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Firstline Pyramid Collapses in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Started by Karoli · 1 year ago

For the past two weeks, current and former employees of Firstline Security (Orem, UT) have been leaving comments that Firstline filed for bankruptcy, but I couldn’t find any official confirmation of it.

Today, I have confirmation. From the Salt Lake Tribune via Bloomberg News:

Orem company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

[…]
Popularity: 1% [?] ... Continue reading »

49 comments

  • Liz Ditz

    1 year ago

    Do you think we can take any credit?
    reply
  • Someone

    1 year ago

    You are correct, the "winner" of the Prodigy (Fraudigy) did not see his money. In fact, much of the freelance crew and producers that worked on the show are also owed a sizable deal of money.
    reply
  • Anonymous

    1 year ago

    Why am I not surprised! Firstline is a HUGE scam and has been from the get go. They have ripped customers off left and right as well as their own employees. I know for a fact (since I was an employee of Firstline until Friday) that they had not sent out reimbursement checks to customers since September (save for a few in November) due to no $$$ to pay them. The really sad part is they continued to allow both billing, customer care and cancellations to promise customers refunds for various reasons (over billing, compensation for lack of proper customer service, etc..) knowing full well they did not have the money to send out those checks. You can't get much more shady than that. That email that was sent out was absolutely hilarious, especially the quote from Mother Teresa at the end!!!! I do feel horrible for the employees, like myself, that were screwed out of the money we earned for working the last 3 weeks, as well as the PTO and sick time we had. All I can say is screw Wright and Trevor for the shity "business" practices they used to scam many, MANY people out of their hard earned money. Hopefully now that people are becoming more aware of the owners names and reputations they will not be able to do this in the future.
    reply
  • Shelly

    1 year ago

    And I am one of those customers that is disgruntled about the lack of customer service from then when you need them. AND being promised a credit due and never receiving it.
    reply
  • Someone Else

    1 year ago

    I used to have a lot of respect for Trevor and Wright. But the fact that they led people along, had them put in their hard work and effort, and then leave them stranded is deplorable. Luckily I'm not owed anything by these guys, but I do know many people who are. I know that as part of that "reality" show they had whole crews working that now are out a lot of money. Very sad and dishonest.

    I hope they make it out of bankruptcy so the people owed money don't have to file for personal bankruptcies or lose their homes. I doubt Trevor or Wright think of that kind of thing, just of themselves.

    But I guess it's all made better since Trevor quoted Mother Theresa...
    reply
  • Marc Johnson

    1 year ago

    You're seriously really rude for writing what you wrote. You have no Idea what they are going through. What a rude uncalled for thing to say. Even if they WERE horrible people and they did do everything you think was so horrible...are you a better person for writing such a rude comment? I hope you feel better about yourself for writing bad things about good people who are going through a hard time. You know nothing.
    reply
  • intheknow

    9 months ago

    Obviously you've never dealth with these people...
    reply
  • Anonymous

    1 year ago

    One can only hope that the owners take responsibility for all of their debts or go bankrupt.


    If they pocket millions of dollars while shafting vendors, employees, etc. out of millions of dollars, that's just straight wrong.
    reply
  • Marc Johnson

    1 year ago

    They are not pocketing millions. They are hurting. People are so hartless. The owners did not want to file bankruptcy. They had no choice because of circumstances OUTSIDE of their control. I wish people would grow up and stop acting like they know what is going on with Firstline. Seriously, I feel sorry for those guys. They are really going through a hardship and are not profiting a penny. Don't be an idiot and post comments about things you have no knowledge of.
    reply
  • Karoli

    1 year ago

    Marc,

    THEY'RE going through a hardship? How about all the kids that spent their summer hawking their alarm systems door-to-door so they could have a shot at becoming the Prodigy only to discover they OWED the company money at the end? What about the ones who not only owed the company money but ended up shafted with debt as a result and who now have literally the clothes on their back and nothing much more.

    I'll bet it's hard for them, but they still go home to a big house and big cars at night.

    Don't talk to me about hardship until you hear a few stories of the hardships others suffered from their 'prodigy' sell.
    reply
  • Anonymous

    1 year ago

    Marc,

    FL owners are not hurting like they hurt their employees.
    Their house payments are being met, their cars are paid for, etc.

