Do Shaklee, Paul Birdsall and Streamline Funnel System Really Care Who They Hurt With Their Scam?
80Is Getting New Shaklee Distributors More Important Than Ruining The Hopes And Dreams Of Poor Seniors, Single Moms, Disabled People And Veterans?
About 2 ½ months ago Paul Birdsall pre-launched a new and novel way to earn money online. It was called the Streamline Funnel System and it was promoted as an easy and cheap way to earn large amounts of money online. In addition it was promoted as a self generating program that did not need any input from the members. Everything was to be on Autopilot and Streamline Funnel System had a huge list of prospects ready and waiting to sign up for the program. During this pre-launch period members could start building a “downline” which would be a way to earn commissions. Entry at this point was FREE and the $ 9.99 monthly fee would not be payable until the official launch date. The biggest sin was that the program was promoted as a $ 9.99 per month membership program and in return each member’s link would be sent out to a list of 10,000 of these pre-qualified prospects.
This was a fantastic offer and attracted an unusually high percentage of people in the low income brackets, such as single moms, veterans, seniors, disabled people and seniors who all wanted to improve their financial circumstances. The entry price was low and during the promotion there was a lot of talk by Paul Birdsall and his co-founders about extremely high conversion rates. The best thing was that the system was on Autopilot and according to the promotional material the member did not need to do any of the following:
See how people like YOU are simply plugging into Paul Birdsall's brand new Streamline Funnel System and earning as much as $1,000* to $10,000* a WEEK from HOME.
- Personal selling, convincing, and explaining: ELIMINATED
- Buying leads, cold calling, selling to your friends and family:ELIMINATED
- Mickey Mouse home based businesses that are designed only to profit the creator:NEVER AGAIN!
- Learning, studying, testing, applying and re-testing the never ending Web2.0 Internet marketing methods:NEVER AGAIN!
Competitors are stunned and left scratching their heads as our members generate thousands of dollars a week - ON 100% AUTOPILOT!
Therefore, many people of these cash strapped groups who never had the money, nor the knowledge to do internet marketing, signed up. Some might have even had to borrow the money to sign up. A couple of days prior to the official launch date it was announced that the monthly fee would not be $ 9.00, but a couple of pennies short of $ 40.00. Finally, the official launch date arrived and I have never encountered such an chaotic way of doing business, The credit card processor decided to Freeze the funds for 6 months, no proper receipts were being issued and finally late in July members were asked to re-pay their fees to another credit card processor. If you want more details on what happened between then and the end of August read my article Paul Birdsall’s Streamline Funnel Bait And Switch Scam. Here is the link: http://hubpages.com/hub/paulbirdsallstreamlinefunnelSystemScam
In that article it becomes clear that the ultimate goal of the Streamline Funnel System was to recruit new salesperson/distributors for the Shaklee corporation.
Interesting enough, there was a comment made to that article by a person named Mick Siddle who had contacted the headquarters of Shaklee in the USA and here below you will find the comments of one of the VIPs.
This is an e-mail I
sent to the Vice President of Shaklee USA.
Hello Marjorie
Thank you for your reply.
You asked what I paid to SFS, initially $9.99 to join then $370 for one of
their packages - I have had $9.00 back (they kept the 99 cents for admin) then
I had the $370 back. Then they took $50 approx for a monthly fee by another
merchant, this they have kept despite my constant e-mails for the refund and to
cancel my subscription I have also contacted their merchant via their own
support system to cancel. I just hope they don't apply for any more money from
my card. If anything Paul Birdsall should be compensating me for the grief he
and his crew has caused me.
I watched the latest video from Birdsall over the weekend and he clearly states
that he has been to Roger Barnetts (Shaklee's CEO) house and discussed how he
is in full agreement to use the Internet to promote Shaklee - the whole thing
is a recruitment plan for Shaklee albeit Birdsall says that you don't have to
join.
If Shaklee are not in the UK
or other countries around the world, how can I or others in these countries
join the organization or order the products, or is this another one of his
scams?
