Blog @ razifshah

I’ve got to let out some steam! I’ve never been a fan of Multilevel Marketing (MLM) or business of a similar vein. I’ve never had much faith in them and I’ve yet to know anybody personally that has done well in such ventures (though I’m quite sure there are many who are successful and swear by this kind of business). Don’t get me wrong, it’s just that my personal experience has never been kind and this event just reinforces why!

Back in August I had a call from a company that said they had a brilliant new product, an automated kiosk that was capable of generating passive income. I had a rough idea of what they were talking about. You know those machines you see where you can top up your prepaid phones, buy ring tones, pay bills etc (I see them quite often when I travel abroad); I was sure this was what they were trying to sell. The company had been calling every so often since April – May. Every time I asked how they obtained my number, they would just say they had gotten it from the Malaysian Franchise Association (MFA). I doubt that, since I’d never registered with MFA! The company probably obtained my details from credit card companies or any other database of consumers available to be purchased out there. Data protection is meaningless in Malaysia; why do you think it’s so easy for Realtors to call you up asking whether you want to sell or rent your property!

Anyway, I’m digressing. So, just to satisfy my curiosity I went for their business talk in Bangsar (above Starbucks) after politely avoiding them for almost half the year. Spot on, I was correct that they had wanted to get ‘business partners’ to invest in these kiosks named MATKiosk. Sounds like some ‘Mat’ kampong you say. Well, the ‘MAT’ in the word stands for Multi-Automated Terminal or something to that effect. Went through the usual pitch – good returns, generates passive income, doesn’t take much of your time, today only offer etc etc. I’m sure you can picture the sales pitch. Anyway, I believed it was good and I saw potential (just imagine putting these kiosk in campuses or even near factory areas. A sizable portion of our mobile users are on prepaid anyway!) – but what matters is whether the company behind it was trustworthy; and that was ALL that mattered to me.

I pressed to know who was behind the venture. Got to know it was Amazed Aims. You would know them from their AirKu water kiosk scattered around town. They’ve been featured in Smart Investor and other local media if you’ve been following the company – that was how I knew who they were when the MATKiosk sales people mentioned the name. So, I threw caution to the wind and signed on. The company had been featured before and had a track record, so it gave me a bit of comfort! The last thing I told them was they’d better do this right by me and prove me wrong about my whole preconception of this type of business. They said of course! (Yeah, right!)

Hah! One week after the signing – silence! They were supposed to call me up to arrange advertisements in the local media to sign on more recruits. This was part of the deal when I paid my share. Basically; these newly added investors will pay the balance of my kiosk cost – since I get commission from people who sign up either through the ads or are personally brought in (I didn’t want to rope in family members or friends until I knew they were absolutely solid – damn good policy!). So, OK I called them up. The Sales Manager I dealt with during the business talk apologised and said he would look up on the matter and someone from his company would call by the end of the week (that end of the week was suppose to be September 7th).

September 7th came and passed and again, nothing. I was busy with other things so had no time to follow up. Eventually I did follow up on the 24th, but mind you it was nearly 20 days later. Someone should have called by then but NO! Nothing! Silence! This time the Sales Manager again apologised, and said he would (again!) look into matter and revert the next day. Bull*$#%! There was just silence from then on.

Now, I’ve decided that enough is enough – called my credit card issuer, Citibank, and basically asked them to reverse whatever charge I had paid based on the premise of non-delivery of merchandise or service. Which was absolutely TRUE! Now, I’m just waiting for Citibank to handle the issue.

So, earlier preconception was again proven true! Just for a fleeting moment, you’d want to believe and take a chance. Guys and girls – I don’t know whether to ever trust this kind of business ever again. This is from a company which had a record already. DON’t even try going with someone you don’t even know at all! Especially when it involves sums in excess of 4 zeroes! Okay, please don’t say, “You should have known better!”. If you don’t take risks you wouldn’t know – just ensure you have an exit strategy planned. In this instance, I knew paying by credit card would come in handy. So, I’m hoping for the best!

Nite!

p.s. The word ‘Mati’ is dead or death in Bahasa Malaysia; so the title above essentially means death to the kiosk business mentioned in this post

See also updated topic on 12 December 2007 …