Thursday, July 17, 2008

Venture Era wasted my time

Feeling bored, I googled for part time jobs hoping to earn some extra bucks. Then I came across this post in a forum looking for part timers that only has to work during evenings, nights and weekends. The job scope includes helping business manager setting presentation, and some logistic assistance. Sounds good doesn't it? I sent my contact and someone called me the very next day. He mentioned the job scope once again, the name of his company conveniently shortened to VE and described it as a "marketing company" and eventually told me to go for an interview at 3pm the next day. Although part of me felt like slacking at home, playing CS or watching a movie, I still went all the way to Eunos MRT for the interview. Upon reaching, I received more information from a girl/lady with problem pronouncing "o" (I suppose she has a short tongue or something) on how to get to their office. Why couldn't these dumbos just let me know the exact address so I could save some walking distance. It's not that far but enough to make me perspire under the hot and humid weather of Singapore. Finally arrive at MDIS building, where their "offices" are located, the first thing that greeted me was a signboard, Venture Era Pte Ltd. There were chairs and tables, teenagers dressed up in suits and ties, trying to act professional and plenty of "healthcare" products being on display. If you are like me, who had attended one too many MLM presentation, you should know by now, VE is a MLM company. At that point of time, I was cursing and swearing at them, using such underhand methods to attact young and innocent students to attend their interviews. However, I didn't leave, hoping that they were really hiring temps to help them out with logistic and presentation to lure other people to join them. I had already spent 1 hr traveling there, what's 10 min more to hear what they had to say. Then this young girl with an really old fashion specs, wearing dress that is too mature for her age came.

Ugly specs: (feeble attempts to start some small talk) ....... have you heard of netw_rk marketing
Me: yup, been to one MLM presentation before
Ugly specs: oh, Venture Era (note, it's not VE anymore) is different, it's netw_rk marketing... (went on to explain the difference)
Me: so you want me to join as a member of VE to promote your items?
Ugly: yar

TMD, I haven't really use vulgarity on my blog because I am trying not to be vulgar in cyberspace. This CB company actually made me travel all the way there using deceit. I maintained my composure and told her, let's not waste each other's time. She even suggested a way for me to save some traveling time home. Being me, I said thanks. Being a pissed off me, I added with a smile, "Well, if you had told me that it's a network marketing company in the first place, you could have saved me hours".

It made sense now that they didn't told me the exact address, worrying that I may find out about its identity before reaching there. It also make sense that they use VE since Venture Era is quite infamous for being an MLM (being around for 7 years get you some reputation, albeit negative). What doesn't make sense is why students, the future of our nation, products of on of the supposedly world best education system, actually fall victim to MLM. Who in the right frame of mind would think that Magnetic pillows, overpriced air cleaners and vitamin pills with calciums (without any scientific evidents to substantiate its claims) would be a great hit with the mass market? Young and navive students, thinking that MLM is the way to get rich, do.

50 comments:

Anonymous said...

if you cant do sales or marketing, just keep quiet.

pushing blame to others only reflect how stupid you are.

Junhao said...

did I say I can do marketing or pseudo marketing? I merely state a fact that MLM wasn't mentioned in any form or so in the job advert. Well, i tried to look for the post but to no avail. If not you can read it for yourself

Anonymous said...

LOL.... i am supposed to go for an "interview" next wed... THANKS TO YOUR ENTRY... i am not goin more... Fked up... you r right.. they oni mention ve in their msg...

Esmond said...

yeah i was actually gg on friday, but thanks so much to notify me of this fraudery, i'm a business student

Anonymous said...

Hi,just to let you know..
i just got to know about venture era from a friend, Well i did came down to their office...
at first i was interested hearing it from a friend of mine whom work there..but when i followed him to MDIS two days ago..i've found what you have said is true...
1 irritaing thing is..when i reached MDIS and had seen their products eg. ION drinks,health tablet and magnetic something...
i lose my interes straight away...
and decided not to join venture era..here is the irritating thing..
when i refuse to join..
these people just keep bugging me..
i've made tons of excuses..
saying that i'm unable to attend the training that they are providing..
shockingly!i actually just followed my friend who is working there to JUST SEE LOOK around at what they are doing..But then when I reached whom their MANAGER gave me tis msg via sms "hi (my name),great to know dat you will be joining us in the company. i will see you tomorrow at 1pm for training ok."
I was confuse i didn't said that I wanted to join in or something did I..
i'm not gonna waste my time there..
I don't see why i must??
lets just say the person whom had succeed in ve wasn't there!!
i don't think there is one aniwat...

