Tristar Vacuums, Calgary AB

Tristar Vacums

Star Industries

Calgary, Alberta

Truth About Tristar

This is for all of you consumers out there, that have been sucked in by Tristar Or are about to. Please read this carefully as I am going to tell you guys the truth about Tristar, how they work and what they do.

I was broke for a while, and checked the newspaper for a quick job, I had just lost my last one due to lack of work, So I came across this add that said “16$/hr set up and display call XXX XXXX. So I did, they asked me to come in for an interview and I did, at first it looked a little shady, and I wasn’t sure why there was so many vaccums around but I didn’t think much of it.

So once I had my very brief interview, they called me the same night and asked to come in for training on the weekend, so I did.

It was a Saturday, and as soon as I walked into the room I noticed another 10 people sitting around not knowing what was about to happen, and a big cardboard box in the corner of the room. We all sat there aimlessly, waiting for a manager or just anyone really to come in and tell us what was going on. A few minutes past and maybe another 5 people came into the room for “training”.

After a while, 2 guys walked into the room with paperwork, welcomed us and we just chatted about what everyone wanted to do in the near future, how much money the wanted to make and whatnot. Then he pulled out the big cardboard box and pulled out a VACCUM! Apparently its called an air purifier, but by the looks of it, it’s a machine, with a hose, and a brush at the end, and you use it to suck up dust and clean your home, so IT IS A VACCUM! The 2 managers seemed to be very offended once everyone was convinced it was a vaccum, and they basically started to do a demo, that took about ohhh 30 minutes. They let us use the vaccum and try it out, It was a neat machine, but at this point I knew what was happening and they were recruiting sales people.

Then they went over to the whiteboard and wrote the price of the machine on the board…yes $2900, and asked all of us to write down in our notebooks how much money we should get for selling one of them things. Everyone had a different answer, I wrote down $100-$150, I didn’t want to cross any lines or anything and I wasn’t exactly sure so that was my guess, I mean $150 bux per sale isn’t that bad, They had a look at everyone’s answers and went back to the white board.

Now get this, A Junior Sales person makes $400 PER MACHINE SOLD!!! INSANE HUH?! After selling 30 machines you make $800 per sale, and once you have reached your goal of selling 50 machines you get $1200 a POP!

Don’t believe that bullshit story about how they get paid by just demonstrating the machine to you, we get $25 bux if we’re lucky.

No one there was a starving student, They were hiring people and training them to become professional sales people!!!!

So at this point all of us were in shock and thinking…ohh well that’s good money, but how easy is it to sell one of those machines. They were chatting for a while and then let us have a lunch break.

2 hours later we returned and there was about 7 or 8 people out of 15 left, the rest of them realized it was bullshit, I stayed, unfortunately.

Then the training started, we sat there for hours and hours almost every day, and finally they had us team up with the professionals that sell 4-5 machines a week and makes $1200 on each sale. All of them drive nice cars, and shop a lot, you might want to follow your salesperson out the door, because they’re instructed to park their nice car a few blocks away to not attract any attention.

So the work started, every morning at 10AM we would meet up in different areas around Calgary and deliver little scratch and win cards to peoples doors and stick them in the door or somewhere it was visible, we did that for 2-3 hours every morning, you weren’t allowed to go home, afterwards to shower because you had to be back for an hour training again and afterwards it was off to do shows, this gave people enough time to wake up, find their cards, scratch them and win…Oh by the way…EVERY CARD IS A WINNER, and ALL of them ARE THE SAME THING, you get a piece of paper that lets you book a hotel room for 3 days at a destination your choice, there is one in Calgary, and one in Kelowna, all the other ones are far away, and chances are you’ll never use them.

So after we had training (once delivering those damn scratch cards) we noticed that there was about 3 girls coming into the office and had their own special room set up in the back with phones and whatnot, we were waiting around for the other sales people and our managers were in their offices on the phones trying to sell the machines.

A buddy of mine and I snuck into the room and checked out what the girls were doing, they were following a script (there were strict rules about following it) and there was phone books stacked in the back. Each girl had several pages ripped from the phone book and was just going thru every single name on the list and calling, that’s when they do the survey, and apparently one girl said that you had to do about 15 pages of surveys a day, and there is 10 slots on every page for a survey…THAT’S A LOT OF PHONE CALLS. Once the surveys are completed they give them to the manager who hangs on to them for a couple of months, then there was another girl who had all the survey pages cut up and started calling everyone letting them know they won a prize for doing the survey a while back (the survey takes 30 seconds so chances are you wont remember it) and to claim your prize we have to come to your house and demonstrate an air purifier. THAT AT THE END WE WILL TRY OUR VERY HARDEST TO SELL IT TO YOU!!!!

