Complaint Review: The Hospitality Group THG ICM SMG - Chicago Illinois

SO - i worked there in 2006 (worst mistake of my life). Can anyone tell me if Jon Stromberg was fired or quit?

I ask because I see he started his own fake company to rip off people (stromberg sports). 

I know this because I see his name on a marketing website that has one of my co-workers on it... Some organization that my counterpart had no idea he was on and called to get his name off the website. 

I red a half dozen of these reports. Everything negative is pretty spot on about THG Worldwide which was changed to THG Sports. 

As a senior manager of one of the professional sports teams in the city I just want to let anyone know that we don't hire (nor does any chicago team) hire anyone with this kind of negative experience. The only time we do is if they say the experience was negative and can give us a positive on how it changed their life - seeing how things are NOT done. 

95% of everyone who works at THG has never been to an event. As someone since who has worked a superbowl, world series, and stanley cup championship I will tell you that there is a reason for it... they aren't great events. If company wants to get hospitality at an event they can on their own - there is no reasons for THG other than to be a secondary market for rip-offs. 

and for the moron who says you shouldn't sell to CMO's and who works in Atlanta - you obviously dont know one bit of the corporate structure. I am pretty sure your CMO if for some reason (there is no reason) needed to make a decision like that could without asking. Marketing departments are the ones that plan such events - hence why they dont want you talking to them (because they are in the know). 

No hard feelings to anyone that works there, now. God Bless and I hope you don't drag on the poor experience too long. I hope they are outed with the press sooner than later... and people who work there dont think this is how business is actually done. 

hi everyone,

i have briefly gone through the comments posted re the company and its practices. im still employed with thg and have seen quite a lot of success with the group. its a fun culture and really pushes your selling capabilities to the limit. i am not surprised that a few people are pissed off with the company coz they might have struggled through and fallen prey to the pressure. the fact is that this job is not for everyone, you need to be aggressive and tencious to survive and succeed here. not all are born with these traits.

This complaint is about a different company and not ICM or Internet Cash Machine or ICM websites.

90 percent of direct sales jobs do not use a cancellation pitch lie line in their presentations you idiot. You are either a stupid person or you are lying to yourself. I have worked in 5 other direct sales jobs and never was told to our forced to lie to clients in my first line of dialogue to them as a matter of company policy. The goal of this strategy is good but the means to get there is wrong, dishonest, unethical and not honest business practice. 

I just recently left Marcus Evans and everything negative that I have read in this entire chain of posts is accurate from what I know. Every post writer who denies it sounds like a manager. Everyone who has been with the company for 5 years or more is most definitely a manager because sales reps quit or are laid off within 9 months of employment. It is that easy to become a manager at Marcus Evans. Just stick around for a few years. During my interview, I was also talked to by the General Manager about how I would have to tell white lies and exagerate and create a made up sense of urgency and how it was fine to do this if the sales rep makes it sound as if it is a real deadline that we are working under, and not just a push salesman being pushy for no reason. I was also told that this was OK because real retail stores do this every day when they have discounts some days and not other days. The only point they left out was that these stores never say something like: paper towel is half off this week because one of our vendors mistakingly sent us one extra box of paper towels so the next person to buy it can get it at a discounted price. This is how Marcus Evans and their reps are able to offer special rare discounted one-time lowered prices today "which wont be available this time tomorrow". That would be a bold face lie. Even thought the outcome is the same, the means to get there is very different. The British CEO Theron will try to thrown you off with questions, whether to a potential employee during an interview or to a prospect t on a cold call follow up, in order to make it seem and feel like he is from a worthy, valuable, high-level, successful, non-desperate, financially-comfortable company. But he is not. I believe they are forced to restructure every few years under slightly different company names and letter combinations because their clients starts talking to each other in an attempt at some calm and honesty and truth after they were just bamboozled into a chaotic 24-hour buying decision and signature. Your event may wind up being OK, maybe not but you were most definitely lied to and tricked into signing, so do you want to "partner" with people like that? By the time you call back to try to get out of your contract, the sales rep who first cold called you will be unreachable because he has quit after feeling bad for raping his own soul during the sale he just closed.

I  was called for an interview for an inside sales position. I would be working for a fairly attractive blonde Sales Manager (on her linked-in profile, but her biz card said otherwise). The initial pitch to get me down there assumed that I had heard of them and knew what they did. I do not remember applying for the position but she has my resume. I figured this is good practice for a real interview on Friday.

Sean, I am a former Marcus Evans/THG employee.

I have read your report and can only say that I believe that you are angry at ME for some reason.  I had over 8 years of direct b2b sales before I joined them and spent 5 years with them.

I earned good money and had a good experience there, they have some undesirable elements but so do all companies.

The cancellation pitch is a sales tactic used in 90% of all direct sales companies, it isn't something that they made up

I'm sorry to say this but it sounds like you were hired, failed to make money and blamed everyone else for your failure.

To me that is not a reason to file something on here. I hope that you have found your niche elsewhere and I wish you good luck.

Ben

I've spent the better part of two hours reading all these posts and I'm fairly impressed with the sense of community that developed among many of the ME/THG/ICM/SMG telemarketers. In light of the present economic situation, it's entirely possible that there are not many corporate sports and entertainment event packages being sold at present. I have both client requirements and positions within my own enterprises that need to be filled that could utilize the skill sets and contacts developed at these enterprises. Alumni of these organizations are welcome to submit a current CV to me at (((ROR redacted))) Good luck and Best Wishes to all. Kay CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Thanks guys! I smelled something fishy from the "sense of urgency" I got just from the FIRST CALL! He made it sound like he was busy, and needed to schedule the interview TOMORROW, other wise I may lose my chance at working with them! He also told me that I can't cancell the interview, because then it would make him "look bad"...WTF? Who says that??? I knew it was WEIRD! My interview is actually this morning at 9am...but I got up early to watch the testimonials, which I was instructed to take notes...and then decided to google this company because something didn't seem right. I understand companies validating their good work, but that's not something you give an "assignment" on...as soon as he told me to watch the testimonials and take notes because I might get "quizzed" later on them...I knew something was off! I'm not going and I hope he doesn't get in trouble that I have to cancell, but I just realized my car broke down. Also, to the guy who is the broadcasting major...I have family that works for the tribune, and was thinking about emailing my cousin to tell him about all the scams that I've found thanks to this website...which suprisingly, all turn out to be RIGHT! I would love to see an article in the job section on a sunday morning on "companies to avoid"!

hey Guys Lex, Zidane and otehrs anti-THG. Mnay thanks for your posts and comments. See teh problem is that I am an investment banker in London and I lost my job cos of credit crunch thing and I am desperate to get anything. I applied for this sales role as my previous derivatives sales expertise is no longer required on teh market as recession destroys everything. So, to use my ssales skills i decided to go for a commerical role and saw this role - you were all right - they only have their web sites - full of nothing and cool pics of sport events and that;'s it and if you look at their inv mission etc 0- it sucks! Look at normal firms inv mission or phylosophy and you will see all teh ususla stuff. so, the ladey called my afetr my application and I sadid as a normal B2B sales guy = I will respond after reviewing apps as I made a lot of tehm recently. She said call me back _ i did the next day and being busy and haveing read only THG web site with nothing on it - no people nothing. Google gave nothing as well only scattered as you said job postings across all sites - and all tehse sites are dodgy - not a decent stuff like e-financialcareers.com. anyway, I was surpirsed as these guys had so many offices and no reports on teh firm wahtsoever no interview in media - kinda CIA type of organisation. So, I had intial phone interview and ......not surpriesd was succesfull. See, I have got used to B2B stuff whereby I visit clients and tehn after interview offer I rwealised that it was purew telesales. It was fine as I need to pay my mortgage and Grodon Brown seems struggling with economy. But hten I saw ripoff! God could not sleep - read all of it - 4 hours of reading! Thanks guys several points - during interview- lady asked whether I saw them on the web - I said yes - thg officicla site and no entry on WIKI. Then, she said how about being tricky? I said in a corporate world you can't do that - but she said look Wal Mart etc do that even with food prom,otions - theiy lie! anyway, I send them e-mail and declined interview! Guys, I atached the link to this report! Hope they did enjoy it. ...lady replied back wishing me luck one poet said.....better live in poverty than eating anything Thanks guys!

American psycho-- A. Learn to write in English and if you are going to use Spanish learn to write in Spanish too! B. Take your own advice and get a life--great if you loved it and had a bloody good time but that is just NOT most people's experience with this company. (You also sound like a current employee trying to repair this crap company's reputation). C. Take your own advice and do not use profanity--s**t is profane last I checked! D. You are far from the only one who made a lot of money there, so did I and many others who readily admit what a scam this company is. E. I suggest you get a hobby as well as you are obviously wasting YOUR time replying to all this to defend an employer you seemingly loved and moved on from---why you back?

Please note that rebuttals should NOT contain any of the following: Profanity, obscenity, threats of violence, racist remarks, false statements, personal information (i.e., social security numbers, credit card numbers, home address(es) or phone numbers), or any other information which violates Ripoff Report's Terms of Service; Rumors, speculation, or innuendo unless you have personal knowledge that your statements are true; Trivial comments (i.e., Nice report!) which do not add anything useful to the discussion. Obviously no one understands that....it's not really surprising neither. I'll comment myself also then. Guys your comments are based on "we are the nice people and we fight against the vilain. The vilain is bad and do bad things, hopefully the vilain will lose because we, the nice, we are good....) That's pathetic. I worked for the company in Europe and made s**t loads of money out of it. Converting in USD it was about USD 130k the 1st year and 150k the following one. I enjoyed it and have lot of friends working still there. You know if you do not know which constructive hobby you could have, that's fair enough but slagging your ex company just for the sake of doing it, frustration or else is ridiculous. It's not even damaging anything. Any normally brained person would understand what you do and I am not talking about you the guy who has been almost had (obviously you are just a sheep). I have been made aware of this ripoff report from a simple google search and I felt guys that all that anger was wow way way WAYtoo much. No one forced you to join. You live in US which the system is made clearly on "make it or die" and you are crying about it. I feel that with all that energy you were putting into slagging of the whole company, you could use that time supporting a better cause as it is the trend in your home country, you know all the charity stuff you have : the poor, the cyclone damages or cancer, aids whatever.....there are a lot of positive things to do in life appart from being angry, grumpy and stupid.....If you are not convinced, come to Europe and I'll give you a ride in my Porsche that THG subsequentely help me to buy for my 26 birthday! As one of your inspirational gosvernor said once "Asta la vista baby" or "i'll be back"...

All I have to add to all readers of this page is to please do not be: 1. Confused by individual(s) posting here denying the truth & trying to cloud what reality really is at THG / Marcus Evans. 2. Lured into doing any future business by such a "sketchy" organization. You WILL be much better served by doing a little research and finding the event provider directly and sign a contract with them; as opposed to signing with a 3rd Party that has no link to the event For ZIDANE - keep it up. By exposing the truth you make the "roaches" run for cover. Sunlight exposes an multitude of BS. To all readers - again - read over all the comments posted here. You should be able to see what the reality is with this company.

Well I should guess that whatever I decide to do with my free time is my business. Truth be told, my interest in keeping this post active should give all an idea of how much I do not wish anyone to make the mistakes many of us have made, whether we be ex-employees, or customers. Actually, you have just managed to reiterate my point to those who may read these posts. You have personally attacked me with numerous slanders. You have never worked with me, nor I suspect have any managerial skills or you would avoid this website. Typical emotional response from a monkey who is trained to push for an emotional sale. I stand behind every post I have written, and if you are right, and I have to stand in a courtroom some day, I will be more than happy to produce facts to back up my claims. My only goal continues to be to: 1. Help consumers choose carefully before making a purchase from this company 2. Disprove any nonsense posted about how great this company was to work for. My suggestion to you Monkey is to get on the phone and make some calls. Have a nice day.

Zidane: How many times have you posted on here Zidaine...10-12? Great hobby! "Boo-h*o! marcus evans treated me unfairly and I can't get over it." Get a life: One that doesn't consist of posting this brand of fabricated, mindless and nonsensical jibberish that you call complaints. Aside from your posts being both malicious and unfounded, they have slandered and made repeated personal attacks against several people; many of which, are still with the company. Do you realize that marcus evans has a legal team designated to dealing with issues exactly like this? They will find you. Even if you had a reasonable qualm with marcus evans, nobody would care because you're such an inbred piece of euro-trash that in your twenty-something year search for that missing chromosome, you've become disconnected with reality. That said, it's not at all surprising that you haven't found another job. Tip: Don't go into an interview smelling like Drakar Noir cologne, with your greasy mullet pulled back behind your enormous ears and those glistening globs of moisturizer still lingering in your finger nails from last night's rub down. You're really starting to sound repetitive. I think that we all get your point; perhaps, it's time to let somebody else to voice their opinion, whether it be positive or negative. And, please, let them do so without you attacking through (your sad excuse for) a rebuttal. Cheers, -T.T.

First of all, do not fool yourself. Dorothy you are not in Kansas anymore-comes to mind! Allen you are in Sweden, it is socialist to the core. IF you were to make the money they claim, which you won't (how is Sutor anyway?), then you would owe so much tax that when all is said and done you would have less stress in your life if you just got a job at Ica! It is part of the socialist way---tax anyone who makes money to be equal to people who make low wages so we can pay for the socialised system! If you are interested in making money, go back to USA (I assume from your spelling). I do not know anyone who moved to Sweden for a significant other who is happy long term anyway, everyone has eventual regrets. I would recommend taking advatnage of the system, getting an education etc. then move with your gf to your home country where you have actual opportunity. The other issue is that you will never make the money they promise and after 6-8 months you will get bored and angry and if you go on A-kassa you will just end up getting less money than you would on socialbidrag. I just would never recommend Marcus Evans to anyone BUT especially not where your income is capped anyway due to taxes because if you are one of the rare exceptions and earn money, you will just be paying it back in taxes anyway! The only people that benefit are the ones on top who have secret deals with Marcus himself to only be paid out their basic salaries in Sweden and the rest of the money is paid out to an offshore account or an account in UK or USA depending on where they come from!

To the IT guy from Sweden...DON"T DO IT!!! They are already trying to "close" you by giving you a deadline. Believe me, they are ALWAYS hiring so don't make the mistake of thinking you have to accept right away. This is precisely the way they "work" perspective clients, to make them feel that they will "miss out on the opportunity.." I guarantee you that if you call them back in a month, nothing will have changed, and they will hire you then. You, as an IT person will absolutely be out of your element sitting at a little desk all day, calling CEO's or MD's of companies, hoping to get them to buy some of the s**t ME sells. You will come home after work feeling tired, dejected, and bitter. Reread the numerous posts above. These are all talented, smart, energetic, people who have all had their lives drastically affected by this company. None of these people (except "Barbie", that idiot from South Africa) would be so inclined as to spend their valuable time warning potential clients and employees just for the hell of it. They are all trying to save others from grief. DON'T DO IT!

I have been to an interview recently with SMG. I am a forigner living in stockholm sweden with my wife as she is attending school. i was looking for a job to make some money to get us established so we can get our own place and build a life here. i was wondering if its a horrible idea to take the job... will i actually make the money being shown during the interview (i realize i would have to make the sales). or should i take help from the social system to learn the language and possibly go to university afterwards? any advice would be great.. i have never done a sales position before.. im more of a computer nerd (tech support etc.). i seen all the negative posts but is it really THAT bad? or are people just bitter? any replies would be great as i need to give a decision tomorrow.. thanks!

Hi BBKING- I was very high up in management at ME in Europe and I have to be honest, RUN! I know first hand how impressive it can be but it is not worth the long-term pain. If your goal is to learn the language of the country you are going to and perhaps make it your permanent home, do it and look at it as you are using them and not vice versa. BUT be warned, if they feel you are not living up to their expectations, they can well have you in a lease, out of a job and alone on a foreign country. My honest advice is go to a UK recruiting agency and look hard for something real that can be a foundation for you. I too was so impressed my first days there. I remember going to the interview, at the time I was a sales manager somewhere else and ME just opened their office in my city and I decided to answer the advertisement as it was being paid in pounds not in Kronor which I thought was great! All the people and their suits and ties and skirt suits and their "posh" office address etc. I was elated as it was just my second "real" job after university and I thought it was great. Soon I learned the truth but by then, I was a rare exception, I was making a ton of money and being offered the opportunity to advance in lightening speed. I was promoted and given a three week period to pack my life, make a decision first of all, and go on my way. I knew then I should not but I did. After that for the next 3 years I was owned by Marcus being promoted to where he wanted me and ending up at the top only to find myself in a crisis of conscience and having to ultimately leave. Getting a real job after ME is on your CV is NOT easy. I rose during the dot com boom and with the exception of a bad 8 month period continued to set records and impress well into the last post 9/11 world recession. When I left even sales companies did not want to touch me as any recruiter (in UK especially) whom you send your CV to will immediately brand you as "too agressive and not what our client is looking for" and within the conference arena you will find far too much--"We do not hire ex ME employees". You basically are marked for life and have to spend your time after ME rebuilding your credentials in any job that will take you to put a good distance between your next application and your days at ME. It is like another poster said, ME is a lot like the Mafia, once you are in you rarely get out. I used to call ME "The Firm" based on the movie. I really think people would understand if you said that you did not want to go to a foreign country with no signed contract and guarantee of income. It is not shameful and in the long run if I could be embaressed rather than have to go through the entire "ME" experience, I would choose the former. I just know far too many people who literally never recover from their ME days, be it that they left on their own, were pushed out, let go, or whatever too many good people end up trapped in bad jobs because they built their careers on this farce of a company and are "marked" for life, or else they just are too spoiled, as I was after a while, that they made it up the ladder and end up lazy and feeling that overrides and a high salary, interviewing masses of people and giving hungover "training schools" once a week is how life is. The fact is, real money and long term security comes only in real work and honest work. Just be warned!

I'm a recent grad from a UK school, and I saw a job for THG offering amazing salaries and only asking for minimum qualifications. I did a phone interview than one in person. I was then asked to phone back and was offered the position in Europe. Basic is a dreadful 1200 euros, however the commission looks tasty. Its a big step for me I accepted the job and am about to leave the UK and my home for the first time ever to go to a country where I know nobody and cant speak the language. However from what I can see on this thread its a terrible decision, I'm leaving in a month and it was such a big think to get the job i got congrats cards etc. The company bigged themselves up a massive amount and said to me I should earn over 45k first year... Im really stuck and dont know what to do!!!!

You can always tell the "ex-employees" that really had no tenure with the company as they are the only the ones who write the dribble about "how great everyone was," and "how much I learned from Management, etc.." If you are there for any length of time you will find that this group will feed you to Piranha and grab your ccontracts out of your flailing hands. I know Sean and he is almost as much of a genuine badass as I am. Sean was born tough, but anyone who is with the company for more than a year has no choice but to toughen up from the daily abuse they will receive. It's either that or go home crying like I've seen many times. "Sean E." on the other hand is obviously a pole slurper. NO ONE else who knew Brad Davis could ever say that he was competent to teach anybody anything except possibly how to look like a twerp all day while he continously hemmed and hawed his way through his dismal pitch, calling the warm leads that Stromberg spoon fed to him. By the way, "Sean E," the website is called "Ripoff Report," not "Oh, I'm so happy that I'm alive, I think I'll write about how much I love everyone.. Idiot. Sean Cassidy is going to kick your a*s, and so will I when I meet you. You'll be easy to find, as you'll be the one trying to fit in when you run into real men. Go back to your My Space page and play there. Pole Slurper.

