Live Marketing Direct review: DOOR TO DOOR SALES SCAM 23

This company is ridiculous, its a farce and is run by an utterly ignorant and stupid individual, no formal process of an interview, when I attended there were at least 10 other people there, all meeting Tom, he was honest and told me that its all commission and no base pay. I would have to sign people up for credit cards, which again I don't believe is very ethical.

So unlike most people here, i worked there for 3 months, and it is a whole load of ###, the money you do make has to be used on travel for wherever your travelling to, you make 20 pounds per person that signs up, for the first month you will sign up maybe no more than 5. They completely brainwash you and make you believe that you can actually be a manager that quickly, my team leader pia was full of it, all she did was be fake towards you, DO NOT WORK THERE! i think i stayed there so long because i needed the money, but then i realised i'm not really making that much profit. all they want you to do is beg for money, and the most sick part you cannot sincerely say it, they teach you a speech on how to make people feel guilty that they should sign up, and how to get into someones house, and how to put the pressure on them to sign up. Its crazy how at one point pia was just kinda in a threatening way making them sign up, just for that 20 pounds, it was so not worth it.

Based on Mr R n B's comment, I'd like to say that it's nice to see that even the functionally illiterate are able to find steady work in this company.

I went for a job like this 12 years ago just after finishing university- it was exactly the same as what has been described here, except then it was working for utility companies rather than charities. Long hours spent traipsing round suburbs in Leeds, trying to get to at least 100 houses a day as the success rate for door to door sales is usually around 5% and you needed to make 5 sales a day to get anything approaching a living wage. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

If you're the best salesman in the world and can convince anyone to don anything then you can probably succeed in this job. The rest of us normal people would be better of staying away, as you could end up working ten hours a day, and ending up with less than minimum wage for your efforts.

I Worked at Live Marketing Direct for around 6-7 months and I must disagree with a lot of u, u can't say u know the ins and outs when youv bin ther under a week thas defo nt enuff time to learn the business or even to receive the step by step requirements to get thru each stage and eventually get to the top.
If u had even bin the long enuff u wud understand the reason behind all these things ur critisising, for starters the main reason atmosphere needs to always be positive is cus ### u take atleast 95 NOs a day from customers thas enuff to get anyone down. Its ur leaders role to keep ur spirits up plus everybody works hard and to even do a job like that u NEED to be positive and happy or who is gonna give u ther money?
U are not trained to lie about the charities as that's a main cause ur canellation rates go up n u get paid less, plus ul get the sack for misrepresentin the charity!

Honestly the job is not for every1 and they do tell u that jus like it wasn't for me cus really n truely with long days like that I didn't even wanna cum in evryday but then u won't progress n I accepted that. If ur not lookin do do the only three things they ask of u then u aint gonna go anywher n u wnt make money.

Promotions happen all the time, I have seen 3people get to management in the time that I was there and many promotions between. The main thing to rmbr after u promotion is tht its not a sign that u can take it easy

Commission cumon how can u complain bout commission? Thas like sayin ima go to work but I kno aint aint gonna work hard! If u kno u gonna work hard
commission aint gonna b a prob for u. I used to walk away every week with no less the 300 easy!
Some people dnt wanna work outside, neither did I, well hey as I said it aint for everybody

AND finally guys the main reason they dnt sit der tellin u in the interview that its door to door n sellin charity n all that kinda thing is cus thas not what there lookin for, they are lookin for potential business partners. If u had bin ther long enuff ul see the sales r the least of it. It mainly about the teaching and learning to develop people to take to you future business which they buy for u. The better the ppl u train the more money u make as a manger

You can make a good manager of a business like this if uv neva done it yourself, thers no hypricity so how can u teach a succussful programme that uv neva done, they don't recruit from the outside which is y evrybody starts at the bottom even tom harris did.

This is all subtly explained in the interviews, I know cus I did interviews too! But really guys, thas how we spot who has the potential to succeed in the company :) Don't worry guys No I didn't clock this in my interview either but hey we aint supposed to! :D

Really u shud experience it for urself and see what you think and if ur really committed to work hard for what u want in life. Jus remember its not for evry1

Well I have to say thank you "frustrated 2010" for his initial post and all the subsequent replies.

I was due to have an interview tomorrow morning but I will definitely stay away now. Being a Masters graduate and having been out of work for a while, I thought it would be good experience to go in for an interview and see what they had to offer. I am definitely not up for a door-to-door job and as a woman, refuse to put myself in situations that could put me in harm's way. I did consider calling them to advise them of my non attendance but I have decided against it as I suspect they will try and sweet talk me there.

