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Vector Marketing/Cutco Knives Complaints - Misleading advertising for a unethical sales job

Review all Vector Marketing/Cutco Knives complaints

Vector Marketing/Cutco Knives

Posted: 2007-07-10 by Brent Caulley  [send email]
Misleading advertising for a unethical sales job
Complaint Rating:  78 % with 95 votes
Do these look familiar?

CUSTOMER SERVICE Summer Openings $12.50 base/appt. No experience will train Customer sales/service. Conditions apply. CALL 434-0201

ENTRY LEVEL Summer Openings Great Pay Long & short term available! Customer sales & service, No experience needed. Conditions apply, start now. To interview 434-0201

If you work in a college town they probably do. they are for a company called Vector marketing. There are many other businesses under Vector like Alcas and so on.

Vector marketing sells knives on behalf of Cutco a American knife company trying to compete with overseas high end knifes.

I am not here thought to talk about the knives or Cutco but about Vector. Last summer I had a very important college internship and I needed a flexible job to sustain me. The Vector advertisement sounded great, no one else was offering me that much money so I took the plunge.

Over the phone with a "secretary" I was told that the job payed by appointments to customers and that the appointments were preset. She then set up an interview with the manager.

The building seemed very empty for a business to me almost like a A-team scam hardly any art work or furniture that was not built to travel. There were four other people interviewing with me. The interview now as I look back seemed very superficial with talk only about me and my interests but I managed to get in a question. "Will I be making calls or setting up appointments because I am not comfortable with that?", I asked. He simply said no all appointments were preset. I was encouraged about the job so i stayed for a two hour demonstration about the product. He then set up the next appointment for the beginning of a two day unpaid training course.

The training course started out fine but there was some jargon and phrasing thrown around that made me weary but at the end of the first day we were told to go home and write down as many Names and numbers of people we knew as possible this was to be a memory exercise.

The next day he had us count how many we had come up with. The one with most names got to sit in the most comfortable chair for the rest of the ten hour training. This is where my clash with the trainer began. I sat quietly as the trainer left the room and motioned to the young marine that maybe he should give up his comfortable chair to the seventy something old lady. The young marine gave the older woman the chair. then the sales rep came back and wanted to know why the older woman had the chair. I answered that she was tired from the ten hours of training from the day before. the training rep then got upset and insisted that the young man had the chair because the old lady did noy try hard enough and did not deserve the chair. He then asked us to turn in our lists of names and numbers and i declined explaining that I only met him and was uncomfortable giving him my loved ones information. After I spoke up another girl declined her list the training rep was not happy with me and after that he did not let me get in a word in for the rest of the day.
He photocopied the other's lists and returned them to the trainees. We were then advised to break the list into groups according to their income and social status.

H = Home
M = Married
3 = Over 30 years of age.

A HM3 were the people we were to set up our first interviews with. The goal was to sell $10,000 worth of product in a week. This he called the fast track. He than told us trade tricks like using our social and economical status to sell products. We were never to change from saying that we were poor college kids and this was our first sale. This would help us sell a homemaker a $1000 set of knives to your family and friends and after making that sale you will pressure them for more HM3's to call to set up appointments.

