Many in Lakewood may have heard about Viridian, a company which offers ‘My Harvest America’ style commissions, while reportedly saving customers on their electric bills and electric still provided by their electric company. The company offers agents to make an income by getting others to sign up and branch out, all making money along the way.
“As a member of the growing family of Viridian Associates, you will be helping us spread our Power with Purpose vision with many new people, all while earning a powerful income for yourself. Earning money with Viridian is simple: you earn money by helping customers switch their energy supplier and you earn money by mentoring others to do the same”, the company writes.
However, some are beginning to question the legitimacy of the MLM company, after the company on Friday released a statement explaining why their monthly commissions will be delayed.
MLM is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of others they recruit, creating a downline of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation.
My Harvest America, a MLM, went Bankrupt, as first reported on TLS.
(PLEASE NOTE: TLS does not have any information into the dealings of the company, but is merely reporting the speculation of some. As with any business decision, customers are urged to look into all aspects of the business before making a decision). TLS.
The following is the company’s release:
Important Commission Update: June 10, 2011
Congratulations on a wonderful month. May was a great month for Viridian and we have been hard at work calculating commissions as we do each month at this time.
However, due to programming complexities of the recent required band change, we have found that our preliminary commission numbers need an additional audit to ensure accuracy. The result is that monthly commissions will be delayed for up to one week. We understand the inconvenience this causes you and members of your team and sincerely apologize for the delay. However, we are certain you’ll agree it is absolutely critical that we have confidence in the integrity of the commissions paid out.
This delay impacts your monthly residual pay only — Weekly Pay was paid earlier today for all who earned Fast Start and Mentor Bonuses. We appreciate your patience and support in this matter. We will make every effort to pay your monthly commissions as soon as possible and will keep you updated on our progress.
~ The Viridian Corporate Team.
Mlm is great, but you need to know the company is solid before investing the time energy and money.
I know an Organization that was approached ages ago to sell this company . They kicked them out the door because a MLM (multi level marketing) is not sustainable in order to pay the high commissions they have to charge higher prices. The reason it works is because they get friends to sell to friends so people feel bad backing out. Viridian raised their prices , but they can’t go higher then JCP&L so it looks like they are stopping commissions. I guess the mossad was right why sell an inferior product if eventually you don’t get commission anyway.
Personally I switched to Dominion which is much cheaper ages ago. ( They don’t have any agents you need to call the company directly). However even if Viridian collapses you still will get nonstop electricity . JCP&L is the default provider if anything goes wrong . The only people to worry should be the agents.
MR Guru , could you name one MLM that is around that you would pay their inflated prices without having your friend , neighbor or shul diving you up the wall to buy it. An MLM is built on getting family to buy from you at an inflated price.
dominion is a scam just in a different way.to long to explain on the comment…………….
how much are people investing in this company? how is it similar to harvest?
Get a real job, and you will stop looking for gimmicks to make money.
I think it’s around $400 , but the real investment is the time and energy selling it to your family and friends expecting to get paid for life only to find out they sold an inferior product and they stop getting the lifetime stream of income.
I believe that one of the (moderated) brother’s is at the top of the company. Before you slander, think what you write.
I can just say one thing- this company makes no promise that they will ALWAYS be cheaper than jcp&l. When the summer comes around the prices may be higher than jcpl.
And my harvest america was really making $$ it was just too long to explain. The first sign of someone trying to cover up a scam is by not having the time to explain.
So why in the world would someone switch to them .
interesting because Coventry shul gave out a paper asking everyone to sign up with this company
Any company that tells YOU to pay THEM hundreds of dollars, in order to have the “Zechus” to: work for them, to harass your friends and family for them, to waste hours and days dreaming of unsustainable constant income is a SCAM!
anyone that calls viridian a scam really does not know what they are talking about. its the best company with the most wonderful upstanding citizens working for it. including a member of the (moderated) family that is doing wonderful things for non profit org. so before you slam a good company why don’t you get your facts straight!!!
