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KSL Concepts - Cydcor RIPOFF, Clueless, scam artist, zombie, door-to-door trash. Atlanta Georgia
Thank you very much for all of the great stories, complaints, and debates about this truly reprehensible company. I too was one of the clueless dweebs who got sucked in with this lowly lot. It's a long, sad, and cruel story... but like the best stories, this one has a happy ending.
This past February, I submitted my resume to a group known as KSL Concepts here in Atlanta. They immediately contacted me and set up an interview. Yay! I exclaim. I can run my own business in 12 months? Where do I sign?
What followed this moment was 6 weeks of the worst hell on earth imaginable. KSL Concepts' cozy-but-elegant front office revealed nothing but a drab and ugly 2-room no bigger than my apartment. Being a gentleman, I kept my true feelings about these..eccentric...individuals and their lot in life. Honestly, I felt nothing but pity for a few of them. As a fledging amateur screenwriter and hobby filmmaker, I couldn't make some of these people up.
In this sad parade, we had people like Sedrick, who claimed to possess a degree in Public Health and once did work at The Carter Center. Rodney, whose previous claim to fame was photographer for the Detroit Red Wings. Al, the UCLA law school graduate. Brad, former male model and father of 2. All in all, these people weren't bad by any means - they were reasonably friendly, down-to-earth, and extend a hand.
Hell, Rodney even gave me some of his ties! On the other hand, my mind wandered... if these people had such a wealth of life experience and positions of semi-prominence... why were they working door-to-door? Was Sedrick implicated in the McMartin case? Did Rodney steal Sergei Federov's Rolex? Did Brad's acne derail his modelling career?
Enough about them, though...I have bigger fish to fry. Namely, one Kenneth Samuel Lear.
In my time at this company, I doubt I have ever (or will ever) deal with a more pompous, arrogant, deceitful, conceited, and loathsome individual as Mr. Lear. After a few days of these goons labelling me as "untrainable" and sending me off to do D2D for BellSouth on my own, I threw their lameass script and rules out of the window and achieved success in that field on my own terms.
I made up my sales pitches as I went along. I got BellSouth customers to cancel bogus charges they didn't need. I broke the D2D cardinal rule and went inside people's houses when invited. I had beers and ate pizza with my customers. I would tell the consumer that the guy I worked for was "a f***ing p***k.")
However, I looked at the changes that had appeared in my personality with disgust. My life was changing by the day - My normally long and curly hair was being reshaped into a Metrosexual q***r Eye For The Straight Guy coif. I lived on french fries and lost 25 pounds (you can do it too!). My family and friends were a bizarre afterthought.
My girlfriend became addicted to methamphetamines and I was too focused on success and money to even notice. In short, I was becoming just like my co-workers in appearance and attitude and more like Ken in terms of my complete oblivousness to the world around me. Like Rodney once told me, "Look in the mirror every day and say..David, you are the f***ing man!"..I was finding myself looking into the mirror and saying "David, you sold phone service to a deaf Chinese woman yesterday. You are a piece of s**t."
I wouldn't be so angry about these guys IF... and I must repeat IF...they hadn't gone through every possible means to not pay me for my time, effort, and productivity. After 3 weeks of nonpayment, I became infuriated. As hard as I tried to adapt to their way of thinking and their viewpoints, I couldn't help but notice that everyone at the company seemed to really dislike me.
Was it that I wore glasses? Did they not like the cologne? Maybe it was the glasses - for all of my efforts, Ken Lear looked upon me with nothing but disgust. Maybe he had a sense of what would happen next. Maybe he knew my friends and I would use office jargon like "Posi-Neg" and "Work the 4's, 5's, and 8's" as jokes. Maybe he knew that I could see past his act. Maybe he knew that I would walk out of his office, never to return, with all of his company's info, invoices, and even my old company badge.
Nowadays, I'm back in my old position as GM of my mentor Mr. Hong's liquor store while finishing my degree in Accounting. While I still turn in 13-hour days, I know exactly what I'm working for this time and it fills my heart with joy. I can look at my face in the mirror and feel good about the person I am again.
If any of the people named (aside from the contemptible Mr. Lear) happen to read this and are offended, I am deeply sorry. You guys are good people who, for some reason or another, found yourselves stuck in this abyss. I'm sorry I never returned your phone calls, but unlike you guys... I had the means to escape.
To anyone who has received an offer of employment from KSL Concepts or any other branch of Cydcor, my advice is this: By all means, don't subject yourself to the same self-loathing and physical duress I went through. You may find it great in the beginning, but trust me...you WILL learn to hate yourself.
And last, but definitely not least, if Kenneth Samuel Lear himself happens to read this message, I have this bon mot to offer: The day I left your sham office, I went to visit my family friends at the Kilpatrick Stockton office on Peachtree Street. Unlike you, they were quite kind, considerate, and down-to-earth. Also unlike yourself, the BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes, and Jaguars they drove were real.
One more note... the money they made on 2 weeks' worth of trial was more than you and your worthless "Overrides" pull down in a year. I hope you wake up in your double-wide this afternoon and stare hard into the toilet instead of the mirror. A reflection of you, your "mentor" Michael Sessions, and every other trash bag lying scumsucker who profit from the exploitation of others will stare right back at you.
In short, Mr. Lear, Go f*** yourself. How's that for a "Posi-Neg"?
David
Conyers, Georgia
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Cydor
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Anonymous
Columbia,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
Add Holly Turner (Tallen Incorporated) to the list.
