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{{COI|date=November 2011}}
{{Infobox Company {{Infobox Company
| company_name = Scentura Creations | company_name = Scentura Creations
Line 7: Line 6:
| location = ], ] | location = ], ]
| key_people = | key_people =
| industry = ]<ref name="orlando"/>, ] | industry = ], ]
| products = | products =
| homepage = | homepage =
}} }}


'''Scentura''' also known as '''Scentura Creations''' is a ] company based in the city of ], ], within the ]. The firm is a multilevel selling company which manufacturers inexpensive imitations of designer fragrances. Salespeople are sent out, often in pairs, to sell perfume door-to-door or in parking lots.<ref name="orlando"> {{cite journal '''Scentura''' also known as '''Scentura Creations''' is headquartered in ] within the ], and is a manufacturer and distributor of high-quality rendition fragrances to Independent Wholesale Distributors worldwide under the trademark
| first =Kristen
| last =Stieffel
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =2001
| month =September
| title =Perfume Bandits. (Fake Perfume Offered In Parking Lots)
| journal =Orlando Business Journal
| volume =18
| issue =16
| pages =23
| id =
| url = http://www.accessmylibrary.com/premium/0286/0286-10231373.html
}} "Scentura is described by the Better Business Bureau as a "multilevel selling company." The firm manufacturers inexpensive imitations of designer fragrances. Salespeople are sent out, often in pairs, to hawk the product door-to-door or, yes, in parking lots."</ref>


==History== ==History==
Larry Hahn is the founder of Scentura Creations. The company itself began in 1975 as W.M. Industries Inc. (WMI). WMI was a door-to-door retail business which sold products such as luggage, toys and perfume. is the founder of Scentura Creations. The company itself began in 1975 as W.M. Industries Inc. (WMI). WMI was a wholesaler of consumer products such as luggage, toys, and kitchenware.
In a 1984 motivation film, Hahn described his early experience: In a 1984 motivation film, Hahn described his early experience:
Line 38: Line 22:
In 1975, with loans from friends, Hahn purchased his first product: 31-piece sets of bakeware. For several years Hahn trained new recruits himself. By the 1980s there were thousands of distributors. In 1975, with loans from friends, Hahn purchased his first product: 31-piece sets of bakeware. For several years Hahn trained new recruits himself. By the 1980s there were thousands of distributors.


More information on Larry Hahn and how he started Scentura Creations can be found here:
Johnny Whitworth, a distributor of Larry Hahn,<ref name = "rich"> {{cite journal
| first =E.
| last =Thomas Jr.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =1987
| month =October 5
| title =Who Wants To Be Rich? Larry Hahn: From Sleeping In A Car To A $5 Million Home
| journal =Atlanta Business Chronicle
| volume =10
| issue =19
| pages =1 (5)
| id =
| url =
}} </ref> left the company to start his own perfume company, ] in ].


==Criticism== ==Online Press==
Scentura Creations, and it's founder , have received a considerable amount of online criticism in complaint forums such as RipoffReport.com, Scam.com, and PissedConsumer.com. Most of these complaints were written by individuals that had a business relationship with Independent Resellers of Scentura's product-line, but did not have a relationship with Scentura Creations. Therefore these complaints should be directed at the Individual Reseller, rather than Scentura. This is an important distinction because Scentura does not dictate the business practices of resellers that distribute their product-line.
In 1999 '''Scentura Creations, Inc''' sued Daniel J. Long, a former distributor, for $31,236.44, the cost of perfume which had been delivered to distributors recruited by Long. In 2001, the ] ] ruled that the contract between Scentura and Long was a "]", violated the law and was unenforceable. The appellate court ruled that Long was not liable for products in the possession of other distributors.<ref name = "court"> {{cite web
| title =Scentura Creations, Inc. vs. Daniel J. Long
| work = Appellate Court of Illinois Second District
| url = http://www.state.il.us/court/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2001/2ndDistrict/September/Html/2000964.htm
| accessdate=2006-01-10
}} </ref>