I think the blame has to rest as much on the "reputable" websites that are still accepting to advertise for this company as on Live Marketing Direct. Surely, there should be a point at which trading standards regulate the advertising of supposedly kosher jobs on trusted job website. Shame on them.

right i went in today and have been called back for monday what should i do cause they made it sound pretty good haha!? the thing that worries me is that i cant be paid, i am desperate for the money aswell :/ what should i do people?

Well I've read every single comment on this page as I'm due an interview with them on monday. Got to admit the receptionist was far too friendly but hey she might just be a nice girl. I think its good that everyones commenting and have different views as it gives people like me, who hasnt had an interview yet, time to think about what to say to them. Im going to post something else up on monday after my interview (5pm) and tell others if it was similar to me. Sounds like this Tom is reading a script.

I attended this interview and after reading these comments I am so disappointed, but now that I thin about it something did seem a bit fishy when I was at the interview, the personal experiences that everyone has stated on here are quite true i experienced more or less the same thing. The interview went too smoothly, there was nothing even on the desk apart from a mere computer. The other girls working at the reception (there was 3) seemed too nice and they would just keep staring and smiling at you, it was a bit weird really. On the job description it does say that the pay is unspecified and Tom didn't mention anything about the pay or what I will get out of the job or even what I would be doing. At no point was I told it would be door to door sales just after reading this I have come to know. I will not be attending the so called "training day" which is over 8 hours! Also tom said how he wants you to start immediately so it seems as though your sorted and you will get paid straight away, bit i see that this is not the case. I can see why people would be fooled there were other people there today for the interview, even from other businesses, Tom's character is quite cheerful and friendly he is quite good at talking you into it and making you forget about some of the important stuff you should be asking.

The place that the office was at was weird also, at the basement of a random building in the corner of a random street.."Shand street".

Overall: I am certainly not going again, for other people reading this the choice is yours but you'll probably be wasting your time when you can be out there looking for a job that actually exists...

WHAT A WHOLE LOAD OF RUBBISH THIS COMPANY IS I FEEL SORRY FOR THE PEOPLE THAT IS STILL WORKING THERE THINKING THEY ARE GONNA MAKE IT. HECTOR THE MANAGER IS ALWAYS SWEARING DURING MEETING DAYS. WHAT DO YOU CALLED THAT PROFESSIONAL PERSON IN BUSINESS. WHY DO THEY GET AWAY FROM MAKING PEOPLE SIGN UP TO FACE TO FACE SALES IF IT IS A SCAM COMPANY. THEY WALK AROUND WITH LICENCE BAGDES WITH THE NAME CARE TO GIVE MAKING OUT THEY ARE REALLY REAL CHARITY TO WITH SCOPE OR BRITISH RED CROSS. I WONDER WHY THEY ARE GOING TO TESCOS, ASDA ETC.. THIS TAKING PEOPLE BANK DETAILS AND MAKING THEM SIGN SOMETHING THAT ANT EVEN TRUE CHARITY AND THEY MUST BE GOING INTO PEOPLE BANK ACCOUNTS GETTING THERE MONEY AND THATS HOW THEY GET RICH AND TO USE REED WEB SITE TO ADVERTISE THEIR JOB AS NO EXPERIENCE BECAUSE MOST OF THE PEOPLE WORKING WITH THEM HAS NO IDEA ABOUT THIS BUSINESS IS A SCAM. WHY WOULD THEY CALL YOU FOR AN INTERVIEW AND GET EVERYONE TO BE SUCCESSFUL TO ACCEPT THEM IN THE JOB AS SALE AND MARKETING. WHY WOULD THEY INTERVIEW YOU ON A LONDON UNDER GROUND WITH SHOWING YOUR CV ON THE TUBE IN FRONT OF PEOPLE AND THEY DONT EVEN TELL WHAT OR WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO AND WHEN YOU GET THERE THEY MAKE YOU STAND AROUND ON A SHOP FLOOR OBVISVING THEM ON FACE TO FACE SALES IN A SCAM TO PEOPLE TO SIGN UP FOR CHARITY FOR 20P OR 30P DAY. FOR PEOPLE THEY DONT NO WHERE THERE MONEY IS GOING REALLY. SOMETHING NEED TO BE STOPPED AS SOON AS PROSSIBLE. POLICE AND CRIMEWATCH NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT THESEE PEOPLE ARE DOING COZ ITS NOT EVEN A JOKE TO BE DOING THIS OR EVEN ATTENDING THIS INTERVIEW AND ALSO WHEN I SIGN A FORM THINKING I WAS GETTING THE JOB AS SILLY AS I THROUGH I WAS GONNA GET BASIC WAGES I GAVE MY BANK DETAILS ON A FORM THAT THEY CLAIM THEY WILL PAY ME WAGES WEEKLY. WILL I AM STARTING TO GET MY DOUBTS THEY MAY TRY SCAM MY BANK. SO PLEASE PEOPLE IF YOU ARE OUT THEIR GOING TO A INTERVIEW PLEASE REASEARCH INFORMATION ABOUT THIS JOB AND INFORM YOUR JOBCENTRE. SCAM HECTOR IS MANGER IS MAKING MONEY OUT OF INNOCENT PEOPLE. I HOPE WATCH DOG CAN READ THESE TOO. DON NOT ATTEND INTERVIEW READ UP COMMENTs!

