This is the true story of how I became entangled in a pyramid scheme . . .
Upon my graduation from college in 2004, I actively sought employment in the sales world. I found a great opportunity, or so I thought when I interviewed with Scentura Creations. They were located on top of a little bodega in downtown Freehold. I had two interviews with them and I was so proud that I was selected to be a salesperson for this company. I thought that this was a great opportunity as I was promised my own selling office after only 6 months. I showed up on the first day, Monday, wearing a suit and tie and was as eager as ever to join their team of sales people. I lasted in Scentura Creations for one week before I threw in the proverbial towel and just walked away.
The Scentura Creations Farse Begins
Monday
I spent the first 4 hours of my day in a training class with other newbies or FNG’s (F@!king New Guys). Here we learned about Scentura Creations, such as where the headquarters was located, who the CEO was (by the way Larry Hahn was the principal founder and CEO), how they make money, and where the perfume/cologne came from. And we were told that it was left over perfume/cologne that bigger companies throw out; so I was convinced that it was legit. Due to my usual child-like optimism I didn’t realize that this meant it came off the back of trucks and I was eager to be the best sales person in the company. I kept a detailed notebook of the inner workings of Scentura Creations with their career tracks, sales pitch, and selling points. I also was introduced to Raul and Javier, two Mexican bruisers, that made sure that we either bring money or perfume/cologne back to the office. We were told that if we failed to do either, that these two would come looking for us.
We were taught about what a GUMP is. A GUMP, ladies and gentlemen, is a guy or girl under my power. That is to say a typical idiot consumer that might actually buy bootleg perfume. I was taught new vernacular, such as making a drop is equivalent to making a sale and trying to sell was called pushing. (I didn’t realize it at the time, but this is the same terminology they use when trafficking drugs.) We were also taught that we were encouraged to run away from the police if they saw us trying to push. Once again, due to my happenstance to ignore certain important mind-blowing points, I didn’t realize what I was slowly getting myself into. We went out for the remainder of the day where I witnessed more experienced sales people making drops, habla espanol con Mexicanos, and all the meanwhile I was taking mental notes of what I need to do to become successful with Scentura Creations. I also learned what ‘Scentura Driving’ was. What you don’t know? It’s driving highly illegally through towns, like speeding, making illegal U-turns, not obeying traffic laws, etc. But this was all, ok because we were performing ‘Scentura Driving’.
The Golden Boy Comes Dressed to Impress
Tuesday
I reported to the office promptly at 9 AM, wearing my usual suit and tie. Once again, we had our morning in class training, where we continued to learn about the inner workings of Scentura Creations and practiced our sales pitch. Naturally, I was great at my sales pitch and quickly became somewhat of their new prodigy. Their “Golden Boy”, if you will. At around noon, we broke off in teams to go and start using our newly found powers of selling. I was teamed up with 3 others; a girl, Kristin, this guy, E, and this other guy, Matt. We hit the road to make our drops and we first went to a strip mall. The afternoon was not going well for me, as I hadn’t been able to make the drop. We stopped to get something to eat and continued to push. Then it happened, I made a drop to cashier at a local retailer. My team was ecstatic for me and I was happy as well. They said that I had ‘popped my selling cherry’. We went back to the office with my money and perfume. We had an afternoon class before we left for the day and all of the newbies that had ‘popped their cherries’ had to get up in front of class and celebrate. This celebration consisted of being given a metallic ball to hold while you perform this crazy dance for everybody, while they were chanting:
Go Greg, Go Greg, Go Crazy Motivated Greg!
Time for some Night Merchin’
Wednesday
I reported to work at the same time wearing my usual attire ready to make some drops. Morning class was dismissed early, and I went out with my team from the day before. However, this time I had to drive. The four of us got into my ’99 Cavalier and drove to the mall. When we got there I was told by the more experienced E and Kristin that I was encouraged to run from mall security and that I should be careful to not be caught. Ok, no problem. I carried around my book bag with 6 bottles of cologne and went on the prowl to make drops to GUMP’s with no juice. I found one, a teenager in the food court. I approached him, whilst he was sitting down eating his lunch and gave him my sales pitch. I performed with such fluidity that he had no choice but to buy some cologne off of me. I had done it once again, I made a drop. We walked around some more, until security noticed one of us and we quickly made our exit. There were a couple more fruitless hours of selling and then we went back to the office. It was here that a bunch of the more experienced sales people decided that they wanted to go ‘night merching’, a term that denotes pushing and dropping at night. Eager to make more money and move up in the ranks, I decided to go with them.
I picked up E around 9 PM from his house and we left to go pick up Kristin at her house. On the way to her house, we stopped at some gas stations attempting to drop and when we finally got there it was around 10 PM. She lived in a little shack located in the backyard of much larger house right behind a rest stop. Once we got there we went in and hung out for awhile. She disclosed all personal information, like her relationship with her parents, how her boyfriend left her, and how much her job at Scentura Creations was the best thing. She then explained to me and E that her bathtub is all out of whack and pours black water due to the sinking of her shack. She eagerly showed us how bad her house was sinking when she rolled from the kitchen to the living room with ease in her chair. After sitting there awhile and after her numerous attempts to seduce me or E, neither of us could tell. Me and E decided to promptly make our exit and go ‘night merching’. We were both pretty bugged out and as I hastily drove away from her house, I tore up the front lawn of the farm. I dropped E off to continue to go ‘night merching’ and I went home to seriously rethink my life.
Coming to Grips with the Scentura Scam
Thursday
I returned to work again, not really sure why, but I take my jobs seriously and what kind of an employee would I be if I didn’t. Morning class was completely dismissed this time and we immediately departed to go ‘merching’. However, the teams were different. This time I was teamed up with this hot chick, Brittany, and some grossly obese guy, Pat. We got into my car, whereupon I felt the right side of my car sink. We drove around all day going to local convenience stores, gas stations, etc. I didn’t make a drop all day, in fact I really wasn’t trying; I was just trying to make sense of everything. For the most of my day, I was talking to Brittany, whom I a had the hots for. We went back to the office and I left for the day.
That night I traveled towards South Jersey to see my group of friends, where I told them this story for approximately 6 hours. Some laughed, some cried, but all told me that I was involved in a pyramid scheme. At first, I was like “no way”, and attempted to explain to them that I was involved in a legit business. I even brought in my notebook so I could show them. They told me that I had been brainwashed and that I needed to get out. They told me that I was the GUMP with no juice and that I needed to quit right away. Eventually, after much convincing I agreed that they were right and that I would quit first thing in the AM.
Calling it Quits on Bad Business
Friday
I didn’t go to sleep that night, as I got home from South Jersey at around 7 AM where I told my mother that I was quitting my job, explaining to her everything and that I was involved in a pyramid scheme. I arrived at work a little earlier than usual with my boxes of perfume/cologne and went to talk to the boss in the office. I turned in my boxes (I didn’t want Raul and Javier to come looking for me) and told them that I had found a better a job doing construction. They were disappointed and tried to convince me to stay, but I left. As I left I felt the gauntlet of stares from everyone and was happy to finally get in my car and on the road back home. About half way home I got a phone call from Brittany asking me to come back, saying that she forgot her cell phone charger in my car. I turned around, once again rethinking how dumb I am, and went back to the office. I quickly went in, handed her the phone charger and left. This time for good.
105 Comments
I was present for that Thursday evening, and I never laughed so hard in my life. Colt Forty-Fineberg was so pumped about his new career and told the story with great fervor. He truly thought this was the path to success, and it took the whole night to convince him otherwise. I just wish you could all see the notebook.
This story is classic, especially the crazy motivated greg chant.
I found their site, so they must still be around.
And check out their page on Wikipedia!
I got hit with Equinox when I first got out of the military. Healthy living supplies. You become your own best customer. That was 12 years ago. My favorite these days is the Cutco ads.
Ha, its a real shame that these scams even exist. But I really blame myself and others for being fooled into working for places like these. This would be a great movie . . .
I totally know what your talking about, i too was apart of this “business venture” i laughed when i read this. realizing that at one point o too was you, using the same terms and just as excited as you. i pray that you have found success and that all is well with you. God bless.
Actually it would be a great documentary. You have some one where a hidden cam with a mike and go through the training on several of these scam shops then edit it all together.You would be sued several times over but you could release it renegade style in clips on You Tube or upload it to Google video. You never know you could get some studio interest after it has been out there a while. Just make sure you edit all audio mentioning your plants name and never let them look in the mirror post it while masking your ip then use fake info to about the yourself to post it.
This could be the biggest thing since Pee Wee’s Big Adventure…
Or Butters’ “What What in the Butt” video. Anyone else see that this week?
This film will become reality, one way or another…
Just be gentle because I’m delicate like a flower.
I just went in for these interviews and it’s exactly as you described. I was supposed to start today. It seemed fishy because 11 out of 11 people were hired when the ad stated 10-15. This was the second group for a second interview. Not to mention, there were no computers, and well, it didn’t seem legit. The two interviewers were from Jersey; Sam and Laura. Thanks to my sister experiencing only one day of this training about 10 years ago, I didn’t go in today. And thanks to this, I have proof to my husband that this was crap.
haha i cant believe your non-sense. you believe everything on a computer screen. think for yourself.
How bout you get a real job? Hmmm?
Keep on getting pimped, b*&$. “He only beats me because he loves me.”
Behold the Golden Carrot. Isn’t it funny that all of your friends and family who ain’t sh*$ bought up all your product when you went home and pitched them? With all the money they made the first few days, it didn’t matter if you stuck around or not. Unfortunately for your dumb-ass, you are still there making them money and selling the dream. Good luck, F#*%-o, and don’t feel bad about getting caught up. They had me too for about a week, which was long enough for them to make lots of money.
You are all dumb fu*$# i work for the company and will have an office in 3 months. when i make it big i will make sure to laugh at all you idiots that believe everything you see on the internet.
With such an upstanding and professional attitude there is little to no doubt in my mind that you will be a total success as well as a pillar of society.
