Primerica Pyramid-style scheme RIPOFF Nationwide Toronto Ontario

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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 just received a call from "Vicky" from Primerica Financial Services. The first thing Vicky said to me was that my resume had been forwarded to her by an employer who said I had excellent people skills.

Automatically, I became suspicious. I recently dropped off some resumes at bars and restaurants in downtown Toronto, but I had only DROPPED THEM OFF. The only time I ever spoke to anyone at all, much less any managers or employers, was when I had an interview for my current job. I immediately asked Vicky who had referred me, and she hedged the question and listed off a bunch of downtown bars. I told her I hadn't spoken to anyone in those bars, and she said "Oh, well, it must have been someone who saw your resume and saw the qualities there that would be beneficial to our company."

Now I don't know about any of you, but I'm pretty aware of the importance of good employees and how difficult it is to get a good job and keep it. My resume is entirely packed full of waitressing and bartending jobs. I'm an actress. No financial company in its right mind is going to call a person up based on their resume full of acting and waitressing jobs, without ever having met said person or spoken to anyone ELSE that's met said person. Just because "my resume must have had qualities that would be beneficial to their company". What, like making a really fine caesar?

It's like those modelling schemes you hear about. They'll come up to you in a mall, or prey on teenage girls in teenybop fashion shows. They tell you you're amazing and they want to represent you. Only after you sit down and have an "interview" with them do they tell you that in order for you to join their agency, you have to spend thousands of dollars on modelling classes and photo shoots and whathaveyou. REAL AGENCIES/COMPANIES DO NOT NEED TO RECRUIT PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO EXPERIENCE. They're too busy sifting through the piles of legitimate, experience-filled resumes in front of them, or recruiting people who have ALREADY PROVEN they're successful in this field.

Anyway, as Vicky nattered on about how (even though she had never met me, never had spoken to anyone who had met me, only knew I wanted to be a waitress) she wanted me to be a MANAGER at Primerica, wanted me to TRAIN PEOPLE in the financial industry, etcetera etcetera, I stepped over to my computer and googled Primerica. And lo and behold! There in front of me was a list of sites, all about the "Primerica recruitment scam".

Vicky asked me what kind of hours I was looking for. I told her that I had been looking for bartending work because I wanted to work nights. "Oh," she assured me, "We have flexible hours, that isn't a problem."

Anyway, the long and short of it is this. Primerica is a pyramid-style scheme. You get recruited, and then you "make money" based on how many people YOU can recruit. In other words, Vicky had fallen for the very scheme she was putting on me, and desperately hoping I would, in turn, fall for it, so she could make a few bucks.

I politely thanked Vicky for her time and hung up.

Folks: Don't bother going in for the interview(s). Don't do this. It's a waste of time, and, if you're gullible enough, a waste of money. Yes, Primerica has its supporters, as does Amway, as do the timeshare creeps.

Cee
Etobicoke, Ontario
Canada