London Marketing Services (another job scam)
It seems I've had an interview invite for another scam. I applied for them via totaljobs.com on the 2nd July. I don't think these are related to the original one I posted about before, but it is very similar.
London Marketing Services
Lower Ground Floor
Shand House
14 - 20 Shand Street
London SE1 2ES
Tel: 020 7234 3560
Fax: 020 7234 3569
http://www.londonmarketingservices.com
Edit: Their Nottingham 'branch': (Thanks Nicholas!)
Suite 17, Third Floor
Minerva House
Spaniel Row
Nottingham, NG1 6EP
Cardiff office: (Thanks Nels!)
Sophia House
28 Cathedral Road
Cardiff, CF11 9LJ
They operate in a very similar way - you go in for a first interview, they act too busy to really talk to you about the role, then quickly invite you for a second interview - which is essentially being asked to go out and work for them unofficially for the day. The role will typically involve lots of door to door or street sales with no basic pay (commission only - not itself a scam), no official contract of employment (they ask you to sign a contract that states you are self-employed), and will struggle to get any of the commission owed. They don't make any of this clear to you when you are interviewed (and I'm not sure they even make the self-employment clear either).
In addition, from this link, it seems that they are not registered at this address (there is only Cameron Taylor Brady, Clarke Bond Group, and Komex Clarke Bond - who may or may not also be running a similar scam, as it's common for these companies to use many different names to avoid detection). "London Marketing Services" are also not registered with Companies House, which is the national registry of all registered companies in the UK.
They lure you in with promises of fast track management schemes and benefits, but the reality is that you are unlikely to get anywhere with this company. The only one who benefits is the owner of London Marketing Services.
(Found me through Google? Check out my previous two blogs on this subject - Job scam doing the rounds and More on the job scam.)
Labels: job scam
posted by Lecari @ 7/14/2009 02:52:00 pm
186 Comments:
I was invited to an Interview at their 'Nottingham offices', which was a dodgy office space, with one person on a laptop, and two so called managers! After a quite frankly speedy and shoddy interview (two of us at a time) I was left with a lot of apprehension. Apparently I have made it through till a 12-8 assessment centre tomorrow, after doing my research I am definitely not going!
Do not fall for this scam like I did, it may seem ok till you get to their 'offices' and its blatantly a hired out office space for a couple of days! Be aware
Thanks for sharing your experience! I couldn't find much on the internet about them (only a few websites), so it really helps to hear from others!
Would you mind sharing the address of their Nottingham 'office'?
Their so called Nottingham office was suite 17,3rd floor,Minerva House,Spaniel Row,Nottingham. With no mention what so ever of London Marketing Services.
Thanks for the address - hopefully it will help others to avoid falling for a similar scam.
This company (and any affiliated companies) is definately a SCAM! I cannot believe that people are taking advantage of graduates who are desperately seeking work. The offices are clearly just a 'stage' of sorts, paper signs and very little furniture etc.
I read this blog before I went for the interview but wanted to check it out for myself. I can confirm everything that was previously mentioned. These people are not going to offer you a job, or if they do likelihood is it will just be door-to-door sales. The person who interviewed me couldn't actually give me any info on the supposed 'Management Training Scheme'!
Can I ask which "offices" you went to?
This happens with me as well.
I been through both of the interview and they told that in 1 year you will be earning £70k. They told that they've just open this "Office" (in Nottingham). When I ask about number of employees and company history, the manager looks like just winging it. In the first interview they even don't tell you what is the job about.
Thanks for the info guyz!
Sorry for broken English
Thanks for posting this up. I got all excited by my email for nothing.
Thanks for publishing this. I recieved an email from them today and was skeptical about the lack of information available on them.
Definitely won't be giving them a ring then! Thanks again.
@MurrayLippiatt - glad to have helped! What branch was that, the one in London?
It was the one in Nottingham. But especially after what's been said here it doesn't sound like I even want to go to their "office".
Two of my friends have been roped in by things like this as well. One of them swore in the interview as a test to see if they'd ask him back for the second interview and they did. Definite sham!
I was due to go for a second round interview tomorrow having come away from the first in an extremely uneasy mood. I had thought to give it a try as the "manager" I met with was very convincing at the initial "interview".
I came out of the ten minute chat very uneasy and turned to my fellow interviewee and asked him what he had thought. He in turn asked whether the job was commission based or salaried and we both realised we had been given no straight answers.
I pride myself on not being taken in by others and am embarassed at this situation. I am, however, glad to see I am not the only one in this situation.
For reference I went to the Cardiff office based in Sophia House, Cathedral Road (The other companies in the building seem genuine enough). They said that they had literally been in place for 2 weeks, although the magazines on the table indicated that they had been in the building for at least 2 months.
If they are genuine then someone else is welcome to grasp the "opportunity" I have just turned down, and good luck to them, but I have better things to do than go door to door for a day (something which I despise - if someone wants to donate to a cause or sign up to something there is plenty opportunity without being hassled in your home).
Rant over, hope someone finds it helpful.
Thank you so much for your guys information. I went to the 'first' interview today and was selected to the interview tomorrow from 12:00 to 20:00. I am definately not going!!!!
How they can do that to us!
Hi, my sister was invited to an interview with LMS in Cardiff tomorrow, but my Dad just rang me having done a google search on the company and finding a load of stuff about it being a scam.
Thank you all for alerting us to this, you've saved my sister from wasting time and money on travelling, and potentially being duped.
I just called London Marketing Services to establish their position on the whole 'scam' accusation, and they said they were aware of it and seeking legal action (really? Good one). I asked the lady a lot of questions and think I've got to the bottom of it:
- the job is not door to door residential sales, however it is 100% out-in-the field selling
- you will never set foot in an office
- she tried to use words like 'events' and 'promotional' to endear the job to me, but she basically means going round the country to shopping malls, cinemas etc. and trying to get people to sign up to new products (e.g. a phone/internet plan, a new energy supplier etc.)
- there are two salary plans;
1) 100% commission based
2) part annual salary, 40% commission based
Basically it is a sales job with no office, no 'marketing' experience, and terrible pay. They are preying on innocent graduates, don't let it be you.
I got an interview for this company today, which i was suprised at because it all seemed to happen so quickly and easily, and was pretty chuffed.
however after looking at this page i will not be going.
I thought it seemed a little strange as they seemed to have gone to great lengths to get me there- and surly if the job is what they say it is, then it should be the other way round?
This company seemed to have stepped up there act a little- they now have a professional looking site- www.marketingservices.com, they have also sent me a number of quite believable emails, one even outlining the 'position' that i would be filling. which seems to be, after reading this, a total lie. the suject of the email was even 'trainee marketing role'.
I think they probabley do offer you a job after the interview, but it would be one of low pay, and completely different to the one advertised.
Thankyou for the information on here, it has saved me wasting one of my percious days off!!
cheers guys
Nels - thanks for the Cardiff address, will add it to the post.
Lou82 - thanks for the info. I think getting an annual salary from them would be very difficult, and probably only later when you are higher up the 'ranks' (because surely everyone would ask for a basic salary, if it was offered?).
Rebecca - yes, I would imagine that the 'job' wouldn't be at all as advertised, just doing door to door or field selling. It's certainly not a marketing role! And even if there was a 'real' marketing job, they seem to hire everyone who they interview - how many roles do they have available? Surely no legit company could afford to hire hundreds of people for the same role!
They are also trying to get you to do this scam in luton now too!
Address being
TELFORD HOUSE
102 COLLINGDON STREET
LUTON
LU1 1RX
I think it is disgusting that they can be allowed to do this. I was very aprehensive about the whole thing whilst i was waiting they literally ran 20 people and asked them to come in for interviews.
I am so glad my friends boss found this for me!
They are also trying to get you to do this scam in luton now too!
Address being
TELFORD HOUSE
102 COLLINGDON STREET
LUTON
LU1 1RX
I think it is disgusting that they can be allowed to do this. I was very aprehensive about the whole thing whilst i was waiting they literally ran 20 people and asked them to come in for interviews.
I am so glad my friends boss found this for me!
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Thanks for the heads up, had an 'interview' there lined up too. Doubt i'll waste my time now. Apparently these are all the same companies: http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/02920226368
Just thought i'd chuck in my tuppence worth....
I used to work for one of these companies. It was called Dreamland Marketing and was part of the Cobra Group owned by some Greek American guy called Chris Niarchos. I worked for them a whole 3 months and made money through hard sales in an ethical manner to as I got to be really good at sales.
If you can sell like this and then train a team, you can set up a new office and then that make over-rides on the sales of their staff. Thats how you can earn a lot of money from there. It all depends on the product you sell too. you may sell gas, you may sell vouchers, and there are different earnings to be made depending on this.
I can't speak for the company you talk of but it will employ similar tactics to the company that I worked for, but if I did know that it was door to door, i doubt i'd have turned up like some of the posts here. I for one was glad I did.
I wanted to show from the viewpoint that it works and gave me skills when no-one else would take a chance on my "no previous experience".
I was invited to an interview at the London office today and surprised at their interview process. All the staff were extremely friendly and well-informed however because no salary was mentioned and I was told to wear comfortable shoes on being invited back to the 'second stage' tomorrow I assumed it must be commission-based and therefore did some more digging online, found this blog...and also spoke to a friend who'd worked in this company on arrival to London from South Africa...he ended up making £50 a day around Christmas time selling toys door to door in 2003 or 2004, which is pretty good however in the current economic climate, I wouldn't bet on earning a good enough salary through commission.
As a recent marketing graduate however the first thing I did notice about the office was that nothing was branded, the walls were painted red and yellow (the site is black, blue, white)...which gave me my first indication of all not being completely up to expectations. I think its a good gig for people looking to get their first sales role for their CV but with 5 years of previous work experience and a 1st class degree I'm holding out for something with a basic salary. Good Luck to all!
Heya Guys. I think it all just has to be taken with a pinch of salt. I'm working there at the moment and yes it is door to door sales essentially, however there is the possibility of getting to management fairly quickly if your smart about it. I dunno about the 'paper signs and hired office' comment - I've been working in the same office for the past few months. I think they were dooping people a bit to start with but I know a few people now who have been promoted to manager. Essentially through the gtraining your being used as a way of making money for them (company earns 60% on each sale, you earn 40%) then when you get to manager you then become the one managing the sales staff (and reeping the benefit). The main thing is that most poeople dont last through the selling part so never reach manager (I see a lot of you never even went to second interview). It is worth doing if you believe you can make it as you most probably will - just remember that it is self employed so effectively the harder you work the more you get out of it. Its a good opp[ortunity but only if you keep your wits about you (there are those in the office who think they're gna be a manager within a couple of months and then get bogged down with work and cant be bothered) If your willing to face the climb you can get to the top. hope this helps.
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I was invited to come down to their London 'office' for an interview via email today and was quite chuffed, considering how hard it is getting an interview nowadays let alone a job. Although flattered at how perfect for the role I seemed to be, I decided to check out their very professional-looking website. I presume I am not the only one who read the entire thing and came out the other side still not having a clue as to what it is they actually do. All it consisted of were alot of very ambiguous words and to the untrained job seekers eye, seemed pretty solid. However I still and an uneasy feeling with their lack of information so I decided to do some more digging on the internet, and I am so glad I did. Thank goodness I found this page, I was beginning to think I'd gone nuts. I doubt they will be getting a phone call for me to book my 'interview'. Thank you guys for your sound advice!
THE SAME FOR THIS COMPANY.....IN FACT THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF "OFFICES" UNDER A AN ORGANISATION CALLED THE COBRA GROUP, ANY OFFICE WHO ARE UNDER THEM IS A SCAM.
THEY TELL PEOPLE THAT THEY CAN BECOME "OWNERS" WITHIN A YEAR AND MAKE 100K A YEAR WHEN IN FACT, THATS NOT TRUE. THEY EVEN PROMOTE YOU TO A STAGE WHAT THEY CALL "LEADER" TO KEEP U INTERESTED IN ONE DAY BECOMING AN OWNER. NO ONE FALL FOR THIS. REMEMBER THEY'RE PROFESSIONAL SALESMAN,SO THEY CAN EASILY SELL THE JOB TO YOU.
ITS 100% COMMISSION, CERTAIN WEEKS I WOULD MAKE RIDICULOUS MONEY LIKE £50!!