Cue the Laverne and Shirley theme song…
We’re gonna make our dreams come true…doin it our way…
Shmuck
its a scam big time i finished the course did good on sales got my office did it for a while and yeah all i could say is after a month of having the office its a waste of time thats all imma say dont do it kids you’ll waste time n get fu**
Good move. These types of pyramid schemes run rampant these days, there is even a company that emails you about prospective career opportunities and all they are doing is obtaining your info to sell. At least you got out before you became a GUMP with no juice.
i just got hired for this company, and now i’m thinking i need to quit lol. I like how they don’t tell you that during training, the only money you will be making is through commission
lol I’m getting those emails as well. But thanks again.
i want to expose scentura creations whos with me scis going down even if i have to bring marvin sindler bak from the grave
im with u
Im with you!!!
I almost got sucked into something like this. The company was called Vector Marketing. There’s fliers at my school for them. You make $18 base appointment for selling knives but they told me it was like $18 an hour. It’s all lies and telemarketing.
yea it maybe a crock but back in the day it was fun for a while and i made money
These people are still around! I lasted till thursday night! I walked in friday and turned in my purfume bottles.. the sad part for me was that these people came up with fake paper work telling us how it is okay for us to sale on the streets, this chick she was a bitch… she wanted to force people to live and breath this job but it was barly even making enough to put on my bus card for me to get to work in zero below weather and sick as a dog! I’m happy that I went out and tried… making some good karma to show the universe I’m trying… especially with this sucky ass economy! That should seriously be checked… its like with the economy and how it is right now its just torture to make people believe they finally got a job when they really don’t. thats bull shit.
I just walked out of a scentura creation pyramid bullshit, I was there for 3 days and I can’t believe the amount of bullshit they tell people, I was a little fooled at first, but this morning I went in and I saw the kind of people that were being hired for MANAGER positions, some of them couldn’t even have a real professional conversation anything, not even experience in the work field. I seriously just feel a little bad about the other people that were really happy thinking there going to make 40K a year, some had children and a family to support. We should try to do something about this
yea we should
your deffennetly right whats funny is today is my 3rd day and im not going back tommorow it didnt feel right being there plus the boss said one thing than another it was bullshit, plus after doing heka research for the last 5 hours now its a scam forsure…. anyone applying good luck its a big waste of time, everything ive read bout how it go’s is ture
I did the whole interview thing and “orientation” and yesterday was my 1st day, I came home thinkin I can be great @ this and then I talk to my older brother about it and he said it sounded fishy so I started researchin since around 7pm now its 1am and I am def. not going back to that mess
I am what is called an FNP. I went through my 3rd hour, 3rd day and made it through friday. This saturday I went to a regional meeting and watched someone receive their keys. I have never seen such excitement and joy come from people. I am motivated for this. To all who think it is a scam. Try finishing your first week before you even pass judgement. I don’t feel I have been scammed at all and I am just finished with my first week.
I have been in sales and let me tell you selling Kirby Vacuums felt more like a scam. And as far as Pyramid scheme they require you to buy something and then you have to get someone else to buy that something and you will never make more than the person above you. I know I didn’t buy anything and I was never asked to buy anything and I was never lied to. My mom got sucked into a pyramid scheme and lost $2000 of her own money. I haven’t spent a dime. Actually I have already started making money in my training program.
My promoting owners are all about helping me succeed into my own office. They took me and anyone else who wanted to go to the regional meeting so we could see everything for ourselves. My promoting owner gave me a great piece of advice. “Take business advice from successful business owners. Take the rest of your advice from your broke friends and family.” So honestly listen to your promoting owners. Why take advice from someone who couldn’t make it through their first week and why take business advice from someone without their own business. If you want to take advice from anything on here listen to the successful owners who commented.
Oh and Gregory try to not be a weak piece of sh!t before you start harping on a legit company. None of this is fake. It is against federal law to patent a scent. All this company did is remove the chemicals and make it with essential oils so the product is hypo allergenic. I have an allergy to the chemicals in perfume as do a great majority of the population. So are you saying that these people don’t deserve to wear the same scents that you get in a department store just because we are allergic to all the chemicals found in them? How do you think a lot of the big wig corporations got started? They got started by doing the same things we are doing. The owner of McDonalds got the company from going to the burger stand to sell them a shake machine and ended up buying it from the brothers. Did he scam them? Is he currently scamming us? Is Sam Walton scamming everyone with Wal-Mart by selling rendition clothing to people at a discounted price?
Maybe you should pull your head out of your friends a$$ and do things for yourself. Every major company had to start doing business to business sales before they became the major companies they are today.
Hi Noriko,
I’m happy that you are so certain that this will prove to be a successful endeavor after one week in training…it speaks volume for your ability to judge in long term situations. I’m sure their business model does work because after so many years they are still in business and still recruiting naive working professionals. I’m not not saying their business doesn’t work, it just works better in a down-turned economy. Somehow for me, this company didn’t seem legit 5 years ago when we had to evade mall security and solicit people and businesses. Maybe they have changed their protocols due to legal reasons, however I see that they still don’t post any financial data….hmmm, makes me suspicious considering their size and reach. Good luck!
It is a sales based company. You don’t see Kirby Vacuum’s numbers posted everywhere, yet people still buy them. You only avoided my questions. Try answering them instead. Do you honestly think it is wrong for people with a perfume allergy to be able to wear the same scents that you get in macy’s or nordstroms? Do you think big companies that started as door to door sales and business to business sales like Sam Walton are scammers as well?
Maybe you should look into facts before you claim any right to bash a company. I am not working for this company because I have no other options. I am currently a college student and am almost done with my degree in game and simulation programming. So no matter what road I take I am going to make an ass load of money. I am working for this company, because it is going to provide me with the foundation I need to start my own game design company.
@Noriko, I understand your confidence, but what need is there for such overt aggression? You are happy that you found a good job, so be it. If you care so little for the opinion of the author why do you seek his response?
Hi again,
My apologies if it seemed as though I was avoiding your questions, I thought they were rhetorical.
1. Excuse my ignorance, but I have never heard of Kirby’s Vacuums.
2. I think that people with perfume allergies should be able to find and buy allergy free perfumes. There are other alternatives out there. On the same token, it is important to note that the chemicals in these bottles of smell are present in other things, like detergent, deoderant, soap, etc.
3. Sam Walton went to college, finished college, worked at JC Pennys, until he joined the Army during WWII (where he was a captain), after the war he opened a variety store. So I fail to see how he started as a door to door salesman. Also, I hate to burst your bubble, but I (and I think most Americans would agree with me) cannot stand strangers knocking on my door to try and sell me something, whether perfume, religion, or DirectTV. I come from a simpler time, when if I wanted to buy something I seek it out to buy.
Again, Noriko, you sound like a pretty intelligent guy, I am sure you will be a very sucessful salesperson. Good luck
its funny that you pass so much judgement after one week. if you worked at mcdonalds for a week to become a manager the only thing you would learn there in a week is how to flip a burger. just like you were there for 1 week and all you learned was perfume. ive been with the company now for 6 years. it has provide me a living for my family everything they ever promised me came true. im only 27 years old. i drive 2 beautiful cars, i own my own home. and i help other people become success in business. to tell you the truth i didnt read the whole article just the first couple days. i like how you made everything seem worse than what it was. a bad attitude will get you know where. i know the business is not for everybody but saying its pyramid and all these other false claims of slander and none sense is not cool. you’ve got your own opinion. but im just here to say that it was wrong. good luck.
Hey that’s great that you make a living. Times are tough. More power to ya.
All he’s saying is you bother people. For instance, if you try to sell me your crap, I will politely decline once. If you insist on selling me your crap I might even politely decline twice. If you still try to sell me your crap a third time you may find it boroughing towards your prostate. That is why rent-a-cops kick you out of malls. You bother people.
Chris,
To be honest, I had a great attitude while I was there for the 1 week. I had all the managers thinking that I was their “golden boy”. The manager would sit down with me and show me beautiful cars in a magazine saying that this all could be mine. It wasn’t until we would go to malls and flee at the sight of mall cops did I become suspicious that this business wasn’t legit. Then when I was real ambitious and if I wanted to get real far I had to go night merching. Seriously, what the hell is that crap? Anyway I did, it involved walking around Lakewood and driving to gas stations on the parkway trying to push knock off perfume onto unsuspecting GUMPS.
actually the man that is doing our training admit it was a 2 tier pyramid..so it is a pyramid scheme and 2nd its not that u can’t be sucessfull in it, its the fact that you are basically lying to people, if you guys told people from the beg. that it is basically off commission and that when they say they are going to give u money for your own office they are basically giving you bottles to sale and that money they use to pay for your office, and that if we do get in trouble in our office that it doesn’t fall on Scentura it falls on us, or that it is not ok to walk around people’s parking lot and sale those “rendition” crap to them, then it would be ok, but from the beg they lie. I didn’t even know the name of the company that hired me until the 5th day there, everytime I asked I got something dif. its one thing being successful in this biz, but must you lie to get where you want to be? there are plenty of biz that does not require people to lie to make it big.
oh yeah and i just read the last part. and you lied to people saying”I had found a better a job doing construction”. and your mad saying they lied to you? haha i guess people do view people the way they view themselves. i just wish people were smart enough to understand and see that. but they wont, they will read all you exaggerations, and got convinced from friends that have no career credibility that it was some un-legit business. good job smarty pants.
Construction is a better job. Any self respecting man knows this. You can be a man for a living or help other queers smell pretty. Your call.
Chris, what knowledge of the author’s friends’ career credibility do you actually possess? You accuse the author of the post for making what you deem baseless claims yet you then go ahead and do the same thing. I understand your desire to defend your livelihood yet I am not certain your approach is going to sway the court of opinion in your favor. However, if you would like to lay out a coherent explanation that can articulate precisely how and why the author is incorrect we would all love to hear it. By all means espouse the virtues of Scentura Creations and show the world how great an organization it really is.
Chris,
I never lied to them. I did find a better job and yes it was doing construction. At least I will see the fruit of my labors and go to bed at night with an good conscience knowing that I am not some crook or some orchestrator of an elaborate pyramid scheme where I make people sell “toilet water” to young punks and prostitots at local malls, stores, and gas stations.