Further, it should be understood that most of the popular complaint forums do not regulate the information provided, they do nothing to research the validity of consumer complaints, and they make it very difficult to have exaggerated or false information removed. Recently, a collection of websites was published in response to this seemingly unfair negative press:
Independent distributors recruit salespeople by placing classified advertisements in the employment section of the newspaper under the heading of "Management". Turnover tends to be very high.<ref name="rich4">Atlanta Business Chronicle, "...Former managers point out that turnover of salespeople was high in their offices. “We had very few that would stay with us for a long period of time." Fucci says, “You never could back off from recruiting."</ref><ref name="lancaster3"> Flannery, Thomas L (March 07 1997). "There’s Big Dollars In Street Scents". ] (Lancaster). "'Crazy, Greedy ... Must like $$$, music and fun. Office and general work. Call Warren ... ,' reads Jentis' ad in all three local newspapers.", "Jentis said hundreds of people have passed through his doors, but admittedly few make the cut. One training class started with about 70; five remain.", "...the fledgling salespeople begin a four--to eight-week training program"</ref> <!--


•


•
-->Training is from six to eight weeks.{{Fact|date=September 2007}}


•
Sometimes, new salespeople are promised large salaries and are later disappointed to discover that the actual position has no salary and is a 100% commission job.<ref name = "nineteenth">{{cite journal
| first =
| last =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =2004
| month =July 20
| title =Company Leaves Perfume Peddlers Feeling Betrayed
| journal =WFTV Orlando Channel 9
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} "They promised us that we would be making $30,000 a year," she says...There was no paycheck, but they could make a few bucks profit on each bottle sold.</ref><ref name="fourteenth2">The Palm Beach Post, "The interviewer said she had the qualifications to make $30,000 and more with the company-- if she could commit immediately...Butterworth asked about the $30,000 job an interviewer had mentioned. A recruiter told her, 'Don't worry about it, Pam. It's going to work out.' But it never did. The job was selling knockoffs of designer perfume door to door for a commission of $2 to $9 per bottle."</ref><ref name="Colombus2"> Columbus Ohio Dispatch, "The sellers, for example, said they were promised a weekly paycheck of $295 or more." </ref><ref name="Noble"> Noblesville Eyewitness News They said we're going to make like $75,000 the first year,' recalls Dan Penale.</ref><ref name="Richmond">Richmond Times - Dispatch (2002), "But, she said she had trouble getting straightforward answers to how much money she'd make and whether the job involved selling, which she did not want to do."</ref><ref name="Richmond2">Richmond Times - Dispatch (2000), "When you first starting working for them, they say you get paid at least $200 a week...The only money I made was from perfume I sold on the street"</ref><ref name="lancaster"> ], "After about two months, Jentis said that 'successful' salespersons are offered contracts with annual salaries ranging from '$30,000 to $35,000 and a car,' and that free vacations are commonplace."</ref> <!--


•


•
--> The only income is from selling knock off perfume door-to-door or in parking lots.<ref name="rich3"> Atlanta Business Chronicle, "None of their sales managers or salespeople, the people in the field, were on salary," says Gordan Gates, former WMI executive vice president. “They were all independent contractors."</ref><!--


•


•


•
--> Employees are also sometimes encouraged by independent distributors to lie about the products they are selling.<ref name = "nineteenth2"> WFTV.com, "...recruits like Shelby Sillen claim they were trained to lie and tell people they just left a perfume show and had to sell at cost...When another woman from EOE approached us, while we were undercover, to make a sale, suddenly the perfume "knock-offs" were the actual designer fragrances." </ref><ref name="rich5"> Atlanta Business Chronicle, "An El Paso County, Texas, police report from April states: “The subjects ‘Managerial agents' for W.M. Industries, had employees selling their products on a door-to-door sales campaign and all were purporting that their products were manufactured by the authentic companies who also manufacture the trade name products."...A 1986 complaint filed in the Iowa District Court for Polk County by the State of Iowa...making false, deceptive and/or misleading statements to potential customers about the nature of the transaction and the origin of the goods being sold...</ref><!--


