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So i saw job for this firm on a job board like Monster.com I applied for it. The 'president of the company' called me back. I went in for a first round interview. keep in mind the job was about 60-70 miles from where i live. I went because on their website it's promises a chance to 'move up in the firm' so T.H. Executives decides they want a second interview. I go over. This day i will 'job shadow' 2 guys. One named Eddie and one named Jerry. I was suppose to be at T.H. Executives at 11:30 am i showed up at 11:00 am. Jerry which was suppose to take me out into the field doesn't show up until at least noon. so i ask Jerry some questions about the job. he tells me we are basically a 1099.(meaning your self employed) which then means you as the worker have to take all of your taxes out at the end of the year.
What they sell is these kind of gift certificate books either 'free' or half off certificates. For $30 dollars these books are. and Jerry said 'we market it for Wheelchair basketball' I asked him how much from each book goes toward wheel chair basketball. He said 50 cents per book. GIVE ME A BREAK I THOUGHT. Less than 2%. So i ride in Eddie's piece of crap old truck out to Sam's to sell these books. each sale you make 10 dollars a book. Jerry and Eddie split what they make meaning if one of them sell a book one gets 5 dollars and the other gets 5 dollars. they stand at the edge of door (at the 2 exits of Sam's club) and say 'Hey wanna check this out we're doing something cool for wheelchair basketball' Jerry practically would shove the book into the gentleman's or lady's gut.
Sam's Club wouldn't allow us to stand inside the foyer.Keep in mind in Ohio in the middle of February in Ohio it gets about 0 or below 0 with windchill. In the matter of about 2.5 or 3 hours asking every person coming out they sold 2 books. Which amounted to less than 20 bucks together they grossed. which comes out to about 4 dollars an hour pre tax. You take out taxes your down to about 3.50 (about) plus Eddie had to go buy Candy to hand out to kids so it came out of his commission. so in that matter of 2.5 or 3 hours. he made nothing in the matter of 2.5 or 3 hours. So after watching for 2.5 or 3 hours and asking a lot of people and they wouldn't buy. I asked one of them to take me back to the office to go home. Eddie refused to. So i decided to call a cab. which cost 30 dollars.
Also i found out the president Tina makes 10 bucks per book you sell. then who recruited her makes like 1 or 2 bucks so it's a giant pyramid.
So if you get a call from T.H. Executives unless you like making less than min. wage. Tell them your not interested.
also when they come to your door or at wal-mart or whatever, tell them 'I'll donate more than 2% to wheelchair basketball!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
The Todd McGuire person who wrote above has this real strange lazy eye and talks like a gorilla. He is Chris Tsirigotis ### and can never pay his bills. His shoes are worn hard from selling pictures door to door for over ten years and still he has no life... it's pretty damn sad if you ask me. He thinks he knows something about business but he's just a brain washed fool with no friends... very sad. All the people there at Art Connection are washed up sales people that are caught in the middle ages of marketing.
I would also like to thank people that posted negative, uninformed comments on here. Being an entrepreneur is not for everybody, especially for those bottom of the barrel people as M.E. so eloquently labeled them. Entrepreneurs search for opportunity, and that's what the Art Connection offers. I can't speak for T.H. Enterprises, they are in no way affiliated with the Art Connection. As for people who read a comment on a website and decide their path in life, great! Saves me the time of weeding them out. Weak people have no chance making it in the business world, you need to stick to jobs you're good at. Such as super sizing my meals, cleaning my clothes, cutting my grass and other jobs that cows do. I chose direct marketing for one reason, it separates the men from the boys, oh and pays extremely well. So if you are someone who reads this and decides not to come in for an interview, thank you for saving my time. Unlike yours, my time is money and not to be wasted on losers. Best of luck to all and for science sake, live your own life, don't be swayed by people with no courage, vision, ambition and least of all knowledge of how the world works. DEUCES!
I worked for Wilcox Executive Group as a summer job. I fell into the trap of the whole Sports Marketing job that pays $13/ hr. I am not going to repeat the comments that were made earlier, but I will advise everyone who reads this to know that the Job is a Door-to-Door gig. "Tina" was only promoted because she had a "close and personal relationship" with one of the owners "Tim Wilcox". I believe Tina and Tim were dating or at least screwing or something at the time. Tina would always get her pick of the territories, so when everyone wasn't making much money in the field, she would always come back and "ring the bell".
