On several occasions I’ve written about the things I’ve tried in order to make a few extra bucks. I guess it’s safe to say that at the moment, I’m not doing any of them.
As you know, I left my part-time job at Sears because it wasn’t worth the $7.25 an hour. Sure, I was supposed to get commissions on major sales, but the only items we sold in my department that earned a fair commission were riding mowers and treadmills. Well, I’m here to tell you that most people do not buy riding mowers and treadmills between the hours of 6-9 pm Monday through Thursday. Normal folks make major purchase on the weekends when they have time to look around. What they buy Monday thru Thursday is mower blades, oil, workout gloves and dumbbells or what some call accessories. There is no commission on accessories.
Since quitting my part-time gig at Sears, I’ve looked into a several new opportunities. What I can’t understand about the people who run some of these “opportunities” is why they are not in jail. A while back I subscribed to a newsletter that gave suggestions for starting a business at home. I mostly ignored the things they wrote about because they start off with things like “Make $10,000 a week from your kitchen table”. Well I go by the adage that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, so I ignored most of the ideas.
Every now and then I would see something interesting and would research it to see what other people thought about it. It seems funny that a couple of times I found a lot of good reviews before I ordered it and then a lot of bad after I started having problems. I ordered a certain “assemble products at home” program and then waited for the promised email confirmation of my order. By the second day I received nothing and called the companies number (not 800). I got an answering machine that time and the next. I sent two emails asking if they received my order and got nothing. I then sent an email requesting a refund and they responded asking for my correct address and the name of the kit (they had several) I had ordered. I figured that at least I would get my refund. Five days later the kit arrived in the mail. It had been mailed the day after I sent my refund request. I sent the kit back unopened and sent an email telling them “nice try but I had lost confidence in the company” I also told them they had ten business days to get my refund to me. After eight days I sent a reminder email, telling them I would contact the Better Business Bureau on the tenth day. Nothing! So I processed an online complaint to their local BBB in Austin, TX on a Friday and the BBB sent me an email on Monday saying they had forwarded the complaint. While on the BBB site I noticed that there had been 36 complaints in the last three years, most of them unresolved. On Friday I received the first of two checks, it seems they had sent the wrong amount the first time. I also got a call from the owner of the company saying that he apologized for the mix up but he had some new people working for him. I told him that since there had been two phone calls and four emails ignored, he might want to look at replacing the new people as well.
The last two opportunities came by US mail delivered, unsolicited, to my house. Both of them sounded like real opportunities to make money and I could see where they could really work. This time I checked them both on line by searching by the owners name and then the word “review”. It turns out that there was a class action lawsuit against one for false advertising although you really could make money from it, if they would just pay you as agreed, which they seemed to have a hard time doing. The other could have worked as well if their prices were more competitive and they didn’t provide shoddy work.
Anyway, I’m still looking and am hoping to take advantage of some of my 94 web sites to do it. What do you think? Have you ever had a similar experience? Let me know by posting a comment and hopefully a recommendation. Just remember I will check it out and hold it against you forever, if it’s not real.
Posted by Tom S on Feb 27, 2010 in
Current Events,
Employment,
Home & Family As many of you know I work with S.C. Vocational Rehabilitation. My job is to contact companies in a five county area and talk to them about our services and hopefully find work for our disabled clients. What many people don’t know is that we handle over 150 different disabilities including diabetes, obesity, cardiac patients, stroke victims, learning disabilities and social disabilities. Many of our clients were not born with their disabilities but rather developed disabilities over time. That means that some of them have college degrees in different areas and many have worked in production, manufacturing and various other fields. With that said, most of our clients have difficulty finding and maintaining employment because of their disabilities or, more often, because of employers lack of understanding of their disabilities.
Recently I’ve had the pleasure of working with a family who didn’t even see the disabilities, but were more interested in the skills our clients possessed. I met Tyrone Wilson shortly after he and his family opened a garage out on Peach Orchard Drive in Sumter. It’s right behind the base and you can’t miss the bright yellow building. I was out on one of my drives knocking on the doors of local businesses when I noticed that a formerly closed garage was up and running.
