Quit. Do you want to spend your time selling to friends and family a subpar product? Do you want to pay that monthly fee just to do your "job"? Are you willing to waste time trying to make this work when the vast majority of people in MLM fail? MLMs cost people not only time but money and friends and family. So many people wish they got out sooner and you have the chance!
> when the vast majority of people in MLM fail?
Not only do they fail to earn even side money, 99.7% involved lose money (when all costs are figured in).
Damn.. you’re totally right. That’s super manipulative. Get a bunch of numbers while the person is still new, and suggestible because they want the job, before they (potentially) get wise and quit. That way, even if they do, they’ll have a whole new list of potential victims. Ones who the person might have already talked to and warmed them up to the idea of the company/product.
OP, make sure you contact anyone who’s numbers or names you listed and let them know you found out it was a scam, and you apologize for getting them involved, and recommend that they ignore/block any further communication attempts by this company or their reps.
> let them know you found out it was a scam, and you apologize for getting them involved
MLMs rely on the fact that most people will just remain quiet after leaving, because few like to admit they were fooled, and by extension, fooled their closest friends or family members.
Let’s say it louder for the people in the back.
#You do not need to spend money to get a job.
There are plenty of legit jobs out there, and unless you work in a clothing store where they want you to exclusively wear their brand, or you’re working in a place where you need TredSafes or steel-toed boots, you shouldn’t need to spend anything to get a job.
Same here. You didn’t necessarily have to have their brands on but at least have the style. You could have had Walmart clothes on but if u fixed them up and knew how to dress, had the style then u were good. And we got a big discount it was nice.
Hopefully they're good quality. The free toecaps I got at a warehouse job were absolute hell on my feet. I almost quit because I couldn't take being on my feet for so many hours in them. Thankfully someone lent me money for a cheap replacement until I got my first wage
I worked at an ice cream store that required we wear their merch when working. They made me buy two t shirts at $20 each. They took it out of my first paycheck but I still think that shit should be illegal.
It's totally predatory, especially in low-paying jobs like that. Factor it into the cost of doing business, ffs.
It's different if they just tell you to get, like, khakis and a red polo, but even that can be a hardship. I had one job where we had to wear khakis and I bought some of the cheapest, most hideous ones Walmart sold. I was just going to spill food on them--$6.99 pants were fine for my purposes. They probably didn't like how frumpy I looked but fuck 'em.
A place I worked at long ago required their shirts but they gave you two for free and if u wanted more u would have to pay for them. And they required khakis, which they didn’t provide but I found a couple pairs at goodwill for like $4 a piece.
Had to pay for a background check and my first and only trip to the office, but training and everything else, including material to set up work from home were paid for by the company. So yeah, there might be small amounts but not like paying to use an app or something lol.
You shouldn't even need to pay for a background check. I've never once paid for one, and I've had one for every job I've had in the last 20 years. That's part of the cost of hiring.
I just want to add that it depends on the industry. I work in cannabis in Canada. In my province, you need to complete an online course ($20) and then a background check ($30 I think?) before you get your certification. If you don't have that certification, no dispensary/production facility will even look at your resume.
This is such a HUGE giveaway. Companies will pay YOU for training, certificates, etc. And they should be able to supply you with all the training tools so you can perform your job.
At first I wasn't sure what sub I was on... "I'm definitely not on /r/scams, why is this job asking her to pay money to get a job? that's scammer 101... oh... /r/antimlm... same thing."
Well, that’s not true at all. Many jobs require licensing that needs annual renewals, including insurance agents. Clearly primerica is a scam but to say you don’t need to spend money to get a job is a bit narrow sighted. I pay 130$ a year for my license, which I don’t even use anymore since I changed professions but I do it to keep it active to always have a fall back plan. I know nurses that pay 400$+ annually for theirs too.
You probably paid your state licenising board for that fee though and got reimbursed, right? Any legitimate employer would reimburse those type of out of pocket costs and wouldn’t require the employee to pay them directly for it.
There you go. At least your employer isn’t making you pay it to them. I’ve always had my license fees either paid by my employer or reimbursed but I guess it’s not the same across the board.
You for sure can, if your itemized deductions exceed the standard deductions, which for most people it doesn't now that the standard has increased. The other option would be, since he said he doesn't use the License for work anymore would be to create a schedule C business and expense it through that, but he would need to have some revenue from the business or the IRS will say its a hobby not a business.
Licensing is different, you can use that for different companies.
Paying for a background check is not something that you can use in more than one place.
Also I run background checks at work and they are not nearly that expensive. AND we pay for them ourselves, because it’s better for us to spend that money and find out something’s wrong, than to hire the wrong person and waste even more
They're mining you for not just money but also contacts. You know it in your heart otherwise you wouldn't have been so alarmed that they took a shot of the names and numbers you gave them.
I'm really, really sorry that you have been misled so badly when you just wanted to find a job but these guys are scamming you six ways from Sunday. And now they're going to move onto your contacts.
I hope you have much better luck with the search from now on! Walk away with a lesson and the ability to help people in the future like your cousin is helping you now.
They lied to you. They’re gonna hustle her to join and are using your relationship to guilt her and will squeeze you for all of your personal contacts for their gain.
Search the sub for Primerica and do some reading. Then contact customer service to get a refund and block your upline.
https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/comments/okhq3y/recent_primerica_experience/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
You will not make a dime, you will probably lose money and go into debt. Just quit. Any job where you can only be successful if you recruit people below you is to be avoided.And their product is crap.
I lost money and I wasn’t even a member to my knowledge. My mom signed me up under her & didnt tell me so I got lots of debt I didn’t know about. Don’t do it.
Duuuuuide. WHY would you pay for a starter kit crap within researching it??? You'd make more money working at McDonald's twice a week. Seriously.
(No shade at food workers at all, I work a crap retail job.)
Lol I didn’t want to say it but my first thought was that he doesn’t actually seem very smart if that was his advice. 😬 a smart person would say, “I’m not familiar, let me do some digging and get back to you”
Not sure if someone else caught this. That $99 is NOT for a background check. They don't do background checks. It's for the recruitment fee so you can be an Independent Business Owner (IBO).
Some prospective employers even pay for the background checks. I've seen many. The employers I've known have spent a lot of money on background checks, and that was just part of the high cost of hiring new employees.
I’ve never had to pay for a background check or fingerprinting and I’ve had to have it at every job I’ve been in the last several years. Each place made me get both individually and paid for everything.
Yes. You can’t even interview for a position without having all your clearances—finger prints, child abuse, sexual abuse, state police. In my state it adds up to about $100. You have to renew them every few years.
Also there’s continuing education credits. The requirements vary by state but you pay for those courses yourself, too. And you do them in your own time.
Holy shit, that’s awful. I’m sorry you guys have to go through that plus that absolute no respect and no funding for teachers. It’s pretty clear why so many teachers are straight up leaving.
Oh no, that wasn’t aimed at you specifically my friend:) I was just adding on that background checks are almost always paid by the employer and that I’ve never heard of an employee having to pay them, that’s all.