Additionally, friends and family told me to quit after the first day, however I was stubborn and thought that I had found a good opportunity. Like most things I was serious about it and paid attention to everything keeping a detailed notebook in the process….I even wore a suit to work every day. However, once I realized that I had to run the streets of a city at night “night merching” I realized that something was not right. I guess my whole thing is: If Scentura is such a legit and great business, then why would I have to run from cops and try to sell this perfume/cologne on the streets and at gas stations? Just doesn’t make sense to me…
Smarty Pants? Really?! What a b#*%!
child be quiet, my uncle did this “oppurtunity” for 13 yrs and the whole time he was making excuses why he stayed in there, eventhough he knew in order for him to stay on top was to tell those lies to young and even some mid-age person about how they can be so successsful about getting their own office eventhough he knew that out of 50 potentials only 1 or on a good day 2 would even make it to the point where they might open their own office. I thought I could do it, but my heart and the compassion I have for people will not let me lie to other people especially when its people that have family to take care of, bills to pay. why don’t they tell everything from the beg and let them make their own decision
Your company is a joke and a true scham. It’s intent is truly transparent. Such a shame its still around. Who the hell wants to buy knock-off perfume made of natural oils “not alcohol” for a min of $18 a bottle?
Hey Chris, I see your just pushin your biz like your biz pushes product. Your tellin lies. Please stop. I hope you understand that there is no such thing as a halfway crook. That being said get a real job and don’t call out any of my friends and there work habits. We all work harder in our jobs/careers than you could ever dream of. Congrats on blowin smoke. Smarty pants….
my boyfriend is involved in almost the exact same thing and he has been totally brainwashed and i can’t figure out how to snap him out of it, our rent is almost due and he isn’t even making enough money to buy groceries.. plus he basically stole my car to go on a “business trip”
what do i do??
I’m definitely not an expert in this area, but I was pretty brainwashed after the first week and it took about a 5 hour conversation with my friends to convince me that Scentura was a bad thing. So I think having a good talk could do the trick especially if there is no money coming in.
Rent is due? Tell him to get to work and make some money. If he talks to his promoting owner about this, they should put him on a plan to make some money NOW so that you don’t lose your place! I’ve done it for so many that had the same problem. They start in my office with one week to come up with rent! Yikes! No job in the world is going to get that money to you in less than a week. If he’s been around for a while then he’s gotta start getting serious and get through this already. I think your positive support would work wonders.
If he decides to quit, that’s fine but you’ll still out of rent. Why? because any crap job he’ll get isn’t going to pay him until 2 weeks from when he starts. While in training in Scentura he can make his money in that week and in cash.
Basically stealing? I mean he either stole it or he didn’t. That doesn’t make sense. If he stole the car that’s just a bad situation and you have every right to be angry with him. Support him but be on top of his training! Make sure he doesn’t get lazy and make sure he’s moving along so that he can be in his office with in the next month or 2.
Evan
Posted May 6, 2009 at 6:06 pm | Permalink
Rent is due? Tell him to get to work and make some money. If he talks to his promoting owner about this, they should put him on a plan to make some money NOW so that you don’t lose your place! I’ve done it for so many that had the same problem. They start in my office with one week to come up with rent! Yikes! No job in the world is going to get that money to you in less than a week. If he’s been around for a while then he’s gotta start getting serious and get through this already. I think your positive support would work wonders.
If he decides to quit, that’s fine but you’ll still out of rent. Why? because any crap job he’ll get isn’t going to pay him until 2 weeks from when he starts. While in training in Scentura he can make his money in that week and in cash.
Basically stealing? I mean he either stole it or he didn’t. That doesn’t make sense. If he stole the car that’s just a bad situation and you have every right to be angry with him. Support him but be on top of his training! Make sure he doesn’t get lazy and make sure he’s moving along so that he can be in his office with in the next month or 2.
***********
here is the crap statement. 1st i did this for a week and a day. you are sent out to try to sell this perfume that doesnt last as long as it says it does. you run from the cops, you run from security. they girls i was paired with would tell people who didnt want to buy from them they needed a “donation” to go towards their new office. the “donation” went to cigerattes and red bulls. they dont sell perfume they sell sex appeal and while it does sell for those who think that peddling and begging is not for them it doesnt help. yeah you can make money. if you sell more than 200 bottles a day at 35 a bottle. youre told the bottle only costs 20. so just to get a sale you drop it down to 20. that means you make no money. which means that the company has made money and you are out. do this enough times you make the company money during the week and you not only are out of the gas if you are driving but nothing at the end of the week to show for it. maybe some people can sell this crap and do well, but to get an office you have to hire hustlers. oh wont that make your parents proud? that you make a living hiring people to beg. isnt that nice. i dont get it. i wont ever get it. its all a scam. and then you work for yourself? really? no paycheck? nothing to sustain you? maybe instead of being a nuesance i should just go hold up a sign and stand on the street corner. at least then i wont be running from the cops and i get to keep the money i get. ya think?
u only conern cause, you know if he makes money it will make the person on top of him money and it just keep going. that poor girl needs to give him an ultimatum, either quit that louse brainwashing job or get out
I live in louisiana and the same company is down here to calling themselves Big Schott Management and MLM management. After I got hired (as the few cream of the crop) I was very uneasy about it and I went online. That’s when I found out of over 500 reports on ripoffreport.com. I feel like an idiot! I passed up a real job for this and I have 3 kids and a mortage due! I am very pissed off!
Just wanted to put my 2 cents in. After reading your story, and there’s always 2 sides to every story, it just seems like you went to work with an office that was brand spanking new. Meaning they were probably were not the best people to run offices. You were taught how to work in the field in a very gray way. I’ve been in the company for over 6 years myself and this is a very legitimate business. Each office is independent from another. That said, some offices do things the right way and others do it in their own way(usually the wrong way). The problem here is that all you hear about on the internet are about all the people that did things wrong.
For example, if you were in my office you would not be trained in the field by going into a mall and avoiding security. You would have been taught how to work business to business which is pretty much the same as a xerox copier salesman or a payroll services salesmen. They do not get hassled by any cops. Why? Because you’re allowed to “call on businesses to establish a commercial trade.” So when I went through training in central NJ, I was never hassled by cops or felt I was doing anything wrong. I was trained correctly. Thankfully. I went into all kinds of businesses and just like any other direct sales you get good days and bad days. Look at the TV show the Apprentice. Most competitions are dealing with direct sales. How many hot dogs or ice cream can each team sell out on the busy corner of NYC.
Also, about having a bunch(not one, not two but a bunch) of friends spending 5 hours to talk you out of showing up the next day shows that you were brainwashed back to thinking just like everyone else instead of thinking on your own. People call what we do is brain washing. Maybe some offices try to hard to convince others, I for one do not. I just try to open up everyone’s eyes into what is really happening out there in the real world. It’s just not that easy getting a career anymore. You need to know someone or go into business for yourself. I prefer the latter.
In my opinion, it would have been better to say, “Alright I see where you guys are coming from after 5 hours, now I’m going to find out if this is for real.” Then go in and talk to the owners in total seriousness about what’s going on. If they can’t answer (which is seems like in this case they probably would have been very dumb about it) your questions you should ask to speak to their regional manager who could probably answer your questions much better than your greenhorn promoting owners would.
So in essence this business is legitimate. The problem is that some independent owners ruin it for all of us legitimate owners. Any successes are immediately berated by malcontents which explains Chris’ frustration. I share it but I do believe that some people are smart enough to judge for themselves using the facts which is why I’m trying to respond as objectively as possible.
There is no need to take the tone you took in your story. A pyramid scheme or MLM is when you BUY into something, and you’re in a situation where you never have a chance to make more than person who’s been around longer than you. I know you didn’t buy anything for this and for the sake of argument, I made more money than almost every one in this company last year and I’ve only been around for a little over 6 years. Half the company is filled with people who have been around for over 10 years. Very few have been around more than that because well those who would have already retired! Then I get the question,”Well if it was such good money and so great why did they retire?” Well obviously you still have to work! Some people made enough money that they can just roll out of bed whenever they want and just do whatever they want instead of showing up to work everyday. I mean wouldn’t you do the same?
You said:
“At least I will see the fruit of my labors and go to bed at night with an good conscience knowing that I am not some crook or some orchestrator of an elaborate pyramid scheme where I make people sell “toilet water” to young punks and prostitots at local malls, stores, and gas stations.”
??? Totally unnecessary and completely subjective! Crooks are those people in Wall Street that took everyone’s money. Not the Scentura owner trying to give another person their own operation. No one makes anyone do anything. You can quit whenever you want. I don’t make people feel bad for quitting! Quitters feel guilty for quitting and want to blame others! Yeah it’s hard to sell rendition(fake) perfume to a random person. But so is anything else. Tell me one thing that easy to sell that’s legal and I’ll find you someone who had difficulty doing it.
It’s silly to think that only young people(considering you’re young yourself I find this funny) and prostitutes buy scentura’s perfumes. First my organization sells a consistent 1250 units every week. So unless there’s 1250 young punks and prostitutes lining up in front of my offices, I think more people are buying this than you think. Second, a company like McDonald’s sells Grade D meat in their burgers to everyone yet they make more money than any other burger franchise in the world! I mean I don’t eat those bull penis burgers but people still line up out the door to buy it. So now McDonald’s is a crooked company too? How come they’re not shut down? What about Walmart, they sell everything cheap too. Rendition everything. Dominos makes more money than any pizzeria you’ll see NJ, so now they should shut down? This whole point is naive and really shows your lack of knowledge in business.
See the fruits of your labor? Isn’t that very short sighted? The investors of google.com didn’t see the fruits of their labor for 6 years. Microsoft and Bill Gates didn’t see the fruits of their labor for 12 years. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.com was sleeping in a friend’s basement after graduating from Harvard before he received 400 million to work on Facebook. Then he lost half of it immediately, after a year turned Facebook into a 3.5 billion company and still growing! Seems like you’re more interested in getting immediate gratification which is the reason why so many people are always going from job to job. Instead of working to move up. The problem with jobs now is that no one wants to move another person up like they did in the 70′s or 80′s. So people just keep looking for another dead end followed by another. Ultimately leading to careerless life. I’m not saying Scentura is that glamorous while in training or even the first year or so of running an office because just like anything else it takes time to get great. Most won’t follow through. But once you get the hang of it, life is great!
