Hey guys,I've read through quite a few of the posts in this forum and couldn't resist throwing in my opinion.Unfortunately, I had been involved with Primerica full-time for about 2.5 years. I can honestly say without a doubt that joining this company was the single biggest mistake of my life. The second biggest mistake of my life was staying in it for as long as I did.I know those that are Primerica reps will disagree and probably have some rehearsed lines that they always use for comments like mine, but save your breath. I know all the lines because, ashamed as I am now, I've used them myself in the past. For all the readers that are even thinking about joining this company, please don't. I'm not just saying this as someone that "couldn't make it" or anything like that. But I just don't want anyone to lose all the time, money, self-respect, and confidence that I did. It's now been over two years since I've left and, trust me, not a day goes by that I don't curse myself for ever joining this ridiculous company.I don't want to get into too much detail, but long story short, this company (at least in my experience), preys on those that are desperate, looking for work, and literally just wants to get the most out of them as possible.PLEASE, if you're in school, stay in school, find a decent job, anything! If you're just looking for work, do telemarketing if you have to for a little while until you can find a better job. You'll be a lot better off in the long run.

wow if you check there has been posts on here since 2008!!!!well I got a call also samething as all of the above and still same address on steelesthank you everyone after reading this i wont be going eitherits truly sad when companies pry and try to scheme the unemployedrun around all over the city only to be disappointed!waste of gas and time!!!!!!!!!im soooooooooooo tired of these companies thank god for posts like this one!saves time and moneygood luck to all my fellow unemployed friends out there!

I fell victim to this scam known as Primerica. It all started one day when an unknown number called my cell phone and left me a voicemail. I listened to the voicemail and couldn't even hardly make out the name of the company from which the guy said he was calling. In the voicemail, he asked if I was still looking for employment.
As a recent college graduate desperate to find a job in this sluggish economy, I gladly called back and set up an interview. So I met with the guy who was to become my "field trainer" or whatever and he explained to me what I would be doing, and as a journalism major in college, I hadn't the slightest clue or interest in selling insurance, which is what I got out of the interview, but desperate to work, I agreed to a second interview, and the really weird part is that he asked me if I wanted to meet at the local office or if I wanted him to come to my house (strange).

I always felt really pressured when I met with him, and I found it strange the way he always had me write down names of people who I knew. He told me that there was a $99 fee but that if I didn't have it, I could do a "scholarship" program to where I go with my field trainer on three "successful" interviews with prospective buyers/victims in my "warm market" (people close to me - friends and family) to waive the $99 fee, which is what I chose to do.

So we went on several interviews to houses of people who I knew and the whole process just seemed a little strange to me. I found it weird how I wasn't participating (I would just sit at the kitchen table watching him explain all this information to my friends who were just as confused as me) and how he always left papers with everyone and asked them to fill out names of people who they knew. Even to customers who didn't or wasn't interested in the whole process, he would constantly call me and ask if I had gotten the list of names. Finally after the third client, my field trainer just stopped calling me and that's when I knew that I had been scammed. I could tell from the beginning that it was a little strange and didn't seem like a real job, but being the desperate unemployed college graduate that I am, I accepted.

I feel absolutely embarrassed to have to tell my friends that it was a scam and I am constantly apologizing to them for putting them through this and for giving out their personal financial information to these crooks at Primerica. These cronies are a weird bunch as well. My field trainer told me that I needed to go to the weekly meetings which were every Tuesday night and this was during the summer and Tuesday nights were volleyball nights for me so I rarely showed up and just made excuses as to why I wasn't there.

The few meetings that I went to were absolute repeats of one another. The same people got up in the same order and talked about the same old stuff - about how great Primerica was and how it's changed their lives, etc. I spent the entire time asking myself, "What am I doing here with these scammers?" To top it off, my field trainer told me that I needed to go to a regional meeting in St. Louis, which was the biggest joke and waste of time of my entire life.

