OTB Management - Scentura Creations With Bryan And Ericka tried to scam me into a job OTB Management scam ,

You know, when a new business starts up in a city they normally want to let people know about themselves and their product line. Build a buzz, so to speak. They'll issue a press release to the local papers and business publications. A reporter will usually follow up and do an interview and maybe take a photo of the owner and business establishment for publication. Real businesses love that kind of exposure .....unless....... you're setting up a 'perfume' shop.

You see, they're not a real business in the normal sense. It's just a facade. An office is started up with just one purpose: Net as many desperate, uninformed people you can find and generate some income from each. If you can sucker them into paying a credit check fee, background check fee or a buying a demo kit, all the better. If they last a few days, no problem. Just throw the net out for more. Since they're all contractors it's no cost to the company.

If the news media starts coming around just fold up shop and move on to the next town. Cash-only businesses can be very mobile.

You'll hear the stories of the people who have made big bucks in these operations. The upper-level distributors have nice homes, nice cars but they're so embarassed by how they achieved their wealth they stay very isolated. Do you ever see them involved in charitable causes with a lot of visibility? Are they leaders in their communities? They attend posh get togethers in places like Hawaii and Las Vegas but only with other 'perfume' distributors. Birds of a feather flock together.

When have you ever seen a TV or newspaper ad for their products? Never.  What about an independent product review of any kind?  Never.

There's a reason for that.......... it's too embarassing.

I went to the same interview with Brian and Ilene. I called the phone number that I found in the Greensheet and just like that they asked me to go down for an interview. I went the next day and all I saw was a desk with a phone and some papers on it and a bookshelf, and the other 20 people waiting for the interviewabout 10 min later Brian comes out to greet us and says that because of time constraints we were going to be interviewed in groups and he calls 4 us, tow girls maybe around 19 and a woman probably in her 40s and myself. We sat down and he begins to talk really fast about the company and some guy named Larry Hahn who started this company, OTB, from scratchhe says that there are 4 management positions and 1 receptionist available. You can apply to the one that you feel best suited for and that you DO NOT need any experience. Then he asks, what I feel are the worst questions an interviewer can ask, rate yourself from 1-10 on how I get along with others?, rate yourself from 1-10 on your customer service skills? and finally he asked me what is your strongest quality?Im saying to myself this is a joke rightbut I answered and right after the last question he tells me to leave and that if I get a call from them then I am selected for a 2^nd interview. He didnt allow me to ask any questions I left the interview without knowing anything about the company besides that it sells perfumesahhh what brands, never mentions any. All he says is this product and this perfume.

But I was called for the 2^nd interview and I was curious so I went to the two and a half hour pointless and most vague presentation I have seen in my life. Just to mention I didnt see the women that looked to be in her 40s all I saw were kids between 19 and maybe 24, and there seemed to be about 30 and all were hired except me Ill tell you why. I also picked up a news paper from the bookshelf just to see that it was from May 11 2010. What kind of company does that, keeps old news papers for people to read? Anyways Brian talks about Larry Hahn CEO from Atlanta and how he is worth $300 million dollarshow this is relevant dont know! Brian says that Larry invested $10.7 million in 2 fragrances in 1987, but never mentions the brand. Then he talks about the branch manager position and that you DO NOT need any experience. All you need is a positive attitude, enthusiastic, dependable and honest. I am saying to myself how is it that you do not need any experience in running an office. Then he talks about training and that is divided in three parts, sales phase, leadership phase and management phaseand Brian clearly says that we will not be concentrating much on sales, since we are not here to train you to be sales people our main goal is to sell 200 units/week of cheap perfumeso we dont need to be good in sales to sell. Brian makes it seem that all we do is work from our office but never mentions how we are going to sell 200units/weekhe never talks about company strategies or marketing campaigns to sell his products.  He doesnt even give us a company websitenor does he bring in samples of his so called product. He brought one bottle which he never took out of the books or passed around for us to smell.is he that embarrassed of his product. Two and a half hours of none sense talk and again they call us in groups of four to talk to Ilene.

I go into the same room as before, just two empty desks and four chairs. Ilene begins to say that our applications are going to be accepted depending on how enthusiastic we are and how motivated we are, not from our qualifications. What kind of company hires people to be branch managers without even knowing them?  Here comes the good part time for questions lol! I ask her what brands of perfume we are going to be selling? She says like the one Brian showed you I said well he showed one and I didnt smell it or saw the name. Is there only one brand? she said no, we have tons more. Then I asked are we going to be selling knock off perfumes? She got some what mad and said NO. I then asked her Brian said you guys have 50 offices including two outside of the US, do you know if you are a fortune 500 company? She looked at me with a blank stare and said what is that I said in lame terms are you guys a big company and Ilene said oh yes we are first in our industry. You are first in a multibillion dollar industry and you dont know if you are a fortune 500 companyright after that last question she looked at me and said I am sorry your application was not accepted, but good luck to you tho. I looked at her smiled and said dont worry and left!

