American Income Life Insurance review: job opportunity scam - beware 203

I too was called for an interview by an AIL rep who said she (Lady X) had my resume and was told by her director to set-up an interview with me. The next week, I arrived for my interview, if you can call it such, 15 minutes ahead of the appointed time. The process was impersonal--more like a cattle call (I was in a room with about 15 other "candidates", some of which were to be interviewed by the same Mr. X., and some to be interviewed by other staff (from an HR standpoint, I find this unprofessional to have candidates all "huddled" together. Anyway, after a 10 minute wait, my name was called and a Mr. Z (not Mr. X as indicated when I was first contacted) greeted me, and escorted me to his office. Mr. Z did not ask me the "typical" recruiter/HR questions, in fact, his approach was more like he was attempting to sell me a vacuum cleaner, or a used car. When he completed his "script", I asked exactly which position I am being considered for, but he too just like Lady X, never gave me a direct answer, but instead said, "well we'd like to see if everyone we talk to is a "good fit" for us, and if "AIL" is a "good fit" for every candidate, but then instantly he asked me, "how is your work ethic". Mr. Z then tells me that he is going to escort me to a conference room where he would like me to sit, interact, smile, take notes, and ask questions for AIL's overview of the company, and "try to be noticed". Mr Z said this overview is necessary to see "who is a good fit". At this point, my mind is turning on all cylinders. As Mr. Z and I walk to the conference room, he hands me a "personality profile form", and he tells me to complete this form in the conference room while I am waiting for the overview to begin. The profile is 4-5 pages. When I entered the conference room, there are at least 20 so-called "candidates" already seated, filling out their "profiles", and waiting for the overview to being. At this point, I asked Mr. Z to, "point me to the direction of the restroom before I get started with the profile and overview". Mr. Z walks me over to the restroom, and greets me good-bye with, "I'll see you after the overview and have a good day". I waited in the restroom for 5 minutes, then went back to the receptionist and told her, "I am unable to stay", and I left the building and drove away in my car. AIL, in my opinion, scams people to get them in the door to a "so-called" interview, but in reality, they are looking for telemarketers/sales people; however, they never disclosed this piece of information when they initially contacted me, or when they had me meet with Mr. Z. To ask "so-called candidates" to sit for a 1 hour overview of their company, fill-out paperwork, and "try to be noticed" is beyond comprehension from an HR perspective.

I just received a phone call from this company. The lady started off by saying she was returning my phone call after info I provided. Now, I have NEVER submitted info to them; however, she knew my husband's name and the fact that we have kids. She continued to explain they are currently working with the "Amber Alert" program and providing free I'D cards for children. She tried 4 times to schedule an appt or interview with me. I'm guessing now it was for a "job", since I'm partially unemployed. I thought the whole time it had to do with getting IDs for my children. The call was very deceiving and she was very prompt. After the 4th attempt, she hung up on me! Very strange!

I left the interview when I realized it was a cattle call, and before filling out any of AIL's paperwork, and before listening to their overview. Didn't want to listen to their scam any further, and as I said I left and did not give AIL the opportunity to hire or not hire me. AIL, in my opinion, uses deceptive recruitment practices

I also have an interview scheduled. I thought that the caller said her name was Lisa, Liz maybe...She did say that I would be meeting with Sam, who is the regional director. I find it especially disconcerting that she called because of my resume which she got from CareerBuilder. I am actually a hospital chaplain and couldn't quite see how she made a connection to it. I was flattered by their desire to meet with me. It was for entry level management. I had even commented to my family after the call that it was a very "fast moving" conversation...she said a lot and I really didn't have time to comment. Having read your comments about this, I will be sure to cancel the appointment. I am slightly disappointed, but thankful for having heard about this!

If you went to Walmart you be working today.

I am so glad I checked out the information on line. Was on my way to dinner and got a phone call from Greg Graham. They were interested in interviewing me, but didn't state for what position. Said that my resume had all the qualifications they were looking for. Wanted me to come in for an interview. Said if it is going good, it would be about an hour interview oh and to dress professionally. The address was 702 Lisburn Rd, Camp Hill. I couldn't make out the name of the company. Thank Goodness I googled the address. Thank you for your comments, this saved me a major headache.

I just received a message from a gentleman at [protected] with the same "canned" message. Haven't called back because I research all numbers I receive calls from that I don't recognize. Will now be wary when I return the call. Thank you for all your comments.

