Complaint Review: West Coast Ad Efx - Los Angeles California

I am not an employee for this ad-efx company, but I have used their services for my own business. I am a small business owner. I do hair and used the promotion for my salon. The consumer buys the package for under $50 and redeems the coupon for several services. I do the hair services, but I never receive money for the coupon. I accept tips and offer discounts for upgrades or higher priced services to make money. After they are done with the coupons, the prices go back to my normal range. I can get them to reschedule and return as future clients. That's all. Your coworkers should all be aware that you decided to start this promotion or else the client will think they were scammed!!!

There are meny ex-Efx workers who say its a bad company... well ye the adds are miss leading in a way but it was told to evrey one at the time of the interview that you start at the bottom... so if you (after say doing 2-3weeks of D2D door to door) its up to you to ask to advance in the company..If your dismissed at that time then your not the type of person who shued be doing marketing at all... The way add com. like this work is that they get about 20 to 40 people to start at the bottem then from those about 5to8 well addvance more... i work for EFX in the up comeing Russian office.. and i started doing the same thing going door to door.. for 4 weeks then i told them look gevi me some thing better.. I did good on my new project thus i made manager.. all so ask about the diffrent cources the company gives.. If the employee is not welling to keep bagering the EFX managers then they well never move up.. all so meny people just dont have the brains to understand how to intern the wright way.. thats why there are MARKETING SCHOOLS... There is alot more then just haveing a allready made project to just hand out (for a fee).... As for people not knowing when the expire date is HELLO ask you dont buy food or a car with out asking meny (?)... and thus its the buyers fult that he/she is stupid to think there geting riped off... All so evrey agen tells people that use the pakage in "soon time" or "take advantage of this one time offer" one time offers (if you know english) meens NOW and only NOW or for a very sort time... On the back of the coopon it states the name and adres of the EFX office... If its that much trubel head down... and say hi its with in 3 days and i dont whant it and its in good condetion... you well (yes you well) get a full refund or exchange for a diffrent package... Thank you and please i have littel english skills and i live in a diffrend cuntry (now) but i still ask and get a good look at what im buying.. its just comen cens...

I worked for Ad-Efx when they were a small rinky-dink office located in Toronto, Canada. When I saw their ad in the paper, I was interested, after all $12-$16 / hour is pretty good especially with no experience needed. And it was in marketing which was something I had been interested in for a while. I go to the interview, and am invited back the next day for an unpaid "day of observation". Basically, you drive around with a more experienced Ad-Efx person and watch as they try to sell coupons for salons (or whatever else they were advertising at the time). When I was doing this, they were $20 each, you kept $8 and the company kept the rest. They had unpaid morning "meetings" which meant you had to show up an hour early to stand in a room, shout slogans and practice your "juicy pitches" in front of the rest of the group. Then there were the "motivational" bits where people would say the "rules of Ad-Efx" as if they were the holy laws of selling. Afterwards, they'd turn the music up real loud and send you all forth to do your selling for the day. Like most MLM schemes, the only way to make money at this is either to be a really slick type saleman, or build a team and have them work for you. To all those thinking of working for such a company, good luck.

I am to be interviewed by Ad Efx, in VA, tomorrow. I have tried to do some research on the company and have encountered only negative remarks. This is making me more apprehensive about working for this company, even though I've been unemployed for a year. Their ad in the paper said "no experience, entry level, $12-$16/hr." As I have worked hard for some "slick operators" in the past, in Hong Kong, I don't want to feel betrayed again. During my research I failed to find any info about the president of this company, other than his name, George Letterio. Nor do they seem to be a member of the AAAA. Strange, for a company of this size and coverage. If there are any other ex-employees of Ad Efx(like the person who wrote in from the U.K.) on any of the 4 continents where this company claims to have offices, please post your remarks here and save others from being exploited. Your help and guidance will be very much appreciated.