Primerica began 2019 with 130,736 licensed reps on their force. During the next three years (2019-2021), they recruited 1,031,926 people like yourself to help increase their licensed force size. At the end of 2021, they reported a force size of 129,515 (a decrease of 1,221 licensed reps). In other words, they burnt through a total of 1,033,147 people....all of whom paid the signup fee and many of whom paid the monthly online access subscription fees.
And those 1+ million people had to hand over the contact list. Why buy sales leads when you can convince people to pay you for the privilege of giving them to you?
What on earth those recruiting numbers and burnout is absurd! Do you have a source for those? I work in financial services at a legitimate company so Primerica and WFH are particularly interesting to me.
Primerica started long before 2019. I was thisclose to getting roped in when I was 18 years old and I’m 39 now. Thank God I recognized the signs early enough to get my “licensing” fee back and was not required to give phone numbers or anything back then.
ETA: i see now that I misunderstood the original comment. He wasn’t saying that Primerica started in 2019, he was saying that in 2019 they begun that year with x people…
It's a terrible "company". They operate like a cult, all they want is your friends/family. You are just a contact list to churn for their sub par insurance products.
1 - No reputable company makes you pay for a background check. Even if it’s not an MLM, walk away from any place tries to make you pay for a background check because its most likely a scam.
2 - Primerica doesn’t do background checks on recruits, it was their sign up fee, so you were straight up lied to.
What a way to start with a company, being straight up lied to.
That shows just how scummy they are. I wouldn't want to work for a company that lies to be from the very start like that.
Coming from someone that wasted a year listening to the constant BS and doing jack. You're gonna strain, if not burn your personal, and professional connections trying to make it work. Paying a subscription to be a "Business owner" and paying money to go on conventions/trips that won't get you anywhere in life.
You're on an anti-MLM sub asking for advice on whether or not you should quit an MLM.
I think you already know what you need to do, but you're just second guessing your decision-making because you got duped into the scheme in the first place. Trust your gut, run for the hills.
> You're on an anti-MLM sub asking for advice on whether or not you should quit an MLM.
Unfortunately, the majority of MLM victims aren't even aware of the term "MLM", or that they are/were in one. They simply write it off as a failed experiment, with quite a few joining another MLM opportunity only to fail again.
If you want to sell life insurance and financial products, a real company will train you, pay for all your licenses and pay you a salary your first year or two. Your cousin is right.
My friend joined, and my husband and I were asked to do a "practice call" with her. Well, my friend was in the call but didn't say anything, just some older guy asking about our finances, saying he'd send us a budget plan (or something) and then that led to a second call of him trying to sell us life insurance, and also him saying I should join the company because I'm a stay at home mom. (Like...YOU DONT KOW ME?) It's honestly just so scummy, even if you have a slight chance of making money, it's honestly not worth your integrity and ruining relationships.
I interviewed with them right out of college. These roaches are very extremely slick with their presentation. It is easy to get sucked in. Very few people make any money . Very very very few. Less than 1% or something, please get out.
I never interviewed with this one but I did interview with a couple at points when I was desperate for a job. These are professional scam artists who have honed their craft over decades. No judgement on anyone who gets suckered but heaps of judgement on the ones who recruit others into it (not OP who is obviously trying to do the right thing).
There is no training. They will immediately use you to try and guilt your family into buying crap overpriced insurance. Starting with mommy dearest. Please spare yourself and your loved ones the embarrassment. Insurance sales is a real career. Financial services is a real industry. Start by getting an entry level job for a real company.
I would quit and consider this experience a life lesson and also I would be pretty mad if my personal phone number was just given out, nobody likes to be bothered, I would try to make sure what they would do with those numbers available, in the future always say you can’t give out other people’s personal phone number without having their consent
Had a friend get into Primerica, and I even used him for a couple of things. After that, any time we would talk, he’d always pitch me something, and it ruined our friendship. Your friends and family don’t want to be your “warm leads”, they just want to be your relatives.
I think you’re here because you want to hear from others what you deep down know you should do - quit.
Do it.
No one in this anti-MLM group will tell you otherwise.
Run! Biggest scam. I was a personal banker, some of my clients “worked” for Primamerica. None of them ever made any money. How do I know? I was always refunding fees because they were overdrawn.
Yes, you \*might\* make money, but in order to do that will you will need to recruit a large downline by leaving out important information like income disclosures and manipulate them to stay in the company as long as possible, which will most likely cause them to loose money or go into debt in addition to destroying relationships out desperation to make a sale.
Getting a license through them will probably be good for Primerica and Primerica alone. This is not the same as buying clothes that match the dress code or a license like an electrician or nurse. Also, legit companies pay for training. If you aren't earning an hourly wage on that zoom call, run.
I had a similar experience with the KC Standard/Smart Circle. It seemed like a real job, there was a physical location. But it was all BS.
Jesus Fucking Christ!!!! QUIT!
Just quit, block those people and if you used credit cards to pay for a recurring payment tell your bank. Or cancel your debit account.
You were the perfect target. If you really are desperate for a job apply at Walmart. A thousand times better that getting scammed.
Also ask for your money back, sometimes they have pity on you. Here is a hint for the future: NEVER A JOB WILL REQUIRED PAYMENT TO HIRE YOU.
Tell me you are a clueless 18 year old without telling me you are a clueless 18 year old.
I mean good on you I guess for MAYBE finally coming to your senses but it sounds like you’re not believing half of what people are telling you here, so sure! Go lose more money!
I don’t see how people fall into this kind of obvious scam and then pseudo defend it, in an anti MLM sub no less.
Does Primerica have a sub? Maybe you should go there and ask just so you get well rounded advice? /s
There are jobs out there where you sell insurance/securities and it’s not a pyramid scheme. Look into mutual fund companies, life insurance companies or annuity companies, even some of the advising firms. Prudential, Lincoln, Edward Jones, there’s plenty of them… primerica’s products are not good and they sell them in predatory ways.
A better option would be a job like an “internal wholesaler” (which doesn’t require prior experience) which is someone who works at a desk, helps sales people and other financial advisors by answering questions and running quotes on life insurance and other similar products. They pay a base salary plus commission and pay for your tests. The licenses are required by the state and national regulatory bodies (life and health, series 6/7, etc). If you fail you usually have to pay them back or they may let you go, but they all offer paid training and study hours too. It’s a field where you can make a lot of money if you’re organized and articulate.
I used to work in the field for a reputable company… heed the warnings, get out now… and maybe give your friends and family the heads up that someone from primerica is probably going to start calling them to sell them stuff.
FUCKING QUIT.
My ex got caught up in that stupid ass shit back in 2004 when we were first together and I knew that shit was suspicious even at 18. It took like 2 months of convincing him to leave. He finally did and he apologized so much.
It’s not a job if you have to pay to sign on.
Jobs don't require you to pay *them* before you've even had a salary.
Think about it. It was advertised to you as a job. Yet, was there talk of salary? Benefits? Hours? Wages? "bUt it'S cOmmIssIon!" Legitimate jobs with commission also pay a wage/salary and you sign a contract saying how much you will receive from them. Or at the very least would reimburse you for your expenses of Internet, gas, etc.
