5th Dimension Promotionz or 5th Dimension Productions scamming my friend into free labor.
Today, my homie Frank (Zel if you play world of warcraft) hit me up that he got a job. Frank has been working hard in school and trying to pay bills. His parents were encouraging him to get a job so he does what he does best, go out and look for jobs.
He ends up posting his resume on Career Builders, to find a potential employer to fund his college expenses. Later on Frank gets a message from 5th Dimension Productionz about a job interview for their company in San Jose. He responds and sets up the first interview. Frank shows up Thursday, July 5th 2007 at 4pm. After speaking with Lindsey the owner for less than 10-15 minutes, she mentioned he should come back for a second interview.
The second interview consisted of going to Big Lots off of Story Road with a trainer named Rosemary. Rosemary seemed very motivated, intelligent, and professional. Before going to Big Lots, he had to sign a paper stating he was an observer. While there he was instructed to watch and understand how the entry level position works.
Frank noticed that they had setup a simple fingerprinting ink pad (like the ones used at police stations), with some piece of paper, to help get kids fingerprinted. The theme seemed to be about helping missng children. They also had various products like T-Shirts, Wrist Bands, Child Protection ID kits, that were sold at the table. He was also given a 5 steps on how to sell their products (Introduction, short story, assume purchase, etc, etc). Being at the table, he would hear Rosemary saying the pitch many times. After doing that, he was instructed to greet people coming out of Big Lots. If the person was interested, he would direct them to the table, where Rosemary would close the sale. The products being sold seemed to be at outragous prices. Wristband for $5, T-Shirt for $10, Calligraphy Kit for $10, Electronic ID for $30 which was the big sale. Frank had noticed that a lot of the older people tend to have time to listen to them, and after hearing the story, they were compelled to help. In order to “save the children” they had to purchase the products which donated a certain percentage to the CPEA. What was the percentage? Upon Frank trying to recall what they said, it was around 20% that actually went to the organization. The other 80%, who knows?
Finishing the day up, Frank had to fill out a survey, then go back for his last interview with the other Lindsey. He was then hired on the spot and asked to show up on Tuesday, July 10th.
Later that night, I meet up with Frank, and he says he got a new job. After explaining what they do and the company he works for, it seemed kinda sketch. I start to google around and we turn up with another blog who had a similar experience. Ho John Lee ended up meeting someone from 5th Dimension Productionz while walking out of a store, and after asking some basic questions, he walked away and didn’t donate. You could read his story via this link. While reading thru his site, the comments section included a person by the blog name of Molly B posted a comment on his site about her experience with the interview process and experiences. Here is an excerpt of what Molly mentioned:
They are doing something to promote the charity, but still selling something to earn a commission for themselves. The most aggravating thing to me isn’t that they are using legitimate charities to make money for themselves, it is that so many of the other candidates they sucker in spending a full day “interviewing” end up being free labor.
While looking further down in the comments, there were other people who had interviewed with them and had that gut feeling that something was up. Peter posted the percentage of what is actually given back:
20% goes back to the charity, 35% goes to the seller, and 45% goes to Lindsey (Lindsey needs to pay for fees pertaining to her business, maybe, I don’t know if her silent partner might pay for fees etc.) When I learned that only 20% was given back to charity, I knew that this job at this company was not for me. I mean come on! These are non profits that need 100 percent of proceeds! Its very disgusting how this company works. Also, this ‘business’ has not motivation or team meetings or any kind of meetings to boost up their performance. How do I know? The person I shadowed told me so.
After looking at the people who responded, it definetly seemed that they were not making money in the right way. It seemed as if their business was standing behind the front of helping people, and using people’s willingness to help to turn into a profit for themselves. What does that do for our communities? What does it do to the people working for that company? The underlying thing here is, if they are using peoples good will of donating and helping out to force the purchase of products, then don’t initially reveal that only 20% of the purchase is going towards the charity like CPEA, how efficient and helpful is that to the community?
