Beware of the Southwestern Advantage scam

Have you been scammed?

[@garymcgaryface5749]

Had one of my former high-school friends call me out of the blue about this program. I agreed to meet and the entire experience during the first meeting just felt so artificial, they would constantly talk about how it's not just the books but also about gaining experience, leaving your comfort zone and improving your soft skills, all the while completely disregarding the important parts, like pay, living conditions, benefits, expenses and so on. I was quite blissful at first but after giving it some thought and doing some digging I learned how manipulative this program really is and how well it had worked on me. I do see the benefits and the possibility of actually making money, but the unstable income, risk and long work hours is just not worth it

[@m.tammekivi]

I'm a rep from Europe. I had multiple grands of expenses (5-6k) and I came back with a big profir anyways and most importantly experience of working hard for the future. Success is never a guarantee. That's why people get scared. That's what keeps everyone back.

[@justindamstrom8886]

Those friends…

[@WonyoungJang-zs2je]

!!!!!!

[@Gr8thxAlot]

When you're invited to a "meeting" you have no connection to, it's always a scam. :-) It's funny both you and brother got sucked in, but I'm glad you're spreading the word.

[@amandamayfilms]

16:29 - "WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN." 🤣🤣🤣

[@lizethcruz7784]

I almost joined as well!! It was awful, the interview process was 3 separate one on one interviews(after the “most people don’t make it” info session). I had an interview every other day. I was made to do “homework” one was a packet, then calling other sellers (on the requirement level) to ask about their awesome experience. Then 20 things southwestern would do for me over the summer. I slowly realized this was talking a lot of my time and I had only extremely positive information. We were told we needed to buy an iPad and we would drive ourselves to Nashville in “caravans”. We also had to pay for gas, food, and lodging. I decided not to go and informed my interviewer before our last interview. He rebutted me relentlessly!! He asked if we could meet anyways, I said it wasn’t worth my time. I said I could answer his questions via text. He said to do a zoom. I said fine but my camera would not be on. He grilled me about “quitting” I said the biggest selling point was the money, and the trips(which you qualified for depending on how much you sold) he then gaslit me and said this IS NOT about the money. It’s about helping people. He said I clearly wasn’t who they were looking for as money was my top priority so a normal retail job (like everyone else) would probably be the best for me. It was very interesting to see how quickly his positive facade crumbled when I said I was out. Super creepy dude too. (hermit crab)

[@justindamstrom8886]

Accurate 😳

[@m.tammekivi]

I guess experience differs depending on who interviews you but do not shame the company for some bad apples.

[@WonyoungJang-zs2je]

!!!!!!!!

[@Annie-gj2wj]

I did it too. But well, I didn’t finish the whole summer. It was really hard, if you are not experienced not getting paid well, but of course it will teach you a valuable things for your life! What I just don’t like is a mindset of those people, everyone was friendly to me, but when I got a health problems and decided to quit, becuase of my health, they turned to me and said they are disappointed about me.

[@justindamstrom8886]

Gotta put your health first

[@ruby_josie]

theres a man selling for this company in my town right now, most here are absolutely enamored with him and these books. hes from estonia he says and hes met with and posted pictures of him meeting with our city council and police department. eyeieie

[@justindamstrom8886]

Yep. It’s selling season

[@megsmithpe]

Ya he came to our house today and we listened to him and saw the books but he wanted to sell us books for $400 and in. A homeschool Mom and have so much curriculum for way cheaper than that so we declined bc we knew it wasn’t a very good deal. Nice guy but it definitely felt like a money game.

[@miriamthomas7859]

Hermit crab More people need to talk about SW Advantage. I did it and it was crazy.

[@justindamstrom8886]

Right? It’s like a traumatic secret

[@niklavsbalgalvis8783]

More people need to talk about it , but it is really crazy and people feel like it was all their fault that they didn't succeed. Self blame is used as a huge weapon. I was top First year salesman from my country and an Organization leader in next year - the pure "success" they where selling. I was giving speeches ( that where changed by my managers , so "the young and scared first years would understand and not get confused by what they not need to know yet'), going to regular meetings, and student manager meetings - being the best student and learning from "the best" - which was just actual brainwashing, "dream selling sessions " that where as frequent as possible , so "you wouldn't go cold" or basically just open your eyes and see the situation that you have fallen into from different perspective.

