Vector Marketing False Advertising / Deceptive Business Practices Memphis, Tennessee

I got scammed by these people in 1987, one month after I graduated high school. Maybe not even that long! I recieved a letter in the mail from them. Not sure how they got my name, maybe they had a list of recent graduates from high school. Found it interesting that when I went to the interview that another freiend that I graduated with had also been in that interview! So, I figure that's how they got my name! 

But, like this person's review, I had the same experience even almost 30 years ago! But, back then, they wanted me to pay  them $45 deposit for a sales kit. In 1987, $45 was probably like paying $200 for something today. I reluctantly tried it, and after I realized that they wanted me to sell to my friends and relatives, I backed out and wanted my money back. They were NOT forth coming with giving me a refund. 

Fortunately, the manager of this office was apparently a drunk, and had inadvertantly dropped my check on the floor of a local bar, and some good samaratin that had been in that bar that night found my check and mailed it back to me. So, I was not out that money after all! 

I'm shocked that they continue to operate and do these things. Companies selling to friends and relatives is so passe'! That is so 20th century, to be honest. If a company who hires sales reps can not provide workable sales leads to its reps, its not a company I would ever work for. Especially, if they start out asking, who do you know? If I ever go to a training again where they ask, "who do you know", I will get up and walk out. That's just very poor business practices. Honestly, if the company can't provide good business leads for you to work, they are not legit. They are too lazy to do THEIR job. If a sales rep spends a lot of time prospecting, he doesn't have much time closing. It's that simple! 

I would never recommend working for this company, or any company who asks you to sell to people you know in order to be successful. That's a good way to lose friends real quick! 

...you are correct, if 'it' refers to being cut out for falling for misleading ads and working straight commission, pestering friends and family and not making a dime or not even making enough to make it worth your time.

Let me tell you, I worked in HR for over 10 years and saw a lot of resumes from people who had worked for this company. Hardly any were there longer than 3 months. Those resumes ALWAYS went into the circular bin. Smart people I know IRL are wise enough not even put this crap job on their resume, realizing it signals that they were 'young and dumb' at one time.

 I don't have time to detail every note from your report but felt that my take on Cutco should be shared.

Cutco is not a scam, perhaps their biggest flaw is giving anyone a chance to sell their product. This means that a large number of those who step into the their sales environment wash-out within weeks: hence the complains. It's likely that the people who signed up for the job never applied for a sales job before or since their experience with Cutco and were likely just trying to make easy money... guess what...  there's no such thing! I suppose that the job descriptions are sugar coated... most of the jobs I've taken are. Every sales job I've worked has been brutal for the exact same reason: activity produces results but making those calls requires skill and effort while creating fatigue. A real critique is that the managers are manipulative, if your selling I don't think they can fire you even if they wanted to. I wanted to make money and sell, not be a mascot or roll-model.... this led to a screaming match with a manager who I've since made peace with. As a 1099 employee you have no obligation to attend their meetings and confrences but the managers will make you think you do, this isn't to scam you, it's because they believe that most of the reps need additional training and motivation to fufill their potential... they're right. Since leaving I've sold a few knives hear and there, I haven't been to a meeting in years.

My summer with Cutco was not without complaints: I felt like my time was often wasted at meetings and confrences. I had disagreement with my management ect. I however never felt scammed. I worked my a*s off, made thousands of dollars and learned a huge amount about the skills required to create success in a results driven work environment. It paid off! After leaving a prominent college with a double major I entered the work force. Turns out I had more practical experience, stories and resume fodder from my months with Cutco then my 4 years and $120k at university. I was hired into a Software sales position at a growing company where I was given a nice salary and commision on my work. That environment was much like Cutco, only bigger deals and a longer sales cycle. I was neverous 5 months in when despite numerous well developed attempts I hadn't recieved a single close. I perceviered with the same skill taught to me at Vector: activity produces results. Sure enough in the 6th month my first deal came in $27k, not bad. By the end of my second year I was in the top teir of my unit, far exceeding my qouta and begining to think about where to go next. BTW I was the #2 rep on my team in software sales, the #1... also a former Cutco guy.