For those of you who did not work for Wilcox Executive group of T.H. Executives, which I assume stands for "Tina Hansel" (Good Work Tina by the way). "Ringing the Bell" meant you (supposedly) made $100+ more in a day. Here's the deal, ringing the bell was seen as an accomplishment when in all actuality you could ring the bell if you sold 10 or more of those coupon books, and because you make $10 a book it is assumed that you made $100 that day. In all reality, most people cut the price of books and sold them at cost to "ring the bell". So even when it looked as if you were doing well, you weren't at all.
Lets think about a couple of more things... If I recall corectly, you would have to be in the office no later than 9 o'clock am for a morning B.S. meeting, and you would not finish working until at least 9 o'clock pm. If you can't find a job in these tough economic times, go to Adecco Temp Agency. They will pay you more, and you actually have a shot at a real career.
I am actually quite successful at this point, I am in a sales job, and I am finishing my law degree and my M.B.A., from someone who has been there and done that... please avoid T.H. Executives, and the Wilcox Executive Group. Tim Wilcox, and Tina Hansel are not completely honest when they sell the job. They, like most of us are driven my money and will do whatever it takes to make more of it.
The sad part is that they are not making much of any money at all. When I worked at the Wilcox Executive Group, Tim "The Owner" drove a run down Jeep Grand Cherokee, he wore inexpensive suits and did not wear nice shoes. Tina's two door Chrysler Sebring was nothing to write home about either. (I really hope I'm not getting too personal for you all).
The Job is a scam, really, just look for a temp job or something. The reason I stayed so long is because the way they made you work, you could not reasonably go out and look for another job. You become so dependent upon the little bit of money you are making that you have to work 12 hours a day 5 to 6 days a week. The one positive thing that came out of this job is that it makes me appreciate every other job I have had since then.
If you have a Felony Conviction, and / or No High School Diploma (Maybe T.H. Executives and the Wilcox Executive Group is right for you) -- After all there is something out there for everyone and someone has to go out and sell coupon books. I would rather you all sell those things than commit crimes.
I apologize for ranting, I just realized that there isn't anything recent on the company and I wanted to make sure that no one buys any of the positive B.S. about the company. It is what it is, once you are in... it is hard to go look for something else, because they keep you busy.
I actually worked for T.H. Executives and Wilcox Executive group in Cleveland Ohio. I must say first impression of the job seems completely rediculous. Going door to door selling coupon books, who the hell wants to do that. Trust me there is more of an incentive than just that.
When I first started in Cleveland i also went through the same interviewing process as anyone else did. Trust me i was not happy, my feet were hurting and it rained my first day. The reason i stuck it out is because i seen the opportunity. What other company can you move up the ladder so quickly and open up your own business and make lots of money? There are none unless its a scam which this is not. Plus you have to think, this company does not want a door to door salemen. They want leaders who can step up to the plate, develop quickly and open up a new branch in a city you choose. In fact, if you are not advancing within 8 months, you will more than likely be asked to leave.
True enough you do sign a 1099 and must keep track of your taxes. There were a few benefits from doing this: 1. you keep all your receipts for gas, food, clothes, etc. Keep every receipt for everything you buy. My last year there i made 40, 000 and only paid $600 in takes. 2. You get paid in cash everyday. 3. Unlike other companies where you have to buy your product first and then sell it, at this company you don't buy anything. What you don't sell you simply return back at the end of the day.
The moral of my story is to not judge a book by its cover. If you here door to door salesman, you probably won't go to the interview. Putting the cause out there of wheelchair basketball does have a huge affect on how we sell. Nobody is ever taught to say we donate the entire money to wheel chair basketball. if you do, you will be fired immediatly. As far as how much is donated to these guys you have understand what goes into making this book: Printing, Binding, Promoting, i have to get paid and so does the owner. Everyone has to make money. When you consider it, the Ronald Mcdonald fund donates less than 1% of all the moneies they receive to the charities they fund. This business makes up for more than 70% of all the funds donated to wheelchair basketball. That is huge and the players really appreciate it. I have meet many of them myself.