People started calling in a few hours later that they had found a bingo card at their doors and they had won, a lot of people were excited, surely id be too if I won something, then the sales pitch comes in and the managers tell them that to claim their prize they have to watch a demonstration first about the amazing air purifier..its a damn VACCUM!!!

80% of people hang up and forget about it, the other 20% of people fall for it, and that’s when we get sent out on our missions. I felt really bad for older folks that were on their pension and cant exactly afford a machine like this at all, but they would fall for it, and the salesperson would maybe give them $200 bux off or something for a trade in their old vaccum. The old vaccums are SOLD on EBAY! So the company makes EVEN more money.

Don’t believe the story about the demo taking 15 to 20 minutes, it takes a good 2 hours to do a successful presentation, once we come in we HAVE to call our manager from YOUR phone and pretend like we care and how nice you and are how many kids you got and a dog and what not, this gives the manager more info on how much dirt there could be in your house, which will make the sale go even smoother later on, then we get on with the demo, afterwards we HAVE to call your manager again and that’s when the sale really starts, they do not let off, I felt so embarrassed whenever I had to put the clients on the phone with my boss as he just kept pushing and pushing and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I had to do my job, but if people didn’t want it, they didn’t want it, and there was times where I told a few clients that this machine really isn’t a big deal and I don’t get how they can save money on it down the road, sure it takes out all the dirt, but so does every other vaccum, except the really cheap ones at walmart without the brushes, those are crap! And don’t buy those, im serious! If you want to invest in a good vaccum, spend 100 bucks on it, and if it breaks in 2 years, whatever buy a better one, because they get better and better each year.

They made us work from 10am till about 10pm every day, without really making any money, because HEY, you’re self employed and why do they care.

What the machine is bought for is $500, the owner of the company gets $500 from every sale that is made by everyone, the manager that talks to you on the phone makes another $500 from EVERY sale that is made by everyone, and the rest is for the sales person because they are the ones out there selling them.

So technically, $2200 bucks is just for the sales people?!?! Is that right?!?

That’s why, if you cant afford the $2700 machine, they will keep dropping the price till about $1500 so they can still each make some money off it. Tristar is a deceitful company. All they want is your money, which is why I quit shortly after.

Its not worth your time watching a demonstration that takes over 2 hours, then someone pressuring you and making you feel low about not buying the machine, and in some cases get insults thrown at you, because YES, the salesperson or at least the couple I was with, were pretty offended after they were about to get kicked out, their mood suddenly changes and they become hostile. They will NOT leave your house if you try and kick them out, so either you DON’T let them in, or you have to call the cops on them. We are instructed to use your phone no matter what happens, only if you are in danger should you leave the house.

I warn all of you, if you really want to buy the vaccum, buy a new one over ebay that costs you $200 bucks, I got one myself, spend $250 on it, including shipping and handling and that was over a year and a half ago, it still works great and cleans my house, but NEVER would I buy anything from them directly. If you find a bingo card, burn it!!

Just thought I would post this for everyone and warn all of you, it’s the best I could do, If you feel like dropping me a message please do so and maybe we can share our experience.

Thank you,

Mark L.

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Watch it they are going after Seniors as well. DO NOT BUY

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This evening, my wife checked the mail box and found a scratch card and guess what? we were winners!

She called the number and they sent a lad around within an hour (9pm). He gave us some background on the 'air purifier' and was about to test it when we said our daughter was asleep and we didnt want him making too much noise. He said he needed to use our phone to call his boss. I stupidly let him and he arranged to come back in a couple of days to actually demonstrate it.

I got in my car and followed him as he left, and sure enough he stopped two blocks away and waited by the side of the road. Enough time for me to get his plate, just in case it was all a scam.

Something didnt sit right with me, so I googled the company and got this site. Thank god! They wont be coming back, mainly because I wouldn't spent anything over $300 on a bloody hoover in the first place let alone $3000!!!

Just glad I read this because if some stranger refused to leave my house, became hostile and I felt my wife and child were threatened, it would have ended very badly for that person.

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I had a very similar experience with Star Industries a few years ago. I too responded to the ad to make $16/per hour for set up and display.

We didn't have to hand out bingo cards, but they had the "girls" call all the names int he phone book for whatevfer area we were in and ask them if they wanted a free gift, we would delver some crappy ginsu knives, and the salesman would basically force his way inside the house,. if you were unable to get into that house you were repremanded.

We were drilled that they are not vaccums they are "airflow systems" lol i still remember them getting pissy everytime you called it a vacuum.