OTB management is a SCAM they make money off of kids who are easily manipulated and are full of false hopes of being branch managers without any experience. They make money while you are in training, you sell for them and I am sure most people quit without finishing the training and before they get their so called office. I dont want to be rude but when I was waiting for the second interview they had 2pac on the radio kind of loud I dont know but that is somewhat inappropriate for a well established office dont you think. And another thing Ilene was dressed like she was going to a club, exposing a lotand I sure as hell dont want to work or get trained by someone that comes to work unprofessional and doesnt know what a fortune 500 is! OTB is a SCAM SCAM SCAM!! 

I went to the same interview with Brian and Ilene. I called the phone number that I found in the Greensheet and just like that they asked me to go down for an interview. I went the next day and all I saw was a desk with a phone and some papers on it and a bookshelf, and the other 20 people waiting for the interviewabout 10 min later Brian comes out to greet us and says that because of time constraints we were going to be interviewed in groups and he calls 4 us, tow girls maybe around 19 and a woman probably in her 40s and myself. We sat down and he begins to talk really fast about the company and some guy named Larry Hahn who started this company, OTB, from scratchhe says that there are 4 management positions and 1 receptionist available. You can apply to the one that you feel best suited for and that you DO NOT need any experience. Then he asks, what I feel are the worst questions an interviewer can ask, rate yourself from 1-10 on how I get along with others?, rate yourself from 1-10 on your customer service skills? and finally he asked me what is your strongest quality?Im saying to myself this is a joke rightbut I answered and right after the last question he tells me to leave and that if I get a call from them then I am selected for a 2^nd interview. He didnt allow me to ask any questions I left the interview without knowing anything about the company besides that it sells perfumesahhh what brands, never mentions any. All he says is this product and this perfume.

But I was called for the 2^nd interview and I was curious so I went to the two and a half hour pointless and most vague presentation I have seen in my life. Just to mention I didnt see the women that looked to be in her 40s all I saw were kids between 19 and maybe 24, and there seemed to be about 30 and all were hired except me Ill tell you why. I also picked up a news paper from the bookshelf just to see that it was from May 11 2010. What kind of company does that, keeps old news papers for people to read? Anyways Brian talks about Larry Hahn CEO from Atlanta and how he is worth $300 million dollarshow this is relevant dont know! Brian says that Larry invested $10.7 million in 2 fragrances in 1987, but never mentions the brand. Then he talks about the branch manager position and that you DO NOT need any experience. All you need is a positive attitude, enthusiastic, dependable and honest. I am saying to myself how is it that you do not need any experience in running an office. Then he talks about training and that is divided in three parts, sales phase, leadership phase and management phaseand Brian clearly says that we will not be concentrating much on sales, since we are not here to train you to be sales people our main goal is to sell 200 units/week of cheap perfumeso we dont need to be good in sales to sell. Brian makes it seem that all we do is work from our office but never mentions how we are going to sell 200units/weekhe never talks about company strategies or marketing campaigns to sell his products.  He doesnt even give us a company websitenor does he bring in samples of his so called product. He brought one bottle which he never took out of the books or passed around for us to smell.is he that embarrassed of his product. Two and a half hours of none sense talk and again they call us in groups of four to talk to Ilene.

I go into the same room as before, just two empty desks and four chairs. Ilene begins to say that our applications are going to be accepted depending on how enthusiastic we are and how motivated we are, not from our qualifications. What kind of company hires people to be branch managers without even knowing them?  Here comes the good part time for questions lol! I ask her what brands of perfume we are going to be selling? She says like the one Brian showed you I said well he showed one and I didnt smell it or saw the name. Is there only one brand? she said no, we have tons more. Then I asked are we going to be selling knock off perfumes? She got some what mad and said NO. I then asked her, Brian said you guys have 50 offices including two outside of the US, do you know if you are a fortune 500 company? She looked at me with a blank stare and said what is that I said in lame terms are you guys a big company and Ilene said oh yes we are first in our industry. You are first in a multibillion dollar industry and you dont know if you are a fortune 500 companyright after that last question she looked at me and said I am sorry your application was not accepted, but good luck to you tho. I looked at her smiled and said dont worry and left!

