- Report: #240364
Complaint Review: Cobra Group Aka Biramint - Sydney Australia
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Cobra Group Aka Biramint
George St Sydney, 2000 Australia, Australia
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Biramint Aka Cobra Group Dubious origins, employee exploitation, BOYCOTT DIRECT MARKETING Sydney NSW Australia
I understand that there's a lot of pissed off ex-employees of the Cobra Group out there. Probably lots of bummed customers too. My report is more about the background of the company's owner (who will remain nameless, due to ethical reasons) than the out ripping off of both customers and employees (though as a member of the Cobra Group, this did happen through this office).
Biramint's owner tells his employees regularly about his history in Cobra, sometimes he would defend the use of his unusual business title by telling us it came from an old furniture company that had left its title up for sale once it had closed down, he came across it by accident when he was searching for a business title that wasn't already in use. Biramint according to him started in this form around 1993/4 (he's always vague about the exact time when he's described this, I estimate it would be around here because in 2006 he would say he was promoted to ownership around 12 years ago).
Check the following link, scroll down to the No Experience Necessary heading.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/1992/49/3603
It's odd that pre-dating my understanding of the owner's entry into Cobra, his business name is associated with other marketing firms that subcontract their workers & exploit them by giving them ZERO work conditions (when I worked for Biramint, a $374 pay check was an average week, this is completely disregarding inflation as the article was published 15 years ago! Minimum wages have risen a few times since then also). Car allowances are unheard of in the company, even though several employees/subcontractors frequently drive their own cars to work, and then take small groups out to the days' site. By Australian law, when an employee uses their own car for work, they receive payment from the business to help cover the running costs, also out of fairness because that car's use is contributing to the survival/profit of the business. As stated in the article public by Green Left, this doesn't cover independent contractors.
I was an independent contractor working underneath Biramint, and was continually reminded that I work for myself. Then why wasn't I dealing directly with the supply company (a large power company) and earning 100% of the commission? That's how I'd have done it if I was my own boss. Instead they take a cut of every sale you do (usually around 40%).
Biramint also appears on the internet as a closed down business in the inner-Sydney suburb of Alexandria (not far from where the current office is) in several internet searches its listed as a toy retailer. Past campaigns run by Biramint for the Cobra Group included selling "products" door-to-door. It's usually just old junk like books, keyboards, Disney licensed toys etc. Is it a coincidence that the products division of Cobra (called Pro Sales) sells toys and that the Biramint that has no contact details except an address sold toys as well? The owner often reminisced about the old days when he sold "products" business-to-business.
I admit though that after looking into it, the furniture Biramint does have links to being a toy maker and that it may be a coincidence, nothing more. But I'm sceptical because it's common for Cobra Group companies to advertise their jobs among other fields of work like hospitality. As with all Cobra Group/DS Max affiliated companies, their recruitment techniques are dubious (advertising direct marketing jobs under different job categories like hospitality work with the usual vague promises of lots of money "$$$", moving forwards etc). Openly questioning this would lead to strict disciplinary action taken against you, even sacking.
The reason I'm putting this out there is because of my own time working in the company, putting in 100% effort for nothing. The skills I gained working in marketing are useless in other job contexts. After over a year's service, I have nothing good to show for it.
As a bitter ex-employee, I encourage people to boycott direct marketing in all forms (door-to-door, stands, telemarketing etc). It's an exploitative and unnecessary practice often based on outright lies and bending the truth.
James
Sydney
Australia
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on ds-max, dsmax, ds/max, granton marketing, cydcor
Biramint's owner tells his employees regularly about his history in Cobra, sometimes he would defend the use of his unusual business title by telling us it came from an old furniture company that had left its title up for sale once it had closed down, he came across it by accident when he was searching for a business title that wasn't already in use. Biramint according to him started in this form around 1993/4 (he's always vague about the exact time when he's described this, I estimate it would be around here because in 2006 he would say he was promoted to ownership around 12 years ago).
Check the following link, scroll down to the No Experience Necessary heading.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/1992/49/3603
It's odd that pre-dating my understanding of the owner's entry into Cobra, his business name is associated with other marketing firms that subcontract their workers & exploit them by giving them ZERO work conditions (when I worked for Biramint, a $374 pay check was an average week, this is completely disregarding inflation as the article was published 15 years ago! Minimum wages have risen a few times since then also). Car allowances are unheard of in the company, even though several employees/subcontractors frequently drive their own cars to work, and then take small groups out to the days' site. By Australian law, when an employee uses their own car for work, they receive payment from the business to help cover the running costs, also out of fairness because that car's use is contributing to the survival/profit of the business. As stated in the article public by Green Left, this doesn't cover independent contractors.
I was an independent contractor working underneath Biramint, and was continually reminded that I work for myself. Then why wasn't I dealing directly with the supply company (a large power company) and earning 100% of the commission? That's how I'd have done it if I was my own boss. Instead they take a cut of every sale you do (usually around 40%).
