mrc@panda.UUCP (Mike R. Connell) (01/23/86)
A few weeks ago I posted a query regarding the A.L. Williams Insurance Co. Below I have quoted from the many responses I received. Thank you to all who took the time to give me some help. All in all it appears that my original fears of ALW being a possible Amway-type scam operation were disappointingly true. Some response excerpts: From Beth Katz Dept. of Computer Science - Univ. of MD: >A.L. Williams is one of the companies in which you recruit your >friends if you want to make it big. My >experience is through my father. He joined and passed all the >exams for selling investments, but he isn't big on recruiting >friends. He also saw that they weren't selling the best stuff. >Join at your own risk. >From Bill Stewart, AT&T Bell Labs 2G-202, Holmdel NJ >- they're basically another AMWAY-clone; they'll sell >you life insurance that's not a bad deal compared to traditional whole >life policy, but traditional whole life policies are such a scam anyway >that you about break even. >> Guess who? After being assured the this was not an >>"Amway" type pitch (it wasn't), I let them in. ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ >Well, it was (my brother-in-law went for them for a while). They're >a bit better behaved than most Amway or other pyramid outfits, and more >into "training classes" than "rallies", but eventually they get to the >point: >>The second part of the spiel was to invite me >>to become a part time agent for them and make >>skads of extra cash. >The way you make skads of extra cash working for them is *not* to sell >insurance, though this generates some cashflow; it's by getting *other >suckers* to join the pyramid and sell A.L.Williams. >Another point that's commonly true with Amway, and presumably with ALW, >is that to make big bucks you have to do a lot of work; it's not a >free lunch. Some of the work is raking off the people below you, but most ^^^^ ^^^^^ I guess this is the real bottom line. >of it is real work. >>What A.L. Williams is is a company built on the "buy term and invest the >>difference" philosophy. Basically they take your whole life premium, >>spend half on term for you (ususally with mor coverage) and invest >>the balance in some venture (mostly mutual funds). >Look at the math more closely, and at the assumptions behind it. >Remember that term insurance has the property of "cheap when you're >young, expensive when you're old" - are they using a term insurance >price that adequately reflects the average (amortized) cost of term >insurance when you get to be 50 or 60, or are they using a cost that's >nice and low because you're (presumably?) younger? >ALW has the reputation of being a little better than most of the >Amway-clones out there, but the whole setup is still pretty slimy. >From Wayne Thompson: >It doesn't sound out of place. I used to sell insurance(term). >But if you have friends and want to keep them, don't sell life insurance. >From Steve Aldrich (ihnp4!ihlpa!amra): >Regarding A.L. Williams insurance, my advice is RUN LIKE HELL AND DON'T >LOOK BACK! I had a similiar experience, and just for laughs I accepted >an appointment with a representative from the company. It's basicaly a >pyramid-like operation, much like tupperware, Amway, Avon, etc.... >According to a friend who works in the insurance industry, these people >are to be avoided. They also tend to overstate the possible return on the >"investment" portion of the scam. >Also the Better Business Bureau had some info on this operation. They advised >caution in dealing with this company for many reasons. Fropm ejc: >I heard that they were under investigation. They also >tend to operate like amway....get you involved then ask >you to get really involved... >From Tom Hill: >My advice is to watch out. Insurance is a very tricky thing. My Dad is >an insurance agent with Aetna and I have picked up a few things over the >years. It would be impossible to go into a lot of detail so my suggestion >would be to talk to various other insurance agents and see what they say. >From Rick Janka ..!ihnp4!abcom!cnmsrkj >Check their price/coverage for their term and compare with others; they >may be high (though I have never even head of a.l. Williams). I'm sure >they're selling load mutual funds, though, which typically take 8.5% off >the top as commission. You'd probably come out ahead by finding a plain >vanilla term policy (IEEE has good rates, or check the business section of >any major city's Sunday paper) and putting the rest in no-load mutual funds. >I also would advise against the universal life policies. They seem to be >based on a very long term view, and it is my basic premise that anyone who >wants to invest "long term" (meaning in one vehicle for a long period of >time) is going to get creamed; I do not believe our economy will remain >stable for the next 20-30 years. One can do better in a simple family of >no-load mutual funds that permit one to pull out or switch between funds in >the family with a simple phone call. >From Marie Kramer Bellcore!pyuxc!mdk: >Beware of A. L. Williams... the company sells most of it's insurance >through part time agents... One of the requirements of becoming one >of their part time agents is to give them the names of 3 friends or >relatives who would be willing to listen to a presentation to help you - >the part time agent get certified - to become one of their agents. >Our friend used us as a reference to become a part time agent. His >quote "manager" gave us the presentation and said that he wanted us to >understand what our friend will be doing. After doing this to several of >his friends our friend was finally certified.... He never earned a cent... >After a couple of months he gave up trying. >I Repeat Beware.......... Once again, thank you all very much. The evidence indicates that ALW proves several old saws--- "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't" and "There's a sucker born every minute". "See you in the funny papers" MRC