Imperial promotions??

Amour

Hey!!
I got a call today from a crowd called Imperial Promotions asking me to come in for a job interview? Ive never heard of the place before, and I'm actually not 100% sure what they do!
Has anyone ever heard of them before? Or worked for them before? If so, What exactly did the job entail? And what was the interview like?

I'm a bit nervous about.. =/

Thanks!

looksee

Did you apply for a job with them, or are they on the books of an agent you have contacted? If no to both, then forget it.

If you did apply, and IF you can go to the interview at no expense to yourself then it might be worth a try, but I suspect you will be sent out on a 'trial' selling something door to door.

DunkingJulez

Amour wrote: »

Hey!!
I got a call today from a crowd called Imperial Promotions asking me to come in for a job interview? Ive never heard of the place before, and I'm actually not 100% sure what they do!
Has anyone ever heard of them before? Or worked for them before? If so, What exactly did the job entail? And what was the interview like?

I'm a bit nervous about.. =/

Thanks!

hi there,

just got a call from the same crowd today actually.

were you able to attend the interview? any advice on what to do?

cheers.

ongarboy

Did you at least google them to find out a bit more about them? I just did so there in 2 seconds and they have myspace and FB profiles. That will surely give you a bit more info and clues. From brief glance, they look like a promotions company for the entertainment industry so probably looking for people to hand out flyers for whatever nightclub/ entertainment venue hires them for publicity.

DunkingJulez

Cant seem to be able to find the company on FB.
Can you please send a link?

Cheers

DaveMack

Hey, I got a call too, was all excited until I learned about The Cobra Group through this report and comments, http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2010/08/cobra-group-makes-a-mint-while.html

Basically it seems this place is a scam. It could also just be a place where some people will do well and others wont, but judging by their lack of web existence, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the former. I'd recommend reading the article, it seems like it's all about English companies but there's a comment half way down that lists the companies involved. One of which being Imperial Promotions.
My interview's tomorrow morning, gonna have to decide to go or not in the next few hours.

DunkingJulez

Some of Britain's best known charities are raising funds using "self-employed" workers, often on way below the minimum wage. That's thanks to the Cobra Group, a door-to-door sales operation which has spread into virtually every town in the UK through a network of dozens of smaller franchise firms. These offices send up to 1,500 "field representatives" onto the streets every day who, despite working for the same boss day in, day-out, are all classified as self-employed. Our Gizza Proper Job campaign wants the law changed to prevent bosses unfairly labelling their workers self-employed, with few rights and no job security. It's mainly young people who are attracted by job ads for "ambitious", "outgoing" and "motivated" types wanting to earn up to £500 a week. They end up earning 100% commission for persuading people to change energy or phone suppliers and donate to charities, including the British Red Cross and the RSPCA. If they're good at it, they become "leaders" training others, with the lure of becoming an "owner" and opening their own franchise company. Most never get that far. One rep, Patrick Purcell, worked for the Chilli Corporation, a Cobra franchise in Woking, for eight days but quit after earning just £6. Another told us he worked for four months in Liverpool, earning around £100 for a 50-hour week. A third said he worked up to 14 hours a day in Glasgow for just £150 a week. "The wages were shocking," he claimed. So why do it? No doubt some earn good money and get promoted fast. Canadian boss Chris Niarchos likes to say: "You control your own destiny." So what's destiny like as a Cobra owner? The boss of one office making up to £10,000 a week commission paid himself just £9,000 in a year before collapsing with stress. Out of 582 franchise offices set up by Cobra's company formation agents RDA Co Secs since 2001, 414 have shut down. So there's only one guaranteed winner in all this -Cobra. Not matter how good or bad the rep, Cobra makes money. Whether an owner succeeds or fails, Cobra wins. Niarchos, 45, boasted at this year's Cobra rally: "The illegitimacy of this business I started 20 years ago is now completely turned on its head... it's now seen as one of the best ways to do it in a cost-effective way." Cobra turned over £48m in the UK last year and is now expanding into the US, China, Russia and Brazil. But when Niarchos claims, "The pressures on us to deliver every day are exactly the same as on you guys," he loses us. The reps may be self-employed but Niarchos certainly isn't. He got paid £735,000 plus cash into his pension last year. It's clearly not fair, but does it stand up to scrutiny? Cobra star Josephine Nyamhovsa took owner Steven Broadey to an Irish tribunal three years ago when he sacked her after she raised £282,000 for charity, a record that year. He argued there was no case as she was self-employed. But the tribunal was having none of it. It found Josephine had "virtually no discretion in how to carry out her work", had compulsory training, couldn't work for competitors even after she left and couldn't hire her own staff. It ruled she was an employee and awarded her £41,000 for harassment and discriminatory dismissal. A Cobra spokeswoman said the group had created "thousands of jobs and opportunities" in 20 years, followed all codes of practice and operated within the law. That's why it needs changing. Is your MP backing the Gizza Proper Job campaign? Find out here. (25) COMMENTS SO FAR ADD YOURS HERE MORE ON... GIZZA PROPER JOB SHARE: OLDER/NEWER « ANOTHER BC TELECOM VICTIM HIT WITH £40K+ BILL | LANDMARK CASE FOR FOR THE CLAIMS MANAGEMENT POLICE »
BOBWISE SAID: cobra group is now called Appco Group, you should publish this again with a list of their known companies, if you ask people to send in the names of said companies they will