Anonymous said...

they actually recruit those young ppl at the age 17 to 20, brain wash them, their brain wash skill damn good. guess how much they earn, 200 to 300 hundred and they still act so cool, going around say they earned thousands. those earning big bucks are those big manager, manipulate those young one to earn money for them. run as fast as u can !!!!!!!

Junhao said...

I am not sure if they are doing this (exaggerating their income) but such tactics only work on the young and innocent. I am a little older than the "young and innocents". With the impending recession, I think more will join MLM, dubious source of income is better than no income. Poor future MLMers.

Anonymous said...

their motto is 'do not spread negatative to their downline' eg do not reveal your pay if it not good or even u, as upline feeling super lousy(reason fighting so hard yet the income so 'ke lian' etc) u must act tough infront of your downline so they can have confidence in you. i even heard from my friend, parents went to their co and questioned why their children always work long hour yet see no result and came home so late,worse still some students, failed their exam. one thing for sure, they are not really interested in pomoting how good their products, they are using money,car and status as a bait to attract those young ppl to join this co.

Anonymous said...

well so if u do think that venture era is a scam company, why not u just call the police since u keep saying that u "save" ppl . n now u r questioning the govt ? in that case u go run the country lor . Well i m just curious y r u ppl only noe hw to push the blame blah blah .Weird thing is yes u all search for info about venture era but u r lookin at ppl dat failed in venture era. practically u r always right and the company will be always wrong . well kind of normal . it just like u failed in ur test n u will say something like "ah ya teacher fault la !! Don noe hw to teach!" but for a person who score A dey will say ,"o teacher teach den i listen n revise!"

Managers earning big bucks.
i tink is reasonable . unless u can tell mi where on earth u can find a CEO earn less then a office lady ? Come on there is a lot of loopholes in the comment itself . pls go n study wad is MLM properly b4 saying anything. i m not siding VE but all the MLM company. A few eg.
Microsoft(bill gate is a conman?)
NTUC(run by the govt so also er hrm ?)
AIA
Great Eastern

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Well, big companies uses MLM too.
Eg. Microsoft, IBM, etc etc.
If you can't do it doesn't mean others can't.
You should be more open minded.

Anonymous said...

whats more Venture Era Group is ISO Certified and approved by the SGS (singapore gov. system).
also, they have a CASE cert. (consumer association of singapore)

Anonymous said...

How u know if the certs are real?

And that the business abuse the power and twist the regulations after having the cert?...

They are using dim-witted to work n buy products from them, tats obvious..

Are the dim-witted well paid thru hardwork, NO guarantee...
U wan to work like a cow, no sale no pay, and through luck?..tats silly isnt it?

cia said...

hey! may i know what is so scamming about these MLM companies? : )

i desperately need money so might be going for the interview.

and in some comments by others said it's brain washing.

can u guys elaborate more on it!

i mean what's so bad about it!

i really dont know a think.

mind explaining to a newbie like me?

thank you : )

Anonymous said...

LOL! You are asking "How do you know the certs are real?"???!!!! Then I would like to ask you that how can I be sure that your name is real? You might show me your I/C. Then I will like to ask you how can I be certain that your I/C is real??!! Ridiculous, isn't it?

Anw, MLM has been approved by govt to run a business. It's perfectly legal, so there's no need to be so negative about MLM companies, unless you boycott Microsoft products (Bill Gates uses MLM technique too).

If you doubt whether there're any credentials to proof that the products are really beneficial, then I want to question did you ask thoroughly if they really have any scientific proofs on it or not? If not, your assumptions will simply reflect on your naievty and stupidity.

