Fuel Network International Review: “Free fuel”?
Fuel Network International launched in September 2013 and claim to be based out of the US state of Nevada (Business ID: NV20131540390).
This however appears to be a rented address, as the address provided on Fuel Network International is the same as the agent used to register the company in Nevada.
A “Jennifer Peterson” is listed as the “Manager” on Fuel Network International’s incorporation filing, with the company confirming her as the person who incorporated the company on their website.
I did find a Jennifer Peterson on a long-abandoned Empower Network blog (affiliate account “jennifer-peterson”), however I’m unsure if it’s the same Peterson who registered Fuel Network International.
It is noted that the Fuel Network International website domain was registered on the 28th of August 2013, however the domain registration is set to private.
Read on for a full review of the Fuel Network International MLM business opportunity.
The Fuel Network International Product Line
Fuel Network International has no retailable products or services. Affiliates join the company and then purchase a $125 “Fuel Card Membership”.
Bundled with Fuel Card Membership are 52 “Member Fuel Cards”, which are drip fed to an affiliate at a rate of one per week.
Member Fuel Cards are redeemable with Fuel Network International for $5 in cash.
The Fuel Network International Compensation Plan
The Fuel Network International compensation plan revolves around affiliates recruiting new affiliates and purchasing an annual Fuel Card Membership.
Member Fuel Card ROIs
When a Fuel Network International affiliate joins the company and purchases a Fuel Card Membership, over the course of 52 weeks they spend $125 and receive a $220 (52 times $5) ROI (208%).
This ROI is passive, with affiliates only being required to register their weekly Member Fuel Card on the Fuel Network International website.
Matrix Commissions
Residual commissions are paid out on all recruited Fuel Network International affiliates who pay a $56 monthly “marketing fee”.
Fuel Network International use a 2×15 matrix which places an affiliate at the top of the matrix with two positions directly under them (level 1):
In turn, these two positions branch out into another two positions each (level 2) and so on and so forth down a total of 15 levels and 65,534 positions. Positions are filled either via direct recruitment of new affiliates, or the recruiting efforts of an affiliate’s up and downlines.
Commissions are paid out weekly, payable on affiliates who pay Fuel Network International $14 for that week to participate.
How much of a commission is paid out on each paying affiliate depends on what level of the matrix that affiliate falls on:
- Levels 1 and 2 – 50 cents
- Level 3 – $1.50
- Levels 4 to 14 – 50 cents
- Level 15 – $2
Binary Commissions
In addition to the matrix commissions above, Fuel Network International also offer binary commissions when recruited affiliates purchase Fuel Card Memberships.
A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, with two positions directly under them.
These two positions form the start of two sides of the binary, right and left. Every time a recruited affiliate purchases a Fuel Card Membership a binary position is filled and, at the end of each day, Fuel Network International tally up pairs between the two sides and pay out a commission.
Pairs are calculated using a 1:1 ratio (1 position on each side of the binary) and pay out a $20 commission per pair.
Note that an affiliates first pair for the day is not paid out in cash but rather via four “Fuel Promotional Cards”. These cards each have a $5 value and can either be redeemed by an affiliate or handed out as recruitment incentives to new affiliates (as a $5 discount on their participation in the scheme).
Joining Fuel Network International
Affiliate membership to Fuel Network International is free, however all commissions offered by the company come at a cost to participating affiliates.
Fuel Card Membership is $125 annually and matrix commissions cost $14 a week.
Fuel Network International don’t explicitly state as much, but I believe Fuel Card Membership is required to participate in the company’s binary commissions.
Conclusion
Fuel Network International propose to offer affiliates a $5 discount on their fuel. Unfortunately analysis of the money flow within the company reveals that this premise makes no sense.
Consider the simple question: ‘Where does the “free fuel” money come from?’
Revenue wise all money generated by the company is sourced from affiliates via the purchase of Fuel Card Membership and weekly fees.
The notion that fuel companies are in any way shape or form offering rebates is revealed to be nonsense by virtue of:
There are NO receipts required to redeem Promotional Fuel Cards.
Fuel Network International could have required receipt numbers to be entered in when cards are redeemed (with the information not used or connected to anything), however the notion that every fuel company in the world are offering exclusive rebates to Fuel Network International affiliates is absurd.
And even if one was to entertain the laughable notion of global “free fuel” rebates, in MLM the selling of discounts (or rebates) is not a viable product in and of itself.
Under the guise of “fuel for free”, Fuel Network International takes investments by way of Fuel Card Memberships and pays out an annual ROI of 208%, sourced from new or renewed Fuel Card Membership investments.
As for the matrix and binary commissions, that’s easily explained by the $14 a week participation fee. Affiliates pay Fuel Network International $14 a week for positions in these compensation structures, with the company paying out that money to those who have recruited the most affiliates.
So why the “free fuel” facade?
That’s purely marketing. Fuel costs are an ever-present concern of a large cross-section of the global population. The fact of the matter is though that you could replace the fuel cards with anything, and the compensation plan would still work.
Pencil shavings cards, nail clippings cards, used chewing gum cards, atmospheric oxygen cards… it really doesn’t matter when the cards Fuel Network International hand out each week are just preloaded with $5 of affiliate money.
Whilst the concept of free fuel is most certainly alluring to a lot of people, unfortunately Fuel Network International’s business model translates over into complete baloney.
Out of all the gas and fuel savings mlm companies which have appeared on the scene, I have yet to see one that has stood the test of time.
Fuel Freedom Int’l had been around for a little while until the name change to Forever Freedom Int’l. They now offer a line of nutritional and weight loss supplements.
I smell Eric J. Dalius on this one. He did US GasRebates and several others. It may not be him, but chances are strong. This gets rolled out about every 18 months with a new name.
People are actually signing up for travel discounts, not gas money. But nudge, nudge, wink, wink, they all are motivated by the gas deals. Then, when it folds, the travel tips stays open via a legit third party (like American Auto Club), but the gas thing vanishes. Just an educated guess based upon your description.
And you’re not going to. There’s no margin to support MLM in gasoline. Everybody buys the same gas.