LATEST UPDATE: Its been 7 months and I called this out right. This website BehindMLM.com has put up a list of Rippln issues that you should really read. Quoted below it includes:
“Rippln’s progress as an MLM company thus far is follows:
– announce an obvious recruitment-driven pyramid scheme business model
– retract model and tell people they can earn by sharing apps, make big promises about the Rippln Communicator app
– do nothing but miss deadline after deadline for months
– obtain a consignment of bluetooth watches and offer a commission on the sale of said watches
– launch one or two apps on the iOS platform only, promise Android but never deliver
– rehash a personal development course one of your executive staff authored and charge $500 or so for it
– partner up with a third-party company and offer commissions on the download of a handful of apps, charge affiliates hundreds of dollars to participate
– drown in a sea of complaints when most of your affiliate base realise said third-party company offers no apps in their region
And that brings us to today. There’s still no Rippln Communicator app, despite CEO Brian Underwood announcing it was ‘slated for submission to Apple on October 15th‘, and most of Rippln affiliates are stuck paying monthly fees with nothing to show for it.”
UPDATE: Emails have been forwarded to me that show its very hard to get away from Rippln which is one concern we had once you give your information to their list. Things are not free if your email gets filled with spam and your name sold to marketers all over. In the below graphic instead of deleting peoples accounts they said they would have to re-ask to verify which is BS. Unsubscribe requests should be honored and are a violation of spam rules. The emails show that 3 requests to be deleted from Rippln werent honored as they repeatedly sent the same request and got the same email. The 4th email comes as spam from: Mike Ruffles drizzlemarketing.com asking the user to join Rippln. Clearly email lists are being passed around. Does that sound ethical to you? If you’d like to file a complaint against Rippln you can do so clicking at: FTCcomplaintassistant.gov
Latest UPDATE: 4/25 Rippln now says you can delete their account at anytime by sending a quick email to support@rippln.com
UPDATE: Social Media FAIL. Rippln not answered my latest questions and instead people are personally attacking me on their Channels. For a company that claims to be the next social and open network, its not very open or social as we expect out of companies nowadays. Whats to hide? All we’ve asked is questions? In social media we expect companies to be transparent or they fail “social.” If they claim to be the next great social media thing why arent they being socially transparent as we expect? Will this make the 2013 top social media fail lists?
Questions: With their website you dont find out its an MLM until AFTER you have invited your friends. Was this setup as a “bait and switch” app luring users to add themselves and 5 friends thinking its a harmless fun social app only to find out after its an MLM Scheme. Was the motive here to build a huge List of emails to try to push into MLM? Why is there no MLM disclosure?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp2KkmpAWf4
The other big question is will Apple even let the app into the App Store as a bait and switch MLM app. Right now you have to download it off the web. How will they be the next Facebook App if they cant/wont/will get kicked out of the App Store?
Strangly after my post Techcrunch posted almost the same thing I did in video – but they are asking the same questions:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/22/what-not-to-do-in-your-startup-promo-video/
UPDATE: Heres their next mode of silliness. Its reported that people talking negatively about Rippln are being banned off their Facebook Fan Page. Social Media Fail. Also in the latest silly newsletter they compare their income potential to Clash of Clans a top App.
Their newsletter says: “The math breaks down to something like this:
“Clash of Clans” Company = $1,000,000 per day “Apple” = $300,000 per day (at 30%) “Players who SHARE the game” = $0
Does anyone else see an odd relationship with the way things currently are? Imagine if the Ripple introduces a game like “Clash of Clans” (which would bring the ripple about $1,000,000 per day, or 365 Million in a year…from…a…game).”
My response: “To Jonathon Budd your Clash of Clans hypothesis its the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. The reason its successful is its in IN THE APP STORE and has the potential to have like I dont know 100 million people potentially to download it. Any MLM app Rippln makes will likely NEVER get into the Apple App store with its Apples rules. If it gets in, MLM complaints will get it kicked out. At best you might get what 1/2 a million MLMers jerking each others chain on the Private Download App, hell lets say a million. Thats a far cry from the 10’s of millions who make apps successful in the App Store. Which mean you’ll in NO WAY EVER achieve that income volume, not even close. The odds of you getting a successful app are millions to one also. This is horribly blue sky misleading.”
So we finally got an answer from Rippln. We sent them new questions which we’ll post when they answer. Again we’re not calling them a scam but asking some questions.
Me: Why can one not delete their account once they are signed up?
Rippln: They can delete their account at anytime by sending a quick email to support@rippln.com
Me: Why isnt that stated some where or more obvious?
Me: Why are there no terms of service and privacy?
Rippln: We are in pre-game mode and are not accepting payment so the Policies and Procedures have not yet been posted or released. Once we officially go live, all of this information will be available on our corporate website.
Me: I’m still giving you my email, contract and information – how do I know that it is not being sold or used for other purposes – without a Privacy policy I dont know what your doing with my information or how its protected.
Me: Why is there no contact help inside of Rippln?
Rippln: Rippln has a large customer service team that are working around the clock, 7 days a week. Please send all inquires to support@rippln.com for assistance.
Me: How come that isnt displayed prominently somewhere, we had to dig around to find it.
Me: Why is your address a police station?
Rippln: Can you please tell me where you are seeing this address?
Me: Its the address on the NDA contract – google it.
Me: Where is Rippln legally registered as a business?
Rippln: Dallas, Texas
Me: We’ve seen all the videos – how is it not an illegal pyramid scheme?
Rippln: It has to be the number one question on the minds of a lot of people. No, it is not a scam. Rippln is a new and innovative company that is certainly pushing the limits on creativity. Such creativity will always be met with skepticism. Until fully developed, new ideas are not easily conveyed so that everyone can understand the full picture. We admit the Rippln is no different. However, Rippln has a corporate team that have worked with independent contractors and distributors for years. It is back my a team with great credentials who have all also put their reputations on the line for this concept. That includes an accounting, legal, marketing, and programming team with years of experience.
Me: Why is it misleading and presented as an app when its really an MLM. “Pushing the limits on creativity” on an MLM that sounds like a legal quagmire?
Rippln: At this stage of the rollout, invite your friends and family. Share the concept. Tell them that while there are no guarantees in life, a lot of people believe in this concept. Then watch. What do they have to lose? Getting in your ripple as a fan is free. Join, and watch the concept grow. When the next phase comes out, watch that, ask questions and see if the company stands behind the concept and message. All this is available before they are asked to invest a single dollar. Bottom line, no it’s not a scam. It is an idea that is being brought to reality. One in which many people believe in.
Me: Why is the presentation deceptive and misleading?
Rippln: I am not sure how you can feel that our videos are deceptive and misleading.
Me: In the videos you portray that you will go viral, be on the news – be the next facebook or twitter, that I can be like a stockholder in Facebook and get rich like they did. This is an app, I dont own stock in – thats deceptive. Also again you portray it as an app while clearly only after someone invites 5 friends do you start telling them you are really an MLM. Thats deceptive.
We’ll update you with their answers when they come forth (Its been more than a week they havent replied again.)
MLM Scam – Sure is!! #EAv (e)LOCRIS @LOCRIS |
Really? A scam? You know that? You’ve researched it? Your lawyers have looked through the company? You’ve been to their offices and met their employees? As a social media influencer you have a responsibility to share things that are accurate or face extreme criticism about your own reputation. Be careful sharing an opinion that has no substance.
Mike – we havent said its a scam – note the question mark. We’ve been asking a ton of questions along with several other folks and no one is answering. Did you watch the video in full. We cover a ton of substance.
I joined up. It sounds like fun. And if I get paid $0.02 for every post I share from your web site, that’s something I didn’t have before
Hey hopefully it works and you get paid. What about doing the down line MLM and coaching stuff.
