Palmetto Marketing - PMI ripoff Coral Springs Florida

The last post mentioned Magmgr Russell Wood with Allstarpromotions...if there is any current information on who he is clearing orders through, if anyone, I would appreciate the update. Names of the people working now on the peripherals of whatever company he says he is now would also be helpful. Not only do these Road Mgrs NEVER pay commissions due the agents after they part ways...they also burden the young people with a 1099 tax liability on monies the kids will never see. Talk about having things sewn up from every angle...they do not miss a trick, having had many years to hone these groups to their advantage. Getabunch.

I am an ex-employee of Russell Wood's crew, Allstar Promotions, Inc. I believe it was 1995 or 1996 when I was working door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions.

I keep hearing all of the horror stories from the people who bought the subscriptions but losing out on some money is nothing compared to what we, as employees, were put through.

I remember that the number of sales you did on each drop determined how the driver would treat you, and where you would sit in the van. If you had the most sales, you sat in the front seat. If you had no sales, you were made to sit in the very back, which they called the "whale sh*t" for some stupid reason. You were also verbally abused, I was personally called a stupid b*tch, a dumb wh*re, and many other things if I did not bring in the sales. I was also sexually harassed by my driver, Paul. He would drop everyone at their streets, leaving me for last. He would them tell me he would buy 3 subscriptions from me for oral sex. Even though I always said no, he would try over and over, almost every day.

One night Paul and another crews driver asked if I wanted to ride with to the store. We were staying at Russell Wood's hotel in Pilot Point, TX which was close to 30 miles from anything so I agreed. Instead of going to the store they took me to a ghetto neighborhood to buy cocaine. They kept me out until around 3 am and the next day Paul forced me to work, as usual. later that day I collapsed from fatigue and heat stroke. Paul said he would only take me to the hospital if I agreed to keep my mouth shut about the previous night or else he would drive away and leave me to die.

Aside from the abuse we suffered from our crew leader, we also had to deal with going door-to-door in ghetto neighborhoods. When I interviewed for the job at a hotel, my dad was with me. Russell Wood promised my dad that we were only taken to rich neighborhoods and businesses to sell. That was as far from the truth as it got. I remember walking up to a house and having an old lady come out panicked, asking me what the hell I was doing walking around alone in that neighborhood. She then pointed to a bedspread on her lawn and said a street gang killed her dog, which was under the spread. She made me sit on her step until the van came to pick me up. Another time I knocked on a door in a housing project. A man came out and pushed me backwards off his doorstep and said he would slice my throat if I ever came near his door again. I hadn't even opened my mouth or said a word before this happened.

I ended up running away with my then boyfriend, Kevin and 2 guys from another crew. I had all of my stuff stolen from a girl on my crew, Candace Garcia, who was from NY, only 16 or 17 and was on lithium for bipolar disorder. I never did see a penny for the job I did. I lived on the streets of Dallas with the boys for a short time and then had my parents send me a bus ticket to go home to MN, leaving the boys behind.

I wonder all the time what happened to Kevin, Anthony and Mike. I have tried to put the work experience behind me but now I find myself wishing that someone had gone after these people, or will go after them, for exploiting teenagers.

Oh how right you are Steven. I too worked for PMI. This Angela girl is WRONG. As far as kids not being taught to lie and say it's for a school, it depends on what crew you work for. See when I started I was hired by one crew and the next day given to another. The first crew I was on the girl who took me with her at check in told us to say you're in high school, say you're in college who cares as long as you get the sale. The second crew trained a bit different. You had to make the sale "no matter what", but never by saying you were in high school or college. No matter where I was in the country I always told people I was from PA.

As far as kids being able to leave whenever they wanted, well that's a load of BS. My crew was being run by Dave Hippley at the time and he told me I wasn't going anywhere. I had to call the police so I could get out of the hotel!! And as far as "return trip guaranteed" goes, my mother had to pay for my bus ticket back home.

Now, this Angela girl says these kids make "lots of money" After two years with PMI I left with not a dime in my pocket. I never got any money off my books that was due to me either.

There were good times on mag crew, but if the good times outweighed the bad I'd still be there. See there's a difference between this job and a real job. With a real job you know how much money you're going to bring home every week, you know what time you're done at the end of the day and when you get home you don't have someone screaming at you because you didn't make them enough money.

This job is equivilant to a sweat shop but then again, I think you'd make more money in a sweat shop.


You are 100% right Steven keep telling the truth, maybe some day these theives will be shut down for good.

You open with remarks that you used to work in the mag business,and close stating that your one who has returned...odd...just another lowlevel magcrew member doing the bidding of another.

Defending an industry rife with corruption, violence and mental abuse will do nothing for all the people who have used this site to report the negative experiences associated with cashclearinghouse sales.

Angela wants to be made whole after her encounter with the girls who represented themselves as being with a fundraiser-and like myself, could care less that you are somewhat familiar with the order process.

Far too many crews are out on territory with no contract with any clearinghouse,and until employment standards and accountability are imposed on this industry, myself and many others will continue to appraise the public about what is really going on.

Go do your homework.

Getabunch.

I used to go door-to-door selling magazines. I've heard it all. People not getting their mags to people ordering mags every year there's some kid knocking at the door. It can take awhile for some people to receive their mags. Although orders are turned in every night. They are only sent once a week to the company. Kids are not taught to lie and cheat to get orders. They are taught good salemanship as well as comunacation skills. Kids are allowed to leave whenever they wish. Most just desire not to go home. For reasons most people get jobs. They're making really good money. Many kids I know have left and returned. I am one of them. As with any job there will always be good and bad experences. Just try to keep in mind that there will always be a chance of someone being unhappy when purchasing anything by mail regardless if there's a knock at your door.

If you really are out on territory-I have doubts about that because the magmgrs hate internet scrutiny, and discourage crewmembers from contact with any source that may effect business,try this, Gemini-when you check in your business Saturday night,ask for all the money they owe you to date...ask for Monday off, just because you want a day for yourself,or if you have a family member or friend you miss...ask your mgr to book an extra room so they can visit?We know the answer,dont we?Aside from the 400 plus folks around the country who HAVE been ripped off-alot of people are concerned for the kids who will never recieve monies for their work,get beaten in hotel rooms or die on American highways so Vinnie boy can live well.I have known him alot longer than most-why not make these magmgrs work for a living...like they expect you to...or better yet...ask your mgr what he/she does all day while you knock on doors...more on THAT later.Getabunch.

PMI is not a scam I have worked with this company for a while now and haven't seen or heard anything scandelous since I've been here. Even before I joined one of my friends bought a magazine from one of the other kids and since then has received every issue with no problems.

Im sorry to hear about your encounter with Vinnie Pitts employees.He and I go way back when we were both trained by Russell Wood from Arlington, TX.Apparently Vinnie has delegated control of his crews to idiots who cant seem to fly under the radar like the old school mgrs in this business.There is really no good reason for folks not to get their subscriptions-Palmetto clears them free of charge for simply providing publishers with names/adresses,thereby increasing circ numbers,thereby increasing ad revenue.OLD scam, believe me.That 10 dollar process fee? Vinnies cut for having promoted others to the level called Manager.Perhaps he has Mgrs roaming the cities who may be balancing their books by not sending all their orders to Vinnie, hard to say really, but I cant help notice that Russell and Joe Edge have parted company with Vinnie who has definately become an industry liability.Hope things work out for you-advice??...Because of Palmetto and others like them,more and more folks are going to rely on other methods of subscribing to magazines.Getabunch.