[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] Marketing Company - YOU WILL NOT BE A MANAGER ONE DAY!!!

Wakey2008

captainbumface wrote: »

this is a forum not a newspaper. i dont really care. i drop my punctuation when im off duty.

I studied journalism for three years at university and have written for a multitude of newspapers around Yorkshire as well as a couple of national magazines and know that a good journalist never drops their punctuation.

In case you're wondering, I'm a mortgage adviser because it pays better money and the job security is stronger but continue to freelance where I can.

Leics_Girl

Can anyone tell me whether Montana Marketing based in leicester is part of Cobra? I have an interview with them tomoro and dont really want to waste my time if they are a door to door, commision based sales company....

yogibear88

Leics_Girl wrote: »

Can anyone tell me whether Montana Marketing based in leicester is part of Cobra? I have an interview with them tomoro and dont really want to waste my time if they are a door to door, commision based sales company....

I also have an interview but will not be going. In the list in this thread Montana Marketing is listed. Also just by looking at the website it can be seen that this company is doing the same thing as other ones. There is only two members on their team, a managing director and a HR manager (who I spoke to). They also have the same sort of description of what they do as Business Advertising LTD which is another one in Leicester which I had an interview for but didn't go to as to finding infomation on this forum.

Thanks for the info everyone, as if finding a job isnt frustrating enough!

Overdriven

Everyone here is spot on. I went to Blackcode Advertising in Brighton. They are part of the Cobra network, so it's all the same scam. Avoid things like this at all costs. I went through the interview process and then spent 4 days on a trial period and it was then that i clocked on. You work almost 12 hour days and the company sales average is about 2 sales a day. If you ever see the money, that's 60 quid. I used to get paid better at my job at a Garden Centre.

They lie to you about how much they earn to draw you in and then you find out that they actually earn !!!! all for working very long hours. DO NOT BE DRAWN IN BY THIS.

O and they share an office with MRD who are also in the same network and do the exact same thing. They have 2 receptionist desks next to each other...always playing loud music and not really doing a lot. It's all a bit stupid really.

mynameisdave

I :heart2: google. Was a bit suspicious that their clients list does not have any specific clients on it and one quick search and it all unravels.

Found this researching a company named on here ready for my interview in Liverpool on Monday. Safe to say I won't be attending now (which is nice because I have another interview in the Corn Exchange on Monday and now I won't have to rush like mad across Liverpool).

meanstreets

I attended an interview today for PLATINUM FORCE, AGAIN PART OF THE "COBRA GROUP", not 2 days after I sent my application, i was sceptical but my need for money doused these fears. Rather nervous i was too eager to impress and actually question what they where doing, what the job was, it was so vague, i apparently have a second interview which from what i have read is going to be 8 hours flogging sh!te door to door! It was only after my elated ego settled that i realised that this guy interviewing me actually didn't say anything definite about what they where doing. Focus was on "face to face" "people interaction", and what you put in is what you shall reap, which appealed to me, i like this ethos for work, but it dawned on me its fckin commission based, bless my naviety,

HEED THIS WARNING, DO NO LET DESPERATION COULD YOUR SCEPTICISM, IF IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS

GirlA

I should have realised when I got a call saying I had an interview on a saturday, I thought then it sounded a bit odd, desperate even. Then they showed me around the office, it looked like they had decided pretty much as soon as I was speaking to them. In my interview I noticed that they had no organisation, didn't really tell me what the business was about, even when I asked what the main business name was, I got questioned my motives about it.

The second interview was ridiculous. Walking around for nearly six hours straight in a neighbourhood I had never seen before. I didn't even know if I could remember my way back from there. They made it seem very normal and they were all so friendly, I blame my self for going along with it really.

When I was in after a few days, I signed my contract in a coffee shop courtesy of Kevin Kelly. I read it afterwards because I was being distracted from reading it through by more information and questions, it said I wasn't actually employed.

I also didn't get a wage slip.

In the mornings was a brain washing activity called Atmosphere. We had to say Juice after someone had spoken or given a meeting which I thought was ridiculous. If someone had had great results the day before people would cheer for them, which was fine, but others would run over and high five them. Just seemed quite odd to me really.

Was it really necessary to call me on average 5 times a day? Even on weekends? And when I ask is everything alright or is it something to do with work, they reply 'No, just wanted to see what you were upto.' My life, sod off. Asif they don't have you in their grip for upto 14 hours of the day anyway!

Also the fact that if the person was recruiting me was earning as much as he said he was, why was he wearing the same suit everyday? Why was it covered in stains and ripped up the sides. Surely the grand you were earning every week could buy you another Primarni suit?

I found out this branch of the business was in trouble financially and they had to bring in the big boys to sort it out. One of which was a seemingly genuine guy called Danny. He was friendly and a bit wappy, but nice. Turns out the way that I was supposed to get ahead in the business was to get ahead in his pants, in the office. He said he was going to give me money aswell.

I was flabbergasted at the complete unprofessional way in which he was behaving. I was seeing really nice people come in and get brainwashed by the 8 Steps and the 5 Steps. I just took 5 steps right out the door and never went back.

leic

All these replies are so startingly similar to my own experience it's like we all worked at the same place!

A couple of years a go I applied for a job for sales/marketing in Leicester. Montana Marketing it was. And to my knowledge it is still there now. I was young and it was an attractive proposition due to their crys of 'NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED'. I suppose I could say I was incredibly naive but I had my reservations about it from the 2nd interview.

