There are a lot of reasons that I am out here in LA right now. Specifically, the main reason is to pursue writing, through taking classes at UCLA. But also, living here lets me see what it would be like to live in LA if I were somehow successful in breaking into the TV ranks. The biggest plus so far: sunshine.
I mean, unmitigated, all-day, pure UV goodness, warming your face every time you walk outside. It's great. Score 1 for LA.
But I did have an experience on Friday that left a very sour taste in my mouth. I've been trying to get a job for about a month now, so I jumped at the opportunity to answer phone calls at a job recruiting firm right down the street from me. It was perfect - get up early, answer some phone calls, and head out by 3PM - done for the day.
The pay was pure commission, comprised of two possible sales: $5-6 if you get them to register for $33.95, and another $10 if you get them to accept a promotional sales booklet that they could return for a refund if they didn't like it. It was easy. In my first three hours I made about $50, so I was pretty psyched that I found a job that was pretty easy and paid enough for me to pay the bills and have some breathing room (something I have not had for a long time).
On Friday, I was talking to a nurse from North Carolina on the phone who was very wary of paying to register for our service. She kept asking for things like
placement percentages and
placement guarantees - things that I was told by coworkers to skirt around and avoid. So I did. My boss wasn't in the office at the time, and I told her I would call her back Monday after I spoke to him so that I could give her a better idea of our placement numbers. After I took down her information, I turned around in my chair and asked another sales guy what our placement number actually are, ballpark.
He looked at me like I was from Mars.
"What do you mean?"
I was kind of frustrated, I thought I made my question quite clear.
"I mean - how many people that we register actually get jobs?"
He shook his head. "I don't know, 0%, 1%? Nobody. We don't do that." I kind of stared at him for a second to try to understand what he was saying. "Do you see anybody here making phone calls to companies right now?"
I didn't. And I guess I never really thought that the four people in the office answering phone calls WAS the whole company. There was no back end. It was all register-register-register. And then once we got these people signed up, there was no follow-through.
It took me a couple of seconds to realize what was going on. I guess something inside me never really even considered that the company was illegitimate. My phone starts ringing again. More callers. I answered the phone three more times that day, and each time I pushed for them to use our free service site, and didn't try to upsell anyone. All I could think about were the people I had spoken to before that were telling me their story about just being laid off after 30 years at a Ford Company, or the people who had to check their bank account before they gave me their card info, just to make sure they had enough money.
What this company is doing, is preying on the most helpless, last-resort type of people that they can find. It's unforgivable. So I left that afternoon. Unemployed again. Looking for work again. But at least I can go to sleep at night.
I did some research on the company when I got home, and it appears that it very hard to cancel the service, or to return the 'sales course' packet and get a refund.
www.americansalesnetwork.com
Blech. -1 for LA. I need to go outside and get some sun and maybe I'll feel better.
Posts
