01612421780

Just noticed.

https://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01603230186/2

That's another thread about SMS/SRM/Junior Enterprises etc etc. The people defending these companies have the exact same way of typing, with the same blatent disregard for the English language, punctuation, capitalisation etc.

Methinks that it's the same SMS/SRM/Junior Enterprises employee trying their hardest to keep a bit of face for the company.

It's not a scam. It's just a ridiculous job that was mis-advertised.

Door to door sales is kind of a niche job and if you seriously want to do this sort of job you have to work for a company that's offering something that will let you get at least half a foot in the door. And being on commission makes it ten times harder.

It's just a lazy company that decides to with hold certain aspects of the job role. It's all above board and all 100% legal, just it's run by d*uchebags.

I worked door to door when I was younger and you have weeks where you get a good amount, weeks when you get a couple and weeks when you get nothing. Then, of course, the longer you work there, the more frequent you re-visit old 'territories', places you have already been to. The average you get isn't even close to enough to cover your backside every month and I advise anyone not to go for this type of job.

Sure, there are people I know that have made a ton of sales and I remember a guy making £2000 in a month, but that was because he lied and manipulated old and vulnerable people to get in. But that's the game. That's what you have to do and if you don't do it, these companies won't think twice about firing you as there are plenty more gullible schmucks out there.

I just got a call off 0161 2001114 asking me to go to an interview TODAY and saying this was the only day I could be interviewed. At first I was a bit bewildered because I only started job hunting yesterday but then I just presumed they were a fast, organised company...

Clearly not.

My sister worked for these guys for 12 months and now she owes £4000 in rent because they don't pay you enough. They don't pay expenses, they don't NI contributions or any benefits. They expect you to work until 10.30pm, six days a week and the hype is massive.

She only had Sundays off and no time to work work anything out. They keep you hooked by telling you that 'promotion' is only 2 months' away. 'Promotion' is when you get a salary, plus your team's commission. They use the manager's high salary as a carrot, but the only reason why the managers make so much is because they have a sales force that earn hardly anything. Some weeks, my sister only made £100, that works out to less than £2 per hour. And she paid all her own travel expenses!

This company is really dodgy.

Haha, life? everyone has a life!!Doh!

I went to the first job interview on Dickinson Street for Primus UK (which is now Bourbon Creations) the woman who interviewed me drew that stupid pyramid thing to demonstrate how you move up! By this point I was a bit sick of having [***] business talk shoved down my throat so just nodded and smiled. I got the call straight after I left saying they would like to see me again, and told me to wear comfortable shoes and it would be eight hours long. This obviously set alarm bells ringing in my head so had a quick Google and ended up here. Needless to say I didn't end up going. Either way if you are prepared for all the [***] they seem to put you through then go for it!!!! Thanks everyone for this forum I am sure it has helped a lot of people

Thank you to everyone posting on here, on moneysupermarket.com and on the Facebook group website.
I was supposed to have an interview in Leeds today ( I was called yesterday when I'd only applied the day before!), but thought I'd do my usual pre-interview research into the company - in this case Primus UK Ltd.
And thank God I did.
Needless to say, I've cancelled my "interview", and now intend e-mailing the jobs website where I found this "position". I know others have done the same, to no avail, but it can't hurt to try.
I must have known in the back of my mind that this was dodgy, else surely I would have told my husband yesterday that I had an interview.

i applied last nyt at 2.00am and Got a call the following morning at 9.00 am. that just bizzare really. am really Glad i thought to research the place first so i know a little info about it, wow there is no website for them and instead i am coming across sites that refer them to be scams and door-door selling. they wanted me to come then and there asap, luckily i avoided and set the interview for a couple days down the week. apparantly they don't call themselves primus anymore really, it's now - (Bour Bon Creations Ltd taking over from Primus Uk ltd) .  thankyou everyone for warning me beforehand, now i don't have to make that trip to manchester dickson st anymore.

This post is the best thing anyone has written on here so far, please read it again:

If your missus is on 50k by Christmas I will personally travel to whichever rock you live under and suck you off as a festive treat. And I am a straight man, that is how confident I am.

You obviously work for one of these companies or if there is an iota of truth in your post are simply too dull to realise how indoctrinated your girlfriend has become, worse still it appears she is indoctrinating you.

Whilst technically not illegal these companies' recruitment processes are totally misleading and their business practices unethical. Some people will make some (good) money out of it but it won't be the little guy, this is no Hollywood fairy tale. In reality what most of these greasy "management" geezers in cheap suits don't realise is that they themselves are being exploited. I worked 9-5 in the public sector and earned far more than they actually do.

Furthermore when they [the few and far between] reach that mythical "autonomy" stage  and set up their own offices they take on massive liabilities. If anything goes wrong they instantly fail as they have no support from the parent company, no capital, and no assets, thus its back to the bottom of the pile again.

This is the same for every company mentioned on here all of which can be traced back to just a couple of US organisations that have evolved from a single company started in the 1980's called DSMax. These companies profit from peoples' toil, duping them into signing away their rights with a proverbial golden ticket that is proven to fail 99 times out of 100.

