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CB Telemarketing Review of Vision Marketing
Vision Marketing

Vision Marketing review: Scam and cheating 19

Author of the review
9:42 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

My spouse purchased a spa package from Vision Marketing Chicago for a local spa. She explained to the sales lady that should could not purchase the package until pay day. The sales lady said she would take a check and not cash it until a later date. She cashed it immediately and it caused a few nsf fees. No big deal. don't post date a check i know. Well she called them to see if there was anything they could do. To make it short I ended up on the phone and the owner Mark Paulson was cussing at me and it was completely unprovoked. I couldn't believe it. At one point he kept yelling " Your a D#$%" over and over. He denied it and said he wouldn't even look into the problem. It was insane. I never called him a name or cursed or really even raised my voice. This man has real issues and I would not do business with this company. He also said he was going to call my employer and tell them how I was spending company time. I was not even at work. I hung up when he started saying " I will hunt you down".I am not exaggerating at all. Stay away from this company.

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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

19 comments
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NOTTRUE
Park Ridge, US
Nov 17, 2010 5:27 pm EST

Vision Marketing has A+ Rating with the BBB. All negative posts are from the same person who is a competitor!

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nancygrace11
Chicago, US
Nov 05, 2010 4:36 pm EDT

This company is garbage. Door to door - not management training or anything else they lie and try to tell you. They are door to door solicitors. Nobody gets promotions, nobody makes tons of money. You work all day and make $14 or maybe $28 if you do good. Most of the people there don't even have their own cars, probably because they can't afford them. If you go there you'll get dropped off in the ghetto, left there for 8 hours to walk 12 miles through town and then they'll yell at you and threaten you to get fired if you don't sell enough of their crappy brochures.

This company is crap. This job is crap. The people there are crap. It's a scam and a pyramid scheme.

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ConcernedCitizen64
Chicago, US
Nov 05, 2010 4:16 am EDT

GOOGLE VISION MARKETING and you will see Vision Marketing Scam!

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Tllodd
, US
Nov 04, 2010 7:04 am EDT

Everything said in all these complaints are true. I also worked there and they are full of crap, they make all these empty promises of being able to run you own business when in fact all Mark wants is for you to go out 12 hours a day and sell spa packages. They never opened an office for anyone for the entire time I worked there all they do is make empty promises. The people who are still there working have no idea what Mark is saying about them. He asks new people on interviews to spy on his "Managers", he calls them all F****** losers. He is the biggest loser who has to exploit the hard work of others to make a profit. STAY AWAY FROM HERE!

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AlyssaJones
Chicago, US
Nov 01, 2010 4:01 pm EDT

This company is total [censor]. They trick you, advertising on craigslist says that they will pay you a salary and then it's commission only. Total pyramid scheme - they want you to be a manager for them by going out and selling their packages then showing other people how to sell and if the people under you make sales then you get to run your own office someday. They have people that have been there 4-5 years that still haven't made it through the "management training" program. Everything that the people at this company says is a lie, they will do and say anything to make people work with them.

I wouldn't send my worst enemy in for a job at Vision Marketing. Worst company in the Chicagoland area.

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theoneandonlybitch
Chicago, US
Sep 30, 2010 3:06 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I went there for an interview. It was terrible, I was sick and felt like complete garbage and being stuffed into a tiny office then again into a tiny room with a large group of people wasn't making me feel any better. The interview was a joke, all he did was read everyone's name off and say hi very quickly. He talked about the future of marketing but nothing about what we would be doing. I was about 18 at the time so I thought it was a big time job so when I got the call back I was so excited. Until I got there and realized the owner is a dirty pervert and all the employees are young attractive girls. It was creepy. So I went on the day long interview, which consisted of walking around Chicago getting kicked out of practically every business we walked into. It was embarrassing. But I was desperate so I stuck it out. I went the next day, made two sales, a whopping 16 dollars for like a 12 hour day. I left that place and never came back. They blew up my phone the next day but they can go [censor] themselves.

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ella85
Crystal Lake, US
Aug 17, 2010 11:18 pm EDT

disgruntled interview
was it the desplains one

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disgruntled interview
Schaumburg, US
Aug 11, 2010 12:07 pm EDT

I was given an interview opportunity with Vision Marketing, and when I was initially brought in, it turned out to be a group interview, which they said had never been done there before, but I found out later that the owner, Mark, was lying about that, among other things. In this group interview, he used vague descriptions about the job opportunities, and discouraged people from asking more in depth questions, saying that it was something that would be addressed during the "second and final interview".

When I was called back for a second interview, I was surprised, because it wasn't the same day, which he claimed it would be. I figured out that the reason I got called back late was because their first choices from my "group" didn't pan out. Go figure. So when I got the call I was told to wear comfortable shoes because I was going to be shadowing a manager all day.

