Just how weak are Bill Ackman's examples?
Bill Ackman's ad nauseum attack on Herbalife has become a parody of itself. It has been widely acknowledge that Bill Ackman has had problems finding victims. He got the Nevada Attorney General interested but she told consumer activists that she was not going ahead without victims.
Ackman's websites however are truly strained. Here is a section from his profile of distributor Michael Burton. I am quoting verbatim:
The Burtons’ businesses do considerable damage to consumers. Consumer complaints regarding Global Home Business Systems, for example, are particularly revealing:
One complaint, from an individual who purchased the GHBS “starter pack” in order to “become part of the Herbalife Company,” cites the extreme difficulty of connecting with a GHBS employee who was supposed to assist in setting up that individual’s Herbalife business. The complaint notes that it had been one month of “phone tag” and cancellations without any contact from the GHBS employee, despite the fact that “[GHBS] claim[s] that the whole program is up and running within 2 weeks.” See http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Global-Home-Business-Systems-HerbalifeElaine-Depinto/internet/Global-Home-Business-Systems-Herbalife-Elaine-Depinto-company-rip-off-complete-waste-of-453259.
Another complaint from a GHBS customer notes that “they told me that to weed out the peoiple [sic] that really wanted to work they were charging $9.95 shipping for the video. [A]nd when you get the DVD I viewed the DVD and there was noting [sic] there to help me start a buisness [sic] [in] Los Angles California.” See http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/global-home-business-systems/los-angles-california-/global-home-business-systems-they-told-me-that-to-weed-out-the-peoiple-that-really-wanted-462221.
End quote:
Please read these links. In the first one the person has been ripped off for $9.95 - and not $9.95 he paid to Herbalife. The $9.95 was paid to Burton.
In the second link it was $50 - but there is considerably less documentation.
This constitutes, and I am quoting Ackman's site again: "considerable damage to consumers".
Seriously - this is the strength of material on which he has bet his reputation and the existence of Pershing Square. I have a staff member who I recruited from America and whom Verizon Wireless charged $15 for data consumed after he had left the country. On this basis I encourage a billion dollar bet against Verizon...
By contrast, every distributor in Ackman's documentary lost serious amounts of money - but the money lost was not lost to Herbalife. It was lost to distributors Herbalife has now sacked. It seems -- that at least with respect to the material in the documentary Ackman is fighting yesteryear's battles.
John