HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE
Very Breifly, I purchased a card from someone walking into my office for a golf package. Sounded great! I went to use the card and the golf course wouldn't except the card. Not only did I not get to use the card I spent and exta $75 to pay for the round of golf I should have reccieved for free. I called and the customer service was understanding at first and agreed to send out another card for a different location in my area. The sent me another card for the same golf course who doesnt except them. I sat it aside knowing I've already wasted too much time on the matter. A few months latter I came accross the card once again in a pile of papers and decided to give them a call once again. This time the customer service was extremely rude and truned it around on me for waiting so long to call back. We were disconnected or so i thought before I was given any answer. I called back and got a hold of some ditsy sounding gal who sounded like she didn't even know where she was working. After a few questions yup you guessed it another disconnect, which is now obvious a hang up to avoid dealing with anyone. This is obviously Smart Circle's policy when it comes to any kind of confrontation. Just Hang up on the customer and hope they just go away. Well I hope that their business methods catch up with them and they go under sooner than later.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Direct TV service sold at Sam's Club by this company
We purchased Direct TV at Sam's Club from what we thought was a Direct TV representative instead he was a Smart Circle International employee. The package was totally misrepresented and the information given to us was a complete lie. Fortunately we called the actual Direct TV customer service in time to cancel. We were told by Direct TV we had only 24 hr...
Read full complaint and 23 commentsFraud and Cheeting
First of all I hope that you're reading about these companies before you even go for an interview. If you all ready had one, don't go for the second. Both companies are a part of The Smart Circle, a large Multi Level Marketing Scam. The 1st Interview: You will apply for a job you found online and they will call you and tell you to come in for an...
Read full complaint and 4 commentsCruise Tickets $99 for 2
I was in my local Sam's Club and they had a wide assortment of travel deals available. The one that caught my eye was a package that said 2 cruise tickets for $99! I read the card the offer was printed on and it said that the price reflected a inside cabin and off-season price of $99. Still...that''s not too bad a deal anyway. I talked to the salesperson and they verified that the $99 was for 2 tickets, inside cabin, off-season and that all I had to pay was port charges and tips in addition to original $99. They said that I could select from many cruise lines, sailing dates, and could even upgrade my room for additional charge, so I bought 2 packages. The packages said that I had to register my cruise ticket purchase online to get the various options and prices sent to me in the mail. All I had to do was select what I wanted and then call them up to book the travel. I found that this is not how it goes down.
I registered my purchase online and waited for my great prices and options to arrive. After almost a month (you get 30 days to return the cruise package) I finally got my options in the mail. EXCEPT NOW I had to send another $50 to get my package "registered" and THEN it said I would get the prices. I called the travel agency that this offer was provided by (PTS Travel) and they told me that I would have to send the $50 and then they would send more information. I asked about the $99 cruise offer and they said the $99 was a "handling charge" and the cruise prices averaged between $300 - $800 per person depending on the length of the cruise and time of the year. IN FACT THERE IS NO $99 CRUISE TICKET AT ALL. What a rip off!
I went to Sam's Club and told them all this and they cheerfully refunded my purchase price since I was on day 25 of my 30 day refund guarantee. It was close, but I almost got taken.
I write this to warn others about these kind offers and to remind others that you get what you pay for. There is no free lunch and THERE IS NO $99 CRUISE TICKETS AT SAM'S CLUB. I hope they ban Smart Circle and PTS Travel from their stores in the future.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I too was almost "taken to the cleaners" - except that I was also checking things as we went. In our case, I booked an NCL cruise, and got a quote from PTS travel for a different one just a couple weeks later. End result: we got a much better deal working with NCL directly, than through this SCAM of a 2-for-1.
I agree VERY UNETHICAL SALESPEOPLE IN SAM"S CLUBS!
unusable card
STRONGLY RECOMMEND NOT BUYING A SMART CIRCLE CARD! I bought a RTJ Golf "Smart Circle Card" at Sam's Club in huntsville, AL. When I went to the golf course to use the card, they would not honor it because there was no expiration date or signature on the back which invalidated the card. They told me they expired months before. The company did say they would provide my money back but it was a hassle. at first, the operator kept telling me that I had to swap for another card. upon my insistence, the third time, he finally connected me to the manager who said if i send the card back they will refund my money... we'll see.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Husband purchased from his office two sets of coupons for Studio movie grille and FINS restaraunt which is no longer in business and at the time we purchased the coupons, called the restaraunt and said they were remodeling.No such thing ever happened.Called to get a refund for my 39.95 and got nothing but a runaround.Was told to go online and pick something else.Let's see there were hot dog places and paintball.none of which appealed.I called them back more run around.no refund, just got screwed out of 40$.WOW WHAT A DEAL!
The representative assured me and others that there would be no other costs or obligations. This is not true. She also said that there would not be any type of sales or promotional presentation that the card holder would have to attend. This was also a lie.
fraud
Beware,
I purchased a vegas from Smart circle and was told I could not use it. I tried to get my money back and to no avial. I bought it at Sam's Club. I finally contacted Sam's Club head offices and filed a complaint through my lawyer. We as consumers need to stand up and not put up with being scammed. If you are not happy, they are not going to refund you. Contact the corporate offices of Sam's club
[protected]. Tell them you need to speak to somone in the legal department of Sam's Club. This is a switch board for Sam's Club, and Walmart. You will get someone to listen to you. I promise- Sam's club needs to know they just hooked up with the biggest scam in the market!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
My husband purchased a "Smart Circle Card" for 4 Midas oil changes for 29.99. He was told it was to suppport D.A.R.E. When we tried to use the card, Midas said they had cut off the promotion months ago and told Smart Circle to stop selling them. They said, "if you call them, they'll tell you you don't have a receipt. You just tell them you have the card and that's your receeipt." That's exactly what went down when we called Smart Circle. They offered a refund, but only if we mailed them the card.
And nowhere on the card does ir mention D.A.R.E.
I bought a movie ticket deal for Cinema Café and I was quite pleased! As a parent we are always looking for inexpensive ways to have family outings and this was a REALLY good investment!
I would do it all over again!
Sincerely,
Damita Robinson
Hampton, Virginia
I bought a Smart Circle Vegas trip ( Tahiti Village) at Sam's Club, It cost me $198 for 3 nights. It was fantastic, the room was huge with a kitchenette, living room with couch, chair, 2- 42" T.V.'s, a stereo, huge bathroom, awesome pool and lazy river. Great place and great vacation.Also bought a local dinner cruise on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Normally $46 a person, got the smart circle deal got 3 free cruises, 3 buy 1 get one and a 20% discount for $39. Wen't this past Sat, used a buy 1 get 1 and it already paid for itself. Going on the brunch cruise next.
I did however have a problem with a salon card I bought for my fiance, the problem was the girl who was working for Smart Circle wrote down the wrong experation date by mistake. The salon would not honor it, smart circle said they would issue another but it would take a month, Sam;s Club refunded the money instead. So mfar I have been bery pleased with this company.
Tom
We have just returned from a wonderful vacation in Cancun with Sams Club/ Smart Circle, no complaints great food, best trips. Now heading for Orlando hoping for the same.
Dear Lisa 80220,
We are sincerely sorry to hear about your experience with the Las Vegas travel promotion. The Smart Circle strongly believes in upholding a consistent and quality customer satisfaction policy, which includes honoring full refunds for customers who request them, and your purchase is no exception. In order to begin processing your refund, we will need a few additional details, such as a mailing address where we can deliver the check. We also hope to obtain more details from you as to the reasons given for not honoring your requests so that we may remedy the situation and prevent further incidents such as this as quickly as possible. Please contact us at [protected], ext. 216, at your earliest convenience to get the refund process started.
Your feedback will definitely be taken into consideration as we continue to look for additional ways to enhance our service for consumers across the country and bring only the best promotions to Sam’s Club members. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you and very much appreciate your business!
Best Regards,
The Smart Circle
You are required to return the certificate so that you don't get a refund and then try to use it. I
Deceptive employment practices
Hello to all. I'm guessing many of you have come upon this after a google search for "Competition Marketing Group" (henceforth referred to as "CMG"), or one of its affiliates, maybe even after being offered and interview or a position with them. Congratulations, I'm here to help you out. For the sake of clarity I'll say that I'm referring to the Laurel, MD office, run by Mike Maher under the CMG moniker but with a couple affiliated "firms" including (though not limited to) Lead Inc. (which, I believe, deals in home improvement leads) and Primal Events (not sure what they do, but "events" tend to be situations where the firm pays a business, like a gas station, store, or office, to allow us to set up outside and sell our wares). I worked for Mike at CMG for several months, and in the interest of fairness I will say that Mike is by no means a bad guy; he's not the brightest bulb in the box, but, as far as I can tell, he harbors no malice toward his employees and he genuinely wants to help the people who work for him. That said, CMG, and indeed all the Smart Circle International subsidiary firms (there must be thousands in the US alone), is a disingenuous, misleading, downright shady organization that promises far more than it could ever deliver and even outright lies to its employees.