To answer anyone’s honest questions here are some honest answers:
1) Will you get an office? YES!! I can’t stress this enough, yes! Some of us want you in your office more than you want to be in an office. Think about it this way, who’s going to last longer? The guy selling 50 units a week while in training or the office selling 500 units a week and making themselves 5k every week? Of course the office. Promoting owners make more money in the long run off of offices than the money people make for the office in training. To give you so numbers, I used to run an office doing 1000 sales a week. I made 150k that year. The following year, I did 800 sales a week but I opened many offices and my income skyrocketed to 535k for the year. So the math makes it easy to understand.
2.) When will I get my office? Really that depends on you and how well you learn the business. I don’t like opening people who just blew out some bottles and throwing them in office then praying that they do well. Why not? Because then you get owners like they one Greg experienced. Learn to sell these by pounding the pavement, learn to teach others well(can’t open offices w/o knowing how to teach others), finally learn the books and how to deal with people cordially. You don’t get a paycheck, you have to make money with sales, bonuses, and kickback that your office should offer you for training others. But if you work hard, this training process shouldn’t last long at all. After all that, Mr. Hahn and your promoting owner will put their money down to get you an office, furniture, licenses, permits, pictures, rent and security for an apartment if you move far, I’ve even helped someone get their car fixed since it would now be an business expense. Why? because we are serious about your success. This company would not be around for this long if we didn’t open offices.
3) Ripoffreport.com has over 500 complaints on you guys, how can Scentura be real and good? Ripoffreport.com is a forum. In other words, no one is there to check the facts behind the postings. It’s just a free place for disgruntled people to complain about things. I mean c’mon the BBB is on ripoffreport.com! THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU IS CALLED A SCAM! LOL, if that’s not funny to you then you need to get a sense of humor. The owner of Ripoffreport.com is being accused of extortion and has been charged with RICO(That’s about as bad as being part of the mafia) Ripoffreport.com extortion
Bad wiki on scentura with broken links or links to the same ripoffreport. So here’s a wiki on how ripoffreport is being sued and is an extortion scam to mid-size to small businesses:
Wiki: Ed Magedson
Understand, that the internet has allowed anyone with a computer and connection to say whatever they want. It is now up to all people to really start looking at all the facts and make a decision using YOUR OWN thoughts and logic. Not some malcontent or someone who is obviously easily swayed by what OTHERS think not their own.
So for those of you readers who are trying to find the real scoop of scentura, I hope this helps. In all sincerity to everyone posting here, please look at ALL of the facts, not just opinions of people. You’ll start to see why so many people struggle financially in life and why a few don’t. It’s because the few listen to themselves and people who are doing better than them and most listen to everyone else.
Congratulations, you’re commenter #1,000,000 to use the phrase “crooks on Wall Street.”
I was just hired in lincolnwood. I’m excited to learn everything. Start monday.
I just went into my first interview for a company like this in Oregon, and I was disappointed at all the misleading that had went on. It’s so annoying to know what kind of job you don’t want to do, and then have false advertisement get you to waste 2 hours in a crappy office. The only reason I showed up was because I was applying for a managerial position. Not a SALES position. I was shocked to see how raggedy some of the people looked that were working there, and nobody had a car. I had a nice one, but that was it. To make it short, it would be smarter for any tard to start their own pyrmid business then it would be to cash out the people who are trying to work the crap out of you for a profit. My advice, skip the selling, make a business plan, get a loan, start your own company, and get your product directly from the source. Don’t be a dummy and waste your time for a company making money off you. And if they lied to you to get you in the office, then be mad!
Sales manager sir. SALES MANAGER. How can you be a sales manager without learning SALES? It is a managerial position. I find it a little humorous that you think it’s annoying to find a job you don’t want to do. I’m but most people are working doing a job they don’t want to do. They do it for the financial reward. I look at my 7 years in this business and I disliked the training process because it was tough and it was very demanding but that only last a short time. Most of my 7 years was me running an actual operation. I can honestly say, just like any business it starts tough but gets easier.
You rather get a business plan and get a loan? I think that’s crazy. Who’s going to give you a loan these days? Seriously? who? If you can get that kind of loan good for you. Also don’t forget this business unlike most other direct selling companies does not charge you…EVER. You never have to pay any fees or start up costs. You pay for all merchandise AFTER it is sold. Not before. Scentura pays for everything to get you started. ON TOP OF THAT, you have the people who trained you and everyone else in the company a phone call away to help you get better and help you with any problems you come across.
You could do the same thing on your own but first you have get accepted to get a loan, then BUY ALL of the product before it’s even sold, then if you struggle you have to hire a business consultant who most likely has never ran your type of business to tell you want you need and you pay thousands for it with no guarantee you’ll survive. We don’t guarantee anything. But we don’t charge you for the help we give you.
Evan, I am an actual, real business person who has worked for more than one Fortune 500 company. Let me explain how things in a legitimate business are supposed to work. Sales people NEVER pay for the product they are marketing. NEVER. Not even after the sale is made. A real company purchases or manufactures a product, which then financially makes it way over to inventory on the balance sheet. At the time a sale is made and revenue can be recorded, the cost of that inventory item is then moved to the income statement under the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) section, right under revenue. The COMPANY pays for the inventory. Not the sales person. If the sales person must lay out personal cash to provide for inventory at any point in the selling process, it is a pyramid scheme. Sorry, you are just flat out wrong. Oh, and your little dissertations are either too long to properly proofread or you just can’t write. I certainly wouldn’t want my regional manager writing with as little proficiency as you seem to demonstrate. Thanks for stopping by, at least we know you are a return visitor.
You obviously didn’t read my previous posts. You’re not a salesperson, you work for yourself. You do not work for the company. It is an opportunity. You are given the merchandise for free. I know how traditional businesses typically run their companies.
I think it’s correct for a company to pay for everything if the company is hiring you to work for them. It is also correct that a pyramid scheme or an MLM company has one lay out their own cash at any point during the process. But this company is not doing that. You are completely independent throughout the entire process. I think you are misunderstanding my point.
A person who starts will be given a set amount of merchandise for no money. The do not pay for anything. Say, the person goes out and sell 300 units for X amount per unit. After that point they take their profit and send in payment for 300 units at Y amount per unit. X is always 100% greater than Y for everyone involved. It’s like a franchise w/o the big bucks first.
Oh, I apologize about my grammar in my posts. I didn’t know we were being graded for our proficiency in writing considering all the other posts here. I know somehow that last sentence or this sentence or future sentences were written incorrectly. I apologize. Please send me your next book about posting on internet blogs.
All jabs aside, the point is no matter what anyone says, you will get an office when you complete training.
All jabs aside.
It was long and arduous, but I read all of your replies before commenting back to you the first two times. I just disagree.
When you say that in doing this line of work you are “working for yourself” – what exactly do you mean? You, apparently, have an office and no longer sell. So how do YOU make money? Also, how are the income taxes paid? If these people are working for themselves, are they filing taxes as self-employed? Are they receiving a W-2 from your organization? Are they NOT PAYING taxes? Come on, Evan, working for yourself involves a good deal of legal documentation. I reviewed Mr. Rineberg’s notebook and there was nothing addressing those issues at all. What happens if a customer decides to sue you for selling them perfume that caused an allergic reaction or other medical issue? Does the person who sold the unit have to settle that dispute for themselves? Or is your company so legit that no one ever can be reached to be sued for torts arising from poor product or other damages?
Dude you should research things before you slander people or companies. No one is asked to pay for anything. We are required to sign a consignment agreement stating that if we quit and do not return the product we will be pursued to the full extent of the law. That seems legit to me. You may have worked for fortune 500 companies, but so have I and let me tell you I have been screwed by them more times than I can count. Have you ever worked as a door to door sales man? Have you ever done business to business sales? Well if you haven’t let me tell you it is hard and it takes determination to do it. Every company started with sales like this. Even your precious fortune 500 companies. The difference between them and you is they never gave up.
I start my first day of training in a company like this…it really sounds like Scentura but so far I have not been giving a business name. Sounds dumb, but I didn’t even think to ask. The guy who runs the office gave an EXCELLENT speech. If I was young and never really experienced anything in life then I would say it would too good to be true. I’m 31 and have already owned my own business and know you can’t become wealthy by working for someone else. I read Entrepreneur magazine for about 3 years and everything the guy said, I had already read and understood long ago.
Yes I am leery of what this business really is. However we were told we do not have to be masters of selling, we just have to be exposed to it and understand it. We were also told we won’t have to sell for ever AND most people quit the first week. Do I want to hustle perfume? Hell no. But if I get to move out of that in 4-6 weeks then all I have to do is ask for the sale.
Evan said it perfectly. People quit and go back to what? Looking for something that really isn’t there because they are looking for immediate gratification. Read any book on personal wealth (“The Millionaire Next Door” is my fav) and you’ll see they tell you to put what you want now aside and let your money accumulate. Same thing with anything else. Give something time to work itself out. If you show you are giving an effort somebody will notice you are worth more than scrubbing piss off a wall somewhere and you can get that manager job you want. But if you get angry you are cleaning piss instead of sticking it out then all you get is a chance to start somewhere else….if you can find that chance.
One last thing I have to say is something else Evan mentioned. People take their own advice and not those with experience. I’m sooooo guilty of this myself. My mentor is a lady whose husband is a successful contractor and she is a successful dance studio owner. Both of them have a lot of business knowledge and would never let me bad information. I closed my business because it wasn’t right for me and I really hated it. While trying to help me find my next thing I was introduced to prepaid legal. I personally knew several people who was making 7000 dollars a month doing this. After a long talk with my mentor, who checked out the prepaid legal, she suggested I get into that. I don’t remember the company name but they had a great support group encouraging everyone who joined. That’s the same thing this perfume business is doing.
Now call me stupid or whatever you want for falling for it but I’m gonna try. If it doesn’t work then I’m not losing anything, if it does then….awesome.
It’s important not to give up CK. I think your mindset can make this happen. Just listen to your promoting owners or their regional managers and you’ll eventually make this work for. Hopefully I’ll see you in Florida for the company meeting. I’ll buy you a drink when you find me.
