Don't get suckered into their scam! VM is a bunch of con-artists

I almost got suckered into this scam back when I was 21. I was looking for a summer job and I saw a "summer job" ad so I checked it out. I went in to the "interview" and they instantly hired you, which I thought was very suspicious. Then all the people they hired had to come back for training, which lasted a week. I had to sit through about 5 of these long boring classes, and finally they tell me that my job would be selling knives and I would have to find my OWN CLIENTS! Now I've never been the type that had a lot of friends or knew a lot of people...so immediately thought this was BS. I knew none of my friends, who were all college aged kids, would want to buy this crap...much less could they afford it!! The biggest BS of all is that after 5 classes they tell you you have to buy this your first set of knives... which is like 300 dollars or some outrageous amount. I realized I was being suckered into a scam and immediately wanted OUT. They are just a bunch of salespeople who are trying to take advantage of young naive kids looking for a job! And don't believe any of the ads here that say "I worked for Vector Marketing and make 50 grand a year" ! This is what you call a LIE. These postings are fake---they were written by the salespeople that run the scams at Vector Marketing.

Yep. I am going to be a Senior in H.S. at 18. (early birthday kid), anyhow - I received a letter from VM - and seemed to good to be true. (I was impressed with the "starting salary)...called made an interview...until I looked them up on the internet...I can't afford a "set of knives" - duh what is looking for all the college aid you look for mean?...Well Vector - it is because my mom (single and we are struggling) along with my sister still having 3 years of H.S. - called struggling!!! THANK YOU for this comment. In fact my mom has my grandmother's set of Cutco knives - yes they are the best - but I can't afford the "upfront deposit" - they need to be honest - not telling me "you would be selling "various household products". You are right...scam, and I can't waste my time or energy! THANKS BT!!!!

I knew it would be too good to be true. Thanks for the info. I probably saved a week of uselessness.

This is very true. I went to the interview and asked to see what the want. The up front cost is to high for any one looking to get a job. when you are looking normally means you have no income and are in need of some. You do not want to put money out when you do not have it!!!!!

They don't take tax out of your paycheck, so you'll have to find out what your taxes are yourself.

you get to spend $170 on a set of knives before you start working.

Unpaid training.

And to top things off, so you don't feel awkward during your first appointments, you sell knives to family and freinds

Do not do this!!!!!!!!1

I fell victim to the VM/CUTCO scam! I worked there for about a week and I am out about $600! They are nothing but money hungry As*HoLeS! I was forced to sit in a basement for 16 hours with no bathroom, and no break just for training/brainwashing. A lot of people were smart and left within the first the first couple of days. But sadly I stuck around. They promised me money and success. It was a bunch of crap!! I got my first check after driving 49 min a day for 10 days...It was $45!! That didn't even cover the gas, let alone the time that it took to get there and to do appointments! I feel sick because people havent stopped this yet. I put in two complaints to the BBB. I heard that many people have placed complaints, hopefully this will stop soon!
VECTOR IS A SCAM!!!!!!!!!

I believe I have enough of this...that this "Vector Marketing" and it's ways...are STILL trying to SCAM people!!! I am the "struggling mom" from the review from G.D. in Pittsburgh...
Anyhow, ALL PEOPLE...what I believe is this...calling the BBB is not doing crap.........as you are a member (a company) with the BBB - to state that or look like you are a reputable company/contractor...etc......so contacting the BBB - waste of time. I believe we need to do a couple of things 1)call and WRITE to your state's Attorney General's Office! Call/write to your State Rep, and your State's Senator for your areas! I am sure that this SCAM is running far and wide...also, the media in your city's need to be contacted. There has to be a way to lay the burden of proof on Vector!!! Let them RUN AWAY...or if they stay?.........then I can't help but believe there is some politic's going on - hmmm in the old days?...called "greasing someone's hand"?...Blessings to everyone! "bas"

I actually went today for an enterview and it did sound too good to be true... so i looked them up and this is what i found and about 100 other different complaints