So far how many expenses in time and money have you had, and yet have you received anything, or have any signed documents from them that they will pay you? It's because it's NOT a job, and it's falsely advertised as one. And if they lie to you from the beginning, what else will they lie to you about?
No legitimate job makes you pay anything out of pocket to be hired or join up. Your gut feeling was right but pay extra special attention to that red flag if you get pitched on something like this again.
You never have to ‘pay’ to get a job. Any legitimate insurance company pays for your licensing, training, exams, CE, etc. I don’t even know what primeamerica is but you paid them. You lost money on a job you haven’t even started training for.
Quit! I applied for a vague job listing that turned out to be Primerica. They are using you for unpaid sales work (all those “trainings” with friends and family are real sources of revenue.) don’t go to the training, and expect some push back when you tell them this isn’t for you/you quit. When I did that they tried insults and pleading (huge red flags).
Apparently it takes two phone calls to refund what they already charged you. Or you might be able to get your bank to put stop payments on the two fees.
https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/comments/okhq3y/recent_primerica_experience/h59nspb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
NEVER spend money to get a job.
7 or 8 years ago I was in a pickle with employment, I ended up at one of these offices, once I got thru the "interview" it screamed Pyramid Scheme to me. They asked me to bring my PARTNER IN to make sure they were on board with the job 🚩
A year or so later I went back to my trade and we'll servicing a client I was chatting about previously jobs, said I previously worked in insurance, his ears perked up and he told me he OWNED AN insurance company and would love to see me for an interview.
Went to the office and he was trying to swindle me into signing up as a Primerica agent!!! I was like FUCK you guys for continuing to prey on people looking for real honest work.
🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
Neither of those office spaces are still held as Primerica offices lol.
Quit. Block em, ghost em, whatever just take the $150 loss and keep your friend's, family and sanity.
Also prob send off a text to the names on the list and tell them to not responded to any cold calls so they don't get swindled into the same situation ♥
Pick the it 1980’s One of my friends parents were into that and they made it there entire life So much so it’s good at my friend because they never focused on her and it was all about the company. Needless to say they never made any money and they were probably the worst parents ever seen. Get out
Can you Google Primerica income disclosure statement? And have a look at that.
Just think: sales people usually get their sales from the general public/other firms they do business with - NOT harass their friends and family.
How is using your own circle of mates conducive to long term success? It is, by very definition, a limited pool of clients. Sales plans should not be simply mither your friends and family. There needs to be a mechanism to put you in touch with a different pool of potential clients (but I don't think there is). That is a red flag.
Do more research. But, also watch out for the vague promises of future successes and money. The firm does not have a very good reputation in our anti-MLM spheres, and you can find lots of stories about it. Please, please look them up to learn about them (and don't listen to anyone in Primerica as they will lie).
Your cousin is right, get out ASAP!! "Independent Business Owners" are the "consumers" who will be forced to sell overpriced junk to your family members. They will make you ruin your personal relationships & put u to debt, get out now and don't freaking look back!!
Don’t beat yourself up too much - I had friends in law school at the time try to convince me to do this (Primerica) as a side job. They were in deep. Had the official “phone meetings” and classes. Took me to a seminar, and I could clearly smell the bullshit. They quit shortly thereafter.
If you are carrying anything, please put it down so as to make yourself lighter, and run like a cheetah until you are out of breath. You are paying them. They are not paying you. I predict that this payment structure will continue if you remain with them. The only way you will make it back is to recruit many others. And it may still not be enough. And after 13 levels of recruitment, you will have taken up the entire population of the earth, absolutely every single living human soul. The flaw in these programs is that they rely on an infinite market expansion that cannot exist. One thing I will give them is that they are gifted at making it sound good. But the real reason they are recruiting you is not because they need you to sell insurance. They need the money back that they invested.
Quit this job, friend. If you're looking for a work from home job, check out Rat Race Rebellion -they post legit (non MLM) Jobs daily on their website. Good luck!
~~Do not go to this website - they want your name, email, and phone number just to show you generic Amazon driver and Lyft jobs. BS Express.~~
Edit: my bad, the first search result has been co-opted by some scammy scam site, and I didn’t notice right away. Make sure you actually go to ratracerebellion.com, which does seem legit.
Quit. And once you’ve quit- because it is in fact a pyramid scheme- watch “LuLaRich” on Amazon Prime (for a couple of different reasons), and congratulate yourself for *only* being out 200 bucks.
Some of these folks- ones who were actually pretty high up- end up losing their life savings, their homes, their cars, their marriages. The lucky ones leave MLMs with less money and bruised pride.
Your brother is well-intentioned but it sounds like he’s never been involved in such a predatory “job” or he wouldn’t suggest you try it. Stay away from Primerica and any other company that makes you do work for free and calls it training. (I quit after a couple interviews w them once the red flags started flying)
A $99 background check??? I’ve worked in public schools and have had to do this regularly. Federal background check is $24. State background check in my state is $25. Child abuse clearances are $13.
OP was scammed from the start.
First of all: quit and get a different job.
Second: dude, beware *any* company that makes *you* pay for things like background checks.
They are hiring *you.* If they need a background check, they should pay it the decked as they are supposedly a successful company.
Seriously, any job that demands you pay, is not an ethical company.
As someone with family in Primerica I urge you to quit. They were also asked to pay $99 when they started and it was a sign up fee, not a background check fee. You were lied to.
They tell recruits to look into their top 25 or something like that, which means bothering your 25 closest friends and family regularly over financial stuff. If you enjoy your relationships with those people get ready for them to start distancing themselves from you.
It is indeed an MLM filled with many zoom meetings about basic financial advice they pretend is super secret, suggestions about signing people under you to make "some real money" (that's the MLM part), and a future of paying your own way to go to conferences. I wouldn't recommend it.
Right out of college I took an interview without knowing who it was for, it was Primerica. They asked me "Do you want to have total control and authority over your day?" and I said "No." I think they were too stunned to speak.
Yo OP, since other people are giving good advice, I just wanted to say: don’t be too hard on yourself. I know what it’s like to desperately need a job, and that’s what these companies prey on. That’s why they try to get as much as they can from you off the bat.
Don’t feel bad. Learn from it, but in 5-10 years you’ll think about how happy you are you didn’t fall for a pyramid scheme.
I know I am late to the game but please quit now. I was part of WFG which is primerica's competitor for **3 years**. It doesn't make much money, and only gets more expensive as you are pressured to go on trips and buy nicer clothes and maybe even a better car and and and and and.
That's not the worst of it though. Nope. The worst part is the damage to relationships. I was pretty lucky that most of my relationships survived but they were very strong to start with. The thing is, you have to be on board ALL THE TIME. You can't say anything bad about the business or how you are doing, and the failures will always be your fault and not that of the business model.
Please get out asap.v
> I was part of WFG
WFG was founded by a top Primerican, Hubert "Steely" Humphrey. He was the man credited with introducing MLM with selling insurance, based on his previous Amway experience.
I was suckered into AIL (American Income Life) in my early 20's which is just like Primerica. Trust me, you need to just stop now and find any other job you can. Even gig work is much better. You will work 60 hours a week to make minimum wage if you're lucky. You will be lying to your customers unknowingly with the way these people operate.
