By Regina - 03/07/2009 06:19 - United States

Today, I got a job selling knives. I had training for 11 hours. At the end of the training session, the instructor promptly informed everyone that they had to pay $145 for a set of demo knives. I paid the $145. I went home and learned that it was a scam. I went back for a refund. They said no. FML
I agree, your life sucks 16 417
You deserved it 55 564

Same thing different taste

Top comments

Haha lol that sucks...let me guess it was that student for part time work where you can get like $15/appointment lol Yeah I've seen that before too and I almost went untill I googled it haha

Comments

I went to this interview for this in nor cal and I didn't get hired :)

I come from an extremely long line of entrepreneurs. My great-grandfather started selling real estate in New York City after emigrating from Germany, at age 14. My grandfather was a self-made millionaire, and my father is a successful self-employed consultant. My great-grandmother on my mom's side ran her own bakery and antique store. My mom had a lot of independence at work as a real estate agent. Working for yourself and being an entrepreneur have been extremely strong values in my family for over a century. 20 years ago, I got a letter in the mail about Vector. It looked kind of weird to me, so I didn't think much of it. My dad saw the letter and insisted on taking me to the interview. Afterwards, I told him it was a scam and that I had to buy the knives myself, no way! My dad bought the knives for me and told me once I made my first few sales I'd pay him back. He organized all my relatives for my first Cutco demonstration, and he encouraged me like crazy to make the job work. It did. Cutco taught me how to run my own business. How to make calls, set appointments, understand sales, ask for referrals, the whole deal. By the end of the summer I was at 30% commission, selling at least $1,000 in knives a week for 10 straight weeks, making $300 a week. I still have the knives I bought-- the only set of knives I've needed in 20 years. They still work great. After graduating from college, I went straight into business for myself, and part of my success is due to the early experience I had with Cutco. It gave me the confidence to know I could do it, and the experience to make it happen. I succeeded with Vector in part because of the incredible support I had from my dad, and the super-pro-entrepreneur spirit of my extended family on both sides, extending back generations. Not everyone who works for Vector has that kind of thing going for them, so I can understand how people might have bad experiences with it. But after 20 years of using the entrepreneurial skills that Vector taught me, not to mention 20 years of using Cutco knives, the only thing I feel about that company is pure gratitude. Thanks Vector!

Just do what I did and sell those knives on Ebay. You will make more than $145.00.

I got a job with them friday, and tomorrow is my first day of training... If you listened during the seminar, The set is originally 540$ and you buy them for 146.64. BUT you can sell them for full retail price, and you make 400$... idiot. You obviously don't know what a scam is, and it's not door-to-door. You can buy it, and you;re allowed to return it for a full refund. They office you work in must be gay, but the actual corporation isn't. The cutco knives are actually awesome, and really do work. If they didn't why would they be the number one company in the world? They trigger high school graduates and college kids, cause they know we need the money the most. You guys are all stupid. get a life and off FML.com.

THIS IS 100% BULLSHIT. VECTOR PLANTED THIS STORY HERE TO TARGET IMMIGRANT AMERICANS! Do not be fooled by this, you will make no money with Vector and be deported back to your country for not having a job. The harder you work the more money you will have stolen from you from Vector. GET A REAL JOB. In American, JOBS PAY YOU! If you have to pay money to a company before starting working there, ITS A SCAM VECTOR = SCAM!

