smc ripoff smc Specialty Merchandise Corporation work at home scam sucks! Los Angeles California

Hi I am a former SMC Buyer. I had my business for many years. I made quite a bit of money with SMC's products. I had my own business from 1987 to 1998. I have to say, need to check out the market and also the area. If you expect to sell items from SMC, the same ones that Wal-mart or like here we have the Christmas Tree Shop or a dollar store. You have not done your homework. I use to have alot of displace in stores with the items I bought from smc. I wasn't looking to get rich quick. But it was a good hoby on my part and I just went every other month and replemished the stock that I had. I also checked out other markets aswell. So you really have to see what is out there. I do feel for anyone that has been riped off from the company. But I have no gripes over it.

Gang,...
As i indicated a couple of comments (& weeks) ago,i'm now back with a few responses from the letters i sent out. i sent 5,... got 3 back.One was a wrong address (chalk this one up to the internet)& one never responded. 2 of the 3 indicated they were in the business(smc) some 10-15-even 20 years ago,...& all even said they were surprised that smc is STILL using them as examples! (I'm NOT sure exactly HOW to take THAT remark - but it DOES raise a few questions as to WHY a company offering such "potential" would use 15-year-old lists?)ALL DID indicate they rec'vd their membership refunded once reaching $5000 in purchases. 2 indicated NO excessive charges or other "trickery". ALL say they worked at other businesses (ie: other jobs & even with other wholesalers)- but NONE indicated the type of monies or successes claimed in the ads, with 2 stating they really couldn't replace their jobs. (In fairness, the ads DO indicate that these successes were exceptional cases!) All also indicate the company DOES support you,-and one even suggested that you use the free 60-days of customer support,-then drop it as it is not really needed! Comments of quality were mixed,.. some good,.. & some resembling dollar-store items,...catalogs worked so,so,...flea marketing also was so,so,...mail order the same,... and ALL say that you get out what you put into it,- & that it was NOT overnight $$$'s! Overall there was nothing overtly negative,..just the telltale question of WHY a company would still use examples that are (in one case) 20 years old? Seems really strange to me,....

So, my online friends,.. I'M STILL up in the air about this,... I think i'm gonna send a few more letters & see how these come back!
Oh yeah,almost forgot! I got yet ANOTHER packet from the company,..(they indicated THIS one was definitely the LAST one!). They're offering me the WHOLE thing,...

ALL the special considerations,- the discount bonus's,- the 30-day trial,- the WHOLE KABOODLE - for $99.95 ! But- my friends - i have ONLY 10 DAYS to take full advantage of this offer,... otherwise it's over!

Now, WHY would they charge $200.00 MORE initially, - only to drop the price so drastically when i balk? HMMMMMMM,...
This is a CLASSICAL "hard-sell"! I don't know about you,... but i'm not one to take this too well.

Anyone else out there have this happen to them?
Holler back & lemme know!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL !

p.s.- to darlene,..thanx for the kind words.

I agree that all the name calling and bickering are childish and non productive.
I understand that people who feel they have been wronged in some way are angry. and boy is this site a good plaee to vent those feelings! However, as in all things, some people have good expeiences and some bad. A lot depends on that person's own attitudes and views. some people are more willing to stick with something before just giving up and pointing fingers of blame at others. By the way, my Sister has ordered products from SMC to sell and has minimal success. But I blame her lack of motivation!

When she first got involved with SMC, she did great for a few months, and then kind of lost interest! I've seen the products, and some are quite like stuff from the dollar store, while others seem to be very nice quality. (NO I DON"T WORK FOR THEM)!

Anyway, I just thought I'd vent
a little too!

