I went to work for this company and was promised all this wonderful training and that I didn't have to buy leads. Asked for referals but didn't get many! Well I was sent to Sterling, Colorado for training with Bob, the first 4 weeks went slow and boring while he was on the phone, talking alot and taking care of his personal business. Meanwhile I had to pay for my own hotel. After a timespan of 2 months he would run home, had to take care of some problem and leave me by myself, he would call and say that he was going to set up some appointments for me and never did, he did this a couple of times, he would tell me that he would show me how he approached businesses and never did, always on the phone. It was just one excuse after another.... Running back home all the time, leaving me to do business in Sterling. This was not the first time a team had been in Sterling the best business had been picked over. The town was struggling on its own and many insurance poor. Most woman had to work in town and the husbands kept the farms. It was hard to reach people and I was a single woman left to run the the country by myself. I would go and talk to many people but many were struggling too. The economy was not good. After talking so much and getting tired. My trainer finally got us some business, but not enough to pay what I had lost with the company. We were promised $1,000 draws in the beginning to keep us afloat and they only gave me $500 which I paid back.I did make a few sales - After that Bob went on vacation so I came back home, no money to pay hotel and didn't want to be alone again, we were suppose to work in teams, after he got back he wasn't working sterling either, I was trying to pay my bills and keep float, I didn't want to go to Sterling and have the same story over again. I kept hoping that Bob would step up to the plate and do what was right! NOT! Another guy came to work a few months earlier and was allowed to work in Greely and not go to Sterling. Rules different for me! It was very hard to stay motivated after all this crap! After that the company decided that everyone had to work together, Ft Morgan team and Sterling Team. I finally told Bobs boss Bruce that I didn't want to work with Bob and why! His boss Bruce acting caring and then they pulled a fast one on me. They told me to take a couple of weeks off and that I could go to work with them, they called me in one week not two and expected me to jump, which I did but they were trying to screw with me! I had to be in Sterling earlier than everyone else, there were 6 people trying to make money in this struggling town, and the Greely guy didn't get their til Wed. I had to go home Monday early due to problems with bank. I was tired of the whole thing, Bruce finally called me on Tuesday not to ask me how I was or if he could do anything to help me. But to terminate me! It was okay for Bob and The other guy to have personal problems but not me especially after all my money was gone! Oh your not producing enough! Sterling was a struggling town! No one else was out there either! It was like I was home doing whatever I did! I was trying to survive! This company is a big disorganized bunch of junk! I had talk to others that had gone through the same thing! There was usually a guy from Texas that would call and ask about the training, and how we felt about it for me he never did follow though! I wonder why? Bruce was in Ft Morgan a few miles away and he never checked to make sure I was okay! But Everything is my fault! Bob never in Sterling is still with the company and Greely guy is still with the Company, But Linda Gets Terminated! Imagine that! Never work for this company the rules are different if you are a woman! promise and never deliver! This company is just like the rest! a big fat recycling barrel! I took pride in the product and company and all I got was s**t! BEWARE BEWARE of BOB and BRUCE Run as fast as you can! I have to terminate you Linda? They all had problems and did things, but the rules were different for Linda? This company just doesn't give a s**t about anyone but themselves! Well Linda Has better things in her Horizons! But Beware of These People!
Save yourselves, your trust, your money, and your sanity! Just stay away from them!
Oh But if your a man you might be okay! Bob did say things to me that were not proper, I have them on tape but I won't go there!
Brian
Texas,#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, November 24, 2015
There has got to be away we can all come together and file a class action lawsuit aginst Conseco, Washington Mutual PMA. Does any one have any ideas?
They should not be able to contiune to do this to people anymore!
Matt
Des Moines,#3UPDATE Employee
Mon, October 14, 2013
I was working at a large Bank when the recession hit, at the time I was not endanger of loosing my Job in fact I was working my way up the ladder rapidly. I found myself killing myself for a company that really just regarded me as a number. I put my resume out there to see if there were any other opportunities possibly one where I could create a career where I could be more than a number.
