William
Kenner,#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, February 19, 2008
Wouldn't say we were losers. I work in the IT field AND tend bar and do quite well for myself on both counts. There is indeed life after West.
888texas
Houston,#3UPDATE Employee
Fri, October 19, 2007
Don't dog this company because you are losers in general! I have worked happily for this company for 10 1/2 months. Everyone that I came in contact with have been professional and concerned with me as an agent. And not once was my paycheck wrong. I work from home and appreciate this company immensely. Maybe you should just find another company to dog on! And, if you are working still working for this company I hope they realize how you really are and let you off the hook to move on and be a loser somewhere else.
Intimidation
North East,#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, October 03, 2007
We need to ban together to stop this unfair treatment of low income people that can not afford an attorney to fight a big corporation. Anyone who wants something done should file a ripoffreport. Lets make some noise!! Together we can stand much stronger then any one of us by ourselves. Lawyers will contact this website to help join everyone together.
Being Real
San Antonio,#5UPDATE Employee
Mon, September 10, 2007
Yes most black people who work for West are single mothers in college, teenagers, and people who just want paychecks. Their moms told them to get out and get a job and that's what they do. Some men might be paying cild support and need to job by the order of the court. With this being the case many do not feel the need to educate themselves as long as they get a paycheck. I feel we need to become better equipped with first rate knowledge and language skills. We just can't walk into an office and plead out case with the proper attire and jargon. They will just look at us and laugh. Learn to not only fight but fight professionally. So yes Ayesha I worked there and I agree with you completely. We need to know our rights and stop being so scary to get our faces out there.
Jennifer
Hampton,#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, March 26, 2006
I worked at the hampton call center for 4 years and never had problems except for the occasional paycheck discrepency. I Believe Lawson must have started after I was there because the boss then was a woman. I started on the physic line and then moved over to FSG. I will admit Direct response has more problems than most lines but I feel its because the kids there are really young the avarage age of a west employee in hampton is 18, Im 34 lol, overall its an easy job and a fast way to make some good money, I picked up $12 and $9 hours regulary and usually made around $800-1000 every 2 weeks with not too much of a problem, I was always able to pick up shifts and have mine taken if I needed time off. I have heard about the WAHA program but havent tried it? Are you making money with it?
Shaunie
Newport News,#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, April 14, 2005
Thanks for all the responses. I was the one who wrote the original post about Donald Lawson giving me a pin with the "unknown" employees and so I used a fake name "Ayesha" in case someone from West would find my post. But now I don't really care if they find out or not. I had no idea I would receive any responses. So if you want to respond to me about it you will have to use this post because my first post is from a Rip Off account I can't even login to anymore because I forgot it so I had to create this new one under my real name "Shaunie". But anyway, West sucks and I have worked there again since I quit and although the place is clean, the people haven't changed and Donald Lawson is STILL there. He's been at that ragged place for over 12 years (so it says on his profile) so I am not surprised the old goat is still there. I don't see how anyone could work for a company like West Telemarketing for so long and have a normal conscience knowing that not only are they intentionally selling snake oil products but also they intentionally run through employees like water because 1) They hire any and everyone. I know some people who have been in jail a few times who work there. And Donald Lawson is Black so I don't see how he can live selling out to his own people. West needs to come down down down down. Now they have moved to India as well so I have learned. I understand it will be putting a lot of people out of jobs if it ever were to come down but a scam is not the way to do it. However, West also processes calls for legitimate clients as well such as the Home Shopping Network, Shop NBC, Betty Crocker Bake and Fill pans, Pizza Hut, Office Depot, AT&T Wireless, Microsoft, Sprint PCS, etc. So how in the world can someone fight against something like that? It would affect a lot of good companies as well. It also provides income to home bound people such as handicapped people or work at home Moms ... so how in the world can one bring down the scams without affecting the legitimate ones? I have a regular job some where else now but I work WAHA (Work At Home Agent) to earn some extra income. I find it interesting that the last person said that West was using WAHA agents to avoid paying taxes. It does not surprise me knowing the crooked ways of the company. I swear everywhere I turn there are issues with this company. I have been a WAHA agent for going on 4 months now. And yes I signed a contract stating I am an Independent Agent responsible for my own taxes. I am curious as to why you say that Work At Home Agents are not Independent Contractors.
