Final Touch Jewelry, Inc. Recruits and misleads sales reps by selling cheap jewelry samples and not fulfilling orders. Dallas Texas

I am also a victim of this CONARTIST. He needs to be stopped ,he is commiting fraud and praying on people looking for legitimate work. How many more people are falling for this that have no idea? Don't let him get away with it, want to get your money back? File a complaint with Texas Consumer Protection, he needs to be investigated. He is counting on poeple giving up. This is not ethical business practice!!

Gary Rike is terribly confused! I still have not received the replacements promised by him and Debbie in his office for broken pieces of jewelry I paid for and sent back to them almost 5 months ago? How can anyone sell for a company that does not fill orders? I had to refund money for 2 orders after waiting 3 months.
I totally agree with all the other complaints against Final Touch on this site and other sites. I am now being threatened for telling the truth. I only wish this information was available for me to see when I tried to research Gary Rike and Final Touch Jewelry, Inc. in Dallas, Texas last December.

By the way - they never shipped me my samples. My husband and I had to meet Gary at his car outside of Dallas Market to pick up my samples in a box so taped up, I could not open until we got to where we were staying. Only then did I find out how cheap everything really was and how expensive everything was, as well as a note notifying us that there was a 15% increase in any catalog sales that was never mentioned in our day-long meeting. There are so many issues with this company, that potential sales reps with resumes on CareerBuilder.com need to be aware of if contacted by other reps or recruiters. Do your homework!

Dear Ms. Montgomery (also know as workingmom),

You really didn't answer any of the points or issues that I raised in my letter to you. That's not surprising! You refuse to take any responsibility for decisions that you freely made and accepted when you joined our company. You claim I was dishonest with you. I challenge you to specifically tell me what I lied to you about that day I worked with you in our showroom. I haven't seen you or talked to you since that day. I spent the entire day discussing the jewelry industry and how our company operates. I detailed my many years working in the field and I used specific examples to illustrate how I handled buyer objections. Everything I said was drawn from my own personal experiences and I can assure you that every word and example I used was very real and truthful.

I can't imagine that you can be so clueless to think we just stuck your $3,000 in our pocket and it was just all profit to us. First of all, we paid a recruiting fee to our representative much like a headhunter or personnel agency. We also paid a significant fee to Careerbuilder. We pay factories for the jewelry. We had to pay for the catalogs as well. Nobody is sending us anything for free! We pay for labor in putting the samples on display boards and pay freight to ship your samples and insuring them. I could go on about the very real costs associated with hiring someone, but I think I've made my point very clear as to why we do not owe you a commission on your samples. We pay commission on SALES, not samples. If you had bothered to go to work, you could have already gotten every dime back by now.

With respect to your ridiculous comment that we are being watched, let me say this; "It appears that we are in very good company". The so called Rip-off.com that you used to post your "working mom in Memphis" letter to freely admits they don't investigate any complaints whatsoever and they could actually care less whether or not the complaint is legitimate. They make their money by selling memberships for their advocacy program to companies that have so called complaints. Guess who else appears on Rip-off.com? Microsoft, Dell Computer, Dillards Department Stores, General Motors, Wal-Mart and just about every other corporation of any size or consequence. Any person that would be swayed by your anonymous letter is not someone we would want to hire anyway.

In closing, we intend to abide by those same terms and conditions that you agreed to last December. At this point, you haven't done enough business to be considered an active salesperson. Under the terms of the Agreement, you have to sell $1,000 a month to be considered active. Enough said! If anyone got the short end it is us; not you. We are out the hiring expenses mentioned above, and we have gained nothing in the way of production from you! In your first complaint you "were desperately looking for a job" and in your update you state you "were working a FULL TIME business AND trying to do this." So, which is true? You represented yourself to us as willing and able to devote your time and efforts into representing OUR company. Maybe if you had done that, you would not be placing blame where it is not deserved.

Gary Rike
Final Touch Jewelry Inc.

