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DARREN MATLOFF, EASTERN DISTRIBUTION GROUP, RHINO SCAM ARTIST, RIPOFF, CULT LEADERS, LIARS, GARDEN CITY New York
Where to begin. Plainly, if the words: Darren Matloff, RHINO, Eastern Distribution Group, JUICE, $100,000 per year, Management, Your own builing, "A great deal" etc, mean anything to you keep reading.
I applied for a job with "E.D.G." after a misleading ad for a Warehouse position. Once they get you in the facility they set up an interview with the top guy. Let's just call him "Charlie".
Mind you that they now have a room filled with applicants for this one position. Which was offered at a very good starting salary -the "bait". Once "Charlie" has called you in his office for an interview he tells you that you are better suited for another position with the company. You would be a perfect candidate for the new position.
Once he sells his story about the new position, with even better pay, the fun really begins. He expects you to come in the very next day in complete business attire so you can go out in "the field" with a trainer. You will be under his supervision as he goes out and sells merchandise. He will then report back to "Charlie" to see if you are worthy of becoming a member of this cult.
Needless to say, 99% of the guys that go out are worthy simply because they just showed up. They buy you breakfst or lunch, they tell you what a great opportunity it is to go out and sell crappy items door to door. They sell the position as much if not more than "Charlie". Basically, they need recruits to stay on board and do well if they are to enjoy their $100,00 promotion to management. Yeah right!!
By the way, you are told these items were imported by their very own personal manufacturing Warehouse in China. The reality of it is that you can find most of their items available at the local .99 stores. The items were widely available by US distributors at prices way below what we had them for. As I encountered on a numerous amount of occasions.
Most of you already know the routine. Show up extra early for an impact meeting, JUICE!! Motivate each other. JUICE! Talk about your business day, JUCIE!! Gather your merchandise, JUICE! Load up, JUICE! Have another meeting with the trainers, JUICE!! And finally, get on the road, JUICE!!
Let me get to the good stuff. While I was at "E.D.G." their Jersey group was coming down to motivate us and get sales going to an extreme high. Darren himself was to lead us into the new year with great results. What a jackass!!
The reality was, as I found out through the landlord himself. (Ah, it's great to have connections) They were unable to pay the rent there any longer. Coming from the landlords mouth they owed back rent. They grabbed everything they had in the builing and just disappeared.
Unfortunately, the guys that were coming in from Jersey had no idea of what was going on. They left their families, children and friends behind to shack up at a crumby hotel for 5 - 6 days out of the week. Those who couldn't, had to commute everyday. For some that was a 2 - 2 1/2 hour commute.
Again, they were told this was for them to motivate us and show us how it was to be done. When I first started there we had approximately 30 guys going out. Within a 2 week period we were down to 6 or 7.
This wasn't to motivate us. It was because they had nowhere to go. How would it look to the incoming recruits to enter a room with 6 employees as oppose to 40. How would it look to anyone if they told you they left the other location because they owed rent.
This coming from guys making $100,000 a year? It gets better. While I was there a fellow worker pulled me aside to ask me if I had cashed my check? I told him that I did. He confided in me and told me he had a lousy week and only made about $200 bucks for himself. He also told me when he deposited his check. IT BOUNCED!
Are you kiddin' me? This company bounced a $200 check! He went in and talked to them and they guaranteed him it was a mix up. They paid him out of the money we brought in that evening in cash.
So let's recap: Management salaries at $100,000 a year, multiple locations all over the country and you don't have the money to pay rent, or to cover a $200 check. Idiots!
Oh, in my location we had (3) managers with (2) of those managers with no locations assigned to them. They were there as "managers" now for well over a year. I guess there was no money to put up these $100,000 "All - Stars" in their own buildings.
The kicker for me was the end of the day "Atmosphere Room". Where everyone comes in and rings their bells and gongs, and discusses what an awesome day they had.
You are not allowed to speak about anything other than business. It has to be positive, and you can not isolate your conversation with a one on one. You must talk to multiple individuals at once. This carries over to the outside perimeters as well. They break up any conversations that you may have with an individual even on the way to your car.
I guess they don't people realizing what a total scam this is. People eventually catch on and the turn around is huge. There are new faces there every other day.
People use common sense.
#1 - Will any company offer a "Joe Blow" a $100,000 job with no experience in running a business. Let alone 8 or 9 people. Come on.
#2 - Take a good hard look at what these $100,000 per year managers drive. Sorry, I don't think I would be driving an 8 year old beaten up Toyota Corolla if I was making 6 figures and had only one car.
#3 - I also don't think I would be wearing beaten dress shoes from Payless, a shirt from Walmart and an 8 dollar tie if I was making 6 figures either.
#4 - Once our "Commander and Chief's" car broke down and he walked 8 miles to a mid point so that we could pick him up because he didn't want to pay $35.00 to get back to our location. $100,000 salary right ???