[@ronfraser9845]

Work hard, follow suggestions, make new friends, build a huge bank account. Correct, this is not for everyone. But for the folks that can hack it, it can be a life changer. Graduate College with no debt. Gain valuable experience that will last a lifetime. It is not a scam for the folks who can handle the hard work and sacrifice. Hermit crab. My first year of selling books.. Back in 78' I saved $3,000 that would be equal to $8,000 today. Second year I tripled that number. From there it was all up hill. Too many young people are not willing to work that hard. So they never try, or fail. Knowing this about yourself is a valuable.

[@justindamstrom8886]

It was definitely an experience

[@biblegirl]

This feels very much like what happens with Mormon missionaries. Hermit crab

[@justindamstrom8886]

Exactly

[@northernskies86]

I was almost a victim of this scam. Me, being a broke college student, took the opportunity of a high-paying summer internship, not realizing all of the obvious red flags such as a random phone call being offered the position. Thankfully, I decided to not go through with the final interview. I’m glad I listened to my gut. It’s disgusting how this “company” brainwashes and exploits vulnerable students like this. Please don’t accept too good to be true offers from random phone calls, despite how tempting it is.

[@zacharyh5419]

I was supposed to interview today but I blocked the guy on text and email haha

[@justindamstrom8886]

Dodged one

[@m.tammekivi]

I participated. Going for at least 2 more summers. Lots of money, great experience, never had such a fulfilled summer.

[@m.tammekivi]

​@@zacharyh5419why did you block him? You can just say no

[@zacharyh5419]

@@m.tammekivi did SW send you to counter any negative feedback they get? I blocked him because he was actively scamming me and my peers.

[@marioballinas6346]

I wish I saw this 4 years ago. I got roped in my freshman year and convinced like 6 of my friends to join. I couldn’t see through the bs promise of great money

[@justindamstrom8886]

I hope this helps future students

[@justanandrea]

Hermit Crab. Today I had a young lady from Ukraine knock on my door to sell me books. She did her pitch almost word for word what you said. I didn’t buy the books because now the 5 book set is $800! I’m worried that she is being taken advantage of.

[@justindamstrom8886]

800! Wow!

[@samuelgross7564]

Total scam! I came into this program as a bitter and entitled freshman and came out a reliable and confident leader.

[@justindamstrom8886]

Okay buddy

[@JoeyAdawi]

Scarred me for life, but I know bs when I see it now

[@justindamstrom8886]

Me too

[@17kaylahayes17]

Had this happen to me today. Poor kid will get arrested here in Kentucky too many protective mama bears.

[@justindamstrom8886]

😀

[@WonyoungJang-zs2je]

!!!!!!!

[@BrockandaHardPlace]

Hermit crab. Also I think I heard my house get called on your canvassing. Sorry we were out (cars in the driveway are just for show). 😂

[@justindamstrom8886]

Exactly

[@haleywebster4173]

ugh i feel so bad for these “interns”. i had a Ukrainian girl come to my door a while ago and she managed to sell me and my husband the most basic option possible for $300. we have a 1 year old daughter. she asked to take a pic with us to show her family, but afterward i realized it was used in her sales pitch because she showed us selfies with other people in my neighborhood that had bought from her and that definitely made it feel more legitimate. she kept using one family as an example because the mom works in a daycare and will be using them in her daycare (these books are NOT daycare friendly… they’re like skinny textbooks and my daughter won’t be using them until she’s probably at least 5-6 LOL). finally just got my receipt for the last payment plan. it was a harsh $100 every month taken out and everytime i saw it leave my bank account i was like 🤦🏼‍♀️ hermit crab.

