Before getting involved with 5Linx, it is important to read a detailed 5Linx review. This will shed some light on whether there is a 5Linx scam, and other important information about the company.
This review will discuss what the company is and what they have to offer. It provides the details that you need so that you can make an informed decision about whether to get involved with this company.
What is 5Linx?
5Linx is headquartered in Rochester, New York. The company uses a multilevel marketing approach to sell telecommunication and utility services, nutritional supplements, health insurance and business services.
People can sign up to become a representative for the company. This allows them to sell their products via a direct sales approach.
History of 5Linx
The company was founded in 2001 by Jeb Taylor, Craig Jerabek and Jason Guck. They incorporated the business in 2001. They started with several products for various uses for personal business and for around the home.
In 2014, the company was on the Inc. 5000 list. From 2006 to 2009, they were on the Inc. 500 fastest growing companies list. The company seemed to go up and down on different lists related to business success.
In 2017, the cofounders were indicted on multiple federal counts of fraud, including money laundering and wire fraud. They admitted that they defrauded investors for $2.3 million by illegally depositing some of the revenue from the company into their personal accounts.
The three cofounders also admitted that they did not pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. Jerabek and Tyler were sentenced in December 2018 to 14 months in prison for filing false tax returns and fraud. They also have to pay the IRS $118,628 in back taxes and pay their investors $2.3 million in restitution. In January 2019, Guck is set to be sentenced.
Are 5Linx Products Good?
5Linx offers a variety of business and personal products. Many current representatives say good things about the products. Most former representatives say mostly negative things about the products.
What they offer is no different than you can find from other companies for less money. Their personal products include:
- Captavida
- Daily Dimes
- Chroma Credit
- ID Guard
- Home Security
- Montavida
- Fiber Video, Internet and Cable TV
- Platinum Discount Network
- Oxzgen
- Safeguard Services
- Residential Energy Program
- Tech 24/7
- Safescore
- Telemed
- Teevee
These services are widely available. Many companies offer them for less money than 5Linx. None of the home products that they sell are widely known or recommended by consumer research groups.
They state that their business products will increase profits and reduce costs. There are little to no reviews about most of their business products to determine if this claim is accurate. Their business products include:
- Chroma Digital Marketing
- Business Elite Services
- Commercial Security Systems
- Commercial Energy Program
- Textalertz
- Payment Solutions
How Does 5Linx Work?
People who are at least 18 years old can sign up to become a representative for the company. Once they pay the fee and become a representative, they can sell the products to other people to earn residual income.
The company says that people can do three different things to earn money. These include:
- Share the opportunity to become a representative with other people and get them to sign up under you
- Sell the services and products that 5Linx offers
- Help another person to launch a business with this company
In addition to monetary earnings, the company says that representatives can take advantage of other perks, including:
- Car program where the company provides a monthly lease payment
- Annual vacations
- Corporate events
How Much Does 5Linx Cost?
There are different representative programs that people can sign up for. Those who pay $99 can sell the products, but they cannot earn residual income from their downline.
Those who want to earn from product sales and their downline can register for the platinum plan for an initial cost of $249.00. Those on this plan will also have to pay $49.99 monthly to maintain their platinum status.
All commission and bonus payments are subject to a $3.00 data processing fee. Representatives are also responsible for all costs associated with running their business, such as advertising and home office expenses.
How Much Money Can Be Made with 5Linx?
Every 5Linx review should discuss what representatives may make selling the company’s products. This information will also help people to determine if there is a 5Linx scam.
The most recent year that the company provided an income disclosure statement for is 2015. The following information was provided (based on representatives in the US only):
- Non-leadership position: 37.63 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $433.00 in 2015
- Trainer: 17.17 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $356.41 in 2015
- Executive trainer: 27.96 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $424.56 in 2015
- Executive director: 12.94 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $1,172.93 in 2015
- National director: 3.01 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $4,469.26 in 2015
- Senior vice president: 0.69 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $26,216.80 in 2015
- Bronze senior VP: 0.18 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $50,311.40 in 2015
- Silver senior VP: 0.11 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $56,605.30 in 2015
- Gold senior VP: 0.12 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $84,249.90 in 2015
- Platinum senior VP: 0.13 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $140,204.00 in 2015
- Diamond or DPSVP: 0.07 percent of representatives were at this level earning an average of $396,015.00 in 2015
The company says that in the United States, there were 15,296 representatives in 2015 that earned at least some income from the company.