I just got this phone call not knowing the corporation. I asked specific questions regarding business and all I remember is something about union. I asked if this was an insurance co and they did not say yes or no. I too am looking for work and have been in many sites applying . Thank all of u for responding to this site and axing your opinions. This saved me a trip to camp hill. I attempted to call back to cancel appt and still getting busy signal.

did anyone actually go to the interview? My husband received an email from his company im not sure who the email was sent from but it stated that they received his resume. thing is when I started looking for jobs on indeed.com and submitting resumes I only sent them for welding/fitting/fabricator postions. HE IS A LABOR WORKER. needless to say he got back in touch with them and they set up a phone interview. Without telling me or anyone else in the house that he was on the phone with an interviewer I kept talking to him not knowing he was on the phone. he has been in contact with them 3 times and all 3 times the call is dropped. this last time the lady jut hung up on him and when he called back from him phone the call was rejected but when the number was called from my phone they answered and told him they was no longer interested. now that I have done research on the company it seems to be a scam and he doesn't believe me. thing is we live in texas and this number had a Houston area code.

So glad to see that I'm not the only one who was a little mistified by a cold call from a company saying they saw my resume on "**" and had some questions regarding my experience. Donnie wanted to schedule an interview with me immediately, but would see if he could work something out for next week instead. I was concerned because I didn't recall sending information to them and it is didn't sound like a job I would have applied for anyway. I'm so glad I searched out the company before making the trip for the interview!

I did apply to AIL. The listing was for Customer Service Support, with a set pay of $60k. What I received was an email saying that they had received my resume (listing another job search location I use), and that they had positions in Managerial as well as Customer Service Sales. I emailed the person with a specific time and date on which I would be contacting her office, and was told that while she would be out, another person would be in the office to schedule the appointment. As specified, I called, and instead of a live person, after 5 rings, a recording came on, and I was asked to leave my name and phone number and someone would contact me. There was no directory extensions, or departmental listings for me to go through. Also, on my resume I listed a few questions that I wanted to clarify before taking any position, and none were answered. They were simple/standard questions - verification of the set salary listed or if it was commission based (as most insurance company's I've known were commission based), and if they offered benefits (ie. health, 401K, etc), also as I had been "recruited" because of my resume from other sites, that this was NOT an entrepreneurial job, but an office position.
The way I see it, if a company can not even meet their scheduled appointments on time, or answer simple questions such as these, than they are scam artists, preying on people who are looking for legitimate job opportunities.

I went on an interview 4 years ago for an "Office Mangers" position and after an hour was told the position wasn't available but they had a "GREAT sales opportunity" for me. I declined and spent the NEXT hour declining the "GREAT sales opportunity". 18 months later, I was called again, and went to an interview with the same person, only using a different name (they also used a different company name, first time was AIL, this time was American Insurance). When I asked why, he was using a new name, the interview abruptly ended and I was escorted from the building. Six months after THAT they called again and when I asked if it was the same insurance scam, the woman hung up and wouldn't answer the phone after. Just this morning, I received ANOTHER call, and accepted an interview, but something about it didn't seem right and I had a vague sense of familiarity, so I dug through my old files. Sure enough, it's the SAME THING. These people are scam artists, pulling the old "bait and switch". I applied to this job on Craigslist. I've put in a request for a call back so I can be absolutely certain that I'm not tossing away a perfectly good job, but I've got a pretty good feeling this isn't a perfectly good job in the least.

i had recived a call this morning, i was not around my phone so they left me a voce message and was asked to call the manager Erica to set up an intervew. i didnt put anything in for there job and have no idea how they got ahold of my info. im very happpy to find others know that is a scam. but at the ssame time im angry that we got false job offers. thank you everyone for sharing your storry and helping others know is not a reall job offer

I received the same call from an "Allissa" in The Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania office stating that they reviewed My resume on Career Builder and would like to have me come in for an interview with a manager on Wednesday at 10:30 AM. I told her I wanted nothing to do with Insurance Sales and she said that they had an in-office Public Relations or Customer Service position that I may be interested in. I'm so glad that I found this website ... I'm surely not going for this interview after reading the other comments.

