Complaint Review: Spring Masters Canada

There is nothing in the 'direct' link you provided that shows any kind of fault or revelation regarding the discussion. What is your point? What exact law is this company breaking? Are you just stating something vague and providing a pretty unfocused link in support? Can you clarify what you mean?

This company actually needs to read labor laws in Ontario

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/news/2012/nr_esrights20120730.php

I didn't bother reading all 33 reports before mine, but I feel that I should at least tell people what happened to me.
Yes, I found their ads and presentation misleading, I joined with 4 friends but all of them quit because they were making 30-80 dollars a day for 15+ hours of work. I made 325 (with bonus) on my first day,  and was freaking proud. Most people made less than a 100 dollars, but I guess I was lucky? I looked at the back of my sheet and saw dozens of past customers who had purchased our services, I tried especially hard to hit those homes, yes there were other people out there undercutting me, so I did some deals on the side and just reported those as bonuses/tip to increase my total. Sometimes I had to make deals that priced each home at $40, but I got 4 or 5 homes in one shot. I started to average 300-400 a day, of course I had really bad days where I barely made 80 dollars, but I continued. It is as many people say HARD WORK, for many people this isn't the right job for you, and we aren't making as much money as if we were to invest in our own machine and go ahead with this, but I for one am too lazy to do so, and they also offer you the drive sealing job, where you can make good money. I worked about 20 days and made 7000 dollars, I bruised many of my toes, have scars all over my knees, but I don't regret it. I never had the washroom problem because, well I guess I have a good bladder? And often I got a free lunch/dinner/w.e. sometimes just a granola bar, sometimes a McDonald's combo, one time even a medium pizza.
So to conclude, this might not be for everyone and this job requires a lot of HARD WORK, but I have never faced abuse from my supervisors (maybe cause I'm good at my job?), got my pick of timings (again because I was good at pulling in the cash), and sometimes..... if you wanted... you could always take the days earnings and not report the sales... think about it.... 1500 in a day.... It's a good job if you're smart and hard-working.

I was not going to get involved in this till I read your comment. The lies you tell make me laugh so hard. Springmasters Canada is a scam in the same way ACN and any pyramid scheme are. The people at the bottom get paid little while the people at the top make loads of cash. I worked one day for this ridiculous company and made a total of $40. Yes way less than minimum wage. It was near the start of the year so I was given 10 "pre booked" appointments to do that I would get paid for no matter what. I went to the first "pre booked" appointment and the person at the house had no idea what I was talking about. Second and third house exactly the same thing. I ended up selling three jobs and doing one "pre booked" appointment because the people at the so called "pre booked" appointments were not expecting Springmasters.

Hard work? LOL I have had jobs that would make most of you little springmasters/canadian property stars cry like the little bitches that you are. The aerator is not that heavy and when your actually doing the job the thing drives itself. The hard part of the job is selling. Most people have heard of your company and don't want anything to do with it. For instance you changed your name from Springmasters to Canadian Property Stars. Why? My guess is your reputation is really bad- The Better Business Bureau has you guys rated as an F because of 67 complaints filed against the company.

 In my opinion if Springmasters had anything you could consider even close to a good reputation they would not have changed their name. They have been in Ottawa for over five years and most "good" companies work at building a "good" reputation. Once recognized they get work in the city based on their reputation.  Springmasters reputation is garbage so it wasn't that hard for them to change the name and re-brand the company.

One last thing. You said "Route Managers are ... like couches." I agree they are like couches, they just sit there all day and soak up the change from your pockets. Anyone out there considering working for these guys do yourself a favor and don't do it. You will probably make more money and get more respect working at McDonalds.

Hey I am writing a story for my narrative journalism course and I am looking for other sources if you are interested. Email me at dool0024@algonquinlive.com

Hello.

I dont really have any opinion on the content of the post above, just some notions about the style of it. It's ... not objective. Lots of adjectives and all of them are negative, right from the very start.  It's like someone is trying to clearly paint a 'bad' picture instead of an objective description.

If you had to go ... it had to be on the coldest day of the month.

If you had to go in from the back entrance, it's to hide the "shady dealings"

Everyone around you just 'had' to be poor, down rotten, and unfortunate (Clearly if someone is working for the company, they're one of those, that's the message you're trying to portray, no?)

A nefarious business practice, yarrr.

If they gonna pass sheets around, they are going to do it "madly".

If they gonna call you, it'll be "seemingly" random calls, but it'll definitely be in the middle of your class.  Clearly, for that they must be punished by hanging until they are dead dead dead.

When you went in, you came with paper and pen, you were ready, you were a good student, and they were baaaaaaad.

If they are going to lecture, their main intent will be to pray on people's insecurities. Of course, so do basketball coaches, fitness trainers, and most likely ... army sergeants. :P

If you are given a contract, it'll be given to you 'hastily'. During that time a manager will 'yell' for people to sign or get out. Of course, afterwards, he ends up spending time doing the whatever was next that you listened to.

Next paragraph about being pushy, not taking no for an answer, and so on. Well ... that's just sales. That's the same "everywhere". Go watch "Glengarry glen ross" But regardless of all that. It is "clear" that 'those' people are somehow "desperate".

If you were given a book and was told to be confidential about, clearly it's so lawyers wont learn about "their" hiring conditions. Obviously. Most assuredly so. Absolutely.

... I gotta agree about the whole brainwashing seminar. It ... is kind of a brainwashing thing. They're not asking to worship strange gods or sell kidneys, but ... they are definitely using the most rudimentary principles of manipulation. But hey ... again, so does every single coach. As long as they're not asking you to give up your first born, what is the problem? Look at all the advertising on TV, look how everyone riding the advertised car, wearing the advertised clothes, eating the advertised food is .... smiling. Is that not brainwashing? Problem is ... this stuff 'works'. This stuff is what people use to make sales. If others get influenced by it and buy it, then ... clearly it's worthwhile using this stuff.

Smiling and running ... clearly nasty nasty, naughty tricks.  What you 'really' have to do to be a 'honest' salesman is be dour, gloomy, shuffle your feet when you walk, and try to convince customers that they dont 'deserve' the product you're selling. In fact, you are too 'cool' to approach them and they oughta approach you. Preferably on their knees.

As someone who did work for the company, I know for a fact there is no minus. Days happen when you earn zero. They dont ask you to pay. They only remove the -10 dollar thing if you actually made money. Whoever keeps insisting that's not so either didnt work past the first interviews, or ... just really 'wants' to paint a bad picture, regardless of actual facts.

I cant comment on the links and such like because it got redacted by the website.

Basically ... I made two conclusions from your post, dear author. One is that your command of english language is very very impressive. Two is that ... you're either a competitor of the company, or a very disgruntled ex employee who is more interested in painting a bad picture then an objective one.

