Primerica (PFS) ripoff - Have I been Suckered? Should I cancel Immediately? HELP!!! Ontario Primercia Financial Services Guelph Ontario

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*UPDATE: Primerica recognized by Rip-off Report a business opportunity well worth considering - it's not for everyone but many representatives make solid commission incomes. Primerica takes appropriate action against representatives conducting themselves improperly, pledges 100% commitment to customer service.

well... first let me tell you i've been with the company for almost a year and I love it. Why?? because i have the opportunity to growth not only with my business but as a person its great to meet people like you looking for a better future... i first went to one of their combentions on march and that tha was the best experience i ever had. all those people are so positive you dont heard people complaining about work or not having time to spent with their family.lets be honest its really hard to find someone that love what they do. and i do I get to spent time with my baby I get to help families become financially independent and get free trips from the company when I work hard for it. If you dont work you wont be able to progress the same as a regular job. not everybody likes it. some people like taking orders from others or having the same salary for years and at the end most of them end up working at MacDonals because they did not save enought money for retirement.... Me I decided a changed for the better if some of you think we are scams I respect your opiniom and for those like me congratulations I see u at the top!!!!

People pushing these "MLM" schemes are like smokers.... they are TOLD it is really bad for their financial health, they are TOLD it will destroy their financial future, and they continue like a moth to a flame. After they are consumed, they cry that nobody really explained it to them or the company misled them and they want to sue...



Just like cigarette smokers....



The American Cancer Society tells smokers how bad cigatettes are...

The Surgeon General tells smokers how bad cigatettes are...

BUT........

The cigatette companies tell the smokers how good and flavorful (or something) cigatettes ars and not to worry...

So what do cigarette smokers do? They do what they wanted to do in the first place, they believe what they want to believe, they get burned (literally) and then they want to sue!



I love the post about how one person "still supported this company 100%" but they couldn't make any money there so they quit and got another job... is this SUPPOSED to make any sense? I mean, GOSH, is one really supposed to work a job that makes them the money to put food on their table and a roof over their head? Really? I didn't know that! I learn something new every day....

answers?



Hi,



I was just looking through these and say your worried looking story. I have a few things to add here that I think might be usefull to you. I trained for a year through Primerica. I submitted my fee, wrote the exam, I attended the seminars and completed training appointments. Through all of this you'd think I should have made a lot of money or at least gone some where with it right? Wrong. I was lazy. I didn't make enough training appointments so I didn't learn the presentation properly. I didn't study properly so I didn't pass the exam....All of my failure was completely my fault! But in that year I trained through them I learned a lot. All of these people telling you its a scam are wrong. They can't just hand you a check if you don't work for it. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that sound like any other "normal" job?



I do know that the recruiting sounds scarry and "scamish." But the truth behind this is very simple. They recruit because they are only one company of to many that are selling people the wrong kind of insurance. They applaud recruiting so they can grow and be the bigest financial services company out there! They go into peoples homes and "educate" them! They teach them what no other insurance sales person will, the truth.



I am no longer working for this company and I still 100% support their motives. I may not have the innitiative and drive it takes to make it, but there are so many prople out there that do. I personally shook hands with people making hundreds of thousands of dollars per month. If you are willing to work and work hard for it it is deffenetly possible.



And just a note to all the people leaving comments trashing PFS, If you attentend the seminars and listen to your uplines, you'll learn everything you need to know about the company. Obviously you wern't paying attention. The basis of PFS is extremely simple if you listen. They help people, they teach people, they teach you and they make d**n good money doing it.

You mean the same CITIGROUP that paid fines and class action settlements totalling $TWO BILLION for their part of ther ENRON scam? That Citigroup??????

Quoting:



"You've stated this website's mission on at least a couple of your posts. Do you think then that EVERY single post about a company must be true, and that said company must then be fraudulent?" Not every post is true, particularly by shillers.



"In case you didn't notice, there's an option called REBUTTAL, that allows companies to defend themselves if they are not fraudulent. With a company as big as _________, I'm surprised there are so FEW negative posts." In case you didn't notice Charles, the posting by the shillers are designed only to promote Crimerica, not to address the issues raised by the complaints. "...so FEW negative posts" you must be kidding since there are thousands of negative posts against Crimerica on this website alone not to mention other websites.