[@Notchillkristin]

Hey, nice to hear your experience. But why is so bad to take a pic and be part of her happy/ or not so happy clients? I worked there as well and first I had many daycares having the books and like them. Plus a lot of my clients wanted to take a picture and to be upload in my page. No matter everything I met awesome families, but saddly there are lots of students having bad experience, clients may be also, because the things from the video are true 😢.

[@justindamstrom8886]

It’s sad that they target young people

[@MamaBegail]

@@Notchillkristin im sorry about that but i wanna let yah know im helping two interns right now and we let them stay in our house. I dont think they are a bad person k always believe there is a good side in every person and that they are also trying hard to become successful one day.

[@Notchillkristin]

@@MamaBegail wow, good for you! Thank you for hosting those girls. I am sure they are really thankful as well.

[@MamaBegail]

@@Notchillkristin you're welcome. The company might be bad for most of the people out there but it's not the students fault for atleast trying to work so they could have at least funds for their school. Also, even though how bad things are i don't that doesn't mean that this people should treat them bad or be mean to them. I think it is still a good job than stealing or committing crime. We all went thru a hard times and for the people who wants to have funds let's be glad for them for working hard.

[@andrerussel2773]

They are bogus and Gary M. If i ever see you in life, like Mrs Janet Jackson sang "Anytime, anyplace I don't care who's around.😂😂😂😂

[@tolusogunro8783]

Hermit crab

[@meggyloves024]

My town has had a young girl coming door to door as late as 9:30 pm! So annoying so creepy.

[@justindamstrom8886]

Way too late!

[@rain4892]

7:59- 8:59 every day unless you have appointments that late it was horrible

[@Notchillkristin]

They told us to work til 9/10 pm. And if we do not we wont be successful 😀. Now I think is weird, but yeah I did this as well.

[@MamaBegail]

@@Notchillkristin was it that bad? Im now curious. Felt bad for ya guys :(

[@Notchillkristin]

@@MamaBegail it was not actually. It was really hard at the begining but then I personally started enjoying to meet so many wonderful people and to help families with school supplies.

[@flinginspiration4334]

Hermit crab!

[@justindamstrom8886]

Thanks

[@A_Muzik]

Does that MLM send out motivational clips to the workers? And have any of those motivational speakers turned out to be Incel advocates?

[@justindamstrom8886]

They sent out motivational pamphlets when I sold

[@rain4892]

i did this last summer! exactly how it was

[@justindamstrom8886]

Nothing was different?

[@reneesharp2059]

Hermit Crab..🤔💥😉🙏🙏🙏🙏!!!!

[@aostrosky]

A poor kid came yesterday and if i had money i was thinking about it. Thank you youtube and channel for making this video.....i have 5 HERMITCRABs😅

[@commentorinchief788]

I did this in 1990. Identical story😂

[@justindamstrom8886]

It was wild

[@KahleesiD]

Hermit Crab! I hope it lived btw. :)

[@justindamstrom8886]

Thanks

[@user-we1iv9mg4h]

I’m selling books right now for southwestern. This guy actually seems like he just sucked at the job. It sucks if you are off schedule, and this dude just didn’t work, sitting around for 8 hours obviously ur gonna hate it. Also every point you said about the sales talk is completely wrong, it’s not nearly as straight foward as asking people where the kids are at, this guy had a bad experience because he’s not a hard worker, and then complained when he had a severely below average summer. Actually funny as hell listening to this

[@justindamstrom8886]

Okay. Hope you have a successful summer.

[@jakeclark5007]

I hated this job when I didn't work. It was amazing when I actually tried. People don't understand what the word "scam" means. It's exactly what was promised in the interview - they just don't want to put the work in

[@carlosguzman1423]

Bro we get it you didn’t make it… y you flaming the company for not doing well. They gave you a system to follow and clearly you didn’t have a good attitude

[@justindamstrom8886]

You watched my video. Thank you

[@vitaliiyashchuk2285]

Hmm. You are not right. It’s a really good internship for students!!!!! I did one summer in the US and one in Canada. And my cousin did one too. So, I know what I’m talking about. And most of the people in the comments are just talking nonsense, and at the same time, they didn’t participate and didn’t sell books with SW. That’s a good program! I’ve learned a lot. Yes, it’s challenging! But that’s how we learn, isn’t it?

