If Primerica wouldn't be so good, why would the Rock try to change its name?
[img:7f46b5e7d2]http://www.pramerica.pl/images/logo2-1.gif[/img:7f46b5e7d2][img:7f46b5e7d2]http://www.pramerica.pl/images/logo2-2.gif[/img:7f46b5e7d2]

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If Primerica wouldn't be so good, why would the Rock try to change its name?
[img:b447dfc09b]http://www.pramerica.pl/images/logo2-1.gif[/img:b447dfc09b][img:b447dfc09b]http://www.pramerica.pl/images/logo2-2.gif[/img:b447dfc09b]

Why is it spelled Pramerica?

I got conned (lied to, deceived, etc.) into attending a Primerica meeting under the guise of "an interview" for a "management position."

It was a joke, and I was insulted. I don't think there was a person in there with a college degree. And from the posts I've seen online, I'm under the assumption that most Primerica shills not only do not have a college education (or a high school education for that matter for many), but they have an aversion to college graduates.

I've never seen so many people trash college degrees as I have Primerica "employees" in some on-line chat rooms. They really drink the Kool-Aid!

I think it is a cult, and a sick one at that. Primerica seems to suck the blood of these ignorant, uneducated people who just don't know any better.

I hope my experience with Primerica will enlighten and warn others in my situation. When A recruiter fished my resume from the Internet and asked for an interview, I was desperate for a job. The 'interview' turned out to be a sales presentation to a room full of people, filled with glowing accolades as to how Primerica helps people, is spreading by word of mouth and opening offices, and how much money it can make. After this 'bait and switch' my recruiter swooped in on me to close the deal with $200 and a list of my family and friends. But I was concerned and puzzled at this generosity. He grew impatient and even a little defensive in response to questions as to why Primerica was interested in me, what I would be doing and how much money I could realistically expect. He tried to feed me the line, "we're not about sales, we're about helping people." I realized only later in cold blood that Primerica wanted me as a pawn so they could sell to my family and friends. How can anyone of conscience agree to help others extort those they love?

I am an intelligent and educated man and I have experience in sales, and I know a sales presentation when I see one. I leave every meeting with Primerica feeling as if someone is pulling the wool over my eyes. Any complete stranger who wants to entice you with hopes without any real interview as to who you are or what you can do for the company, has something to gain from you, not the other way around. I hope that others will not endanger their families with false hopes. Listen to your instincts and those red flags that everyone associates with Primerica: if you feel like you are being taken in, you probably are.

I'm glad my Google search for "Primerica" brough me to this page. I was contacted just a few days ago from a Primerica rep because I had uploaded my resume on Monster.com. She asked me to come in for an "interview" this coming Friday, and I can already tell it's going to be an experience similar to what Brian (^) experienced. Thanks for the heads-up. I'm going to avoid these guys and keep looking for an employer who will actually have a legit use for my MBA rather than an "accept everyone" sales operation.

I've had an interesting experience with Primerica. I found this forum because I was looking for information about the cult-like practices of this "company."

After what I've observed, I'm very interested in the creepy culture of false reward the company creates. I'm no psychologist, but after dabbling in Primerica for a summer I was really more concerned about the way they very obviously 'prey' on certain populations. Primerica pushes and violates a lot of boundaries ethically, and seems to be questionable at best as a business opportunity for ANYONE. At the time I was a college student and a sister-in-law tried to recruit me. She has been heavily involved in Primerica for many years. She also begged for info about friends ofamily I thought would be interested, and I gave her 2 or 3 contacts. I was curious, broke, and also wanted to appease my new sister-in-law.

I signed on and agreed to go to a few insurance classes. I paid the $199 thinking "what the hell. It's supposed to be reimbursed, and that's a lot cheaper than what it costs to get the education and take the licensure exam independently" which in some states is true. I'll admit it the class bored me to tears when it wasn't totally pissing me off. I walked out of the second session. But I can see how a determined person would stay on and get licensed. It just wasn't for me. I lost my $199 but did gain some knowledge about how insurance works - not $199 worth, though.

What really bothered me was how the population of the class so disproportionately consisted of immigrants. I teach ESL and work in the health care field and believe me, many of these people had marginal or limited English skills at best. I *know* a majority of them had trouble understanding some of the complex language of business and insurance principles (judging by how many people sitting at my table asked me in a whisper to repeat or explain parts of the lecture). During break I asked a few participants what they'd been told, and was heartbroken to hear they'd all been 'recruited' by Primerica agents, tricked into thinking they could become 'financial consultants' and make tons of money. $199 is a lot of money for some folks and I don't want to even think how many of them lost it and didn't benefit one bit. How can that just continue to happen and no one has called them on it?

My husband and I have also observed his sister and her family's involvement over the years with Primerica. She holds some kind of very high position and has her own office and seems to be successful. She has no college degree, which is fine, but I've noticed that she seems almost anti-college in her attitude. Sure that's somewhat understandable for anyone who becomes financially successful w/o a degree. But she almost pooh-pooh's college education, which I can't believe since she's a mother of two. How can a company encourage that kind of belief and no one has called them on it?

