Primerica Financial Services... Scam?

::::BASSIST:::: · #1 03-18-2009, 11:45 PM

This afternoon we had a rep from Primerica Financial Services come to our house and tells us various ways to save and invest our money. It took about 2 hours to go thru the whole thing so I am not going to go thru all of that now.

I talked to a friend of mine who highly suspects that it is a scam, but my friend is a bit of a nut and I am not sure I entirely trust his judgement. Anyway, he's a great guy but I dont know that his idea that this is a scam is accurate.

Anyone here dealt with Primerica? Are they a legit company? What have been your experiences?

FSSmikey · #2 03-18-2009, 11:46 PM

i went thru the "orientation"

it seemed like a pyramid scheme to me.

i personally think its very scam-ish, although, im sure others might tell you different.

**embellisher** · #3 03-19-2009, 01:28 AM

It's not a scam per se, but it is multilevel marketing. I worked with a guy who was convinced that he would soon be making $250K a year with little work. Last time I saw him, he still had to work a real job. The only guys making big $$$ are the ones with hundreds of people below them who are working 60+ hours per week.

I did buy some term life insurance when my ex coworker did a free consultation with me, but that's because I needed some term and the prices were very competitive.

**embellisher** · #4 03-19-2009, 01:31 AM

Google A.L. Williams. Primerica is what they are called now. Turned the insurance industry upside down back in the early 80's. They showed a lot of people what a bad investment whole life insurance was and the life insurance industry hated them at the time, called them liars, crooks, and a bunch of words not fit for this forum. They are great to buy financial products from. Not great to work with/for, unless you like Amway.

tycobb73 · #5 03-19-2009, 06:45 AM

They are not a scam per se.

One thing though. If I remember correctly they wanted you to tie all your debt up into your house to get a lower interest rate. Sounds good but now all your debt is tied into 1 big house payment which if your income lowers you may have trouble making. If you keep your unsecured debt unsecured if your income goes down you can just stop paying the unsecured debt and they can't force you out of your house (they can however put a lean on it).

**Mark Wilson** · #6 03-19-2009, 08:44 AM

My ex-girlfriend works for them.
I did her a favour not long ago and went to the orientation. Sounded like B.S. to me.

newbold · #7 03-19-2009, 08:30 PM

they'll want you to become a rep more than they'll want to sell you products...but their products aren't the ripoff.

**embellisher** · #8 03-19-2009, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newbold

they'll want you to become a rep more than they'll want to sell you products.

Yep. They are like Amway. More interested in getting you as a rep than selling you the products.

iamlowsound · #9 03-19-2009, 09:40 PM

I always see people ragging on Amway, but from what I can tell, they have awesome products and are quite competitive. All I really know is that my aunt is way up in Amway (does regulation work for HQ) and she makes more money in a year than I hope to make in my lifetime.

lowsound

MagnaKen · #10 03-19-2009, 09:59 PM

My business partner is a Primerica rep. I am not into the Amway style sales thing, but I bought the term life insurance about ten years ago. The reliably take my check every six months.

When I cash in my term life insurance, I will be sure to let you know how the service was.

One interesting thing is that the salespeople do not get a commission every time I make a life insurance payment (unlike other insurance). They only get paid for new sales. I think this helps them keeps the rates low and the salespeople busy. The company behind them is legitimate.

**embellisher** · #11 03-19-2009, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

I always see people ragging on Amway, but from what I can tell, they have awesome products and are quite competitive. All I really know is that my aunt is way up in Amway (does regulation work for HQ) and she makes more money in a year than I hope to make in my lifetime.

lowsound

Oh, Amway products are great. I think most who have tried them would agree that they are on par with most of the big brands. The downer is that if you want to buy the products, when you finally find a rep, they are much more interested in trying to get you to sell Amway than they are selling you products. It is almost like a religion or something. MLM to the extreme.

jkritchey · #12 03-20-2009, 10:29 AM

I have no idea, but here's what I know:

Every day I drive past a Citibank branch. (Primerica is a Citi subsidiary?)

Someone has taken the the time, effort and money to buy a Ford F150, with an extremely large, oversize cap on the back. On the cap and truck he has painted "Citibank's Primerica is a Scam!" It sits in front of the bank everyday.

Hell of an effort, if you ask me. They must have pi$$ed him off somehow.

NJL · #13 03-20-2009, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkritchey

(Primerica is a Citi subsidiary?)

correct