"Salaries range from $70,000 to well over $120,000." If so why bother working your a$$ off at Crimerica?



"How is getting someone out of a "savings" life insurance policy that in 14 years would be worthless a bad thing?" The expensive, garbage term insurance that Crimerica peddles is essentially worthless as insureds outlive the policy deriving no benefit.



"In closing, if it were such a scam, CITIBANK wouldn't be associated with it would they? Ever think of that??" Citibank/Citicorp, if Citicorp is such a scam (they don't back up Crimerica), then why did Crimerica associate themselves with that outfit? (keep in mind that Citicorp settled out of court for billions of dollars in connection with Enron and Worldcom). Both Citicorp and Crimerica are going down and all you shills, or should I say shrills, can't do anything about it.

Stuart in New Jersey,



"Victim of a consumer Rip-off? Want justice? Rip-off Report? is a worldwide consumer reporting Website & Publication, by consumers, for consumers, to file & document complaints about companies or individuals who ripoff consumers."



You've stated this website's mission on at least a couple of your posts. Do you think then that EVERY single post about a company must be true, and that said company must then be fraudulent?? In case you didn't notice, there's an option called REBUTTAL, that allows companies to defend themselves if they are not fraudulent. With a company as big as Primerica, I'm surprised there are so FEW negative posts.



I've just started working with Primerica, so I am researching extensively about the company before I get too involved. Sure I was a little worried when I first started reading some of the posts, until I realized that the negative comments seemed to be coming from people who really knew nothing about the company or people who really hadn't given it much effort. Why is it so easy for people blame someone else for their short-comings? Why do these people expect for everything to come easy and be handed a paycheck with little or no effort?



A comment by another poster was made that Primerica targets the poor. I was recruited by and individual who has several clients from my workplace. Salaries range from $70,000 to well over $120,000. Why does she target us? Because she says from her experience we are dependable, honest, hard working people. Even if Primerica did target the poor, how is making their future brighter with an IRA, for example, a bad thing? How is getting someone out of a "savings" life insurance policy that in 14 years would be worthless a bad thing? I've seen nothing but good done so far through my friends who are clients with Primerica. I've been a client for two years now, mainly because Primerica got me life insurance for the same coverage for a cheaper price. My former policy was government provided by the way. I just don't see the arguement that Primerica is such a bad idea. I will do more research, because before I fully commit to ANYTHING, I like to be well informed.



In closing, if it were such a scam, CITIBANK wouldn't be associated with it would they? Ever think of that??

your canned "rebuttal" adds nothing and only reinforces the stereotype of the brainwashed crimerica stooge.

"You are your own boss!!!" Since Crimerica owns your downline and clients (how did you miss that one in the IBA contract, Pierre?) and can dictate who you can sell the business to, I'd say that doesn't do much for business ownership.



"Just because you get a bad cashier at your local grocery store those that mean the whole chain is bad?" You're conveniently forgetting the main point, Pierre, is that Crimerica is rotten to the core and must take responsibility for the actions of all the franchises and agents that do business in its name.



"_________ is a respectable company...." You should try being a comedian Pierre as you'd be much more successful. Respectable? Just check out

the thousands of reports filed against Crimerica

on Ripoff Report not to mention other websites.



Now Pierre go to the head of the class and recite the following 100 times:



"Victim of a consumer Rip-off? Want justice? Rip-off Report? is a worldwide consumer reporting Website & Publication, by consumers, for consumers, to file & document complaints about companies or individuals who ripoff consumers."

Hello,



I have been with Primerica for the past 13 months and I am really happy. It was a slow start but that is what you get when you take your time. Yes I look for people that might be interested in the opportunity, but I don't sugar coat it. It is a hard business like all self-employed businesses. Please let me stress this. You are signing an IBA... INDEPENDENT BUSINESS APPLICATION, it is not a corporate payroll job. You are your own boss!!! Think of this business as a realtor or broker.