Let’s see what we all think in a few weeks?
The world is full of vulnerable desperate people.
RPLN’s servers are falling over – it’s so popular – so what’s the catch?
Cheers John
thanks for your informative post – I was already very sceptic after watching the video, which doesn’t explain the slightest things…my guts say…don’t ripple me
When you say one cannot unsubscribe, do you mean that people have attempted it, it appeared successful and it was a fake unsub, or they couldn’t find a place to unsub?
Theres just no place or option to delete your account. You cant close it. Now Rippln service has come forth and said that if you send them an email they will – BUT their email is not on their site and there is no help area. We Literally had to dig around for a support email address and get their attention.
This was released on their youtube Channel- It is more then everyone thinks.. That is okay- no believed in Facebook until it exploded from the college campuses to the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oNNUOgS1SUs
Yes but the video and premise is silly. You’re not owning stock in a company like Facebook. So joining Rippln for MLM is not the same. Why is this so hard for people to connect the dots to? They arent delivering a social graph they are delivering an MLM spin. Why cant they just be honest about it.
Chris – they can’t be honest because all the good folk who know that MLM (pyramids) are about a few people making a lot of money, a larger number breaking even and a very very large number getting stung.
However, this model, like so many, will have a very small subscription price so they’ll be betting it won’t be worth people persuing them for the loss (es), and no lawyer will take it on contingency because there just wouldn’t be a big enough fee – unless it’s a scam, a fraud, in which case they might be sued for exemplary as well as pecuniary damages. Damages are normally concerned to compensate the victim of a wrong. They are designed to make good, so far as possible, the pecuniary or non-pecuniary loss suffered by the victim by putting him or her into as good a position as if no wrong had occurred. However, exemplary damages aim to punish the wrongdoer – as well as require compensation.
I suggest someone sets up a register (for a Class Action) of as many people as possible who ‘enroll’ now, in readiness for the bad news when the system fails to deliver and the founders try to disappear.
IMHO….
Cheers John
#EAv (e)LOCRIS @LOCRIS
Thanks – the biggest question that is coming up is will Apple allow this App to stay in the App Store once it gets complaints of privacy and bait and switch etc. Ron welcome to the club. Just me asking questions has had the harassment tactics played out here and on youtube which proves my concern of the type of people that support this.
Chris, I see you watched my video as I have seen the screenshots in your first video on this post. (My YouTube rant)
I 100% agree with you on all points about Rippln. The only issue you are incorrect on is making a distinction between what is a legitimate business model in the MLM/Direct Sales/Network Marketing industries and illegal scams and ponzi schemes.
The direct sales industry is $100+ billion dollar industry with featuring public traded companies and even one that is owned by Warren Buffet. I implore you to really learn and understand these distinctions as it will factor into your credibility when discussing the subject.
Even former presidents have support our industry, both during & after their time in office.
You can start your discovery process here: http://www.dsa.org/ & http://www.directsellingnews.com/
Having said that, I would not get near Rippln, ever. Brian Underwood lacks integrity.
Thanks – noted.
You literally had to dig around?
Well it stinks to me to. Way too much hype and no real substance… wait and see how it plays out but I would put money on few realizing anything from this beyond getting all their family and friends dragged into a mess.
Those that don’t want to see the lack of answers or substance because they want to believe will always do. But you were most clear that your reservations were based more on the lack of RPLN to answer even the most basic of questions in any way that means anything. I’m with you Chris this whole thing stinks and something is rotten someplace.
Good question Chris an as an accountant that’s seen such trash many times over the years I would sure like to know the answer to that question.
Well said John but sadly many will continue to “invest” in such junk always have always will. And of course all those shouting the praises will disappear too.
Thanks Frank – for the record Rippln has not re-answered my follow up questions.
LOL. Good to know MY opinion is unbiased. They are welcome to come here and comment. Tell them thanks for helping make my post go viral. And let them know I’m still waiting for Rippln to answer my questions. Certainly if my questions werent threatening they wouldnt be so angry.. ..
it took some work but i finally got them to delete my account support@rippln.com i told them i wanted out and they deactivated it. though it would be nice if the process was easier…..kinda shady in my opinion . Thanks for this post, i hope its not a scam but better safe than sorry
I see that you guys are going nuts because rippln doesn’t have a clear delete your account link but let me ask you this. When you try to delete your facebook account does it actually get deleted? NO! sure your friends and connections stop seeing your accounts but the company never gets rid of the information and it uses it as they want. So if you do not mind facebook doing that (specially when they know way more about you than just your name an email like rippln) then why you care so much if a company like rippln keeps your name and email in their database?
As far as MLM goes lets be clear that not all MLMs are illegal companies for example herbalife have being in business for over 30 years and lots of people are making money with it and sure there are others that do not make money but not because they are an illegal MLM but because those people do not put the effort to make it profitable for themselves the same goes to insurance companies. If you look at their payment plan is nothing but an MLM too (In know this because I worked in the Insurance industry for over 3 years)
On a legit MLM you get paid a small % of the sales of the people below you and your get a Bonus each time you recruit somebody to become a seller as well there is nothing illegal about that.
As far a Rippln goes is it legit? I do not know, only time will tell, but I can tell you this. This is the first time that an MLM company has allowed people to join for free and not only join for free but actually build their down-line for free. In all others you have to pay first and build your down-line after and if you aren’t able to build it then your just wasted your money or you can try to break even or make some small income just promoting the product. In Rippln you get to build your down line first for free and sure when the time comes to get the opportunity to join as a player there will be a fee but you will be able to look at your down line and just do the math and see if in fact you will be able to profit from it. If your down-line is small and weak then by all means DO NOT join as a player and stay just as a fan but if you see that your down line is big enough and you do not join then you are giving money away.
I think many people are jumping on calling them this and that but there is not one single piece of evidence that claims that they are a scam. Yes there might be a few red flags as there are some pieces of information that are not clear but all this will be cleared out once they launch. When they launch to the public we all should be able to have the facts at hand and really see if is worth joining or if is time to move on.
Most professional service firms (check out your law firm, CPA firm, doctors office, etc.) use the pyramid structure. The partners make money off the work of the associates. The issue here isn’t as much the structure as it is the deceptiveness in process and presentation.
So far J Budd claims to be paying commission on App microtransactions (see BehindMLM.com) not regular blog posts. And that’s even sillier than “viral app” sharing.
I’m hearing you have to pay $300 to find out more
The question is actually quite simple: where is the money coming from to pay Rippln affiliates? (Whatever name they go by)
And by affiliates, I do NOT mean customers / consumers.
You see, Rippln can’t even define its own market properly. it must mumbles something about social graph and ripple effect and how sharing a certain something will generate revenue and they’re giving you a share.
(Let’s not forget the last couple scams that claims to share revenue… Zeek Rewards… Wazzub… )
Making an assumption that they mean the app users who did NOT “join” Rippln and thus not eligible to get paid, who will download apps and buy stuff in-app (Jonathan Budd claimed on BehindMLM that he wants a piece of the in-app purchase revenue stream, citing Clash of Clans as example) Rippln presumably will get paid a tiny sliver of whatever tiny in-app purchase that was referred, and that somehow is shared back up the chain.
Makes sense, until you realize they’re talking pennies, if that much, assuming people would “share” in-app purchases, as those are very personal (depending on personal progress and personal aesthetics, my OMGsword +17 wouldn’t fit your Lvl 5 Firemage)
And that’s assuming Rippln can get ANY app makers let THEM do the microtransactions, instead of going to the big boys like Google and Apple (or any of the dozens of alternative markets out there…)
Rippln can’t charge too much lower than the standard 30%. As typical in-app purchase is $1, that leaves 25 cents (assume they charge 25%) to be shared. Rippln needs a cut, and the rest divided among however many levels of ripple.