All of these Primerica people are the most brainwashed and ridiculous-acting people I've ever met. I thought to myself that it was just a big cult.  Their phony postings here and elsewere, along with countless fake blogs and websites are indicative of the caliber of mediocrities that this organiziation attracts, and should be a red flag to any potential recruits or customers. To anyone who comes into contact with these people, I would say hang up the phone or slam the door immediately before they lure you in before it's too late. I made no money but lost no money either - only thing I lost was some respect among my friends and a great deal of time that I could have spent looking for other jobs.

All that I'm asking of you is that you remove all posts that we DID NOT CALL - let them use other forums or someone else's phone number but not ours.  I, and many of my colleagues, work under this phone number and there are many posts that are misleading, irrelevant or simply untrue and slanderous that are posted under this number.  If you choose to leave these posts for others to read, then please leave my post as well.  If this site is allowing freedom of speech regardless of relevance than I should be allowed to comment on the context as well and post whatever I like too, right?  Either remove posts that we did not call or allow mine to stay.

If Microsoft called you for an interview and you reseached microsoft on the internet and read the horrible things posted would you not show to the interview?  Try these searches on Google:

I hate TD Bank
I hate RBC Bank
I hate God
I hate babies

who the flip HATES BABIES???  Worse... who spends time posting negatives about babies on the internet??  EVEN worse, who are the IDIOTS who believe the crap written on the internet???

It's one thing to show up and formulate your own opinion... it's another thing to listen to complete strangers who hold no bearing of success and will try to drag others down too.

It's a strange world we live in today.  Thank God that there are still those with morals and education that can make their minds up for themselves rather than search on forums that are obsolete.

Do the right thing in life.  Be your own person... opportunity is what YOU make of it - don't let postings like the ones above form your judgements.   Good luck.  Primerica is a great company.