I met with a gentleman in a hotel conference room who challenged me to become a part of something greater than myself while helping people during their greatest time of need. I asked many questions that ranged from how the pay works and what was required of me. He simply responded that nothing was required of me and that I would be an independent contractor. All they could do is motivate me and if I was not afraid of hard work they could teach me how to follow a work schedule and a marketing method that has unpatrolled results.
I am glad to report that here I am 3.5 years later and it was everything they promised. I have had the opportunity to find financial independent, travels to exotic local; my wife and I have made some lifelong friends. However, I must say by far that the best gift that this opportunity has afforded me is the gift of time. I am able to spend uninterrupted, quality time with my wife and three small children.
Brian
Austin ,#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, June 13, 2013
I’d like to start off by saying I believe Conseco does have a good product and when I first went to work with PMA Conseco it was actually it was a great experience, I worked well with all the managers and really liked all the people I met with the company. I traveled around a lot but I enjoyed that, so it was not a problem at the time except for the fact I was paying all my travel expenses. I would later figure that after paying for all these traveling expenses I wasn’t really making as much money as I had thought. I did justify this fact however, because I figured that it would all pay off at the end when I would start to receive my residual income.
Within a short time I was promoted to manager where my commissions where increased and I was also making a small override on the people beneath me and at the time this felt like a great achievement after only being in insurance industry a short time. Because I was now a manager however I was required to bring on new recruits, I struggled with this because I was knew the average person was probably not going to succeed, but there was so much pressure being put on me to do so, I felt had no choice.
The reason I left PMA was because the region I was working in started to run scarce of good companies for me to enroll and my regional manager started giving the more desirable companies to enroll to the new hires wanting me to go out and open my own groups. After a couple of months of struggling financially I had no choice but to leave because with PMA Conseco I was captive so I could not work with another insurance company at the same time as PMA, at this point I had to except an offer from another insurance company; if PMA had let me I would have worked with both companies.
Shortly before I left PMA I was talking with one of the other agents (who had worked with PMA longer than I had) about leaving and when I did she warned me that all the other agents who had worked with PMA Conseco, after leaving that Conseco had put them into debt, needless to say I was not prepared. The amount of debt that they claimed I owed was almost as much as what I had earned working for them, plus remember; I had all those expenses I had to pay when traveling. Several months after leaving PMA I started receiving phone calls from debt collectors who were claiming to be attorneys, threating to take me to court if I didn’t resolve my debt. So I started reaching out to the other agents that I had worked with at PMA and ALL of them were having the same experience that I was having. So we all got together for breakfast one morning where there was about 15 of us and we all discussed filing a class action lawsuit but never did; we all seemed to get too involved with our new jobs and went on with our lives. I look back today and wish we had pursued or quest for judgment because one person I know actually did. From what I understand they will never let it go to court because they will have to produce their records proving the debt and they will never do that because they don’t want their scam to be reviled, however the debt will be put on your credit report if you don’t fight it.
In my time there the average agent worked with PMA for about 3-6 months and was put into debt anywhere from $2000 to $7000. The longer one worked with PMA or the more money one made, the higher their debt was. I worked with PMA quite a bit longer so my debt is quite a bit more than the average. The sad thing is I know of a couple of people who went ahead and paid off their debt, one paid $7000 putting their debt on a credit card; he had only worked with PMA for about 3 months. I also worked there long enough to be vested, meaning I was to receive residual income, however I have not seen a dime of it and to make matters worse the following year where I did not work for PMA at all, not receiving any type of compensation, they had the nerve to send me a Form 1099 for an amount well over $10,000 of compensation for that year (it was for the amount of my debt actually). This is why they put such a great emphasis on recruiting many new agents. Each new person recruited creates a new financial opportunity by putting those people into debt. I have never been witness to a machination so Machiavellian. To say that PMA Conseco is a scam or a rip off are not quite strong enough of words to use, they are the equivalent of a Ponzi Scheme. I believe Financial Terrorist would be a much more appropriate phrasing of words in describing PMA Conseco.
Since my days with PMA I have had success working with several other group benefit enrollment companies that have pay well, pay my expenses when I travel, including but not limited to my airfare, rental car, hotel and mileage, and never expected me to be captive. A few of these reputable Companies would be, EOI, Univers and Hodges & Mace.