I get really passionate about issues and scams like these, that profit off of peoples willingness to help each other out. Definatly don’t support company’s like this. There are resources out there to clairify whether a Charity is out there for the greater good, or if they are there to make a buck off of you. Here is a popular link:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
If you also ever have an interview for a Multi Level Marketing company, research them on google and find out what they area really about. In finishing up with what Peter said in his post:
All in all, it seemed like working for this company would only give bad karma by lying to consumers and suck them out of their money and give less to the charity that needs more. As I learned, many of the workers there are not college graduates…if they were college graduates they would have known all operations of BUSINESS ETHICS!
Now, Frank has to go back on Tuesday, July 10th. What should he do? Frank is really mad that he got talked into free labor and scamming people for their money. Should he show up to work and inform his co workers of whats really going on? Should he call them up and say Fuck You I quit? What do you think? Have you had a similar experience? I am going to contact CBS 5 and their 30 minutes Bay Area section and have them do a full blown investigation on these type of marketing companies and especially the ones that fall in the guise of helping people. This is not right at all!
Popularity: 29% [?]
Hello.
Thanks for quoting me. I forgot to say one more thing. They are not allowed to take donations under $10. Now if they were representing any charity, especially charities that large, they would have accepted any penny given to them. But as it turns out they need to hand the donator something—but its only so that they can get commission since their shirts are 10. Do the math and you will see that charity will only get 2 dollars out of the 10 dollar minimum of donation.
Sad, but true. I hope Frank does not take that job. I suggest hey try getting a job with google, I hear that they are looking for new employees especially with their new purchase of Postini.
[...] 5th Dimensions Promotionz (scam?) By djrayz I get really passionate about issues and scams like these, that profit off of peoples willingness to help each other out. Definatly don’t support company’s like this. There are resources out there to clairify whether a Charity is out … RaYz Blizzog – http://www.djrayz.com [...]
Yeah that frank is an idiot. Lol j/k thats me if no one knows. Yeah i fell for it but thanks to Dj rayz i wont have to go to jail for blowing up their building. For everyone else i recommend staying educated and dont be afraid to ask questions if things dont seem right. Its also nice to have friends who help you see things that you might not. =D
I had the same experience and I did feel like an idiot. I feel even worse now that I read these responses. I felt that 5th Dimension was sketchy from the beginning but at the time, I was so desperate for a job right out of college that I was just excited for anything. After the day of free labor, I decided that I didn’t wanna do it because no matter how much they sold the position to me, they still couldn’t disguise that this job sucks and you basically don’t get paid unless you sell. By the way, they say you’re interviewing with the manager “Lindsey” but there’s two ppl there who are “managers” and who both conduct interviews and both are named “Lindsey.” It’s probably just their generic name.
DJ Rayz you rock homie!!! The people who perform due diligence before going to one of those interviews will worship you (including me, I was about to get suckered in but I decided to google it and found your blog- Thank GOD)!
Hey, thank you so much for posting your site. It saved me from going to this bogus first “interview”. I had the same thing happen to me, but sketchy things started happening before I even made the interview.
I sent my resume in on Saturday and got a response at 8:23pm on Monday night telling me to call for my preliminary. Who the hell is at work at 8:23 at night, less looking over interviewees resumes?? That was the first sketch thing I noticed.
Then around 11:45am Tuesday morning, I recieved a call from “Karen” wanting to schedule my interview. What company, who is not desperate for employees, calls YOU to make an interview? NONE, thats who. They want you to fight for that position- they’re not just going to hand it to you. So Karen tells me that the “superiors” have reviewed my resume and are astounded at all my work experience…blahdy blahdy blah. Makes my interview for 4pm Wednesday afternoon with Lindsay, says she’ll “be nice” and stay late, until 4:15 that way I dont have to leave so early from my full time job to make the interview.
At this point, I’m jazzed that I booked this so quick and tell my bff who is immediately skeptical. She gets on the net and pulls up all these damn sites about what a scam this all is, and yours sealed the deal. Everything your friend Frank said was exactly what they told me. VERBATUM. This place is a fucking scam, sorry for cursing on your page, and I hope that anyone who books an interview is smart enough to research the CO before arriving.
The Better Business Bureau doesn’t even list them as a business. They are an “affiliate”, whatever the hell that means, and they are not listed as marketing- they’re listed as “Securtiy”. This is bogus, and now I’m upset because they have all my info from my resume. Your friend should do exactly what Im going to do- not show up, and tell them to F-off. These people should be shot for scamming people who actually want to do some good in the world. All I have to say is KARMA’S A BITCH.