Pennies, guys. PENNIES. You’re getting PENNIES.
You’ll need network of hundreds to earn enough for a latte, if they make any in-app purchases at all (most don’t).
So where’s the money used to pay those teacher (read: recruiter) bonuses coming from?
From the affiliates who paid to join, of course.
Kasey Chang, a MLM Skeptic
amlmskeptic.blogspot.com
I’m being told the Rippln app says you have to pay $300 to get more information on their money making program. One of Ripplns people runs a boiler room I’m sure they will beat all leads they get into the ground.
Wow, it certainly created a hot discussion on the topic. 🙂
Thanks for the videos, Chris. Many people might join “just in case” – who wants to miss out getting in on the next Twitter or FB, right?
I hope that once they watch the videos, it’ll be clear that this “opportunity of a lifetime” is just as ridiculous as it sounds.
Yep, Rippln at this point as admitted its an MLM – therefore it could never be the next FB or Twitter.
For what I see it looks like you like to reply only to the comments that talks negative about Rippln or that gives you a seed to talk bad about them but other comments who state some interesting facts like the one I made above you prefer to stay away from them. It doesn’t look like you are doing an impartial review here Chris
That or from what I remember Manny I had a meeting when your comment came in. Let me look at it.
It eventually gets deleted on Facebook. Herbalifes in a bunch of trouble lately for money making scams. We’re not debating MLM’s here. The app is a deceptive list building, even Rippln admits its a list builder. The deceptive part is the problem – the ads are deceptive, saying is a free social app and people can freely make money is deceptive. Thats the problem.
I deleted a FB account and one year and 4 months after I tried to log back in and bam it was all there bud ready to roll again so you are telling me that they delete it but that ti takes them more than 1 year to do that? Research bud do your research. As I see it they are in prelaunch meaning lots of stuff is not yet in place and if the app is a list builder then what is the issue? Actually a mobile list builder is needed as there are many desktop list builders but not mobile list builders (that is if in fact is a list builder) LIke I said before only time will tell but I recommend that you be cautious because if they turn out to be legit in the end then your reputation will be affected because you are here making Bold claims and agreeing with those that say that they are a scam you might not have said that they are in fact a scam but when you agree with somebody who says that they are is the same as mentioning it yourself. My advice is be cautions because it might hurt your reputation really bad bro.
Again the list is being build with DECEPTION. I’m sure my reputation will be just fine – these folks have a long list of companies that have pages of unethical reports and if you type “scam” by their names on google you get the phone book. I think their reputation is of more concern. The odds of them being the next Facebook – ya right.
Your points are bogus
1) You can’t delete the facebook account. You can only deactivate it. To delete your account permanently you have to contact Facebook support. If you don’t understand that there’s a document in Facebook support you can read. Thus, comparing “you can’t delete Facebook either therefore Rippln is not a scam” is a strawman argument.
2) Facebook’s privacy policy and such is audited and Facebook has tremendous reputation at stake, having been around for many years. A fresh company that was just launched with UNKNOWN REPUTATION but is very busy signing up people may very well be a front for building a “sucker list”. It’s in Wikipedia, look it up.
3) Chris Voss definitely did NOT ever said that all MLMs are illegal pyramid schemes. Another strawman argument. It’s frequently documented that all MLMer, when they hear criticism of something that sounds like MLM, will somehow imagine that to be an attack on ALL MLM. Perhaps that’s what happened to you.
4) Rippln so far has no products for sale, thus NO INCOME, and therefore NO MONEY to pay ANY sort of commission. Furthermore, it is promising, in the videos, that it is paying on RECRUITMENT. THAT IS NOT MLM even by your own definition!
5) You already gave definition of a “legit MLM” and Rippln doesn’t fit. So either they are not legit, or they’re not MLM.
6) Which of course, brings up the big question… what got you so worked up to argue for something that even you can’t say is legit or not?
For what I see it seems you are “pleading for fairness” (i.e. equal coverage) when there’s no need to, and in fact, creates a distorted picture. You have made completely bogus points and they have been addressed.
According to Rippln themseles, they have a ‘crack SEO team’ ready to do … something. They are however, encouraging their fanboys (and fangirls) to “report” negative press to them. Both Techcrunch and Mr. Voss have been mentioned as SEO retaliation targets.
Really I’d love to see a screen shot of that.
Is Rippln a redux of Burnlounge?
Burnlounge used “concentric retail” and “rings” for MLM and levels, respectively.
Rippln is using “ripple effect” and “ripples” for MLM and levels, respectively.
Not too surprising when Underwood was a member of Burnlounge.
Amidst loud criticism Rippln pulled their comp plan video (the one that got most flak) while kept insisting that their critics are “negative opportunists” (that would mean you, Mr. Voss)
Yes – check this out – it explains Burnlounge. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FI-_07Pq2mzlX-ojOMOZzDV8-HwyTDLKO9h5roAYgHg/edit
LOL so now a company has to stop what they are doing (attracting over 250,000 people in 10 days) to “reply” to Chris Voss… ?? LOL
Easiest way to join is by emailing your name to create.rippln@gmail.com
Why would they need to stop what they’re doing to merely answer questions?
The model Jonathan Budd described makes no sense.
They used Clash of Clans as model, kept mumbling about the makers taking in 1 million a day (it’s 1.4 now!) and 30% goes to Apple. People who “share” the app gets nothing. And they want to “change that” by giving some of that money back to the people.
WHERE are they going to get the data who bought what?
It’s not going to be from the users (that’s extra work and you can’t rely on “honor system”)
It’s not going to be from the app stores (that’s violation of privacy, not to mention competitive info)
It’s not going to be from the publishers (that’s extra work for them, AND less pay for them if they’re “rebating” some to Rippln)
So where are they going to get the data, hmmm?
They ONLY way this can work is they launch their own app store with their own in-app purchase transaction system, and then they’ll be in heavy competition with the dozens of different minor app stores out there in addition to the big three (iTunes, Play Store, and Amazon App Store).
And even then individuals would be getting PENNIES. You’ll need ripples of THOUSANDS to afford a latte a day.
Sounds good, until you look closer.
Yep I’m laughing at their latest email. Talk about Hyperbole. It takes a year or more to build a solid gaming app. And very few apps succeed. Hey someone buys it. Barnum Bailey said – “Theres a sucker born every minute.”
Technically PT Barnum didn’t say that. 🙂 Though it was usually attributed to him (by his enemies) 😀 (Check Wikipedia)
JB went back to Behindmlm and basically asked his critic how should he be doing it. I quote:
“since you are such a gifted business man, I’d love if you could put together a pro-forma and give me your ideas on how to cover our operational costs, legal, finance, technology, commissions, international logistics & payment processing, etc?”
Oh, gee, you launched the company WITHOUT having figured all that out? OMG! It’s all hopes and sweet dreams!
http://behindmlm.com/companies/rippln-review-mobile-app-recruitment/#comment-153146
after posting the FTC docs on Burnlounge and just telling people to google Brian Underwood. I am now banned and unable to comment on their public facebook page. I sent in all the info i learned to my states attorney general. After contact with others that had legitimate questions on the Ceo’s past, they have proceeded to ban anyone asking questions that make the company look bad. Wow not the kind of response i would expect from a “legitimate” company
Yes their new line of silliness is even funny comparing their earning potentials to top Apple App store apps. Like they’ll ever be allowed in the App Store. Yep they are failing at “social” by not being transparent
http://www.rippln.com/Rippln_FAQ_V4.0.pdf here is the full FAQ they sent out
Yup. At the end is like “how can I give you money” wow.