HERES ONE OF THEIR OFFICES BUT THERE ARE PLENTY MORE ALL OVER ENGLAND
MAXIMUS GLOBAL LTD
55 BONDWAY, VAUXHALL
LONDON
ALSO THERE ARE OFFICES CALLED FELIX MARKETING, INNOVATION ORGANISATION, BLUEPRINT ORG. AND MANY MORE, BE CAREFUL
I JUST RECIEVED AN EMAIL TODAY FROM LONDON MARKETING SERVICES, SO IM GUESSING THIS IS ALSO 100% COMMISSION ??....HAS ANYONE BEEN TO AN INTERVIEW WITH THESE ???
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I have also been invited to a second interview which is tomorrow 9.30am start at their Cardiff office. I will be showing up promptly for my days work. But it won't be the type of work they'll be expecting me to do. I'll be standing outside their office with a print off of this blog which I'll be showing to anyone that looks to be approaching. If I can help stop just one person who wasn't as fortunate as myself in discovering this blog from wasting their day working for these wretches then I'd have a had a bloody good weekend... Thanks for the heads up all.
Thanks guys...I am from glasgow n just got a call from cardiff office for graduate training programme from London Marketing Services (LCM), got so much excited that i thought of shifting my base to cardiff from glasgow once i am selected. But now thanks to you all that i have saved my trip expense to cardiff for interview. Once again thank you so much to all for saving my time and money....have a nice weekend to all....
I even thought this was a scam when I was applying, but seeing their website I thought that it may have actually been legit.
Then I get an email from "admin@londonmarketingservices.co.uk" and the alarm bells go off again. Why wouldn't Bridget have her own email address if she handles recruitment? But then I thought to myself it must be so she isn't bothered directly by every applicant.
I called up to book in a time for my interview. "Can I speak to Bridget, please?". A South African accent replies that she is out of the office but I need to speak to someone else. But I couldn't make their name out and my phone cut out of signal.
I then rang back and just decided to ask for Bridget again. This time I couldn't make out what company name the "receptionist" gave but when I asked to speak to dear old Bridget she told me to hold and passed me through to, wait for it, herself posing as Bridget!
All they asked from me was availability for interview. No other questions. They booked me in for 2.30pm today.
From that point I was 99.99% sure it was a scam. But I thought I'd go along anyway as I really need to find work that isn't bar work at the moment as I have been out of industry for a year now after I went travelling.
Even googling them wasn't returning any scam results. Until I just typed in London Marketing Services and let Google's autofil tool suggest I search for LMS scam.
Crestfallen, I've found this site and had my worst fears confirmed. I think VBRJ would be too good for this lot! Anyway, thanks to the original blogger for raising the issue and all the replies that Google managed to syndicate and pick up.
I was in two minds whether or not to give them the courtesy of informing them I wouldn't be attending todays interview. In the end I setted for a snappy email that probably won't bother them in the slightest:
--
Hi,
I won't be able to make the interview today as I need to find a job that is advertised truthfully.
Thanks for wasting my time though.
--
Bitter, me? No! :)
I honestly cannot believe this, but she emailed me back saying she was sorry to have "wasted my time".
I mean, for goodness sake, what did she think she was doing if, in my original email, I stated that I was only interested in account executive roles.
Beggars belief. Perhaps these people are as deluded as they are piss takers!
Andrew - haha, that is quite ridiculous. At least they replied though - don't think anyone else has gotten a reply, let alone an 'apology'! (No matter how insincere!)
Oh My gosh!!...
I had the all day assessment day at the luton branch last week and have been offered a job!..Knew it was to good to be true!... The day went well.. i was shocked at first when i saw that we went to a service station to sell an American leading Makeup Artist's make up range.... but when it came to the wage part i was horrified.. I have a job at the moment the management Pee me off and i could quite tomoz and give know notice if i wanted but at least i know what I'm taking home each month... i have bill's to pay, rent, phone bill etc.. from each product i sell they are telling me i get £5... what if i make no sales in my first few weeks that means no money for me.. i may as well quite my current job and go on JSA! LOL... they then tell me i have really good management qualities and that I'd progress in less than 1-2 months and believe it or not... what a great example the person they pair me up with has progressed in 8 weeks and is also going up to assistant manager...
I was there till coming up to 8 o'clock and they were calling numerous people to come in for an interview.... what type of company call's a future employee at 7:45 at night!!!.... Me and the other candidate both looked at each other in shock... we couldn't believe what we'd seen in the day and what we saw when we got back to the office... what's worse it that some of the staff i met today were so lovely and it's a shame that some of them don't know what they've got themselves into... they've progressed to level 2 but the likelihood of them progressing any further is so slim!!!...
What an awful scam!!! especially in a credit crunch.. people are so desperate for jobs and they just take the mic!!!.. i also notice that all the applicant's were so young!!.. I'm 18... and the people who worked for the company were max. of about 23 too...seems like there targeting young people and grad's that are desperate for some money to go raving with!
Thanks a lot people! My wife was pretty serious about attending an interview till we found this!
Had my interview with the company on friday, for a "marketing trainee position". Again we were interviewed in twos, which was surprising, although when the other applicant left I had the opportunity to enquire what type of marketing it was. The description she gave was face to face marketing of products, so basically sales, and she gave me the hard sell on how i could become management in under a year. Immediatly I became suspicious, as sales and marketing are two completely different things! Found this web page and now im devestated that it is in all likelihood a complete scam and will not be going to there second "field training day" on monday. The entire experience has made me very angry that this company can get away with such blatant exploitation and miss selling of roles.
It seems to me that they have now started interviewing under a different name also, perhaps because they have realised that people were exposing them on the internet, but I am 99.9% sure that that are the same as Horizon Marketing, or expand-horizons! I have been invited to attend tomorrow for a preliminary interview for Graduate Marketing roles at Telford House in Luton. Which seems to have been mentioned for London Marketing also! Has anyone been to an interview with Horizon Marketing? It would be good if you tell us of your experience.
Shit....I was at my first interview today and...oh silly me..was actually planning to leave my current job on monday and start at LMS hahha...oh, god!The interviewer told me I`m the best candidate today and then called to offer me the job!wow!i was amazed!Guess I`m not going on monday :(
Hey,I am here to share my experience too.
I have found their offer on gumtree.com, and I v been invited for an interview in the London office.The 23rd of october 2009 at 2pm, I got really excited, I am looking for a job and it is really tough.I was delighted to see that someone would consider my application.As usual, I turned up 15 mn earlier, and I discover a lossy, crappy office with a waiting room filled with around 12 peoples having interview at the same time....After a while I started to speak to the guy next to me and we googled London marketing servies cm, Guess what?? We ended up on this blog.I decided to go anyway, and I asked them some question.With the answers I expected, the so called manager told me that she wantedme to come back on monday.....I think she will wait bit.....
I wasted a day, strtessed or no reasons, spent money for nothing, it is unbelievable that some people aer doing this kind of tings....
Go to hell LMS...
I am so glad ive come across this blog.. im due for an interview tomorrow at 2.30 and was very happy thinking i might be getting back into working again.. but ive literally just read through ALL of these comments and am saying thank you to everyone for leaving these comments!! i shall not be going.. or maybe i will.. (as i have nothing better to do) and show them right up by printing off this page and taking it into them.. ha!
I was invited to an interviev at they london office today(26.10) 2.30 it seemed a little strange as they seemed to have gone to great lengths to get me there, but as usually I google them decided to check out their very professional-looking website, read the entire thing and came out the other side still not having a clue as to what it is they actually do- like few of the people who posted their comments here.OH and one more thing it was "dear old Bridget" who spoke to me to!!! thanks guys for that blog
I am so angry. I did the interview, did second interview then through apparent "good reccomendation" i got offered the job. Did my first day yesterday. 12 hours!! An absolute joke. and the same, they said its a 10 month training program to become a manger of one the new branches. Im so angry in myself for falling for it especially as I have been looking for work for so long and goign well below what im qualified as. It suchs a moral breaker and just angers me!! Cant believe I fell for the story that one guy is so good he earns 20k a week!! Thank god I said im not doing it anymore. The search goes on. Good thing you made this public or else I would have felt useless for passing up a "job".
Thank you all so much. I was supposed to have an interview today (not anymore after reading your posts). You are wonderful people and I hope we all get great jobs in the future! Thank you so much for warnings!
I also too went for this scammy company to their interview, half ashamed because I gave up an afternoon of actual paid work I was doing at the time but half glad as I met a really nice pretty lady who we both had our interview with and annoyed the so called "managing director" in their Luton "office" during our interview. I had alarm bells ringing right from day 1. The website looks so fake with no real information other than crap.
When I went to the interview I was expecting to see a building with "London Marketing Services" written on it. Turns out they just share a RENTED OUT office in a block of offices. I walked inside and their office is just two rooms. A waiting room that looks like it was put up yesterday with just chairs in it and the interview room with just a desk and two chairs. As I sat waiting in the waiting room I noticed I wasnt the only one waiting to be interviewed and saw a the nice pretty woman and a guy. I started talking to them raising suspicision as I had come prepared with page load of questions I had about the company.
Anyway me and this lady both go in and only get asked 2 questions for the whole interview! The rest we just have to listen to this director blabbing on about how you can progress and how you can progress and didn't shut up about it. I tried to keep a straight face and ask constructive questions but the lady with me was around 30 something (i am 18) and didnt want to be messed around. She made me laugh as she didn't let the sales pitch go without a battle.
If there is anyone reading this, PLEASE SAVE YOUR TIME AND MONEY. It is a scam. I checked with Companies House, not a registered company and no accounts. A dodgy phone number, no one accountable.
As someone said earlier on the comments, these are sales people and their job is to persuade you. Well a person with half a brain will come to some doubt about this company. Mine and this ladies interview was supposed to have been 10 minutes but because and this woman kept interrupting with our questions (DESPITE BEING TOLD WE CAN'T ASK ANY IN THIS STAGE!) took it to around 30 minutes!
Of course I got asked to come back for the second interview but of course declined immediatley and told the person who phoned me back at 8pm that I was disgusted. I wasn't going to give up a day of paid work just to go around watching other people sell.
LMS - You're fake and people are starting to find out!
it was only by chance i saw this blog as when i typed in london marketing services google automatically added the word scam, i had a call from these whackos, with shand house as their address,they sent me a rather lengthy email how my skills and past experience are exactly what they are looking for offering me a preliminary interview with them and explained that i would have a second interview afterwords,i have never worked in sales so i have no experience whatsoever.I have been looking for a new job for a while now and i certainly wont be wasting my time with them
many thanks for writing this blog
Hi Peeps, I'm sooooo really ashamed with LMS, they are sooo fake n need 2 be caught!!!! They need to be on Watchdog! I actually was prepared from the day before n cn't believe tht I wasted my time! I wnt 4 a 'preliminary interview' yday n checked out their rented office, what I saw was loads of ppl waiting to be interviewed 4different companies but I think they were just 1 but under a diff name! Got to the interview room n some french guy blabbin 2 me and this other dude about da company n tht their suppliers r talk talk (shit company) and victoria jackson from the cosmetics industry! then he goes on to say about the management training program and how we cn progress up, he told us tht 61 applicants r doin this now n he told us tht it takes 7-8 years 2 become a manager! he asked us 2 questions each, 1 about what r the qualities we luk for in a job n the other 1 about our contact details! wt a crap interview n from them on I knew tht it didn't seem right! He told us tht he will let us know between 5 and 6pm if we got round to the second interview, I got a call at 6.20pm, Im thinking isn't this late 2 be calling people up 2 come for a second interview for the next day, that doesn't give me time 2 prepare! Some guy called me and told me I got through 2 da second interview and to wear comfortable shoes and to bring a coat and wear smart clothes!!! Then I came across this blog n thanks ppl for posting ur comments on, now I know what I would be doing for my second interview, going door to door selling crap stuff and not getting paid, so basically you would be doing the work and not getting paid for it! If I went to the second interview n seen I would be doing tht, I would have walked off da other way 2 home and be even more angry for wasting money on transport n for wasting my time! I have got better things 2 do den waste my time on this crap, scam, shit, rubbish company that is LMS-what a shit name!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I then got a call 2day morning if they thought I was coming 2day, I turned them down after seeing this blog, good job I did, I then told them 'can I please speak to Bridget Wells' n some japenese girl came to the phone posing as Bridget! I was so shocked n knew tht I would not want 2 waste my time with this fake company!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey guys,
Bit of a low down on how the system works from the inside. I am very ashamed to say I used to work for their recruitment side of things in Cardiff, but quit after about a month as i couldn't stand what they were doing to people who were genuinely seeking work! (so you know they also scammed me, telling me it was an admin job when all it was was calling people all day every day for interviews!)