When i worked for T.H. Exectutives and Wilcox Executive Group, i had some of the funnest times of my life. The people i meet were great and are still some of my really good friends today. When we meet we always talk about the "Business." The reason i left was because i found a job where i make 70, 000 / year. True enough the owners can make alot more. I just felt like it was my time to move on. The system they put in place and the way they work the field will always allow you to make money. True some days you make more than others but thats no ones fault but your own. I've learned so much from this business including how to be personable with people and read them. These skills are essential in any type of marketing and sales careers. Especially direct sales which is PROVEN to be the most effective type of sales. Also i've generated the nickname the Latin Assassin for being promoted so quickly and shutting everyone else down. I would say try it and see what comes of it.
And for those people who are crying about their feet hurting; Quit being a bunch of pussies and get out there and earn your money. Kids now-a-days want everything handed to them on a platter. When you get the feeling of earning something the hard way while still helping out a great cause it is an awesome feeling. Plus it makes you a better person.
I had both, the initial interview and the second round interview with TH Executives over the summer.
Their website didn't even work(I checked it out again today, it still didn't work)!
But, in researching with this company, I found that they say the HR Manager is someone by the name of Amber, when I got into the interview, there was nobody by the name of Amber, and Tina, the "owner" of the company said she was the sole decision maker.
Anyways, she tells me after the 10 minute initial interview that she likes my ambition and all this other crap. Yes, I felt great, because the job I have now is very stressful! So, I agreed to the second round interview. Tina told me to look professional, and to wear good walking shoes because there would be a lot of movement and that she made the mistake of wearing heels on this shadowing thing.
I thought, great! They are taking me to meetings where they get the marketing material and such.
I am told to meet at 11am. I get there at 10:30am, am told to wait in the "lobby" area. I noticed that the walls need a good coat of paint and some putty repair(I was starting to get scared at this point.) I come in a very nice dress shirt and a very nice pair of jeans, with my comfy, gel inserted tennis shoes(I currently work in the construction business, so nice clothes are not very smart to wear, and I had taken a half day from that job to come to this interview). The music was so loud, it was deafening. This was my second bell that something wasn't right. How can a marketing firm play music that loud and expect to receive good feedback from their clients? Third warning, I noticed again, there were only 2 offices and a small, cramped conference room. There were about 20 college aged kids in there, it seemed like a "pep" meeting for their sales.
I wasn't seen until 12:30pm.
Anywho, I get matched up with a team of 2 college aged kids(one male, one female). As soon as we leave the office I get chewed out by one(the male) of them because I am wearing tennis shoes and jeans. I then noticed that the girl was wearing flip flops and her feet were all torn up, blisters, open sores(all of this was on the top, back, and sides where her shoes were sitting when she wore them) - classic case of wearing the wrong type of shoes for long periods of time.
We go to a neighborhood, and sell those stupid Rita Ice Cream, Entertainment Book Knock-offs, and something else door to door. I was told by the male and female both, that they have been sent to bad and to good neighborhoods and that the richer they are, the better sales they get. We were there selling on 8 streets until 7pm(and we started around 1pm)! The guy was telling me that they hit up the houses 3+ times to see if they can get sales or if they missed anyone. There was only 1/2 hour break to grab a quick bite to eat and restroom. The temperature that day was about 80 degrees.
So, taking initiative to learn more about the company(to make up for the lack of information I had received both online and in the first interview) I started asking him questions. His answers were very vague as well. He told me he had been "promoted" after only being there for 2 weeks(this was his 2nd week there and he was a "trainer") and that he was going to be going with a group of people from other companies like TH Executives to St. Louis to sell and attempt to open a office there. He also told me about the "Pyramid Pay Scale" of the books and cards, and whatever else they were selling. His maximum potential, that is if he sold 10 books, and all of the coupon cards, he could make like $300 a week.