What Vector marketing is doing is not Illegal but unethical and the worst part is, is that it starts a whole other generation of unethical business people ready to lie to there own family and friends in order to make money as fast as possible no matter who they hurt.
Comments United States Job & Career
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 779 days ago by James Sill  [send email] 0 Votes
that place is such a scam.....i quit after the 2nd day.......horrible horrible place.
 772 days ago by Matt Wenninger  [send email] 0 Votes
First of all, Vector Marketing is not a company that is out to scam people. From reading your post, it sounds like you had a terrible manager that trained you in. I have worked for Vector for 2 years now and my manager has never once advocated dishonesty in trying to sell CUTCO to my customers. Whoever trained you in should be reported to a division manager or region manager and fired. I will agree with that. The base pay now is actually $15 per appt, but if you are even average at it, you will make far more than the base pay. It is not meant to be a high pressure environment when on a sales appt with a potential customer. The sales rep's job is to explain in depth and show by using examples and demonstrations exactly what the knives are capable of and what the guarantee entails. In the end, the customer has the final say. You start out with people that you know and are more comfortable with so that you can get more practice in a safe and comfortable environment. After the appt, you ask the people if they will give you more names of people that they think would be nice enough to just sit down with you. They are not obligated in any way. I have had people refuse to give me names and I have had people give me 20+ names. It all depends on the person, how comfortable they are with you, and how comfortable they would be with you going to see their friends, neighbors, and family members. The manager's job is to maintain a positive environment in the office and strive to motivate the sales reps. I feel bad for you that you had such a bad experience because it is actually a really good job opportunity with an unlimited earnings potential.
 767 days ago by Kimberly Iufer  [send email] 0 Votes
Brent Caulley, what you have said is not true of any Vector office I know of. If you believe that that place scam than maybe it was, maybe it was an office impersonating the real Vector offices that we have all across the US. Thousands of the Cutco representatives currently selling Cutco do not or did not have any of their appointments preset. As with every office i know we only call people that we already know, or that have been recommended to us by their friends who were supposed to have called them beforehand to ask them if it would be okay if we give them a call.

When you mentioned the part where their was 10 hours of training "the night before" i have never heard of such thing, my training lasted about 4 or 5 hours each for the three days of training. And when you said that the "sales rep made the old lady give the chair back," well first of all, the people who give the training at real offices are not sales reps they are managers, branch managers, assistant managers, district managers, and/or division managers. And for the person whom you mention to make the old lady give up the comfortable chair would not happen at a real office and is really not nice.

You then said that the "training rep asked you to give him your list of names and numbers," well that did not happen at my office, our manager did not ask us to give him our lists, we keep all of our names and numbers, and never gave them to any of our managers or co- sales reps. When you said the manager "photocopied the lists and returned them to the trainees," that is not something that happened at my office. Also you said "he advised to break the list into groups according to their income and social status." That also DID NOT happen at my office and is not practiced at the offices I have been to.

You than said that ""He than told us trade tricks like using our social and economical status to sell products. We were never to change from saying that we were poor college kids and this was our first sale. This would help us sell a homemaker a $1000 set of knives to your family and friends and after making that sale you will pressure them for more HM3's to call to set up appointments.""

This also did not happen at my office. Our manager did not tell us to say any of that. This is very wrong

Please tell me what office or place you believe to have told you this, because if it is real I will make sure that that manager no long works for Vector.

Vector Marketing's opportunity that they have given to all us sales reps is really beneficial, and I truly believe that anyone who works for Vector will agree with what I have said and is proud to say they work for Vector selling the finest cutlery in the world. By not cold calling people and not going door-to-door.

Please anyone who reads the previous complaints, especially if you are looking to buy Cutco, please please disregard them as they are not true of any real office and are not supposed to be.
 767 days ago by Brent Caulley  [send email] +1 Votes
Hello Again
The original complaint writer, Brent Caulley here! Kim you attacked my photocopying the lists comment but did not discredit that trainers have the applicants create a list of names of loved ones. Most people that read this will be concerned of a network marketing business creating lists of names.
I do not though believe you about breaking the names into income groups because that has been a constant of the past applicants I have interviewed. Breaking the lists into income groups greatly increases the amount of sales during the fast track week where the goal is for new applicants to sell $10,000 worth of knives.
Breaking loved ones into income groups according to status may sound harsh but that is the truth of what I and many other applicants have seen.
I still poses the training manual where the there is a page with a word for word description of how to set up an interview. The manual can also be found online. This shows the poor college kid sales techniques.
Kim is right on one thing, you do have a initial call, see that is why they say the appointments are preset is because at the end of training (if you knew before or not) you call the people on your list and preset the appointment. You tell that that you are selling knives and they have no obligation to buy because you are paid by the appointment. When you reach the customer usually someone you know you begin the sale of the knives starting at the $1000 home maker and if this is denied you talk about three different payment plans. If this is denied you move to a smaller set and then to payment plans and again to smaller sets. You can buy one item usually at $60 about an hour later. After the sale or appointment is over you ask the customers for three friends numbers and it continues.
Most applicants run out of contacts after less than a month, I am sure Kim will love to tell you about the three employees that last longer than a moth but wouldn’t like you to here about the hundreds that walk away during the first five days.
Kim would like you to believe that my complaints are an isolated incident but here are some links where the public should feel free to visit.

