There was an ad in the newspaper that said a company without a name needed some people to work customer service. When called, the people answered saying, "Ultimate Technologies, we're positive! How may I help you?" When asked about the position, the receptionist simply said that there was no need for experience and to come in and fill out an application and have an interview.
When interviewed, they still refuse to give out any information about the position and say to come in for orientation. When I arrived at the building which had a sign that said 'Mohawk Carpets, ' they told me to go on back to a large room where there was a Kirby sitting in the middle. A group of about 20 people sat and watched a demonstration of a Kirby machine.
Finally, after the demonstration was over, the woman told us that the job came with a guaranteed $1600 a month, or $400 a week regardless of whether we sold a Kirby or not. This sounded almost too good to be true. We were then told that we had to do 12 shows a week or 48 a month; this was to be part of our contract.
The woman also went on to tell us that all shows were done by appointment... These people had called or written in and had asked for us to come into their homes. Supposedly, there was to be no knocking on doors. We also asked about hours and the woman said we would come in 5 or 6 days a week at 10 am and work no later than 7 pm. Once again, I should have listened to my gut instinct that said this was too good to be true.
Finally, my first day came out in the field. We loaded into a van and the team leader drove us to Wal-Mart where we were to buy some food for the day. We all shopped and when we went to pay, the team leader was in line right in front of us with a bag in one hand and some Mountain Dew in the other. He paid for the Mountain Dew and the cashier kept asking him questions. He handed her the money quickly and left without waiting for his change. She told us that that was the second time that he had stolen like that.
We decided not to say anything and got back in the van. The team leader drove us out into the middle of Greeneville into a trailer park to sell $1800 vacuums. He then told people to get out and knock their way in. They were going door-to-door, there were no appointments. He would then proceed to yell at people if they couldn't get into houses. He told them to just walk in and not even ask.
At this point, I had made my mind up... This was not the job for me. I was not going to force my way into someone's home. I then saw that the checks that people had gotten for working were personal checks and no taxes had been taken out. This started to worry me, it seemed like a big scam to me. To top it all off, we didn't get back until around midnight. That was a 14 hour day that since I hadn't sold any Kirbys and anyone else who hadn't sold any was not getting paid for.
I was told that the average week was about 71 hours long. Ouch! That was a big difference from what we had been promised when welcomed into this company. I then sat down and decided to calculate how much these people really should be making since we were told that they make a lot more than minimum wage. If the minimum wage is 5.15 per hour and after 40 hours is time — a-half, then they should be making about $445.50 per week. At only a "guaranteed $400/wk, " they're not even making minimum wage for the amount of time they put in. One of the checks I saw was for only $200 since they only sold one Kirby the week before which proved that the $1600/$400 guarantee was a lie.
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