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Out of compliance?

Personnel Concepts’ marketing:
Out of compliance?

By on October 8, 2008 in deceptive marketing, ethics, responsible or not?, strategically responsible

I don’t like receiving upsetting letters.

Nobody does.

But here’s an envelope I received in the mail yesterday:

Envelope from Personnel Concepts labor law poster notice+enlarge

Why would I receive a letter from The Compliance Service Department at PCI marked “Important – Open Immediately?”

I didn’t know who PCI was, but I was afraid it may have something to do with our business insurance so I opened the letter posthaste.

Here it is:

Personel Concepts labor law poster notice +enlarge

“Final Notice?”

Okay, that made me nervous. We pay our bills around here, and we pay them on time. What’s happened?

As I read a little further, the knot at the bottom of my stomach began to loosen. We hadn’t screwed up—this was another deceptive marketing trick.

In fact, it was trick I was informed about in late August, when I was contacted by Janet Attard of Business Know How, a 20-year-old company that sells these posters online.

She contacted me because she was fed up with questionable marketing tactics of some of their competitors and thought it would be an interesting topic for The Responsible Marketing Blog.

An excerpt:

Businesses regularly get mail . . . telling them they need to buy or update posters immediately to avoid being fined.

The mail is usually worded to be confusing, but not quite (by a hairline) be false advertising.

For instance, there were some changes voted into law for the FMLA this year (Family Medical Leave Act).

The US Department of Labor put an informational poster on its site, but that is only a temporary poster, and while it’s recommended, it’s not required to post. That’s because the DOL hasn’t finalized or issued the new FMLA posting.

That didn’t stop the sleazy marketers from telling companies they had to buy a new poster with the new FMLA regulations on it.

Janet never named names, but the letter I received from Personnel Concepts yesterday sure seems to fit the bill.

It would appear Personnel Concepts’ goals with this mailing were to:

  1. Create enough uneasiness with the envelope to get someone to open the letter
  2. Create enough uncertainty with the letter to get that person to act
  3. Make the letter and envelope look official enough that it might fool companies into quickly routing the form to accounts payable for immediate payment

There is information in the copy that explains that this a product for sale, and that the same posters are provided by the government for free. But everything else has been deliberately crafted to create fear, uncertainty and doubt—with a goal of tricking someone into paying without thinking first.

We’ve seen this approach before, from vanity scams to domain name renewals—some companies would rather deceive instead of trying to persuade buyers their product is worth the price they seek.

To be fair, Personnel Concepts approach isn’t that unique. Some direct marketers use this approach frequently—because it works.

So, is Personnel Concepts’ marketing out of compliance, or are they just really effective direct marketers?

Comment below to weigh in.

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  • kely

    I hate them they are so yucky

  • Shawn

    From what I’ve seen and researched, looks like the company offers what you can get for free but in a simple package that meets all government regulations. You pay Personnel Concepts to provide that service for you. Great idea, I wish I thought of it. But the real issue is what the thread title states, Are the marketing tactics out of compliance? I am no compliance expert but I would agree that the tactics are deceptive. How many people have bought “an extended factory warranty” for their vehicle because of an deceptively marketed mailer? I believe mailers like the two mentioned here are unethical and should be stopped. If the companies are so sure of their products or service, marketing material shouldn’t stress on urgency or make the documents resemble official government documents but the overall value of the products that the company offers. Time closing is a great sales/marketing tactic, but the loss of taking action on that “final offer” should be made clear. Not taking advantage of that Personnel Concepts’ offer will not put you in violation of labor laws, failing to post the labor posters will.

  • http://www.brandarmour.co.za Branda | Trade Marks

    I have just come across this site and have so far found it interesting and informative, I have to say there is nothing worse than receiving mail like this especially when you have made that payment.

  • jerome

    If you think their mail is sneaky and deceptive, wait till you try their irritating, “we can’t hear you say no” telephone technique.

  • jerome

    They are irritating to have to deal with on the phone with an “I can’t hear you say NO” attitude. The latest twist in trying to unsubscribe, after returning a poster they sent after my telling them NO, is to send an unsigned refund check, which of course the bank won’t accept.
    This is the rankest kind of boilershop sales operation.

