My experience with Robert Anderson and E-Telesure is very similar to the other person who posted a previous report.
I came across E-Telesure on an internet ad on a job board in Late October 2014.. I was excited about the potential to sell life insurance over the phone, since I was newly licensed in the state of TN in Mid October, 2014. Let me just say that Robert is personable and a nice guy. He was very helpful in the early stages of our relationship. I felt like I had found a good partner to work for.
Robert provided me with some training videos to watch (Before I sent him the $500 deposit) and I actually learned a thing or 2 since I was a new agent.
After going back and forth with Robert about their agent contract, I asked him to agree that if over 50% of the leads sent to me were bad, or non-reachable after 5 calls, that I would get my $500 deposit back promptly. Robert agreed, but he never signed and sent back to me the modified agreement that I signed and sent back to him. (red flag)
I went ahead and paid the $500 deposit on November 18, 2014 to INSURANCE PROGRAMS, CORONA, CA
Robert had me contracted with Trans-America. However, I received a call from an Asurea representative (who handled the contracting) who told me that E-Telesure had a bad reputation and told me to be careful. (I should have taken his advice)
I received my first batch of leads on December 2. Like I previously stated, I am licensed only in TN. The first batch of leads were for New Jersey and California. I told Robert this and he said not to worry, if I wrote business, E-Telesure would pay to get my license in that state. I thought, OK.. lets see how this goes. I spent the next week calling people at all times of the day, keeping accurate records of date/time/status/results. I kept an excel spreadsheet to keep track of the leads.
I quickly realizec the leads were outdated and of the leads I received, less than 1% were picked up when I called, most were computer generated voice email, or never picked up, about 10 were wrong or bad #s. I person was deceased (her daughter told me) and I sold -0- policies.
I received my 2nd batch of leads on Deember 9 and same thing. These leads were in New Jersey and Michigan. Same thing happened. I called all week, and had the same results. Sold no policies because I only had a few people pick up, and they either did not recall inquiring online, or they did 3-5 years ago and did not have a need for insurance.
I received my 3rd batch of leads on December 16. This time, the leads were again in Michigan and New Jersey, and 90% were leads that were sent to ne the previous week. I requested more leads and received policy lapsed leads from Oklahoma and Indiana. Problem was, no one picked up the phone, most calls went to computer generated voice mail, or rang and rang. These were dead #s.
I did not receive any leads n December 23 or December 30 because of the holidays. No leads were also sent on January 2, 2015. (Robert said the holidays put them behind)
The last batch of leads I received was on January 10 and finally for the state of TN. These were for internet and lapsed policy leads. Same results. I called all week and got through to only a few people, none who wanted to speak with me about insurance.
I told Robert my experience and he told me that was strange, because other agents were making sales and they sold over 400 policies the previous week. I told him wow.. thats interesting. I wonder what these other agents are doing to get people to pick up their phones?
I asked Robert for a refund on January 12. Robert emailed me back saying he would initiate it. I gave the process some time and contacted him again on January 20. (Robert, Just wondering when I should expect to see the refund? It's been a week since you said you would initiate the refund.) He wrote back same day (I thought it was done. I am not in today but I will check on it Wed. )
On January 22, I followed up with another email (Still looking for the refund. Let me know when to expect it. I'd rather not do a chargeback.) Robert wrote back same day (No don't charge back. I will send an email and let you know when to expect it.) I wrote right back (WHEN?) Robert wrote right back (As soon As I hear back Today.)
On January 23, I again emailed Robert (ETA on refund? Im getting impatient.) Robert wrote right back (It should come through anytime. As I said before I thought it was done. They said they would get it processed.)
On January 25 I wrote (Whats the latest with my refund? Still not seeing it in my account.) Robert again got right back to me (They said it's done. Allow 48 hours to show. )
On January 28 I emailed Robert (Its been 48 hours since you told me it would be 24-48 hours.) Robert responded with (I have been out with the Flu since Wed.I will contact you Friday or Monday.)
I wrote back to Robert (Sorry you are not feeling well. Hope you feel better soon. You told me in previous emails that you initiated this refund over a week ago, I should have had it by now. I have no recourse but to contact my card company and initiate a chargeback. If you would rather this not occur, you can send my $500 to my PayPal account:[email protected])
I have NOT heard back from Robert and it is now February 4. No refund was made to my PayPal account.
I initiated a chargeback with my bank card company today. We'll see if I get my $500 back.
It is highly unfortunate that Robert Anderson lied to me about my refund, lied to me about the quality of the leads and generally strung me out for over a 3 month period.