Biramint also appears on the internet as a closed down business in the inner-Sydney suburb of Alexandria (not far from where the current office is) in several internet searches its listed as a toy retailer. Past campaigns run by Biramint for the Cobra Group included selling "products" door-to-door. It's usually just old junk like books, keyboards, Disney licensed toys etc. Is it a coincidence that the products division of Cobra (called Pro Sales) sells toys and that the Biramint that has no contact details except an address sold toys as well? The owner often reminisced about the old days when he sold "products" business-to-business.
I admit though that after looking into it, the furniture Biramint does have links to being a toy maker and that it may be a coincidence, nothing more. But I'm sceptical because it's common for Cobra Group companies to advertise their jobs among other fields of work like hospitality. As with all Cobra Group/DS Max affiliated companies, their recruitment techniques are dubious (advertising direct marketing jobs under different job categories like hospitality work with the usual vague promises of lots of money "$$$", moving forwards etc). Openly questioning this would lead to strict disciplinary action taken against you, even sacking.
The reason I'm putting this out there is because of my own time working in the company, putting in 100% effort for nothing. The skills I gained working in marketing are useless in other job contexts. After over a year's service, I have nothing good to show for it.
As a bitter ex-employee, I encourage people to boycott direct marketing in all forms (door-to-door, stands, telemarketing etc). It's an exploitative and unnecessary practice often based on outright lies and bending the truth.
James
Sydney
Australia
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on ds-max, dsmax, ds/max, granton marketing, cydcor
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Jack
Birmingham,Europe,
United Kingdom
seen the light a long time ago...
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sat, September 27, 2008
Hi 'seen the light' was interested bout what you had to say about Mike Blaine... How did he get to owner and how did he get to VP? Because I've heard stories about other people getting offices without getting promoted by building a crew. I was there for 4 years and gave my life to the company... I won't go into details, same old same old. I was interested when I read your comment though... I know you probably won't want to go into loads of detail but... can you shed some light on what it was like being an owner in Cobra... unfortunately not enough ex-owners write on these sites to explain that being an owner really isn't all that. I think the owners are in a worse situation than the FR's/IC's... they have to spend a fortune to look like they have a fortune, when in fact they don't. What's your story? Look forward to reading it!!
Seen The Light A Long Time Ago
Hawthorn,Australia,
Australia
I Remember Some of Those Names
#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, September 25, 2008
Hi James, I can tell you that those names are all companies directly linked to the Cobra Group, owned by Chris Niarchos, squillionaire and Ferrari racing car driver, who now lives in the UK. He opened his first australian office in alexandria in the late 80s. he came from canada, where WWI (Wholesale Warehousing Industries) was started by Murray reinhardt, Larry tannenbaum and Avie Roth. Also all now squillionaires. Larry owns the Toronto Maple Leafs and is a big shot in canada. Google these guys and see for yourself. WWI changed its name - worldwide - to DSMax in the 1990s and later it split into Clearance (toys, products etc) called Innovage, and Granton Marketing (called advertising but really sales of discount coupons... 2 for 1 restaurant deals etc), Books and others I can't be bothered mentioning or remembering. Niarchos also has Appco Direct (where they "churn" customers from one electrical, cable TV or phone company etc, to another for a fee, and Support Direct where they take donations for charities - for a fee. A few years and name changes later everything is still the same as I remembered it back in the 90s. Lies, deception, trickery, and a deceitfully one-sided, warped view of any other "job" that was outside the Cobra/DSMAX/Innovage sphere. Oh, yeah, and every job they advertise is for door-to-door sales of some description, unless you want to be the (often very good looking) girl they get to answer the phones. Biramint was, I think... if memory serves me, owned by Simon Wright, an old owner who was continually closed down, retrained, had a break, re-opened etc. I think he was around when Chris first opened in Sydney. Simon was also married to Sue Wright, Chris's first Administrator. The name may have been owned by someone else too, but it has been around since the late 80s. No idea if it was a furniture company previously but who knows - if it was cheaper to get a used name I'm sure they would have. Redhaven was the name used by Mike Blane when he took over the first office that started advertising in Melbourne. He was a backpacker who had previously worked in the Alexandria office in Sydney. He is now the Managing Director of the Cobra Group worldwide and lives back home in the UK - another squillionaire. And one who didn't get his job the way all the other "owners" do - ie by building a crew. Booksmart was owned by Doug Thompson, and American traveller who moved from Sydney to Melbourne to open up a books office there. (They sold cheap books door to door) Don't know what happened to Doug but he disappeared from the scene after a year or two. The other names I've heard but I'm unsure of the owners - probably guys who closed down after running failed offices. Anyway, as an also bitter ex-employee, I agree, James, boycott all these people who knock on your door and try to sell you something. It's better to put them out of their misery now, rather than prolong the agony... and it might be the only way to stop the big guys from profiteering unconscionably from others' misery. And yes, I was an owner for four long years a long, long time ago. Amazing how everything's still the same with this company. And about the same number of offices as they had 10 years ago, from what I can figure - where's all the expansion?
