NU SKIN MLM: 15th Floor Octagon Center (aka Teleperformance Center), San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas

i am notorious for not answering my mobile if the phone number trying to contact me is not saved in my caller ID list. so imagine how displeased i am that the one time i am trite and apologetic and honestly concerned for the well-being of a random caller on my mobile, this happens to me.

two days ago, i received a phone call from someone introducing himself as the brother of a jeremy tul*y. at the time, i was neck deep in checques and bank payments from our japanese office that i was rather short with the caller, and said that i did not know any jeremys.

half an hour later, i realized that jeremy = haji69 at the forums. i immediately called up hazel to check, and she confirmed that our mysterious jeremy tul*y was indeed haji69. fearing that some minor family catastrophe had befallen haji to the point that his closest relatives were asking about him from online acquaintances, i left a message with his brother to contact me as soon as he can.

fast forward to today (more specifically -- forty five minutes ago), i received a second call from jeremy's brother. he said -- and i am simply paraphrasing here -- that he would like to offer me a part-time job with a US-based company that could potentially earn me upwards of USD 400 per month.

he also said that to facilitate the "pre-qualification process" (his words, not mine), i would have to show up for an interview-slash-meeting on tuesday after work. he gave me an address, advised me to come in business attire, and admonished me that if i were to cancel, i should do the professional thing and call ahead.

it was that last thing that actually tipped me off that there was something not-quite-kosher with the whole deal. i mean -- despite evidence on the contrary (temper tantrums and a fixation with shiny objects), i do know how to act like a professional. i've been working in a freaking financial services firm for crying out loud -- being unprofessional is a sure ticket out of the company and into welfare.

so, i called up my best friend GOOGLE and inquired ever so politely about -- yep, 15th Floor, Octagon Center, San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas. on the very first page i get a number of local blogs all talking about the same thing: phone calls from strangers, NU SKIN, and MLM.

the next half hour was spent scrolling through other people's blogs, lolz-ing at the obvious sock-puppet opinions left by NU SKIN (also called PHARMANEX and/or SYNERGY1) employees in the blog entry comments pages (edited to add: I FINALLY GOT MY FIRST NUSKIN TROLL LMAO), and commiserating with my best friend on the phone on the irony of how the one un-IDed call i decided to take had to be the one from a telemarketer.

i mentally ticked off a list of things i wanted jeremy's "brother" to know, downed the last of my double venti latte, and called up his number. i didn't give him the chance to get a word in edgewise. i said that i did not appreciate his honesty or lack of thereof, that how dare he assume that i did not know how to use search engines, and that his USD 400 bait was small fry compared to what i was earning right here, right now (hair flip!).

i also said that while i was not happy for being mistaken for a mark, i did not blame him personally, and that my ire was directed at his company's underhanded marketing and recruitment tactics. last but not least his "brother" jeremy -- if indeed they were related and it isn't some made-up connection -- will be hearing about this from me. at lenght. and maybe the whole effin' internet while we're at it.

update on 31st march 2010

thanks to a troll account who repeatedly left comments on this entry defending her supposedly "trustworthy" company (and we all know truthful they really are about what they do and how they earn their money), i've recently discovered that the building name has changed to teleperformance center.

a bit more rooting round yields some new information about NUSKIN/PHARMANEX/SYNERGY1/whoever-the-hell-they-are that have also started operating from a makati office. the address is 26th floor trafalgar plaza, h.v. dela costa street, salcedo village, makati city.

both locations are still basically the same company up to the same shenanigans. caveat emptor, kids <3