August 26, 2010 5:02 PM IAIN SAID: Glad to see someone reporting on this. I got sucked in by one of their companies in Bristol recently due to my desperation for work. After working 2 full 12 hour days selling makeup, i was given £10 and told well done. My travel expenses alone were over £50. These places need shutting down

August 26, 2010 9:50 PM STEVE T SAID: this is such a biased account. did anyone bother to speak to the many guys and girls between 20 and 25 who regularly take home £500+ per week and can have a standard of living light year's away from just one generation before. The reason some reps take home such little amounts for the hours worked is that they are trying a sales job for the first time and even with grade A training they just cant sell!! Some people can some cant simple as that. There's no such thing as a free lunch and in sales you have to dedicate yourself to your craft just like any job. Young people tend to bounce between jobs, which is fine and expected in this day and age, and field sales just like the call centres (which are one step up from the poor house) offer plentiful job opportunities yet these industry's attrition rates for staff are incredibly high. Sales is also full of snipers who blame everybody else but themselves fro their poor performance.

August 27, 2010 2:38 PM KRISTINA SAID: Sad to admit but i was also one of the gullible ones. I worked for 12 hours a day knocking doors at council estates persuading people to change their broadband providers and all for what? "peanuts!". It is scary how they target graduates with earn "£250-£600 per week!" "own your own branch in 1 year!" and all that misleading talk. I left after being chased around a block of flats by two boys who wouldn't leave me alone. These types of jobs are dangerous and time wasting.

August 27, 2010 9:10 PM AMY SAID: Someone really needs to do something to shut these b*****ds down! I mean Chris Niarchos is bringing in millions and millions and poor students / youngsters/ other individuals are being exploited! If only I knew how to go about it, I would sue their arses! Yes I understand some people have opened their offices etc, but the big men are cashing in. The whole predetermined behaviour of ensuring we sign a contract to determine we understand we are self employed. God, they know what they're doing.

September 5, 2010 4:18 PM BLADE SAID: Not surprised by this article at all and at every rally in UK Chris always brings out his flashy motor as some sort of carrot at the end of the line for the Reps to drool one. I blame the government and a lack of awareness of what happens to desperate graduates and young school leavers and the Inland Revenue who never chase up the Reps who work for this companies for tax evasion, because if the Reps paid taxes they will be left with nothing so they might get better jobs instead.

September 6, 2010 4:00 PM FINNY MAC SAID: Definitely something dodgy going on. I was at Oratory Commerce in Liverpool. They said I was self employed but I was not allowed to take Saturday off! I earnt £60 in 2 weeks & all they went on about was getting promoted and how great the appco group is! Surely something has to be done!?

