Complaint Review: Primerica

I posted my resume to the website craigslist.com on Saturday August 30th, 2003.

I received this email later that day:
_________________________________________________________________
Hello,

My name is Bob Cockrell, I am with Primerica Financial Services. We are currently conducting an expansion in the Chicago area. We recently reviewed a copy of your resume online and are interested in speaking with you regarding opportunities with our company. Please feel free to give me a call in the office. You can reach me at 877 567 7565 or 630 886 7630. I look forward to speaking with you.

Thanks,

Bob Cockrell
_________________________________________________________________

I emailed back after the Labor day holiday Tuesday (9/2/2003).

_________________________________________________________________
Hello,

Got your email. I'm juggling a few things this morning with clients and the home office. I'll give you a call this afternoon. (Tuesday 9/2/2003).

Brad C
DarkWave PC
_________________________________________________________________

After playing phone tag I sent another email on Wednesday 9/2/2003.

_________________________________________________________________
Hello Again,

I received your voicemail. Looks like we keep missing each other. Is there a good time to call ? Or can we discuss details over email ?

Brad C
DarkWave PC

_________________________________________________________________

I did not receive a response. Finally on 9/4/2003 I had the chance to speak with him on the phone. He asked how flexible I was with regard to my career. Which I didn't think was all that weird but I thought it was regarding W2 employment instead the consulting I have been doing. He told me about the new offices opening in the Chicagoland area and that they needed to hire some people. He told me of the next orientation was on Monday at 7PM and Saturday at 8:30 AM. I opted for Saturday and scheduled. He asked to make sure I called as a courtesy if I could not make it.

I started to wonder if this was a real opportunity or a scam specifically because of the speed under which I was contacted about my resume and the slowness of the current market for technical consultants. I first looked for comments generally on google for some "dirt." and lo and behold I found this entry below:
_________________________________________________________________
foolishmortal unregistered
citygroup = pyramid scam

Apr 04 2001 05:03AM EST

here's a funny story of my experience with citygroup.
I had gotten a call from a lady who saw my resume on craigslist and said her company, citygroup financial services needed help opening offices. so I had told her I was looking for project management/coordination contract work and she said that was fine, that they had those types of positions open etc. and to come to their job fair.

I get there and the first thing they do is close the door and ask no one to leave. should have clued me off, but I was way far away from door and didn't want to be rude...so instead I condemned myself to sit through a drivel presentation for an hour.

I don't know if you've ever experienced them, but drivel by a bunch of idiots is the kindest way of putting it. what they do is mostly talk about "money" and get people excited to get money. and then they present a bunch of ideas or "statistics" that have no context nor quoted sources to them to illustrate badly/erroneously put together logic strings. well, I may just be a poor country caveman lawyer, but even I can see through that. it always makes me wonder how these folks can really get into it. they also talked a lot about church and god and family. that seems to be a connecting factor.

they also said that one of the three principles is to let someone else do the thinking for you. that is also another connecting factor, to my inferior, foolish, mortal, unassisted way of thinking. at the end they had a survey that they asked everyone to fill out. so I did. they didn't have categories for what I had to say, so I put them in there for them. what they wanted, was if you didn't want to join their pyramid, ahem, I mean, sales team, they wanted to make you a customer. I was mad, but I had to laugh too. I'm such a sucker, but I swear when I spoke with the lady on the phone, it sounded like a legitimate job fair to me
_________________________________________________________________
It was pretty much the same "pitch" I had just gotten, extremely disappointed, and immediately crafted an email and sent it.
_________________________________________________________________
subject: I will not be participating in the orientation.

Dear Mr. Cockrell,

I have decided that I will not be participating in the orientation on Saturday 9/6/2003 at 8:30 AM.

Brad C
DarkWave PC

_________________________________________________________________

I searched high and low (checking this site with the wrong keywords at first) by using google to search for +pyramid +citigroup. I found a bunch of hits and more tales of woe.

I also called early Friday morning and left a voicemail that I was not coming to the orientation but if Citicorp/Primerica was interested in purchasing software to go the site xxxx I considered adding "you almost got me but didn't". I decided to be professional about it.
Oddly, A little after 6 PM on Saturday 9/6/2003, Mr. Cockrell called me to ask how the orientation went. I said that I sent an email and left a voicemail saying that I wasn't coming. (Like where have *you* been?)

"Oh I must have printed out the email and buried it somewhere. I'm sorry."

And that was the end. I don't know if he was some poor shlub that had to find more victims or was a higher level manager.

Anyway. They *didn't* get me. Happy ending to the story.

Brad C
DarkWave PC

Brad
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Primerica

CLICK here to see why we deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.