These companies have about 30 interviews every day of the week, and look at how few people work there overall, that's gotta tell you something!
What you really need to watch out for is that when a new 'owner' aka office manager is given the opportunity to relocate and set up their own 'office' they start off as London Marketing Services in whatever town/city they go to. However the 'owner' can choose whatever name they like for their new 'company', so their name will change! Best thing you can do to check is look at the LMS website, and the company's website that you are suspicious of. If they look at all similar, get out while you can!
I've spent my time since I left persuading the lovely people who were sucked in to leave, as so many of them are really intelligent and could get real jobs, unfortunately some are too brainwashed to get out, which is really really sad.
To those of you that have been scammed and had your time wasted, I am sorry on behalf of anyone who has worked there and feels the same as I do now. I apologise for the horrible, immoral attitude of this company. I hope you all find jobs in companies which are deserving of you.
Wow i actually found this whole thing quite amusing. I woke up today to see i got an invitation for interview in my email. I was thinking cool that's awesome and continued with my day thinking of calling later on. Surprisingly few hours later i got a phone call from the company asking me to come in for interview tomorrow. I thought that's weird first of all no company just rings you up with no prior appointment let alone invite you for interview the following day. Anyway i went with it then received the confirmation email and decided to check the website. As someone else mentioned there were no details as to what is this company doing.And what is with the photo of London Bridge??? Anyway i saw the post code of the address and bells started ringing that i've seen that same post code in other ads on gumtree.com. So i checked and voila! another 2 companies on the same address. Obviously that was dodgy but not nearly as the fact that the job ads are almost identical. Naturally i googled both of the companies and here i am reading about job scams all day. I am not going to bother wasting my time with going to this interview i am after marketing job and refuse to be a part of brainwashing scamming companies that feed off desperate people.
Hello! Well, I have just got back from storming out of the 2nd interview - thought things were suspicious after the weird 1st screening, but unemployed and desperate for work was happy to indulge in the 2nd. It is an absolute joke - they bamboozle you with company satistics and the dream of earning £75,000 in 5 months - but its unrealistic and dishonest. I was asking simply business questions (about profit margins for the clients etc) and each one was met with some floppy reply then followed up with company spiel. After not getting a solid answer on anything, I told them to where to go, and have just sent them a stinking email. I am furious that i wasted my time indulging in this cowboy company.
Oh god...just got back from a first interview in Luton with these clowns. Felt dodgy from the start and a very temporary looking office. Calls to those who had a second interview confirmed this, since they were told they would be there all day and to bring trainers! Actual interview very vague and odd (was sitting in a random armchair!) and made it sound like a jobs pyramid scheme. So to the really sweet girl I met in "reception", Alexa, make sure you know what you are getting into! Same goes for Andrew and Issac who got through to stage two.
I just got a phone call from London Marketing Services (in response to my email) - I had it out with them, told them exactly what I thought, he tried to explain things in more detail and apologised a lot about the poor girl who 'interviewed' me - she's probably going to get a bollocking which isn't fair, but I feel better for telling him exactly what I thought - and they are re-funding my train ticket which is something - and I am impressed that they called me - certainly didn't expect that.
Thanks for the heads up on this company, I have received and invitation to a first round interview and after reading this blog will not be attending. I would also like to draw everyones attention to 2 other companies that are pulling similar scams, Powerhouse Direct and Oval Innovations, I attended a first round interview with Powerhouse Direct and was invited back to a second 12-8 assessment day - I didnt go because the whole thing smelt of a scam (bizarre first interview, little job info, apparently over 30 interviewees per day and a rather slimey con man interviewer)Someone I know did go to the second interview and spent all day doing door-to-door sales and was told to make his own way home after suggesting the role would not be for him. These companies were recruiting in the Brighton area but may also be recruiting closer to London. I will be contacting the recruitment agency to suggest they force such companies to be more transparent with their job descriptions.
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My and my brother were both caught by them, my brother by horizon marketing in luton and me by Jk marketing in maidstone... both identical but selling different things... dont do it people!!!
Hello Guys,
It is really stunning that this company does something like this I was very amused of the so called manager it was good dressed and in his head he was a leader:)so I've got nothing to loose I didn't have the right to work yet in the country because I am new in UK but they accepted so easy then I start thinking that is something wrong with them,so I start asking some awkward questions on witch I've got hasty answers but he was turning red:))
the today they invite me wear comfortable shoes?to walk for them maybe door to door come on!!!
they are weird freaks!
anyway I enjoy the chat on this Blog.
Thanks!
I've received a phone call from them the day I've sent off a CV and cover letter. Feeling chuffed I've practically begged them to let me come for an interview on different day since the day they proposed I was very busy at my current job.
After doing my research on internet and checking with DMA (Direct Marketing Association), with which they are not registered BTW, I'm definitely not going for the interview.
Thanks guys, I would have wasted one of my FEW days off before Christmas on some scam :(.
my name is sophie and i just want people to know that the scam thing is total bollocks, its either cos u havnt understood or u didnt get the job. most of what u have said is not true in your " its a scam" fit. what benefit would they have, just to let u know i work at london marketing services, its the most amazing job i have ever had i have gone through the program but yea it was also really really hard but im not suprised cos what i have acheived today and now im manager/owner and am through the process of opening up my own office because im not negative and believe in things, try not to look at life in such a negative way otherwise u will never get anywhere.
^^^^^
Sophie, I think your diatribe has pretty much summed up the level of intelligence you need to work for London Marketing Services. To speak in a colloquialism familiar to yourself, that would be "f*ck all".
The company is pretty much a pyramid scheme in which you rely on the bulk of "employees" to accept not being paid.
And people pretending to be two or three people is deceitful and shocking business practice.
Good luck with your new career as a manager though, I am sure there will be plenty of mugs to work for you.
Oh, and as an aside, people on here aren't negative. Especially myself as I have managed to bag myself an account exec role within an advertising agency. It's what is known as a real job.
Dear Sophie,
I am not surprise if you are still working there, they must love you.
There is people out there willing to work really hard and deserving much better than a crappy basement for office.I have been to a few interviews to know what a scam job is, actually London marketing services is one of them, just look at your website guys, it is not even finished......
Well anyway, people with a bit of expectation and willing to do a prosper career don't work @ LMS, I have got what you guys call "work ethic"(have you???) and don't want to work for this kind of company.
Say Hello to Bridget from me.
Love you Soph...XXX
15th December 2009
I did the first interview at Shand house at London Bridge.
made to wait an hour as i turned up 20 minutes to early.
I walked round the toweer bridge area really impressed i would be working there.
I was interviewed 2 at a time by a girl who had her final exam of the year for a marketing degree, and as soon as she heard this, she cut the interview short and told her to leave, keeping me there.
She licked my arse for 5 minutes, asked if i had what it took for the job for 10mins and banged on a further 20mins about their exciting portfolio of clients. I was interviewed by a black woman with a pot belly and terrible acne going by the name of Nilan who came from Basilden.
after wasting my time there, i had a 2nd interview at old street an hour after. (I cant believe i wasted an entire day)
I went to the other company named ASPIRE MARKETING. (aspireldn.co.uk)
tatiana the lovely receptionist was there to show me the director who was 3 years older than me and apparently on 75k a year. this goon was called stuart and from canvey island, he looked like a fat david beckham look'a'like wearing his grandads tie.
i was told that they approach businesses face to face and i would be going out with a more experience member. and i was gonna go, to one, one day, and the other to compare companies.
just before i went bed i thought i would follow up on some website info for tomorrow and i cant wait for them to ring tomorrow. she is going to get sooooo much abuse. :)
NO ONE EVER DO THE FIRST, 2ND INTERVIEW.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ME NOT WASTING MYT TIME ANY FURTHER
XXXX
WOW. I am so glad I found this. I like some others had my first 'interview' on Thursday and was then called back for the second all day thing yesterday (Friday). At the end of the day I was offered the job and accepted for some reason (I don't know why - this was my first interview and I thought you're supposed to say yes), but had a lot of reservations about it. I thought I might give it a go for a few weeks but after a good chat with my parents and reading this site I will definitely not. Yesterday was such a massive waste of time energy stress and money, standing around WH Smiths in S.Bromley watching cosmetics being flogged to punters who for the most part weren't interested. I was set a bunch of assignments to complete while standing around WHSmiths which was very awkward and embarassing after having to be questioned by a security guard wondering what on earth I was doing. 7.30-7.30 days is frankly the most absurd thing I've heard in recent times - if I was to do that 5 days a week surely it would be reasonable to expect not only a basic salary but a pretty decent one. The whole experience has put me off looking for a job, and I'm also a bit annoyed that REED graduates offered me this 'opportunity' in the first place, disappointing to have trusted their judgement and ended up here.
I got a interview the other day for Red Planet marketing. I got a reply from them straight away and ask to go for a interview the next day. I thought the whole thing sounded a bit funny so i done a bit of research and found out it was a scam.
My boyfriend has gone to a second interview with B1 client services today near old street, they contacted him straight away too and im worried it is a scam, ive looked on the net to see if i can find anything but i cant.
Can anyone tell me about B1 client services please, its doing my head in and i dont want my boyfriend to waste my time.
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sorry, dont want my boyfriend to waste his time lol
Nikita: What's their address? Sometimes these companies use lots of different company names under the same address.
I have a list of some here if you want to take a look.
However, I would say that if it feels dodgy and something doesn't feel quite "right", trust your instincts!
its 1 bath street near old street station.
My boyfriend has already gone to the 2nd interview already and dont finish untill 8 tonight.
ive seen a lot of scam companies at this adress but B1 Client services never come up on on google as a scam.
If it's at the same address, it's a scam. They use lots of different names to throw people off. Just because that name specifically hasn't been mentioned doesn't mean they aren't to be avoided - it may be a new name that hasn't gotten around just yet.
I will add it to the list, because it WILL be a scam. All of these companies operate the same way.
Thank you so much Lecari.
Im gonna show my boyfriend this site when he gets back tonight, thats if he hasnt already walked out by then
This happpened to me in luton, they bullied me into leaving my job that day. I said i couldnt start till the following monday and they basically said if i didnt start tomorrow i wouldnt get it.
This has happened to 3 of my friends who live in dunstable! they employ anyone
they also put me down and said i didnt have a very impressive CV its all just based on intimidation
I attended both interviews at Telford house in Luton and stayed at the job for 3 days, after over 24 hours of working i recieved £60, i knew then nothing was worth it, working 9- 6.30 everyday at a service station. Not professional and a complete waste of time.
I had my interview with a 21 year old girl who had 3+ years experience in marketing and actually studied it at University, i found it confusing when they didn't offer her the job, but offered me instead, ( i studied Art at college for 2 years)
The people were so lovely who i worked with for those few days but i knew it wasn't genuine when i stopped going in and didn't contact them, they didn't even bother to contact me!
I've warned 5 of my friends about this company and done my best to stop them from attending the interview!
Just want to say cheers for the heads up to people who have left comments here! I like many others was just applying to many jobs in the rough area of what i am interested in, thought nothing of this one till I got an email the next day. Was pretty chuffed, so checked out the website but couldnt really see what the hell they do! This along with the name "London Marketing Services" left me with a bit of a dodgy feeling about em. but thought what the heck and emailed back. Got the phonecall today asking em for an interview tommorow, I said I couldn't make it and is arranged for thurs! But I stil had the funny feeling about them, so decided to google them and low and behold I find all this stuff about a scam! I'm not surprised just a bit dissapointed, though I wasn't really expecting anything from it, just glad I havent wasted time going for this sham of interview!
I've just got back from a second interview with these scammers! Unfortunately i didn't see this thread before i went. They took so long in telling me how the company actually works that i was already wary when it was explained! it's not a business model, It's a Pyramid scheme! The sad thing is the poor guy that was supposed to be training had obviously been sucked in and believed in it!
I wonder if their clients like talk talk know how hey operate?