    Feel oh so sorry for people who have plenty of money & have shafted employees & vendors out of debt. That's bright.

    I tell you what, you want to get together & talk about this?
    You can be the tough guy & call me an idiot & remind me of what I don't have knowledge of. It'll be a perfect opportunity for you.
    reply
  • Marc Johnson

    1 year ago

    That is where you are wrong. Do you know them? Do you know their bills? do you know what they are going through? Do you know anything? I don't think so. They are not making a penny off of what happened, infact they are not able to do alot of the things you are talking about...of course this ordeal put people out and it was the last thing they wanted to do...they had no choice...they too are in debt...(which does not make it better for anyone else, I realize) They did not want any of this to happen...do you really think someone wants to file bankrupcy? Would you? Obviously it was a last resort. They are good people i know them both. They ARE both having hardships and for you to assume you know that they are able to even have enough money to do the things you think they are doing is ignorant. it is unfortuante for everyone what has happened. It is the weak who can not be understanding and have even concieve the thought that the creaters of this mess..(yes its a mess) may be going through hard times as well. Honestly, it is horrible what happend, it was not done for any other reason that necessity. It was not possible because of things OUT SIDE OF THEIR CONTROL. I understand people being upset and very hurt and angry, but people really shouldn't say things about people when they do not know the whole truth. its just sad. But if it makes you all feel better to tear down other people....I guess I got caught up in that too by calling you an Idiot, and I am sorry I did that. That was rude and wrong of me. Honestly, it hurt me to hear people say such horrible things, when truly they do not know the extent of what is going on or what went on or how it is not just effecting them. Anyhow, I am sorry to upset you. We don't need to get together and talk about it and we don't need to arguee about it either. The truth is, people are upset, and for a good reason. I would be too. It is sometimes hard to take a step back and reazlie that other people are hurting as well. That is all I wanted to express, and I guess I did a bad job of it the first time as my emotions were involved. Believe it or not, others are going through hardships. Its true
    reply
  • Karoli

    1 year ago

    I'm sorry for their hardships. I am. But keep in mind that for the past six months some of the folks you see commenting here are also going through hardships, and their hardships were caused by the misleading sales pitch you all threw at them.

    Forgive me, but it's really hard to feel their hardships when I've had to see the results of the hardships they inflicted with not even one apology.
    reply
  • Anonymous

    1 year ago

    Well sweetheart, I'm glad you're just another interwebs tough guy.

    I'll stand by everything I've said.
    Too bad you won't.

    You fit in really well with T-Rev-Dawg & Wrightizzle, homie.

    Firstline went bankrupt due to their unethical & dishonest business practices. These practices came from the top down in Firstline, & I won't feel bad for "men" who made dishonest decisions that impacted the lives of so many in such a brutal way.
    reply
  • shoulda known

    11 months ago

    They screwed a lot of people all the way down the line. I was a manager for them in the early going and it seem a little fishy at the time. I couldnt put my finger on anything in particular but everything there was on the "hush hush". Very secretive, so I'm not suprised at this at all. I saw lot of wierd crap go on while i was there.
    reply
  • The PROdigy

    1 year ago

    Who "won" the Prodigy, I worked on the show but I quit in the spring. I cut my ties with Firstline quickly, me and my entire crew left.

    Its a shame hard working kids that earned thier pay are not going to be compensated.
    reply
  • Adam Larson

    1 year ago

    You don't even know what you are talking about. Do you even know what a pyrimid business is? Obviously not. Firstline has no releation to a pyrimid business plan. I have worked for First Line for over five years. They have been nothing but AMAZING to work for. It is unfortunate what happened. But before you go blogging about something that is not your business...why don't you find out the facts. Do you realize you are posting lies? If you want to post something, why don't you tell everyone how First Line offered people an opportunity that is very rare. If you or whoever you know that is associated with First Line did not take advantage of that opportunity that is a personal mistake. Do you not think the owners are going through their own hell right now as well? They are in much worse shape than the people who did not recieve their final pay check. I am disgusted with people who think they know everything and spread rumors and lies to get attention. Take a step back and realize that you do not know all the facts, you have heard things through the grape vine, and even if you did know everything that is going on or did go on...have some respect for people and their hardships. I have nothing but empathy for Firstline and their owners. Grow up.
    reply
  • Karoli