Maybe I'm wrong. It's just an observation of mine, coming from your liberal use of adjectives, every single one of them is negative, and a good portion of them ... silly.

I too saw the many advertisments plauging my community, and I thought I should at least check it out. I signed up online not knowing what I was getting myself into. An email arrived a short day later telling me I had to schedule by email an appointment to a job fair that I would be attending. They told me to choose which fair I wished to attend and there was only an OPTION 1 to choose from. They said they would not contact me again but to not worry because a spot will definitely be reserved. I chose the one only available and I sent the mail.

Two days later they sent me another email. They once again stated what they said in the previous message. Told me I am encouraged to bring extra friends and family to the presentation. But now I am sorry I referred two people for this ridiculous scheme. I went on the coldest day in the month expecting some sort of interview to take place.

I showed up with a positive atitude, but it didn't last long. I was phoned beforehand by a member of the company's staff instructing me to meet them at the address, far from any of the normal workforces. They said to enter through the back of the alley entrance. Presumably to hide their shady ongoings at the front (which didn't even have a sign or any recognizable clue to the whereabouts).

I went through a 45 minute long presentation of the great benefits of working for the company and how it will turn you into a man. Everyone around me was down on their luck, poverty stricken, international immigrant, students with debt, and just plain poor people. The promise of free cash is too great it seems. No doubt the company can only take advantage of the people who have the least choice in the matter. A nefarious business practice.

They passed sheets around madly telling you to sign with your personaly information, and your availability to work. There was scheduled another group meeting 2 weeks later. I went home with a photo of myself and 300 others being taken for an ID card of some sorts that I was to receive, and still no clue as to what I would even be doing in terms of work for the company.

A few days later they phoned me at seemingly random times, and in the middle of one of my classes. Despite the interruptions I again agreed to come at the time which was now the following day.

I went and I found my self a seat at the front with my pen and paper in hand ready for note taking, as they said to do the night before. The spiel was the same old love your company garbage. "You should be a proud employee, and work hard and strive to be the best." They always pray on the insecurities of the people, saying "This will challenge you and if you survive you will be a new individual." and "It is not for the faint of heart."

At this point we were given a contract to sign hastily with the manager screaming for everyone to hurry up or get out. We handed them in and listened some more.

The manager of the branch went over a slide show with us, complete with a WHMIS test and instructional videos on how to operate the aerators, and maneuver with it. After was tips and information on how to make better sales. All the pitches revolve around being as pushy, and nosy as possible and never taking no for an answer. He would give us inspirational stories of how he knew guys who would go to the same house over and over until the person accepted. Clearly there is something wrong with these people that they have a desperate need to peddle their product. They must know something we don't.

We were handed a book of all sorts of sales secrets and tips and told to be confidential about it and everything we learned in this room or they would sue. Probably so that no lawyers catch wind of the insane hiring conditions there.

At one point in the night we were told to take our time, and spend as much time as we could with the person, because "The more time you spend with someone, the more they like you." This explains why we were there for 3 hours, for something that was supposed to be training but really a brainwashing seminar.

If you are in the rain you will get better sales, you should smile and run everywhere literally. You should cut across the grass, and use every nasty trick at your disposal. Mention names, plant flags, run to talk to people as they're pulling out of their driveway. It's all fair game. These people have no shame and are a band of crooks.

You have to work a full day from 8:00am - 9:00pm or you won't get paid, and in fact would owe the company $100 for not finishing the whole work day. Plus add the $10 rental fee of the aerator you will be dragging around all day, and you're in the minus.

Anyone who is against them is labeled as lazy and a bad communicator, but if you side with them, you are intelligient and hard working. These men are swindlers in a near monopoly as they state in their book. They are overpricing and overbearing and I strongly advise anyone having anything to do with them. You are better off doing d**n near anything else.

If anyone is interested in any of the information I have gathered for personal use, you can reach me @ (((ROR redacted))) where we can discuss further.

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

I wonder how come they change the name from

Spring Master Canada to Canadian Property Starts Maybe just  maybe they are geting WSIB after them and of course they dissolve the company and start an other one

Be careful

Everything you are saying is true.

I too, went to one of those meetings in a warehouse and heard the line of BS they try feeding you. I, on the other hand, started laughing out loud when I got a look at the contract they try getting you to sign. The low amount of commission, not being able to work for a competitor for like 5 years because of "trade secrets" (lol), and having to pay 100$ if you have to leave during the day made me think that anyone who signed that contract was probably an idiot.

My favorite part was when one guy asked what happens if we get injured on the job, and then the guy giving the speech said "you won't", and another SM employee said "it's called, you take your health card, and go to the hospital". Completely missed the guys point. But that's the kind of people who work for this company. At that point I walked out of the meeting, and they tried convincing me to stay, but I had seen enough already. Good thing, because I was able to find a 18/hr internship elsewhere for the summer. Not bad feria for a 1st year student.

When I looked online to see if there were any scam reports about these jokesters, not surprisingly I found tons of them. What was even funnier to me, is that SM management tries covering their tracks by going on these scam report websites and pretending to be regular employees and try to defend the company. Usually, they will accuse the scam reporter of "not being a hard worker". A good strategy, if you ask me, because that kind of crap would motivate anyone dumb enough to sign their ridiculous contract into coming back to show them that they are a hard worker. Hard work, however, isn't the issue. Its the fact that these guys get away with consistently paying people less than minimum wage by tricking stupid people into signing their contract. Their employee turnover must be absolutely huge. 

Also, whoever that guy is with the beard who delivers the speeches at the Ottawa location, get off Ben Stewart's junk pal, minimal contact point-fighting karate isn't that hardcore dude. Actually, its pretty soft.

For anyone considering working for this company, carefully read the contract, and then ask yourself "am I a slave?". If you answered no, you probably shouldn't work for them. If you answered yes, then this might be your line of work. 

For anyone considering purchasing the services of springmasters, I would say don't do it. The only way to stop this kind of exploitation is to stop feeding these trolls. 

Best Regards,

Chad

 

Everything you are saying is true.

I too, went to one of those meetings in a warehouse and heard the line of BS they try feeding you. I, on the other hand, started laughing out loud when I got a look at the contract they try getting you to sign. The low amount of commission, not being able to work for a competitor for like 5 years because of "trade secrets" (lol), and having to pay 100$ if you have to leave during the day made me think that anyone who signed that contract was probably an idiot.

My favorite part was when one guy asked what happens if we get injured on the job, and then the guy giving the speech said "you won't", and another SM employee said "it's called, you take your health card, and go to the hospital". Completely missed the guys point. But that's the kind of people who work for this company. At that point I walked out of the meeting, and they tried convincing me to stay, but I had seen enough already. Good thing, because I was able to find a 18/hr internship elsewhere for the summer. Not bad feria for a 1st year student.

