• Report: #308393

Complaint Review: Empire Promotions

Thank You

Read how Ripoff Report saves consumers millions.

  • Submitted: Tuesday, February 12, 2008
  • Last Posting: Monday, September 08, 2008
  • Reported By:New York New York
Empire Promotions
Castle Road Seacaucus New Jersey U.S.A.

Empire Promotions THIS COMPANY IS A COMPLETE SCAM AND SHOULD BE PROSECUTED AS A FRADULENT BUSINESS Secaucus New Jersey


1Author 2Consumer 0Employee/Owner

Rebuttal Box | Respond!

  • Respond to this report!
    What's this?
  • Also a victim?
    What's this?
  • Repair Your Reputation
    ...the right way!
    Corporate Advocacy Program
To anybody who is considering an "exciting career" with empire promotions or any company under the "quantum" umbrella:

I was referred to this company through job recruiting sites such as carrerbuilder and monster. I want to take this opportunity to warn everybody that this company is a complete scam. From the hiring practices all the way through to the nature of the job, this company is willing to do anything to exploit young adults. I am 22 years old and I recently recieved my bachelors from a respectable university. I certainly do not consider myself a gullable and/or desperate individual that would just jump into a job like this. The truth is that I would have never taken the job if the had not lied to me from the very beginning. After working for this company for no more than a week, I was exposed to how they really run things and those of you reading this report will certainly be shocked!

Part 1 - The interviewing and hiring process

When I researched this company on careerbuilder.com I was excited to see that I would be gaining experience that would relate to many different industries such as customer service, sales, marketing, and several other areas. I was also very happy to learn that the base salary would be $40,000 - $50,000 per year.

Based on what I saw posted on careerbuilder, I saw an opportunity and scheduled an interview right away. The first interview lasted no more than 20 minutes. It was a one on one interview that took place in an office room. They asked me questions such as why I would be an asset, and if I preferred working out "in the field" or in an office-type environment. At the end of the interview the manager told me that he felt I was very professional and that he would like to get me in as soon as possible for a second round interview. He also mentioned to me that they were taking over 300 interviews each week and were looking to narrow the field down to 2 candidates. However, he stressed that the second round interview would be an all day event that would take place out in the field with managers observing me all day. I was to arrive at 9:00 A.M. and prepare to be finished at 6:00 P.M.. I was warned to bring a heavy coat.

Immediatly following the first interview I was extremely curious; out of the hundreds of interviews I have been on I have never been asked to come back for a second round interview that would be an all day event. Would I be getting paid? What kind of event would I be taking part in? Anyway, I showed up for the second interview 2 days later. There were about 15 other people in the room waiting to go on their interview. I would say that more than half of these people did not have college degrees let alone high school diplomas. I have no proof of this, but the idea that most of them could not properly tie a tie or wear matching socks gave me enough evidence.

None the less my name was called and I met with two associates. They explained to me that we would be going to an A&P (grocery store) in the Jersey area to help "raise money for children." More specifically, we were to setup a table outside the store and sell merchandise to people. When I asked about salary and benefits, I was told that these questions could not be answered until my final interview.

As the day went on it was my job to observe these two individuals attempt to sell cheap useless merchandise to every patron that walked out of the store. I had no idea how much actually went to the charity, how much went back to the business, and for the most part, I had no idea what the hell kind of "promotional event" I was involved in.

Part 2 - The Business

The way it works is that the company purchases cheap books, toys, and other merchandise for kids at wholesale prices, and then set up "events" at local businesses such as 7-11, A&P, and hundreds of other grocery chains. Using the D.A.R.E. logos on some of the merchandise and a banner that covers the table, they create a false impression that they are actually with the D.A.R.E. program.

They then ask every single person who walks out of the store to "help the kids," "raise support for the D.A.R.E. program," and a slu of other selling techniques to get people's money. The most amazing thing about this entire operation is that these local businesses such as A&P actually endorse this scam! What else is funny to me is that when people ask how much of the money actually goes to the charity, you are taught to avoid answering that question at all costs!

After working with empire promotions for 1 week, here is what the typical day is like:

Show up to the office at 8:00AM

Learn misleading selling techniques in order to get people to purchase these products

Circle up with the other people that work there and listen to techno music in order to get you pumped up to rip people off!

Go out into the field and set up a table in front of a grocery store or other local establishment

Stand out in the FREEZING COLD for 8 hours begging people to help you

Push these cheap and useless products to people maintaining the idea that the proceeds are going to "help out the kids"

Go back to the office around 7:00PM and reflect on what you have done

Part 3 - THE TRUTH

Only 5% of every dollar actually goes to the charity! For all of you math wizzes out there; only 5 cents of every dollar goes to the charity.

There is no base salary! You are payed 100% commission!

There are no health benefits!

The only industry in which you gain "useful experience" in is the industry of scamming poor people for their money!

40 to 50 thousand dollars a year MY ASS!!! As a field marketer you get 35% of every dollar. The average price of each piece of merchandise is 11 dollars. This means that you get around $3.85 for each item you sell before taxes! Good luck making 50 thousand dollars a year ripping people off for 4 bucks a pop! I made more money selling lemonade when I was 6 years old; and that is a useful product!

Part 4 - The ROAD TRIP

After they gassed me up into thinking that I would be great at this position and I would make a lot of money, I agreed to take a road trip to an affiliate business. They would put me up in a hotel, and pay for all of my expenses. HAHA. Not only did I end up sleeping on some random guy's FLOOR, every expense including food and gas came out of my pocket! And finally, the other guys I took this road trip with gave me proof that they absolutly do not conduct background checks on applicants. One of these guys was a convicted felon who spent 5 years in jail, and the other guy abused drugs while we were on the road trip! What kind of business lets people like this sell merchandise under the D.A.R.E. logo!