    1 year ago

    Adam,

    I'm incredibly familiar with Firstline. Try a search on my site for my entire series of posts on Firstline. You can paint them any way you want, but don't call me a liar. I have first-hand, eyes-on experience of exactly how they operated.
    reply
  • Karoli

    1 year ago

    From the report of their bankruptcy filing: http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695248103...

    50M in assets; 12.1M to largest creditors, leaves 38M in assets. Call it 25M so that the other creditors and vendors get their due. That's a remaining 25M in assets after Chapter 11 reorganization. They'll be just fine.

    As to the so-called "opportunity", I consider it no opportunity at all to schlep alarm systems in a city that BANNED, yes BANNED door-to-door alarm sales, no opportunity at all to sign an 18% promissory note back to their "employer"...oops, I know, they were independent contractors except they weren't independent at all. They told their "advertising directors" where to live, when to work and where to work. Not much independence there.

    They gave students an opportunity to shill second-rate systems for no money at all, didn't stand up for them when they were threatened by people with guns, attacked by dogs and withstood other "advantages" such as those, and for all that, the "opportunity" left them holding a bag of lies and debt.

    Yeah, there's an 'opportunity'. If you were unfortunate enough not to be wearing the magic underwear, you got left in the armpit of america without so much as a car to escape with (the cars, of course, were far away from wherever they were dumped that day). Gotta love those "opportunities".
    reply
  • Shelly

    1 year ago

    So are the feb backends not coming for sure?
    reply
  • Anon

    1 year ago

    Considering that no one got their paychecks on January 25 I would say don't bank on getting a backend for February. Maybe I should change that "no one" to no one but the owners got their money.
    reply
  • AdamY

    1 year ago

    Karoli,
    I hope this doesnt just knock you right off your pretty little rocking horse but I got news for you honey. YOU DONT KNOW SHIZ & YES according to some of your comments and assertions you are a liar!!!! I am a praticing lawyer & my brother came to me 2 weeks ago to help him with this Firstline Situation. You see he is owed just over $300 for his last pay check. As I researched the ENTIRE Chapter 11 filing (Which Karoli YOU DID NOT and your statement that you did is either you lying or just stating your incompetincy in business, which should be proof positive for you to stop blogging as it is....Anyway, in the CH11 Filing; Firstline has filed in the category of $10-$50m in assest. YOU SEE Karoli...and I'll talk to you as a child since that seems to be your true understanding, Chapter 11's are Federaly Regulator procedures. They have categories: FOR EXAMPLE 0-5 million, 5 -10 million, 10-50million. SO JUST ONE MORE TIME: Firstline DOES NOT have $50 million in assets as FALSEY claimed by Karoli. In ADDITION Karoli; if you did ANY intelligent research you will see that the Creditors (both Secured & Unsecured) have an estimated Pre-Petition claim at just over $24million & you will see that Firstline has claim a Pre-Petition assets of just over $16million. That leaves a $8 million DEFICIT.

    Now Karoli; the purpose of the Chapter is 11 is to allow Firstline to negociate with its creditors and get the Debt lower than the Pre-Petition amount and or work out payment plans. This means that the $24 million number will historicly come down 20%-35% as part of the CH11 proceedings making the new detb somewhere between $19.2 to $15.6 million & with assets of close to $16 They are solvent.

    So if you any business sense and ANY life than just BLOGGING awnry little HATE MONGERING blogs about stupid little companys then maybe you'd have time to research the fact that WOW....Firstline Filing a CH11 may indeed make the "solvent" and may indeed give them an opportunity to payback ALL their creditors paid.

    THIS MY DEAR....is why INTELIGENT People hire people like ME....an ATTORNEY; to file my little brothers (client) claim and get him paid his money.