Now, there are countless stories on this site (which is great, by the way) about how the various Smart Circle "firms" are scams and rip-offs, how people have had their money tied up, their cars ruined, even their lives shattered by working with one of these companies. A quick search of this site for "smart circle" will turn up dozens of these, and please, do read them; they are good indicators of the type of experience you could have working with CMG. These stories are, of course, the extreme, but they are by no means the exceptions to the rule. I'll keep it short and sweet for the benefit of everyone, but basically, CMG and the other Smart Circle subsidiaries hire people en masse by selling them hard on becoming a manager. Within 6-8 months, they enthusiastically claim, you could be running your own office, with dozens of employees and making six figures. That's an alluring pitch, is it not? Especially if you are a recent college graduate or coming straight from high school, if you've been unemployed, etc, the idea of making that much money in such a short time is amazing! It's not at all your fault for being duped; it happened to me and countless other people. I am here to tell you, however, that there is almost no chance you will become an owner. Think about it for a moment: when you did your first interview (or if you have yet to, consider how quickly they contacted you and how impersonal it was), did you notice the dozens of people in the waiting room? Most of these people end up being hired, I can tell you from experience, and most leave the company very quickly (within a week or so), and ALL of these people were sold on the dream of running their own office. But the numbers just don't work out: are all 15 (or 30, or 50) people in an office going to run their own office someday? Are there simply so many people who want to buy our products that we just can't open offices fast enough, and we want to put YOU on the fast-track to running one? No, that's ridiculous. But that's more or less what they expect you to believe, so please, listen and understand when I say that you WILL NOT become a manager, no matter how often they tell you that by following their "system", which is really nothing of substance, and by working hard you can achieve your goals. It is, for lack of a better term, BS.
Frankly, this way of doing business is immoral - they are using naive, often young and desperate employees as "independent distributors" to make a quick buck for themselves, and sell people hard on the idea that if they stick with it, they can succeed and then sit back and rake in the cash. Sounds too good to be true, right? It is. If you've ever seen the film "Boiler Room", your experience at CMG and other Smart Circle firms will seem strangely similar: loud "psych-up" music, machismo, lots of yelling (which is especially not cool when one is hungover) general shadiness (i.e. not detailing how compensation works or where the money comes from), etc. They are taking advantage of their employees. Obviously, a few people do make it to owner status, but that is the vast vast minority, and no reasonably human being could hope to attain that position. I can't attest to what being an owner is like, but another quick search on this site should turn up stories of being woefully underpaid and ripped-off by the head office, so it seems that even if you defy the odds and become an owner, you still get screwed over and lied to.
You can read the horror stories elsewhere on this site, but I'll give you a quick rundown of what your job at CMG will be like. Essentially, you spend most of the day walking around from one business to another trying to sell them these cards, which are basically coupons for anything from oil changes to paintball passes to baseball/basketball tickets. I can't attest to the validity of these cards (or "merch", as they are obnoxiously known), and I haven't personally heard of any problems with people redeeming the coupons (although, remember "Boiler Room", they might just shield the employees from these reports). The Better Business Bureau has a few complaints on their site about cards that were basically scams and were not valid, but I've given my phone number to many, many people that I've sold to and I've never received a single complaint call, so as far as I know, the cards themselves are legitimate. The actual working can be very frustrating and difficult, especially if hungover, but can also be fun. Talking to a lot of random people improves your people skills tremendously, and the proportion of people I encountered that were friendly and polite helped reaffirm my faith in the human race. Overall though, it's a pain in the butt, and if you don't bring maximum energy and effort every day, you won't make much money, as compensation is all based on commission, and there is no base salary. Based on the time you arrive at the office in the morning and the time you leave in the evening. you may well spend 12-13 hours a day at "work", which means that the $120 you made isnt all that great in terms of wages. And if you made $40 in a day (which happens, a lot, to everyone), well, you're SOL. The rejection you deal with on a daily basis and the way you will be treated by your superiors is ridiculous and occasionally humiliating. One of my former co-workers put it well when he said (making a reference that few of the uncultured, uneducated people at CMG or Smart Circle in general would understand), "There should be a sign on the front of the office, 'Abandon dignity, all ye who enter here'". In general, the managers and owner of CMG are just oddly vague about everything. I was promised $50 per day while training, for instance, but never received the money and every time I asked about it, they changed the subject. It seems like an odd way for people in a supposedly legitimate company to act, right?
The next issue I'd like to address is the general culture and psychology of CMG and its affiliates. I can't personally tell you what other firms in other cities are like, but based on the stories on this site and my general assumptions, I'm fairly certain they are quite similar. Their entire firm is based on getting you, the entry level employee, to do a ridiculous amount of work for very little money. You could walk away with $100-$150 for a day, sure, but the work you put in and the humiliation you endure far exceed that. Mike, the owner, makes almost as much from each card you sell as you do, and the head office gets a nice cut as well, but you do all the work. It's pretty unfair, by any standard. The basically want you to buy in, hard, to their philosophy and essentially give all your time and life over to them. For instance, you are strongly encourage (i.e. pretty much fired if you don't do it) to arrive at 7:30am every morning, even though you don't leave the office until well after 9am, to practice your pitches and chat with co-workers about sales strategies. While it is certainly helpful to get into a sales mindset before setting out, and while the practice is helpful, I can't help but think that if I got 90 minutes of additional sleep I would be a much better salesmen. They are not open to this, or really to any ideas that deviate from their planned agenda for things, at all. After returning from the field no earlier than 5:30pm, you are again strongly encouraged to stay at least an hour to discuss what was successful and what wasn't, etc. Anything that occurs outside of the realm of the work is strongly frowned upon, e.g. spending time with family, friends, or, god-forbid, recreational activities. Without giving away too much about myself, I had an outside job and Mike repeatedly suggested I quit it, regardless of my ties with that firm, etc, and scoffed at the idea that I would want to work anywhere else. Essentially, they require you to align your life with CMG and promise that it will pay off. Boy howdy, I will say it again, it will not pay off. You will not become an owner. A great resource, if you want to know more about Smart Circle as a rip-off, is the guide found here: http://wolfram.org/scam/ds_max/index.html. Chapter 3, Atmosphere and Psychology, is particularly evocative of the Hitler Youth (obvious exaggeration, but in retrospect there are some eerie similarities!). Finally, there's just something strange about the office. Everyone is overly enthusiastic, people speak in vague generalities about how the business works and how compensation is organized, and everyone seems kind of impersonal, which makes sense when you consider the ridiculous turnover rate and the fact that dozens of people start work and quit every week.
I've saved up the most vitriolic of my scorn for a man whom, if you do end up working for CMG (don't do that, by the way), you may never meet. If you do, though, please be wary. His name is Carl Foss. I'm not precisely sure of his position, but he's been with the company for many years, owns many offices, and, it seems, is fairly wealthy. He is one of Mike's many bosses and occasionally visits the CMG office This man is not to be trusted. He is not to be admired. If anything, he is to be punched in the face repeatedly, and, if you're in a particularly bad mood, kicked (preferably in the ribs) while on the ground. Mr. Foss' much-hyped visit to the CMG office was one of the most miserable experiences of my admittedly-young life. We were told that Carl is a great businessman, salesman, and entrepreneur, and that we could learn a lot from him. His big motivational speech, however, consisted of him writing numbers on a marker-board detailing the logistics of how one could become fabulously wealthy by working for Smart Circle and even a mathematical breakdown of why working for any other company or making any other life decisions is laughably stupid. His worship of money was sickening, and I was repulsed enough to leave the room mid-speech. Frankly, it took all my bodily restraint not to shove a marker down his throat. He is so ignorant, arrogant and condescending that his speech led me to conclude that people like him are very much what is wrong with this country. His open disavowing of any job that, god-forbid, helps people or works toward a greater cause was sickening. The worst part of all, however, was how he paid lip-service to other "lifestyles", as he called them. "This job is not for everyone", he declared, "and everyone has different values". Again, this recalls the film "Boiler Room", and the implication, as anyone in the room at the time could tell you, was that people who don't work for him are worthless suckers, and other ways of like are simply wrong. It is sickening, and if you ever work for CMG or another Smart Circle firm (I can't imagine you will, if you've read this whole thing), and you do meet Carl, do me a favour and run him over with a vehicle of some kind. He has a young child though, so don't hit him too hard.
