Complaint Review: AML Marketing

AML Marketing Ltd, Part of Cobra Group.
AML Marketing Ltd, 1 St. Faiths Street, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1LH
www.amlmarketing.co.uk

I was excited to get offered a job with AML after a successful interview. They promised a starting salary of at least 250-300 per week.
I understood the job would involve Human Commercial, which essentially is selling door-to-door.
Work was from 10:30 am to 10:30pm with no breaks, and saturday mornings, and your own expenses. Petrol to get to the selling area, food, drinks etc. So I would be out of pocket 10-15 a day.
I wasn't too fussed as I was desperate to earn some cash.
In my first week I sold about 15 charity subscriptions. I was okay and I expected to get paid at least the minimum 250.

It transpired I would only get around 60 for the first week. The figures never added up and so this worked out at an average of 0.80 per hour, way below the minimum wage. With expenses I made a net of nothing, in fact I often was down for the week after walking miles in the rain knocking on doors for 70 hours. One week my sales were about 10 and I got around 6. Sales were low due to bad management. We were selling to the same houses we were at the week before, there was not enough gear to go around, tabbards, information cards, or even susbscription packages to sell. It was a constant fight to get the materials.

Apparently I wasn't working for them as I was self employed? But they had my bank details and paid directly into my account. Also I never registered as self employed, so it made no sense.
It seems that the director just pocketed the majority of the income. Easily more than half of what I made. I was supposed to get a bond, some money for the subscriptions about 5 months later. I didn't expect to see that, and surprise surprise 1 year later nothing more has been heard of it.

There was obvious embezzelment and corruption with less than transparent pay structure. What you were paid was completely arbitrary, a lot less than promised and expected. Also the management was pathetic, so obviously I quit after the worst 4 weeks of my life. Being unemployed or any 9-5 job would have been better with a secure but fair income.

I hear that the new office in Liverpool closed with all the staff stranded and unemployed, exploited for their housing expenditures which was organised by the director.
They apparently are indebted to him for the amount of hundreds to thousands of pounds. I am glad I didn't live in one of the directors houses in Maidstone, Liverpool or Canterbury or I would be massively in debt for working hard for him.

I feel sorry for these guys that were let down, they were a fun bunch of guys that were ripped off by AML Marketing.

Adam
Maidstone
United Kingdom