When I looked online to see if there were any scam reports about these jokesters, not surprisingly I found tons of them. What was even funnier to me, is that SM management tries covering their tracks by going on these scam report websites and pretending to be regular employees and try to defend the company. Usually, they will accuse the scam reporter of "not being a hard worker". A good strategy, if you ask me, because that kind of crap would motivate anyone dumb enough to sign their ridiculous contract into coming back to show them that they are a hard worker. Hard work, however, isn't the issue. Its the fact that these guys get away with consistently paying people less than minimum wage by tricking stupid people into signing their contract. Their employee turnover must be absolutely huge. 

Also, whoever that guy is with the beard who delivers the speeches at the Ottawa location, get off Ben Stewart's junk pal, minimal contact point-fighting karate isn't that hardcore dude. Actually, its pretty soft.

For anyone considering working for this company, carefully read the contract, and then ask yourself "am I a slave?". If you answered no, you probably shouldn't work for them. If you answered yes, then this might be your line of work. 

For anyone considering purchasing the services of springmasters, I would say don't do it. The only way to stop this kind of exploitation is to stop feeding these trolls. 

Best Regards,

Chad

 

No contract that you sign with them holds water...... ever heard of employee employer relationship thats what you are........ even if you sign that stupid a*s contract of theirs your an employee ..

if they pay you cash its your responsability to pay taxes on it to no file is breaking the law!!!!!!

as for spring masters they are breaking all kinds of laws..... why else have they changed their name from.......

> spring masters of canada to...... aka...... property stars !  gotta be a reason for everything!

i smell rats...........

and your making these rats rich........ as fat cats........

SO STAY AWAY......... FROM THEM GO GET A REAL JOB......................

What are you on about? Ever heard of sub-contracting? All they need to do is proclaim every one of their workers a contractor and it can be completely commission based pay.  The entire trades industry works that way.

Put quite simply, commission-only pay is not legal in Ontario. All workers are guaranteed at least minimum wage for hours worked.

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/tools/srt/coverage_household_landscape.php

If the commissions made during the working ours do not make up at least minimum wage, then the employer is expected to make up the difference.

PR as in Public Relations, FRANCO. But you really do suck at PR.  Insults and cheesy metaphors? Really? 

I'm so glad I did a google search on you criminals two years ago, otherwise i would have fallen into your trap, which is a pyramid scheme like ACN, except you don't have to pay $500 for a training kit. You talk about experience and mastery of sales, yet how is a high school student automatically gonna know all of this without previous experience? Every job that i applied to has requirements, yours doesn't. And just on that fact alone, it makes your company and motto ridiculous and suspicious. 

Why else would you pop-up on so many times in one google page search?

Everyone else: Avoid these assholes and get a real job. You will actually get paid for work and not be forced into slave labour like in China.

Okay lets just start with the major issues:

1. This isn't a scam:
  - However, they don't seem to give a s**t about their employees; that much is obvious.
    - How do I know? There seems to be no apparent interview/filtering process.
2. You have to work hard?:
  - Like all jobs you should, but some people aren't aware if they're for sales. This means that the lack of interviewing implies a lack of care for their employees success.
  - Is this solely based on working hard? No. Youre an idiot if you think working hard is the only factor that will determine whether you'll be good at a job or not. A fish can't climb a tree no matter how hard it tries.
3. Royalties...
  - The royalties are ridiculous. I don't know exactly how they work, but apparently its around 70%. 70% people! As an non-properly trained/hired independent contractor with no real practice in doing sales (besides three VERY short seminars), they are taking 70% of your sales.
  - You think its fair? Lets do the math: You (Independent contractor) market and advertise, make the sale, and do all of the labor. That's bullsh*t people.

I noticed this article is old and not even sure if this thing still exists (or what average wage is), but it sounds horribly stupid. Did you notice how they say you average between 100 - 500 dollars a day (b.n. the true average is 161 dollars/day). Did you notice that these are 15 hours days (working or not)?
Calculations: (Ill be generous and assume 200/day average)
200/15 = 13 dollars/hour. OR 161/15 = 10.70/hour.

Thats a sh*t wage for FORCED 15 hour days. Back in 2010 I was making 11/hour plus 16.5/hour for overtime (optional) doing a much easier job. That means Id get paid 200 dollars for sitting on my a*s. And I don't know about all of you, but Id rather get paid for 8 hours a day at 11/hour than being FORCED to work 15 hours a day.

I also noticed in 2010 that the average intensive labor jobs (working for the city) cleared 12+/hour.

This job doesn't sound good. Is it fair? no. Work hard and do well? no. I work in sales running a franchise, it's not for everyone. This job won't tell you that. Is it a scam? They lie to you and tell you you can do it when the truth is, most of us can't. Sales isn't for everyone. The people who support it are part of the 20% who make 80% of the sales. the rest of the 80% WILL fail.

In your complaint there are a lot of mistakes.

For instance it is NOT a base + commission. It is strictly commission with bonuses if you manage to be one of the better salesmen.

They do not promise $100 minimum, their flyers that say $100-$500 are the what the average worker makes. If you only made $47.75 thats because you're either not cut out for hard-labour (lazy) or you have absolutely no sales skills (slang/bad personal image).

Now let's assume you priced your 3 sales below recommended pricing for aeration at $50 and had a prebook at $40 that makes $190 in sales. Calculate your commission rate you get $60.80 - $10 machine rental that gives you $50.80 which means i seemed to have pegged you right on the nose. You can't sell.

It doesn't count as a 15 hour day if you spend 2 hours at the shop going over sales tactics. And i bet your day went something like this.

2hr sales meeting. You got dropped off in some city neighbouring Scarborough. You were excited got 1 or 2 sales within the first hour. "No one was home" (common excuse for people who don't push) got depressed did nothing for 8 or 9 hours maybe cried on a street corner went to get food. Came back to your route around 6-7pm wondering when you would be picked up. Someone saw you push the aerator asked you to aerate their lawn. Got excited tried for another hour, sucked. Gave up again got picked up brought back to Scarborough and got your 47 bucks after being deducted $10 for using their machine and clearly hadnt put it to good use cause someone who wasnt in because you booked in first could have did 10 or more lawns and made more than 4 times the amount you did.

You CAN take a break whenever you want. Its commission based so you can choose between 5 minutes to 15 hours break if you wanted but then you won't be making money.

Me speaking from experience of only 2 seasons working at Spring Masters Canada can tell the 3 categories of workers at SpringMasters you have the top sales guys who are usually very competitive making between $200-$600 (including bonuses) you have the average worker which makes up majority making between $100-$300 per day and you have the ones who are lazy/ think its going to be just as easy as flipping burgers; who make between $0-$150.