  • http://www.redrockschurch.com Jessie

    PC often sends us “final notice” mailers with what looks to be an invoice at the bottom.

    When I took over my position here at the office, I simply assumed that PC sent you only what was needed for your company. But it got to a point where I was paying for a new updated poster or booklet every month.

    I just got off of the phone with the woman who calls a couple times a week to describe how my company is “out of compliance”. I’m over it. I’ll research my own posters and purchase them myself.

    Here’s to you, you pushy, prodding Personell Concepts

  • A Elizabeth Ivanoff

    DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH PERSONNEL CONCEPTS. You order one poster and they send you three and bill you for them. If you say you didn’t order the other two they tell you that yes, you did give them authorization to ship those posters. Then you have to return them at your expense. THEN, after having these posters for about I month I get “the letter” everyone is talking about saying that my All-On-One State and Federal Labor Law poster is out of date and must be replaced. ALWAYS GOOGLE A COMPANY LIKE THIS BEFORE YOU DO BUSINESS WITH THEM. I wish I had.

  • Sheryl Montie

    It’s exactly as Elizabeth says they totally rip you off – sending you posters and books that you did not order and then they charge your credit card. Will never deal with them again.

  • Jessica Stephens

    This company is HORRIBLE they will rip you off point blank end of story they WILL charge you for things you DO NOT order then say that you said yes to said items.

  • vicky

    You can add the old “Bait & Switch” scam to Personnel Concepts unscrupulous tactics. I mailed in the ad marking it “Bill Me” figuring if I receive the poster, I’ll pay them. Got a call today from “Patrick” stating the laws in Illinois changed and that he had to update some info – always a red flag. Said we had to upgrade to include OSHA info etc. Yeah, right. How much more, I asked. Another $100. Told him to cancel the order. So if you see AIO Acquisition on your caller ID, hang up LOUDLY.

  • Lisa Cassidy

    I HATE these people!! They try and look official and government-like with their mail to scare you in to buying their posters. I received another one today. I finally sent them an email demanding they take me off their mailing list. We’ll see if that works.

  • Pleasance

    As I’m owner and have no employees I wondered why I would have to put any posters up. Then decided that Personnel Concepts was simply a scam.

  • Renaissance

    Received a legitimate looking notice in the mail. Too bad the name of our organization was spelled incorrectly — also why would a company out of Ontario, Canada send mail about our posters & notices complying with state & federal labor law?

  • BetterBiz

    Personnel Concepts can be sneaky with the tricky mailings but if you actually ask the right questions and take the time to listen they did help me out a lot with keeping me in compliance when I had an inspection. I continue to do business with them but I never send in any mailings without talking to someone first. And btw I asked if they were located in Ontario, Canada and they are actually located in Ontario, California. Again, just take the time to talk to someone legitimate and you will get accurate information.

  • Dude

    Personnel Concepts is not a private company. They are owned by a publicly held company called Brady. AIO Acquisitions is a legitimate name though it falls under many different names under Brady (NYSE: BRC). They know PC is a dirty operation, but profit margins are high when you reproduce a piece of paper that is free from the government, so they keep it quite and reap the benefits of it.

    Pascal Demand is the a**hole that oversee’s this operation. He isn’t the CEO but he is one of the VP’s of Operations.

  • Brenda

    DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY! I wish this company would go out of business. They keep calling and sending us posters we do not order. They will not take No for an answer. I would like to sue them for harrassment. DO NOT, let me repeat DO NOT ORDER FORM THEM.

  • Paul

    I buy the main posters from these guys because I think they look professional. But they call and harass me about 3 or 4 times a year and tell me I need to keep in compliance. I think they’re full of it and I have not once heard of a company in our space being “inspected”. It’s really hard to get them off the phone and I wish I didn’t waste 10 or 15 minutes on this today. I would not do business with them if I had the time to figure out which posters I need and when the are updated. Really, this is the WORST supplier of anything we have ever had.