I applied for their job GOOD WITH PEOPLE? GREAT COMMUNICATION SKILLS? IMMEDIATE START! a couple days ago
wow, what an ordeal.
I like many of you was immediately rung up by the fast talking Aussie girl Courtney.
I was desperate for a job and had never been job hunting before so had no experience as to whether the 'too good to be true' saying applied to jobs..
She started banging on about what they were looking for, excellent interpersonal skills and targets being met etc etc and working in fast paced cinema environments I know what its like to be fast paced and have up-selling skills and targets, i was paid hourly though.
I was suspicious as to the fact that the interview would be tomorrow and no mention in the advert as too door to door sales.
I made the interview appointment at 4pm the next day and rung them up regretting it after calling my dad about it having researched the company, as soon as you type it 'source mark...' it comes up with Source Marketing Direct scam...
I felt so shot up inside, I've been desperately searching for a job for a while now and have good experience etc.
I rang Courtney up on the same day and said I've googled Source Marketing Direct and its come up with threads and threads of negativity and she replied with its to do with the fact that we go door to door and the negativity is mixed with the positivity...
Eek... what positivity? 100% commision slavery? Lies and deceit?
They also have an advert at caterer.com called WAITERS/WAITRESSES - IMMEDIATE START.
My goal at 20 is to get a job in hospitality and seemed great!
I clicked on it and the add sounded like one of those cheesy late night adverts for exercise machinery.
"tired of those flabby arms, sick of doing sit ups hurting your back etc...'
The add said "sick of your job? want to make a change? sick of lousy tips? Don't know what to do with your life?"
It really is taking advantage of the young and confused! why would a fast paced job be needing the confused, potentially depressed members of the unemployed society?
My answer is that in order to get people into the interview position where they kiss your bum bum and paint the town red for you they need many people to enter the interview stage at once in order to get as many people working for them as possible, seeing as its a self employed gig, it doesn't cost jack and if you can't handle the pressure, your dispensable...:(
See you employees of this company...wouldn't want to be you...Nope..

Omg is this all true? I really cant quite believe this!
I applied for a job with them yesterday ( Tues) and got a reply via email the same day which I was well chuffed about, as Ive been seeking employment for a few months now. I intended to give them a call first thing this morning (Weds) to discuss the next step. If this is truly a scam, I wont bother wasting my time...Im very disapointed all the same.

I'm really not sure what to think. Im supposed to be going for a second round interview tomorrow. Is the whole thing a complete scam or is there some money to be made. My main concern is whether they are actually employed by these charities or they have no idea they are using their names to rip people off. I think I'll go tomorrow and listen to what they say and see if it sounds dodgy.

It's me again (just commented previous to this).

Update: DO NOT GO FOR THIS JOB. I had my first interview and thought to myself...this is amazing. Well, look at what I said previous to this comment. I was called in to a 'field day', which is bloody boring and you just watch some apparent team leader from 11AM to 10PM do door to door sales and pretty much getting rejected by everyone. We sat down for a break and he went through the program and structure with us. You start as an entry level salesman and apparently you can progress through 5 stages to reach Toms level (ownership) in the matter of 8-10 months, but they exaggerate the fact that you can do it within 28 weeks. [censor]. How is that possible?
Heres the program scheme I made from the information my mentor gave me:
Entry Level Candidate /£250 a week/Learn & Progress
Leadership/£300 a week/ Train & teach
Crew Management/£400 a week/ Business meets, recruitment.
Assistant Manager/£600 a week/Admin, legal, HR.
Ownership (TOM)/ too much money!/ IT, Expansion, UK, Overseas.