September 14, 2010 12:49 AM RYAN G SAID: I also worked for the Cobra group, I joined simply out of desperation for a job. As a solution for companies and charities looking to increase their consumer base or doner list it is a good deal for the company/charity as the only pay per customer signed up. However life is all to differnt on the other side of the fence. I have been doing sales for a long time, so I had good experience to draw from to help me and luckily for me I was seen as a top performer, however I never made more than £250 per week (just enough to pay my bills at the time), the downfall for me was as a result of compleating 70 hour weeks over a period of 5 months (with only one day off a week) I was undrstandably exhausted and fell ill, as a result of having to take time off I fell behind with things like bills and rent (no sales while ill = no money), this of course created a situation where when I did go back to work I was desperately playing catch up!! This creates pressure and a sales man under pressure is not a pretty thing, it shows and things snowball and then get worse resulting in less money to pay my already mounting bills, eventually I lost my flat. Cobra say you are self employed but do not allow people to take time off if needed and everyone is forced to attrend compulsery training and in general compleate a 12 hour day 6 days a week, this in itself is surly slave labour, as a result of this I saw many a colleagues personal relationships break down, and I myself lost contact with alot of my friends as I neither had the time or the funds for any type of social life, all this had happened to me and please remember I was considered one of the top performers. Fortunatly I got out, I am back on my feet finacially and am very fourtuante to have great friends who openly welcomed me back into our social circle. But I have seen employees of the cobra group who have relocated to take the job been left high and dry in terms of accomedation, I myself remember a few nights when I had to put up a few colleagues who slept on my floor simply to have a roof over their heads. Intrestingly now I am on the other side of the fence from a company point of view, I work for one of the companies who cobra recruit for and have to deal on a daily basis with people who have encountered a Cobra rep who has pressure sold, or compleated a order without the customer knowing, in one case the cobra rep signed a household up to a service using the 16 year old teenage daughter who was home alone one day, I feel this is a direct result, not of cobra agents being bad people but simply desperation to buy some food. The govenment seriously need to look at regulating this industry from a consumer perspective and to protect the rights of people who fall in to working for this company. Also I know cobra employ people to trawl through the internet looking for anti cobra discussions and get them to post how wonderful cobra is, I beleive their is on above, hope you can spot it!!

September 16, 2010 10:22 PM JIM JONES SAID: I worked in an office in Reading, Nick Chapman was my boss at the time. Anyone got any stories about his situation or what happende to the office in Reading! He was actually a good boss! But working for cobra financially was terrible even as a some one who met sales targets!

September 26, 2010 10:29 PM SARAH SAID: I too worked for cobra for a period of six months. I left after I had to drive myself and 4 colleuges from edinburgh to the isle of sky in very dangerous road conditions due to the snow last year. I was told when working for the company that they kept a portion of your commission in a savings bond which if you left the compnay you owuld receive six months later. I left at the end of December and I am still waiting for my money. I guess I know where this has been used. Enjoy your pension Chris!!!

October 2, 2010 8:24 AM EDWARD SAID: I worked for a Birmingham branch of Cobra for a week. My 'leader' told me he earned £800 a week on average. He put plastic bags in his shoes to keep his feet dry and borrowed £3 from me at the petrol station and filled up with £2 of fuel and bought a drink. He had NO money on him -I suggest he used a card, to which he replied that his cards were frozen because he had been a victim of fraud and £25000 had been taken from his bank account. I wanted to scream with laughter at this disillusioned young man. Oh well, my week with Cobra was entertaining, but not something I wished to pursue.

October 8, 2010 7:03 PM SEAN SAID: I work at a appco group franchise and i agree it is hard work,in terms of time invested. those of you who claim to be unfairly treated are either lazey or just simply can't sell. It is a commission paying job so sure if you dont perform then you dont get payed... It also means that if you do perform or perform acceptionally then there is now limit to how much you can get payed! ie ITS UNCAPPED EARNINGS!!! so this job wont suit just an average employee who pitties themself because they aren't earning enough, it suits go-getters who think of it as an opportunity to go make as much as they put in. If you hit simple targets which any neanderthal can, then you get a £100 bonus plus you start cashing in on bond returns after a 5 month holding period. i cashed in over £400 last week and thats excluding my bond return because i havent been there 5 months yet. 400 x 52 = £20 800 a year and thats excluding bond returns and pay rise of 50 percent for being promoted to crew leader and thats a ground level job. So those of you who are bitter about your experience with this company, just simply couldn't sell its that simple! for those who can sell, its a great opportunity! Plus you get free sales techniques and business developement training, its never been so easy to make money...!