I was told by Tina, that everyone in that company is considered a 1099, and they can take deductions so they wouldn't have to pay taxes - Deductions included: meals(before the team meeting, during your shift, and after your shift), cell phone bills, gas, clothes. First off - you can't necessarily take off of those deductions legally. You have to break down exactly everything - for example, your cell phone bill, you have to factor how much you use it on the job and then deduct how that is charged out. You can't take the whole thing off, because you use the phone outside of work! Another example to include is the meals - the kid and Tina both told me that if you stopped at Tim Horton's on your way in, picked up a donut and a drink, you could take that off as a deduction! NO YOU CAN'T! You can take it off if you bought for the whole office!
Also, if someone wants to donate to the charity they are "supporting" the reps take it as a "tip". The boy told me about the story how he had gotten a $10 donation instead of buying the book. He attempted to give it to Tina, Tina's reply was to keep it and never tell her about that kind of stuff again.
So that's what I learned about the company while out in the field!
When I got back to the office around 7:45pm, Tina "spoke" with the guy and the girl and I guess they liked me.
Tina offered me a position, but I had to decide right then and there because there were other potential candidates. I would start immediately, she couldn't wait 2 weeks for me to give my notice to the company I was already with.
When I declined graciously, for a number of reasons, Tina told me that she was disgusted that I would come in there and waste her time. She also called me incompetent for not going with her job offer.
She escorted me out of her office and slammed the door behind me, hard.
So, I am driving home and my feet are seriously hurting. I stop to take my shoes off and notice that I have blisters everywhere! Even a few of them had popped! That was with tennis shoes and gel inserts in 1 day!
The next day, I couldn't get out of bed or walk normally, so I had to call off of work and lose a day of pay.
Moral of the story: THIS COMPANY DOES ILLEGAL OPERATIONS AND IS A MAJOR SCAM! How can this company be teaching anybody "how a company is run" if they can't run an honest company?
Thank you to everyone who posted the truth about Columbus Art Connection. I was contacted to go in for an interview tomorrow morning, which would have been a 100 mile round-trip for me. I am currently unemployed due to a layoff and living on $160 a week in unemployment. I was going to have to borrow gas money from someone in order to get to the interview! I'm so glad I found this site and did a little research before borrowing money to get to an interview that is WORTHLESS!
I knew it sounded too good to be true, they were too vague in their ads and emails to me. I googled their phone number and found out the company name (T.H. Executives and Columbus Art Connection use the same phone number, which is what sparked the skepticism in me) and I ended up at this site to find out the TRUTH.
Do your homework, people. I'm glad I did.
I did the internship with T.H. Executives and it was the best decision I could ever make. I was worried about it at first, but once I started I learned so many things about owning your own company. Tina was a wonderful boss and helped me out with everything that I needed. I met some amazing people inside the office and out. I enjoy working with different people on a daily basis and not being stuck inside the office all day. You choose what you want and how you want to promote for the different companies. You won't know about the company and if you will like it unless you give it a shot. Try something atleast once. But then again like the person before me, if you are not a friendly person and don't enjoy making your own decisions then this job would not be best for you. Good luck out there finding a job with the economy!
I went to a scam with T.H. Executives AND Dot the I Promotions! They tell you all these things that sound good to young kids looking for careers and they just end up wasting you time and gas money! DONT GO! My boyfriend also recently went to the Art Connection company! It's all ###! If they don't give you more than a 10 minute interview and having you coming for another shadow interview that last ALL DAY...it's a SCAM! I want to do something to show these companies it's not ok to do this to people! It makes me so mad!
I was sucked into the same thing (second round "interview"). Difference is, I was looking for a summer internship and they contacted me. The first "interview" was extremely vague and I wasn't given the chance to ask any questions. They called me back immediately asking me for a second-round which I accepted. The "internship" is no different than the full-time "job" but I stuck it out for that day just because well, I had no way of getting back to my car otherwise. I was immediately offered a job - then again, I'm sure they want as many people as they can to sell these damn things to maximize Tina's profit and I asked how long I had to decide. I knew I'd turn it down, but I was trying to be polite. They told me I had to decide immediately because something like 8 intern candidates were interviewing tomorrow and they needed to know how many spots were available.
Previous to that, I was told that one, maybe two intern spots were available. I was talking to another girl who for some reason seemed to accept this ridiculous excuse for an internship. If I accepted, then there would be no spots available for the people they were interviewing tomorrow. Obviously, they offer positions to almost everybody who interviews, but still...