I've run into several of my old customers (one just the other day in the supermarket parking lot), all of them feel happy with their purchase and even happier knowing that their williningness to share their time and listen to my pitch allowed me launch a career in a competitive field. I owe those customers and Vector a great deal for giving me the opportunity to hone my skills while making money (good money). Cutco is a great resume builder... but not if it took your 3 months to sell $10,000.  If you plan to move forward into a sales role and you have $#s to attach to your peformance it goes a long way. Infact, I negotiated a raise using my past performance as a basis for my future success.

In conclusion: Is Cutco the perfect job or right for everyone? No. Is their application process misleading? Some-what. Is it a scam? No more so then a BA; You get out what you put in.

On April 24, 2012, I looked into my schools newspaper, The Daily Helmsman and saw this ad that says:

Attention Memphis Students

PART TIME WORK

Excellent Starting Pay!!!
Customer Service
No Experience Preferred
Training Provided
Scholarships/Internships Possible

SEND RESUME TO:
eastmemphisparttimework@gmail.com
Sara, Jessica, or Kayla will contact you to schedule an interview.

First, I began to feel skeptical and begin to wonder What is the name of the company? and why this company doesnt have a company email domain? I admit, the ad was enticing and I emailed this unknown company my resume.

I hoped that it wouldnt be a scam, but I received a call the next day, April 25 on my caller ID. The name of the company that was displayed was RHEALTH LLC. I answered the phone and Sara introduced herself and said that she is with Vector Marketing.

This was the first sign of deception. I was thinking, If you are working for Vector, why use RHEALTH LLC as the company name? RHEALTH LLC is a medical company not a sales and marketing company.

Moreover, Sara proceeded to mention my resume and talked a little about the position. Sara mentioned that there are part time and full time jobs available without any specifics. Sara said that its a people person job, which you wont be telemarketing people, going door-to-door, etc.

Towards the end of the conversation, I agreed to schedule an appointment the next day, April 26 at 4pm. Last, Sara told me that I would have to dress in professional attire; bring pen and paper; and that I would be seeing the assistant manager, Chelsea Banks. I noticed that Sara sounded a little too friendly and helpful over the phone.

I received a confirmation email from Sara, and the email address from the sender was: VectorMarketing@vectormarketing.com Thats quite different from the email thats in the ad. On April 26, I attended the interview and saw Sara at the receptionist desk. The office was small.

I signed in, and Sara gave me a clipboard with a short, one page application on it, and directed me to a room to sit. There were 3 other young women in the room. More men and women showed up after I was there. The room was small and tight with chairs close together.

Ill estimate that there were 9 other people total. Assistant Manager, Chelsea Banks was calling 1-2 people at a time to her office for pre-screening. The first person that was called didnt make it through the pre-screening and left.

Everyone else, including me made it through. If a candidate passed the pre-screening, they were told to sit on the front row in the room. Well, the pre-screening took about 1-1.5 hours.

After Chelsea finished pre-screening, she came into the room where the other applicants who passed the pre-screening were at, and began this long, drawn-out presentation. Chelsea covered 6 topics which are: company, product, market, pay, training and perks

Below are the notes that I took during the presentation. Keep in mind, this is what Chelsea said. The comments in parenthesis are my own comments.

Company

-         CUTCO is a parent company of Vector, founded in 1949

-         Vector was founded in 1981

-         Awards over $160,000 scholarships annually tostudents (didnt mention that people with the highest sales will get the scholarships, which are impossible to make)

-         1st decision in 1949 was to manufacture only high quality products

-         2nd decision was to engage customers with a low-key method educating customers about the product

-         3rd decision honesty and integrity with customers (something they sure in Hell dont have)

-         4th decision how to market products

-         5th decision how to pay employees - motto: pay people who work harder

Product

-         Chelsea mentioned the appointment only, and said that price increases drastically when products are manufactured and sent to customers

-         Vector is a member of Direct Sales Association

-         (Chelsea demonstrated with a pair of CUTCO scissors. She asked the candidates for a penny, so she can cut the penny into a corkscrew. Also, she performed a knife demonstration with cutting a rope with 3 different knives.)

Market

-         Most of customers are married and are ages 30-60

-         Only market through word of mouth (which means you sell to your family/friends and they recommend you to other people they know)

-         Sales Representatives starts off making a minimum of 5 recommendations who can be family/friends

-         UPS does delivery (Chelsea emphasized that products are delivered from manufacturer to customer and cuts out the middleman)

Pay

Base pay

-         $15 per appointment and $3.00 gas allowance per appt.

