What a surprise! I am recently being de-sensitized after being brain washed by this company. I did a quick search about Cydcor on the internet to find many people and consumers pissed off at this company. The story is the same pretty much around the board with the exception of a few omitted details about this company.
I was previously employed by an employer for years before Annex, and they treated me like family. Although i wasn't making the best money, i had a great relationship with my boss and my co-workers. Although i really enjoyed my job, I felt as if i were in a position in my life where i needed to expand my income and wanted to see what other opportunities were out there in the job market. I did the normal job search on the.com agencies like Career Builder and Monster. Keep in mind that i wasn't in any hurry to leave the job where i was.
After a few days of my resume being on these Job sites I got a few calls back and I was very excited. I was amazed that with the country in a recession, i was getting calls from various companies to schedule interviews. The companies that contacted me first were, Annex Marketing, Summit Marketing, Executive Promotions, Tradewinds, and SV Marketing. I am now aware that all of these companies are either direct companies of Cydcor, or their sister companies i.E. Smart Circle. I accepted the interview at Annex Marketing and also Executive Promotions.
I went into my interview with Annex Marketing and to my surprise there were a few other people in the waiting room also waiting for an interview (a tactic they use to try and make you believe the position your are applying for is in demand). My name gets called and I was interviewed by the Owner of Summit Marketing (They share the same office space). The interview was your common Cydcor interview, 5-7 minutes long. The interview was very brief, and Abby (the Summit Marketing owner) tells me the are hiring only a few people for the Management training program. She then told me they had a lot of interviews going on that day and only a few people would get selected (another common practice Cydcor used called Fear of Loss), and that someone would give me a call between 430 and 500 to let me know either way what their decision was.
I got the call back and was invited back for a second interview. I was really excited. I believed i must have been marketable if all these companies are interested in me and Annex marketing was interested in giving me a Manager position in the near future. So i scheduled the second interview for 2 days later knowing that i had a different interview with Executive Promotion the very next day. The red flag should have came up when i went into Executive Promotions the next day and the interview was almost exactly the same thing, but even more brief.
I went in for my second interview with Annex and was told to be there at 1045 am. I showed up and again to my surprise there were a few people in the waiting room including another interviewee i had previously seen on my first interview. My name got called and i was led into the office where i was met by the assistant manager and 2 other employees. The assistant manager told me the * would be taking me out in the field that day to show me what a day in the field is like. He told me that * was a very respected employee and that his opinion was really important to them and that i wanted to make sure that i impressed * on my interview.
To my surprise the second employee also tagged along (I later find out that he was there to teach * how to run an interview). So as soon as i leave the office i was drilled with questions by * about my work history, goals, personal life, etc... * then went on to tell me that they are representing a fortune 500 company named Verizon, and how important their role is for that company. We drive out to a business and the other person will call *4, told me to stay back in the car while * went into this business. Me being real sharp i started drilling *4 for info. 2 minutes later * came out of the business and said "Enterprise." I then asked what that means and was told that it means that they have a rep from Verizon that handles them and that they couldn't touch business that have this status. I then thought this was real weird, how would Annex not know this.
We then drove around and went into a few more businesses again *4 told me to stay in the car while * went in. After a few business * came out and gave us the ok to come in. We went in and reviewed a customers Phone bill and they show it to me making statements like " you see that, that is the long distance they should NOT be charge for that, " or " see how they are not getting their discount on their internet." I later learn that this is a trick they use to get the customer to hear that and impulse them into letting the rep do what ever they wanted.
They kept the interview short and simple dancing around any questions i had about their job. I asked if this was a prymid company and they say no. I found out later it was a lie. I caught on that we were not being invited into these business but rather cold calling. We go back to the office and i get a 3rd interview and again they told me that they were only giving the positon to a few people and i would get a call back around 730-8pm.
Sure enough i got the call at 8pm by *, and the call goes like this. They use the same tatics with everyone and the same hiring phone call as well.
"Hello (INTERVIEWEE NAME)! Did you make it home ok? Great. Well we just finished looking over all of the candidates for the position. Unfortunately, we could not offer the position to everyone. We did feel that all of you were qualified candidates, however, after evaluating your preliminary and second interview... (you must pause) We would like to congratulate you and offer you the position!"
Not knowing about the company and their un honest tactics i accept. They stress to you that you need to be there tomorrow at 845am. To bring a pad and pen etc... They use these tactics to fear of loss you and so that you may not investigate their company at all (knowing that you will find bad things). Once they got you in the door your time will be so consumed that you wont have time for anyone or anything else not even you family. Their tactics worked great, i quit the job i was with and didnt even give my 2 weeks notice. Annex made it seem as if i didnt start right away i wouldnt be offered the position.
I go through the training which is 4 days long. I was led to believe that on day 3 and 4 that if i pitch a business and it ends up in a sale that the profit would be split. Never happened!!! They sepertae you when you are in the training and Solo positioin from the rest of the office monitoring every moment so that you cannot talk negativly about the job.
They encourage new people to go on business trips to reach Leadership faster. I go on a business trip only to find out that 4 plp were sleeping in a 2 bed room. The people running the trip seemed to running a college dorm. There was a lot of drinking and drug use. The average bed time for these people was 2 am. Keep in mind that they were not supposed to be drinking on the trip and that the whole purpose of the trip was to make Great money. Needless to say everyone was waking up late and we got out into the field late as well. The so called Great money to be made was false. It was a complete waste of time.
Surely enough i made it into leadership quickly, and thats where i started to notice their Practices and tactics. They rob peoplep blind. They go into a business and add things to people bills with the false impressions that they will be lowering it. They taught me to do the same thing. I also did the same thing not wanting loose my job, but everyday i asked my leaders if what i was doing is ethical and they assured me i was doing a great job. I had a guilty conscious.
I am not one to mislead someone, something this company does on a everyday basis. They mislead their interviewee's, employees, and their customer. God forbid you say something to someone or have an opinion you will get fired. They brainwash people and fill people with false expectations. I cant believe Verizon lets these things go on. It seems to me that Verizon doesn't care and that makes me have a negative outlook on their company and a lot of big companies in general. I cant tell you how many Business's i walked into that were fed up with Verizon and a lot of it has to do with Annex Marketing, and Cydcor. Verizon doesn't care because as long as Cydcor gets those Misled customers into contracts it is a win-win situation for both companies.
I could write a book about how un-ethical these companies are. But to make a long story short, If you are working for one of these companies or thinking about working with them say good bye to your friends, family and your conscience and say hello to you new friends and family. It kind of sounds as if you are joining a gang or a cult, and trust me you are.
If you are a Business owner in the Tampa bay area beware of people that walk into your business. If they are trying to sell you something or say they are from Verizon ask to see a badge. Look closely at the badge and you will see that it says independent contractor and if you look even closer you will see the name of the marketing company i.E. Annex Marketing.
If you read all this and still want to take the job, I hope you are not planning on not being payed fully. Get ready to work 13 hour days. 7am to 8pm. Far from the 9-5 they advertize. The will mabey pay you half of your projected commision if they like you. Dont ask where you money is or you will get fired. If you are smart enough or have the b*s enough to ask or if they even see any type of intellegence in you they will get rid of you. Hell they will get rid of anyone that has common sence. I guess that explains why there average employee is 23, they take advantage of the young and dumb, and if you are older than 30 and last for a little while with that company you must really be dumb. Again get ready to be released. If you are willing to sleep your way up the latter, this might be a good company for you.
Sucker
tampa, Florida
U.S.A.
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