I'll sum things up for you guys briefly: DO NOT work for Competition Marketing Group, or any company affiliated with Smart Circle, DS-MAX, Cydcor or Granton Marketing (a name I believe is out of use, but may still come up here and there). They will lie to you, mislead you, promise you impossible things, and sometimes downright remind you of a weird cult. There are stories all over this site of "merch houses", places where large groups of Smart Circle employees live together in less-than-stellar conditions. Weird stuff. They also have the "8 steps to success" and "5 steps to a pitch" posted everywhere on the walls, as if something so complex could be listed like that. Just another indication of their arrogance and ignorance. Do yourself a favour and do not even show up to the interview; perhaps even do show up, then walk out in the middle just to waste their time. You'd be doing humanity a great service. The employees there are not bad people at all, just a little naive and easily seduced by the promise of riches. Don't waste your time and money like they are doing. Don't work for CMG.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I've been working at an office for 9 months and am about to be promoted to assistant manager. I've seen plenty of people come and go and some times it's just too much work for what other things people have going on and that's okay. But most cases are like this. For whatever reason, he blames the office for being too loud when he outright says he was hungover. Why are you getting hammered the night before work? You obviously don't have the work ethic to put your head down and do whatever it takes to get to those management positions and you don't deserve the opportunity when you're just squandering it. I know not many people have that ability, and that's why there's such a high turnaround rate, but those who lash out and blame the company just continue to prove that they would rather have a mediocre job that allows them to drink a lot and don't want to grow as a person and as a professional. Stop blasting a company because you won't accept that you weren't cut out for the job.
The Smart Circle isn't just door-to-door, cold calling, or business-to-business direct sales and marketing. The Smart Circle has expanded their divisions to cover a variety of consumer markets. For example: I have been given an opportunity to grow into the Direct TV division in the Midwest. This opportunity is PHENOMENAL! No door-to-door, No cold calling, No business-to-business... I get to stand in a Best Buy, or a Sam's Club, or Menard's and talk to people about their TV service! And get paid a boatload of money doing it.
I was very skeptical about this at first, then just like clockwork, 3 weeks later after all those sign-ups became installs and now every week I'm on the high-rolling rep list, and my lead owner told me last night that in 90 days I will become incorporated and I WILL be my own boss, he has no option but to promote me because he knows as well as I do I will do whatever it takes to ensure not only is his office successful, but my office will be successful as well.
No longer will I sign the back of the check, but now I'm going to sign the front.
I'm really sorry you had such a horrible experience with "CMG" and I know the owner means well, trust me, we all had to start at the Entry Level and work our way up, your lead owner at "CMG" has nothing to do with whether you make it or not -- you do. You set your own goals, and nobody will want this opportunity any more than you want it for yourself.
Best regards and good luck in all your endeavors,
WC Martin
Absolutely Agree, I quit last week after 4 weeks of the BS in the Cleveland, OH office. Run Like He** from these people. Also, they will "hound" you to come back if you quit. I had to block their number...LOL! I might go Viral on them if I'm bothered again!
Dear whoever from Smart Circle that responded to this person's post,
You must be on crack, because it is NOT just that one office that does this. Perhaps if you'd trained your people from the get go to not push long hours for so little money into their distributors heads, you would not see that SO many of your offices have similar complaints. Maybe if you all weren't money hungry butt pirates you'd see that all you are is a giant crock of bull. I worked for you for 3 weeks and literally had a break down the last week because of how you condition your people to think. THEN! I was coerced not once, not twice but three times into staying when I tried to reach out to me lead about quiting. I was so mad to find out that I'd been told one thing, then never corrected about the validity of what I was saying about payment, that when I finally WAS corrected, I quit without bothering to tell your sorry excuse of a business that I was doing so. I decided to not bother wasting my time to drive all the way out to the office after sinking about $300.00 in gas into my car the previous 3 weeks, after my first paycheck only being $180.00 when it should have been $300.00. You are not a legitimate marketing firm, if you were, you'd be hiring marketing graduates and wouldn't look like you just moved into your offices. You'd have an actual HR rep. and not just have your secretary SAYING that she's an HR rep. In fact, when you're hiring people, you wouldn't have them walk in for a five minute interview one day, then have them DRIVE ALL OVER THE EFFING AREA the second day for an "observational interview" wasting their gas before they've even begun. That's the one thing that should have queued me that there was something up with this place more than anything.
Also, when a place that's hiring you is begging you to work for them because they call their hiring process "closing a deal" because all they care about is recruiting, there's just something not right with that.
I do not appreciate being told, even after saying 10 times that I will not manipulate people into signing up for something if they don't want it because I'm not comfortable with being a pushy a-hole, that I need to be more aggressive when people say no.
When I was being interviewed I was told that there were 3 positions open, customer service rep, sales and management. I have a feeling that the only people that didn't get called for a second interview were the ones that said that they wanted anything other than your "management program" which is BULL! Those positions don't even exist, the only thing they have to offer is the "management program". I can tell you that there will be some reporting to the BBB very soon from a few of us that worked for Smart Circle, because they are bogus.
I worked for CMG for a few months.. Very Weird office, always looks like they just moved in. The most weirdest thing was getting Cash everyday.. i didn't understand how that worked. that seemed sketchy. Another thing was the LONG hours. working from 7:30am to 7:30pm and most of the time pulling in about 50 bucks a day sucks. what Waryharry wrote is Completely Correct. i Experienced the same thing he did.. DO Not work for cmg
Rockin! I can't believe this is still around. Of course, Smart Circle also sells these promotions direct via their website - www.smartcirclecards.net.
I interviewed - and actually went on the all day training - almost 14 years ago.
The explained the program like this:
- the businesses pay nothing for the promotion cards/packages. They simply agree to honor the "deals." This can be based on limited quantity, or whatever they agree on (say, no more than 100 will be sold).
- the company pays less than $1/ea to have the cards/packages printed. So, the $40 package has a $39 profit.
- they basically pay the "employees" around $10 for each card/package sold. So, $29 profit to the office/company for doing nothing.
- cash paid out daily to the "employees." Nothing was ever mentioned about deducting for taxes, benefits, etc.
- they are "so busy" that they are constantly looking for "sharp" people to be owners and open their own business! In fact, the office I interviewed with (in McLean, VA) had only been open a few weeks, so pardon the unfinished look on the rented office, they are still getting settled! And, actually the "owner" had just made it as he was moving from North Carolina and opening his 2nd office...after starting with the company in Georgia!
The owner looked a little perturbed as a laughed at him and his offer of a commission sales job! "So, no salary, no benefits, and door to door sales? Sorry, that won't pay my $15k in credit card bills."
THEY JUST SENT ME A EMAIL FOR AN INTERVIEW, iM GLAD I READ THIS.
Dear waryharry,
The Smart Circle reaches out to many marketing firms, such as CMG, to serve as local, independent distributors of our cards. Each independent firm recruits and trains its own sales force in-house, not through The Smart Circle. As you discovered, a lot of hard work and long hours go into the opportunity in order to be successful. Because of this fact, we also believe that this particular line of business and sales is not suited for everyone.
Numerous sales representatives have achieved a higher level of responsibility and financial growth through this channel and these individuals have helped expand the network of distributors available to properly and professionally represent The Smart Circle and our clients. This is why we continue to seek locally-based firms to work with as on-the-ground extensions of our marketing campaigns.
Our organization strives to bring the highest degree of professionalism and quality to our clients and consumers across the country. We are very sorry to hear about your experience with this particular office and assure you that we do not condone any misrepresentation made by this local firm or its staff related to partnerships, clients or career opportunities. As is our standard policy, we will look into this matter further and examine the office’s recruiting system as it relates to the use of The Smart Circle’s name and / or products.
Thank you for your feedback - we wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors.
Please feel free to contact us at customerservicesupervisor@thesmartcircle.com with any questions.
Regards,
Customer Care
The Smart Circle
coupon tickets purchased for $40.oo are all invalid
I purchased a fan appreciaton coupon packet for $39.99. There are 2 two free game coupons, as well as 6 coupon for buy one ticket get one ticket free, and two $25.00 off coupons for all inclusive seats. This appeared to be a very good deal, as they were selling like hotcakes. The BIG catch is when I put in the coupon codes to purchase tickets All coupon codes are "INVALID" I certainly feel like I am entitled to a full refund since no coupons in this pack are any good.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
The Smart Circle coupons do work! I have bought them for two years in a row now - 2010 and 2011. The terms and conditions can be found on the Cardinals' own web page at www.cardinals.com/fanapp. The Cardinals are the ones that offer this package. You can only redeem the half price and the all-inclusive tickets online with an additional fee (I think it's $10). The free tickets coupons you can redeem by mail or in person. I have used my coupons last year and this year and had no problems. Because I don't want to pay an additional fee and I live in town, I just get organized, figure out all of the dates that I want to attend games, go in person and redeem all of my coupons. This is a great deal especially if you're going to a lot of games! I'm not sure why other folks had problems; maybe they didn't READ! There are blackout dates and conditions, but you should be able to get the seats they offer as long as you get them way ahead of time (I would recommend at least 2-3 months ahead).
I got these last year and although the process was not perfect, I'm still glad I purchased them. I waited too long into the year to use the free tickets but I used all the others and saved hundreds of dollars at the end of it all. At time I had trouble getting some of the codes to work but eventually I was able to sit in all-inclusive seats for half the price which was great. Hoping I can find it again this year so I can see a few more games.
the only website that comes up when you enter the cards smart circle address on the back of the card is the complaint site! go figure!
it's a shame i'd really like to go to the game and sit on the porch, but the chances don't look to good from what i'm reading above, and i won't drive over 100 miles on the chance that it'll work, if i can't mail them in and get the tickets in hand, then i guess i am SOL !
