beware.....Just another MLM

Hi guys,
This is Shree here and I am going to share an experience I had this morning in an ebiz seminar.
Lets start from, how I landed up in this place. Well I am a BE computer graduate passed out this year and my job joining date is in Jan 2013. So i decided to try for some part time job just to earn some pocket money.
   
     I saw a post by person named Pravin in an IT jobs group on facebook offering part time jobs for graduates. I enquired about it through email but he did not give any job description and asked me for my resume which i emailed him. After about 3-4 days that is yesterday, 30th Sept 2012 he called me and asked my where i stay and all and requested me to meet him at a local mall at 3 pm where he said he will register me and provide job details. He told me to bring rs 70 along with my resume for registration. I agreed and met him along with one of my friend. About him, he was a regular college student who smiled a lot. I asked him about the job and location and timings. He just said that everything will be adjusted according to your needs and i just need to attend a seminar that will explain to me about the process and how the system works. I tried to take out some information about the company and job but he just gave the same reply that once you attend the seminar program , all your doubts will be cleared. He gave me an entry pass worth 70 rs and told me to report at location 1 hour early than the scheduled time which was 9:45 am so that i can occupy the front seats of the seminar hall which according to him will help me understand the process/system more clearly........Bullshit I thought. Anyways I agreed hoping for the best and the usual Mumbaikar thought in my mind: 'Try karne me kya jata hai'....

THE PASS:

The pass he gave me had no name of the company (ebiz pvt ltd) on it. It only had the location venue, time and few funny quotes. it also specified that the company was a ISO certified company...:O

One hilarious quote printed on the pass.

"We hit what we aim at and if we aim at nothing then we will hit it every time"

THE LOCATION:

   The location was in kurla east, Buntar Bhavan auditorium. The auditorium was good but the location kurla east was very annoying. I reached the auditorium walking through the gullies and butcher shops. On my way i  met a girl who was also going to buntar bhavan but she was already a working member of this company. She didn't know the exact location and by her body language she was not comfortable with filthy area we were in and was relieved to have me by her side rather than being alone in the ghetto neighbourhood. She asked me whether i was a first time visitor. I affirmed her but when I asked what the seminar was about, she only said that I will understand it better by attending the seminar. I asked her if this was anything illegal and she just smiled and said NO........well I thought at least they are not going to brainwash me into doing something illegal...lets see...

THE PEOPLE:

   At the auditorium there were a lot people like me mostly college students and there were members of this company. Some were dressed in White and black and some were in business suits. Impressive dressing i thought. But to be frank most of these people didn't know to carry themselves in such suits. They looked like typical poor guy dressed as a rich guy as if this was some fancy dress competition on who could look the most rich.
Then came some people in big cars. They tried to portray themselves as celebrities from Hollywood. A lot of smiling, hugging and handshakes took place among themselves as if they were meeting after a successful moon mission.

THE SEMINAR:

   We were told to get in separate male female lines to get inside the auditorium.
The auditorium was air conditioned (which was a relief). I occupied the third row which i surely regret now.
Within minutes the auditorium was packed to about 75 % capacity. Loud music was being played.
The curtain was raised and then entered the first joker looking host in a suit that was of the same colour as his skin( no racism intended). He bragged about his achievements and things like where he was before and where he is now, all due to this company (still not revealing any names). He told us  many times that we were lucky for this opportunity and we should fully pay attention, our cell phones should be switched off and we will not be allowed to leave the seminar in between ...WTF i thought.
According to him even if there is a profit of lakhs occurring outside the auditorium we should ignore it as after the seminar there will be profits of lakhs regularly in our lives........o really....:P
and after this sessan( read session) all our lives will take a new turn.
    He then announced that the next person coming on stage who will explain to us the process was a highly respected person. The youth ICON of mumbai, 'Mumbaicha raja' and asked us to receive him by standing up and applauding. I was expecting a bollywood celebrity or at least a well known personality or a politician but was really disappointed when the name was announced. It was a unheard of person whose name was....hmm i don't even remember his name, maybe it was Gaurav or Sourav something. He was also dressed like a celebrity and was highly energetic as if he dad springs or rocket boosters attached up his ass. There was high applause and shouting for him, this made me think as he was really a well known person only unknown to me, but then i realised that the persons shouting and clapping were the same persons who were dressed in white and black who were already their members (leaders ,as they addressed themselves as). They were seated around the stage and some spread around the auditorium. Their main role was to clap and shout whenever the host said something praising their company. This host person really looked like a milky boy and his hair was pasted to his head with an exact centre partition. He was a great entertainer, as he used to brake into Gangnam style dance whenever bollywood music was played in between the slides of the seminar presentation.....LOL
    This person finally announced the name of the company EBIZ . He then presented us the various educational packages it offered and the various benefits of becoming a registered user of his company website ebizel.com. One package offered 65 professional computer courses for something around INR 9000.
He said that if we join any computer institute for the above courses it will cost more than 1 Lakh rupees. Probably he was right but these classes actually teach in person and believe me you cannot learn professional courses like java, sql, php etc by only reading stuff from a website, you need to have practical sessions. And if you want to learn from website then you can learn it for free from sites like w3schools.com. So why spend 9000 rs for these courses for online study material. And honestly, being a computer engineer myself most of this courses offered by them are not required to be known for a layman who just needs to have basic computer and ms office skills.