  • Marie

    Yes, they just did it to me too. Called and said I needed updated materials. OK, send them. Yes, they are updated posters, but not what is mandatory to be posted. Pay close attention to that….not everything has to be in a nice poster format. We have the all in one poster, so I thought I was ordering the right thing. You can imagine my surprise when we received the invoice for $69.95 for a Workplace Identity Theft Prevention Kit (we have 2 employees!!) and an All-in-one FLSA compliance poster for $24.95, which of course was not needed. I have already flagged them to not accept anymore phone calls. Will be doing my poster business elsewhere because they hoodwinked me into believing I needed these things. Also have to pay the postage both ways!!!

  • Janelle

    Wow, I didn’t realize they have irritated so many people! Yesterday was the last straw for me when they called and tried the “we don’t understand NO” technique so many of you have stated. I simply told them I found it cheaper elsewhere and hung up on the sales lady. Sure it was convenient to get all the posters on one laminated poster, but the pushiness and ridiculous marketing totally turned me off. Way too much mail and like I said, the pushy phone call ended any and all future purchases from this company.

  • MICHELLE

    I TOO AM TOTALLY SICK OF THE NEVER ENDING PHONE CALLS FROM THESE PEOPLE TELLING ME THAT WE ARE NOT IN COMPLIANCE AND THAT A POSTER NEEDS TO BE UPDATED FOR ANOTHER 30-40 DOLLARS AFTER I WAS TOLD THE LAST TIME I RECIEVED A CALL TO RENEW MY POSTERS THAT IF AN UPDATED OCCURED WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR OF MY SUBSCRIPTION THAT IT WOULD BE INCLUDED AND SENT TO ME WHEN THE UPDATE HAPPENED. THAT WAS SEPT 2010 AND HERE IT IS JAN 2011 AND I GET THE YOU NEED A UPDATE CALL. WELL NO WAY NOT THIS TIME IM DONE WITH THIS COMPANY. IM SICK OF THE 4-6 PHONE CALLS A YEAR AND IM ALWAYS TOLD SOMETHING DIFFERENT. THEY ARE WAY TO PUSHY THEY NEVER LISTEN THEY JUST TALK OVER YOU SO FROM NOW ON THEY ARE JUST GETTING HUNG UP ON!

  • Jude

    I have been a customer of PC for years, before I even had a computer! I should have googled them before. They take advantage of small businesses by threatening them. I was told I could be reported for not having up to date posters. Even though we are a family business, I was told that my home office could be inspected and fined for not having these posters. I was foolish to listen. These posters are available for free. A home business does not need them. And they call and send letters several times a week, even though I purchased a full years subscription supposedly. I won’t be fooled again.

  • Rob

    I keep getting these things…. my boss FLIPPED on me cuz he thought it was an insurance thing.
    This irrisponsible and just plain annoying. I tryed get them to stop sending me things and still i get them.
    i will NEVER buy from them simply because of this thype of advertising. I will GLADLY pay double to another company.

  • Lynda

    I am also one of the victums of Personnel Concepts. We have a non profit company with only 8 employees. I know as all business Owners/Managers know that we are required to post all of the new laws for our states/federal governments to keep our employees informed. But I know as all business Owner/Managers know that there is a right way and a wrong way to “do business”. I sincerely do not appreciate any company who uses the unethical and unmoral guerrilla tactics that this company employs in order to “do business”. You do not need to scam me into be over compliant for laws that do not apply to my particular company nor to scam/scare me into purchasing the next years compliance posters early because you know that there are new updates comming down the wire and need to offload these old posters you just purchased to recover your money and then turn around and sell my company the new update seperately when the update finally comes out. I spent $29.90 for the 2010-2011 all on one FLSA 9/22/10, I then spent $24.95 for the chipra $49.95 for the hipaa, and $42.95 for the dc space saver 2 poster 10/13/10. 4 phone calls and 15 out of compliance notices later, it is 2/16/11 and I have another letter asking for another $42.95 (plus $7.95 s&h) for the district of columbia space saver-1 labor law poster. With the rise of massive unethical and unmoral business practices it is a wonder that there are not more companies like enron who are stealing from each other and destroying the business to business and consumer to business trust that should exist to further the future of us all. I am searching for a new company to purchase my posters from today. I am looking at a company called the Labor Law Center. I seriously urge every business owner to take the time out to inform your self of what compliances are necessary for you. Find a company that will provide that need with out using false and unethical or unmoral business practices to keep you in compliance. Stay with them until they begin to display the some guerrilla tactics such as personnel concepts does. When they do leave and find another company you can trust.

