Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council Recommends Surge365 Discontinue Misleading Earnings Claims

703.247.9330 / press@bbbnp.org

McLean, VA – January 20, 2022 – The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DSSRC) of BBB National Programs recommended that certain earnings claims disseminated by Surge365 and its salesforce members be discontinued. Surge365 is a multi-level direct selling company that offers discounts on hotels, rentals, cruises, flights, and other travel services. 

The inquiry was commenced by DSSRC through its ongoing independent monitoring of advertising and marketing claims in the direct selling industry. The claims that were the subject of the inquiry were disseminated on social media and the company’s website. 

Challenged earnings claims include:

• “The founders have a Proven Track Record of Success - $3 Billion in sales, 60,000 - $1,000 Bonuses, 600 - $10,000 Bonuses, Hundreds of $1,000,000 Earners”
• “Earn referral compensation, residual income &+ unlimited 1,000$ & 10,000$ bonus checks!”
• “SURGE 365 IS A BUSINESS…WE UNDERSTAND RESIDUAL INCOME IS NEEDED FOR OUR RESIDUAL BILLS! What would $50,000 do for you by January 2019? [Image with copy stating “Learn How To: Earn $1000 Bonuses, Earn $50K in 100 Days, Travel Wholesale, Gain Tax Benefits, And Much More”]
• “Surge 365 is a Company you can plant your flag and WIN. Changing lives daily. Through Travel, creating financial freedom. Join us.”
• “We offer limitless possibilities at Surge 365! Wholesale Lifestyle! Financial Freedom! Pick one or both! We’ll help you achieve it! [Image with copy stating “Work from home earning unlimited $1000 BONUSES”]
• “What are your plans for the future. Let us help you secure your financial freedom. While you are waiting for this pandemic to pass. Let us show you how you can position your self to never have to worry again. [Image with copy stating “$1,000 & $10,000 Bonuses, $25,000 Fast Start Bonus, Overrides & Residuals”]
• “Want to earn $10,000???
• “One Surge $1k check at a time…I’m building a legacy of financial freedom. We are Surge 365. Home of the unlimited $1k bonuses. $10k bonuses, and THE 100 day $50K bonus. We’re changing more than bank accounts. We’re changing lives. We even guarantee your investment”
• “For most of my adult career I’d been searching for a home based business where I could go full time and earn the executive income I was accustomed to earning. Over the years I’d been in several marketing and direct sales companies where I excelled rank wise, but those companies did not offer the executive income opportunity I sought. When I found Surge365 it was like I finally found my home. Surge has brought me that executive income with executive perks and so much more! Not only have I been able to create priceless relationships by building an amazing network of business partners, I have been able to travel the world at insider prices! Now with our company’s new focus shift to healing nations with vacations, our active business partners are presented with a 7 day reward vacation at the end of 12 months!”
• “The opportunity to create unlimited income, leverage and financial freedom is amazing.”
• “Within a few months I became the company’s 1st $10,000 Bonus earner and in less than 12 months was able to leave my 9-5. Since then I have been promoted to Marketing Directed, helped hundred internationally and explored several countries!”
• “Before the COVID-19 pandemic and the shelter in place directive, we had a healthy bank account and three income sources – my financial services business, my wife Janice’s job at the clinic, and Surge365. We are down to one income – Surge365! That means we don’t have to take any steps backwards financially, we have some sense of normalcy, and we aren’t forced to look at uncomfortable options. Thank you Surge365!”

DSSRC informed Surge365 of its concern that a reasonable consumer may interpret these and similar claims to mean that salesforce members can earn significant income from the Surge365 business opportunity. Surge365 did not contest DSSRC’s concerns. 

As stated in DSSRC’s Guidance on Earnings Claims for the Direct Selling Industry, while DSSRC will evaluate any claim based upon the context in which the claim appears and the potential net impression of such claim to the audience, some words and phrases commonly used in earnings claims can carry a particularly high risk of being misleading to consumers. Such words and phrases include claims such as “financial freedom,” “full-time income,” “replacement income,” “residual income,” and “career-level income.” Furthermore, earnings claims must be substantiated and representative of a level of earnings that can be generally expected by the audience. 

DSSRC appreciated Surge365’s good faith actions to remove most claims on social media sites which DSSRC determined communicated claims that prospective participants in the Surge365 business opportunity can typically earn significant and/or unlimited income. DSSRC determined the removal of such claims to be necessary and appropriate.

DSSRC also appreciated the bona fide good faith effort made by Surge365 to have the remaining improper Facebook claim, made by a salesforce member no longer with the company, removed. Although Facebook has not been responsive to Surge365’s requests to have the post removed, DSSRC recommended that the company resubmit the request and continue to try to have it taken down. 

Regarding the YouTube video at issue, because the significant earnings claims communicated were so extraordinary and atypical that they could not be properly qualified by a disclosure of generally accepted results or a hyperlink to an income disclosure statement, DSSRC recommended that this video be removed from circulation. Finally, DSSRC recommended that Surge365 remove any testimonials from its website that could be interpreted as communicating that the typical Surge365 salesforce member will earn significant, career-level income.

All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For full text of DSSRC decisions, visit the DSSRC Cases and Closures webpage.

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About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs is where businesses turn to enhance consumer trust and consumers are heard. The non-profit organization creates a fairer playing field for businesses and a better experience for consumers through the development and delivery of effective third-party accountability and dispute resolution programs. Embracing its role as an independent organization since the restructuring of the Council of Better Business Bureaus in June 2019, BBB National Programs today oversees more than a dozen leading national industry self-regulation programs, and continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in arenas such as advertising, child-directed marketing, and privacy. To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.

About the Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council: The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DSSRC), a division of BBB National Programs, provides independent, impartial monitoring, dispute resolution, and enforcement of false product claims and income representations made by direct selling companies and their salesforce members across digital platforms. The DSSRC seeks to establish high standards of integrity and business ethics for all direct selling companies in the marketplace.