Edit/Delete Message
Hi to everyone. I just want to say a big thanks for putting this blog up. I had the 'first' interview today at Telford House in Luton for Jade Marketing. As I was waiting, people kept showing up for both Jade Marketing and Horizon Marketing. Sure enough I got a telephone call this evening asking me to attend the second stage where I will get some on-the-job training. Needless to say after this I won't bother going. It sucks as I'm a graduate and haven't been able to get a proper job for six months. Everyone else be warned about this, and best of luck finding a proper job!
Clarke Bond Ltd is NOT part of this marketing company. We are a registered Civil Engineering and Management company.
Well Well, guys I got a call from them today.But they misjudged me as i am in marketing for last 5 years, and they cudnt answer my few questions. n I told them p*****s off.I hope we can spread this word and aware people about their scam. They play with graduates emotion,Which is realy bad.
Shame on them Loddon Bloody Bulldhit services
Me again!
I've made a couple of observations... anyone notice the similarity between these 2 sites?...
http://www.aspiremktg.com/
http://www.b1clientservicesltd.com/
they're very similar anyway!
Also I've noticed that many people are invited for interviews at 230pm (me also) is this the 'meat market time'? haha oh dear, I'm gutted its not a genuine job interview, I thought I had something interesting on my CV :o(
LOL
This week I attended an interview in Telford House, LUTON. For a job with "Smiths Marketing Associates" advertised on Totaljobs.
Same unprofessional outfit, 2 people on laptops.
Big waiting room full of people. They were still making calls to invite people to come for an interview.
Given same story about how second stage would be an assessment day.
I can only assume this is the same company.
Anyway, cheers everyone for your info, if they ask me back I shall decline.
PS I note they also answered the phone to the name of "Jade Marketing"....
got a call today from b1 clientservices for an interview 2moro at 2.30-3pm... just read all the blogs about it being a scam!! buggers!
I'd rather people didn't use this blog to advertise or try and get applicants for their own vacancies. Thanks.
Thanks for the info guys.
U just saved me a £10 train ride into london.
Hey. I have been job hunting for a few weeks now and was delighted to hear back from LMS. I sent my CV to them last night and had an email this morning. They invited me to an interview the next day, at 2.30pm and seem to have said the same thing to me as they have to everyone else. I was excited until I started doing my research and found out that it appears to be a big scam. I will not be going to my interview - and thank you all for sharing the info. Mads
Ok, I read everything you said here. I have the interview tomorrow, will cancel it, of course. But I was just curious, none of you said: what do they actually sell ?
@ .n0m.is - from what I've heard, it is charity donations (the people who stop you in the street and ask you to set up a direct debit for £10/month or more to X charity), cosmetics, digital TV, phone services, etc.
Thanks. I was called by the same Tatiana, for a job at aspireldn.co.uk today, around 5 PM. One hour later she sent me 2 emails. One of them said I should dial a phone number, ask for Tatiana and schedule an interview ( but we had already discussed that on the phone !?) The other one was telling me to be dressed smart tomorrow, the address and directions.
She also told me the interview will be with a managing director who will... ' outline where you could fit in to our plans for 2010'
Nowhere :))
Best wishes guys ! I have another interview tomorrow for a junior PA job. Hope that's not a scam as well.
they sell victoria jackson's beauty products,which you cant find anywhere on the planet.
I graduated from university in 2008 with a 2.1 in Entrepreneurship & Marketing. I have plenty of work experience and during 2009 worked in many positions ranging for internships in recognised creative marketing companies and lots of temporary work in events management. After searching for jobs on Gumtree, I received a response from the London Marketing Services and went for an ‘interview’ the following week. There were loads of graduates around my age naturally looking very nervous. The office seemed decent enough, there wasn’t much representation of previous work, but I just assumed that perhaps they weren’t a company to gloat (how naïve of me).
I was called in for an interview alongside another young lady. The interviewer was a middle aged woman who seemed very strict and to the point. She began by asking us typical interview questions such as ‘why do you think you would be good for the job’; where several times I was cut off during my answers in a discourteous manner. However, I held my ground (just about) which is more that could be said for the other poor girl. After literally five minutes, she informed the other girl that ‘they’ would be in touch and told her to leave. I was left waiting in the room to then find out that I had made it to the second interview (lucky me!).
At the time I was very excited and was told to come back the following day, smartly dressed with comfortable shoes. I got to the office half an hour earlier than expected (I was excited) and waited in anticipation for the day ahead of me. The London Marketing Services team were having some sort of meeting. I then saw one of my good friends from secondary school who worked for them. He told me it was a tiresome role, but very rewarding (he’s a smart young man, so I immediately felt lucky to be there for the second interview). I was paired up with a young lady who was close to being a ‘manager’ as well as another two employees. We were to travel to Shepherds Bush and begin work for the day. They had two large suitcases with them, and when I asked what we would be doing for the day was given very vague answers. Then the young ‘almost’ manageress lady began looking through my CV and interrogating every detail. She began asking me questions such as what are the most important things in marketing (very ambiguous). Now I pride myself on the fact that I studied hard for my degree and have a knack for marketing so answered saying ‘the marketing mix’. She looked at me stone faced and told me to explain. So I did – ‘The Seven P’s basically, price, promotion…’. Apparently I was wrong. I asked her what the answer was, she told me to ‘work it out’. I sat there slightly startled and seriously questioning my degree as I delivered answer after answer and was told by her that I was wrong. She eventually gave me an answer along the lines of ‘presentation, interaction’ and something else that has now slipped my mind. I explained that presentation is a part of the marketing mix and so is interaction, but she exclaimed that I didn’t explain myself. I conceded defeat and hoped I could perform better throughout the day, still very confused. I then asked her what she graduated in. It was something along the lines of Dance and Performing Arts (not that I have a problem with that as my girlfriend studies that, but she doesn’t interrogate me about marketing and I wouldn’t question her at her forte). Fair enough I thought, she must have vast experience working for LMS to be so pompous with her answers. She told me this was her 5th month (CONTINUED IN THE NEXT COMMENT DUE TO WORD LIMIT).
(CONTINUED) Anyways we got to Shephards Bush and she told me to write down on a piece of paper as many different was of advertising I could think of. Apparently the record by anyone at LMS was 50. 30 minutes later and quite mentally exhausted I presented her with 61 ways. She looked at it, told me it was very good in a stern manner (most of what I had written was absolute bullshit) and then asked why I looked so miserable. Anyways I explained that I wasn’t miserable and tend to be told asked to why I always look happy and was very surprised by such a comment. What was actually happening right now was that she was realising that I was clocking on to this ‘fantastic role’. She then began a ‘secret’ conversation with her colleague about how lucky she felt to be in this job and he ‘quietly’ explained how he was previously working for an estate agency for £30,000 per annum and gave it up for this role where he said he could be on £70,000 in a year (by the way they were almost shouting all of this). A few minutes later I was asked to participate in their selling activity. (They were selling Victoria Jackson products. NB LMS actually produce these products themselves and sell it as Victoria Jackson items.) I managed to make a couple of sales (over a three hour period), whilst my ‘manager’ went for cigarette breaks every ten minutes. I asked a colleague of hers whether I had somehow upset my manager because of her behaviour towards me and she explained that ‘she is always like this’ and that ‘no one really likes her.’ Intrigued I asked her how much she makes per day from this role. She explained that for every Victoria Jackson product they sell (for £30) they make a £5 commission. Therefore using my GCSE in maths I worked out that to make a decent salary of £80 per day which is about £20k per annum pre tax they would need to each sell 16 products per day. I’d seen the team sell about 5 between them and it was already 1.30pm. Clearly this was the roll for me. I asked to speak to my ‘manager’ and explained that I didn’t think the roll was for me. She asked why I felt like this (again quite rudely) and I explained that I hadn’t felt comfortable with my experience thus far and didn’t anticipate the role would be like this. She responded by saying ‘You weren’t going to get the job anyways’. Clearly now very frustrated at her attitude I told her she was very rude and patronising and told her I would be in contact with her superiors and walked out…relieved.
I recently saw my friend from secondary school who seems to be doing quite well at LMS. He said that they would be soon opening offices in Manchester and he’d be placed there. He did however look exhausted, and I asked him why me and my friends hadn’t seen him for so long. His response – ‘work’. Watch out Manchester.
Hi guys,
Time is rough, trying to get a job is a nightmare, spend most of my days browsing the internet to get THE ad that will take me out of my situation and guess what???
On gumtree, I am always coming across this one:London marketing service.So, I decided that everytime I see it, to report it, on the right hand side of the ad, next to print there is an icon called report this ad, I recommend you to do this, Gumtree might do something about it, plus I forward all my spams to their email address(recruitment@londonmarketingservices.com, admin@londonmarketingservices.com).
Dont mess with me...It looks childish but, I am sure there is enough people here to put pressure on them and avoid this situation.
Good luck
Rightly said,I have done that long time ago,and guys one more company with different name but exactly the website as London marketing.beaware of them.
www.eaworldwide.com
cheers
Hi Guys, yeah you are right about these scams!!!
I did my research on the company prior to the interview and found this forum but still decided to attend the interview to see what these people are made of. And below is my findings...
Just had an interview yesterday 04-03-2010 with a so-called company "Horizon Marketing" based at the following address;
Horizon Marketing
Telford House
102 Collingdon Street
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 1RX
01582 455134
I can tell you, the person that interviewed me was taking like a bullet train, did not give me much chance to talk and then wanted to sum up the interview and to call it a day. But, I did not let that happen...as I said to the person, I would like to ask you a few questions before he was going to show me the door. I simply got a 2 or 3 word answers (not very professional ones either!). But anyway, my very last question to the person was, "You mentioned earlier on that you had clients such as Carphone Warehouse, but I did not see anything mentioned about them on their website?". Their reply was, "It is being stated on there!" and that I argued the case to say that it wasn't (they did not seem happy with my remarks). Anyhow they mentioned that they were originally called "Smiths Marketing Associates" based in Scotland, but due to company name issues they had to change it...hence Horizon Marketing.
When I went on to "Smiths Marketing Associates" website (http://www.smithsmarketingassociates.co.uk/) there was nothing stated about "Horizon Marketing".
I also did some further research via YELL.com and found out that "Smiths Marketing Associates" does exist (exactly where they say in - Scotland) but there is no sign of "Horizon Marketing"! They do not even have any geographical coverage - even though they said all over the UK! They have got a bog standard website that a junior web designer would have produced. In short, the interviewer did not seem sound when challenged. I hope I do hear back from them with regards to a second interview so that I can tell them to shove where the sun don't shine!
I hope that the above would help those that did require this kind of information.
I worked for them for a week! I just googled them now to see if they had been shut down!
Total scam. They told me that with my skills I would "have my own company/ share in no time".
The Owner/ King Scammer- Called Tim- drove a Porsche so that we had something to aim for.
I had to sell Victoria Jackson make up in Woolworths stores or in Victora Station.
It seems they prey on naive people to train, but it is a pyramid sales scheme that apparently isn't a listed company?
And yes COMMISSION ONLY, claim back expenses. As if someone in there early 20's living in London can afford to do that! I took home between £20- £80 per day but it was not enough.
SCAM SCAM SCAM
Wish I had found this out before a horrible experience in Cardiff!
JTM Cardiff is the exact same scam.
This week I attended a first round interview with a south african b*tch called victoria.
Coincidentally I was due to have an interview with Venus Marketing with Victoria Nupen, but the idiots there messed up my appointment. I suspect this is the same Victoria and Venus is the same as JTM considering they operate from the same office with the same number.
I would strongly recommend anyone looking for interview with either Venus Marketing UK or JTM Solutions to think twice before attending!!!
Thank godness for this blog! I just had my interview today and obviously I performed very good and been the best candidate all day and been called back for tomorrow. I had this instinct after like the second minute of the interview, that something's not right here... anyways, I satyed to hear what a guy from "EA worldwide" has to say, pretty suprisingly (as they are in the same buliding with same receptionists) he knew I was selected for tomorrow, so he didn't "wanted to waste my time"... aaaah... like freshly graduated suckers like myself doesn't have enough problems...
better luck next time veryone! :(
I nearly fell for this one. After attending the Telford House Office, Luton for Horizon Marketing yesterday. I was offered a second interview today at 12:30 - 20:30 out and about. I emailed with some questions, this was not replied to. I sent a second saying that with out answers I would not attend, again not replied to, until I recieved an email asking me to confirm attendance (no questions answered) I was spoken to like I was stupid. My questions were unanswered. I am not going. I would suggest that anyone is very wary of this company.
