First of all, I don't know if the address I have is correct - it's the address from the web site, which is about as meaningless as their job postings. They move around a lot, and I left the company years ago. However, I guarantee that the nature of the business hasn't changed, and I don't want others to get sucked into something that's a lot harder to get out of.
I'm glad that others are coming forward - Bob, Amber, Ed, Cyndi, John, and Christina are all correct. I don't know if I worked with any of you, but we certainly have mutual "friends" *ahem*.
The job postings are deceptive. Slinging cheaply made crap in the name of charity in front of Wal-Marts and Krogers and Office Depots, that's not "marketing" and it's not "event promotion." It's SALES. Period.
The hiring process is a carefully planned manipulation - they prey on new college grads desperate for their first jobs, or people who can't pass drug tests/background checks. They sell you on the job just like they sell people on the worthless merch. When you finally do figure out it's commission only, they still don't tell you that you'll be lucky to go home with enough money to pay your bills. You have to pay your own gas to different locations around Houston (and Houston's an awfully big city when you include Beaumont, Baytown, Sugarland, Seabrook, etc.). They only way to really make money is to "stroke" customers by marking up the merch even more than instructed, which was officially frowned upon but unofficially "juiced."
They will hire anyone who they think will sell merch. If you end up not being any good, they might shame you out of the business. Or, they might just let you hang around and struggle, because according to the law of averages, you'll sell a little, no matter how bad you are. And that makes Jim money. 10 - 12 hour days were the norm, and if you wanted to move up, you really had to work on Saturdays. The higher up you got in the ladder, the longer and more often you had to be there.
On one occasion I was confronted by the cops for selling where I apparently did not have a permit to do so. I was only following instructions handed down to me from the "C.E.O." Everyone at the office got a real kick out of that. "Management" and leaders are by and large unprofessional and disrespectful. I won't say I didn't meet some great people there - but the good ones, I feel sorry for. There were some trying to support families. Others had left their families and friends behind to pursue this false dream.
Subtle (and not-so-subtle) manipulation abounds. Leaders manipulate new distributors. The manager manipulates all of them. And they all manipulate people in the field to make their sales. After a 12 hour day in this company, you need a shower with great water pressure to wash the filth off.
Jim's rebuttal was false.
1. Fingerprinting - absolutely. I fingerprinted hundreds of children in the two months that I worked on the DARE "campaign."
2. The only behavior that is unacceptable in that office is negging out other distributors, selling too little, or not saying "juice" 17,000 times per day.
Some people are perfect for this "job." More power to you. But before you get yourself into something, understand what you're in for. Don't do this if you have a family or children. Don't do it if you want to see your friends. Don't do it if you have rent, bills, or a car payment to pay.
They tell you that working for other people is the worst thing you can do - stay here and work for yourself! Well, I work for other people now. I get a salary and benefits. Yeah, that's right, BENEFITS! (i.E. When I have a toothache, I can go to the dentist. I get the time off, and it's paid for.) Turns out, it's not so bad working for other people after all.
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