Consumer reviews and reports on scam companies, bad products and services
Direct Effect Marketing
Direct Effect Marketing / Boss Executive Group Job Scam, Not what they appear! Wyoming, Michigan
21st of May, 2011 by User966693
This company contacted me after I applied on Monster.com. In the Michigan economy, I was more than glad to FINALLY get a response from someone. Not only did they send me an email asking me to set up an interview, they also called me to set it up, then sent me an email to confirm. I figured I was pretty lucky. The interview was... strange. The office is dirty, there was almost nowhere to sit to fill out the information they ask you for, and they were playing crude music. The lady behind the counter was swearing every other word. Then I found out she was the one doing interviews. Wow. I was told I would be getting a one on one interview. Instead I was interviewed with another person because the manager "Just wanted to get it over with" It was all very unprofessional. During the interview, I asked if they had a website because I couldn't find one. She said that her "branch" of the company had one I could see called Boss Executive Group (http://www.bossexec.net/). She also said that there were many "branches" of the business, each operating like an independent company. The job itself, we were told, was an advertising system that targeted the area around a business who hired them to direct foot traffic into their door. She said, for example, that the company would host events nearby and send people in the general direction of the place. Well, the interview didn't go so well, but I was surprised when I got a call later that night from the manager asking me to come in to do a "job shadow" to see if I was right for the job, for a full 8 hours the next day. Okay, cool. It was then I decided to search Boss Executive Group and I'm glad I did. I found hundreds of stories from people who went through similar job hiring experiences, only to find out it was a crappy job using questionably legal methods to sell coupon books door to door, making only commission. I immediately sent an email to Direct Effect Marketing asking why they were associated with the group and if they were any different. I also asked for an explanation of the actual job description and pay. I decided not to go to the "job shadow" until I heard back. Now Direct Effect Marketing seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth since no one is returning my calls or emails. I can only assume they are running the same sort of scam, promising people a legit job in "marketing" and then driving you out into the middle of nowhere, dropping you off, and then making you sell coupon books for less than $4 an hour. Hopefully this report will help keep others from wasting their time and effort with this company.
Comments
4865 days ago by Anonymous
Thank you for posting this. I almost took time off to go for an interview. I wish more people would report some of the "I got a great job for you" scammers out there. The market seems to be full of them, as if the unemployed have money to be driving around for bogus offers.
4858 days ago by Tigger1965
We completely understand the confusion and disappointment from both potential candidates and the lack of professionalism is unacceptable. However the facts are that neither one of you spent the day job shadowing which is the exact reason for the job shadow itself, to see if you qualify to represent the sports entertainment industry. Our promotions and coupon books are far from bogus. As a matter of fact we are the most dynamic direct advertising team in the Midwest. Our company's portfolio speaks for itself from the NBA to MLB from the best golf resorts to casino's and many many more. We do have a different approach and are very proud of it, this is a booming industry and we are at the top. We actually have no problem letting all candidates know that we go directly to the public, business to business, residential, and events; what ever the clients want us to do we do. Saving consumers $$ is our number one focus. After 10 great years in Grand Rapids we continue to grow and we are far from a scam. We look for people with ambition, swagger, image, and game!! If you just want a job we have it, and if you want satiability we have it. Many people have found a home with us. Next time instead of just reading a comment online you should actually find out for yourself all I know is thank God I did, I'm proud of our company. Oh ya Billy Joel is far from crude ?? Good luck job hunting ..
4855 days ago by Anonymous
So why the unprofessional "secretary/ interviewer" with rude comments and the dirty office? Whether you're legitimate or a scam, clean it up. She wouldn't last an hour in my office, but then, maybe she's there for other reasons. (wink) I own a franchise of a respectable coupon magazine and just received a resume today from an applicant who happens to work for this company in Michigan. I was curious about them as I've enever heard of them, so I'm checking hem out. Very interesting to say the least. I hope they continue to shoot themselves in the foot.
4852 days ago by Anonymous
notice he didn't even bother to acknowledge the crappy pay. thanks for saving me $3 and a long bus ride to this place. LOL
4844 days ago by Udontknowme
I am glad I am not the only one who has had a negative experience with this 'Company'.I just got done with my 4th day and was told at the end of a LONG day going around cold calling all over Lansing that 'I shouldnt waste anymore time here'.And that the woman I was working with had the audacity to tell me that from 'mom to mom' I should go work at Mcdonalds.I guess it didnt matter that I made 4 sales on my first day and didnt get paid for those.Or the fact that I wasted time, money and energy cold calling people and getting chewed out when I didnt ''sell'' enough my first week.Wait, Didnt you tell me that 'Sales Doesnt Matter'?? Thats the first lie they tell you.OF COURSE its about sales! Secondly i was told that if hired I would be getting paid 10 an hour + any commission I made!!! What they dont tell you is that those are lies!! You dont get an hourly wage and all the money you DO get goes to the manger for ''Gas, Food.etc'' expenses!!! I`m sorry what kind of company expects you to make alot of money your first week out????? What kind of company sends you out all over town and any money u do get goes to pay for the gas and food for that day?And ever since i started there, all the people(about 5) that DID go on the job shadow, NEVER came back!!!Why would that be? Because they dont have'swagger'? Thats laughable.And just because I demanded to be paid for the 32 + hours I worked DOESNT mean I am asking for ''WELFARE'.
4838 days ago by Heather47
Totally agree. I have no idea how these people stay in business. I researched it some more and found this:

"I was also suckered into interviewing with this company five years ago. It is appalling that they are still in business.

A newspaper ad was forwarded to me and I called. The circumstances of the "interview" were exactly the same as the original poster's experience. Dirty office, unprofessional staff and an "owner" who seemed arrogant and not at all on the up and up. He presented himself as the owner, whether that was accurate, I have no idea. His appearance was more typical of a shady used car dealer than a proud business owner and he frankly gave me the creeps.

The latest ads indicate that you should "be able to work with the opposite sex." That to me is a red-flag about the behavior of the staff."


And then this article:

"You go in for an "interview" that they called/e-mailed you for a day after you applied, and find out its a meet n greet "first round" interview, where somehow you impress them enough to make it to the second round the next day, always at 9 am. Of course, I was one of the "very few" chosen for this "honor". Naturally, they were also interviewing for "Phoenix solutions" or something like that. The next day, they kept me waiting for part 2. I was made to sign a form agreeing not to get paid for my "employee shadowing". While I waited, the "HR manager" called every resume on the list to tell them they'd been chosen to come in for an interview. How could I have been one of the "very few" chosen if they hadn't even finished round 1? Also, my "future boss" was screaming at the other employees. I heard through the door. My second part wasn't too bad as my "account executive" didn't make me do any work, I just talked to him and stuff. Then I filled out a questionnaire to see if I had been chosen for the third interview, which of course I was. It wasn't an interview at all; he looked at my form, answered three minor questions vaguely about the company, and told me I was hired. I start work Monday LOL. I suspected it was a scam while I waited in the office, and figured out it wasn't a good job around the third interview. Also keep an eye for XL Sports, GI Marketing, WAVE Advertising, or Direct Effect Marketing. All scams too"


I'm posting a warning on every job posting site I find that they're affiliated with. I want to save everyone time and money and hope that this horrible abortion gets run into the ground.
4760 days ago by JDC
I worked for Direct Effect Marketing for a little over a month and saying i excelled in this field is an understatement, I made it to "leadership" in my 1st week meaning i sold over 40 in a week. any dumbass can do this job. honestly, i was making over 100 bucks a day and getting all the bonuses they offered if u sold x amount of products, which at the time was Holland coupon books and Uccellos certificates, but wow the amount of shadyness i felt in this job was beyond awful, everytime i asked about how do taxes work at the end of the year both the manager and the ass manager told me "everything we do is a tax right off" so hard to believe. and being a leader i got to be the one doing the interviews and phone calls, and i feel like i was the only one that was being 100% honest with the people i was interviewing and most of them didnt even make it through the 8 hour job shadow, which is understandable i wouldnt wanna be all the way out in holland watching some dumbass sell coupon books door to door regardless if i was selling alot or not, they get nothing for that day. Also they tell you that lunch is on them for the job interview which was just a 5 dollar bill, that cant buy you anything. and i read a comment someone said about they try to feed you "sales dont matter" and like what he said its bullshit, it does very much you make commission and that is it! No hourly salary like they say in their craigslist ad, when they trained me how to interview they specifically told me to make it seem like they wont get the job what they do is have me tell them they probably wont get it "since there isn't enough room in our office" but when i send them into the management they too act like they wont be able to make it in and say we were thinking about hiring another person that shadowed today over you, but if you agree to start now you will be hired instead of him/her. After finding out how much corruption & lying there really was in this job one day in the field i just left with a pretty dumb excuse. accidentally not realizing i still had about 15 of their products with me still, i was getting some pretty nasty phone calls and messages from Paul (the Manager) getting Threats and some as bad as "death threats" i dont find that very professional...Sorry if im going all over, there is just alot of really shady shit that they do.

The moral of my story is that YES direct effect marketing is pure door to door, thats it, full of liars, i cant tell you its a pure scam but its deff the most deceitful situation that I have ever been in.

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