If you dont believe me take a look at their website and you tell me its not an absolute scam: www.empirepromoevents.com

just listen to the music.

Harrisdk
New York, New York
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 2/12/2008 5:34:24 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/corrupt-companies/empire-promotions/empire-promotions-this-company-m42am.htm. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.

Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report.

Click Here to read other Ripoff Reports on Empire Promotions

Search for additional reports

If you would like to see more Rip-off Reports on this company/individual, search here:

Search Tips
Report & Rebuttal
Respond to this report!
What's this?
Also a victim?
What's this?
Repair Your Reputation!
What's this?
REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author 2Consumer 0Employee/Owner
Updates & Rebuttals

#1 Consumer Comment

Its all how you look at things

AUTHOR: Germanchic88 - Rockaway (U.S.A.)

I know a lot about this company as well as all the others listed throughout this site and yes there are some of these companies in every state and they go by different names everytime someone at the office gets promoted and opens their own office, so here you see some ... a select few do suceed. I will let you in on my opinions and true facts. I'm sure every employee that works for this job for longer than one week as you have mentioned as a different perception of the job.

First of all I admit the long days are tiring and gas expenses completely should be covered as should food and other expenses encountered. I admit sometimes you will be driving between 30 minutes to an hour to your event and sometimes it will be only 5 minutes away. I also admit that sometimes you will stand outside and only sell 1-10 items at 11 dollars and only make 35 percent comission and sometimes you will sell 35-40 pieces at 11 dollars at 35 percent and make good money. The job is unpredicatable. A lot of determined by your own positive attitude and motivation but sometimes a lot is determined by the event, the traffic and the luck of the draw so to speak.

Hence if you want a job with stablity and a predictable income.. this is NOT the job for you. If you enjoy an adventure.. a different thing happening every day and work and dont mind unpredictable pay then this may be something to look into. The job can be fun, exciting and rewarding. Not many people get to come into an office meet interesting employees, play games, listen to music, and then go out have fun at an event and make money doing all of this and feel pumped at the end of the day to come to work the next day. It is true that only a few people actually get promoted in this buisness and it does take hard work and devoting your all to the company 24/7 but the motivated ones with the drive will get their own offices.

If buisness is something your interested in and not afraid to take a risk then again this company as well as the others are a good way to take that risk and still make a little money and gain experience along the way. Also this job pays more than any supermarket or grocery store does and you get to have way more fun in the process. As far as the charities go and at point if someone asks you how much goes to charity you are required to tell the person not decieve them. People on the field tell others the actual percentage all the time. Also how else would these charities be making as much money otherwise? How many people would actually volunteer their time for 10 hours if they didnt make any money doing it, having a comission guarantees you will work harder for the charity and therfore end up raising more money in the end.

These companies raise about 5 million dollars for these charities and dont forget the charities are in on this too! Everyone seems to forget that, these charities are allowing you to tell customers this stuff because they know in the end they will recieve more money this way then in volunteers were out selling stuff for dare.. The key word is volume .. at this job there are far more employees and even though only 5 percent goes back .. the charity ends up making more in the end and the other money allows the employees to pay their bills and funding and promotions for the charity to continue. Im sure if you call DARE or CPEA .. and ask them they will be more than happy to tell you how happy they are about the money they recieve from these companies all over america.

It's about time someone in the field of business does something unselfish with their money instead of making 100 percent of the profit. Dont forget these people are taking some nifty toys with them when they make a purchase and we are NOT NOT NOT allowed to accept direct donations. These toys will bring a smile to whichever kid recieves them and that makes me happy alone.

In the example of toys for tots .. people buy toys from you and then give them right back to toys for tots .. so everyone wins here. i consider myself a moral person and i dont find this job to be a complete scam athough i was 100 percent aware of all of this from the start as well. I think some people at the job are clueless but if you think critically about it all and you realize the charities are involved in this as well, its not really a scam and people's money is not only getting them a nice gift for themselves or their loved ones but helping the sellers and the charities. However .. beware if you are not willing to risk 6 months of your life with the hope of getting promoted and possibly not getting promoted because well you just arnt manager material then dont work at this job.

This job is a risk yes but some who take that risk will be promoted .. its just a fact and those people will make a ton of money. Even at entry level you do make a good paycheck and have a fun time doing it, athough i suspose if you subtract your actual expenses, time put in the office and such .. it comes out to be much less then you think, but the point is at least your not sitting behind a desk all day and doing a job you hate.

For all those super motivated people, you might succeed at this pryamid ... majority will not. These are some true facts about this company as well as the giant list of others listed throughout this site under different names.
Respond to this report!
What's this?

#2 Consumer Comment

Was called for interview that I never applied to- A LIE from Empire right off the bat

AUTHOR: Recent Grad - Elizabeth (U.S.A.)

I'm a recent grad, also from a respectable university, with honors. I'm on the job hunt and like most grads, I post my resume on sites like hotjobs and careerbuilder.

Empire Promotions in New Brunswick emailed and called me to set up a time for an interview for the position of "Marketing Manager." I said I never applied to any management positions- I'm only a recent college grad. They said "Are you sure? It says here that you applied for a position in marketing mangagement."

The company website appears to be "scam free," however thanks to the previous posting, I avoided a lot of time and hassle. Although I agree "it depends on how you look at it" (soliciting donations is one way to earn money), I don't agree with misleading applicants into doing this kind of work.

In short, if it sounds "too good to be true", it is.
Respond to this report!
What's this?
Report & Rebuttal
Respond to this report!
What's this?
Also a victim?
What's this?
Repair Your Reputation!
What's this?
Search for additional reports

If you would like to see more Rip-off Reports on this company/individual, search here:

Search Tips

Advertisers above have met our
strict standards for business conduct.