Southwestern advantage, formerly known as southwestern company, is a direct marketing sales company that recruits and trains college and university students as independent contractors to sell educational books, software, and website subscriptions door to door using direct selling methods. Door to door sales education books scam hackettstown nj. The old doortodoor scam isnt such an old trick that it no longer catches consumers off guard. Virginias department of criminal justice services recently warned people about doortodoor salespeople selling alarm monitoring. Along with a receipt, legitimate doortodoor sellers should provide you with a cancellation form. A young guy just came to my house and said hes here from toledo doing an exchange program internship with kids from uva and va tech for early education and learning.
Before you place an ad to sell a used car, youll need to be aware of common scams and learn how to avoid them. There has been quite a few people going door to door selling education booksand after researching it is a scam. I called the company figure out what was happening. Hundreds of young people are being abused and exploited within the travelling sales industry in the us. Well, the books came after about 4 months and then about a month later we received another book in the mail. Southwestern advantage is part of the southwestern family of companies. Many people at some point in their lives have opened their front door to face a child or adult trying to sell them a product. Many scammers are still knocking on doors, especially as the weather warms up. This lets potential customers know the book is the topselling item in that category. Doortodoor scams involve people selling products or services that are of a very poor quality, or are not delivered at all. Usually sketchy book selling companies offer business internships for students of any major usually right before summer when many students.
If i didnt need the books myself, i could have them sent to a school or hospital. Instead, they might try to enter your house and look around your home for the nexttime burglary. In a door to door scam, the fraudster knocks on your door and typically offers a product or service, but their primary goal is to steal from you. Lennys proven techniques will advance any sales reps skills from fortune 500 sales professionals to strip mall shoes salesmen. The firm sells books and magazine subscriptions door to door through independent contractors that travel from city to city and state to state all.
Dobbs says her thenboyfriend, harvey, never let her see the books while they. They came to our door a few years ago selling childrens books. Southwestern advantage, formerly known as southwestern company, is a direct selling program that recruits college and university students as independent contractors to sell educational books, software, and website subscriptions doorto door. Updates at end reports are being received nationwide about doortodoor salesmen selling childrens book and persistently asking for information about any children in the home or in the. Dont let the salesmen in especially you are at home alone. Doortodoor charity magazine sales scam optimum reading. In my opinion, they scam some of the people, some of the timeso youre taking a chance by selling your books with them. This summer, like every summer, deceptive doortodoor magazine sales crews are out in full force across the country.
These scams typically begin with a knock at the door and a young person on the other side claiming to be raising money for a charity, school trip, or other seemingly worthy cause by selling magazine subscriptions. Use this guide to make your transaction as safe and painless as possible. It would help them earn their way to a school trip to london. Avoiding doortodoor sales scams aarp official site. They also spoke of traveling, it seems that they want to take you to a different city as. En espanol joe and irene pellouso of madera, calif.
My favorite newspaper, the wall street journal, ran a fascinating article recently on how some authors are buying their way to bestseller lists. I thought it was legit when the nice looking couple, kids of neighbors they said came to my door selling childrens books. Sometimes they even provide false identity or contact information, making you believe them that they are genuine enough to trust. Unless you are extremely popular and you have a huge social circle your business will stall and you will be left selling any inventory. Hundreds of young people trafficked into doortodoor. Rodney hobson, author of the bestselling beginners guide to stock market investing shares made simple, has produced the first definitive guide to scams, categorising the different types, listing telltale signs and advising how to spot a fraudster and. Maybe this particular lady was not running a scam, but its hard to know or feel safe anymore. Sell textbooks for cash sell used books cash4books. He was a nice enough kid, out here from the midwest to earn some money for college. However, the real scam happened when she used my bank information to pull a monthly automatic payment out of my account. Trapped into selling magazines doortodoor the atlantic. Foreign accents, wellbuilt, persistent and seeking information about any children in the house have you seen any in your neighborhood. Online claims of human traffickers going doortodoor in. Based on commission so making money is possible, but you can also owe money, or have payout equal to profit.
But the woman who showed up at her house selling magazines had a compelling story. In a report published on thursday, entitled knocking at your door, the antitrafficking. Sid kirchheimer is the author of scamproof your life, published by aarp books sterling. Hundreds of young people trafficked into doortodoor sales in the us. There have been abductions from this scam in other states. The knock can come in the morning, afternoon or evening, in late june, midjuly, even early august. He promised us it was a one time only purchase and wed get our books in a month or so. Seattle some queen anne business owners believe a man going doordoor asking for donations to benefit seattle childrens hospital is all part of a bookselling scam. Doortodoor scams sales, childrens books, household items. It is based on the belief of the law of attraction, which claims that thoughts can change a persons life directly. They claim you need no isbn number for your book, dont recommend s. I am out both the books i was selling, and the payment.
Scams arent just something for buyers to be aware of sellers can be common targets, too. Southwestern advantage, formerly known as southwestern company, is a direct selling program that recruits college and university students as independent contractors to sell educational books, software, and website subscriptions doortodoor. Some door to door salesman burglars may not lure you into the door to door water heater scams, door to door childrens book scams, candy sales scam or door to door alarm scams. Are doortodoor booksellers actually sex traffickers. Today i found out there is a scam of two women with heavy accents going door to door pretending to sell children s books but who are targeting young girls for sex trafficking. They claim that you can make millions by selling door to door. And for that reason, they should just do away with it. Southwestern advantage stirs controversy on campus the. A facebook post claiming that young women going doortodoor selling childrens books might be involved in human trafficking has gone viral. People do not need to rely on you the independent consultant because they can get these books new from any book store and amazon. That pushy doortodoor book and magazine sellers exist doesnt prove those vendors are looking for children to abduct and.
Beware of doortodoor magazine sales, it may be a scam. In west virginia, a salesman sold coupon books offering discounts at area businesses to benefit a youth achievement program at an area college. Secrets of making the sale is the book to help you improve your communication and doortodoor sales skills this is a must read for new and experienced sales reps. Southwestern advantage complaints better business bureau. The secret is a bestselling 2006 selfhelp book by rhonda byrne, based on the earlier film of the same name. Shady characters go doortodoor selling everything from magazine subscriptions, meat and alarm systems to roofing and tree trimming services. Getting to the top by jeffrey trachtenberg details how several business book authors contracted with resultsource to get their books on bestseller lists published by the journal and the new york times. Every summer i wait for the knock on my front door from a heatflushed college student carrying a heavy canvas bag. A doortodoor scam artist will use social engineering tactics to play on your sympathy. When i was a kid late 70searly 80s, my pos stepdad would buy lots of cute pencils in bulk, then make me go doortodoor selling them for school. One facebook post read, there is a lady going door to door trying to sell very expensive childrens books, which is actually a scam to see if your kids are abductable.
The aspect of traveling and selling door to door scared me at first but it proved to be the best decision ive ever made because i worked hard and trusted the system. Ive read here about a scam involving supposed college kids selling magazines and am wondering if an encounter just now was also a scam. A door to door scam artist came to my door selling books. Apparently the receipt i signed gave sw advantage the ability to steal a monthly payment. The most common doortodoor scams involve selling meat, magazines, asphalt paving and alarm systems. In a doortodoor scam, the fraudster knocks on your door and typically offers a product or service, but their primary goal is to steal from you. Labor exploitation on doortodoor sales crews global. Upon opening the door, ill be greeted by a tall, blonde coed or a short unassuming. Prestige sales usa doortodoor bookmagazines sales scam. However i contacted one that is totally a scam and people need to stay away from booklogix in atlanta. Books we use cookies to improve your experience on our. The book and magazine sales outfit based in memphis has racked up complaints in 15 states.
Some door to door salesman burglars may not lure you into the door to door water heater scams, door to door childrens book scams, candy sales. Southwestern advantage, formerly known as southwestern company, is a direct marketing sales company that recruits and trains college and university students as independent contractors to sell educational books, software, and website subscriptions doortodoor using direct selling methods. They will attempt to make you feel horrible for not making the purchase, explaining that kids in some thirdworld country will go hungry. I think of this every time i see children selling candy in this manner and wonder. Possible bookselling scam claims to benefit seattle. Traveling crews have been exploiting young workers and scamming customers for decadesand neither. At that point it was clear that the interns would be doing doortodoor sales. Instead, they might try to enter your house and look around your. In fact, consumers who take the bait and sign up for a subscription often report that they receive nothing in return. It may include services such as home maintenance services such as pest control, garden maintenance, building or roof repairs, insurance or homecare products. I spoke with gilbert pd and they are already investigating.
The aim of this article is to fetch you information about the most unscrupulous doorto door scams that are threatening the home insiders. However, there are many different industries that depend on the labor of exploited adults and children. Foreign book sellers with accents going doortodoor. Southwestern advantage is a direct sales company that helps college students start their own business selling educational books door to door. Be wary when a stranger shows up at your front door with a limited time offer that has to be purchased right now. Once part of a travelling team selling goods door to door, however, they. The book has sold 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 50 languages. Today i found out there is a scam of two women with heavy accents going door to door pretending to sell childrens books but who are. I go to my door with a bat in my hand ever since i found out a guy selling. In order to create our list of 9 best selling products doortodoor we used reddit and warrior forum as our sources to see what are the best selling products.