times since publication.
Written: November 8th, 2002
Last updated: 12:45 PM 1/18/2003
Scentura Creations, Inc. is a multi-national fragrance distribution company based in Atlanta, Georgia. On the surface, Scentura is an upstanding wholesale distribution company with few marks on their public record. They have no complaints filed against them specifically in the records of the Better Business Bureau. They generate income through distribution of "rendition fragrances," i.e. generic versions of perfumes and colognes. They have little to no contact with the end consumers of their products or the agents who sell them. The BBB classifies Scentura as a "Business Opp-Multi-Level Selling Company."
In spite of their well-polished public appearance, the day-to-day business of Scentura is quite different. The corporation may tout glossy pamphlets advertising over-satisfied customers and ecstatic employees, but those who have done real business with this company sing a far different tune. In the words of the BBB, "One method used by the independent distributors to recruit salespeople is the placement of classified advertisements in the employment section under the heading of 'Management'. Potential employees should understand these advertised openings are typically sales positions in which fragrances must be sold by working as an independent salesperson. As a matter of general information, a seller is not an actual employee of the distributor and therefore would be responsible for securing the proper business licenses before selling and would also be responsible for paying all applicable taxes to the various governmental agencies. Lastly, do not rely on verbal promises and get all details regarding an employment opportunity in writing." (1) As for the quality of their products, they are only as good as cheap imitation perfume can be.
Scentura employs a "Direct Marketing" (also known as "Direct Selling") business model. This model is used with moderate success by many other companies such as Amway ( www.amway.com), CutCo Cutlery through their marketing business Vector Marketing (www.cutco.com), and Mary Kay Cosmetics (www.marykay.com). Anytime a late-night television commercial announcer enthusiastically announces that "you too can get rich quick by owning your own business!" the company in question is most likely employing the Direct Marketing model. Evidence of this can be seen on Scentura's website, "One of the first questions a new person asks, and one of the hardest ideas to initially accept, is 'Is it really possible for me to own my own business?' The answer is 'Absolutely, yes!' This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be in business for yourself. If you're average, odds are you will never have another chance to earn a six-figure income, become financially secure and be able to define and control your own destiny-while having fun and being able to enjoy life!" (2).
Whereas most consumer-related companies have two or three levels of distribution: from factory to warehouse to store to consumer, the Direct Marketing model instead inserts an unspecified number of middlemen into the pipeline. Each level adds little to no value to the product and serves only as a link in the distribution chain. In order to make a profit, each middleman must take a portion of the proceeds of the final sale of the product to the consumer. Because of this increased overhead, these companies will never fully be able to compete with conventional companies catering to the demands of the consumer. They can, however, generate a small number of wealthy individuals supported by the hard and mostly unpaid work of those at the bottom of the pyramid.
The model itself, while not the most efficient way of running a business, is not unethical. By definition, only a small fraction of those at the bottom doing the real work will ever rise up the ladder regardless of how hard they work. That said, there are a number of companies who employ this model responsibly and an equal number of individuals who are willing to take the chance. It is, however, the physical incarnation of Kill-or-be-Killed capitalism, one which rewards greed and selfishness with a smile and a handshake so long as the person above you gets his full cut of the profit. America was not built on this type of capitalism.
For more information on Direct Marketing, consult the Direct Marketing Association at www.the-dma.org.
In many systems of organized crime -- or at least those published in books and movies -- law enforcement must overcome the distance those at the top put between themselves and the dirty work. For the bosses of these organizations, the crimes are committed on their order, but not by their hand, and thus their public images remain clean. This system of "buffering" muddies the legal waters and requires prosecutors to jump through hoops to cut off the organization's head.
This same model is employed by the Scentura version of Direct Marketing. In the words of Mike Regas, legal counsel for Scentura, "Scentura is located only in Atlanta, Georgia and is in the business of bottling its line of perfume which is sold to distributors around the world." (5). This is an oversimplification if there ever was one. This makes no mention of selling bottles of perfume door-to-door; recruiting young, naive individuals by the dozen and telling them to sell these products to their parents and grandparents; or asking employees to go weeks without pay. Scentura officers Larry Hahn and Robert Hasty sit comfortably at the top of the organization and do not concern themselves with these day-to-day problems. The dirty work is delegated to local distributors, who are on their own liability if they commit fraud or extortion in their own greedy quest to climb the pyramid. These distributors long for the day when they too can avoid getting their hands dirty are able to turn a blind eye to the unethical acts that line their pockets with so many filthy dollar bills. Those at the top recline poolside in Las Vegas casinos while millions of clueless new recruits are just waiting to sacrifice their time and money to contribute to the executive's success.
