Complaint Review: Cellular Sales Of Knoxville - Knoxville Tennessee

I've read several reports on this company. Most of them have been relatively accurate, but somewhat libelous. I am going to present this as objectively as I possibly can, since all the damage that this company caused me is long behind me.

I was working for a company that went out of business, and was laid off. I began searching for a new job, and since my last job was sales related, I figured that a cell phone company would be a great opportunity. I had heard that the money to be made was potentially very very good, so I printed out a few copies of my resume, and hit the pavement.

I went through the local mall and saw a big sign that said "Verizon Wireless". I headed toward the store and spoke with a woman who told me that they were hiring, and that the manager would call me if he was interested. About 2 days later, I got a call from the Sales Manager. I'll call him Jim. He introduced himself as "Jim from Verizon Cellular Sales", and told me that I had an interview about 50 miles away. I had the interview, it went well, and he called me back later that day telling me I was hired. I thought I was working for Verizon Wireless. It wasn't until the day I walked in that I found out that I was actually working for a RETAILER. "Jim" had acted as if the company WAS actually Verizon throughout the whole process of being hired. Oh well, I shrugged it off.

When I started working, the first thing I was taught to do was to take inventory. The whole idea is that if ANYTHING at ALL is missing at the end of the day for ANY reason, it comes out of the people on duty's check. I was told among other things that I was working for a temp agency at that time officially, and that once I got my LLC, I would be considered a commissioned salesperson. I was also told that commissions would be behind for 2 months, and I wouldnt recieve a commission check until then, but for every $1000 in commissions I brought in, they would send me 700 of it, once every ten days.

Fair enough. I sell stuff, I get paid. Good deal. No hourly, but great commissions. I could make up to 400 bucks on a single sale. The even cooler thing was that commissions were split between both reps who were working, so if I had a bad day, the other rep could help cover for it. Everything seemed awesome... At first.

I made some friends in our store, and got along with everyone really well. One day, the subject of taxes came up. My manager himself told me that basically what happens is that you have the option to cut a certain amount out of your paycheck at tax season, and they will have an internal accountant handle them for you. He then told me that he made about $150,000 a year, and he still got a $5,000 tax return, despite the fact that he never paid any taxes all year. I asked him about being audited, and this is what he said QUOTE VERBATIM: "Well, if I got audited, I would be in trouble, but its not anything to worry about." He argued that the IRS was after the big tax evaders, not individual small LLCs that write off products, and as long as I didn't claim too many entertainment deductions, I was fine.

I was suspicious. Very suspicious. I kind of shrugged it off, but I talked to my parents about it, and they insisted that I get out of the company as quick as I could. I didn't. I liked the money I seemed to be making.

One bad thing about the setup was that if you a rep gets an appointment with a customer, the money is all theirs. Period. They dont share. This is fine. I understand that if you sell on your own, you should get the money you worked for singlehandedly.. OUTSIDE of your scheduled time. Cellular Sales, however, is full of snakes who give customers their cards and send them out the door... Then call them later to schedule appointments. It was horrible. I had tons of sales stolen from me in front of my face and just didn't want to stir up a fuss, so I ignored it. Perhaps that was my fault.

At any rate, my sales were pretty mediocre. I thought I did a good job. I maintained my inventory, I was always on time, I tried hard despite the low customer volume... But month three came and I was below the dreaded "red-line". The red line meant that you weren't projected to meet your quota for the month... which means hell, fire, and brimstone. So thats when you start getting the shaft. They forced horrible shifts on me, which is understandable, and they became much less friendly and tolerant. I met my quota that month, but barely...

The very next month, I find that the quota structure had totally changed! The quota had gone from difficult to ridiculously difficult. Well by this point I had had enough of having my sales taken, and being responsible for carrying customer's cash around (which you have to do by the way), and seeing ridiculous deductions coming out of my money for no reason (Im talking 200-300 dollars that the company would claim to be "missing merchandise".)... So I quit. I quit with a clear conscience. I'm glad I got away from the racket early, before I got screwed by all of the taxation garbage.

Here are 3 things I recommend to anyone looking to deal with this company for ANY reason:

1) Shop at a corporate store. While the agents at Cellular sales CAN modify prices, there is a good chance you can get just as good of a deal at a corporate store.

2) Don't listen to any rebuttals by employees or managers that you will see on here. There is a very high chance that they will speak very eloquently and concisely to defend the company, but I have no reason to spend an hour typing a complaint that is a total fabrication. Maybe my experience would have been better if my sales had been higher, but other than possibly underperforming, I have done no wrong here.

3) If you work there now, GET OUT. It will catch up to you. I've been gone for almost a year now, and I haven't recieved a final paycheck at all. They owe me close to $3000 in commissions. They probably claimed that people deactivated, and the punishment for that is that they deduct ALL of you commission, plus the full price of the phone out of what they pay you. Please get out. There are better sales jobs out there, I promise. I know 20 hours a week for $1000 or so seems awesome, but it will catch up to you somehow. This company feeds on its "contractors"... Don't let them feed on you! Thanks for taking the time to read this.

FYI, I don't really live in Knoxville... I just dont want to run the risk of retaliation. I don't know if CS would do that or not, but I'd rather err on the side of caution.

Systolic0205

Knoxville, Tennessee

U.S.A.