#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, June 03, 2008
ITS ALL A SCAM FROM THE GET GO!!!! And Holly Turner is another one to beware of. She is a manager in the Brentwood, TN area for Innovative Merchant Solutions campaign. I sent my resume through Career Builders, received a phone call the very next day and set up an interview. During the interview, they purposely talk so fast that you can't even comprehend what they are talking about, last approx. 5-10 minutes. From what I gathered in the interview, I assumed it was a "clerical" position, so I was happy to receive another call a few hours later requesting a 2nd interview. When I arrived for the 2nd (8 hour interview) I didn't know what to expect. I waited in the lobby until called back where I met a rep who was going to take me out for the day to meet with clients. Still in the dark, I climbed in this strangers car, not knowing where, who, or why. We drove an hour to her remote location, which was a small town no one's ever heard of. I got the run down of the business at lunch, she was a really sweet girl, extremely optimistic about her future with the company. Honestly I did see and understand the opportunity, but let's be realistic here! After a week I was already at leadership standards, had to arrive at work 30 minutes earlier, drive literally out of state to my territory for several hours, then back to Nashville, then an hour back to my home, that was my life 12 hour days, 5 days a week, 100% commission. Once in leadership, I seen that the whole interview process was a hoax. They say quality not quantity, but let's face it, they NEED anyone to make themselves grow. PLEASE BEWARE!!! Everything is pre planned, the interviews, 2nd interviews, not telling the interviewee EXACTLY what the job entails on purpose, its all a pre planned notion. Which unfortunately I fell into. It took me several months before I got off the roller coaster ride. I still look at the job descriptions listed for the same company and makes me sick to think that they are still reeling people in promising unlimited training, but little do they know that if you don't "ring the bell" or roll, they toss you to the side like you don't even exist. Why? CAUSE YOU AREN'T MAKING THEM ANY MONEY!!! They say its not a pyramid scheme, but that is exactly what it is!! Holly lies only because she was trained to do so, she is still too young to know any better. I did not know any of the other managers like Ken Lear or Sarah Spears, but when I read about them, it reminds me of Holly Turner and the pack of lies the business brings! BEWARE!!!!
Lana
Atlanta,Georgia,
U.S.A.
so true....
#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, January 03, 2008
I just read the above report, and I have to admit that this is so true. Ken is such a dweeb. He walks around like he is the coolest guy. He will walk into the office with his shirt half unbuttoned and tie around his neck-and, of course, don't forget the blue tooth. He hits on every girl, but unfortunately comes off creepy rather than cool. Very uncomfortable.
In addition, one of his sister companies, Sarah Spears, owns FC Wetz Interactive, Inc. She is the most deceptive liar I have EVER met. Please be careful. She is tough to see through at first, but once you hang out with her a couple of times, you realize EVERYTHING that comes out of her mouth is a lie. It's funny, she'll even lie about what she bought at Wal-Mart or who she's hanging out with the night before. She will also lie to people and tell interviews that she's owned the company for 4.5 years and made it to management in 4.5 months. ha ha ha. Maybe, it is because she slept with Ken, hmmmmm? But don't worry Ken, she is sleeping with everyone else too. She's not as innocent as you think. Poor Sarah, is just trying to compensate for her lack of self-confidence. And yes, I do have something against you :)
Mikey
Atlanta,Georgia,
U.S.A.
Avoid KSL Concepts Inc. like the plague!
#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, July 10, 2007
Google KSL Concepts Inc. and Ripoff Report and you will immediately know to avoid these scum- bags at all cost! I don't have enough time to go into detail, however if you're ready to do door to door scamming in your $100.00 dollar (hard- bottom) Bostonians in 100 degree weather, be my guest (this on the first day after the "B.S." interview)! I have never seen a more evil group of individuals in my life! It's simply amazing that they are allowed to exist.
K
Greensboro,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
wow....love this one
#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sat, June 02, 2007
sad but true, even those who are not prone to lying cheating and stealing are forced to do so or get out. There is no possible way to get ahead in this company without doing so. I've seen good people do unimaginable things to unsuspecting people. internet to people without computers, conveniently forgetting to inform them that there is a cost to purchase the modem and it does come on the bill along with a month in advance for the service (these initial bills are often more than these people with low incomes can afford to pay-so inevitably have their services shut off for non-payment), direct t.v. is a contract not just and appt to discuss the service, long distance is not free it is unlimited and will cost 24.99 extra per month, children and others illegally forging the verification calls(Lear's office is especially bad about this) perfect strangers asked to perform a simple phone call in which all they will need to do is say yes several times and tell them something that resembles a month and day of birth or last four of anyone's social sec#.
i have also lived with several employees and the manager in which some of my roomates even shared a bedroom(WEIRD), most of them were broke half the time and were constantly hounded to pay a little of the bills each week and this repeated every month. people maxing out credit cards in order to live, cell phones shut off for non payment, cars repo'd and lots of evictions and financial problems.
All this because they are promised a bright and wealthy future and hope to soon pay off their debts, only for most this doesn't happen.
I have also seen ken's "penthouse" typical bachelor pad, nothing special and roomates packed in like sardines--all paying a portion of ken's mortgage mind you. and for the record, the only female that ken has ever promoted happened to be sarah spears whom he happened to be doing at the time.. even she wanted to quit once in management.
word to wise----do not work for ksl or ken lear, more than likely you will never be successful. You are merely designed as a work horse helping others get ahead and if you are a female, unless you plan on doing ken some extracurricular favors. i wouldn't even bother applying!
John
Greensboro,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
Funny as hell
#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, May 31, 2007
That's one of the funniest things i've ever read. The funniest part about all of it is it's completely true. I've never met a grimier person than Ken Lear. I really think he sold his soul to the devil. That company is the biggest scam i've ever seen. Eventually the client will end up realizing the true integrity level of these companies and drop them. By the way, Ken's cell phone # is (404)272-8549 in case anyone wants to contact him.