I have just been selected for the 2nd round of interviews, and im so glad I found this blog post. Guys - we should get together and broadcast this to watchdog or something. I say we take these mutha tuckers down!!! There is a group on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=292140856842&v=info
LETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
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Do any of you guys know something about Ministry of Paintball... I mean I read that they are scamming about the tickets but they have openings all the time for "advertising trainees"... kinda smells
I went for the interview at the Luton office when i was out of work and looking for 8 months. and woohoo i got the job!!! but oh no nothing could have prepared me for the worst nightmare of my life!!! I wasn't told about this being commision based until my fiirst night back to the office from the field, I wasn't told about needing to sign on to be self-employed until i asked about how i would be paying tax etc.
I had to be in the office at 8am (lots of travelling) and wasn't getting home until 8/9pm after the travel. the money you got at the end of the day (IF YOU MANAGED TO SELL ANYTHING) was only for the time we spent on the field (10 till 5) the other 5 hours you wasn't payed for yet you were still REQUIRED to be there!!!
Everyone around me was saying 'its a pyramid scheme' but i was nieve and fell for it even though it sounds too good to be true!
After a month of being there i was looking through my notes from the "training" one night on the bus back home. and what did i come across? 'An image of a pyramid' yet the trainer was very carefull and explained it all without making it sound like a scheme!! I had to get the hell out of there!!! so the next day i told them i was leaving!!! back to me searching for a job 'de ja voux' one month later thankfully a new sweet shop opened in my hometown and were recruiting and i got the job!!! im so happy! i have a real job now andd im surrounded by thousands of sweets 24/7! i live like charlie and the chocolate factory!! its great!
Anyone that enjoys the 'marketing' job and actually make it to the 'manager' position are simply HEARTLESS and MONEY DRIVEN SALES MEN!
thank you for listening to my moaning lol :D
Its seems like most people see this Blog on the day of their interview.lol
Like most people, I was a bit apprehensive about this Entry Level position. I applied for the job through REED. I was surprise for the quick response. In the email, I was told to dress professionally as I would be meeting with Management.
I rang the London Bridge Branch, to arrange an interview time and date. The HR Manager was like "Congratulation, we went through your CV and you are one of the few,blah blah blah blah...
I was given an iterview for 4:15pm. Interview at this time of the day, sounds crazy!!She said, there was no other time available as there are alot of people.
Today March 31,2010... I still feel unsure about turning up. Anyways, got up this morning to research about LMS. I found this Blog, and immediately change my mind. I wont be going for sure!!!
It is really sad to see how they are trying to exploit Graduates. I dont know about you, but Ive been through ENOUGH, of companies telling me I havent got much experience for the position, the low wages of retails jobs. I didnt went through all the stress of University for Companies like LMS to USE me.(yes i said it ....USE)
Whats gonna happen (jobwise)for the thousands of student graduating this year. this is an issue that gets scraped under the carpet. IM FED UP!!
I was supposed to have an interview about an hour ago with LMS but called to say I would not be attending after I read everyones comments. I also went to 2 different interviews at 1 Bath Street andapplied to a job wth Aspire, which I later found out was at the same location. The company at 1 Bath Street has now had 3 different names in the past month including Aspire and EA Worldwide. I can't remember the first name but when I asked the interviewer about the name change he just said that company had moved up north even though they did the same thing and had the same people working there.
I was sceptical about this blog but have also been looking at job agencies and th second I mentioned LMS the woman I spoke to told me they aren't a marketing company then listed many other names that I have read in this blog.
I intend to contact Reed and let them know about this scam.
Thank you everyone for your comments
please people could some one tell me if "Smiths Marketing Associates"
is also a scam,i need to know so i dont waste my time going for the interview.their address and website are as below:
Lower Ground Floor
Baltic Chambers
50 Wellington Street
Glasgow
G2 6HJ
www.smithsmarketingassociates.co.uk
Guys..consider yourself a lucky, I spent 300 pounds to buy a suit for "the job".
Lucky me, I gave up after first day. Didnt sound right to me.
They made me feel like I am the smartest guy on the planet ha ha
South-African guy named Johan...all scammers !!!!
RUN for life...
Margie has been asking and probably turned up to the same interview as me
Smiths Marketing Associates
Lower Ground Floor
Baltic Chambers
50 Wellington Street
Glasgow
G2 6HJ
www.smithsmarketingassociates.co.uk
I'm pretty sure is a scam. Apparently they are going to phone me back tonight, but it was so suss I could smell it a mile off. No thank you. Plus guy that interviewed me was a total dick.
Just been invited to an interview with London Marketing Services on Friday, very glad i found this blog before going!
I have also been invited for an interview with 'Galaxy marketing' just done some research and found a very familiar address, watch out for the new name!
Galaxy Marketing
Ower Ground Floor Shand House 14-20Shand Street,
Elephant & Castle,
LONDON,
SE1 2ES
They Also work under the name as EA Worldwide Acquisitions Ltd
EA Worldwide Acquisitions Ltd
Lower Ground Floor
Shand House
14-20 Shand Street
London
SE1 2ES
T: +44 (0)208 6160 989
F: +44 (0)207 234 3569
and then noice the same building but different number telephone.
LOWER GROUND FLOOR
SHAND HOUSE
14-20 SHAND STREET
LONDON
SE1 2ES
T: 020 7234 3568
F: 020 7234 3569
Hey guys, also watch out for JTM solutions and Select Marketing Solutions, both at:
38-40 Culver Street East
Colchester
Essex
CO1 1LE
01206 768741
Hey guys,
i worked for london marketing services in nottingham at minerva house on spaniel row for four whole days with no pay and spent around £80 on transport and food, after my fourth day i got extremely sick from 4 days of hardly any sleep staying awake on huge amount of coffee and energy drinks. i think the fact i got ill might of been quite lucky as it allowed me to get out before i got in too deep. i'll break down my days.
day one: brief 10 min interview with the main manager, a french guy called jonathon. after the interview waited 2 hours for a phonecall and was thrilled to of bagged a second interview, after reading many blogs on the company i now know it wasnt that much to be proud of.
day two/second interview: was asked to come back in comfy shoes the next day for a whole day interview and was shocked to find out that meant door to door, i sort of had it in my mind that they would take us to the base of the actual charity being represented and have propper marketing jobs delegated to us by official charity people. i shared the interview with some bellend that was 40ish who kept putting me down for being young the whole day and i was pretty chuffed to find out i got the job and he hadnt. initially when i got the job after my second all day interview i was thrilled as i was desperate for money and a job. the manager i was with was a pretty charismatic guy called gurv and i had even more faith in him and the job because he told me of how he was a engineering graduate that was made redundant as i was a recent engineering graduate who had no luck in getting a job in the industry so i just decided to go with it. he seemed to like his job and praised it saying how it changed his life and everything and how he enjoyed going to work everyday even putting in extra hours.
day three: spent all day with gurv doing more door to door observing what he did. I didn’t get any sleep the night before and felt like passing out all day.
day four: for my second day of training i spent it with a girl called kirsty, she was pretty cool i sort of admired her for how gutsy and professional she was but i was kind of put off by how she would push sales onto people who had no interest at all and ended up caving in just to get us to go away. she seemed to have alot of faith in the job and seemed to be doing alright as she was there for 8 weeks and was progressing really fast but thinking back to it she maybe not of realised that it was a scam and was like me thrilled to get a job that promised so much money. to be honest while i was with gurv and kirsty they made about 4-3 sales so i presumed the job must be pretty easy of they must be really good, 4 sales a day was the law of averages; this "fact" made me even more excited about the job. i started getting suspicious when my mentor gurv kept telling me a guy i made friends with called kar didnt exist as he was a rival trainer/manager. i went out and got pissed with kar after my fourth day we still keep in touch i think he was probably the most genuine person i met, i think he took a shining to me and was trying to persuade me to join his crew and leave gurvs but as i didnt want to step on anyones toes and piss them off lol. i think kar maybe knew to the greater extent how team building in the pryamid scheme could be sped up with stronger crew members going up through the ranks quickly but he didnt really fully explain it to me while we were getting pissed, he was pretty unclear about what he wanted from me which made me even more suspicious of the whole thing but he seemed like a genuine guy.
day five: kar let me stay around his girlfriends house the night before and we both went into work on the saturday pretty hung over but for some reason i had to keep it secret that i went out with him the night before even though it was pretty obvious because i arrvied with him and his girlfriend at the same time. on my fourth day in the field i observed a different trainee manager called roberto, he was pretty cool aswell. thinking back most of the people were actually really nice but i'm now i'm not sure if they were only nice to lure you in and befriend you into becoming loyal to the scam and to sway you off leaving. i do think some of the people were there because they did thrive off the sales they were making but it was hard to decide who was sucked in and who knew what was really going on. to be fair kars girlfriend was honest with me and said you have your good days and your bad days where you dont make any sales, being pretty self confident i thought to myself it would be a sinch but i never got round to going out and trying to sign people up by myself. and also gurv did make it clear to me that they were looking for quality clients not quantity so that was another way of saying that you didnt want to sign people up just for the sake of it but it also means you might not get 4 sales a day. from reading other articles and finding out some people made about 50 quid a week from long ass hours 6 days a week made me realise that the law of averags of 4 out of 100 might of been something to string you in. anyway on day five we were having a break at a bus stop when this random guy came up to the group of us (everyone on the field that day) and started to play guitar to us, i wasnt sure if it was set up by the people at the office or not but he took me by surprise and played a pretty cool song and i got lost in it and started crying because i thought they looked through my cv and saw that i played guitar and sent this guy out especially :S, i just thought it was pretty cool of them to arrange something like that and i think it just got to me after months of being unemployed and suddenly getting a job when people were doing pretty cool shit for you like catching you off guard with someone playing you guitar. anyways we got back to the office and gurv was pretty distant and i didnt know why but anyways that was my last day as i got really sick after that and was bed ridden for 2 weeks.
i think this kind of company is rewarding if you are willing to put the work in and if you are good at making sales but it is a high risk job and it that inst explained to you very well when you start out. its a job designed for young people that are just happy to be given an opportunity just like how i was. it was clear to me i wouldnt be making any money while i was being trained and i did have the option to have a week to get accomodation sorted but i didnt know i was going to get ill so i pushed my self to commute to nottingham from where i lived which took one and a half hours on the train and i was encouraged to do so because i wanted to excel quickly up the ranks into the top position. i really dont know what would of happened if i didnt get ill and i stayed on i could of done well at the job or i could of struggled months at entry level with no promotion. to be honest nothing was kept secret from me about the commission only or how people above you progressed from building up a team of people below you, I didn’t stay long enough to find out if it really was a scam but 4 days was enough to make me ill and exhausted which is probably my fault because I pushed myself so hard. Most of the people that I knew who worked the seemed to of quit and changed jobs so it probably is a hard job to make a living from. i just wanted to share my experience with everyone and if i could go back i would think about it twice because i now know its a very tough job with no guaranteed pay and very long hours of walking door to door.
hope this was of use to you all
@Aung
I had interview in Nottingham aswell. I felt everything was setup. I had interview with Kirsty as you already mentioned and she told me same that she is working around month but I had my interview 9 months ago. So she must be lying. Anyway we are lucky people that we found out earlier.
Hi all.I was supposed to have an interview with them in few hours,and googled them as a last-minute company check...and found myself on this blog.
I want to say thanks to all who contributed with their experience.I'm definitely not going even for the 1st interview.
Upon one of my daily job searches I came across a really exciting job opportunity! I was over whelmed at the prospects and potential the advertisement seemed to offer me.
The company was called Smiths Marketing Associates, and the job description stated it needed trainee quantity surveyors.
Being an unemployed carpenter (lost drivers license) I thought this was a fantastic opportunity to enter the more professional side of construction.
The faint sound of alarm bells began to ring when I received an invite to an interview the very next day. Now I'm a dubious character and realised straight away this was probably a scam.
I could not hide more disappointment; I had been really excited because the clever bastards had phrased the job description so diligently that you could not fault it.
However I decided to attend the interview so I could grill the person in charge, and get some solid answers.
I found my self at Telford House, Luton an hour before my interview. I decided to do some snooping. A small gathering of awkward looking young men with satchels and frowns began to congregate. Some seemed so young they looked as though they were wearing their father’s suit.
