Cutco Cutlery / Vector Marketing Corporation

[Tempest]

Cutco

Hey everyone,

I'm 18 and I'm interested in getting a job at Cutco Cutlery (Vector Marketing). Does anyone have any experience with this company? Anyone worked there before as a sales rep.?

If so, perhaps you guys could share with me your experience.

Thanks! =)

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

CLICK HERE

 

[Vincent]

Don't do it, you'll be selling your soul to a heartless corporation that takes advantage of people like you.

Get a real job.

 

[darkmenace]

NO NO NO NO

NO dude, dont do it!!!

I did it over the summer and worst f'n experience.

they tell you that your gonna make 16 bucks per appointment, but what they dont tell you till later is that it has to be a certain person who you do a presentation to.

Its easier at first since you do it with family, Im telling you at first its like a dream come true. Every manager seems really psyched about CUTCO, and it even gets you psyched, although in the back of your mind your like "is this guy serious?"

I should have seen the signs before I jumped into it...

My mom's boss had given me an opportunity to work at a preschool as a substitute assistant, pay was gonna be good and it was a really good opportunity (most people wait 6 months to get an opening like that, I got it in a week).
A week after that news, I got the letter from Vector/CUTCO. I didnt know what the hell this was about, but it was extremely f'n easy to get an interview, So i was like "**** yeah im going"

I get an interview and the guy asks me to come back for a second interview, I was told I might get the job because of this.
I come back, but I get their late, the second group interview had already started. I should have walked out of there when I had the chance. One of the managers stopped me and told me I should come back for another interview later that afternoon, hesitantly I said sure, I needed the money. I end up getting the job that evening.
My girlfriend tells me she has a pretty bad feeling about this company, and I told her I would be ok. I skipped helping her move out to go to their training (brainwashing would be more like it). Those 3 days we dont get paid for training, Im stressing and hoping that this would be all worth it in the end. I find out we have to pay about $145 for the "training packet", after that half of my class is gone the next day. The day before I had to pay, my dad told me that it wasnt a good idea to take that job, we argued. My mom because she loves me so damn much, hesitating she gave me the money.

they tell me that I get paid 16 bucks an appointment, there were 10 or 15 slots for appointments. The following week I have 2 sales and the rest no sales. Im hoping to get a couple hundred with comission and all...I dont even get enough money for gas....IM LIKE WTF IS THIS...

That month (July) was all just brainwashing meetings, wasted gas, wasted time, no money, PDI's , calling people I havent talked to in years, getting pressured to call people by the managers. I ended up trying to scam the company back, by writing down that I had alot of appointments and having my friends sign. I got me a couple of dollars. For cutco I sold over $2000 dollars worth of knives, I only got $300. I didnt get the base pay I deserved. I ended up quitting after only a month of work.


CUTCO's knives do work, no doubt. But the way they brainwash us young kids into thinking that we'll be rolling in dough by the end of summer is just f'n wrong. Bottomline is dont do it, Youll end up more broke than when you started and more afraid of the corporate world than ever before. LOL

 

[Tempest]

Thanks for the replies!!

Yeah, I've typed it in google as well and read a lot of the negative things about the company. It's kind of disappointing to hear those things.

I'm interested in getting into sales, and someone else at another forum suggested Cutco. This person has had a great experience with them. I personally think Cutco would be a great opportunity for me to get started, despite all the bad fuss.

I understand certain branches are deceitful, etc... and I am doing research to find out about the ones in my area. I believe the experience will do wonders for me. I used to be extremely shy, and I have already had a major transformation in that so far in the past year. I see this job to be very beneficial to me, in the aspect of you learn how to be a more effective communicator, read body language, overcome your fear of "rejection", etc...

It sounds like a great place to put on your resume, as well. If you can do this job and sell knives, you can literally sell ANYTHING.

What I don't understand is why weren't you paid for the appointments you made and did? You said you didn't even get enough money to cover your gas!! Even if you make the appointments and stuff... aren't you still making GOOD money by getting the base salary? I'm a bit confused on that part.

Anyways, hopefully others could enlighten me more on the company. Maybe some positive feedback, so I don't think that they're 100% evil and that I will get royally screwed in the end. I DO want to make money, still.

Let me know your opinions. Thanks!! =)

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

Originally posted by Tempest
Anyways, hopefully others could enlighten me more on the company. Maybe some positive feedback, so I don't think that they're 100% evil and that I will get royally screwed in the end. I DO want to make money, still.

I am very concerned that you are on here basically saying, "Tell me GOOD THINGS about this scam artist so that I don't think that they are bad!"

Dude, put your ear really close to the monitor and listen closely.

























THEY ARE F*CKING BAD!


Do not make me cyberslap you.

