Rep: Psst, wanna job?
Recently unemployed job seeker: Yeah, what you got?
Rep: You can fire your boss with what I got?
RUJS: Really? Tell me more.
Rep: Well, all you need to do is give me $500 and $50 a month and you too can make almost $100 a year! Yup, that's right, $100 a year!
RUJS: Wow, where do I sign up? And can I get a cool Hawaiian shirt like you? And maybe one of those cool magnetic car stickers?
I mean really now. If Craigslist was not bad enough, now YTB is infiltrating the parking lots of job fairs to fish. What happened to the millions of dollars these Reps were supposed to be earning? Why can't they afford to buy a booth?
This is from WFAE 90.7 FM in Charlotte, NC:
On this day there are at least six others offering work-at-home opportunities. One of them represents YTB Travel Network. California's Attorney General has accused the company of operating a gigantic pyramid scheme by recruiting thousands of members with deceptive claims. The state wants the business to cough up $25 million in civil penalties and restitution. YTB's representative wouldn't talk to us, but he did have a run-in with Lyle Stone.
"Here's one over here. Let me go run him off," says Stone.
Stone is a general manager at The Employment Guide, the company that runs this job fair. Lately, his job description has included keeping this crowd of parking lot recruiters at bay. This time he makes a bee-line for the man signing up people for the travel company.
Stone says curtly: "If you don't mind we've got companies inside that have been recruiting that paid to be here. We really don't want folks standing out here in the parking lot trying to grab folks. Thank you!"
Tom Bartholomy, the head of the local Better Business Bureau has some choice words for these sideline recruiters: "We kindly refer to them as vultures, bottom feeders, people that we hope have a special place in hell."So, how is that December 15th edict working out? Not too good in Charlotte it seems!
