Dodgy companies

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Having recently completed my marketing degree I have been applying for jobs. To my surprise I got a phone call from a company for a graduate marketing position that I had applied for the previous day. They invited me to a provisional interview the next day as they had a gap thanks to someone dropping out.

Having eventually learning the name of the company (something that wasn't present on the jobsite that I was applying through) I went in search of the company website so I could swot up on what the company does. Interestingly this 'marketing company' doesn't have a web-site. Something seemed a bit strange.

I did another google search for the company and realised that the second suggestion that dropped down was *insert marketing company name* scam.

I searched through forum after forum on threads about how this company and loads of related companies operate. Apparently they all operate from the same building in Manchester for a parent company called Heyes.

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=123409

I don't think I'll bother going to the interview. :rolleyes:

[J4MIE]

Well spotted! It's amazing that when you think that something's not right then it usually is, happens to me as well.

Gut instinct, gotta love it :)

[J4MIE]

Well spotted! It's amazing that when you think that something's not right then it usually is, happens to me as well.

Gut instinct, gotta love it :)

[Storm]

and well done on checking the website of any company which calls you for an interview! That should always be your first step.

[Eki]

and well done on checking the website of any company which calls you for an interview! That should always be your first step.
Not only their own website, but also google what people, news and reviews say about them. If they are scamsters, their own website is a scam too.

[slinkster]

There's loads of these companies about... you see them in newspapers job sections all the time. One of my colleagues boyfriend got "interviewed" by these people also, telling him he could earn up to 40K a year... which I laughed at because he had trouble getting up in time to work his 6 hour a week job in a shop.

Glad you did your research and didn't waste your time on this!

[Jag_Warrior]

With the slumping economy in the U.S., we've also seen a dramatic increase in the number of scam employment agencies, job search firms, etc. It's really unfortunate, but not unexpected. There will always be those people who seek out opportunities to take advantage of other people's misfortune.

Good job on doing your homework before getting sucked into this particular scam. Is this firm under investigation by the government or a police agency?

[Eki]

There will always be those people who seek out opportunities to take advantage of other people's misfortune.

Anthonyvop would say it's their human right to pursuit happiness.

[Easy Drifter]

Hey my Midnight Auto Parts business is legit. Just because I change my phone # monthly and address all the time is no reason to doubt me. Blasted landlord's keep expecting their rent money on time. Parts available in two or three days and only slightly used usually.
My Guarantee in solid. 10 and 10. 10 feet off the lot or 10 seconds whichever comes first.
Gotta run. I see a Swat team coming! :eek: :D

[Hondo]

I followed the link and it brought back a memory. I think much of what you make of these companies depends on whatever lofty image you may have of yourself. I went into the workforce after high school and attended various colleges and universities on a part-time basis when I could. With few exceptions, most of the companies I worked for had programs that would pay for your continuing education. All you had to do was pass the course and sometimes you had to buy the books yourself. By the time I earned my degree, I had few illusions as to what I was about and the actual value of the degree. Everybody I knew that had a marketing major spent the better part of their careers in sales. With few exceptions, that's what the degree will get you...a sales job. Especially right out of school.

Back in '74 I drove a buddy to an interview for manager/assistant-manager positions. Being between jobs at the time, I also interviewed. Later that afternoon we got calls saying we'd been accepted and would begin training the following day. During training the next day we were shown the 2 page "marketing survey" we were to try to get couples to participate in and the 7 page "presentation" of the product. Basically, they were selling encyclopedias door to door but...BUT you were "placing" the set in the home at no cost to them other than an obligation to write a testimonial letter after they had the books for a couple of months and they had to agree to purchase the updating yearbooks for the next 5 years. The cost of the yearbooks for 5 years was around $320.00. Wait, there's more! They also included a cheesy little change bank that you could put .35 cents a day in and at the end of the month there was your book payment! The books were even delivered with a nice cherry book rack to hold them. So we were given our materials, a copy of the presentation, 2 volumes of our choice as sample books, and a ring binder with copies of the required letters from past customers and told to memorize the presentation and come back in 2 days to hit the field.

Upon our return, everyone was given an option sheet to choose either straight wages ($4.00 an hour) or straight commission. To opt for the salary, you had to know and deliver the presentation to their satisfaction. Nobody went for salary. The commission for each "placement" was $35.00. That doesn't sound like much but in '74 the minimum wage was $2.00 an hour and my very nice, 1 bedroom apartment cost $100.00 a month with all utilities paid. Off to the field we went. My crew manager's car was broken so I had an advantage of using my car and the company forked over gas money for hauling the crew around.

To shorten this considerably I grew up with a set of World Book Encyclopedias in the house. These books were good, not up to World Book standards, but far better than the crap supermarkets were giving away at the time. It was a good product at a fair price.

Dodgy company: using the survey to get in the door, books for free, spare change bank.

Dodgy Fiero: left my attache case open with M&Ms and a couple of PEZ dispensers in plain sight for "my sweet tooth" ( "sure little Billy, have some PEZ if it's ok with your mom...") and a few photos of me with my dog that "my mother wanted me to send her" (makes Fiero human and one of them, not a sales robot). I never went door to door. I'd walk the neighborhood and only hit the houses that had the obvious signs of small children within. I never once used their "presentation", I told them outright I was a book salesman. I told them that as silly as it seemed, using the bank really did make paying for them painless.

I was never comfortable dropping in on people uninvited and had a few doors slammed in my face. One guy accused the recommendation letters of being phony so we called a few of them that had phone numbers on them. Much to my relief, not only were the letters legitimate, but the people highly recommended the set of books. He bought a set. After 3 weeks, the petrochem job started and Frank and I quit.

So is it a scam? I "placed" a set of books every night, 6 nights a week, for the 3 weeks I worked for them. Frank, a born salesman, "placed" the same and doubled on 9 nights. The customers got a wonderful product at a fair price and as far as I know were happy with their choice. We were paid our commissions every Friday and the company checks always cleared the bank. Had we stayed, we would have been made assistant-managers and gotten a piece of everything our crew sold along with whatever we sold. If we had been around long enough to make manager, we would have gone to a different city and set up an operation and gotten a piece of everything out of the field. It was hard, sometimes unpleasant work, but I don't think it was a scam. For some of you guys just coming out of school maybe you ought to give it a try for a week or two to experience the down and dirty reality of your profession. It might help keep your feet and heads on the ground.