 

[diablo]

Ah, let the kid make his own mistakes. I sold Cutco for a summer, and made a very paltry amount... and I'm an excellent salesman. Working at The Buckle with a $3 base salary and 3% commission, I made over $9/hour average salary. This is far more than I made selling Cutco. However, because you're considered a sales rep for like 6 months after you finish selling (meaning they will let you borrow a set of the knives to show potential buyers), I had a bite from a family friend. I had already returned my own set of knives and gotten my deposit back, so I borrowed one of their sets... the person didn't end up placing an order, and I said "To Hell with Cutco, I'm keeping these!"... 3 years later, I've still got my own set of $600 Cutco knives sitting in my closet, waiting for me to get my own place. So, if you want ****ty pay and to basically make your family buy crap from you that they don't really want or need, and will only buy because it's you selling it to them, then be forced to give you referrals to their friends who might or might not buy it based solely on the fact that you're a son of one of their friends, go ahead. If you want to keep any dignity at all, do something else with your time.

 

[Cheiradawg]

If a job is based on comission there is a reason.

 

[Tempest]

I still don't understand why noone is making money with them. You DO make appointments and whatnot, correct? Are you not paid for the appointments like they say? Is that a huge lie?

There ARE people that do make money that work for Cutco. There are some success stories. How do you explain that? Why are they still working for them?

Where is the scam?

I see this job similar to many sales fields. I was reading from the SAVE thing that they were claiming it was a scam and stuff because they weren't getting paid for the training seminars. Because they weren't getting paid for gas, or for making cold calls, etc... but how is that different from a job based purely on commission? How is it different than most sales jobs? Take car sales for example. You're working on 100% commission. When you take a job like this, you KNOW and realize that there is a chance you might make $0. There are some salesmen at my old work that get paid NOTHING on their paychecks, because they didn't make any sales. Wasted time? Yes. But that's part of sales!

You literally design your own paycheck. If you're motivated and determined, you have the ability to be successful and make money. Right?

Plus, I think you're given the option of either buying the knives as a demo, or borrowing them. You can give a security deposit and borrow them, and then get it refunded later if you decide to quit. Right?

Diablo, why weren't you successful selling Cutco? Why didn't you make money?

Also, I know you're suposed to attempt to sell them to your families and friends and stuff, right? I know my family won't buy them. Won't you still be getting paid for the appointments, though?

Thanks again for sharing the opinions/experiences.

 

[diablo]

Go ahead and sell them, nobody here is going to say anything to dissuade you. I do ask that you remember this thread in a month and let us know how much you've made.

 

[skinnydart]

Don't do it, they're terrible. I know some people who have gotten into it and all they've done is lost money. The whole thing is a Scam.

 

[check_mate_kid_uk]

Originally posted by diablo
a $3 base salary and 3% commission

here in the UK the goverment spends 25% of its money on bl**dy social security so that people who cant be bothered to work can sit at home on there fat ar$es and the goverment will give them all the money they need.

but there is 1 good thing about a socialst goverment, the minimum wage is equivilent to about $8 an hour.

but i would much rather they stoped handing out cash to people who do not want to work, whilst the hospitals and universtys suffer.

why do you think france, germany and other western european countrys are doing better then england, why is england now only 7th best standard of living in the world, its because the goverment spends more money on benfits for the unemployed then it does on any other single thing. fcuk you tony blair.

 

[prosemont]

Okay Tempest, you sound like you've been brainwashed already since you've not listening to a word anyone here is saying.

If you have a "friend" who is telling you what a great company it is and how much money there is to make, the reason is most likely that if he refers you to the company, he will probably get a commission on everything YOU sell -- so it makes a lot of sense for him to recruit as many people as he can. It's all part of the pyramid scheme with most companies that do direct marketing sales. Ever have someone try to get you to sell Avon, Pampered Chef, Tupperware, yada, yada, yada? They are trying to get YOU to sell it because THEY will make a commission off your sales.

Okay, about Cutco in particular. I have had several friends and acquaintances who have gotten buttfvcked by getting involved that company. Here's what they say about it:

1. They will "hire" anyone.

2. They make YOU pay about $150 for "training." (Because they hire hundreds of college kids -- their target naive market) and force them all to ante up $150 bucks, they're making a tidy little sum on those dipshiites right there. Getting 300 schmucks in a room for "training" at $150 each is $45 grand. Nice little take.

3. They force you to buy the knives (at a "discount" hahahaha) that you NEED in order to make your sales calls. If they charge another $100 to each of those 300 schmucks for knives then that's another $30 grand -- off just ONE cycle of college schmucks -- they do this all year.

4. YOU then Johnny Schmucko get your parents and family and friends to buy this stuff and they WILL -- to "help" you, you schmuck. So, figure another $500 of sales from each of those 300 douchebags ... that's another $150k for Cutco.

5. So, where's YOUR pay come in? They promise that if you visit a TON of people ... I don't know the exact amount, but I have heard it is astronomical ... you'll get X amount of money. From all reports ... they NEVER pay that money out claiming:
a. You didn't actually meet those people (even if you lied and said you did),
b. The people you met weren't "qualified" buyers (ie. it can't be your college roommates),
c. That each sales call needs to be with just one or two people ... can't do it in groups (essentially making it impossible for you to claim you met with large numbers of people),
d. One of my friends listed showed me the damn knives and listed me as an appointment to get "credit" for it. The guys at Cutco actually called me to verify that he met with me (because he was making a stink about getting the whole payment they promised) -- and they tried to be tricky and said "how'd you like those POTS and PANS that you were shown?" ie. so that they could claim my friend was a fraud and just listed my name down there and asked me to cover for him. Me: huh, I saw knives, not pots and pans.