Scentura executives believe they are above reproach, content in their knowledge that they had the right stuff to make it to the top and that they worked hard enough to deserve the good life. What the little guys do is their business. To again quote Regas, "Scentura has no way of controlling [local distributor's] method of selling perfume or hiring its employees. Scentura simply sells its products to those groups for resale/distribution to the public. If, in fact, their hiring and employment practices are offensive or even illegal, Scentura has no knowledge of same. Certainly, Scentura does not condone illegal activity. However, Scentura does not have any control over these alleged practices by entities or persons unrelated to Scentura." Unrelated? Scentura will gladly take their profits, but will run scared when it comes to their accountability.
First a disclaimer: as stated in the previous section, Scentura itself does not sell to consumers and makes sure to keep a great legal distance between itself and the local distributors to minimize liability. It would be possible, theoretically, to open up a store in a local mall to sell only Scentura products. While this idea would float like a rock, Scentura would no doubt accept the sales outside of its traditional business model. However, most -- if not all -- of Scentura products are sold through Direct Marketing. Every step in the process and every level in the pyramid are meticulously scripted. Scentura produces reams of handbooks, pamphlets, posters, and other propaganda to "assist" local distributors in training new recruits to peddle their perfume. All this literature is designed to keep would-be defectors in line, keeping their tunnel-vision focused tightly on the huge dollar bills at the end of the long road to success.
In spite of the fact that instructions come from the top of the organization, legally Scentura cannot be held liable for any actions taken by the local companies. Unlike franchises like McDonald's or Wendy's, where the parent corporation is responsible for the actions of the independent owners of their businesses, Scentura remains aloof, far removed from the businesses that actually sell their products. Currently, no state of federal legislation exists to hold Scentura accountable for the actions executed by the local companies, even if the companies are operating on order from Scentura. It should not surprise the reader that this is yet another manipulation of the American justice system.
The overall business model is very simple: recruit people to sell perfume. Those who sell enough will be asked to open their own distribution company, at which point the employee registers their business with the state and leases office space. The more bottles of perfume they push through the pipeline, the higher they rise, from district manager to regional manager and beyond.
The core of the business is in these local distribution companies. Once an employee has risen to the level of owning their own distribution company, this independently owned and operated company will dedicate a certain amount of their budget to advertise job openings in newspapers and other forms of media. The newspaper ads usually reflect a desperate need for managers. They often stress that no training is necessary and that the applicant enjoy a fun, non-serious work environment in order to attract a younger demographic. Phrases like "Sports Minded" and "Music Oriented" are often used, even though the business has nothing to do with music or sports. The following is an ad taken from a Pittsburgh newspaper in the summer of 2002:
Asst. Mgr/Mgr Trainee **ATTENTION** I NEED PEOPLE! Expand. Co. needs staff. Serious $$$ working w/ non-serious people. Must like music & fun. Call Liz: 412-798-3202
These job postings serve as the only advertisement most of these companies need, and many do not sponsor any other form of ads beyond job postings. These advertisements are essential to keeping a steady flow of new applicants. With an attrition rate of 90% per week (only 10 out of every 100 applicants stay on past one week, according to some former managers), this constant flow is essential to keeping the business running. If a distribution center neglects to run these ads for even a week, the flow of people is cut off and the center�s sales are impacted for about 5 weeks due to not having the cash-generating "Friends and Family" sales from trainees (6).