Take a look at this link, the opening paragraphs detail exactly what has
happened with the Streamline Funnel System and some of the comments people have
added - http://hubpages.com/hub/paulbirdsallstreamlinefunnelSystemScam
Thanks again for your time.
Regards
Mick
... and this is the reply I received.
Hi Mick - I've sent this on to Shaklee Canada and asked them to help you
get your $50 and to stop charges to your card.
Paul Birdsall does not have permission to use Shaklee's name or Roger Barnett's
name in connection with the Streamline Funnel System. I will address that issue
with him.
Can you tell me anything about Trevor Powers, the author of the article you
forwarded? To the extent he mentions Shaklee, I am concerned about what he has
to say and will investigate.
Again, this lead generation program is not endorsed by Shaklee and should not
be linked to Shaklee by Paul.
Thank you for writing. Marjorie
I have replied stating that Trevor Powers is just another victim of SFS - does
anyone know different?
Based on the response by the Shaklee VIP in the article comment I had refrained from using the Shaklee name in my articles and given them the benefit of the doubt.
To the day that this article was written Shaklee has not stopped Paul Birdsall’s (self proclaimed inventor of Web 3.0 technology, also convicted of GST tax evasion fraud) and his right hand man Chris Pearson’s (self proclaimed financier of the Streamline Funnel System) madness. If the above of questionable marketing is encouraged the Shaklee Mission Statement I can understand that they would allow their distributors questionable practices to recruit and expand the Shaklee sales force, come hell or high water.
Am I right in asking if the Shaklee Corporation is more interested in the Almighty Dollar than they care about hurting needy people who believed one of their distributors who operates a scam to attract new distributors for Shaklee? Paul must have known from the outset that a certain number of people who signed up for the low membership fee to join Streamline Funnel System of $ 9.99 would not be able to afford the Shaklee Distributor fee. Yes, many of these people had to forgo some other important thing or things to pay the membership fee. I would not want to imagine how many Streamline Funnel System members have not been able to sleep night after night. In addition to the mental stress, these people must be feeling stupid for falling for this Streamline Funnel System scam that was driven by hype, falsehoods, lies, non-performance of contract and total mismanagement. It feels that Paul AND his TEAM had no regard for these poor people and acted in a way that the people who could not afford to join as a Go Green Ambassador could just drop dead. If rogue Shaklee Distributors like Paul and others are allowed to continue with this program, or are allowed to stay in Shaklee, I have lost all my respect for Shaklee. Another interesting thing I have heard from some SFS members is that Paul told his membership in one of his Go Green Webinars that anyone interested to become a Go Green Ambassador should sign up through Streamline Funnel System, keep paying their +/- $ 40 membership fee, and not sign up directly with Shaklee. If only 20% of the present members, estimated at about 8,000, do sign up with Shaklee through Paul and cohorts that would create a monthly income for Paul and his gang of about $ 64,000 per month and these new Go Green Ambassadors would receive virtually nothing more than if they signed up directly with Shaklee. Any self respecting corporation, acting as a good corporate citizen, that allows this scheme to continue becomes a co-conspirator and eventually it will come to bite them in the back. So far, I have not seen any evidence that Shaklee is acting as a good American corporate citizen in this instance. Wake up Shaklee, you still have time to make the right decision.
How does Shaklee expect these financially strapped people to be able to afford to become a distributor, the 77 year old man who is looking after his sick wife and only wanted some extra income to pay for medical expenses, the person who just got laid off from his job and the handicapped person without any sales experience, to pay the Shaklee distributor fee. How can a financially strapped single mom afford to be a distributor? Will Shaklee finance these desperate people and advance money to cover all the set-up expenses.
No Shaklee, you have known about this Streamline Funnel System for a minimum of 12 days now and you have had a chance to correct Mr. Birdsall and his co-founders. Oh, I forgot something. In the newest material they have made a small change and added the words Serious Entrepreneurs Only!