All: The funniest thing in the world happened today. Okay, it wasn't as funny as Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin on SNL this weekend. I just got a call from an old colleague at THG--Tony Dwyer. "You'll never belive this" he said. "Have you ever heard of the ripoff report because your name is being thrown around as having written some report?" Interestingly enough, it was more than easy to find this report on the web. Actually it came up as the second hit on google for marcus evans. Ouch! Tony told me that the report mentioning me would be towards the bottom, thus, I have not had time to read the multitude of reports on here. What I can tell you, Sean Cassiday., is that it was not me, Sean E. that wrote the initial report. However, towards the end of my time with the Brad Davis team at THG we recevied some new recruits after Tony D., Sara L., and Owen R. quit. If I remember correctly, the new talent was a girl named Kara, some guy whom I cant remember his name, Greg Garritson and a Sean C.. Am I really the only one that remembers that Sean C.? I'm not saying it was him, but it certainly was not me that wrote that report. In fact, I owe everything I have today to THG and marcus evans. Brad Davis and Jon Stromberg taught me everything I know about sales. Joel Chiapetta was one of the most talented and admirable people at the company. Paul Meakins is a top-knotch person and producer. Brad Davis was the one and only reason that I acheived success at THG: Thanks, Brad. How are you doing, Cassiday? It's been a while. Hope everything is going well for you. Is Ari Salimi still with the company or what about English Robert? Is Brad Davis still with the company? Any way, I will read the other 50 posts when I have some free time. Unitl then... Best of luck to all my old THG colleagues, Sean Egan

Hello to everyone who has been wirting about their mostly horrible experiences at THG in Chicago. My name is Sean, and I too am a former employee of Marcus Evans in Chicago. I am writing this because I am sick and tired of people thinking that I am the Sean C that wrote a blog about his horrible experiences at THG. I think that for the most part, this guy is right. I however would like to say that if I ever find out who this guy is, I will hunt him down and kick his a*s. I am posting this because I feel that if Sean C should write something, it should be the REAL Sean C and not some coward that feels so strongly about something and yet decides to Mask his name with another former employee's name. Let me begin by saying that the interview process was a joke. I think that I was presented with a much higher base pay and was given something else. I think it was around $1,300 base+commission. So I did know that it was a highly commissioned structured job, not a big deal because we were selling hospitality at major sporting events. Man was I wrong. It was a very tough job. It was a lot of calling 100-150 calls a day. It was very strict with regards to this horrible pitch that was written by Jon Stromberg the GM of Chicago. I will get to Jon in a second. But first I would like to say that it is because of the way that THG treats their employees like drones instead of assets that makes the job so piss poor. For a company that wants everybody in "Business Attire" everyday because it creates a corporate atmosphere, and then has a bell that everyone HAS too ring everytime they get a sale is pretty funny. I looked at this job as a joke from about my 2nd month in. Once that happened I took most things with a grain of salt and my sales started to go up. I understand that people that have written in, and are disgusted with the cancelation pitch. Yeah it was bogus, and if we could have been able to use our ingenuity we probably could have made some more deals. The cancelation pitch will always be around but it is the way that THG made it a point to have EVERYBODY use it. It was by doing this and also letting every account executive call anywhere they wanted that everybody hating THG. I guess that the THG gig made me learn how to budget, because I never knew when my next sale was going to be, and it made me a pro when it came to lead research. You had to find an exec out there that was a decision maker, had the money, had the clients and had never had one of your collegues call them before. Not the easiest thing to do. One thing that I did enjoy about THG was the different people that I got to work with. My first boss Joel Chiappetta became one of my best friends and still is today. In terms of salesmen, Joel is by far one of the best I have ever seen. He did do the cancelation pitch, but for the most part Joel had a personality that execs enjoyed, and that was the reason and probably still is the reason why he is one of the #1 people there in terms of the amount of business written. The person that was the hardest to work with, and for was Jon Stromberg. Jon was also one of the funnest people to work with and for as well because of how big of a complete DORK he was. Jon stands about 6'5 he is about as corporate looking as you can get. I truley believe he was born with the same haircut that he wears to this day. I sort of felt bad for Jon because he truly believed that he had sales talent when all it was, was 17 years of aquiring accounts when people would up and leave because the enviroment that he made sucked so bad. I understand that he did originate sales on his own for a time but lets do the math. That was like in 1991 or 1992 when he started. Back then nobody had been over called with a rediculous pitch, there were less restrictions on corporations buying their clients things like corporate hospitality, and most importantly every f**king company had money. Personally I don't blame Jon for staying at THG for so long. He makes a shitload of money, but it is only because he got in at the right time, and positioned himself in a way where he can fire folks and take their accounts. I think that more people would have like Jon, instead of completley hating him all the time if he would have practiced what he preached. Instead he would go into his office everytime he was about to contradict one of his own rules. Jon also had this nervous twitch in his leg. It would be bouncing up and down a million miles an hour to the point that myself and other managers would worry that he was on something. I guess that it is only logical that a company like Marcus Evans has a guy like Jon. Jon also was very annoying in the way he always used the same inspirational lines, which were not at all inspirational. They are the following: "Come on guys! I walk out here and it's dead! There is no like VIBE!" or "I just want you guys to, ya know HAVE fun with it!" or "I totally want you guys to GET ROCKIN" or "Ya gotta be Smarter than that" Now these were used randomly throughout the day, but the best was when he would get really spastic, and throw them all together. Like this, "Come on guys! It's like totally dead in here! You gotta get rockin ya know?!! Have some fun with it, ya know?!!! There's like no Vibe in here! Come on ya gotta be Smarter than that!??? There are some other ones out there too but you get the idea, and if I go any further my writing could make one of my ex fellow workers have a flashback like a bad acid trip. Marcus Evans was and probably still is Unethical, full of assholes (I was probably one of them) and should probably be shut down. In the end it won't be shut down, and it will keep on getting people in there like me who once they were on board they figure that that they should stay for awhile so they don't look like a job jumper. I met some really great people there though. I met some real idiots too. I am still in sales now and I work for a great company. I make sales through building relationships and by giving realistic expectations of my product. I do miss all of the political incorrectness of THG though. What can I say. Since beginning to write this, I recieved a call from a current worker at Marcus Evans and I was told that Sean Egan was the guy who disguised his name with mine. Better watch out Mr. Egan. Chicago is'nt that big of a town. I was planning on just getting on with my career and forgetting about THG. But I guess THG is sort of like the Mafia. "Once I think I'm out. They pull me BACK in!"

I worked in the now defunct San Francisco office from September 1999 through the end of 2001. First, the good stuff.... I was hired by Brad Miller, who left Marcus Evans and started his own shop in San Francisco. I hope he is doing well because at the end of the day, deep down, Brad is a good guy. He, like many of us, got caught up in some of the bad aspects of THG, but I am guessing he has learned from it. Anyway... Brad and the other managers who interviewed me (Lew Marsten, Bob Conolly, and I think Adam Baker was there then) were actually quite honest about the job. It seemed to be standard to tell people flat out that the job is really hard to do, but if successful, you can make six figures. This is a true statement because the job IS hard and you can make six figures. I did it. And I watched others do it. Not sure I could have done it for much longer than I did, but we are different animals. They make no bones about it. The job is tough. It is inside sales. It is cold-calling. And you have to get the Presidents and VPs of Sales on the phone directly. Someone above said it is not possible to do this, and that is just false. If you are creative, quick, and persistent you can get most decision-makers on the phone. Maybe not most, but enough to make some deals. Make one big deal a month at that job you are making 40, 50, 60, and possibly over 100K a year. This is all true. If you can't do it or just did not have success when you were there, it does not mean that the above is not true. People do it. Some for the short term others for the long haul. But it is sort of like a major league ball player hitting .250 and making a million. You do not have to be successful everyday at this job to make decent money. I also worked with lots of nice people and we had fun. Met people from all around the world. The bad part... the company is quite shady, no doubt. We lie constantly on the phone and we were told to. Certainly this is the sales process for more companies than just THG/Marcus Evans. Does not make it right. And I am ashamed, in some ways, that I was part of it. As employees we were often berated by management and as a manager I berated my employees sometimes and I did the same to clients I would call. Again I am not proud of doing so but I was a different person then than I am now. It was all about being money hungry and getting sales at any cost. I remember being in a meeting with Burraway and he would be just vicious. We would listen in on calls he was having with managers and the GM and he was just vicious. In the meeting I was in with him, with only a wall separating us from my sales team he was ridiculing people on my team calling them things like lazy and fat and worse. These are just people out to make money and that's it. They do not care much about how they treat people. I saw it first hand. I fell into the trap and acted that way as well. I have a million stories, but I will save them. Point is - they are shady. They are not the most honest people in the world and they often treated employees and clients like complete crap when I was there. I doubt much has changed. They are still constantly hiring and using the same pitches.

I worked in the now defunct San Francisco office from September 1999 through the end of 2001. First, the good stuff.... I was hired by Brad Miller, who left Marcus Evans and started his own shop in San Francisco. I hope he is doing well because at the end of the day, deep down, Brad is a good guy. He, like many of us, got caught up in some of the bad aspects of THG, but I am guessing he has learned from it. Anyway... Brad and the other managers who interviewed me (Lew Marsten, Bob Conolly, and I think Adam Baker was there then) were actually quite honest about the job. It seemed to be standard to tell people flat out that the job is really hard to do, but if successful, you can make six figures. This is a true statement because the job IS hard and you can make six figures. I did it. And I watched others do it. Not sure I could have done it for much longer than I did, but we are different animals. They make no bones about it. The job is tough. It is inside sales. It is cold-calling. And you have to get the Presidents and VPs of Sales on the phone directly. Someone above said it is not possible to do this, and that is just false. If you are creative, quick, and persistent you can get most decision-makers on the phone. Maybe not most, but enough to make some deals. Make one big deal a month at that job you are making 40, 50, 60, and possibly over 100K a year. This is all true. If you can't do it or just did not have success when you were there, it does not mean that the above is not true. People do it. Some for the short term others for the long haul. But it is sort of like a major league ball player hitting .250 and making a million. You do not have to be successful everyday at this job to make decent money. I also worked with lots of nice people and we had fun. Met people from all around the world. The bad part... the company is quite shady, no doubt. We lie constantly on the phone and we were told to. Certainly this is the sales process for more companies than just THG/Marcus Evans. Does not make it right. And I am ashamed, in some ways, that I was part of it. As employees we were often berated by management and as a manager I berated my employees sometimes and I did the same to clients I would call. Again I am not proud of doing so but I was a different person then than I am now. It was all about being money hungry and getting sales at any cost. I remember being in a meeting with Burraway and he would be just vicious. We would listen in on calls he was having with managers and the GM and he was just vicious. In the meeting I was in with him, with only a wall separating us from my sales team he was ridiculing people on my team calling them things like lazy and fat and worse. These are just people out to make money and that's it. They do not care much about how they treat people. I saw it first hand. I fell into the trap and acted that way as well. I have a million stories, but I will save them. Point is - they are shady. They are not the most honest people in the world and they often treated employees and clients like complete crap when I was there. I doubt much has changed. They are still constantly hiring and using the same pitches.

I worked in the now defunct San Francisco office from September 1999 through the end of 2001. First, the good stuff.... I was hired by Brad Miller, who left Marcus Evans and started his own shop in San Francisco. I hope he is doing well because at the end of the day, deep down, Brad is a good guy. He, like many of us, got caught up in some of the bad aspects of THG, but I am guessing he has learned from it. Anyway... Brad and the other managers who interviewed me (Lew Marsten, Bob Conolly, and I think Adam Baker was there then) were actually quite honest about the job. It seemed to be standard to tell people flat out that the job is really hard to do, but if successful, you can make six figures. This is a true statement because the job IS hard and you can make six figures. I did it. And I watched others do it. Not sure I could have done it for much longer than I did, but we are different animals. They make no bones about it. The job is tough. It is inside sales. It is cold-calling. And you have to get the Presidents and VPs of Sales on the phone directly. Someone above said it is not possible to do this, and that is just false. If you are creative, quick, and persistent you can get most decision-makers on the phone. Maybe not most, but enough to make some deals. Make one big deal a month at that job you are making 40, 50, 60, and possibly over 100K a year. This is all true. If you can't do it or just did not have success when you were there, it does not mean that the above is not true. People do it. Some for the short term others for the long haul. But it is sort of like a major league ball player hitting .250 and making a million. You do not have to be successful everyday at this job to make decent money. I also worked with lots of nice people and we had fun. Met people from all around the world. The bad part... the company is quite shady, no doubt. We lie constantly on the phone and we were told to. Certainly this is the sales process for more companies than just THG/Marcus Evans. Does not make it right. And I am ashamed, in some ways, that I was part of it. As employees we were often berated by management and as a manager I berated my employees sometimes and I did the same to clients I would call. Again I am not proud of doing so but I was a different person then than I am now. It was all about being money hungry and getting sales at any cost. I remember being in a meeting with Burraway and he would be just vicious. We would listen in on calls he was having with managers and the GM and he was just vicious. In the meeting I was in with him, with only a wall separating us from my sales team he was ridiculing people on my team calling them things like lazy and fat and worse. These are just people out to make money and that's it. They do not care much about how they treat people. I saw it first hand. I fell into the trap and acted that way as well. I have a million stories, but I will save them. Point is - they are shady. They are not the most honest people in the world and they often treated employees and clients like complete crap when I was there. I doubt much has changed. They are still constantly hiring and using the same pitches.

I worked in the now defunct San Francisco office from September 1999 through the end of 2001. First, the good stuff.... I was hired by Brad Miller, who left Marcus Evans and started his own shop in San Francisco. I hope he is doing well because at the end of the day, deep down, Brad is a good guy. He, like many of us, got caught up in some of the bad aspects of THG, but I am guessing he has learned from it. Anyway... Brad and the other managers who interviewed me (Lew Marsten, Bob Conolly, and I think Adam Baker was there then) were actually quite honest about the job. It seemed to be standard to tell people flat out that the job is really hard to do, but if successful, you can make six figures. This is a true statement because the job IS hard and you can make six figures. I did it. And I watched others do it. Not sure I could have done it for much longer than I did, but we are different animals. They make no bones about it. The job is tough. It is inside sales. It is cold-calling. And you have to get the Presidents and VPs of Sales on the phone directly. Someone above said it is not possible to do this, and that is just false. If you are creative, quick, and persistent you can get most decision-makers on the phone. Maybe not most, but enough to make some deals. Make one big deal a month at that job you are making 40, 50, 60, and possibly over 100K a year. This is all true. If you can't do it or just did not have success when you were there, it does not mean that the above is not true. People do it. Some for the short term others for the long haul. But it is sort of like a major league ball player hitting .250 and making a million. You do not have to be successful everyday at this job to make decent money. I also worked with lots of nice people and we had fun. Met people from all around the world. The bad part... the company is quite shady, no doubt. We lie constantly on the phone and we were told to. Certainly this is the sales process for more companies than just THG/Marcus Evans. Does not make it right. And I am ashamed, in some ways, that I was part of it. As employees we were often berated by management and as a manager I berated my employees sometimes and I did the same to clients I would call. Again I am not proud of doing so but I was a different person then than I am now. It was all about being money hungry and getting sales at any cost. I remember being in a meeting with Burraway and he would be just vicious. We would listen in on calls he was having with managers and the GM and he was just vicious. In the meeting I was in with him, with only a wall separating us from my sales team he was ridiculing people on my team calling them things like lazy and fat and worse. These are just people out to make money and that's it. They do not care much about how they treat people. I saw it first hand. I fell into the trap and acted that way as well. I have a million stories, but I will save them. Point is - they are shady. They are not the most honest people in the world and they often treated employees and clients like complete crap when I was there. I doubt much has changed. They are still constantly hiring and using the same pitches.

Out of curiosity who is this LA cold caller? Would not be the GM by any chance? He worked for me in one of my European offices briefly and was a really sweet guy at the time, but I know Marcus Evans can change anyone---you almost need a wake up call or a de-brainwashing to leave there. Everyone who gets caught up in Marcus Evans is in for nothing but trouble be it the sales people, people who let themselves get promoted and moved around so frequently they can never live a normal life, or the poor suckers who actually buy any of the Marcus Evans products. As per my previous post, having had many one on ones with Marcus himself I can tell you the man is a megalomaniac, a malignant narcisissist, and bordeline sociopath. He simply is a swindler who too the art to new levels by peddling his skills to others and putting them to work for him. I have never seen such aggressive people in my life and only noticed how I myself changed when I decided to resign. JUST STAY CLEAR OF ALL TO DO WITH THIS COMPANY!

Out of curiosity who is this LA cold caller? Would not be the GM by any chance? He worked for me in one of my European offices briefly and was a really sweet guy at the time, but I know Marcus Evans can change anyone---you almost need a wake up call or a de-brainwashing to leave there. Everyone who gets caught up in Marcus Evans is in for nothing but trouble be it the sales people, people who let themselves get promoted and moved around so frequently they can never live a normal life, or the poor suckers who actually buy any of the Marcus Evans products. As per my previous post, having had many one on ones with Marcus himself I can tell you the man is a megalomaniac, a malignant narcisissist, and bordeline sociopath. He simply is a swindler who too the art to new levels by peddling his skills to others and putting them to work for him. I have never seen such aggressive people in my life and only noticed how I myself changed when I decided to resign. JUST STAY CLEAR OF ALL TO DO WITH THIS COMPANY!

Out of curiosity who is this LA cold caller? Would not be the GM by any chance? He worked for me in one of my European offices briefly and was a really sweet guy at the time, but I know Marcus Evans can change anyone---you almost need a wake up call or a de-brainwashing to leave there. Everyone who gets caught up in Marcus Evans is in for nothing but trouble be it the sales people, people who let themselves get promoted and moved around so frequently they can never live a normal life, or the poor suckers who actually buy any of the Marcus Evans products. As per my previous post, having had many one on ones with Marcus himself I can tell you the man is a megalomaniac, a malignant narcisissist, and bordeline sociopath. He simply is a swindler who too the art to new levels by peddling his skills to others and putting them to work for him. I have never seen such aggressive people in my life and only noticed how I myself changed when I decided to resign. JUST STAY CLEAR OF ALL TO DO WITH THIS COMPANY!

Out of curiosity who is this LA cold caller? Would not be the GM by any chance? He worked for me in one of my European offices briefly and was a really sweet guy at the time, but I know Marcus Evans can change anyone---you almost need a wake up call or a de-brainwashing to leave there. Everyone who gets caught up in Marcus Evans is in for nothing but trouble be it the sales people, people who let themselves get promoted and moved around so frequently they can never live a normal life, or the poor suckers who actually buy any of the Marcus Evans products. As per my previous post, having had many one on ones with Marcus himself I can tell you the man is a megalomaniac, a malignant narcisissist, and bordeline sociopath. He simply is a swindler who too the art to new levels by peddling his skills to others and putting them to work for him. I have never seen such aggressive people in my life and only noticed how I myself changed when I decided to resign. JUST STAY CLEAR OF ALL TO DO WITH THIS COMPANY!

IFFFF, after reading all the warnings posted here you are still naive and /or stupid enough to be had by THG, you still have some options, but before you sign the "standard 2 page reservation form," MAKE SURE YOUR ATTORNEYS REVIEW THE CONTRACT! The contract is heavily slanted in THG's favor and essentially gives no outs. Your legal team will have a field day with this contract, and will probably realize correctly that you should not do business with this company. BE WARNED, if you are at a point where you have the contract but have not as of yet signed, DON'T! Tell the manager that is "just calling to make sure that you got the form, blah blah,etc..." that you simply will not sign until your council reviews. You now have complete control over the process, and the THG person will start freaking out, and telling you that you will miss out on the event, etc... if they don't get the contract back right away, etc.. BULLSHIT! You won't miss out on anything because there never was any shortage to begin with! Think about this, why wouldn't they want you to be comfortable with the purchase?? They absolutely could not give a rat's a*s what happens to you for making this mistake, and they do not want you to have time to re-evaluate this purely emotional sale. Further, if you have already signed and just discovered this website, simply do not pay the deposit. THG will do nothing. They will tell you that it's "out of their hands now, etc.." and will "have to go to legal..etc.." as you are "liable for the 50% cancellation fee." They're not going to do s**t! They have enough problems with the news all over the world getting out about their unethical / illegal activities, and the last thing they need is to start spending money on a case against you that they know they will never win. Finally, to the dipshit that was singing Paul Meakin's praises about how Meakins called some guy in the hospital and got him to sign a contract...You are about as sharp as mashed potatoes.. Meakins never makes cold calls, he is spoon fed leads from the Marketing department and simply follows up on inquiries from pre-screened buyers. I guarantee you that whenever that scenario occurred that the entire thing was a lie, and he was probably talking to one of the CEO's of the Company that you naively thought was a genuine customer. Come on... What moron would spend 100K on a product they never heard of while lying in a hospital bed?? Get a clue! Have a nice day.

If your are reading this and have already paid for the sports event with THG you need to remember that you should never write your full name and details on the cards that THG hand out when entering their "corporate" tent. The THG sales rep will tell you it's a raffle ticket for the grand prize of Golf clubs, or something simular related to the sporting event you have over paid for. This too is a THG fraud as they select the winner after asking around the tent and seeing who is the most likely to buy a package again. they will then rig the raffle (which is not done at the event) so that person can win the prize. What they then do is put those cards in a envelope and send them to Paul Meakins, he will then go through them and call every single person numerous times in order to get a sale. The people on the cards who never answer there phones will then be constantly bothered by junior cold callers, and Paul will be a hero as they are recieving "special" leads from the boss. It's a huge racket and needs to be stopped ASAP. Here are some of the ways that Paul Meakins tells his cold callers to hound the crap out of you... #1 ASK FOR CELL NUMBERS!!.. "I'm out of the office today, do you have his cell please"? Not asking for them is 90% of the reason for not getting them. #2 Call other locations to get cell numbers, call direct/Job title information for executives at a location you are targeting. These locations will be able to explain any divisional breakdowns and regional responsibilities of certain DM's.. #3 Make sure you **6 on every voicemail to get extensions. #4 If you find out someone is traveling find out where too, and when you are told then simply ask "do they have a key costumer in that location" or are they on vacation? #5 Ask for DM's counterpart in Canada, Europe, Asia, and the other America's. #6 If CEO is in a meeting state that you need to speak to the Pres or Chairman and ask to be Transferred to them. Know these guys names, it adds credibility to your story. As you can see Paul Meakins and THG will stop at nothing to get someones cellphone number, so don't be stupid enough to give them all this info at a event as you will never stop be hounded. Oh, and by the way, The more you delete my messages the worse it will get for the THG company, as I have lots of valuble stuff at my disposal..