Lutetia Pennington in Thornville, Ohio said: I fell victim to the VM/CUTCO scam! I worked there for about a week and I am out about $600! They are nothing but money hungry As*HoLeS! I was forced to sit in a basement for 16 hours with no bathroom, and no break just for training/brainwashing. A lot of people were smart and left within the first the first couple of days. But sadly I stuck around. They promised me money and success. It was a bunch of crap!! I got my first check after driving 49 min a day for 10 days...It was $45!! That didn't even cover the gas, let alone the time that it took to get there and to do appointments! I feel sick because people havent stopped this yet. I put in two complaints to the BBB. I heard that many people have placed complaints, hopefully this will stop soon!
VECTOR IS A SCAM!!!!!!!!!

vector is a member of the bbb. all the people who struggled and gave up, like yourself, didn't try. they don't pay you to sit there and do nothing like most other jobs will do. you have to earn it. they pay as they say they will. if you did demos and not get paid, then you must have not filled out a presentation report.

christy in Winter Haven, Florida said: I actually went today for an enterview and it did sound too good to be true... so i looked them up and this is what i found and about 100 other different complaints

ask about these complaints. how many of them worked? how many gave up without trying? how many claimed to have done demos and not get paid? how many of those filled out presentation reports? ask around, see what yo find out.

Lutetia Pennington in Thornville, Ohio said: I fell victim to the VM/CUTCO scam! I worked there for about a week and I am out about $600! They are nothing but money hungry As*HoLeS! I was forced to sit in a basement for 16 hours with no bathroom, and no break just for training/brainwashing. A lot of people were smart and left within the first the first couple of days. But sadly I stuck around. They promised me money and success. It was a bunch of crap!! I got my first check after driving 49 min a day for 10 days...It was $45!! That didn't even cover the gas, let alone the time that it took to get there and to do appointments! I feel sick because people havent stopped this yet. I put in two complaints to the BBB. I heard that many people have placed complaints, hopefully this will stop soon!
VECTOR IS A SCAM!!!!!!!!!

they don't force you to do s**t. you choose to do s**t.

Not a scam! I am making good money. you people... are just $tup1d. I am paying for college with the money I make working at Vector. You have to invest time into it otherwise yo udo end up being scammed. its your own fault really. you odviously have not learned anything about any sales job. I have 3 jobs and am working on a 4th so I can retire early at 45. I am in the reserves, work at Vector, am a bookkeeper for an art gallery, and am trying to become a worker at the wholefoods market. people, learn about a company before you attack it completely.

They cause potential employees to believe the starting pay is $15/hour. It is not, it is $15 for each appointment you set. They say, in their own words, "No telemarketing involved" and "We only work with professional appointments, the clients have already expressed their interest in seeing the product demo."
What does this make you believe? Well that's cool; They give you the leads and you do not have have to spend over half the time calling people up begging them to let you show them the products. That also is a lie. They give you NO leads/contacts WHATSOEVER. This is purely up to you, you call the contacts and you ask them to let you show them the product and try to sell it to them. THAT *IS* T-E-L-E-M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G, people!
You MUST buy a demo set in order to work with them, it is very expensive. The receptionists at Vector are specifically instructed to NOT give these details out. They are told to tell someone who asks "You know, that's a great question! But I am unsure of the answer, so write that question down and bring it into your interview, because the manager would be more than happy to answer it for you!".
YOU SEE? YOU'RE ALREADY BEING LIED TO.
Now don't get me wrong; I am sure there are SOME people who HAVE done well with working for Cutco/Vector, HOWEVER, think of it REALISTICALLY: Do you have hundreds of dollars to dish out on a demo set? Can you afford the gas to drive around to all these people's houses doing the demos when gas is at $3.50/gallon and rising? Keep in mind, you are spending that $15 you earned on the demo appointment ON THE GAS it took you to get there and back home. Then, if you're lucky, you MIGHT make a commission if someone is rich enough to just throw out $50 on one knife, or anywhere from $700-1200 on a set of knives. Unless you know tons of rich people who will surely buy off you, you're better off not working for them.