I love MLM organizations. I made a bundle with one years ago. It did go under, but I made lots of money. The people under me lost money, but I didn’t. You have to get in early in the game before the company goes under. All I can say is get in early and don’t worry about those under you. You have to take chances to make money and anyone who gets into this is taking a chance.
Usually 99.99% of mlm/ bring friend u get commission he brings a friend then he brings and u still get Money IS SCAM!
I’m not writing this for the fun if it, but I’m talking from Experience! And why waste our hard earned money (and time).
Could we wait a little (like 10 days) before we jump to decide
Just another thought. The person who got me into my MLM was a very educated, prominent person that I trusted. I hardly sold anything. The focus was on getting people to buy into it. If the Coventry shul is promoting this, they have invested in it and are trying to people under them. Good business for the shul, but you’d better get in early before it goes bust.
To all those saying, “Just make sure to get in early and you’ll make money” and Ddon’t worry about those under you”:
How dare you. Basically join early, coerce all your friends and family to join, make money off of them. And when the company goes “bust” (your words), don’t worry! You already made the big bucks!
To # 19
I don’t think u quiet know how this mlm works. Most people getting involved aren’t becoming an agent, they are just signing up to buy the product- which in this case is electricity. They aren’t looking to make money. They just cheaper electric. They have nothing to lose bec there is no contract. The only risk is that the company can charge more than jcpl any given month and u will be stuck paying the higher rate for that month even if u switch back when the bill comes.
my experience has been very positive with viridian energy. i saved money on my bill and have made thousands so far, in pay, in bonuses and i was paid on time like promised. i’m very comfortable with my decision to join viridian energy and supplement my income.
in response to the commission update, my team leader has assured me that the problem has been resolved and all will receive their commissions in the next few days. also, bonuses were not affected so if you were to get bonuses, they were paid. most of us aren’t even qualified for monthly commissions yet. many very intelligent people are involved with viridian.
#20 you’re funny!! Greed is the mover and shaker in this game. Find greedy people and you’ll find people willing to go along with MLM. IF greed is a vice, there are plenty of people out there. People who get into MLM know the score. So don’t complain.
so here’s the scoop. The reason Viridian May in fact be different then other companies is because the margins actually make perfect sence, Viridian makes a 20 percent margin on each customer, the pay a total of 10 percent for the marketing(meaning to you and your downline) that 10 percent for marketing hardy ever gets reached because their only paying 10 percent if there is a 4 person downline which doesnt usually happen, so all in all this company can very understandable be around for many years to come and continue paying out their commisions to everyone, NOW the big BUT! in alllll MLM companies theres a statistical fact, the top 5 percent of the salesmen average income of over 500k per year and the other 95 percent will average out making 1000 per year( Which makes it TOTALLLLLY not worth your time unless you know a lot more people then lakewood friends etc……
How in 2011 can people still be so ignorant with regard to MLM? All the major fortune 100 companies are using MLM. Colgate Palmolive, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet. It’s simply a very cost effective means to market product.
How do you think you will better yourself by bashing someone else? Viridian is very stable and cash rich. Commissions will be paid early this week. The question has already been resolved. Onward and upward. Sababa is the best!
#22 You feel comfortable selling a product to your friends and family that is the most expensive secondary provider of electricity . Your thousands that you line your pocket while others pay extra isn’t something to be proud of.
22, I do not believe you made thousands. The average income for direct marketing mlm’s in America is less than two dollars an hour!
You work very hard being a nudnik to all your friends and neighbors and make peanuts.
Keep on dreaming and using cult like, feel good terminology like ” team leader” etc.
#5 why is dominion a scam?
The lies come out of the woodwork . No that’s no brand name company does MLM . Colgate does it under a different name. Why!! Because MLM are bad products sold at a premium because its people selling (forcing) to people who trust them. Shaklee etc. And now Viridian are overpriced companies that a select few make real money and the rest run around selling garbage to unsuspecting friends.
Go check what you pay for Viridian vis a vis every other supplier . That’s an MLM for you sky high prices .