October 24, 2010 11:01 PM OLLIE27 SAID: I worked at the Northampton branch for about 9mths got told i had loads of potential i even tried quiting but got told to stick it out as i would have a company of my own within a year and because of my back ground i wanted to show my family i could make something of myself so i decided to stick it out some weeks i could make 300+ one week i bought in just 50 because of working for this company i havent proved anything in fact ive lost everything i no longer have a home i live in a hostel and my ex employer Nick Rees still owes me my bond which is well over £2000 but for some reason everyone who left his office always seemed to have their bonds turned negative!

December 13, 2010 11:13 PM GIRISH TRIVEDI SAID: STEVE & SEAN...Wow you guys are born Beggars. I doubt your family raised you with their hard earned money (wasted education,clothing,food and everything else) so you can beg and rope in others to do the same...what a pity. Alas, the best part you guys are contractual beggars. The so called HOD-begging division is enjoying his luxury life from your blood sucked time,money and energy. I happened to meet one of your HOD beggar Named Sai Prasad Kuckian-From Mumbai, India. Do you know he was enjoying his vacation in a five star hotel till today in Shimla while your team mates in india ere begging entire day till night 9-10pm..For god sake don't fool people.Here s the best proverb for you guys in India-BADI BADI BATEIBN AUR BHEEK MANG KE KHAATE...Which means talk big,eat my D**k.

January 1, 2011 9:05 AM AM SAID: Hi All, I, unfortunately, was sucked into this, but managed to stop it before it got too far. Upon leaving my job on Friday, I'm desperate for work. I started applying for jobs yesterday (11/1/11), and by today, I'd had two interviews set up for tomorrow! I couldn't believe my luck! Both telephone conversations got my suspicion aroused though, both were very vague when i asked what the job entailed, none mentioned any kind of pay, and both talked about 'running my own team'... After reading every single post on this blog, I did some digging, and thank god I did, because I'd probably have been sucked into working for one of these places if I didnt!! I just want to advise people of the names and addresses of the two companies that i know of who are preying on innocent, desperate people: Fourways Marketing 12 Station Rd Watford WD17 1EG (Lists "Cobra Group" on their websites -they have two totally different, extremely ambiguous websites) Horizon Marketing Ground Floor Telford House 102 Collingford Street LU1 1RX The girl who called me from Horizon also mentioned that they are under the name "Expand Luton" and "Expand Horizon"

January 12, 2011 9:07 PM AM SAID: have a look at this blog, literally tens of other people have written about their experiences: http://lecari.blogspot.com/2009/07/london-marketing-services-another-job.html

January 12, 2011 9:09 PM JENNIFER SAID: oh please. cobra offers amazing opportunities for people, and if you work hard and put in the effort you can earn loads and make something for yourself. if you had a "bad experience" or whatever and didnt make much money, do you know why that was? because youre lazy. all you need to do is put in some effort and learn how to sell and dont expect everthing to be spoon fed to you. window lickers

January 15, 2011 12:03 AM LOSERS! SAID: your all idiots you stupid broke idiots who come looking for a job join and then walk around knockin on doors with a fake smile and expect to sell to people im glad u all got paid £50 for 3 weeks ur all idiots iv been working here for 2 months, every week i get £250 minimum, im 19 earning more that your household learn to sell or shut d fk up and to get your bonds u have to GO TO YOUR OFFICE AND APPLY TO HAVE IT SENT TO YOUR BANK!