I worked for Vector Marketing for about 6 months a few years back, and I've got to say it was one of my most favorite jobs. I've heard of people having problems or seeing shady offices, but thankfully that wasn't the case for mine or any of the other ones I met with.

I'd honestly say you should view it as a commission-only position, because the base money is only on completed appointments, which you have to work to do. However, I made far more than that; it was just sort of there for a safety net for those who worked a lot without much initial success.

Coming out of high school, it was one of the best decisions I made. It was my first sales job and which is a field that has given me the most fulfillment thus far.

Back when I started you did need to put up $150 for your knives, but it's refundable if you choose to quit. And, yes, you do start with friends and family, which can be awkward, but that was (for me) more practice and referral generation than anything. You just had to put in the original burst of work through training and racking up your first referrals before you had a sustainable base and saw success.

Ultimately though, it gave me a position where I got a sales award from the president of the company, and I generated all my own leads and business, which is something I'm proud of. My entire family and everyone else thought it was a scam, but I stuck with it and they actually forgave me and came back to buy once they saw how into it I was (many of them single mothers, too).

I was good, but I wasn't the top of the office- there were two guys during a 2 week sales contest who made over $10k each being at the top 50% commission level (an 18 year old and 20 year old). Not the norm by any means, but the opportunity is definitely there.

"Not the norm by any means..."

Exactly. The "norm" for Vector employees is wishing you had never wasted your time, because realistically, the U.S.A.'s economy is at CRAP level right now, gas is too high to be driving around trying to do sales, people do not have the money to afford anything by Cutco, and if by chance they own a Cutco product, it is usually because they did a payment plan and they're in credit card debt because of doing so. Unless you already have a lot of money, live in one of those gated communities with 2 million dollar houses, and drive a fancy hybrid car, you're better off working another regular job suited for that age level. There are lots of stores in malls that give their employees base pay and commission and they do not make the employees buy any of the products nor do they make the employees run out of the store searching for people to come in and buy them.
Thank you for your input, Mr./Mrs. Vector Marketing Analysis Exec...er.. I mean.. past employee...

I worked for them over 3 years ago, and I had all but forgotten about them till yesterday. I currently work as a Dept Manager for The Home Depot. I'm a senior in college, and a full time employee with the company, and I have to say, I've made 100X more progress with The Home Depot than I ever would have with Vector, and that's sad considering Home Depot stock prices, however even my stocks made me more money than Vector did, and that's really really bad. I was told about Vector by my father who saw the ad in the paper. I was 18 at the time, fresh out of high school, and in need of a job that paid better than $5.50 an hour, which was what I was making at the time working in a bowling alley. At the time they seemed much more legit. The knives at my office were only $75, and the training was paid for upon completion of your first week under their "base pay" incentive. My manager was Chris Ott, a man my age today, and he easily took me in, however I should have known something was up from the start when all of these college kid managers with money were driving around in beater cars and only able to make a living out in cheap campas dorms. Anyways I found that that knives were great quality and we still have our knives at the house today, and my demo knives, which I beat the crap out of during demos, are still as shinny and sharp as the day I bought them, however, as good as the product was, it just doesn't "turn margin" or in business terms, they don't yield a profit for the seller. The company promises an average ticket of around $250 which means $25 an hour at first, then as you progress in ranking, you'll get up to $175 an hour off of that ticket, however what they fail to mention, is that only 25% or lower, of your customers actually buy, and they do not account all of these zero sales into their numbers. I found that the average rep was lucky to sell $5000 total in one summer if they lasted, and they were the lucky ones. I lasted with them for nearly 9 months.