CK – it seems to me that you are following a course that inexorably leads to the same path you described: one in which the individual is looking for instant gratification. Your mentor advised you to do this? I think perhaps you need to look for a new mentor.
Did no one ever advise you to try and find a subject matter that interests you and find out how to educate yourself in that area? Because that is what you should be doing, not selling something for a company that takes the cost of the inventory out of your pay. Real, honest companies don’t do that.
By the tone of your comment I can tell that all you are looking for is money, and quick money. If you really were more interested in something that may take time but come with rewards, get an education and apply to jobs in the field of your study. Then you can make a steady, good salary with health benefits, paid vacation, and build your experience for bigger and better jobs in that field. Get rich quick schemes are just that: schemes! Anyone who tells you that you are going to be a sales manager in a matter of months with no formal education or training is either lying to you or not running a honest operation. In this case, both may be true. Sales managers generally require marketing degrees. Just saying…
“Sales managers generally require marketing degrees. Just saying…”
Just like all those sales managers that worked their way up in car dealerships or for retail stores, right?
CK, you don’t have to listen to me. Listen to yourself and to what your mentors say. And please do not this any of this is quick or easy cash. Your money potential is just much higher from working for yourself than it is when you work for someone else. It Mr. Morgan has a different mentality and is very set in his ways. That’s fine for him. You should always look to where you want to be. Where is he vs. where your mentors, then learn from whomever. I probably didn’t write that grammatically correct. Sorry. If you are deeply offended you I’m deeply sorry. I’m still waiting for Mr. Morgan’s book about posting properly on the internet.
Evan, even if your money potential is higher when working for yourself rather than a big company, isn’t it true that risk plays a much much bigger role in your earning potential year by year?
So if you are selling a product that is in demand, and all of the sudden its out of demand: one year you are up, the next year you are down. Its in this way that working for a company, and not for yourself, is the safer route to achieving a more consistent steady income that allows you to save and financially plan for your future with confidence.
Evan, I’m not in business, so don’t get fiesty with me just yet….
I am friends with a family who has struggled with a small business for the past 15 years. Its a struggle….a huge struggle financially and emotionally. They make their own products, and at the end of the day they do love what they do, but its always an uphill battle and a humongous struggle.
I think its all about mindset. If you are the kind of person who can ride that wave then you can do sales. If not, then you should find the comfort of a consistent paycheck from a large entity.
Working for the Man does occasionally have its perks.
Except for the “always an uphill battle”, part I agree with everything you’re saying. I apologize if I come as being a little feisty. I’m not trying to come off that way.
It is about mindset. There is risk involved. Also, it’s not for everyone. As far as financial goals, it really depends on what you want. If you want to make huge financial gains you need to work for yourself or have your money work for you. If you just want to retire comfortably and have a “secure” route, then a high paying job is probably the way to go. I quoted secure because these days the idea of a “safe secure job” is dissipating rapidly.
I am all for being an entrepreneur, but only 1 out of 100 small businesses succeed. That is capitalism and competition. Making a business of your own successful is difficult and typically involves a one to two year breakeven period at best. That doesn’t make it bad or wrong, just different.
I do not get the impression that this is a legitimate small-business assistance program. What is in it for Scentura? There is a catch here somewhere, and if you want I can drag it out of you laboriously through impersonal comments.
Oh, and Evan, the grammar thing has to do with credibility. Every time you write something and post it on the internet it is now being graded by the court of public opinion, not my opinion. Poor grammar and sentence structure degrade your credibility. It’s that simple. Essentially, all you did was help my side of the argument and hinder your own. Thanks.
i just got hired to this company i am not really sure what to belive in now but like to find things out on my own.. i have read article stating this company stole identies, is a sceme etc… does anyone have any real proof this company isn’t legit??? i’ve just scanned through some comments posted and i’m just unsure now
The fact that Mr. Rineberg took his time to write this post and warn others should be a red flag that Scentura is probably not as legit as they’d have you think. The fact that there are actually articles circulating that allege identity theft should also be enough to scare you off from working for this pyramid scheme.
The only pyramid scheme worth involving yourself in already happened thousands of years ago in Egypt.
Jeanette-
I am honestly telling you that working for Scentura Creations is a scam. It’s no wonder that over the last 3 months, this post has been getting a stream of comments from all sorts of visitors that have similar experiences or Evan and Chris, who are clearly trying to (as Jeff would say) push their biz. With unemployment rates high right now, Scentura Creations and other schemes alike are attracting more and more decent hardworking people to their offices. People are more educated and can do their research now on companies via internet. I think good evidence for their illegitimacy rests in the fact that they don’t post any sort of financial data on their company website. I find that pretty suspicious that they don’t considering that legit businesses, such as the aforementioned McDonalds, do manage that. I understand where you are coming from with needing proof, I believed in it for a week, which was a week too long. You can believe what you read on the internet from hundreds of people or you can punish yourself for a little bit thinking that you have a career with this company. Let us know what you end up doing. You should read this article.
About four years ago I worked through a office in Illinois, and eventually got promoted to a office in Tn as a Junior manager. One of the girls that was working with me was from a supposedly very successful office located in California. I have even found video’s of her claiming how rich she had became in such a short amount of time. Tell me why is it only after a few days of working with her, she decided to settle with just being our receptionist for $100 dollars a week? I was with the company for 8 months so I have PLENTY of horrible experiences that are still engraved in my memory. Even by the time I was promoted to a Junior owner, (which honestly doesn’t mean shit, besides instead of just selling toilet water on the streets you now have to pay for the office space, inventory, ad’s etc) I had never made over 150 dollars, and I was the top salesman.To keep it short, you basically have to be a money hungry loser (if you stick with it for long enough you will have no friends outside of the company) and have absolutely no conscience whatsoever. My boss had a four year old daughter, and never stopped to think “Maybe I shouldn’t encourage a whole bunch of 18 year old’s to push generic cologne in the ghetto till 5am.” A lot of them end up marrying or dating one another, It’s a very strange sight to see. The Majority of the ones that stick with it only do so because they have little to no work experience or education and feel their is nothing left for them out there, or they wont get hired anywhere else because they used to be convicts. I was 19 and stupid when I fell for this crap, but I’m glad you got out of it early enough.
The documentary sounds great so long as I don’t have to be the one with the camera, sitting through the motivational speeches and “Attitude Checks.” At least I never had to hold a silver ball
~
JFlores,
Well put when you referenced 18 year old’s pushing generic cologne in the ghetto till 5am. I was 19 and only worked a week. In the first week people were dropping like flies. Even the “old dogs” I was working with during our 1-2 hr drives out of town to push product were becoming annoyed with the business and venting to me. This was 10 years ago and the office was out of Charleston, SC. That will be 1 week of my life I will never get back. One memory I have was pushing colognes in the seediest of motels to thugs and low lifes.
Oh and one more thing, I find it completely hysterical that every time I find complaints about the Scentura Creation Distribution Centers, I seem to always come across the mentioning of McDonald’s. They constantly brought that up in our seminars. Apparently without Scentura Creation’s thats the only alternative. Truth be told I am sure that over 90 % percent of the people that invested(wasted) their time with this company produced less money then the average McDonald’s employee anyway.
So I’ve been looking on all kinds of consumer sites and blogs doing some research about Scentura….I willingly admit to my embarrassment over the fact that this company did have me somewhat fooled. I feel like I’ve had some sort of epiphany LOL. I had my first interview last Thursday, and it’s almost pathetic looking back at it now,I was SUPER excited after over a month of job searching to have finally come across an interview offer. Of course I got called back to the 2nd which was really some type of orientation where they gave u a microscopic amount of background information and insight as to what we’d be doing. This orientation had about 20 to 30 ppl and at the end they handed out sheets and told certain ppl to call back at specific times. I called later and got the usual “HEY HEY HEY WHAT’S GOOOOIN OOOOON?!” then I was told that I was extremely “likeable” and seemed to have great potential. I showed up yesterday Morning at 11 for my first day of training. I only saw about 10 people there compared to the HUGE group from last week. Also, we had no schedule set hours or times for we were just told to show up……weird…..yesterday we learned about the fragrances. We were lied to and told that they were wholesale designer fragrance. After a lot of BS lecture and unnecessary profanity we were given a list and prices. 30 bucks a bottle and we only had to return 20 off each sale. We were supposed to pitch fragrance in order to win a contest that had an $800 cash prize for the next morning.. I immediately got excited at that moment not realizing that I wasnt given a product only a sheet of paper with a list of fragrances, and samples sprays on my own skin which i was to smell as they walked us out the door. I tried my hardest to make sales but the only person that took pity on me was my mother and she bought 2 bottles. I went in this morning and they greeted us with the usual level 10 enthusiasm. Again I come in and find that the group has shrunk some more and we’d lost 3 or 4 ppl from the day before. I felt embarrassed thinking I’d done the worst but realizing that I had done better than the group. The contest was never mentioned however and no one seemed to want to ask about it. This morning we were asked how we did and if we felt we could do better with product in hand..(DUH!) So they brought in boxes with the fragrance. I look at my box and realize that these are all cheaply packaged different colored boxes of knock off perfume. I tried my hardest not to judge it and sat thru the meeting(which by the way this morning was at 9am) around 11 they start kickin everyone out again this time boxes in hand. These crazy assholes really expected us to try and walk around selling this crap to random ppl we could find. I WAS SOLICITING! I walked in circles for a while wondering what to do especially since I had no mode of transportation today besides my feet and the bus. I walked to the neighborhood plaza and actually caught some luck at a salon. A lady took pity on me and her actual words were “I will support you” I felt so disgustingly low. I dont think I’ll ever forget this day in my life. I caught the bus back home and sat thinking to myself before it was time to go back. I realized that this wasnt going to get me anywhere I wanted to be. It almost felt like a drug deal in some sense. I was given product to hustle on the street and had to bring back the cash just to get 10 bucks off each bottle I sold(in cash as well) Nothing is really documented. Now I’m good with sales, I’ve worked in sales retail for about a year and a half but had to leave because it conflicted with school.(another side note they wanted me to make this job top priority and were basically telling me if i wanted it i needed to drop out) On the bus ride back I knew that I wouldnt be showing up tomorrow morning. Never in my life have I felt so humiliated. Not just because I was out there soliciting and panhandling and getting TONS of rejection but because I was actually fooled by these ppl. In a way it almost makes me feel weak minded but I know better now and I’m advising others to proceed with extreme caution. Unless you feel you have no other options in life, which is highly unlikely, I say you go find yourself a LEGIT job that wont involve possibly being arrested. To top it off I owe my mom 40 bucks since I gave her back the 20 I received for her pity purchase…..This job actually put me in debt instead of making me money…..
