Quality Solutions Health Systems Filter Queen, Health-Mor Employment Scam, Poor Business Ethics, Pushy Sales Tactics Mason City Iowa

I have had the most unbelievably frustrating experience with Quality Solutions in Mason City, Iowa. I have been in the job market for a while and answered a Monster add for a "Specialist" job. I need to tell my story so that this does not happen to anyone else as well as let customers know about their sketchy business tactics. I worked for the company VERY briefly and ended up quitting because of poor business eithics, safety issues, and a sneaking suspicion that they have some less-than-legal business pracitces. There are several issues you should be aware of when working for this company:

1. You are not paid for your training.

2. They won't tell you directly what you will be doing for a reason, you are going to be a door to door vacuum salesman for incredibly overpriced vacuum cleaners. They told me (after asking several times) that they supply medical grade air filtration systems to local businesses and hospitals. No. I sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door.

3. They say you will receive $11 an hour or $1500 every two weeks (or similar). This is ONLY if you go to enough demos. The issue my fellow trainees and I had was that there weren't enough demos to go around. It was impossible to get enough demos. They had us do office work when we did not have enough demos for everyone. We were concerned that we were not getting paid for our time and were assured that we would be paid for full time regardless since it was not our fault that there weren't enough demos. I ended up being paid less than a third of what I was expecting because I "didn't run enough demos" even though it was not my fault at all and I did everything they told me to do. I didn't even make their PART TIME pay. 

4. They are part of Health-Mor, also called Filter Queen. There are a lot of articles online regarding their sketchy business ethics and practices. There are A LOT of ripoff reports about them and their distributors. There is even an article about Quality Solutions in Minnesotta, where this branch came from. 

5. You will be a contractor, you will not work for Quality Solutions. This makes it easier for them to replace you when you quit (which most do, and for good reason). This also allows them to work some interesting tax angles that are probably less-than-legal. Make sure to ask them about taxes in training, you won't believe their answer.

6. You will not be reimbursed for gas...ever. My pay (since I wasn't even paid part time) only covered my gas. I walked away from that job with less than $50 after all my expenses for gas were taken out. They tell you that the miles are tax deductable but this amount is not very much and I doubt the IRS would be too pleased with the situation since taxes are not taken out of our paychecks. Also, I drove over 700 miles in two weeks..

7. They say that 30 hours a week is full time. No. I worked 10-12 hour days mostly and was not paid even part time. They even requested I work a weekend, which I did to ensure I would be paid for full time. 

8. There were two whole trainee groups for the short time I was there. Why? Everyone quits. It is horrible. Literally EVERYONE quit. I stuck it out for two weeks to see if it would get better. It didn't.

These are really just the monetary issues I encountered while I was there. There were a whole lot of ethical issues as well.

1. They target the elderly on purpose cause they are more vulnerable and were an easier sale. 

2. Even if I KNEW this person could not afford this system I was told to push them to purchas it with payment plans. I got in trouble several times for not pushing hard enough or for leaving early without calling my boss. There were several houses where I did not push the customer to buy the product at all because they quite obviously could not (they were struggling to feed their kids or were being laid off) and I could not, in good conscience, cause them to go into debt over a vacuum cleaner.  

3. I ran into several people in my short time there that were told over the phone that all they had to do was answer a quick survey and they would get a free gift. No, you have to sit though a 2 hour presentation using high pressure sales tactics...then you get the gift. I had a person who had to leave in the middle of my presentation due to a family emergency and I gave her the gift anyways...my boss didn't like that. 

4. We were supposed to tell people at the beginning of our presentation (the marketers also told people this over the phone) that we were not trying to sell them anything. FLAT. OUT. LIE. Of course we were trying to sell you something, that's the whole point. That was why I had to call while still in the customer's house, so my boss could try to make a sale.

5. They would laugh about people's economic situations. As I've said, I had to call my boss while still in the house so he could try to make a sale. Well, when people couldn't afford (or didn't want) even the cheapest package he would express his disbelief and frustration over the phone...and the customer could hear that. I ended up apologizing for that several times. 

6. There is ZERO regard for employee safety. You are sent by yourself to random stranger's houses. There was one place I went to that I felt VERY uncomfortable at. I expressed my concerns before entering the home to my boss on the phone. I was inerupted, laughed at, and told I had to go in anyways. I was also scolded for leaving a house quickly because I feared for my safety. I felt VERY uncomfortable at this house, feared for my safety, and left early. This was not ok, the sale was more important to them than my well-being. I am not risking my life for a vacuum cleaner. I have never encountered such greed.

There was a lot more but that is the gist of it. The statements made by other ripoff reports were EXACTLY what I encountered while working at Quality Solutions. I realize that I will never get paid, but if I can keep other people from having this same experience, that would be ideal. Also, everyone's friends and family members (especially the elderly) should be warned about this company. Don't let the sales reps into your house. Do not accept the free gift via the phone. The vacation is a rip off and you will most likely never see your "free" gas card. They generally travel within 70 miles or so of Mason City, so the outlying areas are at risk as well. Spread the word.

As far as employees go, please be careful when dealing with them. Do some research and make your own conclusions about working for Health-Mor/Filter Queen/Quality Solutions before you get ripped off like I did. There are a lot of articles about them online I wish I would have read before accepting the job. I should have seen the red-flags and quit sooner but I didn't know employment scams existed. They just hire new people, have them work for free till they quite, don't pay them, and replace them with the next poor soul that answers the ad. I'm sure it's legal, it was probably in our contract we signed somewhere. We asked for copies, they told us they would give us copies the next day. Surprise, the didn't. 

Good luck out there. Spread the word. 

-A former Employee