-         8-10 appts are considered part-time, any # of appts after 10 is considered full-time

-         Only people age 25+ and work can be customers

-         1 on 1 presentations (at home presentations without anyone else, good way to put your life in danger)

Incentive

-         0-1k > 10% x 200 = $20 (in your pocket)

-         1k-3k > 15%

-         3k-6k > 20%

-         6k-10k > 25% x 200 = $50 (in your pocket)

-         10k-20k > 30%

-         20k-30k > 40%

-         30k-50k > 50% x 200 = $100 (in your pocket)

Training and Perks

-         1st day of training Thursday/Friday; will learn: basic knowledge and product (also hold one to two trainings per month)

-         2nd day of training AAA and receive $15 for appts

-         3rd day of training Advanced training 1 & 2; will learn: how to ask questions and teaching of the product

Perks

-         Sample kit (can be borrowed at no cost)

-         Experience

-         People

Furthermore, after Chelseas presentation, she handed everyone a questionnaire where candidates would answer questions on a sheet of paper. There were questions such as Have you committed a felony? Why do you want to work here? and the like. The last phrase of this overly-dramatic process was the individual 3-5 minute interview.

Chelsea said that I will try to get everyone out in 30 minutes. Some candidates were in there for more than 5 minutes. I was the last one called. When she called the candidate before me, she said that I will save the best for last. I could tell that Chelsea was fascinated with my attire.

When she called me back to her office, she glimpsed my responses to the questionnaire and proceeded to ask a few questions.

In the end, she decided to give me a chance and wanted a handshake to seal the deal. I shook the devils hand and she told me about the training.

In addition, when Chelsea mentioned the training days, Chelsea said The training is two days. I noticed in her presentation, she said that training is 3 days.

There are two conflicting stories.  I agreed to May 10-11 and was told that I would receive an email. And the first date in the email, Wednesday, May 9, Chelsea stated that I dont need to attend because I would be the only one there.

I think Chelsea was trying to mess with me mentally. Chelsea gave me a brochure and an acceptance letter and I walked out the door. During my further research about the company, I have decided not to attend training.

Below is my analysis about my overall experience.

I was suspicious about the ad from the beginning, but I took a chance anyway. Once I found out the name of the company, I immediately thought about last year when I first read about them. The 2.5 to 3 hour interview sitting in hard steel chairs was somewhat a waste of my time, but I wanted to experience it for myself.

The other candidates had their concerns as well. The funny part about the candidates was, when one candidate talked about how to pass a drug test. The receptionist heard the conversation and told Chelsea about the conversation.

She mentioned the conversation before she began her presentation and everyone laughed. What I got from this interview is the pre-screening, presentation, and interview didnt make any sense. Chelsea was out of place for asking candidates for a penny to demonstrate the capabilities of cutting a penny with a scissor.

The demonstration/presentation was not needed. This is all part of Vectors aggressive recruiting and brainwashing. My conclusion is: I dont recommend any student fresh out of high school or a college student to NOT pursue the company for a job.

I agree with every negative critical comment I have read online about the company. Now, I see why Vector didnt want to have their real email address posted in the ad; and company name on caller ID. They are trying to hide their dark past with admitting to fraud in lawsuits and want to continue their deceptive, scamming practices and brainwashing to unsuspecting college students.

Vector continues to pull the wool over young students. They are predators. I have seen the website, workforstudents.com written on the board in some classrooms.

Also, you would be an independent contractor, which mean they are not subject to employment labor laws. You will have to deduct your mileage out of your taxes, pay for your own health insurance, and frankly; they just dont give a d**n about you. Typically, field jobs such as utility companies would have at least 2 people sent to a clients home, and they know what kind of world people live in.

This may be farfetched, but I think they want to hire everyone just so they can get as many students killed in some strangers home without blood being on their hands. Another thought that I had was, that older clients can persuade younger employees who are selling knives to them to get them for nothing. Its just the maturity aspect.

Ive read an article that Vector operates like an employer because you have to contact the district manager every so often. I think that Vector is an employer, but they dont want to be subjected to employment labor laws.

Thats why Vector opted for independent contractor, so they wont have to answer to Uncle Sam. This is absolutely the longest and worst so called interview Ive ever experienced. I know this is lengthy, but I just wanted to let everyone know the full experience that I had.