You are a “negativity” to be avoided, 😀 You’re what they call a “dreamstealer”
More like a dose of reality, but if they prefer to live in la-la land…
Just found that Rippln trademarked by Lacore enterprises:
http://www.trademarkia.com/rippln-85758099.html
Probably the same Terry Lacore founder of bHIP global
So is it the same puppet master?
Yes many people reporting that.
You are misinformed about deleting a FB account. You CAN delete it, along with all information. I have done so a few times. What you are talking about is deactivating your account, which is different.
https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674
Deleted or deactivated? Two different things. I have deleted several accounts, and I cannot log back in to them. It says no such account. The link to delete an account is on this page:
https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674
Once again, yes you CAN delete a FB account. Deactivate and delete are two different things. The link to DELETE your account can be found on this page:
https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674
I have not been asked for $0.01 there may be some rumours or people not associated with the rippln admins trying to capitalize on the limited invitations
Well nothing in life is free. Neither is any MLM. They have indicated there is a forthcoming fee structure in their vids. Its just a matter of time. Right now they are just building a list.
And it doesn’t matter whose questions they are? If they won’t answer his who’s to say they won’t answer yours?
Wow social media fail. Instead of addressing issues they want to see bury people asking questions.
FYI, I got a full investigation of Rippln up
http://kschang.hubpages.com/hub/Investigating-Rippln-what-does-Rippln-do-Who-is-behind-Rippln-Is-Rippln-a-Scam
And of course, cites you, Tech Crunch, and a bunch of other people in pointing out this sort if hype is counterproductive and only illustrates the fakery behind the buzz. Feel free to cite stuff from it, if you find anything useful.
What’s REALLY interesting is there was a terrylacorerippln.blogspot.com… and it was later REMOVED (by the blogger “rippln”
It should be noted they answered the first round and clammed up
Its not free Ron – nothing is. One of their staff owns a boiler room that pulls your info and solicits you. There is no privacy policy. They have your name and email and can sell it all over the web. Do you not get how powerful that information is? Even they have admitted is a lead capture tool. I have a problem with their advertising being blue sky and basically deceptive. And if you google their reputations there endless negativity. MLM is fine just dont bait and switch people. Is it an app or is it an MLM.
Chris
Face book was never introduced in this way and offering payment to anybody at all. I was introduced by someone else that I know. The moment I saw all that they were hiding their contact details, I dropped it like a hot potato. If you did business with any business man. Would you deal with him if he will not give you his details? I would not. So what makes the internet different?
Not all MLM are pyr
Great points
If Microsoft told you back when they started that look we are going to sell you a thousand shares of our stock. Here is the catch, you do not have to pay us anything for the stock right now and even never if you do not want to… but, if our stock goes up and you see that you could be instantly profitable if you paid x amount of money for the stock, would you take that offer?
Lets see Chris I had to give my name and email to post… Are you building a list???
I am with you Franco….I think Chris is in bad need of something to talk about…
Chris you really need to get your facts straight. You are the equivalent of Jay Gorlie and the way he attacked Herbalife when Herbalile first started doing business several years ago. I will have to give you credit though, for the fact that you sir are very keen on how to create internet traffic and to start conversation that leads to more traffic and I think you would hope that more people would listen to your radio talk show that you promote during your videos…Would that mean more money for you if your ratings went up? Assuming that they could go any higher than they currently are. Jay Gorlie caused many people to miss out on fantastic products and an excellent business opportunity as Herbalife has proven itself to be and to have been because he wanted to make a name for himself and he tried to sensationalize things what were of no consequence. For instance saying the someone had died while taking this new product but what the reporter failed to mention was that the person that died was 90 plus years old to start with and was near death to start with…
Robert – I dont think Herballife is a good reference considering the shit storm they have been going through on wall street with a bunch of scam artists recently uncovered. http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/27/4099100/income-at-home-herbalife-scamworld-biz-opp http://www.nbcnews.com/business/many-herbalife-recruits-lost-money-dashed-dreams-1B7899747 I dont get paid to blog or do stories to get traffic. The blog is a money loser and is my opinion broadcast to help the world. The ads on the site pay a mere pittance for the basic costs. Having been a 25+
serial entrepreneur I’ve looked at business deals, business people and scams all my life. I did a story on Rippln because people kept asking me for guidance on it and pointing out the odd setup it had. The advertising is incredibly blue sky misleading. I voiced my opinion because thats what I do, especially when I feel people need to be warned.
By the way viral means 10’s of millions and in the top youtube standings. This company isnt even near viral.
No but Disqus likely is for you to comment. Its a spam filter. Theres nothing wrong with that unless I’m selling you deceptively.
also I might add that if the post does get high traffic its because Rippln may not be passing the “smell” test with consumers. Consumers are the ones making the choices to search for more info. If a company was doing a proper job assuring and being up front with users they couldnt be double checking “scam” on the internet. If you have a problem with what I do – take it up with concerned consumers and Ripplns too good to be true against enormous odds marketing.
I’ve got the sneaky suspicion there will never be an app. The timeline doesn’t make any sense. The hype doesn’t make sense. The founders have shady pasts and are acting shady now.
Name, Email and phone number for the strongest leads. Looks to me like they are trying to generate a large list very quickly. This Social Network App must be a front/cover for something else.
It’s funny how people think they can predict something will go viral. These people really don’t understand the internet. A lot of these people aren’t in the “website” business so they don’t see all of the “social networks” that launch and flop. Not only that but websites can be popular and generate very little income. Who will get paid last? The affiliate.
For this to take off they need to have an incredible amount of users AND advertisers.
Robert the premise is silly and the odds of being the next Microsoft is insanely near impossible. Also Rippln isnt selling stock, its selling an MLM app. Theres no stock to be valued or appreciate. Take into account no MLM has reached that level and its a bullshit hype way to sell. Millions of people lose money everyday in the legitimate stock market betting on the next Microsoft and losing. The odds some virtual company hiding in Melissa, Texas without a real office, its owners connected to the word “scam” if you google them in phonebooks of volume will amount to Microsoft is ludicrous of the highest order. Will they make money, maybe, the people that start and MLM and own it usually do.
Rippln has said its a List Builder mode right now. One of their people owns a slammer boiler room where they look up your info and data and pound you with calls for your money. Viral isnt 200-300,000. Its 5-10 million views and the top of youtube charts. Make a big list and then use it for whatever you want. All next big “facebooks and facebook killers” are all dead. The premise is silly.. .
I see you pushing Rippl on your Twitter. 500k followers. Take your own advice. If/When Mr. Underwood disappears with your mobile leads doing who knows what with them. What happens to your reputation for blindly following and promoting this? Because you were negligent to use your best judgment you’ve now opened your leads up to a world of Fraud and Spam. This MLM game is largely based on “Mentors” and Trust. It’s sad to see how abused that is today.
Ok so it’s obvious that Rippln.com is gaming it’s Alexa. They also claim 300k members but their facebook only has 20k likes. Those numbers don’t add up.
Thank you very much! I just saw the video and got interested… I could not differenciate this from a great startup with salesy marketing tactics, or a marketer disguised as a legit startup. I now think it’s the second one.
Also you’ll note on those hangouts the number of views are masked on youtube so you can see if anyones watching them.