OTB management is a SCAM they make money off of kids who are easily manipulated and are full of false hopes of being branch managers without any experience. They make money while you are in training, you sell for them and I am sure most people quit without finishing the training and before they get their so called office. I dont want to be rude but when I was waiting for the second interview they had 2pac on the radio kind of loud I dont know but that is somewhat inappropriate for a well established office dont you think. And another thing Ilene was dressed like she was going to a club, exposing a lotand I sure as hell dont want to work or get trained by someone that comes to work unprofessional and doesnt know what a fortune 500 is! OTB is a SCAM SCAM SCAM!! 

Of course I'm a blow out, a*****e. There is something you really don't quite understand about me. Scentura is not unique in it's business plan. I have seen variations of it from selling newspapers to flower seeds to telemarketing for wheelchair vetrans.

I didn't blow out because I didn't understand YOUR particular take on it, I blew out because it was just another verse in the same nursery rhyme. Over and over again.

Do you still 'pray' for me a*****e? I don't pray for you. In fact, I sincerely hope things get so bad for you that you just might wake up and do something actually good for the world. Like not swelling the hopes of twenty different kids a week telling them they are going to be mangers of some new store that you are NEVER going to open and just waiting on their FFAR money so you can pay the rent next month.

Not praying for you. Not loving you. Hope you are out of business. 

Rio, how did I miss this one?  I knew you were a blow-out!!  Blow-outs trying to protect blow-outs and recruit new blow-outs!!  That's what you are!!  Like attracts like negativity is cancer and you my friend got it.  But most people with cancer die so you only have limited time, you must know that so you're tryin to make it count. 

But you are a little off your rocker with this whole religion thing, that's just weird!  Even for you buddy.  And again your post is full of holes, lies, otherwise as usual BS

To my knowledge no offices sell Door to Door.  And our product is as good as anything you'll  buy at the store.  If you want the pretty bottle and a pretty box and you want to pay $60-$120 you can go to the store but the product won't be better. 

Next any office manager that is "scripted" will not do good.  I was given a outline for my 2nd interview and Orientation when I opened my office and I tried to follow is in a "scripted" format and I sucked!!  Now I cover the same information but I added ME to my presentation and I've done really well.  If you try to be a machine you'll lose because is hard as I try I couldn't do, say, and act the same as my promoting owner.  I am not a machine I am a man.  I added a little Papa into it and I've averaged over 500 transactions a week for the last 3 years. 

Here is the funny thing about the truth.  I couldn't be more direct.  I tell every person in my interview that we are a wholesale fragrance company, we do direct sales, there is a 90 hands on learning program where you have to learn every aspect of the business from sales to leadership and all the admin jobs.  There are no investments, no fees, and you never have to buy anything.  And you can make a meager income during the training.  There is no set salary and it's performance based.  Now if I lied more people would believe me.  If I told them they had to pay for training, had to finance there own office, develop their own cliental, and it all would take at least 2 years they'd all believe me.  Truth is that is all FALSE.  I give it to them straight up!

But to review this original post, here is another idiot who only made it for 2nd interview.  Has no knowledge of the business except what she believes from other blow-outs.  Has no knowledge of direct sales and the money involved in it.  No knowledge of fragrances and that is a 10,000,000,000 business!  We don't get all the pie just a piece of it.  Anyone who has been in the business less then 3 weeks, and or hasn't been on a successful Friday and a successful satellite has no idea what's going on.  The business has been around for 36 years!  Something must be working!  But she is just another blow-out.  Best wishes little girl. 

And good luck to everyone. 

To keep it simple, if one has to sit through a three hour presentation with no clear idea they will be selling door-to-door, then the operation is misleading and unethical.

An inferiour and over-priced product doesn't help much either. A few years ago, I was approached by two young women selling this junk outside the local library. Upon asking, I told them I liked Jovan Musk. 'Ohhhh!' one woman squealed, 'I have just the subsitute!' She produced a smarmy, over-sweet smelling concoction that I'm not even sure was for men. Anyway, she wanted $28 dollars for it, which on it's own was outrageous. I pay $18 dollars for the real thing and in a bigger bottle (yes, I understand the concentration difference between perfume vs. colonge, but it doesn't matter. Hers' smelled like s**t). And the box the real thing comes in doesn't look like it's been handled by a multitude of hands for an entire year, or have the word, 'tester' written on the side.   

I've have recieved quite an eye-full of Scentura and it's scripted operations over time. The most successful people in these companies have the least ability to think for themselves. All responces and even insults that they sling have all been carefully crafted before hand to deal with detractors of all types.