I cannot find a website to access tickets as listed in my package. Where do you go online to get tickets. I bought these last year and did not have a problem. So, what's the problem
I agree that this is nothing but a big scam... I purchased my ticket package through SSM Healthcare in St. Louis and as I went to redeem my tickets, all the codes were invalid. This is ridiculous. I call their customer appreciation hotline and then explained that I needed to mail my vouchers back to Ontario Canada, it could take 5-7 days to receive it and the whole process could take up to 4-6 weeks. I guess 4-6 weeks is a set time frame for all telemarketer, tv ads and scammers so they think you will forget about being ripped off. I fully intend to get my $40 back and make sure that they never are allowed to sell any items in SSM facilites. For those out there, dont waste you time supporting SMART CIRLE, THEY are a bunch of scam artists.
The website to redeem your tickets is cardinals.com/smartcircle its on the back of your coupon book
The deal is great! I have used several in the past and they work perfectly if you follow the directions. All you have to do is get your tickets early and not wait till the last minute. the games sell out like the rep told me, so if you send off your vouchers like they give the option to do, then you get the best seats . also, if you look at regular ticket prices you will see how awesome of a deal you are getting because it would cost my family of 4 over $80 to sit in the terrace seats, so even if we do sit there, we are saving at least $40.
And for people who are having trouble with the buy one get one free tickets, if you don't type in the redemption code exactly as it appears ( it is case sensative), then they don't work. So pay close attention when your typing in the codes.
And you can also take any of the tickets to the stadium and redeem them too. Hope this post helps.
What is the website to redeem the coupons at?
I cannot find anywhere on line to redeem my coupns. The sales people said there was site to order a form to mail in, I would like that information or a refund, Not many people have money to throw away ... Please advise @georgiamos@aol.com
I have to say, it's very disappointing to think you're getting sucha great deal and then your codes are not valid...I just got my package deal and the codes are also saying invalid...
The same thing happened to me as happened to Sharitech. When I called Smart Circle, they told me to call the Cardinals. After 30 minutes on hold with them - and I understand why because they are so popular! - I gave up. I have emailed the address and called the number given to Sharitech. I believe I, too, deserve a refund.
Disappointed Fan
No Refund for failure to provide service
I recently returned back from deployment and decided to take my
my wife and son to Disney World. Unfortuately I'm up for deployment again soon. I called to cancel my reservation with Smart Circle and it was refused. The supervisor told me that the military isn't special and no refund would be given. I spent $119.00 and the advertisement didn't mention that the reservation was non-refundable.
It breaks my heart to know that other soldiers could be booking with this company.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
This only shows the advertisment page. During the booking process, did any of those pages show the cancel policy? You may have not seen it.
no refund for failure to provide service
I recently took a volunteer group of 30 people to a go carting track, to thank them for their efforts. Out of my pocket, I was willing to spend $600 for the efforts of the people who put their hearts out to help others. We were told by numerous Smart Circle representatives, and the head of it, Tim Chase, said we would have a blast. When we arrived, we were told that Smart Circle coupons were no longer taken.
No problem, everyone is pretty flexible so we went out to eat. But then when we tried to get a refund (which still hasn't happened) we were told to go through this supervisor, that director etc. and they would not issue a refund for the services they said they would provide.
I advise not using Smart Circle since they lack any type of business ethics, honesty and integrity
I completely disagree with Hopper2648, I think that was a script they copied and pasted. Tell me, have you received your refund? I bought a smart circle card for a salon in Vegas, it was supposed to be good for 6 months but when I went to the salon within the time frame they told me they were no longer accepting it. I tried to get a refund through smart circle and was told I couldn't. when I threatened to tell the better business bureau the response was "Go for it, I deal with the BBB everyday". WHAT KIND OF COMPANY HAS TO DEAL WITH THE BBB EVERDAY, absolutely ridiculous. Do not trust these sales people and do not purchase their products! Try to find one good story regarding this product, I highly doubt you will.
Hopper2648,
We are sincerelyy sorry to hear about your experience with the go cart promotion that was offered through the local marketing firm affiliate in your area. We've contacted the company in question to have them immediately examine your purchase so that we can clear up this issue. The Smart Circle strongly believes in following a customer satisfaction policy that offers full refunds for our customers and your purchase is no exception.
We would like to start the refund process as soon as possible, but need some additional information from you. Please contact us at customercaresupervisor@thesmartcircle.com so that we may begin to gather this information.
Your feedback will definitely be taken into consideration as we continue to look for additional ways to improve our service to consumers across the country and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. We appreciate your business and hope to work with you again soon!
FALSE ADVERTISING
4/20/09
I purchased a vacation package from The smart Circle and was told I could stay at any Disney Resort of my choice I just had to make sure there was availabilty an to make a rsvp at least 30 days prior. And when I called (they ) smart circle said I did not have a choice of where I was gonna stay and they could not tell me I had to wait for an email or letter with a conformation and It would take up to 7 days and said I had to pay the $15.00 a night tax on the room right then on the phone or I could not get it. I had already paid $49.99 for the package so I went ahead and paid the $45.00 and it's now going on 2 weeks and I have not received any emails or letter in the mail. I have no way of getting ahold of them and when I try to call Smart Circle I can't get anyone on the phone. And also I was told when I called to to book the room that I would have to go to a welcome center first (the day Im due to check in) an they the welcome center will tell me where Im gonna stay for the weekend and then give me the voucher for the hotel they pick which would be a Holiday Inn express or something similar. And it would be atleast 6 miles from Disney and they would make arrangements to take us to the timeshare and do the tour for 90 mins. I am so disappointed at how this company keeps you in the dark on where your gonna stay an how they turn everything around but take your money right away. I do not like the fact that I have to waste my time driving to Orlando pay for gas and have no idea on where Im gonna stay until I go to the Welcome Center at which I have no idea where that is until they email me. Save your money an dont waste your time to much of a hassle. I'm gonna try an get my money back.)
M.Parker
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I bought that very same package you are talking about and ended up staying at the dirtiest nastiest Ramada Inn (I believe it was called Westgate)... anyway, the 90 minute tour is not 90 minutes but rather 4 hours, where you are taken on Timeshare tour and afterwards insulted and kept "prisoner" for 4-5 hours. I say prisoner because the sales people insist you take a ride with them, instead of using your own vehicle. The free tickets they mention is given in form of cashback, which I believe was only $120 dollars. The hotel charged us a $10 a day fee for processing, the people on the phone charged us $15 a day to take a reservation AND we had to pay for the package.
OVERALL I would not suggest people to purchase this FRAUDULENT advertisement/vacation/package!
terrible experience
As you glance through the job opportunities on career builder you'll likely see some enty level marketing and sales rep positions. Being a junior in college with no relevant work experience in the field I wish to pursue (marketing) I thought this 'opportunity' could benefit me. I went in for a first interview that was more of a quick formality that lasted approximately 15 minutes.
I was scheduled for a second interview quickly after where I had to to 'shadow' the assistant manager in a day of field work which I was led to believe was not the majority of what my job entailed. Sure I knew door to door sales was sleazy but I was promised all sorts of financial 'opportunity' so I figured I could do it if the money's right.
I feel so stupid for just accepting a job that didn't offer any concrete figures or direct answers. I took the job and left the place I had been working at for over 4 years making $16 per hour plus some benefits. I was in training for two weeks making $40 per day working 11 hr days and in the short two weeks I noticed an alarming trend that screamed GET OUT. Everyone there in the office (all the sales leaders and even the people in charge) was broke.
They all drove around crappy cars that weren't maintained well, ate at crappy restaurants and were HUNGRY for cash. Pretty much everyone there was pressured into working 60 hr weeks only to bring home $700 at the very most. This works out to a little over $11 per hour before taxes with no benefits, paid time off, health insurance, gas reimbursement, NOTHING. No wonder three of the 'lead people' were living out of one apartment broke and desperate for money. They were all working themselves to the bone day after day while they're being fed this pipe dream of 'owning their own business' so that they keep making smart circle rich.
I was duped into thinking this was some great opportunity when in reality it was just a scam that takes advantage of suckers who fall for deceptive sales tactics like '90% discount' and some 'free rounds of golf' when in reality the discounts are minuscule and nothing is free. Also, sales reps are taught to solicit businesses illegally by walking into office buildings with NO SOLICITING displayed clearly at the entrance. I was even instructed to hide my 'merchandise' when entering these buildings in case of security guards.
People look at you like you're trash and it's by far the most demeaning job I've ever done (and I've washed dishes and worked on a farm). I'll be the first to say that I refuse to do anything illegal for a living especially for crappy, less than minimum wage pay. Coaching people to engage in illegal activity and requiring commissioned sales reps to work from 7:15 am to around 7 pm has to be illegal itself.
The atmosphere was extremely sketchy and cult-like and I got out as quick as I possibly could. I'm not saying that this job isn't for some people because maybe you could succeed at it but... I'm not here to make judgment calls on anyone's character there but I was subject to a lot of deception and indirect answers when I had questions.