Hi,
I am Jon 23, with a Master’s in Business Management, I have been in the Job market for almost 5 months now, here in Florida the job market is really slow and competition is high. I have been working my butt off to apply everywhere, especially with my experience in IT because of my Bachelors. Having the first interview for me felt like a breath of fresh air, like another opportunity knocked on my door, I went ready to be interviewed and the interview was questionable, but I decided to go to the next interview( Mind our that I lost my car to pay for school payments and I live a county away from where we are doing this) I went with almost 30 people in the classroom, Being an operations manager and noticing things quickly I saw that the room was dirty, the false ceilings were all broken, Cat5 wires all hanging out in the front of the classroom, ect ect. I was introduced to a very very brief explanation of the company by a very good motivational speaker. He’s a 21 year old manager in which is making lots of money. He is a very cool dude, but, The Cursing was just unprofessional, and the music too loud. I just went through my first day today, Monday June 15th, I am out 50 bucks because I paid my friend to take me to this office for the week, Today was a motivational seminar type day, they had us from 10:30 – 12:30 & we had to make a list to sell to our families. We were told these bottles were legit, and furthermore that these boxes had the actual perfume. The bottom of the Page of the price list says; “ALL FRAGRANCES ARE RENDITIONS AND NO CLAIMS ARE MADE TO THE ORIGINAL MANUFACTURERS, TRADEMARKS” But yet it is a list with the type, designer name and cost. LMAO, no one was reading the bottom of the page, People were excited screaming, I want to make 16 – 26 sales, and oh you get Cash incentives for selling the highest amount. First of all I cannot sell a tangible product without proof or a demonstration of the product, I rather try my luck as a real estate agent in which I heard they are doing well because of the current market values of properties. So I am stuck with no money now that I know that we make money off commissions, they never disclosed that to me. I have to report to the office tomorrow at 9am, I want to see what they actually have to say when I confront them, I feel as if I have to take a camera to record what they say and put it on you tube, or maybe just the audio, LOL,
One more thing, I own a domain called profitscam.com in which I have not done anything with it, but after experiencing this, I think I want to start putting up a forum. I see this as a way to alert the public of these kinds of companies. And maybe link Scentura back to this page, LOL,
Let me know what you guys think…..
-Jonathan Alonso
Miami Florida
Scentura (Creations / immitation perfumes) LOOK OUT FOR ALL THEIR dba NAMES THEY CREATE THROUGHOUT CITIES THEY TRAVEL ON A CONTINUEOUS BASIS FOR OVER 20 YEARS NOW, THAT I KNOW OF.
Your company is a scam, I remember this company at the the time under your direct name as Scentura (Creations / immitation perfumes) where you promised the highest selling Reps their own office that you were setting up for the first time within the city/state you were marketing. At the time, which was about 14 years ago was in Ridgeland, Ms (within the city/state of Jackson, MS) what you did not know is that you set your “bait and switch” office location within 3 miles of the Ridgeland Police dept; where there were many people that caught on to your scam within two to three days. I also know that you hire reps that attempt to play a professional role as managers (pretending to have worked for your company for years) that so call themselves as trainers in the field. Larry, you find these so call trainers at the bottom of their lives with no where to go from broken homes and offer them secure funds (which they are most happy with) to bait, switch and scam throughout the country.
I see that your company is still at it with scams! Larry Hahn get a real job if you can after all the years of brain washing and attempting to scam the public. Hell, I would have even brought you into my business of 9 years now, which is very successful (I want tell you, because I wouldn’t want you to corrupt that portion of the industry and make a bad name for everyone). I am now over 40 yrs. of age and went back to school now working on my Masters degree.
YOU WILL BE CAUGHT! CULT TEAMS IF YOUR SMART YOU WILL GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN, BECAUSE YOUR WORLD WILL SOON BE CRASHING DOWN ON YOU WITH YOUR LARRY HAHN…. IF THIS IS WHO HE SAY HE IS, HOWEVER; YOU ARE BEING WATCHED VERY CLOSELY, AND YOUR WORLD WILL COME CRASHING DOWN AROUND YOU.
I recently got a first interview with this company named C.R.E.A.M Enterprise in california.. everything I read about the process as far as the interview process with a guy name Garrett and then they’ll call you around 5-6 to see if you get a second interview.. I actually got called back and after reading about the scams of perfumes ( which what the comany was selling) even on the short quesrionar it asked what kind of car you drive…but knowing all of this.. I ain’t going tomorrow at 12.. oh by the way they also asked me to bring a paper and a pen and expect to be there for 2 hours.
I would like to say that I was hired by this company in Portland, OR. I was there for this past week and although I am sure that at the end you do get to open your own branch at the end of training…..YES….there is brainwashing and sceaming. You are not told that you are going to be basically hustling perfume on the streets and in parking lots. Soliciting business which is illegal and you are not told that. You are tought to GUMP people which does compromise your ow morals. And free hash (which is the company term to get a free drink or something from a business). We were at a parking lot in K mart and they threatened to call the cops. I was like “what the heck is this” Yet the next day because I am committed to work…..i was the driver and there was 4 of us. One of the trainers took us to a place where he knew our soliciting was unwelcomed…..the cops were called all of our names were run including my car…….I don’t have a criminal history so no worries, however, my trainer ended up being arrested because of this and he had a criminal history. They threatened us all with $250 citations. After that we called the company to let them know of the arrest and it was like “Keep Merchin” with no thought or care of one of their employees that was training me. So yes you do get your own business but only after you change your morals and corrupt people on the street and I am not taking advantage of people on the street just to get a piece of the action.
Oh shit, it’s hot in here… There must be a Schott in the atmosphere!!
OMG… I got sucked into this about 12 years ago in 1997. I was living in Jersey at the time, and the office I was a part of was in Brick Township. It went under the name of Shoreside Management. The dudes that headed the office were kinda dicks, but the most of the peeps were cool. I wasn’t planning to stay in Jersey very long(I’m originally from Mass), but I thought it would be a fun way to make my days in Jersey not boring. Same deal as everyone else… the attitude checks, juice, GUMP, FFARR, and the endless days of telling people I had a ‘crazy question’ for them.
I think I lasted about 2 months. I sucked at ‘merching’, and really didn’t care. Within the last 3 weeks, I didn’t sell a bottle, hooked up with 3 of the girls there, and blew out… I never looked back. Seeing this website now, 12 years later makes me laugh. I actually wonder if they are still there. The leader’s name was Erik…can’t remember the last name though. Kid was a tool.
Scentura Distributors- Revised for the grammatically focused individuals.
The posts about these distributors go on for days and days. I gave this job a chance for almost a week now and honestly the only reason I fell for it is because I had a friend that was already moving up the ranks. Here is what I’ve learned from my research and experiences.
1. THE MOTIVATIONAL SPEECHES ARE BULL SHIT. – Any real salesmen should know that if you can’t motivate yourself then you will not succeed. In these classes they should focus on planning their approach rather then yelling like a bunch of idiots. Don’t fell bad if you yelled I did too.
2. THEIR LICENSING IS BULL SHIT. –You should understand that you must obtain proper licensing in any and every city you sell in. That means not only must the business apply, but so must the individuals. They actually handed me a copy of an application to sale at swap meets. I filled it out like in idiot not focusing on what it said because I trusted my friend’s logic, don’t really know why. So when you get rolled on by the cops they will laugh at your fake permit and hand you a ticket or hopefully let you off the hook because they feel sorry for you. Luckily, this never happened to me because I quit once I realized the licensing was not legit.
3. RENDITIONS ARE OKAY TO SALE IF YOUR HONEST WITH CONSUMERS. -I’ve been hearing a lot of bad mouthing about the quality of the company’s product calling it toilet water. However, without realizing it I bought I product from them four years ago and it worked just fine for me. The problem is they downplay the fact that these are not the same products they compare them with. If you want to sell renditions simple tell the consumer that it compares to the retail product rather then misleading them into thinking it’s the same thing. These products do smell really good and I believe rather then calling them something they are not the company should simply rename them, letting the consumers decide which is best. Scentura already does distribute a few self promoted products, but they need to expand on this idea. Basically don’t be a dick and leech off another company’s good name.
4. NOT EVERY OFFICE OWNER FOR SCENTURA IS A FUCKING MILLIONAIRE. – I shouldn’t even have to tell people this. I knew from day one that this slick bastard was not that god damn rich, but I knew he made a good living selling this stuff. Don’t get me wrong there is certainly money to be made, lots of it, but morally it’s not right to tell people your a millionaire when your really not. I know the reason they do this is because is because nobody will stay committed if they know what the real average income of an office owner actually is, but that still does not make the deception right. “Cars, Money, Clothes, Hoes you can have it all.” Sure but can you tell me on average how many office owners actually make enough money to honestly say they are financially worry free?
5. OVERALL – I know I can make money doing this business. If you have an endless supply of a somewhat appealing product you can make a lot of money. The potential is there to make mad cash. However, the deception to the consumers and the trainees is unforgivable. I was willing to ignore all this because like I said I know I can make money doing this business, but what made me quit is the fact that they where willing to let me risk being fined or arrested to make profit. Sure I could make a lot of money, but if I get fined early I’m in the negative and a negative right now could ruin me. However, if your done this job long enough to finally open an office don’t be discouraged I can tell you exactly what I would have done to manage a legit office while selling this product, but I won’t cause like I said the deception is unforgivable.
1. CUT THE BS. – You are the owner. Find the right candidates that are self motivated and cut the bullshit motivational speeches. Then get them licensed, in some counties this is even a free process.
