LONG BEACH, Calif. — A sales position advertised at $50,000 to $75,000 per year and offering benefits including mileage reimbursement became the subject of questions over compensation, transportation expenses and working hours after a Presence News reporter accepted the position and spent his first day inside the company’s office and field-sales operation.
Presence News founder and editor Kasdyn Click applied for an Entry Level Marketing & Sales Associate position with 128 Sales Inc., a Long Beach sales and marketing company led by owner Rafael Carrillo.
The Indeed advertisement reviewed and preserved by Presence News identified the position as full-time and displayed compensation of $50,000 to $75,000 per year. The listing also advertised mileage reimbursement among the position’s benefits.
Click’s first day, however, revealed differences between some of the expectations he understood before beginning the position, provisions contained in written employment materials and what he says occurred once he entered the field.
Questions ultimately centered on how the advertised annual compensation would be earned, how employees were reimbursed for work-related vehicle expenses, how long representatives were expected to remain in the field and why one onboarding document provided to Click identified a company other than 128 Sales.
The working relationship ended later that same day after Click began questioning those provisions and requested that further communication with management occur in writing.
The Actual Pay Rate – A $700 weekly draw — but the contract contains conflicting numbers
The written compensation policy tells a more complicated story.
A section of the employment paperwork is headed “$700 recoverable draw against 100% commission, 100% bonuses.” It states that after completion of training, beginning in the third full week of employment, eligible workers receive a recoverable draw calculated at $140 for each authorized workday, for up to five qualifying days.
However, the very same paragraph states that $600 is the maximum weekly draw for employees working five days or more.
That creates an apparent mathematical inconsistency: five days multiplied by $140 equals $700, not $600.
The examples immediately following the policy use yet another figure — $120 per day with a $600 weekly cap.
More importantly, the document states that the draw is not simply additional guaranteed compensation. It describes draw payments as a loan from the company that is offset against commissions and advances and repaid through future commissions. If the company supplements a paycheck because commissions fall below the applicable draw, that supplemental balance can be recaptured during a later pay period when commissions exceed the draw.
The paperwork further states that during the first 10 days, workers earn commissions based on their participation level and may qualify for new-hire bonuses rather than receiving the post-training draw.
Those bonuses include $200 for five days of on-time, full attendance, another $200 for passing a pitch test by Day 5 and another $200 tied to attendance during Days 6 through 13 and completing two solo sales.
The paperwork says those bonuses are paid two weeks after the applicable qualifications are completed and requires the worker to remain employed when the bonus is paid. Employees who resign, quit or are terminated before the payment date do not receive the bonus.
Sales representatives described earnings below what recruits heard in the office
Compensation expectations were also a recurring part of the sales-office environment observed by Presence News.
Click says prospective and new representatives were given the impression that approximately $1,000 per week was a typical minimum level of earnings, with the possibility of earning substantially more through sales and bonuses.
Experiences described by salespeople in the field were less consistent.
One senior salesperson told Presence News that there were weeks when his earnings did not reach $1,000.
Another new representative, who told Presence News he had been working for the company for approximately three days, said he had not yet completed a sale.
The more experienced representative that employee had been shadowing also had not recorded a sale during those three days, according to the representatives interviewed by Presence News.
That contrasted with statements Click heard in the office indicating that representatives average approximately two sales per day.
The experiences of several representatives over a limited period do not establish the company’s overall sales average or prove that the stated two-sales-per-day figure is inaccurate. Presence News has requested information from 128 Sales regarding what company sales data supports the average presented to new hires.
Written commission rates differed from figures discussed during recruitment
Questions also emerged over the amount representatives could earn from individual sales.
Click says fiber Internet sales were verbally described during recruitment as paying approximately $240 per sale.
The written commission schedule provided to Click, however, lists different base commission amounts.
Under the document’s AT&T and DirecTV residential commission schedule, Internet plans between 1,000 and 5,000 Mbps pay $170 for customers categorized as low credit risk and $100 for medium credit risk.
The same schedule lists the 300 Mbps Internet product at $110 for low-risk customers and $60 for medium-risk customers.
It is possible that separate temporary incentives or bonuses not reflected in that commission table could increase those amounts. The employment documents state that the company may offer additional bonuses or compensation opportunities from time to time.
Presence News has asked 128 Sales whether a current incentive or bonus program explains the difference between the written commission schedule and the approximately $240 fiber commission described verbally.