How could John Stromberg come to this website and say he has never heard of Sean Cassidy? Sean Cassidy is one of his top cold callers, and by the way, he is also one of the nicest people at the company. It says alot that the North American boss tells total lies on here. I would also like to tell you all that I overheard Paul Meakins telling his chief LA office cold caller to hire 40 people and fire at least 20 of them in the first week to send a message to the others.. Is that anyway to run a buisness. I also overheard the guy who hires people at THG called Tad, ( I think), saying to Paul Meakins when handing him a stack of Resumes " Heres some fresh meat for you" You might ask how I heard all these things, but anyone who has worked under Meakins know that the desks are all squeezed together and I was only 4 ft away from him at the time. I confronted him about these comments and he denied everything to my face, which put the final nail in the coffin for my staying at THG. He did however once let his guard down and answer one of my questions without lying.. I asked him how many people he's seen come and go under his watch, and he smiled at me, then winked and said " Bloody Hundreds Mate" I have many more horror stories about possibly the worst company in the world, but I don't want to bore you all to death, so I will leave you with just a section of one of the scripts which your forced to use at THG, and anyone who has not worked there before will think these scripts are a lie, but I kid you not.. These are real!! So as that snake in the grass Paul Meakins would say, "cheers Mate" and I have alot more top secret THG stuff if anyone is interested.. Ryder cup script.. Good morning, it's Paul Meakins from THG. How are you? Good. John, You'll probably recognize our company as we do alot of work with others in your industry such as Toshiba, Sharp, and Xerox. They use our 5 star corporate hospitality services to drive sales and cement relations with their top clients at major sporting events across the globe. Specifically, the reason for my call this morning is that one of our regular clients Xerox has a date conflict with their invited Ryder cup customers and has requested we switch 20 of their 30 guests to the 2010 Winter Olympics instead. Because we have helped them out we now have an unexpected opportunity to bring a new client into our exclusive facilities during the entirely sold out 2008 Ryder cup, what's more we can do so at a major discount as Xerox has already paid a one third deposit that we are leaving in place. As this is the first opportunity we have seen in several months it has been released across our US and European offices on a first come, first serve basis. Our existing Ryder cup clients are considering this opportunity to invite some further guests, but this is really a fantastic opportunity to bring a NEW client on board at the disscounted cost, and knowing how well this works for others in your industry I felt confident giving you a call as the CEO today.. I take it you have some ket accounts that are avid golf fans right?..... Great. Just quickly John, here's what is available today.. BLAH BLAH BLAH... ( I will cut to the chase, as the slimy Rat Meakins wouls say)... Most importantly John, again as this is the first opening we have seen since last year, and with the deposit still in place the total investment is significantly reduced from $238.000 to $159.000. We can even split this across 2 Financial years with only a 50% deposit required to reserve, balance delayed until next year. This is a big saving over and above anyone else attending. So John, hopefully you'll agree that this is a great opportunity to strenghen relations at a huge event that all your customers would love to attend!! So this was just a brief call to find out if you would like to secure this for your company? Now, all you none THG employees will say that this is all a lie and I made it up, but I have many more "scripts available including some classics from others

Warning to all, I implore any potential client to please carefully read the comments of the last few posters here. This is representative of the exact sales pitch/scenario used by THG and/or marcus evans in their summit business. DO NOT believe anything that the sales rep says. There are plenty of corporate spaces for almost any event you want to book onto. PLEASE CALL THE EVENT ORGANIZERS DIRECTLY. You will get a better price and be confirmed with the official hospitality providers for whatever event you want to bring clients to. THG and/or marcus evans has ABSOLUTELY NO RELATIONSHIP with any of the event organizers. You will be hosting your guests off-site (meaning that you will be miles away and have to take your guests to the event by van shuttle while people booked with the official organizers simply stay on site at the event. Incidentally, more and more events today have a NO RE-ENTRY policy in effect meaning if you guests want to leave the event to get a bite to eat or drink they cannot return to the event for the rest of the day.. Nice surprise for you if you did not read the fine print carefully enough. The best recommendation I can leave here is PLEASE DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THG OR MARCUS EVANS WHATSOEVER Do not risk your own professional reputation by signing up for anything. As a last passing remark how absolutely pathetic that Jon Stromberg (one of the two THG Sales Directors) denies that there is a SEAN working there with him at THG. I guess he must have forgotten SEAN CASSIDY (Oops Jon, how truly sad and pathetic) BUYER BEWARE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How could John Stromberg come to this website and say he has never heard of Sean? Sean is one of his top cold callers, and by the way, he is also one of the nicest people at the company. It says alot that the North American boss tells total lies on here. I would also like to tell you all that I overheard Paul Meakins telling his chief LA office cold caller to hire 40 people and fire at least 20 of them in the first week to send a message to the others.. Is that anyway to run a buisness. I also overheard the guy who hires people at THG called Tad, ( I think), saying to Paul Meakins when handing him a stack of Resumes " Heres some fresh meat for you" You might ask how I heard all these things, but anyone who has worked under Meakins know that the desks are all squeezed together and I was only 4 ft away from him at the time. I confronted him about these comments and he denied everything to my face, which put the final nail in the coffin for my staying at THG. He did however once let his guard down and answer one of my questions without lying.. I asked him how many people he's seen come and go under his watch, and he smiled at me, then winked and said " Bloody Hundreds Mate" I have many more horror stories about possibly the worst company in the world, but I don't want to bore you all to death, so I will leave you with just a section of one of the scripts which your forced to use at THG, and anyone who has not worked there before will think these scripts are a lie, but I kid you not.. These are real!! So as that snake in the grass Paul Meakins would say, "cheers Mate" and I have alot more top secret THG stuff if anyone is interested.. Ryder cup script.. Good morning, it's Paul Meakins from THG. How are you? Good. John, You'll probably recognize our company as we do alot of work with others in your industry such as Toshiba, Sharp, and Xerox. They use our 5 star corporate hospitality services to drive sales and cement relations with their top clients at major sporting events across the globe. Specifically, the reason for my call this morning is that one of our regular clients Xerox has a date conflict with their invited Ryder cup customers and has requested we switch 20 of their 30 guests to the 2010 Winter Olympics instead. Because we have helped them out we now have an unexpected opportunity to bring a new client into our exclusive facilities during the entirely sold out 2008 Ryder cup, what's more we can do so at a major discount as Xerox has already paid a one third deposit that we are leaving in place. As this is the first opportunity we have seen in several months it has been released across our US and European offices on a first come, first serve basis. Our existing Ryder cup clients are considering this opportunity to invite some further guests, but this is really a fantastic opportunity to bring a NEW client on board at the disscounted cost, and knowing how well this works for others in your industry I felt confident giving you a call as the CEO today.. I take it you have some ket accounts that are avid golf fans right?..... Great. Just quickly John, here's what is available today.. BLAH BLAH BLAH... ( I will cut to the chase, as the slimy Rat Meakins wouls say)... Most importantly John, again as this is the first opening we have seen since last year, and with the deposit still in place the total investment is significantly reduced from $238.000 to $159.000. We can even split this across 2 Financial years with only a 50% deposit required to reserve, balance delayed until next year. This is a big saving over and above anyone else attending. So John, hopefully you'll agree that this is a great opportunity to strenghen relations at a huge event that all your customers would love to attend!! So this was just a brief call to find out if you would like to secure this for your company? Now, all you none THG employees will say that this is all a lie and I made it up, but I have many more "scripts available including some classics from others from Holly " I'm fat and a drunk, but I still wear short skirts" Hiester, and Dea " I think I'm way hotter than I actully am" Maijor..

It's probably all been mentioned among the posts, but I thought I would try to consolidate how it all works (from what I remember) when you get a call from a THG telemarketer. If you are a VP-type title or above at a Fortune 500 company, and you receive a call from someone at "THG", "Marcus Evans", or "The Hospitality Group," here is what to expect: 1) The lucky telemarketer who reaches you will read you an awkward script about XYZ company and how they dropped their tickets for the event he or she is assigned to sell 2) After explaining this fictional situation, they will let you know that since either a) your company has previously attended events, or b) your name was received from some source within your industry, you were on the very short list of those lucky enough to get this call. Nobody gave this telemarketer your name. They found it on Hoovers.com. They may even cite the event your company attended...they have no idea if this is true, it's something Paul Meakins told them. 3) The cheesy sales pitch will include name drops no one cares about such as Andy North, how amazing their facilities are, and the top-shelf liquor provided. 4) All this and more will be made available to you at a discounted price....the price the original company booked at years ago. 5) The sales pitch will conclude asking you if you want to book today. Keep in mind that everything about the situation is 100% complete lies. No one dropped this package, there are many more spots available. As mentioned many times, the price is not even close to discounted. And you and your company very likely have zero history with Marcus Evans or THG. As described by the above recipient of a recent call, the other desperate tactic to push the pretend urgency to anyone who shows interest is to call the following day to let you know only a portion of the package is now available. Again, this is a complete lie. There are literally hundreds of spots available. Especially funny since THG may have told you previously it's all or nothing.....no partial packages would be made available. When they really want to lay it on thick, Paul Meakins himself may call you back and tell you what a "massive" event it's going to be. British people like saying the word massive....don't be impressed by his accent, it gives him no credibility. Also know that the official policy of THG is to NEVER under any circumstances leave a voicemail. If you leave a voicemail, the BS urgency pitch is spoiled when you call again repeatedly over the next 6 months. This policy seems to carry over to those who are actively making decisions. A force of habit I suppose. This explains the dozens of missed calls from private numbers with no voicemails. The many downsides to actually booking such an event have been described in detail by those who would know better than me. But being able to detect a THG sales pitch is the first step in avoiding it....

I can't express enough how satisfying it is for me personally to see THG lose another sale due to their lack of ethics. The above post is proof that the word is getting out, and it is just a matter of time before THG either folds up tent (they have a few of those) or changes its name again, just like they did after the Olympics in Sydney , Australia when their "Hospitality Yacht" actually sank in the harbor (true story). The lucky idiots who bought into that line of crap wound up on the beach watching the Olympic Games on a small portable TV. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is what I say to THG and the Scumbags that manage it as they slowly watch their client base dry up. Further, to CEO's James Sinton & Theron Burraway, as well as North American GM's, Jon Stromberg & Paul Meakins, the 4 of you are assholes and deserve all the crap that comes your way for the way you have ripped people off and abused your employees. How any of you can look at yourselves in the mirror without feeling any remorse is beyond comprehension. I can only imagine how easy it is for you all to take it one step further and lie to your spouses and children whenever it suits you. Eventually, you 4 will be brought up on charges and I hope you all get prison time for all the fraud you have committed. Have a nice day.

I was thinking of doing business with THG for the 2009 US Open, but knew little about this company and did a search and all this information about THG came up. A THG rep contacted me about the 09 US Open and said exactly what the above poster said. I then made the mistake of saying I had an interest level and I received a email with the information in it. I was then contacted again very shortly there after and was told they needed a decesion right then. I then told the rep that we would need 2-5 days to make an educated business decesion about this event, and I was then told that it would be gone by then and I said fine. Then i got yet another call this time now there were only 10 per day and 6 had sold and I said oh well still need time. So then I got yet another call which seems strange because I was told on the first call that THG had several companies ready too move on this right now, and that seemed odd why would you still be cold calling if you had several ready to buy as a sales professional for years I know I would not be calling I would be working with the companies ready to buy. So going back to the call I was again told more sold and only 6 per day remained and had to make a decesion right now and again I said no. Since then my office keeps getting calls from THG but will not leave a message or just hangs up. They have called my cell# (not sure how they got that) many times and it rings private with no message everytime. In fact once I was standing next to my PA when they called and I said watch my cell will ring and it did not 10 seconds after hanging up. I know sales people need to be agressive and strong, but professional is at the top of the list and THG does not work that way. I then called the USGA (which has never heard of THG just like the above post said) and they put together a package for my company and gave me a week to make an educated business decesion, and we will be doing business with the USGA for sure. So thank you everyone for the information and the above post was exactly how THG does business.

Let's get back to the actual Ripoff Report and why a potential client should go elsewhere. I think the points about corrupt management have been well documented but we need to write more posts about the product and why it should not be purchased. 1. RIDICULOUSLY OVERPRICED! Dear potential customer, Have you really broken down the cost per head of the proposal you are considering? THG sells "Hospitality" at major sporting events... PERIOD! They have NO CONNECTION whatsoever with the PGA, USGA, NCAA, Olympic Committee, Major League Baseball, etc.. and further, if you were to call any of the above directly they would surely tell you to "steer clear of THG / Marcus Evans.." So exactly what does "hospitality" mean? The sales rep that you are talking to has probably told you all about the "intimate settings," "black tie wait staff," "gourmet meals," and "top shelf premium open bar," etc... It's bullshit. I had clients attend the 2007 US Open when it was at Oakmont and when I called them after the event they told me that, "not only did we have to hike from the tent about a mile down a gravel road to get to the course, but when we came back to the tent, we were told there wasn't even anymore bottled water, which was really all we wanted after being in the hot sun for hours." Also "the tent floor was patched together with old astroturf with chunks missing and looked terrible... very embarrassing for my hosts." I have numerous stories like this and if helpful to you when deciding about buying from this company, please respond to this post and I will provide you with major corporate people who will tell you about their personal horror stories as well. All THG does is either rent a house, or hotel, or put up a tent somewhere and then hire some caterers and bartenders to serve your clients. At this year's US Open Golf Championship (Torrey Pines, San Diego) they set up in a hotel that was about 6 miles away from the golf course. Now think about this for a minute. You are possibly considering taking some of your best clients to next year's US Open at Bethpage Black in New York. Do you really want to fight the crowds, traffic, etc, then try and find the little THG van, and then cart your clients 5 miles away (Battle Row Park to be exact) to get a bite to eat and a drink??? I'm always amused at the people who fork over approximately $1,000 per person per day to attend the US Open with THG. If you figure the face value of a daily ticket is actually only around $60 -$80, then you are paying almost a grand for food and drink for each person. None of your clients will eat and drink $900 worth of food and drink..NONE OF THEM! You are an idiot if you waste your companies money this way when you could easily go right to the venue and buy hospitality right on the course, many times for less money. The sales rep will tell you that you will "be fighting the crowds," etc.. and the THG setup is very high end for very refined clients, etc... NONSENSE. You will feel like a moron if you buy from this company, and you may wind up losing your job as some of my ex-clients did. 2. Hounded, Hounded, Hounded!!! IF you are dumb enough to sign a contract with this group you should be ready to be HOUNDED relentlessly for payment (due immediately), as well as for further "rare opportunities," and for "referrals." Your sales rep will want to know EVERYONE that you do business with, from vendors to top clients. He or she may even ask you to give that vendor or top client a call to set up a sale for them. This is taught to the reps by the CEO himself, who also makes a hefty sum by selling your contact info to other marketing companies (under completely different names) that are also owned by Marcus Evans. Is that what you really want?? Ever wonder how all of these sales people got your cell phone number?? Also, the rep that sells you the package won't be the person who starts calling your Accounts Payable Department. That will be one of the managers referred to in the previous posts and I guarantee you that if there is any issue with your check not getting in on time (within 5 days of signing) you will find out just how nasty these people can be. They will have no fear anymore because "you signed a contract," and they will absolutely abuse your A/P people. 3. Broken Promises If you are looking for a company with integrity, FORGET IT! The reps at THG are absolutely starving for business. The company does not pay a rep anything close to a living wage. They absolutely MUST make sales to survive so they will promise you ANYTHING to get the sale. If they aren't convincing enough, they will put a manager like Jon Stromberg, or Paul Meakins on the phone to be smooth and polished when they "assure you" that everything will be perfect. BE WARNED, these guys are as good as it gets at telling you what you want to hear. You will get off the phone with them feeling good about possibly blowing 50 to 100K to do something nice for your clients. It is only once you actaully attend an event will you realize how badly you have been burned. 4. YOU MUST DECIDE IMMEDIATELY! The sales process works like this: You or one of your higher ups is contacted about "a cancellation by another company." You are lucky enough to get this "opportunity" to buy the cancelling companies package at "a substantial discount due to a large deposit which is being applied." BULLSHIT! There never was any other company and the price that you are quoted was always the original price, there is no discount. You will be told that "unfortunately you must decide on this purchase within 2 hours as we have many other companies that are ready to buy.." MORE BULLSHIT! Why would anyone call you out of the blue if they already had a buyer??? They wouldn't, period! Some rep found your name and number somewhere on the web, and that is probably all they know about you. You are one of 200 people they will call in a day hoping you are the sucker that bites. DON"T! Finally, I have been pretty thorough here and I could write more, but this should be enough info to help you avoid making a huge mistake. Definitely do nice things for your customers, just don't get RIPPED OFF by these guys. Good Luck.

In response to this long string of posts... I worked just 3 miserable months in '04 at THG in Chicago under Stromberg and his then band of turds, including Ross Levadi and the infamous Paul Meakins. I was just wondering if THG was still around, and upon googling the company came across this website. I must say it is hilarious. While Paul seemed to be a pretty nice guy, there is no denying two obvious truths: 1- Jon Stromberg is the biggest stroke to ever walk the streets of Chicago, and 2- the "sales" tactics of THG were laughable. After being fooled into accepting a telemarketing job (which I realized was the case about 3 minutes into my first day), I was mostly disappointed I had spent all that money on my new slacks, shirts and ties. Dang. While I am over 4 years removed from THG, and therefore no longer even the least bit bitter, after reading quickly through these posts I felt like a 'Nam vet having a flashback. It is a horrible company, an even worse job (especially for someone who doesn't realize he's getting into a telemarketing - not sales- job), but did help me realize right out of college exactly the kind of job I did NOT want. I did stick with sales, working in the mortgage industry. Even with the clearly challenging times in my industry, I enjoy every day of work, have achieved my share of success, and know better than to find a claim of a $10,000 paycheck impressive. Especially when it's undoubtedly followed by 4 consecutive checks of $1500. I never sold squat at THG, and never learned squat. The one thing I never understood was that if everyone at the THG corporate office was so brilliant, was the whole BS "cancellation pitch" really the best thing they could come up with? How about ditch the sales staff altogether and hire a small marketing staff to write some shitty commercials and print ads? Also, with all these re-bookings, what are they telling people the 2nd, 3rd, 4th...20th time they re-book? By some miracle people just keep dropping their reservation opening yet another discounted package just for you?? Paul, I can't believe you're still there almost 5 years later. Stromberg is a no-brainer, but you seemed like you might actually have half a brain. My direct manager, Ross, I knew wouldn't stick around too long after I found him smoking some wacky tobaccy at a golf outing in Wisconsin. Is that Ketchem guy still there? He was also a d****e.

I was at the top of the top! The fact you even write this crap is humiliating to me as a human being! A. NO MANAGER would show this to their staff, and if they did they would have some pre-approved lie to tell as to explain it away. I RAN offices in Europe and was offered one in Asia before that...I chose to stay and fight for a European office first rather than be sent to Singapore. A friend of mine turned down GM for YOUR office! B. No self respecting person can actually assert Marcus Evans as a human being is decent at all, nor can they assert he is an honest businessman or that his business is honest. The fact is it is all based on lies. As Nancy pointed out, you will one day be pushed to the side, then down like on one of those little puzzles unless you have self-respect as I did and leave on your own long before that! There is a big recession coming, how many offices will close in the middle of the night and mysteriously all the higher ups and all the valuables in the office will be moved over a weekend so the poor suckers can show up Monday with no work? That can no longer happen in Europe or USA but it certainly can anywhere else this idiot has set up a boiler room. The sale is a lie, the pitch is a lie, the promise is a lie, the company has no ethos, Marcus has NO loyalty to anyone but himself and money. He would sell his own mother in the brotherls of Amsterdam if it made him a buck, d**n he would probably sell his own daughter Tellullah or whatever her name is! As for the guy with the experience in Madison...been there twice as a higher up when we were told two days earlier pack all up, say nothing you need to come back to the X office....that means in days we had to close bank accounts, knowingly stiff our frends, and leave. That is VERY ethical. Promotions are no different. Marcus will give your superior a memo and he or she (rarely she I was one of the few) will in turn give you the memo and your starting date will be two weeks from when they want you there---very professional, even if you have a whole family to move and children in school! Marcus Evans is the biggest wanker to ever walk the face of the Earth. He is a megalomaniac, a malignant narcicisst and frankly borderline sociopath. He can look someone in the eyes and sell them a demotion as if he just gave them half his empire! He is a swindler that taught others the art of swindling and built an empire on that. How you can even be so brainwashed is beyond me though I can somewhat understand having been there myself. Wake up--Jo'berg will be closed by years end and you will be moved to the Pakistan office or somewhere like that....fun huh!

Yolanda: I enjoy it when people like you pretend to act intelligent and spout off nonsensical jibberish such as Johannesburg being the worlds 3rd fastest growing economy. Guess what...it didn't even crack the top 50. For future reference, China, India and Yemen are the world's 3 fastest growing economies. Best regards, Ms. Nancy Isaac

Hello there, I suggest we continue this VERY UNPROFFESIONAL conversation via email. I am happy to chat to whomever has any questions. In the meantime, as usual, people have misconceptions of Africa, I suggest you have a look at our current infrastructure. You may well discover that we have the 3rd largest growing economy at the moment but I would not expect you to know that as you think that "roping calves" is something we do here?! Last I checked that was done at the Rodeo...cheerleaders included? Sorry but I'm not an ex-cheerleader, that's something your country has, not ours. Have you ever even travelled outside of America or do you also think that the USA is the extent of the World? I'm very honest with my staff from the beginning and no false promises are made, be it about the role itself or attending the World Cup. (Rather odd coment from you there?) Moving forward, I will not be posting anymore of these ridiculous posts as they are a waste of time and energy and a place for very negative, nasty people to vent their frustrations. I wish you all the very best for the future and hope you find something more constructive to do with your time.

