Xiao-Fury: The Blog

Xiao-Fury: The Blog
To God Be the Glory

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Sales Job and Scams

I  received a phone call from an insurance company called American Income Life (AIL) a few days ago. The company found my resume and they were interested in interviewing me for a possible position. I was half-sleep, but the name of the business sounded familiar. I remembered that one of my sisters received a phone call from the same company a few months ago. After inquiring the name of the company, I looked it up to check if AIL was a legit business...and apparently not. Many people complain that the business is unethical, the training is unpaid, and expenses are placed on the employee's wallet. I told my sister to withdraw from attending the interview, and she did. Likewise, I also told the lady on the phone that I was not interested in the position. She wasn't rude nor was I rude to her. She politely thanked me and hung up.

 I have to admit that AIL brought back some bad memories of a VERY short term sales job I worked with in 2009. The company's name is Vector Marketing, they sell the very great Cutco brand knives; someone from the company found my resume online via Career Builder---a site I would NOT recommend. The pay rate was greatly advertised at around $16.00. I went to the meetings, many people were there, and the guy (whose name I forget) was a charming comedian--or so he seemed. I was hired, but something about the job was starting to bug me. It was a sales job.  I wasn't looking for a sales job actually, but I needed a job after all.

I went to the meetings (unpaid) and after all the long boring meetings were finished, we had to purchase a selling kit for like $100.00, I think. I didn't have a job, so I had to ask one of my family members to vouch for me. We used the kit to make a presentation to our clients (family and friends), so they would hopefully buy the products. Long story short, I actually sold $1,500 worth the knives. However, I only received $45.00 in return. After going through all the trouble of finding a friend who would purchase all of that stuff, $45.00 dollars felt like a slap in the face; sorry if that sounds petty. I went to a few more meetings completely uninterested in the job now. I was thinking to myself, "there HAS to be something better than this". I was not making money hourly, and the job overall left me feeling terrible and a bit embarrassed. The knives are great, but way too expensive to sell back to back. I remember giving my kit back and never returning to that job again. The manager didn't call me back, and I'm glad he didn't. Vector's job ad was very misleading---so much so, that I (like a week ago) decided to do a back ground check on Vector Marketing to see what others think of this company.

It appears as if I wasn't the only one who felt short-changed by Vector. I've read stories from former Vector employees that relates to mine---only worse. There are petitions, and organized groups against Vector Marketing scam. Now, I don't think that all sales jobs or insurance positions are shady, but too many of them are.  So, be careful with any type of job offering---especially if it's sales.

3 comments:

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  2. .....thanks, although this comment had nothing to do with the topic, but thanks.

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