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Tristar Industries, Truth About Tristar Vaccums scam, ripoff, truth, scam artists, fraud, lies, rude, disrespectful, sleazy Calgary Alberta
Truth About Tristar
This is for all of you consumers out there, that have been sucked in by Tristar Or are about to. Please read this carefully as I am going to tell you guys the truth about Tristar, how they work and what they do.
I was broke for a while, and checked the newspaper for a quick job, I had just lost my last one due to lack of work, So I came across this add that said 16$/hr set up and display call XXX XXXX. So I did, they asked me to come in for an interview and I did, at first it looked a little shady, and I wasn't sure why there was so many vaccums around but I didn't think much of it.
So once I had my very brief interview, they called me the same night and asked to come in for training on the weekend, so I did.
It was a Saturday, and as soon as I walked into the room I noticed another 10 people sitting around not knowing what was about to happen, and a big cardboard box in the corner of the room. We all sat there aimlessly, waiting for a manager or just anyone really to come in and tell us what was going on. A few minutes past and maybe another 5 people came into the room for training.
After a while, 2 guys walked into the room with paperwork, welcomed us and we just chatted about what everyone wanted to do in the near future, how much money the wanted to make and whatnot. Then he pulled out the big cardboard box and pulled out a VACCUM! Apparently its called an air purifier, but by the looks of it, it's a machine, with a hose, and a brush at the end, and you use it to suck up dust and clean your home, so IT IS A VACCUM!
The 2 managers seemed to be very offended once everyone was convinced it was a vaccum, and they basically started to do a demo, that took about ohhh 30 minutes. They let us use the vaccum and try it out, It was a neat machine, but at this point I knew what was happening and they were recruiting sales people.
Then they went over to the whiteboard and wrote the price of the machine on the board yes $2900, and asked all of us to write down in our notebooks how much money we should get for selling one of them things. Everyone had a different answer, I wrote down $100-$150, I didn't want to cross any lines or anything and I wasn't exactly sure so that was my guess, I mean $150 bux per sale isn't that bad, They had a look at everyone's answers and went back to the white board.
Now get this, A Junior Sales person makes $400 PER MACHINE SOLD!!! INSANE HUH?! After selling 30 machines you make $800 per sale, and once you have reached your goal of selling 50 machines you get $1200 a POP!
Don't believe that bullshit story about how they get paid by just demonstrating the machine to you, we get $25 bux if we're lucky. No one there was a starving student, They were hiring people and training them to become professional sales people!!!!
So at this point all of us were in shock and thinking ohh well that's good money, but how easy is it to sell one of those machines. They were chatting for a while and then let us have a lunch break.
2 hours later we returned and there was about 7 or 8 people out of 15 left, the rest of them realized it was bullshit, I stayed, unfortunately.
Then the training started, we sat there for hours and hours almost every day, and finally they had us team up with the professionals that sell 4-5 machines a week and makes $1200 on each sale. All of them drive nice cars, and shop a lot, you might want to follow your salesperson out the door, because they're instructed to park their nice car a few blocks away to not attract any attention.
So the work started, every morning at 10AM we would meet up in different areas around Calgary and deliver little scratch and win cards to peoples doors and stick them in the door or somewhere it was visible, we did that for 2-3 hours every morning, you weren't allowed to go home, afterwards to shower because you had to be back for an hour training again and afterwards it was off to do shows, this gave people enough time to wake up, find their cards, scratch them and win Oh by the way, EVERY CARD IS A WINNER, and ALL of them ARE THE SAME THING, you get a piece of paper that lets you book a hotel room for 3 days at a destination your choice, there is one in Calgary, and one in Kelowna, all the other ones are far away, and chances are you'll never use them.
So after we had training (once delivering those d**n scratch cards) we noticed that there was about 3 girls coming into the office and had their own special room set up in the back with phones and whatnot, we were waiting around for the other sales people and our managers were in their offices on the phones trying to sell the machines.
