I am a recent college grad from ASU and I applied for this job mainly because they stated training provided. I was apprehensive about applying for any management positions I would not be able to handle, so I thought this was perfect. Right when I arrive, the receptionist takes me into this meeting type room and tries to turn on some music for me while I am waiting. I was a little confused about why she put me in this half finished meeting room, instead of leaving me in the lobby where the furniture was obviously more comfortable. She also had no idea how to turn on the music and finally gave up, stating. The radio must be broken on her way out. I finally go to the interview and Sara explains to me what the company does in extremely vague terms. She says they are opening new locations all over the valley, one at Westgate and Litchfield Park. I have lived in West Phoenix all my life, so of course this felt perfect for me. After asking a few questions, Sara informs me that I am invited back for a second interview. I come back the next day and there is a meeting room full of people, maybe about 30. I arrived 30 minutes early so I could sit in the front row and look like I really wanted the job. I see this Niel guy who looks like a typical used car salesman. The thing that stands out the most about Niel is that fact that he has this mess of long greasy hair right on top of his head resembling a toupee or possibly just that he doesnt care to wash his hair or get a hair cut. The day of the second interview he was talking about himself as people were arriving, talking about how he loves white water rafting and roller coasters. He continually started asking people where they were from and did not seem impressed that I had lived in Phoenix my entire life. Had I known at that moment what I know now, I would have informed Niel that I was unimpressed with his oversized suit. After Neil was finished talking about himself, Sara comes in and starts talking about the benefits of the company. She says every year the company pays for all of its managers to go on a corporate vacation. She keeps telling Neil, Remember that time we went to Vegas or the one year we went to Cabo. Then after she goes over the benefits, never stating what the insurance provider or 401k company they have, she starts calling peoples names. She says, so and so, go with Niel and so and so, go with Bob then she says for me to go with her along with five other people. Sarah takes us into an office that has only a desk and chair, no pics or shelves stating that we got the job and to fill out these background checks.
I am ecstatic that I got the job! I call all my friends and family and put my best references on my background check.instead of quitting my current job (like so many others probably did) I told my boss to change my schedule to work around training. I am recently engaged and since I have a wedding to pay for, I decided to keep my old job as a part-time. I am so glad that I did, otherwise I would probably be washing Neils toupe and he would call it training. The worst thing is that third day (Friday) after congratulating all of us on getting the job, Sara offered us this competition. We would have to come back Saturday, bringing with us some money from the sales we made between Friday morning and Saturday morning. Basically she wanted us to hustle this knock-off perfume to our friends and family? I initially had a weird feeling about it, but she explained we had to make 50 sales in order to move on to our next level of training and these sales would count as double. She also offered an incentive of $500 for 1st place, $300 for 2nd place, and $200 for 3rd place (in addition to our measly $7 commission). So I leave feeling stressed and have lunch with a friend, she tells me that her friend was hustled by some perfume company in Tempe who wasted her time, gas, and money trying to get her to buy and sell bootleg perfume. I take my fianc lunch at work and tell him what my friend said and about the double points family promotion (expecting him to buy at least 10 bottles). He said he wont buy any nor will he let me try to hustle the perfume to my family until he does further research. He goes to his computer and looks on this website at all the articles people have written about the company. Then he tells me that when I call Sara to see if my background check went through, ask what company they use, why it only takes 3 hours when other background companies take about a week, and what the health insurance company is. So I call and talk to Neil who gives a BS response to every question, the classics includes: We do the background checks ourselves and We have a variety of health insurance companies to fit the needs of each employee and their families. I get so mad that I print off 20 copies of the Saras Monday, June 14 posting to give out on Saturday morning! He told me he would go with me Saturday to make sure I get my background check paper back; it has my social, driver license #, license plate #, and the information of my poor 3 references (including his mom, YIKES)!
So he takes me back to our Saturday meeting and we get there half an hour early so I can pass out the posting I printed along with a link to this website so everyone can see for themselves. When I get there, I see that people are already entering the building, obviously I cant pass out these papers in front of Neil, and every single one of them talks negatively about him. So I jump out of the car and tell my boyfriend to park close to the door in case I need to make a quick getaway or if Neil actually turns out to be a hired henchman (an idea suggested by my paranoid mother and another reason my fianc tagged along). I start handing out the papers to my fellow trainees, stating what I know and encouraging them to ask more questions in an attempt to see for themselves they are being tricked at this so called, SALE happening in an hour. Then Neil comes out because he could probably see the confusion everyone was conveying, Im sure I was motioning with anger and determination. So I go back to my fianc and tell him to hand out papers to more people arriving and I go back inside. I tell the receptionist to give me my background check form back because I put the wrong license plate on there. She said its ok because the license plate is just to let Tempe police know what vehicles are parked there overnight. Then I said I rarely drive the car I put down, my daily driver is in the shop and I left my information in the car, so I need my paper back. Then she says, go get your information and bring it in here so you can update the information right here. This is suspicious, why wont they give me my paper back and what is this company planning to do with my information? I think she was trying to make a copy of the paper while I was gone, so I said, You know what? This job is not for me, I want my paper back. I think I said it pretty nicely, but she still wouldnt give it back! She said, well go sit down and let the next person in line sign in while I get your paper. She had the background papers in front of her though, I just saw her give one to another girl who actually had made a mistake and was correcting it. So I said, I know this company is a fraud, I need my paper back and she quickly looked through the papers and handed me mine, causally saying, I guess this job isnt for you. So as I was walking out, I said, hustling knockoff perfume to my family and getting taken advantage of, wasting my time and gas, thats not for me and everyone waiting in the lobby was shocked. Two girls ran out after me asking a million questions about where I found this information and I started to tell them but Sara and Neil came out. Since I didnt want my fianc to get involved, I decided to split but I gave the girls the rest of the papers I had printed and asked them to hand them out.
The reason I went into so much detail is because I must admit, I was pretty brainwashed. Even after my fianc showed me this website I still wanted to believe this was a reputable company and I was going to get everything they had promised. But after reading every single post and everything matched up, the crappy furniture, Neils hair, and the vagueness of the job description; I finally decided that it was a scam. Dont believe them, they are all frauds! Neil is the most obvious, but Sara is actually charismatic and friendly, Im pretty sure she is the one running the show. There is also this fat guy that we met on Friday, Im not sure what he does and I forgot his name. I went into so much detail to let everyone know how the process works, in case your just interviewing and want to research the company, dont waste your time.
Alex Phoenix/Tempe Arizona
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