Complaint Review: HMI HMI Industries Filter Queen Filterqueen Healthmor - Strongsville Ohio

I went through the hiring process at HMI and my experience was very close to what John was talking about.  This is a company that is totally based on lies and deception.  Virtually everything they told us was a lie.

My experience started when I applied for a job as a customer service representative.  For those who do not know, this position entails taking calls from customers and helping them with their problems and complaints.  A few days after applying, I got a call from the manager saying he would like to interview me for the position.  He said he had an opening at 12:30 PM the next day.

The next day when I went in for the interview, I was surprised that there were about 20 people in the room for the interview.  On the phone the previous day, I was definitely under the impression that it was a one on one interview.  Deception number one.  During the interview, we were told that there were several open positions available, none of which involved sales. He went on to explain one of the several positions as an installer of the product, which was an air cleaner.  He said all this involved was to take the product out of the box, plug it in, and show the customer how to use it. Deception number 2.

It was on the next day that we discovered that nothing that was said in the interview was correct.  This was indeed a sales position.  When I asked him about all the other open positions, he said there were none.  This was it.  Deception number 3.  As he was demonstrating how the air cleaner worked, he mentioned how vacuum cleaners were useless and he had never used one in his home for the past 35 years.  It was shortly after this when he brought out the Filter Queen vacuum cleaner.  Deception nunber 4. He then went on to explain how we would easily be able to make at least $1000 per week selling the "system", which consisted of a vacuum cleaner and an air cleaner.  He said we would earn $30 for each demostration we were sent to and $200 for each sale.

It was not until the next day that he talked about each of us having to set up "practice" demonstrations with friends and family.  Each of us were required to set up at least 10 demonstrations with people we knew.  It was also at this time that he finally told us the price of this system, which was $3000!

I soon found out that these were not practice demos, but actually the main way this company made their money.  On my first demo, he required that we call him when we were done, and that he needed to talk to the couple that we demonstrated the products to so he would be sure we actually did it.  When I handed the phone to my friend, he received a very high pressure sales pitch.  I ended up doing only two more demos, as I did not want to expose anyone I knew to this high pressure pitch of a product that was ridiculously over priced.  The manager said he would make an exception for me because he thought that I would be able to make many sales once they started sending me out on real demos.  I do not know what the purpose of that was, because about an hour before our next meeting, he called me to say that the meeting was cancelled because too many people cancelled.  That was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I asked him about Wednesday, and he said that was cancelled as well.  Needless to say, I never heard from him again.  He did not even have the common courtesy to let me know that I was terminated. He lied about that as well.

Yesterday, a federal district court case in New York between nationwide exotic dancing company Scores and it's former employees, the definiations between a contractor and an employee have been clarified resulting in the company paying back three years worth of back wages as well as other damages since rules and guidelines concerning their employment leaned more to the dancer being treated as an employee than an independent contractor.  It is not known if Scores is appealing the decision at this time.

 This leagal decision could apply to the indepent contractors working for Filter Queen if:

1. They signed a contract classifying them as an independent contractor

2. They have to report to an office on a daily basis sitting in designated areas for meeting, telephone conversation, or other clerical tasks that they would get paid for at a regular job.

3. They are not being financially compensated (under state and/or federal guidelines) by the independent representative and/or Filter Queen when representing the business during sales calls or outside training activites.

With this posting, this could implement the frameworkd to establsh the possibility of a class action lawsuit between former employees (or contractors), independent distributors, and Filter Queen itself resulting in millions of dollars in legal fees, backpay, and damages. 

I'm not a lawyer but I do have a background in business law with my college degree and I am a former contractor for the company as well.  Clearly Filter Queen has walked a very fine line between its customers, distributiors, employees, and it's so called contractors that perhaps enough legal attention in our federal jurisdiction will put an end to the foolish door to door sales practices that aren't necessary in the 21st centruy.  Filter Queen can then focus on better competition by selling it's products more effecfively on the sales floor of Wal-Mart, Costco, and Best Buy where the companies buyers can dictate the true value of the cleaning machines worth (unless they decide to file for bankruptcy).