2. DON”T WASTE CLASS TIME. -Fuck all the lame notes and rallies. Spend a small amount of time practicing pitches and mapping out your territories then get to fucking work. I wanted to pull my hair out thinking about the money I could have been making while sitting in that stupid warehouse listening to some idiot run his mouth. Also choose places that have a lot of people. They give you this speech about law of averages then they don’t even apply it to their territory planning.
3. TELL CONSUMERS THE TRUTH -Let the consumers build a opinion of your product. Like I said a bought a HUGO rendition and it smelt great and still does four years later, almost empty. Tell people what the products compare to and let them select what they like. People wouldn’t be calling it toilette water if they where not mislead in first place. People just assume if they lied about everything else why not the quality of the product, but I knew better cause I confirmed the product quality myself without realizing it.
4. DO YOUR TAXES -Don’t let your sales team take kick backs without reporting their earnings. Eventually, it will catch up to them and then the IRS will be after them. It’s really not a nice thing to do to a hard working employee.
5. HELP YOUR TEAM SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS -If you own an office don’t be some dick and try to claim you are balling like Sean John. If you where really that rich you would own a retail store and could afford to overcharge people for products that cost very little to manufacture. There is money to be made, but it takes a lot of time and effort. Help your team make a logical plan to earn a significant amount of money.
6. WHY NOT RETAIL? – Listen, dick you already have an office, so why not use it to sell your product. Let some of the consumers come to you that why you can double your office’s earning potential and possibly even make the kind of money they bull shit you about. Hell this almost makes me want to rage through the BS to get an office just to show these assholes how it’s done, but I think I’d rather do it myself with a different product of my own.
CONCLUSION- This is the real deal people. I have spent all night researching, tell my eyes burn, both the positives and negatives behind this business. I’m not bias nor do I acknowledge any of the above comments that appear to be bias. I simply work with facts and logic. If you want to do this try to find a distributor that runs his or her business the right way, this might be hard to find, or do it the right way on your on. Fuck the deception be a smart business man or woman and you won’t have to lie. Sales can be very profitable and there are a few companies that do it legitimately. In my opinion you should do yourself a favor and don’t sell a product that’s name’s credibility has already been tarnished by countless owners with poor business ethics.
–Jesse James
I think I would completely agree with what you said. Very well put.
- Nicole
Chris Westphal is a liar and a crook. After getting sucked in to his bullshit ‘opportunity’, I quickly learned he will say absolutely anything to keep your ass marching in the street at the cost of your own money, morality and personal safety. That’s how HE makes money!
If you want to make it in Scentura, invest twenty grand in your own office and completely SKIP the ‘training program’ all together.
Then you will be free to publish the bullshit adds in the paper and start exploiting the throngs of hurting and needy people who will last just long enough to make YOU a few bucks. That’s the whole ‘opportunity’.
Just remember, you have to be an EGOMANIAC and a SOCIOPATH to make it work!
Hey Greg:
I am sooooo glad I found this website! I JUST came back from the first day of “training”. Supposedly there is a contest to win $1200 to whoever sells the most, but honestly I dont want a job where I have to sell stuff. Sure, $52,000 a year sounds good, but not at that price. I am soooo glad I found your testimonal. I did not want to waste another day on this crap. THANK YOU!
Ok first and foremost I’m sorry you all haft to hear this…Evan…shut the hell up…Two months of hearing your crap is more than enough. You really should show a bit more respect for your workers instead of just standing there and screaming at them all day, Remember they make your money while your lazy hind quarters sat in the office or went out to a restaurant. You want to know why your teams started failing hard with you but not Liz? It’s a little thing called respect.
And on the note of work for yourself…BULL
tell you what why don’t you go out with your team the hours you expect for a week, then you’ll possibly understand why they choose their kids over you and your BS “job” .
I watched these people for two months being made to jump threw hoop’s like trained dogs, people who put their health on the line your you and your company, and what did they hear every morning? “I DON’T NEED YOU, YOUR WORTHLESS REPLACEABLE WEAK PIECES OF S#*T”
Every morning, every evening, you yell scream and put down your employees, telling them they are worthless? Really? and don’t say you haven’t I have watched many times before. You don’t deserve the great people that make up your team. People like Erica and Alejandro are completely wasted on you. your company would fail if it wasn’t for your partner. She is the only thing worth listening to there.
What is so amusing is that everyone here doesn’t see the bigger picture.. U , the “Sub Contractor ” aren’t Intelligent enough to see that U are being conditioned and manipulated to produce for a company. Education would of allowed U to notice that U personally were being conned.
Pay attention next time .. Educate Your self.. And for Sentura and there Customer Offices Yes they have a great Business model , But Unfortunately it is not ethical .
I was offered a “manager” position and just started my “orientation” when my fiance called me up and told me he had bad news. He has googled Larry Hahn and found all these sites reporting bad consumer feed back. I am not going to begin my story, but my story mirrors those of so many others. This is a scam in the scenes that they offered me one position, but in the end I know its going to be a sales position turned managing position. I am not willing to pitch sales for months before landing a management position. I have a bachelors degree and the experience to land me much more money than they are offering; with much less pain and suffering. Don’t lie to me and you will get what you want.
I know the original post is almost two years old, but I feel that this is an important issue and I’d like to comment.
I fully understand that someone could potentially make a lot of money in this business, but I have yet to read a convincing argument as to how that makes it ethical. Immoral, unethical or illegal business practices are typically quite lucrative. That’s why people of low moral fiber continue to engage in them. There’s a young guy, probably early 20′s, that I see selling bootleg DVD’s in nearby neighborhoods. I watched him pack up and drive off one day in a brand new Mercedes S-Class. That car is worth, at least, $88,000. Does that fact justify how he’s chosen to make his money?
As others have pointed out, those who are able to succeed in the Scentura fragrance business, are clearly talented sales people. If 1 in 100 people that pass through an office actually make it, the training program needs to be revised immediately. Even colleges with the lowest graduation rates are still generally over 50%. I contend that that 1 person in 100 already held the tenacity, determination and people skills to succeed. I fail to see how Scentura helped them.
This guy is now preying on people in the Bay Area. They are now B.A.W.D. – Bay Area Wholesale Distributors. Group interviews…..so uncomfortable. I was called back but I did my research. Little do they know….my background is in Criminal Justice :>
People need to flag their posts on Craig’s List and call the newspapers to tell them about this company – shut them down.
I feel compelled to comment on “Scentura” for all the unsuspecting.
I met Larry Hahn in 1977 when his company was called “Wholesale Merchandising.” I know him well.
Scentura is a PYRAMID SCHEME, plain and simple. He makes millions (and I mean MILLIONS) on the backs of young, gullable kids who think they can get rich quick.
The best advice? Go to college. Get your degree. Be a doctor, a lawyer. Scentura is nothing more than a cheap hustle of alcohol water. You will have to sell your soul to succeed. Larry has made his fortune, 10 times over. He cares nothing for those who have provided it for him.
The more haters you more you have to be desired… I’ve been to many Scentura meetings, I’ve heard a lot about that company and have met Larry Hahn first hand. I’ve even been to his house… there is nothing wrong with capitalisim. You shop at Wal-Mart, you eat meat, you buy things from target, you hate those that bring your desires to you… your all a bunch of hand biting haters. Get your own dream and work hard for it. I’m not in this company, and I can safely say I, personally, couldn’t hack it. It takes huge balls to do what Chris Westphal and many others across that company are trying to do, but none of them had anything handed over to them, did they… they had to push hard for it. Don’t hate because you don’t have what they have. Be Jealous, and don’t confuse it for what it truly is.
This company is only a scam if you cheat yourself.
If success was easy, wouldnt everyone be rich?
I am a brand new business owner, meaning I ACTUALLY WENT THROUGH TRAINING. and I am not going to lie… It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. I worked myself to the point of exhaustion and frustration and almost gave up many times… I am so glad that I didn’t. This company has given me my life. I dont regret the training I went through, I will admit at times I thought the things I was supposedly learning were bullshit, but guess what? If I never went throught what I did, I wouldn’t know what I know now and I would not be sucessful like I am now. You know how when you are little and your parents give you advice on what to do to better your life and you dont believe them until you grow up and you tell your kids the same thing? This business is kind of like that. You have to be in the business to know the value of the things taught to you.
Now, Im not rich by any means, yet, anyway… But Making $1000+ a week is not bad for 2 months in business. I didnt graduate college and my partner didnt even graduate high school. he got a GED. We can only make more, and with a baby on the way its our motivation.
You are all entitled to your opinions, but I say, give it a chance… You owe it to yourself to give yourself the best opportunity possible to succeed. Either way, good luck.
If anyone wants to know more, feel free to email me, I dont lie to my people, I tell them from the start that this is HARD and not many succeed. You have to want it more than anyone! I did, and I got it…
gesenia17@gmail.com
Well, I read all these posts. I went to my second interview/ meeting today. Yea it all sounded good, Until i spoke with my dad, and realized what the guy was telling me was actually what the other 15 people in that room wanted to hear… I read back though the notes and realized that it was all a bunch of bullshit, If it was legit, it would have been much more clear. I would have known if it was a commission job or not, I would have known what the hell the company’s name was( like many haven’t known, from all that i have read) . I don’t think i will be going Monday for that Job, if i do it will be to get back the papers that have my personal information on it. Ha ha. I’m 18 yrs old, and i dropped out of high school 2 weeks into 9th grade, But I am not dumb. The add even said no experience needed, i think that is exactly what they want is dumb people to bend to their will. Its just sad how many people actually fall for this, and i can honestly say i almost did, until i thought to use google, after what my dad had told me.
When i went in they had big speakers playing fallout boy. And wanted us to dress ” sharp” didn’t seem to professional. In the” interview/ meeting” he said we would make enough money while training to get us by, Until we completed our 60-90 day training period. He never mentioned commissions. just said we would have to sell 50 bottles, of perfume/ cologne to understand that position to better manage people under us, when we became established in ” our own office”. He also, said not to raise our hands, and turn off all phones, because he had ADHD and was distracted easily. LOL I felt like i was in a high school class room. And yet he kept going on about this guy Larry, and how he will get you on your feet and get you going and fund everything, It got to the point where he was pulling out newspaper clippings of articles on the guy, pictures of his house, how much money he was worth, the scents of the perfumes, “musk” he even went as far to say that some of the musk fragrances come from tiger balls. Also said the dumber you are the better, the more for you to learn ” their way, the right way”. Kept talking about, ” don’t run off and spend your money on 20 hookers a night” Ugh. lol. Ridiculous. Never going into, what future business you might come to run. Never telling you what exactly you will be doing, but rather beating around the bush.
