What's Melaleuca?

[sandellie4]

This was mentioned on the thread about cleaning, but when I went to the website I couldn't quite tell. Is it a place to find "green" cleaners, great cleaners, inexpensive cleaners? I need some new cleaning supplies!

 

Sandy

[Guest]

I thought the reps sold vitamins?

[Chelle in MO]

It's a multi-level marketing company that sells supplements and cleaning products, but I don't know any more than that.

 

Chelle

[Confuzzled]

It's multi-level marketing. Like Amway. They do sell some cleaning products. They've been the center of some controversy for several years. You're likely to get some PM's from reps willing to sell you some and also interested in recruiting you.

[3lilreds in NC]

Melaleuca sells lots of stuff. They have excellent vitamins and supplements. They also have hair & body care products, a full line of cosmetics, laundry & cleaning supplies, kids' toothpaste and body & hair wash and basic meds like acetaminophen, and basic first-aid type stuff for adults too; ibuprofen and acetaminophen, bandaids, toothpaste, cortisone cream, etc.

 

They have excellent cleaning products! I have used their stuff for a few years now and I like it. "Tough and Tender," their all-purpose cleaner, is great at removing cat snot. :D It works well on other things too. I like their laundry stuff a lot. Their Pre-Spot laundry stain pretreater is fabulous.

 

The only problem I have with Melaleuca is the monthly purchasing commitment. You pay to join, and then get the products at a discount (like Shaklee, etc.) but you have to agree to purchase so many "points" worth of products per month. If you take the vitamins, you would have no problem meeting the monthly requirement. I did order the vitamins for several months, but when I was pregnant I could not stand to swallow so many pills, so I had to stop taking them. When I wasn't ordering the vitamins, I had to order a ton of cleaning products to order enough points, and I'm still using them up a year later.

 

They are set up to be a home-based business like lots of other companies. They like it if you sell their stuff. I do like the products, but I am not sure I will re-sign up because of the monthly purchasing commitment. You can, actually, buy the products at full price without joining, but the products are a lot more expensive that way.

 

ETA: What has worked really well for me is to order stuff when someone else orders who is already a member. I have several friends who like the stuff but don't want to order so much stuff, so I get to tag along when I need something and just reimburse them.

[OnTheBrink]

It's multi-level marketing. Like Amway. They do sell some cleaning products. They've been the center of some controversy for several years. You're likely to get some PM's from reps willing to sell you some and also interested in recruiting you.

 

 

Wow, this just seems so negative. What controversy?

 

And, as far as people trying to "recruit" others, no one "recruited" me at all, and I am not in it for the business, so I have no need to "recruit" anyone else.

 

For anyone who's interested, Melaleuca is a health and wellness company that sells vitamins and supplements, cleaning products, a line of Nicole Miller cosmetics, candles and diet products. I'd compare it more to Shaklee than Amway, IMO.

[clwcain]

Consumer-direct sales, yes. MLM, no.

 

SolaMichella has the best nutshell summary.

 

You can buy directly from the company, without the monthly commitment, but you'll pay higher prices. Otherwise, you buy directly from the company and pay a preferred price in exchange for agreeing to buy a nominal minimum amount of product every month.

 

The reps don't sell anything.

 

We've been happy customers for several years now.

 

I'm curious to know what controversy you've heard about. I only know of one, several years ago, and it involved folks who were misrepresenting Melaleuca having their relationship with the company terminated.

 

I'm happy to entertain questions should anyone have them.

[Confuzzled]

I was trying not to be inflammatory with my response. Anyone who wants more info can just google it and find out what they want to know. I really don't want to start a debate here.

 

Kris

[OnTheBrink]

I was trying not to be inflammatory with my response. Anyone who wants more info can just google it and find out what they want to know. I really don't want to start a debate here.

 

Kris

 

Too late! :lol:

[angela in ohio]

You're likely to get some PM's from reps willing to sell you some and also interested in recruiting you.

 

LOL! :lol:

[Sara in AZ]

I used Melaleuca for about a year. At first I was pressured to sell to my friends. I loved the products, especially the laundry detergent. But I hated the monthly committment, so we've quit since.

[gardening momma]

The reps don't sell anything.

They can if they want to. It reduces the amount of product they have to buy themselves to meet their monthly commitment.

 

My parents have been members/reps/whatever you call it for many years now. Lets see...I think it was when I was in Jr. High that they started...gee, a couple decades???:ohmy:

 

My mom mostly uses the cleaning products. My favorite is the Melalueca Oil that comes in a little jar. It's the pure oil. It was the only thing that worked for me on acne (I always reacted to stuff like Clearsil). It's also great for first aid--cuts, burns, etc...

[Rhonda in TX]

I couldn't keep up with the monthly minimum order so I quit. I love their fragrance-free detergent. It's the only thing I can use that completely keeps DD's eczema under control. DH loves their shaving cream.

 

My former "upline" is incredibly successful with the company. I never sold to anybody else or tried to get anyone else to sign up. It probably would have worked out better if I had. :)

 

I had read that it could be difficult to quit, but I had absolutely no problem. I just sent them a letter and "poof" I was gone. I just wish I had stocked up on more detergent before I quit.