January 19, 2011 11:26 PM
LCM SAID: Just a few names to watch out for...Tim Rose, Rich Snowden, Emma Rushen and Jen Weanie. Living proof that Appco\Cobra provide people with extraordinary opportunities if you are dedicated, hard working and can sell. People may have bad experiences with the group. Yes, it is long hours and yes, if you don't work hard enough and truly believe in the loa then you won't make money. Don't go calling people like the ones above mugs when they work so hard and will make huge successes of themselves through hard work and dedication. It wasn't for me and its not for everyone but for those who can put there mind to it, it's genuinely a brilliant opportunity.

January 20, 2011 12:16 AM JOSHUA DAVID SAID: I am 19,years old i applied for the job, got it. started earning straight away. fair enough people will complain when they dont sell, not everyone can. but i do. i make a good wage and the people in the company are amazing people. i earn more than most 30 year olds, if you can stick out the hours and the people you encounter on the doors then there is a fortune to be made.

January 30, 2011 9:03 PM JAMES SAID: The people from Cobra/Appco in this thread would like you to believe that people who do badly just can't sell, are too negative, etc. I worked with a Cobra franchise for 6 months. The hardest part was admitting to my friends and relatives that THEY were right. Theres a culture of deceit at every Cobra franchise... you MUST pretend you are doing well, to encourage the newbies. Theres so much smokescreen there no wonder people have breakdowns. I made so little in those six months it was unreal. Prior to that I worked doors and made a killing, after that I worked for a Claims Management Company and made a killing, I'm now a senior sales executive, team leader and trainer. At the age of 32 I own my own home and no mortgage worries. But according to Cobra I'm just another neg-head loser who can't sell and wants it all on a plate. If you currently work for a Cobra franchise, listen to what I have to say... 1. They are NOT your friends 2. The situation will NOT get better 3. You will NOT be better off if they franchise you 4. The chants and other mind games are just that 5. Forget pride and feelings of failure and walk away, right now. The only way you can fail is by continuing to buy into it. 6. When you leave be ocal about why and hope you can get others thinking -it will be your last chance before they eject you and the womb seals around the remaining intakes. My friend stayed in and got his own franchise. He ended up having a breakdown as he was earning less that the reps he was lying to on a daily basis... cobra used him, like everyone else, and then they spat him out. They still owe him around 3 thousand but theres precious little chance he'll see any of it. Meanwhile all he was left with was bills and a bankruptcy. Trust me, STAY AWAY from these guys. It is a cult of personality and deceit. They will have you lying to others and lying to yourself. They will convince you that you're the only one in the office failing and will 'help you' remotivate yourself. Before you know it, you'll be so entrenched you'll actually start believing the bullplop. Oh, and your friends? It is your DUTY to make friends in a cobra franchise... best friends, friends for life. Just to get people to hang on in there for another week. Seriously, just walk away. The sooner you do, the less it will hurt. Now sit back as another few managers of Cobra franchises come on pretending to be big winners and telling you that the hundreds of thousands of people who didn't make squat are just neg-heads. There's only one winner... and guess what, it ain't any of these people. STOP SPREADING THE LIE AND BE HONEST WITH YOURSELVES AND YOUR COLLEAGUES

February 3, 2011 12:08 PM TOM SAID: I've been in the company for a while myself but to be honest it's not as bad as everyone says. The people who doesn't get paid much really have something wrong with their skills at the door. I actually thought I was a quick learner until I started this job it actually took me time to learn the skills to be decent at the job. It's better to earn slightly less than minimum wages while looking for a new job if your unhappy about the job than sitting at home being a bum getting money off the goverment while looking for jobs. And I'm sure everyone know how hard it is to find a job nowadays even the steady government jobs is sacking people. I understand having base salary + commission is obviously better but since this job is knocking on doors on your own you can actually just do nothing and people wont even know so why pay someone who doesn't do anything?