  • http://none Chris

    I was just in a training class for personnell concepts and i gotta tell ya that the traing they try crush in 3 days and then put you on the phone’s to scam people out of money made me uneasy. Really how many times do you need a new poster to hang up. I ran a retail store and i only had to hang the poster up once. This company will tell you that you could be subject to fines up to $17000 if you dont update your information because you could be subject to a inspection is really just preying on the weak minded. You can get this stuff on the internet for free or have a attorny update you when changes happen. This is a scam DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME BUYING OR WORKING FOR THEM PERIOD.

  • jane

    You can get all of ur posters for free on the internet. Start googling EVERY GOVERNMENT AGENCY that requires u to have posting notifications. That’s about 12 of them and each of those agencies has several acts and laws that business owners need to abide by. After reading the bligs a lot of peoples main concers are the too recent updates and blaming personnel concepts saying they are ripping you off, but how are they ripping you off if these updates are what the GOVERNMENT agencies REQUIRE??? I have worked at PC for a few months and personally feel that they are doing business owners a favor by researching the laws for them! As a business owner do you really have time to sit there and go to each website on a continuous basis? Blame the government for the updates not personnel concepts. I don’t understand how what they do can be considered a “scam”. They are poviding a service and telling you they provide a service. Also, everyone says they received stuff they never ordered, but we are strictly trained to repeat the order and price before the end of the call so I don’t believe someone orders without knowing what they’re getting into. Most small business owners don’t have the money to hire an attorney to do the research for them. The possibility of being fined up to $17000 is very real. You buy health insurance for precautionary reasons as well as car and home insurance. You never know when and even if something might happen to ur health, car, or home same with ur business, you never know when and even if you’ll be inspected. Better safe than sorry if I do say so myself.

  • Jesse

    Hi Jane,

    Try asking your customers sometime if they actually appreciate your phone calls. I hate them. Not to mention that you have experience with the phone calls, not the mailings they send out. Take a closer look at the piece of mail at the top of this page. The “FINAL NOTICE” is absolutely false. I wish every one of my notices would have been FINAL.

    After buying posters several times that I didn’t need, I looked for another company that would tell me only when I actually needed another poster. Also, after originally telling me I didn’t need the OSHA poster, PC told me I must have it if I have even 1 part-time employee.

    Regardless, I switched to a company called Business Know-How. I’m on their email list, so I’ll find out when to order another All-In-One poster. I believe you can also get posters at Staples and OfficeMax.

    I would like to know how to stop the phone calls and junk mail. I’ve told Personell Concepts to stop, 2 times EACH by Phone, Fax, and Mail. By phone, they promised to stop the phone calls, but they keep right on calling and sending Scare-Tactic Letters. I’ve told them that I switched to another company, but they won’t quit contacting me. I call that HARASSMENT.

  • Don

    Personnel Concepts is a company profiting on pure lies. They use scare tactics and lies to sell their posters. They tell people that they need additional posters such as the HIPPA and IRS notices that are not required just to get extra money from you. They constantly send out their letter stating FINAL NOTICE and touting a $17,000 fine. They have multiple complaints in every state. They also have multiple websites and use the alternative website to sell posters under their cost with marketing to put their smaller competitors out of business. Please CALL YOUR STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL TODAY AND REPORT THEM. If they hear us they will eventually have to do something.

  • Christine

    DO NOT ORDER FROM THESE SCAM ARTISTS! I placed an order for two “all in one” packages, which were 29.95 each. Before they shipped them, I remember they had someone call me on the phone to try to sell me extra products, which I clearly remember I said NO to all of them. Now they sent me additional packages and are trying to get over 300.00 from us! Unbelievable! I’m going to try to return everything just because they don’t deserve my money!

  • Betsy

    In Colorado, your workers comp company will send you any & all required postings that you need for free.

  • Carrie

    Our office has been receiving the “you are not in compliance” phone calls. They will not take “we are not interested” as an answer. This company has sent our office so many “needed” posters that our entire back room wall is full of them, only to find out that we dont need 3/4 of them after all. When I first started this job they would call and I would agree to a poster, they’d send several and then bill me for all of the posters. I’ve done some researching and you can get anything you need for free online. I’m done with Personnel Concepts.

