I think people need to understand that these reports on this company are not just disgruntled employees or uneducated idiots bitter because they didn't get a job. This company is all smiles, even while they're trying to scam you. The head of the office in Tempe is Zach Dunn (a self-described 27 year old punk kid who drives a porche). He acts and dresses like a sleazy used car salesman. He has the attitude of 'Maybe if I dress flashy and talk really fast, maybe they won't really listen to what it is I'm actually saying.' Pay attention!
My experience was much like everyone else's who have taken the time to expose the company. The add I saw simply said, 'Office help needed. Call Amanda.' Seemed innocent enough. I call and speak to someone named Nono (ironically, THAT should have been my first clue!). When I spoke to her, she said they were looking for someone to do some basic office work, filing, phones, some customer service, and they were hoping to train that person to eventually take on a management position. Ok. Again, seemed innocent enough. I was scheduled for an interview that day.
I show up at the address on Fair Lane and get greeted by a bunch of people at the front desk who are all acting like they've had way too much grape kool-aid. I get handed a piece of paper that I'm supposed to fill out, and get ushered into a room where there are half a dozen other people waiting. I thought that was a little odd. The radio was playing, and I'm not sure what station it was on, but the DJ was the most foul-mouthed, offensive jerk I've heard. Not appropriate at all for an office setting.
Eventually, I get called in with another girl to talk to Zach himself, who is speaking a mile a minute. Still thinking that they're just doing a lot of interviews because they want to find the right person for the job since, you know, they'll be training them for management, I carry on like I would with any interview. Zach then asks me to come back for the 2nd interview.
The 2nd interview was where it started to get weird. Still no one actually said anything about what you would be doing, except that whoever got hired (there were 20-something people in a room) would be trained to be branch managers. An exciting prospect, except that it's a bunch of horse sh*t. They tell you that training is paid on a commission basis. What they don't tell you til the 2nd day of training is that you will be one of those obnoxious people with a bag full of stuff that goes into people's work and disrupts their day, trying to sell you stuff.
They tried to have the same contest with us as other people mentioned. We were told that the prize money would be handed out as soon as we got in the morning of the 2nd day of training. It never happened. I was kind of glad that I didn't get anyone to buy anything.
Zach's behavior is completely inappropriate for someone that's supposedly that high up in a company. Every other word is the F bomb, and he is constantly using profanity while he's addressing the group. He discourages questions, which really isn't surprising because questions means you have a brain, and they don't want you to have a brain. They want you to be a drone. I was the oldest one in the room, most others were 19,20, 21... Awfully young to be trained to be a 'branch manager.' I was even older than Zach.
What you are promised:
$40k a year, plus bonuses
Paid vacation every year
2 company trips every year
To be able to retire by the time you're 35
Your own branch, customized by you... But it's not just YOUR branch... You share it with other branch managers.
One of the points that Zach makes is that you get to buy everything that goes into your office. So that it feels like home. He kept saying how everything in that office, he put there. I'm not sure why he was bragging about it. It looked like they had just moved in. The walls were a non-descript off-white. The carpet was hideous. There are a few pieces of art on the walls. The offices have desks, but nothing much else. Basically, it looked like they would be able to move on short notice, if necessary.
What I said at the beginning, I meant. You WILL be one of those people going from business to business, selling perfume and cologne out of your backpack. And he tells you NOT to skip any businesses. And to keep going back. This is all part of the 'marketing' portion of training. What that really means is sales. Really, you are no better than the telemarketers who call during dinner every night.
Interestingly enough, on the 2nd day of training (which was when I decided I needed to leave) one of the guys who got hired on with me was called out of the room. As he was leaving, he handed out a bunch of printouts of the complaints on this website. Most people just thought he was being stupid, and no one 'believes what they read on the internet.' But you could tell there were a few people who's few working neurons decided to kick in.
Just beware. This company is out to scam you. They set to lure you in with promises of money that they can't possibly deliver. They instead want to set you up in a huge pyramid scheme. Do not get suckered in. And whatever you do, don't sign anything that even remotely looks like a contract.
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