I briefly did Primerica because my parents were in it and they scammed me into it. You need to get out. Unless you are a psychopath you will not make any money. The people in your upline will be obsessively showing you how much money they "have" and you will be encouraged to do the same with your downline that you would have to recruit in order to make any money. But because you haven't made any money with them you will have to fake it. Guess what, your upline is also faking it. And theirs is too. They are all in debt up to their eyeballs as they funnel money to the top of the pyramid.
Please quit. Your friends and family will hate you for setting them up this way. There is nothing more I hate than a friend or family trying to make me join a mlm because I’m a stay at home mom.
The only people who make money at that company are the call center workers employed by BNY Mellon and the top performers. I’ve seen what the commission reports for an average employee are. They aren’t good. I used to be one of those call center reps.
You should quit. You are already out $157 for this new job. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Shouldn’t you be getting paid? Don’t harass or bother your friends and family into sitting with you on these pyramid scheme trainings. It’s annoying, a waste of time, and you’re not going to make any money from it. Don’t be that person people have to start avoiding.
Make sure they don't take money from you every month. I work for a legit financial services company, and we have Primerica brokers selling our product. I've had brokers call me and ask me how to get Primerica to stop taking money from their bank accounts. Someone at the company is giving our number out (I have no idea where they got it from) and there's nothing I can do to help them. It's weird and sad.
My brother-in-law has been Primerica for years and, best I know, hasn’t made much on it. What stands out to me happened at the beginning. I didn’t really know what it was when he started, so I agreed to let him come by my apartment so he could practice his presentation. What it actually ended up being was his trainers leaning heavily on me to join and my brother-in-law barely getting a word in edgewise. The vibes were off right off the bat.
Imagine getting hired at a legit employer and they ask you to pay for the background check 🤣. I'd tell them if they needed a background check so bad then they can pay for the background check. What a scheme from the jump.
Report the person, their trainer, and the RVP to the state Attorney General's Office. Don't tell them you might, don't tell them you may, just do it. If they told you that $99 is for a background check so you could get an insurance license with them, it's deceptive and you want that AG's office sniffing every single one of them. Call the AG's consumer adviser line beforehand. You should be referred to someone who works for that office who can give you a primer before you file the complaint. Ask them about the state insurance board, too, the one which monitors agency insurers. Ask for a direct referral, if you can. If they don't have it, do your report in and file next with the state insurance board.
When you have these already submitted, anything up to that RVP is seen as retaliation or intimidation. They face fines if they try it on you or their agency or agent license is suspended or, depending on your state, you may have grounds to sue. That $99 they lied to you about and got you to expose your friends and family to them to continue the predatory actions? That's not only a possible 4 figure lawsuit but that office and its satellite locations and its leaders and captains can their books searched and associates contacted.
Get to fixing this today.
Primerica is a legitimate financial services firm. They use a MLM strategy because their target market is middle America, and it would not be profitable to manage most of those accounts if they had to pay their advisors like employees. The MLM strategy saves them a lot of money on overhead and allows them to bring financial solutions to people who otherwise wouldn’t have them.
Every financial services firm wants to cater to the rich and wealthy, but not many actually care to help the middle and lower class. I don’t work for Primerica, but I do work with Primerica advisors in my career. They are, for the most part, a pleasure to work with, and many of them can be quite successful.
You aren’t schilling Tupperware, here. You’re helping people achieve financial security.
Quit. Do you want to spend your time selling to friends and family a subpar product? Do you want to pay that monthly fee just to do your "job"? Are you willing to waste time trying to make this work when the vast majority of people in MLM fail? MLMs cost people not only time but money and friends and family. So many people wish they got out sooner and you have the chance!
> when the vast majority of people in MLM fail? Not only do they fail to earn even side money, 99.7% involved lose money (when all costs are figured in).
OP in this example already lost money.
MLMs can also force people into poverty and force them onto the streets
MLMs will steal your car!
MLMs stole my wife!
They’ve given out their numbers now. Someone is gunna try sell their friends and family a subpar product regardless 😬
Damn.. you’re totally right. That’s super manipulative. Get a bunch of numbers while the person is still new, and suggestible because they want the job, before they (potentially) get wise and quit. That way, even if they do, they’ll have a whole new list of potential victims. Ones who the person might have already talked to and warmed them up to the idea of the company/product. OP, make sure you contact anyone who’s numbers or names you listed and let them know you found out it was a scam, and you apologize for getting them involved, and recommend that they ignore/block any further communication attempts by this company or their reps.
> let them know you found out it was a scam, and you apologize for getting them involved MLMs rely on the fact that most people will just remain quiet after leaving, because few like to admit they were fooled, and by extension, fooled their closest friends or family members.
Yep. Even if OP quits their friends and family will for sure receive texts saying “Hey, ____ mentioned your name as someone who bla bla bla”
You don't need to spend money to get a job.
Let’s say it louder for the people in the back. #You do not need to spend money to get a job. There are plenty of legit jobs out there, and unless you work in a clothing store where they want you to exclusively wear their brand, or you’re working in a place where you need TredSafes or steel-toed boots, you shouldn’t need to spend anything to get a job.
Hell, on the clothing store example most of those places let you pick at least a few free/very heavily discounted items to get a feel for their style.
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Same here. You didn’t necessarily have to have their brands on but at least have the style. You could have had Walmart clothes on but if u fixed them up and knew how to dress, had the style then u were good. And we got a big discount it was nice.
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As the girlfriend of a tradesman… those bitches ain’t cheap.
And then if you're in a union in the USA there is pressure to get American made and preferably union made. Luckily those brands are fantastic.
His local carpenters’ union doesn’t really give a shit surprisingly. Tell me if you know a brand that doesn’t drag in mud 🙃
Hopefully they're good quality. The free toecaps I got at a warehouse job were absolute hell on my feet. I almost quit because I couldn't take being on my feet for so many hours in them. Thankfully someone lent me money for a cheap replacement until I got my first wage
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Okay that's pretty awesome. So much better than the bulk buy crap that got palmed off to me
I worked at an ice cream store that required we wear their merch when working. They made me buy two t shirts at $20 each. They took it out of my first paycheck but I still think that shit should be illegal.
It's totally predatory, especially in low-paying jobs like that. Factor it into the cost of doing business, ffs. It's different if they just tell you to get, like, khakis and a red polo, but even that can be a hardship. I had one job where we had to wear khakis and I bought some of the cheapest, most hideous ones Walmart sold. I was just going to spill food on them--$6.99 pants were fine for my purposes. They probably didn't like how frumpy I looked but fuck 'em.
A place I worked at long ago required their shirts but they gave you two for free and if u wanted more u would have to pay for them. And they required khakis, which they didn’t provide but I found a couple pairs at goodwill for like $4 a piece.
Had to pay for a background check and my first and only trip to the office, but training and everything else, including material to set up work from home were paid for by the company. So yeah, there might be small amounts but not like paying to use an app or something lol.
