antiscam (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} antiscam) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} u_of_m,@ 2004-09-07 09:11:00 |
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Students Beware: Vector Marketing/Cutco Knife Selling Scam
In case any of you didn't already know, this company advertises vague "Customer Service and sales" work in "housewares and sporting goods" with "no door-to-door or telemarketing" for over "$12/base-appt" all over the nation and it's main recruiting website is www.workforstudents.com
It turns out to be a kitchen knife selling scheme: after you pay about $150 for a demo set (that may be refundable) you are turned loose to sell these knife sets to your friends and family costing anywhere from $200-$2000 with a starting commission rate of 10%. Then you're supposed to ask them for the contact info of their friends and family and do the same. As reps are often misled about their job, they are also often misled abot the quality of the knives. You are hired as an independent contractor instead of an employee and that basically allows them to withhold pay for training, phone time, etc. There is a base pay per appt you don't sell at, as long as it is qualified by their standards (one-on-one done fully to someone over 25 with a job). They've admitted to fraud in settlements with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (1999), Wisconsin Consumer Protection Dept (1994), and Arizona Attorney General (1992). Wisconsin surveyed 940 Vector Marketing recruits in 1992 and found that almost half either earned nothing or lost money working for Vector and they earned less than $3 a day on average selling cutlery for Vector
Many sites and newspaper articles have have called Vector out for their scam:
RipoffReport:
http://www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/r
Oregon Statesman Journal
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.c
Channel 10 News Albany:
http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=6
Cornell University:
http://www.cornelldailysun.com/vnews/dis
In case any of you didn't already know, this company advertises vague "Customer Service and sales" work in "housewares and sporting goods" with "no door-to-door or telemarketing" for over "$12/base-appt" all over the nation and it's main recruiting website is www.workforstudents.com
It turns out to be a kitchen knife selling scheme: after you pay about $150 for a demo set (that may be refundable) you are turned loose to sell these knife sets to your friends and family costing anywhere from $200-$2000 with a starting commission rate of 10%. Then you're supposed to ask them for the contact info of their friends and family and do the same. As reps are often misled about their job, they are also often misled abot the quality of the knives. You are hired as an independent contractor instead of an employee and that basically allows them to withhold pay for training, phone time, etc. There is a base pay per appt you don't sell at, as long as it is qualified by their standards (one-on-one done fully to someone over 25 with a job). They've admitted to fraud in settlements with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (1999), Wisconsin Consumer Protection Dept (1994), and Arizona Attorney General (1992). Wisconsin surveyed 940 Vector Marketing recruits in 1992 and found that almost half either earned nothing or lost money working for Vector and they earned less than $3 a day on average selling cutlery for Vector
Many sites and newspaper articles have have called Vector out for their scam:
RipoffReport:
http://www.badbusinessbureau.com/reports/r
Oregon Statesman Journal
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.c
Channel 10 News Albany:
http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=6
Cornell University:
http://www.cornelldailysun.com/vnews/dis