It is true that it is not for everybody. It takes someone with lots of determination, perseverence and guts. If you follow the company structure and outline, set goals and plan ahead. You will make it. I have to say that there are some bad reps that only want to get up the ladder fast and leave people in the dust. They get a reputation and down the road they burn out their market and the company name.



BUT THIS HAPPENS in ALL companies. Just because you get a bad cashier at your local grocery store those that mean the whole chain is bad? Of course not. Please, if the Primerica rep was misleading, I suggest you visit the Primerica website and contact head office with the particulars of the meeting and discuss it with them. When I hear of a bad Primerica rep, I am not afraid to bring it up the chain of command.



Look at Clarica and London Life in Canada. Some of them don't care for the client and they only want the commision.



Primerica is a respectable company that is gaining more and more market, one client at a time and one SUITABLE recruit at a time. If you are looking for a get rich and have a big paycheck the first months, with a huge client list at starting... PLEASE MOVE ON. You might be happier in a 9-5 job, being behind a desk answering to a boss. Most of the complaint I see is about misunderstandings about what we do or a bad rep that BROKE internal compliance rules.



Keep an open mind, try to get referals from Primerica clients that are happy and good luck in your future career.



Yours Trully,

P.L.B.

Think about this for a second. A credible financial professional, let's say a Financial Planner / Advisor, will have typically graduated college, a 4 year accredited university, usually with a Finance or Accounting Degree. They will have taken and passed several NASD required exams (ie. Series 7 & 66, NOT the Series 6 only) and state insurance exams. They will have been thoroughly trained for weeks if not months by their broker / dealer, all of which will be paid training (and, oh yeah, there licensing "fees" will be paid as well by their broker / dealer). And probably they will, if they're smart, obtain some type of professional degree from the College for Financial Planning (CFP, AAMS, CMFC, etc...).



And THEN, and only then will they begin prospecting for and working with clients, and in most case they will struggle immensely for a couple of years with generating enough business to earn a livable income from, WHICH is why their broker / dealer will be paying them a salary during their first 2 or 3 years.



And at that point or at any point during their first 2 or 3 years if they demonstrate an inability to be successful at what it is that they've gotten themselves into, the broker / dealer will do them a favor and FIRE THEIR BUTT...



Now tell me if this sounds like a Primerica Rep. or their process? If you want to try your hand at this business go interview with someone like else and see what the business is really all about... My opinion to EVERYONE is if you hear Primerica calling with a job opportunity save your money and something even more precious, your time.

As a former rep for the company, I'd have to say "no". Primerican targets low income people and convinces them to "buy term and invest the difference". This is great in theory!!



But look at it from this angle. These people can hardly pay their bills. Once a little more starts coming in it will be used for something other than investing.



Say you have a term life policy for 30 years. If you outlive the policy and haven't invested, you are no longer insured and are probably too old to get an affordable policy. Most people never invest!



When I signed up, I say what the RVP made and was amazed. Well, after 20 years of struggling he should be doing well. We were always advised to show new recruits his pay, not ours. Why? We didn't make anything! I worked there three years and never received a decent paycheck. My husband and I always had to go into savings just to stay above water when I was with Primerica.



Why did I leave? The RVP in another office was stealing our recuits and my RVP allowed this to happen.



No one I know that worked there while I was there made any money. At least not enough to pay their bills. Somethings not right here. Do research, ask to see the rep checks of those that have been there a year or so. Beware. This is a scam and I lived it, breathed it and can gauarentee you that rarely does anyone in the office have a clue about what they are selling!



VM-Tennessee

If you have to wonder if it's for you or not after reading so many complaints - everyone saying the same thing, too - then go ahead and try it. We did. All it proved to us is, these guys are predators, deceivers, and so capable of destroying relationships. All under the guise of helping families. Really though, do you want to be connected with any organization that has such a bad reputation and won't admit it?

