How do I even begin to describe this horror story? As I recall, I saw an ad in the Houston Chronicle requesting office help. It said call 713-263-1552. I called the number and I was asked to come in for an interview. I agreed to come in.
When I first walked in I was greeted by their "fake" receptionist, Bonnie, then told to wait in this room with about 12 chairs with a glass table full of magazines and a speaker booming music on the floor. The fact that the radio was on struck me as odd. Especially since it appeared to be a professional environment. That's where I filled out my application. Marvin came in and said hello very politely, made short talk, then left the room and shut the door.
Then, about 5 minutes later, John Manor came in and asked me to follow him. He took me into the next room over. He started mentioning a management position. That's the second thing that struck me as odd. But hey, a job is a job right? Plus, it couldn't have hurt to hear more. Then he started asking me why did I think that I was right for that job. I gave him my best answers and he told me that they'd be calling their top 10% back at about 5:30pm. The top 10% would then come back for a second interview. Around 5:35pm, I got the call. Bonnie called and told me that I was in the top 10% and to come back in on Thursday for the second interview.
So I showed up on Thursday and was escorted into a different room from before with about 30 chairs in it. Some people had already arrived. Heather Cline was sitting on a stool in the front of the room with a portable radio. She was trying to get to know everyone asking them if any had kids or pets.
General stuff. We were told to bring a pen and paper to take notes and that the second interview would be approximately 2 hours. I can't remember exactly what time the interview was scheduled to start, but I DO remember thinking about how late some people were and how long we waited for those people to arrive before we started. At the beginning of the interview we were told that if they felt that anyone wasn't taking them seriously, they would be asked to leave. They also stated that anyone who felt that that job was not for them could also leave at any time.
To make long story short, I wasted my time writing down every bit of lies that they told us. We we're told that we would be trained to run our own stores and that they were looking to expand in many different places like: Boston, Buffalo, Denver, Katy, Humble. The list could go on and on. We were also told that the training was split into 3 sections, Basic Training, Executive Level, and Distributing Manager. They made a table with explainations of each level. They really had this crap thought out. They made everything so believable. They even promised 2 paid vacations plus 2 paid-for company trips. PlUS, a summer fun trip.
When the second interview was over, they said that the'd call everyone in by groups into the other rooms to let us know if we got the job or not. I was "hired". The poor girl next to me was about to quit her current job. Another one had a baby boy to worry about. Had I have known what I know now. I would've stopped them from making the same mistake that I almost did. Thank God I looked this "company" up that weekend. Thanks to rip off report, I didn't even waste my time going back.
So if you ever get a funny feeling about something, follow your instincts. Everything that they told us, seemed too good to be true. That's because IT WAS! So please warn anyone you know about their add in the paper. I believe the new one says:
General Office
No Exp nec.,
new office needs mgmt
Will Train
713-263-1552
713-263-1554 fax
BEWARE! They've done it before and they'll do it again. I found out later that they had people selling knock-off perfumes in store parking lots.
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