CONT: Before I threw in the towel. I worked for two shops, the New Orleans under Chris Ott, and the Baton Rouge under Erick Ward. If either of you read this post, I can honestly say I'm ashamed to have known you. As a person you guys are great to be around, but as a businessman you should be convicted and sentinced to no less than 10 years in prison. I lost nearly $400 altogether just trying to get to that point where I could make a profit. Before I left to work for the much more steady, and guranted pay of The Home Depot I had made it up to Adviser, which yielded a 25% commission, but even that was not enough. The way they run their business is shaddy from the start, and all of the down time you don't get paid for really doesn't help out. Anyways the "tax deductable" miles, and time on the phone isn't so tax deductable, because after the penalties implied on your taxes due to the company not taxing pay, you'll wind up owning the gov. money. So in short, it's hard to sell their product, they promise the world, but deliver Iraq, and the reccomendations never work out the way they say they will. Now they're not all bad, I did gain some excellent sales skills that would of not been learned otherwise such as how to listen to people and distinguish their wants from their needs and act on those urges. I also learned how to drive the best product or item to maximize profit and customer satisfaction. A lot of jobs only talk of this, but few actually teach this. In short, I'm not totally against Vector as their is opportunity, however, the odds that somebody will be sucessful is very, very low, probably as low as >1%, however they do offer a good sales training program that does build sales character and ability, however some forms of their skills will be considered unethical by most nationally recconized corporations.

THEY ARE ONLY OUT TO GET YOUNG TEENS LIKE THEY ALMOST GOT ME ... DONT MAKE THAT MISTAKE I ALMOST MADE ... IM GLAD THAT I DIDN'T HAVE THE 146 THAT THEY WANTED ME TO PAY EFF VECTOR ... THEIR GRIMEYYYY

I had an interview set up with vector tomorrow morning when I remembered my friend telling me something similar to this company. Well, I looked it up online and found these posts thanks for posting your comments saved me alot of hassle.

Would you people listen to yourselves??

YOU ARE SELLING KNIVES DOOR TO DOOR!!!!

I can't think of anything more pathetic!

There are a thousand other jobs out there where you can make decent money and not have to walk around a neighborhood, knocking on people's doors only to get the door slammed in your face.

WAKE UP!!!

My Bad - Here is the edited one

I don't know why people get so emotionally attached to this topic. I want to know who will win in this war of Hate and Love. Another soap opera going on here www.squidoo.com/vectormarketing You said, Vector Marketing is bunch of con-artist - NO THEY ARE NOT. Vector Marketing is nearly $200,000,000 company with 350 around offices in the United States and Canada. The company has been around since 1981. Come on!

No, you're not selling knives door to door. You generate referrals mostly through practicing with friends or family, or through servicing current customers, or having people you do presentations with call up their friends/family.

And, no, I'm not some marketing exec or whatever for them. I simply want to run my own business in the upcoming years, and I'm thankful that they gave me the skills to bring in plenty of customers and sell to strangers.

I'm not going to lie, it's a frikkin tough job; all commission-heavy jobs are. That doesn't mean it's a scam, however. It means you give it your all and stay positive and take away whatever you can from it. Plenty of my friends also did this job, and yes, they quit early on. That's the reality of sales.

As for the economy deal-- I really can't say whether that is or isn't a legit reason. San Diego is being hit by it, but I can imagine other parts of the country being near impossible to thrive within a Vector position.

Probably 90% of the people who start this job don't get anything from it and quit within the first month or never really get going- and I imagine that's where all these negative reviews came from. Yet, again, that does not make the company full of scam artists and/or liars.

if your going to make allegations maybe you should do your homework. you dont go knocking door to door. you get reccomendations which do work. i have only been working there a week and i have already made over 500 dollars. dont talk about thinsg that you obviously dont know anything about.

seriously people...you come in for an interview and in the interview you are given all the details...demonstrated the products you will work with, given legit info about the company. you are not obligated to take the job...when they call to tell you you've been hired, you dont have to say yes. but when you talk so much crap about a company that you know very little about and depend on comments posted by ppl who have never come in for info..then you become the pathetic one. it is possible to succeed in this company and alot of young people have...but hate to break it to yall..its called work. it is possible if you work and keep a positive mindset and actually try.