•


•


•
--> Scentura salespeople have been in trouble with police for soliciting without a permit.<ref name = "twentieth"> {{cite journal
| first =
| last =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =1991
| month =October 22
| title =4 cited for criminal trespass
| journal =The Daily Collegian Online (Penn State)
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name="fourteenth3"> The Palm Beach Post, "Another time, her group stopped at a Jacksonville mall and approached strangers there to buy perfume, keeping an eye out for cops who might ask questions about permits."</ref><ref name="Columbus"> Columbus Ohio Dispatch, "But instead of offering to buy, Bogey Inn managers called police. The salespeople were a nuisance, restaurant managers said, and had no license to sell. They were asked to leave and not return...Aston and the others were operating illegally when they sold their perfumes without peddler licenses throughout Columbus and some other central Ohio cities."</ref><ref name="lancaster2"> ], "Hardly a day goes by, said the Downtown Investment District bicycle police officers, when they don't cite one or more of Jentis' crew for soliciting without a permit...DID Police said most are repeat offenders and face fines between $50 to $600 on each daily charge." </ref>


•
Every manger and perfume salesperson must first sign an ].<ref name="rich3"/> Scentura representatives state that because these are independent contractors, Scentura is not responsible for either the ads or the tactics used by salespeople.<ref name="second"> {{cite journal
| first =
| last =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =2002
| month =February 11
| title =Dream Jobs That Turn Out To Be Nightmares
| journal =
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20030107065608/http://www.icflorida.com/partners/wftv/consumer/2001/job_scam0211.html
}} </ref><ref name="nineteenth3">WFTV Orlando Channel 9, "All the companies sell perfume made by Scentura Creations in Atlanta, which says it has nothing to do with the way its independent contractors do business."</ref><ref name="rich2">Atlanta Business Chronicle, "Independent firms purchase products from W.M. Industries or Scentura Creations and sell the directly to people in their offices, on the street and in their homes, The direct vendors of WMI products work for the independent firms not the central office."</ref><ref name="fourteenth4">The Palm Beach Post, "The manufacturer of the perfume she was supposed to sell, Scentura Creations of Chamblee, Ga., accepts no responsibility for the actions of independent distributors who sell its product, said Vice President Bob Hasty."</ref><!--


•


•
--> Linda Fucci, a former administrative aide to Hahn and distributor, stated that "The independent contractor concept was preconceived before the first truck load was ordered in. It was already planned out before we ever opened up."<ref name="rich" />


•
Scentura products are often sold in parking lots by salespeople who approach women and ask them to sniff a perfume sample. There is an urban legend that similar tactics were being used by thieves who, instead of using perfume, would have the victim inhale a substance (reportedly ether) which would render her unconscious, whereupon she would be robbed. Despite the fact that this legend is false, and there have been no credible reports of anyone being robbed in this way, sightings of Scentura salespeople in parking lots are often reported as evidence that this crime occurs. <ref name="nineteenth"/><ref name="twentieth"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/perfume.asp|title=Snatch and Sniff|publisher=Snopes.com|accessdate=2007-09-22}}</ref><ref name = "orlando" />


