Complaint Review: Primerica - Pewaukee Wisconsin

I would like to thank these folks at this website and some of those who have contibuted. Fred thank you very much for your sharing your experience and insights concerning Primerica. Today I had my first interview with this organization. I guess I originally went out of curiosity, but about ten minutes into the meeting I felt that I was given a sales pitch more then an interview. The recruiter asked me would I was interested in attending a group intrerview. I said yes, but I will probably do some research on the organization first, simply because I do not like making crucial business decisions with out a little intel about a company's history. At that point, the recruiter advised me not to believe everything I would read and that some of the branch organizations are mismanaged. Well, the red lights strated flashing. I am very grateful that Rip_Off Report provides this service to consumers and emeployees. PS Dear mom of eighteen year old. Let your son know that there are millions of opportunities for success in our country. The hardest problem is choosing which options to take.

I have been in the financial services business for 15 years. Last week, I received a call from a Primerica recruiter. I told him I wasn't interested in joining his firm and he was practically begging me to reconsider. At no time during this conversation did I ever reveal that I have a background in the business. I was just some guy he called out of the blue. In the real world, the cold, cut-throat world, legitimate financial services companies don't cold-call prospective empoyees. As for Primerica's business model, there is no place for multi-level marketing in financial services. Its fine if you want to scam someone into buying an overpriced water filter or skin cream, but 18 year-olds have no business advising people on their finances. One parting shot to Donna: Do you know how much buying power $650k will have when this 18 year-old turns 60? Let me answer that. At 3.5% inflation you're talking about $145K.

I have been in the financial services business for 15 years. Last week, I received a call from a Primerica recruiter. I told him I wasn't interested in joining his firm and he was practically begging me to reconsider. At no time during this conversation did I ever reveal that I have a background in the business. I was just some guy he called out of the blue. In the real world, the cold, cut-throat world, legitimate financial services companies don't cold-call prospective empoyees. As for Primerica's business model, there is no place for multi-level marketing in financial services. Its fine if you want to scam someone into buying an overpriced water filter or skin cream, but 18 year-olds have no business advising people on their finances. One parting shot to Donna: Do you know how much buying power $650k will have when this 18 year-old turns 60? Let me answer that. At 3.5% inflation you're talking about $145K.

I have been in the financial services business for 15 years. Last week, I received a call from a Primerica recruiter. I told him I wasn't interested in joining his firm and he was practically begging me to reconsider. At no time during this conversation did I ever reveal that I have a background in the business. I was just some guy he called out of the blue. In the real world, the cold, cut-throat world, legitimate financial services companies don't cold-call prospective empoyees. As for Primerica's business model, there is no place for multi-level marketing in financial services. Its fine if you want to scam someone into buying an overpriced water filter or skin cream, but 18 year-olds have no business advising people on their finances. One parting shot to Donna: Do you know how much buying power $650k will have when this 18 year-old turns 60? Let me answer that. At 3.5% inflation you're talking about $145K.

Fred, You absolutely nailed it! You're the man! Everybody that visits this site needs to see your posting. It should be required reading for anybody even thinking about doing business with this PFS. Hats off to you. Best regards,

