Progressive Business Publications

Dishonesty part II: Bad employee treatment

9th of Jun, 2011 by Wunderkind

To read more about how the Progressive Business Publications sales representative carries out the scam from start to finish, please see my other posting here:
http://www.scaminformer.com/scam-report/dishonesty-toward-customers-c29944.html

This may come as a surprise, but PBP is not only rotten to their customers/victims, but also to their slaves/employees. I worked in this sad excuse for a business for a mere two months and I was put under such stress by my boss that I became physically ill (like showing signs of ulcers, among other things). This place expects their sales reps to do very specific things and if they don't, they will be called away from their work stations to be lectured. At least this is what happened where I worked.

Here's a list of the things I personally experienced during my employment:

1. Lies from the start. PBP was lying to me before I even got hired. They posted a job ad in the paper saying something like, "Don't work for peanuts! Work for PBP and make between $9 and $15 an hour!" This led me to believe I would be starting out at nine dollars an hour. Nope - you start at minimum wage, and you can allegedly make more if you get lots of sales. But it is literally impossible to make fifteen or more dollars an hour at this job. Not unless you put unauthorized sales through at a rate of 2-3 per hour.

2. Script. Progressive wants their reps to stick to the script, verbatim. No deviating to ask about the weather, or "How are you?" - nothing. You read what is put in front of you and you will get into trouble if you speak even one word that's not scripted. Here's the fun part - they give you two different scripts - one on your computer monitor and a printed one you are expected to have taped to your work station. You are required to read off the printed one when speaking to the secretaries and the digital one for the managers.

3. No paid breaks. I question whether or not this is legal. According to Pennsylvania Labor Laws, any break under 20 minutes MUST be paid. Not at PBP, though - you have to clock out to do anything. Use the restroom, go get a drink or a snack...you are required to end your shift because management certainly isn't going to pay you a fraction of a cent to void your bladder! The only time breaks are paid is for meetings, either on a collective (the whole office) or individual (just you) basis, and you must specifically be told to put your work station into "Training" mode. You also get loudly reminded to put your work station into "End of Day" mode if you wish to use the bathroom right after the meeting because that is two or three whole minutes management might need to pay you for when your butt is not at your desk making them money.

4. Random tape reviews. You are required to record all calls with managers...without the permission of the manager, of course. These tapes are reviewed at random and if you are found to be deviating from the script, you will be lectured heavily. You may be forced to record every single thing you say when your tape reviews are too bad, and then management will yell at you if you do "too well" because they "know you're only doing well because you know they will be listening."

5. No distractions whatsoever. This may or may not be something all employers do, but is still irked me. When you are making calls, you are NOT allowed to be doing anything but making calls and maybe writing down information relevant to those calls. You cannot draw, read, do word searches, write, make things, knit...NOTHING. Even if you're on hold and are perfectly capable of multi-tasking, you will be scolded for doing anything to keep you from going crazy with boredom. This job IS easy. It does NOT require full attention. I was personally scolded for drawing, doing word puzzles, and even ripping up sheets of paper because I was that bored all day long. They want you to sit and stare at your screen for six or seven hours a day and do nothing else. They feel you will make fewer sales if you aren't doing this.

6. No full-time work. The employee contract says you are not allowed to work more than 38.5 hours a week. In short, they don't want to have to give you any benefits. You're just a sales slave, after all.

7. Condescending management. This was, again, likely just my boss. I was called into her office nearly every single week so she could scold me for something or another. Taking too long to make a call, not taking long enough to make a call, trying to explain the subscriptions to customers a little more clearly, not sounding urgent and passionate enough, taking "no" for an answer too soon when it was painfully obvious the person was not interested, drawing while on hold...basically, it became less about making me a better employee and more about going out of her way to find things to yell at me about. They also don't like their employees saying they feel the company is a scam. That'll net you another lecture and their deluded explanation as to why their BBB rating of an F is not a big deal.

8. Meetings before shift start. Management may yank you off the floor for a meeting before your shift begins. You know, meetings that are meant to be paid.

9. Short notice probation. You are told about probation when you start the job, but you could easily be placed on probation and fired within the same day if they decide you aren't a "good fit" for them.

10 . Do not like complaints. I find it to be no coincidence that I was put on probation and fired the day after I sent a letter to headquarters in Malvern regarding my boss' behavior. If you dare complain about any sort of bad treatment from management, your boss WILL find out and they will punish or fire you over it. Progressive is interested in good little slaves who do what they're told, not tattle tales.

11. Flip-flopping. You will get told by management that the job is the hardest job in the world and very stressful, but on another day, management will tell you the job is very easy and just requires literacy.

12. You must love your job. The boss does not like to hear anybody being glad about their shift ending. My boss scolded me for daring to be glad that it was one minute away from my shift being over. Progressive wants you to love your job so much that you are irrecoverably broken-hearted when your shift ends. You will hear about it if you dare express joy at the day ending.

13. Wrong manager. Sometimes you get a manager on the phone who is not quite the person you need. You may mark this particular business to be called back due to this uncertainty. You will also be yelled at for it because it makes PBP look like a bad business when a manager can say we already called them. never mind there are 13 or 14 PBP offices and all of them are likely calling.Never mind Progressive already has a reputation as a bad business.

14. Bad training. Sometimes, management will yell at you for following your training. They will tell you they didn't teach you that way and that you're doing it wrong. Example from my job there? We were taught that when a secretary says, "We're not interested" and hangs up, that number is called back because we need the manager and not the secretary. My boss reprimanded me for doing what i was taught to do.

15. No warnings for others. You are able to leave little notes with certain numbers. Like, "Credit manager is out until next week" or, "Customer service manager on vacation." However, you are not allowed to say things like, "Secretary was rude to me" or, "They hang up when they hear our name. They know who we are." This is because of the idiotic belief by management that if you say anything negative about the business in question, it will cause the next sales rep who takes that same number to enter the call with a bad attitude and lose the sale.

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So keep this all in mind if ever you find yourself considering working for these pricks. This may or may not discourage folks from working there, but I just want anyone who is considering employment with Progressive Business Publications to know what they are possibly getting themselves into.

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