Rippln, based in Melissa, TX, has a LONG way to go to catch up with Amway, the MLM scam “leader.” Click on my name for more information about the Amway Tool Scam. But they do have some former Amway people involved. Amway sued bHIP and lost, part of the issue was former Amway scammer Casey Combden left Amway and took his Amway people to bHIP, which is apparently behind rippln and based in, guess where? Melissa, Texas! http://thompsonburton.com/mlmattorney/2012/12/21/amway-loses-lawsuit-against-bhip/
Good MLM companies have real products that people actually use and like and choose to continue buying. Good MLM companies have many customers who are not actually distributors, but only buy the products. At the core of it all is value. Value must be created in order for there to be profit to go around. I’m just not seeing where there is substantial value created. Their pitch is they are monetizing ppl’s social graphs. But that is not what they are doing outside of their own community, and the assumption is that their own community will be very large. Don’t see that playing out since they have no real product of compelling value, and seem only to be able to promise this at some later date for over a year now. And they have been in “pre-launch” since 2012 – for a fast moving internet company that is pathetic. Also big warning sign is their own statement on their website that their legal team is still working on the agreement. WTF? haha! If they don’t have their legal team’s approval by now, they are in BIG trouble. Way too many red flags here…
You folks just don’t get it like the dinosaurs you are. You fought phones that played music and thought that apple was purchased in the produce section. You are now parents outdated and docile your children and grand children have a better grasp on life than you could ever imagine. You resist what you don’t understand like a giant gerbil with a goatee happily licking his water stick. Ask your self this one question name one thing that you were part of at the beginning before anyone else was a creator a leader. Don’t worry we won’t wait for you, We will be long gone by the time your grand kid asks you to ripple.
“Somebody said ‘it couldn’t be done!’ and he with a chuckle replied
That maybe it couldn’t, but he would be one, who wouldn’t say so til he tried…”
No matter how many people are scoffing and saying it can’t be done, there is someone out there doing it!
and Facebook had nothing to sell or make money originally either. It was just some stupid idea set up by college kids….
Neways has been in business for over 25 years and has made many, many millionaires all over the world. They also were the pioneers in creating products that are safe for humans to use (unlike other companies who fill their shampoos and skin products with toxic ingredients). This company is an MLM company and has done only good things. I’ve been with them for over 12 years and very proud to be affiliated with them. Not all MLM companies are scams!
What a lot of crap Chris! Your blog is part of your business and creating arguments online is what brings traffic and you know it. It’s all about the money – you wouldn’t be here otherwise….
Trevor. Your silly and know nothing about us. Starting with I had Napster back in the day. You sound like someone very young and naive
Yep but there was ownership stock even back then.
No one said MLMs are scams and most are very up front.
You dont know anything about me do you?
The heading of this blog post indicates that MLM’s are scams…
Sounds very ominous… Do I need to? lol
Theres a question mark.
UPDATE: Emails have been forwarded to me that show its very hard to get away from Rippln which is one concern we had once you give your information to their list. Things are not free if your email gets filled with spam and your name sold all over. In the graphic now on the site – instead of deleting peoples accounts they said they would have to re-ask to verify which is BS. Unsubscribe requests should be honored and are a violation of spam rules. The emails show that 3 requests to be deleted from Rippln werent honored as they repeatedly sent the same request and got the same email. The 4th email comes as spam from: Mike Ruffles asking the user to join Rippln. Does that sound ethical to you?
Hey Chris if you reply to this I’d be truly honored, my name is Charles and I read some of your articals and the commentary from the peanut gallery here and I have a request. I just joined Vemma as a brand partner and we are a social network marketing MLM, if you could go to my company profile and do some snooping I’d appreciate it. I also noticed herbalife was mentioned here, I’m being coached by Anthony Powell, an ex veteran heavyweight of herbalife who also joined Vemma. My contact info is on the website. Charlesmay.vemma.com
Charles, thanks but I dont want to get into the MLM audit business. I do Apps and Tech and Rippln put itself in that path.
Chris, you said that Brian Underwood started a company that you thought might have failed called 90210. Guess what? I can personally verify that one of the numbers rippln tells you to text to is 90210. That is the truth because I got sucked into it. They want you to bring in your closest friends, so you don’t expect it to be untrue at first. I got it from a church member and I was told that it is a way to make a little bit of money sharing apps. Sounded okay, so to find out more I signed the NDA. Didn’t know it was a pyramid till I got in. I was somewhat suspicious. But I was also told I didn’t have to sell anything, and it wouldn’t cost me anything. That is not true because they will try to sell you a liscence to go global with your ripple if you become a “player”. They tried to explain that in the beginning stages you aren’t a “player yet” and it doesn’t cost you anything. They only thing they provide is an app that just shows you how far your ripple has reached around the country or around the world. Big deal. They say you can use the games and apps for free. Nothing new about that. Rippln also tells you that you are on the ground floor. How can you be on the ground floor if you already have an upline? and she has an upline…and that person has an upline…and they have an upline…??? I am sorry I got two people to sign and glad the other 3 ignored it.
I´m no expert in this subject, but my question is: If this were a big time “scam”, wouldn´t that be a ridiculous risk taken, to lose all the popularity they´ve got so far? I knew from the start it had a MLM scheme, because I´ve seen them before and never considered it fraud due to my awareness of the great difference between a pyramid and MLM. I personally think that most of the people that agreed on becoming part of Rippln, have done it because it´s totally free and “there´s really nothing to lose” plus “we´ll just wait and see what happens”. Whenever Rippln charges or complicates stuff for everyone after considering it an easy income, wouldn´t everything start tumbling down for them? Isn´t it absurd that they gain so much popularity, so they can risk it for something so idiotic? That would be a childish mistake, and we´re talking about something going worldwide as we speak, it´s a big deal and I suppose people involved should have thought of that, shoudn´t they? Talking about people with experience handling Rippln or 15-year old teenagers?
“…(I)nvite your friends and family. Share the concept. Tell them that…a lot of people believe in this concept.” Well, I think I’ve finally figured out what the concept is — they’re going to promote their app by basing it on a platform that will allow people to download it without having to deal with iTunes App Store or Google Play!
How will they ever achieve the success of Clash of Clans, Facebook or other apps without the App Store? Do you know how dumb that sounds. They’ll never have access to 100’s of millions of users. Just the same MLMer’s over and over.
STop doing this Chris. i didnt receive a spam message. ONly message from rippln but not a spam message.. Gosh, dont destroy our dreams Chris..
Just to be clear Chris, you do realize on your first video showing a Google Map view of the address is completely wrong. The address information for WhoIS is Private proxy thus meaning the company isn’t showing their information. I would think you would be a bit more educated than that my friend.
Omg Cesar. The horror. We did that to show the company IS hiding. DUH. Whose more educated now?
What was that about “having a Rippln license” in order to “power up” from being a “fan” to a “player”? What, if anything, does the license cost?
I’ve been in some MLM schemes back in the days. Some legal, some illegal. The first one I was recruited to was 2by2, which was an illegal operation. There’s a bit of a ponzi scheme involved if you ever been in one of these pyramids and you pay attention to detail. Rippln sounds very much like a modern version of 2by2 where you just recruit and not sell anything. For those that are involved in these kind of MLM, make sure to draw up a contract of your own and make them sign it. You gotta protect yourself, even if you personally know the CEO.
how about homepagepays?
I was at the Dallas launch and saw first hand the people behind this. I was very impressed. Some very smart and successful people with a high level of consciousness is what I recognized. All the people I know that were at the live event were very impressed and are excited about this idea. I think you guys just are too deeply entrenched in mainstream BS to recognize a great idea. I like it. I like it a lot. I am always surprised when people try to turn a good thing into a negative. I always know when people yell “MLM Scam” that they don’t really understand a multi-billion dollar industry. Very sad to see that..
Have u done a search of these folks backgrounds? Google their names with the word “scam” also ask why people are reporting they can’t have their names deleted from Rippln. Why have they now taken down their I come videos. Why did the lack a program that wasn’t approved with by their attorneys.
“The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” — Carl Sagan
Just because it didn’t happen to you doesn’t prove it didn’t happen to any one else.
Even you admit you’re just dreaming. “Dreamstealer” is a MLM buzzword to get you to ignore “negativity” and reality. Do it at your own peril.
You can find blunt reviews of almost any MLM on behindmlm dot com. Oz over there gets plenty of hate mail all the time.