    You see one other thing your NOT truely representing to your BLOG readers is that Firstline DID not File Chapter 7 which means they imploded, quit and are walking away. They Filed a petition to Federal Courts to get APPROVAL to stay in business in CH11 and THEY WON Federal protection. This means that the business is using its best efforts to pay everyone and everything. Maybe you should try being more upfront....or you can just cross your fingers that Blogging never becoms regulated by the FCC otherwise you would be in jail.
    reply
  • Karoli

    1 year ago

    Adam,

    I backed up the numbers with a link to Bloomberg. Did you miss that?

    Do not come back to this blog with that tone again and expect your post to remain. I will delete any further posts with the threats and tone you take here.

    I also understand the purpose of Chapter 11. I also understand that reorganizing debt will make no difference if, going forward, there are not revenues to support the servicing of the debt. Further, since Firstline relies upon the sale of the contracts to generate revenue for their upcoming sales cycle, how will the next sales cycle be funded? Going along with that, how will any relationships with vendors be extended when the reorganization means the vendor relationships are also frozen?

    You are welcome to comment here as long as you keep a civil hand on your keyboard. But don't come on here all high and mighty and bully-like with your charge that I have lied when every. single. thing. I've reported here has been reported by the media first, and not one single fact has been refuted.

    Further, if you know anything about blogs at all, you know that the people you're really threatening are the other commenters here, not me. I just wrote the post reporting the report in the Utah paper; the rest of the comments are written by others.

    Bully tactics may have worked with customers but they won't work with me.

    Have a good night, now.
    reply
  • AdamY

    1 year ago

    Karoli;
    You need to re-read my post. In addition to need to re-read the bloomberg post:

    http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,69524...

    As it clearly states: "The company listed debt and assets of less than $50 million"....NOT $50 million in assets as you stated.

    My Comments was not to try to "bully" but to make sure your Blogs are "balanced" and "accurate" and I would hope that as it is apparently your blog you have standards and if you find some information that is erroneaously posted you will correct it.

    Sorry for harsh words. I look forward to your comments.
    reply
  • AdamY

    1 year ago

    In regards to your questions about the business moving forward....here is the easy way to conceptualize what as business in CH11 does. In CH11 a business has 1 right and that is to fulfill the needs of the creditors. That being said the CH11 is used as a tool for the business to "stay" any lawsuits, disputs of asset purchase(s) & it gives the business Federal Protection to SELL their assets and PAY their debtors. The details in FL CH11 states there are estimate of $16million in assets. The First rule of business is a Fast, Orderly liquidation of these assets. Business is conducted in this way unti the creditors are paid or until the debt is settled and discharged. Once this is complete 6 months soonest...up to 3 years (Delta airlines is entering their 3rd year I believe)..once this is complete they can come out of CH11 and operate as normal corporation. IN the meantime the business makes its best financial decisions as to their business strategy moving forward. What will be their capitalization structure? What will be their sales/market structure? Will it change? What is their sales/Marketing time? Last but not least; Vendor Relationships are required by Federal Law to provide services to companies in CH11. Vendors can create new terms and most likely will require net terms until credit is re-established. Hope this made sense.
    reply
  • Sean L.L. Himebaugh

    1 year ago

    For such a hot shot attorney, you really ought to learn how grammar and spelling work. Since you used the term SHIZ, I'm gonna guess that you are; A) LDS, and B) one of the big dogs on the inside of this Firstline fiasco. Is this really Jared Taggert? I'll just about bet that it is. Or maybe Ryan Roach...

    Either way, your obvious lack of communication skills and grammatical prowess make you about the most laughable thing I've come across in quite a while. A real esquire or attorney-at-law would at least leave their full name and pedigree at the end of anything they write. Such as:
    Adam ( ), ESQ. JD.
    Or something similar.
    Instead, you've got a big mouth and a half-assed knowledge of the law. You even capitalized INTELLIGENT with a misspelling. Did you used to edit Think Magazine?