When someone sells a product, how much they earn depends on their personal customer points. The personal commissions are as follows:
- 0 to 24 points earns 10 percent commission
- 25 to 49 points earns 15 percent commission
- 50 or more points earns 20 percent commission
Commissions increase for a person’s upline. There are also bonuses and other upline earnings. Overall, the compensation plan is relatively complicated.
What Other People Are Saying in Their 5Linx Review?
Learning more about other people’s experiences is an important element of every 5Linx review. This will also make it clearer as to whether there is a possible 5Linx scam. The following sources provide reviews from current and former consumers:
- Better Business Bureau
- RipOffReport
- Indeed.com
- Glassdoor.com
- Blog comments
Better Business Bureau
This company is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. They currently have an NR rating. Out of two customer reviews, they have three stars at the time this 5linx review was compiled.
One of the reviews is very positive. The person says that the company wants people to be successful. The other review says that getting a refund is extremely difficult and that they never received one at the time of their review.
There are 10 complaints listed on the website about this company. These are in the advertising/sales, guarantee/warranty, billing/collections, and problems with services and products categories.
RipOffReport
This company has several pages on RipOffReport. They all contain numerous complaints from people who said that they were once representatives for the company.
Several complaints say that this company is a fraud. They say that the company makes promises that it cannot keep to lure people into becoming a representative.
Some reviews say that they believe that the company makes misleading claims about earning potential. Others say that they did not feel supported by the company.
On Facebook this company has 4.6 stars at the time this 5linx review was compiled. This is from 1,008 people who rated the company. There are 33 people who recommend the company.
Many of the positive reviews appear to be current representatives that are using the Facebook page to try and recruit new representatives below them. They often say that people can contact them for more information about becoming a representative.
One reviewer says that the company deceived her parents. She says that her parents lost $1,000 due to this company.
Some reviewers say that it is very difficult to get in touch with 5Linx customer service. One person said that they waited for more than an hour on the phone with no response.
Indeed.com
This company has 4.5 stars on Indeed.com at the time this 5linx review was written. This comes from 27 reviews. The reviews on this website appear to mostly be from people who were employed by the corporate office.
One reviewer said that there were inconsistencies with production and not always enough work to go around. This same person also said that the company treats their employees like family.
Several people said that they had fun working for the company. The few reviewers who said that they were representatives said that you need patience, but making money is possible.
Glassdoor.com
This company has 3.6 stars on this website at the time this 5linx review was compiled. There are 43 reviews that make up this rating. The reviews appear to be from a mixture of representatives and actual employees of the corporate office.
Several reviewers talk about the legal issues that the cofounders experienced. Others talk about the financial troubles that the company faced.
Some reviews say that the products were poor, and the training was insufficient for representatives. However, a few people state that the company treated them well overall.
Some reviewers go as far as to say that this company is a scam. One person says that 5Linx appears to prey on people desperate for employment.
Blog Comments
Most of the blogs about this company and being a representative are negative. The comments are a mixture of people defending the company and trying to recruit people to their downline, and people who are sharing stories about the negative parts of being a representative.
Several blog comments say that this company is a scam. They talk about making no money or not getting the refunds that they requested.
Our 5Linx Review Verdict
This concludes this 5Linx review. While we DO NOT believe that there is a 5Linx scam, there are many things that are concerning about this company. That being said, 5Linx appears to be under new management so maybe the future will be brighter for this company.
We cannot fully recommend becoming a representative with 5Linx at this time. This could change as we get updated information in the future.
YELLOW BADGE
RECOMMENDED WITH CAUTION
(Learn more about our rating guidelines.)
1 thought on “5Linx Review – Is 5Linx A Scam?”
You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book
in it or something.
The only thing I would change is… label it a scam.