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

Ugly_Bloke

T A Solutions.

Another in Bournemouth 01202 788 888, a lady by the name of Jade called me out of the blue. Arranged to meet next week, I asked a few searching questions, she smuggly mentioned household names, such as EDF energy and TalkTalk. I asked about the working hours, what salary I would be one, bonus, commision, all the regular work stuff. She had no answer.

I know the MD's name is Michael, but this time around, saved myself fuel, or train fares and all they did is clog up my phone line for about 5 mins.


01202 788888
T A Solutions
27-30 Old Christchurch Road
Bournemouth, Dorset
BH1 1DS

Will there ever be an end to these companies, they are springing up everywhere.

Ugly_Bloke

imatt wrote: »

Just a thought. Has Money Saving Expert ever been threatened with legal action over the claims made on this and similar threads?

Don't get me wrong. I thing these companies are spivs and scamsters too, having been to an 'interview' myself with a dodgy outfit in Leeds called Centurion Marketing a couple of years ago.

See:

http://www.centurion-marketing.co.uk/feedback.html

If what people here are saying is so wrong, then maybe they should contact their lawyers???

They probably don't do legal action, as they know that what people are saying about them is factual and correct.

unoriginal_uk

So how comes no-one has successfully found all of these companies out to be scams and ensured they are shut down then? It seems ridiculous! I went for an ''interview day'' for one of these companies in Croydon, Surrey, many years ago now and cannot for the life of me remember what they were called but it was exactly this.

Needless to say I never went back. Has anyone contacted Watchdog or a similar authority about these scummy companies before?

unoriginal_uk

Sorry forgot to add from reading back through all the comments it sounds like a lot of these companies mostly work for TalkTalk? It might be worth anyone on here who are TalkTalk customers calling TalkTalk and enquiring about whether they do indeed use these companies or the famous scummy Kevin O Neill (or similar low lives) because they have heard awful things about them and don't really want to have any accounts associated with them?

I'm not with TalkTalk or I would do this but I was with TalkTalk a few years back for 6 months and I have to say it was the worst 6 months of customer service I've ever had in my life - so maybe considering TalkTalk themselves aren't particularly hot on customer service (from my experience) they don't really care what 'companies' they employ to sign new customers up?

philmack_2

james87 wrote: »

I was duped into having an interview with one of these con artists a year or so back and now it seems my mate has also fell for one of these scams. The company is a new name which I dont think has been mentioned before - Outsource Ten - and his interview was in manchester.

At least both of us were suspicious and never went back to the second interview.

Oh yes, this is Outsource Ten!! I was interviewed this week, after replying to an advert on Totaljobs!! At the interview on Dickinson Street Manchester (dingy premises), by Brendan Heyes, no less, there was no mention of the original job I applied for!!! No mention of salary, and basically 'hotfooting' door -to - door, twelve hours a day. I would not have minded if that was in the original job specification, then I would have just ignored the e-mail. A con and remember if sounds to good to be true, then it is!!!

wannabeebunny

I recently applied for a job with Emerald Insight Limited, Not realizing it was for door to door sales. When I found out what it was I stuck around for three days to find out what they actually did to get people to buy their rubbish (in this case a brand of makeup called Makeover Essentials) and was incredibly shocked at the techniques they used. I carefully took notes and am posting them here so that hopefully less people will fall prey to their manipulation.

The first thing they teach you is the five steps which are as follows:

1) Introduction
2) Short story
3) Presentation
4) Close
5) REHASH (Remember Everybody Has Another Sale Hidden)

Next is a breakdown of how to use these steps to manipulate people.

Intro. they use what they call SEE, Smile, Eyes, Excitement.
smiling because it contagious, eyes because eye contact builds trust and excitement because people will mirror you.
At this point they also say to have a conversation to find the customer/victims hotspots (translation: weakness) and then use them to close the deal.

Short story. So for this they use KISS not KILL (Keep It Short & Simple not Keep It Long and Lengthy) this is because you want to build curiosity and also so they don't get a chance to ask questions about the product.

Presentation, for this they tell you to only use two points to describe the product and to stress what a great deal it is. Starting the price ridiculously high, then saying because its them selling it they can offer it a half the price. Then to make the person feel special you reduce it again to £30 stressing that it was £150 to begin with, what a great deal it is, how much your saving, and how they have lots of "free" gifts for you . Every time you demonstrate a product you have to hand it to the person so that when you’re done you take it out of their hands and they feel like they've lost something and want to get it back.

Close, for this they tell you to assume the sale because if you do people find it very hard to say no. To never ask questions as this will give the person the chance to say no. You are told to nod your head the entire time so that people will agree with you even if they don't want to. For this part they also have what the call Impulse building tools or FUGI (Fear of loss, Urgency, Greed and Indifference.) with a helpful breakdown:

Fear of loss, is greater than the desire to gain , they tell you to say that all their neighbors are buying them, you don’t want to miss out. That it's the last day of promotion, that you have sold 50 already and that you only have a few left. These are the verbal cues, the nonverbal ones are: Take the product out of their hands, carry a small amount of the product and to pack the product away .

