Rip-off Report Investigation::Altig International & American Income Life get a POSITIVE RATING from Rip-off Report and are fulfilling their commitment to resolve all legitimate complaints and address representative issues. Rip-off Report has investigated the company for many months after they contacted us to resolve any issues and misunderstandings being posted by competitors. With over 600 representatives and millions of clients, Altig International & American Income Life are bound to be the subject of a certain number of complaints about improper agent conduct, as well as product and administrative complaints.
Rip-off Report's investigation found such complaints, but importantly also found that Altig International & American Income Life are committed to resolving such complaints quickly and doing everything possible to satisfy its clients and representatives alike. They also take appropriate action against any of their representatives who are found to have conducted themselves improperly or unethically. We believe that the number of complaints against this company, whether through the Internet or other channels, is small when put into the context of its enormous size. Most large companies would never commit themselves like Altig International & American Income Life have to Report's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.
Read our investigative Report and Altig & American Income Life's commitment to 100% consumer satisfaction.www.altig.com provides supplemental benefits and insurance program management services for labor unions, credit unions, associations, and private clients through American Income Life. Altig International has more than 600 licensed associates who serve millions of clients in the U.S. and Canada. Endorsements and praise for Altig International are available for review at http://www.altig.com/OurCompany/Praise.php.
Altig International & American Income Life's business opportunity is open to candidates from all walks of life and all Altig associates are eligible to participate in our specialized growth programs including training, mentorship, personal agency building and leadership developmentwww.altig.com/OurAssociates/index.php..
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Read about Rip-off Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program,..A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business. this program works.========================
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Altig International, American Income Ripoff Life pyramid scheme Burnaby British Columbia
I got a call at around 8:15pm last night (already quite strange) from Altig International. They said they'd seen my resume online and were interested in me. The guy asked me about myself and then about my career goals. My career goals are not at all in line with what Altig does, but he said they were intrigued by my past pseudo sales experience.
I was scheduled for an interview at 11am the next morning. The name on the door said American Income Life. I walked in and several other youngish people were there, filling out applications. After a few minutes, I was called into a room with an interviewer. She said there was a 3 step interview process and this was the first step. She asked me general, vague questions about what I have done, what I want to do, my biggest accomplishment, strenghts etc. Surprise, I passed the first interview (about 3 minutes.) She said they were running an assessment in 45 minutes, and the regional director would be there to speak.
I returned, along with about 14 or so others. We were individually brought into a meeting room, and told where to sit. I think they have some sort of a ranking system, based on where you sit, as the presenter concentrated on a few people much more than others. We were given a 50 page 'assessment', which asked questions like how competitive you are, strenghs, weaknesses, and then a bunch of pretty vague multiple choice questions.
There were four company representatives in the room. A well spoken man, who said he was the Regional Director. Another guy who ended up speaking the vast majority of the time, who had started out 'just like us' and moved up very quickly. A third guy who was a 'rising star' who did a mock sales pitch later on. There was also a fourth guy who did not speak, but seemed to be taking notes on us, even before the actual presentation started.
The regional director spoke for only the first few minutes, and really did not say much of anything. He introduced the guy that did most of the talking and sat by the door for the rest of the time. This guy ran through a powerpoint presentation. We learned that the company sells benefits (insurance) to lower income workers that are represented by unions. Salespeople do this by going to peoples homes for one on one sales pitches.
They reiterate a few times that you don't do any cold calling. Leads are generated by a seperate division, and apparently largely by direct mailing unionized employees on union letterhead. I believe they said at one point that each 'associate' is given 50 leads per week (either week or month) by the company.
The 'rising star' did a mock sales pitch with a few of the other people acting as a husband and wife. Basically it talked a lot about how much they would receive if hospitalized, and not so much on how much it cost or the specifics of how it worked. It was pretty smooth though.
The main guy got back up and spoke about compensation. They had different potential salaries at different levels. The minimum level was 3.0, and he verbally mentioned the potential of getting to 14 or 16. Either I wasn't paying attention when he explained what this level was and how to achieve it, or he didn't explain. I think it has to do with how many sales you close per week, three being the minimum.
There is a base pay (contingent of course on the fact that get to/are at at least level 3.0) which is paid out weekly, and a monthly bonus. Level three has a yearly income of around $55,000CDN, and the upper levels were getting up to around $150,000.
He mentioned there being two streams, sales and management. Managers were mentors to younger associates. The lowest manager, who I think had 3-5 people under him, made at least $100,000.
He said what they were looking to do is you get hired, then you find someone to replace you, and you move up. You get 'residual pay' from what they're doing. This is of course, a pyramid scam.
They said they have 60 'managers' in the province right now (mid 2005) and are looking to grow to 750 by 2008, 1000 by 2010. So if that is true and you think you know what you're doing, conceivably you could get in early enough in the pyramid to actually do ok for yourself. It being a pyramid scam though, you're probably too late.
The guy said over and over that they hire less than 4% of those they meet. This is probably partly true because hopefully enough people see what is going on. It's also to make you feel like a star when you keep getting called back for interviews.
There was no mention of having to pay for your own training as some other internet postings claim, but perhaps they save that for the third interview.
After the presentation was finished, we were each called back to the person we initially had an interview with. I said I didn't think the position was for me. She said that they are also hiring for some administration positions, and they would call me.
Time will tell if they actually do or not. I spoke with a girl on the way out of the building who was also quite dubious of the whole thing.
From what they've said and reading around online about them, it looks like they are growing, at least in Canada. I've seen a few posts where people have said it's a scam, and there is a reply by someone claiming to be an employee that it's all legitimate and you can make tons of money if you work hard. These look suspiciously like the company is doing it themselves, but who knows.
In my eyes, this is a pyramid scam. I knew that going in, but wanted to see what the experience was like. I've spoken briefly with Primerica before, and it sounded very similar to that.
Don't waste your time.
David
Vancouver, British Columbia
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