1. http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?vector
This a link to a online petition of currently 6951 disgruntled Vector Employees

2. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/savecampaign
This is organized student group S.A.V.E. Students Against Vector Exploitation they meet once a month on a national chat room.

3. http://www.nicolekruse.com/company_40.html
This a person after my heart they are out to educate the public about these network marketing businesses
There are many more sites and people just like me… 6951 to be exact just Google “Vector Complaints’. I will not let anyone know where I am because I am working to fight this corporation myself.
 767 days ago by Kimberly Iufer  [send email] -1 Votes
WOW! Brent they don't tell us to create "a list of loved ones," they tell tell us during training to create a list of everyone we know of, everyone we have ever met!!!! this list just ended up getting thrown in the trash for me. I honestly came up with about 900 names I just put people I met in grade school, people I met in church, friends, family, anyone, and everyone i have ever met. The purpose of my trainer (the Branch Manager) telling us to do this was for one reason because it was our homework, second he told us whoever came up with the most names at the end would get a reward (which I ended up winning, and was to sit in the comfy chair), and thirdly is in my opinion to be a thought jogger, to help us think of as many names as we can, of people we could ask to set up an appt. with basically. So it was not a big deal because we did not write any of those peoples contact info. and it was strictly for our personal use anyways, and we did not have to turn in or give any of that information to anyone else!

I am a Christian and I swear to God that noone has ever told me to break up that list into income groups. I swear to God also that I did not ever do that, and also I honestly don't even know how much most of my friends or their parents make. And even if I did know how much someone makes, I could honestly tell you that that does not necessarily make them the best prospects because like you said the best prospects are HM3's! We are also told in training not to pre-judge HM3's! I can almost guarantee you that anyone who has done more than 50 appointments like I have, has seen more people they don't know than people they do know, and how am I or any other rep to know how much that persons income is, I would never ask one of my friends or recommendations how much their friends income is. It is also common sense that more people who cook and would be interested in buying cutlery or outdoor items own a home are married and over the age of 30, duh!! And from personal experience I can also tell you that just cause someone makes a lot of money doesn't mean that they are going to buy more, a lot of wealthy people I have met have not bought anything, and some people who are just your average joe decide to buy a lot. Most of the time it depends on how much the customer likes you, sometimes they don't even care about you they just love the product so much.

Being that you, Brent, has interviewed so many people who have applied for Vector, which I don't know how you have done so other than by the internet because I don't think someone would agree to meet with someone they don't even know, and on the internet anyone can make stuff up, just as you have post a complaint on a web-site that noone can check up one because you are not willing to release the info. of the office you went to and who interviewed you and trained you!

During a fast start, which is a reps first two weeks of the company you are encouraged to do your best and i would think sell as much as possible, because you have the opportunity to get free cutco depending on how you much you sell. I sold around $1,500 in my fast start and i got some free cutco items which i like very much, and during my fast start i did not go and call people because i thought they would buy a lot i didn't have a lot of leads cause i could only see my friends and family in that period of time, i did not have enough time to call on the recommendations from my friends and family so soon. So basically the reps set goals for themselves my manager did not set goals for me, my goal was to sell $10000 of course i wanted to win all thos cutco prizes, but i didn't reach this goal, but i didn't quit because of it.