I can't get over how amusing this site has become. I find myself checking it once or twice a week now just to see if another current THG employee will try to bullshit the ex-employees again.... hysterical. Hey South Africa girl, guess what? You say that all of your employees are still there? Could that possibly be because: A. Many of them are probably from a different country and are working on a Marcus Evans Visa and cannot quit. If they do they will have to leave the country. This is a famous ME ploy and has wound up causing great heartache for many people when Dorian Grey (oops, I mean Marcus Evans) closes an office in the middle of the night. Dorian Grey www is: http://books.google.com/books?id=1Ea_c5nCjD4C&dq=dorian+grey&pg=PP1&ots=UMr0l1Gslm&sig=Mcauf7vhckybhfj12xjdvkEZw5Y&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result B. What the hell else are they going to do in South Africa, rope calves? C. You and Sinton have probably concocted some line of bullshit to feed these poor schmucks about how they will all be sitting in the front row at the 2010 World Cup Futbol Finals. Hey South Africa Office, you won't be attending any games. You may, if lucky, get to clear tables at whatever hotel Dees chooses for a venue to entertain the idiots that paid 100 grand for lunch and a ticket. Also, South Africa girl, were you a Cheerleader or something once? Your whole spiel sounds like some optimistic dribble from a child who is hoping to get a new dolly if she doesn't wet her pants at Timmy's birthday party. Grow up. Leave this post for adults and focus on making some cold calls like the other employees do. I would be willing to bet good money that if I took your office out for drinks that they would rip you apart once they had a few and knew you were not in the room. I will be interested to see your post once you have a bad month or 2 and you find yourself on the outside looking in. You better believe it will happen. Better yet, maybe they'll transfer you to Malaysia where everyone is always happy to be at work for THG since the only other thing to do there is to repair the stilts that hold the houses up out of the water. Either way, you will eventually become the problem and then you will see what we have been trying to tell you. Have fun with your little life, and consider changing your post name to "Barbie."

YOGI: First off, please stop using that "Christmas Sale!!!" logic to defend the pratices of Marcus Evans. Secondly, don't badmouth ex-employees posting on here and make cute little comments about how we must not have jobs because we have soo much free time to post on the Ripoff Report. I can guaranteee you that EVERY last person posting on here HAS a job. I mean, it isn't that hard to find a company that's more enjoyable to work for than Marcus Evans. Heck, even flipping burgers at McDonalds requires a higher level of intelligence than the "company" that you work for. Thirdly, you have posted on here several times...business must be slow. The fact that you showed these reports to your underlings is confusing and counterintuitive to your team's success. Give 'em time...they'll leave. Do they have McDonalds in Johannesburg? Fourthly. In regards to your level of intelligence and validity, you are either bordering on some kind of mental deficiency or lying about your location because you can't even spell Johannesburg correctly. Here are my many suggestions to you Yolanda. Get on the phone and start cold calling. Don't worry about us or what we choose to write. Don't show these reports to any more of your employess...or take a sales 101 course to find out why this is a horrible idea. If you show it to your telemarketers, why not mention it to the VP's of Marketing that you call? Just make sure you don't tell Burraway, Stromberg or Sinton that you did that else you will be flipping burgers in a week. Best regards, Mrs. Nacy M. Issac

YOGI: First off, please stop using that "Christmas Sale!!!" logic to defend the pratices of Marcus Evans. Secondly, don't badmouth ex-employees posting on here and make cute little comments about how we must not have jobs because we have soo much free time to post on the Ripoff Report. I can guaranteee you that EVERY last person posting on here HAS a job. I mean, it isn't that hard to find a company that's more enjoyable to work for than Marcus Evans. Heck, even flipping burgers at McDonalds requires a higher level of intelligence than the "company" that you work for. Thirdly, you have posted on here several times...business must be slow. The fact that you showed these reports to your underlings is confusing and counterintuitive to your team's success. Give 'em time...they'll leave. Do they have McDonalds in Johannesburg? Fourthly. In regards to your level of intelligence and validity, you are either bordering on some kind of mental deficiency or lying about your location because you can't even spell Johannesburg correctly. Here are my many suggestions to you Yolanda. Get on the phone and start cold calling. Don't worry about us or what we choose to write. Don't show these reports to any more of your employess...or take a sales 101 course to find out why this is a horrible idea. If you show it to your telemarketers, why not mention it to the VP's of Marketing that you call? Just make sure you don't tell Burraway, Stromberg or Sinton that you did that else you will be flipping burgers in a week. Best regards, Mrs. Nacy M. Issac

YOGI: First off, please stop using that "Christmas Sale!!!" logic to defend the pratices of Marcus Evans. Secondly, don't badmouth ex-employees posting on here and make cute little comments about how we must not have jobs because we have soo much free time to post on the Ripoff Report. I can guaranteee you that EVERY last person posting on here HAS a job. I mean, it isn't that hard to find a company that's more enjoyable to work for than Marcus Evans. Heck, even flipping burgers at McDonalds requires a higher level of intelligence than the "company" that you work for. Thirdly, you have posted on here several times...business must be slow. The fact that you showed these reports to your underlings is confusing and counterintuitive to your team's success. Give 'em time...they'll leave. Do they have McDonalds in Johannesburg? Fourthly. In regards to your level of intelligence and validity, you are either bordering on some kind of mental deficiency or lying about your location because you can't even spell Johannesburg correctly. Here are my many suggestions to you Yolanda. Get on the phone and start cold calling. Don't worry about us or what we choose to write. Don't show these reports to any more of your employess...or take a sales 101 course to find out why this is a horrible idea. If you show it to your telemarketers, why not mention it to the VP's of Marketing that you call? Just make sure you don't tell Burraway, Stromberg or Sinton that you did that else you will be flipping burgers in a week. Best regards, Mrs. Nacy M. Issac

YOGI: First off, please stop using that "Christmas Sale!!!" logic to defend the pratices of Marcus Evans. Secondly, don't badmouth ex-employees posting on here and make cute little comments about how we must not have jobs because we have soo much free time to post on the Ripoff Report. I can guaranteee you that EVERY last person posting on here HAS a job. I mean, it isn't that hard to find a company that's more enjoyable to work for than Marcus Evans. Heck, even flipping burgers at McDonalds requires a higher level of intelligence than the "company" that you work for. Thirdly, you have posted on here several times...business must be slow. The fact that you showed these reports to your underlings is confusing and counterintuitive to your team's success. Give 'em time...they'll leave. Do they have McDonalds in Johannesburg? Fourthly. In regards to your level of intelligence and validity, you are either bordering on some kind of mental deficiency or lying about your location because you can't even spell Johannesburg correctly. Here are my many suggestions to you Yolanda. Get on the phone and start cold calling. Don't worry about us or what we choose to write. Don't show these reports to any more of your employess...or take a sales 101 course to find out why this is a horrible idea. If you show it to your telemarketers, why not mention it to the VP's of Marketing that you call? Just make sure you don't tell Burraway, Stromberg or Sinton that you did that else you will be flipping burgers in a week. Best regards, Mrs. Nacy M. Issac

in reponse to the above you have obviously misunderstood what most people have been saying in these comments. The urgency and sales methods employed by Marcus Evans are not the main problem, it's the ethos of the company that everybody has a problem with. Comparing how christmas sales work and finding it similar to the Marcus Evans urgency is frankly ridiculous anyway..... you know full well that rebookings at thg are difficult to get. companies go and realise that it probably wasn't quite worth the money after all. Possible, but tough to convince them again, especially with the urgency.....

Hey all this is YOGI / Yolanda from thg Johannesburg... I must just say that all your stories make for interesting / amusing reading! Guess what - my new staff have read your stories and all 15 of them are all still here!! I can not believe that your time at Marcus Evans / thg has had such an impact on you all... All I can say at this moment in time is that I hope you all get over yourselves and get on with your lives, I actaully can't believe you have so much spare time on your hands?! Have you not managed to find a new job to keep you occupied? Seriously all, the sales process that we use works, so what if we tell a prospect that this is a cancellation and they're saving money?! If it works, they have a good time at the event and they rebook, what the hell is the problem? You have all been suckered before, I guarantee you that - hello CHRISTMAS SALES!! 70% off etc. How about you all get over it, whether you were successful in the role or not, this job is not for every one so just accept the fact that you'll be better at something else and get on with it!! PS) next time you're talking to a real estate agent, careful, they may just con you into believing that someone else had made a better offer or is buying the house... Good luck and have a nice life!

Hey all this is YOGI / Yolanda from thg Johannesburg... I must just say that all your stories make for interesting / amusing reading! Guess what - my new staff have read your stories and all 15 of them are all still here!! I can not believe that your time at Marcus Evans / thg has had such an impact on you all... All I can say at this moment in time is that I hope you all get over yourselves and get on with your lives, I actaully can't believe you have so much spare time on your hands?! Have you not managed to find a new job to keep you occupied? Seriously all, the sales process that we use works, so what if we tell a prospect that this is a cancellation and they're saving money?! If it works, they have a good time at the event and they rebook, what the hell is the problem? You have all been suckered before, I guarantee you that - hello CHRISTMAS SALES!! 70% off etc. How about you all get over it, whether you were successful in the role or not, this job is not for every one so just accept the fact that you'll be better at something else and get on with it!! PS) next time you're talking to a real estate agent, careful, they may just con you into believing that someone else had made a better offer or is buying the house... Good luck and have a nice life!

I'm a former THG employee from the Madison office, which was closed down 6 months ago unexpectently. A lot of what Sean said is very true. You can make money at THG, but their cold calling practices are so not worth working there. You only reach 5 decision makers a day at best. The money was even cheaper in Madison, plus you only received 8 percent commission and with taxes its more like 4 percent my buddy luke knows that. I'm not going to say it was a horrible experience, I was trained by Jon the GM out of Chicago, who himself makes great money because he gets to take over all the past clients when team leaders decide to leave and he then gets their commission. Jon is great at sales and there are some people there that are great as well. I'm now the sales manager for big golf company, and here I actually tell the truth and I can even leave a message and not force someone to make a decision on spending 40,000 in the 10 minutes were talking unlike what you have to do at THG. I worked with a great GM in Madison NickS, we knew something was going on when contractors were talking about ripping down walls in our office. Then we were told they were closing down the Madison office and the 3 people that were even left in Madison had the option to move to Chicago and we weren't even given two weeks to decide if we wanted to do that. By the way thanks a lot JON. He will say he offered us an extra 600 dollars to move there only for the first month, but that still doesn't take care of the cost of living there, not to mention trying to break our lease in Madison where we still have to pay rent. Not all is bad at THG, they are just pretty shady at times. They did however help me land my job that I'm at now, and I do owe Nick Sauser, Brad Davis and Jon S. much appreciation as they taught me how to become good at sales. I've taken a few things I learned from them and came up with my own technique of selling and it's working well so far. If you like the boiler room atmosphere and cold calling 300 bitchy admins a day then THG is the place for you. Hope this helps any future employees there. Thanks for explaining the company perfectly Sean.

Hi all, I am a decision maker who was just evaluating TGH proposal for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix F1 event. Just happen to google the name and got to this page (after ignoring the suspicious job posting pages). After reading nearly all the responses I declined the proposal. Although the proposal looks like a good opportunity but I will simply not feel comfortable giving business to such unethical company, and I will certainly spread the word in the market about them.

I worked for marcus evans for over a year and in that time I witnessed the most unethical practices I have ever seen. First of all, they will hire anything that breathes. That's not unethical, but it doesn't exactly make you feel like you're the cream of the crop. They said the average person makes about 60k-120k the first year. I don't know anyone other than the managers that make that (if they are lucky). The base salary was $1000 per month. When you finally get paid which happens every 30-35 days, you have to fight tooth and nail to get paid for the "deals" you brought in. They always find a reason not to pay you for the deals you bring in during a contest period. The excuses I got were HR didn't receive them that day, The Barbados office didn't get the fax to process for the contest, or I have no record of that. Even if the fax stamp has the date on it you are SOL. If you do not report a deal you brought in, you would not be paid on it. They have no system in place to keep track of your commissions. It is entirely up to you. THEY WILL TRY EVERYTHING TO MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT GET PAID!!! After being burned so many times and not getting paid the commissions I earned I had to call it quits. I also filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor. Most of the managers and employees are drinking on their lunch hour. The entire office is made up of cliques. If you aren't in with the cool kids which is composed of the coke heads, drunks, slackers and HR, forget about it. You will not get far in this office. If they tell you you are going to travel to the events to help run it and meet the people you signed up, make sure you are one of the cool kids, or else you won't be going. The is a really old guy that works there that is constantly sexually harrassing every woman in the office. When I complained I was told to deal with it because the guy had worked there forever and "that's just how he is". Being young and naive, I did just that. The managers listen to your phone calls and say it is for training purposes, but when your manager gets the deal that you were working on (that she was listenening to) faxed to her the next day and you get no credit or commisson, I would have to say that is more than a coincidence. I had to learn to lie to c-level executives to make a buck there. I learn a lot of practices that diminished my integrity and it took me a couple of months to unlearn them for the job I'm at now. Accept a position at Marcus Evans at your own risk. You have been warned!

Hey Folks, Read the last two replies very carefully - as they are exactly honest. The best advise I can offer any prospective employee is that you understand that both marcus evans & THG are "hard-core" aggressive commission telephone sales jobs. If you do NOT like "slamming" the phone with ~ 100 calls a day / every day - then this job is not for you!!!!!!! One other key point is that the salary numbers that are quoted in all of the recruiting ads are absolute bullshit. You will be lucky if you make half of what is promised "after your first full year" - should you make it that long. A couple of the other current THG staff who have replied to this thread should be ashamed of themselves. They have openly posted B/S. Jon S. is a great sales manager who has wrote the training book for THG - too bad he is in the crapper with the CEO. If you want to work at marcus evans - GOOD LUCK........ Just know what you are getting yourself in for. Oh & by the way - 401K/Health Benefits ect..... All fairy tales at marcus evans... You will be treated like the disposable robots that you are.... GOOD LUCK !!!!!!!!!!!

Is it true what "Zidane" posted about the San Diego, Houston, Cleveland, Madison, and Atlanta offices closing?!?!?! That's the best news that I have heard in years. There have been alot of other changes recently too. After working at THG in Chicago for half-a-year, I decided to go to law school. Recently, I was interviewing at a law firm in the NBC tower and got to talk to a few of the vets like Joel and Cassidy. They informed me that Brad D. had left the company. This is bad news for Stromberg because he relied so heavily on Brad's weasily telemarketing tactics. The THG politics work like this: THG Chicago is divided into two different teams who are on opposite sides of the office. Stromberg is the captain for 1 team and Meakins' captain for the other. s****.. Meakins has a Joel as his right hand man while John had Brad. Since Brad is gone...John probably has promoted Ari or Cassidy to this position; neither of which are in any way qualified to do the job. Team Stromberg's time is pretty much up, whereas Meakins and his team are in a pretty good place. Meakins is in like Flynn with the executive juggernauts in London and has the most job security out of anyone in the company. James Sinton--CEO of marcus evans Europe--despises Stromberg but loves Meakins. This is why Sinton still has Stromberg on the phone after 20+ years with the company. What, is he going to be 75 and still telemarketing tickets to the US Open? That sounds like a great life. Congratulations to Jon S. for getting Brad's Nestle account...I hope that's going well for you. Best regards, Nancy

First off, I agree with the post that points out that this a website aimed at helping potential buyers to make a decision about whether or not to move forward with a purchase and thus will address that issue first. Hey Potential Customer, Have you lost your mind. Why on earth would buy from a company who notoriously charges more for their product than the actual venue would. I worked for THG in numerous offices for a number of years, and believe me when I tell you that you will be sorry if you buy any event besides the Masters (they do a great job at the Masters for only 3K per person per day).. By the way, face value of a Tournament Ticket for the Masters is around $200 per person per day, but I am certain that your top clients will each eat & drink $2800 worth of food and drinks per day (lol). For example, let's say you want to go to the 2009 US Open at Bethpage, NY next year. Go to the USGA website first dummy. If not, and you buy from these crooks, you will wind up in a tent at Battle Row Park which is NOWHERE near the actual golf course. You won't even be able to get a coke without trying to find a THG Shuttle, and then dragging your clients the 3 or 4 miles away back to the tent in the middle of nowhwere. Again, let's recap...go to the actual venue website first. The classic (and only) rebuttal you will hear from the salesperson is that 'you will get quality time away from the crowds' (boy, thats for sure), and that 'the food is gourmet with executive chefs, etc...' Let me put it to you this way, would you want to leave the MLB All Star game and hop on a shuttle to get a better hot dog? Nuff said on this. Secondly, I almost barfed when I read Mr. Meakins post about how much he cares about his employees, blah blah ad nauseum.. Mr. Meakins is one of the cruelest people I have ever had the displeasure of working with/for. He opens most of his friendly advice with, 'no offense mate' (yes, he is a Brit, as is all the top echelon of the company) before completely offending an employee in front of whoever happens to be around, many times with profanity and disgusting references about how an individual is 'bending over and taking it in the you know what,' if that employee is not forceful enough with some random CEO that he has just gotten off the phone with. I really could write a book about the abusive treatment I witnessed from this individual, but don't take my word for it, call ANYONE that ever worked in the now non-existent San Diego, Houston, Cleveland, Madison, or Atlanta Offices. Oh yeah, by the way, those offices are all closed now due to the mass exodus of great people who got tired of being treated like bad kids in a detention homes. Finally, I will respond to any rebuttal of the above notes. I doubt anyone will have anything to say besides the usual, 'that person couldn't cut it, etc.' Ultimately, if you think about it, none of the leadership truly cares if you leave because the company will inherit all your accounts, and most likely rip them off over and over again as they obviously were not too sharp in the first place or they would never have become a customer.

Dear 'I'm Scared Off': My best suggestion to you is to go to the interview and find out for yourself if this job is right for you. My guess, is that it wont be. Here are a few things that should tip you off. 1.) They will only have you talk about yourself. Why? Because this business is a house of cards thats ready to collapse and they know that there's not much to say about marcus evans or THG without giving away the scam. Basically, there is not too many ways to glorify telemarketing all day, every day for less than $10/hour without planting the seed in your mind that this job is your opportunity to make $100,000 in your first year. Believe it if you want. 2.) Notice the three other applicants that are waiting for their interview. Ask yourself why so many people are interviewed, and even more interesting, why so many job postings are scattered across every single job-resource search engine in the free world? 3.) Ask them why they think its a good idea to not give their employees health insurance until half-a-year on the job? 4.) In the interview, ask them why they feel the need to explain you expected annual income on paper? Is this because they think you are an idiot who can't understand it verbally? Or, is this just the bait used to reel you in? Don't you think it to be unprofessional to show you your projected salary+commissions on paper before even offering you the job. CREEPY! 5.) They will try to impress/intimidate you in the interview. This is not done intentionally. It's just that they have gotten so used to the routine after interviewing 10-20 employees everyday of their career at THG or marcus evans. 6.) Ask the person interviewing you what the dollar amount is that they receive for every piece of fresh meat that they bring in. 7.) Ask them how many people get fired or quit. Simple enough, however, if you ask this they will end the interview and say you are not the right fit. It would still be funny. These are my suggestions. Go to the interview. Have a blast! Oh, and, I hate the movie boiler room too.

