Vector Marketing Corp, a subsidiary of the Cutco Company is thriving off of young impressionable college students to sell their kitchenware knives for them.
This company has a reputation for being an unorganized pyramid scheme that recruits young adults and convinces them that they can make a large amount of money selling their kitchen knives to friends and family.
Vector, on several occasions, has been sued for many different reasons including failing to adhere to child labor laws and failing to pay adequate wages.
These incidents have led to the founding of S.A.V.E, Students Against Vector Exploitation.
Students that had negative experiences working for the Vector created S.A.V.E. These students created a website where people can post their experiences, whether they were positive or negative, with the hopes of saving students from losing money or wasting their time.
Vector has over 200 offices throughout the country and contracts about 60,000 students a year.
They go into high schools and college campuses misrepresenting themselves by acting as if they are affiliated with the school. Reps from Vector then utilize aggressive recruiting tactics by preying on desperate, naïve students.
There is a three-part interview process that was recounted by a student here at Bucks who interviewed with Vector personally.
Jarred Cohen, 20, from Holland majoring in Business Finance, recalled “The initial interview process was very lazy and unprofessional, they had us first meet all the others being interviewed, then you have a one on one interview, lastly they bring you in again to tell you if you have the job or not.”
Cohen was hired on the spot, but turned it down due to suspicion and uncertainty of the company.
If a student does decide to take the job at Vector they undergo a three day unpaid training process where they learn that they are not actually employees of Vector but independent contractors.
They then learn about the kitchen cutlery through demonstration. After training is complete students must purchase a starter kit that usually is about $125.
Students are then instructed to contact anyone over the age of 25 that works fulltime to try to set up an appointment to show him/her the Cutco knife selection.
According to Vector, students can earn up to 30 percent commission on each sale they make.
According to the Washington Post more then half of Vector reps lost money rather than earning it; if they made any money it averaged around $3 a day.
Cipriano adds, “They’ve been a challenge to deal with for many years now. Sometimes they will even go into classrooms and write on the dry erase boards probing students to contact them.”
You can simply look up Vector on the Better Business Bureau website and see that they have had over 120 complaints due to concerns about their product, service, sales, and billing.
Though after Vectors many lawsuits it seems that they have changed some of their policies so they can be considered a reputable corporation according to the Better Business Bureau.
They’ve taken away the initial security deposit fee for the starter kit. Student contractors also receive $16 for any failed appointments.
There are several cases where students have had rewarding experiences with Vector. Some have been successful and made up to $500 a month selling the cutlery.
Unfortunately there was no student at Bucks that has had a positive experience.
Supposedly Vector is trying to rid themselves of their lawsuit ridden past and trying to provide a great opportunity for working students.
When questioning why Bucks would allow Vector to put up flyers on this campus if they have so many terrible rumors and known lawsuits floating around them, Matt Cipriano director of student life tells me, “They’re not supposed to be here; they come and hang those flyers up themselves. They’ve never had permission.”