A friend of mine recently invited me to join a new Multi-Level
business. It can be found at "gasup-usa.com". It offers discounts for
gasoline. I have searched the web and not been able to find any
analysis or review of this business. What I would like you to help me
find is an impartial review of this business idea. I'm not talking
about YOU writing a paragraph with your opinion giving me the standard
lecture that "Multi-level marketing is bad, etc, etc". I do realize it
is very risky. That is why I am coming here to see if I can find some
semi-unbiased information on this particular MLM business. If you can
find a link to a good article on the web then I will pay the entire
$10. I will consider other types of information on a case-by-case
basis. Thank you!

Hello
I couldn't find any reports or reviews as the domain name
gasup-usa.com is only 1 month old, prior to that they were using other
addresses. I could not find contact details such as geographical
address, phone, email on their site (that usually sends my alarm bells
ringing) and seems low budget with a free webcounter. (maybe I wasn't
looking hard enough).
Their marketing has included email:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=gasup+usa&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&selm=MMEIIDHPHLOPFMPDOMOGGEDBDEAA.insane1%40elmo3.3utilities.com&rnum=1

The parent company is New World Concepts Inc. appears to be involved
with web hosting.

regards
lot-ga

As noted by lot-ga below, "gasup-usa" has apparently only been in
business since July, 2002, and there doesn't appear to be any
discussion or articles on the pros or cons of the business. Obviously,
there's additional risk involved with a brand new company with no
track record. You note that you're not interested in opinions on MLM
in general, so I'll not go into that.

One thing I'd be concerned about is that the only public presence
currently connected to gasup-usa seems to be a "Bill Roulo" of
California, even though he claims to have been recruited. The company
is apparently based from Pennslyvania, but there's no listing under
the blank "company profiles" page on the site of who actually
owns/manages the company. There's indications that Mr. Roulo owns the
web site, even though, as commented on by lot-ga below, the domain
name is being held by a hosting service.  However, it's the same
hosting service, based in California, that Mr. Roulo uses for other
sites he's connected with. This may be completely innocent, but
personally I'd want background on the people behind gasup-usa before
committing any money. Mr. Roulo himself is something of an
entrepreneur (which certainly isn't meant as criticism) whose career
encompasses music, web design, and other MLM businesses.

Hope that helps you make a decision. If there's anything I've noted
that you think would provide an alternate answer to your question, let
me know and I'll see if I can expand upon it.

regards,

rico

I'd steer clear (pun intended, but I couldn't help myself) of this
company too.  There are just too many red flags: the "if it's too good
to be true" factor, the fact that they don't accept payment by credit
card but only by checking account withdrawal, the lack of information
about who's heading the company up, the connection with dubious "free"
services, the lack of contact information for the company, and the
failure to disclose how much you'd end up paying in shipping and
handling to get your "discout" gasoline cards.  I certainly can't
prove anything, but this one has "caveat emptor" written all over it.

Answer     
 
Subject: Re: gasupusa, inc 
Answered By: tutuzdad-ga on 31 Dec 2002 20:14 PST 
Rated:     
Dear nuck-ga; 
 
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
 
For obvious reasons, I cannot and would not disparage any business
venture in this forum nor would I place myself in a position of civil
liability for making such disparaging comments or publishing personal,
opinionated judgments. From my vantage point I can only indicate, as
you requested, published information, however honest in its own right,
that questions the legitimacy of this program.
 
 
MLM SURVIVOR.com 
http://www.mlmsurvivor.com/index.htm 
 
?Kansas Attorney General Puts GasUpUSA On Notice? 
November 26, 2002 
 
?Accusing GasUpUSA of pyramid scheme fraud, Kansas Attorney General
Carla Stovall has put the company on notice. She is asking the company
not to do business in Kansas, and is also advising consumers not to
join. GasUpUSA promises consumers savings on gasoline if they buy a
$150 gas card membership, and then buy pre-paid debit cards for
gasoline. The program also promises, "benefits," which to date are
unsubstantiated. Additionally, the "savings" it offers consumers on
the gasoline debit cards are available to any consumer at no cost.?
 
 
 
ATTORNEY GENERAL STOVALL CAUTIONS CONSUMERS ABOUT "GASUP USA"  
http://www.ksag.org/contents/news-releases/2002news/gasupUSA.htm 
 
 
 
WICHITA EAGLE  
?Suspecting sham, state asks firm to leave. The attorney general says
GasUpUSA's discount gas cards promote an illegal pyramid scheme.?
BY DEB GRUVER 
The Wichita Eagle 
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/business/4586282.htm 
 
 
 
MLM WATCHDOG 
?GasUpUSA CRIMINAL HISTORY! REPORT? 
http://www.mlmwatchdog.com/Rpt_GasUpUSA.html 
 
 
In the company?s defense, and as a personal disclaimer, I shall also
say this: ?gasupUsa? claims to be a legitimate business and that their
products live up to all of the company?s promises. In searching for
your answer I found nothing that would lead me to make a definite
opinion one way or the other as to the legitimacy of this company and
I am not, nor have I ever been a member or a user of their products.
Having said that, I must leave it to you to ultimately determine
whether or not you feel comfortable in dealing with this organization
on a professional level. I would suggest you contact the Better
Business Bureau or your state?s Office of the Attorney General for
official information concerning this business.
 
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for using Google Answers.
 
Best regards; 
Tutuzdad-ga 
 
 
INFORMATION SOURCES 
 
 
GASUPUSA 
http://www.gasupusa.com/home.asp?pagename= 
 
 
MLM SURVIVOR.com 
http://www.mlmsurvivor.com/index.htm 
 
 
OFFICE OF KANSAS ATTORNEY GENERAL STOVALL  
http://www.ksag.org/contents/news-releases/2002news/gasupUSA.htm 
 
 
THE WICHITA EAGLE  
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/business/4586282.htm 
 
 
MLM WATCHDOG 
http://www.mlmwatchdog.com/Rpt_GasUpUSA.html