Is Vector/Cutco a scam?

Question

Is Vector/Cutco a scam?

Answer 1

First I would like to warn you about believing all these answers. Some people who are working with Vector...not as Sales Reps, actually look this stuff up and put answers on yahoo and put posts on forums to make people think that it's a good idea. It's not a scam, however, it's on a thin line! It's not anything I would recommend unless you're a natural born salesperson. I was also offered a job and my mother was reading my letters at church. Someone in the church (IDK who) looked over her shoulder and told her that they don't pay you unless you sell something and that it's basically door-to-door, but you set up appointments! (Big difference) My thoughts are that...I don't want to work for a company that makes me find their customers, and makes me pay for a sample kit. Also I would never work for a company that I can't trust to pay me my money!!! =]] Hope this helps!

Answer 2

YESSSSSSSSS! They are, I actually got hired Last Thursday, and quit today. They put so much pressure on you to sell their products. You make okay money. But seriously, I lost 5lbs while working 3 days with them, they tell you there is a "Flexiable" schedule, but its deffinitly not. They expect you to work from the time you wake up, till 10pm. They try to offer "prizes" to get you to work hard. & Its not worth it! I sat threw 3 trainings lasting about 6 hours. Yes the products are good. But not worth selling. The company is VERY manipulative and will tell you anything to make it where they get more money! my advice is DONT do it.

Answer 3

This is a business model that a lot of companies (industries) use. Know anyone in the insurance business? Sell your friends and family first to get going and then work referrals. Pretty common. I worked for this company in 1997 for a couple months. I sold some knives to some friends and family. Went on a trip to Chicago for their sales conference and met Walter Payton. (worth it all right there) That was it. What i got out of the whole experience at 18 was how to go through a real interview process and learn a sales system that works, not how i didn't get a $10 paycheck or how i had to purchase my sales materials. It actually showed me my first steps in becoming motivated and driven for success. 17 years later i am a successful Sales Manager for a 30 million a year company. If you think it is a scam well thats your opinion. I was there a short time but in the end i got a lot more out of the experience than the $200 (or whatever it cost) that i had to invest. Oh ya, for those just trying it to collect an attractive $18hr paycheck with no effort i would say don't bother.

Answer 4

Anyone who conducts a search at google.com for "Vector Marketing" scam, will bring up some 60,000 search results which simply state: "It's a scam!"



Good luck!

Answer 5

i got offered a job as a sales rep, n to read all these comments is helpful. it seems most people hate the job v.s people that wrote its ok. so since i am not a born sales person, i'm not taking this job. I don't want any1 to pressure me into selling knifes. hell no!!

Answer 6

Go bland. Plain, basic, unseasoned food such as cooked chicken, plain rice and a nude baked potato are nutritious however your palette will tire of them quickly, unlike salty moreish highly processed food, which keeps you snacking and piling around the pounds.

Answer 7

Cutco Cutlery

Answer 8

If anyone is reading this I want you to know Cutco is not, absolutely not a scam... They are just narcissistic *** holes. I didn't have to buy a sample kit when I worked there, it was a free rental, also my boss was awesome. Everyone else there is awful. If I could turn back time I would've quit after the first two weeks. Learning to call strangers was something I learned at the job and that's a good skill to have. Learning how to efficiently harass someone into setting a demo or getting them to handover their address book is wrong. Basically they made me call my list of numbers every thursday, and of course since these are strangers they aren't answering the phone. I called one lady every thursday for 3 months, that's just ******* wrong but they made me do it for this job. Cutco is designed to hire people to sell knives to their parents and ideally to kids with big strong families and those involved with communities like churches. If you don't belong to any of these, this job is going to be miserable for you. If you do belong to some of those categories than all I can say is the guilt you will feel even just several months after quitting is hardly bearable. I quit the night after one of our regional managers came down and tried to explain why we should be cutting our time at school down in order to do more demos. Don't cut your time at school down, tell them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine.

Answer 9

Yes, the 70s diet still retains sway. Low calorie, high fibre celery will get rid of you snacking, and contains high levels of calcium which help to get rid of the fat content in some other foods. Tip: Eat braised oatmeal with roast chicken to negate your bird’s calorie content.

Answer 10

I'm going in today and I got to admit, I'm VERY NERVOUS because this whole time, I've been getting two sides of the story.



I have a friend who works there and she said that she hasn't had a problem with it so I hope she's right.

Answer 11

Vector is not a scam.



However, they are not the greatest company to work for. They offer you unpaid training as you are an independent contractor, a kit of knives at a rate: you either rent it, pay for it or borrow it depending on where you live, and then they inform you that you may only sell to people who you know.



