TVI Express: 8 facts you need to know before you join

TVI Express claims to be a "travel industry opportunity", that is now 1 year old, with over 600000 members worldwide. You buy into this opportunity for $250 (or $275), recruit two others to do the same, then sit back and wait for $10000 (or $10250, or $15000...) to roll in. Is it too good to be true? Here are 8 verified facts you need to know before you join up. I provided the links so you can check for yourself.

FACT #1 -- TVI Express claims to be based in London, England, but is not.

On TVI Express's "about us" webpage, it proudly claims it is based in London, UK.

"Travel Ventures International is a leading multinational conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom."
--http://www.tviexpress.com/aboutus.php

Yet on the bottom of that very page, the address listed is in Cyprus, which is a little island off Greece. (Keep in mind that TVI Express used to list an UK address until end of 2009.)  Even today, it is using a London UK phone number (country code 44).



What's more, if you search in UKData.com, where every single company in UK is required to register by law, you will NOT find "TVI Express" or "Travel Ventures" or anything of that sort. Go search for it yourself.

And finally, at the bottom of their "Terms of Use", it says very clearly:

"All disputes are governed by Cyprus and Indian Laws".
--http://www.tviexpress.com/termsofuse.php

That pretty much proves that it is a company based in Cyprus, and India, but NOT UK.

What's more, at least three other companies share the same exact address in Cyprus:

• FxCompany, a Forex trader -- http://www.fxcompany.net/contacts/
• AceKing.com, an online casino -- https://www.aceking.com/site/?FormLang=eng&About
• BCAT, a writing / web design firm -- https://bcatservices.com/contact

It is clear that this "office" is but a legal pretense, as there is no real person there for you to visit. So where is TVI Express really located, if not in London UK or Cyprus? The only choice that remains is India.

The big question: Why would a company that is really based in India claim to be headquartered in UK, and use a London area number?


FACT #2: TVI Express claims to give you 7-day 6-night accommodations at a 5-star hotel, and "return plane tickets" for your initial $250 fee. However, it is NOT what you think it is, and it's been since downgraded.

One of the biggest draws of TVI Express is you get 7-day 6-night accommodations at a 5-star hotel, and return plane tickets for that $250 you pay initially. In fact, here's a recruiter's site that says so:

-- linked from http://www.tviexpressinfo.com

If you think this is just a fluke, that some TVI Express recruiter invented this, here's another mention of this:

"$275 One-Time Membership fee includes a FREE 7 day 6 night vacation package for 2."

And if you do a Google search you'll find many many more.

However, TVI Express itself has downgraded its own claims. Scroll to the bottom of its homepage, and you'll see that it now says

• 6 Nights/7 Days Vacation in a 3-5 Star Property *
• Free flight ticket offer*

Yet please note that this is exactly the same font and layout and picture used in the recruiter site above. So, who's lying?

Those who have actually joined reported that all you got is an e-certificate e-mailed to you that contains a redemption code. On it, I quote:

"This certificate is valid for a registration validation form offering 6nights and 7days accommodations for two, in a three to five star property across the globe."

So it's not necessarily a 5-star property, but anywhere between a 3-star and a 5-star. And there is no mention of the return plane ticket. What's more, TVI Express's own announcement (click on "Booking Status Update") states that 11 5-star properties are now available to visit. What the announcement did not say, but is obviously from reading the list itself: they are ALL IN INDIA.

What's more, the announcement also says that "hundreds" have enjoyed these properties. With 600000 alleged members, and only hundreds have enjoyed these properties. Hmm... It's clear that this 7-day 6-night thing is clearly NOT what you think it is.

The big question: If TVI Express can "shrink" its own promise retroactively, what else can they do to you later? And will they EVER open a 5-star property for booking in YOUR area?


FACT #3: TVI Express has NO background to look up, and we know NOTHING about its management team

If you use Google news search, and use keywords TVI EXPRESS NEWS, you will find only two results, as of 21-FEB-2010

The first link is a press release, which is worthless, as those are not checked for accuracy.