February 4, 2011 9:30 AM SNAKE IN THE GRASS SAID: Latest list of marketing firms linked to Cobra: 3D Organisation Limited, Manchester 4D Future Marketing Limited, Preston ACD Marketing Ltd, Sheffield Activa Marketing SL, Seville, Spain ACT Marketing Direct Limited, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin The Advertising Concept Limited, Wrexham A.K.A. Marketing Limited, Manchester Alpha Advertising Ltd, Manchester AMG Marketing Limited, Manchester ANB Promotions Limited, Birmingham Aspire Acquisitions Limited, London Aurora Worldwide Ltd, Colchester Blackcode Advertising Limited, Brighton Blackrock Advertising Limited, Bournemouth Blackstar Marketing Limited, Leicester Blueprint Inc Limited, Romford Bohemian Marketing Limited, Leeds BPM Marketing Limited, Ipswich BYB Marketing Limited, Plymouth Capital One Promotions Limited, Nottingham Carpe Diem Marketing Limited, Dublin CDG Promotions Limited, Maidstone Cedar Direct Limited, Nottingham Celica Marketing Limited, Glasgow Centurion Marketing Limited, Leeds Clearwater Advertising Limited, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin Clover Advertising Limited, Bristol CMA Direct Ltd, Liverpool Cohesion Marketing Solutions UK Limited, London Cooper Advertising Limited, Swindon Corsica Marketing Limited, Southampton/London Coulson Organisation Limited, Newcastle DB Organization Limited, Dublin DBR Marketing Limited, Derry D.C.G. Marketing Limited, Belfast DDL Marketing Limited, Cardiff Definitive Promotions, Watford Discovery Marketing Limited, Edinburgh Double Impact Marketing Limited, London Dragon Marketing Direct Limited, Cavan, Co Cavan DS Global Limited, London Eagle Organisation UK Limited, Reading Eclectic Marketing Limited, London Eclipse Promotions Limited, Derby Elite Marketing Firm Ltd, Athlone, Co Westmeath El Llopart Marketing, Warsaw, Poland The Empire Organisation Limited, Ipswich Endeva Advertising Limited, Nottingham Enigma Marketing Limited, Glasgow Entice Marketing Limited, Glasgow Enza Marketing Limited, Gloucester ETM Marketing Ltd, Leeds The Excel Organisation Limited, Naas Excelsior Marketing Solutions Limited, Sheffield Expansive Marketing Solutions Limited, London Extreme Marketing Ltd, Exeter F1 Organisation Limited, Manchester Fabulous Development Limited/Fabulous Developments Ltd, Birmingham Fairsolution Marketing Limited, Offaly Felix Marketing Global Limited, London The Flash Organisation Limited, Romford Flawless Marketing Limited, Sligo, Co Sligo Fourways Marketing Limited, Watford The Fresh Organisation Limited, Watford Galaxy Marketing Limited, London GPS Marketing Limited, Exeter GQ Marketing, Warsaw, Poland Harlequin Marketing UK Limited, Hull The Highland Organisation Limited, Middlesbrough HDC Marketing Limited, Nottingham Heroic Marketing Limited, Cardiff Hurricain Marketing Limited, Wrexham Iconic Promotions Limited, Dundee IDM Systems, Warsaw, Poland Imperial Promotions Limited, Dun Laoghaire Innovation Marketing Direct Limited, London Inspired Marketing Ltd, Leeds Intense Marketing Limited, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin JNL Marketing Solutions Limited, Dublin/Galway/Cork Justice Organisation Limited, Manchester Keys Worldwide