[@beachelly]

I've had great experience with SWA for 3 years now. I admit that it's the hardest thing I've ever done but the most rewarding thing as well. I'm a whole another person and in terms of the companys' mission "to build skills and character" I've 100% succeeded. Money has been only a bonus for me. I don't really understand what was your reason for doing that summer asking your uncle "Was it good?" what do you even mean?? It's not a festival or even a fun summer job :D For me it was presented as the toughest challenge of my life, I was ready to go home broke but mentally tougher. I'm from Europe and I didn't even speak proper English but managed to make 3x more profit than you my first summer. I thought it would be nice to get paid but that wasn't my main focus. I don't want to make you feel bad, but you probably had wrong reasons to do this summer. And management probably made a mistake taking you along. You don't get 10K producers doing those videos because they had good work ethics during the summer. They had good work ethics because they had right expectations about the summer. And right expectations are that it's gonna be hard, it's gonna make your character tough and it requires constant going out of the comfort zone. My first day out, I found myself in epic moments, really embarrassing ones, but I was't the one sitting on the grass. Honestly this whole video represents how spoiled this generation of Americans can be. Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of you guys, I have many friends and host families from my 3 summers that I still keep in contact with. When you sold books my country was just broken off from the USSR, my parents couldn't travel out of the country the size of Vermont state. Now there's war basically next door to us. I work for 4.50$/hour and we do have the same cost of living. And you're complaining about working 80 hours a week, just for a summer, to build your character and better the education.. and all that as a young energetic man. I agree that this programme is not for everyone, it's not for the weak. Also, the sales talk you presented is nowhere near what it's actually like. Either your manager did a very bad job explaining you all this or you just want to make it look like it's unprofessional, cause clearly you had really bad habits during the summer. Scam is a dishonest scheme/fraud. How can it be scam if they explained all the requirement and you agreed to all of those? They even wanted to send you home man... It's a big company and obviously there are things that could be organised/presented so much better. But suggestion to SWA regarding this video... they should be more selective!! I'm sorry if this comment came across as rude. But it just brakes my heart knowing that there's really good candidates who actually reconsider this opportunity because of that video.. and just because someone had a bad experience.

[@justindamstrom8886]

Okay

[@jayymayo]

People just like to complain bro

[@samuelgross7564]

@@jayymayo yeah dude

[@m.tammekivi]

Estonian rep here, going for a second summer, best thing that I've done. It's meant to be challenging and the payout is high BUT it's not a get rich quick scheme, because you actually have to put tons of effort into it

[@justindamstrom8886]

Good luck

[@ukomacc]

Reconsider semu. 12h päevas peab töötama, et püramiidis üleval pool inimesed oma paychecki saaksid, kuna normaalsete tundidega ei jõuaks neid sitaseid raamatuid piisavalt myya

[@annaryvachuk5026]

Great internship experience! I’m aiming to return for a second summer. It’s been instrumental in developing key skills for my future career. Not suitable for those lacking motivation or ambition. My mentors and managers did an exceptional job preparing me for the summer, which led to excellent results.

[@wyattmueller4148]

Or you could work at Chick fil a and make double what you would at SW Advantage. To say it’s not for people lacking motivation and ambition shows how brainwashed you are. Imagine if you applied your ambition to something worthwhile.

[@alissahrocksatdance]

Hermit crab

[@steveerickson5760]

Hermit crab!

[@justindamstrom8886]

What does this mean?

[@WizaGaming]

Hermit crab

[@JoeyAdawi]

Hermit crab

[@justindamstrom8886]

Thanks

[@GunnerTheGuy]

Hermit crab

[@justindamstrom8886]

Thanks for watching

[@GunnerTheGuy]

@@justindamstrom8886 thank you for telling me what my stupid sister is doing. She is in new York rn and I don’t like her life choices about this