Franchises and Multi-Level Marketing 6

I want to work at home on my computer. Are the computer business opportunities that are advertised worth buying?

It depends on the specific opportunity purchased, the purchase price, and who you ask. Some opportunities provide you with information, software, supplier lists, and instructions that would be quite time-consuming to gather any other way. Others provide little of value. Generally the bigger the income claims made in the ads and the less the "opportunity" costs to purchase, the more likely you'll get ripped off. But paying a high price to buy a computer business opportunity (or any other kind) is no guarantee you’ll be satisfied, or that you'll be able to get a refund if you purchase the opportunity and aren't happy with what you get.

Before you make any purchase investigate the company and get details of the return policy (if any) in writing. If at all possible, use a credit card to make your purchase. That way if you aren't satisfied with the purchase and if the vendor won't refund your money you may be able to dispute the charge through the credit card company. If you send a check, your only recourse would be to sue, and that would probably cost more than the money you'd recover if you won.

Do many people lose a lot of money buying opportunities?

Unfortunately, yes. Although the Federal Trade Commission, state attorney general offices, and the government in Canada and other countries are constantly working to stop opportunity frauds, the legal process involved takes time. Furthermore some less-than-opportune opportunities manage to skate along at the edge of the law.

Why is it so difficult to spot these con artists?

The companies usually go to great lengths to make themselves look respectable. As a result, even people who have the skills and experience to do well in a particular industry can easily be fooled.

Lori Collins, an Ohio resident, bought a medical billing business opportunity after attending a seminar her husband heard advertised on a local radio station. She had done medical billing before interrupting her career to have children, so the opportunity seemed a natural.

"The seminar lasted an hour," Lori recalls. "They made the field sound like a piece of cake. They didn't promise they would obtain doctors for me; however they did make it seem like there was a high demand and that you would be tripping over them." They also touted their professionally created marketing materials, and that seemed like an advantage to Lori, too. "The only part at this point that made me swallow hard was the $8,000 initial fee. We had checked into franchises, so we talked ourselves into the fact that even though there was a high fee, it was minimal compared to the franchise costs," she adds.

The information package and videotape the company supplied were slick. "It all came very professionally packaged, which helped add to the thought that this was a top-notch company." The company's history stated they had been in business for 13 years, and the salesperson Lori had been dealing with "went out of his way to act like he was my new best friend."

Lori checked with the Better Business Bureau in the state in which the company was based. The BBB showed only three complaints had been filed and that each had been resolved. Lori and her husband refinanced their house to get the cash to buy the opportunity. Not long after they did, the opportunity company was sued by the FTC and went bankrupt. Looking back, Lori says the one thing she should have researched but didn't was the reputation of the people selling the opportunity. "If I had checked out the head people associated with this company, I would never have gone with them."

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