While managers are free to post whatever help-wanted ads they please, they are given a list of tried-and-true ads to run in local newspapers. They are told not only not only what section to advertise but what days the ads should be run. If the company runs the same ad during all the days of the week, people reading the paper will start to catch on and, more importantly, the newspaper editors will get suspicious. Many newspapers will not run ads from direct-marketing companies in the "General Employment" section. They are relegated to the much less-often perused "Sales" or "Business Opportunity" sections. To avoid this, managers are instructed to tell newspapers to get creative with their business descriptions (something they will have to do time and time again) and say "cosmetic distribution." They are told never to mention the words "sales" or "independent contractors" or "training to run ones own business." The ads include phony names to allow the company to track which ads are generating the highest responses. Likewise, the companies invest in multiple phone lines; not to handle a large volume of calls, but to have the ability to publish many different phone numbers in different ads to avoid suspicion (7).
Everyone who responds to these ads is invited to an "interview." In this interview, a fast-talking company manager will promise anything from management positions in charge of other employees to 401(k) plans to paid vacations; anything to keep the applicant's eyes glossed over so they don't ask what the true nature of the job is. The most common theme in these interviews is "management." Since most people want to be in charge of other people, this stimulates the most positive response from the applicant while keeping questions to a minimum. Occasionally the interviewer will toss out fake programs and acronyms while discussing "benefits" to assess the applicant's knowledge of the business world. The whole purpose is to confuse the applicant into thinking that they have stumbled onto a terrific opportunity, one so great that they have benefits he or she hasn't even heard of before! At the end, the applicant is almost always told they have "made the cut" and are instructed to dress their best to come to the "second interview" in a few days. In the first interview, the applicant (unless they are savvy enough to ask the question themselves) is never told the what the job is or what a typical work day will be like.
At the second interview -- in reality it is not an interview at all -- all of the applicants (15 - 20 people, on average) gather together and are finally told a little bit more about what they will actually be doing to make a buck. Somewhere between the promises of free Las Vegas vacations and expensive new cars, it is explained that they will be selling perfume, and that their "management"position means only that they will "manage themselves." Anyone who sticks around after this exposure to the truth will then enter the system, be asked to purchase a seller's kit (which is itself a quick sale for the managers of the distribution company), and are promised they are on the road to success.
Many of these companies claim they are "new to the area" or "opening new branches." This will deter anyone from asking why a business which has been in the area for years would need to hire employees by the score. In reality, this process of indoctrination is the true sales pitch of the company, rather than the selling of perfume bottles. Therefore every aspect of the process must be scripted and rehearsed to ensure that all questions are answered before asked, and those not to be asked remain unsaid.
From a former employee: "They charge $27 per bottle. If they have at least 20 people sell 50 bottles every month they would make a net profit of $13,500. Even after the trainees take there cut the company makes a little over $11,000. That is a lot of money to be making a month and if you quit they can hire 20 more people and make more money."
It is very possible that the next step constitutes the majority of sales generated by the company. There is even an acronym for it in Scentura-speak: FFAR. It stands for "Friends, Family, and Relatives." This is who the employee is supposed to "practice" selling on. This is the cornerstone of the scam purputrated by many Direct Marketing companies. The newbie salesman must first practice the pitch to their parents and grandparents, and since many of them tend to be teenagers or early 20-year-olds, the relatives usually buy something out of love or pity. What grandparent doesn't want to support their grandchild's ventures? This results in a few quick sales for the company from people who otherwise would have never purchased the product on its merit alone. After these FFAR sales the vast majority of workers realize that this isn't a real job at all, and quit. This resignation does no damage to the company, however. The company has already made a few bucks without any payout, and there's already another sucker just waiting to fill the vacated position.
This initial "warm market" phase of the applicant process is perhaps where most of the earnings of the company take place. Since the business is so decentrailzed there is no way of looking at the overall flow of capital; any statement made about earnings is only an estimation. Many Direct Marketing businesses require (or at least strongly suggest) that new applicants purchase "sales kits." These result in quick sales for the company, adding again to the bottom line of the local distributor. In reality, job applicants are not being considered for employment, there are being used as customers.
Beyond the activity described here, the company is comprised of warehouses, managers, middlemen, people transporting boxes upon boxes of perfume in the trunks of cars, and other mundane operations. There most likely are no big sales contracts, no mergers or acquisitions, no research and development, no product advertising, none of the honest income generating activities that a normal American business engages in.
