Mag Crews - Legal Child Enslavement - When They Knock on Your Door.

Originally posted by camaro68ss
o lighten up

No, because this is no joking matter and nothing to lighten up about.

Do you have any idea how dangerous this is, for both the people working this type of job, plus the people that answer the door?

Why do you even reply unless you have the sense to reply responsibly about the issue?

Originally posted by supine

Originally posted by camaro68ss
o lighten up

No, because this is no joking matter and nothing to lighten up about.

Do you have any idea how dangerous this is, for both the people working this type of job, plus the people that answer the door?

Why do you even reply unless you have the sense to reply responsibly about the issue?

yes mother, ill try to keep myself in line next time. no more jokes

Im sorry your offended so easy.

Back to the topic at hand. When i see these guys at my door, and I see them alot, I never open up. I just peak through the eye hole and if they look like they are trying to sale something i just walk away and let them bang the door for 5 min

hope thats not to offensive

Originally posted by LeTan
Wow, I remember selling magazine subs in middle school for fund raisers. It was exciting as a kid, going door to door, talking to people and then earning the rewards afterwards.

That is a disturbing article though.

None of those kids come to my door anymore, I used to just tell them "No thanks, I have the internet".

When people buy from them they assume these are local kids doing exactly what you described. Of course they're too good at their spiel. You can tell they've been using those lines for a long, long time. Next time you see one of them, maybe ask them if they belong to a Mag Crew and whether they need a phone to call home to get a bus ticket back.

Very informative and thanks for sharing. S & F. I remember when I was nineteen my friend and I went to an interview together for one of these deals. She basically talked me into the interview and when my mom found out she told me they were a scam. I've often wondered about that type of job and how it worked and thanks to you I do! I'm so happy my mom told me, no!

reply to post by queenofsheba


I'm happy you were able to avoid working for these crooks. You are lucky your mom cares. Not everyone is so fortunate.

reply to post by 2manyquestions

I am not sure if he knew by my appearance;as I ate what I could afford and being in the sun all day I was pretty burnt, or he just knew from personal experience what was going on. Mind you this was an upscale neighborhood so he probeably had been hit up a couple times. This mag scheme goes back pretty far if you look into it. I do not understand why it still goes on. I few years back it was in the media but went under the rug as most things do. I would not have dared to ask the guy for help, you never knew when you were being set up. The crew leaders knew their routes and would often set up staged sales for newbies either to see their skill or boost the kids morale. It was a given that you didnt have to be there if you did not want to, chances are you were finding your own way home or worst. It is a really deceptial mind game these sickos play: we need you,you legaly have to, we dont need you..and in the end it is the same you get dumped or you end up a lifer doing other people the same way.

Wow. This is horrendous.

I remember a few weeks ago there was a young man who came to our door (it's a private apartment complex, mind you!) selling newspaper subscriptions. I don't know the details, but my mom said he needed to raise money for tuition or a contest or something. To think that I was that close to someone who may have needed help, it breaks my heart.

I'll remember this if they ever come to our doors again.

Originally posted by Cyberboiraves
reply to post by 2manyquestions

 

I am not sure if he knew by my appearance;as I ate what I could afford and being in the sun all day I was pretty burnt, or he just knew from personal experience what was going on. Mind you this was an upscale neighborhood so he probeably had been hit up a couple times. This mag scheme goes back pretty far if you look into it. I do not understand why it still goes on. I few years back it was in the media but went under the rug as most things do. I would not have dared to ask the guy for help, you never knew when you were being set up. The crew leaders knew their routes and would often set up staged sales for newbies either to see their skill or boost the kids morale. It was a given that you didnt have to be there if you did not want to, chances are you were finding your own way home or worst. It is a really deceptial mind game these sickos play: we need you,you legaly have to, we dont need you..and in the end it is the same you get dumped or you end up a lifer doing other people the same way.

edit on 06/08/2011 by Cyberboiraves because: add

One poster mentioned that his father 50 years ago was a victim of a Mag Crew, and had to be rescued by his brothers. It's incredible to me that this goes so far back, yet nothing has been done to help these kids.

I didn't know these crew leaders would try to set kids up. So then, if I see one at my door and I ask "Are you part of a Mag Crew? Do you need help?" are they going to reply with "What the hell are you talking about?" In other words will they deny my help, afraid that they may be getting set up? How would I handle that situation?

