NSG - National Sales Group HUGE RIP OFF....TOTALLY FRAUDULENT.....AND SOLD MY INFORMATION TO AN ONLINE MAGAZINE..... Santa Barbara, California

The nightmare began when I responded to what I thought was an employer looking for pharmaceutical reps on Career Builder. I called the number, spoke to a representative. He explaiined that NSG is basically a paid website where you pay a small monthly fee to have your resume posted and "aggressively marketed" to a set number of employers. Upon taking my zipcode, Michael at ext. 689, stated that there were a number of open pharmaceutical positions near my home. After getting me excited and explaining the benifits using his frilly, fun, descriptive words, Michael stated that the service costs $29.99 for the 1st month and $13.71 for every month after that. I considered for a moment, and thought it seemed reasonable so I'd give it a shot. Michael explained that there was some kind of sales training course "Mastering the Art of the Sale," for $59.00, that NSG's prospective employers prefer their candidates take. Finding it an unecessary expense given my experience and career training, I declined. I was then told that a user agreement would be sent to me for review and signature. And that my resume would not be visible to employers until I returned the signed agreement.

Two weeks later the agreement arrived via standard mail. In it, the charges were illustrated in the print paragraphs. Listed as $29.00 PLUS shipping and handling (which according to the envelope only cost about $1.20). Yet, the shipping and handling they charged my card came to $9.90, making the total they actually charged me (for two weeks of doing nothing thus far) $38.90. Pissed, I started Googling. Basically everything written about NSG on Rip Off Report, as well as like websites is exactly like my experience.

And, when I read over the materials they sent me (which by the way were printed in what looks like the '80's), I saw that they were proud to mention the average base pay for the people hired through NSG is ONLY $30-45K per year. And that their biggest success stories are those who got hired and earned $75-80K per year. The base is WAY low for legitimate pharma (unless you're working as a contract pharma rep), and WAY lower than what my base was with my current company. And if $75-80K per year is what their best reps earned, that's great for them, but in my experience very low for pharma.

So I went to their site and started looking for pharma companies and positions in my area (after all Michael said there were plenty), trying to see what company in their right mind would hire great talent for such low pay. And guess what? There were no companies and there were no openings.

So I called the number for NSG figuring I could enter Michael's extension and ask him what is going on. When I called I reached some other person who would not put me through and kept re-directing me to a different number for Customer Service. I finally flipped out and told them I saw right through their game.

I called Customer Service. They had a lot of great excuses. All fraudulent, sad, sorry excuses. I cancelled before the monthly payment of $13.71 hit but still lost the $38.90.

I called my credit card company to notify them to be on the look out for more charges and charge them back as fraudulent, if they occur. I also emailed Career Builder. They, were equally as disappointing. Pretty much sending me an automated email and doing nothing to remove this group from their site (afterall NSG is a paying customer of theirs, and I'm just a free profile trying to get a job).

On the upside, they sent me a cancellation confirmation via email which is an acceptable piece of evidence in court in my state (should I they charge me post-cancellation).

However, here's the kicker (on top of the aggravation and the near $40, I'll never get back)......THEY SOLD MY INFORMATION. The same month I signed up with NSG and cancelled NSG (on a credit card I very rarely use and watch like a hawk), a weird charge starting showing up that credit car. It was a small charge, for about $8 or $9 dollars. It showed up again the following month, listed next to some strange acronym.

I called the credit card company. They told me that scams (like I believe NSG to be) tend to enroll you for online magazine subscriptions or paper subscriptions that you never actually recieve (who knows where the money goes). This charge was showing as an online magazine subscription to The Wall Street Journal. When I called the phone number attached to the charge I never got to a person. When the credit card company called the number, they never got to a person. The credit card company is investigating and crediting these charges back to me.

Warning to others: This is a HUGE SCAM. They are taking advantage of people trying to get work in a recession. How much more disgusting does it get than that?