Limited, Guildford KMH Organisation Limited, Slough KMS Promotions Limited, Birmingham Korco Marketing Limited, London Krishna Worldwide Limited, Bristol KTM Marketing Limited, Dundee Kvision Worldwide Limited. Manchester Lifestyle Advertising Limited, Birmingham Magnum Marketing Limited, Derby Make It Advertising Limited, Portsmouth Mamba Marketing Limited, Glasgow Mantra Marketing Limited/Manta Marketing Group, Bristol Marketing Endeavours Limited, London Marketing Enterprises UK Limited, Norwich The Marketing Machine UK Limited, Reading Maximum Dynamic Limited, Manchester Maximus Global Limited, London MGM Marketing Firm Limited, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin Miller Global Enterprises Limited, Edinburgh M.J.T. Marketing Limited, Maidstone, Kent MKD Marketing Limited, Newcastle Modo Marketing Limited, Glasgow Monster Marketing Direct Limited, Romford Montana Marketing Limited, Leicester Motion Marketing Limited, Plymouth Mozaic Marketing Limited, Glasgow MRD Corporation Limited, Brighton MT Marketing, Lodz, Poland MVR Marketing Limited, Birmingham N1 Advertising Limited, Bristol Odyssey Advertising Limited, Waterford One Way Marketing Limited, Cardiff Oracle Advertising Limited, Manchester Oratory Commerce Limited, Liverpool Orion Promotions Limited, Glasgow Oval Innovation Limited, Brighton Paramount Force Promotions Limited, Manchester Pentagon Marketing Limited, Reading Phoenix Global Marketing Limited Platinum Force Limited, Liverpool Powerhouse Direct Limited, Brighton Praestantia Promotions Limited, Liverpool Progressive Global Training Ltd, Cardiff Pure Solutions Direct Limited, Coventry/Birmingham R 1 Global Limited, Northampton R2R Promotions Limited R3 Marketing Limited R&S Marketing Solutions Limited, Brighton Red Planet Marketing Limited, London Roar Promotions Limited, Dublin Rococco Bay Limited, Sheffield R.S. Advertising Limited, Colchester RSJ Global Marketing Limited, Cardiff RST Organisation Limited, Birmingham The Saturn Organisation Limited,Cardiff The Scorpia Corporation Limited, Leicester Smiths Marketing Associates Limited, Glasgow/Edinburgh/Luton SMS Corporation Limited. Sunderland Source Marketing Direct Limited, London The Spartan Corporation (Eire) Limited, Naas, Co Kildare Spire Marketing Corporation Limited, Mullingar, Co Mullingar SRJ Marketing Limited, Manchester SRM Marketing Limited, Nottingham Star Organisation Limited, Nottingham Storm Marketing UK Limited, London Street Level Advertising Limited, Swansea Stride Marketing Limited, Newcastle T.C. World Limited, Manchester T G Worldwide Limited, Manchester The Titan Organisation Limited, Southampton TJ Marketing, Wrocław, Poland TML Promotions Limited/Coventry Promotions, Coventry Topaz Promotions Limited, Belfast The Total Marketing Organisation Limited, Preston TPR Enterprise Limited, Colchester Tuscan Marketing Limited/The Tuscan Organisation, Manchester TXL Marketing Limited, Plymouth Xposure Promotions Limited, Swansea XR Marketing Limited, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin The Vision Organisation Limited, Drogheda, Co Louth Wit Organisation Limited, Birmingham Zenith Force Advertising Limited, Wolverhampton Zino Direct Limited, Slough