Thank you for all the info. I just set up an interview for Mon with Lindsey that I will now be cancelling.
Thanks guys, I got the same E-mail, and I live in Las Vegas! -so I was going to fly down for the interview, but I’m glad I showed due diligence and checked it out first.
The bottom has fell out the job market in Las Vegas, and I hadn’t had a full time job in 8 months.
But just because we are unemployed, or underemployed doesn’t mean we are stupid!
Watch out for predators in all things.
Good luck to All
Tonyd
Thank god I found your website. I went to an interview last Friday and “Lindsey” called me back an hr later congradualating me because they wanted me back for 2nd interview. Thank god I didn’t go…. I would just feel really bad for these charities and free labor just sucks ass. I hope their “business” goes down. I HATE these scams… i’m def going to follow up with their stupid company. Thanks again!
I too had scheduled a bogus interview that I now will not be attending, thanks for the info.
Ms. Lindsay must make a living from operating this scam of recent college grads that
are gung ho and willing to partake in the sketchy operations to possibly land their first
break. People like those at 5th Dimension marketing and promotions should be taken
out to a remote locale, blindfolded and ———————–(fill in the blank, I was thinkin
shot, but I encourage you to be more creative!) Thanks a million for the heads up, It
saved me the time,money and frustration of playing into the scam. Peace to all, Late…..
oh my god, i have an interview this Monday. they actually told me to come down today but i was not free. so what does this mean? this company is a fake?? and that i shouldn’t go??
thank you djrayz. i won’t be going for that horrible interview. i think people need to be wary about all companies that function using the PYRAMID SCHEME. this is different from the pyramid SYSTEM. The pyramid system is how most companies function as a hierachy, boss on top etc. however, pyramid scheme is when you basically get money for enrolling other people into the scheme. and this is not advisable.
I had almost the same experience… I went to my first interview and did the whole “free labor” thing- which i was told i was getting paid for (and didnt). At the end of the day I had to answer 2 quetsions- 1.Why did I want to work there and 2.What makes me a good candidate for a job. Well after thinking of only 2 out of 5 reasons on why I wanted a job there- my interviewer went back into the office and came out a few minutes later saying that they were sure I was a good candidate- ha ha i am the most outgoing and friendly person I know so I didnt really get it- so I BSed a few reasons and before I knew it I got the job! I started a couple days later- 7:45 am to 6:30 pm… The morning starts off with some “team building” exercise and then a meeting- then you are whisked away to your location where you are forced to talk to everyone that walks by- I was in the cosmetics and Operation Smile part of the business… So it was fun playin with the make-up- but after about 2 weeks of saying the same f-ing thing over and over to people and getting rejected and knowing that I had to make X amount a day made me not want to come back… So I made up some lie and told them that I could no longer come in… They refused to send me my paycheck so i had to drive the 45 min to go pick it up! and then they even forgot to give me one of my checks so i had to go back a few days later and get it… everyone there was nice and fun- but standing for 8 hours a day outside of Supercuts in South San Jose wasnt for me- this company definately gives out false addvertising when it says that it is a “promotion” company… Work for it if you like standing around repeating yourself 1000 times a day!
Okay. you people are idiots. the company is NOT a scam. there are over a hundred offices all over the country running the same kind of business model for years. if it was a scam..it really would take thousands of people all over the country to fool ONE person. you guys are smart. and just because a company works a little differently than what you’re USED to. it does not mean its skeptical. open your eyes a little bit maybe thats why you’re unemployed to begin with. cause the corporate world laid you off! Another thing to point out; 5% goes directly back to charity. reason why 100% does not go back is because we are not the DIRECT charity. we just fund raise for them. without our help they wouldn’t be a nationwide campaign today. i met hillary sessions herself [founder of CPEA] and she is grateful for the amount of $ we give them. So be a little bit appreciative that some people out there ARE working hard and doing something good at the same time, and not just scamming people. because it says on the back on the receipt that 5% goes directly back to people. You people are so close minded.