I remember the first interview I had. I was interviewed by some really young guy. He must have been about 23 or something and said he was the assistant manager! WOW! I thought, impressive, I like the sound of this. I can't remember exactly what happened in this interview now as it was a couple of years a go, but I was told I would be contacted by 6PM the same day if I had been successful. There was no reason for me to be suspicious because the office was based in the city centre and the interior was actually quite proffessional looking. For these reasons, and my lack of experience made me think there was a slim chance I'd get called back, but low and behold, that evening I recieve a phone call telling me I had a 'training day', where I would find out more about what the business entails. EXCELLENT! So the training day came and I put my suit on feeling chuffed with myself and off I went.

I assumed the company was legit so I never asked to many questions, which was my mistake. But never at any stage did I think I was going to be doing door to door sales for comission. Had this been advertised I would not have applied for it. So off we went in the car to the 'territory', and to cut a long story short, I was made to follow this guy around all day whilst he attempted to flog gas and electric to unsuspecting customers. This is where I started having my doubts but had no choice to stick it out as I was in Derby!!

We get back to the office about 8PM, telling myself I wasn't going to take the job if it was offered. But after many people telling me how impressed they were with my attitude, and then having an encouraging interview from the manager himself! GASP!, I was feeling quite cheerful and decided to give it a shot.

From here on in I was getting to work for 10:30AM every morning, monday to saturday and not getting home until gone 11PM. I had absolutely no life for the 2 months I was there and was barely making any money. It was drummed in to me how to deliver the perfect pitch and we had to practice them every morning, it was like being at school! The boss sometimes came in and gave us motivational speeches, and you had to 'ring the bell' if you had met your sales target the previous day. Every one stood round the room whilst the stereo was on and we had to run around high fiving them! Looking back on it, I cannot believe I stayed there for 2 months, the place was an absolute joke. The funny thing was that there were people there who genuinlly believed they were going to make it, but even the 'high rollers' were only on 300 quid a week and they'd been there for years!

Sometimes I found myself walking round a god awful estate in the middle of coventry in the !!!! pouring rain, having not sold a thing all day. At these times I was told not to 'neg out'. Sod off, if I want to be miserable for an hour I sodding well will be!

The reason I stayed I suppose was because some of the people there were genuinlly a good laugh, and you pretty much promised it would get better. As it was, I eventually realised it was all false promises and pretty much amounted to slave labour. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't realise I'd gone, there were that many new people there every week!

AVOID.

lpoolguy

My expereience of a couple of companies within the so called COBRA organisation happened about a year ago now but just happened to stumble across this forum today and thought i would share my now all to familiar horror story!

To cut it short things started the same way as everyone else, post cv, call in an hour, interview then invited back for my 'ob day'! The first company i was with was CMA Direct in hanover street, liverpool were i had my ob day, quickly put on to a train off to st helens for a day pounding the streets flogging gas and lecy, back to the office about 9 that night were off course i was offered the job and told to start the next day, was pretty dubious but thought id give it a go as i had nothing else lined up and was pretty skint!

When i eventually recieved a badge, after about 2 weeks of working for nothing i did get out there and made some dectent money, 200 - 300 a week for my first couple of weeks, which i now realise was due to my trainer being with me and 'closing' a lot of the sales for me, hence when i was put out on my own the 300 a week was soon lucky to be 100!

After a couple of moths even the MD had had enough and decided to give it up and merge with another COBRA company across town who was CODE Marketing on dale street. This was to be events marketing (standing in a supermarket flogging instead), so was quite excited about the prospect of getting away from knocking doors, again the first couple of weeks was like 200 a week but this slowly died away to eventually about 50 quid a week, baring in mind most the places i was being sent was costing about a tenner a day to get to so was at a loss already.

The final insult for me was after working 7 days a week, week in week out, 1 sunday morning not feeling to well i informed them i wouldnt be coming in and would be back in the morning, now they bang on about being 'self employed' so surely that was my call if i went in or not. Oh no, the next morning in the meeting i was informed by the not so pleasent MD that as i stayed off one of the stands had been left at a store miles away, the one everyone who had worked there all week had been driving to as it was so far, and although i dont drive my 'punishment' for taking a day off sick would be to go and collect this stand which consisted off a 7 hour round trip on many trains and leaving me 30 quid out of pocket without earning that day as i was travelling. I lasted a couple of weeks after this as i was afraid to leave as what little money i was earning was going towards my rent, however going into work every morning worrying about were they would send me cos i couldnt afford to travel was truly getting me down and i couldnt bare to be around those 'juiced up' idiots any longer so had to walk.

I know have a full time job that doesnt pay that great but im home by 6.30 at the latest every night, i know how much im gonna be getting paid at the end of every 4 weeks, and ive actually got money to live the life i now have back.

Please do not be fooled by these companies as i was cos it messed me up for a good 6 months of my life.

I believe CODE have changed their name now, not sure what to but they are on the ground floor of trident house on dale street, liverpool.

Last word of warning, anything to do with COBRA just stay well and truly clear. Ta for reading, take care!

lpoolguy

anon1405 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me if Oratory UK are involved in this scam? I've seen trident house, dale street, liverpool being mentioned before, and this too seems like the typical "no experience neccesary", "call back next day" type of scam.

I don't want to go to the interview if it's just going to be as previously described!

Thanks for a heads up

Anon.

Ye i can assure u they are, i worked for them when they were CODE marketing, just put a post about them on now!!