I agree that they were way overpriced, and that they paid their direct sales ppl basically nothing to do all of the work. I spent so much more on fuel then i got back, or even could get back.

I do want to say though that I sold one machine to my parents, who have had it now for 5 years with no issues. They still love it, but then again they probably would have loved a dyson or an electrolux just as well.

Anyway thats my input onthis didgy company.

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wow this is all my experience to a T. I lasted i believe two days, i went in for an interview (this was like 5 years ago) responding to an ad for warehouse labor. i went in confident it was legit as there was a buddy i played hockey with also employed (and in hindsight the guy was a dumbass so yea i get it now) not realising id be given a sales presentation, then told to right the presentation down verbatim and to memorize.

key points i loved:

after the interview was over i was told that i would be given a call on my cell phone at 3 PM if ive got the job. I HAD TO ANSWER MY PHONE, GOES TO VOICE MAIL, NO JOB. needless to say i answered and went in. big mistake.

convienently enough that second day i was there (really i stuck around for two days because the only other person in my "class" was a hotty and i spent most of the time trying to get in her pants) that nigt was a staff gathering at boston pizza. figured i would go to get some free food/beer and vet out the other employees. i learned that for approximately the first 90 days i would be driving around on my dime trying to sell these things and i would NOT BE PAId A DAMN THING. sorry to say, i don't work for free no matter what is at the end of the tunnel.

also of note, i ended up getting another job at another place (cant remember where now, this was 5 years ago) and my bosses at this new place ACTUALLY KNEW WHO THE IDIOTS THAT RAN THIS WERE AS THEY WERE ON A PLANE TO A VACATION SPOT TO MEXICO WITH THEM. they were very sympatheic to me after i told them i went to this place as they said they had to put up with there jackassery on that plane. they said they wer decked out in massive bling bling that looked totally fake and kept bragging about all the coin they were banking. bunch of douchebags.

i also love the guys claiming here that all of us that bailed on this shit hole scam are negative and can't cut it in sales. i am now in technical sales for a company and positive i pull in more money (and have a gult free concience with what i sell) then these morons.

i live near the building and the 3 star gold ind. sign is still up. not sure if its still in operation, wuold really enjoy going over there and burning that shack down. only useful things in that building was the hundreds upon hundreds of vacuums they scammed from "customers".

bonus points - anyone who went in there remember the story the one retard said about how he was inthe army colonels house and they were demonstrating the suction power then the power went out and it dumped the stuff all over the place but sealed the deal because it cleaned the shit up efficiently? Pure bull shit at its finest.

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CHE,

they may make you believe that you cannot return it. If you have to, threaten with a lawsuit or calling the police for unethnic practices. Demand your money back! these people are scammers and need to be shut down!

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I saw the job add today. The guy on the other end started getting impatient with me when I started asking questions about the job, commission or salary. He couldn't give me any strait answers. He kept saying if I wanted more info I needed to come in for an interview....I hung up. After reading this I see I made the right choice.

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Hi Mark,

It is really nice to hear your story, I just had 1 salesman came in to our house today and guess what, we bought 1 vacuum the MG3. When I try to check my contract or financing I just realized that the interest was so high and wasn't told to me. Now, I am so pist and will call them on Monday and I will return the product, I can return it right? I will void or cancel my contract with them coz' they trick us. Can you give me an advice pls? Thanks! Looking forward for your reply soon.

Che

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Competitor in disguise? Wow, i love how all the managers of Star Industries and Tristar are coming on here posing as regular folks and trying to make up stuff just to save the last bit of reputation thats left.

Mark received numerous emails from Star industries POSING as some people writing a report on the company and they could only meet "in person" to discuss it...shady huh?

No one will back these people up anymore.

And i hope you got your $5 bucks back from the real person, since mark owns several vehicles and would never use public transit.

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Dont blame Mark on your company going out of business, if you practiced proper sales antics then that would not have happened. Thats one more consumer scanner of the radar.

Get a real job you scum!

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Mark L. is actually a competitor in disguise. I know who he is and I worked with him before. The owner of the company sent him in to try and destroy the reputation of star industries because it was growing really fast. It actually took us right out of business, thats why I said used to work with him.

So good luck with the complaint. Oh and mark you still owe me five bucks for bus fare you cheap prick.