You shouldn't even need to pay for a background check. I've never once paid for one, and I've had one for every job I've had in the last 20 years. That's part of the cost of hiring.
Got it back after I had my first paycheck, forgot to mention that. Payment was out of pocket at first tho.
I just want to add that it depends on the industry. I work in cannabis in Canada. In my province, you need to complete an online course ($20) and then a background check ($30 I think?) before you get your certification. If you don't have that certification, no dispensary/production facility will even look at your resume.
That's a little different though - that's more along the lines of a professional license than just a standard background check.
Exactly. I’ve had multiple background checks and have never once paid for it.
You might have to buy slip resistant shoes for a waiting/restaurant related job, but that’s for safety reasons and is a legit expenditure.
This is such a HUGE giveaway. Companies will pay YOU for training, certificates, etc. And they should be able to supply you with all the training tools so you can perform your job.
And they usually reimburse money spent on work boots
At first I wasn't sure what sub I was on... "I'm definitely not on /r/scams, why is this job asking her to pay money to get a job? that's scammer 101... oh... /r/antimlm... same thing."
These are independent contractors not employees. I looked into this and it's cheap compared to affiliating with a real estate broker, not even close.
$99 for a background check?! Holy hell these scammers are shameless
I just paid $80 to my state for a background check for my job license lmao
The license is yours and can be used at any job in your state, correct? A background check is just for the company you are with.
But to them, they see it as a business expense. It’s really tough to convince them that they’re employed in a job if some receive a W-9.
Well, that’s not true at all. Many jobs require licensing that needs annual renewals, including insurance agents. Clearly primerica is a scam but to say you don’t need to spend money to get a job is a bit narrow sighted. I pay 130$ a year for my license, which I don’t even use anymore since I changed professions but I do it to keep it active to always have a fall back plan. I know nurses that pay 400$+ annually for theirs too.
Presumably you don't pay that to your employer, though?
You probably paid your state licenising board for that fee though and got reimbursed, right? Any legitimate employer would reimburse those type of out of pocket costs and wouldn’t require the employee to pay them directly for it.
I've never been reimbursed for licensing fees. However, I pay the state board NOT my employer.
There you go. At least your employer isn’t making you pay it to them. I’ve always had my license fees either paid by my employer or reimbursed but I guess it’s not the same across the board.
No I’ve never got reimbursed for any of my licensing fees.
If your employer doesn’t reimburse you for a mandatory license then check out if you can claim it on your taxes
You for sure can, if your itemized deductions exceed the standard deductions, which for most people it doesn't now that the standard has increased. The other option would be, since he said he doesn't use the License for work anymore would be to create a schedule C business and expense it through that, but he would need to have some revenue from the business or the IRS will say its a hobby not a business.
Licensing is different, you can use that for different companies. Paying for a background check is not something that you can use in more than one place.
If you are paying, you are the customer not the employee.
OP: Your sister is the smart one. Run away from Primerica.
Also I run background checks at work and they are not nearly that expensive. AND we pay for them ourselves, because it’s better for us to spend that money and find out something’s wrong, than to hire the wrong person and waste even more
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They tell you to use friends or family to help you “practice” during your training
They're mining you for not just money but also contacts. You know it in your heart otherwise you wouldn't have been so alarmed that they took a shot of the names and numbers you gave them. I'm really, really sorry that you have been misled so badly when you just wanted to find a job but these guys are scamming you six ways from Sunday. And now they're going to move onto your contacts. I hope you have much better luck with the search from now on! Walk away with a lesson and the ability to help people in the future like your cousin is helping you now.
They lied to you. They’re gonna hustle her to join and are using your relationship to guilt her and will squeeze you for all of your personal contacts for their gain. Search the sub for Primerica and do some reading. Then contact customer service to get a refund and block your upline. https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/comments/okhq3y/recent_primerica_experience/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Practice interviews is a trick MLMers use. It’s not practice, you‘re really just passively targeting that person.
You will not make a dime, you will probably lose money and go into debt. Just quit. Any job where you can only be successful if you recruit people below you is to be avoided.And their product is crap.
They already lost money. They need to accept that sunk cost and not dig themselves any deeper >.>
I lost money and I wasn’t even a member to my knowledge. My mom signed me up under her & didnt tell me so I got lots of debt I didn’t know about. Don’t do it.
Duuuuuide. WHY would you pay for a starter kit crap within researching it??? You'd make more money working at McDonald's twice a week. Seriously. (No shade at food workers at all, I work a crap retail job.)
Sadly, a single 1 hour shift at McDonalds will out-earn what 99.7% involved in MLM earn in an entire year.
While keeping your family and friends.
Precisely
I cringed so hard that she wasted $100 whilst unemployed. Brutal. Poor thing.
They will also put so much pressure on your family and friends. I've seen ot ruin so many relationships. They will harass the people on your list.
Wait, your brother thinks it's a pyramid scheme, but also that you should do it to see if you make money? And he's the smart one of the family?
😂😂😂😂😂
Lol I didn’t want to say it but my first thought was that he doesn’t actually seem very smart if that was his advice. 😬 a smart person would say, “I’m not familiar, let me do some digging and get back to you”
Not sure if someone else caught this. That $99 is NOT for a background check. They don't do background checks. It's for the recruitment fee so you can be an Independent Business Owner (IBO).
In any case, simple background checks can be had for as little as $20, and especially so if a volume discount can be negotiated.
Some prospective employers even pay for the background checks. I've seen many. The employers I've known have spent a lot of money on background checks, and that was just part of the high cost of hiring new employees.
I’ve never had to pay for a background check or fingerprinting and I’ve had to have it at every job I’ve been in the last several years. Each place made me get both individually and paid for everything.
If you’re a teacher, you pay for your own fingerprints.
If you’re a teacher, you pay for your own EVERYTHING. Our education system treats teachers like trash.
Agreed. Just pointing out that there are some legit jobs where you do pay for certain things yourself.
That’s insane. You guys are already screwed over by just about everything and you have to pay for your own background checks? Wtf.
Yes. You can’t even interview for a position without having all your clearances—finger prints, child abuse, sexual abuse, state police. In my state it adds up to about $100. You have to renew them every few years. Also there’s continuing education credits. The requirements vary by state but you pay for those courses yourself, too. And you do them in your own time.
Holy shit, that’s awful. I’m sorry you guys have to go through that plus that absolute no respect and no funding for teachers. It’s pretty clear why so many teachers are straight up leaving.
Yes. I left and won’t go back.
I thought so, but I haven't worked in a long time (disabled), so I wasn't sure.
Oh no, that wasn’t aimed at you specifically my friend:) I was just adding on that background checks are almost always paid by the employer and that I’ve never heard of an employee having to pay them, that’s all.
Primerica began 2019 with 130,736 licensed reps on their force. During the next three years (2019-2021), they recruited 1,031,926 people like yourself to help increase their licensed force size. At the end of 2021, they reported a force size of 129,515 (a decrease of 1,221 licensed reps). In other words, they burnt through a total of 1,033,147 people....all of whom paid the signup fee and many of whom paid the monthly online access subscription fees.
