PRESS ON LTD Aka Magazine Network Ltd SWEET COLLEGE STUDENTS COME SELLING MAGAZINES, NEVER GOT THEM OR A REFUND. MADE MANY CALLS, SENT LETTERS, PROMISED REFUND, NEVER GOT IT!! RIPOFF MIAMI NATIONWIDE

Right after September 11, 2001 I lost my job in my small hometown of Taylorsville, NC. My area is a rural farming community and jobs were hard to find. I searched the local classifieds page and found a really exciting program for young adults ages 18-28.

I gave the 1-800 number a call and talked to a really energetic woman who seemed to have an answer for every question that I had. She told me that they had immediate openings for on-the-road sales positions. She said most of the agents made between $150-450 a day and pay was given in cash nightly.

She said the company paid for the hotel room, traveling expenses, and that the added perks were paid home visits, trips to exotic locations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and the ability to travel the country.

Down in my gloom and having no job - I opted to "give it a try." The lady told me that if I didn't like it, I could return home in 2 weeks and the company would pay for my trip home. I made the phone call at 11am and was on a Grayhound bus at 4:45pm headed for Allentown, PA.

I waited at the Allentown, PA bus stop for about 2 hours and finally someone showed up in a white Mercedes to pick me up. His name was Randy. He helped me load my luggage into his car and off we went to "join the crew." He began by giving me the "basics" of working as a "Road Runner" (what they called the door-to-door salespeople).

My first rule was not to ever tell the Police where the group stays. I was also told not to talk about people not present, refrain from sexual behavior, maintain a positive attitude at all times, only use a telephone to contact the group leader in an emergency and to never use last names - period.

I was penned into the group for two weeks. I had only 5 bucks in cash on me from my trip and could not leave to go home. I thought that I'd give it two weeks and would likely leave at the end of the two weeks. I travelled with Randy the rest of the day and met up with about 8 other kids around my age who were out canvasing (selling magazines).

Each salesperson had a "bucket" which is a leather wallet-type device that stores all information to do your job. You have a magazine list, a company "id" card, your sales slips, an envelope for your money, and information on any special promotions.

You had a "pitch" that you had to memorize: "Hey, my name is . How are you today? I'm going around the community today working on a program for college. I'm wanting to attend in to study . Premium USA (the parent company of Magazine Network, Ltd) is allowing me to participate in this program in exchange for a scholarship at the end of the summer. Here's how you can help . On this list is several magazines. I need for you to pick out a few of your favorites to help me."

Now, the person may respond one way or another and we were trained to rebuttal each of the responses. We always encouraged CASH - the group leaded HATED checks. When taking checks, we encouraged the person to make the check out to CASH (noting the name of the company in the NOTE section of the check).

At the end of every day, we counted our money and all of our orders and completed a daily report that was turned into the group leader. The group leader stayed in the hotel room pretty much the whole time - he did not canvas communities with us.

We received $15 every day, plus a commission on the sales we made. I was considered a "good" salesperson and I never made more than $30 in a day. Some of the more veteran sales people say they made $200-300 a day. One of our rules was that we didn't discuss our money - therefore we never really knew for sure.

I travelled from Taylorsville, NC all the way to Salem, MA before starting to head back south. The group evidently stayed in fair-climate states and travelled accordingly. This was in August and September of 2003 and snow had began to fall in MA - ever so slightly - so we headed southward.

We skipped over cities that we had been in and arrived back in New York state. We stopped in Albany, NY and was canvassing. I was approached by a police officer and informed the officer of my duties. He took my information and left. That Saturday, we were out canvassing and it was storming like mad. Thunder, lightening, hail and the group leader was persistant that we continue selling in the rain. The whole crew was soaked. Our vehicles were all wet and already smelled like sweat - what could be worse than wet bodies in a sweaty smelling vehicle.

I had enough. I went back that evening and did the most impossible - the ultimate betrayl of my "brotherhood" as they called it. I confronted the group's dishonesty and poor business practices and demanded to be sent home. I was taken at 11:00pm on September 2, 2003 to the Grayhound Bus Terminal and sent home. The group was going to leave me to find my own way home, but I threatened to call the police so the group leader gave me $130 and said to leave. My ticket costed me $115 - I was left travelling 3 days home on a Grayhound with only $15... but I was sure I'd make it.

I arrived back in Hickory, NC (a neighboring city to Taylorsville) 3 days later. I called the job service that had posted the original classified and informed them of the company and the actions. They removed the posting. I also contacted my local police department, the NC Attorney General, and the FBI regarding the company - all of which never followed through with any of my reports.

I was unpacking a box today and found my "return home" ticket from Greyhound and thought I'd check to see what the Internet had about the company. I also found a Certificate of License from Putnam, Connecticut - where the company got a license to operate (to solicit) inside the jurisdiction of Putnam. The license was purchased on my behalf and without my knowledge - I don't know how that happened. Among other stuff was some photos that I had taken while on the road - including photos of some of the other salespeople, the person that was introduced to us as a "owner of the company" and our group leader.

I wanted to post my experience here, in hopes that it will help someone and inform many others about the true scam that is being ran.

I will add, that all salepeople were under the impression that magazines were being delivered to those who purchased them. Many people said they didn't really want the magazine, but would help with "college" so we would send their magazine to St. Jude's hospital or such. But, the company did have a license with a publishing broker -atleast that is what the guy identified as the owner told us.

By the way, not sure if it is still in working order, but the owner's phone number was 1-866-GET-WORK. It was his wife's cell phone number.