There are no superhumans but there are the differences of people doing 3 sales and 1 prebook... And someone having 0 prebooked appointments and 14 sales. BTW I hated aeration, I started in driveway sealing season had NO experience made $84 my first day because it rained. $137 my second day then averaged a consistent $200+ my first year. This summer I had learned what i needed to know so obviously I averaged $250+ and I was even more confident, there was a day I went solo made 10 sales had 1 prebook and made $750 commision and another $200 in bonus.... In 1 day! So it's not a scam they only pay for real work, if you aren't confident and can't sell go work at McDonalds or something. Otherwise check out SpringMasters in the summer if you want to make some well-earned cash.

P.S. Yes there is no washroom, you're outdoors what do you expect? Find a public restroom, use a tree, ask a friendly homeowner. Clearly you have no problem solving capability.

Firstly I had worked for Spring Masters in Ottawa for a month, I would average a $100 a day. I got a REAL job and quit Spring Masters.

Spring Masters made this campaign to get as many people as possible, and all you had to do was show up and sign a few forms and you could work for them after 2-3 hours of "training". Training consisted of these awards that went to the top earners and how to convince people that they wanted your sale. I should note that they spent the majority of the time talking about the money. The boss guy and his rout managers are of course good sales people, so they sold their future employees on the company. 

One of the things they said was an award was going out of town to other towns/cities because they apparently were good places to make money. Well I had gone on one of these 'adventures' which consisted of spending hours on the road (not getting paid) and then arrive in these places where people didn't want this product or someone in the town/city already went around for a cheaper price and performed the (at the time) lawn aeration.

Another thing they said that since I worked in the Ottawa company (where the company originated) that this was an easy sell and the people knew about us. I personally wasn't from the area (I came to ottawa for school), so I was interested in who knew about this company. Well s**t, nobody raised their hand when asked how many people knew about this company before.

They also showed these books which were packed with jobs that were booked ahead of time, and these jobs allowed you to just go up and do the job and get your money. At the time I figured that even if I was terrible at selling on a particular day that I would have something to back me up. I quickly realized that these booked jobs were actually a load of crap. If I had a list of 10 jobs, only about 4 people actually wanted these jobs. Another thing was that the people in the office low balled the jobs just to get the sale and put money in there pockets, and we ended up doing the job with little  money made on it. Needless to say this was BULLSHIT.

I noticed that only the employees that made the most sales got special treatment, and everyone else was crap. Having said that there was some managers who were really great people and i really hope they realize that they should do something else.

When various family members heard that I was working for this company, they called me up and told me to quit or be screwed over. Some of these family member I never hear from. I guess it is well known that they are s**t to work for.



ONE OF THE BIGGEST THING THAT PISSED ME OFF was that if you didn't make any money, it was because you didnt work hard enough. Well im a fit guy so I was able to run to every house without a problem all day, I could work my a*s off all day. But at the end of the day I would look at how often I would even aerate a lawn and I would realize that all I did was run to every house and people would shut you down because your just another person trying to take money from them.

They teach you in the training that if the costumer isnt worth your time leave them, well I think people should take this advice and leave this company.

Flyonthewall makes a great point about lack of motivation.

People are all motivated to make money till they suddenly discover work isnt easy. Knocking on doors and getting No 5 times in a row will cause an amazing percentage of 1st time SM employees to give up. A bunch more will be finished by noon. Some might get lucky and  a sale falls into their lap while they are sitting on the curb hating life. 1 sale turns into another, and they have a good day. Others get a visit from the route manager to try and pick up their spirits...sometimes it works, but a couple of more NOs and they are lost souls (and thinking scam).
I had a guy who made nothing in his first 3 days. His wife wanted him to quit, but he decided to give it one more day. Brampton was a new territory then (2005) and it was really hard. Things turned around for him though on that friday, and he ended up winning the season competition.
SM has to hire everyone because it takes dozens of people to find those that recognize the potential; have a desire to succeed even when things get tough (and they do, oh they do); and the have the rest of the pieces to be able to sell and steer a self-propelled yard machine. There are tons of bitter ex-employees, and it's no surprise. But to call it a scam is just incorrect. I used to tell people at job fairs straight up- "This job is door to door sales and manual labour rolled into one...if this scares you please leave now".

As for being superhuman, if that means sucking it up and persevering, then yes, 99% of people cant do it. One year my best employees were a 100lb 45 yr old woman, and 300lb 35 yr old with a bad heart, and a guy who was deaf in 1 ear. Their first week wasnt exactly glowing either, but they saw the potential and did really well. The company has grown bigger and bigger for those 13 years, so I guess it cant be all that bad. The OP couldnt hack it, and his misery wants company.

        So I have sat here and read over all of these responses as well as the article of course, and my concluding statement is this.

        This is not a scam. The problem here is no motivation to do this work and I agree. There is many other opportunities in Canada that are much more worth it than this job. It's not that I can't or refuse to do this work it's the fact that I can do the same work for a company that is per hour and not as stressful. So what is the point in taking on this job? To better yourself and work ethic? nah, it isn't even worth my time. So many of you would probably wonder why I am even posting this then, and I am telling you. If your going to do this job, be prepared for extremely hard and stressful work. You should definitely consider other opportunities.

Ok. so i have gone to the seminar and signed the contract so i guess i am an employee for them, but my first day is not till a few days time and i have been looking into info on the company, like you would as you want to know what kind of company you are going to work for. Also you will notice that i am not going through your points in the same order.

So far i agree with the people for the company as i have done hard labour, i know what it's like to shovel cow s**t for a day and push full grown 500+ pound stubborn cows around, hell i have done it for a buddy of mine for free to help him out. i know what it is like moving office funture from a small single 30X60 desk that weights over 50kg by my self (with a hand cart, or when it's in a box) to 4 drawer fire safe filing cabinets which wight a couple hundred pounds during the summer heat from 7:30 to 5:00 and at times never got off till 9pm and even 3am a couple times installing office panels after lugging it all up to the third floor. I have also worked at a golf course where i had to get up every morning at 3:30am for work and i got off work at 4:30pm and i could be laying new sod all day to driving a machine around most of the day half asleep due to working all week. Also i know there are people out there that do work alot harder that i have done and probably will every do, but if i decide that i want to do one of those jobs then i will do it, it's that simple.

I am an electrical apprentice besides all this, and you go to different houses doing renovations on peoples houses, you never have a porta-potty there you ask the home owner if you can use there bathroom it's only common sense, what are they going to do say no sir u can't use my bathroom after you doing work for them and become some rude, inconsiderate, inhuman being. You may say it's your own fault for doing this kind of work and , sorry but someone has to and the jobs need to be done so suck it up butter cups.

