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Does this job sound like a scam (GB Marketing Enterprise Ltd)?

Hi everyone :smile:

I have decided to start applying for part-time work now that I only have a couple of weeks of lectures to go and it would be nice to have the extra cash. I got some good work experience during the year I took out between undergrad and postgrad so I applied to two office jobs this morning. One of these claimed to be at an established healthcare company and the other for a utility company.

About 5 minutes after I got my application I get a call from a woman named Chelsea claiming that her managers had shortlisted me for an interview. I was quite pleased and arranged for one for next Monday. It was only after I hanged up when I realised that something seemed off: she sounded WAY too keen, almost as though the company was desperate for new employees. Whenever I get called for a job interview the recruiter will give me an outline of what the company does and what my role will be, she mentioned nether.

Anyway, I get an email from this Chelsea telling me what to wear for the interview and where to go. I notice that the company is called GB Marketing Enterprise Ltd and Google them. On their website they talk about how they do direct marketing, face to face marketing and focus on "the needs of customers" (which is very vague). I call Chelsea up and ask her whether this is a sales role. She tells me some vague nonsense about how it's customer based, that I won't be cold calling and that customers will be coming to me. She seems eager to hang up.

So, what do you think? Is this likely that this company is trying to trick/mislead me into one of those outdoor sales jobs that are commission based? Does anyone have experience with that company?

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Reply 1
Sound like telesales or some sales commission job.
Original post by M14B
Sound like telesales or some sales commission job.


That's what I thought, it was just too easy. These companies are always desperate for recruits because nobody stays for long. I already fell into this trap when I was a naïve Fresher a few years ago but they used different tactics.
Original post by WBZ144
That's what I thought, it was just too easy. These companies are always desperate for recruits because nobody stays for long. I already fell into this trap when I was a naïve Fresher a few years ago but they used different tactics.


Ive had interviews with similar "companies" :rolleyes:

almost certainly sales commission lol they usually make you pay for training and then you have to go door to door selling stuff

Scammers :yep:
Original post by GeordieGirll
Ive had interviews with similar "companies" :rolleyes:

almost certainly sales commission lol they usually make you pay for training and then you have to go door to door selling stuff

Scammers :yep:


Ugh! The issue is that if they were honest in the job ad I would not have wasted time applying in the first place. Glad I won't be wasting any more going to the interview :smile:
Original post by WBZ144
Ugh! The issue is that if they were honest in the job ad I would not have wasted time applying in the first place. Glad I won't be wasting any more going to the interview :smile:


Omg I just googled them check this out :rofl:

http://cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/gairrhydd/news/self-employment-scheme-misleading-cardiff-graduates/

They have different names in different cities lol, seems like the same place that interviewed me tho :lol:
Original post by GeordieGirll
Omg I just googled them check this out :rofl:

http://cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/gairrhydd/news/self-employment-scheme-misleading-cardiff-graduates/

They have different names in different cities lol, seems like the same place that interviewed me tho :lol:


Oh yes, it's that same company. Thanks for that :biggrin:
Original post by GeordieGirll
Omg I just googled them check this out :rofl:

http://cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/gairrhydd/news/self-employment-scheme-misleading-cardiff-graduates/

They have different names in different cities lol, seems like the same place that interviewed me tho :lol:


Nearly fell for them a few years ago when I was looking for temp jobs.
One thing I can tell you is that there is no shortage of people applying, I mean their offices in the morning were completely full that people had no where to sit. And the ages you see from as young as 17-19 year olds to 40+ :eek:.
Original post by Al-farhan
Nearly fell for them a few years ago when I was looking for temp jobs.
One thing I can tell you is that there is no shortage of people applying, I mean their offices in the morning were completely full that people had no where to sit. And the ages you see from as young as 17-19 year olds to 40+ :eek:.


How sad :frown:. It wouldn't be surprising if most of these people had no idea what they were getting into.
Reply 9
so this job is a scam? in Wales?
Original post by SMT21
so this job is a scam? in Wales?


It is; they will make you do some very difficult sales work for free (as the chances of stopping someone on the streets and getting them to sign up for something are very low). If you have an interview with them, I advise you to cancel.
Just go to the interview - job > no job, regardless of what it entails.
Original post by stevey396
Just go to the interview - job > no job, regardless of what it entails.


Not if you're working for free. I would rather sit at home for free than standard outside, annoying passers-by and having insults hurled at me as a result :tongue:
Reply 13
Just got a phone call from these guys. The phone call was pretty much exactly as described. Shortlisted from 999 CVs they got from Jobsite. I had a male on the phone, who didn't explain too much and seemed to rush into the interview side of things.

So this company at 6 Cathedral Rd, CF11 9LJ. Are they still to be considered a scam?
Original post by TDGalea
Just got a phone call from these guys. The phone call was pretty much exactly as described. Shortlisted from 999 CVs they got from Jobsite. I had a male on the phone, who didn't explain too much and seemed to rush into the interview side of things.

