PRIMERICA IS MISLEADING AND TAKES ADVANTAGE OF DESPARATE PEOPLE RIPOFF Arcadia California

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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.

I am so glad that I found this website to confirm my suspicions!! I just went to a "meeting" last night! I can assure you that I have been to plenty of these "pyramid" meetings and this one was the most entertaining.

They all give you a presentation of what CAN be if you join the company and work hard. This company was no different. I went along with my boyfriend to support our friend who is pursuing this "opportunity". I knew I'd be somewhat skeptical, but I figured, I'm here, let's just see if they're different.

We are taken by our friend "Jake" and his brother "Peter".(Peter recruited Jake and now Jake is trying to recruit "Jerry" my boyfriend, his friend "Mark", and I. jake is a good friend to us so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. As soon as I sit in the car, Peter starts warming us up by asking questions about our finances and what our occupations are. I politely answer his questions without divulging too much information. I could already sense the familiar pressure coming.

As we arrive, I see the all too familiar "professional" business suites. We meet Jake's cousin,"Tom",also recruited by Peter. We all walk up together into this suite. This is the same strategy that I have seen before. The business suites are all nice, so that you can buy into their "credibility". Of course, I saw it a mile away. In any case, I'm trying to have an open mind. I walk in to the office and the first thing I notice is the music. They have a small home stereo stashed under a cart that had a laptop and projector on the top shelf.The music playing is a 90's techno song that is obviously intended to "amp up" the audience. Then the music changes to-Coolio (a has been rapper). How professional is that?

The next thing I notice is the bright green, dingy carpet and the dirty white walls (I figured out later- it's dirty because that's where reps stand and place their feet when there are no seats left). There are, what seem to be plaques and awards on the floor waiting to be hung and the room is filled with metal folding chairs. Next, we meet a burly, well dressed man named Gary. Gary, I notice, is missing his front teeth. I didn't know he was the Head Honcho (I say this because if he ever mentioned his title, I missed it during all his effort to covince everyone they are too broke and Primerica is the answer to their prayers).
He welcomes us and asks us to be seated.

We all sat and paid attention to the first presenter who welcomes us and says," Give yourselves a hand for being on time!" A very familiar line. After the applause we are presented to a young woman who gives a quick overview of what the company does and goes on about how Primerica is a part of Citigroup. She goes on about how Citigroup is on the NYSE (which she couldn't even pronounce), how Citigroup is a TRILLION dollar company and so on. All the while she kept stumbling, slurring, and saying "UMMMM-UMM" and said everything faster than she could think about what she was saying. Yeah-great motivational speaker. She introduces us to yet another man.

This gentleman, while the most professional of all speakers, continues with these vague concepts such as, "The rule of 72". All the while there are people shouting in unison whenever a question is asked by the presenter.I've never been part of a cult, but it sure did seem like one. Everyone is calpping and shouting in excitement which, to me, was obviously an effort to get the new recruits excited. It's scarier to me than anything else. All these people being brainwashed and trying to brainwash. If the company is so great, why is it necessary to stage a show of excitement? After the brief, unspecific explanation of how savings, debt, and,life insurance effect people (yes there was an explanation of worst and best case scenarios) we are finally introduced to Gary.

Gary is a funny man. He is an entertaining man. He is charismatic in his own ghetto way. I don't mean that to be derrogatory-even he admits it and in fact, is quite proud of it. I myself can be ghetto-that's not the point. The point is he is presenting himself to peers-so he is presenting himself as a person that you can relate to. He just happens to have alot more money than you do. Gary continually talks about how much money you can make working for yourself without overhead, without employees, without inventory. He talks about how we are "slaves" and how we are programmed to believe that education is the key to success. He goes on and on about the "toys" he buys for his son with accompanying slides of his son sitting on the hood of a Mercedez M-Class SUV in front of his 2 Motorcycles. He shows slides of Rolex Watches, a ring with 40 diamonds in it (the ring was given by the company in recognition of the great performance and the diamonds were added by the rep).