I show up at the office (Which, by the way, is in a basement, but brightly painted, with terrible music playing and a giant statue of Elvis), and find out that there are five other people going out with "leaders" that day too. Then the owner, Mark, pulls me aside, and tells me that they are "short a car" today, and asks if I would be willing to drive, if they gave me gas money. I asked him how far it would be, because I have a leased car and I am concerned about the miles, and he implied that it would be a short drive, and then we could walk to wherever we needed to be. By this time I had figured out that this was a day of "sales observing", which was something I had been trying to avoid. I was assigned a sales "leader", a young girl barely out of high school, and Mark told her that SHE was supposed to pay me for gas money (in the end she never offered and I forgot, but I have a feeling this happens a lot because she doesn't have a car and always has to drive with someone else. The "assistant manager" is the same way.) then, in the car, the girl actually tried to sell me on their sales pitch, and was talking and asking me questions the entire time, which was extremely distracting. I was told to follow another of their sales reps in his car, but was not told where we were going until we got there. It was way further than had been implied, and at the end of the day I had put over 60 miles on my car!

The sales portion of the day was also extremely degrading. I was following this young girl around, where she gave everyone the exact same speech, which was full of lies, about a spa package. At lunch, she outlined the way a person is promoted, and promised "paid training" which later I found out is only based on how may cards you sell. We went into places of business, such as restaurants, retail locations, banks, and office buildings, to badger people while they were working. At the end of the day, we ended up with only 5 sales after talking to 40 people, and were asked to leave 5 businesses. In the last office building, there were four more businesses available to us, but the girl said that security was right there, so we would have to avoid them.

At the end of the day, we drove back to the office in Des Plaines, where we waited for another 20 minutes for someone to come with keys to unlock the office door. Nicole, the assistant manager who is supposedly opening a new office in Schaumburg, came and provided us with exit interviews, after we were given a test. I sat down with Nicole, and started asking questions, and she went right on the defensive. I told her I was looking for a position with a salary and benefits, and she degraded my current job, and implied that I could make more there doing their "minimum". (Which, by the way, does not add up based on the pay scale the girl provided me with.) I also told her I was uncomfortable with the sales "gimmick" that they have, and she told me that it was designed by occupational therapists in order to increase sales. Then, when I told her I didn't want to be putting this many miles on my car everyday, and that I was concerned about my health outside during the winter, she rushed me out of the office.

Vision Marketing is a complete scam, and if you are called for an interview, save yourself the time and don't go. Everyone at the office, including the receptionist, told at least one lie to me. The sales pitches are a complete lie. How the process works is the spa provides these services, but they do not get any money for them. All of the funds of the purchase price of the spa package go directly to Vision Marketing. This is because they believe that the people that buy the packages will in turn purchase upgrades or other impulse options at the spa. There are no refunds, returns, or post dated checks (although they seemingly provide the options to the buyers). They make it seem like they are given a limited number and only have 8 or so left, but in reality, they have at least 500 and will sell them until they don't exist anymore. They interrupt people while they are working, but seem so polite and chipper about it that they get away with it. I was confronted by people like this when I was working retail, and my procedure was to rush them out the door. This is NOT the next step in marketing, this is one man's attempt to "make money" by badgering people. They are BBB accredited, and have awards in the office from Des Plaines, and I'm not quite sure why this is. They use young girls to sell their items by flirting, and are not afraid to lie to ANYONE to make a sale.

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bjarmstrong
Chicago, US
Jul 30, 2010 8:15 pm EDT

I think Vision Marketing is a great company for an entry level sales person to learn the ropes and potentially work their way into a management type role and possibly even run a branch office down the road.

Don't believe these haters - they're all either competitors or one or two angry people trying to tarnish the reputation of a valid and successful business.

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melanie r
Chicago, US
Jul 19, 2010 4:02 pm EDT

I agree with all of the comments. The "owner" Mark is a very insecure control freak. He promises people things that he never intends to deliver. Like your own branch office if you achieve enough sales. It's never going to happen. He demands complete loyalty to him, his work hours which are around 70-80 hours per week. He is sleazy and has had several inappropriate relationships with some of his employees. He completely disrespects his clients and uses people. Lies to people, and gives the business a bad name. I would suggest you not respong to any job offers from this company. It's on it's way out. His #1 go to girl is named Nicole. She is pushy, rude and offensive. She also has a serious drug and drinking problem. So, if you have no morals or integrity. If u like doing drugs, taking advantage of people for a few bucks, and mostly if u enjoy being abused by a loud, foul mouthed insecure fat guy named Mark Paulsen, then by all means go fill out an application. They are despearate for people so u will get hired. Have fun!