The hour passed and I was ushered in to a shoddy looking office with barely any furniture. No hustle and bustle of working people, just various types of people sitting on chairs with worn fabric and fidgeting. I did however receive a warm welcome from some very pretty 'receptionists'.
While I waited to be called in for an interview I witnessed numerous instances of others being invited to interviews.’ we can only do interviews till next week' the buxom blonde spurted. Hang on! She'd told me it was THIS week! She also sounded remarkably like a woman with a different name then her who had previously rang me.
Sitting in an office with just a table and two chairs, I began my interview with a smarmy looking gentleman who obviously refused to use Head & Shoulders. He started rambling on about company statistics, opportunities and what he had for dinner last night...Well he could have...I wasn't listening.
I let him finish his rehearsed speech, but not before I heard 'wear comfortable shoes'. I turned to him and reeled off some questions. In an effort to bamboozle me, he tried in vain to answer too fast, abruptly and vaguely. I patronisingly said 'let's slow down here'.
After 30 minutes of grilling him I was escorted out by the pizza face dullard. I was none the wiser. He hadn't answered the simple questions of 'What is the basic salary' and 'what are the hours’?
He also failed to answer if the surveying was pre-qualified leads or just plain old door canvassing.
My housemate has just attended an interview for a disturbingly similar job description under the name of Horizon Marketing. He went purely for grins...and Oh yeah...the female staff are delightful to look at!
Anyway I'm off track, fantasying about banging them through the bars of a cell, which is where they deserve to be. Bloody criminals.
What's that? Door canvassing isn't a con? Well apart from the fact every road in Britain will soon be 'No cold calling' zones, the fact of the matter is for 12 hour days you could in fact earn only perhaps £40. And that's being generous.
These companies prey on hardworking, enthusiastic and desperate young people. You end up working for a week or so, earn them money and you don't see any of it. You just wont get your commission back. And there is no basic like they state in their job advertisements.
They have such a high turnover of staff they can afford people to leave every week and replace them with another sucker. Basically they're getting their products sold and advertised for free or next to nothing.
I hope that upon reading this, you'll know to stay away.
Good luck job hunting everybody!
Marv
Hi there ash , i see u have been done by this old chestnut.I also have been done by this ballshit scam lol, which is asbloute crap. I applied for this job that sounded amazing and a real good opptunity for good money and a fast promotion. OK sounds good dont it , well it is not!. I went for my first interview for this apparant companny ,so i arrive at telford house luton which looked ok from the outside and i was then greeted with a warm freindly welcome by a rather foxy girl.So then she directed me to sit in a small room, with two computers and and fairly old warn out lethaer chairs. So in all fairness from the off i new there was something up as there was no hustle and bustle of a office. So another thing that really made me fink there is something not rite was the fact that they where ringing inderviduals to come in for a interviews, i mean what sort of companny dose that when i was siting there in the room.Another thing is the fact they had 3 offices and two of them where the offices of the managing directors for horzian marketing and smiths marketing asociates which my mate had gone for in the same office lol.So which ballshit companny puts two managing directors in the same place next to each other.Finale my interview well the rather fit managing dirctor ( apprently) spoke so fast and dint really explain jack shit about the job and put all these fancy words in to make it sound so good that you would cream your pants. So interview done in ten mins , so i left feeling rather confused as to what the helll i would be doing . So i got home and found it was a scam , so everyone out there dont get done by this ballshit!
Do you really think the British Red Cross would work with a scam.
Just because the Cardiff Office said they were 2 weeks old and magazines on their desk were 2 months old, doesnt make us criminals. We tell everyone in the initial interview that we are going door to door. If you dont like it, then dont apply...
Rollo, unfortunately I know this not to be true. Never in the initial interviews for any of these types of company do the words 'door-to-door' come up. In fact, the managers spend their time in the very brief 10 minute interview avoiding answering questions about the nature of work, and the nature of the pay.
You only find out door to door on the '2nd interview', and many people are not informed about pay until the day they start. Legally it is not a scam, but it is an immoral company that uses the sales reps (that's what they are, not marketing trainees or any other phrases you use to rope in unsuspecting graduates!) to get money for the big bosses whilst they work their arses off for pittance.
I'm not speculating on this from my own experience in an interview (although I did have 3 interviews with various companies in which this happened!) but because I used to work as an 'admin' and knew what the interview structure was inside out. Apologies to anyone I ever booked in for interview by the way, I hope none of you took the job and I'm really sorry if you did!
Cheers Guys!!
Was about to go for an 'interview' in my lunch break ... thank god I did some research! Im thinking of emailing them the link to all the web blogs I've found today on what a scam their 'entry level marketing' opportunity is .... should I??
probably not a good idea to send blog links to them as it will alert them n they might come up with another new way of scamming people !! with this atleast we know
Fair enough Priya, They're such assholes though. At least I didn't waste my time getting on the tubes like a maniac in my lunch break :)
i know, thanks to this blog i cancelled my interview!!
Rollo
Since I have left the company I can say what I like. Firstly, it's obvious that a lot of posters are graduates who have never done a real day's work or perhaps just don't understand success isn't just handed to you. It's also clear that some posters are just losers who are probably still unemployed due to their appalling attitude and thought processes/logic. The programme is real, you do get to manager if you really want to, but in my case I worked from 9.30am to midnight for months on end, not to mention 9.30 to 7.30pm on Saturdays. There are some great people, whether you have a marketing degree or not, there is a lot to learn, but in my case it was true regarding posts here about potential earnings. I in particular made a mark on that company, I did more sales than anyone had ever done, and for long periods I also had the best cancellation rates too, I earned 600-700 per week for a long time, the first person to do so, despite making a clear and resounding impact on the company and being in the client's top 3 reps out of hundreds, the promotion deal I was handed, involved me paying more profitshare to my manager's manager, than to myself, so called expenses it was. I also wasnt allowed to bring the team I recruited and was left with people I hadnt recruited or trained, all inferior in production to the guy I had trained, who was retained by my manager. Despite this we did 90 sales in the first week, pretty good for a new office, but as soon as the expenses became an issue(I was paying double rent, half going into a manager's pocket for his investment (which had nothing to do with me who was temporary in that office), I was blamed for everything, stories about me eminated and ridiculous lines of accusation developed. I've grown tired of being blamed and tired of making less money than my staff and tired of trying to fix something I knew in the first place wasn't going to work, and I can't help feeling I deserved a better deal and so did the client. Some people do make 70k, but its a tiny percentage. If it is the meritocracy that it purports to be, then definitely I lost out, I was their best charity rep ever, but the promotion deal handed to me was a joke.
I've added all names and addresses onto my list on my other blog entry here
When commenting please try and give the name and address (and any other contact details) for companies you have your interview (or are invited to interview). These people change their business name so often it's sometimes easier to search by address!
Rollo, you were clearly taken in by the scam and are in denial.
One "branch" being honest does not hide the fact that this pyramid scheme is a total farce.
And it is an insult to most posters on here to say that they are stupid or lazy. People with marketing/business degrees or experience in marketing/pr etc will want to work for a marketing agency or in-house for someone doing, yes, you've guessed it, some form of marketing! Companies advertising for marketing executives with names such as London Marketing Services are clearly falsely advertising job roles. Most of the people who have posted here have been smart enough to their background research on these companies and found this site as a result. It's the ones who couldn't be bothered that end up getting sucked in.
On Monday I was walking through Guildford train station with my girlfriend and there were people offering "free" make up. Then came the sell. Realised straight away who they were and felt sorry for them rather than annoyed at the hard sell. It truly must be an horrendous job.
And as for making £600-700 per week - I would expect to earn at least that for the hours you describe. It isn't a job that rewards hard work / good sales, more one that exploits it.
Luckily for you, you have now left. If you have got a good sales acumen, find a small / medium sized company looking for sales staff and work your way up from the bottom - I daresay you shall find it more rewarding than harrassing people to support a charity on their doorstep.
LOL @ Rollo "losers who are unemployed" No we just aint desperate mugs who stick with something because they felt too stupid for being suckered into a scam.
it's not a scam. Most of the comments are from people who never actually finished a second interview or their first week. Very few people can not make £250+ and most people in my team made even £400-600 a week sometimes.
Rollo, you are clearly blind to what goes on within other branches of this company (and probably where you worked, too). It is mis-representation at the very least to advertise for marketing professionals only to have people walking the streets, stood in train stations / shopping centres, knocking on doors etc.
I don't know what the job market is like in your area, but there are plenty of jobs within the M25 and throughout Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire that would pay at least £250 a week for 40 hrs to even the biggest mouth breather. Hence why these companies try to con people to coming to an interview with the view to get a few weeks' work out of them, preferably without paying if they can manage it.
If you don't agree then keep your thoughts to yourself, this is a thread to warn people about this company - not to sympathise with them.
Also, having re-read your comments, I almost feel cruel in pointing out the irony in which you claim "you do get to manager", followed by describing just how far they bent you over in the process. This company is unethical at best, illegal at worst.
Just out of interest, how stupid does one have to be to believe that becoming a "manager" in a company such as this is going to be a good thing?
With all due respect Michael, your post is laughable.
Sales and marketing are two very different things. Marketing leads to sales.
If the job was advertised as Street-Selling or Door-to-Door sales, most people would not have had to waste their time.
Whilst some people on here may be very linear in their approach to searching for a job, like me I am sure many people got themselves registered with decent recruitment agencies as well as doing some research online to see what was available.
I also think you contradict yourself massively. Of course everyone knew it was "too good to be true", how else would they have ended up posting here. It is the people who really think they can achieve something with this company that I feel sorry for.
oh godddd why haven t i found this forum before..... I am so upset with myself I really feel so stupid falling into this shitty scam. today was my first day to "work" for this company, if we can even say that. and it was seriously tiring and boringgggg. fucking wasting my time. they sent me to romford fucking far away from london, which obviously I had to pay the ticket and spend more than 6 hours pithing people with hellos and short stories and whatever to make them buy cosmetic products. I have actually done the same thing yesterday for my second interview, sending me again to nowhere, actually bluewater and I was kind of skeptical already although my trainer or team leader whatever u call it was extremely energetic, too hyper really , but nice, and another quite french guy, and I was only supposed to observe and ask questions which was alright.
but today was seriously exhausting.
as i can see it some of the comments above, the people in this company are actually a bit weird like if they were in some kind of pills that would make them ecstatic and continuously friendly but in a doubtful way.
obviously today I haven t done any sales just wasting my money and my precious time, as I was only expected to do intros and short stories to attract customers and my trainer was shadowing me every time I would pitch a customer interested in buying from me the product so he could get the sale commission for himself.
3 continuous days and it has rather knackered me, broken my feet from heaving to walk all day long with high heels, run everywhere to catch trains heading to ridiculous destinations, and financially ruined me as well.
I really hope people don t fall into this,
I actually reckon that the manager or whatever he says he is was actually not wanting to hire me even if I came from recommendation from my leader that had me on observation in the second day of the interview because he thought I was to inquisitive about everything legal and official about the company. I am not going to lie I am smart and intelligent and was constantly trying to push them to give me accurate explanations and examples of the real deal of this company but I could see they constantly putting it off saying that I should wait the next stage and would get a detail explanation eventually. what a crap! I feel emotionally low as to why I haven t been able to prevent this but I guess everyone makes mistakes.
good luck to everyone and please do not be tempted when it is too good to be true!
I am definitely not going tomorrow to work, wake up again at 6 to get there at 8.30am to get home by 9pm, hell no! if they call let them keep calling, everyone should seriously cut any relations with those people.
ps. sorry for the spelling mistakes didn t mean too, just typing too fast lollll
I have been invited to have an interview tomorrow. Was quite impressed with myself when I managed to bag myself 2 marketing interviews> was looking into the companies tonight and found that both companies were at the same place. I then found this and am sooo glad. I will not be wasting my time going to the interviews tomorrow. The other name they are operating as is LIVE LIMITED. Both addresses are London Bridge office.
I just got back from the '2nd interview' and left half way through. It is clearly a scam PLEASE AVOID!!!!! It is in no way marketing, it is just low level commission selling. It made me laugh to see your comments of a shared experience. The way they sell that shit 'make up' is sickening I only hope they go bust!!
AVOID!!!!!!!
.
*nyvd
I just read your comment about the 'trainee manager' being overly hyper like there on some happy pills. I thought exactly the same thing like mine was on coke or something!