It seems everyone has been called mysteriously by this company. It seems so dishonest. We should knowingly be able to apply for these supposed jobs or so they say they are not "Jobs". I feel I was ripped off. I luckily cancelled my cheque in enough time and I have left. I have no money to begin with I need money right away. These supposed "Jobs" give you a hell of a lot more stability. What is wrong with wanting a regular income? They tell you everything is wrong when you can make more money then you can dream of. BULL CRAP! this does not happen. That is not the way the real world works. You have to work your way up and HONESTLY! not by fraud or scam or Pyrimid scheme. Primerica Do yourselves a favour, go out and earn an HONEST income. Can you honestly say that you can be trusted? Can you truly say that the money you have comes from an honest source? There is no way in hell a High School Grad is going to earn 100 000 and you d**n well know it. Bull crap with the whole 50 000 in the first year. There is no way in hell and you know it. STOP TELLING LIES!!!!!!!



This company recruits by things they call

1. 1-3 Pointers

2. Referrals (as in find resumes through websites)

3. Warm Market? (What the hell is this)

what are we FRESH MEAT???? I am sorry but I have a brain in my head just because I dont have a college degree at the moment does not mean anything.



They also try to tell you at first that you will have 2 weeks paid training and this including one week for the licensing. Ok to begin with GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ARSE AS IT IS NOT PAID! STOP THE LIES!!!! You have to make all this effort to get to these mettings and classes which really tell you nothing and meanwhile NO MONEY COMMING IN! Give me a break people. It is a rip off all together. If it was not a rip off then why the hell are there so many bad reports? Why would we lie about it being a rip off? What you think we are trying to get all the money? HA. I left the company because there was no money. Be careful everyone whatever you do, don't buy into this company. Their rates are really bad and well yeah like i said THINK ABOUT IT WHY THE HELL ARE THERE SO MANY BAD REPORTS IF IT WAS NOT TRUE! They do try to brain wash you. OOOOhhh and another thing; They bring you in for your initial interview and try telling you they have done a lot of interviews. They call you back that evening to come back the next day to come back for this "Group" Interview or secondary interview. They told us only 4 of us were being hired out of the 25 that showed up which is utter BULL S#@*. I found that more then 4 more like 10 or 12 of us had been hired. PEOPLE DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCHEME!!!! use your brain everyone has one. I hope nobody else gets ripped off but I guess people can talk until they are blue in the face. Use your judgement and that little voice in your head that is telling you something is wrong. DO NOT FALL FOR IT!

Hello Julie and Marty from Kitchener,



One simple way to see if Primerica is an ethical company is to compare what they sell to another life insurance company.



Primerica is a great company to compare products to, SINCE THEY ONLY SELL ONE PRODUCT! Yes, unlike other financial advisors who shop around for the bet product for their clients, Primerica agents only have one type of life insurance to sell. This is VERY shortsighted and not the way that I would want to do business if I wanted to work in the best interest of my clients.



I could go on, but then I would be repeating what many of other people have already said.



Back to my original offer. If you and your boyfriend/husband have life insurance through Primerica, or if you sold Primerica life insurance to a relative or friend, why not call an insurance broker to give you a quote with any one of many other life insurance companies out there. Primerica policies are generally WAY overpriced, and you can get the exact same coverage and the exact same insurance with another company for much less.



Since you are in Ontario like me, send me an email and we'll talk.

I totally agree with Joshua. And if you feel that this is not something you want to do you can get your money back, I know because my husband did just that. Then I decided a few weeks later to join the company. This company is about hard work, but it is also about doing what is right all of the time. I do also have a friend that was turned away from the company because of a misrepresentation on their application. So not just anyone can work for Primerica. As far as I can tell the company is very ethical. And to succeed in this business you do have to learn to sell the dream. I know that my own financial future was in disarray before Primerica, but I can now see a light at the end of the tunnel.

My best advice is to find an office you feel is ethical and stick it out for a while. I really think you will love it.