laurenphyllis 0

i used to sell last year. i was a rep. in a months time i sold over 6k and made about 900 dollars doing so. i got all my money. every check i got was cashed. if it is a scam how come i got paid? PONDER THIS CRASHER41 if you get a job at abercrombie and fitch, they REQUIRE you to wear their clothing. you can't walk into work with some other clothing stores merchandise on. do you think they give you the clothes for free??!?! NO!!! they give you a discount. and only 30%. Vector has you put down a deposit for the kit with a 75%-78% discount, depending on what area you're from. you can return the kit for all your money back. does abercrombie and fitch let you return your clothes and get a full refund, no matter what condition there in when you quit? NO! clearly you MBA studies were done when you were high because you have no idea what you are talking about. Its a job. some people like it, some don't. its not for every one I sold last year, decided it wasn't for me,, sold my kit to my mom's best friend for almost $600. now, i work here as a receptionist. i hear all the non-sense from people about how they don't want to sell knives or how they think its a scam. honestly, if you don't like the job or the company why would you waste all this time bitching about it. move on and get a life. and to crasher41 you clearly have no life...you spend all your time following FML threads instead of doing something productive with your time. its obvious you have a personal vendetta against the company. why? only you know. but maybe you should find a real job instead of being a critic that is completely useless to society.

SpicyDorito 0

Is it not in the nature of sales to be a lying ass? True example: A car salesman complains to a coworker (my boyfriend) about how much he hates Chevy's. He'd rather die than own one again. Later that day, a family comes in looking to purchase a Chevy. He heavily endorses Chevy's to this family, saying he has one himself. He makes the sale. Salespeople are ****** up. How do they sleep at night?

No dice. I worked for Cutco/Vector for a summer, and while I'll admit it's kinda a crappy job all things considered and there are plenty of things they could do to improve their ethics and how they run the place, it's still a good shake if you're willing to work your ass off and you have a knack for sales. I sold a $2000 set in a demo, made $500 bucks in an hour. Sold over 15K of knives that summer and ended up with a pretty good paycheck. Granted, there's a lot of bullshit too, not getting paid for training, not getting paid for the required time in the office, but hell, they're also not going to chase you down if you don't show up, and don't care if you take vacation. They've got some good perks and the products are good - yeah, maybe a little over priced, but I met a couple customers who had a set of Cutco from the 50s - still in working order. I still have my demo set and they're the best knives I've used anywhere and as I work in a bakery/deli as a chef, well, that's saying something. It's NOT an easy job, and it does steal your soul, and if you get a bunch of no-shows or no-sales in a row, your paycheck sucks, but if you do sell, it's a good shake. All in all, they've got some shady practices, what sales place doesn't?, but you DO get paid and the product is worthwhile. Good job for college kids, because you can take vacations with your family, get a second job, etc. *shrug* work your butt off, get rewarded, and it is good experience for being comfortable talking with strangers who are older than you, and making cold calls. Otherwise, get a real job and stop complaining.

Nope. Being profitable in sales involves establishing long-term costumer value through strong relationships. Lying is not a good way to establish such report, especially in today's world of information technology. It's not about profitable transactions, it's about profitable relationships.

laurenphyllis 0

its rapport...not report. good try tho sir =)

I sorta/kinda work for them now. I haven't done anything in the past month or so, but I'm still an employee I guess. Anywho, the company is probably a complete scam, but as for the knives. They're actually legit. Yeah, I paid 147 for mine, and I was planning on refunding when I quit or selling them for full price, but I actually think I'll keep them. I use them at my bakery. I actually got really sketched out when I read this, like, "Oh no... what did I get myself into?"

I almost did this, I had the online mini-application done and then I googled it and said eff this. I had to keep ignoring their calls for like 4 days...

CynicComedian 2

I worked for Vector too...they screw you over big time and refuse to tell you the fine print. On one hand, Cutco knives really are great...we've had ours for almost twenty years...this was WAY before I was selling them. I would recommend them to anyone. On the other hand, working for them is just what you'd expect: Seems too good to be true and it is. My advice to you is to work your network, don't answer your phone when they call ("You have 15 appointments today? Try and get at least 20 more before coming down to our three hour business conference tonight at 9 p.m. located in a town that's a four hour drive from your house." "Oh, your paycheck is $500 short? Well that's because you didn't come to the conference last week). In truth, if you play their game, you can actually make a lot of money selling a good product, but they bullshit they spew and the way they harass you and lie about the terms and conditions for payment...not cool at all. This is why this "easy money" job has such a high turnover rate.