Angry TelexFree affiliates stormed the company's Massachusetts office, trapping staff inside and prompting complaints from neighboring businesses. The incident followed the company's sudden removal of its compensation plan and a lack of official communication.
TelexFree reception staff reported difficulty moving through the crowded office. They pulled Steve Labriola, TelexFree's International Marketing Director, from his work to address the gathering. Labriola, speaking with a phone in hand, told the affiliates "not to worry." He did not specify what they should not worry about. Observers speculated he referred to a recently disclosed SEC investigation or the company's new compensation plan, which TelexFree had not adequately explained to its affiliate base.
The company had held a compensation plan training meeting in Boston a week and a half earlier. News broke days later that the plan had changed again. The TelexFree website showed no updates since March 10th, almost a fortnight before the protest.
Labriola tried to reassure the frustrated affiliates. He stated, "It'll all get back in your backoffice at the end of this week. Really. It's just the conversion, the change-over." He added that selling back stock would become "a thing of the past" but promised they would "still get paid under your contracts." The selling of back stock had served as the mechanism by which affiliates "sold" VOIP contracts back to the company weekly, justifying the $20 return on investment for each $289 affiliate investment.
He asked the crowd to open up the area, saying it "would be a great help to all of us." Labriola continued, "So I wanted to get out and let you all know things are moving in the right direction. Absolutely. There's a couple of bumps we're working through right now but don't worry about it." He promised, "We're still going all out. We're still going to keep building a future. We're still going to give you all of the things that we promised you... just be patient with us and help us work through this."
An affiliate attempted to ask a question. Labriola cut them off. "I don't have time for questions. I have a call I was supposed to be on at noon but Danni came into me and said that 'you can't even walk out here' and I wanted to come out here real quick and let you know." He then stated, "If it's the repurchasing thing, please, please, just move on out. You'll get taken care of, don't worry about that. Thankyou." Labriola then left the office foyer. The identity of the person on his call, or whether his response satisfied the assembled affiliates, remained unclear.