    Enjoy your big mouth now, before you talk down to the wrong person and they shatter your jaw (or worse).
    Sean Himebaugh, Spell check certified. :)
    reply
  • AdamY

    1 year ago

    Sean, you r correct I am LDS & my blog was not spell checked. Im not too concerned about my gramar on a blog site where the facts are as flippant as the bloggers themselves. I wrote this with my iphone and the facts of my email STILL remain true. I hope you can get through the bad grammar to see the facts. What I'm trying to say is if people are smart and use a lawyer they will get most their money. And NO im not Taggert or Roach. One last thing...I don't think threating to directly or indirectly (as you did) to "shatter" someones jaw is appropriate context at all? Not only that but according to the Code of Conduct on this blog site its going to have to be removed.
    reply
  • Anonymous

    1 year ago

    Adam,

    We are all stupider for having read your posts.
    You have poured out a plauge upon humanity.
    May G*d have mercy on your soul.

    You are definetely not a lawyer, & more then likely a top dawgizzle fraud up line & connected at FirstLine.
    reply
  • Anon

    1 year ago

    Adam,

    Actually if you think about it and look at what actually went on there are a lot of similarities with Firstline and pyramid businesses. The ones at the top of the pyramid get richer and richer while the peons at the bottom of the business lose their shirts. You can guarantee that Trevor and Wright had the money to pay their bills on January 25 when they shafted their workers out of their paychecks. What about the customers that were sucked in by the lies of "great customer service" and then were left with HORRIBLE billing mistakes that cost them A LOT, as well as non-functioning security systems? I worked for Firstline for 2 years (thank goodness not in the sales end) and I know for a fact that Trevor and Wright did some deceitful things while running their business into the ground. They don't care about their customers or their workers. If they did they would not have gone on the cruise and Hawaii trip knowing full well the financial situation their business was in. When normal people are faced with financial ruin they don't take off on vacations and keep expensive toys around (i.e. snowmobiles, hummers, etc...) they get rid of those items and take care of their financial responsibilities. If I were you I'd take a DEEP LOOK at what actually went on at Firstline (if you worked their for 5 years you couldn't have had blinders on the whole time) and then see if you really want to go on a blog and be a Firstline nut-hugger.
    reply
  • Dave

    1 year ago

    Pyramid scheme no, unethical business definitely. I worked for Firstline for about a year, mainly because the hourly wage was really good for the area. I started out as a phone smurf (customer service), I worked extremely hard to learn the nuances of home security (studying manuals, working on actual systems, discussing various problems with technicians etc etc) and was thus promoted up through the company. The problem was that the higher I went, the more the whole organization smelled. I left in April of 2007 and didn't come back for any amount of money because the core business model for Firstline was not providing a service, it was making money. I know that every company is out to make money, but good ones do this through providing something valuable to consumers, Firstline tried to make money (but actually didn't as it turns out) through providing the lowest possible service for the highest possible price; that model is inherently unethical for any business. Rather than developing a competitive advantage, the company cut every corner they could possibly think of. Luckily this business model was ultimately unsustainable and thus the fall of the House of Firstline.
    reply
  • i worked for firstline

    1 year ago

    get a life karoli
    reply
  • Karoli

    1 year ago

    dear "i worked for firstline",

    get a soul.
    reply
  • i worked for firstline

    1 year ago

    dude that is a screwed up thing to say to somebody I hope you dont mean that.

    ohh i got soul alright. and i'll pray for for yours
    and mine.


    ONLY THROUGH JESUS WILL YOU BE SAVED
    GOD BLESS YOU
    '
    '
    '
    '
    But if may humbly ask BLOGMASTER KAROLI.......ha..ha
    why are you so obessed with firstline security did you work for them or what.
    or do you know someone that had a bad experience or do you have nothing better to do.


    karoli freakin grow up dude...

    hey I know its hot but, all summer sales leaders should open year round offices in phoenix,az.
    You can sell a buttload of systems out here.

    this is funny stuff if youve worked for firstline
    http://www.abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=ne...

    peace out fool
    reply
  • Karoli

    1 year ago

    You can ask. You could answer your own question with just a little bit of reading, but start here

    http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/2007/07/21/pure-b...

    Would you talk to your mother the way you're talking to me? No? Then think before you type or the next time you use the tone you did above you'll just find yourself ...

    deleted.