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Mike dTrrrrr
Yorkville, US
Jul 19, 2010 9:15 am EDT

Company is total nonsense. They are a scam. They make you work in horrible areas. Beware and don't waste your time.

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jezz
Chicago, US
Jun 02, 2010 8:01 pm EDT

Last summer I interviewed with Vision Marketing and I was so desperate for a job I thought I would try it out. All of the horrible reviews you read are absoutely true. I wish I would have looked them up before I took a long trip out to Des Plaines. The owner is a weird "fat guy" he's pushy & strange. All the girls working there a "big boobed blondes". You go door to door selling "spa packages". Most places kick you out and who wants to deal with that? If you are considering working for them please, please think twice. Don't fall for any bulls@*!

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Terri B1112
Des Plaines, US
Apr 26, 2010 10:45 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

This company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau here is the link.

http://www.bbb.org/chicago/business-reviews/marketing-programs-and-services/vision-marketing-chicago-in-des-plaines-il-88083130

I went for a job interview on Monday with this company and the person who posted that their office is dark and dingy is dead wrong about this company. I hate people who use the internet to hide and post ### about other people.

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*anonymous*
, US
Apr 13, 2010 3:00 pm EDT

i used to work here for a couple of weeks a few years ago and i am so glad i don't anymore.

i only have one thing to say. CUSTOMERS are the most arrogant, selfish, liars i have EVER seen. i don't know anything about the sales people or recruiting part but YOU customers, are SO stupid. who buys a promotion that expires in 4 months, and then [censored] about how it expired and you forgot to use it? i seriously cant believe the lies that i've heard from people. do you think we don't notice that you called 2 days ago from the exact same phone number and exact same name and told us a completely different story? it makes me lose faith in humanity...

or who actually calls and YELLS at a RECEPTIONIST because oh, i don't know, your dog got run over, or your car broke down and you can no longer afford it... listen, we're all broke and have no money. do you really think i'm making enough money to be burning money? obviously no because i was stuck at a job where i had to listen to you idiots whine all day. thank god thats over!

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juicyjbaby2009
Cary, US
Mar 02, 2010 9:56 am EST

Yea i worked there for two days.. keeping this in mind i was suspicious. I never met mark personally or talked to him. but i wasn't going to fall for this ###. so i never went back

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vision sucks
Crystal Lake, US
May 28, 2009 12:52 pm EDT

I use to work for that comany and I agree that Mark has issues trust me its all a scam and mark feeds off of young girls looking to make money so he can make that money, half the time u would end up with like 15 dollars after a ten hour day we were his slaves. He has no skills and needs to stop using people

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Thomas S.
Chicago, US
Apr 03, 2009 3:10 pm EDT

Ok, if you live in the Chicago area, you'll probably see these postings on craigslist.com about a job that will pay you a salary of 22, 000 - 39, 000 at some point if you're looking.
Here's the deal. This total Douch Bag "CEO and Found" that likes to pretend he's so important will lecture you about how modern advertising and marketing is wrong and that you need to do it his way. Let me just warn you: DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME GOING OUT TO DES PLAINES TO TAKE AN INTERVIEW.
Their address is 2720 River Road, and they're in this building with Pillars in the front.
They have some small dingy office that's about the size of my apartment, with like 2 or 3 people in it..in the basement. It's really creepy in their office... they have this really terrible music playing way too loud... it's awful.
From what I gathered after attending one of their "interviews' is that they basically want you to go door to door and sell a bunch of stupid ### to people that they get for "free". They really try and hide the fact that they are door to door salesmen, so watch out. The CEO (who's a fat angry looking slob) will feed you all this ### about becoming a manager and director, and how they want you to open up new offices...it's so ridiculous. Just flag them if they post on craigslist again... The best part is that they want you to fill out and sign a form when you first come in that, (if you read what the small print says), basically looks like an employment agreement... so maybe they'll force you to work for them... they ask you all this personal information... SS#, contacts, jobs, parents' info? It's super weird... very cultish...

Don't go here. It is most definitely a scam.. you'll just go door to door selling ###. I copied an article from wikipedia.com about what is called and "8 ball scam" it's very similar to what this "CEO" will show you...What a coincidence huh?
here's the link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme

"8-ball" model

Many pyramids are more sophisticated than the simple model. These recognize that recruiting a large number of others into a scheme can be difficult so a seemingly simpler model is used. In this model each person must recruit two others, but the ease of achieving this is offset because the depth required to recoup any money also increases. The scheme requires a person to recruit two others, who must each recruit two others, who must each recruit two others.
The "8-ball" model contains a total of 15 members. Note that unlike in the picture, the triangular setup in the cue game of eight-ball corresponds to an arithmetic progression 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15. The pyramid scheme in the picture in contrast is a geometric progression 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 = 15.