==References==
Nationwide media coverage on the company has tended to be overwhelmingly negative.<ref name = "rich" /><ref name="second"/><ref name = "third"> {{cite journal
{{Reflist|1}}
| first =Lornet
| last =Turnbull
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =2002
| month =March 4
| title = Perfume-Selling Operations Smell Like Scam, Women Say
| journal =Columbus Ohio Dispatch
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "fourth"> {{cite journal
| first =
| last =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =
| month =August 26
| title =If it sounds too good to be true
| journal =Eyewitness News Noblesville, Indianapolis
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "fifth"> {{cite journal
| first =
| last =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =
| month =
| title =Perfume jobs smell fishy, BBB says
| journal = New Orleans Channel 6
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url = http://www.theneworleanschannel.com/no/6onyourside/stories/6onyourside-20000719-165758.html
}} </ref><ref name = "seventh"> {{cite journal
| first =Iris
| last =Taylor
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =2002
| month =June 9
| title =Know What You Are Applying For When Answering A Want Ad
| journal =Richmond Times - Dispatch
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "eigth"> {{cite journal
| first =
| last =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year = 2000
| month =December 6
| title =Perfume Purveyors Are Real Thing, Even If The Myth Isn't
| journal =Richmond Times - Dispatch
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "ninth"> {{cite journal
| first =Thomas L
| last =Flannery
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year = 1997
| month =March 07
| title =There’s Big Dollars In Street Scents
| journal = ]
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "tenth"> {{cite journal
| first =James T.
| last =Madore
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =1992
| month =March 28
| title =Perfume Sales Just A Smelly Scam? Young People Say Amherst Company Fails On Training, Pay Promises
| journal =Buffalo News
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "seventeenth"> {{cite journal
| first =James T.
| last =Madore
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =1992
| month =June 13
| title = Former Employees Cheer Reports Perfume Firm Is Out Of Business
| journal =Buffalo News
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "eleventh"> {{cite journal
| first =Kim
| last =Chievrue
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =2001
| month =June 22
| title =Perfume Sales Company Recruits In Munster, Indiana
| journal =The Times (from Munster Indiana)
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url = http://www.accessmylibrary.com/premium/0286/0286-8343274.html
}} </ref><ref name = "twelth"> {{cite journal
| first =Linda
| last =Eardley
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =1993
| month = June 22
| title =Ads Spur Warning On Jobs Company's Internship Is Sales Spot, BBB Says
| journal =St. Louis Post - Dispatch
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "thirteenth"> {{cite journal
| first =
| last =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =2002
| month =February 14
| title =Workers Say Perfume Business Stinks Employees Sell Knockoff Perfume
| journal =
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url = http://www.thewpbfchannel.com/wpb/news/stories/news-123621420020214-180213.html
}} </ref><ref name = "fourteenth"> {{cite journal
| first =Charles
| last =Elmore
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =1992
| month =July 27
| title =Too True To Be Good
| journal =The Palm Beach Post
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "sixteenth"> {{cite journal
| first =
| last =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =1996
| month =February 15
| title =Officials: Scent Of Fraud Lingers In Sales Scheme
| journal =The Atlanta Journal Atlanta, Associated Press
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url =
}} </ref><ref name = "eighteenth"> {{cite journal
| first =
| last =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =2004
| month =November 23
| title =Team 4 Investigates Perfume Scheme
| journal =WTAE TV Channel 4 Pittsburgh
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| id =
| url = http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/team4/3944970/detail.html
}} </ref>


==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* 06/08/2002 Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia).
]
]
] ]
] ]

Revision as of 16:56, 15 November 2011

Scentura Creations
Company typePrivate
IndustryDirect Selling, perfume
Founded1975
HeadquartersChamblee, Georgia
Websitescenturacreations.com

Scentura also known as Scentura Creations is headquartered in Chamblee, Georgia within the Atlanta metropolitan area, and is a manufacturer and distributor of high-quality rendition fragrances to Independent Wholesale Distributors worldwide under the trademark Observe' L'Essence.

History

Larry Hahn is the founder of Scentura Creations. The company itself began in 1975 as W.M. Industries Inc. (WMI). WMI was a wholesaler of consumer products such as luggage, toys, and kitchenware.

In a 1984 motivation film, Hahn described his early experience:

Fifteen years ago I slept in my car, and I had no finances, I had no education, and I just said one day, if I could hook myself to the proper vehicle to get a break in life and make some money, I would help other people.

In 1975, with loans from friends, Hahn purchased his first product: 31-piece sets of bakeware. For several years Hahn trained new recruits himself. By the 1980s there were thousands of distributors.

More information on Larry Hahn and how he started Scentura Creations can be found here: Larry-Hahn.com

Online Press

Scentura Creations, and it's founder Larry Hahn, have received a considerable amount of online criticism in complaint forums such as RipoffReport.com, Scam.com, and PissedConsumer.com. Most of these complaints were written by individuals that had a business relationship with Independent Resellers of Scentura's product-line, but did not have a relationship with Scentura Creations. Therefore these complaints should be directed at the Individual Reseller, rather than Scentura. This is an important distinction because Scentura does not dictate the business practices of resellers that distribute their product-line.

Further, it should be understood that most of the popular complaint forums do not regulate the information provided, they do nothing to research the validity of consumer complaints, and they make it very difficult to have exaggerated or false information removed. Recently, a collection of websites was published in response to this seemingly unfair negative press:

• Larry-Hahn.com

• LettersToLarryHahn.com

• ObserveLEssence.com

• RookieOwners.com

• ScenturaCreationsBlog.com

• ScenturaCreationsLarryHahn.com

• ScenturaCreationsOpportunity.com

• ScenturaCreationsPerfume.com

• ScenturaCreationsResources.com

• ScenturaCreationsScam.com

• ScenturaCreationsSuccess.com

• ScenturaPerfume.com

• ScenturaScam.com

• TruthAboutScenturaCreations.com

• UnderstandingScenturaCreations.com

References

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