Anybody hear of a company called Primerica?? Got a weird phone call (Long)

[Lisa L from MI]

Hi
Had a message on my machine this morning from Primerica Company. It was supposedly from the VP and he said he as expanding locations throughout my area and he has some opportunities that I may be interested in either part time or full time with the company.

I called back and spoke with him. I looked up the website and understand it is like a financial company. I have been unemployed for 7 years now. I asked how he got my name and he said he uses "head hunters".....which I don't recall ever giving my name to any?? And even if I did....after 7 years??!!

Anyway...he asked what I was doing now, my past experiences etc. He said that they would start out as training and there was much room for advancement depending how well training went.

He then says they have a corporate overview/orientation....that would give him a chance to meet with me and learn a little more about me and my experiences. And also learn more about the company and show me around. Told me to bring my resume etc.

He said the orientation would be Saturday...I told him we were going away this weekend and then he said there is another on Tuesday night at 7pm. I said ok.

It all sounded legit up to this point.....he then says "And feel free to bring your husband along if you would like". I kinda stumbled and said "ok". He said that some people feel more comfortable bringing their spouses along.

I hung up and just thought "that seems weird". Is this maybe one of those things they want you to "buy into". But looking at the site, it looks like a legitamate company. Then I thought, well maybe since it is in the evening and going myself to meet with him.....maybe that's what he mean't????? I don't know......

Has anyone ever had a call from this company like this before???

I think I am going to call back and question how long the orientation thingy will be since I have kids at home and then ask about bringing my DH and maybe flat out asking him if this is an actual job opportunity or is it one of those that they want you to buy into........

What do you guys think??? I have been looking for a part time job since the kids started school and have found nothing...I just think that would be very weird if this is legit and it actually came to me??!!

Thanks
Lisa

 

[Serena]

We have some mutual funds through them.

My sil was doing this for a while. Her trainer was a jerk and so my sil told the vp that we didn't like the trainer. The vp came to us personally and talked with us.

 

[Lisa L from MI]

Hi Laurie

Well, do you think that this is a legit job opportunity??? Or do you have to put your own money up or something......So.......your sister didn't like it??? I am just confused and not sure I want to go to this orientation thing....

 

[Serena]

Her regular job started taking too much time.

I don't imagine it would hurt to check it out, but if they ask for money, I'd run.

 

[helenabear]

Lisa, my dad works there part time as a financial planner. It is a legit group and they do try to get as many people to come into it as possible. The money required to put down would be for the testing you'd be required to take to be certified to work there. I went to one of their overviews/orientations and it was no big deal. It isn't something I'd want to do or could afford to give up my job for, but they weren't pushy when I told them I wasn't interested. If you have any questions let me know and I can ask my dad for you.

 

[preshi]

You may want to read some of these links...
http://dmoz.org/Business/Opportunities/Opposing_Views/Primerica/

 

[Dan Murphy]

Primerica is a multi-level (pyramid) insurance/financial company. Most people do it part time, similar to most other pyramids.

 

[Lisa L from MI]

Thanks everyone....and THANK YOU Meagan for those sites!!! I don't think so.......It is kinda exactly what I thought it was going to be after I sat down and thought about it and after reading through some of those sites.....I don't believe in those pyramid things. My neighbor kept trying to "recruit" me into one of those and it was terrible...she wouldn't take no for an answer......

Oh well, back to job hunting on my own......I just want a REGULAR part time job!!!

Thanks everyone....I am so glad I thought to post about this here!!!!!!

Lisa

 

[Donna]

I believe you pay $199 up front for the training material and testing material, supposedly, you recoup that. My husbands cousin is trying to get us to do this; she's been doing it 3 years. It's flexible in that you can work out of your house but they do not give you leads, you give THEM the leads you come up with. Not sure it's for me.

 

[wdwpluto]

My future DH and I just went to one of their presentations. Ugh! Someone he knew presented it to him as a job opportunity. We went and were totally turned off by their high pressure pitch. Did some internet research and it truly turned my stomach.

And their parent company is Citibank! Can you believe that? It amazes me how such a large corporation gets away with this stuff.

And when they said "headhunters" gave your name... probably an acquaintance (maybe from long ago) that gave your number as a potential victim, er, I mean candidate. They want the names and numbers of everyone you know. FDH made the mistake of mentioning that we were getting married soon and they wanted our guest list. Uh uh! No way jose!

Lori

 

[Nancy]

If they want DH to come along too, it sounds like a sales pitch thing. I had this happen to me a while ago..same company. The man involved used to shop all the time in the store I work for, presented the idea to me as a part time job I could do on my own time. When he came over it was a sales pitch to invest in the company..definately pyramid...this guy was so pushy..he wanted my DH to come home and discuss it with him also. My response was to ask him to leave because he wasn't presenting a job. He was not pleasant and since then he has never been back to the store when I'm working.

 

[MJames41]

That explains why they keep calling me after I blew them off 3 times (or is it 4 now?).

 

[aahmom1]

Lisa, I live in Michigan also and I got the same phone calls from them. The difference is that I do carry their life insurance, so I figured that was where they got my name.

 

[Lisa L from MI]

Well, I definitely am not going to that orientation thingy on Tuesday. My friend said to not even call and cancel just not show up......

 

[Luv2Roam]

USE CAUTION!!!
There are several around here.
Guess what -- they want you to work for FREE to get the experience. And act like they are doing you a favor.
Strictly commission. What they try to do is handle all of consumer's finances.
They get commissions from selling new mortgages, insurance and investments. From our experience anyway...
We didn't go with them and they hounded us for years afterwards.

 

[DebbieB]

They used to be known as A.L. Williams, which developed a "reputation" in the early 90's.

 

[WebmasterAlex]

A.L. Williams was NOT a good thing...guess they didn't change with the name change!
If you are really interested in that kind of work try one of the Legitimate company's like Prudential or Metropolitan, they are always hiring.

 

[one_cat]

I went to one of their meetings. Strangely I was the only one who left at 1/2 time. I think the guy who called me out of the blue with a "job opportunity" was very disappointed. That was several years ago.