PHOTOGRAPHERS BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY SCAM: CirclePix.com, a Virtual Tour and Marketing co. Based online that produces 360 degree real estate tours is scouting all over the USA for photographers to cover a certain zip code area in each state. I was referred by a photographer in Hawaii and took over her zip code area.
After a long orientation and promises of 20-30 tours a month. I bought over $3,000 worth of camera equipment and a "special" patented camera swivle head used to shoot the tours and then told I would have to buy my area and zip codes.
The cost of the orientation (which I already knew thru being a trainee with the former photographer) was an additional $1200. Plus the former photographer was trying to get me to buy her old equipment as well.
I fell for the SCAM. FIRST OF ALL, I was only getting a few tours per week, not the 20-30 per month that was promised. The contract was for one year with an option to renew for each additional year. They hired 2 more photographers in an area that one could handle and got 2 more dummies to pay all that money as well.
When the year came to an end, I didn't hardly re-coop my losses and they stated they would only renew the contract month to month, and if I didn't like it, I could quit.
I had a great relationship with my clients and no complaints and was a very good employee. I noticed they fired alot of the sales people and always had new, young, pretty girls working the sales lines. One of the girls that were fired said there was alot of sexual harrassment going on in the company.
Some of my customers complained that the phone sales people were not experienced and they didn't know what they were doing. When I coveyed that to my manager at that time (now fired) He, (Andy) and the company (Circlepix) wrote me a termination letter, saying I took too long to sign the month to month contract they had sent me (even tho it was unfair and a lie to me.
There was absolutely NO REASON to fire me. Only because by hiring a new, waiting photographer, they could make that additional fee and sale of equipment. What a SCAM JOB and UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES!
I am now stuck in a bad economy with my savings gone and did nothing to deserve this treatment. I am not the only photographer they did this to. I have told him to write in as well as anyone else around the USA that had a bad experience with this RIP OFF company.
The problem is because we are here in Hawaii and this company is out of UTAH, it is hard to do something to these creeps. If there is a lawyer that can help us, Please contact us, we may have enough people for a class action lawsuit.
0 comments