I just started mu traning period Its seems to be lajit Becuz you can take your provincal licnce

any where (in the province) when your done your un ristricted licnce but there are a lot of smoke and mirrors it seems like they only tell you hafe truth's just enough to string you along bit by bit just enough to to get you to the next step then you find out there is another 20 steps its kind of crap and all the metings i have been to are like live infomerchals its like there trying to blow smoke up ...... (lets just say it dont belong there) but on there thru my traning I have actuly helped my sis, uncle/aunt, and my good freind (It really did help them) as for my in laws and my friends perents the products that offer wernt for them ( not in there best intrest) so I didnt try to sell any thing and we didnt have to hurass any one.



i have a feeling it will work out for me. But of corse i am not scard of hard work and its true its NOT FOR EVERY ONE. And if i can stop someone from working at Mcdonalds or wal-mart when there 60-70-80 it will be worth it. becuse I know if my mom had to do it I would be beating someones head in (eg a manager or her dutie boss or some thing) cuz no one mom or dad deserives that type of golden retierment Anyways thats my 2 cents spend it how you like



P.s you have to for give the spelling and the germatical errors

If Joshua is the Joshua that I know he is a very honest and sincere person. He is however, honestly mistaken. If an honest person who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he either must correct the mistake or cease to be an honest person.



Primerica people, for the most part, are very sincere in their belief that they do what is right. The problem is they do not have access to the truth in their training classes and field training. It is all done by those within the company, when they do use outside wholesalers the wholesalers know NOT to tell everything they know or lose the business.



I was honestly mistaken for 19 years with PFS, I was one of the very few to make it to $100K income. I saw the world on their trips, most of the "normal" Primerica people envied my position and income. But once I started investigating and learned the truth, I HAD to leave or cease to be an honest person.



Travelers Life, a Citigroup Company sells term insurance for about half the cost of Primerica Life. All the other Citigroup companies sell Travelers, NOT Primerica Life, why they are knowledgeable and wouldn't even want to sell it.



There's too much more to tell here so I'll shut down for now.

All I can emphasize is that anyone getting recruited by this organization read the IBA CONTRACT carefully, and don't be swayed by emotion or "loyalty" feelings of anxious friends or family wanting you to join up. Understand that as a rep. of this organization, you are a "captive agent". This means that even if you found way more competative term products, you would not be legally able to offer them due to the restrictive clauses the company harnesses the rep. down with. I learned the hard way. Working with a company that offers only their own "proprietary" term product ought to set off bells and whistles to the wise insurance agent. Do your research! Go to any of the numerous life insurance web-sites, and see for yourself. I also had to leave behind over $1.2 million in securities business when I decided to become an independent agent. This caveat is not unique to the PFS agency. If I had only been aware, been given unpartial counsel, and used my head, I would never had to leave the results of a lot of hard work behind me when I left. If anyone sees an opportunity to help people with sensitive stuff like insurances and investments, be doubley careful. It's not a question of "if" your clients will find better deals on the open market; the absolutely will find them. And when they do, they'll be looking at you and asking themselves why you didn't offer them the more competative stuff way back when. They'll probably never say it to your face, but you'll get their drift. Insurance sales is no "quick money on the side" thing. It's seriuous business that carries stiff consequences for the careless agent from irate customers who feel they weren't treated fairly, honestly, etc.

The PFS recruiters will tell you ANYTHING to get hired. Don't give the them any $$$, do not give them the names of any friends or family.



PFS rates really are not that competitive.



MOST PFS reps make little or no money and wind up quitting after a few months.



Why do you think they are constantly, non stop looking for workers? It is not because they are growing so fast, its because they have a 90% turnover. They have been bugging people for years. They look for people with no experience or knowledge of the business so they can sucker them in.

...just ask them for your money back. A legitimate company would gladly refund your money if they knew that this was something that you didn't want to do. They might ask why, and you might not have an answer that they like, but a legitimate company would simply give you the money back and thank you for your consideration.



Please tell us how it all goes. Those of us who are not as brainwashed as Joshua is are anxiously awaiting the results!

I am sorry that you have not had a good experience with our company and disagree that we will not terminate contractors with our company, because that is simply untrue. You might have not heard of it or seen it, but our office has reported a fellow RVP that was not doing business properly and he and his wife lost their appointment with the company.



