong anymore and what's worse....SHE DIDN'T CARE! I've seen it over and over again throughout my consultant/director career in MK. I've heard my (preacher's wife director) say and do some of THE worst/rediculous/childish things.

I should say I'm no longer in MK. The best thing I ever did was to throw all of my MK products in the trash along with anything in my home that even had MK on it!!!!!! And it's not because I think that some people cannot sign up to sell a few products. Companies have the right to operate like MLM'S. Just like Avon, Home Interiors etc. I have never seen any of those people act the way MK people act though. The deception is unbelievable! If MK doesn't care that their directors, nsds act that way then I want no part of it. It makes me think that everything they stand for and teach is not true.

No one knows how bad and confused you can get when someone is pressuring you into helping them OR telling you, you won't be succesful if you don't do certain things that your common sense and instincts says NO WAY!!!!! It is very disturbing mentally for someone to make you feel guilty or say your a bad business person if you don't help them. The best business decision is to GO WITH YOUR INSTINCTS!

My EX Director(or senior-whatever)was the MASTER at that. She had no problem calling everyone and hounding them to DEATH. Just to tell them our unit needs a certain amount of $$$ inorder to make a deadline. A DEADLINE FOR HER!!!! HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY OF US!!! She had no problem with calling new recruits of consultants and telling them to get loans, second mortages, and so forth! JUST TO LET EVERYONE KNOW HOW AWFUL SHE *REALLY* WAS: One of my team members had a friend commit suicide. Actually, it happened twice in her small town in a short amount of time. It was devestating for her and her family. My director called me and was desperate to get everybody to order and asked about the consultant. I told her what happened. With no remorse or pity at all, she said "must be something in the water chuckle chuckle! Her husband also used conference calls to preach and the sermons always lead to Mary Kay stuff. UNBELIEVABLE.

Why I feel like getting this off my chest, I don't know. I guess it makes me wonder, just like hundreds of other Mary Kayers; WHY DID IT TAKE HEARING ANOTHER PERSON SOUND SO HARSH ABOUT ANOTHER PERSON,S TRADEGY(MONTHS AND MONTHS AFTER HEARING THE FIRST ***SIGN*** THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY AND NOT TO BE TRUSTED...BEFORE FINALLY GETTING IT!!!!!!!!!! It makes you wonder how one can be so brainwashed. One way they get away with it is the MAKE BELIEVE COMPASSION, FAKE PEP RALLIES. DON'T BELIEVE IT!!! Some directors can't even help their behavior. THERE SOOO BRAINWAHED THAT THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IS REALITY. BUT I KNOW THAT THE LAVISH LIFESTYLE THEY DANGLE IN FRONT OF CONSULTANTS TO MAKE THEM LONG FOR A CAREER IN MK.....IT'S JUST NOT TRUE FOR THE MAJORITY!

If someone out there is thinking of a MK career my advice is....forget the career part!!!!! If you want to make some extra $$$ then just be ready to sell it and take it from there. Be happy with extra money but don't be railroaded by your director to be "part of a unit". The problem with this is, if you don't talk to your director then obviously, she's not going to answer your questions and help you but if you DO talk to her then she IS GOING TO HELP YOU....HELP YOU INTO BUYING INVENTORY BECAUSE THEY FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THAT IS THE WAY TO SUCCESS!(MOST OF THEM ANYWAY) SOOOOOO..... Learn about the products and stuff from the company literature yourself. You don't have to listen to others in MK to know you have to just go out and tell people you're selling MK and ask if they want to buy some. You DO HAVE SELL IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY! NO OTHER PERSON CAN MAKE YOU DO THAT. IT'S ALL UP TO YOU IF YOU HAVE THE GUTS! A director telling you week after week her new ideas on how to trick people into agreeing to do skin care classes, facial, etc.. is not going to take away the fact that one has to actually DO IT!!! Why does people have to be tricked into buying MK anyway????? The sad thing is, people probably would buy if they could just walk in a store and buy it! I will go buy my products from a store and pay (probably too much), just to be free of someone calling me or asking me for more than I'm willing to give. If someone ever aproaches and says "oh, I was noticing what a sharp lady you are and how pretty your skin is, I'm doing a portfolio and would love for you to be a model, do you think for a free product you could do that for me"?....I WILL THROW UP ON HER FEET!!!!!!!!!!!!

***UNBELIEVABLY REDICULOUS FOR GROWN UP PEOPLE*****
Robin Boleman - 13 Sep 2005

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