Kaz
Mamaroenck,#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, March 30, 2006
Thank you for the update on the company. I have a strong feeling that Elizabeth will be at it again in no time being that from my research I saw that she used to "run" offices in California and Pennslyvania before. But at least they are no longer local. Unfortunately I know of at least 2 others that run exactly the same way in just White Plains. What annoyed me was when I tried to get the D.A. and others to investigate they just kept passing the buck to some other department that supposedly handled that sort of situation.
Wendy
West Nyack,#3Consumer Comment
Wed, March 29, 2006
Marketing company pulls out of White Plains By ALLAN DRURY THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: March 28, 2006) WHITE PLAINS Empire Marketing Concepts Inc., a small company that ran sales campaigns for clients, has suddenly closed its White Plains office. The company, which employed about 10 salespeople who worked strictly on commission, left 106 Corporate Park Drive last Friday, said Carolyn Coggins of Hartsdale, who worked in the office the past two months. Coggins, who processed resumes and set up job interviews, said she suspected management was planning some sort of big move but the closing took her by surprise. "When I walked in on Friday and they were dismantling the office, I was like 'Oh boy,' " she said. "I didn't think it was going to go down like that." She said Elizabeth Harman, the president, told her she was going to Pennsylvania to take a job and that Nicole Smith, an assistant, was going to Boston. Calls to the company's offices yesterday were not returned. The first-floor offices were locked. Coggins said employee turnover was rapid. Nearly everyone the company hired was young most in their 20s and some stayed only a week or two. The job of the salespeople known as account managers was to go door to door and make pitches on behalf of clients, she said. The company's Web site says it did work for phone giants AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., a company called Danone (possibly food maker Groupe Danone) and Innovative Merchant Solutions. Coggins said the only client she was aware Empire Marketing had during her stint was Innovative Merchant Solutions, a bank card processing company. The site also says the company looks for "exceptional people." Coggins said the company seemed desperate to hire just about anyone, as long as they were young, to fill the constant openings. She said she was told during her time at the company to discard the resume of any applicant who had been out of college for more than a few years. The closing also left Artem Mischenko, a sophomore at Clarkson University in Potsdam, all dressed up with no place to go yesterday morning. He said he drove seven hours to be interviewed for an internship only to find the offices locked. "I thought this was a good opportunity to get some experience in a real job," he said, obviously disappointed, as he left. Coggins said she received her paycheck last Friday but was concerned about whether she will get one this Friday for the work she performed last week.
Ren
Huntingdon Valley,#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, February 12, 2006
Hi Kaz, I am very sorry to hear that this company has claimed more victims.... I filed my report almost three years ago, and right now I am making over 30k a year as a retail manager with full benefits (Vision, Health, and dental!) All while continueing my college education. I get Holiday pay, vacation days, sick pay, and two REAL days off a week from work. I am not expected to dedicate more than 45 hours a week to my job, and actually get in trouble for doing so. I Know that my paycheck every two weeks is going to clear $1000.00. I know I have gas money, bill money, and more than enough to put food on my table....in addition to enough extra to go out to eat whenever I want and have several hundred left in my savings. I see my boss once every two weeks....and his boss once a month. I may not be making 6 figures...but I have a beautiful two bedroom apartment, a new-ish car, two cats, a steady loving relationship, a social life, and my sanity. And I have No debt whatsoever. A failure for leaving? I think not. Look at it this way...it can only go up from here. Best of luck to you.
Elizabeth
Fayettvill,#5Consumer Suggestion
Sat, January 07, 2006
Their going after young adults for a reason. Most young adults are too impatient to wait a couple of years to make a six figure salary-they want it NOW! Calm down is step 1. But considering most will ignore this, and head straight to monster.com and apply online to companies such as Empire, they need to listen better at the interviews. Go in with an open mind that maybe, just maybe this position your going for does not exist and their trying to mislead you under false pretenses to try for another "position." These companies are just agencies that are fly by night if the going gets tough. Step 3-do not sign any papers or show them your SS card/passport/driver's license until you have actual proff that you are an employee for them, this way you can file for unemployment if the going gets tough. Make them tell you if they provide unemployment first off. And last but not least, do not lose yourself in all of this. They didn't hire you because of your degrees, work ethics, they hired you because they thought you could better service them under their guide lines. Who you are is not what their interested in.