Complaint Review: Maaj Retail Solutions - Crystal Lake Illinois

Avoid seeking employment with Maaj Retail Solutions unless you have absolutely no other option (minimum wage at a fast food place would honestly be a better choice). This company seeks out people who are fresh into the workforce primarily (often recent college graduates with no work experience). Last week I applied for Prestige Retail Marketing (which turned into Maaj Retail Solutions overnight) and I got a call from a manager asking me to come in to their office in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

The office is located in the back of a hospital complex, they refer to their office as a "suite" (which is a dingy room with two desks). Once I sat down for the interview the manager asked "are you ready for a fast-paced career with Maaj Retail Solutions?" Apparently the name of the company changed overnight, as I had originally applied for Prestige Retail Marketing! I asked why the name changed and the manager said that "the previous owner didn't make the numbers." The interview lasted about fifteen minutes, she never even looked at my resume nor did she ask me standard interview questions. Instead, the structure of the interview seemed more like a sales pitch.

Against my better judgement I had decided to schedule a second interview (took place three hours later), which was more of a shadowing opportunity; I was invited to a kiosk at Menards to get first-hand experience. Upon arriving there I met an employee of Maaj Retail Solutions walking around the store soliciting to customers to sign-up for Direct TV!

I began talking with the lady who originally interviewed me, as it turns out the job would require me to sell subscription to Direct TV to people shopping at Menards. I'll try to summarize how the following dialogue went:

Me: How does growth opportunity work?

Manager: If you can sell five subscriptions within two to four weeks you will become a brand ambassador...after you've proven yourself as an ambassador and sell "X" amount of subscriptions you will become a supervisor.

Me: What does a supervisor do, and how much do they make?

Manager: The supervisor hires people to work for you. At that point, you make a percent of every subscription that your employee makes (PYRAMID SCHEME).

Me: How does compensation work for new employees?

Manager: New employees make $8.25 (about minimum wage) OR you earn commission depending on which is higher. Most people on average earn $20 an hour (A COMPLETE LIE)...the average employee will sell two subscriptions of Direct TV a week, and pocket $120 per sale.

Me: That doesn't add up correctly.

In case you didn't catch it, the chain of command works as a pyramid scheme by definition. Once you sell a certain amount of subscriptions, you hire people and take a percent of all their earnings!

The company will NOT tell you ahead of time what your responsibilities actually are until you begin shadowing (the ad on Monster/Indeed and the first interview will be completely false and/or misleading). Once you get to the second interview/shadowing phase you will see first hand what the job requires. You and another employee will be sent to a big chain store (typically Menards or another large retail store) and follow people around the store trying to get them to subscribe to Direct TV. The salesmen will approach customers and tell them why Direct TV is the best product around, and further entice them with free gift cards if they sign up.

Before I left I asked if Maaj Retail Solutions reports to another company, she replied with "Smart Circle." I wrote that down and said I needed to look them up first and she quickly responded by saying "but we aren't really affiliated with them" (she probably wanted to distance herself from them because she knew they had a bad reputation).

Additional details: You are expected to work six days a week. The ad on Monster is factually incorrect; you will not be giving "base pay + commission" you only get whichever is higher (hours X base pay OR subscriptions X $120ish). 

Note from the author: obtaining a good quality job can be a struggle for many people, especially those with a limited professional network and those fresh out of college/high school. Job hunting is frustrating and often a job within itself. However, the last thing you want to do is associate yourself with a company like Maaj Retail Solutions, their business practices are sleazy and they will blatantly lie to you in order to increase the scope of their scheme.