This is a warning to anyone else out there who thinks selling insurance over the phone will be easy and profitable.
IT WONT. Don't do it. And do not deal with Robert Anderson or E-Telesure or ANY company that requires a deposit to work for them. I should have known better, but I was hoping this would have worked out for me.
I accepted a position with a company called Etelesure based on my discussions with their recruiter. Etelesure specializes in term insurance although they offer other products. What I really liked about the pitch was that a huge number of leads from several sources would be provided at no cost on a weekly basis. Etelesure requires a $500 deposit because of their investment in leads which as an agent, I would never have to pay for. The lead deposit is supposedly refundable once agents generate $2500 in annual premium which I was told would happen by the second week.
I am usually very hesitant about paying a company for the privilege of working there. With Etelesure though, the lead program sounded very solid, and having invested thousands in leads, I know they can be a substantial expense. They seemed to have a very streamlined process, and all business is conduted over the phone. This too was very attractive to me. The training is all self paced; reading various insurance company guidelines and listening to recorded web calls. I invested about 30 hours of my time in the training. In addition to the time investment, I also paid the "fully refundable" lead deposit thinking that I would earn it back quickly based on conversations I had with their recruiter.
After training I was told for several weeks that I would be receiving leads. When I finally did receive them, I called through the list and found that they were at least five years old. Many of the proposed insured named in the leads had died years ago! In addition, the leads were all in Texas and West Virginia. My license expires in Texas next week, and I've never had a license in West Virginia. I was specifically told to only get appointed in my home state of Colorado, but I didn't see a single lead from that state.
Only a week after starting I was offered a salaried position with benefits which I took. I asked for a refund of my $500 and that no more leads be sent to me. Etelesure refuses to refund the money. I only took the position because I was told I would be working with people in my home state, and that I would be receiving three different types of quality leads. Most of them were to be mailer leads returned by people looking for mortgage protection insurance. I didn't see any of these leads.
There is no way I would have paid $500 if I was told up front that I would be receiving 5 year old internet leads from another state, one that I wasn't even licensed in! This is a bait and switch pure and simple. Supposedly Etelesure is placing many hundreds of policies per week. If that's the case, why can't they refund my $500?
I would strongly advise against working with this group. Keep your $500 and work somewhere else.
Etelesure Reviews
My experience with Robert Anderson and E-Telesure is very similar to the other person who posted a previous report.
I came across E-Telesure on an internet ad on a job board in Late October 2014.. I was excited about the potential to sell life insurance over the phone, since I was newly licensed in the state of TN in Mid October, 2014. Let me just say that Robert is personable and a nice guy. He was very helpful in the early stages of our relationship. I felt like I had found a good partner to work for.
Robert provided me with some training videos to watch (Before I sent him the $500 deposit) and I actually learned a thing or 2 since I was a new agent.
After going back and forth with Robert about their agent contract, I asked him to agree that if over 50% of the leads sent to me were bad, or non-reachable after 5 calls, that I would get my $500 deposit back promptly. Robert agreed, but he never signed and sent back to me the modified agreement that I signed and sent back to him. (red flag)
I went ahead and paid the $500 deposit on November 18, 2014 to INSURANCE PROGRAMS, CORONA, CA
Robert had me contracted with Trans-America. However, I received a call from an Asurea representative (who handled the contracting) who told me that E-Telesure had a bad reputation and told me to be careful. (I should have taken his advice)
I received my first batch of leads on December 2. Like I previously stated, I am licensed only in TN. The first batch of leads were for New Jersey and California. I told Robert this and he said not to worry, if I wrote business, E-Telesure would pay to get my license in that state. I thought, OK.. lets see how this goes. I spent the next week calling people at all times of the day, keeping accurate records of date/time/status/results. I kept an excel spreadsheet to keep track of the leads.
I quickly realizec the leads were outdated and of the leads I received, less than 1% were picked up when I called, most were computer generated voice email, or never picked up, about 10 were wrong or bad #s. I person was deceased (her daughter told me) and I sold -0- policies.
I received my 2nd batch of leads on Deember 9 and same thing. These leads were in New Jersey and Michigan. Same thing happened. I called all week, and had the same results. Sold no policies because I only had a few people pick up, and they either did not recall inquiring online, or they did 3-5 years ago and did not have a need for insurance.
I received my 3rd batch of leads on December 16. This time, the leads were again in Michigan and New Jersey, and 90% were leads that were sent to ne the previous week. I requested more leads and received policy lapsed leads from Oklahoma and Indiana. Problem was, no one picked up the phone, most calls went to computer generated voice mail, or rang and rang. These were dead #s.