Okay, so first off I was foolish enough to remove myself from my last place of employment because the sales territory was a sham and the product was even more inferior. With the state of the job market and the economy I should have known better. Enough looking back and dwelling on the recent past, time to literally dive into my future. With minimal recruitment action on my behalf I have become prey to any and all corporate boiler room wastelands that are a dime a dozen because honestly, I need to start working again. Then one day a few weeks ago I get a call from the corporate recruiter from Marcus Evans in Chicago who sounded extremely professional and made the company sound professional as well. I literally played phone tag with this recruiter and missed on the first wave of training classes and interviews that occurred last month. When we finally came to agreement on a time to conduct the initial phone interview I passed the 30 minute conversation naturally. I had a great feeling about interviewing in person with Marcus Evans until a former colleague of mine laughed when I mentioned that I had an interview lined up with Marcus Evans and how cool it was that the little boiler room was located in the NBC Building (Tower) whatever. I decided after speaking with him to still give it a chance, but after reading everything on this report for the last two hours I have decided to skip this interview; however, for the sake of other naive jobseekers, I may go to this interview just to find out for myself but I don't even want that company to have any more of my information than they already have. I'm not at the point in my career that I should have to break down and take the risk of working for a company like Marcus Evans, and honestly the "non-compete" stories placed the fear of god in me amongst all other negative traits. Talk it up on here. Should I go to this interview next week? Should I gather more information? Should I do this for the sake of journalism and uncovering fraud in America? Let us debate. Thank you. (For the love of god...why do salesmen today think that 2000's "Boiler Room" is such a spectacular movie? I mean yeah I loved it to before I went to college became educated, and realized it was just a s**t-acting ripoff of Glengarry Glen Ross. And I'm out....holding the picture of me and my bike...crying..whimpering..."my leg...my f**cking leg". YOU SUCK GIOVANNI RIBISI

Okay, so first off I was foolish enough to remove myself from my last place of employment because the sales territory was a sham and the product was even more inferior. With the state of the job market and the economy I should have known better. Enough looking back and dwelling on the recent past, time to literally dive into my future. With minimal recruitment action on my behalf I have become prey to any and all corporate boiler room wastelands that are a dime a dozen because honestly, I need to start working again. Then one day a few weeks ago I get a call from the corporate recruiter from Marcus Evans in Chicago who sounded extremely professional and made the company sound professional as well. I literally played phone tag with this recruiter and missed on the first wave of training classes and interviews that occurred last month. When we finally came to agreement on a time to conduct the initial phone interview I passed the 30 minute conversation naturally. I had a great feeling about interviewing in person with Marcus Evans until a former colleague of mine laughed when I mentioned that I had an interview lined up with Marcus Evans and how cool it was that the little boiler room was located in the NBC Building (Tower) whatever. I decided after speaking with him to still give it a chance, but after reading everything on this report for the last two hours I have decided to skip this interview; however, for the sake of other naive jobseekers, I may go to this interview just to find out for myself but I don't even want that company to have any more of my information than they already have. I'm not at the point in my career that I should have to break down and take the risk of working for a company like Marcus Evans, and honestly the "non-compete" stories placed the fear of god in me amongst all other negative traits. Talk it up on here. Should I go to this interview next week? Should I gather more information? Should I do this for the sake of journalism and uncovering fraud in America? Let us debate. Thank you. (For the love of god...why do salesmen today think that 2000's "Boiler Room" is such a spectacular movie? I mean yeah I loved it to before I went to college became educated, and realized it was just a s**t-acting ripoff of Glengarry Glen Ross. And I'm out....holding the picture of me and my bike...crying..whimpering..."my leg...my f**cking leg". YOU SUCK GIOVANNI RIBISI

Okay, so first off I was foolish enough to remove myself from my last place of employment because the sales territory was a sham and the product was even more inferior. With the state of the job market and the economy I should have known better. Enough looking back and dwelling on the recent past, time to literally dive into my future. With minimal recruitment action on my behalf I have become prey to any and all corporate boiler room wastelands that are a dime a dozen because honestly, I need to start working again. Then one day a few weeks ago I get a call from the corporate recruiter from Marcus Evans in Chicago who sounded extremely professional and made the company sound professional as well. I literally played phone tag with this recruiter and missed on the first wave of training classes and interviews that occurred last month. When we finally came to agreement on a time to conduct the initial phone interview I passed the 30 minute conversation naturally. I had a great feeling about interviewing in person with Marcus Evans until a former colleague of mine laughed when I mentioned that I had an interview lined up with Marcus Evans and how cool it was that the little boiler room was located in the NBC Building (Tower) whatever. I decided after speaking with him to still give it a chance, but after reading everything on this report for the last two hours I have decided to skip this interview; however, for the sake of other naive jobseekers, I may go to this interview just to find out for myself but I don't even want that company to have any more of my information than they already have. I'm not at the point in my career that I should have to break down and take the risk of working for a company like Marcus Evans, and honestly the "non-compete" stories placed the fear of god in me amongst all other negative traits. Talk it up on here. Should I go to this interview next week? Should I gather more information? Should I do this for the sake of journalism and uncovering fraud in America? Let us debate. Thank you. (For the love of god...why do salesmen today think that 2000's "Boiler Room" is such a spectacular movie? I mean yeah I loved it to before I went to college became educated, and realized it was just a s**t-acting ripoff of Glengarry Glen Ross. And I'm out....holding the picture of me and my bike...crying..whimpering..."my leg...my f**cking leg". YOU SUCK GIOVANNI RIBISI

Okay, so first off I was foolish enough to remove myself from my last place of employment because the sales territory was a sham and the product was even more inferior. With the state of the job market and the economy I should have known better. Enough looking back and dwelling on the recent past, time to literally dive into my future. With minimal recruitment action on my behalf I have become prey to any and all corporate boiler room wastelands that are a dime a dozen because honestly, I need to start working again. Then one day a few weeks ago I get a call from the corporate recruiter from Marcus Evans in Chicago who sounded extremely professional and made the company sound professional as well. I literally played phone tag with this recruiter and missed on the first wave of training classes and interviews that occurred last month. When we finally came to agreement on a time to conduct the initial phone interview I passed the 30 minute conversation naturally. I had a great feeling about interviewing in person with Marcus Evans until a former colleague of mine laughed when I mentioned that I had an interview lined up with Marcus Evans and how cool it was that the little boiler room was located in the NBC Building (Tower) whatever. I decided after speaking with him to still give it a chance, but after reading everything on this report for the last two hours I have decided to skip this interview; however, for the sake of other naive jobseekers, I may go to this interview just to find out for myself but I don't even want that company to have any more of my information than they already have. I'm not at the point in my career that I should have to break down and take the risk of working for a company like Marcus Evans, and honestly the "non-compete" stories placed the fear of god in me amongst all other negative traits. Talk it up on here. Should I go to this interview next week? Should I gather more information? Should I do this for the sake of journalism and uncovering fraud in America? Let us debate. Thank you. (For the love of god...why do salesmen today think that 2000's "Boiler Room" is such a spectacular movie? I mean yeah I loved it to before I went to college became educated, and realized it was just a s**t-acting ripoff of Glengarry Glen Ross. And I'm out....holding the picture of me and my bike...crying..whimpering..."my leg...my f**cking leg". YOU SUCK GIOVANNI RIBISI

Firstly, all of us who were ever at the top knew how to get through to people. I had a guy sign a contract and have it faxed back from the nurses station where he was in the hospital for a heart attack, yes I called him and emailed him there until I got him. Pressure is the name of the game, trickery, lying, cheating and stealing and btw, you need to lose your heart completely. In Europe the game is different as high paying commissions are very alluring when your personal income tax can eat as much as 65% or more of your actual pay. Marcus also often agreed to pay some of us "offshore" of which I was one and that just goes to show you the man's integrity. So essentially I was making my basic on the books and commissions off the books in the countried I worked in. It was at the time standard practice to negotiate that into your move, which if you were good could be often if you wanted the coveted GM position. Marcus evans has some of the best drinking buddies I knew! How could an office full of alcoholics with work hard play hard attitudes not? Naturally you would find someone funny if you worked with them, most people who do well there have a natural gift with people. I would work people over on the phone in such a way the entire office would hang up their phones collectively and listen to my close and clap at the end. Believe me when I say, in my day I was a legend at ME. It was eventually my conscience that made me leave and as most people I readily admit I am ruined from the experience. I have lost subsequent jobs for "inappropriate" sales techniques. No joke. It took me years to "detox" from that environment. I broke records there from my very first conference and the only way was up and up and up and one day I woke up and realised that this company owned me, and I was as dispensible as anyone else. Surely one would ask how someone with a 8k (UK) pound base salary per month could ever want to leave. That is not to mention my own overrides and all else like being paid offshore etc. For me it was down to respect and self-respect. When I saw how some of my predecessors left it reminded me how this man was as a person. I mean Marcus would sell his own children down river if it meant another million in his pocket. To see recessions hit and how Marcus would slide people was incredible. When I say slide I am talking about how he got rid of people whose salaries were too high for the times. They got there by riding waves then got knocked out when Marcus saw he could profit more by screwing them and putting a wannabe in their place for a lot less. First he would take them into a meeting, sometimes, country permitting, he would actually come to an office with a new GM in tow and have a meeting with the GM and fire them outright and a day later hold an office meeting where he would present the new GM. As he often controlled visas and work permits for people moved FAR from home he could see to they were out of the country before he even left! Other times when it was not so simple he would do what I call sliding. Make the person think they were getting a great opportunity only to move them to no man's land and then humiliate them into submission or resignation. As I mentioned before a GM for Amsterdam was once the first to set foot on European soil. He was sent from London started Amsterdam and gave birth to about all the offices after that. He was making 30k UK pounds minimum a month. At his end he was "slid" and promised a great opportunity in USA and ended up sitting back at a sales desk with no computer of his own in Chicago until he was fired as US law permits. The fact he even allowed for that humiliation should have been a wake up call to many. By getting rid of him Marcus was able to pay various GM's a lot less and profit a lot more rather than paying this guy an override and paying all the GM's under him as well. Nobody can turn a humiliation around like Marcus. He makes you feel like you are getting promoted when you are actually being moved out! In terms of how I resigned, well first I wrote an amazing letter that made people's jaw drop. Then I just decided not to stoop to Marcus' level and handed in a few lines stating I thanked them for all I learned but at this juncture felt it was best for me to pursue new paths. When Marcus screwed me over I wrote him an email that had him seeing red! He replied within minutes. I told him exactly what I thought of him. Few people do! Few people move on in a healthy way after Marcus Evans as well, especially in Europe. Spoiled from a job where a hangover is sufficient reason to call in sick or come late, (as long as you are a top producer) and money that you will rarely find on the continent, many people find re-adjusting to the real world hard. The boiler room was too fun! We used to go get drunk at lunch and come back in and this was as I was rising in ranks. The GM would say--d**n you are doing a bang up job, what did you do---got drunk at lunch! Go get drunk again tomorrow was the standard answer! Lines of coke in the bathroom was normal, as were high managers who did little. IF YOU PRODUCE, then you can do anything you want. The question is at what price. In Europe the words "Marcus Evans" on a CV (resume in USA) are the kiss of death. NOBODY wants you to sell. They know you are nothing but a swindler. When I left I prepared by closing down my accounts and taking home anything of importance slowly but surely. I erased my computer (yes I was high enough up to have my own office and computer). I also took all I could in terms of proof of what was going on because I knew how Marcus was. Many of my friends did not do as well and suffered greatly. Some still do being forever relegated to doing freelance conference work or working at other conference companies. It is hard to get into a new career in Europe after M.E For all those high enough up the best thing to do is save your money and start your own business. Look up Naseba, that was a former workmate of mine who did that after leaving ME. Others also opened their own conference and events companies, most not as successfully. Unfortunately many higher ups blow their money up their noses or frivolously elsewhere and when they are cut loose are desperate and worse off from when they started. IT IS NOT A PLACE FOR A YOUNG PERSON TO GET THEIR FOOT IN THE DOOR IN ANY BUSINESS WORLD! As for the Theron's etc. They will never leave. They are lifers, and know too much. Marcus will never let them go because they can kill him or at least his business. I always called M.E "THE FIRM" because once you were in, it was hard to get out. But at the level of some of his top people, they will die there and be paid through thick and thin because Marcus is too afraid of what they know. It is like the mafia!

I actually found this thing while showing my EVP the company I had worked for before my new job... I don't think he actually saw these reports, but I couldn't beldsieve that it was the 2nd hit on google...?? With respect I would like to comment on a lot of what is being said here. Almost everything from every side of this argument is true. Sean C. hit the ball out of the park with his post. Jon and Hunter and Paul also provided solid company line with their post's. I worked directly next to Paul for 6 months. I freaking love the guy. He is probably one of the best british people I have ever met in my life. He has a fast sense of humor, will go to hell and back for you, and works pretty d**n hard. I have literally seen the guy pick up the phone, look at me, say: " I'm going to sell this geezer a package to XYZ event" get a voicemail, "0" out, pretend like he was getting on a plane, get transferred to someone in finance, get them to dig up the guys cell phone, call the DM on the Cell phone, send a contract to his hotel room, and have it faxed back within 10 mins. He literally is one of the 5 best sales people I have ever met in my life. I wish that I had the drive and determination that he has. Above and beyond that, the guy is a blast to drink with, and will go to bat for you when he knows you are right. I had a pretty large sale toward the end of my time with THG and someone else in the company tried to say it was their sale. Paul literally went to the CEO of our company to make sure that I was paid on the sale that was rightfully mine. On a personal level I really like the guy and wish no harm to him. This job was not for me. I would say that the interview process was a bit misleading, and I voiced my concern with Paul and Dea on that front. I feel that the way we did business was also shady, and I spoke up about that as well. My real downfall with THG was that once I realized that the job wasn't for me, I just did whatever I could to get by. I called Sean "P Diddy" Combs 20 times a day just to make sure my call numbers were up. I would never talk to gates, ever, not even to try to get cell phones. I would call the same numbers (I built a list of about 350 direct lines to DM's) everyday. The truth is that I probably got in touch with 3-5 new people everyday, and out of those 3-5 if I had 1 or 2 good conversations, I was happy. The thing that kills you with this job is that you can hit BIG. I was literally in a position where I was just coasting everyday, not really caring about what I was doing, looking around for other jobs while at work, all the while knowing that if I got the right person on the right day, I could have a huge sale. One day an SVP picked up the phone and told me that he had no money at all, within 2 days he spent over $100,000 with Paul and I. The chances of that happening, especially since I had 100% checked out in my mind with the job, were impossible. It was pure luck, and I still can't believe it happened. So THG.... It is 100% cold calls. you start with no leads at all. Everyday you come in and are expected to make 150 calls and have about 2 hours on the phone. The pay sucks, the commission is good unless someone knows you are about to leave.............. ( I only got paid on half my commission because Paul knew I was taking off literally the second I got my check. They told me that since one of my contracts was over an 18 month period, that they did not need to pay me until all of the money came in. This would be logical except that people selling the 2010 olympics were getting paid in full on their deals.....Paul I was going to buy you a box of VSG's if you would have paid me in full!...) I have no real ill will against THG. It is not the type of company I want to work for. I currently work for a gigantic media conglomerate that makes in a week what THG makes in a year. (Paul or Joel, Hit me up if you want some direct dials and cells... haha) I think that if nothing else THG taught me how to reach some people that I would never know how to reach. It taught me how to speak with Senior level exec's at a very young age. It also showed me a lot of bad things that are thought of as too aggressive when you are dealing with a slower sale. With all that being said... Do your research. If you have an interview, take it. Ask a ton of questions, know exactly what you are getting into. Do not go into the job with a half a$$ed work ethic. A lot of getting people on the phone is luck, however some of it is skill. Know that the vast majority of the people who are hired do leave quickly. Sean C wasn't lying when he said that your seat will still be warm when you get into the office. I can only guess that Sean C had to have been one of the several people that sat at my sales table, because I literally was the person who heard Paul on the phone with Walker telling him to hire twice as many and Fire half. I also over heard Tad talk about "Fresh Meat". I can confidently say that the interview process was a joke while I was at THG. I can also say that if you do last more than a few weeks, you will be let in on secrets to boost your time on the phone and numbers of calls. Even the people who look like they are busting their backside all day are sitting on a repeating line for at least an hour ( Yahoo anyone?) To make a long winded scatter-brained reply longer, this is a sales job, but this is not the only type of sales job. In other sales jobs (corporate ones) you have the opportunity to entertain, to meet with your client, to analyze business, to see what they need and what can help them. You have the opportunity to REALLY become an assistant buyer rather than a sales person. This sales job makes the world of sales look cheap and sleezy, the tactics that THG uses work, but they also fail a lot of the time. I can honestly say that I went into THG with a great attitude, ready to break down walls and do what I needed to be successful. Unfortunately, quickly I realized that I felt compromised as an individual with some of the things that I was saying and doing. Now, I have a job where I no longer have that problem. I come in early and stay late everyday because I know that I am really improving the quality of my clients business. When I was at THG, I was eating breakfast till 8:30 and out the door at 4:59 because I hated the way I had to do business. I think that THG is not the worst job in the world as some people have made it sound. I also think it is definitely not a great job like others have made it sound. I wish the people under team Meakins ( if any of them are still around) nothing but the best. With respect though, Paul you owe me about $5,000! Good luck. Dave S.

With respect I would like to comment on a lot of what is being said here. Almost everything from every side of this argument is true. Sean C. hit the ball out of the park with his post. Jon and Hunter and Paul also provided solid company line with their post's. I worked directly next to Paul for 6 months. I freaking love the guy. He is probably one of the best british people I have ever met in my life. He has a fast sense of humor, will go to hell and back for you, and works pretty d**n hard. I have literally seen the guy pick up the phone, look at me, say: " I'm going to sell this geezer a package to XYZ event" get a voicemail, "0" out, pretend like he was getting on a plane, get transferred to someone in finance, get them to dig up the guys cell phone, call the DM on the Cell phone, send a contract to his hotel room, and have it faxed back within 10 mins. He literally is one of the 5 best sales people I have ever met in my life. I wish that I had the drive and determination that he has. Above and beyond that, the guy is a blast to drink with, and will go to bat for you when he knows you are right. I had a pretty large sale toward the end of my time with THG and someone else in the company tried to say it was their sale. Paul literally went to the CEO of our company to make sure that I was paid on the sale that was rightfully mine. On a personal level I really like the guy and wish no harm to him. This job was not for me. I would say that the interview process was a bit misleading, and I voiced my concern with Paul and Dea on that front. I feel that the way we did business was also shady, and I spoke up about that as well. My real downfall with THG was that once I realized that the job wasn't for me, I just did whatever I could to get by. I called Sean "P Diddy" Combs 20 times a day just to make sure my call numbers were up. I would never talk to gates, ever, not even to try to get cell phones. I would call the same numbers (I built a list of about 350 direct lines to DM's) everyday. The truth is that I probably got in touch with 3-5 new people everyday, and out of those 3-5 if I had 1 or 2 good conversations, I was happy. The thing that kills you with this job is that you can hit BIG. I was literally in a position where I was just coasting everyday, not really caring about what I was doing, looking around for other jobs while at work, all the while knowing that if I got the right person on the right day, I could have a huge sale. One day an SVP picked up the phone and told me that he had no money at all, within 2 days he spent over $100,000 with Paul and I. The chances of that happening, especially since I had 100% checked out in my mind with the job, were impossible. It was pure luck, and I still can't believe it happened. So THG.... It is 100% cold calls. you start with no leads at all. Everyday you come in and are expected to make 150 calls and have about 2 hours on the phone. The pay sucks, the commission is good unless someone knows you are about to leave.............. ( I only got paid on half my commission because Paul knew I was taking off literally the second I got my check. They told me that since one of my contracts was over an 18 month period, that they did not need to pay me until all of the money came in. This would be logical except that people selling the 2010 olympics were getting paid in full on their deals.....Paul I was going to buy you a box of VSG's if you would have paid me in full!...) I have no real ill will against THG. It is not the type of company I want to work for. I currently work for a gigantic media conglomerate that makes in a week what THG makes in a year. (Paul or Joel, Hit me up if you want some direct dials and cells... haha) I think that if nothing else THG taught me how to reach some people that I would never know how to reach. It taught me how to speak with Senior level exec's at a very young age. It also showed me a lot of bad things that are thought of as too aggressive when you are dealing with a slower sale. With all that being said... Do your research. If you have an interview, take it. Ask a ton of questions, know exactly what you are getting into. Do not go into the job with a half a$$ed work ethic. A lot of getting people on the phone is luck, however some of it is skill. Know that the vast majority of the people who are hired do leave quickly. Sean C wasn't lying when he said that your seat will still be warm when you get into the office. I can only guess that Sean C had to have been one of the several people that sat at my sales table, because I literally was the person who heard Paul on the phone with Walker telling him to hire twice as many and Fire half. I also over heard Tad talk about "Fresh Meat". I can confidently say that the interview process was a joke while I was at THG. I can also say that if you do last more than a few weeks, you will be let in on secrets to boost your time on the phone and numbers of calls. Even the people who look like they are busting their backside all day are sitting on a repeating line for at least an hour ( Yahoo anyone?) To make a long winded scatter-brained reply longer, this is a sales job, but this is not the only type of sales job. In other sales jobs (corporate ones) you have the opportunity to entertain, to meet with your client, to analyze business, to see what they need and what can help them. You have the opportunity to REALLY become an assistant buyer rather than a sales person. This sales job makes the world of sales look cheap and sleezy, the tactics that THG uses work, but they also fail a lot of the time. I can honestly say that I went into THG with a great attitude, ready to break down walls and do what I needed to be successful. Unfortunately, quickly I realized that I felt compromised as an individual with some of the things that I was saying and doing. Now, I have a job where I no longer have that problem. I come in early and stay late everyday because I know that I am really improving the quality of my clients business. When I was at THG, I was eating breakfast till 8:30 and out the door at 4:59 because I hated the way I had to do business. I think that THG is not the worst job in the world as some people have made it sound. I also think it is definitely not a great job like others have made it sound. I wish the people under team Meakins ( if any of them are still around) nothing but the best. With respect though, Paul you owe me about $5,000! Good luck. Dave S.