"You tell [applicants] that they can do it if they make enough sacrifice, burn bridges with their family and friends who try to talk them out of it (in effect, alienating them from everyone but other people in the perfume business), Put the blinders on taking all focus away from any 'Pre Scentura' values/priorities and they can be successful" (3) says Mike Barrick, a former employee with 10 years experience in the company. The system is designed to give both the applicants and current participants a sort of tunnel-vision to avoid outside information that invariably dissuades them from continuing selling perfume. While the managers are guilty of repeating this propaganda to new applicants, they too receive a constant flow of "inspiration" from their superiors, keeping them focused on the money and not applicant�s best interests.
For the "successful" people in this business, their lives must be ruled by greed. They are trained to rationalize their own immoral actions by dismissing those who fail as somehow not having the business-savvy that they obviously have, when in fact the only savvy they do have is the ability to scam kids into effectively stealing money from their parents and grandparents. Many of those who succeed only see good money for a very short period of time, and as with all pyramid-structured organizations, the money eventually filters to the top tiers, leaving the rest to wonder what happened to the last 5 years of their lives.
Those who have been sold into they system often display a visceral reaction when confronted with the truth of the business. Statements like "I am 20 yrs. old and I went through the training in 4 weeks and I know make 1,000's of dollars legally so just because you couldn't do it doesn't mean you have to get pissed off. People have tried to stop us before and it didn't work so you might as well stop because you are wasting your time" (4) lend support to the idea that any criticism of the business model is to be dealt with quickly and harshly by management. New recruits are trained to ignore the advice of their parents and friends and to believe that any information outside of the Scentura-approved material will be an obstacle in their road to success. Those who choose to realize the true nature of the business and leave are described as "weak" and without the skills to make it in the cut-throat business world. These are very important and powerful psychological operations, critical to the success of the business.
For each one of the thousands of horror stories you hear, Scentura advocators will be happy to provide glossy booklets of the many millionaires who worked up through the system. But where are the publications of people who sank life savings into these companies because of promises of the good life, only to be kicked to the curb when times got tough? Hard work alone does not a successful businessman make. It takes a lot of work to rob a bank, but are the thieves to be called "good businessmen?"
Other on-site publications: For more information: A note on the site host: Please link to this site! Since most popular search engines are
now part of the money machine, they often charge a fee for site submission.
If you run a personal website, please throw a link to
http://www.geocities.com/katarina_li on your page and this will increase
the chances of it being hit by a webcrawler.
Conclusion
The bottom line is Don't fall into the trap! Scentura and it's distributors, while they may operate within the letter of the law, do so at the expense of their own morals and ethics. They rationalize deception in the name of greed, and excuse dishonesty in the name of high sales figures. Thousands of people have been lied to, cheated, robbed, threatened, even extorted and sexually harassed by companies claiming to give people the opportunity to live the American Dream. With a combined effort, these companies can be put out of business and Scentura held accountable for their actions. The truth is, you can succeed in the United States, running your own business and being your own boss; and you don't need a dishonest corporation to tell you how to do it.
Outrage: One man's encounter with Direct Marketing
What can be done?
http://www.scenturacreations.com
http://www.geocities.com/scentura99
http://www.bbb.org
http://www.dcregistry.com/forums/employment/messages/7316.html
http://www.seniors-site.com/fraud/2929.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/scenturainfo Scentura Information Board
This site was originally published in a different form and on a different server. For more information on the author's personal story of encounters with direct marketing companies, and information on the fate of this publication, please read Outrage: One Man's Encounter with Direct Marketing. Currently, this site is hosted on Yahoo's free web hosting service, Geocities. The owner of this website is Katarina Li. If there is a reader out there willing to host or mirror this site on a more permanent server, please contact David Dombrowsky, email -> davek at csh.rit.edu.
Technical Information on Scentura Creations, Inc.
From the Georgia Secretary of State website:
SCENTURA CREATIONS, INC. 5616 PEACHTREE ROAD ATLANTA, GA 30341 Control # H904291 Registered Agent MIKE REGAS (BALLARD & STILL) Agent Address 1201 PEACHTREE ST. SUITE 1018 ATLANTA, GA 30361 OFFICERS: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: HAHN, LAWRENCE 5616 PEACHTREE ROAD ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30341 CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: HASTY, ROBERT B 5616 PEACHTREE ROAD ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30341 SECRETARY: HASTY, ROBERT B 5616 PEACHTREE ROAD ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30341
For a more complete and sortable list of Scentura distribution companies, view the database in the yahoo scenturainfo group (free registration required).