Honestly, I wish everyone at this office the best and I hope they get out before they lose all their friends and family from the ridiculous hours and end up penniless because of the ridiculous pay. Mainly, the purpose of this article is to inform any perspective employees of what they are really getting into at this 'dream job' and to get them to do some research on smart circle and its satellite companies before 'drinking the cool-aid' like I did.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
The big problem with Smart Circle is that they open these small branch offices through new "business owners" when in reality these are just more people feeding the machine. Defined Industries Inc. is one of these so-called "businesses" and runs exactly the same scam, but because it goes by a different name you cannot find any info online showing it for what it really is. Defined Industries Inc. IS a sub-company of Smart Circle and will screw you over the same way. STAY AWAY.
I have been working for a company like this for 5 days now. My first day was horrible. I walked around Dallas from 9- 5:30 and made $30. My feet had blisters all over them, I had shin splints, and I was exhausted. The next day, I was feeling like such a horrible person and so upset about the way that people were looking at me and judging me, that I called my leader to express my concerns. She referred me to another leader to talk to them. They told me to just keep going and I would sell. So I did. I got told that I needed to get a real job by various people that I would try to sell to. On my fourth day, I was sent to a bad part of town for the second day in a row. The day before that I had only made two sells, giving me $20 for my eight and a half work day. I was almost mugged by a guy in the parking lot of an abandoned shopping center. I called my store owner and was promised commision for two sales, even though I had not sold anything for that day. I DID NOT recieve that money at the end of the day and went home empty handed.
If someone is reading this and thinking that I should just get out of this job and stop complaining, I can ensure you that I am actively looking for a new job right now. I have $665 to pay in rent every month and need to be making some money. Times are tough for everyone and those of us who have been weaseled into this job were NEVER told that it would be a door to door sales person position.
In addition, I would just like to say that this company is not ethical. They lie to people. For example, the girl that I went around with yesterday told people that Planet Beach, which was who we were selling for, had just opened a new location right down the street, but in reality, the closest location was about 20 miles away. We also sold a package to a pregnant woman and I have been loosing sleep about the fact that this woman was assured by my coworker that is was safe to tan while pregant just to make eleven dollars. You don't get a tax form to fill out either. I cannot justify going around to different businesses and lieing to their employees.
Thank you for your frankness and sharing your experience with Smart Circle. I was approached by VS Advertising (Colorado Springs) this week regarding an Entry Level Marketing position with the same promises and sales pitch as you described. Now, after reading your comments, I will politely turn down their employment offer and not turn back.
Fraud and cheating
I recently wrote to CareerBuilder.com about these companies: I have fallen victim to working for Dallas Edge (Arlington, TX) and Principle Management Group (Addison, TX); subsidiaries of the Smart Circle (enabling companies like the one mention nationwide). It wasn't until after I conducted more extensive research that I realized this was an elaborate...
Read full complaint and 25 commentscomplaints ~ not fake ~
I am sick of seeing the 1099 field sales people that couldn't hack it in a 100% commissioned position saying that the company is a fraud or that the advertising is fake. To all the 10, 000 field sales people that have gone business to business for Smart Circle...Thank you to the ones that are committed to their jobs and can make it in a stressful outside sales 100% commissioned environment. And to the other 20 that can find nothing better to do than slam this company online...make sure that your next job is not selling door to door/business to business or selling at all. That is obviously not your place in business.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I'm sorry, but I'm already starting to see that there is nothing professional or corporate about this company and I've only been with them for 4 weeks. I've already decided that this is my last week. The people that you speak of aren't necessarily afraid of a job that pays %100 commission; they're afraid of not being paid what they are owed and wasting a lot of their time and gas to be brainwashed into thinking that they are going to handed this golden ticket if they work hard enough. I personally don't think anyone with a vagina is ever going to be promoted to owner and this is based on me seeing females in the company that are working just as hard and putting up as many numbers as the men and they are stuck at account manager and assistant manager status. I, personally, am still stuck in "training" mode because they claim that they haven't yet been able to obtain my rep ID number which would allow me to start getting paid off the people that I sign up for a free phone and are approved and sent a phone. I'm putting more and more wear and tear on my car with all this driving and honestly, almost from day one I smelled a pyramid scheme. I didn't show up for work yesterday and never called with an explanation and my manager (who says he's an "owner") was blowing up my phone all day. Now do you think he was concerned about my well-being or concerned about the cash cow that he's managed to cultivate in just a few short weeks to make money for him while he stands behind a stand doing nothing? As long as I don't have a rep ID number they get to pay me $8/hour to make someone else money. As long as I get at least 27 sign-ups in a week I've already covered my salary and anything else after that goes straight into my manager's pocket. Trust me when I tell you, when you're giving away a free phone getting 27 sign-ups isn't a hard feat to accomplish. I've read too many complaints and have already seen plenty of things myself which are questionable about this company and the people working for it. I go bye-bye now...
The funny part, is that they (the person writing the first one) stated that it is 100% commission. That was incorrect in the first place. I just went into an interview two days ago. It stated 30%. Also, if I find out that this company is making fradulent sales, I will contact an attorney and sue the pants off of this company. I was 'shadowing" a EC (Event Coordinator) yah, right! More like sales person, and it showed a bad reflection on me because the people purchasing this product looked at me. I don't lie, steal or cheat and this is deformation of character, so I do have a case. I called the hotel that they were in and told the HR manager how fake this company is. I don't think they will be in business anymore after all of the class-action lawsuits that will take place.
And what about money missing from our pay checks. And honestly, you've just been brainwashed, or you're a manager who is scared because if people read this, you wont make any money!
It's funny that you defend the "10, 000 salespeople" at Smart Circle but not customer who was mislead into buying products from a " 100% commission salesperson." Thanks for enlighteneng me on this companies practices. Also, if they are in a retail environment they are not allowed to make 100% commission. It's against the law. I'll be contacting the attorney general in Texas to look into this further.
the whole time there they talk talk talk all about creating buissness people. teach you to run your own buissness. [censored] if you do try to start your own they'll sue you. and treaten you. crooked horrible dishonest people. liers scam artists. FAKERS. Sue me you fake ###!
Refused Services
I purchased two Smart Circle Cards from Heavenly Nail Spa in St.Augustine Fl. for Christmas gifts. When I called to receive the item detailed in the package they refused to execute these services. They stated that they have a lawsuit with Smart Circle( because they refused to pay them)and will not be accepting anymore smart circle cards! You can understand my frustrations. So I contacted smart circles customer service and they stated they don't know why Heavenly Nail Spa wouldn't accept my card but I could return them as long as it's been within sixty days and it would take 6-8 weeks to receive my money back. Well I purchased before Christmas and it's been past 60 Day's because I've been trying to deal with customer service. So I e-mailed them asking if there was a different procedure if the services where refused and also my frustrations about my $100 being in transit for so long. There respond was I can go online and pick out a different service. I stated I just want my money back because I am afraid they would refuse services elsewhere. Then I received this E-mail and of coarse I did not purchase them online or over the phone!
Dear Valued Customer,
& nbsp; Thank you for your most recent email. I do apologize for all the inconvenience that you have experienced as well as my late reply to your email. We have been experiencing a high volume of calls, messages and emails. Unfortunately I do apologize for the long procedure but it is a standard time wait for a refund. If you did not order your certificate on line or over the phone directly through SmartCircle, we DO NOT credit back on your credit card. We are not the company that directly charged you, the representatives do work for direct marketing companies.
We do have a procedure when it comes to receiving your money back. You may receive a full refund providing that your package has not been used and is within 60 days from the date or purchase or 60 days before the expiry date if the company is not wishing to honor the package.
If there isn't anything in your area, we may give you a credit voucher that can be used at a later date for another promotion. The credit voucher does not expire and will only be removed once you call to redeem it.
I will kindly ask that you contact our customer service department [protected] so we may further assist you.
Thank you and have a great day!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Scam, Marketing
Job applicants be forewarned(UPDATE: San Antonio Police have been made aware):
A 'marketing' company referring to itself a 'JDR International' located on San Pedro Street is recruiting people for a job which consists of soliciting door-to-door (residential and business) to sell off 'Smart Circle' coupons for discounts on various services and sports tickets (for example, San Antonio Spurs). The company(WHICH GOES BY DIFFERENT NAMES IN DIFFERENT CITIES) does this without a permit/license, which is required in many municipalities, therefore, this is illegal.
They drop their employees off on busy access roads and highways throughout San Antonio to go and solicit various businesses and homes. Employees typically work a 10 hour day(if not more) and are paid ONLY on commission, thus, it is possible to work a full day and not receive pay. They have ads on Craigslist, as well as Careerbuilder.com, and Monster.com. Here is an example of a Craigslist ad--their ads are misleading, as to the nature of the work:
Reply to: [protected]@jdrinternational.com [?]
Date: 2009-01-02, 10:34AM CST
Baseball/Basketball/Football seasons are here. Competition is in the air. Have fun working with ticket promotions for surrounding pro/semi pro teams. Like the San Antonio Spurs, Spurs Silver Stars, and the Rampage. Full paid training is provided with management opportunities. Professionalism is a must.