And you say and I quote "Breaking loved ones into income groups according to status may sound harsh but that is the truth of what I and many other applicants have seen."
When you say you and other applicants you are only talking about people who have applied, not for people who have actually worked for the company and can tell you that did not happen. Have you ever spoke to anyone who currently works for Vector Marketing Corporation selling Cutco????? Probably not, huh!!?
Then you say I still poses the training manual where the there is a page with a word for word description of how to set up an interview. The manual can also be found online. This shows the poor college kid sales techniques
My manual doesn't say anything about what you call "the poor college kid sales techniques" and I have never heard that before, that is a fake manual!
I have recently gone to conferences with my company, where hundreds and hundreds of reps attend and NONE of them i repeat NONE of them have your so called "poor college kid sales techniques" in them.
"Kim is right on one thing, you do have a initial call, see that is why they say the appointments are preset is because at the end of training (if you knew before or not) you call the people on your list and preset the appointment. "
I am not sure what you mean by this, the appointments I make are setup after I call my recommendations. So they are not preset! And duh!! why do you think they told us to make a list of our friends and family, we obviously are going to ask who we know, and not strangers to help us out.
If a customer does not want to hear the rest of our presentation they don't have to, we are not pushy sales people, we simply want to give them the next best deal, what they can get because we truly believe everyone should have cutco, we use it our friends use it and everyone whose ever used it love it. So what do you expect were just gonna show you one item, we want to show you what you can afford and as much of it as we can. Every sales rep on Earth wants their customers to buy a lot especially if that sales rep loves the product so much. There is nothing wrong with that.
We don't ask the customer for "3 friends and it continues." I simply say what my manual says which is "Now there is one more important part, heres where you can really help me out, I get paid every time I show Cutco, but I can only show people who give me permission, so what I need you to do while I'm cleaning up, is jot down 7-10 names of people who you can call, I'm not necessarily looking for people who would buy, just people nice like you, who are willing to take a look." Don't you think that is appropriate? after all how am i supposed to do my job if I dont get recommendations? I can't.
And yes it is true that most people who apply quit. That is a huge fact, in my office I saw more people quit than I saw stick with it. Why you ask? Because of course they ran out of leads, they stopped asking for recommendations. And they probably did not call any recommendation and asked for their permission. They were not willing to put the work in, and like any other job you have to work. With this company your job is making telephone calls, and going on appointments. Nothing to it, that easy, not that hard. and a lot of people can make a lot of money depending on how hard you work. For instance I make 25% of each sale right now, and depending on how hard you work you could make up to as much as 30% of each appointment plus an additional 20% of all the sales for that month. How awesome is that!! You can get promoted, win free stuff, gain better communication skills, get more resume experience, (for the top selling brand in the world). and have fun while doing it, cause you get meet new people all the time and make new friends. I love working for Vector, I encourage people to apply, and I have never came across in my office any of the bad things that Brent has mentioned in his complaint. So please go find out for yourself if you'd like, and apply at workforstudents.com . And please discredit everything negative Brent has said until you have factual information to back it up. Thank You for reading this.!
 746 days ago by Michael Minella  [send email] 0 Votes
I am currently a Sales Representative for Vector Marketing. I agree with everything that Kim has posted. However, I don't totally agree with some of Vector's policies. I haven't been into my office in a few months mainly because I hate showing up to meetings without having any sales. Then again, it is due to my laziness that I have not gotten as far as Kim. If you bust your butt at this "job" you can go really far with Vector. When I went through the interview process, I was told that we would get $13/appointment OR commission based at what sales level you're at. At the end of training that told us that the $13/appointment was only valid for our Fast Start. In my Fast Start, I only won a free ice cream scoop because I reached the $500 level but not the $1,500.
 732 days ago by Travis Nowak  [send email] -1 Votes
I went through all the training through vector marketing as well and actually enjoy my job. Yes they do ask you to start with friends and family because that is who you know, you then get recommendations from from them to start your life in setting appointments and showing your product. I have only worked for them for 6 weeks and am doing really well, plus you get paid every week. Maybe you might have been skeptical and didn't give the job a chance, but I am telling you from personal experience that it is the best job I have ever ran into.
 643 days ago by Omar Zapata  [send email] -1 Votes
Mr. Brent Caulley

Ive been working for cutco as a sales rep for almost a year, there are not just 3 people that last over a month with vector, vector actually hass over 60,000 college students that really enjoy this job.

I make 45% profit of everythinbg I sell and Like kim Im also A christian I would not do something unethical like what you have described.

but I do believe that you badmouthing this great company is very unethical, and that you are giving birth to a new generation of people who slander and lie about the good things the world has to Offer.
 626 days ago by Verne Munroe  [send email] -1 Votes
Brent,

I am currently an employee of Vector Marketing and I disagree with you on much of what you said about Vector Marketing. While yes, I did have to make a list of people, it was as (I believe) Kim said, a list of EVERYONE I could possibly think of, and like Kim, most of the names on my list were people I went to school with, grew up with, friends, family, teachers, etc. and 99% of that list was totally discarded. The Purpose of that list is A: to test your memory, and B: to create a list of people to help you find your initial customer base.