Melinda
Hubert,#8UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, February 08, 2005
EVERYONE on here needs to also look under "CORRUPT COMPANIES" Under here. You will need to enter state " Nebraska". VERY INTERESTING!!!! I have posted several discrepancies w/ WEST Telemarketing Services/ WEST TEL, West Business Services ( as of 11/2004; company filed bankrupt and once again changed name. ) I'm still waiting for "ALL" my pay I worked for and earned, company refuses to pay & had terminated me over definition of " INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR/SELF EMPLOYED; NON- COMPLIANCE TO THE REBUTTALS, ( REFUSED TO SCREW INNOCENT CONSUMERS ), and TURNED WEST TELEMARKETING CORP into the IRS for TAX FRAUD for nearly 2,400 + WAHA ( Work AT Home Agents ) that they refuse to pay taxes on...by slyly stating these folks are Independent Contractors/Self Employed; which they are not!!!!!!!! REMEMBER, ALSO GO UNDER CORRUPT COMPANIES in NEBRASKA!!!!!!!!! EYE OPENERS!!!!!!!
Adam
Erie,#9UPDATE Employee
Sat, October 30, 2004
I work at West in Erie PA, and I completely agree that it is a horrid company. We're not presented with a list or manual of things we can get "PINned" for ( basically getting written up ), the security guards aren't responsible if someone smashes the window out of your car in the parking lot, but they can apparently write you up for speeding in the parking lot or smoking too close to the doors, scheduling has repeatedly treated me like s**t because I'm a full time college student, and currently has me working a full shift, going to two classes, then working another full 8 hour shift, bringing the "no sleep" total up to 35,36 hours straight. And the best part is they say "no conflict" and refuse to change my schedule. On the college student note, they recently had "mandatory" training on some new products: Midwest Anxiety and Depression ( ripoff ), Hot Cross Buns ( Exercise ripoff/gimmick ) and the Nordic Track Incline Trainer ( ridiculously overpriced treadmill ). The sales manager and one of the operations managers hawked about the "awesome" commission rates of 0.03% ( $11.50 for a $2500 treadmill ), and sent out a memo stating that if you didn't show up to training, that West considered that your "voluntary resignation". They naturally scheduled me without asking me my available times, and I had class during the training period. I complained and said that I couldn't make the training session, and with my full credit load at Penn State, I couldn't attend any of the listed classes. I opted to have someone give me a one on one run down of the new products, instead of the insane eight hour training session. I received a letter from Denny ( one of the Ops Managers ) stating that if I didn't attend one of the five, I was fired. Luckily, I found a loophole in their occurance system, and retained my job without attending training. I just keep reminding myself that I just have to put up with this until I get my degree.
M
Chicago,#10Consumer Comment
Thu, August 05, 2004
I feel that Ayesha from Sunnyvale, California shoud contact as many former employees as possible and consider a class action harassment lawsuit. Contact Civil Liberties office. Nina from Hampton, Virgina needs to take an english course, and learn to spell. I would help with career advancement, otherwise she is destined to flipping burgers. The correct spelling is 'their' not 'thier'.
Nina
Hampton,#11UPDATE Employee
Wed, April 07, 2004
I work for West teleservices in Hampton, VA. I agree that thier management sucks. They screw up paychecks every payday, they fire people for no good reason, and hire people who suck at taking orders. They care more about satisfying thier clients, instead of thier customers or employees. The Hampton site doesn't offer to do employee verification, so I had to fax my info to the main office in Omaha, I have been waiting on a response for 2 weeks now!! Which is delaying the thing I needed the employee verification for!!! Most people who live in Hampton, have worked for West at one time, and West has the highest turnover rate in Hampton also. They make good money, but they screw customers and employees all the time.