For questions or to apply please contact Amanda at [protected] or email a question or resume to [protected]@jdrinternational.com
* Location: SAN ANTONIO
* Compensation: doe
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
* Phone calls about this job are ok.
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
PostingID: [protected]
Here is another example: WORK FOR ONE OF THE TOP ADVERTISING FIRMS IN THE CITY! JDR INTERNATIONAL IS OFFERING FULL PAID TRAINING FOR THAT DREAM CAREER YOU'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR. LEARN HOW TO REPRESENT SOME OF THE BIGGEST CLIENTS AROUND LIKE THE: SAN ANTONIO SPURS AUSTIN TORROS THE RAMPAGE THE ALAMO DRAFT HOUSE THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF OUR OUTSTANDING CLIENTS! WE PROVIDE FULL HANDS ON PAID TRAINING! IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUILD A FUTURE IN ADVERTISING OR PUBLIC RELATIONS APPLY NOW. SEND YOUR RESUME OR GIVE US A CALL TO BOOK IMMEDIATELY AT [protected] ASK FOR LISA OR MELISSA.
I have been called by a San Antonio Marketing Inc. Not sure if is similar to the company you guys are talking about. They want to schedule an interview, they are located at 10010 San Pedro Ave. I am working but, always looking for something new, if it feels weird I will not bother. This page is very informative. Has anybody here heard of a company named Melaleuca.
I can so relate to all of you! I was also a victim of this BS!
I got the job for this marketing company in Milford CT which it was called Apex Direct and now it's under Shoreline Event Management. This is a very long story but to make a very long story short this company is just a big scam. The owner has no clue what she's doing. She takes advantage of young people that don't have much experience in life and just totally brain washes them. She lies about other people to make them feel good, lies that she's giving them bonus, she's playing with the IRS as well for all of the things that she's been including on her "bookkeeping/taxes" that she gives her employees $ for gas and she never did, does, she tells her employees that she fired someone when that someone really quit to make herself look good, she holds people's checks when they quit which is ILLEGAL, she cuts peoples checks without them knowing, she takes money from the reps checks in they have a credit card charge that got denied from a client they sold products to like it's the reps fault, she has the person booking events low ball the locations in which the reps are going to be working at (gas stations) paying $25.00-$30.00 per day to have sales reps sit there for 8-9 hours selling FW1 cleaning wax and giving people free demonstrations so she can pull more profit out of the deal. They have people start and be at the office from 8:00am till 9:30am with no pay so they can s/u teams and go through a stupid morning lying meeting, then they go out to the field on their own car, using their own $$ for gas, sometimes even bring someone else because they hire anyone off the street that has no car or a way to get around and they just stand at the gas station for another 8 hours under 100 degree weather, rain, snow, hurricane, it don't matter, after that they have to go back to the office to check in so that's another hour by the end of the day the reps worked for 13-14hours to get paid a little bit less than a $100.00 for the day. That is if they TOP PRODUCED. Top produced means, they sold $300.00 worth of products. She has her receptionist doing everything for her, from running HER errands to cleaning her dogs poop while she's in her office playing with her dogs. Before they hire you they promise you $400.00 per week in which it hardly ever happens unless that rep had a VERY good week. They don't give you the copies of things that you signed when you first get hired, nothing is legit! She gives her reps credit when they are doing good and when they are not she treats them like dirt, blames on they're attitude but then people start realizing what type of selfish person she is and just quits. Jaclyn Zepernick's employees spends so much money in gas, food and other things to get a ### pay check at the end of the week. In this economy no one is able to afford not having a job, if you reading this and get a call from them, you will have to be able to afford this job because you're going to end up spending more money than what you are going to get paid for.
I'm not quite sure as if every office runs like this but I know that this owner is just a ### that likes to use people to make her rich, I know that soon or later the labor dep is going to catch on to all of the illegal BS she pulls.
i live in houston and i have my second interview with San Antonio Marketing Inc. wednesday...not going . especially after reading all this stuff. thanks for all the insight
well i just set up an interview with this scam in san antonio called now san antonio marketing for tomorrow but it looks like i aint gonna go! this sounds horrible! i dont even have a car or the energy to be goin all over town sellin stuff!
I worked for Jose Rodriguez from Feb - Mar 2010. Pretty shady operation that I totally fell for. The team totally brainwashed me into walking in on people's secured offices, pressuring people to part with their cash, and was escorted out by security several times. It really does become a family, but it's a mind job. I actually made pretty good money, but soon I realized the cards I was selling were barely legal and I had to lie to people to get them to purchase. I hope they get shut down soon. Hope some of the people I worked with have gotten smart and moved on. My advice to job seekers, hit up a temp agency. Better luck there.
Yeah went everything that's been said is pretty on point. I was in the office this morning for my second interview and decided to google the company. BAM found this got up and walked out! I could do this If I had the time to put into it. But I am a 3 Tim's
Disabled vet. I can get way better then this plus I have a family to support. If your young single and have the time go for it. They get by making you feel like its a different job but
In the end it's this!
After spending the day canvasing half of the North Side of San Antonio, TX, I quickly discovered the pyramid scheme that was "pitched" to me over lunch. We'll get to lunch later! I showed up early for my 2nd interview. Which was no more than a way for my "Leader" to "Pitch" his song and dance on how this whole thing worked. Now, I'm an educated person, so after a few text messages and www.google.com I should have told this guy who was desperately trying to sell San Antonio Rampage Tickets to business who have "No Soliciting" signs posted on their doors, to sell to someone who might care. I stuck around till lunch, which I was informed would be on the company. YAAAAA RIGHT! After quizing this gentlemen on his "stories" of his life, which were a total line of BS! We arrived back to the office of San Antonio Marketing Inc. to be told that I was chosen to work with the "Team". After research of this company and its many aliases, I told them I would not return due to the "Questionable Reviews" I have seen on the internet. Please be smart when Job Hunting. If you like going door to door selling something that may not be TRUTHFUL, then go right ahead, but please inform yourself. I at least got a free lunch out of it. Thank you to my Mother for blowing the whistle and giving me a heads up!
I went for my second interview today at Midwest sports and entertainment in st louis mo, basically i rode around all day with someone trying to sell spa coupons and we sold NOT ONE all day! and they do not pay you back for the gas you use getting to where they tell you to go and sell! i was sooo mad, it was wrong and i though i could get arrested. sounds a little to much like the persuit of happiness to me lol ... will not be going back!
Here is a fact... 7% of America Owns and employs 93% of America. Look it up. This 7% Im talking about are called Entrepreneurs. These people are the millionaires and billionaires of the world. The are people who understand what it takes to have something in this world. That is what these companies look for in individuals. I have friend who has been promoted through smart circle and this kid is making 6 figures. He did exactly what these scary idiots on this comment page are talking bad about. They talk bad because they were unsuccessful at it. They failed or were too afraid to accept a job on commission... Someone said "ONLY Commission" earlier I find that hilarious because if you work on commission and you work all day and didn't make any money then the simple fact of the matter is you suck at commission sales! Go Wait tables or something. There has to be someone to take my order right? Lets face it people we are brought up thinking that we have to settle for hourly pay. It's ridiculous because of people like my friend and Donald Trump for example the guys that created the airplane, light bulb, ANYTHING! Whatever it is that we use today, was more than likely made by an entrepreneur, and was probably sold to people by someone on a commission based pay . Now you people bashing my profession are probably going to spend the rest of your life making people just like me and the people you used to work with, Rich ... Very very rich... So thanks for not having what it takes to do what we do.
There is a company like the ones mentioned called Phoenix in Baton Rouge. In just 4-6 months you can make $100k plus, selling Directv. Only problem is, what they are promising you is market over saturation. There is no way Directv is gonna pay for that many managers to operate. Not only that, but they tell you the job is not sales based, but "training" and they need to fill 7 manager spots. But theres 8 people in the room, and 10 behind them, and you have to meet sales goals to advance. Total crap. Best part is that the company wont be around more than a year. Theyre just gonna pack up and find a new city to rape. Taking 1 manager out of the 100hires for the six months theyre there!. Ps: you go through this program without learning any management skills. Kinda hard to train to be a manager when THEY DONT TEACH YOU HOW TO MANAGE!
website not working card not working
I purchased a card for close to earlier this year for a card that entitled me to discounted meals at the Enterouge restaurant in Schaumburg, Illinois. I believe I was entitled to 8 different discounts and have only used 2 of the and now there is no website to let me know what I still have avaialble. When I called the 800 number on the card they claim they never had a website get in the cirlcle. - Yet I have a credit Crd type card with a membership number on it that I have in fact used before as well as visited their website, which is printed on the back of my card.
Membership number [protected] Jennifer Reiger for the Enterouge restaurant in Schaumburg. my number is [protected]. - would appreciate an explanation!
scam and cheating
I am not a pissed off employee, I actually like the company and the people I work with. However, you need to know the truth. They are just sales people and they have to lie to you. First off, they never stop hiring, ever. They will always be hiring because your only way to get promoted to management is through taking people out on interviews and making them join the company.