So, marcus evans just fired you, huh?Not much left to do but pack up your s**t and mosey on out of there, right? Wrong, you unimaginative f***s. First, you need to gather the e-mail address every single client, colleague, superior, family member, frat brother, and journalist you've ever encountered or thought about encountering in the last decade. Second, you need to fill out the form letter that follows (not that you aren't all special in your own way, but minimal variation is necessary, and I'm not paid enough to work on a case per case basis. If you'd like something one of a kind, it's going to cost extra). Anyway, the letter. It serves multiple functions: first, it violates your employer in the most gruesome fashion in front of clients and other interested parties. Second, you "leverage" your experience to make yourself sound better than you are. And third, it will amuse us, which is this only solace I take from my past memories of the hellish Siberia known as telemarketing. To: All parties CC:ed Importance: high as F**K Subject: mayday To whom it most definitely concerns, marcus evans is going to tell you I was "let go" today, as part of a "right-sizing" effort. But it is a bold-faced lie. I am leaving of my own accord because THIS SHIP IS SINKING. I suggest you do the same. Here is the s**t, feel free, nay, encouraged, to disseminate widely: Our balance sheet is completely made up. Our CEO, Theron Buraway, selects random bar code numbers in place of the true horror story that will soon engulf this cesspool and consign it to the scrap heap of corporate history. In truth, he has been a straw man for years and I have been propping this place up like Atlas. Exhausted from swimming against an endless tide of ineptitude (not to mention a constant barrage of same-sex harassment, I have decided to move on. To those of you shocked by these revelations, fear not! I offer a port in the storm: I am starting up a sports marketing firm; the strategy of which cannot be disclosed over email because of its sheer f**king awesomeness. If you act quickly, I will trim my fees for the first event you book with us. At the very least, for the love of God, pull your money and cease all relationships with the s**thouse known as marcus evans. I have it on good authority that Buraway himself has it in for this dump, and there will be no bailout should one be necessary. And I assure, it will be. All the best, [Your name here] *the preceding was only an example letter and does not reflect the views or opinions of Bud Fox or anyone identifying themselves as Bud Fox. The people and places mentioned are fictitious and not based on reality. The part about marcus evans being a p**s poor company was true.

Reuben-are you deluded or paid off? "I do not agree with some of their tactics...but what they are selling is legitimate"??????? How is it legitimate to sell conferences claiming people will be there numbering 80-100 when half the time half the office is sent in their suits to make numbers look bigger? How is it legitimate to sell sponsorship with these lies? Or to sell summits and name companies that are not there or never planned on being there? As a former higher up I can say it is WE who go there and do all the a** kissing and apologising for the poor turnout and make the excuses up. Yes, THG is a bit more legit but not in practices. The sales teams are groomed to be liars and half are drunks, junkies, or lewd and lascivious bastards! They moved one GM a whole continent away to avoid a sexual harrassment suit! How can you say this is an ethical company when they pay off a GM to keep quiet while over a weekend Marcus sends his muscle to take all but the Ikea furniture so on Monday false offers are given to all but a few and the GM is on the next plane out? Or like in Poland where they just evacuate all the valuables and close shop so employees show up with no job on Monday and no office? Or a man unregisters his "legitimate company" all over Europe to avoid numerous lawsuits and then re-incorporates under slightly altered names? Marcus is a sociopath and a megalomaniac, he is a malignant narcissist and that is the company culture he bred and breeds. It is THE BOILER ROOM! All looks so intimidating and professional yet all it is is a ruse for a low class sales machine designed with ONE goal in mind, to make Marcus Evans richer. What you say shocks me. You have to be getting paid for that post!

Mitch: My first suggestion to you is to learn to read because you misquoted nearly every point that I've made in previous posts. Firstly...I said every employee at ME aims at VP's because it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a Pres. or Chairman on the phone. If you can, then the company you are calling is too small to even consider buying your rediculous "package". Who are realistic prospects to you Mithc? Do you just call the local franchise President of Culvers? I would bet my life that you've NEVER gotten 20 Presidents on the phone in any give calendar month, let alone any given day. Marcus Evans didn't really teach you how to be a good liar, did they? Oh, and I am not crying or whining about my experience with ME. I am expressing my constitutional right to free speech, so why don't you focus on your telemarketing and call scripts you inbred, under-educated yokel and leave this thread to the people that matter. I never had a hard time writing business at any job. What I did have a hard time with was my parents and wife telling their friends that I was a telemarketer. Isn't that embarrasing to you? And why do you try to give me advice like, "Get the final DM on the phone!!!", when I don't even work there anymore. I never have to hear those words again so, please, keep your telemarketing propaganda to yourself. I don't know you Mitch, but I hate you. Best Regards, Mr. Fox

Hey, Reuben. How much money did Jon pay you to write that sappy letter about your failed attempts at success and how THG could have help you get closer to that dream if only you would have given it your all? If Jon pays per word, I'm TOTALLY in. If it's a flat fee, which, knowing him wouldn't be much, count me out. But, really, thats all sounded really genuine. Great job Reuben. Keep reaching for the stars.

I first off just wanted to state how bad I think it is that it is so easy to find this report on google as mentioned before. Jon or Paul should really look into getting that changed. Even though it is good to allow future employees to see what other people have to say, most opinions are exaggerated. I started with ME in Toronto in the summits division in august of 07. I was at the top of my training class getting a deal in my 2nd week for $65k. By October my boss pulled me aside and told me that he wanted to send me to the UK for 2 months to do training to start a THG division in Toronto. I was thrilled at the idea and after an interview with the CEO over the phone I was on my way to england with Pierre - another employee from our office. After learning a great deal in London(not to mention getting to see one of the greatest cities in the world)but without any success in terms of $$$ the CEO sent Pierre and me to Chicago to train under Jon S for two months. After the two months, Pierre had deals while I was still caught up in the whole atmosphere of Chicago and immaturity of being a young 23 year old. In march(no I wasn't canned as you might think from previous posts) I was sent back to Toronto to continue working in the summits division. After the high of being in London and Chicago, and having to go be in the sludge of Toronto I was no longer motivated to do the job so after a long discussion with my boss I quit. Pierre is still kicking a*s in Chicago and from what I hear will be going back to Toronto to manage a team of 16 people. So basically in 8 months at the company I had the opportunity of a life time to become a manager of a huge team in Toronto and I got see Europe and see Chicago all for free while getting paid a decent base salary. It was 99% my fault that I did not succeed and I do not blame Jon or James at all. They gave me the opportunity. So for anyone who says that there is no opportunity for advancement in the company is clearly either 1. lying or 2. not the right person for upper management. That being said, I must say I don't agree 100% with some of the sales tactics employed by THG and ME. I do however admit that they work and that THG and ME are not selling something harmful or illegitimate. Every product we sell has a value to the client, not every client sees the value of that product. That was our job and sometimes in order to show the client that value we had to lie. But in the end if it made that client money or increased loyalty of THEIR clients then we did our job with integrity. I just wanted to thank Jon, and everyone else in Chicago for everything they taught me. If you are thinking about joining THG or ME and are having second thoughts, I hope you read this post and know that there is opportunity you just have to know how to take it. Reuben G.

I first off just wanted to state how bad I think it is that it is so easy to find this report on google as mentioned before. Jon or Paul should really look into getting that changed. Even though it is good to allow future employees to see what other people have to say, most opinions are exaggerated. I started with ME in Toronto in the summits division in august of 07. I was at the top of my training class getting a deal in my 2nd week for $65k. By October my boss pulled me aside and told me that he wanted to send me to the UK for 2 months to do training to start a THG division in Toronto. I was thrilled at the idea and after an interview with the CEO over the phone I was on my way to england with Pierre - another employee from our office. After learning a great deal in London(not to mention getting to see one of the greatest cities in the world)but without any success in terms of $$$ the CEO sent Pierre and me to Chicago to train under Jon S for two months. After the two months, Pierre had deals while I was still caught up in the whole atmosphere of Chicago and immaturity of being a young 23 year old. In march(no I wasn't canned as you might think from previous posts) I was sent back to Toronto to continue working in the summits division. After the high of being in London and Chicago, and having to go be in the sludge of Toronto I was no longer motivated to do the job so after a long discussion with my boss I quit. Pierre is still kicking a*s in Chicago and from what I hear will be going back to Toronto to manage a team of 16 people. So basically in 8 months at the company I had the opportunity of a life time to become a manager of a huge team in Toronto and I got see Europe and see Chicago all for free while getting paid a decent base salary. It was 99% my fault that I did not succeed and I do not blame Jon or James at all. They gave me the opportunity. So for anyone who says that there is no opportunity for advancement in the company is clearly either 1. lying or 2. not the right person for upper management. That being said, I must say I don't agree 100% with some of the sales tactics employed by THG and ME. I do however admit that they work and that THG and ME are not selling something harmful or illegitimate. Every product we sell has a value to the client, not every client sees the value of that product. That was our job and sometimes in order to show the client that value we had to lie. But in the end if it made that client money or increased loyalty of THEIR clients then we did our job with integrity. I just wanted to thank Jon, and everyone else in Chicago for everything they taught me. If you are thinking about joining THG or ME and are having second thoughts, I hope you read this post and know that there is opportunity you just have to know how to take it. Reuben G.

I first off just wanted to state how bad I think it is that it is so easy to find this report on google as mentioned before. Jon or Paul should really look into getting that changed. Even though it is good to allow future employees to see what other people have to say, most opinions are exaggerated. I started with ME in Toronto in the summits division in august of 07. I was at the top of my training class getting a deal in my 2nd week for $65k. By October my boss pulled me aside and told me that he wanted to send me to the UK for 2 months to do training to start a THG division in Toronto. I was thrilled at the idea and after an interview with the CEO over the phone I was on my way to england with Pierre - another employee from our office. After learning a great deal in London(not to mention getting to see one of the greatest cities in the world)but without any success in terms of $$$ the CEO sent Pierre and me to Chicago to train under Jon S for two months. After the two months, Pierre had deals while I was still caught up in the whole atmosphere of Chicago and immaturity of being a young 23 year old. In march(no I wasn't canned as you might think from previous posts) I was sent back to Toronto to continue working in the summits division. After the high of being in London and Chicago, and having to go be in the sludge of Toronto I was no longer motivated to do the job so after a long discussion with my boss I quit. Pierre is still kicking a*s in Chicago and from what I hear will be going back to Toronto to manage a team of 16 people. So basically in 8 months at the company I had the opportunity of a life time to become a manager of a huge team in Toronto and I got see Europe and see Chicago all for free while getting paid a decent base salary. It was 99% my fault that I did not succeed and I do not blame Jon or James at all. They gave me the opportunity. So for anyone who says that there is no opportunity for advancement in the company is clearly either 1. lying or 2. not the right person for upper management. That being said, I must say I don't agree 100% with some of the sales tactics employed by THG and ME. I do however admit that they work and that THG and ME are not selling something harmful or illegitimate. Every product we sell has a value to the client, not every client sees the value of that product. That was our job and sometimes in order to show the client that value we had to lie. But in the end if it made that client money or increased loyalty of THEIR clients then we did our job with integrity. I just wanted to thank Jon, and everyone else in Chicago for everything they taught me. If you are thinking about joining THG or ME and are having second thoughts, I hope you read this post and know that there is opportunity you just have to know how to take it. Reuben G.

So far on this thread we have had 3 types of people posting. The first (and most important) are the past employees of marcus evans & THG. Second is current THG telemarketers. And the third is current THG Telemarketers who claim to be past-employees who dispute our claims and say how happy they were with the company. This group, however, does not exist. These are the attempts of current THG telemarketers who are using the same tactics to dispute these claims as they do to try and sell their "product": lies, deceit and fraud. Ex-employees of THG originally posted on this site to voice their qualms of how poorly this company is run. Then current telemarketers started to try and dispute these claims. When this didn't work, they decided to start posting as "past-employees" who have nothing bad to say about the company. Why would someone who is so happy working for a "Professional Sports team in Atlanta" randomly do research on Marcus Evans--specifically on the Ripoff Report. It doesn't add up. If you're so happy and succesful why would searching THG or Marcus Evans on the Ripoff Reprt even come into your mind. It sounds suspect. The person writing these posts sounds alot like one of the telemarketers I used to work with. He even uses the same analogies. Without mentioning his name I can say that he graduated from Indiana with a Business and Marketing degree, lives in Wrigleyville, and enjoys wearing knock-off versions of Burberry ties. FYI: I have a life...a very succesful life. I have a downtown office with an international company. I make my own schedule so in my free time I can keep up with this thread. Unlike you guys, I dont have to be at work at 8:00am to start cold-calling all day. I have a career, not some childish telemarketing job. I hope that current THG telemarketers keep posting on here whether they are posing as themselves or some other ficticious character. Do you not realize that every time you post, you only help the Ripoff Report to get higher on a Google keyword search for marcus evans. Now its, what, the third hit on a search for marcus evans. Good...you guys deserve it. So, after you do the interview for new employess what do you do? Do you explicitly say, "dont do a keyword search for marcus evans on Google" or do you say, "make sure that you type marcusevans.com into the address bar? Either way, you guys cant hide from us. I know that less people are willing to take your jobs because of the Ripoff Report. So, who is winning. Surely it is me, the Ripoff Reprt and all of the other unhappy ex-employees of marcus evans and THG. Its fine that you like your job. More power to you. Why dont you guys save that for your interview instead of Ripoff Report postings...cause you know what, NOBODY CARES. Business must be slow if all the current telemarketers find time to stay so up to date with these posts, so don't tell me how much money your making: its just another of the many marcus evans fabricated lies. Get a life guys...or just a new job. marcus evans is a sinking ship.

This stuff is great! First Paul, who calls ripoffreport.com a trashy website posts a response that is just more of the same B.S. every other marcus evans employee posts on here, and now a "former" employee (my guess is that it is someone on marcus evans' payroll right now) says that working as a telemarketer and lying to Fortune 500 CEO's helped him get a job with a pro sports franchise and and now he is living the dream in Atlanta! First of all, there is no such thing as living the dream in Atlanta unless you really love Waffle House. And if you work for a pro sports team there who is it? I am sure they love that you blog on their dollar about some company that you used to work for. Bud Fox is dead on about these people from marcus evans, they are horrible at PR. If the former employees have no truth to their claims than why would people like Paul even bother posting on such a trashy website? One would think that it would be best to avoid a website that says nothing but negative things about your company. Especially a trashy website. Keep it up marcus evans employees, because this stuff is really entertaining. Sincerely, someone who was almost had

This is all very interesting. I worked for SMG for a while at one of the European Offices Ok alot of what has been said here is exaggerated but an awful lot is true - and what I mean by that is it's the same in Europe here too. I did ok with Marcus Evans but I knew I wouldnt work there forever, it was far too stressfull. Some of the people that work for Marcus evans would sell their own grandmother down the river to "get the deal". Some of the stuff I saw on a daily basis in the office was laughable, the way some people strutted around the sales floor - The more senior guys genuinely think that they are top dog managers/directors, when in truth they are just telemarketers, nothing more, nothing less. The arrogance of some people there is staggering, the base pay is a joke considering how difficult it is to get the commission and the treatment of employees as almost schoolchildren is degrading at times. Marcus even bought a football club here in the UK! He has that much cash from paying his employees so little and charging daftly inflated prices for events that he was able to do that - the British press was totally baffled by him - mystery man, no photo, "keeps himself to himself". I'll never regret working for them, I learnt alot, but I'm glad I don't do now.

OK Bud, I am a former employee of THG. I agree with some points, but dissagree with some too. You said you contacted VP's of Marketing?? No wonder you have such a bad taste in your mouth, you were talking to the frickin PARTY PLANNER!! Not a lot of business will come your way. Another thing. You cant get a president on the phone?? Maybe stop trying to get a hold of Bill Gates and call some realistic prospects. I talked to 15-20 presidents on a daily basis on their direct line and cell phone by finding different ways to reach them. If you sound like a p***y coming into an assistant or anyone else in a company, you wont get anywhere and certainly wont get a cell phone. Just stop crying. There are many successful people in that industry who dont work for Marcus Evans. The job isnt for everyone. I can understand your difficulty writing business though since it sounds like you were calling vp of marketing and partners all day. Get the final DM on the phone!!!

According to Jon S., 90% of business is repeat/rebooked business. That means that 10% of their business is NEW business: 10%. Now think of the hundreds of telemarketers across the U.S.. They are all competing for that 10% which because of lying, low-brow sales tactics, and overcalling...that 10% becomes ever more difficult to reach. Next, Jon S. requires that all deals must be closed within 2 hours of talking to the person on the phone; if not you are forced to "blow the deal out" and say that another company has reserved it. Ask yourself...what company in their right mind would spend $70,000 in the blink of an eye. THG is so indept that they are inconsiderate of the people they sell to. Big companies have boards of directors and strict spending guidelines: big companies need time to make decisions like this and the powerful people who make these decisions DON'T want some weasel of a telemarketer pushing them into a sale. Now, more than ever, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get the CEO or President of a company on the phone. All that THG telemarketers do is target VP of Marketing or General Counsel. 100% of the time they are calling the WRONG person and expecting them to coordinate (quickly) with their superiors about said sale. Think about this...if I went up to my boss and said I just got a call from THG and they have an $80,000 package to the MLB Allstar game...he would laugh at me. Nobody at another company will go to bat for you and put their name behind such a rediculous company. So, 90% is repeat business and 0% is new business. WOW...great company...great job...great career. Where do I sign up!

First let me say that there are a few people on here who need to get a life. As a former employee of THG, I have nothing bad to say about the company or it's people. Yes only the strong survive...that's a fact but I don't hear anyone talking about how GE under good ole Jack cut the bottom 10% of his sales force every year. THG was just a bit more aggressive. Ok ALOT more aggressive. If you can't sell, you're out. No questions asked. Easy for me to say...I can sell. Sucks for those who can't or who think they can. When I approached THG, I knew exactly what I was getting into. I wasn't some 22 year old trying to get into the sports industry (more on that later). I went in knowing I was going to work my butt off and succeed which is exactly what happened. Yes, it was a lot of phone calls, boiler room type of selling. So what! I have been in sales/marketing for 12+ years and the THG sales training is OUTSTANDING. They teach you how to reach the real decision makers and get decisions fast. No long drawn out pipeline keeping you awake at night wondering if the deal is going to close. What sales rep wouldn't love that. Those here who complain and say that the reps are lying...think about this. When you're buying clothes at Macys, Nordstrom, Belk...wherever. Do you think that the sales rep there cares that the prices are MARKED UP OVER 80%??? Buying at a "discount" is a long standing practice of convincing the person that they are getting a deal. Nothing wrong with that. Ok...onto something that might actually help those young 20 somethings get a job for a professional sports team. I work for the a Professional sports team in Atlanta. Look, you're not going to walk into the Chicago Bulls, Cubs, Bears front office and get a job without sports experience. You MIGHT be able to get an inside sales job where you're pounding out 100+ calls per day. Oh my...that sounds like a lot of hard work making a lot of calls. Get over it. If you want a job with a professional sports team, you HAVE to have sports experience. I don't care what you have to do, but get it on your resume. THG allowed me to enter this franchise at a much higher level than most. Many reps and managers here come to me and ask me to speak to their sales teams on how to get by gatekeepers, speak to CEO/Presidents and make the sale. Bottom line...Great sales training and at great springboard into my current career. There is no way I would be working here without my 18 months at THG. Living the Dream in the ATL!

Marcus Evans employees all have the same motto: it's not a lie if you beleive it. 100% percent of what goes on inside of this company is a lie, a fabrication or an exageration. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is based on truth. Everything from the job description to the sales pitch is so far removed from reality that only a mentally challenged person could beleive their B.S.. In these posts, past-employees talk about being "blacklisted". Is this unexpected? Think about the thousands of phone calls you made at marcus evans and then think about all of the people who openly voiced their negative opinions about marcus evans or hung up on you or swore at you. Did you think you were working for a reputable company just because Tom Izzo gave a testimonial on the THG site? C'mon! The compnay has a very, very bad reputation. This is why (according to Jon S.) that 90% of busineess is reapeat bookings. Nobody else is willing to touch this company with a twenty foot phone cord. But even a 90% rebooking rate means nothing when you only have 10 major clients, which are usually all getting tickets to the Masters. All THG sells is tickets and a tent with appetizers. Of course there are hotel accomodations, but how helpful are you when you put clients in the only hotel in town and then act like it is top-notch exclusive stuff? How makes this stuff up?

Marcus Evans employees all have the same motto: it's not a lie if you beleive it. 100% percent of what goes on inside of this company is a lie, a fabrication or an exageration. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is based on truth. Everything from the job description to the sales pitch is so far removed from reality that only a mentally challenged person could beleive their B.S.. In these posts, past-employees talk about being "blacklisted". Is this unexpected? Think about the thousands of phone calls you made at marcus evans and then think about all of the people who openly voiced their negative opinions about marcus evans or hung up on you or swore at you. Did you think you were working for a reputable company just because Tom Izzo gave a testimonial on the THG site? C'mon! The compnay has a very, very bad reputation. This is why (according to Jon S.) that 90% of busineess is reapeat bookings. Nobody else is willing to touch this company with a twenty foot phone cord. But even a 90% rebooking rate means nothing when you only have 10 major clients, which are usually all getting tickets to the Masters. All THG sells is tickets and a tent with appetizers. Of course there are hotel accomodations, but how helpful are you when you put clients in the only hotel in town and then act like it is top-notch exclusive stuff? How makes this stuff up?

Marcus Evans employees all have the same motto: it's not a lie if you beleive it. 100% percent of what goes on inside of this company is a lie, a fabrication or an exageration. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is based on truth. Everything from the job description to the sales pitch is so far removed from reality that only a mentally challenged person could beleive their B.S.. In these posts, past-employees talk about being "blacklisted". Is this unexpected? Think about the thousands of phone calls you made at marcus evans and then think about all of the people who openly voiced their negative opinions about marcus evans or hung up on you or swore at you. Did you think you were working for a reputable company just because Tom Izzo gave a testimonial on the THG site? C'mon! The compnay has a very, very bad reputation. This is why (according to Jon S.) that 90% of busineess is reapeat bookings. Nobody else is willing to touch this company with a twenty foot phone cord. But even a 90% rebooking rate means nothing when you only have 10 major clients, which are usually all getting tickets to the Masters. All THG sells is tickets and a tent with appetizers. Of course there are hotel accomodations, but how helpful are you when you put clients in the only hotel in town and then act like it is top-notch exclusive stuff? How makes this stuff up?