It now reads as follows:
Serious Entrepreneurs ONLY!
See how people like YOU are simply plugging into Paul Birdsall's brand new Streamline Funnel System and earning as much as $1,000* to $10,000* a WEEK from HOME.
- Personal selling, convincing, and explaining: ELIMINATED
- Buying leads, cold calling, selling to your friends and family:ELIMINATED
- Mickey Mouse home based businesses that are designed only to profit the creator:NEVER AGAIN!
- Learning, studying, testing, applying and re-testing the never ending Web2.0 Internet marketing methods:NEVER AGAIN!
Competitors are stunned and left scratching their heads as our members generate thousands of dollars a week - ON 100% AUTOPILOT!
Does that mean that all the disadvantaged people I referred to in this article are not serious entrepreneurs? When they listened to and studied the earlier promotions, each of them made an entrepreneurial decision, weighed the cost against potential income, advantages and disadvantages and signed up.
It is a 4 point statement and I see:
· ELIMINATED
· ELIMINATED
· NEVER AGAIN
· NEVER AGAIN
ON 100% AUTOPILOT!
This is why the poor people who signed up felt that they could take the risk and little did they know that this is all one HUGE LIE. Actually a scam or fraud would be a better description.
Did they realize at that time, that the mailing to their list of 10,000 would not go out, if ever, or at least not before the next billing date would be due? They needed their commission to be in their hands to pay for their renewal month. No, it was crap that Paul and his cohorts were feeding the masses.
Until August 30th I was a member and my 10,000 leads, promised to go out between 7 and 21 days after paying the monthly membership fee, had not gone out yet. Isn’t this a breach of contract? In reference to Paul Birdsall and Chris Pearson, they have stated that they are backlogged and that the leads will go out as promised. However, this is hard to believe when it comes out of the mouths of people with such a low honesty record. In the meantime, members credit cards are being charged for the monthly fees, some even before the due date. See, collecting money has not been their biggest problem, but honoring their commitment to their members is to them an obligation of the lowest priority.
Yes, they continue charging peoples credit cards for their monthly fee promising them that their leads are going out and will be going out. Here it is buyer beware.
Here is a comment I saw today on a forum : “I was refunded for everything and had confirmation my subscription had been canceled. So I thought, OK - SFS bye bye! A charge for $39.96 was posted to my cc yesterday the 9th - doesn't even coincide with a 30 day subscription which would have charged my card on 29 Aug”.
Shaklee has benefited or will benefit most from this scam and through their hands-off position after having been made aware of this bait and switch practice, has become a co-conspirator.
For the record, I am not and never have been a distributor for Shaklee; if anyone wonders where I get my information I can state that through the internet, most of this is public record.
Check out this Forum
- Streamlinefunnelsystem Revealed - Speak the truth...Nothing but the truth...WELCOME! ...What\'s on y
Streamlinefunnelsystem Revealed is a social network for Streamline Funnel System members and ex members who have had bad experiences.
Don't Get Scammed Again. Learn Their Methods
- STOP Being A VICTIM
Ever caught in a SCAM? Then “STOP Being A VICTIM” is a MUST READ for you.
Other articles on Streamline Funnel System
- Paul Birdsall’s Streamline Funnel Bait And Switch Scam
Launch of Paul Birdsall's Streamline Funnel System might end up being known as the disaster and scam of the year 2009. Promoted as a cheap hands free system to mail to 10,000 leads a month. After 8 weeks many members have not seen their mailings. - Join Streamline Funnel System - Your Lead Machine and Mailer Now. Receive 10,000 Permission Double O
Paul Birdsall, renowned, renowned relationship and Internet sponsoring expert, will be launching his new revolutionary Streamline Funnel System on July 7th, 2009. This program is build on a the Web 3.0... - Prepare To Make Big Money Online | Build Your Streamline Funnel Downline Now
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From the moment the Streamline Funnel System went into pre-launch many people were dreaming that this would bring an end to their financial problems. Senior citizens, disabled people, single mothers and other... - Big Start Up Problems At Streamline Funnel System. Will Members Get Hurt?