Bob,
go read again to the entire blog and people’s comments on what they are exactly saying. .everyone calls it a scam because everyone is misguided here. 5DP throws all the job ads to the job agencies, claiming that its an internship, event marketing, entry level marketing, opportunity for college grads..people believe there is some marketing opportunity here, so they go in for an interview and all they end up doing something completely unexpected. They end up standing in front of a store, doing free labor for you. This is completely BS and a waste of time and intelligence for anyone. No one can learn anything about marketing by just catching people for donations. Marketing involves tons of strategies, and tons of market segments people need to learn in order to become successful in marketing.
Secondly, if you are not a direct charity, then why the hell do you take money from people, only under the name of charity? People who donate believe that 1000% or at least 80% of their money goes to charity. How about telling people that only 5% of your money will go to charity and rest will be kept by us as commission. You think people will still donate, I doubt it. Where the hell do you see people above talking about not having jobs or getting laid off. People here talk about getting a job after college. FYI, I have a job and make far more than your 5DP can give you, and I am sure most people who had this disgusting experience with your 5DP are already working and making much more. Of course CPEA will take money from you. They will take any money coming in as donation from anyone. they don’t care on where you are getting the money from? Overall, throwing all these lies about marketing jobs on job agencies, misguiding people and making them do free labor, and taking people’s money under the name of charity and putting 95% of the money in your own pocket is clearly a SCAM….
5% goes to charity, 45% goes to pay for the merch, 35% goes to us, and 25% goes to company. DUH its a business. please get your facts straight before stating otherwise. and YES we do tell them 5% goes directly back. if not, the person that whoever went with on that interview was not misrepresenting the company rightfully. don’t blame the whole company. and we don’t do everything in the name of the charity because we also have emergency id cards for kids, dvds, and a number of other safety products for kids. so YES it is promotions. and many mothers out there are grateful for those ids we provide for them. and FREE LABOR? if you call free labor talking and interacting with people all day is labor…then so be it. all interviewees are pre-empted ahead of time that their interview would last from 9:30-6:30..so they should know what was ahead of them. and i’m pretty sure you have not experienced being with this company at all yet a blog is written about something you prejudged about without knowing anything about the business. and you mention that these marketing strategies don’t exist? then why don’t you explain why our company is expanding so quickly with the largest line up of clients in the world? i myself am in this company and yes i am gaining alot from this job and i don’t understand why you would write a hate blog on something you don’t understand.
ps. this is NOT a pyramid scheme. a pyramid scheme is recruiting your own people and then making % off of those people when they make a sale. team leaders in this business do not make any profit from their team, they only teach and train them. FYI. have a great day,
pss. “…and I am sure most people who had this disgusting experience with your 5DP are already working and making much more.”
umm APPARENTLY, this isn’t true because people who have been in this business long enough and then left for whatever reason had learned alot that they were able to take with them in whatever career they’re in right now. and yes i know this because i know them. ALSO i don’t know why you keep saying donations because we don’t collect donations. people are simply purchasing a product for themselves and 5% directly goes back to charity, there is no “donating” involved here buddy.
Thank you for you help I too just got an email and a phone call from them congratulating me for being selected to interview. I am so glad to have read this article it helped me. I am all about helping the less fortunate but not at the cost of ripping them off. It’s a sad thing that they are using them for their gain. I am sorry for all those that was tricked and I do appreciate the impute for this article and saving me the trouble of going through that. Thank you again.
Yep, these are like matrix schemes – the people change the business names and that is exactly what i did and went back after the second interview and worked 1/2 day before finally deciding that I can not do that and know it was SSOOOOoooo wrong. I signed all the papers so it was “legit” but it was BULLSHIT! “Hilary Sessions” you should be ashamed that you used your daughters disapearance to profit off of it. Maybe you know where she is. but need your name to keep up your scam. The company “CPEA” or “Child Protection Education of America” http://www.find-missing-children.org/ did not meet the basic qualifications to be in the charity BBB. They are liars and totally schemers. The office in Gainsville “Unity Concepts” “Unityconcepts.net” “Ellie Frey” you are all callused individuals who will get your karma back in time. Enjoy what you have now, because it will fall fast, and hard. They are now changing the name to “Mad Events” the girl has been there 8 months and is getting her own company and no worrys and she will set up 5 more and move up. I was amazed at this – have I been that blind???? I think there needs to be so much more awareness to these FAKERS. DO NOT get into this, if it sound too good to be true – IT IS! Write back and I will help you ANY way possible.
sorry i should be more clear, I did the full second interview – did my third that night knowing that it was a scam and also they totally SKIM off the top, VERY odviously… simple inventory that is never controlled or recored. Anyways I went back the 3rd day and worked, and had to bring customers over after doing my hire pack and stuff.