Ok,
Here's the deal; Companies that start off with good intentions usually get corrupted by greed, or mismanagement, or both. I've personally been involved with a 100 million dollar mlm nutitional company as their head i.t. nerd, paying out commissions, and frankly, I wouldn't believe the things I witnessed unless I saw it personally.
Take it from someone who has several years experience in the biz op industry..if it sounds too good to be true, it is. To end this on a positive note, smc may have good intentions, but from a pure business perspective, if they've been marketing their stuff to the world for years, then chances are you came in too late to be "first to market" or even close. Find something that has a great value for the retail price, hasn't been exposed to the mass marketing yet, and you personally know the supplier, and they are very credible. Sounds tough, but hey, that's the only way you'll know it's worth putting your hard earned time and money into anything. Anything else is like going to the casino, so don't complain when the house wins..you knew it was a casino before you even walked in.

gang,...
i've been searching for a business opportunity for a while now. saw the infomercials, & figured i'd look into it. found this site & frankly, - i thought i'd found a site full of bickering children on the playground! while it's good to see such passion for the freedoom of speech, it is REALLY unnecessary to berate each other! whether your experience was "good" or "bad", - it's YOUR experience, - share it & move on!
i am NOT affiliated with the company in any way, shape, or form. i haven't even decided yet whether or not to get involved, - but i HAVE decided to do my research before making the commitment!
one way to do this is when i got my second (2nd) info-package (sent by the company because i didn't respond to the first pkg - i guess they are trying to "convince" me!)- i found an "honor roll" list,... searched for the addresses of people living in my state (michigan)via google,.....and sent them a personal letter asking for their take on the company (even gave them a "s.a.s.e." so they could respond without using their own money for stamps!)
by doing this, i am illiciting a response from completely non-company-tainted sources! I chose WHO i want a response FROM!
this way the company cannot "stack the deck" in their favor & i hope to get "honest" responses from folks in my immediate area of concern.
as a military recruiter, i have a little background in the field of marketing, - which will ultimately help me to determine if "smc" is a good venture.
no responses yet,....but then again i just sent the letters today,.....
if anyone likes,... i will come back to this site to print "generalities" of the responses,...(i promised NOT to give out personal info of the respondees- therefore i MUST honor my words!)- but i CAN give the "gist" of their responses,...
i WAS going to give my e-mail address here,- but considering the childish way some of you respond to each other- i'm GLAD the site has this restriction!
bottom line: anything one ventures into MUST be researched, but said research must ALSO be valid!
bickering & name-calling & stereotyping defeats the purpose.
this site offers a valuable venue for those seeking a little "truth",.....at least give the truth a chance to be heard,... whether you are FOR or AGAINST!
thanx,....

let me say this everybody not evrybody has the problems you do I spent a year researching SMC and found out some of my friends had been buying from SMC and so has My sister and I also talk to other people and what I found was 2 out of 10 people I talked to had problems with SMC and the 2 people didn't like to work but the other 8 did whats that tell you


think about it

I'm really really glad I did some research on the net and came across this helpful web page. Basically one of my friends came across the bosley smc infomercial and told me it might me a great opportunity for $25.00. So i told him I'll look into it on the net before we call up.

GUess what? I'm glad i read the honest complaints found out that smc scam does NOT cost $25.00 to start & people have been hurt from the SCAM. It saved him & his other family members and friends alot of money after i told him to read this stuff on here!!! As far as employees of smc posting here.

ONE day when a scamming company, such as smc, goes belly up and kicks their employees to the curb, they will feel "very SOrry" that they posted lies here and they will relate to the pain of the scammed ( I hope that made sense..lol). I would like to thank www.ripoffreport.com for providing this helpful service to everyone :)

I'm really really glad I did some research on the net and came across this helpful web page. Basically one of my friends came across the bosley smc infomercial and told me it might me a great opportunity for $25.00. So i told him I'll look into it on the net before we call up.

GUess what? I'm glad i read the honest complaints found out that smc scam does NOT cost $25.00 to start & people have been hurt from the SCAM. It saved him & his other family members and friends alot of money after i told him to read this stuff on here!!! As far as employees of smc posting here.

ONE day when a scamming company, such as smc, goes belly up and kicks their employees to the curb, they will feel "very SOrry" that they posted lies here and they will relate to the pain of the scammed ( I hope that made sense..lol). I would like to thank www.ripoffreport.com for providing this helpful service to everyone :)

I'm really really glad I did some research on the net and came across this helpful web page. Basically one of my friends came across the bosley smc infomercial and told me it might me a great opportunity for $25.00. So i told him I'll look into it on the net before we call up.