    Love ya. Your witness is just so...compelling.
    reply
  • i worked for firstline

    1 year ago

    i just want every one i talk to, to know the truth because thats what God put us on this earth for, to bear his witness and to praise him. Little off the subject but I dont care. Every head will bow and every tongue shall confess.not saying im perfect were all sinners, this is the endtimes. just remember that and know that God loves you and you have a second chance. even after the second coming. i love all you guys.

    I read up and can appreciate were your coming from a little better.
    I am sorry karoli you brother was duped and was chased by dogs and had guns pointed at him, and had to work extremely hard over the summer. alot of people including myself have had the same thing happen to them maybe worse things, but i also know people in the industry that are very successful

    Look at it positively. Hey well i guess your bro knows hes not good at door to door selling, hey you know what,? its hard . BOO HOO Get a better job. And now he knows to research things, read contracts and see if he agrees with them. there are shady sales reps no matter what your selling,it all comes with sales.
    firstline is over and done with. there are Alot more things you can do career wise or for work for different companies that are more profesional. you people be hating too much

    you know what i would talk to my mother that way, if my mom was to this degree of obsession.
    but no hard feelings, i know i dont have any, just a friendly little conversation and I mean this with all sincerity.
    I hope i get my feb. paycheck lol.

    peace out fool
    reply
  • Melissa D.

    1 year ago

    I was an "Advertising Director" with Firstline Security this summer, working in the Fort Worth office, and I am grateful for the comments from other employees/"contractors" who have mentioned their bad experiences. Our office began the summer, we were told, as one of the largest in the company with 35 representatives. By the end of the summer, we had less than 20.

    I was recruited by a church friend (I'm not mormon, nor was he), knew a couple of months in advance what my location would be, and was never encouraged to be part of the Prodigy. In that respect, my experience was much better than others about which I have read. We even had a cameraman show up at the beginning of the summer to do "initial interviews", but nearly all the people in our office were not interested in being on a reality TV show and signed statements to that effect.

    The summer begain well, and everyone was selling about an account a day for the first two weeks. Then a couple people hit slumps, and then a few more, and suddenly a good day was 7 sales in an office of 35 people. We were told that the problem was our "area", and kept being taken to lower and lower credit neighborhoods because they are easy sells. Still, no improvement. I went effectively three weeks without a sale.

    Midway through, our division vice-president (Riley Edwards) came down and took over as manager of the office, and managed to give all of us the impression that this sort of thing (a failing office) was an anomaly and that we should be ashamed of ourselves for our miserable performance. He held long meetings every morning, rallying the troops with stories of the guys he knew who sold 5 or 6 accounts in a day, or had 20 installations in a week, and telling us we could be like them if we just set our minds to it. We read his favorite book, "As A Man Thinketh", which is full of self-help pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-without-falling-flat-on-your-back encouragements to think positively and visualize the goal. It worked, temporarily.

    When I was recruited, I was told that even the merely average sales reps sold 65 to 75 accounts in a summer, but the best rep in our office only made it to 65. I and several of my classmates barely made it to 25 accounts (the minimum to have your $400/month per person rent paid back), and I know several others who didn't even make that much.

    In my office, we were never directly instructed to lie to customers -- we engaged in deceptive practices, and allowed the homeowners to draw their own conclusions, but we weren't told to lie. On the other hand, when our best reps (and one guy in particular) would come back and tell war stories about how they got a sale, they would often mention the lies they told. Rarely were these stories met with any kind of criticism from the management, especially after the office was taken over in July.

    I knew the contract was favorable to the company (in fact, I was signing away just about everything except my soul), but I trusted the people who recruited me. The only problem wasthat they had been sold a bill of goods, and didn't realize it until the end of the summer.

    As far as I know, we were selling a quality product. Land-line based security systems are vulnerable, and what we were selling was in that way more secure. Admittedly, wireless sensors inside the house are not as stable as wired ones; so we weren't selling the absolute best out there. But the system itself was not a piece of junk. (My roommate's fiancee was our lead technician, no friend of the company, and had worked with other companies as well. This information comes from him.)