I must say, I'm impressed with their deceitful business model in the sense that they do an incredible job at making it seem like a legitimate, glamorous advertising job until the very last moment. Their website is intentionally very, very vague so you don't realize until you go out into the field that you'll be doing the same job as a girl scout. The sad thing is, most of their door-to-door salespeople are college graduates...why would you ever accept this job?
I went to Art Connections. What they fail to mention is that you have to drive your own car and provide the gas and they give you as many art pieces that will fit into whatever size car that you have.
They have this upbeat music and stupid hype meetings before going out door to door or business to business selling art knockoffs.
If you are a good crap talker and can sell a dream this job is for you. I was only there 2 days. The two days of training of walking all day with your trainer to sell art. Me and another girl went into a womans residential home and the girl pretended to be an interior designer just to sell the art. And I think that the owner is some foreign money hungry dude that has hired all these people do sell his stolen art rip offs.
How can they sleep at night knowing you are scaming people. As for the T. H. thing my bf got an interview and they want him to come back for a second. He is smart enough to not waste time or effort. They need to reinburse folks for the time and drive. For the two that made the comments about how the company is so wonderful you should make sure they are not false advertising the company. Making people come back a second time only to sell freaking coupon books. My kids do that for school functions. Yeah that is moving up in the company. True you have to start at the bottom but like with the research on McD's and Walmart they suggested heck even with those jobs they are not scrapping at the bottom of the barrel and can offer insurance and they take your taxes out. Any good company does that. It bad business to me that you have to spend money to make money.
There are so many companies out there like this, tell you what you want to hear to get you in the door. Actually, I have worked for this company and it was the best decision I ever made. Not only did I work with pro sports players but I got to meet some great people. I'm really sorry that you people could not stick it out to see what the company really had to offer. When I came back for the second interview, I felt the same way. I could not believe that we were going to be selling coupon books on every person's doorstep, but when I stuck it out and worked through the company, I got to do so many different things. I was at sporting events promoting our teams, I did many events, from the planning stage to executing it. The only reason I left this company was because I moved up into the head office. Do me a favor, research EVERY company before you go to work for them. Microsoft, Wal-Mart, McDonalds...you're going to find this stuff on every single one of them. Which I guess if you're going to go off of what other people say, you will never find a job nor will you ever be happy in a career.
I'm really sorry to hear that you people had such a hard time with this! It's a simple customer service skill that really doesn't take a lot. I started in this company from the very bottom and I just recently opened up my own branch after making it through the entire program in less than a year. All I had to do was smile and talk to people and get them to see what opportunities our promotions gave businesses. I have letters from businesses that wrote to me personally for advertising for them because of their increase in sales due to this promotion. The company does other promotions, not just sell "stupid coupon books" but I guess if you are not willing to be friendly and talk to people, you would never see this. I have worked side-by-side with Ohio State football players, as well as a top-of-the-line pitcher from the Cincinnati Reds. I'm really sorry that you people cannot be friendly to the public. I wish you all the best in a happy job search!
The same thing happened to me. TOTAL SCAM! Tina told me we would be "going out into the field" for this second interview. She drove me to a neighborhood and made me pass out those freaking coupon books for 3 hours in heels and a business suit. Of course she didnt tell me we would be doing this or i would have not gone, but i didnt even have a coat in the 41 degree weather. She threw a FIT when the other girl i was with and I requested she take us back to our cars! I was furious! I'm going to be graduating from college with a legitimate marketing degree... YOU DONT EVEN NEED A HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE TO DO THIS JOB! do not get sucked into this scam! TH Executives is a SCAM! sorry to rant... im still bitter I wasted the time and travel on this company!
I actually just wated to say that I also just recently got out of a scam. The Columbus Art Connection. YOu can become a manager they say.. you find out later that you have to sell like 50 pieces of art a day to get this promotion. Why oh why does America have so many of these stupid scammers out there? We need to do something about it and when theses job posting boards like Monster and so on hear about these companies they need to get them off their site. Grow up is all I have to say to these companies. I read this and commented for I just received a call from TH Executives and due to what I found from research I will not be going into the interview. I really wish we could get these "Fake" job offers out of America once and for all.