The most pertinate information I've found has come from widely successful Scentura operators who eventually left the business, and all for the same reason: they developed moral complications over time by being, and dealing with, the unethical ---regardless of how much money they made.

In a nutshell, 95% of all people 'hired' for the job won't make a dime, and if you have your own 'office', you won't make a dime telling the truth.

The lie spins the lie which spins the lie.

What also catches my attention is the almost cult-like instructions Scentura mets out to its' players. If you have ever studied the everyday workings of the Church of Scientology from a distance, or been involved with it and defected, then you are aware of the absolutely glaring similarities between the two. The most striking being enourmous amounts of work performed by the lowly for little or no pay, and the encouraged estrangements from family and friends because they don't 'understand'.

If you are smart, hardworking and passionate, you defintely have a shot for this 'opportunity'. If you are all of those things and possess a sence of ethics and honesty, you have NO chance.

On the other hand, if you are just the right socio-path for the job, the higher you rise, the more isolated you will become. Your 'new family' will only love you as long as the money continues to flow upward. Befoul that holy pipe-line, and it will be curtains for you. No one will care.

One last note: I, too, was inticed into the impossible promises and rediculous claims for a bit after being 'interviewed' and 'hired'. Towards the end of the presentation, my new boss told us that we had to be absolutely honest about our criminal back ground check information. 'If you can't be honest with me', he said grimly, 'then I want nothing to do with you.'

What a coincidence.  

I just want to thank all the people on here that are smart enough to understand what I was saying. some of you act as though I'm imginng things and that I just quit but the fact of the matter is that there are people that went all the way through with this thing and are less than satisfied with the results. I'm sorry that I can not convince those of you who have been 'brain washed' as some have put it but for those that take heed to my warning, you are smart. and once again, thank you to those that suppor my claim.

I can't believe this company is still hoodwinking people. I was at a Scentura office (Majestic Enterprises in Santa Monica, CA) right after I graduated college in 1993. I was pretty much brainwashed and went completely broke trying to succeed at this "business opportunity" over 6 weeks or so. I was a young, hot & smart girl back then. On my best day I sold 7 bottles of fake perfume for a profit of about $25. Most days I was lucky to make $5 or $10 off a couple sales. But their motivational brainwashing convinced me that there must be something wrong with me if I couldn't succeed at it, so I kept at it. Big mistake. I was there about 6 weeks. I finally quit after my car broke down in a shitty part of town at 3 am and the owner berated me for not making more sales since I had so many miles to walk home that night.  A couple weeks later, we heard that during a "push" week, he had "hired" anyone who walked in the door so he could meet his sales numbers and had no sales at all. I can't imagine the office stayed open much longer after that.

The guy who ran the office said his name was Eric Coffin. I'm sure this guy has had a great life scamming good-intentioned people.

If only the internet had been around in 1993--I would have saved myself a lot of money and painful memories if I could have googled "scentura creations scam".

Guys think about this,

what did you go into the interview for?
you went because it was a blank ad for a job rite?

did they tell you in the begining that this is a business opportunity?
no they do not they trick you into thinking your working a real 9 to 5 when your working a f****** 8 to 2 in the morning!!!!

they tell you that you get 30k to open up an office
they dont give you s**t!!!!!! they make you sell 200 more bottles of that perfume in order to QUALIFY to open up.

if the company gave you 30k to open up dont you think they would have furniture?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

it is a scam because they mislead people by telling them what they know is false information.

for the amount of time you have to put into that company it is really not worth it!!!!

I know you feel stupid out there selling that stuff even as an owner you still have to get out there and sell that stuff or the promoting owner will FIRE you!!!!!!

It is a pyramid scam, thats what it is you get paid off of the bottles that you and your office sells and you get paid off of the bottles sold by your promotions.

and the profit is very low!!! the bottles are 20 bucks a bottle owners have to turn in $11 per bottle to scentura and they have to put an extra dollar into a savings account to buy furniture at the end of the year. also they have to give there ppl their $2 or $3  kick backs off of the bottles leaving owners with a 5 to 6 dollar profit! that they have to pay bills and ads with. leaving them with maybe 100 bucks per week because the stuff aint popular so its hard to sell.

they tell you that you get health insurance thats a lie

so if you read between the lines it is a scam!!!!

hell even those owners that are lieing to you dont make no d**n money they are just fully brain washed

See I had the same idea when I was in the 2nd interview a few weeks back.  So I naturally asked if I could see the contract.  My promoting owner said he couldn't let me take it because it could constitute as formal offer.  But he let me take my time and read it.  So I read it and since I understand this type of language.  But the 200/week is to keep the office running.  No where does it say you have to pay for the merchandise or the office.  It just says if the office shuts down you must return all merchandise.  That's it.  As long as you return all the merchandise you are free and clear.  So yes you could run and office and sell 1 bottle for a whole week and if you shut you just have to return the merchandise and hand over the keys to the office and storage room. 