A buddy of mine and I snuck into the room and checked out what the girls were doing, they were following a script (there were strict rules about following it) and there was phone books stacked in the back. Each girl had several pages ripped from the phone book and was just going thru every single name on the list and calling, that's when they do the survey, and apparently one girl said that you had to do about 15 pages of surveys a day, and there is 10 slots on every page for a survey THAT'S A LOT OF PHONE CALLS.
Once the surveys are completed they give them to the manager who hangs on to them for a couple of months, then there was another girl who had all the survey pages cut up and started calling everyone letting them know they won a prize for doing the survey a while back (the survey takes 30 seconds so chances are you wont remember it) and to claim your prize we have to come to your house and demonstrate an air purifier. THAT AT THE END WE WILL TRY OUR VERY HARDEST TO SELL IT TO YOU!!!!
People started calling in a few hours later that they had found a bingo card at their doors and they had won, a lot of people were excited, surely id be too if I won something, then the sales pitch comes in and the managers tell them that to claim their prize they have to watch a demonstration first about the amazing air purifier..its a d**n VACCUM!!!
80% of people hang up and forget about it, the other 20% of people fall for it, and that's when we get sent out on our missions. I felt really bad for older folks that were on their pension and cant exactly afford a machine like this at all, but they would fall for it, and the salesperson would maybe give them $200 bux off or something for a trade in their old vaccum. The old vaccums are SOLD on EBAY! So the company makes EVEN more money.
Don't believe the story about the demo taking 15 to 20 minutes, it takes a good 2 hours to do a successful presentation, once we come in we HAVE to call our manager from YOUR phone and pretend like we care and how nice you and are how many kids you got and a dog and what not, this gives the manager more info on how much dirt there could be in your house, which will make the sale go even smoother later on, then we get on with the demo, afterwards we HAVE to call your manager again and that's when the sale really starts, they do not let off, I felt so embarrassed whenever I had to put the clients on the phone with my boss as he just kept pushing and pushing and wouldn't take no for an answer.
I had to do my job, but if people didn't want it, they didn't want it, and there was times where I told a few clients that this machine really isn't a big deal and I don't get how they can save money on it down the road, sure it takes out all the dirt, but so does every other vaccum, except the really cheap ones at walmart without the brushes, those are crap! And don't buy those, im serious! If you want to invest in a good vaccum, spend 100 bucks on it, and if it breaks in 2 years, whatever buy a better one, because they get better and better each year.
They made us work from 10am till about 10pm every day, without really making any money, because HEY, you're self employed and why do they care.
What the machine is bought for is $500, the owner of the company gets $500 from every sale that is made by everyone, the manager that talks to you on the phone makes another $500 from EVERY sale that is made by everyone, and the rest is for the sales person because they are the ones out there selling them.
So technically, $2200 bucks is just for the sales people?!?! Is that right?!? That's why, if you cant afford the $2700 machine, they will keep dropping the price till about $1500 so they can still each make some money off it.
Tristar is a deceitful company. All they want is your money, which is why I quit shortly after. Its not worth your time watching a demonstration that takes over 2 hours, then someone pressuring you and making you feel low about not buying the machine, and in some cases get insults thrown at you, because YES, the salesperson or at least the couple I was with, were pretty offended after they were about to get kicked out, their mood suddenly changes and they become hostile. They will NOT leave your house if you try and kick them out, so either you DON'T let them in, or you have to call the cops on them. We are instructed to use your phone no matter what happens, only if you are in danger should you leave the house.
I warn all of you, if you really want to buy the vaccum, buy a new one over ebay that costs you $200 bucks, I got one myself, spend $250 on it, including shipping and handling and that was over a year and a half ago, it still works great and cleans my house, but NEVER would I buy anything from them directly. If you find a bingo card, burn it!!
Just thought I would post this for everyone and warn all of you, it's the best I could do, If you feel like dropping me a message please do so and maybe we can share our experience.
Thank you,
Mark L.
