Lies by omission.... It's still a thing apparently

The decline of one of the largest and most respected companies in the world is written on the wall, nay, it is carved in stone for all eternity.

I remember the smell and feel of the perfumes, bubble baths, lotions and creams of Avon.  They still have one of the most recognized beauty lines in the world.  Their independent sales reps were some of the most coveted of friends.  If you had an Avon Lady, you were set.  You had all your beauty needs at your finger tips.  

Who doesn't remember grabbing an Avon campaign booklet and circling everything you wanted and just waiting and hovering by your door or phone for her to call and take your order or telling you she would be by tomorrow with your delivery?

These women worked.  They worked HARD.  Cultivating customer relationships and later, forming a "team" that they could send amongst the masses to introduce and sell this amazing and ever growing line of products to.  The harder you work, the more time you invest, the more rewards you reap.  That's business.  You could take pride in how hard you worked and that gained you an even more coveted spot on the list.

In the United States (not sure about other countries at the moment), Avon gives their reps and individual website and all the materials and information to do all this from home.  There are women who never sell face to face.  They can strategically place those little books and flyers everywhere with their website address and e-mail address on a sticker on the back and people can grab the book, go online, order, pay and it's delivered right to their front door without ever seeing their rep face to face or talking on the phone.  This is the way society is now.  All digital, all the time and we seem to not only like it, we thrive on it. 

Avon Canada promotes all these New and exciting opportunities for advertising your home business online.  Blast it on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, blogs.  Make yourself known, set out those campaign booklets (50 cents to $1.35 each, gotta spend money to make money).  Cultivate customer relationships, send email brochures, sell yourself and the Avon brand.

For someone like me, who LOVES being online and has Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and a Blog, this was a dream.  I could do what I love and make a few dollars to buy the Avon products I know and love.  Sounds great right?  

I spent 2 days researching on the internet.  Watching youtube videos, reading articles and blogs, making sure that this was something I was willing to put my time and effort into.  Surprisingly, I found very little in any of these places about Avon Canada.  Avon in the US is EVERYWHERE.  Websites, blogs, videos, every ounce of social media you can imagine.  I learned that Avon Canada, Avon US, and Avon Puerto Rico are all owned by the same Corporate company. (apparently, other countries around the world are under the Avon banner, but owned by separate entities)  I thought THIS IS AWESOME.  I may be able to hit this running on an entire continent.  I know folks.  If they don't want to jump on as a rep on my team, I'll make em a customer.  Few bucks here and a few there.  It all adds up.

My first red flag was when I send an email to corporate Avon Canada asking about continental reach for customers and team building and 3 days later, NO RESPONSE.  Hmmm, interesting.  I'm thinking, maybe it got lost in the shuffle, so I made a couple phone calls to Avon Canada reps here in Montreal and ask my questions.  Quite a bit of confusion.  No one could answer my questions.  Hmmm, interesting.  The next step was to go on the Avon Canada Facebook page and request a rep from either corporate or with knowledge of the company to please pm me, I had questions.  I made it clear that I didn't want or need a sales pitch, I'd done the research and I'd like a few answers to help with my final decision.

Half an hour later I get a pm on Facebook from a sweet and kind young lady in British Columbia. ( I thought this was odd, considering I'm in Quebec, but oh well, she speaks English, awesome)  Through my messaging conversation with her, I learned that Avon Canada is ONLY for Canada, you can't sell to or recruit anyone outside Canada.  I mentioned, that it was alright, I know quite a few stay at home moms here in Montreal and through FB, Twitter, my knit and crochet groups I knew quite a few people.  This could still work.  She touted all the wonderful things social media had done for all the Avon Canada reps across the country.

After another couple hours of reading and searching, I decided to do this.  Great opportunity and no money up front.  (Some kind of join free promotion)  Since I was the only one that could answer my questions I gave her a call and did what needed to be done to become an Avon Canada Rep.  I was EXCITED!! Looking forward to blasting all of social media with product lines and promotions and sales and all the fun stuff I love to do on a daily basis.  Blogging and maybe doing short videos about how great it is to be a member of an amazing company by women and for women.

Then.... it began to creep in.  All the things that were omitted not said and skirted around.  AND the real reason you don't find much online about Avon Canada.  I can't and won't say that it's a flat out LIE.  It's a lie by omission.

I created an email address, twitter handle, Pinterest board, FB page, yeah, I ran it all.  Went onto the Avon.ca website, logged into my account and placed an order for a starter kit, samples, books, all of it.  Everything I would need to get this thing up and running full force.  I messaged my leader because I couldn't find the link or any information on the website for a web address to give to customers or place on a sticker on a flyer/book/card that would direct a customer or potential team member to MY site for sales or information.  That's when everything I had been told began to unravel.

I could cut and paste the conversation here for all to read and trust me it's a good read.  Many attempts to skirt the issues, claims that this or that was said, cut and paste of the previous conversation (so there was no doubt as to what was said).  I'll shorten this post by simple bullet points.

• YOU WON'T GET A SITE, you have to have your customers go to Avon.ca and register as a new customer.  
• You can have a personalized web address through a company called Intravon.ca for $26 a year
• All Intravon is is a ROUTING page, no HTML no graphics, just your name and a SHOP NOW button that sends the customer to the Avon.ca website where they have to register
• NONE of YOUR information is included in that routing, during registration the customer has to click a little radio button saying that they know a rep.  If they happen to find that button during registration they have to fill in your information themselves.
• If the customer happens to not see that little button, they are assigned a random rep in the area. (YES, you read right, they miss a tiny button on the page and someone else gets the customer that YOU cultivated and spent money on materials for)
• Customers CAN NOT pay for their orders on the site.  No Interac, no credit cards, nothing.  They order and you get an email to approve, finalize and submit the order.
• Everything is shipped to YOU.  There is no option for direct shipping to the customer's home/office or other destination.
• YOU have to go hunt down the customer, collect the money and when ready, hand deliver the product.

After I find this out, I ask about the huge push on social media.  If I cultivate a customer on social media that lives in another province across the country, what do I do if they actually manage to find the little button and use me as their rep?

Why the answer is simple.  I have to CALL the customer and have them transfer the money to me by Paypal, Interac etransfer or some other method.  Finalize and submit the order with Avon.ca.  Once the order comes in, I have to repackage it, take it to Canada Post and ship it to the customer.  All fees for this come out of MY pocket.

So, in a nutshell, Avon Canada really is the Avon you remember from your mother and grandmother. They're about 10 years behind in technology, distribution, and information.  The ONLY way you can ensure that you're getting your customers and team members is to hoof it door to door like they did 25+ years ago.  Only in your neighborhood with your friends and your family.  The only person making any money in this company by women/for women is Avon Canada.

I looked up the libel laws in Canada and for any entity to come after me for posting this, they have to prove that it's an exaggeration or lie.  Yeah, that's not gonna happen.  There's documentation.  They would have to completely revamp their entire business model and back date it to yesterday.  I'll gladly take a libel hit if that happens because it would mean a world of difference to literally MILLIONS of women in Canada.  (oh yeah, there WILL be a video of this on you tube also)

So, yes Virginia, there is a reason you don't find much information on Avon Canada on the internet.