Final Touch required me to buy $3,000 in samples that had many pieces of very poor quality and easily breakable. They also were way over priced compared to similar products I saw in the stores I tried to sell to.
I did not know that buying samples was not the norm for jewelry wholesalers so I was a sucker. I think they look for people that have no experience with wholesale jewelry. I found out later some reps were offered a lower price package but I was not. Even though I was extremely disappointed in the products and the cost of everything, I tried to sell - or take orders. It was very hard to do since the prices were so high. Retailers will NOT buy these products. Final Touch has made claims that I did not try to sell but they don't have a clue how many calls I made and they don't care. I have been working a full time business in addition to trying to do this which they very well know.
After no luck selling to retailers, I became a retailer myself and held private showings. I got a few orders but some pieces ordered in April 2008 were never received. I had to quit having showings since I could not rely on getting my orders.
Final Touch promised to replace broken pieces that I sent them in March 2008 and they are still telling me they are on back order. Final Touch charges sales reps regular wholesale prices for the samples you are required to buy making them a nice profit. Forget about your 40% commission you signed up for. BEWARE sales reps looking for a job!
Gary Rike threatened to sue me for writing this report but I have not lied about anything like they claim. They are telling lies about me and my business.

Been in the jewelry business for 24+ years and have had my store for 14.5 years. Years ago a guy I know, who had been out of work for a while, tells me about a company in Dallas, who for $2,500, will sell him a line of jewelry. He will be one of their "reps". He can take the jewelry around and sell to whomever he pleases. He can sell them his "live" goods and then reorder from them. I tell him that's not the way it normally works. ALL the companies I know, give a rep or salesperson the goods for free and then sells the merchandise and gets a commission off of what he sells. What they don't sell they have to return. He doesn't have to buy anything. I tell him it sounds like a rip off to me. He passed. Evidently they're still in business. The "jewelry' is probably worth $4 or $500 and they could careless if you ever sell any of it.

Dear Workingmom:
I notice that you choose to use a nickname rather than your own name to make a complaint against a company who has been in business for over forty years with a customer base of over 8,400 retail stores.

Yes, we do require our salespeople to purchase their original samples. Our reps have the choice of purchasing the entire line for $3,000 or they may carry as little as $1,500 in WHOLESALE merchandise. We never want to create a financial hardship for our reps which is why we allow them to decide how much of the line they want to carry. What you failed to mention in your complaint is once you sell your first $25,000 in sales we REFUND THE ENTIRE AMOUNT OF YOUR ORIGINAL SAMPLES AS WELL AS ANY EXPENSES YOU INCURRED IN COMING TO DALLAS FOR TRAINING. This $25,000 does NOT have a time restriction; whether it takes you one month or 12 months or longer, once this amount is met, we refund your sample purchase. This is a small amount when you consider we sell fashion jewelry as well as 14kt, diamonds, sterling and three watch lines. When we hire a person to represent us we have no guarantee when they return home if they are going to be committed to going out each day and making the effort to show the line at least four times a day. Our industry is not the only industry who require their outside sales reps to purchase their samples. But, we ARE one of the few companies who offers a reimbursement program for our reps who actually go to work.

The fashion line our salespeople carry is a quality line. It is either 14kt electroplate, 18kt HGE or a rhodium finish. Rhodium is actually the hardest metal on the planet and is non-oxidizing. Rhodium is also used at times to plate sterling silver because of it's non-oxidizing properties. All our stones are either CZ's or austrian crystal. Our items range in wholesale price from $10 to $67.50.

"Workingmom" you also made allegations that our showroom is not open during markets and you returned merchandise that was defective which was never replaced. The main phone number for the Dallas World Trade Center is 214-655-6100. You may call and speak to whomever you like and they will tell you our showroom is always open during the shows. As a matter of fact, there is a market going on now and you can call to verify our showroom is open. If you will call to give me the product number(s) of merchandise you may have returned, I will be more than happy to replace, exchange or refund those items for you. Had you requested same when they were returned, I would have gladly made the same offer.

"Workingmom" if you "desparately needed a job" why would you EVER consider joining a company with full knowledge a sample purchase was required AND fully understanding it was a sales position on a commission only basis? I feel it is unfair, unprofessional and malicious to place blame on the company for your ineffectual sales performance.

Sincerely,
Debbie Peden
FINAL TOUCH JEWELRY, INC.