    I admit, I was naive. In September,I expected to at least get some money. When my backend came out to -$2000, I called my manager and made sure I understood all the details. Doing the math the way they said they were (only counting 90% of accounts, etc.) it looked correct. Since I had been counting on that money to pay my tuition, I was force to take out a student loan (the whole reason I signed on with this summer job was so I wouldn't have to go into debt for school).

    Still, I could expect at least $300 in February, they said. I was even arguing that I earned the "tuition bonus" of $1000, and that would have been a nice addition to my bank account. I still trusted the company, and still expected to be paid, right up until about three hours ago. That's when I tried to go online to see what my February backend check was supposed to be, and was informed that my login name was no longer valid. So I called my old manager, and he told me that we had all been deleted from the system and that FirstLine had declared bankruptcy.

    My google search turned up this blog, and that's why I am telling you my story. I'm not bitter, and I still think that the people I directly worked with were honorable. We were all duped together by a company run by people accustomed to manipulating others to achieve their own ends.

    I'm still grateful that I got to spend a summer working outdoors and talking to people; I'm a liberal arts major, and spend nine months out of the year reading thick dusty books or writing long papers, so it was a pleasant change for me. But I would not recommend any kind of summer securty sales to someone who doesn't have the capacity to absorb a disastrous experience, and I regret spending my summer not getting paid.
    reply
  • Karoli

    1 year ago

    Melissa D.,

    Thank you for telling your story here. I'm sorry you ended up with nothing
    for your summer but debt, but I really appreciate your reasoned telling of
    the story. For what it's worth, i believe the people who recruited you
    probably really did believe in what they were doing. I've always been
    convinced that the fault lay with the folks at the top, who preyed on
    people's trusting natures.

    The equipment wasn't as much the problem as the monitoring service, as far
    as I can tell, but the equipment and service could be had for less. Of
    course, if a customer is buying it from you instead of hunting it down on
    the Internet and self-installing they should expect a padding to pay you.
    My problem was exactly what you describe -- YOU didn't get paid.

    Good luck with your studies and career -- you sound like a success in the
    making.
    reply
  • Lisa Thomas

    1 year ago

    I was an office manager for Firstline for 2 years. Melissa worked in my division although not in my office. I am grateful to her for telling her story. The lead tech who gave her the information about the equipment was partly correct. Firstline was actually the only company last summer given the opportunity to sell the Simon XT panel, a state of the art, highly technological system by GE Security. The equipment, the people who sold it, the technicians who installed them, and the people behind the scenes in the offices are to be commended and applauded for their hard work and effort. It is unfortunate it ended up the way it did. I, too, am owed not only my last paycheck, but my year end bonus. I will file my claim along with the hundreds of others in the bankruptcy proceedings. But I l, like many others, don't feel it's necessary to bash and degrade people and situations I know nothing about. Maybe if you took a look inside your own world, you could find something else to concentrate your efforts on in a positive way. Enough with the finger pointing. Let's grow up and move on. There are going to be a lot bigger disappointments in your life. Trust me!
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  • Karoli

    1 year ago

    Lisa,

    Thanks for your comment. I didn't point fingers. I told the truth as I saw
    it, and still see it. Others have made comments that point fingers and
    that's their option -- they've been pointed both ways. You can disagree
    with me, but you at least have standing to file your claim with the
    bankruptcy trustee. Many, many others do not. Also, my objection from the
    beginning was The Prodigy lure, which hurt many students out our way.
    Perhaps things were different in Texas, though I had plenty of comments back
    in the summer, including one from Texas who also felt misled.

    This is about concocting a scheme that deceived students into thinking they
    were competitors in a reality show when they weren't. Spin it any way you
    want but it's still just not true, nor was it intended to be true.