The point is, dun be blinded by your own assumptions, pre-existed perceptions or words from friends. Because the fact is that you might just miss the opportunity to do great in life.

Rather than lazing around or condemn MLM industry, why not find out for yourself what it is exactly about before making decision or jumping into conclusion.

What an injustice it is to put down an industry just from friends' words and by own personal false perceptions. Any justifications? You're just being unfair!

Junhao said...

Dear Anonymous(es),

First, I didn't say MLM is a scam, what I said was MLM was a waste of time there are numerous jobs out there that can provide better opportunities. The character traits you need in MLM is rather unique and I shan't go into it since you all definitely won't like to hear what I have to say. That being said, it also means that MLM is not for me. This is a fact and I know myself best.

Secondly, I didn't say Venture Era is a scam,I merely state that their products are not scientifically proven. Okay, I implied that using their product is dumb. I still stand by the point. If you are going to spend a hundreds or even thousands to drink so healthier water or lie on some magnetic bed, you might as well wake up early to jog everyday. Spend a few bucks on multivitamins that are proven to improve your health.

Thirdly, this post main and only intention is to condemn the act of posting misleading job ad. Why can't they just say it's MLM? Is it that difficult? I bet more people understand MLM better than "Your role will be involved in the marketing, customer service and other sector." I've even called and talked to someone on the phone and he even mentioned logistical help and helping managers with presentations. IF this is not misleading, then why is the word interview used? Even primary school kids know that interview implies you that someone who is going to hire you tries to know you better and decide if you are suitable for the job. What I went through was definitely a presentation. Where someone, wearing really ugly specs, trying to convince me MLM is the epitome of a wonderfully effective business model.

Lastly, in reply to the anonymous above this. Legality of the company really doesn't prove that the job advert is really misleading. Maybe you should get rid of such people in your company that is putting down your company's reputation. Regarding the proofs part, you don't really need to do any research just read the news paper everyday will do. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4582282.stm for one mentioned that the claimed benefits are not supported by data. Furthermore, most people don't laze around and condemn MLM. We try to make full use of our time. But then when someone make us waste precious time traveling halfway across the island to attend a MLM presentation, that isn't even made clear to us in the first place, it really ticks people off don't you think? VE and Venture era... If you had told me it's Venture era, I could have google and I won't make that wasted trip or maybe someone had warned me about it before. Saying VE is a blatant misleading tactic. If you were a bigger company with some reputation, it is understandable, but after 20 year( ? someone mentioned it somewhere) and no one knows who you are, shouldn't you get the drift and say Venture Era? Be proud of your company, isn't that why you are all working there in the first place?

Can you guys who leave a comment like leave an identity? Sometimes it is so easy to hide behind the word anonymous. Then all sort of nonsense will start sprouting up....

Anonymous said...

hey thanks whoever you are for getting scammed first, i was very excited when this woman who sounds very nice over the phone called and said she got my number from somewhere (you lying bitch) thanks again man, enjoy your counter strike
cheers

Anonymous said...

you're so cute can i pinch your cheeks baby huey!

Anonymous said...

Umm. I have an interview with them this week. what does MLM mean? should i still go?

Anonymous said...

it was your fault for not asking clearly before going down. And pls do not comment about others' looks or specs.

armani said...

if mlm is so good and if everyone joins , who is going to keep the economy going. why build IR, why seek foreign companies into sg, why have universities and schools.

basically, you're just a sales person with the only advantage is that got downline.Even if u make money, can it be substained. once you fail, you're done for. at least, if u're a paid executive, eg: banker, engineer .... still can go to another company if u get fired.

the only person i admire is in mlm is the big boss. he takes all the $$$. he is the real entrepreneur, he manages the whole aspect of a business. the rest of them are just his pawns to carried out his sales.

someone said...

I went there & saw Venture Era, straight away I knew MLM. After their so-called presentations, they asked me to book for training slots. I agreed. I went home and do some research on Venture Era.

The girl called me and sms me for 2 days, but I ignored because I'm totally not interested and I'm sure she will try hard to convince me.