It’s easy to whitewash one’s reputation on the Internet through some SEO. It takes some dedicated research to dig up the facts. If you care to research the names Brian Underwood and Jonathan Budd you’ll not find too many kind words about them. Brian Underwood co-founder, is believed to have created at least two failed companies, and was believed to be member of at least one FTC convicted pyramid scheme. If you try to ask questions about this, you get banned from their Facebook page.
They are “managing” their reputation through censorship and various logical fallacies. Their reputation is a facade that superficially look good, but does not stand up to closer scrutiny.
It’s a great idea, but it will REMAIN an idea because they have not demonstrated any ability to actually do it. It’s vaporbiz.
Every scam trades on the “billion dollar industry” of some sort. TVI Express, YTBI, Business in Motion, and similar travel scams. traded upon the travel industry. Most woo dietary supplement company trades upon the real supplement industry (most of which sells normal vitamins, like Centrum, One-a-Day, not those exotic stuff like uberfruit, algaes, and whatever that woo ingredients of the week.) HYIP (illegal Ponzi schemes) “industry” trades upon the financial industry. I can go on and on.
And now some MLM guys trades upon the mobile app industry.
It’s very sad to see someone get taken up by the hype.
Lets see… Very Successful Entrepreneurs… A cutting edge idea… (whether or not it gets as big as they hope… Who Knows and I dont particularly care… ) But certainly NOT a scam. Imagine if all ideas where brought to market with apathy and small expectations… and Yes I know… you say you havent called it a scam but you clearly infere….
Why cant you just see it as an APP!! forget the MLM structure.. all that tells you is the company’s strategy to market their product… it doesn’t make a product any more or less legitimate… Just because an App uses a Network Marketing Pay scale instead of infomercials, affiliates etc.. Means NOTHING… its just an App that certainly shows potential…
Hasn’t 60 years of MLM taught you anything? Calling MLM anything other than just a different marketing strategy is just showing major ignorance on the subject…
Having said that… Kudos to you for picking this as a topic.. You saw a buzz… (a viral issue) and you know enough to jump on the topic to create readership, even better if you can create and traffic to your own content.. Just sharing my two cents 🙂
I didnt write post to catch a buzz. I wrote it because people kept asking my opinion on it and I saw the “marketing” and was appalled out how misleading it was. If they just did an app that would be fine. The marketing is off the chart misleading as is the business structure and a bait and switch device.
Apparently, you can pay them $9.50 to find out at the Las Vegas “Rippln Huddle” event. Though you have to get there yourself.
Ah, the standard “sour grapes” ad hominem. And you call yourself a “coach”?
Just that your ad hominem insinuations are about a couple planetary orbits off mark.
It’s funny to see how blind and naive some people really are especially the people who have completely bought into this bull crap and try to justify or prove that it’s not a scam or you really can make lots of money of it by saying crap like IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO BE A PART OF MICROSOFT AND IF YOU SAW BILL GATES SITTING AT A COMPUTER BEFORE MICROSOFT WOULDN’T YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF IT… of course you because Microsoft is already a proven company and this Rippln is a shell for sweet nothing, absolutely no substance.
Also this guy: trevorjosephfisher
“Don’t worry we won’t wait for you, We will be long gone by the time your grand kid asks you to ripple”
You ain’t going anywhere fast with this crap.
Holy crap — that WASN’T a joke!!!
Why, you thought I was kidding? This is SERIOUS!
Was reading through the comments on an article about rippln in another website ( http://www.businessforhome.org/2013/04/rippln-mobile-app-review-2013/ ) when I spotted a comment mentioning “zooplr” which seems to have a similar concept. Nonetheless the commentator was saying that the network had just been sitting there collecting pre-lauch info. When you check out zooplr’s website ( http://www.zooplr.com) the only things that matter there is a hyperlink and a text box to submit your email address. A little more digging into it the few articles there about it date from last year and in one of them was mentioned the founders one of the names was Jonathan Budd same name as one of the founders of rippln and on other website ( http://www.glancingweb.com/1894/underneath-the-slimy-ripples-of-rippln ) came across the following info on him:
“Jonathan Budd is the second barnacle behind Rippln and he’s also quite a salient self-jizz geezer. Even though ButtBudd had spent most of his cozening career as Mike “Elevationless” Dillard’s lickspittle, he did venture a few MLM flopportunities himself. It seems that Budd initially self-budded himself to guruism with a shoddy info-product called Online MLM Secrets. (Any resemblance to real secrets is purely coincidental.)
Subsequently, Jona’ rolled another Madoff-type hogwash, The 7-Figure Networker System, which pretty (un)shockingly fumed quite a lot of folks. People tend to be a tad cranky like that when they are being promised golden eggs but ultimately receive just a couple of futile little bleak testicles. And that’s pretty much the {petite} gist of Jonathan Budd.”
I have to agree all this is starting to smell quite fishy!
(Don’t take any responsibility for any misinformation on this post just mentioning some things I found when researching rippln)
This IS in fact a pyramid scheme, unlike Vemma which is a legitimate MLM company that makes it possible to outearn your recruiter. MLM isn’t the bad part, the pyramid scheme IS however. It admits it in the videos, you tell someone about an app, THEY tell someone, and you get all the money. You are NOT selling a product, but information. Congratulations, it’s a pyramid scheme. Or I suppose we should begin calling it a “Ripple scheme” because the rock that hit the pond gets all the damn money.
Hi I am sorry, but am wondering what could rippln be doing with our names, contact number and our email address?… Help shine a light hear please anyone…thank you
You said we need to pay $300 to find out more? I have been in Rippln for about a month now and they keep putting up new videos in the members area, doing live calls to keep everyone abreast… They give updates of Facebook, leaders do live Google hangouts everyday at 2 pm.. I see nothing but transparency here. I give them credit for trying to create something that will benefit all. No business that succeeded ever did so without an outa of criticism.. Lets hope this works. If it does work, the reward will change the lives of millions of people. The world needs that.
not many people invested or believed in the “Google buzz” when it first came up.. They lost millions of dollars in the process for not investing in Google.
Entrepreneurs are risk takers. The higher the risk, the bigger the return.
If you are scared as to what would be done with your information when do sign up with Rippln…. why not create a new email address?
Take the plunge, see what happens… people sell people information all the time over the internet. There is no real way for you to track that… How do you know what Facebook does with all your contact information and those of your family and friends?
“Reputable companies” that you gave your information too in the past may sold your info to our vendors. How can you know?
Do we go by what is stated “Your information will never be sold or rented”.. This doesn’t stop the people who collect this information to do what they want with it. (this includes even top “reputable” companies that takes your contact information after your purchase via Credit cards checkouts etc)
Please lets all be smart here.. Entrepreneurs are risk takers. If the Rippln idea works and you were a part of it, you will be happy and not sad that you weren’t involved.
Times are REALLY hard and would only get worse in the future… all the time 20+ year old young entrepreneurs are out there creating tech companies and apps that are racking in Billions of dollars and putting that money back in the hands of “Investors” who can buy stocks for the companies… This is a far reach from the masses… And we wonder why the rich get richer?
Please lets all be smart here.
not many people invested or believed in the “Google buzz” when it first came up.. They lost millions of dollars in the process for not investing in Google.
Entrepreneurs are risk takers. The higher the risk, the bigger the return.
If you are scared as to what would be done with your information when do sign up with Rippln…. why not create a new email address?
Take the plunge, see what happens… people sell people information all the time over the internet. There is no real way for you to track that… How do you know what Facebook does with all your contact information and those of your family and friends?
“Reputable companies” that you gave your information too in the past may sell your info to vendors. How can you know?