Ed, Can you please tell me the date of the event you think I'm talking about. I know that these gatherings at the Convention Center take place several times a year. Here's the context in which it was said at the meeting I attended: The kid got up on stage, extremely enthusiastic. It was as if he had just consumed a gallon of expressso. This kind of enthusiasm is to be expected from an 18 year old and it's perfect for what these meetings are all about: hype. He got the crowd going and cheering. He started talking about how much he loves his job, how much he loves his team, and how much he loves Primerica. It was then, under this context, early in his speech, with no mention of families he had saved, that he pointed to the crowd and said If anyone says anything negative about Primerica, I'll kick their a*s in the parking lot. Later on, he did use an overhead projector and talked about saving a family just like EVERY speaker did before and after him. I was told by an RVP that he was 18 years old. I was told that I should worship at his altar since he had achieved so much at such a young age. If that was not his age, it would not have been the only lie that RVP told me. He sure acted like an 18 year on that stage. Even if we use YOUR account of the events, I don't see how YOUR context of the statement justifies such behavior. According to your view, because you perceive other insurance agents to be corrupt, it's ok for your agents to make a general threat to everyone about speaking ill of your company. The threat, even in your account, was made to everyone, not just competing insurance agents. You said The speaker's challenge was, this is what Primerica does, and if you say Primerica sucks, he'll kick your a*s. What is the challenge exactly? To threaten people? To kick people's a*s? You were not very clear on that. What does causing physical harm to someone have to do with selling insurance? What did the anything negative entail? What if I say: Primerica sucks because they take choice away from their customers since they have to buy whatever Citigroup is selling at whatever price Citigroup is charging, therefore depriving the client of shopping around for the best deal for them. Whether you agree with me or not on that point, I feel it is a valid point to bring up and discuss. How does that warrant an a*s kicking in the parking lot? Please don't tell me you don't see a threat like if anyone says anything negative about Primerica, I'll kick their a*s in the parking lot as divisive. People in meetings are told that everyone else selling insurance is out to rip people off and that ONLY Primerica can save the masses. In your meetings, and here in this website, Primerica supporters claim that only they educate the public about finances. You don't find these claims just, perhaps, a tad divisive? The kid in question, in the same speech, said We think selling cash value insurance is a license to steal. You don't think that portrays you as the good guys and everyone else as the bad guys, therefore fostering an Us vs. Them attitude? I think people can make up their own minds about that one. The meeting I attended took place in MR403 at the Convention Center. According to their website, the capacity is 1,000 people. That puts me off by 700 and you off by 2,000 (this is assuming the room was full, which it wasn't). There was definitely no overflow room (unless you are counting the people who went outside in the hall to take a break form the massive boredom). At the section where I sat, there were plenty of empty seats near by (the more the meeting went on, the more people would leave). After so much BS, I had to step out for a few minutes too. Like me, the people in the hallway must have been dragged there under false pretenses. I heard some people in the bathroom talking about other get rich quick schemes they were working on. They were giving each other tips on other companies and other meetings to attend that sounded good. While outside, I also saw something that sickened me. There was a long table selling all sorts of items with the Primerica logo slapped on them. There were mugs, key chains, pens, wallets, etc. You see, people who work for Primerica are not just an employee, they're also a costumer. They are encouraged to buy Primerica's insurance, therefore, when they sign up, they're the automatic first customer. Then they sell them all kinds of crap. When you're struggling, they tell you that you're not fully committed and you need to buy this tape, this book, and to attend this seminar. There are people making a good living giving speeches at different Primerica branches. Primerica, the company, gets a cut from these seminars of course. It's a very good scam. You have a captive market of 100,000 people to sell to. Take this Convention Center event as an example. There was a fee to get in. If we use the figure of close to 1,000 people, that's a lot of money Primerica made. The cost to rent that room for a day is less than $2,000.00. I don't know what the fee was, but it wasn't $2.00. I refused to pay ANY fee. My friend, who works for Primerica, invited me and ended up paying for my entrance. He refused to tell me what the meeting was about, so I refused to pay. It's very sad when you have a friend whom you have known for years; you know personal information about them and how they really are, and therefore you can tell when they are talking straight out of a Primerica script. I know he wouldn't give me details about the meeting because that's what they are told to do. He told me to go just to show support. Later I found out that Primerica defines support as joining. I did go to support my friend, but not without feeling used. I attended a branch meeting prior to this other big meeting at the Convention Center. There I found out that my friend had invited me because an RVP had put pressure on him to bring as many people as possible, and the main person at the branch had also put pressure on the RVP's for the same reason. All of this pressure was because which ever branch brought the most people (remember, this would be paying people) to the Convention Center, the main person at that branch would get a free trip somewhere. This main person (I forget his official title) even told people in the branch meeting bring anybody! Sure it's about helping people Ed. There was one person being crowned RVP that day, out of approximately 1,000!!! Even if it had been just 300 people, this should give you an idea of your odds to make RVP at Primerica. I believe these crownings do not take place every month, but let's say they did. That's 12 per year. Are the other people not working hard enough? Maybe they haven't attended enough seminars or bought enough books/tapes. Or perhaps, as it has been suggested many times in this website, the system is designed for the many to fail and the few to prosper. This is how I think your helping people scam works. Say I know a family who decided to buy a car. They are new to L.A. and don't know much about cars, except that you basically need one to live here. They decide to get a BMW for $65,000.00. It's a well known, reliable, brand. They had been convinced by a corrupt car sales man that this was the car they needed. Then I approach them and tell them they do not need to buy such an expensive luxury car. I use our friendship to convince them that all they need is a reliable and economical car that will accomplish the basic task of transporting them. I tell them to buy a quality, cheaper, car and invest their savings in their future. I sell them a Honda Civic (good, reliable automobile). I give it to them for $35,000. They are amazed that they saved themselves $30,000 Dollars!! They can't believe this big amount that will really help them in the future, and that they avoided such a big mistake. They promise to invite me to all of their future Bar-B-Q's. As some of you may know, the Kelly Blue Book value of a new Honda Civic is close to $22,500.00. If this transaction, between the family and I, were to take place, there would be two UNDENIABLE truths that could be said about it: 1) I helped the family save $30,000.00 and 2) I screwed them over for $10,000.00. This is what happens when Primerica replaces cash-value insurance for their over priced term insurance. Primerica likes to hit you over the head with the #1 part of this transaction and pretend #2 never happens when in fact, the main reason why #1 takes place is to get to #2 Hope you got more out of the meeting I did. I found out Primerica is the greatest thing to happen to mankind since the invention of portable water. This meeting was nothing more than a larger, longer, paid version of the branch meetings people talk about in this website. There was a lot of We're great, We rock, and I love Primerica. There was a parade of I helped a family speeches. Also, if you look back at Ed's paragraph that begins with 165 million, there was a lot of that scripted propaganda too. One speaker was giving advice to new agents. He said that to buy life insurance was to show you love your family. He then said When you sit down at a family's table, ask them: Do you love your family? If they say no, walk away! Way to go out on a limb Primerica. What a risk taker you are Primerica. Who's going to say no to that? If you have been to Primerica meetings, you are familiar with this tactic. They ask questions whose answers are obvious, then they use that answer to try to manipulate you into joining or buying their products. Tell me if these sound familiar: Do you think you're making enough at your current job?, Would you like to retire early?, Do you want to set your own hours?, and of course, Do you want to help people? Then, the featured speaker came on and told a story of how his family bought a ridiculously expensive horse in Santa Barbara and how this horse thought them lessons about life. Yes folks, people pay money to go to these things. This meeting was nothing more than a way for Primerica to promote itself and milk even more money out of their agents and their friends and families. I wasted 3 hours of my life with this crap. Or was it 30 Ed? Actually, it was a little over 4 hours, but it did feel like 30. Blessings to you too.