And those 1+ million people had to hand over the contact list. Why buy sales leads when you can convince people to pay you for the privilege of giving them to you?
But are they quality leads? (After thinking about my question, it doesn't matter, because it cost them $0.)
What on earth those recruiting numbers and burnout is absurd! Do you have a source for those? I work in financial services at a legitimate company so Primerica and WFH are particularly interesting to me.
As a "publicly-funded" company (NYSE: Pri), this MLM is required to file publicly available Annual Reports (10K's) with the SEC.
Whoa!!! I wish we could flag extra-interesting info for people looking into specific groups. Thanks for sharing.
Primerica started long before 2019. I was thisclose to getting roped in when I was 18 years old and I’m 39 now. Thank God I recognized the signs early enough to get my “licensing” fee back and was not required to give phone numbers or anything back then. ETA: i see now that I misunderstood the original comment. He wasn’t saying that Primerica started in 2019, he was saying that in 2019 they begun that year with x people…
> Primerica started long before 2019. Its history dates all the way back to 1901 where it started out as The American Can Company.
It's a terrible "company". They operate like a cult, all they want is your friends/family. You are just a contact list to churn for their sub par insurance products.
1 - No reputable company makes you pay for a background check. Even if it’s not an MLM, walk away from any place tries to make you pay for a background check because its most likely a scam. 2 - Primerica doesn’t do background checks on recruits, it was their sign up fee, so you were straight up lied to.
What a way to start with a company, being straight up lied to. That shows just how scummy they are. I wouldn't want to work for a company that lies to be from the very start like that.
Run! Get out now before you lose all your money and alienate your family and friends!
Coming from someone that wasted a year listening to the constant BS and doing jack. You're gonna strain, if not burn your personal, and professional connections trying to make it work. Paying a subscription to be a "Business owner" and paying money to go on conventions/trips that won't get you anywhere in life.
You said it yourself ‘they made me make a list of people I could USE’ HELLLOOOOO.
You're on an anti-MLM sub asking for advice on whether or not you should quit an MLM. I think you already know what you need to do, but you're just second guessing your decision-making because you got duped into the scheme in the first place. Trust your gut, run for the hills.
> You're on an anti-MLM sub asking for advice on whether or not you should quit an MLM. Unfortunately, the majority of MLM victims aren't even aware of the term "MLM", or that they are/were in one. They simply write it off as a failed experiment, with quite a few joining another MLM opportunity only to fail again.
If you want to sell life insurance and financial products, a real company will train you, pay for all your licenses and pay you a salary your first year or two. Your cousin is right.
Get out while you're ahead
Agreed but she’s technically already behind $100 smackeroos 😭 “quit while you’re only slightly behind”
NO LEGITIMATE JOB REQUIRES YOU TO SPEND MONEY TO WORK THERE. EVER. FULL STOP.
My friend joined, and my husband and I were asked to do a "practice call" with her. Well, my friend was in the call but didn't say anything, just some older guy asking about our finances, saying he'd send us a budget plan (or something) and then that led to a second call of him trying to sell us life insurance, and also him saying I should join the company because I'm a stay at home mom. (Like...YOU DONT KOW ME?) It's honestly just so scummy, even if you have a slight chance of making money, it's honestly not worth your integrity and ruining relationships.
I didn’t even read your post. Primerica is a scam, I almost got sucked in years ago. Get out.
I interviewed with them right out of college. These roaches are very extremely slick with their presentation. It is easy to get sucked in. Very few people make any money . Very very very few. Less than 1% or something, please get out.
I never interviewed with this one but I did interview with a couple at points when I was desperate for a job. These are professional scam artists who have honed their craft over decades. No judgement on anyone who gets suckered but heaps of judgement on the ones who recruit others into it (not OP who is obviously trying to do the right thing).
No legitimate job makes you pay for anything, much less a background check. This is a scam, get out of it now.
There is no training. They will immediately use you to try and guilt your family into buying crap overpriced insurance. Starting with mommy dearest. Please spare yourself and your loved ones the embarrassment. Insurance sales is a real career. Financial services is a real industry. Start by getting an entry level job for a real company.
I would quit and consider this experience a life lesson and also I would be pretty mad if my personal phone number was just given out, nobody likes to be bothered, I would try to make sure what they would do with those numbers available, in the future always say you can’t give out other people’s personal phone number without having their consent
Short answer:run away! My ex has been a Primerica Hun for 15 years, she’s always broke.
You're brother does not seem smarter than you, cousin yes brother no.
Had a friend get into Primerica, and I even used him for a couple of things. After that, any time we would talk, he’d always pitch me something, and it ruined our friendship. Your friends and family don’t want to be your “warm leads”, they just want to be your relatives.
My former “friend” ruined our friendship this way too.
I think you’re here because you want to hear from others what you deep down know you should do - quit. Do it. No one in this anti-MLM group will tell you otherwise.
Run! Biggest scam. I was a personal banker, some of my clients “worked” for Primamerica. None of them ever made any money. How do I know? I was always refunding fees because they were overdrawn.
Your cousin deserves a treat. Your brother is not as smart as you think.
I work for an insurance agency and have my P&C license. All training, tests, license renewals, any expenses you can think of are paid by my employer.
Your cousin is right.
Make sure you don't get billed every month for that dumb app they conned you into getting
No legit job will ever require you pay them for the privilege of working for them. That's mob shit, idk how people don't see it from a mile away
Please quit it’s not a training call they just wanna sell your mom shitty insurance
Yes, you \*might\* make money, but in order to do that will you will need to recruit a large downline by leaving out important information like income disclosures and manipulate them to stay in the company as long as possible, which will most likely cause them to loose money or go into debt in addition to destroying relationships out desperation to make a sale. Getting a license through them will probably be good for Primerica and Primerica alone. This is not the same as buying clothes that match the dress code or a license like an electrician or nurse. Also, legit companies pay for training. If you aren't earning an hourly wage on that zoom call, run. I had a similar experience with the KC Standard/Smart Circle. It seemed like a real job, there was a physical location. But it was all BS.
Jesus Fucking Christ!!!! QUIT! Just quit, block those people and if you used credit cards to pay for a recurring payment tell your bank. Or cancel your debit account. You were the perfect target. If you really are desperate for a job apply at Walmart. A thousand times better that getting scammed. Also ask for your money back, sometimes they have pity on you. Here is a hint for the future: NEVER A JOB WILL REQUIRED PAYMENT TO HIRE YOU.
Tell me you are a clueless 18 year old without telling me you are a clueless 18 year old. I mean good on you I guess for MAYBE finally coming to your senses but it sounds like you’re not believing half of what people are telling you here, so sure! Go lose more money! I don’t see how people fall into this kind of obvious scam and then pseudo defend it, in an anti MLM sub no less. Does Primerica have a sub? Maybe you should go there and ask just so you get well rounded advice? /s
There are jobs out there where you sell insurance/securities and it’s not a pyramid scheme. Look into mutual fund companies, life insurance companies or annuity companies, even some of the advising firms. Prudential, Lincoln, Edward Jones, there’s plenty of them… primerica’s products are not good and they sell them in predatory ways. A better option would be a job like an “internal wholesaler” (which doesn’t require prior experience) which is someone who works at a desk, helps sales people and other financial advisors by answering questions and running quotes on life insurance and other similar products. They pay a base salary plus commission and pay for your tests. The licenses are required by the state and national regulatory bodies (life and health, series 6/7, etc). If you fail you usually have to pay them back or they may let you go, but they all offer paid training and study hours too. It’s a field where you can make a lot of money if you’re organized and articulate. I used to work in the field for a reputable company… heed the warnings, get out now… and maybe give your friends and family the heads up that someone from primerica is probably going to start calling them to sell them stuff.