Streamline Funnel System closed their Forum and deleted many of their disgruntled member's posts. Ongoing problems and not enough communication and inaction by the developers have many members very unhappy. Members made their own Streamline Funnel Fo
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How can there not be any comments yet on this post?
I wonder if this too is part of the ridiculousness of SFS.... To create even more hype. The buyer beware slogan is all that needs to be said here. No one was holding a weapon to anyone's head. People's greed and desire for money at any cost, even without knowing what the heck they are doing led them to this "System" tomorrow they will be alot more wiser and then again probably not!
I sure have heard of a funded proposal, but I am not speaking for myself. My concern is more for the poor people who fell for this tactic. This was not explained properly in the hype during pre-launch nor after the launch itself. Funded proposal or not is immaterial, Streamline Funnel System has been delinquent by not delivering what they offered. Re-charging credit cards of members that have opted out of the program. This whole launch has been a disaster from the very beginning.
Paul Birdsall is a scammer....so is Chris Pearson a scammer...and all the rest of those loosers working with them!
Today 9-16-09
A week ago I sent an email requesting a refund on my 10K package and one Basic Package which had been rebilled 6 weeks previouly and nothing had been broadcast.
Four days later I got a response asking me to verify my name on my credit card. I reponded immediately.
Two days later, yesterday, I requested to cancel everything and demanded a full refund based on no broadcast plus info showing that a member who was rebilled the same day as me, and had been informed that his broadcast was in the 1-2 day line to go out (this info was available on the formum message board).
Today I tried to login to SFS to check my account, and my password is not accepted. I guess I am shutout without any notice.
Bob
I have not had a reply since sending the emails below
Not sure if any of the content of my e-mails are of any use now, but it may help or stop any one considering joining the Birdsall scam called The Streamline Funnel System. Maybe anyone still trying to get their money back should drop a line to Shaklee.
E-mails sent as follows, start at the bottom and work up :-
From: Mick Siddle
Date: 09/23/09 19:18:31
To: Fine Marjorie
Cc: sfslogin@gmail.com
Subject: RE: SFS
Hello Marjorie
Many thanks for your reply to my e-mail, in the main it states facts and figures about my financial transactions which up to paragraph 5 are correct......... BUT THERE ARE SOME FUNDAMENTAL FACTS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN MENTIONED.
If, as I suspect you do, you believe that their reply is all as it seems and that SFS, Birdsall, Airey, Pearson and Bierre have told you the truth then you like hundreds of others have been taken for a ride. I have copies of all my e-mails sent to SFS support department, and I have copies of all my e-mails sent to 'sales on line' support, some of which I have had replies to but the majority were and have been totally ignored. They keep moving the goal posts, give out false information and try to cover their tracks in order not to have to answer any questions - as soon as I tried to raise the issues on their forum I was barred like so many others.
I have had all my money refunded now apart from my original $49.95 as stated in the e-mail, yes I did agree to pay this amount but in return for services and promises from SFS of making a substantial return with little effort - I LIKE THE HUNDREDS GOT NOTHING, ONLY GRIEF DUE TO THE INCOMPETENCE OR BIRDSALL AND HIS CREW. I signed the SFS agreement in good faith as I have stated.
The reason for wanting my initial money back is because I never received any services - it was taken under false pretences, a total fraud and scam and ultimately an underhanded way to get me to become involved with Shaklee which I never wanted especially as I live in the UK.
