I quit my previous job as a telemarketer (because there was illegal drug activity at work) three weeks before I started working at Tri-Lakes Promotions. I was in desperate need of money to pay rent because my roommate had moved out and I didn't have ANY money. My friend had started working there a week before and told me I should apply for a job. I got the job, but she quit a day after I applied.
The office was bare and dirty, but the secretary quickly explained that they had just moved their office from Branson to Springfield three weeks before that. I didn't really care about that as long as I was being paid.
I was told that I would be an appointment setter, and that I would get $1,200 GUARANTEED a month. I later found out that this was only if you set up 144 demos at $10 a demo (which adds up to $1,440; and that should have been the guarantee.) I would get $50 for each sale generated off of an appointment I had set up.
No problem. Who wouldn't want a free carpet shampoo that only takes 30 minutes of their time? Well... I was told it would take 30 minutes. I started on a Wednesday after two days of non-paid training; and to be honest, I had trouble setting up the appointments.
It took me a little less than a week to actually get into the groove of things, and even then I was only setting up about 3 or 4 demos a day. On probably my fifth day of working there, I set up 4 demos. One was cancelled because both of my demo reps were in demos. One sold, and another did not. For my last demo, I had talked to a really nice older couple and told them I would be back at 8 to clean their carpet. We went and got my demo rep from his last demo and he quit on the spot. My other rep was in a demo.
The bosses were trying to figure out which of them would do the demo, since neither of them wanted to. Jokingly, I said something to the effect of, "Oh, just send me in there. I know nothing about it..." So, they did. From that day on, I was running two to three demos a day.
I was not a salesperson, and I did not sell the product, but I don't think that should mean I shouldn't be paid to do the demos. I didn't agree to do them for free when I started.
My third week working I finally got paid. $70. They didn't take into account any other demos I set up. Just that one day I had started running demos. Ok, well maybe I'll get it my next paycheck. I continued working for them 5 or 6 days each week from 11:00 to 11:00. I was told I would be done by 9:00, and we would start at 11:00am. The bosses didn't generally show up until after noon.
Right after that, my car broke down when I was giving them a ride home to Branson because their Sorento had broken down. Once their Sorento was fixed, they let me drive it back and forth to work with no tags on it. That was... Nice of them...
The next payday saw a lot of people leaving. Actually the only people left were me and my sister (who I had brought in a week after I started.) I got my paycheck ($140, still less than I thought I should get), but I couldn't deposit it until Tuesday, when they would have money. Okay, I understand money problems. I'll bite.
Tuesday rolls around and I deposit my check. My sister goes to cash hers at their bank, and there weren't sufficient funds. We went into work to see what was wrong. There was a "problem" with a couple of the contracts and they should have the money by later that night. My check would be fine...
That day, they decided to change how their business was ran totally. No more door knockers. We would have telemarketers. I would be the new secretary. Ok, cool. I can deal with that.
I talked with my bosses that day, also, about my guarantee. See, running demos with one demo rep (my sister), AND being the only canvasser most days caused me not to meet my guarantee. Seeing as demos took about 2 hours each to do, and my sister and I were running 2 each everyday. That's 8 hours and you're not allowed to knock after 9.
"Well, we'll give you the guarantee because you've been doing so much work."
The next week I went to New Jersey to help my friend transition into being alone while her husband was in Saudi Arabia. My sister called me on Tuesday (the day I was supposed to be getting the rest of my money for my guarantee which was $990.) She informed me that they only wrote me a check for $240. I made her give my phone to Charlie so that we could discuss why I was getting paid so little.
"I was under the impression that I would be getting my guarantee today."
"I was under the impression that you didn't set up enough demos to reach your guarantee."
"You told me you would pay me anyways. I need that money. I need to pay rent, and my sister and I haven't bought groceries since we started working for you."
"Well, we'll see what we can do. We'll have to discuss it with my bank, but we might be able to pay you in two parts."
I ended up getting a check for $500. When I got back from New Jersey the next week, my sister had quit working there. Both the $500 check and the $140 check had gone through my bank twice, and I was in the negative $348.
I wanted to leave, then, but I also wanted my money. I had to wait another week to get paid because the bosses were going to borrow $12,000 from Kat's parents. I was paid $900. Most of it went to my landlord. What was left went to paying my friend some money I owed her, putting gas in their Sorento, and actually buying a little bit of food.
On Monday, I was supposed to go to work but I didn't have any money left, and I didn't have any gas. I called them, and told them this. They didn't contact me again until Wednesday right before my college classes. Friday, I quit because I wasn't being paid, and they weren't even trying to contact me. I cleaned their Sorento, got some money from my sister, and took it back to the office. I gave them their keys and wrote them a note telling them why I left.
I told them I was a loyal employee that worked her butt off and deserved better. I expected some sort of compensation for those two bad checks they wrote me, and for my last week of work. They never called me back.
I called and let them know I was taking the necessary steps to take them to small claims court. I received a letter from them today stating that for the entire time I worked there, I only set up 28 demos, and ran 12. Only one of my appointments generated a sale. Yeah, right, and pigs fly. Actually, they didn't keep track of how many demos I set up. They never wrote anything down, and what information they did have was from the first two and a half weeks I worked for them. Obviously, for the next month I didn't run or set up any demos...
If you want to try your hand at selling Kirbys, I would NOT work for Tri-Lakes Promotions. Even if you get a sale, there's no guarantee you'll get paid. My sister was getting a $338 commission on a sale she made, but the lady who bought it called with a problem. The bosses did nothing to solve this problem, and she cancelled. This cost my sister the sale, AND the $250 3-sale bonus. She's now going to court with me to help get paid from them. We basically went a month living on canned vegetables and ramen noodles, because that's all we had from when we started the job.
If you like not being able to pay for food, rent, electricity, or random other bills, then by all means take this job. They may say it's a guarantee, but it's basically a, "We'll pay you next week job." I feel stupid for falling for it for so long, but I didn't want to leave without getting my money.
Also, for those of you who say this is a SALES job and you actually have SELL to make money. They don't say that when you start. They say you'll get a GUARANTEE, and then go back on that promise.
Jenny
Springfield, Missouri
U.S.A.
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