I was recently referred by a friend to "Primerica" for an "opportunity."  He refused to mention any details and simply said, "Man, you just gotta check it out."  I obliged, considering I'm desperately looking for work this summer to pay for university.  On the drive there,  he gave me minor details, still proclaiming, "Man, you just gotta talk to this guy.  He'll explain everything."  From what I gathered, I figured this "opportunity" revolved around sales; my amusement quickly dissolved.After waiting about half an hour, I was finally greeted by a "representative", whom I quickly identified as a boorish blockhead.  Our interview (I think that's what it was) began by him flashing all these fancy figures that I could be earn if I chose to join Primerica; uninspired and skeptical, I asked him monotonously, "So, doesn't this job require education?"  He was sharp--like a snake preying on a mouse--and said, "We actually require our representatives to complete a course in finance."  As our "interview" continued he explained why term life insurance was so good and frequently pointed at pictures of fancy digits and dollar signs; essentially I had no idea what was really going on, neither did he tell me what I'd actually be doing.  As he rapped up his uninspiring presentation, he began asking me hypothetical questions like, "How much money would like to make in life?" or "How many hours would you like to work?" and "What kind of luxury car would you like to drive?"--claiming all my dreams would come true if I joined Primerica, as I could work little hours and make a six-figure income (though, unfortunately, none of my dreams revolve around money.)  He then told me that I'd be required to pay $100 to get a finance certificate, and therefore be qualified.  I immediately thought, SCAM.  But no, I wasn't quite right. They do send you to a legitimate place (you can find them on your own) where you can obtain a certificate in finance.As I had now listened to this guy's explanation--I think I was supposed to be brainwashed--my friend had now felt inclined to fill me in on the details.  On the ride home, which, by the way, he played a motivational CD by some Primerica guy (creepy,) I was finally told what I would be doing: selling life insurance.  On the surface, not that I would be interested or anything, it didn't seem like the deceptive conclusion that I came to later on.  However, as he continued, he said that for my "training" I would have to go out with Daniel (the representative) and explain to my family, as well as other close contacts, how the service worked; in turn, I would receive a small portion of any sales made.  By the time I got home, I began to put together the puzzle.  I was told during my interview not to look up Primerica on the web, but to go to specific sites, which he wrote down for me.  I thought that it was pretty sketchy, but  he assured me of the business's integrity with the high ratings that the company received in valid business magazines, and then showed me where Primerica was on the New York Stock Exchange.Even though the closest I've ever made it to in business is through Death of a Salesman, by Arther Miller, I became acquainted with some business terms, terms that he failed to mention.  I reached the conclusion that Primerica is a multi-level marketing organization; they operate through a pyramid scheme.  Basically, how it works is you, the salesman, go out and sell their life insurance; in turn, however, your sales makes everyone else money, including a relatively small portion for yourself (the people higher up on the "pyramid.")  They operate through referrals and allow you to recruit people, yourself, to make more money (which is why my friend was so eager to refer me.)  The reason they want you to work for them is because you'll make them money, while they virtually do nothing.  There's essentially nothing wrong with this, but if you think about how such an operation is ran, it seems quite pathetic: they'll hire anyone (the more the merrier) and by sending these non-professional, non-educated people out to sell life insurance, do you think people will actually buy it?  What if the potential buyer decides to, uh, I don't know, ask questions?This is where they get you again.  Throughout my interview, the guy explained how their product, term life insurance, was so great; typically, he's right, but for life insurance, it certainly isn't a "one size fits all" scenario.  Also, he made it seem that this product was so unique and that they're the only ones who offer it.  I believe I had asked him how likely it would be to sell this product in terms of competition.  He pulled out a red herring and went on about something else--I think about their really low rates.  I went on Google and was surprised to find that practically every insurance company offers the same service.  I did a few quotes under various ages and scenarios and also found that Primerica is much more expensive, practically under every circumstance, than other services--how are you supposed to sell that?  He had me convinced that their service was the "Wal-mart" (We sell for less!) of life insurance.  Nope.  Finally, I put everything together and this is what I gathered:They try to sell life insurance to your friends and family (because, for your training, you have to "observe" the representative through six session of him trying to sell life insurance [to your close friends and family.]) And what better people to sell to!  You go to them, saying, "I just got this new "job" and this is part of my training--are they, as your friends and family, going to be inclined to buy this half-a** insurance policy?  Obviously.  Once you get through these six observations sessions, your training is now complete and you can now sell freely.  But, once again, who's going to want to buy from your non-professional, non-educated self?  Certainly, not those close friends and family, as they--if they decided to even make purchases--bought them off your representative.  I wouldn't see these people as your only hope as sales but, in the end, who's else is going trust your non-professional a**?  This is the beauty of multi-level marketing: your sales will quickly run out once you've heard, "Nos" from all you'll close friends and family.  At the end of the day, you, as well as many others, have just made someone higher up in the pyramid a lot more money, but once you run out of sales, that's okay, they have 200,000 some odd people just like you to bring them in more money and referrals.You don't stand a chance selling this garbage.  In fact, the average income of a Primerica salesmen is little more than $5000 annually, which is a far cry from the $100,000 income they flaunt in your face as well as even a typical $20,000 minimum wage salary.  Don't waste your time.  If you're a good salesmen, have an endless supply of contacts, and you don't mind pressuring your close friends and family into sales, there's something way better out there for you then Primerica.However, I never dealt with the "cult" aspect of Primerica; to be honest, I figured it would just make for an interesting headline, but it seems like there's an eerie truth to it.  Although I can only base my skepticism on the fact that I received creepy vibes from every single person in that building, it seems like a lot of brainwashing is taking place.  They keep you in line, as I said earlier, by telling you how much money you can make; they do this by having frequent conferences, "motivational" CDs, covering their walls in posters, and moronic representatives influencing you every step of the way.  They do this to motivate you, so reality takes a longer time set in; once it has, you'll be scratching your head wondering, why the hell you spent so much time on such nonsense.