Li”toeles harabim; I lwas seriously thinking about becoming an agent for veridian – on a large scale. I Was considering purchasing the “multi state” package – (those involved know wat I’m talking about). I planned on taking this to a number of mosdos in which I have connections to the administrator/board. – (similar to wat someone did with the cheder). When I asked my “team leader” if they guarantee to be cheaper, he referred the question to his leader. To make a long story short, this is the response that I got “OUR GOAL IS TO BE CHEAPER THAN THE CURRENT SUPPLIER, BUT WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT WE WILL BE CHEAPER EVERY SINGLE MONTH” I therefore did not get involved. I couldn’t take the achrayus of signing up mosdos who will sign up hundreds of people – only to find out they charged a higher rate, even for one month.
To 22:
You state: “also, bonuses were not affected so if you were to get bonuses, they were paid”.
Any company that pays bonuses BEFORE standard salaries/commissions is doing something very wrong. Best of luck to you.
Fourtunr 100 companies do not use mlm. They do have direct marketers, (who never earn real money).
The difference is that you paid cash to work for them! Plus, your main job is to convince your friends to pay more cash to be able to get their friends to pay more cash to be able …Chad gadya… (you can also sell some expensive electricity on the side)
It’s amazing how dimyon and desperation blinds intelligent people.
If all veridien partners would put extra pressure on their friends this week to sign up as team partners and pay 400$ we will all get paid!
Get to work guys, let’s keep this pyramid going.
Sounds like a pyramid scam. The first in make the money by recruiting new investors, and as the bottom of the pyramid spreads, the new investor money is insufficient to pay all the people at the top of the pyramid. I think this may be illegal/
#27, i’m one of the 25% i guess who didn’t quit and makes much more than you’re estimating. it’s ok that you believe what you believe. but saying that i am not truthful is not an argument rather an opinion. i have been with viridian for over 4 months and been paid on time, every time. that average pay that you are talking about includes about 35-40% who NEVER did anything.
this business that i’m building is just like any other business. difference is that it’s residual pay. my other company, if i go so does my revenue. i have over 45 associates with my viridian business and most them got their initial investment back and then some, part time. we are all in this to supplement our incomes and if we could replace it, even better. i’m 63 years old and have owned my own business for over 43 years. i wouldn’t sacrifice my reputation with my friends and business associates for something fly by night. i’ve met the executive team of this company on many occasions and they are solid and have integrity. they are not salesman. comparing this to “cult like” is ridiculous. i can 1,000’s of businesses that are more “cult like” than this. starbucks and dunkin donut’s to name a few. i watch many walk into those places that look like zombies every morning!
robert kyosaki, the author of rich dad/poor dad, calls mlm the “perfect business” but what does he know, he’s just one of the most successful men on the planet!
To #35
can u tell me who your team leader is. . . I want to sign up next to u just to get your spillover! – (or does veridian pyramid not work that way?)
I believe Avon functions largely as an MLM.
I believe they do billions in yearly sales and have done so for many years.
#35 why do you avoid answering the most important question. Why don’t you feel uncomfortable selling the most expensive secondary electricity supplier.
And no one in their right mind would buy most of their way overpriced products if their sister/cousin doesn’t drive them up the wall to buy it. Viridian has a bigger problem they are the most expensive already and they can’t go higher because then they would be higher then JCPL and that is a death sentence for them.
MLM–pyramid–scam!!!
AMBIT wqorks the same way and its hot in NY and Maryland and coming to JERSEY soon, all these guys investing hundreds of hours into AMBIT will be left with zero very soon
Just another reason why people need to pursue higher education. They will be too busy to waste time on these greedy scams and have an honest career, eliminating the need to invest in schemes that are so clearly targeting the uneducated masses.
weather or not this company goes bust nothing should be posted for a week to see if we dont get paid i was able to catch up in the past few monthes making about $12,000 part time with this company so even if it goes bust it was worth my time so i can stay in kolell
do you pay tax on this?
yes to #45 alls legit
a friend of mine calls me up to buy viridian he says they are a solid company great rates etc. I said I was thinking of signing up with dominion whose rates are aprox. 20 percent below viridian.he convinced me that his company was better rates I signed up the rates are almost the same as jcp&l dominion is 20 percent cheaper its mamish ginavah to convince people your selling a good product when you know I could be saving hundreds of dollars a year with dominion.I called to change to dominion it takes 2 months in the meantime im paying a lot more so some salesman can make a few dollars take it from me I checked the rates call dominon direct you’ll save tons of momey
can you spell S C A M ?