February 4, 2011 10:27 AM EX-REP FROM MANCHESTER SAID: I can only agree with Tom, as an ex-rep I mostly identify with his account. I worked in Events division. Sales as a business is obviously not for everyone, which is why a lot of people are leaving; however, sales as a technique is something we all use, whether we're dating or attending job interviews. The biggest problem people have with this work, and I did too sometimes, is that often we are in need to make money as quickly as possible, and we wear this desperation even without knowing it. It takes to be very good at teaching sales to help the newbie, and, having been trained and observed training, I think these teaching skills (and psychology skills) are obviously missing in some "leaders". I would recommend, rather than slagging off Cobra and unsuccessful reps, just use the opportunity to learn as much about business management as you can. The 5 and 8 steps you will be taught are indispensable as a system, and if you quit after a few weeks of applying these rules, count yourself a winner. You will have got much more than merely owning a company within Cobra -you'll get keys to your personal success in life. The rest is in your hands. By the way, it does take some sort of arm-twisting to get your bond returned, even after you applied. But, hey, this is why you are taught to be confident and assertive! :-) I proved to myself I well upped my skills, so thank you, Cobra/Appco!

February 7, 2011 2:18 PM RACHEL SAID: i worked for the company for 8 months and i have to say absolutly loved it, to be honest i dont know why!!! had to be at the office every morning at 7.30 which ment leaving my house at 6.30, at the time i didnt mind and all my friends thought i was mad never finished work untill about 8 or 9 at night so it got to the point i was going home straight to bed and then back up for work the next day. my friends got sick of me and just gave up calling because i wasnt getting in contact with them as i never had money in my fone because i was waisting it all calling to sign up customers. at the start i was making good money and i thought fab this could be a good career for me i was making new friends having fun and my confidence boosted so much but all the money i was making went on travelling .. one day i was in edinburgh then the next ayr i just thought i cant do this anymore! now i got my life back my friends thankfully gave me another chance and i got a new joband got my life together, nowlooking back yeah i had fun and still talk to my friends i made there but its an absolute joke!! cobra say all these great things and if you EVER said a bad things you were a NEGHEAD!! im so glad i got out when i did i got in to so much debt in that job and still trying to pay off!! the people that are writing on this about how good it is are still living in that cult and need to wake up smellthe coffee, get out when you can!! its a joke of a job!!

aims180

Hi, I also got a call from this company and I was unsure of what they do or what the job would entail of, did you go to the interview? are they legit ? thanks for your help.

DaveMack

I didn't go in the end. I talked it through some friends who'd heard of this kind of job before (basically a vague sales promotional company that approaches you), and they all said it's a scam. One guy said brainwashing... Not sure what he meant by that. My dad claims he was almost done by a similar company back in the 80's, and that a recession usually leads to a lot of scam jobs going on offer.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who did at least go to the interview myself though.. they did seem nice.. If I hadn't had to make such a long trip out at a really early hour I would've gone down to at least check them out.


(there was also no calls, texts or e-mails looking for me before or after my interview time)

aims180

Thanks for your help.

I don't think Im going to go ahead with the interview either. I asked what the roles entail and they weren't able to give me a straight answer just kept going on about how much id learn and what I would get out of it, rather than what I would be doing and salary etc. all sounds very strange.

Nang

aims180 wrote: »

Thanks for your help.

I don't think Im going to go ahead with the interview either. I asked what the roles entail and they weren't able to give me a straight answer just kept going on about how much id learn and what I would get out of it, rather than what I would be doing and salary etc. all sounds very strange.

Hi I found this thread after googling MGM marketing a firm that seems to be based in the same building as Imperial and mentioned in that excerpt posted above about Kobra. The same thing happened to me, I got a phonecall after posting my CV to jobs.ie and told that I had been shortlisted for a round of interviews to take place tomorrow. After doing some online research however, this company isn't even registered with the CRO, which is odd also there is no website for them. When I rang up the number that they called me from I was asked to choose from about 5 different "marketing" firms one of which was Imperial.

I don't think I'll be going to that interview either.

DaveMack

When I rang up the number that they called me from I was asked to choose from about 5 different "marketing" firms one of which was Imperial.

Yeah, I've my CV up on jobs.ie and I've noticed the same promotions reappearing, all promising a "no experience, no problem" attitude. They're all a sham, best thing to do is tell them f**k off.

slater00

Hi everyone, i got a phone call from a company like this last week. i didnt know anything about them and cudnt find info on what they did so i went to the interview. thought wow this sounds like a really good job. so i left the interview feeling quite happy and hoping they they wud contact me. after a few hours they rang me and told me well done and i would be put through to the next round. wen i got there i was nervous thinking i would have to do some role plays or something, nothing, they tell u abit about the company blah blah blah then ask you to answer some questions. then they sed they would ring me later if i had passed. i then though well it cant really be called a second round as its basically pointless, asking you what u had been asked in the first interview but on paper. i had another job interview offered to me that same day so when flawless rang me i told them i had another job interview and would it be ok if i let them know if im still interested in the sales job. 2 days after my other interview and i am now online reading posts about these sorts of companies. they havnt contacted me even tho they sounded like they loved me and "i would be a great asset to the team". I am in need of work and money desperately, as i have no other income and i will have to pay rent at the end of the month. I dont know wether i shud take the risk and go try them out for a couple of weeks or not bother and just keeping looking for jobs. any advice would be great.

rightwingdub

I went for an interview this morning with a company that does all this door to door selling, I'm going along to the observation day either tomorrow or on Monday just to see what It's like, I've intention of taking up the offer as I did this door to selling many years ago. It's not Imperial Promotions.