I have to agree with #15 to the fact that spring masters say you CAN make 100-500$ a day not that you will every day.
For number 11 all i can say on the matter of "Listen why hasen't anyone talked about the 5 year contract we all signed
and was witnessed?  it states you cannot compete or work for another company or give out secrets with anyone else other than spring masters for 5 years!!!!!!!!" When i signed mine i can't remember if it was 5 years or only 6 months but either way i agree with it, because would you want your trade secrets given out to another company, i know i wouldn't and my company they don't mean any company they mean other companies that offer the same service as they do. I know i wouldn't as that would mean they will be able to offer the same job or product as me. Oh and for #17 from my understanding of Ontario labour laws found http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/labour/labour_law/esl/min_ontario.shtml  you need to only be 14 or 15 to work so signing the contract is still binding to them, mind now i may be reading it wrong and someone who knows these laws inside would be better to tell you but i don't see anywhere saying they need to be 18 to to yard work.

So this the end my my post, ill post again or just update this after i start work with spring masters to let you know my opinion after i have worked there, but from your peoples arguments i don't think it will change much. Also for all you people who think work should be easy you need to get some more real world experience as ill quot bill gates on some stuff "life is not fair-get used to it", "The world won't care a bout your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you fell good about yourself", and something from me "nothing worth doing is easy" as i know i read it somewhere before but can't remember where and i give credit to who every first said it as it is true.

Unless I missed it somewhere in a post, has everyone forgotten about the most important thing?    These contracts are useless and non-legit, if the person who is signing them is under the age of 18 years old.    And I'm sure that at least 50% of the people who signed them are under 18!    So you should be able to tell them to take their job and shove it, while keeping all money and not paying a thing for equipment rental and their "termination fee".

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4110/rc4110-10e.pdf

This link is canada revenue agency checklist for whether you are an employee or a contractor.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/cpt1/cpt1-fill-08b.pdf

This is a link for anyone who would like an officalruling from canada revenue agency on their employment status. Fill it out and mail it to the closest canada revenue agency office.

you can also call 1800 959 5525 to get info on the process

If you file a report and its found you were an employee springmasters would have to pay you all the back taxes they owe and receive a massive fine from the government.

Ok, after reading all of these comments and the original argument, I thought I would add my 2 cents (or hell lets make it my 2 hundred dollar bills since I made so much at spring masters this summer)

wow your amazing man i forgot...

you made 120 pushing the machine 7 aeration?

lets see you charged all 7  $70 each.. and you made what over $600 dollars sorry my math sucks

at say what %28 ...... omg and you walked away with 120! lol........loser you are

should it be the other way around you get 72% and they get 28% um?

see something wrong here?  I think you have sucker written all over your forhead..

as for me I won an aerator paid $1.000 for it...... and I made 15 sales in one day as I am not secluded to a map i can go to an street area and make sales sales fast and did it in 8 hours you 18 hours working! lol...

and i charge 100 front back made me a nice $1500 dollars that day.. paid the machine and the rental 100 for the miny van !.........

in on week of working i bought a used pick up !

all my money is mine!!!!!!! as for making spring masters rich your doing a great job keep up the good work sucker born every minute! help them they need pitifull hard working slaves like you!

"You should stop defending your son's laziness."
Nobody mentioned a son.


To all the people defending Spring Masters Canada:
You're a pack of liars or you're nuts. Out of the 800 people who worked my first day, only about 30 of them made any money. The rest were cheated out of fair wage. That's about 1 out of 27.

I was ripped off and I posted this to warn people. I'm not telling them where to work, but I am telling them not to work here. ANY other job is better than this one. Fast food, janitor, scrubbing toilets, even commission with a reputable company.

But if you don't mind wasting your time and probably getting ripped off: by all means, work for these 2-bit thieves. Be my guest. It's a free country, you're more than welcome to do something completely stupid even after you've been warned.

.. Maybe you'll be lucky? Maybe you'll bust your hump, convince strangers to buy an overpriced (and unecessary) (and shoddy) service, sell $2000 in a day and earn 8% of it back. Maybe you are the 1 out of 27 workers that could make money from this con. Those are good odds right?

.. Then again, the company is making a huge profit and you're doing all the legwork. If you fail, they lose nothing. If you succeed, they win most of it. It's a lose-lose situation. The odds are against you, you have almost no chance of success.

... But like I said, it is a free country. I just wish Spring Masters Canada wasn't here, because they're despicable.

I have worked for Spring Masters Canada since April 20th 2010. I got the same information about making 100 to 500 dollars a day. I went in, did the training, and started on my first day. Every morning we get an hour and a half morning meeting that goes over scripting and sales tactics. On my first day I was given all information nessesary to succeed. I had two pre-books origionally, and I traded with somone that had none. I wanted to make my own money, and work my own a*s off. I set my mind to it, and that is exactly what I did, I managed to get 7 aerations done on my first day, which generated me 120 dollars CASH. My second day I had 5 aerations, but I sold 1200 dollars worth of pre-paid specialty services. I made 250 that day, including the two bonuses I won. My third day I was selected to go on a road trip, we went to subury for 4 days, up there they have no big companies doing aeration. In those 4 days I made 800 bucks. In my first six days of working with springmasters I made a total of $1170 CASH. I dont think I could make that anywhere else. Bottom line, I set my own goals, I worked my a*s off, I listened to everything my managers had to say, and I succeeded. If you are willing to make the effort and learn, then you will be successful. If you are a lazy piece of s**t looking to make 100-500 dollars with ease, you will not be a spring master, you will be a spring failure.

So let your son own up to his own actions, stop protecting his laziness and immaturity. You're holding him back. Mommy can't always be there to wipe your a*s.

Cheers

Listen why hasen't anyone talked about the 5 year contract we all signed and was witnessed?  it states you cannot compete or work for another company or give out secrets with anyone else other than spring masters for 5 years!!!!!!!!

or they say they will sue you?  come on guys its a legal document oops did i say legal document contract signed sealed! wow does that mean if they threaten me and do not give me work I can sue them for 5 years income!!!!!!!!!!!

wow baby buckets of cash? mad money! umm lets see what does their add say 250 to 500 dollars a day

judge they dumped me in the street and refuse to give me work! ok how mucho do you deserve well what they said judge buckets of cash mad money maximum judge $500 dollars a day thats 30 days 6 months 5 years missed income 600.000 dollars great thanks..

eh! umm....... if anyone has this problem send me an email! lets all get together and ask a lawyer what he things about why spring masters changed their contract this year to 6 months from 5 years??

they been sued?  and why won't they give you a copy of a contract you signed isn't that the law you get a copy? as well anyone get a copy after they signed no?

why cuz spring masters scams! thats why they think they are above the law

dump minors in the street far away , no seat belts.. cram 15 guys in a van ! infringe on contrats ! no breaks lunch or other pee in the street and sh*..

gosh need i go on they break so many laws its not funny sue buddies sue!!!!!!! their dirty sping masta a$ses for their spoon feeding brain washing buckets of oh wait no barrels of cash !!!!! mad money!!!!! blaaaaaaaauhaaaaaaaaa

hahahhahahahaahhaha.....................

Lmao these chumps who claim that they can't make money are wrong.