I feel genuinely sorry for young people conned into the slave-labour practices of these odious little pseudo-companies. The worst part about it is possibly not even the terrible pay, horrendous hours and abortion of their social lives but the way in which all these factors contribute to changing the reps fundamentally as people.

By greedily placing irrational value onto the sale of superfluous consumer toot they begin to view everything in terms of the business model: every person they meet is just another obstacle to be overcome in order to achieve a goal that wasn't really theirs in the first place. Personalities are replaced by vapid sales theory.

The proliferation of these companies is becoming a massive societal nuisance and it won't be long before legislation brings this whole house of cards crashing down, most likely leaving thousands worse off than they were to begin with. Cold calling people's houses is already outlawed in some London boroughs so I wouldn't waste any time in an industry which is practically already outmoded. The successful people in this industry already know this so are making hay while the sun shines.

Finally Chris, if you're a student you don't pay tax. I advise a little forethought before getting up on your soap box.  Not wanting to work 70 hours/week for less than minimum wage with absolutely no security is not laziness or stupidity, it is common sense and self respect. All the best with your studies, if you happen to pass a library over the course I advise picking up a dictionary, funded in-part by MY taxes, you absolute cretin.

I don't think the job is a scam, its just really hard work. If you have a flair for sales and want a quick way into management, then I think SMS is good for that, you just have to have the right attitude.

I do agree that the recruitment process does look rather shady, but if you saw an advert for 'door to door sales' not many people would apply. I think they twist it slightly to draw people in intially, which is why they are very unspecific in there adverts, and even in the first round of interviews. but if your fresh from school/college/sixth form and want to go into sales, then go to SMS. if you have a degree, i say apply for some business grad schemes, as there are loads about which arent as hard work.

Quick way into management??? Nahh.... people are there for months and months and never even get close. They are constantly "2 months away" from management in order to keep them there. Rather like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey on a treadmill. Except this treadmill is on its highest speed. The employees will be running around all the streets in the land making next to nothing and going bankrupt.

Once the recruitment pool dries up these companies will fail, as pyramid schemes are an unsustainable business model so the people who set these companies up are just trying to make some money before it all fails and its either made illegal or nobody wants to work for them.

Hi all, it appears that Primus have moved to Birmingham.

Had a call from them today sounds like the scam mentioned above.

Just thought a give heads up to any Birmingham Job Seekers.

Thanks for the warning.

Hi, I was wondering did you actually go to the interview with SRJ?

Basically this is a scam as people now know! DO NOT BOTHER WITH THEM! even if they do promise a 75K job after working for them for 10 months! It is a door to door sales company, i got a job with them and on my first day starting at 10.45 i had a very 'motivational' meeting with lots of hi-fives, then went out to knock on doors at around 12, after 8 hours of that we made our way back to the office (got there at 9)pm for the daily breakdown that lasted until around 10. I stuck it out for 3 days mainly out of interest and mainly to laugh at the "businessmen" in their primark suits shouting 'HI ROLLERS!!!!' and giving each others hi-5s.
That was the routine for 3 days. I checked them out, Turns out the company has been around 6 years, they have about £6000 of assests!  last year they had 99K in the bank with 176K debt (more than the previous year :) They also go round under the name MACROW ENERGY this company has only been around for 11 months!!

Its a scam because you have to work free for a week working 12 hour shifts. and when you finally get a chance to earn you must get 10 sales in a week and if not you can try next week its brainwashing [***]!

Its "Harvest while the sun is shining"

had two interviews in birmingham today...  one of which was with 'primus uk' i hadnt had chance to do my research  as i was just about to leave for the other interview when the phone rang..  i told them i was already on my way into town and they told me they could squeeze me in! how convenient!!

it it seemed quiet professional, compared to the above stories appart from being called back with in a relatively short time offering this'observation day'.  out  of intrest i asked how many others have been called back...  which seemed too  stun him! five in totally apparently...  yer right

but in all fairness there was this super fit leggy brunett in the office who i feel quiet oblidged to go back for...  i may threat to expose the scam unless i may be on my merry way with her :)

S5 Marketing and Primus  UK Ltd dodgy companies. I had a call from them> i don't remember applying for the jobs but they got my information and was very happy with my cv and wanted to epmloy me immediately. SCAM SCAM SCAM. No job, no pay

tis is a blag it used to be cobra, got an interview next week im phoning watchdog to secretly film them........

Primus UK Ltd. 22 East Parade, Leeds, West Yorkshire.

YOU MUST READ THIS...

If you're here, you're probably in contact with Primus UK or a similar company and you are trying to find out more about them as their job advert was very vague or there point of contact random. Here is my summary of Marketing Pyramid Schemes, which is what Primus and 100's of other "companies" do in the UK. I hope you find it usefull...