I am not celebrating their failure, but just want you to know, it does happen. It takes good moral people going to the company and telling them of these bad representatives for these guys to loose their appointment with the company, and unfortunately, that appears to not happen nearly enough. And I don't want anyone getting taken advantage of by a bad representative.



Thanks for your comments though and I hope that you haven't lost all faith that there are good people out there working for this company.

Oh please, Joshua.



Primerica doesn't "try to get rid of" the bad apples. I have never heard of Primerica firing an agent unless they did something illegal. And of course, that means they probably would have lost their license anyway.



Give us a break. PFS will take anybody with $200 who can fog a mirror. Seriously. I believe it was Addison who said that.

I understand your worries. I had them too. I went online looking for bad information on Primerica when I first thought of working for them. The fact is, a friend is the one who invited me to come work with Primerica. I decided to trust them, regardless of all the crap that you can find online about them. I have now been working for them for 4-5 months and facing my distict leader promotion. I haven't been harassing people to work with me (or been heavily recruiting). I just tell people what we do and ask if they might be interested. If there not, that's cool. I go out and sit down and DO help families. I know every website out here is going to say we are taught to say this and that and bad mouth other companies. The badmothing comes from all of them.



I have never been taught these pitches, I promise you. The $199.00 is a good price to pay for the profit potentional. The very first time I helped a couple of my friends out with their finances, which I didn't recruit or even try to with them, I made all of the 200.00 back. In helping one family, that I knew and they now appreciate me, I was able to get that little fee taken care of.



Besides, half of that is going to just pay for your licensing fee, and then the class PFSU provides? Come on, I've taken college classes that charged 200.00 bucks for 2 classes! It's just not a bad price for what it pays for. But all these people will lead you to believe you have joined a cult and been ripped off as this site so very well says.



If you do absolutely no work, you have been ripped off. You aren't going to make any money. If you want to promote in the company, you do have to do some recruiting, it just the way the company operates. I know you may not want to do any recruiting because I simpathize. I didn't really want to either. I did find that some people actually want to work for us. They just didn't know the opportunity exists! A friend of mine tried to work with Primerica a few years ago and for some reason he was turned down because of credit. Well, he wanted another shot and so I was able to give it to him. Do you know how hard of a recruiting job I did on him? I said "hey Robert, I'm working for a company called Primerica." And the job was done. He WANTED to work for us. This info that you find online is not all true.



The question in your mind is, who do I trust? But that right now is a one sided question isn't it? Why should you trust all these people online? Sure, be sceptical of the company and who is running the office there. If these people are behaving like you say they are, I would suggest you find another office, because that is simply not how our representatives are supposed to work and behave. If you want, get your 199.00 back and just do one thing if you like what our company does, or what you think we do. Which, by the way, we do help people like you are wanting to do.



Do one thing, give a different office a chance. There are bad reps. out there and we know that. We try to get rid of them if we can, but until someone tells us they are behaving like that we don't know! If you don't want to check us out and believe these guys that is fine. Many of them tried working for us and forgot to work. What I mean is, some if not most of these badmouthers signed an IBA, paid the 199.00, and sat there. No, you won't make a penny doing that. And now they blame the company for that. People often times don't blame themselves for their own failure.



I am by far not some amazing wizard that can trick people into doing something they don't want to do and I don't! I set appointments and get referrals just as I have been taught to do. I don't do anything in my right mind that I feel is wrong for a person or unethical when it comes to clients or recruits. We don't lie to people, we tell them there is a fee, that they are paid as independent contractors based on commision and that there is recruiting involved. However, if you are content with a 25% commission, don't recruit. You don't have to. You just can't get paid higher commissions! And that's fine with us if that's what you want!



Don't just base your dicision off of what these competitors in business and lazy former employees are saying. They are either competitors that don't want you out there making them look bad or they are ex employees that were lazy and did no work and said "hand me my check." And it just doesn't work like that. But you decide. This is your life, not theirs or mine. Good luck to you and I hope this offers a positive light at what this website makes out as the grim reaper. Well for that matter, they hate tons of companies and want them all to pay for a lazy person to have a new car! Rediculous! Thanks for listening!