APX Alarms

[joseph]

My brother is thinking of doing summer sales for this company on his break. They recently changed their name to Vivent. Does anyone know of or has worked for this company? It sounded fishy to me and a quick internet search didn't exactly help. Just wanted to see what experiences some Calgary people may have had.

Joseph

[vtec4life]

They are morman fucks who will try to convert him. thats all it is. fuckin scam. no one makes 40K in a summer. who wants to sell alarms door to door anyways??? F that noise.

[leftwing]

One of my good buddies actually works for Vivint and he loves it. He is trying to recruit me for the summer months. They are going to kelowna for 2-3 months and selling alarms down there. The company pays for housing and all. Despite what you say/think he did actually make 45,000 last summer selling alarms in Ontario.

At the end of the day it is going door to door selling alarms which isn't exactly ideal, but if your willing to work hard you can make a killing. The pay scale they use is ridiculously favourable to a good salesman. Also from the sounds of it the employee morale is very high, they all seem to love it. They company has competitions all the time and they have wicked prizes. My buddy has won a 52inch TV and a brand new Iphone4 recently.

[vtec4life]

^^^ This person is definitely spitting some bullll shit right now. he probably works for them himself.

[leftwing]

What don't you believe?

And no I don't work for them. I think the company sounds pretty decent, if I did work for them I would say so.

Judging by your first comment in this thread about mormon fucks it is evident you have no clue what your talking about and you are obviously immature.

Prove that its a scam...
Prove you cant make 40k...

[freshprince1]

Originally posted by vtec4life
^^^ This person is definitely spitting some bullll shit right now. he probably works for them himself.

I worked a summer in this industry, for a competitor to APX. It is hard work, but not a scam. I earned $28K USD in one summer, this was back in '05, so there was a nice conversion bonus there.

As for the Mormons, this type of sales approach in Security started in Utah, so there are a lot of them in the business. As for them trying to convert you...just say you're not interested if it ever comes up.

vtec4life seems to have some sort of grudge...maybe he tried the job and failed miserably?

[vtec4life]

haha na i just think that when someone tries to sell you a job (recruit) that something is up. clearly I am exagerrating as i have seen a few APX alarm systems in peoples houses. as for going door to door personally, I have more respect for myself than that.

I also had a friend that worked for APX and said it was fun going to another city and hanging out with a bunch of coworkers all the time but the money was not great. I guess you really have to pound some pavement to make decent coin.

Obviously its not a scam so poor choice of words. I just seriously dislike people pushing a religion on others, especially their co-workers/employees. and this did come straight from the person whom i know worked for them for a summer. just get a real dam job man, do YOU like when people come to your door? This is calgary. opportunities are just about endless.

[Uncle Flappy]

Jesus, first apex alarms, then apx and now Vivint... they are such a fly by night shitty company. I had them come to my house once, I had to slam the door in his face because he was so pushy.

This should help your decision... http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/burglar-alarm-systems-dealers-monitoring-and-service/vivint-in-provo-ut-4002276

[freshprince1]

I agree with the annoyance of the pushy saleman. This job actually really helped me and taught me a lot.

I worked harder than most, and put in more time on the doors than most. My approach was a little different. I saw the package we sold as a great deal and if I could just make the people feel comfortable with me, be honest about all the costs, that I would find a couple people a day interested in it.

People will always say no when you knock on their doors, so I told myself if they say no twice, then I'm gone. The more houses I could hit, the more chance I could find someone who has been thinking about getting an alarm system.

I told them outright what the cost was, and if they'd let me show them how I'd set up the security system in their house, they'd see the value. If they'd let me in I'd almost always make the sale (i.e. 24 month contract at $40/month). If anyone had considered an alarm system beofre, this was a good deal. And since I'd told them about the price off the bat, there were no surprises when We got to signing the paperwork.

I definately missed out on sales that could have been made through pressuring people into it, but that's just not my style.