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Ok... first of all, the last person who commented on this was a complete idiot. I mean, "write"? I believe what you meant to say was "If I am reading this complaint *right*. Then to the person who has been with this poor excuse for a business for two years doesn't know how to properly use the English language, so I guess selling vacuums was the only job they could manage to keep. It shows what type of education the people who work for this company and stay with it truly have to have. If you wanted to be a true professional salesperson and you are so "successful" and "talented", go sell cars or real estate. Go somewhere that has consumers coming to you. Instead, you people connive and weasel your way into peoples home to try to talk them into a VACUUM CLEANER. I have two good friends who have one of these and was talked into "working" for the "company" to get it for free. They are both successful people with very high self-esteem and a motivated drive for life. They both say this is a F*****G scam. I have used the vacuum before and I must say, it's really not that special. I cleaned my floor with a Bissell Little Green Machine afterward and there was still A TON OF DIRT IN MY CARPET. You can take the whole it saves you time, effort, money, and helps with your health bullshit somewhere else. If you people really cared about the air quality in someones home, SELL A REAL AIR PURIFICATION MACHINE. My mother bought a real air purifier for $500 and it was truly worth it, but this vacuum.... I wouldn't give the $200 you can get it for on Ebay. So for anyone who encounters these con-artists, lock your door before it's too late and for anyone who works for this company, go out and get a REAL JOB. I don't see how anyone associated with this company could sleep well at night knowing they are nothing but a lying, manipulative, sorry excuse for a human.

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So, if I'm reading this complaint write, some guy got an oppertunity to work for a company and had a chance to make a lot of money. But he couldn't cut it, so he wrote up a complaint about how the company does business. I'm sure any successfull company is ruthless when it comes to making money. It's how they stay in bussiness. I love how Mark L. here still bought the product after he left the company. I guess Mark L.'s only complant was he doesn't have what it takes to be a bussiness man successfully. Your a real winner Mark L.

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All you people are obviously unsuccessful people. The reason you are complaining is because you couldn't move a machine that would save people time effort money and not to mention better their health. 3000 is a lot of money but it is an investment for them. And you know what I 'll take my share of the profit and sleep good at night knowing I did something good. Stop wasting your time complaining and go work at wendy's or something because that is your potential...I ve been with tristar for two years and average 6000-8000 a month. GET A LIFE......

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The ones you buy on Ebay are a scam. The motors are cheap and made in Mexico. And all of you who complain are not sales professionals and i bet you are all working at mcdonalds making minimum wage. Try working in any other sales job and you will see its the same. So dont blame tri star. And you do know what the definition of a vacuum is right. The TriStar is clearly not a vacuum.

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Wow you said it dead on, funny thing, i had worked for them in the past(nearly a year ago to be exact).. i didnt make it past three weeks. anyways i'm out looking for work again to keep me busy in the summer i see an ad on working.com for 16.65/h for labour > set-up and delivery..

i call em up and sure enough its star industries. now since tristar is comission based, isnt that fraud to have an hourly based wage in a strictly comission based job?

ugh i want tri-star to burn!

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I 100% persent agree on this. Back in the day, I was a employee...retarded...the vacuum kicks ass mind u, but the price is ridiculous. I also found a brand new mg2 on ebay for under $300 dolla.....

unlike working as a sale person I was the idiot on the phone with my damn phonebooks calling all the local areas twice in 6months....their isn't a do not call list people...once they have u'r name down u'r fucked haha

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I worked for star industries for 6 months and I loved it. Where else do you get a chance to makes sick money and have consumers save money over time to have a quality product which is backed up on paper that is will last 25 years. They even give 25 years of free shampooing. All these complaints are from people with self image problems who are insecure. Sorry you guys weren't cut out for professional sales. stop trying to suck people down in your negative unsuccessful world.

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Tristar Industries will get shut down very soon!

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That's pretty much it to a 'T'. I responded to a classified job posting in the Calgary Herald "Air Quality Control" and was invited to an interview... that very day. The initial interview was shrouded in mystery with only the mention of "air filtration system"(they hide the vacuums now) and the evening phone call "You have been selected..." was quite punctual. I thought I'd go just to see what it was. Run down entryway, cheap sign in the window and decked out office space with nice furniture and a pool table. Turns out, 5 out of six trainees are new to town and young. They say they are doing training every week and growing like mad, promoting trainees to manager in a few months. (Actually replacing in home demonstrators who clue in and quit.) They do a very good job of laying out the potential profits, bragging and what not, and getting us all excited to rake in some fat cash. I had done an internet search the night before because I didn't like all the secrecy and discoverred a poor review at the BBB for Star Industries with a simple description of Vacuum sales and Repair. After reading the long list of complaints for Tri Star on this site and reviewing the construction of the vacuum I now see clearly how abusive the pitch price is. Though the vacuum is quite good these people do not look or act honest. They are good at what they do though and are finding success at the expense of all the suckers they fool into buying a vacuum for 10X what it is worth (with much hard work and thick skin).