Do we go by what is stated “Your information will never be sold or rented”.. This doesn’t stop the people who collect this information to do what they want with it. (this includes even top “reputable” companies that takes your contact information after your purchase via Credit cards checkouts etc)
Please lets all be smart here.. Entrepreneurs are risk takers. If the Rippln idea works and you were a part of it, you will be happy and not sad that you weren’t involved.
Times are REALLY hard and would only get worse in the future… all the time 20+ year old young entrepreneurs are out there creating tech companies and apps that are racking in Billions of dollars and putting that money back in the hands of “Investors” who can buy stocks for the companies… This is a far reach from the masses… And we wonder why the rich get richer?
Please lets all be smart here.
Heres the delusion. Being an Entrepreneur is starting you own company and becoming successful especially because you own STOCK in something. Rippln is just an app which to this point still is pure hype. There is a difference and if you dont think you’ll be paying money before getting money from Rippln you are highly delusional. MLMs always work the same way.
why are you calling or insinuating am delusional? I was only stating a point about Entrepreneurship and don’t deserve being insulted PUBLICLY on your blog. And I still insist that entrepreneurs are risk takers. There are two sides, investors and business owners… Business owners wants to start their own businesses (not all can do this), Investors, invest (money) into other companies be it in an MLM or buying a stock in a company. It all involves some level of risk taking.
No ones insulting you personally. Re-read your comment. You tried to blend entrepreneurship into joining Rippln. The bigger question to ask yourself is why hasnt this companys lawyers (per their statements) havent approved their MLM yet?
Thats a good point you made there
Thank you. Legitimate business’ have their business setup at launch. You really have to ask yourself WHAT is going on? I get why you may want to join an MLM, but you have to ask – why is this deceptive in trying to hide it as a Facebook startup opportunity?
It’s funny as time goes on more and more people are becoming suspicious it’s a scam. Rippln isn’t really keeping up the act. No monetizing info, no app, no launch dates etc. People have also begun to question how they can have 700k members but very small numbers are discussing it on Facebook, Twitter, Media.
Yep at this point you really have to start questioning whats going on. They’ve stalled enough on a business model. No business conducts themselves this way. Right now its just a mailing list service they can later use to pound and sell stuff too.
true, lets all watch and see how it all unfolds
Ok..how facebook, twitter, whatsapp and some many others monetize?
It`s free alright but they make millions for the time you spend on them, the stuff you share, comment and so on, thats is rich for advertising. How the fuck google makes money with adwords? It`s all about us! The users! Our taste,behaviour, friends…they can track all of this easily. I use for my campaigns and you, the average user doesn`t know why some stuff is offered to you while online that fits your taste exactly.
Tell me how much money any of you negative about it made with them?
You don`t have to sign in…just refuse the invitation and live your life in facebook, twitter and be happy about!
Sadly you wont be making money like the owner of Facebook and other networks do – you dont own stock. You’re the meat that will pay to make the owners money. Hey knock yourself out.
I totally agree with you…the general user wont be making money like the owner but it is better than waste time in facebook and others doing nothing with spare time. Hey the same principle applies here in your page…your audience helps you make money with banners and reviews as you and your website becomes popular with so many visitors and in return you pay us with information! I hope you dont think of us as meat, right?
I dont. BUT I actually have a legitimate business plan. I’m not asking people to sign up with deceptive ads and smoke and mirrors. In fact you can read my site free without giving me your email.
MLM is the business for the 21st century. Chriss Voss you are capturing my information too. Everyone is capture my info. So what is the point you are trying to prove here. If you dont want to play the game then just say NO. No is simple word to understand.
No
Lucky for you, you avoid another scam.Bravo for you !!
Enjoy your bashing all you want. But in the end. Your the one that has
nothing better to do than bad mouth something that is creating positive
change. Please just stay where you are and be miserable. If you
aren’t happy. Keep your comments to yourself. Others are happy. Let
them be. No one is being taken for anything. It is THEIR CHOICE
whether they would like to pay. THEY DO NOT HAVE TO. So until your low
self esteem infects the rest of the world. By all means. Enjoy your
negative thoughts. Happiness comes on many shapes and forms. If your
not happy. So be it.
Aloha. Have a good one
Sorry buddy we’re contacted by many people who are complaining and concerned – thats what promoted this. People are now asking more questions and complaining to us more.
I haven’t researched it via lawyers, but I am a member of Ripplyn. I have watched all the videos, I have attended 3 different webinars and I have listened to 2 calls. I have invited my family and friends to join and put my name on the line for this company.
Since joining I have noticed a few things change. The first change happened a few days ago. Some of the UPLINES are permitted by Ripplyn to sell a “tool” to their downline. I would post the links to the two different tools I have seen being promoted but I don’t want to encourage it. I thought this was a bit odd? Surely a tool like this that allowed you to MASS SPAM your friends would be in the Back Office of the Ripplyn platform – but no, I contacted Ripplyn and it is something that the Uplines are selling to benefit themselves with Ripplyn’s permission.
For $9.95 a MONTH, you can use this tool to grow your ripple.
NO WAY I thought, Ripplyn would not allow this so I checked the FAQ on Facebook and yes, they had changed the rules. Uplines can now sell their downlines this tool, there are a few stipulations and according to my upline as long as the cost does not exceed $10.00 a month, Ripplyn are fine with it.
So, you pay $9.95 a month to increase Ripplyns customer base, using a tool that is not a part of Ripplyn.
https://www.facebook.com/Rippln/app_333026933411295
The next thing was the most recent call. During this call they advise a cost of $69.95 to “Ripple Up”. This gives you access to see your entire ripple. Then for $25.00 a month, you can start to earn money from your Ripple – but there are still no apps? And there is no word of any apps? It is also stated that no commissions are paid on the FEES so….
Here, listen to the call for yourself and you tell me if I am hearing it correctly. The part about the finances is from 14:00 to 20:00. I will link you to the actual Facebook Post on the Ripplyn wall so you can see for yourself the “Hype” that this call is supposed to tell you what is going to happen over the next 30-60-90 days. Then listen to the call and see if you can tell me what the structure is over the coming days because I don’t see one – I only see hype.
https://www.facebook.com/Rippln/posts/471952666218791
When I first joined I was of the belief that this would be a real winner. I thought that you would be paid say $0.01 per click or a percentage on a link that you share if the person added the app or made purchases once downloaded etc… Just like the video said. And I believed this could work because I had adsense set up on a little website and had 5000 visitors a day. I was making $100 average a month, so of course I thought this would work.
In addition, I thought that Ripplyn would put advertising on their application so with over a million users that would bring in a tidy profit. Then, you go to a business and say “Hey, I have a customer base of 1.2 million people, join us and put your goods and services through our platform and you have an instant audience…”
WOW I thought, they will have people knocking down the doors to put their products on this platform… But I was wrong. They are not going to go to other businesses according to their most recent video. They are going to make the applications themselves.
Here is the Ripplyn Wealth Revolution expained
https://www.facebook.com/Rippln/posts/470901219657269
Its changed, it is not the original vision. When I gave them feedback on their wall saying:
I envisioned it would work similar to adsense but based on a pyramid business plan. You can’t pay down the line forever, but even if it went 6 levels deep and you got paid say 1% of all sales from your first level and 0.5 on your second, then 0.25 on your third… etc….
Money comes from those who purchase through the app (Games, Apps, Plane Tickets, then eventually electricity, phone etc.. you get the picture). The company RIPPLYN, I envisioned would work like Facebook and charge game developers and the like a commission on game revenue and then add advertising on the app to beef it up a bit more.
Not only were my comments removed, but I was banned from the page. Why? I don’t know.
I want this to work – I have put my name out there and asked the people I love to join me. I am feeling really silly right about now and if they don’t come good with something soon I am going to have to apologise to my family and friends and pray they will still consider my opinions on things in the future to have some worth.