If you do go to work with PMA Conseco depending on what region you’re in, you could have an opportunity to make a lot of money or really waste a lot of your time, but no matter what the case, always beware of the consequences of leaving the firm known as PMA USA.
Mike12
new wilmington,#5UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, March 26, 2013
I was brought into the mess by matt L. Do not trust ANYONE in this company. I met chris S when i first started working but he soon left for the military. I worked for 8 months. Matt told me i would get my backends, i made about 9,000 while there so i should have got another 9 in backends. Nope, i got 0. They just recently told me that i actually owe them 3500!! They will never see that money from me, i was lied too about EVERYTHING. Literally everything matt told me about pay, advances, gifts, traveling...all lies. I never even had a chance to read the contract, they sat me down at a state meeting with all the top dogs and put paper after paper in front of me telling me to sign everywhere, not telling me what was what, just saying don't worry just sign here. I was 19 at the time so i was nervous and excited to be starting something new and from what they told me, i thought it was the start of a good life. Absolutely not, don't be fooled by these people. If you want more names ask me, im not sure if im allowed to state there last name and will not do so until i know i am legally allowed. And i would love to go more into detail about everything if anyone is interested. Also, if anyone else goes through the same BS, don't pay a penny. Once you break and pay a penny your locked in. Lets stand up against this!
Fortune5ceo
United States of America#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, February 26, 2013
Before i start..its OBVIOUS the first comment the ONLY "positive" one comes from someone at the home office of PMA....do NOT beleive them they are scum just as is the entire company....
I was AMAZED to google this company i dreadfully used to work for and
see ALL these people had the SAME experience....WOW! I too, was brought
in by Chris Shropshire, with promised of making lots of money and
climbing my way up the ladder (pyramid). This whole company is made up
of used car salesman type and wouldnt be surprised to see them on CNBC's
show "American Greed: Scams." From top to bottom these guys are
scumbags, just one richer than the next.
The sell BOGUS policies that NOONE needs or NEVER sees a benefit from. THEN, if you are the
employee that SELLS a policy then you quit, the hire ANOTHER sucker to
use to come in, cancel ALL the policies YOU wrote (so they can file a
chargeback on commission to YOU) and then the RE-WRITE the policy AGAIN
so the NEW agent makes money...
its such a scam their isnt enough time in the day by Chris Shropshire and his "superiors" will sell
you a dream and then make you drive all over the place to sit in a
place where NOONE wants what your selling. its laughable. DO NOT EVER
WORK FOR PMA - PERFORMANCE MATTERS ASSOCIATES. Please note i am NOT a
disgruntled employee.. im someone who has been away from this company
for 6 years and VERY successful in my new venture. I speak HONESTLY and
ONLY to protect those naive to PMA / Chris Shropshire games.
Emanuel
New Orleans,#7General Comment
Sun, August 19, 2012
Thank you for commenting on your experince. It really helps those of us who want both sides from companies such as this.
Its difficult enough to find meaningful work now especially in the insurance sector. I'll do a little more research should I decide to call them back, but I'll be especially cautious. There seems to be rampant misrepresentations about what some of these Insurance Companies say to prospective hires but have no legitmate structure or for tha matter ethics. Thank you again.
PMAUSA / Dallas, TX
Dallas,#8UPDATE Employee
Fri, June 24, 2011
Performance Matters Associates (PMAUSA) offers an outstanding opportunity for anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit and strong work ethic. We provide you the sales system, training, income, awards and recognition while you build your own business as an independent contractor insurance agent.
Our system has proven successful for many folks who are making more money than they ever thought possible, building renewal income for their future while helping Americans through the outstanding supplemental health and life products we are proud to market for Washington National Insurance Company.
This business is not for everyone perhaps your personal lifestyle does not allow you to commit, perhaps you just dont have what it takes to be a true self-starter with that entrepreneurial spirit.
Were sorry for those who did not succeed with us and sincerely wish you the best for the future. However, what we absolutely know for sure and stand behind 100% is that if you combine a strong commitment to working the system with all the tools and resources we offer success is indeed achievable!