GUess what? I'm glad i read the honest complaints found out that smc scam does NOT cost $25.00 to start & people have been hurt from the SCAM. It saved him & his other family members and friends alot of money after i told him to read this stuff on here!!! As far as employees of smc posting here.

ONE day when a scamming company, such as smc, goes belly up and kicks their employees to the curb, they will feel "very SOrry" that they posted lies here and they will relate to the pain of the scammed ( I hope that made sense..lol). I would like to thank www.ripoffreport.com for providing this helpful service to everyone :)

I'm really really glad I did some research on the net and came across this helpful web page. Basically one of my friends came across the bosley smc infomercial and told me it might me a great opportunity for $25.00. So i told him I'll look into it on the net before we call up.

GUess what? I'm glad i read the honest complaints found out that smc scam does NOT cost $25.00 to start & people have been hurt from the SCAM. It saved him & his other family members and friends alot of money after i told him to read this stuff on here!!! As far as employees of smc posting here.

ONE day when a scamming company, such as smc, goes belly up and kicks their employees to the curb, they will feel "very SOrry" that they posted lies here and they will relate to the pain of the scammed ( I hope that made sense..lol). I would like to thank www.ripoffreport.com for providing this helpful service to everyone :)

While channel surfing this morning I came across the SMC commercial. Although I sounded interesting, my mind told me to do a little investigating to see if there had been any complaints posted on the web. That's how I came across you website.

I had a feeling there was more to the story than what was being said. I want to thank all those people who came forward to tell their stories of how they have been taken by SMC. Hopefully anyone else who comes across that infomercial
will also decide to do a little checking first and read these comments so that it stops them also from making a BIG mistake!

I saw the same infomercial a few years ago 95 to be exact and decided to try it because they said it was only $ 25.00 to start then I got the bill to find out that it was really $ 400.95 and now my credit is ruined because I didn't have the money to pay them,so my father had to help me pay them back by sending them $ 50.00 a month until it was all paid off, but now my credit is ruined. They did not tell the truth. What they should do is to tell how much it really costs so people can decide for themselves if they want to spend that kind of money on their business opportunity instead of saying that it is ONLY $25.00 to start in their infomercials. I am telling my side of the story. Every time I see that informercial, I turn the channel,I can't stand it, it only reminds me of the nightmare 9 years ago. If you got the money to spend on that opportunity by all means go for it but if you don't then don't. Don't let $25.00 to start fool you it really $400 or more.

Here's another example of SMC hiring employees to respond to the postings on this board. The only way anyone would find this board is if they did a search for SMC because they had a serious complaint about SMC. That is how I found this site. It's just such an amazing coincidence that people come out of nowhere to sign the praises of this company that they are having such wonderful success with. Why are you really posting here? Where is (near)Chicago, IL anyway? Have the guts to state that you are at least an employee of this horrible, useless company. I have all but phased out the crap that this company sells, every month they eliminate more and more crap from their warehouse and do not replace it. They have almost completely eliminated the jewelry and toy line. They are about to go out of business, at least it looks that way.

Holy cow, Michel. By all means share the methods of your success with the scores of contributors who went belly-up with the SMC scam...errrr...program. I am amused at your comment: "(I)especially love the quality products..." The stuff I've seen from SMC for the most crap that looks like it came from a dollar store.

One can only conclude:
[1] You're a shill for SMC (or)
[2] On drugs
[3] Both [1]& [2]

Hi. I saw the infomercial with Tom Bosley and joined also. I have been buying SMC products and selling them since December of 2002. I love the way they treat me and especially love the quality products they have for me to choose from to sell. Every time I need help, they are there for me. I started my own business with all their help and don't regret it one bit. I am greatful to them for the success and profits I have made.

Thanks,

So how do you deal with having a catalog that is filled with products that are out of stock? If you have a website you will know that this company will not help you or let you know which products are not available, even if you ask them. Do you have the time to check thousands of products for their availability? I don't think so.

You may be one of the fortunate few that are "real" members of this company. But I have a strong feeling that most people that rebuttal the comments on the board are actually SMC employees.

Prove me wrong or prove me right!

Provide me with answers to my questions.