I received a call today from this company. The phone number was a bit different [protected]) only saying Harrisburg PA, no company name, but, basically the same information was given. I am in the healthcare field. When the person called, I could not understand her name or the company name at first. She asked immediately if I was looking for full time work. I then asked her what the positions were and she asked if I was looking for something specific trying to avoid my question. Finally she said that they were hiring for Managers, Team Leads, Supervisors, and benefit administrators. I asked where the company was and she said it depended on where I was located that they had many different locations but the interview was in Camp Hill. I was a little confused with someone "cold calling" me for a job that is posted on CareerBuilder, and she set me up with an interview for Wednesday. Then asking me if there is anything that would prevent me from coming to the interview me replying only something with my kids. She said that I could look up the address because I told her I am not interested in a job in Camp Hill because it is just too far away. I told her I would come in Wednesday, and looked the address up. I then searched the company because I have received calls from Aflac which I am not interested in because I am not a sales person, and have no sales experience and limited management experience. I am so glad that I googled the company and found this site (along with others about being a scam)! I am searching hard for work, as I have been out of work for a long time, and I think these companies prey on this fact! Thanks for the insight, and I will be calling them. She gave me a completely different number to call if I needed directions to the interview [protected]) telling me to bring my resume, professional or personal reference name and numbers, professional dress and expect to be there an hour to an hour and a half. This is very helpful and am so glad these are on here to give people a heads up so others don't make the same mistake!

Thanks for your input everyone!

This firm contacted me this morning regarding a job opportunity. Since I have put out over 30 resumes last week, I was timid to ask more about who called me. (Thought I might have been recruited, also).

After a few generic interview questions and an ambiguous job description, I KNEW this was a door-to-door pyramid scam job. It was apparent that this person hadn't even taken the time to review my resume. (She had gotten my info from Monster, btw).

I had received an e-mail confirming my interview that was chalk-full-o-flags.

So, I checked here and, voila, I confirmed my suspicions.

I just got a phone call from a Greg Graham. Same pitch and everything. I guess I am going to just not show up. What tipped me off was how pushy he was with the appointment time "Now are you sure youre goine to find a sitter for that time because I cant not have someone show up". Too bad. Looked promising!

I was just on the hook as well with Patrick Kushla. Suppose to be there tomorrow, Wednesday, 11/27 at 9:10. This was a very fast conversation and I should have known when it sounded like telemarketing office noise in the background. The office is on Lisburn Road in Camp Hill, PA.

Thank you everyone for saving my time. Guess I can sleep in tomorrow seeing how this "management" position is a bunch of crap. I am amazed that this company and sub companies have not been flagged by these job websites

I received a call from someone named Greg on 01/14/14 and I too was very pleased, yet very surprised to be getting an offer for this job. I felt like something was fishy about the call because I couldn't recall what he said the company name was and I knew that he wasn't really listening to what my responses were. He was saying "great" when I hadn't finished my response to his question. I attempted to look up the "Regional Manager" he listed just as Ms. Wellgruber but there was nothing showing me what company she was a manager for which I found to be concerning. The email I was sent was not what I am used to when getting a confirmation for an interview either. While I was on the phone with Greg he told me that "An interview opening just came up tomorrow at 10:30 am" I thought that was weird as soon as he said it but I thought he was just pushing for the interview. I told him that was too short of a notice and asked for something later in the week which he quickly changed to 9:30. I accepted, reluctantly, due to not getting a good feeling about the call. I looked up the address the next morning and found all these complaints, Thank God! Now I won't waste my time or gas going to a pointless interview. Thank you all for your comments!

Hey everyone. I got a phone call yesterday from someome named Patrick from the number [protected] and during the entire phone call he didn't even mention the company name. He just asked me some crap interview questions and since his call woke me up I only half answered. He was more than excited to set up the interview with me at 9 in the morning the next day. Once I told him that I had another job already that I didn't want to leave he seemed slightly displeased though I only work there after 5. Anyway he continued on scheduling the interview asking me to write down the address and who the receptionist would be but he never gave me a phone number where I could call if anything came up. I was going to blow it off anyway but this just confirmed why I should blow it off. Companies like this shouldn't be in business.

Yeah... I just got a call from them too. They have me scheduled for 9AM tomorrow. I'm not showing after reading the very first comment. It's a bloody hour away! That's too far for a scam. I sat through BS like this before with Vector (selling overpriced knives).

It's a scam. It's a revolving door. The top 2% make it and the rest either struggle or fail. Hardcore sales. They only give you 2 months then cancel your contract. In the time I was there I had 2 small groups and some other big ones in my pipeline. Guess it wasn't enough. They dissed me and will probably get themselves a payday on my back. It was unprofessional. My so called district manager didn't have a clue about what he was doing. They thought it was cool to bad mouth other people before me that came and went at meetings in front of everyone. My manager insulted with strange comments. He was an unqualified and disrespectful person. The general public and most businesses don't like Aflac. Go ask if you don't believe me. Constant cold calling and door knocking hitting the same people over and over again. It's not an easy sell right now with everything up in the air over insurance. I would stay away from this crappy opportunity unless you already have businesses lined and know the management at the office you applied, otherwise you're going to get screwed.