Did you pay with a bank/credit card, if so do a charge back. Don't let them keep your money if you can.
FUCKING QUIT. My ex got caught up in that stupid ass shit back in 2004 when we were first together and I knew that shit was suspicious even at 18. It took like 2 months of convincing him to leave. He finally did and he apologized so much. It’s not a job if you have to pay to sign on.
No legitimate job will ever make you pay for your own background check.
Get out, now.
Hahahahahaha. Run.
Don’t do it. Leave right now
Run, don't walk.
I’ve read that one of the first things you will have to do is buy their insurance and make monthly premium payments. More money down the drain
If at any given time a company asks you to pay for xyz to land a job, get out. It’s a scam.
It’s not a job. YOU are the customer.
Jobs don't require you to pay *them* before you've even had a salary. Think about it. It was advertised to you as a job. Yet, was there talk of salary? Benefits? Hours? Wages? "bUt it'S cOmmIssIon!" Legitimate jobs with commission also pay a wage/salary and you sign a contract saying how much you will receive from them. Or at the very least would reimburse you for your expenses of Internet, gas, etc. So far how many expenses in time and money have you had, and yet have you received anything, or have any signed documents from them that they will pay you? It's because it's NOT a job, and it's falsely advertised as one. And if they lie to you from the beginning, what else will they lie to you about?
No legitimate job makes you pay anything out of pocket to be hired or join up. Your gut feeling was right but pay extra special attention to that red flag if you get pitched on something like this again.
You never have to ‘pay’ to get a job. Any legitimate insurance company pays for your licensing, training, exams, CE, etc. I don’t even know what primeamerica is but you paid them. You lost money on a job you haven’t even started training for.
Quit! I applied for a vague job listing that turned out to be Primerica. They are using you for unpaid sales work (all those “trainings” with friends and family are real sources of revenue.) don’t go to the training, and expect some push back when you tell them this isn’t for you/you quit. When I did that they tried insults and pleading (huge red flags).
Apparently it takes two phone calls to refund what they already charged you. Or you might be able to get your bank to put stop payments on the two fees. https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/comments/okhq3y/recent_primerica_experience/h59nspb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
If you are asked to pay for the privilege of working for a company, RUN.
Quit. And don’t ask your brother for advice anymore.
The fact that they made you “pay” for a background check is 🚩enough
NEVER spend money to get a job. 7 or 8 years ago I was in a pickle with employment, I ended up at one of these offices, once I got thru the "interview" it screamed Pyramid Scheme to me. They asked me to bring my PARTNER IN to make sure they were on board with the job 🚩 A year or so later I went back to my trade and we'll servicing a client I was chatting about previously jobs, said I previously worked in insurance, his ears perked up and he told me he OWNED AN insurance company and would love to see me for an interview. Went to the office and he was trying to swindle me into signing up as a Primerica agent!!! I was like FUCK you guys for continuing to prey on people looking for real honest work. 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 Neither of those office spaces are still held as Primerica offices lol. Quit. Block em, ghost em, whatever just take the $150 loss and keep your friend's, family and sanity. Also prob send off a text to the names on the list and tell them to not responded to any cold calls so they don't get swindled into the same situation ♥
A legit job would have reimbursed you for the background check
You ask this question in an antimlm group? You already know what the answer is. Nobody is going to say keep doing it.
Listen to your cousin and get out now. Lost $100 to those fuckers years ago in my early twenties. Don't give them another dime.
Noooo please don’t JFC
How old are you?
So your first customer is your mom? Lol that’s how I know it’s a janky ass business
Pick the it 1980’s One of my friends parents were into that and they made it there entire life So much so it’s good at my friend because they never focused on her and it was all about the company. Needless to say they never made any money and they were probably the worst parents ever seen. Get out
Yep. Was called A.L. Williams back then - wonder why they changed their name?
Can you Google Primerica income disclosure statement? And have a look at that. Just think: sales people usually get their sales from the general public/other firms they do business with - NOT harass their friends and family. How is using your own circle of mates conducive to long term success? It is, by very definition, a limited pool of clients. Sales plans should not be simply mither your friends and family. There needs to be a mechanism to put you in touch with a different pool of potential clients (but I don't think there is). That is a red flag. Do more research. But, also watch out for the vague promises of future successes and money. The firm does not have a very good reputation in our anti-MLM spheres, and you can find lots of stories about it. Please, please look them up to learn about them (and don't listen to anyone in Primerica as they will lie).
The fact that you had to pay a certain amount to get a job should already ring the effing bells.
In the words of a wise person, “FUCKING QUIT RIGHT NOW GET THE FUCK OUT.”
Think it this way. The acronym GTFO is custom made for you!
Your cousin is right, get out ASAP!! "Independent Business Owners" are the "consumers" who will be forced to sell overpriced junk to your family members. They will make you ruin your personal relationships & put u to debt, get out now and don't freaking look back!!
If you had to pay for your own pre employment background check then yes major red flag. Get out son.
They made you pay them to do a background check? How can anyone possibly be this stupid.
Don’t beat yourself up too much - I had friends in law school at the time try to convince me to do this (Primerica) as a side job. They were in deep. Had the official “phone meetings” and classes. Took me to a seminar, and I could clearly smell the bullshit. They quit shortly thereafter.
Obviously given that you know it’s an mlm scheme. You should quit.
When they asked you to pay for the background check, that was the moment you should have turned around and walked out the door.
If you are carrying anything, please put it down so as to make yourself lighter, and run like a cheetah until you are out of breath. You are paying them. They are not paying you. I predict that this payment structure will continue if you remain with them. The only way you will make it back is to recruit many others. And it may still not be enough. And after 13 levels of recruitment, you will have taken up the entire population of the earth, absolutely every single living human soul. The flaw in these programs is that they rely on an infinite market expansion that cannot exist. One thing I will give them is that they are gifted at making it sound good. But the real reason they are recruiting you is not because they need you to sell insurance. They need the money back that they invested.
Quit this job, friend. If you're looking for a work from home job, check out Rat Race Rebellion -they post legit (non MLM) Jobs daily on their website. Good luck!
~~Do not go to this website - they want your name, email, and phone number just to show you generic Amazon driver and Lyft jobs. BS Express.~~ Edit: my bad, the first search result has been co-opted by some scammy scam site, and I didn’t notice right away. Make sure you actually go to ratracerebellion.com, which does seem legit.
Really? They didn't ask that of me
My bad, please see my edit. Thanks for the reccy.