Your training session sounds very unusual to me as well. I also had a 3 day training period, of 4-5 hours per day. And again, I was never encouraged to be dishonest to, or to put pressure on our potential customers.

And about "Fast Track": They don't expect you to sell $10,000 in your first week. Fast Track is designed to get you motivated to start selling A.S.A.P. so that you can make some money, and so that you don't procrastinate and say "Eh, I'll get started in a few days" because when you procrastinate, "a few days" could end up as never starting at all. And even still, selling $10,000 in your first week is not unreasonable, one of the guys from my training class did, and now he's one of the top salesman in the company.

I want to explain my situation to you, just to prove that I'm being real with you. I've been with Vector since the end of December, and I have sold slightly more than $1,000 in Cutco, and have made roughly $200 total. I haven't had an appointment in 2-3 weeks, and not once has my boss pressured me to make a sale. To get some appointments, of course he's pressured me, that's his job. I've only made $200 in nearly 3 months. Now, on the face of it you might think "see, this guy's getting shafted" but no, it's quite the contrary. See, the sales technique that Vector uses, is a highly researched and time tested technique, and has worked for literally tens of thousands of people for over 50 years. And because it has worked for so many, for so long, I realize that it is only because of 2 possibilities that I am not doing so well, either A: I'm doing something wrong, or B: I am not trying hard enough, which of the two I've yet to determine. But I don't blame Vector.

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience, it sounds to me like you had a manager who didn't do his job properly, and who didn't stick to the training techniques laid out by Vector. I think that you should let me, one of the others here who work for Vector, or any Vector office know who your manager was last summer, and the experience you had. This "manager" should be fired.

Please email me if you want to drop the name of that manager, I'm sure vector would be appreciative to know who he is.
 565 days ago by Heidi Jean  [send email] -1 Votes
Hi, my name is Heidi and I just read over everyone's positive and negative testimonials regarding Vector. First, I do not work for Vector and I have never worked for Vector. So, I am not taking sides!

I have gone through the interview and the training courses, so I am familiar with what is being disputed here.

What it all comes down to is that Vector Marketing employment works well for some people and does not work at all for others. This is also true for all different types of jobs and all different companies. It's actually stupid to argue over it.

Brent and Kim are both making excellent points on the issue. Personally, I had some rather disagreeable opinions about my experience with Vector, none of which I hold any grudge. And yes it is a high-pressure, networking sales job. The marketing tools used in training may seem unethical to some, but will bring success to others. Should you listen to the complaints on the various web sites? Of course. Any logical person should do his/her homework before signing on to anything. Learn how different types of businesses operate. If you feel you are interrogating your "loved ones", then that's how it will come across to your customers and this isn't the type of job for you.

Brent-
I am sorry you had a terrible experience with this company. But review the facts. See ad in paper, walk into interview, get student job, become millionaire. Are you just going to walk into a super flourishing too-good-to-be-true student job where you make your own hours and make tons and tons of money with the 'snap of you finger' ('cut of a knife')? No, you will have to work for it. Look aside from Vector's top employees' enthusiasm on recruiting you to the team- (they are just practicing their selling skills - selling this job to you.) And decide if sales is something for you. Instead of putting your focus on the mean trainer guy who had unfair rules about the comfy chair- maybe focus on the fundamentals of selling. Or find a job in gerontology.

Kim-
If you enjoy what you do and are successful at it - that's great and you should be very proud of what you have accomplished. Apparently being Christian makes you more credible as well, so 2 bonus points for that. Listen, I think you take great pride in your work and maybe need to let it roll off your back and not take it so personally when someone has a different opinion about Vector than you. Do you secretly wish you had read all of the complaints before signing on? I don't know. Did you tell all of your Vector colleague buddies to write super nice posts on here just to gang up on poor disgruntled Brent? I don't know that either. You have the right attitude about defending your company and have nothing to worry about- there will be plenty more folks responding to the add in the newspaper, and plenty more folks joining your team - and plenty more running away. Get over it.