It's a scam. It's a revolving door. The top
2% make it and the rest either struggle or fail. Hardcore sales. They only give
you 2 months then cancel your contract. In the time I was there I had 2 small
groups and some other big ones in my pipeline. Guess it wasn't enough. They dissed me and will probably get
themselves a payday on my back. It was unprofessional. My so called district
manager didn't have a clue about what he was doing. They thought it was cool to
bad mouth other people that came and went before me at meetings in front of
everyone. My manager insulted me with strange comments. He was an unqualified
and disrespectful person. The general public and most businesses don't like Aflac. Go ask if you don't believe me.
Constant cold calling and door knocking hitting the same people over and over
again. It's not an easy sell right now with everything up in the air over
insurance. I would stay away from this crappy opportunity unless you already
have businesses lined up and know the management at the office you applied,
otherwise you're going to get screwed.

3/28/14Even though these are old posting, I just had the same phone call, I did not apply to them either. AIL is expanding, looking for entry level managers, HR, and customer service.
I did set up an interview, but I canceled it, and the phone number went to a voice mail

This is Patrick Kushla, a supervisor and hiring director with the company. We are backed by the BBB, we have an A+(superior) rating from A.M. Best company. Our parent company- Tochmark Corp. Is a Fortune 1000 company whose primary share holder is Warren Buffet. We are a privatized union benefits company. We don't work with the general public. Hence, no door to door sales. No cold calling, mass marketing, prospecting, or soliciting. We work with Unions, Credit Unions, Private Associations, and Trade Groups WHO REQUEST OUR SERVICES throughout the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland since 1951. We are PROUD to have over 29 billion dollars of life insurance in force and are EXTREMELY PROUD to service over 2 million policy holders. This is an outstanding opportunity for those who ARE: hard working, motivated, and energetic... but for those who aren't you will most likely blame the company and consider it a scam...when in all reality it is an opportunity to become financially free and change peoples lives. I hope you all understand that this company allowed me to support my family of 3, buy two brand new cars, and purchase a home at the age 20. So I do take offense to those who think we are a scam.

I hope this changes some of your mind sets. And I wish everyone here the best of luck with their job search.
Thank you,
Patrick Kushla

I got phone call from Dominic Park, very similar as everybody wrote but also got e-mail, they got more creative!
t was a pleasure speaking with you earlier today. We are looking to fill our positions immediately and are looking forward to meeting with you 4/1/14 @ 10:00 AM.
Please plan an hour to an hour and a half maybe longer for the interview. Business attire is required.
When arriving please present the front desk receptionist with an updated copy of your resume and two references. You
will be meeting with our Regional Hiring Director Ms. Willgruber & her hiring team.
Our company is the nation's largest benefit provider for labor unions and credit union members. It is an amazing career
opportunity for advancement and tremendous income potential.
We have a number of positions available; depending upon your qualifications this will help us determine the position
that will be best suited for you.
We are looking to fill the following positions;

Benefit Representative
Customer service
Marketing
Sales
Public relations
Field Management

Our address is:
702 EAST
Lisburn Rd
Camp
Hill, PA 17011

When the words 'opportunity', 'financial freedom'', and 'limitless (or rapid) potential/growth' are tossed around, be wary. When examples of success and wealth are flaunted, name dropping and bold text is used in addition to the first catch words above, the job is most likely a scam. It is the easiest way to spot a MLM company, Pyramid Scheme, Ponzi Scheme or Job Scam. Ask yourself if these indicators are present in AIL job 'positions/applications/interviews'; the answer should be obvious to you when the above criteria is applied to the conditions described in this thread. Happy job hunting.

thats my identical email

so happy for boards like this
i was suspicious when my email came through from hr at 10:01 pm and my
interview was supposed to be 9 am and i live an hour away
cautious this while time
but thanks to this board i do not
feel guilty in saving my gas

I am a family member of an agent who represents this company. When I first heard about the job I was skeptical due to the scripted interview process. I like you went online and saw the few negative comments that were posted and thought well they have been in business for 80 years and a few blogs and a handful of negative reviews not bad numbers considering if your pissed before you even go to see what they offer, yes you will write something negative.

My family member has a bachelor's degree and was a blue collar worker who was looking for a career outside of the shop. This company is amazing, don't get me wrong, he is working hard. The American dream is suppose to be handed to us right?

The energy in the office and the attitudes surrounding the Arias agency is refreshing. They provide him with a new career, the men and woman who work there are in great shape, they love God, they believe they can make a difference and they are all winners.

So before you belittle someone name because it sounds funny to you maybe you should just say kindly that your not interested and let someone else have the opportunity.