There are many people who joined SFS like myself who are still waiting for refunds - why did I get my money back? The reason is because I contacted you, the Executive Vice President of Shaklee. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for you help and assistance but it does illustrate that Shaklee is involved with the Streamline Funnel System albeit in Canada through Birdsall, Airey, Pearson and Bierre as distributors for Shaklee. You have stated to me on a few occasions that Shaklee does not endorse SFS but you must agree to let Birdsall gather distributors through the SFS system or you would get rid of him and his cronies for bringing your company into disrepute. You and most people involved with SFS know that you are dealing with a criminal, a man that tried to rob his country and fellow citizens by not paying his taxes but you condone his actions. No doubt your problem is that Birdsall and his network bring in substantial revenue into Shaklee and by terminating his agreement it is going to upset the apple cart in Canada and lose you your revenue. There are two types of companies in the world - Honourable and Dishonourable, if my theory is correct then I know which camp Shaklee falls into and so will the rest of the world if you don't nip the problem in the bud now.
You will see that SFS have been copied into this reply but I am confident no action will be taken by them pursuant to the terms and conditions which are totally one sided.
Again thanks for your help and I would welcome your comments.
Mick
-------Original Message-------
From: Fine, Marjorie
Date: 21/09/2009 20:35:20
To: 'Mick Siddle'
Subject: RE: SFS
Hi Mick - Shaklee Canada has managed to speak with Streamline Funnel System about your account. Here is what they reported:
Mick Siddle joined Streamline Funnel System on July 30, 2009. At that time he paid a fee of $49.95. That fee included his $9.99 and $39.96 to join the system.
As per our terms and conditions he checked off and agreed that he would be billed $39.96 once every 30 days.
He was due to be billed on August 30, but we delayed the rebilling to ensure that we were caught up on our support tickets and would not rebill anyone who had requested their membership be cancelled.
The rebilling took place on September 8, 2009, which means we gave people an additional 9 days to cancel if they wanted to do so.
In addition to his monthly service, Mick subscribed to a lead marketing package in the amount of $370. This also occurred on July 30, 2009. However, this sale did not go through as there was an issue with his card. His 30-day subscription to the lead package was terminated because the payment did not go through.
Our terms and conditions do state clearly that we have a no refund policy. See http://www.streamlinefunnelsystem.com/TermsAndCond
Mick had to check and agree to this to become a member in our system.
We do say that people will receive a commission check. Mick did receive a commission check in the amount of $9.00. A $.99 processing fee had been deducted. A commission also has been paid to his sponsor.
We instruct people who wish to cancel that they contact sfslogin@gmail.com
We did receive a request from Mick at this email address saying he was having log in issues. We did reply to him in less than 24 hours, and he had access again to his account. However, we never received at sfslogin a request to cancel.
The $39.96 payment we refunded to him on September 10. The $49.95 is not a refundable amount pursuant to the terms and conditions.
Mick, I hope this helps with your issues. If there are additional ones, please try sfslogin@gmail.com. Thank you. Marjorie
Marjorie L. Fine
Executive Vice President & General Counsel
Shaklee Corporation
4747 Willow Road
Pleasanton, CA 94588
T 925-924-2586
F 925-924-2155
E mfine@shaklee.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Mick Siddle [mailto:micksiddle@uwclub.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 2:27 PM
To: MFine@shaklee.com
Subject: SFS
Hello Marjorie
Firstly I was wondering how your investigations went regarding my last couple of e-mails.
Secondly - you said you would get in touch with Shaklee Canada to see about my refund, do you have any news on that.
Thirdly - I have another problem with Paul Birdsall taking money out of my account - I have just had $39.96 taken by his SFS system. I have sent in 5 requests to their support system telling them to cancel my account and not to remove any money from my account. In addition to this I have asked for your help - none of this has helped.
Please read the comments below by a couple of other people - they are in the same situation.
Marjorie, do you have a contact number or an address where I can get hold of Paul Birdsall - he has got to stop this business, he is now robbing and taking money without consent from people.
I have tried to call you a couple of times without success - can you please help?
Many thanks
Mick
Every bad thing said above is ditto by me. SFS never answered any of my dozen pleas for support. SFS also double billed me and never sent the $39.99 refund.