Other family members and friends have also been to her "award ceremonies" where they've all reported the same story about the strange, disturbing ideology that the "Primericans" seem to have bought into. They give out trophies, plaques and ribbons for vague distinctions and their recipients run down the aisle to collect them while "Eye of the Tiger" plays. Everyone who has begrudgingly attended one of these (for her sake) comes back saying they're creeped out. They talk a lot of weird, unspecific rhetoric about "personal growth" and "strategies" that's all cloaked in business language to make it seem legit. They do a really good job of 'personalizing' their MLM/pyramid scheme to make the recuiting 'agents' feel like they're these wildly successful 'businesspeople' and 'sales reps' who are 'leaders' and 'regional managers.' That's all fine and good - a lot of companies do the same thing - but there's almost no focus on the product - developing it, producing it, improving it - anything. They use their CitiGroup parent company backing to further coerce people into thinking it's legit or has potential to make anyone rich. How can a Fortune 500 company like CitiGroup maintain ties to this scheme for so long and no one has called them on it?

What finally convinced me that Primerica is a dangerous commercial cult is that when I backed away from it, my sister-in-law no longer had interest in me - as a person, as a relative, as a friend or family member. She hasn't called in months. She came to a party I threw and was coldly cordial. Her WHOLE attitude toward me changed. That's when I knew she was totally and completely brainwashed by her involvement with Primerica and was letting the principles of the company's insidious, deceptive practices make decisions for her.

After all this happened and I've had some time to think about it, I truly believe Primerica practices groupthink mind control to make money preying on vulnerable people, and contrives a carefully constucted ideological foundation for their victims to "believe" in. I do believe some people can become successful working the Primerica scheme, but far too seldom to build any kind of ethically sound promises on.

And what I mean by "call them on it" is a legitimate, public, wide-ranging investigation by a large, regulatory entity like the FBI or FTC. Not some pissed off people squawking on the Internet. They are ripping off poor people, who often lack the resources or feel too powerless to fight back in numbers. How can they be represented? What would it take for someone to REALLY blow the whistle on this corrupt organization?

I want to write this because I was with Primerica for 3 years.

Although I am no longer with PFS, I did have a positive experience and have learned how people think in terms of building a business as opposed to woking a job.

First off I find somthing interesting about this site and others like it, there seems to be a blanket mentallity that anything outside of four walls and a time clock is a cult and a scam. Granted there is a lot of crap out there designed to take advantage of people, but there are other types of legit business systems that exist. The jobs that most of us go to every day is just one of them.

In terms of people that are financiallly independant, one of the things that sets them apart is that the majority of them are not employees at a job. Is it reasonable to think that someone who has built and runs a business may have a different outlook and set of values than a person that works a job?

Why is it seen as cultish for people to go to a Primerica meeting and get excited and pumped up about helping people[...]and recruiting "yes recruiting" others into an opportunity?[...].

I know most people seek the comfort of collecting a paycheck at a job[...]

Where is the cult and the scam?

Just because you have a group of people who think differently than the mainstream, does that qualify Primerica as a cult?[...]

"different mentality":

Note the rules you agreed to before posting here.

I have edited your posts twice now to keep them within the rules.

See [...] which are edit marks.

1. No promotion or advertising claims.

2. No flaming.

If you can't stay within the rules don't post here.

I was almost sucked in by them. A couple of my former friends joined them. They told my bf and I that it was a seminar about how to get out of debt. I figured the whole seminar would be full of useful principles. Instead, 2/3rds of the presentation was spent on how one can make so much money joining the company and knocking anyone who had a real job. Big turnoff for me was how they prayed upon the fears of the people there. "Corporations are laying people off, and you will be safe with us." Most disturbingly is how they prey upon college age kids. Funny how they parrot that bs. They are owned by Citigroup, one of the worst companies out there (subprime mess, and their credit cards that charge hidden fees). I knew this was a typical MLM, I almost joined one 4 years ago, so I was familar with the same BS they parrot at their "meetings". Asked my parents trusted financial advisor, and they said that Primerica is the laughingstock of the industry. Primeri-robots will spit out the same BS claiming that anyone criticizing them doesnt like to "ride the wave of opportunity", or "the companies that criticize us are the ones ripping off the middle class". My advice to you is to stay away from them at all costs. Find yourself companies that dont hire people off the street to handle your finances.

These cats were shut down here in Connecticut by the State's insurance commissioner when they went under another name years ago. They changed their name and got back on track with the State. I went to one of their meetings at their offices in my city. I don't know if anyone else here had this experience, but it was an "open house" (read: trying to sucker new people to join). The place was a disaster with LOUD rock music blaring over the office speakers. The employees were all dressed down in causal clothes. I said I wasn't interested and left.

I was hounded (being a fool, I gave my REAL phone number there under the guise of "winning" a camera or some such crap, in a raffle) and after the third call I told them they are not my cup of tea (politely) and the "manager" on the other end SCREAMED at me through the phone that I was (paraphrasing) "A stupid loser who will never amount to anything and all the people that decided to work for Primerica are winners and will be multi-millionaires many times over and I will only be a coupon clipping impoverished fool".

Wow! Sounds like a great guy to work for! Sign me up!

If you want to get a feel for what Primerica is, rent the movie "Boiler Room". The movie is about shady stock brokers, but besides product line differences, I would say it is spot-on.

Also, to all you out there, yes...buying Term life insurance and investing the difference is a great idea...except very few people ever invest the difference...you don't need to ever have Primerica on your resume. IF you want to sell insurance (a noble profession, I am sure) go with a big company (Metlife, NYlife, Prudential, etc.)

Avoid Primerica at all costs...these people are shady shady shady.