There was an ad in the paper for management positions saying no experience necessary and training will be provided. I called the phone number and was invited to do an interview the next day. The office the interview was sparsely furnished. The few pieces they had looked like cheap rentals. The receptionist said they were waiting for their furniture to be delivered soon.
Soon I was greeted by an upbeat guy and escorted to an office where he 'interviewed' me. I was asked very few questions. He told a few jokes and told me I had a great personality. He then told me the company is called Coastline Management and they are perfume distributors. I was interviewing for a management position, which I would have a of staff of 8-10 sales people that I would train. He never asked me about my work experience or education, however he invited me back the next day for a group interview.
The next day there were about 15 people seated in a room waiting for the 'interview'. The guy from yesterday had us take notes on the perfume industry and the training process for the management job. He said during training we don't earn any money except when we sell perfume. Once we sell a certain amount of bottles we would be able to advance to the next step in training. He said once we had our own office we would earn $30K plus bonuses. Then he called a few people at a time into a room to tell them if they were hired or not. I was in the last group he claimed that our group would be in the accelerated training program, which would be less than the average 6-10 weeks it usually takes. We were told to come back the next day for orientation.
The next day we were in the same room where the same guy had us take notes about the benefits. The only documentation he gave us was a sheet of paper with a price list of rendition perfumes the company offers. Then he gave us an assignment where we had to sell discount perfume to our family and friends. We were to bring in cash or checks the next day for the perfume orders. They claimed their router was down so they couldn't take credit cards. Before we left for the day I asked about the health benefits. The guy said he would give us information about it within the next week. We never received any of the usual documentation you receive when you first start a job. When he was asked he insisted we would find about that stuff soon. Then he kept telling us how great of an opportunity it was. He also said he would take the top people in our group to Arizona where he had his office. Then we asked him where the sales staff sells the perfume. He said it was a surprise and we would have to wait to find out within the next few days.
When I got home that day I immediately went online to research this company. They had no website, they were not listed with the better bussiness bureau, and I found several reports about perfume scams. Everyone reporting the scam had a very similar experience as me. I decided to not go back the next day. I hope this can help someone else avoid this scam.
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