Shaklee should be embarassed for tying in with such scam artists as Birdsall and Pearson. I also contacted Shaklee customer service yesterday evening and advised them that when I had questions about my account Shaklee told me to contact my sponser. Guess what -
Paul Birdsal does not have a system and that has been confirmed to me by one of their previous partners, also this web 3 technology does not exist and actualy has not been invented yet and probably will not be invented withing 4 years from 2009, therfore Birdsal is a liar and a cheat who is heading for Jail as I am on his case.
Marketer fined $82,866 for GST fraud
Winnipeg, July 15, 2009 ... Paul Birdsall, of Cochrane, Alberta, formerly of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has been sentenced in the Provincial Court of Manitoba after pleading guilty to charges of GST fraud. He was fined $82,866 which represents 151% of the amount of unremitted GST on his business sales.
"Tax evasion costs all of us," said William V. Baker, Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency. "The job of our investigators and auditors is to make sure that all Canadians pay the tax they owe."
The court heard that Birdsall, a self-employed marketer of work-at-home schemes, neglected to remit $54,088 of GST due on his business sales for 2001.
A CRA investigation revealed that Birdsall declared only minimal revenue from a business known as Greenwave Marketing, operating as Supermarket King, which solicited individuals for grocery coupon processing. However, he maintained an expensive home in an upscale Winnipeg neighbourhood. The CRA investigators discovered that he did not report substantial amounts of GST collected on income earned through several other schemes operating under the business names of Horizon Career Consulting, DataMax Solutions, and International Homeworkers Alliance.
The streamline funnel system is now off-line. Supposedly Shaklee shut them down because Birdsall and Pearson were using Shaklee's name to help them rip people off with their SFS scam.
But, like most things evil, they do not die off easily. Birdsall and Pearson are also behind the newest fraud and scam to come along. http://www.automaticonlineprofits.com
Help warn people about this scam before Paul Birdsall and Chris Pearson have the opportunity to screw even more people.
Marketer fined $82,866 for GST fraud
Winnipeg, July 15, 2009 ... Paul Birdsall, of Cochrane, Alberta, formerly of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has been sentenced in the Provincial Court of Manitoba after pleading guilty to charges of GST fraud. He was fined $82,866 which represents 151% of the amount of unremitted GST on his business sales.
"Tax evasion costs all of us," said William V. Baker, Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency. "The job of our investigators and auditors is to make sure that all Canadians pay the tax they owe."
The court heard that Birdsall, a self-employed marketer of work-at-home schemes, neglected to remit $54,088 of GST due on his business sales for 2001.
A CRA investigation revealed that Birdsall declared only minimal revenue from a business known as Greenwave Marketing, operating as Supermarket King, which solicited individuals for grocery coupon processing. However, he maintained an expensive home in an upscale Winnipeg neighbourhood. The CRA investigators discovered that he did not report substantial amounts of GST collected on income earned through several other schemes operating under the business names of Horizon Career Consulting, DataMax Solutions, and International Homeworkers Alliance.
Yes I was taken by "Birdman" Paul Birdsall and his partners in crime on the Streameline Funnel System scam. Fortunately I was able to recover most of my money with help from the fraud department at my bank. However he is at it again with his newest scam called "PlugIntoGreenProfits.com". In this hustle he makes so many promises and misrepresentations it is obvious that he is a pathological liar that seems to actually believe he is telling the truth. In this deal he is using both "bait and switch" sales pitch and also lying by ommmission by telling people that they will be paid "$135" in actual first sales if they sign up. However after you pay the $37 he says you don't get the money,($135) until you make your own sales through clickbank or pay more money every month to get their "sales pros" to close the sales for you.These cons and scam artists are like drug addicts who will lie and cheat anyone to get their fix,(your and my hard earned money). They are nothing but parasites on society and they need to be eradicated by any legal means possible!
a contact phone is 403-932-9690 paul birdsall's home if you want to get ahold of
fundedsponsoring 2 years ago
Have you never heard of a funded proposal...that is what anyone uses in the internet age of network marketing that is the only way that anyone would recruit into their businesses no matter what company you are with. That is how you weed through prospects and find the ones that are serious.