Urgency, for this you have to pretend you’re running out of time so that you don't give the customer time to think about the decision. The verbal cues are: I've got a bus to catch, I need to meet my manager or I need to get back to the office. The nonverbal cues are: Look at your watch; pretend you need the toilet and general body language.

Greed, make them think they're getting more for less. The verbal cues are: Stressing the amount they are saving, repeat that their neighbors are buying them e.g. Mr Jones bought 4 is that enough for you or would you like more. Nonverbal cue is to put the products in their hands then snatch them away.

Indifference, opposite behavior of a salesman. verbal cue: it’s up to you , take it or leave it. Nonverbal cues: shrug your shoulders, raise hands in air and take a step back.

I witnessed a guy who worked for them called Kieran, when the potential customer opened the door he would say "TV license please" . this would send the person into a panic before he started his pitch and then they would sag with relief and become pliable.

You are told that if it has a pulse, pitch to it. That people are greedy and to use it against them. Also that if a person buys one then to REHASH them and try to make another sale using twice the excitement. They use something they call the law of averages, which is a ratio of one in ten people. So if you pitch to 200 people on their doorsteps 180 people will say no but that 20 will say yes. To walk fast to get around as many people as possible.

I'm wondering if this is all legal?

sunnyjames

I actually cannot believe Dave Coulson is still around! I was a field agent with him in 2004 as a summer job. All the negative things people say are completely true! I cannot believe the same scam is going on even now! I only worked for the cobra group for a few months but it was enough to ensure i almost alienated all my friends, and was completely brainwashed into believing i was going to do well. Dont get me wrong there were at least 2 weeks when I earned about 400 pound for a week, which at the age of 21 felt like a fortune, but I ended up blowing most of it on nights out and trying to pay off the debt i had got into trying to build up my team. I understand the owner Leon Smart who trained Dave Coulson ended up back in the field and building himself up again. The day I left they had sent us out to an area that was all old peoples housing, after seeing another agent basically bully an old lady i thought WHAT THE HELL am i doing here and got a friend to pick me up and walked off the job! Yes those of you who work at Cobra and are completely sucked in may be thinking 'neghead' lol but you know something im now a teacher earning a hell of a lot more than im sure you have this week and i still have my pride and dignity in tact! If anyone reading this is contemplating at all going for a job for Dave Coulsen, take all the advice from those who have been there and tell you it is slave labour! Im sure the guy will try to come across as confident and persuasive (he always has been) i saw him pressurise many a person into signing up for mothly direct debits. But i tell you one thing i bet he doesnt have a ferrari and i would hazard a guess he lives in a normal house making ends meat! Dont listen to the bragging its not true (Dave's owner bragged about buying a brand new house), but in fact it was a little 2 bed new build in a not so great area!
I cannot stress enough any company in the cobra group sucks people in please everyone be careful!
Even now thinking about how i changed makes me cringe! Im just glad I had the sense to get out andd make something of myself! Just don't be a mug and become a slave to the cobra group im sure you are all worth a lot more!
Good luck
Sarah:p

0Neji

I'd just like to highlight what I'm pretty sure is another of these companies in Sheffield.

I'm currently working part-time but looking for full-time work and saw this advertised on myjobstoday. The advert was very vague but I thought I'd apply and ask questions later. I applied a few days ago and got a call today offering me an interview. I arranged it and started doing some research for the interview, not aware of what I was going to find.

The company is ASK Client Solutions, they're in the same building (and same level, I believe) as a few other companies, Zee Solutions and CCL Client Solutions.

After stumbling across a few red flags, I gave them a phone back to ask what the position would entail. Door-to-door? Yes. Commission only? Yes.

Sounds like many mentioned here and something I quickly opted out of. Tbf to the woman I spoke to, I got straight forward answers about the position but it's just not for me. Just thought I'd post here to make myself useful to anyone else having an interview with these guys.

If the above sounds OK to you, go for it but no basic wage? No thanks.

qrico

Thank you all for sharing this. It really saved me a lot of time.

Just want to update and inform people of their most recent names. They are now called Red Five International, or Red Five UK. (RedFive) .
I found way too many weird things about the company before, during and after the first interview. Then it didn't take me long to find this forum. Their contact details are as follows:

RedFive International UK
London Marketing Business Suite,
14-20 Shan Street,
London Bridge,
London
SE1 2ES

If you are searching information on the company now, I do hope you see this post. You might have already found companies under other names that have the exact same website layout and content with only a slight change of the "company history"

God Bless!

Shanks177

I am so happy I am not the only one who got conned here. I went to one in Leeds called Bour Bon Creations.
They said I was being inviewed for a job in events... apparently events is now selling Woodland Trust in Coop.

They were secretive and made me think it was going to be the best job in the world. They said I will go from 100% commision to 100grand in 8 months. At the time, yes, I believed them.

PLEASE DO NOT FALL FOR THIS. I'm so glad I spoke to my parents who made me realise how ridiculous the job is.

SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM
they pray on us graduates who are desperate for a job.