The paperwork also makes clear that a sale does not necessarily immediately become an earned commission.
For Internet and DirecTV products, the agreement says an order must be installed, reported to the company, meet customer-credit requirements and have required paperwork, payments and approvals completed before the commission is considered earned. Rejected orders and orders canceled before installation are not commissionable.
Who is 128 Sales?
128 Sales Inc. operates from 1501 Hughes Way in Long Beach, CA, the corporate-office address associated with the position.
Public California corporate information reviewed by Presence News identifies Rafael Carrillo in leadership of 128 Sales. The company’s business involves marketing and sales. (BizQuest)
The Hughes Way address is located within a multi-tenant corporate office property rather than a building owned by 128 Sales.
Property information reviewed by Presence News identifies Manifold Pacific Int’l Investment LLC as the owner of the parcel at 1501 Hughes Way. Separate reporting from CoStar states that Manifold Pacific International Investments purchased the Freeway Business Center at that address in 2020.
Public business records list Manifold Pacific Int’l Investment LLC at 600 N. Rosemead Blvd., Suite 123, Pasadena, California, and Dun & Bradstreet identifies the company’s industry as real-estate leasing and lists Wei Dai Yuan as a member and key principal.
Presence News found no evidence indicating that 128 Sales owns the Hughes Way property. The available information instead indicates that 128 Sales maintains an office within the corporate complex.
Position advertised at $50,000 to $75,000 per year
The Indeed listing presented the Entry Level Marketing & Sales Associate position as full-time and advertised compensation of $50,000 to $75,000 per year.
The advertisement also listed benefits including mileage reimbursement, cellphone reimbursement, health insurance, paid training, professional-development assistance, referral incentives and travel reimbursement.
The position involved face-to-face field marketing and sales associated with telecommunications services.
Click said the compensation structure became clearer during the interview and onboarding process, when the position was described as dependent heavily on sales performance and commissions.
Employment paperwork subsequently provided to Click classified the position as an outside-sales role and described compensation in commission-based terms.
That distinction became one of the issues Click questioned during his first day.
Presence News is not asserting that a salesperson earning commissions could not earn the $50,000-to-$75,000 annual amount advertised on Indeed. Rather, the question raised by Click’s experience concerns how clearly applicants were informed before accepting the job about how the advertised annual compensation would actually be earned.
Written policy establishes 10 a.m.-to-7 p.m. working hours
Working hours became another point of disagreement during Click’s first day.
Unlike Click’s initial recollection of what had been communicated verbally during hiring, Presence News subsequently reviewed a written policy provided to Click that expressly establishes the company’s regular working hours.
Under a section titled “Essential Policies,” the document states:
“Working Hours: Our regular working hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM.”
The document divides the day into three segments.
Office hours run from 10 a.m. until noon, when representatives are instructed to focus on administrative tasks, training and preparation.
A lunch break runs from noon until 1 p.m.
Fieldwork begins no later than 1 p.m., with workers instructed to join their team in the field for the day’s objectives.
The document concludes the section by stating that remaining aligned with the schedule helps maintain a productive and harmonious work environment.
The written policy therefore independently corroborates Click’s account that he understood the regular workday to run from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday-Friday.
During his first day, however, Click questioned what he understood to be an expectation that representatives continue working in the field until approximately 8:30 p.m. and the manager made a strong recommendation to actually start work at 9:30am each day. Also, it is “encouraged” to work Saturday’s as well. A regular decent sized work week of Monday-Friday 10am-7pm was actually a “strongly requested and encouraged” 9:30am-8:30pm Monday-Saturday “or else”.
In a contemporaneous text to management, Click specifically raised the additional time, writing that the job had been described as running “from 10 to 7.”
The existence of the written working-hours policy changes that issue from one based solely upon Click’s recollection of a telephone conversation to one supported by documentation supplied during onboarding.
Presence News has asked 128 Sales whether representatives are routinely expected to remain in the field after 7 p.m., under what circumstances the stated 10 a.m.-to-7 p.m. schedule may be extended and how additional working time is treated under the company’s compensation structure.
Mileage reimbursement raises additional questions
Transportation expenses became another point of disagreement.
The Indeed advertisement expressly listed mileage reimbursement among the position’s benefits.
Click said representatives were told they would receive a $10-per-day transportation allowance when using their personal vehicles for work in assigned sales territories.
