Working Practices?
Whilst a student I tended to work in pubs, I found you can easily walk in and out of the jobs if you have a bit of experience or not.

For some reason I decided to change tack a few years back when I was setting up my own business. I went into double glazing sales.

Now, I was aware of the type of businesses these could be - hard sell, fake prices 'Oh let me speak to my boss, I can do you a deal, we can go from 8k to 500 quid' sort of thing.

But this company although having some of these traits, seemed on the front of it legit. We were sat in an OK office, about 10 of us per shift. simple headset phone, and A4 print outs of numbers to call, and a script.

I am happy on the phone, so after 15 minutes of training - I was on my way convincing people all over the midlands that they really would like sparkly new windows at a price they couldn't miss. The way this worked was for me to get the person I called AND THEIR PARTNER to agree to a salesman to visit with his hard sell. I got commission from any visits, and extra commission from sales. (We had no way of finding out what sales had gone through, they frequently lied about appointments being missed etc...)

All dodgy, although I was earning my pocket money each week, I could have been getting more. Then we find out what's really been going on. The salesmen sent on appointments - would do the typical hard sell... staying in the house too long... etc etc that you see everyday on Watchdog.

But the kicker is. There were never windows. The people were told to put a deposit down there and then - cheaper rate, not in the area again for years, my boss will beat me if I dont get the deposit. Etc.

So basically I was setting up people, often in low income areas to lose their cash... luckily some took out credit and were able to get refunds, but I don't know how many vulnerable people didn't realise they could do this.

I was with the company 8 weeks when I found out... basically none of us got paid - including the slimey manager so he told us all the goss - and the office was promptly shut. I was left being owed only a few hundred quid if that... but I don't know how these things can go on in this day and age... but it does.

One extra, I received a phone call from a new company, based in the same office, asking if I wanted windows. I was tempted to say yes. We rent, a new build!
(feedingtimeatthezoo day 1 of his bikini diet started, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 17:34, Reply)