Marcus Evans employees all have the same motto: it's not a lie if you beleive it. 100% percent of what goes on inside of this company is a lie, a fabrication or an exageration. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is based on truth. Everything from the job description to the sales pitch is so far removed from reality that only a mentally challenged person could beleive their B.S.. In these posts, past-employees talk about being "blacklisted". Is this unexpected? Think about the thousands of phone calls you made at marcus evans and then think about all of the people who openly voiced their negative opinions about marcus evans or hung up on you or swore at you. Did you think you were working for a reputable company just because Tom Izzo gave a testimonial on the THG site? C'mon! The compnay has a very, very bad reputation. This is why (according to Jon S.) that 90% of busineess is reapeat bookings. Nobody else is willing to touch this company with a twenty foot phone cord. But even a 90% rebooking rate means nothing when you only have 10 major clients, which are usually all getting tickets to the Masters. All THG sells is tickets and a tent with appetizers. Of course there are hotel accomodations, but how helpful are you when you put clients in the only hotel in town and then act like it is top-notch exclusive stuff? How makes this stuff up?

Paul, your rebuttal is utterly ridiculous. When you refer to "part of our group" you mean cult! When you refer to "have the right attitude" you mean are you a semi-sociopath willing to swindle anyone and say anything for a buck! You talk so fondly of this but how many of your esteemed colleagues who helped the megalomianiac Marcus build his empire were moved sideways and down and forced out? How many great people have been chewed up and spit out when recessions hit because they were on salaries Marcus did not like anymore? These people gave Marcus every bit of them. Do not tell me that half the office has not been intimate with half the people they meet at trainings and half the rest of the office and that women are not consistently hired due to what a male manager thinks of her "assets" rather than her abilities and that crude, disgusting "boys club" culture dominates every global office? And please do not go on and tell me you are really blind to all this or with all your "success" you find it necessary to come onto a complaint board and file rebuttals about the quality of your product! Is this the same product that your people lie to potential buyers about and which at one time or another every Fortune 500 company globally has blacklisted marcus evans or one of his alias organisations as a vendor? And how many people try and leave the "Firm" only to find out they too are blacklisted as nobody wants a former ME employee because they are "too agressive" And I would love to know how you defend the ruthless way Marcus unemployed several offices sneaking out all valuables over a weekend leaving people jobless and clueless as was one case while smuggling out key employees or forcing some GM's to stay and give offers he knew people would not take only extending real offers to the people who he saw as the most valuable to him, but who had split seconds to decide? Lying about payments, being investigated all over Europe? Not paying out monies owed to ex employees who gave their all to him? Unregistering all his offices in Europe so as not to be liable for lawsuits filed all over the continent only to re-register under slightly varied names avoiding these suits due to a stupid loophole one of his ruthless thugs helped him find!? Yes, be proud of your company. I am happy I got a conscience and left on my own volition as many people do!

I really wish that current telemarketers from THG and Marcus Evans would stop posting on this site. In case you did not notice, this is a website written by, and for consumers. It is a place for people to post their qualms in a non-partisan context. I mean, it's not like we are posting these complaints on the Marcus Evans website. Any attempt of current THG telemarketers is a cheap and tacky defense for your comanies reputation. If your product, repuation and clients were so great, then why not let that speak for itself. Really, we get that the higher-ups at marcus evans "love" their company and think it can do no wrong: you guys have to beleive that. In all fairness, there are a lot of really bad jobs out there. However, there are very few jobs that would lead such a huge number of employees to all voice similar opinions of said company. This is not a conspiracy, or disgruntled employees with negative attitudes and nothing else to do with their time. This is truth, this is fact, this is reality. There is no need to dispute these claims. The preceding points of view and opinions from past employees are all extremely coherent and valid. The rebuttals from current-telemarketers is one-sided, manipulative and reinforces the ccurrent claims against them. Here is my advice to current telemarketers: hire a PR company to try and rectify this mess or just stop posting rebuttals because it does not--in any way--help your image.

Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to share it. Some of us have the facts too which are generally advantageous in this kind of forum. There is so much misinformation contained within these posts it is unbelievable, surely if the hard facts aren't even correct then the opinions put forward should also be questioned and doubted. As a long standing and very happy employee who is personally referenced above I urge anybody reading this report to consider the following before deciding to pursue a career with marcus evans. Firstly marcus evans is a company that values our employees tremendously. Our success is achieved through continuous organic growth. There are many brilliant, motivated, professional, hard working, inspired and inspiring employees within the group who can all clearly see the opportunities open to them. These employees may have been with us for 2 months or 20 years, but all will go on to achieve great success and become the future leaders of our group. We understand and appreciate the value of everyone who is an employee of the company. As such at all levels, we spend a great deal of time training, coaching and helping our staff grow and become successful individuals. We invest time and effort in developing staff who want to achieve and who want to work hard at a rewarding career. Everybody is given the opportunity to succeed, and those that take that opportunity will realize this success. When we hire an individual on as part of our team it is with 100% confidence and belief that the person has the right attitude, goals and work ethic to enjoy a long and fruitful career with marcus evans. To suggest we hire twice as many individuals as we require, only to fire the excess to send some type of 'message' is completely false. That would clearly be a tremendous waste of time and effort, and none of us have that amount of time to waste! Unfortunately some candidates are merely very good interviewees, saying whatever they feel needs to be said during the recruitment process in order to be offered a position, and sometimes they are convincing enough for us to hire them. Our mistake.Those individuals that talk a great game but don't follow through with the promises they made soon become very visible when amongst their team members who are all working hard to achieve success. I don't harbor any ill will against these employees, rather I think they simply underestimated how challenging a sales career can be, they over-estimate their drive and work ethic and have mistakenly convinced themselves that they have what it takes to be successful in a company that sets very high expectations for itself and its employees. While somewhat out of our control, we continually look to strengthen the interview process to ensure we minimize these errors. Contrary to what has been written before, I find myself politely suggesting to many candidates during an interview that they might not have the sheer drive, determination and focus require to succeed at marcus evans...to suggest we hire anybody who applies is completely false. Focusing further on what we can control, I have absolute peace of mind that I treat my staff with respect, with equality and with an attitude that they are entirely valued and important to our success. Along with my Global and N.American counterparts we provide an encouraging and supportive team environment that is perfect for hard working, positive, intelligent, determined, pro-active team members to enjoy a fun, exciting and rewarding career from day 1. Driven individuals looking for such an environment in which to pursue a sales career with a stable company that provides unlimited earning potential, career ownership with a 'sky's the limit' attitude will find a great home at marcus evans. On the flip side, anybody that would really rather not work that hard but instead do about the minimum necessary to simply get by, has a negative attitude and is looking for a job not a career will likely fail at marcus evans. Factually, as a business we provide a suite of products and services that are second to none as is evident by our very high client retention rate and great success across three decades. We count the world's largest and smartest companies as our extremely satisfied clients. We provide solutions and a solid ROI to our clients. Take a look at our corporate and divisional website - www.marcusevans.com and www.thgworldwide.com and you will see for yourself what our clients say. Fact, not opinion.

It could not happen to a more deserving company. Last recession they closed offices down in the middle of the night! They would send over their "muscle" on a Friday night, he would take out the GM or one's "in the know" while unsuspecting employees spent the weekend preparing for another gruelling week at ME (who by the way has been known by so many names I am not shocked in the least he is creating a new one). Anyway, the muscle, a thug Marcus has on payroll along with his two children, would get the GM or anyone "in the know" drunk and wine and dine them and direct them as to how they would deal with things, and at the same time hire a truck and movers and during the weekend move all valuables and files out and have them out of the country by Monday morning when to the dismay of employees turning up Monday, sometimes even for training-there was nobody there and the office was closed (as was the case in Poland) or they were told the office was closing and told their options, the best given a few days to decide if they wanted to move country, state or continent, while others were told they would receive a payment they never were to get. Then the poor idiot left doing the dirty work hauled their sorry a** out of the country having had a few weeks to prepare and decide and being paid handsomely to betray their friends and colleagues. Marcus Evans is a dispicable human being who I would equate to a gangster sooner than a savvy business man!

Here are the numbers and addresses of all the major TV news channels in Chicago and Miami because those are the two places the people have mentioned so far as having a marcus evans/thg office they were not happy with. Also, Chicago is the North American headquarters for marcus evans, located in the NBC Tower. CHICAGO NEWS WLS-TV ABC 190 North State Street Chicago, Illinois 60601 Phone:312-750-7777 Breaking News Hotline: (312) 750- 7070 NBC 5 Chicago, WMAQ 454 North Columbus Drive Chicago, IL 60611 Main Number: (312) 836-5555 News Tips (800) CH5-NEWS CBS Chicago 205 N Michigan Ave # 2015 Chicago, IL 60601 (312) 616-7220 Fox Chicago 55 W Wacker Dr # 500 Chicago, IL (312) 494-0428 Breaking News Tip Line (312)565-5533 MIAMI NEWS ABC Miami WPLG 3900 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33137 (305) 576-1010 NBC 6 WTVJ 15000 SW 27th Street Miramar, FL 33027 Phone: (954) NBC-6000 CBS4 Miami 8900 NW 18th Terrace Doral, Florida 33172 305-591-4444 Fox Miami 1401 79th St. Cswy. Miami, Florida 33141 305-751-6692 Hopefully that will help all of you who are interested in being heard. Just remember that the news media's main purposed is to serve as a public service. Give them an interesting news story that; no is not a very positive one, but will serve a public service by protecting honest people from this company. Sincerely, someone who was almost had

Wow!!! I cannot believe that when you do a Google search for "Marcus Evans" the Ripoff Report comes up as the third and fourth hits. This is great because every potential employee undoubtedly searches ME and hopefully they ALL see this. What bad deal for the company. I guess their cloud of annonymity has finally disolved and they are finally forced to deal with their bad business practices. This company sells product to some of the biggest companies in the world. Can you imagine the effect that the Ripoff Report coupled with the Recession is having on their business. I smell foreclosure of many US offices (probably not Chicago, though), Class Action law suits, company name changes (marcusevansmarketplace is now under construction), mass resignations, reduced profit margins, sexual harrasment charges, multiple citations from the Better Business Bureau, signifigantly reduced interest in the company across the board whether is be job candidates or potential clients....the list goes on. Good job Google.

Hi anonymous. Being an ex-higher up in ME (starting with them prior to them even being called Marcus Evans--they were known by several names actually as they still are) I can tell you that you were lucky. If you read my previous post above yours I think you may see a lot of the same patterns. I can tell you that in all likelihood you probably had a couple of "ultra-motivated" guys with you, or one and a good looking girl or some combination thereof and you probably acted somewhat skeptical and asked questions which raised eyebrows. They are looking for people that will "fit into the culture" or as stated in my earlier post are easy on the eyes for many of the male employees moreover managers. Something about you said--"I will only stay so long as I am a college grad and once I figure you out I am leaving" or you asked too many questions or somehow showed you were not a drone ready to work without question for higher ups. They do overhire but that is mainly because sometimes only a few people actually turn up at all! this is compounded by their rate of drop-outs during the so-called training course. To get fired or let go they would have to suspect some of what I have mentioned here. Otherwise almost everyone gets their day on the "floor" to make their calls and after about a week half of the people who started are left and after a month half of them. That is why they perpetually hire. Marcus Evans is a ruthless boiler room sales company. They are unethical, he is unethical and has made MILLIONS at the expense of his employees. Everyone is disposable, even the person who fired you has a short life-span. It is a revolving door and only the biggest a*s-kissers who are usually losers and could not make it anywhere else get to stay on for an indefinite period. I chose to leave with my dignity in tact, most people who make it as far as I did get forced out!

I'm just going to start off saying that any recent college grads should completley stay away from Marcus Evans, THG, etc etc.... I first interviewed for a position as a "Sports Account Executive" about three weeks ago and went through the same process that Sean C. describes in his previous writings in terms of the interviewing process, including the little glass rooms etc. During this period I found many things to be odd including the fact that I was to call them back and that the decision making process for hiring new employees was of such a quick nature. After my second interview I am offered the position and accept, being a nieve recent college grad I thought it would be a good opportunity to move into different areas of the corporate sports world. Just as Sean C said we started training on the second tuesday of the month. Speaking of which, the first day we did not fill out any HR materials at all, which should have been the first sign of what was to later happen, we never filled out any HR material for that matter during our training process. On the second day I believe is when they started with basically teaching us to lie to the CEO's and gatekeepers we were to spend our days calling. They told us to make fake names, jobs, problems as to why we were calling and so forth. Now, I fully understand that sales involves persuasive tactics and white lies on occasion but this was a bit over the top. During the course of the week, myself and the three other trainees continue learning all of this information and what not from primarily Paul and Dea. This is where things get interesting. On the final day of our training, the day ends and Paul asks me to stay afterwards for some "HR" items...righttt. Paul then makes what was a completley phony a*s phone call to either no one what so ever, or some other higher up who was probably laughing on the other end and makes up some crap about a memo and " oh well then there's nothing we can do about it then." After this phone call he tells me that due to the fact the THG people from his team are moving to the other side of the office, there is only 12 spots for 14 people and I am being let go along with one of his other employees. So basically I am being canned after four days of work?? He also claims it is because I am the weakest of the group of trainee's or something. Now, because there has been no HR forms filled out, I do not get payed for any of this, have spent money on dress clothes, train tickets, lunches at crappy yuppie restaurants filled with fruit cakes and have nothing. The worst part was the humilation though, espescially telling my friends and family that I had gotten had. Point of this story being told is that it is completley true about this company, they hire double that they need and fire the rest to use as examples. It's a horrible place and I'm HAPPY AS HELL that I got "let go" because now I have the opportunity to find, I dont know, a REAL job. Anyways, any person, espescially recent college Grads, do not bother to apply to this company, it's not worth the time or effort. By the way, I'm sure some certain THG employees will read this and know who I am, if you have some sort of problem with me writing this then you can feel free to contact me, I mean, I'm sure you have my resume with contact information in your "fresh meat" pile somewhere.

Yes--the infamous marcus evans is insiduous as much as he is a money grubbing sociopath! However, one thing makes avoiding this scam easy--he is predictable and all his drones are. The people that make it long-term and do not quit because they develop a conscience etc. are people who will tell you the truth. At the end of my career with them, I actively looked for other jobs in the UK but was more or less on a blacklist with all other former M.E employees. I had made it very high up, was managing an office more or less, promised much and given little, then I decided not only was I fed up but I needed to leave. The interview process is one that is a joke. Almost ANYONE and everyone is hired due to the huge drop off. The interview is a laughable game. First a lower level manager will interview you in whatever style they see fit, sometimes they bring another lower level manager. They all come off so professional and "posh". They speak like stockbrokers, lawyers or other high level professionals, you would be shocked at how fast you will learn they and everything there is a scam. You will feel uncomfortable if not intimidated. Your looks, how they personally feel about you etc. will strongly influence your second interview. While it is hard not to get a second interview due to perpetual recruitment, if you are a very ugly girl (yes because they are a massively sexist company too) and are interviewing with males (99% of the time that is the case) your looks may determine whether you are hired. It was offensive to me to hear many of the male managers come back in and tell the GM (especially when I was starting and was told by a co-worker in management that I was only hired because I looked good) but comments like "Oh man she is hot we need to hire her" are commonplace as well as "did you see her t**s she is so hired, I want her on my team" etc. are also common. If you are a guy and come off arrogant, forget a second interview. Barring these two rules almost everyone gets that second interview and this is usually with a senior manager or even the GM depending on the office size etc. The second interview is even more intimidating as you feel like you do not know what is next and having felt like you were interviewing on Wall Street you will likely be nervous--do not be. Interview two is to maintain the facade of UBER proffesionalism. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with reality--you are essentially hired when you are there for your second interview, it is merely a motion they go through. In fact you are essentially hired at your first interview unless you make a mistake or have some guy who thinks you are not attractive (the latter is no joke and to this day pisses me off at how sexist this company is). You will likely then be called at the leisure of your first interviewer who usually was interviewing you to fill a vacant slot on their "team". They will wait until some days later unless the "training" is imminent and then they will call you and tell you in a very non-chalant way with suspense in their voice and the act of professionalism, that you have been successful and when you are to report to training. (This is often subject to change if they do not get "enough" recruits.) Likewise you may turn up at your training and find you are alone-this has rarely happened and usually in smaller offices where they have been through so many people in the area that word of mouth gets out and someone is warned--when this happens they re-schedule your training group or if desperate will do a half day one on one with you then drop you with some co-worker to teach you the ropes. Once in "The Firm" (as I flippantly call it as it is a club you cannot leave) you will learn quick how much B.S all leading up to your placement was. You will probably have some misgivings and usually will leave if you feel no success within a month or two. Depending on how "motivated" you are and if a batch of new recruits is available you may even be asked to leave as they need the desk and the manager will see they made a mistake. At the end of my tenure with "The Firm" I was sending people home upset and jobless if I thought they were a nice person. In fact, one of them went back to school and is still my friend to this day and was given a job despite my trying to not give it to him which he only later understood why and was happy I saw him as being too good for "The Firm". (He was employed because we just had a serious lack of recruits and his name came up as a potential to call back and I said fine). Most other people though I just did not let them join unless they seemed sleazy then I figured this was their company and calling. All you need is to want money over morals, party really hard, potentially have a drug or alcohol problem, and not mind a massive boys club (if you are female you will need to adjust to the chronic vulgarities and obscene gestures, advances etc. you will get). All in all this is the boiler room. When I saw that film I was shocked how similar it was. Many of the guys LOVE that film and see it as a training TOOL---yes an actual adrenaline pump is how they see it. I saw the film and thought--s**t, this is what I do for a living, how awful! One last warning, the few people still there are people who could not or would not make it out of the insulated ME world or major sycophants who know how to assuage Marcus himself and his massive ego. You will also be subjected to rumours about you, rumours about your colleagues, constant intra and inter office romances, and unwanted passes (yes one of the GM's was moved to avoid a lawsuit in USA and has been known to be both inappropriate and vulgar to female employees as well as groping any female he wants when drunk). All in all it is a bad experience and I feel lucky to have gotten out while I could. Some people become addicted.

Well...it's great to see that the Ripoff Report is working and that people are being more conscious about things that seem to good to be true. Mr. Meakins is one of the company's more tenured telemarketers. In his defense, he is a good guy and one of the better team-leads in the Chicago office. He is much more of an honest person that Jon S. Two years ago, Paul Meakins was sent to the Chicago office from London. This was, most likely, the decision of the CEO or President who is looking to do away with Jon S. Many of the team-lead telemarketers at THG do little to no cold calling, except of course for prospective employees. Trying to manipulate people into thinking that being a telemarketer for THG or marcus evans is a good idea is the toughest sale of all. I'm not suprised that they spelled the last posters name wrong on his offer letter because most of these employees barely have a high school diploma. THIS IS A TELEMARKETING JOB!!! It is so easy to handle all they look for in a job candidate is a pulse. If someone is reading this because they need a job or need money and think that THG or marcus evans is the answer to their question: think again. There are plenty of jobs--recession or not--that will pay you what you're worth. Plenty of company's will give you benefits within your first month...not after 6 months like THG. Most other companies, besides THG, will give you your own desk, computer and company Blackberry. Some sales jobs will give you an expense account and the freedom to determine your own schedule, not run you ragged with 150 cold-calls per day plus 5 decisions and 2 1/2 hours talk time and strictly regimented breaks. There are plenty of GOOD jobs out there, so don't settle for THG or marcus evans. THG is illegitimate and too good to be true. Thank you to everyone who has posted on THG and marcus evans. Thank you Ripoff Report...you really work well. Thank you Sean C.! Thanks for nothing THG.

Well...it's great to see that the Ripoff Report is working and that people are being more conscious about things that seem to good to be true. Mr. Meakins is one of the company's more tenured telemarketers. In his defense, he is a good guy and one of the better team-leads in the Chicago office. He is much more of an honest person that Jon S. Two years ago, Paul Meakins was sent to the Chicago office from London. This was, most likely, the decision of the CEO or President who is looking to do away with Jon S. Many of the team-lead telemarketers at THG do little to no cold calling, except of course for prospective employees. Trying to manipulate people into thinking that being a telemarketer for THG or marcus evans is a good idea is the toughest sale of all. I'm not suprised that they spelled the last posters name wrong on his offer letter because most of these employees barely have a high school diploma. THIS IS A TELEMARKETING JOB!!! It is so easy to handle all they look for in a job candidate is a pulse. If someone is reading this because they need a job or need money and think that THG or marcus evans is the answer to their question: think again. There are plenty of jobs--recession or not--that will pay you what you're worth. Plenty of company's will give you benefits within your first month...not after 6 months like THG. Most other companies, besides THG, will give you your own desk, computer and company Blackberry. Some sales jobs will give you an expense account and the freedom to determine your own schedule, not run you ragged with 150 cold-calls per day plus 5 decisions and 2 1/2 hours talk time and strictly regimented breaks. There are plenty of GOOD jobs out there, so don't settle for THG or marcus evans. THG is illegitimate and too good to be true. Thank you to everyone who has posted on THG and marcus evans. Thank you Ripoff Report...you really work well. Thank you Sean C.! Thanks for nothing THG.