#5 - If I was making 6 figures I think I would own a washer and dryer in my own home and not have to drop off my families dirty clothes at the local laundromat every other day. I kid you not!
#6 - I would own more than one vehicle and not tell everyone that I love my car and never get rid of it. Even though the f***ing thing breaks down all the time.
#7 - They try to pass off a full bearded 30 something year old man as a 21 year old Manager to show everyone how easy it is to make $100,000 a year. What they should have shown was how this dumb a*s would ask me for money twice a week so that he could get a bite to eat.
Lastly, I went through a very difficult time when I received a call that a good friend was badly injured. I came back in and explained to them what had happened. They told me to go back out to the "Atmosphere Room", put a smile on and don't say a negative word that would disrupt the atmosphere.
That my friends was enough for me. They want you to work 14 hour days, pay for your own gas, be an independant contractor - but still they want to tell you exactly what to do?? No benefits and no reimbursements of any kind. And now they don't want you to deal with personal problems.
This is not even skimming the nightly / weekend calls from your trainers to keep you ready for the upcoming day / week. Which by the way, I told him to go f*** himself the second time he called. Don't call me on my nights / days off to prepare for the next day or week.
If you see the names Darren Matloff, Rhino, Eastern Distribution, etc. It's all the same bullshit. They constantly change their name to stay a step of everyone. Don't be fooled and don't be scammed.
If you are already involved get out NOW! You are wasting your time. This is a total rip off. If you stick it out that is your decision but you will be back on here within time telling me how right I am.
J. - ust
U. - ntil
I. - I
C. - all
E. - veryone
Xxxxx
FYOUWAY, New York
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Mark
Wilton,Connecticut,
United States of America
Darren Matloff
#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, July 25, 2012
FYOUWAY,
I worked for Darren back in 1999 when the company was called Direct Distributors of America. I was a young buck fresh out of college and highly impressionable. Darren was a rogue disciple of the DS MAX organization. My experience 13 years ago is amazingly similar to yours. I worked in an office in White Plains that mysteriously closed down. I was then sent to commute to Happhaugue (sp.) Long Island daily.
It was always clear to me that it was a house of cards but I was making such good money for my age that I stayed for about 2 years. I ended up making about $60K the first year. To put that in perspective, I went to work for Canon copiers after that and only made about $35K. The gig that he had going at that time was that he got a contract from an At&t reseller to send us out from business to business asking people for their phone bills under the guise of lowering their rates. As soon as they produced their bills, we would switch them from whatever provider they had to AT&T regardless of whether or not they were saving money.
Anyway, at a certain point that contract ended and so did the money. They switched over to selling cell phones on the street. Remember this was around 2000 when not everyone had one. The problem was that we had to do on the spot credit checks to qualify people for the deal. It turns out that the reason these people didn't have cell phones was because they had bad credit. I left the organization with a bitter taste in my mouth like you. In fact, I was part of a small class action lawsuit against the company that we ultimately won. I can't recall what the basis for the suit was but I remember getting a check for a couple of grand.
The interesting thing is that all these years later, in retrospect, I find Darren Matloff to be a fascinating figure. At the time he was presented to me as something of the Wizard of Oz, a larger than life man to be feared and respected and at the time I bought it hook, line and sinker. There is no question that this man is very intelligent. It is no easy feat to run an organization based on nothing but smoke and mirrors and to make people believe in it.
The sad part is that similar to your story, at the end of DDA, Darren was relegated to sleeping on the couch of one of the "managers" of the office. Ultimately it all comes down to the benjamins. With all of his intelligence and ability to deceive people, he never could seem to generate any real lasting income.
I am now very successful and have risen the ranks of sales and sales management. Ironically, I credit a lot of my success to my experience at DDA. It taught me a lot about hard work, ambition and most importantly, the basic algorithm of sales, the law of averages. God knows I had to see at least 100 potential customers to ring that d**n bell every day.
Anyway, I digress. The point of my story is to provide you with another vantage point from which to view your experience. I don't know how old you are but you probably have a whole career in front of you. I guarentee you will be recalling some of your experiences with Matloff in the future and using them to your benefit.
Juice by that!
PRcoverage
United States of AmericaWhere is F You Way today?
#3General Comment
Wed, June 01, 2011
It is sad when a company needs to reward those who "just show up" but this is a reality of the work ethic of many. Unfortunately, out of 100 individuals who answer a wanted ad for a sales job less then 5% stay the course. When asked to show up in professional attire, to attend training, to work and socialize whenever together to build a true sales "team," and to have all your expenses paid to travel to where ever the job is; often is asking too much of those who should really be working a check out counter rather then as a sales person
As for paying bills/rent, I'm not too sure "f you way" gossiping with someone who says he is the landlord is a reliable source. As for payroll, accounting issues happen all the time. The individual being refered to got paid.
I'd like to know how long "F you" actually worked and where he is today.
Darren Mattloff continues today as a successfully thriving international salesman and a leader in product development.