Markymark
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Tristar
7 Updates & Rebuttals
ck
Calgary,Alberta,
They are scumbags
#8UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, October 03, 2013
Worked there about 9 years ago so my memory of the whole thing is a little fuzzy.
Similar experience with the "interview". The "lotto ticket" thing sounds new but I guess they gotta branch out from cold calling somehow... Were you paid while canvasing for suckers, or "ducks" as I seem to recall the greasy managers there calling them? The sales people that were there when I was there were actually really nice, we even hung out a few times at one of their houses after the 12 hour no-pay grind.
Worked there for a couple months, sold a few vacs and quit cuz my phone and gas were costing more than the "appointment fee". Yeah that one was a croc too, they tell you that you make x/hour based on having appointments lined up and then the appointments are actually spaced out quite a bit and take longer than advertised; thus dropping the "base" rate of pay considerably. Iirc you had to do a certain amount of appointments in a month to get any sort of pay.
Some of the places they send you to as well... I remember once they sent me to a house being rented by 3 college dudes that looked like it had never been vacuumed ever. What kind of college dude is gonna pay 2 frickin grand for a vacuum...
At the end of the appointment we gave out a crappy 3 pack of kitchen knives that iirc were "valued" at 25 bux and were promoted as a gift I usually gave away 2 or 3 and they certainly wreent anywhere near 25 bux as you could probably have gone in and taken 20 packs of them a day without anyone batting an eye.
Man was I glad to get that stupid white box and toolkit out of my car...
Was it still the tall dark heired guy named Tyler and some short little wormy guy (I can't remember his name) running things there? The slimy bums probably read stories of past "employees" ( voluntary duped slaves ) on sites like this and laugh.
They must not have taught you too well, in your report you called it a demo:P "It's a show! never call it a demo!" or something along those lines is something I remember hearing...
Sam P
Calgary,Alberta,
This guy has no idea what he's talking about
#8UPDATE EX-employee responds
Fri, June 21, 2013
Wow, I guess there is always someone who feels that because they couldnt make it as a sales rep, they have to blame the company!!! Sales is a hard career to learn. But even my self who has never sold anything in my life, and to this day I am horrible at it! I still gave the company a try, and they helped me grow, learning new things even though sales isnt for me, and I did get paid whenever I sold to a home, I even sold one to my Aunt, who was very excited to have a top of the line cleaning system in her home.
As I was in the training with my group, I was shocked to see what they pulled out, as The TriStar is a vaccum I have been using for years!!! its a great machine, that my family have been getting serviced for free over the years as well, with its 25 year warrenty, you cant go wrong!! So I was already excited about the produce before starting.
Even though I didnt sell much. the people that stuck it out made quite a bit, which at 1st motivated me, but only making a fwe sales a month i realized that I am more suited at a desk, aha.
But in the end I have nothing bad to say about the company.
no one important
calgary,Alberta,
Canada
just an opinion
#8UPDATE Employee
Sun, January 22, 2012
I've just finnished reading all the complaints about Tri-Star, and how it"s a scam. All I can really say is, IT'S SALES !!!! If you can"t sell a hotdog to a starving person, don"t get into it. As far as sales poeple go, some are pushy, and some are polite, simply because that's human nature. Some people are just jerks. Deal with it.
I have not seen or heard any complaints about the products themselves. In fact in my personal experience it's been quite the opposite. People who have owned the machines for 25 plus years swear by them. In fact I was told by a consumer recently that they were upset because there was no supplier here in Calgary until recently, so they were forced to purchase a different system that, at the store still cost them $1100 and doesn"t work nearly as well.
This couple had purchased thier original machine in 1976, it worked fantastic for them untill the brush drive belt finally broke 2 years ago. so do the math yourself, but thats quite a lifespan for any home appliance. The only thing they were upset about was that at that time they were unable to find a parts supplier locally.
Now as for the the door to door sales. Face it even U.N.I.C.E.F. used to do it. Don"t believe me? How many of you carried the little orange box for your school at Halloween as kids? Too boot you did it for free.