First of all, you do not even answer to what people are saying….either you don’t understand what everyone is saying or you also just want to throw out lies as 5DP has always been doing
You quoted me on “…and I am sure most people who had this disgusting experience with your 5DP are already working and making much more.”
You say “umm APPARENTLY, this isn’t true because people who have been in this business long enough and then left for whatever reason had learned alot that they were able to take with them in whatever career they’re in right now.”
Are you saying its NOT true that people who experienced 1 whole day of free labor with your 5DP has found something better and making much more??? You mean that 5DP is the best thing to do in the world, and people that are not with it are not doing a jack and only ppl who were in your 5DP long enough are dong something?? It makes no sense on what you say here right?
You say “if you call free labor talking and interacting with people all day is labor…then so be it”…. It’s a free labor for standing 8 hours for you, going somewhere and doing something totally unexpected, and also doing some work for free under the name of training. Just FYI, I sold something too, but the money was kept by the trainer. I interact with ppl all the time, but I do not need to do it for your 5DP where I am going to get nothing out of it. Also, just giving interview information as 9:30 to 5:00 is completely vague. Interview job details are suppose to be given ahead of time. What will you be doing has to be given in details ahead of the interview. All the details were disclosed. When asked, there was no information given. Not only me, bunch of other people are saying the same.
You say “why don’t you explain why our company is expanding so quickly with the largest line up of clients in the world?”
Hmm, I wonder how can that be true when you view the list of top companies in the world, business bureau, wall street journal, SF chronicle, and nowhere it states 5DP is expanding quickly with the largest line up of clients in the world. Even you ask people around, no one has even a slight idea of what 5DP is about.
You say “i don’t know why you keep saying donations because we don’t collect donations”. The word donation was used through out the day. People were told that money will be donated if they purchase the product. Money was only taken as donations under the name of charity. Not even a single time, it was mentioned that 5% out of your $20 will reach the charity.
5dp is a branch under QUANTUM, the main headquarters. which is probably why people don’t know much about 5dp.
http://www.quantum-usa.net/
look it up.
Bottom line is 5dp is handing out jobs and won’t turn anyone down. Doesn’t sound very legitimate to me. Same as SFMarketing Group or “upstreambizsolutions” as they’re called now. And “Bob” won’t be there for long.
i think you people are stupid i work here ahahahaa ya i went thru the same process and im happily working so b0ooo ya you are just sad that ur buddy wasnt qualified enough o0o h0w c0ol ima college student lol get a life and a better hobbie!!!
and its not free labor dumb asses its a day of observation meaning your there for the whole day to see what you will be doin its your choice to promote or not derrrr do derrr u guys are funny un employed FKN LOSERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
first of all, 5dp is not handing out jobs like no other. we give people a two weeks trial basis to see if they’re a good fit for our company. and apparently you haven’t been in this company long enough to know ANYTHING about it. and any nonprofit is never completely nonprofit, they gotta pay for the rent and expenses just like ANY other organization. hillary sessions has to eat too! and how can you be that negative of a person to look at her that way when she’s helping hundreds of families with their lost ones. YOU should be ashamed. sooooo, before you jump to conclusions i recommend you get yourself educated before hand. and wow it really does take a lowlife to actually go on the internet to write a blogpost about something you obviously don’t know much about. i give you props for that one. i guess i can understand how judgemental arrogant and close minded some people can be. =) bye!
OH, THANK YOU! I CAN CANCEL THIS APPT. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, THEY USE ANOTHER NAME ”
High Performance Promotions, Inc.
” SAME ADDRESS AND TEL, BE CAREFUL GUYS!!!