Hello, I am a first year employee at this company and I would like to explain an average day of work for me.  

Ive never actually worked for this company but the many horror stories have convinced me to stay far away. Every website I have visited I have read stories exactly like this one. However, there is always one or two people writing that everyone else is just lazy and that you really can make that much money. My question is : Why would you ever want to work for a company that forces you to work 15 hours a day without breaks just to make $100/day when you can make the same thing in 8 hours in a base and commission paid job like i do. I work 8 hrs a day and can make the same amount except I get breaks. I also dont understand how people think it is okay for a company to make employees pay $100 because they want to quit. What a rip off. Door to door sales are nothing but a pyramid scheme/

So anyway. I'm working for this company. But I'm not a manager or whatever. So I'll skip all the uhh metaphors and 'politeness', and try to be as to the point as possible.

Contracts. You cant really sign a contract, without being given details and conditions. If those details and conditions arent on the piece of paper you signed, then you ... never signed them. Logical, right?

This is my second year. So I attended two job fairs so far. Each time, I distinctly remember this phrase being said, "This job is 'hard', if you're not prepared to work in blazing sun, or pouring rain, if you're lazy, if you're not motivated enough to work hard, dont sign up." I'm not quoting it exactly, but that's the basic meaning. They dont tell you the job will be a breeze and you'll be paid extreme money for it. They tell you the job is HARD, but if you do it, you'll be PAID. There "are" lawn care companies out there that are much more gentler on their workers. They also pay by the hour. Probably like .. ten dollars, 40 hours a week, by cheque or direct deposit. If you prefer gentle, breezy work, work for them instead. You wont have the potential to earn even "half" of what many earn in springmasters, but ... you'll be comfortable.

It cannot be a scam, if they dont ask you for any money. The only thing they ask of you, is ... time. Try it out, spend a week trying it. If it's not your cup of tea, you ... yes, you wasted a week. You've got a great work out, but not so much for money, and lost a week's time. But .. if it is, you've gained a potential of earning "extreme" amounts of money in exchange for HARD WORK.

Once they unload you to your area, they leave you alone. It is ... up to you. You're an independent contractor. No one is behind you with a whip, no one is behind you urging you to hurry up. The only person who will keep you going, is you ... yourself. One person with aerate a lawn and cry about cuts and bruises and how soaked he is, and how 'extremely' heavy the machine is. Another person will shrug it off, and ... keep going. The difference is that when you will knock on your door, the homeowner will see a person who is down on life, self pitying, defeated individual, trying to ... talk about something about lawncare. He wont buy anything from you. If you were offering free stuff, he'd be wary of taking it. When the 'other' person, the one who shrugged off all those negative things, and knocked on the door. The homeowner will see a happy, upbeat, motivated person, who came to his neighborhood not to 'relax', not to 'be comfortable', but to earn money by doing HARD WORK. He "will" buy things from such a person. The homeowner will "know" that this upbeat person, will not wave his hand dismissively, when he/she missed a spot, will not fall over in the middle of their property, and 'will' take care of their lawn. Do you see the difference?

The business is ran as a sport. The main person who will help you, or stop you from achieving your desires is you ... yourself. Route Managers are ... like couches. Their one and only "real" job (besides transportation,regassing,etc) is to motivate you. That's why they tell you that rain ... will help you. You know what ... if it were "snowing", if frogs were falling from the sky, they would tell you that they arranged this weather, specifically to help you with the sales. Just to make you believe in YOURSELF, so when you knock on the door ... you're happy. You're confidant. They are there to help you earn money. But ... the moment they leave, you're on your own. The main person who will help you or stop you, is you yourself.

You can take as many breaks as you like. You can sit down on the curb, or sprawl across the grass and just ... be still. For ten hours. Without moving an inch. And nobody will tell you a thing. Ofcourse ... you wont make any money. But that's up to you.

Now, there is a rule ... If you wish to quit the day, before it is finished, there is a fine of 100$. But ... that's for people who ... actually want to work. As in, they've quit for the day, but they're returning back to work. Before they could return, they'll have to pay the fine. And it's logical. I mean ... you promised them you'll work the full day when you signed up for that day (You DO get to choose which days you work on), so they've set aside the machine for YOU. If you were to tell them you only planned to work for half a day, they would set the machine aside for someone "else", someone who is willing to work the full day. Is that not reasonable? Ofcourse ... if you're quitting for good. Just ... quit. I seriously doubt anybody can force you to pay a meager 100 dollars. Still ... kudos to you for surviving the entire day. Many dont make it, especially on rain days.

The manager circled the route numerous times and didnt see you. It takes awhile to circle a route, especially numerous times. All this time, you were aerating a back yard? It must've been huge.

You know ... all those people, the self employed ones? The contractors, the small business owners. They all ... have the potential of earning 'zero' in a day. They could be working like workhorses and still earn zero. They could be "killing" themselves, and actually not only make zero, but lose money aswell. But it is all .. in their own hands. You're basically put in the same situation. Everything is in your hands. All the managers can do is motivate you, kind words, not so kind words, whatever. But in the end ... it's all up to you. Rain? Cuts? Grow up. You're getting paid multiple times over then what any other lawncare company would EVER pay you, as long as you put in ... HARD WORK. If you're not willing to work hard, dont sign up. Thousands of students are in need of a job that pays you in cash, the very same day. Leave the aerator for them.

This is not the job where you work every day. You dont want to work rain days, dont sign up for rain days. Watch the weather. If you're below 18, hopefully your parents are caring enough to watch the weather for you. If you're an adult, you ... should be doing it yourself. You pick your own days when you work. And at the end of your worked day, the manager will come over to you and ask you which day you want to work next. You can say ... tomorrow, you can say never, you can pick any date up to untill september. Everything ... is in your hands. But if you "promise" to come in, and dont cancel it within 24 hours, then ... keep your promise, and do HARD WORK. And even that rule ... is specifically made to 'motivate' you. To help 'you' earn ... money.

In the end ... nobody stands behind you with a whip. Nobody "forces" you. It's all about strength of character. I know girls who are maybe three inches higher then the aerator. And they work better, faster, and harder then me. Young single moms, people with debts, people who got tuition to pay, people with ambitions, people who need to support someone, simply motivated people ... people who are willing to WORK HARD, they are making goood moooney. Not because they are gods of sales, but because ... they're ... willing.

You had 'one' bad day and you quit. They've had 'dozens' bad days, spaced apart. But they kept going. They're making money. I hope ... you found some other way to do the same, but in a more ... comfortable .. place.