April's situation with Filter Queen is probably an exception to the rules.  I see her website is still running but hasn't been updated in a couple of years.

I would hope that if April's situation with the company changed since the last thread she posted, that she would step up to the plate and tell what happened.

As a business student myself, we are taught that would be the professional thing to do unless Baker College doesn't teach you ethics but I doubt that.

I understand that there are always going to be some one in any organization that dose not treat there people right. But, I feel that I do. I am not going to discuss to price that I pay for equipment because I feel that is between the manufacture and myself. But, also remember I am a small piece of a huge corporation. I pay the rent, phone, utilities, taxes, corporate, quietly, monthly, and now the new small business tax, all the advertising. My people never have to wait on there money. I do offer benefits for my reps and my office help in both office such as health, dental, vision and life insurance. You are correct most people can afford to offer. Not every one loves every company and that is fine but, you have to also we are teaching people how to have the American Dream and help people along the way. I am so proud of the FilterQueen and HMI. Thank-You for you comments and I wish you the best of luck. April Mason Greater Air of Michigan Inc

You're probably one of the few active distributors on here who has probably stepped up to the plate. I know the economy is pretty bad in Michigan and I wish you well on your business. Filter Queen, HMI, Healthmoor, it distriubtorshipis, or any other names that they have gone by has been very unfavorable not only on this website but by the media as well. I was interviewed by a television station in Ohio about a distributorship who wasn't treating their employees properly although in reality their not employees. It isn't even just the distributors that have tarnished the company though. It started with the CEO and worked it's way down. CBS Marketwatch contains a lot information over the years about problems with the company when they were trading publicly. The problem I have is this. The equipment is marked up high enough that you are selling as a distributor that you could treat your independent contractors as employees, give them benefits, wages, and a fair gas allowance. Until enough distributors can convince me of that, then I guess I'll be getting the phone calls from consumer reporters accross the country. We had three distributorships in Seattle when the economy was bad back in 2001-2004. All three of them are reported on here by their own employees and independent contractors as treating everyone unfairly. I'm happy to report they are no longer in business. As far as customers go and sales go, why lie about the 30 minute presentation you tell them on the phone and tell them its a 90 minute presentation? There seems to be a pattern going on here that distributorship pop up in econimically depressed areas with high unemployment, take advantage of people in the community, and shut down after a year or two. If Filter Queen wanted to clean up their image they could get rid of their distributors altogether and sell there machines at Best Buy and Wal Mart and make plenty of money doing so while making Dysan nervous at the same time. That would be the best way for a cleaning company to clean up their act.