There are a number of websites with information on scentura. One of the best ones can be found at another geocities site,
http://www.geocities.com/scentura2mlm.
from a scam-watch newsgroup
Posted by JeffODW on May 02, 19101 at 19:16:34: IF YOU MEET SOMEONE SELLING THIS:
Please do NOT buy anything from this SCAM COMPANY! They
sell cheap rendition cologne door-to-door, and if you ever
meet one of these salespeople DO NOT PURCHASE THE PRODUCT!
It's a fake, and countless hopeful teenagers are being
fooled into peddling this stuff! Only by cutting off the
flow of buyers and salespeople can it be stopped!
FOR THOSE INVOLVED:
I assume by now that you have been told that this is a
'perfume distribution company'. Distribution in this case
means 'walking the streets trying to sell perfume for
pennies a day'. DO NOT CONTINUE WITH SCENTURA. Tell
everyone in your 'class' who will listen the truth -
Scentura is a losing battle that will leave you broke!
The 'Management' title you have is nothing but a name -
you are not 'managing' anyone. The way the office is
making money right now is by having you drop bottles for
29.00 in FFAR (Friends, Family & Relatives). The office
keeps 19, you take 10.00. THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
On the street, you will have to push the bottles for 11.00
to 19.00 to make your quota, and will have NO CASH. The
office makes it's money on 'Friends and Family' - meaning
yours.
Everything you have heard thusfar is scripted. The phone
interview, the first meeting, and the second 'group'
interview. Scam tactics such as 'fear of loss' are taught,
and used on you to not only hook you in, but to get you
excited about being broke for the entire time you are with
this office. LARRY HAHN DID NOT CALL THE OFFICE TO START
A CONTEST. This is another scam by the owners to suck as
much cash out of you as possible before realizing that you
are being taken for a ride.
The 'paid business trips' are a lie, as well. Called a
Satellite, you basically go to another city and get rid of
as many bottles as you can in a weekend. You have to pay
for the hotel room by working insane hours and selling
'room bottles' - bottles that are supposed to pay for the
room. All it does is take money out of your pocket, so in
truth you pay for it on your own.
They define 'Job' as Just Over Broke. I guarantee that you
will never be as broke as you will be with this 'company'.
Fox 2 News in Detroit did an expose on Scentura, and
reported exactly what I am telling you now. This is a
pyramid scam (even though they tell you it's not. PLEASE
OPEN YOUR EYES), and the fat rolls of cash you might see
in the hands of the 'owner' are nothing but bill money.
They toss it in front of you so you think they are wealthy
and successful. Chances are that the office is going broke,
because statistically you can't keep up mass volumes of
sales in one area for that long. Most offices have a 1-year
lifespan, and when the office goes down, you will receive NO
SUPPORT FROM SCENTURA. You will be working 16-hour days
just to make a few dollars.
There are other setbacks, as well:
The second you join Scentura, your name is red-flagged by
the IRS. There is no accurate way to keep track of your
earnings, and the IRS has been severely cracking down on
Scentura 'Distribution Center' owners.
There are lawsuits being filed against these 'distribution
centers' as we speak. The false advertising and stupid
promises made by them have preyed on young people for far
too long, and finally someone is doing something to stop it.
Police officers DO NOT TOLERATE solicitation on the streets.
Business-to-business is a gray area in law enforcement,
and if you are found selling (I know you are told not to use
that word, but that's what you're doing!) on the street, you
will be ticketed and possibly arrested. County and City
ordinances vary on this topic, and it would do you good to
check with the laws of your city. Your office owners need
you to make street sales, so they will not warn you about
possible consequences.
Please realize before it's too late that this is a scam.
Learn from countless others who have fallen victim. Why do
you think the company website has no contact information?
Because of all the complaints they would be getting! The
reason the Better Business Bureau has no information on
'Scentura' is because the corporation makes no claims to
the offices, and therefore cannot be legally tied to its
practices. It's another scam tactic to keep you feeling
safe, since you will have trouble finding information on
the individual offices. Especially since they have such a
short lifespan, and complaints can take up to a year to be
investigated.