Overall, Cutco knives are an excellent product. I didn't do well with this job, mainly because I literally do not know enough people to put on a list and the people I do know simply have no interest in purchasing. My sister and I went through it together and came up with the same result. Besides she knows the same people I do and we come from a small family. Fact: sales target audience for us was very small. However, a friend of mine did very well with Vector and knew many people who already used Cutco products and wanted to buy more. Fact: sales target audience for her was very wide. Depends on the person and the situation.

Brent and Kim-
Good luck to you both. I hope I gave contributed some light to shed on the situation. Let's aim to break down the wall of the great Vetor divide, shall we?
 532 days ago by J. Thomas  [send email] +1 Votes
I completly agree with the claims. This company threw up many red flags for me as well... for example:
1. they never tell what exactly you do until u get their.
2. they don't pay you for orientation/ training. My time is valuable and if im gonna waste gas, and 3 days (8+ hrs each) sitting through their stuff i should be getting money for it.
3. One of the sales managers (who suposidly made/makes millions of sales all the time) gave my group a presentation of how he makes a sale. But i noticed as he was doing this he was reading his manual the entire time. Word for word. You would think being like the master of selling this stuff he would have it pretty down pact but no he even stumbled over a few words. Most of us as i was talking to my peers could memorize 2 of the pages in one night. Yet this guy couldn't memorize any in (god knows how long)...
4. The hiring manager said to us during the orientation hiring process that he would be hiring the most cooperative, outgoing and attentive people for the job. yet a couple of the guys i noticed there weren't taking notes, saying anything, or even paying attetion yet somehow they got the job.
5. Vector says they're #1 in the nation.. i Know a lot of #1's.. but i personally have never heard of vector until that day. If they are so awesome why has no one heard of them?
6. Vector doesn't talk about themselves. The entire time all i heard was Cutco this and Cutco that... but what the hell is vector? How long have they been running? what does Vector have to do with Cutco? If they are so similar why dont they just call themselves Cutco?
7. on both of those training days i heard phones ringing off the hook.. The "leader" assured us that it was sales coming in of course (as he said this he looked a little irate) but come on.. 10 hrs of non stop sales coming in? I know its a good product, and some people may actually buy... but i know for a fact not that many damn people wanna spend $1000 on some knives. Especially when we are in a recession and gas is like 70 bucks a tank..people aren't stupid..
8. $142. they want it fast... toooo fast. I'm pretty sure i shouldn't have to pay for product im selling. You already have my information and i'll probably sign some kind of contract when i join.. so why would i have to pay?
9. $12, 000+ in a week? lol... that just sounds ridiculous. Not many young people can do that legally. just doesn't sound legit.
In summary i think this company is a load of Bull. I'm not doubting Cutco itselves.. they are good knives but Vector is a scam. The fliers everywhere, the music in the background, the constant encouragement and compliments, monotonously repeating the same script over and over, a "leader figure" that is said to be the best of the best and is clearly loaded trying to inspire envy and worship out of you, encouragement to be completely loyal and dedicated to the "program", making you believe everything they say and trying to dismiss all clams to the operation's false hood BEFORE YOU EVEN HEAR ABOUT THEM, avoiding certain questions... etc...

sounds like a brainwashing cult to me. Wish there was something i could do to stop it.. but unfortunately it's not illegal. Go fig...
 531 days ago by Brent  [send email] +1 Votes
Hi, I am the original poster of this complaint,
If you would like to know more about Vector marketing I have a website up about them with videos, resources and links to other groups taking on vector Marketing.
The link is:

http://ethicswontcutit.brentcaulley.com/index.html

I also have my video posted on Youtube of Vector Applicants talking about the hiring process. You can search You Tube for "Vector Marketing" or "Ethics Won't Cut It: Vector Marketing". If you are considering working for Vector marketing try watch the videos and I will be willing to answer any other questions.
Thanks
 529 days ago by Smith  [send email] +1 Votes
This is a 100% of scam company. I have several appointment experiences. I talked to several college students about their sale strategy deeply. Now co pay $16 per appointment. They give sale rep a set of knives for demo and ask $140 for deposit. Beware of this company!!!
 521 days ago by Carolyn  [send email] 0 Votes
I went to an interview for Vector, got the job, decided not to take it. I just felt a little weird about it. (Maybe the fact that the manager/interviewer looked like the dad from Little Miss Sunshine and had a couple of samurai swords behind him. :) ) Don't get me wrong, power to anybody who works for Vector and makes the big bucks, and that turning a penny into a corkscrew was awesome! However, I felt way better getting paid to campaign in my community for getting an energy plan back in New York State and trying to expand the Bottle Bill so water bottles and other containers currently without a deposit would get recycled more.

