After reading the comments by so many former Farmers Agents and Reserve, and Career agents about their experiences with their DM I am here to validate every one.
I was hired by the new DM to train and recruit new agents, and provide support to the Careers and Reserves, a responsibility I took very seriously and with great pride. I instructed each and every one on proper ethics, and proper proceedure. The DM on the other hand, lied, and cheated, and insisted that I not discourage the poaching, and misrepresentation about the reality of succeeding to the point that I could no longer go on. I made sure that each new potential recruit got the REAL numbers, the REAL likelyhood of success and the REAL amount of money and time getting into this business would take.
I was retaliated against in ways too numerous to count. This DM broke labor laws, paid dirt, expected the moon, lied to everyone with the ease of a snake oil salesman, and in the end, got sued. The Company knows this man's reputation, yet will protect him at all costs.
All the full time agent's in the area have banded together to complain to the company regarding his lies and his practices, but it is useless. I have lost all respect for Farmers. It is now apparent that their is no honor among thieves and corporate greed and profit at any cost is the driving mantra for the day.
DO NOT buy into becoming a Farmers Agent. One would do much better financially to become an Independent agent. A company that will condone a DM that lies about everything , cheats, instructs agents to poach from one another, breaks labor laws, and has been thrown out of every professional club and organization in the community for his lack of ethics and sexism, is NOT a company that any resectable person should patronize, OR by part of.
del.icio.us