PLEASE MAKE COPIES OF THIS AND GIVE IT TO EVERYONE IN THE
CLASS! Warn people you know not to buy the products, and
help us bring this scam down! You can be successful without
this, and will be happy you walked out the door.
from
http://dcregistry.com/forums/employment/messages/6112.html
Name: Mike Barrick I can tell you, from the perspective of someone who ran a distribution center, and had numerous
offices beneath me........... everything you would want to know about this "opportunity". I am not a
basher and really not all that biased........I just know enough that I now do something else.
Scentura's real opportunity is for you to learn the direct sales game ( an invaluable lesson btw ),
and once you are ready in the eyes of your office manager, Scentura will consign you about $3000 worth
of perfume ( which costs Larry Hahn about $300-$400) so you can start your own business, recruiting and
training people to do the same. Thats it!! That is the golden opportunity that you have been promised.
You will at that point take all the same risks of any other entrepeneur.......including signing your
name on the lease for an office space, spending money on advertising before making a dime, etc...
Can you make money doing this?? Absolutely. I made over $1,000,000 doing exactly what I just
described.
Will you learn alot in the process?? Absolutely!
Here is the problem.....Not many people would warm up to the idea of selling stuff on the street
while virtually going broke ( more on this later), so the recruiting office owners have to make it sound
extremely appealing. If they described it factually ( like I have above ), they couldn't recruit enough
people to stay afloat. They pitch the opportunity to all the recruits just like the sales people pitch
the perfume to people on the streets. This is where the ethical boundary gets crossed. You have to put
your own good before the well being of anybody else in order to be successful in this setting. Most that
walk through the doors for an interview will never make a dime doing the perfume business, but you ( as
an office owner ) don't make any money telling new recruits the truth. You tell them all that they can
do it if they make enough sacrifice, burn bridges with their family and friends who try to talk them out
of it ( in effect, alienating them from everyone but other people in the perfume business), Put the
blinders on taking all focus away from any "Pre Scentura" values/priorities and they can be successful.
Please understand as you read this.........I was the guy telling you all this. Everytime I think of
that time of my life, I am filled with shame and regret rather than pride. Yes, I was successful in that
business but it was at the expense of others. Good people quit working for me ( financially they had no
choice ), and I shunned them. That was what I was taught. Anyone that did Scentura for any period of
time know the saying.." The weak fall by the wayside, while the strong survive". The lack of moral
terpitude is what you can expect from your experience with Scentura Creations. Nobody cares about you.
I learned alot of things while I did that business but I learned some of my most valuable lessons
after leaving the company. Business does NOT come before family. You can't achieve success at the
expense of others without it eventually coming back to bite you in the arse. Most importantly, money is
NOT the most important thing. It can make things more comfortable but in the end, your cars, jewelry,
houses, etc... don't mean a thing. Things you buy with money only provide short term happiness which
always goes away. The joy I derive from my wife, children, family and friends is long lasting and more
important than any of the superficial BS.
Any Scentura owners that stumble upon this post will surely rationalize that I sold out for a low
income/non stressful lifestyle but you would only be half right. The businesses I am now involved in
make me the kind of income I only experienced during seldom "highs" with Scentura, while only requiring
25-30 hours a week. More importantly, the people that work for me make good money and can believe what I
tell them.
Hope this helps some of you understand what it is you are contemplating. Good Luck to all.
Btw.........I included a page from the "Scents of Pride" magazine from my time in the business. Take
not of the fact that not one of thes four top offices from this bulletin is still with the company. Are
they all weak or dishonest blowouts??? or did they all figure out there are better ways to make a
living?
Stories
Emails:
In Reply to: Re: Scentura Creations purfume scam. posted by Amy on October 30, 19100 at 11:37:12:
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING FROM OR CONTINUE
WORKING WITH SCENTURA!!! IT'S A SCAM!
E-Mail: [email protected]
Date/Time: November 06, 2001 at 9:44 AM
Subject: I was a regional manager with Scentura Creations for 10 years....I know all the Good, Bad & the
Ugly.
In Reply to: DO NOT WORK FOR SCENTURA CREATIONS PERFUME! It's a scam! posted by Maida on April 25, 2001
at 3:21 PM