Anyways, the whole company is based on commission, they receive no actual income apart from what charities give them to send vulnerable low-lifes out there. It is a MASSIVELY risky operation if this is true, the reason why this is all complete [censor]. Why would a successful business recruit a 19 year old barman and previous worked for Halfords (me) to become a manager in the matter of 8-10 months and to run an office. And NO-ONE gets paid if targets are not met. You can be amazing but if some [censored]bag stops dragging his feet and brings the sales numbers down...everyone's [censor]ed. Also, currently their project is the British Red Cross (BRC) and they go round on people's doors and get them to sign up for the donation of £2 a week, but the donating only starts in 2 months time. From what my mentor and Tom told me, BRC set aside a budget for Live marketing and based on sales performance that is Live Marketing gets paid, therefore the staff. Now, considering that If I get someone to sign up for donation (which is not actually a sale since they can just say no in 2 months), how can I get paid on a weekly basis if the sales aren't actually made until 2 months in time? Guys, that was my turning point. I had to think hard and make sense of it but some marketing businesses are just looking for free labour since a pigeon could do door-to-door sales.

They are very compelling in the office and in the interviews. The place looks buzzing, and the staff/bosses look sound and friendly. Which they are. Tom was a very nice guy, and I was so close to going in today for my first day but after doing some more looking around and to my discovery, previous complaints match the exact same story I went through in the past few days and decided that it's not worth getting screwed over.

OVERALL SUMMARY: Too good to be true? It probably is.

Don't fall for it guys. Do your research and look for yourselves.

Right, I've just finished an interview with Live Marketing Sales and then saw this because my Dad done some research...thank god! Obviously from what I can read here there is somewhat of a misleading nature happening here.

To the people that have actually worked for Live Marketing Sales, I am only concerned about where this position is going to put me. If it leads to being a manager, then hell yes. Nice workplace, the people seem pretty cool and getting your own office which does look pretty suave and in the long-run it can only lead me to a position where I will be heavily involved in marketing...something which I plan for a career. Only being 19, that sounds like a very exciting proposition for me and I am obviously not expecting a ridiculously well paid, managerial job straight away. A position like that takes hard work, time, and the passion to do well.

If someone can tell me that if I put in my 100% effort into doing well with this job and won't get anywhere with it then my case is closed. But if you can't...what do you expect from applying for a new job?

Hugs and kisses.
J

P.s. If I do well at the door to door sales, how much do you reckon you can earn?

Pure rubbish, its all a big fat scam as usual. Some illitrate American sitting behind a desk with a three piece suite and packs a posche in front of the office. Telling you he also did the face to face sales before he got he's own office. Lie lie lie. I worked with a similar company like this one about 5 years back at london bridge, they called themselves IPG imports from America with their mother office DS MAX! I'm not sure how this guys come into this country and get away with this lying to vounrable ppl desperate for work . The truth is that they know you will not last more than 3 days, at least a week at most. Thats why they spend a lot of money advertising on job site and the evening standard, and will definately get at least 10 ppl to start for a week. Which after you get tired to move on they've already got another 10 for next week! Obviously its costing them nothing to get bouts on the streets. I think watch dog has to get involved and blow them on the air waves. Blood sucking or should i say labour sucking vampires. lol

I am going to say now that this is not for everyone. It is hard work and you need to be good at sales. If you put in the hard work, you will get to where the managers are. I have worked there. It is spelled out eventually. But they do choose specific words on the job websites.
I had taken a lot of experience from these guys and it is very applicable to any future media and client based jobs. I don't regret any of it. Every truly successful person in media has and knows what it is like to do door to door. It is how you learn to 'really' communicate with people.
Pos: Gain excellent personal and communicational skills.
If you are a natural sales person, you can make it. And earn a ****load!
Neg: Not everyone makes it past first and second stage as much as they say you can.
It is door to door sales all the way until management.
People have done it, but it is all about putting in a LOT of effort. If you have a family/social life. Probably not for you. If you generally want to make a lot of money in the future and take a lot of negatives and stay positive (as well as being able to sell of course) then go for it.