I got contacted yesterday by three different people at three different companies: 5th Dimention, BSR Marketing, and Dual Starr… the person above stated the companies with diff names are different and that they just share office space – but ALL THREE gave me the same contact PHONE NUMBER- three diff company names; three diff contact names; ALL THE SAME PHONE NUMBER – that’s not “sharing office space”! Sounds too off to me; I’ll stick to my PM work – and I make well over 60 thousand/year already – I just wanted to look into doing something that would help others as well; but will not be looking into this one any further! Thanks!
sounds like a scam to me. i interviewed with High Performance Promotions right before the holidays. i was reading Ho John Lee’s blog and was shocked to find out their address is the same as what 5th Dimension’s used to be. i also found it interesting how they and BSR have the same building, same number, etc… 2998 Scott Blvd. Santa Clara, 408-727-1110. anyways, i did the observation day with High Performance, and sure enough we stood outside all day in the cold at a Shell gas station in Morgan Hill. i’m 26 and was recently laid off at my job. the kid i was working with was only 19, and i find out the “guy” running the office (Kristian) is only 20! how can someone at 20 years old with no college education be running an entire office?!
i was supposed to go back, but elected not to in lieu of PacWestern/World Solutions. their craigslist ad claimed their compensation was 35-40k, so it seemed more legit. i show up yesterday to find out that, guess what… it’s an observation day. so now i’m getting skeptical of these guys. and sure enough, it’s door-to-door stuff outside and following someone around. then we get lunch and the person i’m shadowing lays out the advancement structure. SAME EXACT STRUCTURE AS HIGH PERFORMANCE! wtf? how do two completely unrelated “companies” operate the EXACT same way? it was same down to the last detail:
2-4 weeks entry level
$300-$500 per week
mostly field work
6-8 months leadership/team leader
$500-$800 per week
assemble a team beneath you and train them
2-3 weeks assistant manager
salaried
primarily office work
the time frames and pay are identical between the two. and the person i was observing at each place did the same thing – sat me down at lunch, asked for my pad and pen and wrote out how advancement works. i really felt like it was the same company.
i was planning on calling back Paradigm Events in Fremont back today as i had spoken to them recently, but i don’t think i’ll call them either. their site claims they have all these clients in sports, entertainment, vacation resorts, etc… but that’s all it says. how can you be this legit company with all these high profile clients, and not list them by name on your site? same for PacWestern. if you go to their page (pacwesterncorp.com) and go to their “Partners” page, it simply says “coming soon.” i’m sure, like Paradigm, their “partners” are thrilled to not be mentioned by name on the web site.
I believe this company is now also operating as BSR Marketing Inc. After investigating BSR, I could not find ANY information about it, except its own website (that solicited for jobs) and A TON of BSR job postings on other job boards. BSR also does “marketing” for Child Protection Education of American (CPEA).
Though 5DP’s and BSR’s approach is not illegal, it is surely misleading and unethical. Unless people want to get into an entry-level sales career, and NOT marketing or public relations, I would urge them to steer clear. I know I am.
DJ Rayz thanks for enlightening and confirming suspicions!
Well I’m glad I did some more research, because I was in the same boat as a lot of others on this page. Laid off with this bad economy, looking for pretty much anything. I was about to drive down from Portland to 2998 Scott Blvd lol…The funny thing is, Ive already done something like this a few years back during summer break from school. It didnt involve charity, but still under the “promotions” category. All it involved was going cold calling selling certificates for local businesses ie. golf courses, oil changes, A’s tickets. It was fun to clown around with the people there, but I would never have considered it a “career” like they advertise.
Also, im surprised no one clowned “Bob” on his comment he made a few months ago: “5% goes to charity, 45% goes to pay for the merch, 35% goes to us, and 25% goes to company. DUH its a business. please get your facts straight before stating otherwise.”
Now even though I went to school, i know im not the smartest sob, lol, but I know enough to see that adds up to 110%….lol i guess thats what Bob gives to this organization!
I want to thank you guys for posting this, because I sent in a resume to High Performance, and thought it was way too easy to get in. So I decided to do some research, and I could not find anything either, except for a comment on this Blog posted by KM about having the same address and phone numbers. Yea, it does sound like a scam. Interviews should never take that long, and you should never be working for them DURING and interview.
Thanks for the info everyone.
By the way, I sent the guy an email back, saying “no thanks.”