Enough of this crap, tell me how to earn....
well just as I had predicted earning was through referral system. You first become a member by paying for the course and become registered. Then you refer to two or more of your friends/ relatives and make them the members and for every referral you or your own referrals make in the future you will earn some commission while the company makes huge profits through your referrals and increasing their members.
BULLSHIT  it is........this is just another MLM (multilevel marketing ) company like amway or herballife.
I have read reports on the internet that says MLM schemes are illegal in India and you could be arrested for promoting MLM schemes. Don't know if all MLM schemes are illegal or some and I am not sure about this company ebiz scheme legality. Although they tried hard to show that everything was legal by showing us ISI and ISO certificates in the presentation, but I really have my doubts about these certificates.

THE CLIMAX: the great showoff of wealth

The concluding part was the most annoying part. It was hosted by the Self claimed Chief Guest for the day. A Huge overweight guy named Sahil, who turned out to be the brother of the second joker host. He was literally shouting with the mike in his hand as if he was trying to eat it. Somebody tell this Dumb freak that we don't need to shout and speak while holding the mike, it plainly defeats the purpose of the mike as well as damage the eardrums of the listeners. I had to plug my earphones in my ears else i would have been partially deaf before leaving the auditorium.
    This guy claimed he was a member since last many years. He repeated his statement that he came to this auditorium for the seminar in HIS VERY OWN BRAND NEW TOP MODEL 18 LAKHS SKODA LAURA CAR almost 10 to 12 times within a span of 20 Min's.......OMG!...I AM SO VERY IMPRESSED.
After an essay about his money and success he started introducing other young members who had benefited from this scheme. The funny part is every person he introduced gave the same rehearsed speech about of his /her life was full of struggles before and how they are living their dreams now. Every person either claimed to have a brand new 6 lakh swift car or booked a new one. The height of all this was they showed us their car keys as they said this and some showed their laminated booking papers..........OH MY GOD.
The only thing these people seem interested in was to buy new cars. Some challenged that today they are having a 6 lakh car and within 6 months they will buy a 9 lakh car............DUDE are you planning to open a car showroom!!!
It seemed that all the lakhpatis and crorepatis of India had assembled on stage at the same time at BUNTAR BHAVAN in kurla to declare their assets.......SLUMDOG millionaires...WOW!!

The great Show finally concluded and the host said that the phone call you will receive after you exit from the auditorium will the most important life changing call,. I exited from the auditorium, the only thing positive in there was the Air conditioning, rest all was a complete tutorial on how to waste a fine Sunday morning.
My phone started ringing as soon as I exited, it was from the same person who gave me the entry pass for INR 70. I attended the call , he asked me how was the seminar and if I was interested to join Ebiz . I told him to hold the line for few moments as I boarded an autorikshaw and zoomed by the auditorium towards Kurla station. Then recollecting all the abuse words i could think of that time I gave all of it to him on the phone in rapid fire and disconnected my call before he could reply. He didn't call me back. He got my surely got my reply well.

MY OPINION:

These people try to brainwash you into joining them in their schemes by showing you shortcuts and easy ways to make money. Poor needy and illiterate youngsters easily fall for their show of success and money.
and even if you decide to try and invest, then you have to become a part of this scheme and come every Sunday to the places these people arrange seminars in and be a part of their wealth showoff team.

Before you THINK of joining such schemes research on the Internet which will help save yours or your parents hard earned money....
Here is an interesting link: http://www.moneylife.in/article/ebizcom-uses-mlm-route-to-dupe-students-with-it-package-offer/11807.html

Thank you for reading.....all the written above were my opinion and experience and is not intended to hurt the sentiments of any person.

Please feel free to share your comments, feedback or similar experiences.