Secondly if you were to take the markings off of a Honda automobile and a Mercedes, placed them side by side, priced one at $20,000 and one at $80,000 which one would people buy? They both offer the same options, but which would you rather have? It"s the same thing with vacuums, would you rather spend $200 every two years, plus have to worry about maintanence costs ( ie. Belts, bags, filters, rising yearly costs, etc.)? Or does it make more sense to spend even $3000 over 30 years with no maintenence to worry about?
In conclusion all I can really say is, think for yourselves, and good luck.
John Malone
Calgary,Alberta,
Canada
Whats this guys real name? Its funny how people will post this stuff but not show their name. Hmmmmmmm
#8UPDATE Employee
Sun, May 31, 2009
What a waste of skin this guy is. He is mad because hes a loser and is watching other people become successful while he collects welfare. I'm glad I dont know this negative excuse for a human being. Anyone who blames a company for their own failures is a loser and will never amount to anything. I know in ten years I will be throwing nickels in this guys cup on the side of the road. Good Luck Mr hide behind the internet. I started at that same position and it has changed my life for the best. You want the real story? Ask anyone who has worked there for a while
Josh Stevens
Aurora,Colorado,
U.S.A.
Not a scam but your story is a scam
#8UPDATE Employee
Fri, May 22, 2009
Wow that story was amazing! I started two months ago in lakewood co and it sure does not seem like a scam to me. I am a college student and it is hard to find a job these days, im sure glad l and l systems gave me a shot. the price of the machine is correct the money they offer you is incorrect though. If everyone made that much money on one sale how the hell are they paying the bills, lease, energy, water, telemarketers, lawyers, advertising etc.. So enough said about that!!! We are not rude to customers and the machine is worth it and will save people money the road. I can obviously tell that you payed no attention in training and know nothing about vacuums. Buying a tristar on ebay, good luck with that pal. Hope it doesnt break or you get ripped off with fake parts. Just because you could not sell a good product that really works is not the companies fault "not everyone makes it to the superbowl" But hey sounds like you are qualified for walmart or taco bell. Good luck to you. I made $1900 my first month which isnt amazing, but I have already made over $2700 this month so I guess people like the product.
Dustyn
Calgary,Alberta,
Canada
Thank you
#8Consumer Comment
Tue, March 17, 2009
Thank you Mark for filling this report.
During these hard times people don't have time to waste on a job like this. I called an add in the paper and they asked me to go in for an interview. Upon my arrival I had a funny feeling about the place but still stuck around for my interview. After the interview, the manager said he'd be calling me back between 6-7 pm telling me if I was the candidate for training, starting Wednesday. I wasn't able to get much information about the company during the interview other then it deals with residential air pollution and they guarantee $2400/ month + profit sharing. He explained the profit sharing at a junior level would be $800 - $1200 a week . Now, I'm a welder by trade and wasn't expecting a call back because I have no experience in "air pollution" what so ever. Sure enough, I received that call around 6:30 pm stating I was selected for training and told to show up Wednesday at 10am. I then became suspicious and did some research online. It was a little difficult because in the waiting room they presented themselves as "Star INC" but I recalled on my way out that they had a plaque where the company was "Tristar Industries". After finding this add I was surprised how your story was so similar to mine then noticed the address.....sure enough its where I went for my interview. So thanks to you I am not going in on Wednesday and wasting my time as a vacuum salesman.
Gene
Wadsworth,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Confirmed
#8Consumer Comment
Tue, November 18, 2008
Thank you for the report of your experience. Tristar is now in Akron Ohio trying the same gimmick. Much like you I am having a problem finding work and they had a very vague help wanted add in our paper. I did make it to the interview and the process of hiring is set up very much the way you described. It was the strangest interview I ever encountered so I felt compelled to search further through this site. Fortunately I found your info and the time it will save me is much appreciated. I really appreciate this site, it is very invaluable to ones personal protection. Thank you, Gene