Question about Ameriplan and The Better Business Bureau?

[Carmen29]

I am really interested in possibly joining AmeriPlan but I have one question. Why do they have an F rating with the Better Business Bureau? That scares me.

thanks,
Carmen

[ChristinaDennis]

Hi Carmen!!
The Better Business Bureau is somewhere that anyone can lodge a complaint about any business. A lot of times people will start Ameriplan thinking they won't have to actually put forth an effort and do the work to build their business. Usually these people end up failing and of course instead of blaming themselves they blame the Company.
You are going to find good and bad on probably every company you look into. Me personally when I was looking into Ameriplan I really focused on the testamonies of those who have succeeded at the Business. I talked with my enroller a lot to see where she was and how her business was thriving or not. I built a personal connection with her and she was really helpful with all my questions. I guess the advice I'm trying to give you is to look at our websites and credentials and read over the testamonies.
We are in GREAT standing witht he US Chamber of Commerce, Consumer Health Alliance, National Assoc of Dental Plans, PLus more. We are also accepted by big Fortune 500 companies like Target, WalMart, CVS, Walgreens, Lens Crafters, Jc Pennys, just to name a few. These big companies are not going to associate their name with a company that isn't legit.
I hope this helps you out a little. And feel free to look at www.apflexplus.com/ChristinaD there are 3 really great videos on there that I think you might like and of course let me know if you have any other questions!!

God Bless and Good Luck!

I'd also like to add that I knew of the rating before I joined, and I just added everything I found together to help me make my decision in the end. Just looking at one company like the BBB can give you a skewed viewpoint because as Christina said, we have AWESOME ratings with many other associations, including the Direct Selling Association (www.dsa.org).

What is important to remember is also something that Christina said. No matter what company you look into, (even if it has an A rating with the BBB) you will find people who are grossly dissatisfied with their experiance. If it's not reported with the BBB you'll find it all over the internet lol! Now if you look at AmeriPlan's rating and scroll down you'll find how many complaints there are and how many are resolved or were taken care of. To me this is more important because ALL companies will get complaints, but it's how they are taken care of that matters. If the company takes care of the complaints, fixes whatever was wrong then that shows the integrity of the company.

The F rating stems from issues that we had with a provider network that we started out in when we added the health programs to our discount programs. There were issues with the company we leased the network from in a particular state and that caused some people to have issues, thus some IBO's had issues too. But as mentioned, those issues were resolved .

When I did my research I looked ALL over the internet, in different forums and got a mostly pleasing outlook, even from people that don't do the business anymore. Most of them said that even though the business was not for them, they could see that it could work and is a great company with a great service to offer people. I got an overall positive outlook of the company.

So be sure to do your research, talk with a prospective enroller that you feel you click with (since you'll be on their team for as long as you are with AmeriPlan ) and in the end go with your gut...if you go against your gut likely it will keep yelling at you until you go with it lol . HTH!

[LauraMP65]

Carmen, just to reiterate what happened with the BBB...


Ameriplan initially started with a leased network with our medical. We received one complaint to the Attorney General in Montana. The complaint was that we had a list of providers in which was a bogus list. They called the list and asked the providers if they accepted “AmeriPlan”. Their answers were that they don’t and they don’t even know who we are. Why would they – they didn’t contract with us – they contracted with the leased network of providers that we were using. (This would be the same with our Vision and Prescription as well for example. Our Vision is through Coast-to-Coast Network of Providers so if someone were to ask a Vision Center if they accepted Ameriplan, they might not recognize it either but if a member comes in with an Ameriplan Card, the Coast-To-Coast is clearly identified on the card. Prescriptions same thing - through HealthTrans network of pharmacies (again clearly identified on the membership cards).

The issue was resolved; however, the BBB subsequently 'suspended' AmeriPlan's status - the BBB is not allowed (by their OWN doctrine) to suspend any company unless that company has an open legal action against them (AmeriPlan did not). If we had any legal issues against us - even ONE legal dispute or lawsuit against Ameriplan - we would not be members of the US Chamber of Commerce or the Direct Selling Association who holds companies to very STRICT standards of operation.

Today, most of our medical network is “Proprietary” meaning we contract directly with our medical providers. Eventually, when we’ve contracted with a sufficient number of medical providers in the other states (especially the more rural areas), we will no longer need to use a leased network in those areas either.

It’s also important to understand that with the BBB, companies PURCHASE their membership and the BBB does NOT investigate companies. This information can be found all over the internet - including workathomenoscams.com who has a huge write-up about the BBB.

Great info Laura, Thanks!

[LauraMP65]

Hey Alan, good deal. I'm glad it was helpful. I haven't asked about it in awhile but last word was that the legal team at corporate was working to resolve.

Whenever someone asks me about the BBB, I just provide them with the background as well as provide them the company's credentials like the Direct Seller's Association, U.S Chamber of Commerce, D&B, etc. not to mention that Julia Baker (our SVP of Provider Relations) was duly elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Dental Plans (NADP) so they can do their research.

[Jaialife]

Are there any data processing positions? I have a two year old that I'm home with answering phones or any type of marketing on the phone or in person is a little hard. I really need help and I have such a hard time trusting these work-at-home businesses.

[ChristinaDennis]

Hi
I have a 1yr old and now a 1 week old as well. I do probably 98% of my work online and any phone calls I do make I do them when my 1yr old naps. All of my marketing is with online classifieds, social sites, message boards, etc... So it doesn't matter if it's quiet or not while I'm doing that. I also do "some" local advertising, I have my hubby take fliers out on his way home from work sometimes The income is amazing and I LOVE the flexibility of being able to work around my girls and I can take time off when I need it. Like right now I'm not working nearly as much since I just had my daughter BUT I still have my monthly residual check coming in from the work I did before
So back to your question more LOL you don't have to do a lot of phone work if you choose to do most of your work online and I have never done any person to person work.

[Carmen29]

I did not realize I had this many replies to my post. I haven't logged in since I posted my question because in my regular email account it wasn't showing my responses in wahm. I am definately going to look into Ameriplan more.

thanks,
Carmen

[Amy Jacobs]

Thats great news Carmen!

Good luck to you