Fred, I was at the same meeting at the L.A. Convention Center. And, there were 3000 people there in the main auditorium, not counting the ones in the overflow room. Not the 300 you say were there. Regarding the 18 yr old who you claim said "I'll kick your a*s in the parking lot", all I have to say is do not take what he said out of context. Oh, by the way he's in his mid-20's, he's not 18. He was recounting an appointment he had with a client who he had sat down with, and the insurance agent who originally sold him his policies was overcharging him. If you remember he held up 12 different policies, and that was for the husband, the wife, and the kids, and according to him, the agent was coming back to write up more coverage on that family. Clearly, that family was being taken advantage of. What the Primerica rep did for that family was to lower the monthly premium, on ONE policy that covered the whole family. He was able to cover them for same coverage, but less monthly premium, and have the difference invested towards retirement. 165 million families are being taken advantage off by insurance companies who are only out to make a profit for themselves. What Primerica does is to educate families by offering them a better alternative, you can pay less a month for more coverage, and you can invest in a good financial vehicle towards retirement. It wasn't an "US vs. THEM" mentality that the speaker was promoting. He clearly saved a family from financial devastation because a CORRUPT NON-PRIMERICA agent was only out to make a profit for himself. The speaker's challenge was, this is what Primerica does, and if you say Primerica sucks, he'll kick your a*s. Clearly, he saved a family's future and anyone who criticises that should have his head examined. There are better alternatives out there. Review all your options, look in the fine print of your policies, and judge for yourself. In my opinion, Primerica did a very honourable thing here. It wasn't the first case, and it certainly won't be the last. But sadly, even when all the figures are laid out and the better alternative makes more sense, people still don't make wise decisions. But that's another story. Hope you got more out of the meeting than just your misunderstanding of that one incident. Blessings to you.