The second link is a newspaper called "The Voice" in Botswana denouncing TVI Express as scam.

In other words, TVI Express is NOT covered by ANY sort of mainstream media at all. If you type in AMWAY NEWS or some other real MLM company, you'll get a lot of results. (AMWAY results are inflated due to they buying naming rights of stadiums and such, but there are legit news out there)

Let's switch to timeline search... when did TVI EXPRESS started to appear on the Internet?

There is one link of 1952, which is a fluke, as there's no Internet back in 1952. There's one claim of April 2008, though most claims February of 2009 is when TVI Express came to life. The fact that TVI Express's own website claims a 1-year anniversary would seem to indicate that the April 2008 date is bogus as well. So we can agree that TVI Express is about 1 year old, right?

When you combine the two... you reach the conclusion that there is NOT a single legitimate news source, not a SINGLE major newspaper in the entire world indexed by Google, in the myriad of languages,  wrote a single story on TVI Express, during this entire year, except one newspaper giving an editorial on how TVI Express is a scam.

What's more, there is absolutely no hint ANYWHERE about who is running TVI Express. When you invest in a brand new company that is barely months old, you'd want to know who is running it, does s/he have a good track record of running profitable companies, and so on. And there's nothing, absolutely nothing about TVI Express's management team on their website. No name, no picture, no nationality, not even the number of officers they have in the company.

Even the website itself, TVIExpress.com, have domain privacy turned on, so it shows no information on who owns the domain. The domain IS registered in the US, and website hosted in the great state of Texas, which is rather strange for a company allegedly based in UK.

The big question: if you buy into this opportunity, just to WHO are you handing your money?


FACT #4: TVI Express claims to be a business opportunity. It refers to members as "distributors". But in its own FAQ, it states clearly "you don't need to sell anything".

"This [TVI Express] is a real opportunity and a real Business company with REAL PEOPLE WORLDWIDE making fantastic monthly incomes that will come to them month-after-month, year-after-year."

-- cited from http://www.tviexpress.com (look near the bottom)

 

-- linked from http://www.tviexpress.com

3. Do I need to sell any products?

No. You don’t need to sell any products.

-- cited from http://www.tviexpress.com/faq.php#2

The big question: So if you don't sell any products, but you are a distributor, what exactly are you distributing? And what do you get for distributing it? 

NOTE: Some TVI Express recruiters have switched tacts and instead claim that TVI Express is a giant "travel club" that you buy in with a one-time fee of $250. Ask them WHY does the TVI Express website says the members are distributors, and what are they distributing?  (besides the opportunity itself, which is recruiting?)

FACT #5: TVI Express uses "a revolving matrix" as a part of its compensation package, which looks exactly like the "airplane game" or "8-ball scam" variation of the pyramid scheme

It is easier to illustrate the 8-ball scam or the airplane game with a picture from Wikipedia: 

Let's say you are the blue dot. You need to recruit enough people to fill the red dots (well, you recruit the "co-pilots", and they can recruit the crew, who then recruit the passengers, just two each...), and you get paid and get out of the game, by taking money from all the people who have already paid. Got that? 

So what does the TVI Express "matrix" look like? Here's a picture from a recruiter website:

-- linked from http://www.tviexpresstravel.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/board-capture.jpg

The 1-2-4-8 structure is unmistakable. The "leader" gets paid when he filled all the positions below him, and he can only fill the position by recruiting more people.

What's more, you need to go through TWO of these boards: a traveler board, and an express board, to score your big pay out: $10000.

The big question: Why is TVI Express NOT a pyramid scheme? Can any one actually prove that the money from the latercomers (i.e. people "under" you, the downlines) are NOT being used to pay your big payoff?


FACT #6: TVI Express is all about recruiting, which makes it a pyramid scheme, according to the FTC

The FTC is the US Federal Trade Commission, who oversees any sort of marketing fraud. Even Amway was forced by the FTC to revise its business model, and FTC has since gone after scammers like Fortuna Alliance and many others. In fact, 2009 is one of the busiest, when FTC and various states shut down dozens of Ponzi and pyramid schemes.

