It's been about 3 1/2 years since I tried Zaken out, and I still get a few emails every month from people asking me what my opinion of the program is. If you read through my blog, starting from the first post, you would have a pretty good idea of what I know. Sorry I can't give you more info from personal experience. I returned the kit and got my refund.
After that, I tried out mystery shopping. I made enough money with this to pay off my credit card (not a high balance, but impossible to pay without income!) and have some spending money, which was nice. But as my baby became a child and needed my attention more, I found I couldn't keep up with it. I don't enjoy shopping anyway, so it wasn't the right job for me long term. Just so you know, this isn't the kind of mystery shopping where they send you $1,000 and tell you to wire it. This link will take you to a page where you can purchase a directory of mystery shopping companies, and they are all legitimate. I bought the directory and used it myself. You can learn how to tell the difference between a legitimate mystery shopping company and a scam by watching my video on YouTube.
Currently, I make some money with the ads on this blog (so feel free to click on them!), and am now starting a new blog, Life of a Happy Mom. It may not be a very good niche, but it is something I'm passionate about, and I know there are people out there who will enjoy it. This is what I'm currently doing online now. Update 1/24/11 I just started a new blog and am hoping to make it profitable. You might want to check it out: My Baby Has Eczema.
But since this blog is about Zaken, maybe I should say a couple of things. I don't know if it is a scam or not, but the guy who wrote this blog seems to be pretty sure, and I am inclined to believe him. Even if it is legitimate, it would be the kind of venture that only about 5% of the population would be able to succeed at, which means that unless you are very motivated and driven to work hard for nothing until you can land "the big one," it's probably not the job for you. Kind of like selling real estate. You put lots of time and money into advertising, driving clients around, etc, and only get paid when the sale closes. Not everyone can do that. Contrary to what he says in his ad, liquidations is NOT easy money. It's hard work. Keep that in mind.
4 comments:
Greetings. I am sorry and ashamed to say that I
am a past employee of The Zaken Corporation. I
was there for just over 6 months,and started
working as a sales rep under the assumption that
it was a legitimate company,offering a legitimate
home business opportunity. The scam goes like
this: You send in $174.00 to "get in on the
liquidation business" with Zaken. Supposedly,all
you have to do is find large quantities of
unwanted inventory,which the company
purchases,then upon liquidating it,splits the
"profits" with you. Yes,you guessed it. Easier said
than done. At this point you receive another
letter from Zaken,letting you know that he,Tiran
Zaken,the profit God,still knows you exist. When
you call,you talk to a sales rep,who sells you 7
weeks of "Mentoring,a Closeout Website,3000
Postcards and Lifetime Directories of companies
that have merchandise. You are also told that
your "investment" of thousands of dollars will be
refunded "at the fourth commission deal". Let me
assure you,such a thing has never happened.
The most you will receive is a rebate check for
the original $174,00,which you can use as a
discount when you get suckered by Zaken again.
Your "mentor" will be one of a handful of
kids,raging from 19 to 25 years old,reading to
you the same "liquidation manual" you purchased
from Zaken.
Upon seeing again and again that people were
investing anywhere from $995.00 to $6000.00
with no results,profits,or any possibility of
making any money,ever,I obviously realized I was
selling a scam,and started to literally lose sleep at
night. Even though I was getting paid 10%
commission on my sales,I felt it was wrong to
continue working there. I started to search for
another job elsewhere,but upon trying to address
these concerns to Ronit,who is the sales
manager,and bringing up these issues in
company meetings again and again,guess
what??? Yes,I was fired,as were many other reps
who also showed signs of having a conscience. I
see complaints about Zaken all over the internet
on bulletin boards,scam reporting websites and
such. People try to get a refund by relying on
Zaken's honesty. Good luck with that one. In
addition,your local D.A most likely will not help
you. This is VERY IMPORTANT: IF YOU WANT
TO HAVE ANY HOPE OF RECOVERING ANY
FUNDS TAKEN FROM YOU BY ZAKEN,CALL THE
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION AT THIS
NUMBER,AND REPORT WHAT WAS DONE TO
YOU: 202 326 2830. Take care.
Allow me to add that Katina,a 280lbs "costomer service" manager at Zaken,amongst others,spend a lot of time online posting fake success stories,in an effort to combat the thousands of blogs and posts,all negative,since they expose the fact that Zaken is a major ripoff.
I am a current employee of Zaken. The reason that Zaken has so many issues is because of EX employees such as Dieter. The reason Dieter is an EX employee is because of his attempts to scam the company himself. Meeting with customers outside of business hours, accepting cash and then leaving them to fend for themselves? That is down right dirty. Yes, people would get mad and upset when they would call and no help would be available to them because they purchased it through Dieter, not Zaken. Zaken was left holding the bag on this because we did employ employees such as Dieter. We also had employees that could not handle telling the customers the truth about the business. Employees who wanted the commission, only looking out for themselves. This is not the type of attitude we want working for us. Zaken has done a lot to improve their employees as of 2010. We have gotten rid of a lot of bad apples, so to speak. This business is not for the lazy, you have to work 110% if not more to make it work and it WILL be profitable. With that being said, some of the reps, such as Dieter, would go out of their way to tell people how "easy" this job was and flat out lie to people about how much money they can make.
I am a professional, a Christian, a mother, a grandchild and a daughter. I would not want a scam company getting over on my family so why would I for for one? The answer is I wouldn't and I don't! Before working for Zaken, I had the opportunity of working for many other companies as well. I went with Zaken because I honestly believe in the company and what they do.
Yes, you have to pay for the kit. You don't like it, you get your money back. We offer assistance but you don't have to pay for anything. We don't make our money off the kits, we make our money off the people that work the program and are successful at the program. Zaken has been around for just over 15 years. If it was all a scam, we would of been out of the game 14 years ago.
The next time you read a blog or a comment about Zaken, ask yourself... did the person writing it really try to work the business or is there just no pleasing some people? Or maybe, and EX employee who got fired for... well... basically stealing from the company!
Thank GOODNESS I ran across your blog, Lisa! I received an invitation in the mail last week that was "only for the first 100 people who responded" to The Zaken Corporation. Looks like Tiran Zaken has scammed HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of people! And a BIG THANK YOU to "dieter91260" who left a comment to let us all know what is REALLY happening! I was seriously thinking of sending money that I REALLY didn't have to send, so that I could make "$4000 in the first month". So thankful that SOME people are honest enough to stand up for what's right.
Sincerely,
Kelly Ganey
kganey@windstream.net
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