I was outside, I could wear whatever I wanted, and because I wasn't under any pressure (just like you guys at Vector) I felt as if I were more of a random person going around a neighborhood talking with peoiple and getting them interested about what my state is doing for the environment. I also got to go to New Orleans this past March for the Clinton Global Initiative University conference, and I got invited to go mainly because of my work with the New York Public Interest Research Group. We had a high turnover rate too, largely because many people feel very uncomfortable with convincing a stranger that what you're talking about is worthwhile. Even now, looking back at that experience I'm really glad that I tried it, but I can't believe how I could go out every day and just talk to people about what NYPIRG was trying to accomplish.
 520 days ago by Jennifer Sayas  [send email] -1 Votes
I know this is a little late but I still feel the need to post my opinion. I am young, just out of high-school, and I found out about from a friend of mine about Vector. As someone who recently completed training, I must say that I found all of Brent's and a few others claims false. My manager was nothing but kind, genuine and knowledgeable when it came to dealing with employees and the product. There was no pressure, no feelings of deceit, nothing.

I only have this to say.

Get over it.

No matter which industry you work in, no matter what company, you will always, ALWAYS, find someone who does not act with the proper code of conduct within the workplace and does not know how to do their job. That is not something to blame the entire company for. Just because that one manager may not have practiced according to the training manual (because the training manual supports none of your claims, Brent) does not mean that is how they all conduct business. CUTCO has become the number one cutlery company due to their use of Vector for sales. That is how thay are related, Vector is the one that sells the product. So don't blame the entire company just because you had a, pardon my french, sh***y experience. Blame the local office, because you are wasting your breathe trying to fight an entire multi-million dollar corporation that has lasted since 1949. Why have they lasted that long? Because they're a quality business. If you visited a section of Apple, IBM, or any other company just as successful, you would find that they had portions and offices that treat people exactly as you were treated. That's life, and that's why you don't work for that branch. There is no reason for a pointless crusade.
 519 days ago by Vector Worker  [send email] -1 Votes
I am currently working for Vector and that is not what he told us to say. We were not supposed to say anything about being poor and try to make a sale. Our main objective was to inform the customer and compare our knives to theirs. I don't know where your from, but that is not how I was trained. Yes we did do the name thing at the beginning for the chair, but he never photocopied them it was just to prove that we know a lot of people and we won't get stuck on the first day. I have been working for vector for only 5days now and i have made well over $6, 000. And will gladly support them anyway I can.
 511 days ago by Phonix  [send email] -1 Votes
$111.87 for the sample set, tax included. You can also of course "Sell the Sample Set for profit, at a price no greater than established retail prices. 2 days, I've made $1600 in sales, I'm probably going to make an easy grand this week, just driving around seeing a few relatives and friends. Of course, I don't like bothering people, and I don't need people I sell to to talk to other people for me, I have enough connections to sell what I need. Even in a time of recession (here in Canada gas is at $1.40 per litre) intelligent people purchase hundreds of dollars worth of knives because I've shown them that the knives I have are better than theirs.
Lets be clear on this, training is like a cult, biggest waste of 3 days EVER. I don't need instructions from people to sell quality products I just need some leather and rope and a few knives that cut through them faster than the knives the customers have.
Lets also be clear on this, everything outside of knives that vector endorses like enthusiasm and honesty is all bullshit, I don't need or like to see people from my office, I certainly haven't been to more than one office meeting...