I did not receive any leads n December 23 or December 30 because of the holidays. No leads were also sent on January 2, 2015. (Robert said the holidays put them behind)
The last batch of leads I received was on January 10 and finally for the state of TN. These were for internet and lapsed policy leads. Same results. I called all week and got through to only a few people, none who wanted to speak with me about insurance.
I told Robert my experience and he told me that was strange, because other agents were making sales and they sold over 400 policies the previous week. I told him wow.. thats interesting. I wonder what these other agents are doing to get people to pick up their phones?
I asked Robert for a refund on January 12. Robert emailed me back saying he would initiate it. I gave the process some time and contacted him again on January 20. (Robert, Just wondering when I should expect to see the refund? It's been a week since you said you would initiate the refund.) He wrote back same day (I thought it was done. I am not in today but I will check on it Wed. )
On January 22, I followed up with another email (Still looking for the refund. Let me know when to expect it. I'd rather not do a chargeback.) Robert wrote back same day (No don't charge back. I will send an email and let you know when to expect it.) I wrote right back (WHEN?) Robert wrote right back (As soon As I hear back Today.)
On January 23, I again emailed Robert (ETA on refund? Im getting impatient.) Robert wrote right back (It should come through anytime. As I said before I thought it was done. They said they would get it processed.)
On January 25 I wrote (Whats the latest with my refund? Still not seeing it in my account.) Robert again got right back to me (They said it's done. Allow 48 hours to show. )
On January 28 I emailed Robert (Its been 48 hours since you told me it would be 24-48 hours.) Robert responded with (I have been out with the Flu since Wed.I will contact you Friday or Monday.)
I wrote back to Robert (Sorry you are not feeling well. Hope you feel better soon. You told me in previous emails that you initiated this refund over a week ago, I should have had it by now. I have no recourse but to contact my card company and initiate a chargeback. If you would rather this not occur, you can send my $500 to my PayPal account:[email protected])
I have NOT heard back from Robert and it is now February 4. No refund was made to my PayPal account.
I initiated a chargeback with my bank card company today. We'll see if I get my $500 back.
It is highly unfortunate that Robert Anderson lied to me about my refund, lied to me about the quality of the leads and generally strung me out for over a 3 month period.
This is a warning to anyone else out there who thinks selling insurance over the phone will be easy and profitable.
IT WONT. Don't do it. And do not deal with Robert Anderson or E-Telesure or ANY company that requires a deposit to work for them. I should have known better, but I was hoping this would have worked out for me.
LESSON LEARNED.
I accepted a position with a company called Etelesure based on my discussions with their recruiter. Etelesure specializes in term insurance although they offer other products. What I really liked about the pitch was that a huge number of leads from several sources would be provided at no cost on a weekly basis. Etelesure requires a $500 deposit because of their investment in leads which as an agent, I would never have to pay for. The lead deposit is supposedly refundable once agents generate $2500 in annual premium which I was told would happen by the second week.
I am usually very hesitant about paying a company for the privilege of working there. With Etelesure though, the lead program sounded very solid, and having invested thousands in leads, I know they can be a substantial expense. They seemed to have a very streamlined process, and all business is conduted over the phone. This too was very attractive to me. The training is all self paced; reading various insurance company guidelines and listening to recorded web calls. I invested about 30 hours of my time in the training. In addition to the time investment, I also paid the "fully refundable" lead deposit thinking that I would earn it back quickly based on conversations I had with their recruiter.
After training I was told for several weeks that I would be receiving leads. When I finally did receive them, I called through the list and found that they were at least five years old. Many of the proposed insured named in the leads had died years ago! In addition, the leads were all in Texas and West Virginia. My license expires in Texas next week, and I've never had a license in West Virginia. I was specifically told to only get appointed in my home state of Colorado, but I didn't see a single lead from that state.
Only a week after starting I was offered a salaried position with benefits which I took. I asked for a refund of my $500 and that no more leads be sent to me. Etelesure refuses to refund the money. I only took the position because I was told I would be working with people in my home state, and that I would be receiving three different types of quality leads. Most of them were to be mailer leads returned by people looking for mortgage protection insurance. I didn't see any of these leads.
There is no way I would have paid $500 if I was told up front that I would be receiving 5 year old internet leads from another state, one that I wasn't even licensed in! This is a bait and switch pure and simple. Supposedly Etelesure is placing many hundreds of policies per week. If that's the case, why can't they refund my $500?
I would strongly advise against working with this group. Keep your $500 and work somewhere else.