Deceased Mary Kay Consultants
Written by Frosty Rose
There was a long-standing policy in Mary Kay, unwritten as far as I can find, of buying back 100% of a deceased active consultant’s inventory from her estate. Granted, there were hoops to jump through (when are there not, both with Mary Kay and with dealing with untangling someone’s affairs after death?), but the company honored Mary Kay Wagner Rogers Eckman Weaver Louis Miller Hallenbeck Ash’s public vision of P&L meaning “People & Love,” not Profit & Loss.
I’m not sure how many women’s families took advantage of this policy, but it seems that the company quietly removed this bit of mercy for the families of the women who built this company with blood, sweat, tears, and a lot of credit card debt. It’s been replaced with the standard, legally required 90% buyback on products purchased in the previous twelve months.
I’ll be completely transparent here. I’ve been sitting on this article for a few weeks, trying to figure out how to put words to the disgust and anger I feel, not only towards MK Inc, but also towards the women in this Facebook MK-director-only group who seem to be moved, even in the death of one of their consultants, only by greed and selfishness.
Imagine losing a top consultant, someone you’ve referred to for years as a friend, and your primary thought is how much of your commissions the company will claw back if you decide to enlighten her family on the buyback program. Or pushing your consultant, who is close enough to you that you are her executor, who is entering hospice care, to place just one more order on her way “home.”
How can a company that professes to be in the business of “enriching women’s lives” be this heartless? Or lack transparency to the point that no one seems to have been aware that they changed the policy until they were in the thick of sorting through a deceased consultant’s affairs? And now they won’t even send a 50-cent card to the family?
How can women who claim that their business is loving and supporting other women to success, who cry from the rooftop that they’re only successful as leaders when their followers are successful, be so focused on production and commissions that they’re browbeating grieving husbands for “hours” so they don’t have a chargeback?
When people (or companies) show you who they are, believe them. And, in this case, steer clear!
Visit the
Frosty, I’m so glad you wrote a front page article about this. There’s so much that MK does that’s horrible, but this got me so mad it nearly set my hair on fire.
At least Karen Thelin is thinking of the family.
But our mercenary little Jessica Smith Cummings is getting me furious all over again. Why did her consultant feel she had to order inventory when she knew she was dying? At the urging of her director, perhaps?
What were the husband’s wishes in the matter? Did he just want to throw it all away? Who got the profit from the sales? It better have been him and the rest of their family.
Why does she feel compelled to say she sold the stuff “at a profit” when they make such a big honkin’ deal out of “50% profit on everything you sell!!!!!!!” (We all know that’s not true, but that’s the line they use to hook and sink people.)
But the fact that losing the sweet sweet commission on that last order, placed as she knew she was dying, is equally or more important to the loss of your friend…
Jessica Smith Cummings, you make skunk spray smell like lilacs.
Oh, and Ryan Reynolds isn’t going to change the policy back or even send cards. He’s a nepotism hire to a sinecure that’ll allow him to coast through life on dear old granny’s reputation and the pyramidlings’ debts until he either retires or does something spectacularly illegal.
They can claim “people and love” all they like, but it’s still all about the profit and loss. They profit; you lose.
Aaaaaack! RYAN ROGERS, not Ryan Reynolds.
Ryan Reynolds is a talented actor, a decent human being, and totally hunky. I fully apologize to Mr. Reynolds for getting his name all up with these pink leeches.
I swear I have a brain. It even works occasionally… ::facepalm::
Hey, anyone who can work the word “sinecure” into a paragraph has got it goin’ on intelligence-wise, as far as I’m concerned.
Hahaha I loved that typo. Also I’d like to grant you a trademark:
Pyramidlings ™
Jessica did note that the order wasn’t placed, but that isn’t the point. A woman was ACTIVELY dying, and she was asked about placing an order. That is what is egregious about all of this. That is why this company and every other MLM are so horrbile and evil.
Ryan also makes a good gin, and I’m not normally a gin fan.
That is so gross. If Mary Kay is doing as well as corporate always claims, why not take back and refund a deceased consultants inventory 100% and not chargeback their upline? Ew.
Any current MK consultants who read this, I’m telling you as a business owner, Mary Kay’s “vision” for her company is cute…but ultimately it’s profit & loss that keeps a business afloat, not “people and love”. We love people, and we care deeply about our employees, but love doesn’t pay the bills. Honestly, I believe that even though Mary Kay Ash presented this “people & love” thing to all of you, as a savvy smart person she designed that as a ploy to get more women to join her company and stay with it regardless of what their personal profit & loss was. You can’t run a viable business on “people & love” forever, eventually profit & loss will catch up. That’s how it works.
Tracy, can we tag the women commenting in the FB thread? They deserve to be shamed every time a prospective recruit or customer Googles their name.
Great idea!
I agree!
I’ll comment on Karen Thelin.
I found this statement disturbing: “I hear you on the amount of time and effort put in on the behalf of someone else. I know God has blessed me by the couple handfuls of new clients I have picked up as a result and I know He is blessing you, as well.”
So much for altruism. Did that really need to be mentioned? But she’s an MLMer, right? “I have an opportunity for you……that *I* make commission on while also building MY team.” Was she being genuinely nice by helping, or did she anticipate picking up clients as a reward for her efforts?
But this is even more disturbing to me:
If you buy into the group-think stuff that “He” has the omnipotent power to bless her with new clients like she said, then we must also conclude that God had, and used that supreme power to make Andi sick and die of cancer. And/or, he didn’t use that power to save her. That certainly is a “not blessed” scenario for Andi if I’ve ever heard one. Ohhhh, but he had the time and power to bless Karen with stupid Mary Kay clients, apparently.
Point: It is incredibly distasteful and self-centered to claim He “blesses you” as a result of Him not blessing another!
Note: I am in no way demeaning Andi’s character outside of Mary Kay, and I am not implying that she wasn’t loved. It’s Karen and her comment.
Addressing chargebacks in general:
No director would EVER have to worry about chargebacks if they followed best practices by only “giving” themselves permission to spend those earned commissions AFTER the product purchased by the downline is clear of being returned to MKC.
What I mean is, when an IBC makes a wholesale purchase, the commission earned by the director shouldn’t be considered usable until that product the IBC purchased is:
*SOLD by the IBC;
*USED by the IBC (ie personal use or gifted); or
*AGED OUT by being from over a year past the purchase date (and thus not able to be returned).
In other words, if the director receives commission on downline wholesale purchases, and chooses to spend that commission BEFORE the IBC sells or uses it, then there should be no anger or disappointment or whining by the director. It’s simple: Make sure your beloved team member is able to sell the stuff she buys at wholesale before you reward yourself with the commission for it.
But for this to happen, people have to track actual retail sales. Oh the lolz! I’d love it if MKC itself didn’t pay the upline commissions until the downline that purchased the product actually sells it all at retail or uses it personally. Can you imagine? Oh how paltry those commission checks would be, and how long it would take to get them considering that the product is indeed NOT flying off shelves everywhere.
Poor, poor directors…spending money they really haven’t EARNED yet and then crying when that money is taken away.
Wtf