So this company at 6 Cathedral Rd, CF11 9LJ. Are they still to be considered a scam?


Yup, it's up to you whether or not you want to attend the interview but I wouldn't trust them. They will make you stand outside and try to stop people on the streets to make them sign up for a charity, electricity provider or the like. They will only pay you on commission, so unless you are one of the rare folk who has extremely thick skin and doesn't mind being sworn at by the people you try to stop and are a natural salesman/woman, you won't be making any money. Moreover, they don't pay for your travel costs and will set targets that only a few, exceptional employees can achieve then boot you out if you don't reach them. It's a miserable job to have and you're not even being rewarded for all of the crap that they make you put up with. I know this because I was duped by a company like theirs during Freshers year.
Reply 15
Original post by WBZ144
Yup, it's up to you whether or not you want to attend the interview but I wouldn't trust them. They will make you stand outside and try to stop people on the streets to make them sign up for a charity, electricity provider or the like. They will only pay you on commission, so unless you are one of the rare folk who has extremely thick skin and doesn't mind being sworn at by the people you try to stop and are a natural salesman/woman, you won't be making any money. Moreover, they don't pay for your travel costs and will set targets that only a few, exceptional employees can achieve then boot you out if you don't reach them. It's a miserable job to have and you're not even being rewarded for all of the crap that they make you put up with. I know this because I was duped by a company like theirs during Freshers year.


Many thanks. I have just responded to their email informing them to not expect me.
The interview would have been in 1:30 hours so your quick response is very helpful. Either way, a simple Google search will return "GB Marketing Enterprise Scam" instantly so they must be fishy no doubt.

Again, thanks for your response.
Original post by TDGalea
Many thanks. I have just responded to their email informing them to not expect me.
The interview would have been in 1:30 hours so your quick response is very helpful. Either way, a simple Google search will return "GB Marketing Enterprise Scam" instantly so they must be fishy no doubt.

Again, thanks for your response.


No problem, glad I could help :thumbsup:
Just received a call from the same people, which was weird because I hadn't applied for the job itself, Went to the interview which lasted a very short period of time, as in I was expected to attend a 3pm interview which finished at 3:02pm. The weird thing was the manager never truly explained what the title of the job role was. Anyway i was invited back for an training day this upcoming Monday and thanks to this most definitely will not be attending. Much appreciated once again :smile:
Original post by daniiebean
Just received a call from the same people, which was weird because I hadn't applied for the job itself, Went to the interview which lasted a very short period of time, as in I was expected to attend a 3pm interview which finished at 3:02pm. The weird thing was the manager never truly explained what the title of the job role was. Anyway i was invited back for an training day this upcoming Monday and thanks to this most definitely will not be attending. Much appreciated once again :smile:


Anytime :smile:. This company needs to be exposed for scamming people, especially students and graduates. I'm glad you found this thread.
Former employee of GB Marketing here! I used to work in the recruitment side of things so I was the person luring you in for interviews with this company for £5.50 an hour. Basically, when I was given the job I was told to go through CV's on TotalJobs and careerbuilder and call ANYONE who was under 30 and not over qualified to tell them they had been shortlisted for an events/ marketing role. We had to invite them in for an interview the next day, and implied that the role would be working on 'events' whereas the reality is that these 'events' are pop up sales stands in shopping centres. The reason we were told to get them in for the next day was because apparently the urgency is an 'impulse factor', but the reality is probably so they wouldn't have enough time to research the company and find out that it was all a scam. We had to book in 20-30 people in for interviews a DAY for a role no one actually wants.
The ONLY job in this company is commission only sales selling internet packages; recruitment jobs are very rare. The day is normally 7.30am- 6pm and you would be expected to cover travel expenses to the location you were working at. You would earn £30 per sale and that's it. So no sale, no pay. In the companies defence, some people do make alright money from this, however, I would say most people earn less than minimum wage. Every morning starts with a 'morning meeting' which is loud music being played in a room to make the job seem 'fun'.
The interview process itself is very strange. You will be called up and asked to interview the next day. You will more than likely be sat in a room with several other people at this stage and called in one by one for a 2-5 minute chat with the manager. This will likely be him selling you the job more than anything, with emphasis put on the fact that you can own your own business in a year (would be a franchise of Credico- not really your own business). If you are successful (so not weird and don't ask too many questions about pay) you get a call back that evening to come for an 'open day' the following day. This is you spending an entire day at a sales stand, not fun. Then you would get asked to work and start asap.
The company actually aren't in different locations with different names. GB Marketing is in Cardiff; however, Credico (the company it is franchised under) have loads of different similar businesses around the country doing door to door sales or street sales.The manager is mid 20s and not a very nice man, I frequently heard him shout at the people working for him over stupid reasons. This company is definitely very strange, and most people would not want to work for them but if working for commission only is something appealing then go for it :smile: Happy to answer any other questions.
(edited 3 years ago)

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