[alanint]

I have attended a total of one of these scams. As with you, John, as a favor to a friend who had just gotten involved.
The "coach" is invariably a tall, good looking type "A" person with natty clothes and perfect hair. Another warning sign is the "coach" showing off a powerpoint of their luxury cars or manicured McMansion, yatch, etc. with a subtle message that "this can all be yours".
The simple fact is that only the top 3-4 layers of these schemes make money. It is a private club, which is prearranged and you are not invited to join.

After the show, there is pressure to sign up, which I actually enjoyed, since I am somewhat confrontational..I told them exactly what you have said, John, that this was a pyramid, pure and simple. My friend was upset at my rudeness and said so afterwards.

Long story short, he ended up owing these people thousands, as they kept shipping products to him, based on the "hidden sales quota" he had blindly agreed to. They would not take the goods back and intimidated him for months with collection agencies. I finally helped him with the support of a goverment friend or two.

Make no mistake, these people are slick. The better scams are perfectly legal if you sign all the information provided to you. Most people are all too eager to sign their cash away in a blind attempt to get rich quick. Complaints will usually not be followed up, since the scammers will invariably produce your agreement to all the conditions.
Run away from anything that offers nothing up front and results which seem too good to be true!!!!
My younger Brother is a habitual victim of these types of schemes....