The written employment policy reviewed by Presence News provides additional detail.
According to the policy, the $10 allowance applies when an employee uses a personal vehicle to travel from the company office to and around an assigned sales territory. The policy excludes an employee’s ordinary commute from home to the office, personal trips and certain other travel.
But the policy contains an additional reimbursement procedure when $10 is insufficient to cover work-related transportation expenses. (basic wear and tear on vehicles can range from $.25-$.75 per mile not including fuel)
The document states that an employee who believes the daily allowance was insufficient during a workweek should submit a mileage log and that the company will pay the additional expense, with the reimbursement appearing separately on the employee’s pay stub.
Click said he specifically raised that provision after questioning whether $10 would adequately cover the driving required between the office and assigned field territories.
Click also asked a salesperson who told him he had worked with the company for approximately three months whether he had ever submitted a mileage log under the provision.
According to Click, the salesperson said he was unaware that the employment paperwork contained the additional reimbursement procedure.
The salesperson also told Click that, to his knowledge, Click was the first new representative he had encountered who had actually read the employment packet with stated benefits and commission structure.
Presence News has asked 128 Sales how employees are informed about the mileage-log procedure, how frequently employees submit mileage logs and whether representatives are affirmatively informed that eligible transportation expenses exceeding the $10 daily allowance may be submitted for additional reimbursement.
Onboarding document identifies Emperium Group Inc.
Another question emerged from the same onboarding materials.
The document containing the written 10 a.m.-to-7 p.m. working-hours policy includes a Dress Code section.
But instead of identifying 128 Sales, the section states:
“Emperium Group Inc. takes pride in fostering a professional yet approachable image.”
The same document subsequently instructs representatives to use “ATT-approved hats or beanies.” Senior Sales Rep at 128 Sales stated he had not been given an AT&T Hat or beanie despite asking and was wearing his own baseball cap that he brought from home. Mesh AT&T Shirt worn was badly torn and not presentable for a sales position – due for a t-shirt replacement by management.
Click had applied to and was working through 128 Sales, making the appearance of Emperium Group Inc. in the onboarding material noteworthy.
The document itself does not explain why Emperium Group is named, and Presence News is not drawing a conclusion about the relationship between the companies based solely upon that reference.
Presence News has asked 128 Sales to identify Emperium Group Inc., describe any business relationship between the entities and explain why an Emperium Group dress-code policy appeared in materials provided during 128 Sales onboarding.
AT&T training materials provided
Other materials provided during onboarding more directly establish the telecommunications brand involved in the field-sales work.
Click photographed an AT&T Training Packet displaying the AT&T name and logo.
The packet contained contact information for functions including AT&T U-fix, technical support, customer support and port assistance.
The training materials, combined with Click’s firsthand experience accompanying representatives in the field, establish that the sales work he observed involved AT&T-related products or services.
Presence News has not independently established through these materials the precise contractual relationship between AT&T and 128 Sales, and this report does not characterize 128 Sales as being owned or operated by AT&T.
Homeowner interaction raises pricing question
While accompanying representatives in the field, Click said he also sought clarification about how prospective customers were being quoted for telecommunications service.
In a contemporaneous text message to management, Click documented a homeowner being quoted $35 per month and asked whether that figure represented the customer’s complete out-the-door cost, including applicable taxes.
The interaction is included because it was among the questions Click raised while observing the company’s field-sales operation and attempting to understand how customers were being presented pricing.
Presence News has asked 128 Sales whether the $35 amount represented the customer’s complete monthly cost and whether taxes, fees, equipment charges or other costs could alter the amount ultimately paid. We were receiving complaints that prices were not true to what was being quoted. Field Sales staff were scribbling random numbers on a blank sheet of paper, but in training it stated we would use an Ipad to show a regular pricing model for each service selling to a client.
Click requests that management communicate in writing
As questions accumulated over compensation, mileage reimbursement and working hours, Click told management that he wanted further communication about the disagreements to occur in writing.
“you’re going to have to talk to me in writing because when it’s over the phone you’re saying stuff that really doesn’t match the paperwork at all,” Click wrote in a text message.
Shortly afterward, the working relationship ended.
Click had been questioning compensation, additional working time, mileage documentation and sneaky provisions contained in the employment paperwork.
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Any substantive response received from 128 Sales or Carrillo before publication will be reviewed and incorporated where appropriate.
