Complaint Review: OPK Telemarketing

I was researching OPK online and noticed an "opportunity" to use Freedom of Speech to voice what goes on at Opportunity Knocks Telemarketing behind closed doors, having read some recent complaints from my former colleagues on various websites which got me fired up. I used to be a "contractor" for OPK Telemarketing, but for sake of writing this I will use the term "employee" (we will get to that later). Let me start by saying that I think this company treats its employees like dirt! They don't pay on time and they make excuses as to where your money is. As an OPK employee you are entitled, by contract, to get paid after your first two weeks of employment, followed by a one month processing period, followed by receiving those initial processed paychecks every two weeks after your first month. So even if you decide to quit you still receive paychecks dating a month back. This is not the case in the grand scheme of things. Earlier this year their own bookkeeper outed them while they scammed and kept the employee money all to themselves when checks were months overdue apart from the one month processing date. Much like other business to business and outsourcing companies, clients that hire OPK for their services are charged up front and the money is already available for contractors/employees so they can be paid before work begins. This poor bookkeeper resigned out loud and sent her reasoning to several employees of the company stating that she was even having a hard time since her morals didn't parallel working for crooks. Wow, good for her. Unfortunately for many employees, their contracts are pretty much seen as toilet paper to OPK. A simple search online for this company will populate complaints that they refuse to send money on time to their employees just so they could do what they please with an employee's hard earned pay! They have countered these claims and have said things along the lines of "how can we stay in business for so long then?" Perhaps on money that isn't theirs? 

 I feel that OPK should be investigated, reported, and shut down. It seems that to avoid paying taxes, businesses like OPK misclassify everyone who works for them as "Independant Contractors" when clearly they are "employees." You must claim your own taxes this way, seeing how the company will not pay them for you. To those who are not familiar with this type of scam, do a quick Google search on the matter and take a government test to determine if you are an IC or an Employee matched against what your company has you do or requires of you. Many companies do this and OPK is one of them that requires you to claim your own taxes since you are considered an "Independent Contractor." I'm not quite sure that title fits here though. The only difference with OPK is that you get to suggest how many hours you would like, not always getting what you've asked, only to have them say that you need to work a certain amount a week and they tell you when you're allowed to call and on what days. But hey, you get to work from your cozy home office, considering you have a phone and computer with internet connection. Why a computer with internet you ask? It's because they are the ones who provide you with scripts on what to say and data logging software online that is needed to perform your duties. On top of that they are constantly telling you how to do your job via email or during training calls with the project manager. So wait a second...they require a certain amount of hours from you? They tell you when you are allowed to work? They provide you with what is necessary to do your job? They tell you how to work and under their terms? Am I really an independant contractor? Sounds like the workings of an employer-employee relationship. This is what the IRS has to say about an IC....."You are not an independent contractor if you perform services that can be controlled by an employer (what will be done and how it will be done).This applies even if you are given freedom of action." I'll take their word for it instead of OPK's!

 I think that among many of the company's problems is upper management. There are a few nice individuals who are project managers or consultants for OPK, and if you ever got to know them you would be honored to work with them on projects, that is if you are lucky enough to be assigned to them in the first place. Unfortunately, the many outweigh the few and the company is riddled with disgusting behavior and unprofessionalism by many others in upper management. Many of the project managers are quick to judge without having any real knowledge of facts regarding what is done or needed from an assignment. If you have done your research, whether on this site or on other sites with complaints against this company, you will come across someone named Jennifer Tinucci who is one of the owners of OPK along with her husband. She has listed her name on Ripoff Report for her rebuttals to posts much like this one in the past. I can say that I've seen this myself before and any real business owner who wants to be successful should not be rude to his/her employees, talk down to his/her employees, have an attitude towards his/her employees for no reason, should treat his/her employees with respect, should show a great deal of professionalism, and should pay his/her employees on time! After all, what is a business if not for the employees? This company is so poorly run and I wouldn't be surprised if it was because of things like this due to characteristics of people like that! Do people really need to be treated with such disrespect?

Folks, steer clear of this company if you are seeking a new job. You will most likely regret it just like the many others before you. You can either believe what is said here or disregard it completely. But I ask you this.....is it really a coincidence that people have been complaining about OPK for years over these same issues? Employees have taken it to the reaches of the internet to tell others about the horrors of this poorly run company. You can decide for yourself, but please do your research on any company before attempting to work for them. If this post gave somebody the opportunity to think twice about working for OPK or even doing business with them, then I did my job. Opportunity knocks, but not at OPK Telemarketing.