  • https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=367984976120 Katrina awing

    Katrina awing said…
    ATTENTION TO ALL BUSINESS OWNERS!

    Personnel concepts is really a scam company first let me tell you who they are they are under brady corporation, they have a site at ontario california and manila phlippines. Ontario reps holds or own their own accounts of customers to where they sell posers regularly on a monthly basis or for some yearly. While in manila reps are employed in a call center called brady direct marketing philippines and once youre employed they will let you work on their accounts such as personnel concepts, catalogs and etc.

    Each rep has a goal of 1800 dollars per day! And the company is letting them sell anything that apply to whoever pops up on the computer, if you have 1or more employee then for sure they will have the rit poster for your business so no matter how big the business is once ou bought 1 poster from personnel concepts for sure you are already an account or a buyer which the reps will dial every month or multiple times ayear to sell something. These are not mandatory posters these are just recommended posters because businesses in the states are just required to post the federal and state labor law posters. Other than hat everything is just required policies and procedures not a posting.

    I know all of these because YES I AM AN EMPLOYEE IM WORKING THERE CURRENTLY for a year now. I AM a FILIPINO and personnel concepts is owned by an american and the sales sie is managed BY ELAINE YOUNG, HR COUNTRY HEAD IS CAROLINE CO a filipino. For the rest of the bosses i do not know their position. The reason why i am out here is because this strategy is very sad. An american trying to steal and mislead an american by using filipinos! This should get to PRESIDENT OBAMAS ATTENTION because filipinos are being used and this is not the only account being dialed here in the philippines we have thousands of accounts that you thought youre dealing with an american on the phone but its US because were highly tained to speak well like an american!

    Just imagine the goal we have is $1800 per day and we have 22 dialing or working days pr month and that sums up to 40k per month goal each rep we currently have 100 reps dialing to sell posters to all businesses. We sound authoriative! We hard sell! We bully! We threaten every businesses to meet our goals because we are working for the company and what they care about is us to hit our goal or else get out of the company were getting commissions if. Meet our goals up to 50k per month aside from the basic salary of 15k plus 8k benefits. What im trying to say is the american boss wnat us to hit these goals but of course its degrading for us and sad knowing that were misleading our customers to retain the employment. Were trained well to be like this and tha reason why im saying all of these is because the company has no plans to STOP!

    They will continue to get money from all businesses as long as no one is complaining againsts them. This has to stop!

    The customer servie number is [removed] the rep who will accomodate you is [removed] thats in ontario california. Email is [removed].

    To hack all The employee emails and product lists that reps are mandated to sell go to [removed] then enter the name [removed] password is [removed] once youre logged in you can now access all the products both filipino reps and ontario reps are telling you you are required to have or post. Use this as a tool for future lawsuits againsts them!

    Use this message to save alot of lives struggling just to get money do this to help save two countries from recession! This is one of the cause! Save AMERICA! I am saving my country philippines from being used! We dont need a big amount of money by misleading people! Please!

    GET YOUR MONEY BACK FROM THEM.

  • https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=367984976120 Katrina awing
  • EVELYN

    MY HUSBAND HAS HIS CO. AND WE HAD TO SEND OVER $600. I HAD ORDERED $40 HERE, $70 THERE OF POSTERS, BUT THEY SENT ME SO MUCH MORE AND ALSO OPENED THREE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS FOR US. ONE WAS MAILING ADDRESS, OLD MAILING ADDRESS, AND PHYSICAL ADDRESS. SO WE GOT DOUBLE AND TRIPLE THINGS AND HAD TO PAY FOR ALL OF IT BECAUSE IT WENT INTO COLLECTIONS. I ASKED TO STOP THE MAIL, BUT THAT IT WOULD TAKE 6 TO 8 WEEKS. :( I’M JUST GOING TO TRY TO FIND MY OWN POSTERS!!!!

  • Rags

    Simply; bait & switch. You pay and receive not what you paid for. Called their Billing–individual was sincere and professional. Money was returned via check (no credit on account desired here). Will never conduct business with them.

