TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1999

Door-to-door sales, tactics scrutinized

By Lori Gaily

On-Line Forty-Niner

Exciting travel, meeting new people and working for the chance to win a trip to Cancun, Mexico, lured Rob to accept a door-to-door magazine sales job.

"It's all true," the 19-year-old said, who did not want his identity to be disclosed. "I like to be on the go, hanging out with 30 fun-filled people and not be stuck to the same daily routine. It's working out for me."

But for an estimated 50,000 youthful door-to-door sales people, this is not always the case, according to the Omaha Better Business Bureau. A recent automobile accident that killed seven young magazine sales people in Wisconsin has drawn the attention of state and federal investigators.

The accident victims worked for a company, Subscriptions Plus, which hires sales people as independent contractors and is therefore exempt from many labor laws.

Rob works for All Star Promotions, a company which he claims has similar business practices.

The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Investigations heard testimony concerning these sales companies' business operations. Testimonies described disturbing practices of low pay, long hours and undefined employment regulations. They also heard instances in which sales representatives were dropped off in unfamiliar neighborhoods and picked up hours later.

Rob's experience confirms these techniques have gone unchanged. He does not receive a salary, but has an account managed by a sales-crew manager from which a small spending allowance is disbursed. Hotel expenses and canceled orders are deducted. Miscellaneous fines for being late to meetings or having low sales days may also be deducted.

Sale represenatives that testified described feelings of intimidation, never being allowed to be alone to make telephone calls, unhealthy diets and marijuana and alcohol use. However, Rob said he has not witnessed these occasions.

"Door-to-door sales is the most difficult kind of marketing there is because of all the rejection you get," said Diane Rohrich, a Cal State Long Beach marketing major. "I know I never want to do it."

Many of these sales companies ignore state or local laws which require registration or permits for traveling door-to-door salespeople, officials said.

The Long Beach City license bureau charges an annual fee of $228, plus $17 for each employee, for door-to-door sales. The illegitimate companies usually leave town before authorities can make a charge on the unlicensed companies. When customers make complaints, there are no local telephone numbers or addresses where officials can find the sales representatives.

When Rob called home recently, he told his mother, Lori, he had "caught heat" that day. Rob said he had been confronted by police asking for proof of a business license. He told the officer he did not have a copy of the license; the driver had the license in the car and he would not be picked up for a few hours.

In addition to the encounter with local authorities, Rob only made about $40 for nearly 11 hours of work.

Parent Watch, a New York-based organization founded by Earlene Williams in 1983, tracks the industry. It helps families and law-enforcement agencies and lobbies for federal legislation that will target these business practices.

Many young adults leave, but the ones who decide to stay are afraid to leave, Williams said. After seeing or experiencing abuse and humiliation, they seem to lose the ability to look out for their own best interests.

According to the Better Business Bureau, about 18,000 people contacted the organization in 1997 to check out door-to-door sales agents.

The National Field Selling Association, an organization for door-to-door sales people, holds its members to ethical guidelines.