He never mentioned a word of what the work entails. All he mentioned was that you recruit people to do this as do as do your recruits. The more people you "develop" on your team, the more money they make, and the more money you make. But what am I selling? Who am I selling to? Where do I get clients from? But what I did know ws that I was not investing the "perfect company" that "has Former U.S. President Gerald Ford sitting on the board"-no, I was investing $199 in myself! And if I "didn't have $199 in 2004, I NEEDED Primerica". I needed to "free" myself from my "slavemaster". "GOD put us there to show us the way to be happy, wealthy, and free! Not working a J.O.B. Because J.O.B. stands for Journey Of the Broke" I personally like "Just Over Broke" better. And I could make my $200 back in 2 weeks. All I had to do was A)get enrolled in the licensing classes and brin 3 recruits week one B) complete the training, pass the test, and get 3 more recruits in on week 2. At least it was something to that effect.

Needless to say, I wasn't impressed or dazzled as our friend Mark was. Jerry said he'd do it if someone else paid the $200-he refuses to put up the $200 himself. For some reason, Peter and Tom come to me and ask me what I thought about the company. I responded,"Well, I really wan't given very much information." He looked at me stunned-like I was supposed to be taken by this glamorous lifestyle. He says,"Well what do you want to know?" I say,"What do I have to do to make all this money? I haven't been given a job description. I've been here an hour and a half and all I have heard people talk about is all this luxury and freedom that can be mine for $200." He responds "Well you recruit people-that's how you make money" I ask " Okay-say I recruit people-then what? What do they do?" He says,"They recruit people." I say," Well if all I have to do is recruit people-why do I need a license?"

Tom interrupts as to save Peter the embarrassment of trying to convince me this business is legit and says,"you need to sell the products" "Okay" I say,"But where am I getting these customers coming from?" He explains that I start with my family and they'll give me refferals. I told that my family would NEVER go for this stuff. He replys "Well how do you know? You haven't tried." I said-I know my family-they won't do it anymore than I would. He asks "What is holding you back?" I tell him, "For one thing I dont have $200 to throw away" to which Peter responds, "Don't let the money get in the way of your dreams-there's ways around it" I ignore him and say "secondly, I just don't buy it. It may work for some people but I just don't think it's for me"

I get the "Well I was just as skeptical as you-I quit my job and I was making $80,000 a year" I said-"Alright, if this guy is making so much money, why the crummy suite?" He says "This is just an office for meetings-we don't work from here. He (Gary)has 18 other offices and he opens one every 18 months. The offices aren't Primerica's-their his." That pretty much proved my point. But I continue "If he is making so much money-why is he missing his front teeth?!?!?" Tom says, "He's getting them worked on right now" I used to be a dental assistant-I know better. If the dentist is working on a bridge or a partial denture-he'll make sure you have a temporary appliance until your permanent appliance is ready. The only reason you wouldn't do this is because you don't have MONEY!!! They are so persistent that they said to me "You must not have a good job if you can't afford $200. "I told them" I have a great job-that's not why I'm broke. I'm broke because I've been irresponsible with my money." They couldn't argue with that. They just laughed. The first sincere thing I heard all night.

They finally end our converstion with "we need to set you up an appointment with Gary so we can talk in detail" I nod my head politely out of sheer anxiousness to end the meeting. I already made up my mind. Unfortunately, Peter doesn't think so. On our way home, he continues to pry and tries to convince me to try it out-at least part time. I politely said-I'd let him know if I was interested. Mark told me I was just being negative. Obviously, he's never been to these meetings before. Jerry says he doesn't care either way-as long as he doesn't risk any of HIS money-he's cool with it.

Funny, no one tried to convince them this was a wonderful thing. Why were they trying so hard to recruit me? Probably because they knew that I would do some research of my own and discourage my boyfriend and his gullible friend, from buying into it. It just seems all so fishy to me. Maybe it does work for some people, maybe some people are successful at this stuff. I'm just not willing to bet my hard earned $200 or my personal information on it. I believe that if something seems too good to be true-it probably is. Now I have the proof. Thanks to this website and all those who posted reports of their own. Thank you all for speaking up! :) Good luck to all you entrepeneurs and job seekers out there. DON'T BE A SUCKER!!!!!

Priscilla
El Monte, California
U.S.A.

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