Eventually, after getting fvcked around by the company and not getting paid called the Attorney General's Office and complained ... and finally got a check from Cutco.

Most often, I guess they try to get you to take some knives in lieu of payment instead.

But ... listen ... GOOD FVCKING LUCK. If you're able to swindle your own friends and family into buying enough of that stuff, I suppose you might make some money.

I can tell you this, however, from the hiring perspective: if I ever saw Cutco or "Vector Marketing" on someone's resume, I would think they were a schmuck (in case you didn't notice). If they came in and then proceeded to tell me what a "valuable" experience it was, I guarantee you I would not hire that person.

 

[Tempest]

Alright, thanks. I guess my friend was one of the very few that worked at a decent branch.

Looks like I'm going to have to find a REAL job in sales. Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

 

[AFK Protector]

I've never even heard of this cutco company.

 

[Yotsuya-san]

AFK Protector said: I've never even heard of this cutco company.

They don't advertise at all. Word of mouth is all they've got. That's one of the reasons they CLAIM they can afford $16 per appointment. CLAIM is the key word. But you also have to wonder why they don't sell their merchandise via online or through specialty shops (gourmet kitchen and restaurant supply stores). Why are they doing door to door sales, you gotta wonder. It's this: Their cutlery isn't poor quality, but it's not justified the price compared to some of the other high quality cutlery out there. It does misrepresent the quality of it's line compared to others like Heckels. This and a general history of misleading it's own salespeople is why they keep such a low profile.

 

[Levex]

Cutco knives are pretty good, but this Vector marketing company they hired to promote it should be avoided like a plague.

This summer i filled out an application online on a computer on my college campus,when i got home 3 hours later i had a message waiting for me from them saying that their manager has reviewed my application and would like to give me an interview, and left a callback number... At first i was like hell yeah, i got a job interview,but then i thought what kinda company reviews an online application and calls back within 3 hours...

i said **** it, got nothing to lose so i called them back. the receptionist was unusually friendly and basically begging me to come in for an interview, while dodging any questions regarding what the hell i'm supposed to do at that job. she said to come in the next day at 3 "dressed for bussiness" which meant a suit and a tie. after i hung up, i decided to look up this shady company online and called a guy who i knew was familiar with it.

no wonder they dont tell you what you'll be doing... lets just say if you want to alienate all your friends and family go for this job,otherwise forget about it. you are expected to call every family member and every person you know and make "appointments" with them to come over their house and try to sell them sets of knives that cost up to 800 bucks. i dont know about you but i dont know a single person who would spend even 100 dollars on a fvcken set of knives...its KNIVES for gods sake!
anyways, thats not all. they want you to come in for 3 days in a row for training sessions that last 6 hours each and you have to buy your own set of knives for 150 bucks before you can start working.

after hearing all that i obviously decided not to go to that interview,and those bastards kept bugging me with phone calls for few days asking why i didnt show up...

oh yeah..and any positive feedback you may read online about that company was probably written by themselves. i was reading a message board discussing Vector and there was about an equal amount of positive and negative feedback, but then site moderator posted saying that he found it interesting that all positive posts have been posted from the same IP...

so listen to all the other people who are telling you to stay away, there's a good chance you may even lose money if you start working for them. why do you think they mostly operate around college campuses, because theres a lot of broke-ass students who would take any job they can get. but vector doesnt care, as long as you're pushing their knives they dont give a sh1t if you even earn anything.

 

[diablo]

Originally posted by Yotsuya-san
But you also have to wonder why they don't sell their merchandise via online or through specialty shops (gourmet kitchen and restaurant supply stores).

No, as much as I dislike the company - or like the last poster said, the marketing agency, Vector, Cutco is and will continue to be an awesome product. I had an sales pitch with one woman, a friend of one of my aunt's friends friends, who pulled out the Cutco she had from like the 60's... said it still was as sharp as when she bought it, but that she'd needed one knife reworked (Cutco repairs and sharpens knives free of charge, you just mail it to them... sort of like Leatherman does) - which was done promptly and shipped back to her. I'm proud to own my own set of knives that I scammed out of Vector Marketing, and I fully intend on one day buying the outrageously overpriced wooden chopping block (which has holes cut through the entire block so that the knives will air dry even if you've just taken them out of the dishwasher!.. yeah yeah old habits die hard) once I get my own place...

 

[Eternal]

If you want a job in sales, go to a department store and apply for shoe salesmen.

 

[diablo]

Originally posted by Eternal
If you want a job in sales, go to a department store and apply for shoe salesmen.

Or you can be like Eternal and sell prostitutes. Highly lucrative field, from what I understand.