if its to good to be true guess what ITS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE
I never have any sympathy for those who loose money in these schemes looking for a fast buck
First, for full disclosure, I sell energy, both electricity and gas, and have chosen not to sell Viridian even though I deal with multiple companies. The reason that I do not sell their product is that I simply have not had a client for whom it makes sense. I primarily deal with commercial customers and for them it is doubly true, but applies to residential customers as well. The best scenario for me when approaching a potential customer is for them to be with Viridian since they are already familiar with deregulation and can easily be sold on a lower locked in price. I recommend to my clients to take a fixed rate in almost all cases since this will protect them against spikes that will make and have made variable rate products go above the utility’s price. This happened with Viridian in Connecticut for Jan. and Feb. of this past year and there is no guaranty that it won’t happen here.
Since you mentioned Ambit, I will tell you that a friend of mine signed under his cousin for Ambit in NY where they guarantee a 1% (?) savings over a year or they send a check. At the end of the year he got a check for $3 and saved 1%. Not much. I read an interesting article about them giving their customer count as 500,000 with 130,000 “independent consultants”. Once you keep in mind that in most of their markets they offer both gas and electricity, the customer count, which counts each commodity separately, would get cut to around 300,000 households as customers. Just under half of them are from the 130,000 “independent consultants” averaging 1.3 customers per agent besides himself (!).
Basic seichel is to be able to differentiate:
There are two separate components to Veridian:
1) Selling or purchasing energy.
2) Convincing friends and family to pay hundreds of dollars to have a right to be an agent who, in turn, can do the same.
Number one is semi legitimate, but as with all direct marketing, a waste of time.
Number two is a regular Ponzi, MLM scheme.
One does not in anyway legitimize the other.
I don’t know much about the actual utility charge savings.
I can tell you that the real business is collecting the $200-$400 to become an associate reseller, that’s where the profit for these companies really is.
Think about it, you want to get a commission based job, why should you have to PAY to join a company? These “team leaders” organize these mass seminars where they convince you that you could earn $20,000 month, so whats a $400 investment? You have to be able to see through the sales pitch and understand their business model is basically a pyramid scheme, and the real business is the company collecting the “initial fee” since most of the thousands that sign up, don’t make it back in commissions, and fall out of the whole thing. This is the main cashflow for the business. There is likely not enough profit from the energy sales, to pay worthwhile commissions. So all the commissions are paid from the profits of the start up fees.
There are a lot of people out there still with JCP&L & can be saving money with Viridian.
There is no reason not to convince them to save with Viridian as their rates are cheaper.
In addition, the summer rates offer even a bigger savings as JCP&L’s rates go up for every KW used over 600. Viridian’s rate does not go up.
But what if the rates go up one month over JCP&L? Big deal! Is it better to pay more every month to JCP&L, or switch & pay less most months & “maybe” pay more one month?
Do I feel bad selling my friends on it? Absolutely not. As it stands, they are paying JCP&L’s higher rates every month. & they would stay with JCP&L if I didn’t get them to switch. I feel good about saving them money.
Are there companies out there locking in at lower rates? Yes. But who cares. JCP&L rates can go down as well & those people will be stuck paying higher rates. If JCP&L rates go down, almost certainly Viridian rates will go down in lock-step.
What if the company goes bust? The customer will get switched back to JCP&L (with no interruption of service) & I will have made my commission along the way.
How is anyone comparing this to My Harvest? The people that sign up as customers are not risking anything & the people that sign up as agents are risking very little & will likely make some nice money if they put some work into it.
To #51.
It is very easy to make back the initial investment of $400. I personally made it back in 40 days, before I even had to pay the credit card bill.
Most people can do the same.
What do you base your statement, “I can tell you that the real business is collecting the $200-$400 to become an associate reseller, that’s where the profit for these companies really is” on???