Once again, the above post is a classic example of a misleading or shill post. Note the classic phrases used "the opportunity" and "the American Dream". The phrases "in great shape", "they love God" and "winners" are also typical phrases found in such posts. Surely a company that has workers who are in great physical shape and love God must be a good place to work, right? This is classic manipulation rhetoric that has been used by scammers for decades.
I submit these posts not for entertainment purposes, but rather as a duty to warn and educate.

I recieved a call from "Angela" at Bratin Management [protected]) that they had seen my resume online. After a few cursory questions about my experience they wanted to set up an interview for a management position. I have management experience but not in insurance or sales. When I asked if the position involved sales she got very vague stating that I would be in charge of 4 or 5 sales people and there was "some" sales involved. I had to ask her to repeat the company name 3 times and then spell it for me. She actually misspelled it! She told me it was "Brattin". After some internet searching I found that "Bratin Management" was actually American Income Life (AIL) with the same address in Camp Hill. Apparently the scam continues under another false flag!

I actually just got a call today, and like many of you said, he said the name of the company very quickly and told me he found my applications online, and I've been applying to a lot of places, so I didn't remember if I had applied to them. I'm glad I found this page, because you all just saved me a 45 min drive with a very embarrassing outcome.

I spoke to a Sherry, who also sent me a "follow up" email after we spoke. I already work full time so I wasn't looking for another full time job, and when asked what I would ultimately like to do (editing) she blew it off and set up an interview anyway. I rolled with it, thought that after she sent me the email that I could check up on the company, since I had missed what she said initially. The email looks like those posted earlier, and does not mention anywhere the name of the company.
So I googled the address of the place, and I found this. It just seems shady, and Camp Hill is way too far away.

Today I got a very similar phone call from [protected]. They seen my resume on Monster.com and wanted to see if I was looking for a career. They are looking to fill some Management and Associate positions. The guy I spoke with claimed the company was Branton & Associates an that since 1951 they had been giving supplemental insurance to Union workers and that they are an international company. I set up an interview for Thursday at 09:40 and decided to look up what I could to familiarize myself with the company in advance. All I found was Law firms. So I checked out the number they called me from. Hoped it would give me a clue as to where this place was and what they were about. Boy am I glad I seen this. I did call the number but it just rang forever. Saved me from wasting my time. I hope Monster.com can catch these guys. I put my resume on there for real job opportunities not scams.

I have a question. At any point in time during these calls did anyone ask for a credit card or bank information? strange. im just curious as to what a scam is defined as anymore because none of this sounds like a rip off to me

Its quite interesting. I have been communicating with someone from craigslist for a fortune 500 company that is with "Bratain & Associates", i googled, and Bratin & Assoc. has a simple site as well as the same interview address in camphill, PA. The 1st interview was given as the very 1st email to me and was set for 10:30, but i cancelled, cuz it was too soon the next day. so i asked for any other date cuz im always available. So i checked my email n the appointment was in 2 days (a day after tomorrow) at 11:40a.m. so i was a bit baffled bcuz for 1, i had a plan that date & 2 for some reason i was skeptical about the professionalism of the person easily giving me quite another quite soon available interview. And 3rd of all i asked 1last interview but i asked that i get at least a 4 day notice of the interview, oddly enough, they had an interview ready in 3 days. That was good for me, but i kept imagining getting there being led to an office only to get my neck slashed. So believe it or not i had an officially last request. i had been getting all the email from the same Craigslist link that i originally saw. so i asked for the person to please reply to me through the company email address before i come. well, he/she replied and said he cant but "Here`s Mr. Dominic Park my managers email to contact him about anything, . Goodluck with the interview tomorrow". so my womanly ways found that odd. so i googled again "Bratin or bratain &associates" then i saw the top comment briefly n clicked to read more. Now im here typing & my interview is tmoro 8/07/14 at 9:30a.m., ive decided not to go. God is good. Ty to the 1st comment i saw.

I just got this exact call (as original poster) Antoinette but googled it shows CT I am in MA though I have profiles where willing ot relocate to FL. I want to call back just for kicks and tell them I am not interested in sales position or relocated to anywhere at this time (as my relocation plans that would not tell them are for 2 years from now)

I just got the same call, Adam leutner, to set up an interview at 9:50. Same story, labor unions, international company, since 1951. I was asked about my management experience and gave a jumbled response to which he said "sounds great, we would like to meet with you." I said okay great and we picked a time, and he gave me his name and an address but like mostly everyone else I couldn't understand the company name. Googled the address and got here, thankfully. Thanks for the heads up!

I got the same kind of email but it was from the craigslist AD. they never mention the compamy name but some HR person named Barry Huchinson. I had to ask for the address and i serched it and came across this post.