The next day she sms me, "Hey girl, I was just wondering whether you're still interested. If not, then don't waste my calls and sms which received no response at all."
Well, I never asked her to do that.

Anonymous said...

HAHAHAHAHHA GOSH I went for the interview ystd and almost got conned!!!!!!!! luckily i googled the company cos the job scope sounds so vague. and then i saw all the negative press about it. anyway the guy was super friendly he still smsed me after the interview and everything! i confronted him and he kept insisting VE aint MLM. that liar!!!! would have joined rly if not for google and ur blog. haha thks man!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

To Girl, MLM means multi-level marketing. Ya, as for whether you should go or not, I not sure. You have to decide yourself then. That's it.

Sam said...

I totally agree with you... VE really wasted my whole time. I was called on saturday evening by someone who didn't even say her name or her company name and tried to end the conversation as fast as she can. And when I went to this stupid MDIS building, my interview was not even more than 5 minutes. Filling up stupid form that did not require education background or work experience. PLUS, they didn't even dare to say what is their name or company's name. SO please please anyone ask you to go to MDIS building, PLEASE DO NOT GO. What a stupid trip.

Jia said...

hi, I know this post is abt a year ago but I just chance upon it, Just one question, if it is really that bad why is it still surviving after soo many years?

They called me up too and refused to tell me the name of the company and just kept saying that I will know more when I go for the interview. It was only when I called another number that the person who contacted me gave before she gave me the name of the company which is VE group.

Jing said...

okay. i almost went on sunday! thanks for your entry! and they said 3pm too. weird about 3pm. must be their auspicious timing. hahah it's not about sales and marketing, it's the fact that they talked about consulting, business development. the misleading terms.

Anonymous said...

check out this website.

VE dirty tricks exposed!

http://ventureera.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

dear person, as long as the company doesnt make you pay for anything before you make sales then you can't count it as a scam. it's your fault for not clarifying before "wasting" your time going down. also alot of companies function with this network scheme. even in real estate...if you join under another person part of whatever you get will go to the person you joined under. it's al about the contacts and your web of customers. be real here, it's not a scheme to get you broke it's a hard work way of making it big. it really depends if you're the adventurous work hard now get paid big later or be happy with a desk job salary of 2000 bucks. your choice. i say might as well do it while you're young and can risk non-stable pay range.

btw, these health stuff aren't stupid. jogging every morning is one thing...clearing our toxins accumulated by all the nonsense we eat is another.

PS: 300 bucks is only for 1 sale...are you saying that at the end of the month you're only gonna sell 1 item? you must suck at sales...

Anonymous said...

my name is DOTZ.
To be honest, MLM is good but VE is not because they aree not running profesionally like other MLM companies like AMWAY / Herbal LIFE etc. VE is pushy and basically all about sales but lack of marketing. They will ask to heavily buy ups (which is not necessarily unless u are a rich F***). Or even they will go into a way whereby, you have to be DARING TO BORROW MONEY from your friends or family member to downpayment for a car OR WORSE ask daddy to sign up tonnes of credit cards so can hit car. Believe me, I heard alot from my Poly frens who got into this hell and now crying in misery. VE strength is decreasing and not growing... other established MLM co.s are growing worldwide man but VE is still hah... hmmm u know what im trying to say here. MLM works if you recruit ADULTS and Matured people who are independent and not blinded only by position! but look at VE all are kids. i wouldnt deny, very few of them are earning well but as a whole of company's turnover, it cannot be ranked or benchmark with other established MLM worldwide. VE would say pioneering is the key to join n u will be successful in pioneering co. Logically its not 100% true because I do have friends who is a lawyer cum MLM part-timer who is not pushy but yet earn not bad extra income monthly (trust me, i saw it!). but ve.. come on.. kids please wake up the idea.... look at your top leader... open ur eyes, if a team achieved top team by doing i would say best case $50,000 (5% out of $50,000 is only $2500- ur BGM only earn $2500??!!), i might as well do other sales job which can give me $2500 basic excl comm. =) so please ponder about this.....