why is vector a scam...???

they work with students and reach out for students because of the scholarship opportunities and college credits they can get from just working at vector. so quit worrying about why they only reach out to young people and by the way the ad is in the paper...not only young people call in for info and interviews from the newspaper.

yea the products are expensive but they are high-quality products. college girls spend $300-1000 on a purse. sorry but thats ridiculous. girls who dont have money spend it on EXPENSIVE things. why isnt that a scam or talked about badly??

if the job isnt for you then it isnt for you but please dont go around bashing vector just becuase it isnt a job you would take...and the reason vector hasnt been shut is because it isnt a scam...maybe you should think about that instead of wasting your time on vector and work on getting a mall job to support you.

i have an interview with them tomorrow morning, they randomly called me today and told me i was referred by someone, but im not going to even waste my time with the interview!

Saw a post on craigslist, it looked pretty good. I signed up for their contact info through the web, they instantly signed my telephone # up for a college tuition funding agency that kept calling me nonstop until I asked to be removed from their list. Eventually they called me and asked to setup an interview, asked me if I was 18, a student, and that was it, she wanted me to come into the interview the same day in about 2 hours from the time of her call. The girl asked me why I couldn't go when I told her I had dinner plans with the family, she asked if I could break them and I said NO. She then said that they had an appointment for an interview on a Friday night at 6pm, very strange I mean honestly what "managers" would stay that late on a Friday? I didn't know what Vector was until the girl spelled it out for me and I google'd it, go figure here I am after reading numerous websites with horror stories from college and HS kids across the nation. Won't be going to this for sure, it was funny because the girl on the phone seemed so nice and said she couldn't wait to see me!

Serraya Brautigam in Saint Paul, Minnesota said: i have an interview with them tomorrow morning, they randomly called me today and told me i was referred by someone, but im not going to even waste my time with the interview!

Someone probably did refer you - and got about $20.00 for your name.

As for the guy below, the girl seemed to nice and said she couldn't wait to see you, she was hired because of her voice and trained on exactly what to say.

Marcwgnr in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania said: You know what. Shut the f;&@ up. You have no idea what your talking about. Your probably just pissed off that you had to actually work a little bit to get paid, you lazy screw up. And to the rest of you who think vector marketing is a scam, I welcome you to email me and try to b1tch me out for defending them, cause you know what, the people at my office have been like a family to me from the very beginning. And you know something else, when your sitting at home, on your a$$, unable to find another job, I'll be able to go to the bank and deposit a WEEKLY check for over $1000. who's the stupid one now. Zorvox251@aol.com. Bite me a$$holes

So Vector has a good reputation?

Yes vector has a good rep, it's a branch of a multi-million dollar company called cutco.

Marcwgnr in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania said: Yes vector has a good rep, it's a branch of a multi-million dollar company called cutco.

Ha ha ha, you think that Vector has a good rep?? I guess you've not done ANY research on this company!! They have been sued so many times and ordered to change their deceitful business practices on numerous occasions. Go do some research and then come back here.

This company has one of the worst reputations around . . .

Wow, Bosco. Two threads on the same subject and you are the last post on both. lol. I think you might be obsessed with taking down the company. Good luck with that.

Bosco in Orlando, Florida said: Ha ha ha, you think that Vector has a good rep?? I guess you've not done ANY research on this company!! They have been sued so many times and ordered to change their deceitful business practices on numerous occasions. Go do some research and then come back here.

This company has one of the worst reputations around . . .

I work for cutco you dumbass

Marcwgnr in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania said: I work for cutco you dumbass

Yeah, I got that part Einstein. My point (which you completely missed) is that Vector has a terrible reputation. What, you can't do any research once you start working there?

Anyway, judging from your bio and your last post, you're just the type of professional that Vector loves . . .

Bosco in Orlando, Florida said: Yeah, I got that part Einstein. My point (which you completely missed) is that Vector has a terrible reputation. What, you can't do any research once you start working there?