Every once in a while some one finds what they were doing wrong to people and wants to put the blame on some one else. So, let find out who John is because all the distributors of this amazing products actually cares about there people. You got numbers coming out of left field but you could not keep your business going. That's a shame!!!! Shame on you, if you were with your company for 8 years then you have to know that HMI dose a lot for there active distributors and associates. I was a single mom when I started this company had less than $2.00 to my name, I answered an ad for customer service-( we are in the business of helping people)I started has an associate. My first year working 20-25 hours a week making $600-$1000 a week. (I worked as a nurse would have to work 60-80 hours a week to make that kind of money) We have great incentives my first year I was in the top ten associates by the second year I was in the top five. I love what I do. I love what I am to provide for my family. I love that the people that work for me are able to provide for there family. I don't know how people make a living off of min. wage. Now, I owned two offices in the great state of Michigan. I have been with the company for over 5 years. We make good money at every level at my offices, I am not going to apologize for that!!!!!!! Our machines help people get a cleaner home and a healthy living environment. This as been an amazing opportunity , I love giving some one the same opportunity that I was given. So now lets answer those questions that John has said to ask: 1. Am I guaranteed in writing that I will receive appointments every day? Why in the world would we have people here to set appointments and associates to run, if we weren't going to get people on them. 2. Can I be let go for no reason whatsoever? If some one is let go, there has to be a reason!!! 3. Do I have to come to the meeting everyday? No! But, my question is why would you not want to for more product knoledgement and usually there pretty fun. I know my people like our Breakfast meetings!!! 4. Why am I an independent contractor? Every organization is different so that is a question to talk to your dist. But, I know when I was a rep I personally loved it for the following reasons. I could take a vacation any time I wanted, I never missed any of my son's sporting act ivies( he is in 3 different sports), and tax benefits. It is a plus-all the dang write-offs!!! 5. How many demos were completed by the office last month? Every office is different, we had over 500 demos that month 6. Can I see the sales report to prove that? We get standing that we hang in our offices, so that every one can see how well were doing!! 7. Why do we train every week? We Don't!!! 8. Can I do training without a friends and family weekend? I am sure you could but, your weekend dose not determined your success with our company. Our customers are expecting some-one professional and knows what they are doing. Who not to practice on then the people that love you, even if you stumble through the presentation, after you do a few, you just keep getting better and better! And feel more confidante with your presentation. If you walked in and did a presentation before practicing that would set you up for failure. That not what were in business for. 9. Can I Listen to the marketers talk to the customers and actually hear what they promise. You should that way you start learning every position. 10. How much do you pay for the free gifts and what do we tell the customers they are worth? That depend on the Thank-You gift, do you ask some one when they buy you a present How much did you pay for that? 11. Would you mind if I contacted local agencies to verify that the company has paid all applicable taxes? That is public information, you don't even have to ask the distributor. 12. How come no one drug tests? Not all company's drug test 13. What makes someone qualified? Does anyone with friends and family qualify? When I hire some one they have to be ready to start a career. Who cares if they have friends Hopefully they will gain some with our company. I met my husband through this company. 14. Can I see the payout sheet from the bank on my last second line deal? If they are a manager, but just because some one works for me dose not give them the right to see all my financial records. That's any where you work. 15. How come discounts come out of my check and not yours? They don't. So, for any one that has any doubt that there working for the wrong distributors , Please do not worry, all the bad ones have quit or were asked to leave our growing organization. I for one feel I am an open book. Even though I would like to be the number one office every month, which I am not. I know that I work for the number one organization. You have to make up your mind in any thing you do. Take Care, April PS For all the people that know me personally and has helped me through the years Thank-You

I like your honesty John. I worked for a distributorship called Sound Filtration in Tukwilla Washington five years ago (there is a blog on here about it that I contributed to). It's everything that you say it is. It's a dishonest company from top to bottom. HMI has several negative stories about themselves on line by most leading business reporting websites (such as CBS Marketwatch) since at one time the company traded publicly. I like that you do call it a vacuum and not the "sugar coated" surface cleaning machine. I'm sure that was some marketing gimick to justify the high price of the machine. There are a few other trends that are killing the industry as well. Now that fewer people are carpeting thier floors and going to wood flooring, it's probably overkill to have a machine do that type of cleaning work. The other thing that is happening has to do with the air cleaning business in general. The Sharper Image has finally went bankrupt due to reports that those "ionizers" they were selling all these years were ineffective for cleaning the air. As a result, they offered a $35 rebate for the machines. I'm sure the same thing will happen to Oreck since they offer a similar product. I recall mentioning the same thing in my sales pitch about these products. I wouldn't be surprised in the future that government regulation may happen to get the air cleaning business under control similar to what they have done in Canada. While the Defender doesn't contain an ionizer in it I do believe it is an effective filtration system and noticed an improvement using it. Now that I know that they can sell for E-Bay for less than $300 perhaps I might get one that way. A word of caution to those who are looking for work. I got sucked into this for four months in 2003 when the recession hit us hard in Seattle. These distributorships love to rear thier ugly heads when times are tough. Stay on the unemployment if you can and don't take the distributor position. It's better to flip burgers than to deal with this foolishness.