Prior instances of this scam have been called the "Airplane Game" and the four tiers labelled as "captain", "co-pilot", "crew", and "passenger" to denote a person's level. Another instance was called the "Original Dinner Party" which labelled the tiers as "dessert", "main course", "side salad", and "appetizer". A person on the "dessert" course is the one at the top of the tree. Another variant "Treasure Traders" variously used gemology terms such as "polishers", "stone cutters", etc. or gems "rubies", "sapphires", "diamonds", etc.

Such schemes may try to downplay their pyramid nature by referring to themselves as "gifting circles" with money being "gifted". Popular scams such as the "Women Empowering Women"[13] do exactly this. Joiners may even be told that "gifting" is a way to skirt around tax laws.

Whichever euphemism is used, there are 15 total people in four tiers (1 + 2 + 4 + 8) in the scheme - the person at the top of this tree is the "captain", the two below are "co-pilots", the four below are "crew" and the bottom eight joiners are the "passengers".

The eight passengers must each pay (or "gift") a sum (e.g. $1000) to join the scheme. This sum (e.g. $8000) goes to the captain who leaves, with everyone remaining moving up one tier. There are now two new captains so the group splits in two with each group requiring eight new passengers. A person who joins the scheme as a passenger will not see a return until they exit the scheme as a captain. This requires that 14 others have been persuaded to join underneath them.

Therefore, the bottom 3 tiers of the pyramid always lose their money when the scheme finally collapses. Consider a pyramid consisting of tiers with 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 members. The highlighted section corresponds to the previous diagram.
No matter how large the model becomes before collapse, approximately 88% of all people will lose.

If the scheme collapses at this point, only those in the 1, 2, 4, and 8 got out with a return. The remainder in the 16, 32, and 64 tier lose everything. 112 out of the total 127 members or 88% lost all of their money.

During a wave of pyramid activity, a surge frequently develops once a significant fraction of people know someone personally who exited with a $8000 payout for example. This spurs others to seek to get in on one of the many pyramids before the wave collapses.

The figures also hide the fact that the confidence trickster would make the lion's share of the money. They would do this by filling in the first 3 tiers (with 1, 2, and 4 people) with phoney names, ensuring they get the first 7 payouts, at 8 times the buy-in sum, without paying a single penny themselves. So if the buy-in were $1000, they would receive $56, 000, paid for by the first 56 investors. They would continue to buy in underneath the real investors, and promote and prolong the scheme for as long as possible in order to allow them to skim even more from it before the collapse.

Other cons may also be effective. For example, rather than using fake names, a group of seven people may agree to form the top three layers of a pyramid without investing any money. They then work to recruit eight paying passengers, and pretend to follow the pyramid payout rules, but in reality split any money received. Ironically, though they are being conned, the eight paying passengers are not really getting anything less for their money than if they were buying into a 'legitimate' pyramid which had split off from a parent pyramid. They truly are now in a valid pyramid, and have the same opportunity to earn a windfall if they can successfully recruit enough new members and reach captain. This highlights the fact that by 'buying' in to a pyramid, passengers are not really obtaining anything of value they couldn't create themselves other than a vague sense of "legitimacy" or history of the pyramid, which may make it marginally easier to sell passenger seats below them.

[edit] Matrix schemes
Main article: Matrix scheme

Matrix schemes use the same fraudulent non-sustainable system as a pyramid; here, the victims pay to join a waiting list for a desirable product which only a fraction of them can ever receive. Since matrix schemes follow the same laws of geometric progression as pyramids, they are subsequently as doomed to collapse. Such schemes operate as a queue, where the person at head of the queue receives an item such as a television, games console, digital camcorder, etc. when a certain number of new people join the end of the queue. For example ten joiners may be required for the person at the front to receive their item and leave the queue. Each joiner is required to buy an expensive but worthless item, such as an e-book, for their position in the queue. The scheme organizer profits because the income from joiners far exceeds the cost of sending out the item to the person at the front. Organizers can further profit by starting a scheme with a queue with shill names that must be cleared out before genuine people get to the front. The scheme collapses when no more people are willing to join the queue. Schemes may not reveal, or may attempt to exaggerate, a prospective joiner's queue position which essentially means the scheme is a lottery. Some countries have ruled that matrix schemes are illegal on that basis.

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Chicago, US
Jan 30, 2009 4:23 am EST

if you are asked to come in for an interview do not go. read this -- /URL removed/

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anonymous
,
Nov 10, 2008 4:14 pm EST

I would never purchase another one of these certificates. They sold me a 60 dollar certificate for 5 visits, but when I tried to make the appointments they were supposedly booked up to 3 months in advance and never had room each time I called. I purchased the Aveda package. BEWARE!