Anyway Brent, for me Cutco is easy money, for you it's just something you can bitch about, and honestly, it seems clear that most people don't value your opinion on the company or it's training methods. You need to stop bitching about some redneck district manager and focus your attention on something more useful, unless you think posting bullshit videos slandering cutco is a career oppotunity.
 508 days ago by Cameron  [send email] 0 Votes
I just recently started working for Vector. I didnt have alot of the same experiences you did. For example, i didnt pay for my sample set, and i didnt get told i would have preset appointments.

I was told of people that made some big bucks in their fast start time, such as 10, 000 plus. I thought that was cool, but i wasnt expecting that to be me, and if you did, you're an idiot. I agree with other employees that say you get what you put into it. I could have put a little more effort into it so far, and i might have made a few more sales or a few bigger ones, and i understand that.

I also agree that every company in every industry has something shady about it in some aspect.

But if i start getting bad treatment or they pull any shenanigans, i will call it quits like i probably should.

Overall, I havent had any scam experiences yet, maybe i will, maybe i wont, i have a different manager than everyone else did in here.
 507 days ago by Jacqui  [send email] +1 Votes
I am supposed to start training at Vector tomorrow. I'm not sure that it is such a great idea, now. I already have a job and very little time to play around. I just graduated high school yesterday, and I start some college classes next month. I want to make a lot of money so I can move into an apartment and go to college, but I dont have that kind of time...is Vector worth it??? I need to know now, because if it isn't, then I'm not going tomorrow. Everyone that I have spoken to (real people...not online) have said that they ended up owing money, because of the downpayment...apparently when you quit, they send the money back to you in the mail, and some how nobody ever gets it??? I don't have $150 to throw away on knives. Plus, i feel weird going to strangers houses and cutting pennies in half with knives...maybe i should just sell mary kay cosmetics or something.
 505 days ago by Michael Yi  [send email] -1 Votes
Hi All,

I was a succesful Cutco sales rep for Vector back in 1989-91. I even opened a branch office for them. I tend to agree more with Heidi's post. Vector is not for everyone. As an amateur "Chef", I have mixed feelings about Cutco products. I love the Double D edge. However, the chef knife and some other straight edge knives are not as good as I like. I was a Fast Track winner and top sales rep for many months. I've many prizes and vacations selling Cutco. Overall, I value the experience I received from Vector (the good and bad). As with most jobs (and I have had plenty of sales jobs in my lifetime), no employer tells the 100% truth in their advertisements. This includes non-sales job. All employers will sell you on ONLY the great benefits that you MIGHT receive if you follow their system, but no employer will guarantee any of those benefits. Vector reps are not even employees, they are independent contractors. As a naive college student, I was attracted to the great benefits during the interview. However, I did my own research, saw the benefits and the risks and made an educated and mature decision before joining the company. If you are in college, you should be mature enough to make some of these decisions and if not, you should have consulted your parents, relatives and friends before making the decision.

I have heard many complaints of it was really difficult to sell Cutco. I have to totally disagree. Here's my profile when I sold Cutco. I am of Asian descent that needed a job while living with my sister over the summer in Durham, NC. Income level is not that high in Northa Carolina as in other states like California or New York. However, my belief in the product and my enthusiasm allowed me to be a Fast Track winner selling over $15, 000 in merchandise (even though prices were cheaper then) and sold over $50, 000 for the month. I sold in rural counties all over North Carolina, even in some parts with no street addresses. How did I do it? I believe that everyone could get a benefit of atleast one Cutco knife and thus I pretty much sold ATLEAST one knife on every appointment. I had a closing percentage of 99%.

This program is not for everyone. Some people just do not have the knack for sales. When I was a branch manager, I always conveyed to new recruits that 70-80% will quit after first month. But everyone of my recruits never regretted the experience. Since the company uses independent contractors, every office will have different tactics. I always used the same tactics with my recruits as I used with my buyers. I was just honest with them. Personally, I did not rely on much of the bashing part of Henkels or Wustoff to make the sale. I explained the negative and positives of Cutco knives and its competitors. I can tell you of many sales techniques that I used to succeed, but that is another post. Main thing is every salesman of any type of product MUST believe that their product is the best (whenther true or not) in order to succeed in selling that product. A Honda salesman is not going to say that a Toyota is better.

Anyway, that is my opinion to this thread.

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