This is a commission only job, there is no base salary. They call it profit sharing, but it is the same. You make 20 - 40 dollars a lead but if you piss the boss off or if he feels like it you will make 20 a lead with out him telling you until after you are paid. Then he will give you a lame excuse as to why.
For your interview, be prepared to drive all the way to Bethesda, then you will have to follow behind someone in a car to some Home Depot or BJ's 30 minutes or so away. You will walk around the store with them as they pitch people and as there job is to also pitch you. They are not allowed to tell you the pay scale until lunch because they know most people will leave. They make you promise to save your questions for lunch. Then if they like you and have convinced you that you actually can make money in the job, then they make you drive all the way back to Bethesda by your self for a 'test' and another interview. They do not pay for your lunch or gas.
As far as work goes. You come in between 9-930 you are trained how to pitch and different theories you need to learn. You then have a meeting from 10 till 1045. Then you have to drive everyday to a different store far away from the office. You can go as far as Annapolis and Waldorf over 1 hour and 20 minutes away. Then you work until about 7 in the store walking around talking to every person in the store trying to sign them up for free consultations.
Then you have to drive all the way back to the office to turn in your leads and by the time you leave it is almost 830pm. If you are promoted to a leader then it is almost 9 or later because you can't leave until the distributors have left. Then you repeat that 12 hour day for five days then it is mandatory that you work on saturday if you want to get promoted. That is from 10 until 6 pm. That is a 68 hour work week. They Do not pay for you gas.
Did I tell you there is no base pay! If you get no leads, which does happen, you have worked 12 hours for nothing. The most I ever got in a day was 6. Which isn't bad if they pay you the 35 to 40 dollars per lead they are supposed to pay you, however if you piss the boss off or are late or any other reason, they change it to 20 a lead and that is not so great. You won't find out if they have changed it until after you get paid.
You don't have quota's, but they push conversion rate on you. Now conversion rate is when your generated lead actually has a person go out to the home and try tp sell the product. The problem is that they don't have enough people to go out and they don't go to all the appointments for whatever reason they make up. clients will come back to the stores and tell you of the experiences. In the end you should have 100 percent conversion if the sales people would go out like they are supposed to. They don't so you won't.
Setting up the leads. You have to call a call center based in Florida. You use your own cell phone which they do not pay for. Now these people have to qualify the people. They can completely screw up the lead for you. For example, we were told that they can reface metal cabinets to make them wood. Which our designers will do, but if you customer says that to the call center, they will not go out. Why you ask? No good reason, the company does reface the metal cabinets. The call center will tell you they don't but the sales agents will go out and price it and tell you they do reface them.
Now the results are true. You can make it to management. You can open your own store. You will have to lie to everyone you interview. You will have to alway be hiring to stay afloat. You will work long hours and never know if you can pay your bills or not. The choice is yours. If you have integrity and don't feel like risking being broke then I would not recommend taking this job. If you are a criminal or an ex drug dealer and can't get any other job. This is perfect for you. I hope I did not miss anything.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Not only this, but they will fire you for things that arent your fault to coveir their own ###, and then try to stiff you on the money they owe you. Would not trust this company with a raccoon, and certainly would never do business with them after I have seen how they work.
I currently work for a company in Florida under Smart Circle. It is true that they do not pay salary and it is Comission only... I work with certificates and I have used them myself. Thank God I havent had problems with the certs that I've purchased neither than with my boss. I'm already in Leadership and I'm on my way to get promoted to Assistant Manager (I've only been in the business for 2 months). If you have good people skills, you will progress in the company. You also need to be a great salesperson. I have to agree in the interviewing part... We do say the exact same "pitch" to every interview that comes in to the office. It is almost 12 hrs, but remember that the time that you're in the office is not work time. Also have in mind that you can deduct all your expenses when you do your taxes. I'm making $1, 000 weekely (Just so You know).
this job is commission, no base pay, they call it profit sharing, you work up to if not more than 12 hours a day. when they send you to one of their sams clubs or BJ's or whatever it is hard to keep track of your sales they tell you that sams club sends out the checks weekly and sometimes have you working the location with one or two other people. This is how they cheated me out of my money. When I first worked at sams with 2 other people at the smart circle display/kiosk we sold a lot and had to "share" the profit. The next day they said we would get paid $400 each. I waited for a week and asked for my check it was not even half of that mind you i worked there all week. I asked what happened to the money i was supposed to make they told me the customers brought the products back to the store so we didn't get credit for it. also a couple of weeks later i spoke to one of the people that worked with me that day and he asked me did i get my $400 check for that day and i said no he got kind of quiet and said that's messed up. he said him and the other girl both got their checks for the $400 for that day. They would give me advance payments at times which made them seem cool but every time i was supposed to get my hundreds of dollars check they would take out for the loan of course and give me change. I made enough money just to pay my babysitter and i am a great sales person i pulled the long hours and made the sales but not the money. This place will take advantage of a nice person quickly the smiles and pep talks and flexibility at times gives an illusion they care about their employees. I have to put it out there the ### who scammed me her name is Kayla shes a dick sucking [censored] who lies cheats and steals and she does with a big ### smile and a mini dress. She is evil beware! ###in Theif
My experience with this company was pretty similar. I got hired by a company called Global yes they took me on an interview that consisted of going door to door to different businesses and pitching people working at their desks to buy gift certificates. The interviewer did take me to some city that was pretty far out i was new to the state so i don't know exactly where i was lol anyways she did tell me to save my questions till lunch and did pay for my lunch. I went out for a few weeks with the same woman because i didn't have a car at the time and i sat and listened to her give other interviews and realized it is a scam. I did make money but they did cheat me out of most of it and this company is a boiler room growing and creating other boiler rooms. All u have to do to become a team leader is get 5 people under you and you can open up your own office and create a name for the business you branched off. You have to be a real ### whole and a person with no conscience to go far in that business not to mention you have to have your head so far up the bosses ### you can see his bald spot. i got sent out with a male leader after a while on one of their home improvement businesses and got sexually harassed in a residential neighborhood at like 10 at night about 2-3 hours away from home. I played it cool so i wouldn't get left and never went back.
This is probably too late for you but I recently quit working for a Smart Circle (now Community Appreciation, formerly DS-Max or Granton Marketing) satellite office and have begun to do research on the cult mentality/deceptive business practices of the organization. Here is an amazing rundown of the business, written 6 years ago, with little difference between then and now:
http://wolfram.org/scam/ds_max/index.html
The person who wrote it worked with the company for four years, making them a veritable expert. I, on the other hand, only wasted 4 months and only a few thousand dollars. You'll notice I've listed a few different names that they've been known as. I assume it's because they want to avoid postings like this.
Sounds like a great job for someone with no experience in the work force in a time when skilled and highly trained people are finding it difficult to get work. Burger King is probably safer, but the pay is definitely low. In a position like this a driven and determined person can make good money. 20 plus years ago I sold 8 x 10 portraits made from snapshots (obviously before the technology boom). By getting someone to commit to pay $680 (over years) I earned $68 straight commission. It was a tough job, sucking people into listening to me, convincing them what I had to offer was worth the money, convincing them they could afford the low payments. I didn't particularly like working from 10 am to 8 pm to barely make ends meet, but making minimum wage working retail didn't appeal to me either. After about 6 months I quit, but I had learned a lot about human nature. I had learned to sell myself which came in real handy getting better jobs. Today I credit my time selling those portraits with my career success as much if not more than my college degree.
So..you enjoy the comapny & people you work with lying to you & treating you like crap?
I work for smart circle and everything you said is completly backwards they do pay you a base pay of minimum wage for 40 hours or if your leads that you generate is higher then that base pay you get the commision. However if you suck at the busniess then you will be getting fired after 2 or 3 weeks at base pay because you are just dead weight. Hours are 12:00 to 7:00 and it is 6 days a week so that is about 42 hours not 68 and I know the pay scale did change scence you left but it is actually $54 a lead and I do anywhere from 20 - 30 leads a weeks do the math but we dont get paid on lead but on issued lead which I have a 60% conversion so that is still a great check. Also as far as the the people not going out to interviews being USHS or directly Home Depot your manager should be able to print you out a list of all your leads with the Phone numbers of those people or just keep the info that you got from them when you generated the lead to call them back and ask how it went and usually if it didnt issue they say they cancle but im sure you are just not an entrepreneur and this job isnt for you but dont smite it because it wasnt for you.
False advertising/rude customer service reps
I am writing regarding the very rude customer service representatives that you have in your office. I have had the worst experience with your company from the beginning until now. I had one rude customer service representative after the other. My first bad encounter was with your customer service representative Stacy. This is who I spoke to when I was trying to get my money back for the certificate I was given as a gift. I then had to ask for a manager because Stacy was unable to give me the type of service that I deserve.