    It's wrong and it should be exposed and pointed out, if for no other reason
    than to offer information that other students can use to keep from falling
    into similar traps.
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  • Lisa Thomas

    1 year ago

    Although the Prodigy ended up a failed dream, it truly began as a real show with the best intentions. I actually participated as a judge in one of the casting calls that took place in our town. During the summer, there was a camera man in our office several times who filmed our correlation meetings, went out in the vans with the reps and actually lived in one of our corporate apartments. Our particular cameraman traveled between the northern CA offices and did extensive filming in several offices. There were weekly videos sent from the production company with the different challenges and ways to further your progress to become the Prodigy. One of the reps in our office actually made it to the final 3 contestants and was flown to Utah for the final challenge. So YES, the Prodigy was real. But along with the rest of the concepts of Firstline that fell apart at the end, the winner of the Prodigy and the completion of the filming, editting, producing and broadcasting of the show was brought to a halt with the bankruptcy proceedings. No one intended for it to happen. If the company was so shady and money hungry, why would they spend the thousands and thousands of dollars they did to recruit, perform casting calls, transport and house camera crews and spend the money on the video challenges if they were just trying to scam everyone. So it wasn't the best idea as we see it now. But as they say... 20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing.
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  • Pete

    1 year ago

    As someone who has been scammed by a summer sales company (I was recruited and sold Dish), it was great to see ABC 4's coverage of the Firstline fiasco. Thurston and his cronies got what was coming to them, and if they are in personal debt as well, all the better. I hope the same goes for most of these fly-by-night summer sales scams.

    Where is your Inc. 500, now? Inc. 500 one year...bankruptcy the next...that takes some special sort of business acumen right there. Nice job, guys.
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  • All of Us

    1 year ago

    Does Mark & Adam sound a lot like Trevor and Wright to anybody else but me? Lets be honest here they are 2 guys that have lied, stolen, cheated, and somehow still feel good taking the sacrament? They should get down on there knees and repent. Then get in front of some cameras not the Prodigy cameras and ask for everyone's forgivness on public TV. Because they obviously dont realize how many great families are hurting.
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  • 1 month and done

    1 year ago

    hustlers know a hustle. thank god i only did installs so i got all my money upfront and not in the "back-end"

    cheers to the other 8 people who quit the same day i did. good thing we didnt wait to get it in the back-end.

    sorry to those who failed to filter through the bullshit
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  • HUFFDAHL = LAWSUITS

    1 year ago

    just one sentence is allowed at this time...... tomio huffman firstline security (google it and you will find a nice news story) more to update soon...
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  • ame

    1 year ago

    Firstline did not cancel my ADT account and I ended up paying 6 months and at the same time paying them too. Firstline has a very poor customer service and sales people. After a while, sales people ended up quiting after they convince you to buy their security.
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  • of corse!

    1 year ago

    Hello, i recently just watched your clip of the "the prodigy" with firstline. I can tell you now i was shocked. I worked for the company firstline security in the call center for over 2 years. they didn't find it important to tell us employees that firstline had gone bankrupt the last week in january, than calling us to a meeting and letting us know that everyone was fired in 1 day . This company is FULL of lies and deseption, We recived a letter from the bank that firstline was working with 3 weeks after everyone was let go from the company, explaining, yes they were no longer working with fristline to provid checks to employee's 2 months pervious to us acuatlly letting go of all empolyee's. But yet fristline had us work for 4 weeks knowing they would NOT be paying any empolyees a check for the time worked, Any empolyees have yet to see it.

    http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/channel?section=news... watch this!
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  • An insider

    1 year ago

    Trevor and Wright have been messing with people for a while now. This is not the first time! Their business model is to build a pyrimid and pull out before it crashes. These two are the best salesmen I have ever met. They know how to motivate people and fill them with false hopes. Unless you are in their circle you will be screwed big time. Futurephones, the internet phone, Neoskin, now Firstline. If history repeats itself they already have something else lined up. It is sad they selected to walk down this path. When you keep burning people, things fire back on you! Their names and reputations are ruined, but they have made enough money in the process to not have to work anymore. I will give it to them; they are two smart individuals!
    reply
  • Seth

    1 year ago

    If you want to read about the lawsuit between Firstline and Pinnacle check out alarmsales.org The two were apparently seeking a merger around the same time as the bankruptcy, but it fell apart and there is now a $450 million dollar lawsuit.

    Check it out at: http://www.alarmsales.org/2008/07/firstline-sec...

    Wow, sounds pretty deep.
    reply
  • ???!!!

    11 months ago

    An old Firstline employee told me that Wright and Trevor have now started a broadband company in SLC and that many sales reps are going to peddle it door2door. Can anyone verify this?
    reply

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