There is an extensive network of so-called marketing companies worldwide. They are subsidiaries of a larger organization that too goes by different names. Do a simple Internet search for DS-Max, Innovage, Cydcor, Granton Marketing or Smart Circle and you will find thousands of complaints against these companies.
These marketing companies make their money in one way only, selling door-to-door and it is all cold calling outside, rain or shine. The pay is 100% commission based however their help-wanted ads are very misleading about what the job is and how you are compensated.
You will provide your own transportation, gas, food, clothing.. everything and they will reimburse nothing. They will advise that you can claim those business expenses on your taxes, which is true but that's nice to hear from the guy who's getting a majority of your commission while investing $0.00 into your success. There is no base pay, not even during training. They will say there is but really it is only because they are taking it out of the pocket of the guy training you.
There are bizarre, ritualistic, daily meetings, chants and other cult-like behaviors that employees are required to participate in but receive no pay for. You have to be there for these meetings (which are a large part of why you're working 10-12 hour days but there is absolutely no way for you to earn any money by being a part of them.) They call these Atmospheres in the morning and often Bell Parties in the evening. At these meetings, any negative comments are met with severe stifling and separation from the group. Dissenting remarks are not tolerated and employees are not allowed to question the system. Likewise, they will separate new employees from each other as they have not totally been indoctrinated yet and are more likely to pose logical questions. Simply put, you either get with the program or they will shut your voice out. Doesn't exactly sound like the great and innovative brain trust of talented marketing gurus they make themselves out to be, does it? Doesn't make me feel like these guys are leaders. Nope, they sound like total followers.
These organizations are known to cause great strife within individuals personal lives up to and including isolation from ones family and loved ones, divorce, financial ruin and brainwashing all due to the constant, unyielding influence and mantra of the business owners. The message is the business is everything. Anything else is pathetic and unworthy of your time. Any dissenters or quitters of the business are treated as dead and cows (regular 9-5 folks) are moronic slaves and destined to bag their groceries. The message is this business is the ONLY path to success.
There are offices all across the United States (and other parts of the world) and usually numerous related offices within the same major cities. This report is written with one office in particular in mind, as my goal is to see them out of my city but I hope this helps to shed light on this insidious organization as a whole.
Nashville:
One of these companies is called Orange Limited or sometimes Orange Nashville. They used to be called Imperial Marketing Vision and at the time, shared office space with another affiliate called Maximus Marketing (you see that a lot, two of these "companies" sharing space and it's because these so-called money making "owners" can barely keep themselves afloat on their own so they share cheap, shabby office space with another affiliated business.)
The "owner" (if you want to call him that) is Elijah Medge, a David Koreshian type who believes his lies MORE than the suckers he's lying to. The owners, leaders, managers, VPs, etc. (all the way up the chain) in this business are just as brainwashed and mindless as those they attempt to influence. So you are likely to encounter a particularly odd and common trait among these indoctrinated proponents of the business. You can slap them in the face with a thousand pounds of truth, testimony and statistics but they will simply smile and continue to spout the same learned speeches they say every single day when lying to applicants and in their daily meetings. It is odd and disturbing to see a group of people so unwilling to objectify their own situation. It borders on sociopathic behavior. Very strange indeed but I digress.
This is a soul-less, unethical, hell of a company designed to squeeze everything out of someone. It uses up its employees for everything they've got and makes absolutely ZERO investment back into them. Let me emphasize that point a little more. They take a portion of your money and invest absolutely zero back into your development. Even if you are promoted and become an "owner", you are doing so with commission money that you earned and you've been forced to save up. The person so-called "promoting" you has contributed nothing financially to help you get started yet they have and will continue to earn a portion of your gross income. Sounds kind of pyramid-like doesn't it?
Most, if not all, employees work in excess of 60+ hours a week and most often earn less than minimum wage. Ask yourself, could you not work another job for 60-80 hours a week, making steadier pay and not save up the 15-20 grand necessary to start your own business? Of course you could! And hell, you might even get health benefits in the process. Even if it was a menial job flipping burgers or working retail, just the overtime alone (which you don't get at these places) would allow you to earn vastly more money and in a more consistent fashion. To reiterate, a person could work fewer hours, indoors, making more money and likely get benefits somewhere else and you wont have wreak havoc on your property (car), personal life and mind in the process.
But the proponents of these companies will deny the risks and attempt to highlight the opportunity. To say this opportunity is embellished is a vast understatement. They'll tell you that you can be your own business owner within the first year (when really it takes much longer in almost all cases) and that you'll be making six figures (even though most owners too are barely scraping by.) But the biggest lie is the belief they instill in everyone that this opportunity is available to all who work hard, when the reality is very very few who try make it to ownership and even many who do, still fail. Lets sum that up, shall we? Nearly all who attempt to make it with this company are unable to do so but not before many of them end up leaving in financial ruin. But what should Cydcor care? They already got your money. You may end up on the street and alone but not before the organization owners got a portion of every sale you and your crew made while investing absolutely nothing into your success. Hows that taste?
And lets talk about this "ownership" thing again. ALL you really end up "owning" is the liability and risk. Yep, that is yours to cherish and enjoy while Cydcor gets part of your money, you get none of their legal team for protection. Its called severed liability. Also, as I said before, if you really own the business, why do you have to play by their rules? Why do they dictate the market (aka city/area) you will open up in? Why do they dictate the campaign (product/service to sell) you will have? Why do you have to perpetuate these silly "atmospheres" (morning brain-wash sessions)? If it's YOUR business than it's YOUR money and YOU can do whatever the hell YOU want to but that's not how it works with this MLM scheme. Sounds like totalitarian rule to me, not opportunistic, capitalistic freedom.
I'm not going to bore you will all of the details of my own experience. Like I said, just google up DS-Max, Cydcor, etc. and you'll find more comments than you can read; tales of deceit, poverty, sexual harassment and generally creepy, cultish behavior. All I can say is that the horror stories are true.
And yes, like the Cydcor lemming like to incessantly regurgitate, some very few actually do make some real money from this "opportunity" (my guess is less than one tenth of one percent do) but that comes at the expense of swindling, misleading, lying and outright cheating 1000's of others they've come into contact with. There is no arguing that fact. Without shameless misrepresentation and omissions of the truth, this business has no model. Let me make that clear. THE MODEL BY WHICH THESE COMPANIES OPERATE IS LIES. Deception is their true game, not "marketing." After all, they sell all kinds of stuff; coupons, TV packages and cheap Chinese products. It doesn't matter. All of that is just surface level. The real product they sell is this so-called "opportunity" which is just a carrot on the end of a stick so you'll keep doing a crap job for crap money while you make them rich.
Remember, these companies need a steady stream of suckers to make it. Without a constant supply of fresh newbs walking through their doors, they've got nothing. Employees are constantly wising up and quitting these sham operations. The churn is unbelievable so they need fresh applicants every single day. It feels good when a company offers you a job but these places only want to use you.
Don't be the next sucker. Be patient. There is, without a doubt, something BETTER for you. And to the brainwashed defenders, I feel sorry for you. Soon enough, you too will realize what exactly you're really a part of and you will have to reckon the fact that regardless of how successful you've become or how high up the chain you got, you did it on the backs of others, by lying to and falsely building up the hopes of 1000s of nave persons below you. Sleep well you leeches.
Shut Orange LTD down. Shut all of them down.