I ain't no pro-scam person. I ain't not negger. I believe that there are people out there that can do this and earn a lot doing it. I would say about 3 - 5% tho :)

hi again
i went for the secound round interview and i found out that the dont pay you per houre, they pay you per sale...and they ask u to walk around london asking or i might say bagging pepole for money ...they call it " door to door sell"...lol what waste of time!

im totally shocked by what I've seen so far, i went for the first interview and they called me to attend the second one on Monday, and if every thing been mentioned here is true I will be extremely disappointed, if they are not going to pay me per hour i wont work for them because this just a complete joke! i will update u asap

Last week I got an offer to work for a company called Live Marketing Direct. After 3 days in their office I quit.
This is because after researching them and being around them, I discovered their disgusting scheme to get rich quick taking advantage of the young and unemployed. Indirectly they are also pratically lying to customers: poor, sick, old and or lonely people about charities such as the British Red Cross, WVRS and RSPCA. It's sick.

Live Marketing Direct also operate under a few other names, but they all spring from EA WORLDWIDE ACQUISITIONS, a very suspicious company apparently based in America. Instead of taking my word for it I suggest you take Google's. Look up:
Live Marketing Direct,
EA Worldwide Acquisitions,
Josh Cote,
pyramid scheme,
multi-level marketing.

You will see what I am talking about for yourself. Something BORDERLINE ILLEGAL is going on. I felt so weird around most of their employers, looking too happy and behaving like a cult, low levels of professionalism, constant brainwashing every morning..
Nearly EVERYTHING that comes out of their mouth is euphimistic sales-[censor]-talk to sugarcoat the pathetic truth, which is that they recruit naive hopefuls for virtual enslavement, and in the name of CHARITY too! Most of their sales come from very kind, caring, sympathetic but gullible people who live in council flats! IT'S DEBASED.

I was in their environment for 3 days and I can assure you every accusation made about them is true; I have experienced it first hand. You can read for yourself what goes on in there. This is practically fraud and I wonder why is it legal. Moreover why the hell are charities like Red X and WVRS hiring these [censor]! Totally delusional. Stay away and tell all your jobseeking friends.

Hi I am going to an interview today...from what you have said, this ad for this job does mislead you - I would never applied if I knew I would be doing door to door sales and yet this appears to be the case according to some of you. I have applied to do charity marketing for Source, and to be fair, I could get a job directly for a charity going round knocking on doors, AND get paid an hourly rate.
In any case I am going to the interview, to make my own mind up, but I do think it seems like a bit of a joke now.

Just because it wasnt the 50k dream job that you wanted, and all your dreams got shattered by the fact you couldnt handle that, it dosnt mean its a scam... WHERE IS THE SCAM? What door to door is a scam? Commission is scam? Working hard is a scam? Get a life dude...

Your probably thinking I work for them...quite the opposite. Just like you I went for an interview, I actually PAID ATTENTION to what Tom was saying and realised that YES its door to door, business to business or events and that it wasnt for me after all. No they dont disclose that its commission on the phone, but why shoudl they...I AM LOOKING FOR A JOB DURING A RECESSION, I SHOULD BE HAPPY I GET A JOB... did throw me off but to call it a scam?

As you said, your an "experienced manager"...doubt it... that would probably be me... because if that were the case you would know direct sales is a multi billion pound business which most of is based on commission and involving door to door. Did I take the job, NO... just for the fact that I couldnt see myself doing the door to door again and the fact I have a family so the hours wouldnt suit me, but nothing else...just wasnt for me... I just find it ridiculously funny that people like you get so annoyed that YOU didnt pay attention on the website where it clearly states FACE TO FACE SALES and the fact that you have to work hard for your money...

People...if you enjoy sales, go for it, if you dont THEN dont...just stop typing rubbish online justcause it wasnt for you. Sorry if i offended you but just as you are sick of reading things about direct sales scams... stop the hype...

THANK YOU :)

This is the link to a facebook group to work agains these companies. Marketing jobs scams

http://www.facebook.com/notifications.php#!/group.php?gid=103263926378811&ref=mf

I had an interview with this company and i had exactly the same experience. The same girl Courtney Sagar called me to book me with the rest of the interviews that sounded a bit strage for me and then had the first round interview with Tom Harris, who was pretty vague with the information.

I was one the last interviews, about 4:30.. I went to a cafe shop in the area after the interview and saw him walking towards the station with one of this tabards people wear when representing companies on the street, like a big sleeveless t-shirt.. Now after doing research i guess he was going to knock on doors too.

They just tell you lies. He is the manager and he's still knocking on doors for a living.. I dont think they make that much money then.

Do not waste time and money attending their interviews. There's plenty information on the interent about them. They're all a scam.

Live Marketing Direct Tom Harris and EA Worldwide Aquisitions are bull****