[Peri]

I once bought their products and I wasn't too pleased. If you look at the list of ingredients for the shampoos, you'll see an ingredient listed called sodium laureth sulfate. This is what the "natural" cleansing companies call an SLS. There are some that say it isn't a toxin, mainly those that don't make non toxic stuff, and those that say it is a toxin. I for one do believe it is a toxin. I also believe it is a harsh cleanser and is not even needed for cleaning properly. This is why I chose to stop using them. I have started using my own homemade cleansers and you wouldn't believe the money you save.

 

For cleaning glass I use straight vinager. The smell goes away the minute it dries.

 

For a general cleaner I use vinager with a couple of drops of castile soap.

 

For scouring sinks and toilets I use baking soda and then rinse with vinager.

 

Why so much vinager? It is a very good cleanser ... it kills 99% germs.

 

My skin isn't as irritated as it used to be from being so dried out from all the other cleansers I used.

[Paintedlady]

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/resolve.asp

 

I remember this from another message board I used to be a part of of.

[teachermom2834]

I've looked at the website before because I might be interested in some of the products. I see the products and the prices but I don't see anywhere that explains how to sign up or what the monthly commitment is or anything. Is this something you have to get signed up through someone else or you have to become a rep or something?

 

Marie

[HollyDay]

We used to be members a few years ago. I used their Men's Vitamins because there Women's Vitamins had too much iron in it for me. But, their Men's Vitamins have way too much copper in them for me. My copper levels got way too high and started causing some problems. My nutritionist explained that men under stress need the extra copper, but women process copper differently and dont need nearly as much.

 

Without the points from the vitamins, I couldnt meet my monthly required points total. So, we had to drop it. I did like their cleaning and laundry products. Their candles smell wonderful! Some of their personal products were good too - not stellar, but good.

[*anj*]

I was involved with them for about two years, but I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. I'll just say that I find some of their recruitment methods to be ethically questionable.

 

Some of their products work quite well, others are just okay. I am still using their laundry detergent and stain remover (both of which I like) and will continue to do so for at least another six months because I have several more bottles in my basement. It is true that they are similar to Shaklee in a number of ways, but I prefer Shaklee because you can't beat Basic H as a versatile concentrate, their vitamins are of the highest quality, I have never been disappointed in any of their products, plus their business ethics are above reproach.

 

I think that any company of this sort has its good eggs and bad. Individuals can present themselves however they like. My experience may not be typical, but it is what really happened in my case. I can't lay all blame at the feet of the people who roped me into it. I do take responsibility for my own gullibility and lack of research. Still, I believe that I was taken advantage of and then the corporate "line" was (IMO) unethical.

[OnTheBrink]

The people I signed up under didn't pressure me at all. In fact, I asked them about Melaleuca and they answered my questions and left it at that. I approached them to sign up. There are 3 families at my church who are reps and you'd never know it unless you asked them about it.

 

I guess there are pushy people in every business. I feel bad for those who've had bad experiences. I love their products.

[OnTheBrink]

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/resolve.asp

 

I remember this from another message board I used to be a part of of.

 

Is this the controversy that was referred to before?

 

ONE representative creating a false scenario doesn't make the entire company bad. I didn't see anywhere that Melaleuca condoned that one person's behavior nor did I see that Melaleuca itself was contacted; just the one rep who wrote the email.

 

(I'm not picking on you--just responding to the snopes thing)

[StaceyinLA]

who is a rep. We just basically formed a co-op of sorts to buy the products. She maintains the membership, and we committed to spend "X" each month to purchase products. I cannot live without their laundry detergent. A bottle lasts me 6 weeks doing 2 batches of laundry each day - minimum.

 

I LOVE their tub and tile and their no-work for the bathroom, and I LOVE the tough and tender cleaner. In fact, I use all of their cleaning products and have been nothing but satisfied.

 

I do not buy supplements (we use Frontier for that), and I get my makeup from Arbonne, but Melaleuca is wonderful for my cleaners!!

[3lilreds in NC]

The people I signed up under didn't pressure me at all. In fact, I asked them about Melaleuca and they answered my questions and left it at that. I approached them to sign up. There are 3 families at my church who are reps and you'd never know it unless you asked them about it.

 

I guess there are pushy people in every business. I feel bad for those who've had bad experiences. I love their products.

 

I agree. The first people I signed up with were very pushy, and if I had to deal with them very often I would have run screaming. Actually, it was just the mother. The daughter is very nice and we are sort of friends-through-friends.

 

My other friend who signed me up for my second go is wonderful. She's passionate about the products and is working her business, but she is not pushy, and she let me cancel without any argument. She let me know I had 6 months to renew without paying the registration fee again, and let it go at that. Unfortunately I am still using up all the products I bought so I'm not ready to get more, even a year later!

 

I like their Tough & Tender, and Tub & Tile is the best bathroom cleaner I've found. The No-Work shower stuff doesn't work so well with my water. The laundry stuff is excellent. I do like Shaklee, and LOVE Basic H - I appreciate only needing one cleaner as opposed to the several products Melaleuca sells. Also their Scour-Off paste is fabulous.

 

However, in the name of not paying shipping costs, in the future I will probably go with Method cleaners or make my own. Good thing I seem to have nearly a lifetime supply between Shaklee and Melaleuca. :lol: