Hello heveryody!
Guess What!
Yesterday i had a final interview with a company in London, named RED SQUARE DIRECT.
At the beginning, i thought they were looking for marketing positions, wich is not face 2 face or door to door sales.
I understood that this company was a crap during my second round interview when they brang me in a book store in London raising founds for the Red Cross (I don't even know if they'r really authorize to raise money for them).
Once in the office, my leader told me that it was very difficult to me to be hired because there were a lot of poeple that day looking for that job but she told she anted to talk to his boss and convince him to hire me.
Any way, same story i read in a lot of other websites about these bastards.
Thank good i have a degree, and i was looking for a real job in London, not for a door to door job that even a monkey could do.
When i understood what was going on, i wanted to go straight to the end, and i acted like i really wanted that job and bla bla bla.....
I should start next monday.
Yeah, sure, wait for me, i'm coming ahuahuahuauhahuhuahua
Of course i'll never show up again and now i'm back in Italy waiting for an interview on monday with H3G headquarter.
I'm really disappointed about that, i'm trying to leave italy and live in uk thinkink that is a country where those thinks doesn't happen....
Of course i was wrong, sometimes English people is worst than italians.
In fairness to both Cobra Group and also the ex-employees of Cobra, this thread seems as though it will go on forever, the arguments are all the same, back and forth back and forth. It seems as though anyone who is still working for the Cobra Group and defending them here has probably done reasonably well, or at least has been brainwashed to a high degree.
As for the ex-employees of Cobra I understand that you're probably bitterly angry at having a period of your life wasted for no real return. As an ex employee of cobra group (I only worked there for a month before I decided that knocking peoples doors was a joke and that my colleagues were all brain dead imbeciles) I have seen the extent of the brainwashing employed, but also I know as someone who has run a successful sales office outside of the cobra group that sometimes this is necessary to maintain the quality of staff and the turnover of the business.
People need to realize that sales businesses usually are not the most ethical, whether it be selling double glazing or pitching stock in an investment bank. Once people are not performing then they become a financial burden on the business, and they are sacked.
The problem with Cobra Group is that no-one ever gets sacked, basically because if someone isn't making money they are not a burden because they are only paid on what they sell and even if they only make £20 a week then it's £20 extra for the business. This is the reason that the Cobra Group is very dangerous and does have the ability to destroy people's lives, however there are no laws against this, and I don't see anyone campaigning for legislation.
This is the main reason why I feel most of the anti-cobra posters on here are so angry, maybe they have not had their lives destroyed but they have probably seen it happen to ex colleagues.
As for the Pro-Cobra posters, I think it is ridiculous that you would need to come on here and defend your business, if the post was a lie then surely you could get a lawyer to act on your behalf and have the thread removed, threatening a libel action, but then again it's only libel if what's printed is a lie.
For the anti-cobra people, if you care so deeply about this, then please please, do not confine your action to the internet, althought I am not a socialist, I have seen socialist groups in many parts of the uk protesting unfair employers for much smaller reasons than the cobra group, if you want to hurt them then get ppl protesting outside these offices and dissuade people at the interview stage. That way in a very short time without new staff, the whole group will wither and die and you won't have to waste time on here repeating the same argument over and over again.
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My only concern is for the young people who are sucked in to the cobra web. Every ex cobra guy on this forum was one of these guys once, and I just dont want to see it happen to anyone else. If they were straight up in the interview that would be one thing. But the fact that they lie from you from the start and then teach you how to do the same is simply dispicable. They should be punished and shut down permanently. They need to be known to the media, and anyone who can advertise there currupt, deceptive business on a large scale. And Chris Niarchos and Mike Blaine- suck my balls motherfuckers!
Thankyou so much UKdirectmarketing. I just left a post the other day about how someone (not me because I'm too busy with other things, thank god I'm not too busy being a cobra slave though!) should do something about this plague, I don't know if you're from the UK or not, or anyone who reads this might want to consider getting in touch with a programme by the bbc called watchdog, I'm sure they'd have a field day with this. Thanks again!
P.S. Having trouble registering with your site can't find activation e-mail in inbox or spam folder, any ideas?
The Cobra Group plc, a direct sales and marketing company, provides customer acquisition, promotional, and direct marketing solutions in the United Kingdom and internationally. It also offers sports, residential, and site marketing solutions. The company serves utilities, telephony, financial services/insurance, home security, pay television, charities, merchandising, and consumer products market sectors. It has operations in Australia, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
I'm really disappointed about that, i'm trying to leave italy and live in uk thinkink that is a country where those thinks doesn't happen....
Of course i was wrong, sometimes English people is worst than italians.
The UK isn't made up only of ENGLISH people, and Cobra is not only a British (or as you think 'English' company) - they have offices in every country around the world, so its not exclusively to do with the UK. Every country is as bad as the next one.
But also, your way of dealing with it wasn't exactly admirable. I mean, once you realised the job wasn't for you, you could have just stopped there or told them, instead of stringing it out to feel good about yourself and waste their time. Maybe you should have worked for them after all. Sounds like the kind of thing a Cobra employee would do. Keep moaning about English people off here, and just stick to the topic.
Last edited by woodpecker : 02-02-2009 at 02:52 AM.
Anyone about to attend 1st interview, this is what will happen. Anyone who has started, this is what happened!!!!!!
We need to get these forums above all the job advertising sites on ALL search engines!!! Stop people even applying to them. That way if they aint got any people to brain wash and go out into the 'field' they'll have to shut up shop!!!!
I got out of there after playing them so I could get some evidence to take to people who would know what to do with it ie; contracts and booklets!
Last edited by I_RANG_THE_BELL : 02-11-2009 at 07:52 PM.
I just spent the last two days with an office owned by cobra, decided this morning that i had to get out. All the usual stuff you read about cobra in these forums had happened, ten hour "observation day" (surely thats just a training day with a different name so they don't have to pay you), ridiculous cult like ceremonies before and after hours (If you want me to bang a gong and then high five a room full of baying drooling chimps you sure as hell better pay me!), and of course plenty of nonsensical talk about potential to be a millionaire and not very much in the way of straightforward explanation. I must admit on my observation day i was pretty brainwashed, I knew the hours were awful and i wouldnt make as much as if i was paID an hourly rate, but work is so hard to come by these days, so i thought id try and make the best of it, after all we've all done shitty jobs! Now I feel very foolish indeed. Alarm bells began to ring on my first day when i made to successful pitches and didnt actually receive any indication of when or how i would receive payment (I was still waiting with baited breath for them to ask for my bank details!). Oh yeah, and does this sound familiar... "What we're doing is providing *****, food and shelter for the families affected, i'm sure you could help too (whilst nodding furiously)". So i looked it up on the internet last night and was rather horrified at what I saw. Upon reading the horror stories of others it all started to make sense, the ways in which they had already started to con me. We were told if we made any mistakes on the forms the transaction to the Red Cross (shame on you RC by the way) would be void. What are the chances that if i try and cash in on my two successful pitches, now that i've left i'll be told a mistake was made on the form?? And therefore ill not be paid?? They get a day of free work out of me then i leave. Genius. Horrible twisted genius. Anyway theres so much more i want to say about this but ill be here all day, I just wanted to thank everyone whos posted on these forums, who knows i couldve ended up working there for months and losing a hell of a lot more than a couple of days of my life to these people. DO NOT WORK FOR COBRA, even if the company that contacts you isnt supposedly assosciated, read up on what happens in cobra offices and if youre in a similar situation get out. Dont let peoples false success stories keep you in, I am pretty sure the people in your office who claim to make 9 successful pitches in a day and take home a grand a week after bond are planted by cobra, i overheard someone in my office whose success story had spurred me on mention to a colleague that he had worked in numerous cobra offices before. Go figure.
Hi. has anyone ever wondered that no one is forced to work?
if you want to work, work; if you dont , live of the giro.
About COBRA, its for harworking people. its not a get rich quick scheme.
its all about reaping what you work for. its easy to see people not giving off their best in a classic 9-5 job knowing that they'll get paid a fixed wage at the end of a day no matter what.
in COBRA its different. you only get what you work for. if you're focused , hardworking , its for you. if not its not.
I've been here almost a year. i'm not owner yet. but i'll get there no matter how long it takes me. if an average person can do it. so can i.
sales doesnt come naturally to everyone. not everyone is cut out to be a sales man. but with traning and dedication, you can make it , if you stick around.
if COBRA is a scam like most of you say, why do they get all the top clients they have? the british red cross, SKy tv. n*****, talk talk, RSPB, ....
its because they're good at what they do. they are the largest face-to-face marketting company in the world.
cost effective to businesses especially charities.
if its a scam, dont you think that over the years, the red cross , and other cobra clients could have seen that and abandoned them?
Why would these companies give a shit if cobra has dubious practices? of course they wouldn't if it works for them. Also, there are many many better options other than Cobra and government handouts. I can only pity some of the people working for them now who either have no better option or are just so deperate for money. I heard some can get promotion because maybe their relatives are helping them move up the 'ladder', as I heard about one person from the person I knew who worked there.
The long-term consequences of working for this can be bad as well as good, clearly.
Last edited by Barr_2008 : 03-09-2009 at 08:36 AM.
Never bothered posting here before, but just thought i would give you my 2 cents.
1st my story, I worked in Cobra for about 3 years in 3 locations including a country change. I left as an owner, thats right I walked away. I new evrybody to a very high level very well, including all the VP's and multiple country heads and even Chris.
2nd I left after finally doing the maths and realising that even the org heads make fuck all. Org heads earn about £40,000 a year before tax. For the experience and revenue they are generating for the company this is not a lot. They talk alot about their gross earnings, but the expenses just keep killing you from ownership up.
The only way to make money is to become a partner in Cobra (VP). This is rarer than hens teeth, though there are allways loads of people about to be promoted....
So here is the truth about expenses for new guys ask your owner about these, preferably in a morning or leaders meeting, after all what have they to hide...
Ask your owner to show you his accounts for the last 12 months, for the company. If they say no ask why, their hub manager from head office can email them over in 2 secs... Then ask them to show the office, if they are such a success surely they should show you. Also ask for the company tax return from last year to see their net profit after tax, they cant fake it! Their hub manager also has this, if not tell them to call Accounts Direct (this is another scam you have to use these "cobra accountants" they charge a fortune and hide the skimming from you that head office has done, more on that later)
So Owners pay for the rallies... not just the cost of taking their guys but if it's local to help pay for other owners who come from further away. Also we pay for the drinks, the hotels, the venue...
This is the same for all the meetings, and weekends and getaways you guys gol on to sell you the business. Plus as an owner your expected to attend all of these events, bring a couple of guys, pay for travel food drinks etc... It never ends.
Rejects, you think you get fucked for rejects, man try being an owner, Cobra will look for any reason to reject a sale, they then not only don't pay you, they don't pay your owner. Same with Bonds.
Head office also Skim sales, cancelling contracts that actually go through, this may be a small smount of sales per guy but office wide this kills it... I know this from a coked up country head speaking too loudly to Chris...
Fake sales, once you are a crew leader or AO you learn how to fake sales and lie about results to your guys, Often you may even do this after discussion with your owner, he will conmvince you this is for the good of your team... really it's to help him. I looked after my guys but plenty of owners fucked em the longer you are in the less morals you have as a rule..
There really is no Opportunity, the only think you can learn are as follows.
The systems 3, 5, 8 steps will help you in life apply them in another job and you will make a killing!
The positive attitude, will also help you immensely. I would say that within 6 months you have probably learned all you are going to learn.
BTW for all the Cobra guys out there...
I ran a successfull office and was apparently making "great" money,
My office regularly high rolled the country and I had an AO at the time I left so I hardly negged out or failed. I am now a sales director who just made partner and now earn the money i was promised while at Cobra. I left when i did the maths and had learned all I could learn. There are plenty of fucktards on here that won't last a day in any job, thats why they ended up at cobra. But you can learn alot, so take the positives and it can make a success of your life not a waste of time!
Just thought Id share my experiences,
I went for an interview this week in an office in south wales and was given a job. I found the dancing around the office and high 5ing everyone a bit too much for me personally but it seemed to work for everyone there to get them pumped up so who am i to judge?
Before I hit the field I was taken along to a rising stars ceremony in a 5star hotel. Everyone seemed really excited for me and kept telling me how lucky I was to get advice from these great people so early on, people hyped this thing up so much it felt like I was going to one of those American self help seminars or something. It really started to freak me out a bit when I spoke to people from other offices and realised that everybody uses the same terminology and everyone had the same vacant smile and thousand yard stare....weird. Another strange thing about this place was the way that the talks given by owners and org heads were solely about how much money they earned, the awesome stuff they had bought with it and the Maths of it etc etc they seemed to be trying to say that you were a nobody unless you wanted to give the company everything. The orgy of consumerism left me a little queasey.
During this day you were encouraged to approach the people doing well to find out how they did it and it seemed to me that they all did it by losing friends and alienating family. I heared the phrase "And they laughed at the fact I put so many hours in and know I can buy this stuff and they are still living in a council flat" etc etc about 9 or 10 times. Another thing that pissed me off was the way they ripped the piss out of 9-5ers all day loads of people I know are 9-5 people and they are no less valuable than everyone else!!
I didnt buy into the whole thing personally as I was only looking for a bit of cash before finishing my degree in september. I dont feel angry about Cobra as some people seem to but then again I got out early thanks to that 9 hour rising star materialism masturbation session. I must say however the people from my office were really fun people if not, in my opinion, a little naive. I can completely understand how people get sucked into this company however there is nothing anyone can do because its (just about) legal and people enter and work their asses of for very little, willingly!
we need this kind of justice for some of these people, proper n Irish justice, whether now, whether in 40 years, the shit people do.. will not go away.
Hi im doing reasearch on the cobra group working with a journalist friend to get this in the press maybe also on tv can everyone who has ever worked 4 the cobra group or had a interview with them email me their story my email is adamsmith33 @ hotmail. co. uk we need to stop them now
I wanna say first that anybody who works with cobra should go and read all the posts by "he_who_laughs_last", he has hit the nail on the head about cobra so hard and so well!
Total scam.
I dont think that this forum should spitefull against cobra employees. Yes there definately needs to be a blanket warning to protect people - DONT GET A JOB WITH ANY COBRA AFFILIATED DIRECT SALES COMPANY.
But people already in these companies need help, not insults. When I worked in a Belfast Cobra office 2 years ago (Scorpio Promotions), nobody and I mean nobody could say a bad word against them! I didnt listen to family, close friends or my girlfriend. I either turned their negatives with my new found confidence/arrogance or ignored them when they persisted in trying to "neg me out" (god I hate that phrase!) when in reality they were concerned about me because they loved me.
The people working for Cobra need to realise that there are much better jobs out there! there really are, I am not a particulalry well educated or a wildly intelligent person, however I am a hard worker and like to think I can be quite carismatic at times. I did some training courses and not have a £31,000 (take home after tax) 9-5 job, where I see my friends and family follow my hobbies (football and cars) at the weekends. Because I work hard in a job with solid foundations, I would be very hopeful that next year I will be on £38,000 after tax, this includes health insurance, paying my tax and an annual performance related bonus. It was a lot easier to get this job than to suffer the mental, physical and emotional anguish that accompanied a drop in weekly sales!
My time in Cobra started exactly the same as everybody elses, so I wont repeat them. I became a leader after one week, I regulary rang the bell (think I missed it 3 times in my first month!), I loved the false, jumped up tacky atmosphere while I was King D*ck round the office, I had a swagger and a smile like nobody else and nothing could phase me!..................
............ nothing except a dip in sales!!
After a month and a half, my sales income dropped from a steady £400 to £250, not suitable for the playboy lifesyle I was leading! Not one to be easily shaken, I tried harder, my sales dropped futher to £200 (remember Im doing the ridiculus hrs except im standing in a shopping mall instead of door to dooring it!) Now during this time, I wasnt the King D*ck of the office anymore! I started to see the lies of morning meetings, the false promises, the crazy hours, the toll on my physical and mental health, the strain on my relationships to all who are really important to me, the falseness of the smiles in the office and the overiding greed of those in charge.
Again, I was brainwashed, all my mind could possibly comprehend was that I was failing, it was my fault, my owner told me it was, and encouraged me. I couldnt take him as seriously as I could before after I started noticing the inconsistances between the dream and the life i was living. So I said F*ck it, i'll try harder, and I did, sales picked up and for the next 2 months I went to an average wage of £350. There I was, top of my podium of self importance again, owner was loving me again, people were treating me well again. But it didnt feel like before. I couldnt reconcile the facts of my wage, the slim possiblity of promotion to ownership (which actually makes the dream even harder and more unobtainable than it seems when you are a leader) against the loss of friends, the loss of family contact, the hours and the feeling that I was decieving not only the people I was selling to, but the people I was bringing out on obs.
I did it anyway. (not proud and apologies to all I brought out and rabbited on to!!)
The hardest thing I have ever done personally is quit Cobra. (I had some pretty difficult late teen years which involved some big decisions that most people dont have to make, but I never felt as torn and stange as I did just before I fianlly left)
Im not a quitter, I stay till the jobs done, this was known and this personally quality of mine was used against me by my owner to my personal detriment (health, mentality, etc) but I am also loyal and this too was used against me and made me feel like I was betraying something greater than me! The guilt at thinking of leaving tore at me, and made me feel like everything that I stood against, preached against and everything I was reminded against at morning meatings (weak and helpless).
This alone began to make me postpone the inevitable while weighing like huge invisable weight on my sholders! I couldnt talk about this burden to workmates, as I didnt want to "neg them out" (jesus I feel sick now I've mentioned that stupid phrase twice!), I couldn't talk to friends about this problem as I (hardly had any left!!!!) had been bigging my job up so much in front of them and rubbishing their genuine concerns! I couldnt speak to family as I was too proud to admit I was wrong and I how could my girlfriend respect me if I did a U turn on something I had stuck to for so long?
I think many Cobra employees, if they do feel like this rght now, will feel like it at the point before "taking the jump" back to the real world! This as I said before is the hardest thing I've ever known. This is where people need help as I can only imagine the longer your there, the harder it becomes to make that jump, the heavier that invisable burden becomes, yet the easier it is to pospone it or distract youself with nights out, or delude yourself yourself further.
People, if you find yourself in this position, JUST GET OUT! it'll be the best decision you ever make. I promise!! and if not, you can get the job again in another office!!!
I went out on with one of my genuine friends (outside of cobra) got drunk and confessed all. He kept me there the next day and sent a message to my owner saying I quit, and stole my Simm card (i cursed him at the time but have since gave him my sincerest thanks!)
Now I have a real job, with a real company, and real prospects, real holidays, real travel oppertunities, earn more, work less hours and am in infinitely better physical and mental health!
I will say one thing about my time in Cobra, it did give me confidence with the girls! I can't believe that the pro Cobra guys (90% spaming trolls from Cobra head office) have all missed the only positive about working there! GETTING LAID!!! Jesus if you worked at a Cobra office and didnt nail a few in the office............. + endless supply of new recruits!! oh yea! ah well its quality not quantity for me now!!
My boyfriend worked for the cobra group for about a month. He was out of a job and needed money quick. He applied for a job at the cobra group online, where even their ad was a bit sheepish, it didnt say anything about it being commision pay or the hours he would be working. He applied for it at 1.00am and to my suprise they got back to him thsat same morning! Now that just seems like their desperate for workers! But we both reasoned that we should give it a try as we needed the money. He went for an interview that day where they said he would be making £300 a week well that sounds fantastic i thought!!! Only when he started working there he dropped the bombshell that he would be working for 12 hours a day which i thought was ridiculous as he wasn't earning any money. Over the weeks that he worked there they continued to brainwash him into thinking he would become rich and have his own office, now he truley believed this. Everyone else could see right through all the lies but as he was happy in a job none of us said anything. We wern't seeing eachother at all he was even working on saturdays! It seemed like it was gonna be like this for a long time until finally one day he saw sense, he had had enough of beng a lacky for the higher ups. Now he's looking for another job but is thinking more positive about what he wants to do. If you have a partner who is working for the cobra group i know how it feels its impossible to make them see sense while their feeding him this crap. Just don't let it ruin your relationship because they will see that they are being screwed over soon enough xx
Did anyone try to achieve some kind of justice yet? An incident shown here in andersonstown, west belfast and the second link in response to the first, some street justice, literally in the street, some dramatic street justice. I can say there's a few people not so happy about what happened with my situation
I have come across this site as my partner of 4 years works for the cobra group. he worked for them before i met him, and i had my doubts then...everything i have thought in my head is written here in black and white, and i am so glad i am not the only one to think these things - these things are actually true!
I am not sure why i have put up with this for so long, but the relationship has now got to a point where i can no longer take anymore.
the hours are stupid 9am - midnight, we only see each other on Saturday night and Sundays - we live togther....i feel like i live with a stranger!
the money - he has been an owner for 2 years now, he is so broke...no savings, no money to go out - he buys new suites, but from cheap places like topman, new shoes - he only gets them when there is holes in them! we live in a cheap flat, and have no holidays as he can't take time off work, or afford to go away.
he keeps saying in next few months he will have more money, those few months go by and it is the same story, he had extra bills to pay at work, the rent on the office, the guys didn't perform well enough - all ways excuses. never results, he says he is top performer and he has even taken on extra work but no extra money!
he pays him self a min wage, the cobra group told him he can only pay this wage....it is not enough to live on. but he just gets on with it, he is so tired and dull - he has no social life, no friends, he has nothing except this job.
It is sad, so sad he could be such a great fun guy, but all his fun has been taken away as he has to be so positive at work, he is shattered when he comes home to me. As nothing is going on in his life, except work he is so dull. he has no conversation, lost weight as not eating properly..... i am not sure how long he can go on with this job, but i can not go on with the relationship.....
he has been filled with false promises and i hear him on phone calls and conference calls and i do not like the person he has become.
I know that most owners date the admin people, bit inbread really but i guess then they would spend more time together...
Working for this company is his choice, but i think once you get in to it, its hard to get out as you have been promised so much, and u feel like everyone will say 'i told you so'.
I have not read anything or seen anything that has made me think positive on the company, and anyone who chooses this sort of life is doing it because they have been brainwashed and feel like they wont be able to go into a normal job.
i do have email but do not really wanna put it on this site, are u any furter forward with your ex girlfriend? just think i need to walk away and i hope he is like the ppl on here and realises what he has lost.....
I have to say, two days ago I had an 'obs day' with a company affiliated with the cobra group, and found it somewhat suspicious. Having asked as 'many questions as I liked', I decided that the placement wasn't for me.
Firstly, if I wanted to do door 2 door sales I would have applied to work for avon ( no disrespect intended) but when a company advertises for a marketing position then door 2 door doesn't come to mind.
After a day of roaming the streets listening to my 'trainer' tell me how much of a legend some guy from another office was and him telling me he is going to show me 'how to make some serious cash' ( 4 f'in sign ups or pieces as he called them) in a day!! I doubt that was serious money!
So when I eventually got back home (12 hours later, 4 hours after i was told the 'obs day' would last) I decided to research the 'cobra group'.
Thank fuck i daint accept the position, after reading all of this I am totally shocked how these 'crew members' are manipulated into believing everything that is told them and yes the term for me brainwashing hits the nail on the head.
Forgive me for not entering into to much detail but everyonelses thread was exactly how I would have explained it.
Well, I'll tell you some thing about my story in the biz...
I'm in Holland and been here for more than 2 months..
Yes like everybody else, no time for friends, family ... No life whatsoever...
Don't even have the time to wash my clothes... And all the other normal stuff..
I was also brainwashed... just like the rest of the people...
But I found out some scary stuff..
First of all, i won tickets to New York ir Australia... 2 tickets, for 5 days, with a 5 star hotel and pocket money... Well i never got it... Not even written on a paper... And then they told us, it was only one ticket and not 2, and without pocket money... SO that's a whole lot of bullshit...
Then i found out, one of our high rollers got kicked out for fraud... The owner told us his sales were 90% fraud... But what happened to all the rest of the months? The guy had been there for almost 5 months.... And all the time before it was all good? What the fuck .... That's bullshit .... The guy even gave away sales... to people that didn't hit the target for that day .... So what happened to them ? Then their sales should be fraud too right??? NOT... Its all about the bond... The 20%..... He was a big big high roller in the company ... And he was there almost for 6 months... So he would get back alot of money ...
SO they put him up for fraud..
After i found this out... I got in contact with some other people... ANd they told me the same about their company .... So i guess, they kick people out just so they can keep the 20% ... If have also been told, the owner told the guy that he wouldn't contact the police, but that he wouldn't get his 20 % back... because he had to pay back the fraud sales....
All bullshit.... Thats what they do ... Just to keep the money ....
Today is shutdown day... And im "sick"at home.... Because i had to find out more... And reading this site makes me feel so stupid.. For not checking this site....
Just like most of you guys, i also have bills to pay, ... and i cant...
So i know what you mean ...
My owner was pushing me and 2 other people to become crewleaders...And now i know why ?!!! We had 30 people in the company ... and there only 10 people left ....
2 other people are leaving too ... Cause they found out the same stuff...
So for everybody who are still there ...
Be carefull... It's all just a big game that you don't wanna play ....
There a petition online in an attempt to force the Cobra Group and it's affiliates to pay at least a basic minimum wage to Field Reps and other low level employees...for what it's worth..just be interesting to see how it goes...
like every one my story is kinda the same
i was working for a group under cobra in new zealand i thort i was gone be a great job but i was wrong took me a month to figer this out ever one there was so happy and alive with loud music going in the morrning and yelling was cool bt about a week after i had been there we were playing s group game and a guy who had been there only a week longer than me stod be side me and wisperd get out get out now i had no idea what he was on about that day i got a call from my boss saying this guy had been fired and what had he said to me so i told my boss and he said dnt worry just discard what he said to you he was crazy so i did but a couple weeks later i saw the guy on the street and he said that it was all a scam and that they just wanted money and at that point i relised i had to go i wasnt making much money 200 a week and i couldnt live on that most of it was going on transport to where i had to go that day i dnt even get my bond back or my tax money so i dnt knw whats gona happen now but so glad im out i saw an old wrk mate last week and he said that the guy who was about to be made owner had been fired and that ever one but him had left so maybe they relsised what was going on good luck to any one who wrks with them of for them if any one from nz who wrked for cobra or a branch under them contact me
Wow, I've read this entire post - it was just with horrible fascination, and now I'm at the end of it I'm finding it overall just terribly sad. People have been deluded and their trust betrayed, and people still in the system - the longer they have been there the harder it is to accept that it has been wasted life.
I have recently started looking for a job, as mine has ended. I have always had legit jobs and thought that the advert for it was vague but as a longshot had potential. I'm not interested in sales but would be interested in marketing, so I applied. I got an answermachine asking me to ring Kayleigh and I Googled the number. I didn't want to be ignorant as to who I was ringing back. I did my research - it was a bit of a goose chase. It appears this is a new office being set up in/nr Swindon - www.onewaymarketing.co.uk, the website is shiney and very vague. Still couldn't see much cropping up for it - reviews, etc. So Googled the MD: Ogo Ekweozor, she's got a nice slogan: 'You were born to be great, just open your eyes and see.' Led me to: http://www.tuscanorganisation.com/ogo-ekweozor.htm . Another organisation. After still drawing a blank i did a search for Cobra and found this minefield of a gross company. I thought Ogo must be a pretty awful person, but now - I'm feeling sorry for her - because she was going to be a Barrister - if she got brainwashed into thinking she was going to earn pots of money as an 'owner'....what is the real likelyhood she will make more money that if she had stuck with the studies to be a barrister. I can't imagine much more of a disasasterous career decision. So, I've completely changed my opinion.
But earlier today, I was angry - simply angry I'd even wasted my time sending my CV to them. I'm not stupid and I'm not nieve and I have strong morals - the fact someone even rang me up hoping to pull this scam on me makes me angry. I tracked down Kayleighs email address and sent her a polite and snotty 'get stuffed to your job' email. I think tried to figure out who can this be reported to - who is interested? Watchdog? - maybe. It does thankfully appear to be starting to be reported on. For my piece I thought I'd stick a lot of the links I'd found to the Telegraph - just in case.
I don't understand why no one has sued when their money has been denied them - that they have a right to. I figured out before reading all this that it must be because there is no contract. If there is no contract then there is technically no job. It appears that there is a clear arguement that - with set hours, etc, it is clearly a job. And with it there must legally be wages, etc. Is it possible for an ex employee to sue for wages that they should have had? All these subsideries are SO on the edge of being taken down. It just needs a bit of knowledge and proof to be submitted to the right people. I'd love to see it and I feel terribly sorry to all the people who will have been misled.
Also, I should probably add - just in case I am just about to come into an earbashing from Cobra employees about how essentially I am a loser in some regard or other... I am a graduate, I earned a good salary - roughly 30K, I packed it in to dedicate my time to my own company that raises money for a charity and in the meantime I temp. Mostly admin - but it seems my £8.50ph 9-5 admin jobs turnover the same wages as a good performer at Cobra. I decided a while a go that I'm not about money - more about quality of life and being proud of what I do. I can't think of anything much more soul destroying than being committed to losing your friends and family, and proud that your paycheck probably includes taking advantage of vulnerable people in their homes. Sad, just really sad.
i have worked as bottom sales person, then leader and also i have been the recruiter and administrator. I know how the companies work.. i was the one running it behind the scene... none pay tax... at all... none of the sales people do at all......and if they did they would have no money after it. i had to lie and trick people into comming in for inteviews not telling them about the job.. tricking them was part of my job. Get them in the door and my director would do the rest. dont say we have a position available have a opening available was the correct term as the opening never was fulled. i had a diary of atleast 20 people i had to call a day and get them in for this "one time oppertunity". As a seller i got iddicted to the fun the chase the competitiveness. How everything is all about one in 10 people will say yes and sometimes you have bad times. One comprimise led to the next. I forgot about the hours i was doing compared to the pay. I was eating bad food and losing weight. but your system can only go for so long and i wises up to the lies that i was telling myself. Yea i had fun with the people around me as they were my age and fun but thats not gna pay the bils or get me anywhere. after my admin experience the lies were to much and i personally warn ne1 doing this to not get involved! tho i no you wont know about cobra untill after the brain washing ORIENTATION DAY and by then if your hooked you wont care and think all these people are neg heads on this site! BE WARNED i was the one who lied to people like you and i grew a conscence!
no jonny you wont get paid out at all maybe your bond but as a admin if people quit i was told to drain there bond account and put in safe to bank into owners account that night but hey you might have a good owner
also they target young people with loud music fun times and important meetings... its all a strategy to amp you up make you feel important but your just a pay check and if you start to getr negged out aka wise up an tell people this is a scam thell use the term fresh blood... kick you out and get someone else in. anyone in nz dont join! after i left i found out that the office i was in shut down i am so happy!!!!
The Pyramid of Darkness represents the gateway to illumination our society has been trying to avoid for a millenia. The time of "Ignorance = Bliss" has got to come to an end if we are to *****e and survive. Set, the God of chaos is representative of this forbidden knowledge. The truth of the matter is that this information is not forbidden, it is your birthright and sole cosmic key to the hallways of enlightenment. Should we not try the lock just because the doors of perception are foreign to us? I say break on through to the other side folks. It's about damn time! Unite and topple the pyramid of the subconscious.
__________________
The internet is the last light of truth and hope...it is truly of the people, by the people and for the people. We must not let it be subverted for any purpose other than the truth. And that truth shall spread to every man woman and child across the globe. No longer will those in ***** carry the sole means to decide for us, yet we now shall have the ***** to decide to tune them out.
Maybe a strange question: Is this a English or a American site? 'Cause I worked for Cobra in the Netherlands. Same story, same trouble.. I'm doing research now to see if I can get my money back (bond). I was told that there is no American Cobra Group, so if there is one, you helped me already a lot!
Just a few other things come back to me after reading a few more forums..."Neghead" is the word that will be used for people that quit..."juice by you"? can't remember what the letters in juice stand for but it's something that's said if u've done well. They ring the "bell" if u've got top sales that day...erm...oh, and the company was "Boss" and the manager Steve something? But anyway...what I mean is, it all sounds really good and it's easy to get drawn in and feel good about working there but the reality is far from good....I found this on bebo, it pretty much explains it all.
i couldnt agree more i worked there for almost a year lol i remember Steve what i clown, i was working for N ***** for Johnny (another clown). when did you work there ? i might know you :o)
There a petition online in an attempt to force the Cobra Group and it's affiliates to pay at least a basic minimum wage to Field Reps and other low level employees...for what it's worth..just be interesting to see how it goes...
Why? should i advocate "minimum wage" for employees, em i advocate "make like a tree and leaf people"..your probably a Cobra goon looking for names of people ..who are u eh?..listen people, again, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM COBRA, QUIT, or YOU WILL ROT..(pant)GET OUT,READ THE WHOLE forum FOR GOODNESS SAKE.Also, beware of Pro Cobra contributes here.
One office in particular that I have not seen mentioned here is Stride Marketing of Newcastle.
It is run by a Bullshit merchant called Jo Millar who is so fat that I swear she was doing a crossword once and for the clue 'staple food (4)' she put cake.
Her and her office obviously are as adept as all the other scam artists that are talked about on this thread. She follows all the basic tactics of the Cobra Group that get people in and keep them there. Below I would like to tell a few of the lies that she has told that are not necessary anything to do with the business but just relevant to her.
She has been in 11 car crashes.
She pays her dad a wage just to prove how wrong he was when he 'negged' her out.
She rents because she doesn't want to be tied down to a mortgage.
She got kicked out of her rented apartment because landlord got into financial trouble.
That she has promoted 3 or 4 leaders.
She showers regularly.
She was an Olympic prospect for swimming.
There are a hell of a lot more, I'm sure, but its been too long since I've heard her fantasy stories, most are forgotten.
I really hope you stumble upon this Jo or someone points you in this direction.
lol i cant believe that Jo Millar is still an owner, i used to know her quite well when i was in the business & yes she is full of shit. i still have her phone number somewhere lol
Hi,
Can I follow up on this, again, I don’t mean to stop you in your tracks, yes em ok I can be open minded then, (yeeks, eeewww) these are exciting times to be in Cobra then, em ya..good. But, I knew a guy who was offered to work on commission or take a wage, and he had chosen the latter upon hire. Subsequently, he walked walked, and knocked knocked to his hearts content. He was paid, he was paid minimum wage man, or a fixed amount of money every week, which meant if he had to hang about the office for more than 40 hours so his minimum wage was even more minimalist. I remember hearing him say he was put down by his manager weeks later, and kind of laughed at, because he was good at sales and he was put down in front of everybody because he was told he would have made more money on commission only. True story, the guy was in Rotterdam, under some big wig named James whatever his name was, I don’t bloody remember or want to know ‘some I am number 1’, I sell I love me clapper head whoever from Back***** company whatever.
So…… em f, fig, figure it out.
Peace.
Ps, whoever is still reading this and is in Cobra, stay there for all I care.
Yours,
The Antichris(Niarchos)
Quote:
Originally Posted by he_who_laughs_last
NEW NEWS!!!!! NEW NEWS!!!!!
I am always one that keeps my head about the discussions regarding the Cobra Group which is why so far no one that works there has been able to argue against my points effectively.
Let me tell you some very interesting news that should be repeated to ANYONE that argues the benefits. This information applies to the UK and came from an accountant. If you don't believe me check out the inland revenue website or ask an accountant yourself!!!
So here it is....
If you are self-employed/independent contractor and working full-time (40 hours or more) contracted to only one company, then after 13 weeks that company is legally obliged to employ you(which means fixed wage, holiday pay, sick pay, etc). Legally obliged just to clarify means, that if they don't employ you they are BREAKING THE LAW!!!
So what does this mean? Well to start with anyone working with a Cobra affiliated company who isn't an admin needs to register themselves as self-employed with the Inland Revenue. As many people have stated, affiliated Cobra offices do not encourage people to do that or even mention the need to do that. Why??? Well originally I thought it was because the hassle would put people off the job. Now what do I think with this new info??? Well they would have to employ you after 13 weeks wouldn't they!!!
I challenge anyone who works for Cobra to ask this information to their owner and see their reply!! If they say anything different check that information with an accountant/Inland Revenue/Citizens Advice Bureaux. Let me know what happens!!
Seems like I am hearing the same story from all the Owners, seems like all the owners.....
'pays for their parents not to work so pays them a weekly wage,
has paid off their parents mortgage'
and if you are the GOLDEN ONE, the one they think will do well in the company they offer you to go on the R&R trip quite early (when you have only just started in the company,) and it makes you think 'wow I am special, they are taking me to abroad i must be special, and you get to meet the top dogs only to be totally sucked in...then they offer you a basic wage of £300 per week, just incase you do not hit the targets, if they offer you a retainer of £300 then its like having a job of £15,000 a year, so it makes you think your even more important......but really you are working nearly 70 hours a week for £300!!!!!
It seems this goes on in most offices, how can these people think they are the special ones when it happens to most people????
V.I.
Does anybody have any information on Stephen Broadey-managing director of Boss marketing (a sub branch of the cobra group). I worked for Dark Rose in Ireland and this guy^^ is the darkest fraud I have ever come accross. I want to warn anyone who currently works for him or has an interview with him- be careful and DO NOT believe anything he says regarding work. I also have suspicions of his behaviour in the field and socialising with work-mates. Do not trust this man.
Last edited by Irelandguy : 05-08-2009 at 05:44 PM.
stephen broady is in england now. His company boss world wide was shut down and he was on a retrain with tom curran dark rose promotions in dublin who is an even bigger prick than him.
Happily tom had to go on a retrain over in nottingham with chris rudge ( peter crouch) and broadey moved back to newcastle and he is back knocking on doors so its not all bad news
Why? should i advocate "minimum wage" for employees, em i advocate "make like a tree and leaf people"..your probably a Cobra goon looking for names of people ..who are u eh?..listen people, again, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM COBRA, QUIT, or YOU WILL ROT..(pant)GET OUT,READ THE WHOLE forum FOR GOODNESS SAKE.Also, beware of Pro Cobra contributes here.
Haha...don't worry, I'm not one of their goons, I am an ex-employee, many moons back, but got out before they dug their claws in...my main reason for supporting something of this nature is in an attempt to cripple their corporation as much as possible, but also to bring the issue to peoples attention...what i was hoping for most of all (but with the least expectation of any kind of success) was that we could find a way to get a legal judgement made for some sort of ruling (in at least one country) to have the companies made responsive retrospectively for the wages they should owe...I know it probably wouldn't happen but if one country could set a precedent for back-payment of wages then we'd be one step closer to causing the collapse...surely they couldn't afford to pay all past employees what they should (morally at least) owe, and even if they were not forced to do this, it would be good to see them forced to offer acceotable wages, working conditions etc to future employees...anything to make it harder for them...while I would rather see the whole thing destroyed and Chris and his cronies sent to some deserted island so they could pyramid scheme their own survival for a while, it would be at least some consolation to know that they were at least forced to do the right thing, and maybe even, if we were lucky...given a nice big fine too...
Quote:
Originally Posted by he_who_laughs_last
NEW NEWS!!!!! NEW NEWS!!!!!
I am always one that keeps my head about the discussions regarding the Cobra Group which is why so far no one that works there has been able to argue against my points effectively.
Let me tell you some very interesting news that should be repeated to ANYONE that argues the benefits. This information applies to the UK and came from an accountant. If you don't believe me check out the inland revenue website or ask an accountant yourself!!!
So here it is....
If you are self-employed/independent contractor and working full-time (40 hours or more) contracted to only one company, then after 13 weeks that company is legally obliged to employ you(which means fixed wage, holiday pay, sick pay, etc). Legally obliged just to clarify means, that if they don't employ you they are BREAKING THE LAW!!!
So what does this mean? Well to start with anyone working with a Cobra affiliated company who isn't an admin needs to register themselves as self-employed with the Inland Revenue. As many people have stated, affiliated Cobra offices do not encourage people to do that or even mention the need to do that. Why??? Well originally I thought it was because the hassle would put people off the job. Now what do I think with this new info??? Well they would have to employ you after 13 weeks wouldn't they!!!
I challenge anyone who works for Cobra to ask this information to their owner and see their reply!! If they say anything different check that information with an accountant/Inland Revenue/Citizens Advice Bureaux. Let me know what happens!!
It would be great to hear more about this, and it could be a really useful tool for the unfortunates who wanna stick with the jobs they have at Cobra...although it can be quite intimidating talking to bosses etcetera about this kind of stuff, and challenging them over this...I'd think that most people would only do it if they were baout to leave anyway...especially in the cobra group, where you might not get brainwashed, but it ain't far from it...back handed emotional black mailing...freaking mental manipulation...playing on peoples fear of social exclusion in what is supposed to be one of the major areas of one's life - the workplace..
anyway, this will turn into a rant if I keep going, so all I want to add is, go to wikipedia, and use it to name and shame the places you've worked for...it may get removed before long, but it's the most central post we have to compile a list of companies to help/warn the people who don't yet know better...it would also be a good idea to start getting together a list of the medium level players, the company leaders and all that, so we can try to track their actions, report their misdeeds etc...mwa hahahaha...
yeah..
cheers all..
Well done on for the news on Mr Broadey. Be warned though, Mr. Broadey is an avid connisseur of the phenomenon that is Psychology and reverse Pshchology, so be fully aware that he is very capable of logging on here and posting negative comments about himself to make it look legitimate and in doing so trying to snare anyone leaving negative comments about himself! For those interested, here's some further reading about the mystery man,(the man who has just been out-smarted!) http://infoportal.fra.europa.eu/Info...cess.do?id=160
P.S.Tom Curran is not a prick, maybe you just happened to mis-understand his personality. Sure, he's arrogant and cocky and can be patronising at times, but he is honest and straight and you know where you stand with him, and to be perfectly honest, the man has too much intelligence to be involved with Cobra, but all the best to him. Amidst all the corruption and dishonesty of Cobra owners, Tom Curran genuinely has some integrity.
Last edited by Irelandguy : 05-18-2009 at 12:03 PM.
Irishguy i would like to correct you on a point. stephen broadey is not as deep as you make out. While he may be a very sly, devious and controlling person there is no doubt that he is a man of very limited intelligance and i dont think that he is capable of performing what you have stated. Watch out for this man i heard that this is his last chance in cobra and if he fuck's it up michael scully is gonna throw him out of cobra so you have to treat this man as a cornered rat so he's gonna come out fighting ie conducting his business in an espicially cut throat manner.
As for tom curran he may not be in the same league as broadey he is still a dangerous character and i would urge anyone with dealings with him to get away as quickly as possible.
Watch out also for the name dave glennon apparently he is treating his staff very badly in limerick and im sure its not the last time that we'll hear of this man
Jesus if you worked at a Cobra office and didnt nail a few in the office............. + endless supply of new recruits!! oh yea! ah well its quality not quantity for me now!!
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