Posted by Hit them where it hurts on September 02, 19102 at 07:52:45:
In Reply to: Re: Scentura Creations purfume scam. posted by Bgirl on September 28, 19100 at 09:39:00:
A lot of the people posting here want revenge or justice. Here are a few things you can do:
Print off copies of the well-written postings on this message board and pass them around to your fellow "trainees" at the office. You'll have to do this quickly and discreetly to get as many out as you can before they realize what you are doing.
Whatever day your "Second Interview" was on, they do one every week at the same time, sometimes twice a week. Print these off and go 45 minutes after it starts. Put them on all of the windsheilds.
If you are still in the beginning (Second Interview, First Day, Second Day) here are some key questions to ask during the meeting:
Where is the sales staff and when do they come in and leave?
How many bottles are sold by the sales staff weekly? How many by people in the training program? This is a great question for the day they cover the "Scents of Pride", especially if people from your office are in the "merchandisers in the spotlight" page: Isn't she/he in the training program? Why aren't any of your salespeople on this page?
Why aren't we being trained by the sales people instead of other people in the training.
Why aren't we managing the sales staff during the management portion of the training instead of other new people in the training program?
How many offices have they promoted from
this office?
How long have the promoted offices been in business?
How many sales people do the new offices have? Do they also have people in the training program?
If the office you're training in has been there for 5+ years, why don't they have any promotions who have been in business that long?
If you can ask this seeming sincere rather than attacking it will be better, taking the attitude that you just want to know because that's where you'll be. If you act like you're attacking them they'll probably pull you out of the meeting. Okay for you but the others won't hear the answers or see them squirm.
Also, ask for a copy of your "independent contractors agreement" (say just because you gave so much information you'd like to keep a record of it) and all of the other paperwork including the "get acquainted sheet". Forward these to your newspaper with a copy of the ad you answered and a letter stating that you feel this ad should be in the sales portion rather than the management or wherever other section they put it in. It is key that you have the "independent contractors agreement" with this because it states "I understand I am an independent contractor, not an employee", etc. If you cannot get this you at least should be getting a copy of your "consignment sheet" when you "settle up" (pay for bottles you sold, get bottles on consignment to go try to sell). The very fine print explains this well, too.
Many newspapers across the country do not allow the perfume companies to advertise anywhere except in the sales section. Sometimes they make them put "ind. cont." in the ad. If your newspaper does not require this you should make a big deal about it. Make sure the newspaper understands fully that no one is being HIRED, they are simply recruiting for independent contractors. They call these independent contractors managers, but they are not paid employees, ever. You have to realize that the newspaper makes a great deal of money from these offices, but if enough people complain about the ads they should start requiring restrictions.
This probably hits them harder than anything else (aside from getting their phone turned off, I don't know how to do that!) as recruiting is the most important thing to keeping an office going. When you consider the number of people who quit weekly you understand this.
Call the commissioner of revenue's office and explain what you were told about selling the perfumes, where and when, about not needing a license. They may also be interested to know the number of people who were in your class and the fact that at least that many people start in the training program weekly. They may also be interested to know about the "receptionist"; the majority are paid cash under the table. This is illegal.
Good luck, I hope I've offered some valuable tools to help others avoid the mistakes I made and convinced other people to make.