For clarification, I definitely concede that over the long term it is likely, but not assured, that a customer will be better off with Viridian that JCP&L. Even so, they are better off with some of the other companies advertised locally such as Dominion mentioned above and Gateway which has had signs in yeshiva which both offer fixed rates (that is what I recommend) or Verde/Low Cost Power which has been advertised which although a variable rate has a guarantee to never be above JCP&L’s price to compare (this may still be above JCPL’s real rate if they do not include the reconciliation charge which is now a credit in the PTC. I don’t know if they do). Therefore I cannot imagine how it would be a good long term idea to sell Viridian, altough for a quick buck it may work.
Four hundred bucks in forty days, huh?!
How many friends just couldn’t take the nudging?…..
To # 52: what of the myriad comp. That offer lower Index rates???
only 10
How in 2011 can people still be so ignorant with regard to MLM? All the major fortune 100 companies are using MLM. Colgate Palmolive, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet. It’s simply a very cost effective means to market product.
EXACTLY the type of line a MLM salesman would use. Hey, all the rich people are doing it! Look at the vacations this MLM guy goes on! You can be doing that too! Sell the dream, man. There will always be gullible people too blinded by the dream and pull of quick and easy money to actually question the details.
To #55.
You need to build a business. It is not an overnight windfall. Instant success disappears instantly as well…
To #56
What myriad of companies are you talking about? All these companies have different “deals” & plans. Dominion is offering to lock in at .10 thru end of Dec. But then it changes to a variable rate. Doesn’t state what that rate will be. Viridian is offering a variable rate from the beginning, but also offering 10% off on your first month. Not so clear which way you will save more…
Plus, what no one has mentioned yet is Viridian offers energy that is 20% more green (renewable) than the utility company. I haven’t seen anyone else offer that. I know, you will ask what do I care about being green. We all need to consider being green, as our carbon imprint on this world will affect the quality of life we pass to our children & grandchildren.
Now you have a company offering renewable energy, cheaper than the utility company, competitive rates with other 3rd party supplier, no fee to switch to or back, & you have a real winner.
None of what any of the pro-Viridian people have said thus far addresses the elephant in the room: Why is Viridian late on commissions? Healthy professional companies don’t postpone payday. Their excuse that they have to analyze the commissions for accuracy is ridiculous. When you have thousands of “agents” earning commissions, you have a sophisticated software solution to automatically calculate payouts. So either they have one and they are lying about the reason for the delay. Or they don’t have one and what does that say about them?
Important Commission Update: Decision on Band Change to Positively Affect Associates
Last week we sent you a communication regarding delayed commissions while we audited the impact of the recent band change on commissions. The result of this delay is great news for our field — we will not be implementing the proposed monthly kWh band change at this time or in the near future.
A Change for the Better:
Earlier this year Viridian announced that we would be adjusting the minimum Band 2 kilowatt hour usage from 501 to 751 kWh per month. This adjustment, which was in line with the different usage patterns and demographic in our newly launched New York market, had been scheduled to go live for last week’s commission run.
However, the customer usage impact has not been as significant as we had originally anticipated and, more importantly, the adjustment would disproportionately affect the commissions paid to our established, emerging and future leaders much more than we had originally anticipated which is why we decided not to implement the band change. It is our intent to continue to have a competitive and rewarding compensation plan that rewards you for your time and results, and we are confident this change helps us accomplish that.
Important Details Regarding Payday & Reporting:
To implement this change, we are currently reprogramming our commissioning software and recalculating last month’s commission payments. The intensive process will take several days to implement and audit, but will be complete and commissions will be paid by this Friday, June 17. The payment amount you receive on Friday will be accurate and include payments based on customer usage Band 2 being between 500 and 1500 kWh. However, please note that the Back Office commissions report will not have accurate June payment information since the original programming cannot be reversed. We will keep you updated with developments regarding this report.
We sincerely apologize for this delay, but are confident you will agree that this positive change warrants the audit and the postponement. Thank you for your understanding and your continued commitment to building a strong and sustainable Viridian business.
~ The Viridian Corporate Team