Very similar story here, but with 'Marketing Enterprises' in Norwich.
Again they offered an interview surprisingly quick, were deliberately evasive about what the job entailed and the 2nd 'interview' was 10 hours trailing round Ipswich selling Sky door-to-door!
Horrible horrible day.
I am glad i found this blog. i almost feel for the scam. After attending my first interview at Smiths Marketing Associates in Luton, Telford House, i surely wont be going for the second interview.
I found it all a bit weird because i sent them my CV just yesterday (14/07/10) around 6pm and a lady called me today at 3pm inviting me for an interview at 5pm at that very same day. I found it very strange because it hasnt even been 24hrs since i had applied for the When i arrived for the interview, there were also five other people waiting to be interviewed. While i was awiting with the rest of the applicants, the lady in the next room was making a lot of calls inviting more people for an interview.
we were all interviewed one at a time. they all lasted about 10. the was talking so fast i counld hardly keep up with what he was saying. in the end he said i may be ivited for a second interview the next day which they will call between 6-7pm to let me know of. the didnt call until 8pm to let me know that i have been invited to a second interview.
i came across this blog after trying to find their website, which by the way i could not find.
you know what, they can stick their interview because i'm not going.
Wow... classic. Can't believe I got sucked into it too.. and my story is just about exactly the same. Had my second interview today, a day long, in a train station on the outskirts of London, selling makeup. I'm quite a gullible person so alarm bells didn't start ringing when I was told I could be earning 75K in a year's time - probably because this trainee manager had deftly explained how they do it. Perhaps if you were an ace at sales, you could. But as others have said, it's a minority. And a good motto to live by when it comes to money and jobs........ if it's too good to be true, then it probably is.
Thanks for this! I got an email inviting me to call/email about arranging an interview. I was so excited about my first ever job interview!
I started researching the company ASAP, just in case they asked questions. Fortunately, I forgot the exact details of the original job advert, so I decided to look it up on Gumtree again. Google displayed this blog in the listings, and I couldn't believe it!
I'm one of the 'lucky' ones, I suppose. Despite the disappointment, at least I won't waste any more time and didn't spend a penny on this 'company'.
The recruitment officer as of July 2010 was Liza. Mine was in London:
LOWER GROUND FLOOR
SHAND HOUSE
14-20 SHAND STREET
LONDON
SE1 2ES
Thanks for starting this blog post!!!!
I too have been duped by this dreadful company. I have just been made redundant and really wanted to go into Events/Marketing.
I found this lot on Reed.co.uk who are a reputable organisation. The job interview went straight through to London Marketing Services Limited and was not handled by Reed at all. Alarm bells started ringing in my head.
I went along to Shand Street, the back of beyond into a dingy basement with lots of rather scruffy individuals in there. It looked like a dodgy backstreet organisation and was.
I was interviewed with someone else sitting beside me. The person interviewing was not listenting to me or answering my questions directly. He was rude and arrogant and I walked out thinking..complete arse. 2 hours later I get call saying how do you think it went. I said I have no idea but not great and the voice (Natalia) said congratulations you are on of 4 people who got through the hundreds of applications you are through to round 2. I was then told to to turn up tomorrow (I have a job?) and I said I couldnt she then said how about Friday and I said no Monday I could probably get a day off work.
I booked a days holiday from work but then my head was saying this is ludicrous it cant be real and then I saw this site and student forum.... you can imagine what a prat I felt. Hey ho. I have since reported them to Trading Standards and Reed. Who knows if they will get a warning but at least I tried. How dare they treat people like this its not right.
I saw the job advertised on the REED webisite as 'Junior Positions in Event Marketing' for LMS and I was attracted to the word 'Events' as I am interested in becomming an Events Co-ordinator/Events Manager. The job sounded perfect as they said it was an entry-level position and therefore, training was given on the job so you would need no previous experience.
I love how they say this position is ideal for recent graduates!!
On the REED website, it tells you how many people have applied for the position which nearly put me off applying as I thought I didn't stand a chance (166 when I applied). The sheer volume led me to believe I wouldn't get any further.
I started getting alarm bells when they contacted me straight away (with high volumes of applicants, it should take weeks to shortlist) and the advert was still up despite the number of applicants. Then I saw this blog and I am soo glad I didn't contact them to arrange my first interview.
This job is great for those who want work in sales-but I am angry in the way they advertised the position to leer people in.
It is a SALES job- NOT marketing or Events! Please advertise correctly LMS!!!
I was willing to travel to London but now I am so glad I have an understanding of the company and how they work so I didn't waste my time or money!
Like I said, if you want a job in sales with no base salary.....this is the perfect job for you! If not, don't waste your time!
I went through something similiar - my 'interview' is supposed to be tomorrow morning with Felix Marketing Group. I thought it was odd that the website doesn't really tell you much about what they do. Also the fact that the interview would be the managing director - surely someone with that job would be busy? When I read that there are 'other companies' seemingly operating from exactly the same office I figured it must have been a scam of some kind. I'm so glad I found the blog and other moneysavingexpert threads to warn me. Don't fall for this crap.
Thanks for this everyone. I just had a phone call from Horizon marketing and was considering going until I saw this.
JADE MARKETING and POWERHOUSE DIRECT
city point, bristol. opposite temple meads train station.
SCAMSCAMSCAM!
odette green is the name of the managing director for jade marketing.
no pay, fake offices, 12 hour days, no chance of promotion. also:
BEWARE people from their company post on sites like these pretending to be happy employees. lies!
they prey on graduates and the desparate unemployed. don't be fooled, and good luck with securing a proper job :)
also, my boyfriend almost got sucked into MANTRA MARKETING - anything from the COBRA GROUP is basically a scam. 100% comission and no insurance, no travel costs covered, no promotions. beware the pyramid scheme!
I was going to go for an interview tomorrow because I thought I may as well to ask questions and find out what the job actually was (she wouldn't tell me on the phone) but I'm obviously not going to bother now I've read so many people saying they couldn't get a straight answer. I'm not driving to Luton for a frustrating 10 minute interview!
Perhaps everyone commenting on here ought to contact the place they saw the job and explain the ways in which the advert is misleading? It can't be good for people like Reed to be advertising these positions as it has an impact on their reputation too. Anyone who's worked there or been for an interview ought to contact Reed et al. with their concerns.
OMG!!! today i got a phone call from a FAKE Australian man! he said: "Congratulations you have been selected for an interview @ 102 Collingdon Street LUTON!" As i have been looking for a new job recently i was quite pleased, Until he called me Vic, my name is Victoria and usually i wouldn't expect an member of HR to be so informal. I accepted the Job Interview any way!!! it's supposed to be tommorow at 5pm. I then rang my BF and told him about the interview he congratulated me and i said: "i don't know why but it seems really fishy and i explained the above info."
I then decided to come online and check the address on Google and this came up. So glad i saw it! i Rang the telephone number straight back and informed them that i think its disgusting that they would invite people to and interview with no prospects or pay and that i would NOT be attenting there so called interview and that the mans ozzy acent was a JOKE!" Thanks everyone so much for the clarification nearly lost a days pay for that. ALSO ALWAYS TRUST YOUR INSTINCT! xxx
I applied for a job with Smith's Marketing Associates in Glasgow and got a call back for a second "observational" interview. Long story short, I ended up on a bus for about an hour. I didn't even know we were going anywhere. When we arrived, I "observed" as we went from door to door asking people to donate monthly to the charity which the company represented, and for their debit details so they can make the payments (apparently, you wait until you've already got them interested before mentioning the debit payment thing). I barely made it for the 11pm train home. Yes, supposedly a 12:30 to 8pm interview ending in me getting the 11pm train from Glasgow (we finished late).
I checked the job advert later and noticed the phrase "Face-To-Face Client Representation" which I assume is vague jargin code for "Door to Door Salesperson". Also, there was no mention of travelling anywhere by bus or that I had to pay the fare myself for that matter.
In the form they make you sign, it does clearly state that you may leave at any time during the interview. I suggest that you leave the second that a bus is mentioned. Don't waste a day.
Just got an e-mail (13/9) from Felix Marketing and it felt fishy.
I thought it odd that they would give me two days notice and that they had sent the mail after office hours and that they didn't contact me using the email address on my CV.
I do worry sometimes about the number of random companies that have my contact info, DOB and record of education and employment...
one to avoid
Felix Marketing Global Ltd
32a - 37 Cowper Street
London, EC2A 4AW
Ph. +44 (0) 207 336 0060
Fax. +44 (0) 207 251 2050
hi can any one help me abt felix marketing company ,is this company also scam,i have been invited for an interview.
Hi there, thank you for the warning!!!, i was about to go for an interview with Horizon Marketing in Luton and my husband came to me and said "you had better read this!".......
I phoned them to see what they had to say for themselves before i let them hang themselves with bullshit.
They seriously need to be exposed!!!!
Thank you for information! I have a second interview tomorrow, but I wouldn`t go after your explanations plus my internal feelings after first interview ))) Here th details of who welcome me:
Shireen Tajfar
Head Of Administration and Recruitment
Maximus Global Ltd
32A-37 Cowper Street
Old Street
London
EC2A 4AW
Telephone: 0207 3360060
E-mail: Shireen@maximusglobal.co.uk
Fax: 0207 2512050
Company registration: 06711622
Registered Office: Peartree House, Bolham Lane. Retford, Notts. DN22 6SU
Good luck to all!!!
Thanks for leaving the comments, had an interview today with B1 Client Services, but upon reading this blog, and identifying that they are all based at the same address 1 Bath Street, London, that it is all a load of shit.
Cheers for the heads up!
If you have any ideas of how to piss them around as much as they have clearly pissed you guys around, I would happily contribute!!
OMG.
THANK YOU for doing this blog. I have interviewed with ALL OF THEM. I realised without looking in Google that it was a weird job with a lot of fake promises and very weak companies (horrible websites, different company names, same thing again and again...)
I know A LOT of their names in LONDON:
CAROLINA CONSULTING LTD
B1 CLIENT SERVICES LTD
UNIKA
A1
GREEN MARKETING
MARKETING SERVICES
Please DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!!!
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Hey Lecari!
I know this post was such a long time ago but I have had enough of job scams as it seems they are still around and more than ever since preying on the unemployment of young, educated, highly skilled graduates and job seekers! I have decided to do a radio report about the job scams but focusing in particularly with power house direct who have now changed their name to powerhouse worldwide! I need and want your help though. Will you be willing to discuss this with me? Give me a message if you are and I look forward hearing from you!
Laura
Thought it too good to be true. As with any interview - thought I should do some research before my 'interview'.... but to my surprise rather than being taken to companies that have dealt with Jade Marketing I was directed to this blog site instead.
Told in my interview letter that: "Your preliminary interview will be conducted by the Managing Director whereby you will be required to give a detailed insight into your previous roles and responsibilities along with the interpersonal skills you can bring to the position.
You will have the chance to hear about the philosophies behind where Jade Marketing has come from, where we are looking to go and our goals as a company". It was signed Odette Green who I now understand from another blogger is in fact the MD. Their address was given as:
Head office address:
33 - 49 Victoria street
Bristol
BS1 6AS. Now that I understand the tactics of this company I have re-read their 'web-site' - which is basically empty - but says "Jade Marketing Ltd was first founded in July 2008 in Bedfordshire and focused mainly on the south eastern region of England. Over the last couple of years our client basis has grown to a point where we’re now spanning all across the UK, with the Head office now situated in Bristol City Centre.
We previously worked with clients like e.g. Victoria Jackson, Avani, Disney, Halo cigarettes, Talk Talk and with the successful results we were able to show these clients we have been able to break through the credit crunch period and come out the other end recession proof, generating more brand awareness and a higher profit share for our clients than any other direct sales and marketing company out there". Clearly, Jade Marketing is a clone of the many other 'companies' discussed on this blog. No surprise - but won't be going along tomorrow
Smiths Marketing Associates, another company to stay away from:
http://www.smithsmarketingassociates.co.uk/
They are recruiting for sales, customer service and administration. Interview suspicious, no direct answers , no specified salary either. Scam
Hi All,
I just wanted to warn people not to get sucked into this!
