University Daily Kansan Wednesday, March 16, 1976 Sales recruiter sparks complaints Rv PAUL.SHERRO Staff Writer First there is a telephone call. Or perhaps on the-street meeting. Or perhaps a poster on a bulletin board. The purpose is to inform people, people interested in summer employment. At the meeting, 15 to 20 students get a sales pitch from a representative of the company. If he convicts students to go on door-to-door sales, he signs them up and sends them to a training center in Nashville to learn sales techniques. But there have been complaints at the University of Kansas. The operation is Southwestern Company, a subsidiary of the Times-Mirror Corporation. It sells Bibles, dictionaries and encyclopedias. The Topka Better Business Bureau said yesterday that the Southwestern Company was a satisfactory and very cooperative organization. Judy Kroeger, director of Consumer Affairs Association (CAA), said she had received four telephone calls from people who were irate about the company's sales methods. She said the CAA had no other information about the company. DAN KUSNETZKY, Leawed junior, made the complaints about the contract he signed and about Kirk Hall, a student manager for the company. Yesterday, Hall, after repeated requests, said he wouldn't comment. He said he might take legal action against the Kanas if it printed a story about complaints against him. He later denied making that statement. Hall lives in McColm Hall, although he isn't a KU student, he said. Kusnetky said Hall had told him the company would bail its student salesmen out of jail if they were arrested for improper sales practices, and that the company would give money to student salesmen in other areas. In some places, in area where the company had sent them, The students must pay their own expenses in their sales area. They receive a compendium of tips. Kunetayk said that when he told Hall the provisions for ball and getting home weren't worked out. "HE EXPLAINED that the contract was worthless," Kusnetzky said. "He said that what the contract said was not what the company did." Kusnetsky he said thought Hall should have done a better job of explaining the circumstances. "There's nothing illegal that I see," Usketnyeti said. "All I see is that when they talk you into the program, they don't explain everything." Hall said he sent a recruiter to Kusnetkiy when he met him. The other whom Hall said was a personal friend, had given him Kusnetkiy. Hall said Millard told him his dad had personal differences with him. But Miller said that although he knew Hall and had given him Kusenstyk's name, he wasn't a personal friend and hadn't made any remarks about Kusenstyk. VAUGHN WOODS, public relations officer for the Southwestern Company in Nashville, said in a telephone interview that the company's contract wasn't legally binding. "We do have a piece of paper," he said, "and that's about all it amounts to. One of the two papers Kusnetzky signed "Fooling with 'em too much" is the most common mistake people make in caring for their plants, according to Fred Pence, manager of the Garden Center. Don Randel, manager of Owens Flower Shop, said the plant care rumors about giving it coffee grounds, weak tea or stale soda were "probably not," but mayonnaise or milk were of doubtful value. But he added, "The old wives' tales are the fun part of growing plants. They give it Fumbling fingers foul say plant merchants If they wait until they are in a better mood. he said. the plant will look fine. He said he didn't know whether playing music for them would do any good, but he said, "I did a little cussing around those plants and it didn't seem to bother 'em." "When you start messing with coffee grounds, egg shells, etcetera, you'll get your soil all messed up if you don't know what you're doing." PENCE HAD a little less tolerant view of these activities. Randel said that talking to plants was wonderful therapy for the person, but he didn't know how. "it's understandable," he said. "It's okay, $10 or $10 a month, look at it every day in a bad mood they think the plant doesn't look well. They start the plant with it, with home remedies, or you can just use water." What a plant really needs, Pence said, is high light intensity, a good soaking when it's dry. (For more details, go to www.pence.com.) Concerning the complaints made by Kusnetky, Woods said he didn't know Hall. There is no official company policy to bail people out of jail, Woods said, but the company can make a loan to help a student get home. THE SALE OF tropical houseplants has increased considerably over the last few years. The average cost is more people living in air-conditioned apartments, where they don't have as much chance to enjoy outdoor plants. Then they see other people's houseplants and want to own them. "It's like a sandwich," he said. "You eat one in a restaurant, find out it is good, so you buy it." was labeled "Contract" in half-inch type at the top. "The company policy would be. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Terry Draften, Hill City senior, said he worked with the company in 1973 and made him a co-founder. crispness and rigidity and won't grow. Then people start watering it to much and the plants dry out. Draffen said he was generally satisfied with the company, but he wouldn't work for it again because he had worked about 70 hours a week. Lack of adequate sunlight is a common houseplant malady. The plant loses its HOWEVER, HE SAID, help could come from company members as a personal friend. He said there were some complaints about high-pressure sales tactics in industry. "Lack of light and overwatering go together." he said. One of the reasons for allowing water to run out of the pot to prevent a build-up of moisture. Draffen doesn't know Hall personally. A healthy root system is the best indication of a healthy plant, he said. To check the roots, knock the plant out of the pot. On most plants the roots should be fine, white and fibrous and should extend throughout the pot. He said, "It's (the complaints) probably just personality and has nothing to do with the problems." CATHERINE HAUBER, Lawrence senior, said the company tried to recruit her and her husband last spring in a meeting with her manager about meeting for a summer job, she said. They weren't told it concerned door-to-door sales," she said, "until about a half hour ago." "We were pretty disgusted because he had wasted 30 minutes of our time," she said. "If we had known we wouldn't have gone in the first place." Junny Cobb, minister for the First Baptist Church, said he had been a member of the congregation. A letter of credit also must be signed by recruited students binding them and one co-signer for $50 each if the books given them are not paid or if payments on books sold weren't met. Cobb said he had met Hall but wasn't a personal friend. "We just provide them the opportunity to put together their own little type of library." "I gained a lot of real valuable experience," he said. Draffen said that because of problems with some company salesmen selling without proper permits, the company had told the salesmen in the Indiana area that they were responsible for similar problems arose. He said the written statement wasn't a usual practice. Woods said students weren't hired by the company but independent dealers to sell the books. COB SAID he hadn't received any such guarantees from the company when he worked with him. We Write Automobile Insurance Kusnetcky said his complains were related only to the contract and Hall's ex- "HE SEEMS TO be a nice guy" he said, "I'm impressed with his palatial suit." "I'm not out to get them." Gene Doane Agency 824 Mass. Hall asked the Kansas not to print any story about his activities at first. He later said he would consent to an interview only if he's known his name and remarks weren't printed. Now Taking Applications for Fall 2 bedroom apts. • on KU Campus • unified物业 furnished or unfurnished • laundry facilities swimming pool • air conditioned • covered parking on bus line • locked system room service machine Office Hours: Till 8 p.m. Mon.-Thurs. 10 - 4 Sat. 2 - 5 Sun. JAYHAWKER TOWERS APTS. Lawrence, Kansas 1603 W.15th 913-843-4993 "Q" Your Taste Buds into G's Barbeque 530 West 23rd Opening Sat., March 13 - Ribs • Ham • Beef • - Chicken - BASKETS ARE NATURALS FOR SHOWING OFF PLANTS! To complement potted plants, to accessorize your home. 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