In response to Donna, there is no opportunity with Primerica to make a decent living, let alone the fantastic promises made from the reps about the "opportunity" to make a lot of money. The basis of their business is still a pyramid although they like to refer to themselves as a "multi-level marketing company" or a "networking company." The only way to make money which this company aggressively pursues is to get people to join and since there are only so many people to go around (except for the less than 3% at the top of the pyramid), then there are going to be many losers, financially speaking. If they make you a promise, tell them to put it in writing or go after somebody else. This company is notorious for contacting you on the flimsiest of excuses (they don't care about your experience). The company reps make promises that they don't intend to honor and their term insurance is extremely high priced which the top echelon benefit from. If a rep claims to make a lot of money, ask for a copy of the most recent tax return to prove it along with his or her pay stubs. Also find out how much of that income is due to product sale as opposed to income derived from team members, direct and indirect. Of course, people at maturity can think for themselves. But I rather get advice from someone who I know is in my corner (i.e. a parent) than from a Primerica shill.

I attended a regional meeting with a crowd of about 300 people at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The 18 year old agent went up on stage and told the crowd "If anyone says anything negative about Primerica, I'll kick their a*s in the parking lot". Nice professionalism Primerica. This was received with applause. Primerica, as is evident in this website, promotes an "us vs. them" attitude in which insulting and putting down competitors is highly encouraged. This is doing a total disservice to these 18 year olds. When the time comes and they quit Primerica (as the overwhelming number of agents, regardless of age, tend to do), they'll take this unproffesional attitude into the real business world. They will be in for a rude awakening. By the way, the 18 year old on stage was discovered by Primerica at a local Community College. Somehow, this kid had trouble with the SAT's, yet managed to breeze through Primerica's state of the art training. Notice how Primerica agents manipulate words to imply things that really have no logic. Notice how Donna implied that this kid's financial life will be ruined UNLESS Primerica rescues him. We live in an age where information regarding financial management is available in websites, books, and even 24 hours cable channels dedicated to the subject. For Primerica agents to be presumptuous enough to claim that only through them can you gain all of this knowledge shows how out of touch they are. What can you expect of people who are self righteous enough to refer to selling overpriced insurance as "helping people"?

Dear Mom of 18 year old, perhaps instead of thinking of this interaction as a horrible harrassment of your son, perhaps it was the only opportunity he will ever get. How many times has opportunity knocked at your door? Is Mom financially indepedent? Your son's lucky day was the day he was approached by a Primerica recruiter, maybe the business is not for everyone, maybe your son does not have the capabilities of anything beyond working at a restaurant for someone else the rest of his life, but let him be the judge of that, he can't be that naive at 18 yrs. old and if he is, he needs what Primerica offers, if not for the opportunity to be in business for himself, but at the very least the basic knowledge of how money works, if every 18 yr. old was given this chance, and ran with it, the next generation would be so much better off financially and educationally. If your son even learned enough to start a Roth IRA at 18, and saved $50./mo until retirement age (65), at an average return of 10%, he would have over $650,000 at retirement!! Will his employer at the restaurant teach him that, not likely. Sorry to say, I think your son's lucky day passed him by, and maybe you, Mom, were the cause of it.