Anyway, judging from your bio and your last post, you're just the type of professional that Vector loves . . .

you know what, I have done research, and if you had even a single brain cell, you would realize that the "bad reputation" your talking about was started by people who lied about their appointments and performance and then expect to get paid for it. And then they complain when they don't get paid. Why should a person get paid for work they don't do? So next time you read those "bad reputation" rumors maybe you should think a little more about where they're coming from, ok?

Marcwgnr in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania said: you know what, I have done research, and if you had even a single brain cell, you would realize that the "bad reputation" your talking about was started by people who lied about their appointments and performance and then expect to get paid for it. And then they complain when they don't get paid. Why should a person get paid for work they don't do? So next time you read those "bad reputation" rumors maybe you should think a little more about where they're coming from, ok?

Or maybe I could go online and read about all the court cases in which Vector was sued for misleading business practices. Or how about the research that proves that Vector reps made little or no money . . .

Bosco in Orlando, Florida said: Or maybe I could go online and read about all the court cases in which Vector was sued for misleading business practices. Or how about the research that proves that Vector reps made little or no money . . .

Ok, do you work for vector? So how do you know what the reps are making? Let me tell you, I just got a check for $545 for last week. So the reps do get paid. And I've sold stuff to people, and they've all gotten it within 7 and 10 days, so take it from a guy who has actually done the job, and done it right. Vector is a legit company.

Marcwgnr in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania said: Ok, do you work for vector? So how do you know what the reps are making? Let me tell you, I just got a check for $545 for last week. So the reps do get paid. And I've sold stuff to people, and they've all gotten it within 7 and 10 days, so take it from a guy who has actually done the job, and done it right. Vector is a legit company.

Here's just one of many out there:

consumeraffairs.com/news03/save.html

Marcwgnr in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania said: you know what, I have done research, and if you had even a single brain cell, you would realize that the "bad reputation" your talking about was started by people who lied about their appointments and performance and then expect to get paid for it. And then they complain when they don't get paid. Why should a person get paid for work they don't do? So next time you read those "bad reputation" rumors maybe you should think a little more about where they're coming from, ok?

Vector Marketing has admitted to fraud in settlements with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission, the Wisconsin Consumer Protection Dept and the Arizona Attorney General. In Wisconsin 940 Vector Marketing recruits were surveyed and the survey found nearly half of the recruits earned no pay or lost money while working for Vector.

Bosco in Orlando, Florida said: Vector Marketing has admitted to fraud in settlements with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission, the Wisconsin Consumer Protection Dept and the Arizona Attorney General. In Wisconsin 940 Vector Marketing recruits were surveyed and the survey found nearly half of the recruits earned no pay or lost money while working for Vector.

Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that most stuff on the Internet is not true

Marcwgnr in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania said: Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that most stuff on the Internet is not true

Bosco believes everything on the internet is true, that's what he falls back on, others' websites and quotes, because he does no research himself, and has nothing to back up what he says. You can look up any company and find information that is negative on anyone. Do you believe that there is no negative information on Walmart? Are people going to quit shopping there? Do your own research, not just Bosco, everyone. You're not going to get legitimate information listening to Bosco, unless you go to the "interviewing" or "recruiting" links, where actually does have some knowledge. When it comes to MLMs or home businesses forget it, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Ignore him and move on.......

Anti-Bosco in Orlando in Orlando, Florida said: Bosco believes everything on the internet is true, that's what he falls back on, others' websites and quotes, because he does no research himself, and has nothing to back up what he says. You can look up any company and find information that is negative on anyone. Do you believe that there is no negative information on Walmart? Are people going to quit shopping there? Do your own research, not just Bosco, everyone. You're not going to get legitimate information listening to Bosco, unless you go to the "interviewing" or "recruiting" links, where actually does have some knowledge. When it comes to MLMs or home businesses forget it, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Ignore him and move on.......

Thank you, at least someone is backing me up here. I work for vector and everyone there has been really nice to me, so when people say bad stuff about vector, it makes me mad