“Help me, Obi-Wan Consumerist. You’re my only hope.”

That’s the opening cry of J Rob’s letter to us. He thinks his friend and wife are involved in a multi-level marketing scam aka pyramid scheme.

The company contends that you can add bio pills to your gas tank to increase fuel efficiency.

Searching for the company “+bioperformance +scam” we came across this discussion on Quatloos! where a biopill defender tries to push the pill and gets totally owned in the forums.

Help Rob and his wife decide, after the jump…

J Rob writes:

“Seriously, any assistance you can provide would be most appreciated. First allow me to hit you with some backgroud, and then my request.

My wife is a regular purchaser of cleaning products and vitamins from a mail-order company called Melaleuca. She signed up to be a part of this during a “party” at a friend’s house and we enjoy using their products. We’ve been ordering Melaleuca for about a year now with no problems to speak of.

A few days ago, I was handed a business card from a friend of mine claiming 25% savings at any gas pump
for any vehicle, anytime. I visited the website (www.sheltonfuel.com), and immediately began to get creeped out. It turns out my friend is involved in a MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) scheme for “BioPerformance,” a company selling pills and powders to improve the gas mileage of a vehicle. A simple Google of “bioperformance scam” shows tons of sites boasting improved fuel efficiency all from popping the pill, and a few comment threads
from reasonable-sounding folks urging readers to stay far away from warranty-busting fuel additives and especially from MLM schemes. Following the trail, I ended up reading about someone involved in Amway for
10 years who kept searching for the illusive “money for nothing” secret success formula and ended up broke
and forsaken by “the system.”

Here’s my deal: I know there ought to be some way to convince my friend that being involved in the gas pill
deal is bad news. And I’d like to check on Melaleuca to see just how dirty their little secrets are. If they’re half as bad as the Amway tale I read, I’m going to need more than anecdotal evidence to persuade my wife that they don’t need any more of our money.

Thanks for the help.

J Rob”

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