Complaint Review: FILTER QUEEN - APPLETON Wisconsin

There has been a few years since complaints haven't been filed on the company,  I beleive there have been many changes that have taken place in the company.  Unfortunately, most of what has happened with business within a 17 year period was a franchise model that was flawed.  This company became a project for college since there was a time when this company was honest but switch courses in the new millenium. 

One of the reason why I worked for them is that I knew a few that were selling in the door to door sales rep area which was completly different than the franchise model that used.  I was with the company during the .com recession in 2002-03 and left once other opporutnities arrived.

One of the legal concerns that happens in The US is the flow of control between corporations and franchisees that I could probably get my Phd for because this problem isn't just Filterqueen or Healthmor but there are plenty of fast food operations within North America that have crossed a few lines from time to time.  Hopefully there will come a time when the US Supreme Court can really rule on who is the real owner of  business.

A majority of it, boils down to a poor local represantation of a corporation.  We see it all time in food safety, unethical employment practices, and payroll discrepancies because the rules can be loose as to who carries fudiciary responsibility.  Sometimes it applies to the company and sometimes it applies to the local franchisee.  Sometimes the franchisee and corporation point the finger at each other or simply wash thier hands of the problem.  In the end when the local franchisee goes bankrupt, the corporation is left with the mess and the bill as well.    For publiclly traded companies, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is the guidlines (as well as few others) but for companies that aren't on the stock exchange is the problem.

There will come a time when state and federal laws are going to have to a better job of controlling the problem because the reason for SOX is the same reasons why companies such as Filter Queen (Healthmoor) have fallen into trouble.

First of all, there was a time that Filter Queen was an honest company to work for.  They were even a publiclly traded company at one time but around 2001, they delisted.  According to employess at the time, there were some unethical concerns that were going on with the company at the time that would have resulted in them possibly gettting into some trouble with the SEC.

The reason why customers and sales reps are complaining about the product is because these sales offices that are setup only operate for a few years at the most.  They sell product, file for bankruptcy, and then someone steps in later on and takes the territory over.

Filter Queen has been carefull about setting up office in states where labor laws work in their favor by having the sales representatives working as an independent contractor requiring a business license to sell products.  

In order for this to happen, the sales office will string you in with facts and figures that represent a wage or salary and use words such as demonstrating a product to a customer and getting paid to do so.

The company relies on a network of franchisees to sell the product and lies to their employees, independent contractors, and customer base as well.  Hopefully the corporate office can pick up the pieces for the customer but they wash thier hands of anywrongdoing between the employee, independent contractor, and the franchisee.

These are the reasons why this company isn't publiclly traded anymore because of misrepesentation that has occurred with the franchisees.

Filter Queen, Rainbow, and Kirby have all had similar incidents that have happened.  These companies have all had thier share of troubles keeping this sales model working as many have removed carpted floors to be replaced with hardwood floors.  As other companys like Dyson and Roomba have stepped up the market share, these old school "cleaning systems" haven't evolved in the 21st century by kepping thier products off of Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy leaving many to question "if they are really that good".

The product is only as good as long as the manufacturer make a high quality product that they can support with local dealships that are respectable.  For the ones that still result in door to door sales, this hasn't been the case.

The financing that they use for these devices should be the real concern to not let them in your house in the first place.  These reps are trained to gloss over the fine print to get that signature.

 I love reading these kinds of complaints,there more and more common to see all the time,first of all i work at a filterqueen office and have for years,they are not even close to run this way,its always the same thing a employee that could not hack it with the company takes to the internet to complain because they cant get through the levels or because they quit because of some brutal excuse when the real and only truth is this,your to weak and to lazy to put on your big boy pants or big girl pants(because some of the most successful Filterqueen family members are in fact girls).Direct Sales People,No one ever said its suppose to be easy,anything worth it in life isnt easy,not suppose to be,if it was everyone would do it.Let me ask you this simple question,If things were so terrible and you were getting screwed out of money and you from the sounds of it were confused and all this negative stuff was going on around you,WHY DIDNT YOU QUIT RIGHT THEN AND THERE?,Ill tell you why because you wont say it yourself,you thought there was a success story in yourself right up until the part that you gave up.I am so tired of reading these internet bs articles.Where is the Positive stories from your experience there,because i was welcomed into the filterqueen office like i was family from the first day to my very last,If your willing to put the work in and stay committed and ready for anything anytime anyday because that is what direct sales is,then you can be part of something great,i notice that you do not mention any of the 50 people working there that were kind and helpful to you and some of which im sure you even called a friend.All im saying is in direct sales you get everything that you put in,you get back 100%.Stop whining and blaming everyone else for every little thing thats wrong with your own life and move on leave these little companies alone.Filterqueen offices have been running since 1928 and they will continue to run till?That tells me one thing,They must be doing something right!!!

If you are a W2 hourly employee and worked more than 40 hours in a week, they have to pay you over-time.  They cannot avoid this by coming up with creative excuses. They have to follow the law like any other employer.