I'm an ex-employee of this rotten company "Spring Masters Canada and this is my story. Spring Masters calls the college kids they employ their "Independent Contractors" after we are forced to sign a contract without given any details or warnings as to what conditions we are subject to. My group team leader/Manager treated me like an animal on my Rookie day. That is my first day on the job I did a couple of aerations while it was pouring rain. Key word is pouring becuase that entire day if i had not brought an umbrella I would have taken 10 cold showers in public. They would bullshit you and tell you that the bad weather would result in more sales and etc. I was conviced at one point, I quickly became extremely skeptical because this type of job was worse than minimum wage. Listen, if anyone is reading this and looking into SpringMastersCanada for a job or anything to do with them. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOTget tricked and dogged into their scam. Yes you can make possibly $100-$500 only if you bust your a*s and aerate/mow f**king like 20 lawns in 1 day. Here is my experience after aerating 1 lawn. I got cuts and bruises bringing down the tailgate of the trailer to unload my team's aerators and then finally my own. (It's extremely heavy, that's why the male to female ratio on this job is about 200:1. I am not lying because I was there and have seen everything they do. Don't listen to trolls who praise this company. I was there and I have just told you only half of the horrors. I quit after my first day because if if I had pulled out any earlier before the end of the day, I would be charged $100 due to the contract they have my locked down to. Thats right, I came here to make money and I will lose more money than I made had I wanted to take a break. People, there are no washrooms, not portapotty, you gotta pee? Hold it for 10 hours sweetheart or do it in public. Your choice. One more thing. I had my manager call me he said he circled the neighbourhood to check on me several times and didn't see me. I responded by saying I was aerating the back lawn of a pre-booked customer you dunce cap. This is dictatorship, this is a scam to work college kids their asses off and make maximum profit. They don't give a s**t about you. They work you until you drop. This is the script I was forced to say to every customer: "Hi my name is ______. I am a student at ________ school/unversity. I work for Spring Masters Canada. I am saving up to help pay for my tuition. I was in the niehgbourhood and have ben aerating your neighbour's lawns and I wanted to make sure I included you in my service today" Etc. You get the idea. But there is one thing wrong here. Do you see it? The person being offered, the customer, is not given a chance to say no because they are rushed into the deal and not asked a single question yet. The managers told us to do exactly that. This is why llittle rotten dump is a c**k sucking communist piece of s**t. I would think in a first world country that it is impossible to earn below minimum wage. Shame on you for exploiting young college workers who try so hard to pay off their loans and needs for school.

If it wasn't for a simple google search, I would of went to this job fair, which is on the day this post is. This would of have been the second time I have been involved in job scams. The first was at another job fair with ACN, which they told me that I'd be making 100k in one year. Did a google search, looks like it was full blown pyramid scam. I do wonder how much they paid Donald Trump to make his little ad spots on the website promoting the company that works in the same was as Springs Masters, through commissions. But they included a 500 dollar kit you had to buy to become a full fledged employee. Again, thank you so much for this report. These guys came to our college to promote it, and I figured, it has to be legit because they came to a government institution, right? Wrong. I have warned everyone else of the fraud they are getting into if they decide to join these thieves.

To any potential employees of Spring Masters Canada:

You've heard my side. You've heard Franco's side. Now please run a Google search for 'Spring Masters Canada'. Just look at the horror stories from former workers. Even if this company is doing nothing wrong (that's a BIG IF)..

Do you really want to work for a company that makes so many workers feel ripped off and miserable?



Additional Details:
1: There is no HR department, so I tried to lodge a complaint with the office of CEO Ben Stewart before posting this report. No reply. I'm not sure if realizes his employees are being mistreated.

2: They hand out contracts on the second or third seminar and told us to sign up or leave. There was no time to decide, we weren't given a copy to run it by a lawyer, parent, or for taxes. This is bad business practice.

The work board of Ontario sent me a copy of the contract after I filed my complaint. I'm posting it online to give potential employees the chance to read it over:
http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab267/springmasterscanada/SpringMastersCanadaContract.jpg



ATTN Franco;

Several times you said I had no proof, so I've scanned and posted some of your literature online. (see links) As an honest and reputable company with nothing to hide this shouldn't be a problem. . If you can provide a valid reason I will take it down immediately.

However your post and is full of propaganda, metaphors, untruths, and half-truths. I'll try to address all of them:

1: You claim Spring Masters Canada never said anything about "Earn $100-$500 a day". It's right on your business card:
http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab267/springmasterscanada/SpringMastersCanadaBusinessCard.jpg

2: I don't know how many employees work for you. My ID badge is in the 700s and I saw somebody with an ID badge of #800. I put two-and-two together: you have at least 800 workers working out of 1 branch.
Your ID badge: http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab267/springmasterscanada/SpringMastersCanadaIDbadge.jpg

3: Please, no more metaphors. This is a serious issue and I hate it when compare stealing movies and broken bicycles to something real. Let's focus on the fact I earned $3.18 an hour for 15 hours of work in a first world nation where minimum wage is $10 with no restrooms, no breaks, no place to rest, lugging around a huge piece of equipment the whole time.

I made 3 sales worth over $300, that's a commission of less than 14% right? A McDonalds employee earns $10 an hour so after 15 hours he'd have $150. One of your workers needs to sell $900 worth of services in 1 day to earn $150 in comission. To earn the same as a burger-flipper at McDonalds.

I know for a fact other commission-based companies will give you something for your time even if you don't make any sales on your first day, which makes your practice seem barbaric in comparison. I don't care what your business model says, you're ripping off highschool kids and earning a huge profit from it. That's despicable.

4: I was really hoping you'd mention the 16 guys crammed into a van with 11 seatbelts. THAT is illegal, non? I gave the Toronto police all of your license plates for spot-checks.

I'm not a lawyer and couldn't name which laws you break. But as I mentioned you lied, shortchanged, and abused your employees' rights as human beings. You treat us like garbage. Even if you do it legally that doesn't make it right.

5: I have compared your prices against other aeration companies and you're not as great as you claim to be. They offer reliable service, flexible scheduling, and the financial aspect is taken care of by banks, not workers on doorsteps. Their aeration machines are superior, maintained regularly, and do not chew up the lawn. Not to mention the employees are properly trained before touching a customer's lawn.

6: Most of the kids you hire are looking for summer jobs to save up for College tuition, they aren't hoping to come back year after year and slowly climb a career ladder. Perhaps they'd finally be on par with minimum wage workers, but the time and money lost until then is unacceptable.

7: Your training manual and documentation is written in such a way that most highschoolers won't understand it. A good company wants the employees to understand the manual. You do the opposite.

I've even shown it to a lawyer with 10 years' experience and he thought it was very poorly written. I can only assume you don't want employees to understand what's going on.

8: I've been lured into commission jobs before and I was paying very close attention during your seminars. Your speaker never mentioned commission and said it was base rate work. Saying one thing and making us sign a contract that says something else is called "lying".

