The Southwestern Company Internship Difference Blog
It seems brains are not a pre-requisite to sell magazines door-to-door for a traveling sales crew.
In reading an article in the Rocky Mount Telegram, it seems the city of Rocky Mount, NC ordered a traveling sales crew out of town and is warning residents about their presence. The crew leader, Paul Kristian Ferrell, and 16 crew members have created headaches for local police during their recent run through the town.
The sales crew was selling magazine subscriptions under the name American Circulation Enterprises. Not only was Ferrell charged with soliciting without a required permit, two other crew members stole a golf cart from Northgreen
Authorities give traveling sales crew the boot
According to the article, the Better Business Bureau has bestowed a rating of “D” to American Circulation Enterprises. They’ve had over 35 complaints. To read their BBB report, click here.
For the full Rocky Mount Telegram article by Mike Hixenbaugh entitled, “Police advise: Be leery of door-to-door magazine sales.”
Yes! Good riddance! Thanks for highlighting the difference between what we do and what other less-than-savory companies do.
Some companies wear the white hats and some wear the black ones. While there will always be good guys and bad guys, there also always has to be a distinction.
It is terrible that groups like these magazine crews mar the reputation for the good companies out there that do direct marketing. BRAVO to Rocky Mount “kicking” them to the curb. Let the kids that sell magazines for fundraising be the only LEGIT magazine salespeople out there!!
Thanks for your comment Jonibpos. Yes, it is a shame the traveling magazine sales crews leave such a sour taste in the mouth of a community. It really ruins it for those that are doing everything they can to obey the law.
These people are such a pain and create such PR problems during the summer. Thanks for this update Trey. It’s always good to hear.
Thanks Jade. It is unfortunate they do things such the wrong way to make it harder for those attempting to do things the right way…
Real smart to steal a golf cart to go door-to-door. Those guys deserved to get kicked out of town. Should have had a solicitation permit or permission and followed the local law. It’s laughable they thought it would make going door-to-door faster. It definitely slows down the process to get arrested.
Ha, yeah… they had a half-baked idea. They did not think about the consequences.
Here’s the deal: if you are soliciting door-to-door and the community requires a permit, it is the law. You need to get it. That is also a common MO of traveling sales crews.
Groups like these generate headaches there is just not an aspirin large enough to cure. I’m glad the local police took matters into thier own hands by handling the breeches in law and throwing them out.
Sounds to me like they will have an “F” soon if they keep behaving the way they did in this town.
Vicki – I like your analogy (headache/aspirin). I’m sure local law enforcement wants to bang their heads against a wall because of the problems the traveling sales crews cause – need for more aspirin, I guess. I bet it won’t be long before American Circulation has enough coplaints to drop to an “F”, then they will probably change their name. Usually how it works…
i checked the local burger king and McDonald’s in rocky mount they have f ratings with the bbb…… u cant make everybody happy and a company with 35 complaints that has tens of thousands of customers a year doesn’t seem to be doing so bad to me. the southwestern co. has 44 complaints… ??????????????
Joe – thanks for your comment to this post. You pose a fair question regarding why I would be critical of a company that has fewer BBB complaints than my own. The BBB, when rating a company, takes several things into consideration and context.
One, of course, is the number of complaints, but others include the nature of the complaints and if they were resolved or not.
I can specifically speak to Southwestern’s record, as I work closely with the Better Business Bureau to resolve all complaints received. Many have to do with the 3-day cooling off period and cancellations afte thoe three days. When operating a large direct selling company with thousands of independent student dealers who have contact with millions of families a year, it is important for us to have students who participate who will do the right thing, obey the law, follow the ordinances when it comes to soliciting and act responsibly.
In the case of the subject of this blog, those individuals did not act responsibly or within the law. It hurts the industry as a whole when renegade traveling sales crews act in such a manner.
Again, I appreciate your comment and hope I was able post an adequate response.
Also, note, if the BBB is missing information about a particular business, they will have a lower grade until the information is put in the system. (Don’t know, but could be the case with the restaurants you mentioned…)
i would have to point out that after reading these comments it seems any magazine company that has a salesperson that does something stupid are labeled a “rouge crew” i have read news articles about sales people who represent southwestern that have done some rather stupid things. i guess it just depends on what picture u want to paint
Thanks Jeremy. That’s why it is so important for all door-to-door direct sales companies to be part of the solution – working with lawmakers and police, obtaining solicitation permits, not taking on sales forces or independent contractors with felony records, some systematic training on safety and ethics, etc…
Mag Crew Memoirs is a book about my 17 years of traveling on a Magazine Sales Crew. I was a sales agent and a manager I was brainwashed the whole time. All traveling mag crews are the same it was the same 17 years ago and it is the same now. Now the sales people are tattooing the name of crews and there agent numbers on themselves. Drugs , Booze and Sex is the daily grind. I hope this helps if you want to check out my book you can order it a http://www.barnesandnoble.com . God Bless All !!
Thank you for letting us know about your book. I will definitely check it out! My wife’s cousin was a crew leader for several years and I saw the things you mentioned take hold of her life. I hope you have been able to put the past in the past and build your future from some tough life lessons. Good luck!
Hey, Trey.
I have the whole inside story about the incident which i would like to share with you. You would be shock or may not if your wife’s cousin was in it, but noone really knows the truth unless you were there.
Would love to hear more… you can reach me at trey.campbell@southwestern.com. Thanks!
u didnt kick shit bitch we left cuz ur a bunch of f**n idiots fuck you all kiss my @$$
My two rules for this blog are specific: (1) No cursing; and (2) Do not personally attack or defame someone. I think I’ll make an exception here, as this person has displayed why, not only that group was and should have been kicked out of Rocky Mount, but also why traveling sales crews have the reputation they do. Well done.
This is not the first comment of this nature I have received like this from someone claiming to be on the crew that was there or associated with them. Communication is two-way, civil comments will be posted (with this one exception; I apologize to the readers of this blog for the content above).
Trey Campbell – SouthwesternDifference Moderator