I called THE SMART CIRCLE's customer service line [protected] with the hopes of finding out when I would receive my refund on the gift certificate that was misrepresented and sold to someone, and then given to me as a birthday gift. I spoke with Lindsay (the manager) who let me know about how to go about getting my refund. The customer service representative Gabrielle was talking over me and not listening very well at all and then she hung up the phone on me before I was able to get an answer as to when I would be receiving a refund. After the very rude Gabrielle hung up the phone I called back and spoke with Lindsay again who was very rude and also hung up the phone one me. If a customer is calling in, it is obvious that they need help but if the help that you have is rude and abrupt, the customer will not want to do business with you as well as will spread the word about their bad experience. It is very difficult to recover from a bad reputation. I am willing to call every company as well as forward this email to the companies that you currently do business with to let them know of my poor experience.
I am also prepared to report the smart circle to the Better Business Bureau as well as get this information onto the internet so that when someone searches the smart circle they will see my complaint.
I am writing regarding the very rude customer service representatives that you have in your office. I have had the worst experience with your company from the beginning until now. I had one rude customer service representative after the other. My first bad encounter was with your customer service representative Stacy. This is who I spoke to when I was trying to get my money back for the certificate I was given as a gift. I then had to ask for a manager because Stacy was unable to give me the type of service that I deserve.
I called THE SMART CIRCLE's customer service line [protected] with the hopes of finding out when I would receive my refund on the gift certificate that was misrepresented and sold to someone, and then given to me as a birthday gift. I spoke with Lindsay (the manager) who let me know about how to go about getting my refund. The customer service representative Gabrielle was talking over me and not listening very well at all and then she hung up the phone on me before I was able to get an answer as to when I would be receiving a refund. After the very rude Gabrielle hung up the phone I called back and spoke with Lindsay again who was very rude and also hung up the phone one me. If a customer is calling in, it is obvious that they need help but if the help that you have is rude and abrupt, the customer will not want to do business with you as well as will spread the word about their bad experience. It is very difficult to recover from a bad reputation. I am willing to call every company as well as forward this email to the companies that you currently do business with to let them know of my poor experience.
I am also prepared to report the smart circle to the Better Business Bureau as well as get this information onto the internet so that when someone searches the smart circle they will see my complaint.
I also have had the same experience, not only am I disgusted w Smartcircle but also w the holiday inn that I thought I was buying this discount card for. They took no respnsibility for this saying that it is a third party thing, funny though because holiday inn is the only name I see on it. Bunch of CraP !
Wow; after reading all the complaints, I feel I am not alone. I have been calling and leaving messages for someone to call me regarding a so called travel package that I was supposed to have received.
To this day, I have not heard from anyone. I send an email with my complaint all they sent me was a ticket number to hold on to.
Maybe they are waiting for it to expire, then they will call me and say (sorry but your coupon is expired).
I would like to know if anyone of you ladies have a direct phone number or contact number so that I may apply for my refund.
I wanted to take my 85 year old mom on a mini cruise and sorry to say it never happened thanks to their bad representation. Please help!
I too bought several packages...when I went home excited, I got on the internet to see just how much I was going to save...boy, was I shocked...Not only can you get a better deal going direct to a company...you can get even better deals booking on the pricelines, expedia and etc. I work for a fortune 500 company so I figured that they would not bring in an unreputable company as an "Employee Appreciation" program for it's well deserving employees...again, I was wrong!
There were many hidden fees, Complimentary nights can cost you well over $100.00 with undisclosed charges.
When I called to request a refund, your about to read the same thing as above...the first call, I stated I wanted a refund as stated on the packet, "100% guaranteed within 30 days, no questions asked". The CS told me it would take 6 weeks or more to process my request and then they would issue me a check...I explained to her that was unacceptable...She hung up on me. I called back and went through the process again, this time I did get confirmation numbers for each packet...after spending all of my time going through the questions for each individual packet, I was informed that it would take at less 6 weeks to process my request after I had returned all of the packets, along with a written detailed statement of why I was returning the goods. What happened to "No questions Asked" as stated on their 100% Satisfaction Guaranttee? Upon hearing this I requested to speak with a supervisor...I was put on hold for an extended amount of time, my minutes on my cellphone are ticking away and then the phone hung up on me, imagine that!
I have no choice but to go to my bank and request a "stop payment" thank god for credit cards and dispute arbitration!
I wonder what the Attorney General in Atlanta would think of this? Hmmm, maybe it's time for an investigation!
I contacted the CS department to see about what i need to do for a refund. The first time I tried to use the coupon the salon wouldn't take it. then my coupon burnt in my house fire. They said they could not do anything, not even with a copy of my check. This is bad customer service, but they certainly tried to sell me another coupon. I asked her why I would buy another coupon if the salon didint even take the first one, she stated that is all i can do for you and hung up.
4/20/09
I purchased a vacation package from The smart Circle and was told I could stay at any Disney Resort of my choice I just had to make sure there was availabilty an to make a rsvp at least 30 days prior. And when I called (they ) smart circle said I did not have a choice of where I was gonna stay and they could not tell me I had to wait for an email or letter with a conformation and It would take up to 7 days and said I had to pay the $15.00 a night tax on the room right then on the phone or I could not get it. I had already paid $49.99 for the package so I went ahead and paid the $45.00 and it's now going on 2 weeks and I have not received any emails or letter in the mail. I have no way of getting ahold of them and when I try to call Smart Circle I can't get anyone on the phone. And also I was told when I called to to book the room that I would have to go to a welcome center first (the day Im due to check in) an they the welcome center will tell me where Im gonna stay for the weekend and then give me the voucher for the hotel they pick which would be a Holiday Inn express or something similar. And it would be atleast 6 miles from Disney and they would make arrangements to take us to the timeshare and do the tour for 90 mins. I am so disappointed at how this company keeps you in the dark on where your gonna stay an how they turn everything around but take your money right away. I do not like the fact that I have to waste my time driving to Orlando pay for gas and have no idea on where Im gonna stay until I go to the Welcome Center at which I have no idea where that is until they email me. Save your money an dont waste your time to much of a hassle. I'm gonna try an get my money back.)
M.Parker
rip off
Do not buy advertisements from smart circle brochures! They are a rip-off! They came in to our salon and spa and offered a great deal to us, they said that they would do our advertising for a small fee and sell it for us. They offered to put our packages together and get back to us on how we thought it would look. They made us sign a contract and said they would get back to us. The guy who sold it to us left us a number if we needed to get a hold of him for any reason. It ended up being a fax machine!
That next week we got so many calls to come in, and we hadn't even seen what they would be selling for us. We had people coming in that said they paid only $40 dollars to get 4 services which included a spa facial and wax, a spa manicure or spa pedicure, massage and hair. That is over a $200 dollar value that we as independent contractors are doing for free! We are trying to make money because we have rent to pay and we are doing these services for free!
We have not seen any money from smart circle, and we cannot get a hold of them to cancel this. They are making money off of our name, and when we cannot accommodate 200 calls in a week we don't know what to do!
Do not fall for this scam, do not do business with smart circle! Be very very aware, I have looked them up on the internet and they go by different names too. Beware!
I wouldnt actually call the program a scam but as far as the smart circle more so than not. I have been doing this for 14 years and have done well with it. Last year for fun I decided to get accounts for them to see what they are about. They lie to thier staff and clients. I am owed in excess of 9k for my services. I have had clients I got for them call me because they went out promoting again after they had finished the program. People they promised money did not receive thier checks. They have offices go by different names so they are not looked at as bieng held responsible. By the way did I mention even they changed thier name 3 times over the years. Call me 312.502.0424 and I will tell you anything positive or negative about the program and anyone in the business including myself. Richard
I have a spa and have been doing this promotion for years. You need to work on upgrading those clients. I have done many many many FREE services but now I have many many many loyal clients from it. The key is to keep a positive attitude, upgrade them when possible, sell them product and keep a smile on your face. If they love the service they will return as full paying clients.
The promo works just keep your inventory and staffing up ...and later you will see the rewards!
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Smart Circle International Contacts
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Smart Circle International phone numbersClick up if you have successfully reached Smart Circle International by calling +1 (800) 775-1975 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have successfully reached Smart Circle International by calling +1 (800) 775-1975 phone number Click down if you have unsuccessfully reached Smart Circle International by calling +1 (800) 775-1975 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have UNsuccessfully reached Smart Circle International by calling +1 (800) 775-1975 phone numberCustomer ServiceClick up if you have successfully reached Smart Circle International by calling +1 (866) 569-2420 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have successfully reached Smart Circle International by calling +1 (866) 569-2420 phone number Click down if you have unsuccessfully reached Smart Circle International by calling +1 (866) 569-2420 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have UNsuccessfully reached Smart Circle International by calling +1 (866) 569-2420 phone numberDirecTV Inquiries
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Smart Circle International emailscustomerservice@thesmartcircle.com100%Confidence score: 100%Support
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Smart Circle International address4490 Von Karman Ave., Newport Beach, California, 92660, United States
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Smart Circle International social media
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Checked and verified by Olivia This contact information is personally checked and verified by the ComplaintsBoard representative. Learn moreMar 14, 2026
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