That is absolutely disgusting.

reply to post by 2manyquestions


It really is a touchy situation. Most likely they will say no. Some of these kids are so warped into the party lifestyle you live..drugs and drinking happens every night...that they dont see they are being used. The ones that are scared wont risk it either. Thats part of being young, you dont yet know how to logicaly overcome fear. You run or fight. Considering the situation most of them will just avoid conflict all together. Best thing is to call the police.Watch which direction they walk..most likely they will get in a van, crew leaders are usualy not far away.Write down the plates. Dont follow them because these crew leaders are not above sending their little thugs to do dirty work. You might even try slipping in questions to them like "you dont sound like you are from hear,where are you from" or "what is your name again" to get them to give a real name. Ask them how long they have been on the road or when they talked to their relatives. Offer them the opportunity to call home. The name of the game is get them comfortable enough to seek help or least get enough info to help the police. Above all if you feel in danger get them out..not all these people want help nor are some of them honest kids.

reply to post by Cyberboiraves


Well, that does make it more complicated than I thought it would be. If they refuse the help or if it could get me into trouble somehow, seems like it's not easy to get through to these people. I'll do my best.

reply to post by 2manyquestions


I realize I'm a little late to the party, but I'm so infuriated by the ignorance displayed here I felt I needed to comment. The originator of this post states that they learned of mag crews only an hour before, then goes on to make generalized comments about an entire industry. It's a simple fact that people are more likely to report negative experiences rather than positive or neutral experiences, because the negative come from a more emotionally charged place. Did any of you ever think to look at the other side of the story

One of these "monster" managers happens to be my husband. We've been off the road almost five years now. I'm a full time college student and mother to two beautiful children. He's worked his way up from salesman to finance manager at a car dealership, and brings home 6 figures. We own our home and pay our taxes. None of this would have been possible if not for magazines.

Was it inappropriate that he had a romantic relationship with subordinate in the workplace? Yes. Does it happen in offices all over the world everyday? YES!
Selling magazines is a job and you are expected to do your job everyday. It's a commission based job, so if you don't sell anything, you don't get paid. (Same as selling cars when my husband sold cars there would be weeks we lived off $200) It's not easy, it's not for everyone, and just like anywhere else there are unsavory characters involved. I believe the reason that there seems to be so much corruption in field selling is simply because of the long hours and travel, the people that stick around are the ones that don't have much to go home to. They corrupt the business, the business doesn't corrupt them. For example, I came from a very unhappy middle class home. I rebelled, did drugs, and was shunned. Had I not gone on mag crew immediately after rehab, I would have most likely fallen back into drugs. My husband came from a very poor family and had also had issues with drugs. He dropped out of high school and probably never would have learned to sell without crew.

My first week on crew, three people were fired. Two for doing meth, one for lying to customers. Hard drugs were simply not tolerated. Smoking pot and drinking were, however they were never to be done in the hotel or in excess. You would be fired on the spot if it was discovered that you were telling anyone that you were affiliated with any school or fund raising organization. You would also be fired for stealing. The contest is real, I came in third place and first place my second and final contest.

I saw a sales agent slapped once by another manager (not my husband). While the manager obviously reacted inappropriately, the agent was putting his reputation at stake by smoking weed in a hotel room the manager had paid for. I never liked this manager and wouldn't be surprised if he was involved in some of the other horror stories you find here and on other websites, but that's really the worst abuse I ever saw. No one was ever beaten or stranded anywhere. We did ask that since we paid for the ticket out and paid for your meals while in training that you give the job a chance for two weeks, but at the end of that period you were dropped off at the bus station with a paid ticket; no questions asked and no hard feelings.

I do remember at one point we ran into another crew and some of them asked us for help. Three or four of them ended up coming over to our crew and it was obvious that where they came from was terrible. At least one of them hadn't been home for years. They didn't last long because they had been lied to and cheated for so long they didn't know how to do anything else.

I just want to put out there that the whole business isn't evil. There are plenty of decent people out there and for every horror story, there's at least one success story.

If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them

reply to post by bicoastal9


So because your husband was a lucky man,with lucky circumstances,Mag crews are good?
did you even click on nay of the links?
Or did you just read the OP and,rage posted without reading everything else?

Whatever happened to "deny ignorance" ?

reply to post by Szarekh


Actually, I read the entire thread. No, I didn't follow any of the links, but I have been to several other sites, read the news articles, etc. and my heart goes out to those that have victimized.
Did you read my entire post, or just gone on the defensive after the first paragraph?

I never said they were a particularly good thing, on the contrary, I acknowledged the negative. It's just frustrating to mag crews painted with such a broad brush when there are plenty of hard working, honest people out there. The reason I find this so upsetting is a friend of mine recently came across complaint a disgruntled ex-agent posted about my husband. It was full of what I KNOW to be complete lies, but you read all these things about the awful mag crews and people feed into the negativity.

Everything you read in the media is very one sided and I feel that the good stories should be told as well. Would I necessarily want my kids to join one? Definitely not. I'm just sick of seeing an entire industry demonized. Some young adults have a hard time conforming and getting a regular job or going to college straight out of high school, some are stuck in small towns, some come from poverty. My husband always focused on helping people, some of which had never been offered a helping hand instead of worrying about lining his own pockets. Yes, he made good money as a manager; he always said "take care of your agents and they'll take care of you." Greed isn't just an issue out there in magazine land, it's an issue in every industry.

People fear what they don't understand and you can't fully understand anything until you've looked at it from every angle.

I think it might go beyond magazines. I had a young man come through our restaurant today and try to offer either life insurance or business classes (I'm really quite unsure because I got offered both).