So what does this have to do with TVI Express?

... they [pyramid schemes] all share one overriding characteristic. They promise consumers or investors large profits based primarily on recruiting others to join their program, not based on profits from any real investment or real sale of goods to the public.
-- http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/other/dvimf16.shtm

So how do you get paid in TVI Express? They claim 4 ways: revolving matrix, residual income, power pool, and incentives.

Revolving Matrix: cycle out of traveler's board (see above), and you get $250 and eVoucher (worth $250?), and you move onto the express board (also see above). Cycle out of the express board, and you get $10000. (NOTE: the money you get, the $250 and $10000 appear in your "eWallet", which cannot be used unless you spend fees to "convert" them to some other payment methods, which is another problem in itself)

Residual income: no details, other than you SOMEHOW get a share of your downline's sales commission. Here's direct quote from their FAQ

7. What is Residual Income? How is it different from Board payouts?
Residual Income ensures that you earn money on every sale in your organization enabling you to earn thousands of dollars with growth of your network. It is different from the Board payouts and gets activated as soon as you cycle out of the Express (2nd) board. With growth of your network, not only you will cycle in boards and earn payouts but will also earn a certain percentage of amount on every person joining your worldwide team. The Compensation plan has been designed keeping in mind the long term growth opportunities, with fast income at every step.

--http://www.tviexpress.com/faq.php#6

Please note that there are NO numbers actually given, just vague weasel words like "certain percentage".

In a later FAQ, some numbers are given

14. What are the different ranks and percentage commissions involved with them?
When you join the company, you join at an Associate level and become a Silver Associate as soon as you hit the Express board. Following is the percentage commission structure involved with different ranks : Gold : 5% of Group Sales Diamond : 7% of Group Sales International Diamond : 8.5% of Group Sales Platinum Associate : 10% of Group Sales Presidential Associate : 10% of Group Sales with a share in the Company’s Global revenue by participating in the Power Pool.
--http://www.tviexpress.com/faq.php#13

Power Pool: only the "presidential associates" get a share of the "global revenue", but even that is not defined.

Incentives: no rules are given as to HOW to qualify for those incentives. You're only told that they exist (supposedly).

As the only solid figure is given for recruiting, you can sure that TVI Express emphasizes recruiting over sales. Even their own FAQ states so, and that is a sign of pyramid scam. according to the FTC.

The big question: why does TVI Express so emphasizes recruiting and its bonus (that $10000 payoff) and specifies that no sales is needed? Where does it make its money, other than new members?


FACT #7: TVI Express sounds like a combination of two scams: YTBI, and Fortuna Alliance

YTBI, or Your Travel Biz, is an opportunity that you can buy in, to establish a travel shopping website from which you can sell plane tickets, hotels, cruises, and so on. They were sued by the California Attorney General as a pyramid scam, because members are encouraged to recruit, not actually sell any products or services. 

Fortuna Alliance was sued by the FTC as a pyramid scam back in the 1990's. It costs exactly $250 to join, and one can join multiple times. (just like TVI Express)  Again, members are encouraged to recruit, not actually sell any products or services.

The big question: why does TVI Express sounds so much like those two proven-to-be-scam companies?


FACT #8: TVI Express is already busted as pyramid scheme in China

And it's not an isolated incident.

Zhejiang, China busts TVI Express as pyramid scam  (alternative translation)

Shangtong, China busts TVI Express, (alternative translation)

Wuxi, China, arrested scammer recruitng for TVI Express, 30 million RMB swindled

Yunnan, China police raided room used by TVI Express recruiting event

Fujian, China police arrested swindler recruiting for TVI Express

The big question: is Chinese law really THAT different from my law? If they say it's a pyramid scheme, what are the chances that it is NOT?


Read these facts, and make up your own mind about TVI Express. Beware of shill postings that offers no links, and thus, no way to verify the truth of their statements.