I made an appointment for the following week and presented our programs to Tyrone. After I was finished he told me he needed a mechanic as soon as I could get him one. That was in early January. So far, we have provided two mechanics and two car detailers for his operation at Wilson’s Auto Repair and Car-Wash.
Between providing the first and second mechanic I had the opportunity to meet Dionne (Dee) Wilson, Tyrone’s wife. Together they are opening a high end coffee shop out on US 378, called Moca Soul Café. Dee told me that they were interested in our agency helping them to find a Barista to help out in the café. We provided three candidates and the Wilson’s selected one ,who will start on March 1, 2010. Oh!! I almost forgot, Dee also does hair. You can get information on her skills and contact information at www.hairstylist4hire.webs.com or click the link to the right.
So altogether, they have given employment opportunities to five (5) clients and not once did they ask about the clients particular disability. Additionally, by using our clients they have the opportunity to get tax credits for hiring the disabled and we help them to pay the wages for a specified trial period. This gives them the chance to get to know our clients and their abilities before committing to hiring them permanently.
We need more people like this. They chose not to judge our clients but instead decided to give them a chance, where others wouldn’t. With 14% of South Carolinians being disabled and more than 1,000 of them on our caseloads in Sumter and Camden, we need a lot more employers to look beyond the disability and see the person beneath. Are you judging people with disabilities because of what you have heard or how they look? If you are, then knock it off and give them a chance!!
Posted by Tom S on Feb 14, 2010 in
Current Events,
Employment,
Home & Family
In order to be politically correct, we refer to the state office that is supposed to help people find work, as the Employment Security Commission or ESC. The ESC is where you go to file for unemployment benefits when you lose your job for any number of reasons. When you arrive you sign in and wait and wait and wait. Eventually, you will be called by an employment coach or counselor. They will take all of your contact information and then ask questions to determine what kind of position you are suited for. Once this is done they match you with a series of occupations, each assigned a numeric code. Using the assigned occupational codes they can now search for openings in those particular fields.
If all goes well, they will actually give you a couple of leads and you can begin your search for that new career. What usually happens, is you will apply to the selected companies along with multitude of other clients they sent there before you. You will then go home and begin your own job search using the local paper and the internet.
When and if you find a job, it will be due to your own efforts and not those of the Employment Security Commission or as I prefer to call it ” The Unemployment Office”. The reason I prefer unemployment office is that as long as you are depending on them to help you find work, you will remain unemployed.
After the initial visit you will be told how to call in each week to get your weekly check. Beyond that you will receive a monthly notice to report to the unemployment office and update your file. This generally takes about 45 minutes to an hour. It takes two minutes for the counselor to verify that your information is current. The rest of the time is spent waiting to be called.
This is how the system works. They do not help you find work, they simply issue your weekly benefit check and verify your contact information once a month. This is their job and they get paid pretty well, not to mention all the state benefits and holidays they get.
I know all this from my own experience and unfortunately, both of my sons are now going through it. They are supposed to help you with retraining as well as finding work but the system is so screwed up, I’m not sure anyone really understands what to do. After months of being out of work Tommy and Joey, both asked about retraining opportunities. It seems that what they do is provide additional training in the career you currently CAN’T find work in. Let me clarify, Tommy was laid off from a customer service position in the insurance industry. He had been looking for months for a similar or better opportunity. When he couldn’t find one he asked the unemployment office about retraining. They said they would help him with classes in customer service. WHAT?
Anyway, that’s the way it works. You have to follow the rules and make the monthly appointments of they cut off your check. But, if you really want to find a job you have to work at it on your own. Although the local paper and the Internet will be key to your search, letting everyone know you are looking can come in handy as well.
So good luck and hang in there. Remember, finding work can be a full time job in itself.