I’m glad I came across this blog posting! I was scheduled to go in, but something seemed “off” with them… BTW, have you seen their MySpace??
http://www.myspace.com/428804545
Wish I read this before going. I was desparate for a job and found 5DP. I was called for a first interview, a 2nd interview, and then hired. It felt unrealistic how the system works and how a small portion goes to charity. I worked for 3 days and dreaded work! So I decided to quit! I tried calling them but the phone was disconnected. Then I emailed them and requested them to send my check home but they never did. What a SCAM! Now its tax return time and I received a W-2 (Tax Statement) from 5DP…never got the check…so not sure what to do…
Hey guys its me Frank. Yes the one mentioned in the article. Its been about 2 years since it happened and I decided to see if my story is still helping people out. Im glad to realize that it is and I hope that it will continue to do so. It just makes me laugh that “Bob” and whoever else decided to defend this company bothered posting here because it only reinforces the fact that their company is so full of shit. Let my mistake be a lesson to us all. Education, knowledge, and understanding are keys to success.
I am currently enrolled as a fulltime student at evergreen. If you want to blame my unemployment on anything other than the leaders of america fucking up our economy than feel free to do so. Im just happy to go to school and absorb all the knowledge as possible like a sponge.
I had an interview scheculed at High Performance Productions today. Thanks to everyone who posted this great info, I will definetely not be going!
I think I’ll play along until I can build up a good reserve of ammo on these guys…
I am a poor college student but I have spare time… and LOVE this type of stuff. Meaning I love people that can sleep at night despite living a life, working for places like this… It intrigues me, and I want to make a story of it all.
*equips with voice recorder and heads out the door*
First off I don’t work for these companies. But I feel everyone calling this a scam isn’t right. I don’t agree with there marketing plan but for those of you saying they need to donate 100% of the money is stupid. Basically you’re saying you want these people to work for free? No ALL non profits has employees that make money and sometimes more then regualr company I.E. my aunt works as an accountant for a non profits and get paid very well.
Second it’s not a scam because you will actually be making money of course after there “observation” period which I disagree strongly against but hey that’s they’re choice to operated. The people who are still in there have done it also but making money now (with the remainding 80%).
Although they donate only a small portion 20% there at at least getting something which they wouldn’t of without it. I see it as a win-win situation for the people willing to do it.
Please don’t try to flame me, I’m just stating my opinion which you have yours. But like I said 20% of something is better then 100% of nothing. Plus it does provide a “job” for some rather then most Americans just complaining not enough jobs.
Just my 2 cents
As I look back on the situation, you do have a very good point.
I also feel that I was bringing awareness about how someone felt about working for 5th Dimension.
To each their own…it never hurts to ask questions.
While I can’t quite agree that the way they operate is a scam, I will say the way they go about recruiting salespeople is a scam. Any person with any sense would consider it unethical to bait people the way they do. This is an organization that knows many of its practices are wrong, which is why it operates under 50+ different names across the United States. Each “company” will claim it is continually expanding to meet client needs, yet there are no two “companies” with the same name. That, alone, should be a huge red flag when even thinking about working with or for one of these places.
I ran into numerous warning blogs and articles while trying to find out more about the company, Dual Starr, in Anaheim, California–which had VERY little information on its website–warning to avoid these companies. To think, I was preparing for my interview that is tomorrow, and yet the only RELEVANT INFORMATION I FIND, instead, is that I need to cancel my interview. If there are any proponents of this “company” viewing this blog tell me this–why does a legit company with many big-name clients simply neglect to mention anything on its website? The website was absolutely BARE of anything but baiting lines for the reader. In fact, I emailed the girl, “Rachel,” back just now and told her to stick the company’s lies straight up her bosses asses–all of them.
I would have canceled the interview anyway, but it was nice to find more stories about scams like these. I think it’s despicable that companies like these do what they do. I really don’t care what they do with charity money–after all, every organization, including not-for-profit organizations–have to pay the bills.
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A DOOR-TO-DOOR-LIKE SALES POSITION THIS MAY BE AN ACCEPTABLE “COMPANY” TO APPLY TO; IF YOU ARE A COLLEGE GRAD LOOKING FOR REAL WORK IN MARKETING, MANAGEMENT, SALES OR EVENTS–DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME!
