Scentura

History

Scentura was founded in 1975 by Larry Hahn as W.M. Industries Inc. (WMI), a door-to-door retail business which sold luggage, toys and perfume. In a 1984 motivation film, Hahn described his early experience:

In 1975, with loans from friends, Hahn purchased his first product: 31-piece sets of bakeware. For several years Hahn trained new recruits himself. By the 1980s there were thousands of distributors.

Business model

Every manager and perfume salesperson must first sign an independent contract. Scentura is not responsible for either the ads or the tactics used by salespeople. -- Scentura distributors recruit salespeople by placing classified advertisements in the employment section of the newspaper under the heading of "Management". Turnover tends to be very high. --Training is from six to eight weeks.

There are reports that new salespeople are offered a salary upon completion of training and are later disappointed to discover that the salary contract requires a quota of sales as a condition of payment. They soon discover no one takes the contract and opt to be a reseller of the rendition fragrances where they earn money from the profits of perfume sales.

-- The only income is from selling knock off perfume door-to-door or in parking lots.

-- Employees are also sometimes encouraged by independent distributors to lie about the products they are selling.

-- Independent salespeople have been in trouble with police for soliciting without a permit.

Lawsuit

In 1999 Scentura Creations, Inc sued Daniel J. Long, a former distributor, for $31,236.44, the cost of perfume which had been delivered to distributors recruited by Long. In 2001, the Illinois Appellate Court ruled that the contract between Scentura and Long was a "pyramid sales scheme", violated the law and was unenforceable under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. The appellate court ruled that Long was not liable for products in the possession of other distributors.{{cite web | access-date=2006-01-10

Notes

References

1. (11 February 2002). "Dream Jobs That Turn Out To Be Nightmares".
2. WFTV Orlando Channel 9, "All the companies sell perfume made by Scentura Creations in Atlanta, which says it has nothing to do with the way its independent contractors do business."
3. Atlanta Business Chronicle, "Independent firms purchase products from W.M. Industries or Scentura Creations and sell the directly to people in their offices, on the street and in their homes, The direct vendors of WMI products work for the independent firms not the central office."
4. The Palm Beach Post, "The manufacturer of the perfume she was supposed to sell, Scentura Creations of Chamblee, Ga., accepts no responsibility for the actions of independent distributors who sell its product, said Vice President Bob Hasty."
5. Atlanta Business Chronicle, "...Former managers point out that turnover of salespeople was high in their offices. “We had very few that would stay with us for a long period of time." Fucci says, “You never could back off from recruiting."
6. Flannery, Thomas L (March 07 1997). "There’s Big Dollars In Street Scents". [[Intelligencer Journal]] (Lancaster). "'Crazy, Greedy ... Must like $$$, music and fun. Office and general work. Call Warren ... ,' reads Jentis' ad in all three local newspapers.", "Jentis said hundreds of people have passed through his doors, but admittedly few make the cut. One training class started with about 70; five remain.", "...the fledgling salespeople begin a four--to eight-week training program"
7. (20 July 2004). "Company Leaves Perfume Peddlers Feeling Betrayed". WFTV Orlando Channel 9.
8. The Palm Beach Post, "The interviewer said she had the qualifications to make $30,000 and more with the company-- if she could commit immediately...Butterworth asked about the $30,000 job an interviewer had mentioned. A recruiter told her, 'Don't worry about it, Pam. It's going to work out.' But it never did. The job was selling knockoffs of designer perfume door to door for a commission of $2 to $9 per bottle."
9. Columbus Ohio Dispatch, "The sellers, for example, said they were promised a weekly paycheck of $295 or more."
10. Noblesville Eyewitness News They said we're going to make like $75,000 the first year,' recalls Dan Penale.
11. Richmond Times-Dispatch (2002), "But, she said she had trouble getting straightforward answers to how much money she'd make and whether the job involved selling, which she did not want to do."
12. Richmond Times-Dispatch (2000), "When you first starting working for them, they say you get paid at least $200 a week...The only money I made was from perfume I sold on the street"
13. [[Intelligencer Journal]], "After about two months, Jentis said that 'successful' salespersons are offered contracts with annual salaries ranging from '$30,000 to $35,000 and a car,' and that free vacations are commonplace."
14. Atlanta Business Chronicle, "None of their sales managers or salespeople, the people in the field, were on salary," says Gordan Gates, former WMI executive vice president. “They were all independent contractors."
15. WFTV.com, "...recruits like Shelby Sillen claim they were trained to lie and tell people they just left a perfume show and had to sell at cost...When another woman from EOE approached us, while we were undercover, to make a sale, suddenly the perfume "knock-offs" were the actual designer fragrances."
16. Atlanta Business Chronicle, "An El Paso County, Texas, police report from April states: “The subjects [alleged to be] ‘Managerial agents' for W.M. Industries, had employees selling their products on a door-to-door sales campaign and all were purporting that their products were manufactured by the authentic companies who also manufacture the trade name products."...A 1986 complaint filed in the Iowa District Court for Polk County by the State of Iowa...making false, deceptive and/or misleading statements to potential customers about the nature of the transaction and the origin of the goods being sold...
17. (22 October 1991). "4 cited for criminal trespass". The Daily Collegian Online (Penn State).
18. The Palm Beach Post, "Another time, her group stopped at a Jacksonville mall and approached strangers there to buy perfume, keeping an eye out for cops who might ask questions about permits."
19. Columbus Ohio Dispatch, "But instead of offering to buy, Bogey Inn managers called police. The salespeople were a nuisance, restaurant managers said, and had no license to sell. They were asked to leave and not return...Aston and the others were operating illegally when they sold their perfumes without peddler licenses throughout Columbus and some other central Ohio cities."
20. [[Intelligencer Journal]], "Hardly a day goes by, said the Downtown Investment District bicycle police officers, when they don't cite one or more of Jentis' crew for soliciting without a permit...DID Police said most are repeat offenders and face fines between $50 to $600 on each daily charge."
21. [http://www.ilga.gov/LEGISLATION/ILCS/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2356&ChapAct=815%C2%A0ILCS%C2%A0505 Illinois Compiled Statutes]