It was strange, to say the least, and he did not take no for an answer. When I explained that I work 100 hours a week here, he seemed to not get it.

Sales is a very nebulous category of professions. It could include waiters and bartenders all the way up to tech guys and lobbyists. Yet, in the end, the linking factor is trying to get someone to buy something that they may not have even known was possible, existed or that they wanted it. Isn't that basically any business?

reply to post by bicoastal9


Your post comes off a bit rude. You say you and your husband had a great time on the mag crew, but you wouldn't let your children join one? Why not? If it's as safe as you make it out to be and if the bad experiences are so few, what's wrong with letting your kids join in on the fun?

Fact is that I have these kids coming to my house on a regular basis. I get one or two of them every couple of months it seems. They always look starved, dirty and a little unstable. They always try to sell me magazine subscriptions and they all have the same spiel. The more it happened the more I felt the urge to look into it. Some people (like yourself for example) will have positive things to say about the experience, but a lot have many negative things to say as well. Go through the links so that you understand why I posted what I posted. You were one of the lucky ones, but it seems to me that many fall victim to this industry.

reply to post by 2manyquestions


If I came off as rude, that was in response to what I perceived to be Szarekh's rather condescending and assumptive post. Otherwise, it was not my intent at all.

I wouldn't absolutely disallow my children to do it, it just wouldn't be my first choice. I would prefer they went a more conventional route, but I would love and support them no matter what. As I said before, I don't believe this to be an ideal choice. I put myself in several unsafe decisions while going door to door; it's obviously not the greatest idea to go into random stranger's homes. I NEVER said that it was safe, although in my experience the threats came from customers rather than anyone on crew.

My objective is not to promote mag crews, but to bring the positive aspects to light. I learned countless valuable communication and management skills as well as sales techniques on mag crew. I loved talking to all different types of people across the country. The most important thing I learned was the power of optimism. It was an amazing and unique experience. It's not for everyone, but it gave me a sense of self worth that I had lost.

Many times I encountered people that had seen things like this thread online and wrote me off immediately based off what they'd read. Sometimes I would be able to sit down with them and explain what I was doing, sometimes they didn't care to hear it. I went door to door from 2005-2007, and I wonder what it's like now that we're so much more plugged into the internet and the negativity regarding these mag kids is far more widespread.

I was never dirty or starving, and made far more money selling magazines than a high school grad could expect to make elsewhere. Obviously if you're not selling enough to support yourself or not being paid what you earn, you should do something else. The reason these kids work such long hours is because that's how long it takes them to make a living wage. I worked on average between 3 and 6 hours a day, but sometimes I had to work 10.

I understand everyone's concern; I would be concerned if there were dirty, unstable individuals walking around my neighborhood. I would just urge people to use there own judgement and see that just because someone is selling magazines, they shouldn't automatically be associated with that. On my locale news yesterday, a police officer was convicted of sexual assault, another was under investigation for pocketing drugs from busts, and the Dr. Phil show featured a boy that was coerced into confessing to his sister's murder at 12 years old. Should I now assume all law enforcement is out to get me?

I totally agree with Sphota, very well put.

I sold zines door to door when I was a young lad, I had blast traveling the country making a few bucks, but partying for the most part. I would not want my daughter doing this, but I think its perfectly safe for a young man. It builds character going door to door dealing with angry paranoid customers. I buy stuff from door-to-door salespersons several times per year. I have a subscriptions to Wired, LFY(linux for you), and EFY(electronics),DailyOK, and gifted Yoga& Fitness to a friend. Also buy cookies, candles, and newspapers from DTD sales. I enjoy listening to their sales pitch, and I always base my purchase on their sales technique. You will be hard pressed to find an industry that does not take advantage of young adults.To the OP : its much too risky opening your door like that to the unknown, I'm bias when comes to females and want them to use extreme caution(don't open the door) I carelessly open the door to anyone who comes knocking,I'm invincible in my mind, and loves me some of that ol confrontation...(not recommended behavior).

Originally posted by SmikeS
I sold zines door to door when I was a young lad, I had blast traveling the country making a few bucks, but partying for the most part. I would not want my daughter doing this, but I think its perfectly safe for a young man. It builds character going door to door dealing with angry paranoid customers. I buy stuff from door-to-door salespersons several times per year. I have a subscriptions to Wired, LFY(linux for you), and EFY(electronics),DailyOK, and gifted Yoga& Fitness to a friend. Also buy cookies, candles, and newspapers from DTD sales. I enjoy listening to their sales pitch, and I always base my purchase on their sales technique. You will be hard pressed to find an industry that does not take advantage of young adults.To the OP : its much too risky opening your door like that to the unknown, I'm bias when comes to females and want them to use extreme caution(don't open the door) I carelessly open the door to anyone who comes knocking,I'm invincible in my mind, and loves me some of that ol confrontation...(not recommended behavior).

Thanks for sharing your experience. If these kids looked and behaved "normal" I wouldn't be concerned, but they're always ragged-looking, hopped up and always tell the same ole' story you just know is not true.