  • UCC’er

    Definitely a scam! I work at a church and my first year here the new pastor told me to order posters from these guys. (He got the mail that day and noticed the ‘official’ letter) TWO DAYS LATER we received the posters from our insurance company – for free! I look up PC and showed him what I found. Now we refuse all their letters so they started sending them in my name (I’m the secretary). They called here last week asking for the pastor and when I asked if it was a sales call they said not really this is about your government required compliance. I said take us off your call list and the reply was, well I’m calling about… I simply said I know why you’re calling because I’ve been dealing with this company for three years now. TAKE US OFF YOUR CALL LIST. What a waste of time and breath.

  • Fiercereader

    I just started working for Personnel Concepts. I had no clue about these marketing practices until someone in training asked a manager about it. The manager seemed touchy about the subject & I could tell it’s something not to be discussed. I need a job. I’ve been unemployed almost two years. I dont like this company’s tactics, but my baby has to eat. Businesses can print posters off the Internet but they are responsible for keeping them up to date of face penalties IF caught. By buying a poster, Personnel Concepts will continually contact clients to update them about compliance changes. For a out $70 to avoid up to $17,000 in fines is nor highway Robert.

  • fed up

    I work for a small non profit in MA and Personnel Concepts badgers us on a weekly basis.  They have been extremely rude and condescending on the phone and are selling posters that WE DO NOT NEED TO POST.  All you have to do is go to the government’s website and look for what is required to post. 70 dollars?? We were sold a package of posters for $250.00!! And the majority of them we didn’t even need!  70 dollars IS a lot when the “threat” of a fine is bogus because you do not need to post them OR can get them for FREE off the government website.  It is just not right and I do not agree at all with Personnel Concepts tactics and as someone personally on the other end of the weekly sales calls/scare tactics I am fed up completely with them.

  • Mr. Budget

    I wanted to send you all this link to let you know that the NLRB has issues a new posting requirement for employers.  Sometimes you get ads from companies wanting to charge you for the new posters, but they are all available free from the government.  Here is the link for the new poster. http://www.nlrb.gov/poster It goes into effect January 31, 2012. 

  • Deb

    This is my 2nd notice from these opportunistic weasels. The
    mailing appears official but I work for a non-profit and we’re scrupulous about
    labor laws and have a lawyer to insure we do not misstep. I don’t know how they
    found me—I’m a children’s librarian and have nothing to do with compliance but
    this scary-sounding crap really, really ticks me off.

  • CD

    Thank you Mr. Budget.  You guys saved me a lot of time and hassle.

  • http://twitter.com/shahg64 sha_g

    they are sleazy scumbags who should be put out of business, if this is not fraud i dont know what is…

  • http://twitter.com/shahg64 sha_g

    Personell Concepts should be ashmed of themselves for sending scary looking out of compliance letters to business owners, I have no idea how you people are still in business despite your deceptive business practice, I say you should bring yourselves into compliance before asking people to dish out money for some posters, by sending people official looking letters from the Dept of Compliance. I wish I could see someone from PC face to face so I could really let them know how I feel, with a knuckle sandwich. Shame on your company, shame on the people who work for you and especially shame on the owners.

  • http://twitter.com/shahg64 sha_g

    yeah right, maybe you are the manager, stop trying to justify theivery. we are not against someone sending a marketing letter, just be honest about it, the letter I got scared my wife and I knew it was a con, and studied it for a minute and figured it out. Thats what put bad taste in my mouth, had they been more honest and not feined a givernment notice, and been upfront i might have considered buying a poster or two, not same day maybe but at least down the road, this really pissed me off as we are struggling to survive in this economy and dont need any more needless mentallly depressing notices.

  • dmelomo

    I agree! I’m manage a small business and struggle to keep our heads abouve the water. I’ve been getting these for a few years, not really understanding why we’re getting these notices. I’m so glad I took the time to finally read what has been going on. Thank you, reviewers! I still don’t understand how they are getting away with this. Seems to me the powers that be are not doing their job. 

  • guest1

    I don’t even own a company or have my own business and I still received a letter from Personnel Concepts. Just a regular hard working citizen. PCI = POS.

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