Therein lies the "scam" part about it. It's not truly a scam. You offer a product, the person then chooses to either buy it or not. If they buy it then you get a commission and they get some knives. The problem is that you are only able to show the knives to people who you know. This causes a conflict of interest: The person you are offering the knives to KNOWS you so they will be more inclined to BUY the knives just because they know you.



The knives they offer are inexpensively made and highly priced items. They typically employ a serrated blade (which equates to saw action rather than slicing or cutting action) and that means you do not have to sharpen them. Actually, you can't sharpen them without paying a Cutco representative or sending them in to the company. They're great in that regard because you don't have to maintain them day to day but they stink in the same regard because they're not really that sharp.



There is quite a bit of controversy over Vector. In the past they have had poor and deceptive recruitment practices. They are a multi-level marketing company (basically a legalized pyramid scheme) so it seems like it's a scam. And with people telling you that they've made a couple thousand bucks in a month without barely lifting a finger, I'm certain that your eyes are glimmering with delight. Keep in mind that is definitely the "*Results not typical" that you always see in those weight loss ads.



My brother's girlfriend just started working for Cutco a week ago. I am a salesman of nearly 8 years now in various fields (mostly consumer electronics) and I can tell you her sales work was nothing like mine. From what she told me it was rather easy to represent the product because again, you have rapport with your clients. In the real world of sales, you are generally meeting people for the first time in a store or making cold calls to people you have never met. It takes away a bit of the edge (no pun intended). At any rate, she had a handful of appointments her first week and now she's not so hot-to-trot about it. I think it's because originally she was told she could work at her own pace but now she's being told she has to make daily reports to the main office about how many appointments she's set up. She also felt very high pressure and she is not the kind of person that likes to be under constant pressure. So she's kind of bummed out about that.



So to answer your question: Is Vector/Cutco a scam? No. Is Vector/Cutco a good company to work for? They have a poor track record, but they give you a paycheck. And a paycheck is often times the most important thing you need to live.

Answer 12

Vector is legit.



You do NOT have to invest in the knives like most other companies require. And although Cutco doesn't give them to you for free you have the option of buying them for a reduced price. That's pretty fair.



The sales representatives do not do any door to door sales or telemarketing so it only makes sense to start off with the people you know. And then you will call the people that your family knows so on and so fourth. Eventually you will do the demonstrations for people you don't know because of the recommendations but you'll have plenty of time to get use to doing the presentation for your family that you'll be prepared when you meet people who you don't know.



I disagree with DirpD2 about how the knives are so expensive to manufacture. They are made with the highest quality materials and have a specialized edge on them which is NOT serrated, so it does take quite a bit of money to produce the Cutco knives (although it looks serrated it's not. It's hard to explain without giving a visual aid.) And the sharpening service is free. That is included in the guarantee for the knives. These knives are SUPER sharp because the steel they use is especially durable so it won't dull as quickly. If you want to know the details about the product then go work for Cutco or get in contact with a rep and see the presentation (:



You do have to check in with the office and tell the manager if you have any appointments lined up. But think about it. If you have a lot of appointments lined up and you're not selling anything then the manager will set aside some time and talk about how to help you be successful. However, if you don't have any appointments then you obviously won't make any sales but the manager still needs to know. It's not asking for very much, just a quick update every day that will ultimately lead you to success.



I've been working with Cutco for about 4 months now and although it can be challenging at times (just like any other job), it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It has taught me skills that transition into other jobs I want in the future and has helped me come out of my shell.

Answer 13

I would love to have Cutco sales people work for my company, Village Vesl. We are launching an app in September that small businesses and residents will love. Full-time salespeople can make a six figure income, and they will do much good for the community. [e-mail]

Answer 14

I worked for Vector selling Cutco knives 20 years ago when I was just out of high school. I have to say it was a great job for a kind of introverted kid like me! They pushed me to get out of my comfort zone, meet people, be professional, and sell. The supervisors I had were really cool, fun guys to work with I did pretty good actually, and earned more money per hour than pretty much any of my other friends. I just worked for them in the summer before going off to college. The products are awesome, and every one of my customers were happy. I still have my "demo kit" knives and my family uses them every day now. I'm really glad that I worked for them as it helped me to be more outgoing and professional. That's my input, hope it helps.

Answer 15

I also work for Vector. I LOVED it in the begininng, and didnt think it was a scam.



I still dont think it was a scam. I got a few good paychecks off of it, and then, after you branch away from your appointments with family it all goes down hill from there.



im sure its possible, but its been really hard for me to find people who are welcoming to a kid with knives. Most people either own it already, or are just plain sick of kids calling them asking for appointments.