Anyways, the industry is full of sleezy, high-pressured sales guys, I won't argue that. But I was able to make over $30K CAD in 4 months (back in 2005) all while living and working in San Diego. I surfed and longboarded in the mornings, and worked the afternoons and evenings. It was the hardest summer of my life, but also the greatest. I grew a lot and learned many lessons about myself, people in general, and sales. There's a lot of guys that just dick around and work half-assed, they never last long, nor do they make any money. You can earn awesome money, but you have to work for it.

[BokCh0y]

I have the system in my house, actually really like it. Great features and easy to use. Peace of mind is the biggest thing.

Anyways, I was talking with the guy installing my alarm last summer, him and his wife both did that as a summer job. They both seemed to really enjoy it as it was his 4 summer doing that. He mentioned that he was enrolled in U of L and just finised his undergrad, going to U of C in the fall to start his Masters. Said both him and wife are students, so the money they make installing alarms all goes into savings to live off of till next summer basically. Apparently they both made some serious $$$ during the summers that it pays for their school and a cheap place to live too....so I can't see it being that shitty.

But I do agree that if you work hard you'll make good money, if you sit there and cruise...yeah you won't make a dime then.

[joseph]

I can see where you guys are coming from, I'm just not too fond of the idea. Met with the guy who would hire him last night so got a few questions answered. He seemed like a nice enough guy, definitely a salesman though. They're going to be shipping him out to Halifax for 4 months. At the end of the day though it's his decision to make.

[JBreaks]

I've gotta buddy who claims to have made a five figure commissions bonus in one summer out in kelowna with APX and of course, is trying to recruit anyone and everyone to go do the same.... however his lifestyle leads me to believe this is a story and the money would be made signing suckers up for the door to door gig.

[leftwing]

yeah from what I understand the payscale works something like this. from 0-50 sales you get a standard commission, i believe its $400-500. Then from 51-75 you get another standard commission (400-500) BUT you also get paid a bonus on every sale you've made to date( that year), so once you hit 75 sales you get re-paid if you want to call it that for your first 50 sales. Im no sure how much you get re-paid, like I dont know if its the full commission or a certain fraction, but i can definitely see where the money is made and what makes guys work harder.

[freshprince1]

Originally posted by JBreaks
I've gotta buddy who claims to have made a five figure commissions bonus in one summer out in kelowna with APX and of course, is trying to recruit anyone and everyone to go do the same.... however his lifestyle leads me to believe this is a story and the money would be made signing suckers up for the door to door gig.



Originally posted by leftwing
yeah from what I understand the payscale works something like this. from 0-50 sales you get a standard commission, i believe its $400-500. Then from 51-75 you get another standard commission (400-500) BUT you also get paid a bonus on every sale you've made to date( that year), so once you hit 75 sales you get re-paid if you want to call it that for your first 50 sales. Im no sure how much you get re-paid, like I dont know if its the full commission or a certain fraction, but i can definitely see where the money is made and what makes guys work harder.

Both of these are correct. A good thing to note is that the Recruiters get a commission for each guy they sign up. So make sure you're making the decision based on your own desire and commitment...because a manager might say some stuff to glam it up to get another recruit.

Get a copy of the pay scale, if it is on paper, it is legit and you can hold the company to it. $400-$500 per sale to start seems a bit high...probably closer to $300. But I've been out of the business for a five years, so things might have changed. The retroactive payments are key. Hitting the milestones are a great incentive. I made it over 75 sales in the last few days of the summer and got to that bonus level, it was well worth it.

The guys who dicked around and worked half-assed either went home early, or made like 30-40 sales...enough to get by and have some fun on the weekends, but they wouldn't have gone home with much money to show for it. Guys who worked hard and put their time in on the doors usually did 60-80 sales. The company I was with paid more per sale than Apex, but we didn't sell many on average.

I personally know guys that made 6 figures in a summer, so it is possible, but a lot of things have to go right to hit that amount of money.

I have friends in the business still if anyone wants to get some no-bull answers. It's a hard job, but it pays well if you can stomach the rejection and living off of 100% commission.