Ok here is my deal... I was contacted by Paul Meakins on Monday of last week. He gave me the whole deal about checking out the company, gave me a password to check out 5 year old videos of Tom Izzo praising the company (I wonder if Coach Izzo knows the company is still using him as an endorser). Paul "sells" me on the job and I go in for an interview on Thursday. At the conclusion of our interview I ask for a tour of the "office". This is where I first became skeptical of this company. The area where all the calling went down was exactly how Sean described it, a bunch of people sitting at tables sharing computers cold calling. The reason I started questioning the company was because they had a very nice lobby area but behind closed doors there is not one desk (except for the "higher ups"), and all the computers were at least 10 years old. But you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and it was only my second interview so I foolishly gave them the benefit of the doubt. Back to my interview. Paul informs me later that day that he wants to bring me in for another interview. The next day I interviewed with Dea. It was the same interview shrunk down to maybe 5 minutes instead of 25. I was informed about 3 hours after that interview that I was hired. As a recent college grad I was thrilled at the opportunity of possibly making six figures and going to some of the top sporting events throughout the year. So Dea informs me that a hire letter will be sent to my email. This is where things started to get shady. They spelled my name wrong on the hire letter. The same name that is in my email address and had to be spelled properly in order for me to get the email. Being a broadcasting major and always looking at the glass half empty, I googled THG and what do I find but none other than THG on RipoffReport.com. I informed Dea that I was no longer interested in the job. Paul then calls me twice and I don't answer. He then sends me an email trying to figure out why I am no longer interested. When I told him about my name being spelled wrong and that I did not want to work for them anymore this is what he responded to me: "I know you wouldn't pass up a great job due to a typo so I assume you are referring to ripoffreport.com ? That is a shame, I would have hoped that after meeting with us and seeing our offices for yourself that you would be more inclined to trust your own better judgment rather than that of a disgruntled ex employee with nothing better to do but post incorrect and harmful lies on a very trashy website. There are literally thousands of companies on that site that have been dirtied and harmed by similar reports, companies that are clearly very reputable. It's legitimacy and validity are dubious at best. After 7 years here I can assure you that THG /marcus evans is a fine place to have a very rewarding career. Good luck, Paul" What a guy this Paul character is. Questioning my judgment? And as trashy as this website may be, he knows about it enough to bring it up in an email. Paul if your reading this you know exactly who this is and I would love to hear from you if you got something to say. I was almost had by this international scam run by Marcus Evans. I never worked for them so some people might be saying "just let it go" and "be happy that you found this out before you started working for them". I can't "just let it go" for some reason. Maybe it's because I was a broadcasting major and see a great news story in this. Maybe it's because I was that close to being had by them. I guess I just don't want this company to be able to keep preying on innocent people that don't know better. Whatever the case, at the end of the day here I am writing on this website. If you do a little research on Marcus Evans or marcus evans (so cool!) you will find that this schister has struck all around the world and not just under the THG name. The Better Business Bureau has 6 cases on their website dealing with consumers not happy with Marcus Evans. So being a broadcasting major and the fact that this THG makes it home in the Chicago NBC tower, I have already notified an associate that works for a local paper to look into this. But it has go to be bigger than some little paper. If someone is a former employee there and is seeing these posts, please share with us all your story. I think we all would like to see justice served, if not in the court of law, then at least in the court of public opinion. If anyone is interested in taking their story to the media please post a response on this website. For the past week I have been consumed by this mess and it's only getting worse. Let's help people out there and not let them be had like I was so close to doing. At the very least let's try to be heard by a respectable member of the media. Sincerely, someone who was almost had

I can't believe how many current Marcus Evans employess have been ordered by their superiors to post rebuttals to Sean C's original post. A previous rebuttal pointed out the absurdity of current employess even finding out about Marcus Evans' inclusion in the Ripoff Report: sounds like the paranoia of a malicious and manipulative company to me. The only saving grace for my past career at ME was my fellow colleagues who ALL shared the same view of their employer. Nobody--and I mean nobody--enjoys or even looks forward to the work they do at there. I met alot of great people at the company, most of whom I still keep close contact with. Needless to say, ALL of the people I know that worked with have resigned. The term "open sales floor" describes the fishbowl-like atmosphere of the office. The only person that has an office is the GM (J.S.), who uses the office for nothing more than eavesdropping on the calls of the employess. Things that should be done in the privacy of an office, such as calling prospective employess, are done by one of the GM's weasels on the sales floor. Current employees are forced to sit their and listen to their "team-leaders" shuffle through resumes and conduct preliminary interviews with prospective employees over the phone. Ask anyone who has been with the company more than 10 years and they will tell you that the market is completely dry. In the 1990's, pharmaceutical and "dot com" companys were Marcus Evans' bread and butter. Well, "dot coms" have come and gone and pharmaceutical companies have strict regulations placed on their spending. This, coupled with the recession, means that NO company in their right mind see's buying a 100K package to the Masters Tournament as a good idea or investment: it's simply not practical in today's economy. Because I can read the future, I am willing to bet that J.S. or Yogi or some other A-Hole at Marcus Evans is going to post a rebuttal saying something about how much money they have been making during the recession. That these times demand that company's make this type of investment to secure current clients and customers. Talk all you want THG, but we all know that you guys are struggling to keep your head above water. Soon enough THG will be selling 'Disney On Ice' and tickets to the Detroit auto show. That's all for now. I invite more people to add to this post and rebuttal. Tell people you know that used to work for the company and tell them to post their opinions--good or bad--here. As for the current Marcus Evans employees; focus on your job and call quotas and leave this topic alone. You are only digging yourselves deeper into a hole. You've lost and your time is up.

Sorry-but I DID succeed and for those of you defending it saying that "these people can't make it" BULL! Plenty of people became GM's and like myself were making too much during the recession, or were no longer producing, or were trying to get fired on purpose, and marcus evans knows how to get rid of you by forcing YOU to quit! They move you left, right and down and try to humiliate you like the GM of Amsterdam who was sent to be GM in Chicago and ended up sitting at a desk with other summit sales reps to the point he was actually fired when he did not give into the humiliation. This is a man who once controlled most of Europe and was Marcus' right hand on the continent! So you are full of it and when the day comes they have sucked all they can from you you too shall see their wrath and it is NOT pretty! I promise, been there done that! Marcus Evans is a ruthless human being, a megalomaniac, and a tosser! He closed down an office in Poland by illegally taking everything he could out and "evacuating" certain key employees the day before and then closing his doors with tons of people out of work when they showed up the next day. In Copenhagen he did the same, he paid off the GM to keep the GM quiet, had them come in and take everything of value and left the GM to deal with the employees not all being offered anything but promises of payments that were never paid out. The Danish government even went after them then. I can go on but I am sure this suffices!

I am ex-employee of the company and have worked in THG, ICM and Marcus Evans Worldwide. I left Marcus Evans for a number of reasons at the position of GM San Fransisco after having served as GM South Africa, Sales Director ICM and THG in Malaysia and sales positions in Sydney and South Africa. I have made a lot of money out of my time working at the company in the various business units and offices and I did not do too many cancelation pitches. One of the most amazing things about the company is their uncanny ability attrack so many good people into the business and some of them I am privilged to say, are still my friends today. I know some of the people that Sean has mentioned in his mail and some of the other people mentioned in following mails from Sean's, including Theron Burraway. After 42 years I can honstly say that life is what you make of it and what you dish out, you will receive. I can also say that my time at the company was made of good and bad, but I am better person for it because of what I learnt about life, people, sales and most importantly about myself. Sean my advice to you is to live your life today as if it where your last because you cant live life in regret. While there may have been things that The Company could have done to make you feel better maybe there are things that you could have done to make it better for yourself. Good luck to everybody still at Marcus Evans and the broader group and good luck to those who have left. Cheers Mark

I will start by saying that I have worked for THG in the last two years. I served as Account Executive for approximately 6 months and made a decent amount of money. I agree with Sean C. in most respects. Marcus Evans is not "fun" work, but then again, how many sales jobs are. THG may be the most bearable of all the Marcus Evans sectors, but that's not saying much. Marcus Evans is the kind of 9-5 job where you can hear the other hundred-or-so sales people counting down the final minutes of the day, and then at 5 sharp, all the cattle leave (angrily). There is no incentive to do anymore than the bear minimum at Marcus Evans. However, in defense of Marcus Evans...which was my first sales job...I can safely say that it taught me more in 6 months than I could have ever imagined. Imagine talking with Mark May, CEO of Clearchannel, or Mark Penn of Burson-Marsteller. Imagine honing your communication skills with some of the most successful people in the world. The learning curve at Marcus Evans is huge, and that's probably what scares so many people off. And, yes, a lot of people get scared off. Though, that was fun for me: watching people leave only makes your position that much stronger. In terms of upward mobility, there really isn't any at Marcus Evan. Oh, wait, you can become Sr. Acct. Exec., wow!!! Even Jon S. will tell you that if you plan to make a career out of Marcus Evans you will be cold calling for the next 20 years. Jon S. is good at his job. He is a good leader. I respect him and his managerial tactics, they just weren't beneficial for me. If you really wanted to learn sales, Jon can teach you everything you need to know. Mr. Theron Burraway is the company CEO, and he regularly comes to the office and has training sessions for the THG team. How many other companies give you the opportunity to learn from the CEO of the company, let alone, shake his hand. The only way you can make it at THG for more than 5 years is if you have an alliance with Jon. At which point, you and him can share the house accounts and buy condos in bucktown and wrigleyville. What happens is employee X makes a sale, then quits. Jon and B.D. takeover the account and manage it forever. In any other company, it would become a house account which is then assigned to deserved employees. But, wait, that would make the cattle too happy. Lets just have them cold call all day and bring in new business, then once they do, make it impossible for them to stay so that they can later book that client on a different event. Jon S. is kind of a genius. But he's corrupt and greedy as the grinch. Best of luck to anyone that dares to try THG & Marcus Evan. Best of luck to B.D. and Jon S.. But, you have to ask yourself why the G.M. of Marcus Evans would even try to post a rebuttal to a past employess complaint. His participation implies guilt. He's not good at PR, just sales.

Let's start with Yogi.... He has no problem with the fact that he is constantly looking for fresh meat. I understand that in a sales job you will have turn-over, but why would you always be looking for fresh meat unless you were always losing people. Why can you and your company, THG, only retain less than 10% of your people? I would say it is because the company is very dishonest and offers horrible compensation (base = $1500 a month, you pay almost all of your insurance, which they don't even let you get until you are a senior sales associate, or have been with the company for 6 months.) Now, Jon and Yogi and Walker will tell you that it is simple to become a Sr. account associate, you only need to sell 2 deals in one calender month. The 2 deals in one calender month part is true, but that is definitely not easy to do. And, if you are nearing the end of the month, say the 29th, a Monday and get a deal, and then get another one on Thursday the 1st, you have not just sold two deals in one calender month, even though you have sold two deals in one week. Yogi, also has no problem with being compared to boiler room. He is not denying the set up of the office, the lack of computers (most of these computers are a good 10-15 years old) the constant lying, the false advertising with the discount pitch. He actually takes pride in being dishonest and being part of a company that tries to trick people. Must be a great life you live, Yogi... Lastly while dealing with Yogi's response, you should know that: YES, a lot of companies do repeat business with THG. The events they put on are pretty d**n nice. HOWEVER, I was not making a warning to companies looking to book a hospitality venue (unless you consider the fact that I am outing THG as liars to are taking advantage of peoples trust...), I was making a warning to the people who are going to waste time and money by taking a job with THG because they were not told the truth when applying. Now for Jon!! Jon.... Jon is the North American GM for THG. He has been with the company 17 years and does very very well for himself. He is the example of how THG can be great for someone. However he is very much the exception to the rule. But just to show you how much this company lies, Call THG in Chicago 312-540-3000, which is Jon's main office, and ask for Sean Cassidy. Not only is Sean Cassidy an employee, he is one of Jon's better sales staff... Now I am not the smartest person in the world, but I think that Jon saying he has not had a Sean C work for him in years is obviously a blatant lie. Good job making me more credible Jon. (also, tell Sean C he should go back to selling motorcycles and that you love his silly black driving hat...) When Jon says that he has seen growth to 63 offices world wide, he is specifically speaking about Marcus Evans offices, NOT THG. THG is in about 6-10 cities in North America, and 20-25 worldwide. So with regards to Jon's post, I still stand by everything I said in my original post. Jon is a liar, that is how he does his job. He lies to applicants, he lies to his boss for employees who lie to him, he lies to customers, he lies when he tries to keep THG from being outed as a horrible company, and He probably lies about other things in his personal life as well. On a funny note, if you ever do have a training class with Jon, or get to hear him pitch, ask him why he speaks(yells) in a monotone and yells at all times. Last but not least!!! Walker. Walker runs the LA office, One time I was told that his GM (Paul, not Jon) told him while he was trying to grow the office (a staff of two people at the time, in mid feb.) That he should Hire twice as many people as he needs, and fire half the first week to send a message to the others........................ WOW THAT IS THE BEST MANAGING I HAVE EVER HEARD OF. Walkers first statement is 100% correct, I have no argument with it and I agree that it takes great drive to succeed with anything in life. His second statement is telling of the company, "not the first time I have heard someone... blah blah blah" Not the first time because if you are at THG for 12 months, you will have seen probably 70 people hired, and 65 of them will have left. And Walker, I had a $10,000 check from THG at one point... and, yea I still feel this way. AND, I also know that $10,000 is NOT the norm for you at all, so stop making it sound like that is what you average, because your name was not on the board all that often with many big sales. The third Statement..... WHAT!??! You actually wrote that without feeling like a huge HUGE HUGE Liar??!??!? You will use the BS line of the opening being the last one available until you leave the company. JON still uses that to sell. PAUL uses it to sell, Every meeting, ESPECIALLY the ones with the senior sales staff including the CEO STRESS!!!!!!!!!!!! The fact that we have to provide MAJOR pressure with the cancellation aspect in our pitch. Try telling James Sinton, CEO of THG, that your going to make a sales call without pitching the product as a cancellation, and that you are going to get a decision on the product by 8am tomorrow morning. He will probably personally call the person back and tell them that the product has been sold, even if it hasn't. This is because the only acceptable way to sell the product at this job is to use the cancellation pitch (i.e. we just had a client move some things around and have a HUGE discount for you!!) YOU WILL NEVER BE IN A POSITION WHERE MANAGEMENT DOES NOT WANT YOU TO USE THE CANCELLATION PITCH. THIS IS WHAT OUR COMPANY IS KNOWN FOR, AND IT IS A FAKE SALES TACTIC. The fourth statement... it is hard to argue that when the expectations are high, you will not have many people meet those expectations. In all honesty, you are just saying that; Yes, lots of people leave this job. Many probably leave because if you are only making $1500 a month, you cannot afford to stay. With the past employee thing, Yes I am a past employee, but I am not going to put my full name, or some silly name like "Yogi". I do not need my current job, which is with a very good and respectable company, and also in the sales field, only with a MUCH higher base, uncapped commissions and a consultative sales process, jeopardized. Bbake08, You should go for an interview, check it out, see how you feel, Take all the information that I have provided and ask questions and demand answers. I have nothing to gain from my reports. The only reason why I am writing these is because I wasted a good amount of time spinning my wheels at this horrible place, and I was not told the truth in my interview. I do not want people who are lied to being put in the same spot. If you ask the questions and they answer them and you are not put off by the answers, Take the job. There are people who make money at this place, I am just saying that there is a turnover rate of above 90%, and you are going to be lying at all times. When you read the comments that Yogi, Jon and Walker wrote, Almost nothing that they wrote refutes what I posted originally. They are just BSing in order to try to repair the reputation of their company. Everyone is free to make their own choices. I just feel like you should have th best information possible when making them. Cheers Mates, "Sean C."

I am currently in college and majoring in Sports Marketing/Management. I have looked at working for Marcus Evans since I was a senior in high school. Granted my goal was to work for a professional sports franchise. But this company seems good to work for, besides the comment from Sean C. I'd like to hear from some current employees on how good this company really is to work for. I noticed on careerbuilder.com they were claiming $62k-$120k for your first year BASE. That can't be right, can it? Any info would be helpful. Post on here or e-mail (((ROR redacted))) CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Part of the formula for success at thg is to have an extraordinary drive to post results and an ability to stay focused on your goals. Therefore many people are unable to perform at the level expected, but everyone is given the same opportunity and training. In regards to the statements by Sean C, it is not the first time I have heard someone who could not succeed feel bitter and blame the company and the process for failure, and I always ask myself whether that person would be saying these things if they were the one with a USD10,000 pay check this month. In terms of the process, it is what new people use to assist them getting quick decisions, very quickly you progress from this and start account management, which also involves event attendance to meet your clients and build a relationship. Just this year I have been to the ATT and hope to go to the masters . As you can imagine, any company that expects hard work and the right aptitude and attitude, there will be a lot of people who may aspire to this but just don't have the fortitude and determination to make it happen. So they leave quickly without achieving anything. Sean C , who wrote the below is actually not someone who we recognize as a past employee. I have written this response as I do not want people like myself who want to work hard and succeed to be put off from joining thg by someone that we are unable to identify as a past employee. I want them to be able to experience what I have experienced in the last year - which has been superb learning experiences, uncapped earnings and promotional opportunities. Last point go onto our website www.thgworldwide.com and check out what our customers are saying about us. If you want to call me, I am in the LA office.

The only portion I read within the enclosed letter which was in line referenced that the ongoing sales training is very helpful, and that there are number of staff who make a lot of money at marcus evans. From the overly exaggerated false views which were listed, this individual must have worked a very short period for the company, and was looking to make up reasons why he or she did not succeed within the division. We have not had a Sean C. employed here over the past few years, so I can not look back at this individuals history. Over my 18 years working for the company, I have experience growth from 2 office locations in London & Chicago, to 63 global locations in 41 countries. There is full training on every level, allowing each sales executive the ability to advance to Management and Senior Management within the group. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs and having a number of friends who work not only in Chicago area but across the country, I know there are very few organizations which allow the uncapped income potential, management opportunities, and ongoing training as marcus evans provides. Jon GM North America

Dear Sean C, I am a current employee of THG and have been with the Co 3 years now. I am a sales manager so one of the people looking for "fresh meat". It seems to me that you were unsuccessful in the sales role and therefore left the co or were asked to leave. As with all sales roles, there will be a month or 3 where you may not have a sale, welcome to Sales! However, all the sales roles that I have been involved in ranging from courier services to real estate involves some sort of discount, urgency etc this is the main reason people purchase products, think Christmas sales 70% off?! I actually tell my staff to watch the "boiler room" so funny you mention it. It is a great movie and very inspirational for those involved in any sort of hard-sales role. The company and earnings have made a substantial difference in my life and most of my employees. We offer a fantastic package to the Companies that use us and 90% of our business comes from repeat customers so we're obviously doing something right... I suggest you look for a job outside of the sales industry and if you ever get the chance to attend a THG event as a guest I'm sure you'll have a great time! Now stop chewing sour grapes and get over it!

Dear Sean C, I am a current employee of THG and have been with the Co 3 years now. I am a sales manager so one of the people looking for "fresh meat". It seems to me that you were unsuccessful in the sales role and therefore left the co or were asked to leave. As with all sales roles, there will be a month or 3 where you may not have a sale, welcome to Sales! However, all the sales roles that I have been involved in ranging from courier services to real estate involves some sort of discount, urgency etc this is the main reason people purchase products, think Christmas sales 70% off?! I actually tell my staff to watch the "boiler room" so funny you mention it. It is a great movie and very inspirational for those involved in any sort of hard-sales role. The company and earnings have made a substantial difference in my life and most of my employees. We offer a fantastic package to the Companies that use us and 90% of our business comes from repeat customers so we're obviously doing something right... I suggest you look for a job outside of the sales industry and if you ever get the chance to attend a THG event as a guest I'm sure you'll have a great time! Now stop chewing sour grapes and get over it!

Dear Sean C, I am a current employee of THG and have been with the Co 3 years now. I am a sales manager so one of the people looking for "fresh meat". It seems to me that you were unsuccessful in the sales role and therefore left the co or were asked to leave. As with all sales roles, there will be a month or 3 where you may not have a sale, welcome to Sales! However, all the sales roles that I have been involved in ranging from courier services to real estate involves some sort of discount, urgency etc this is the main reason people purchase products, think Christmas sales 70% off?! I actually tell my staff to watch the "boiler room" so funny you mention it. It is a great movie and very inspirational for those involved in any sort of hard-sales role. The company and earnings have made a substantial difference in my life and most of my employees. We offer a fantastic package to the Companies that use us and 90% of our business comes from repeat customers so we're obviously doing something right... I suggest you look for a job outside of the sales industry and if you ever get the chance to attend a THG event as a guest I'm sure you'll have a great time! Now stop chewing sour grapes and get over it!