Some of you always just think the worst.  Just read it.  It's pretty straight forward if you understand business language.

first off, let me thank the people that agree with me. maybe you all can warn others. to those that are still trying to convince others it's not a scam, let me say this: YES IT IS! someone asked how it was, that you didn't understand so let me put it like this. if you decide you want to work for this OTB management company and you willingly sign their one year contract, which, as i said before, states that your office has to be open for 51 weeks a year, 50 hours a week, and you must sell AT LEAST 200 units a week (for those who say "200 is a joke") and you do not honor that contract, you will have to pay them back. how do you figure you don't? if that was the case, Larry would sell all the products himself, avoiding all middle-men (and those are the workers). 

Your names Tom right? I saw your argument in the midst of a ridiculously long thread between these Noah and Earley characters. Im surprised that this Noah guy didnt include the 2001 Illinois Appellate Court ruling that a contract between Scentura and a distributor was part of a pyramid sales scheme, violated the law and was unenforceable.

http://www.state.il.us/court/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2001/2ndDistrict/September/Html/2000964.htm

Of course this wont change your mind because youve been brainwashed and chose money over morals but thats your right as an American. But its this simple, we both know that you CAN make money and get an office right? The scam comes down to how each individual owner conducts themselves. When an office posts ads for Administrative Assistants or Receptionists and holds out on telling people what the job really entails, thats deceptive. When owners promise a certain pay rate and dont deliver well I think scam might be an appropriate term. When the winners of FFAR contests are promised lucrative prizes only to be let down the next day, that my friend is a scam. What about the owners that make their independent contractors pay for a background check or in some cases the merchandise itself? Oh and lets not forget income taxes, how are these collected from the people that sell a few bottles and quit before signing the independent contract? What about permits for each individual town for fun cars?

I recognize that the majority of reports here are from people who quit before learning anything about the program but there are some really bad stories all over the web. The only reason these guys stay in business is because Scentura holds no liability for what the owners and independent contractors do.

Remember that your office, money and material possessions will mean NOTHING when the zombies come.

Can people elaborate?  Where is the scam?  I don't get it.  If I'm going to be running an office, I want to know how to make sure that it doesn't seem fishy to the regular consumer.  I know it's not because I stuck it out but that doesn't mean new offices like the one I'm going to run shouldn't work on this. 

So far, what I have understood from posts on this thread and similar threads is that sitting in plastic chairs, fast talking, and lots of people means it's a scam. 

LOL.  It's kind of funny but still I want to know what else makes people believe it's a scam.  No one has taken money from me.....so where's the scam?

I agree with you dlittle, it looks like a scam!!! Unfortunately, there are many similar scams out there right now!
Good luck finding a new job!

So I've posted a while ago about working with Scentura.  I'm opening my office in 2 weeks.  I signed a lease to open and my promoting owner showed me the space to see if I was ok with it.  It was great.  2 private offices, 1 restroom, 400sq ft. meeting room and a 200 sq ft reception area.  Great parking.  Nice area.  Nothing crazy just nice. 

I still have not paid anything.  I still haven't been lied to.  It seems like everyone wants something for nothing.  I don't get how you get this illusion that you're getting something for nothing.  But the truth is you're not. You're earning this.  I went through the toughest 7 weeks I've ever experienced.  Not physically but very much so mentally.  Not book smarts but how to deal with situations. Real world experience.  Not sitting behind a computer and typing away but learning how to deal with people.  Any type of person.  I couldn't find any job before this.  Now I get offers all the time because of what I learned in this training program.  I was even offered to be a sales manager for a clothing company but they said I was salaried at 75k and I would always have to do whatever the boss says.  I won't take it.  why?  Because 75k is really very low in this company because you own your operation. The best part is that I got all this training and made the money I needed to get by.  It wasn't easy but I did it. 

Oh and I already asked about this, you don't pay them back.  Larry pays them back for opening you.  I love how some people who didn't even start the training think they know how it all works!   Oh and 200 is a joke.  Almost every office in this company produces out at least 300/wk.  The good ones do 500 or better. 

Again, these posts are just funny and the conclusions are completely unverfiable.  It's just funny and sad really.

Thanks Scentura!  I'm on my way to being a success.