In my opinion, its not worth your time, unless ur ready to eat, breathe, and sleep CUTCO. because thats probably the only way you can maintain this job.

Answer 16

I was employed with Vector for 2 weeks. I really thought this job was going to solve all of my financial problems, but it did more damage than help. I worked HARD even though I had a job already. I did the best I could to work it around my schedule, and in 2 weeks I saw 13 different people. So, I was told at the beginning of the interview that we would get $20 an appointment regardless of sales. So I was having a hard time saleing people knives and I didn't make a sale, but I still went on and kept trying, not to mention the time and gas that I wasted doing that. So my manager calls me and tells me that if I don't make a sale by the 2nd week of that weekend then she would stop paying me! After she told me that I quit the job, because she specifically told me that I would get PAYED REGARDLESS OF SALES! But the thing is was that I never got payed for the 13 people that I saw! I only got $25 on my paycheck, which did not come in a timely manner!



If you are considering this job, my advice is to make copies of all the appointments that you have seen before you turn in your qualified reports paper, and please make sure that they are over 25 years old. They are clearly going to tell you to do the MAC (married, over 30 yrs, and own their homes) people first but it says at the bottom of the application that you sign that the potential customer must be 25 yrs and older and it doesn't have to be MAC people. Make sure to keep up with all of your receipts when putting in for gas, because they should tell you that you should be reimbursed for the gas. Just please keep a record of EVERYTHING that you do for that company, because they have messed over alot of people with their paychecks!

Answer 17

I was recently employed by them over the summer, NOT A SCAM but more or less a very misleading bundle of promises. I see one of you said they use a serrated edge which is false they use a double-d (slightly different) just to clarify however in my 3 weeks of working there multiple things bothered me. FIRST OFF they say you make commission or base pay (whichever ends up being higher) my first weekend of pay I sold just south of $1900 of product, the paycheck I received was not only less then what I expected but a WHOPPING $65! I immediately called my manager and he said he would fix it on my next check which was about $220 which wasn't bad but my commission then was 15% do the math on what I sold it was still not what it should have been at all. Another thing I disliked. I was forced to book appointments and make calls even after I said I had no more room in my schedule. Overall I disliked it a lot. They were high pressure to make u sell, they ripped me off, and were up my *** EVERYDAY

Answer 18

Cutco Knife

Answer 19

Think about what you can include to your diet, not whatever you must take away. Integrate yummy veggies into your meal, rather than serving them on the side. Not only will they offset the fat in your chicken or meat, but the phytochemicals in fresh produce are which could prevent diseases.

Answer 20

Beans, beans, are perfect for your heart, the more consume the more you... lose excess weight actually. Super-effective and full connected with fibre, beans will regulate your appetite and decrease the rate at which your stomach empties, meaning you continue to be fuller for longer.

Answer 21

I worked for Vector/Cutco in 2000 when I started college. It is completely legit as far as I know. You book your appointments, you do your sales presentations. The location I worked at in KY offered base pay per appointment, which was then $11/hr. I only worked there for 1 summer, as I ended up getting 21 stitches after a customer accidentally almost amputated my thumb! So take care to do your presentations by the book, ALWAYS sit across from the customer when doing your demonstrations, and don't go door to door or meet w/ strangers alone (obviously, because you're selling really SHARP knives!! lol)



But to answer your question, I always received my paychecks, attended sales meetings at the branch office, and it was a completely legitimate job from my experience. As long as being an independent contractor doesn't bother you, then it's a good (and EASY) job.

Answer 22

Believe throughout yourself. How often have you admired someone and their achievements after which instantly thought, ‘I’d love for doing that, but I just can’t. ’ Don’t limit your achievements because of your thoughts. You can do whatever you want to do.

Answer 23

Believe with yourself. How often have you shown admiration for someone and their achievements then instantly thought, ‘I’d love to do this, but I just can’t. ’ Don’t limit your achievements by your thoughts. You can do whatever for you to do.

Answer 24

i work for cutco, and i'll tell you it is DEFINATELY not a scam.

but you definately have to work at it to actually make some good cash, and you need to take it seriously like you would any other job.

Answer 25

i don't think its a scam. but there methods of getting you to sell are wrong. they tell you to offer people free things or discounts to get the customer to buy today but they don't tell you the more free merchandise u give away or discount you give it takes away a lot of your commission.

i suggest that if you want to make good money with them don't offer discounts and if you give away free stuff give away the the stuff with the least amount of points.