Anonymous said...

haha agree so much with you, got tricked into going once too and they called me again to go again. Now is VEG pte ltd instead of VE. At first they told me i am doing some paper work but turns out i am doing marketing and sales?? Be careful people, dun get tricked!

Emily said...

Hi. I used to work in V.E for about 2 months and I think wat u said is true but not totally. Everything always have 2 sides, rite :)
For ppl who havent travel to V.E, I think u should have a trip to V.E. U might dont like it but u can know more bout it. And I'm sure knowing thing is good, not bad. Just try for urself and dont b afraid of wat ppl around said ^^
P.s: I think the guy named Kevin is working in V.E. I used to know one. Esp thing about V.E is that V.E staff seems to cherish their company so much. :D

Anonymous said...

Hi, your entry was a nice read. Even though it was written a year ago, it's still pretty relevant. I went to the VE interview just this afternoon, after my friend called me to recommend me this job which is 'easy and can earn a lot'. I was initially quite impressed by the office (3 levels & looks professional) but after the 2 hour talk by my friend's 'mentor' I was thinking that VE is scary.
Of course, there is nothing illegal about VE, but it seems like the practices are a little warped. The people are a tat too pushy. I'm not even sure if thats the right way to do a business... My friend herself seem different; she believed in the company just too much.
-2401

Anonymous said...

I just started VE i and i would to share wad i think i think ppl shud have and open mind...not all ppl are the sme thr are ppl in the company who really want to help yr parents...I also find the ppl there extremely friend;y....I think Ve depends on an individual's view...but i think it doesnt hurt to just go down and take a look....

Anonymous said...

Nice dispatch and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you seeking your information.

Anonymous said...

Venture era is terrible!!! what a scam!! that's why they only targets teenagers , (cause easy to cheat!!) pls be careful! MLM haha, then u need to sell those products to yr own friends and family.

Don believe? Go to the site and see for yrself.

http://ventureera.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Venture era are assholes la... the world knows that.. even other con companies do a better job at conning others

Anonymous said...

i just saw an old comment that said that your post is relevant..
well it still IS relevant at this point of time cos I was called an hour ago by the company.
The person conveniently called themselves VE Ho Associates (couldn't really tell that is was VE over the phone). Couldn't find any address from the internet so I resorted to searching their office number on the net and voila, I got the enlightenment of my life!
Thumbs up for the warning, was about to spend an hour ride down to their Kembangan/Bedok office on Friday night.
Right now I'm wondering how to reject the guys' offer when he calls again on Thursday =/

Caludine Chan said...

Hey, just want to say a big thank you for blogging about VE. A "friend" invited me for an interview with the prospect of hiring and an attractive salary. When asked what the exactly the job is, she said, "oh just assisting the manager to setup interviews".

Saved me a trip to Eunos.

Anonymous said...

Hey man, i chance upon your blog as I was googling the phone number. Now they come with a new tactic, the company name mentioned is 'recruitment something' or 'something recruitment' which supposed to be a recruitment agency.

Anyway, it was odd that they asked me if i was working or studying (man, u offer me an interview without knowing my background?) and furthermore I never applied for any job since the last 1 year plus? So i politely rejected as I'm currently very content with my job. But out of curiosity i still try to find out what kind of company it is and here we go... =) Venture Era.

☆ Cao Cao - 曹操 ★ said...

A worker from VE told me this
VE worker : Are you studying or working?
Me : Nope (anyhow reply)
VE worker ?: Do you wanna be successful
Me : Nope (Like you'll help me in that)
VE worker : I got a great chance leh
Me : Try say it
VE worker : Kinda hard to say
... ...
Me : So how's your sales this month

VE worker : Haven't sell yet
Me : So confident ar
VE worker : Cause I got downline ma

Anonymous said...

Hi! I know this post was like 2 years ago. But, yesterday, I almost got fooled as well. Thank goodness I asked for the companys name through SMS and researched on it. I found your blog and that saved me from wasting my time & from gettin scammed :)

They used the EXACT same tactic on me. From assisting managers to meeting at Eunos etc.