My dad is in the sales industry. And he makes straight commissions. He has crews of people.. But there is one HUGE difference, he has worked his way up over a course of 30 years, to be where he is at, and he is always frank with people. My father is contracted with a major Newspaper. No middle man, and no 23 year old smooth talkers, to feed you lies.
Also, Working from 8 am to 6pm Monday through Saturday. That is 60 hours a week. If I’m going to be putting that much effort into something, It better be worth my time, and Pay my bills.
Something is not right, if people are not dead on with you, and clear. I’m sorry but anyone who defends these idiots, in their quest to scam people. Are truly Brainwashed and absent minded. And at the end of the day, I’m glad I’ve wasted no more time, sitting in a piece of shit chair listening to some guy chant about the things that never will be. =)
I’d be better off selling the newspaper door to door with my dad. Making a way better commission, and knowing i am backed by something completely legit.If I wanted to be a saleswoman, which I do not.
Ha ha how you like them apples.
-Nicole
I have a question? If they consider you an independent contractor, or that you own your own business, how can they dictate the hours you are supposed to work without violating the independent contractor status? It seems to me, alot of people could ban together and lay down a civil lawsuit, stating they were treated as employees.
Okay for one. When you work at wal-mart they show you a video which clearly states that Sam Walton started as a door to door salesman in which he opened a store from that business. Secondly we never go door to door in this business. It is all business to business sales. And third Noriko is a girls name not a guys. And FYI the only other perfumes you can buy in a store that are hypo-allergenic stink to high heaven. Just because Larry Hahn wanted to give others the chance to own a business does not mean it is a scam.
And @ greg you only read my remarks as aggression. You shouldn’t read to much into text. And I care for his response because he is bashing a perfectly legit company of which he never bothered to learn more about before he started bad mouthing them. If you go to payless shoes and buy airwalks are they scamming you by selling you shoes that are renditions of vans, dc, and converse. No I don’t think so. When you go to wal-mart and buy nice suits are they scamming you by selling you renditions of the same suit found in a department store. I don’t think so either. Yeah I may sound hostel, but that’s because none of you people think about the reality of how marketing works. Hover vacuums are renditions of kirby vacuums. Society lives off of making things that can not be patented. So what we sell fragrances that can not be patented. So how is selling something that can not be legally patented a scam? Because if you honestly think this then there are tons of companies of which I am sure you shop at who should be sued for scamming that no one considers.
We’ve covered this sufficiently in the past. No legitimate business requires you to purchase your own inventory. No legitimate business doesn’t do their taxes. No legitimate business asks you to sell in an illegal manner.
The fact that the product is knock-off scents is not an issue. That’s perfectly fine. What isn’t fine is the selling methods and the sense that there are no legal entities or tax legitimacy, therefore making it not a real business.
This situation is so bad, so confusing, that it doesn’t even seem like anyone can get straight whether or not you work FOR these people or you are an independent owner, in which case the support company is not giving proper legal and tax advice to their “franchisees” (for lack of a better term).
Stop focusing on the product, that really has NOTHING to do with what is calling into question the legitimacy of this operation.
Okay for one. If you have ever worked for wal mart. Which I have. They show you a video about the history which clearly states that Sam Walton started doing door to door sales before opening his first store. Secondly I have never seen a hypo allergenic perfume sold in any store. And the ones that claim they are stink to high heaven and actually cause allergy break outs. The perfume by scentura creations have not caused me to break out in any way shape or form. And third Noriko is a girls name not a guy. You should never assume someone’s gender online.
@ Greg. You read way to much in to text. Just because I validate my point with truth does not make me hostel. I can give you hostel if you really want. And if I seem hostel at all it is because all of you on here bad mouthing the company don’t know a damn thing about sales and marketing. If you go to payless shoes and buy airwalks are you going to say they are scamming you for selling rendition shoes of vans, dc, and converse? Actually every shoe they sell is a rendition of some name brand. When you go to wal-mart are you going to say they are scamming you for selling rendition clothing that can be found in the mall department stores? When you buy a vacuum cleaner are you going to sue hover for selling you a rendition vacuum cleaner? Maybe you should look more into marketing and how companies actually work as well as how federal patent laws work before you claim any right to say that someone is scamming you or creating a pyramid scheme.
Just wanted to warn people that they are now using the name GTW management in California
So very sad it was. I went to the “second” interview today. We were at a dirty office with furniture that was smeared with Lord-knows-what and packed like sardines in the hot days of June with no ventilation or air conditioning. I think I almost fainted twice.
The speaker, Brandon, let no one ask any questions throughout the process so he could get through his pitch. He showed up looking like he had partied the night before with the top button only buttoned on his unfitting sports coat. Anyone this desperate for a job must please evaluate what just happened. Any company that makes you sit through a 2-hour pitch and doesn’t care about what you have to say, obviously is showing you, from the very beginning no respect. Also they expected us to all train six days a week for up to 90 days 9-5:30 for only $200.00 a week. Can we say ILLEGAL! I just feel bad for anyone that is falling for this.
I live in Las Vegas and out here they are calling themselves “Innovative Industries.” I went to my first interview after replying to an ad for a “receptionist or manager” position. They told us that the receptionist position would not be available for another 6-8 weeks, because the distribution centers are not open yet. Plus, the receptionist position only paid $9/hr. Then they told us that the manager positions started training the next week, and that it was paid training. They said that it was managing distribution centers which would contain wholesale perfume. They mentioned nothing about selling, so I returned for the “2nd interview.” The LAST thing I want is a commission based sales job. But I was mislead. I came back a few days later, and was stuck in a room with barely any a/c. This is Vegas. It’s 110 degrees outside. There were about 15 people in the room, 7 got chosen for training and I was one of them. They we’re selective, which made it seem like a real job. They led us to believe that we would be managing the distribution center itself, like as if it was a warehouse. They talked about budgets, admin, hiring employees, etc. And still no company name. The weird thing is, I didn’t really think of asking until all of my friends asked “What’s the name of the company you’re working for?” I didn’t know. I felt stupid. I feel even more stupid after orientation, where I found out it was all about sales. They want us to eat, sleep and breathe the company. FFAARR is a fucking joke. No way in hell am I gonna push fake perfumes to my friends and family. Thats a good way to lose all your friends. No one wants a friend who is trying to sell them stuff all the time. In the 2nd “interview” they told us paid training. They said we would get paid every week. Now I find out we MIGHT get paid depending on how much crap we can sell. I didn’t sign on for a sales job. I wanted to be a manager. I’m not saying its a scam. I’m sure talented outside sales people and street hustlers can make a great profit with this business. But its not for me, and I’m beyond pissed that they lied and made it out to be something it isn’t. I don’t care if you can get to a point where you don’t have to sell anymore, I’m not willing to lie to people and compromise my integrity in the process. What a total waste of time. They need to list it in ads as exactly what it is – a SALES JOB WITH COMMISSION ONLY PAY. If they had, I wouldn’t have wasted my time. I’ve been looking for a job for a while. I was so excited to find this one that I told all my friends about it. Now I have to go back and say I’m still unemployed and that I fell for something so stupid. Awesome. I’m going back tomorrow to get back any papers with my personal info on it, just in case.
BTW, its “hostile”
I went through the same thing you did,, it was awful my regional officers consisted of Rosie from NJ and some other Woman from the Bronx, we got promised as a winner of these contests to go to Vegas, but that was the following year before I had them shut down in their offices @ Valley Stream, ny. I sold 1,200 dollars worth of perfume on my first day out. They tried to screw me saying my cash wasn’t right a week later from the drops I made on one day, when I sent a letter of resignation to Larry, they got made making an accusation trying to make me feel like I did something wrong, I spoke with my family attorney, and he knew who they were when he came to dinnner the first day to congratulate me for my new job, I recorded them and the threat they made about the following week consisted of Police and a shut down of their office. What goes around comes around! I got a call today from Primamerica, I don’t know how they got my #, but it was hilarious! A girl named Olga called her # was 718 581 9392, they are a part of a big life insurance scandal, they call and say its regarding a job. I now own a private investigation company, had my own associate call them back and they pissed their pants! Lol!
Thank you for this
I just had my first interview today (these guys are in Las Vegas now) and was so excited for my second interview on Friday!……until I Googled, Better-Business-Bureau’d, and Blog-searched them. Thank you for allowing me to learn from your experience without experiencing it for myself 
LMFAO…..please upload your notebook…i just came from the “2nd interview”, lol…..wrote a impressive amount of notes, then once I saw the fake bottles of perfume it was a instant facepalm…lol….there were alot of sexy women there on the upside
When I first started I was convinced this was a scam, my boy Tan and I would go pitching together, he is now the branch owner and making enough money to get a new (sick) house with a 2010 BMW. As for me, I am soon to be opening a branch in north las Vegas, even though I haven’t yet, in the last week I have made $$637.92, the week before that $686.57, the weeks totalled up to be about $2900 for this month just on owebacks and the lovely bonuses. Moral: some people got it, others don’t. If you don’t apply yourself and actually give it a shot, then what the f&%k outcome do you expect. Well, no enemies here, best of luck to everybody, but do understand, you train for only so much. The word scam varies in peoples heads, for example, for some, the gov’t is a scam, for others, walmart Is a scam, for others, marriage is a scam. Some things you have to work harder than others, scentura seems sketchy because they are renditions (knock-offs) but that’s why they can’t be so open about the product that isn’t the “real” thing. They truly give people opportunities and that makes me happy, but I wouldn’t doubt it if some branches were greedy as sh*t, but they give the good branches a bad name if that’s the case. It’s like you like the people that are really nice a certain store, but you go to the same store else where and they are completely rude, if you go to the rude store first, then you’re like “f*ck safeway!” lol that was just an example, I love safeway. But good luck to all and thanks for reading, if your opinion is opposed then that’s okay, everyone is entitled to it. Good day.