My consumer suggestion on how to avoid this sort of Rip-Off is, unfortunately, not to make spur of the moment purchasing decisions. Upon hearing of my girlfriend's experiences with the West Coast Ad EFX "customer service", I took it upon myself to do some internet research. I obviously discovered a number of adverse reports about the company (including this one). Were she to have access to this information at the time of purchase, she would never have gotten involved with a company with such a questionable reputation. Fair markets are based on equal access to information, and this company's tactics are predicated on avoiding fairness altogether by using cheap sales labor to deliver an aggressive sales pitch. If this weren't true, why does the company not have a website? What could be the possible benefit of NOT allowing someone to make an informed decision at home? (For the record, I've checked the site repeatedly over days and it is not listed on prominent search engines.) Let's look at that last point for a second - If you were approached by a West Coast Ad EFX sales person and you were interested, could you wait until you got home to buy the same package from their website? Nope! If you were to go to www.ad-efx.com, you would get a basic text "This site is temproarily unavailable". A search on Yahoo will not get you any further. Why would a company neglect such an obvious area for marketing and sales? Because that would give people an alternative to being pushed into spur of the moment decisions by aggressive salespeople who work almost solely on commission. They don't want that. Their "promotions" are based on creating a sense of urgency that coerces you into making an uninformed purchase. Then they close off all avenues of recourse and make it difficult to pursue any return on your purchase. Another aspect of this sort of business is that it takes advantage of employees and customers alike. If you were one of those salespeople (like the one who posted above), you would never even know if your customers were satisfied. My girlfriend and I were HUNG UP ON when we called West Coast Ad EFX "customer service" with our concerns. Do you really think that management is going to *tell* you if your customers were unhappy? Think about it. I also want to mention one thing about what the "VP" said above. They may have a "full refund policy", but it is only for 3-days after purchase. If the Spa can't arrange for an appointment in the short term, you have no way of knowing whether it is useable or not. Regardless, a 3-day policy is a token that enables the argument that they have a "full refund policy" and not much more. The final, and in my opinion, worst aspect of this whole thing is that it is the spas who contract with these companies that really get burned. Most people who end up feeling ripped off by these companies will never tell the salon about their experience. Instead, they will tell 8-10 of their friends (according to industry averages). This creates negative branding around the salon when in actuality they had hoped to improve it via promotional advertising. The only way to counteract this is to inform companies who market via these channels so they know who they are working with. When I contacted the spa whose package my girlfriend bought, she was amazed to hear that any negative reports existed on the internet. I sent her links and I suggest you do the same. I have no doubt that many people who purchase packages through West Coast Ad EFX are actually able to use their products. I am also convinced that this is a company that uses sleazy tactics to get people into un-fulfillable contracts that they cannot get out of easily. With "caveat emptor" ("let the buyer beware") being the mantra of the day, let's make sure other people are aware of what is possible when dealing with this company and others like it. Any questions? I've allowed my email address to be responded to and welcome any discussion that this post might generate. I am passionate about this issue and intend to do my part within my legal limits to make sure the word is out. If any of my facts are incorrect, I also would like to know. I am not inflexible with my opinion and if convinced otherwise, I would happily campaign for these companies rather than against them. thank you.

I used to work for AD EFX, in London. They did send 3 people to Sweden, made them pay for their travel and hotel rooms. On the second "road trip" to Sweden, the salon was found to be in the middle of nowhere, and the owner was not willing to honour the coupons. So, in sumation, you can't even go to Sweden for a facial, with ad efx.

Ad Efx has been operating since 1987, and has many locations worldwide, incl. Stockholm, Sweden (to explain Sweden remark). While Dario is correct in his response, it is important to note that misunderstandings do occur, and sometimes a consumer may have to contact the seller post sale. I do not know the specifics of this complaint, but is appears since the original appointment was made and then the salon changed their policy and wouldn't accept the certificate, there was a problem in the interm. I do know that we offer a full refund policy if there is such a problem, we post several methods of contacting us via email and toll free telephone and we employ many people in a customer service dep't. to respond to such complaints. The complainant doesn't mention contacting us, or our response. Please do so, and repost the results.

It's too bad people stick up for these scams. How do you know that every singel person you've sold this brochure to has been satisfied? The answer is, you don't. These companies count on people not having the time or paients to bother trying to get their money back. There are too many reports on this Ad Efx company to deny that they are not an honest business. I'll go to sweeden to get a facial, and you can go to hell! :0)

In response to your comment about ad efx, not all ad efx is a scam... i sell these packages everyday and i haven't once sold to someone who wasn't satisfied. i have even bought the coupons myself and gone in just to make sure that i am aware of the products i am selling. that sucks that your experience was bad... but just to tell you its not a scam. up here in san jose at the santa clara office for ad efx, we honor the costumer service satisfaction statement on the back to the fullest... call the number and they are supposed to send you to any spa of your choice on the company. HA go to sweden to get a facial ;) have a good day