The guy keptttt persisting that I come and have a look when I first declined. After awhile I agreed. But at 10:15PM he calls me again to cfm that I was coming the next day. Which professional company calls ppl at 10:15PM?!

That's when I read up on the scam. After that I texted him saying I wasn't interested as it is MLM. He said okay and asked me if I had Facebook. -_-

I didnt bother replyin. He gave me a missed call and sent me a text again askin if he cud add me on FB. I replied 'No.' He then said 'May I know why?' And I replied 'No you may not'. He's left me alone since then. Hope he stops bugging me! Totally unprofessional.

Anw, thanks for putting up this post and allowing others to be saved from that scam (:

Anonymous said...

hey thanks man. they called me today using the same tactics. i'm not going since i know the truth. cheers bro !

Anonymous said...

hi, i just read your posts. I absolutely agree. I went on to join the other time because I was naive and didn't know what the job scope (i knew i had to sell stuff, but they didnt mention it was to relatives!). and when i quit, they didnt allow me to do so. and kept harrassing me. my manager even come to my house at 11pm (at night mind you) without my knowledge.

p/s: im a female and my manager is male. what do you think was the impression he left on my family members?

geez.

Anonymous said...

I apologise, but, in my opinion, you commit an error. I suggest it to discuss. Write to me in PM, we will talk.

Anonymous said...

after reading all the comments here, i truly agreed on that... cos VE is a scam company!!! They didnt dare to mention their job scope or rather their company names. But now PP is another MLM company from former VE! So must beware too~

Anonymous said...

Hi this might be late but that socalled VE is called premium pure now..i sign their contract stupidly..i found out wat they been doing on that day after i sign..and give that person a text and say i quit..tt person say i must come down personally to hand in the resignation letter and it only works 48hours upon handing it up..damn bullshit rite i was wondering wat they will do during the 48 hours after i quit

Anonymous said...

as to answer to one of ur questions as to hw theysurvived over the years... i guess u can say their products havnot harmed anyone though whether it works or not is another issue. I feel that the real reason that they keep recruiting is based on wad is know as referal sales. basically when you join, ur network becomes open fr them fr the newbie u to sell THEIR product. n guess what i was at premium pure the other day and.... it takes only 1 sale to get promoted from being a trainee n hence....that first sale is usually ur oh so supportive parents who will first discourage u frm ever joining.

Anonymous said...

Hi all ,
i was not approach by VE but by some pioneers of VE who were from Alliance Era (I did my own research after attending 4 sessions) What i can say is firstly the BMW and mercedes are all just to lure you in by flaunting their wealth but did you know that their so called car incentives LCI or PCI to be a so called car achiever you need to meet some ridiculous sales target that i just cant find it feasible !? Not only that their car incentives only gives you a 5000 deposit and 8% of Net profit to be DISTRIBUTED among all car achievers ? They have like 10-15 which means 140,000PV ( Their highest NP achieve ) means (140000 x 8% )/15 = 746 ?! MONTHLY INSTALLMENT FOR MERC WITH $746 please la cant even pay monthly installment for 2nd chrysler sebring which i plan to buy . Second yes i agree that MLM is a legitimate business but how long can it last ? Compared to Amway ? yeah true its a huge company but how well are all these company known compared to MNCs which are well known due to their aggresive marketing ? SK-II yeah they sell beauty products as well but they campaign like siao and their products works 90% of the time . Also if a product is so great by MLM why isnt sold to retailers ? just to let you know the feasibility of an MLM structure based on economics term Supply and Demand let me give you a scenario Singapore . Singapore population 6 million. lets say you start with 10 people then they extend their down line by one people each which mean 10 x 10 = 100 if that continues a total of five times you have 1 million people having the products which is 1/6 of sg population . But how many people are willing to buy or how many can afford ? Demand and Supply , Think about it .

Anonymous said...

Venture era is now premier pure. Fucking scam my money. Ask me invest one more queen to be a SE. Ended up my parents who bought 2 queen say no effect. Grandma also say very hot. Dont like
None of my relatives can afford. The last queen I still have it..

Anybody wants. I sell $1000. Paid $3k for it.