TVI Express member plays the weasel and not quite lie

Image by locusolus via Flickr

Welcome to another episode of TVI Express Madness, where we highlight the various lies, untruths, and weasel-like activities perpetrated by TVI Express members in order to "support" their continued addiction to suspect pyramid scheme already illegal in China, under investigation in Hungary, and denounced in plenty of places!

Today's article in question is http://www.betternetworker.com/articles/view/mlm-news/companies/is-tvi-express-a-valid-business

The article contains several problems: 1) comparing TVI Express to AAA (auto club), 2) recruiting is not scam, 3) recruiting only two is not scam, and 4) bandwagon fallacy.



Problem 1) Comparing TVI Express to AAA (the auto club)

"My investigation showed that there is definitely a product (that TVI Express sells)- a travel service. In this regard, TVI Express is very similar to AAA. In AAA, you have to be a member in order to take advantage of their services."

The problem with this comparison is... humongous...

a) AAA members are NOT paid for recruiting, or even required to recruit. TVI Express members are REQUIRED to recruit, as per their FAQ, and qualifies them for payment
b) AAA members get maps, tow truck service, 24/7 1-800 number to call for service, travel discounts, mechanic certification, and other stuff. TVI Express members get travel discounts... an alleged 7-day 6-night vacation (and plenty of problems with THAT), and... uh... nothing. (Except qualify for board payout of $10000 or so)
c) The services offered by TVI Express is a rebadged version of Travelocity. Travelocity is free to use for everyone. Thus, the service they offer is worth exactly ZERO.

In debate, this is called "weak analogy". By comparing TVI Express to a known legitimate organization, such as AAA, the author hopes to imply that TVI Express is also legitimate, as they share SOME characteristics, such as "membership", while ignoring glaring differences.

Problem 2) Recruiting is illegal?

"The articles that I read also indicated that TVI Express is a scam because you are paid to recruit. That is untrue with TVI Express. The fact is that you are paid to recruit in every MLM or network marketing company. " 

This is taking things out of context, and reflects a fundamental lack of research (or intent to misquote).

While MLM do reward members based on recruiting, the American Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have long established that in order to be legal, a MLM must base its pay to member to be at least 70% upon actual sales, and 30% or less upon recruiting. This is known as the Koscot test (based on FTC vs. Koscot Interplanetary case). Amway was forced to change its compensation structure as initially it had also failed the Koscot test.

As we have explained above, TVI Express specifically says "you don't need to sell anything", and "you need to recruit two people, and teach each to recruit two more". Thus, TVI Express already fails the Koscot test.

In debating, this is known as a strawman argument. By presenting a fake premise "pay for recruiting is illegal" then defeating that fake premise, the author tries to imply that TVI Express is legal. It is a logical fallacy.


3) Recruiting only 2 is not a scam?

"If you are paid money when each recruit starts, your company is going against DSA policies. My investigation proved that in TVI Express you are not paid when someone new becomes a member. In fact, 14 people need to be in your organization before you are paid."

This is another strawman. The author essentially says "if you recruit all 14 yourself to fill the pyramid, that's a scam. However, if you recruit only 2, and have each of them recruit two more, it's NOT a scam."
Maybe there's a fine-line distinction between direct fraud vs. indirect fraud, but both are still fraud. By presenting one case as fraud, then presenting TVI Express is something else, the author hopes to convince you TVI Express is not fraud, when he is using an incomplete definition.

Furthermore, the FBI and FTC definition of pyramid scheme only requires one to recruit "two or more people". Two, last time I checked, is still two.

4) Bandwagon Fallacy

"The pure member numbers point toward a very legitimate business system."

This known as the bandwagon fallacy, where the argument is "A is so because A is popular".  In this case, "TVI Express legitimate because it has a lot of members". However, just because it has a lot of members does not give it any legitimacy. There could be a lot of other reasons why it is popular.

Any statement in this article, except the testimonials, turned out to be a fallacy or a lie. Is the article convincing? You tell me.