But please, look at the links I have provided and decide for yourself. If you are in Ripplyn and believe the hype please tell me that I am wrong and explain to me why I should continue.
Here’s their new “incentivized sharing” compensation plan. You’ll have
to purchase a “membership”, and the talk of “coaching bonuses” is
replaced by a “multi-player cross-platform game” which awards “points”
that the top ripple makers can cash in.
http://youtu.be/Gt4jHGZFQ-A
P.S. If Rippln believes that companies should pay customers for doing
their social networking, how come they aren’t paying people for creating
ripples?
Over 800,000 ‘players’? Pieww. Where’s the proof?
I manage 10 corporate twitter accounts. #rippln only generates a few tweets per day. Reason enough not to believe their numbers. My estimate? 80,000. Tops.
Pumped up air wrapped in shining sales & marketing balloons, imho.
No App yet… All I see is press releases by random people nothing official…
One of my friends happened to buy into the Rippln scam and told me she signed up “started her ripple” forgot about it and is seeing over 2000 people in her Ripple. Would Rippln really go that far to report fake numbers to encourage their efforts?? I’m getting a screen cap for you.
June is almost over and no app or mention of the app.
They have started to talk about how you can spend YOUR money on Rippln. If Rippln was going to be as successful as the shills guarantee why wouldn’t everyone’s promotion/marketing efforts make the ability to earn revenue free?
Hopefully this is where people start to question.
I don’t believe the concept can be considered illegal, however it is very clear that there wasn’t a well thought out business plan and in my experience just based on the roll-out it is destined to fail. No one can take away the fact that they were able to enroll over a million free members in under 90 days and just this fact should be a wake-up call to all businesses worldwide. I have been following the business since early on when I was invited by a friend to take a look. I attended the weekly calls and hang-outs. This is the most fluid business roll-out that I have ever seen which is based on a vetted business model that has been proven for a few years. This same type of business was actually already tried in Europe and it was shutdown by the online app stores. My biggest apprehension which is keeping me from “powering up” is the story from corporate is just as fluid as the business plan. One week they have a solid offering but need to throttle enrollments to satisfy their merchant accounts and the next week they don’t have merchant issues but they need “load balance” their systems. “Load Balancing” is a technical process by which requests are routed to multiple servers to reduce site delays. They have had a million members potentially hitting the site, it’s kind of late to be testing load balancing. Based on the original corporate information they will be boarding based on levels or ripples so they can build up their reserves which will allow the company to expand how much credit exposure their merchant accounts will allow them to charge. Here’s the caveat in that plan, they already planned an event for August at which time they are planning to launch commission-able products. However people who are already members for a couple months may not be able to participate because the company will still be rolling out the initial enrollment process. At the same time people will have paid into the power-up and monthy ripple rewards program yet won’t have all of their network enrolled and able to participate. If this happens I predict that the Rippln corporate team will have far greater social media issues than the Chris Voss Show posts. It is sad because the concept of rewarding individuals for bringing value to social media is long overdue, I just don’t believe the Rippln offering is the solution. Time may prove me wrong.
I smell…….. SCAM! Thanks for the detailed info Chris, just glad I didn’t sign up and share with my friends and influencers 🙂
I’ve just been called on my mobile phone at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon by Ripplin. Very suspicious! What type of professional company conducts business like this???
When I mentioned a pyramid scheme and asked about a launch date I never actually got an answer to my question.
I’ve unsubscribed twice (turns out I did leave them my details, damn!) and now been phoned by some dodgy Ripplin rep from his mobile phone. I could literally visualise a pyramid being built in front of my face.
If you don’t think Ripplin is a scam/pyramid scheme, then by all means sign up and see what happens – Don’t say you haven’t been warned!
Yep.
What if you have a project you want to promote? It’s a great network idea for that. I don’t know what they’re complaining about when it’s basically using the same marketing strategy since the dawn of any kind of exchange there ever was….EVER. That’s why it sounds familiar. I can’t remember what that ticker program was called, but I appreciated the gas money for doing little more than the old SETI screensaver. Sheesh..what a droopy guy.
Hard to tell what comes from Rippln and what comes from the network of people who are Rippln members – there is no shortage of people passing themselves off as Rippln. Note: I am a member and I ham having challenges working out what is from them directly.
Thanks for posting this – a good job of investigative journalism. I have been sending it to people who keep sending me breathless invites. This is not a social network, it is clearly network MLM. If it is so great, why don’t the launch the content or platform THEN start attracting players? Why the heavy emphasis on recruiting?
Chris, I see you have no new Rippln scam posts for several months. My opinion of this is, you have finally “learned what Rippln is” and now are starting to understand what this company is doing.
Your bogus scam claims from April and May 2013 were unjustified and showed your complete lack of investigation into a ‘private company’, at that time. You have mislead your followers into thinking negatively of Rippln and for this you should be ashamed. However, for your followers who believed your comments, without doing their own research, they are the true losers here.
I hope you will will think twice before attacking a company, in the future, without doing your homework first!
Thank You, Mike Roberts
MIke, we dont make it our business to follow these things with posts. We’re a tech news and opinion site. Rippln made outrageous hyped claims and still does. We said our piece. Its latest dealings still earn my mistrust and its claims are silly. Clearly they have struggled for over 6 months to get a legitimate business operation going. Show me checks of people making any money or the enormous amounts of money they claim people would be making by now? The App they have will likely be suspended by Apple in a matter of time. Its an app they bought off a 3rd party developer. Rippln has never told people exactly how much they will make exactly. No integritable business operates this way. I think thats pretty clear now. Any moron can look at how long and desparate its taken them to get anything going and realize the BS. This was recently sent to me by a reader. I’ll let you research it: “They’ve been taking people’s money for some time now, with no payment to anyone, though the 31st was supposed to be the first loyalty payment. (Some people claim payment for e-factor coaching sales, but I cannot say for sure.) They still haven’t released the communicator app. It’s been promised “in 30 days” since April, with various excuses, so in order to mollify, they borrowed a failed app from a buddy of Budd’s and are calling it their own.
The app, Photo Guessaroo is a clone of Photo Zoom, a photo guessing game, which is one of many in a crowded category designed to generate in-app purchases by making gameplay difficult otherwise.
I have no idea how it got approved for U.S. release on the merits of the app alone, nevermind its association with Rippln. It was published by Surya Rising II, a shell company of one James Radina, which goes back to a UPS store box in Encinitas, CA. If you click on the support link, which is supposed to take you to the developer’s support page, you wind up on app.photoguessaroo.com, which has no support or contact information.
Apple’s guidelines prohibit many of the things Rippln claims to be doing with the app, including sending information to rippln’s servers and tracking user’s purchases, so I have no doubt once a few people complain that the app will be removed from the store” Sound legitimate to you? I think not.
I should also add I’ve seen Rippln’s new hype video and its just silly anyone would believe that but thats why someone famously said “theres a sucker born every minute.” Like I say to everyone – dont argue with me unless you can show me checks and the real money being earned by average users who are getting rich according to their claims. Until then I’m right until proven wrong by that.
Mr, Roberts, is it not true you have a vested interest in promoting the idea that rippln is a legitimate company? Are you not one of their top players?
Therefore anything you say is more likely to be promotion than an honest opinion.
Mr. Voss’s concerns are entirely appropriate. If anything he reported were in any way untrue, a legitimate business would have filed a lawsuit to protect their brand.
This is really interesting information. I only stumbled here because the company that I’m following Ripple is suing Rippln for trademark infringement and I wanted a little more information about what was going on.
Looks like another scammy secretive (offshore) company bought Rippln – get ready if you signed up to get bombarded with spam from them. http://behindmlm.com/companies/rippln/rippln-sold-off-to-insider21-investment-group/