Primus and other pyramid companies are desendants of The Cobra Group. a company that started in America in the 80's. It divised a pyramid scheme where, with no overheads or outlay, a person could make money by having a self-employed cost-free workforce and inticing business clients by offering a free marketing service, the catch being the workforce work on commission-only basis with no basic salary, working 13hr days 6 days a week, paying travel costs and expenses with no employment contract, benefits or pension. The incentive being the carrot at the top of the pyramid, which works for 1% of employees. For the rest, they are cold-callinng door-to door sales people making barely minimum wage, forever.

Primus is always "expanding" which basically means they want as many people as humanly possible out there on the streets selling for them all the time. Anyone remotely presentable will be offerered a job and they'll make you feel really special and unique to be offered it. The "interview" process is merely a sales pitch to make you sign up to the scheme. They want you before they've even met you.
Primus in Leeds has to interview 100 people a day and get 25 people a week fully on board with the scheme (i.e lasting more than 1 day) in order to meet it's targets. That data is alarming, out of 600 applicants, with everyone bar those with face tattoos getting the job, only 25 actually stick it for more than a day.

These companies spam job sites filtering out just about anybody to get people in for interviews. I responded to an "Events Assistant" position while others in the waiting room responded to "hospitality management training programme", "sales executive" and "trainee marketing manager". They'll get you in using any technique possible and withold the nature of the job untill the very last minute because if you walk after the 2nd interview satge it doesn't matter, they've had you out there for the day, free of charge, selling for them, too embarrassed to ditch your "mentor". And tomorrow they'll have another 100 applicants to see.

Making any serious money out of this is rare. Anyone who claims they are on 500 a week needs to deducted tax, deduct travel expences and divide their earnings by the number of hours they work in a day (13-14) to find that they are barely scraping minimum wage. To make the £250 a week as advertised in their ads you have to be generating 12 contracts per week. They have various job "promotions" that you can achieve pretty quickly but that's all part of the pitch to keep you interested and out there selling. If you are promoted it usually involves giving you a flashy job title and increasing your work load (i.e. training others to door-to-door whilst doing the same job with no pay increase)

Those 1% who do make money, only do so when they are "director" of their own company, but the downside is that the business model is not sustainable. You are only making as much money as your staff genrerate for you so you are entirely dependant on them. They leave or the recruitment dries up and you are back to the bottom of the pyramid.

Although they are guilty od mis-advertising, mis-representation and witholding information, it is not a scam, it's all above the law because reps are classed as self employed and, before you commit to working for them, you should be fully aware of what the job entails following your "observation" day. If you're not aware it is a poorly paid door-to-door sales job with no security then you've been blinded by the promises of earning 50k by christmas and having your own company by next year. Ask your "mentor" how long they've been doing and what they have achieved.

I did this for 2 days when I graduated in 2002 then I saw it wasn't for me. Looking for work again and got duped into attending the initial interview at Primus in Leeds yesterday. I got suspicious when I saw that over 40 people came for an interview and left in the 30 minutes I was at the office. I was selected after the manager "carefully reviewed my cv" but it was evident he had never even looked at it when I sat with him. He ignored my talk about sales and marketing experience and was more interested in what my favourite thing to cook was, and when he high-fived me in the interview I new it was doomed.

Graduates can do a lot better! Remember, these sorts of companies are known within the industry and having one on your CV isn't nessesarily a good thing. 100's of these marketing branches open annually in the uk but most liquidate within a few years. They have bad reputations and aren't used by the high flying clients they speak of, usually just low-rent gas and electricity brokers and people who want to shift a few knife sets.

So... to summarise... I'm writing this in caps so it stands out...

DON'T ATTEND THE OBSERVATION DAY AND WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY UNLESS YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT A CAREER AS A DOOR TO DOOR SALESPERSON. Because despite these companies telling you they do different marketing techniques, door to door is essentially what you'll be doing all the way to the top. Because it's the cheapest way to market, the only thing that will change is the products you sell.
IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE 1% THAT GET TO THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID, IT'S NOT WHAT THEY SELL YOU You will be the director of a non-credible non-sustainable company while someone still creams off the top of you. All you have is a job title . I can register with companies house tomorrow an be the director of my own business, it doesn't mean anything.
GRADUATES STAY CLEAR. If you want a career in your industry this is not for you and you can make more money elsewhere. If you're looking to get experience with the company, consider how reputable the company is.
IF YOU HAVE NO QUALIFACATIONS, CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS, OR WANT TO MAKE SOME QUICK SPENDING MONEY IN THE SHORT-TERM THEN GO FOR IT. If you can sell [***] to [***] then there is an opportunity to make yourself a quick buck or get off the doss. But don't see it as anything other than short-term.
I hope this has advised some people. Problem is you have to google scam to find it, so people who search must have idea that something don't add upp. I just feel sorry for grads and people with experience who think this is a real opprtunity. You have been warned...

It annoys me that you can only find forums like this if you google cult, scam or con after the name. Any search of "Primus uk ltd". seems to bring up reputable links to the head office in Nottingham. They prey on naive graduates and the unemployed who are too scared to ask questions and blinded by the fact that they are one of the "special chosen few". I hope this has helped some people. Read on for more bizarre but true tales...