Upon leaving my job on Friday, I'm desperate for work. I started applying for jobs yesterday (11/1/11), and by today, I'd had two interviews set up for tomorrow! I couldn't believe my luck! Both telephone conversations got my suspicion aroused though, both were very vague when i asked what the job entailed, none mentioned any kind of pay, and both talked about 'running my own team'... After reading every single post on this blog, I did some digging, and thank god I did, because I'd probably have been sucked into working for one of these places if I didnt!! I just want to advise people of the names and addresses of the two companies that i know of who are preying on innocent, desperate people:
Fourways Marketing
12 Station Rd
Watford
WD17 1EG
(Lists "Cobra Group" on their websites - they have two totally different, extremely ambiguous websites)
Horizon Marketing
Ground Floor
Telford House
102 Collingford Street
LU1 1RX
The girl who called me from Horizon also mentioned that they are under the name "Expand Luton" and "Expand Horizon"
Thank you for the information that i find here. I was invited to have interview by this company, but i have a good habite to check the company before i make the decision. This time i am really lucky, i found this website, and i avoid this scame.
The company name is
Maximus Global Ltd
32A-37 Cowper Street
Old Street
London
EC2A 4AW
Telephone: 0207 3360060
E-mail: Shireen@maximusglobal.co.uk
Fax: 0207 2512050
Web: www.maximusglobal.org
Also when i try to open their website, there are some information that say: i was selected to win some money. So there is more things going wrong with this company.
Thanks again!
Cindy
Thank you for the information that i find here. I was invited to have interview by this company, but i have a good habite to check the company before i make the decision. This time i am really lucky, i found this website, and i avoid this scame.
The company name is
Maximus Global Ltd
32A-37 Cowper Street
Old Street
London
EC2A 4AW
Telephone: 0207 3360060
E-mail: Shireen@maximusglobal.co.uk
Fax: 0207 2512050
Web: www.maximusglobal.org
Also when i try to open their website, there are some information that say: i was selected to win some money. So there is more things going wrong with this company.
Thanks again!
Cindy
hey guys i have been working for this company for about 6 months now i have been paid on every week i am supposed to im from the london office old street explain a few things to me if it was a SCAM which it isnt. why do they do what they say they do in the first interview they show u a management program right they teach and train you they promote you. you learn new info, other managers backgrounds if your so clued up its a scam then trust me your losing out im approaching crew manager one away from assistant manager where u get a salary u actually aint got a clue how it works. your on commission for a reason to test if you got the mentally of a manager how hard you can work it is NOT A FUCKING SCAM YOUR TALKING BULLSHIT WHY WOULD BIG CLIENTS WORK WITH US LIKE EDF, BT,BANKS,and one more thing that makes me laugh there a police station behind us they could easily arrest us so you guys think what u want go find a dead end job its not a SCAM you dont know what a scam is if it bit u in the face
that shut you up didnt it
Judging by your speeling your destined for the top at such an amazing company. Well done!
i posted a comment someone took it down thats not fair i needed advise :(
Jennifer - I am the only person able to remove comments (other than the posters) and I haven't removed anything. I get all comments emailed to me and I double checked my email and have had none from you on this post.
Are you sure it was this post you commented on? There are a few on my blog that are similar.
A Jennifer commented on this one:
http://lecari.blogspot.com/2009/07/job-scam-doing-rounds.html
is this you?
Hey everyone,
Just thought I’d comment as I needed to prove to a friend that the 'interview' she was going to would be a waste of time and showed her the various blogs along with my own personal experience.
I was employed in one of these companies originally as one of their 'Dynamic Marketing Assistants' needless to say the position wasn't for me as will be explained below, then as an 'Administrator' when a position became available that was deemed more suitable.
My experience as an administrator is as follows....Be at the office 8am, Update each of the adverts placed on the recruitment websites making sure you're advert is the first advert people see in the morning when starting their job hunt, prepare the CVs that have come in from the previous evening, Call that days prospective candidates and confirm they will be attending the interview at allocated time, Call 2nd round candidates to confirm their appointments, call every number from every new cv and act like their cv is the best cv we have seen and persuade to come in for interview either that day or next day. Had to book between 50-60 people a day to allow for cancellations. When candidates arrive for interview pass out application forms, keep the chatter light so that they don't talk to anyone else; update adverts again (top of the pile). Be as vague as possible at all times. Send out second interview confirmations and prepare for final interviews for returning 2nd stage candidates on their return to the office. Day finished 6-7pm depending on if you'd reached the day’s target.
Needless to say I had some morals and left after a month. Would have been sooner but desperation and the need to pay bills was a must. Administrator position was paid position apart from the supposed commission for each candidate that walks through the door.
My experience as a Field agent....
Desperation makes people do the stupidest things.
Basically get to the 'office' at 8ish, prepare for your team meeting and daily training session known as ‘atmosphere’ where you learnt that KISS SEX and STD's were something else other than the obvious. Keep It Short and Simple blah blah blah, Fear of loss and running impacts will be familiar if you've been there. Running around a circle ringing a bell too. Atmosphere is where the brainwashing starts as you try to learn the management program (copying useless information off a whiteboard). This can take up to two hours per day. You then get your stock and go with your team leader who will have a 2nd round candidate with them to your given destination, anything from door to door, the annoying charity people in shopping centres or petrol stations to 'directly market' your clients product of which you receive a very small commission. Believe me...they don't have to pay too much for the product so their mark-up is quite high. You carry on for a few weeks because sheer determination to prove yourself wrong that you haven't been mugged off working 12+ hour shifts 6 days a week for pennies will eventually pay off. When you finally decide enough is enough ....you get promoted and get to build your own team (how exciting) they just got another couple of life sucking weeks out of you.
It goes like this, you start off as a distributer (mug), then a training manager (build your own team), Team/Crew Leader (supervising your team while they supervise their teams, Extra commission on below sales), Assistant Manager (as below with apparent basic wage and yet more commission) to owner eventually (your own office sucking the life out of desperate people never ever earning anywhere near the £75,000 promised). This evident by the fiat puntos that they drive.
Needless to say the administrator before me did a runner (I wish I’d taken a leaf out of her book) and that's how I ended up mugging people off for which I really really regret.
It's a little disheartening this whole thing, unfortunately. But what's most important is to always keep your integrity, and do the right thing. These people are thriving and they are making money, don't let desperation force you to be used and abused by others. Be empowered, believe in yourself, and have patience that the right job for you will come along. God is good.
They're still interviewing in Luton at Telford House.
The name Smith Marketing Associates rang a bell so I Googled and my history remembered this blog.
I'll post back if they call me tomorrow to see why I'm not there.
I forgot to say the woman who called me is giving her name as Taz.
I take it that this is the same company?
http://www.londongreenmarketing.co.uk
Business Centre, 14-20 Shand Street, London Bridge, London, SE1 2ES
Phone
0207 234 3560
I got the 'managing director has seen your c.v and wants you to come in for an interview tomorrow' call today 14.4.11 I agreed and then decided to google the company as the website was so vague. Smiths Marketing Associates meant nothing to me but their address did. When I googled them and found this blog I realised who they were. Jade Marketing, Horizon Marketing aswell as Smiths are all based at Telford House, Luton. Strange that ??
Thanks for the heads up guys, has just saved me £7 on train fare.
Haha! thank you guys.......I'm about to go to my first interview and I'll be bringing a hidden camera. All they said to me was they were a marketing company......Once again-
Ground floor, Telford House, 102 Collingdon Street, Luton.
Strangely when you ring them, the lady who answers the phone say "hello marketing".......very vague indeed.
I'll be asking some probing questions and I'll be armed with the information you guys have left here. Hopefully by the end of the day I'll have a nice juicy video I can post on youtube and send to watchdog.
I don't have permission to film.......F**k em.....They don't have my permission to waste my valuable afternoon with their illegal scams. If anyone can think of some good questions I should ask please feel free to suggest them.
These fuckers got me yesterday. I have looking for work since april and I thought i was onto something here. They will be recieving a nice email from me stating that i will not be attending today. Thank god for the internet is all I can say. :)
Marceline, please upload all video's you take on youtube. I'm tempted to try and do the same and actually find the names, addresses etc of the leaders, heads and owners. I want these guys to pay.
Don't care how, but I've been reading these posts for months and months now. Government, trading standards and police don't seem to be doing nearly enough. Somethings got to be done. Going to find the one's responsible and deal with it.
I have tracked down the registrant of some of the domain names mentioned in this blog. Many of the details match up to one source. The evil bastards name and details:
Ian McAllister
4 The Coach House
Norton Lane
High Ongar
Essex CM5 9RR
GB
ianexn@hotmail.com
07831127920
These people have ruined the lives of many. Filling them with false hopes, making them work insane hours and under harsh conditions all for pittance pay, based on continued lies and forged promises. Often well below minimum wage and on commission only based wage. They get rich off the needy, the poor, the desperate, the prospective and the youthful. What they do is immoral, unfair, illegal, unjust, heinous and exploitative. We should all work together to deal with this filthy menace.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I'm working on a research project into these sales jobs and looking to talk to anyone with current or recent experience of them. Please get in touch, completely anonymously if you'd prefer, by emailing sean@snappertv.co.uk or ringing me on 07730575867
Thanks
Sean
I have 2 interviews today and they are both in the same building.. From reading your comments i can see that they are just a joke and take advantage of people who are seeking work..
From reading your comments I am not going to none of the interviews today
Shakz - could you contact me using the details above?
Hey guys, got another today. AC Generations based in Colchester. Got and email 5 minutes after appliying saying there were impressed with my CV and wanted to talk further. Noone with a good job offer will contact you that soon, not even normally in the same day.
The details are:
30-34 Culver Street East
Colchester
Essex
CO1 1LE
01206 561247
To everyone who works there and is defending these companies, the jobs do exist yes but they are all advertised as marketing jobs and selling door to door/outside shops is not marketing. If this role was advertised as a sales role then I don't think this blog would truely exist. Good luck in your risky career
I must admit I got pulled by this a year ago, util I read this blog.
I went for the interview at Felix Marketing - I'm a trained journalist but after 3 redundancies, I felt maybe I could train for marketing. The job sounded ideal and I was impressed by the global offices etc. But there was no real mention of what they do.
For a global company, their offices, just off Old Street London, were run down broken windows covered with card, in an alley I wouldn't even walk down in the day if I could avoid it. Alarm bells rang.
The offices were small for a global company, and shared with Monster Marketing too. There was a board meeting going on in a room behind me, which felt a bit staged, and we all sat there, waiting for the Managing Director himself (again I felt that a bit odd) Andrew Molyneux, to interview us.
From the impression I got, it was stand work at exhibitions and in shopping centres, more retail than marketing. I came away not sure at all, and all I saw of the office was two rooms, a corridor and nothing else. For a global company's London office, odd...
I got the call on the way home that I was successful, I'd need comfortable shoes for my stage two interview. I had no idea about the commission only, Andrew spoke so fast!
I came online, googled the company and found a comment and this blog. I didn't bother to turn up for my day of walking.
What really annoyed me was it was close to Christmas, and I just wanted anything tempoary to get some money, I turned down another interview in retail to go to this.
Thankfully I'm now working in journalism again, but I'd like people to be aware of this scam.
hi guys, this compnay have change their name as marketing endeavours,just had the 2nd interview with them, because the interview are really quick and easy, the manager also asked me to provide two documents to prove my address, which including the bank statment, so I think I have to google it online, and finaly, I found this blog, and although they change their name, but the postcode in london is still the same(because they said they were expanding from london center). I am sure that, its the same scam company
Just found this blog. SSC Marketing is another company name used, based at the London Bridge office. Thanks everyone. I' not going to my interview tomorrow.
It is fantastic post.I am felling gad on this article.I have lot of new ideas about this article.can you more share with me.I will come back as soon.
Thanks for more sharing....
MMI Marketing
http://www.acgenerations.co.uk/ - Same website template as SSC marketing's website. Anyone got any info on these guys?
Seo Team is a lesing it company of U.S and this company offers all the services for clients related web designing,hosting and so in their pocket budget.
Organic Search Optimization
Appco Group AKA Cobra is just one tentacle of the global direct sales cult known to some as Devilcorp.
The BBC, The Mirror, The Daily/Sunday Telegraph and the New Zealand Herald have written numerous articles about this organization. They are about to be investigated by the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing in N.S.W.. It's a top shelf company!
If you go to thedevilcorp.wordpress.com you will find a plethora of links to news reports, government rulings, lawsuits and video footage showing how these people do business.
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