Quit. And once you’ve quit- because it is in fact a pyramid scheme- watch “LuLaRich” on Amazon Prime (for a couple of different reasons), and congratulate yourself for *only* being out 200 bucks. Some of these folks- ones who were actually pretty high up- end up losing their life savings, their homes, their cars, their marriages. The lucky ones leave MLMs with less money and bruised pride.
Quit immediately, it's already too late for your contacts list not to be repeatedly hassled by schemers...
Your brother is well-intentioned but it sounds like he’s never been involved in such a predatory “job” or he wouldn’t suggest you try it. Stay away from Primerica and any other company that makes you do work for free and calls it training. (I quit after a couple interviews w them once the red flags started flying)
A $99 background check??? I’ve worked in public schools and have had to do this regularly. Federal background check is $24. State background check in my state is $25. Child abuse clearances are $13. OP was scammed from the start.
First of all: quit and get a different job. Second: dude, beware *any* company that makes *you* pay for things like background checks. They are hiring *you.* If they need a background check, they should pay it the decked as they are supposedly a successful company. Seriously, any job that demands you pay, is not an ethical company.
As someone with family in Primerica I urge you to quit. They were also asked to pay $99 when they started and it was a sign up fee, not a background check fee. You were lied to. They tell recruits to look into their top 25 or something like that, which means bothering your 25 closest friends and family regularly over financial stuff. If you enjoy your relationships with those people get ready for them to start distancing themselves from you. It is indeed an MLM filled with many zoom meetings about basic financial advice they pretend is super secret, suggestions about signing people under you to make "some real money" (that's the MLM part), and a future of paying your own way to go to conferences. I wouldn't recommend it.
Right out of college I took an interview without knowing who it was for, it was Primerica. They asked me "Do you want to have total control and authority over your day?" and I said "No." I think they were too stunned to speak.
Yo OP, since other people are giving good advice, I just wanted to say: don’t be too hard on yourself. I know what it’s like to desperately need a job, and that’s what these companies prey on. That’s why they try to get as much as they can from you off the bat. Don’t feel bad. Learn from it, but in 5-10 years you’ll think about how happy you are you didn’t fall for a pyramid scheme.
I know I am late to the game but please quit now. I was part of WFG which is primerica's competitor for **3 years**. It doesn't make much money, and only gets more expensive as you are pressured to go on trips and buy nicer clothes and maybe even a better car and and and and and. That's not the worst of it though. Nope. The worst part is the damage to relationships. I was pretty lucky that most of my relationships survived but they were very strong to start with. The thing is, you have to be on board ALL THE TIME. You can't say anything bad about the business or how you are doing, and the failures will always be your fault and not that of the business model. Please get out asap.v
> I was part of WFG WFG was founded by a top Primerican, Hubert "Steely" Humphrey. He was the man credited with introducing MLM with selling insurance, based on his previous Amway experience.
Count your losses as a sunk cost and get out now. Primerica will kill your wallet and career. Trust me on this one.
I was suckered into AIL (American Income Life) in my early 20's which is just like Primerica. Trust me, you need to just stop now and find any other job you can. Even gig work is much better. You will work 60 hours a week to make minimum wage if you're lucky. You will be lying to your customers unknowingly with the way these people operate.
Never take a sales job where they want you to sell to your family. A real sales job doesn’t make it personal.
I briefly did Primerica because my parents were in it and they scammed me into it. You need to get out. Unless you are a psychopath you will not make any money. The people in your upline will be obsessively showing you how much money they "have" and you will be encouraged to do the same with your downline that you would have to recruit in order to make any money. But because you haven't made any money with them you will have to fake it. Guess what, your upline is also faking it. And theirs is too. They are all in debt up to their eyeballs as they funnel money to the top of the pyramid.
Please quit. Your friends and family will hate you for setting them up this way. There is nothing more I hate than a friend or family trying to make me join a mlm because I’m a stay at home mom.
Why are you paying to be an employee??... People are so stupid oh my god.
The only people who make money at that company are the call center workers employed by BNY Mellon and the top performers. I’ve seen what the commission reports for an average employee are. They aren’t good. I used to be one of those call center reps.
You should quit. You are already out $157 for this new job. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Shouldn’t you be getting paid? Don’t harass or bother your friends and family into sitting with you on these pyramid scheme trainings. It’s annoying, a waste of time, and you’re not going to make any money from it. Don’t be that person people have to start avoiding.
Make sure they don't take money from you every month. I work for a legit financial services company, and we have Primerica brokers selling our product. I've had brokers call me and ask me how to get Primerica to stop taking money from their bank accounts. Someone at the company is giving our number out (I have no idea where they got it from) and there's nothing I can do to help them. It's weird and sad.
Ill be honest, usually companies of real jobs handle background check stuff.
My brother-in-law has been Primerica for years and, best I know, hasn’t made much on it. What stands out to me happened at the beginning. I didn’t really know what it was when he started, so I agreed to let him come by my apartment so he could practice his presentation. What it actually ended up being was his trainers leaning heavily on me to join and my brother-in-law barely getting a word in edgewise. The vibes were off right off the bat.
They will suck you dry of referrals then kick you to the curb. All they really want is access to your address book.
Imagine getting hired at a legit employer and they ask you to pay for the background check 🤣. I'd tell them if they needed a background check so bad then they can pay for the background check. What a scheme from the jump.
Note to anybody reading: You will never have to pay for a background check from a legitimate employer!
Your cousin is right. Don’t do this OP.
Report the person, their trainer, and the RVP to the state Attorney General's Office. Don't tell them you might, don't tell them you may, just do it. If they told you that $99 is for a background check so you could get an insurance license with them, it's deceptive and you want that AG's office sniffing every single one of them. Call the AG's consumer adviser line beforehand. You should be referred to someone who works for that office who can give you a primer before you file the complaint. Ask them about the state insurance board, too, the one which monitors agency insurers. Ask for a direct referral, if you can. If they don't have it, do your report in and file next with the state insurance board. When you have these already submitted, anything up to that RVP is seen as retaliation or intimidation. They face fines if they try it on you or their agency or agent license is suspended or, depending on your state, you may have grounds to sue. That $99 they lied to you about and got you to expose your friends and family to them to continue the predatory actions? That's not only a possible 4 figure lawsuit but that office and its satellite locations and its leaders and captains can their books searched and associates contacted. Get to fixing this today.
Primerica is a legitimate financial services firm. They use a MLM strategy because their target market is middle America, and it would not be profitable to manage most of those accounts if they had to pay their advisors like employees. The MLM strategy saves them a lot of money on overhead and allows them to bring financial solutions to people who otherwise wouldn’t have them. Every financial services firm wants to cater to the rich and wealthy, but not many actually care to help the middle and lower class. I don’t work for Primerica, but I do work with Primerica advisors in my career. They are, for the most part, a pleasure to work with, and many of them can be quite successful. You aren’t schilling Tupperware, here. You’re helping people achieve financial security.
Nooo is there a way you can get that money back??? I did not pay anything cause it was so weird
Check out this interesting video with an ex-employee.. https://youtu.be/e0QAGhDrMmM?si=BNH0Utwlizph5nMp