I take it back!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve been reading even more horrifying stories of people employed with any of the Quantum Marketing Group “companies” and I’ve come to the conclusion that, under NO circumstances, should you EVER consider working for any of these so-called “marketing” companies. TRUST ME–IT WOULD BE BETTER TO BE HOMELESS ON THE STREET THAN WORKING FOR ONE OF THESE PLACES.
First of all, they make you pay for your own travel expenses and uniform costs. Second, they’ll regularly have you travel very long distances. Third, you make NO money unless you sell lots of product. In fact, you normally spend more money than you make. Fourth, the product is usually something extremely poor that nobody would want to begin with… and if they did want it, they’d regret buying it later. Fifth, management is incompetent. Sixth, you may NEVER get paid for any of the work you do. I’ve actually read of lawsuits waged against several of the Quantum Marketing Group locations because of refusal to pay employees… not only that, but in the past they have forced employees to purchase the product. Not sure if they do that now. Seventh, you are EASILY replaceable… if you quit they won’t even shrug their shoulders because they are regularly scamming an army of new recruits into joining. IF YOU HAVE ANY FEELING OF SELF WORTH, OR A PROBLEM WITH WORKING YOUR ASS OFF TO GET YOURSELF INTO–RATHER THAN OUT OF–DEBT THEN CANCEL YOUR INTERVIEW AND TELL THESE PEOPLE TO FUCK THEMSELVES!
Thanks for this insight. It still amazes me that something I wrote about over a year ago is still having impact on peoples lives today. I am still surprised the company still tries to operate this way. Thanks for your comment.
By any chance do any of you know if this company is linked to a company in Santa Clara called High Performance Promotions??
It seems very linked to High Performance Promotions, check out this comment: http://djrayz.com/2007/07/5th-dimension-promotionz-scam/comment-page-1/#comment-42
HERE IN IL, THEY ARE IN SCHAUMBURG 1125 TOWER THEY HAVE CHANGED THEIR NAME TO ICON INDUSTRIES. GLAD I DIDN’T GO TO THE ‘INTERVIEW’. I FOUND THAT THEY ARE ALSO ID PROMOTIONZ BUT I SUPPOSE CHANGED THE NAME BECUASE OF ALL THE NEGATIVE PRESS ON RIPOFF.COM AND OTHER SITES. JUST PRAY AND GO PEOPLE,WE WILL BE ALRIGHT.
hey guys they are back at it again but this time they are called usa events, aka high perfomance promotions, aka 5th dimension promotions, but now they are in florida i just went to an “interview” today. what a joke totally unprofessional and what they said they did did not make sense. they get u in the door by saying marketing and then he starting talking about some kind of insurance stuff. i was totally confused. If these people were legit they would not have to move from state to state and change there name so often.
Hey, thanks so much for story and all the comments. I recieved an email from “Jamie” and was excited and decided to research the co a bit. Sketchy McShiester Pants, man. Couldn’t find anything about them on BBB, was appalled by their myspace page (so not professional), and after reading the plight of ex-employees of the co on this site I’ve decided…I’m out. Thanks for the head’s up, guys!!
*Ciao and love to my fellow ethical human beings!!*
In Jan 2009, I worked for BSR. My interviews went exactly like how this author described it: http://www.ripoffreport.com/corrupt-companies/5th-dimension-produc/5th-dimension-productions-5th-cebm8.htm
I stayed with the company for about a month, but I worked about 11 days total and made about $400. At that time, I had another job and I didn’t want to quit my old job for this new one until I know for sure that this is what I wanted to do. Thank god because I couldn’t stand the 9am-7am Monday-Friday. I was told that I would not get paid for the training/exercises that we do in the morning, only when I at the actual event. My goal was to raise $300 a day, but since I was still in training, I was paid hourly. However, they never told me how much per hour.
I agree that the interviews process was vague, but once I got hired, they didn’t seem so shady. It’s not a job for everyone. I was forced to wear business casual clothes, which I hated. The only thing that I hated were the long hours and no overtime. I was told to tell people that “We’re not the charity. We only fundraised money for them.” In a way, I did make some money. I guess if you have a month of free time, you should do this and make some money. Apparently, as long as you’re still a trainee, you get paid hourly.
I used to work there too and it was a waste if time, gas, and money. I quit after 2 weeks. I can’t believe I gave into that.