The first clue it was commission was the contract which you gave us after several hours of training and seminars. And like I said, most highschoolers wouldn't understand the legal jargon after only a few minutes. A very smooth and efficient con, I'll give you that.
Contract: http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab267/springmasterscanada/SpringMastersCanadaContract.jpg

9: The manager (Kevin) told us not to take breaks or else we would look bad for potential employers, we'd lose jobs, and we'd waste time.

I find your comment about asking employers to invade their privacy and use their facilities beyond ridiculous. It's rude. I would never let some stranger in my house even if he was working on the lawn, covered in sweat and mud.

10: "This job is hard." So is slave labour. I presume the real reason you hire hundreds of employees is because most of them quit after their first day.

Calling me names is beyond childish, sir.

The whole reason I posted this complaint is to warn people. Spring Masters Canada is a scam and a con. I got tricked, but hopefully I can warn others not to get tricked.

By all means if you want to work for these people, do it. I'm not going to stop you, all I can do is warn you that it's a trap. This company is bad news.

It appears that many people don't understand what a springmaster worker is. There is a 10$ rental fee because workers are INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS with the company, this allows them to jump through hoops to allow for cash payments at the end of every day.

As for the job itself, it sucks, its hard, but you only work as hard as you want, sure the days are 15 hours (sometimes longer) but you can sit on the curb as long as you want.  Just because you have good people skills doesn't mean you are a good salesman. People don't always fork over money simply because they like you, you have to be able to read people and meet a need, much like a higher end sales job. You do this, you make money.  I worked only 45-55 days at springmasters this season (spring 2009) and i've made about 10 thousand dollars.  Not a hoax, not everyone makes this much, you have to be a mad man and driven to succeed.  Maybe thats me, but I rarely worked 4 days in a row and still made a go of it.

I completely understand why you would not want to do this job, its not fun, but if you're good at it, you're really good. Flyers on bus stops say make between 100 and 500 dollars a day, this is misleading, I admit, because it is possible to make 0$ in a day.  The average is between 100-200 though, and fortunately for me it was even higher, its still better pay then any of my previous summer jobs.

6 friends and I worked at Spring Masters Canada for 2 months during the 2008 summer and we all agree that it was by far the worst job ever! i live in Ottawa where summer jobs are everywhere and guranteed that SMC is one to avoid. 13 more of my school mates worked there and they will too mark SMC as the LOWEST OF THE LOW. 100 to 500$ a day? HAHAHAHAH PLEASE! it's more like 0$ (very possible) to 75$(exagerating) a day for 15hours!!

at the end of the night the saddest thing to see is half the workers get no money at all for working 15 long hours. Mark my words, do not listen to any of the comments defending this job because it's all lies and i am glad nobody is coming to it's defence because almost all of Ottawa knows that it's a total scam.

Working there 3 months hoping for a good day..nope. Don't tell me it's my people skills because there is 18 people who will agree with me.. all 18 are lazy and have bad people skills right? don't piss in my pocket and tell me it's raining...

i urge all students to avoid Spring Masters Canada..you will highly regret it. There is a reason for all those SMC flyers at every bus shelter and attached to every tree: they are desperate for workers since nobody is calling to work! unless your a dropout..(comment above)

Thanks for writing this report and allowing me to respond in such a way. The report was well written and explained your side of the story clearly. Obviously you are educated and had certain expectations. Please read what I have to say. Thank you.

First of all, in each and every job information seminar held by any Spring Masters Canada locations you are told that the opportunity is commission based pay only. It has never been stated, or implied in any way, shape or form, that this job is Base Pay + Commission. Please explain how you came about with 100+commission. That portion of your argument is fabricated and holds no merit whatsoever. There is nothing in any Spring Masters Canada presentation or paperwork that states you are guaranteed any money whatsoever, only what you earn.

Second, you stated that you earned $47.75 on your first day of work. Considering that this is commission-based pay only, you yourself agreed that this is pretty good for a first day. The first time you rode a bike, you fell off, right? You utterly, completely failed. Why? Because you've never ridden a bike before. Did you give up right then and there? Of course not. Can you now ride a bike? Of course. Why? Because you didn't give up after the first time you came crashing down in failure. Or the fifth time. Why give up on a job that requires some practice and some degree of skill after you don't accomplish your goal the first time you do it? In every job, no matter where or what it is, you will never be an expert at it right away. You will ALWAYS have to learn something about it to become better at it. But no matter how good you get at it, you will always make the same as you did when you were terrible at it. Michael Jordan didn't make his junior basketball team when he was in high school. Did he give up?

Third, 795 workers? Top 25? These numbers are a hoax, a fabrication. Please provide some sort of explanation as to where these came from.

Fourth, the service is worth much more than $25. An apprentice carpenter will get paid $15 an hour for the work that he does. As he grows in his knowledge and skill for his trade, obviously the value for his work and time will go up, do you not agree? As a professional company Spring Masters Canada obviously holds a higher value for their services. The machines they use are top-quality and the professionalism of the people that work for them obviously increases the value of their service. Just because some people charge $25 for their time to aerate a lawn doesn't mean that its value is $25. It's like saying: "I can download and watch movies for free, so if I go to a theatre then it should be free as well."

Fifth, no breaks? You have the opportunity to take a break whenever you wish. Most people minimize their breaks because they understand that the more time they spend running and selling, the more money they are going to make. This does not mean you cannot take breaks. And as for the washroom situation, there are 250+ washrooms on your route. You had made three sales, accepted cash/cheque for those sales, and you don't think that those customers would be more than happy to allow you to use their washroom? Most people have never had a problem. Sounds like it wasn't even thought about, nevermind tried.

Sixth, you are only aerating from ~10/11 - 8/9. Yes, you do have to be around for morning meeting and payout, but the morning meeting is an incredible tool for increasing your sales potential. The more in-depth training you get is incredibly worth the time. And payout, as I'm sure you are aware, takes time only because each individual is payed cash that night. If you wanted a cheque sent out then payout could be completed in two and a half minutes, but one of the best parts of the opportunity is the payout at the end of every day. Also, there is no availability at the beginning of the season because it is essentially a try-out period for everyone that is interested to give it a shot. You obviously worked @ the beginning of the season, which is why this happened to you. Doesn't sound like you were too interested to come back, though.

The average pay-out at the end of the night has now reached $161 over all locations and is still on the rise as people are getting more days under their belt. The more you practice, the better you are going to get. These people did not give up after just one day.

Last, please refer to which laws are being broken by Spring Masters Canada. I can promise that you will find zero broken laws.

This job isn't easy. This job is hard. It is probably one of the hardest jobs you will ever have if you push yourself. But it can also be the most rewarding. But the rewards are for those that persevere. Those people that aren't afraid to learn something new, to try something different. They didn't give up when they fell off the bike. It is easiest to just quit when something is hard. Those that are willing to learn and never give up only have positive memories of Spring Masters Canada. Try it again. Get good at it. Don't be a whiner and just give up because you're not good at it right away. Get back on the bike and ride, man. Ride.

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