| SMS-NA LLC |
| SMS-NA LLC Deceptive Hiring Practices Buffalo Grove, Illinois |
| 17th of Jul, 2011 by User224717 |
| An alleged Senior Hiring Agent interviewed me for an alleged "Senior Area Manager"[SAM] for an employment position to sell business consulting services for a Texas territory.This company is a re-invention of a IPA, a business that the IL AG's office filed suit against in 2009 for ensnaring small businesses to "invest" money to "improve operations" fraudulently. The promises that I could make $100K up to $200K per year were attractive.However, the interviewer told me that SMS made $100M in 2010 with 1000 employees.With labor cost at 50% and 10% as a net profit, that leaves 40% or $40,000 as the average income per employee, a far cry from what was being promised in the interview plus I would pay for all my gas, auto insurance, cell phone, and other costs.The strategy is for the SAM to follow an SMS lead and set up an "appointment".Then, an SMS "analyst" will quantify a benefit value in dollars for the business and sell the owner on the idea of spending the money with SMS to get a return that is far greater than what the business owner spends.The SAM get's an alledged commission of 91% of that first fee, if any is ever collected. The fact is the SAM is merely an "appointment setter" not a salesperson.SMS uses this title to avoid a potential issue of having to pay overtime for all hours worked over 40 per week.The SAM only gets paid when the fees are collected. The agent to whom I spoke told me that SMS was a "re-structuring" not IPA.....although it has the same address. You good job seekers should think twice before getting in bed with this company. My advice to business owners is call your local CPA and the IL AG office, then make your decision. |
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MADIGAN FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL PROFIT ASSOCIATES FOR CHEATING HUNDREDS OF SMALL BUSINESSES OUT OF THOUSANDS
Attorney General Says Buffalo Grove Consulting Firm
Practiced Wide-Scale Fraud
Chicago—Attorney General Lisa Madigan today filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against International Profit Associates, Inc. (IPA), a Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based management consulting firm, and its owner John R. Burgess. The suit alleges that the defendants use wide-ranging deceptive practices to ensnare hundreds of small-business clients into consulting service contracts that fail to fulfill the defendants' promises to boost their clients' bottom lines.
"International Profit Associates takes advantage of small businesses by painting an inaccurate and dismal picture of their financial condition and then conning the business owners into hiring IPA consultants who promise to turn things around, " Madigan said. "It is an unfair and deceptive scheme that has played out hundreds of times as reflected in the considerable number of complaints that my office has received from small businesses that lost tens of thousands of dollars to IPA."
"Small businesses are vital to our state's economy and are already struggling to weather the current difficult economic conditions. The last thing small business owners need is to be targeted for consulting services that simply will not benefit their operations, " Madigan said.
The suit also names as defendants: International Tax Advisors, Inc., Integrated Business Analysis, Inc., and Accountancy Associates, LLC, all based in Buffalo Grove, Ill. Burgess is the majority owner of all of the defendant companies.
Madigan's lawsuit alleges that IPA employs deceptive, high-pressure sales tactics to trap small businesses into management consulting contracts by falsely promising that the businesses will earn increased profits as a result of IPA's consulting services. Contrary to these promises, IPA typically charges the small businesses tens of thousands of dollars for services that fail to provide any constructive or useful information and do not result in any increased profits.
The complaint describes IPA's business practices in detail. IPA allegedly targets businesses through telemarketing, offering an initial evaluation of a prospective client's business for a nominal fee ranging from $300 to $2, 500. Once on site for the initial analysis, IPA sales associates allegedly convince small business owners that their companies are in serious financial trouble if they do not immediately retain IPA for consulting services.
IPA allegedly promises to prepare specialized, industry-specific recommendations that will help to improve a company's performance. The sales associates often promise that the businesses will see a three-to-one return on their investment in IPA consulting services and allegedly assure business owners that they will be able to afford the IPA services as a result of increased profits in the future. However, according to Madigan's lawsuit, the small business owners rarely realize an increase in profits and often are left in worse financial condition as a result of IPA's costly consulting services. One small business owner cited in Madigan's complaint paid IPA nearly $70, 000 in fees for consulting services that provided no meaningful advice to optimize business operations and, thus, failed to improve the company's profits.
As Madigan's lawsuit details, after a small business agrees to a consulting project, IPA consultants arrive, usually in pairs, and bill the small business at $275 each per hour, plus travel, hotel and per diem expenses. The consultants often produce reports and charts that appear to be based on boilerplate or generic data and do not provide specialized recommendations for the small business client as originally promised.
The complaint further alleges that IPA sales associates promise that business owners will not have to pay for consulting services if they are unsatisfied with the results. However, IPA allegedly uses aggressive collection practices to compel clients to pay for unsatisfactory service. Madigan's suit alleges that IPA demands immediate payments and, if a business owner does not make immediate payment, IPA consultants allegedly are trained to refuse to leave the business premises until their demand for a post-dated check is honored.
Since 2004, 215 consumers have filed complaints with Madigan's Consumer Fraud Bureau. During that time, more than 400 consumers have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau.
Madigan's lawsuit asks the court to permanently enjoin the defendants from engaging in this conduct. The suit also asks the court to order the defendants to pay restitution for the small business owners, civil penalties of $50, 000 for violations of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, an additional $50, 000 for each violation committed with the intent to defraud, and the costs of the investigation and prosecution of the case.
Consumer Fraud Bureau Chief James Kole, Special Consumer Counsel Charles G. Fergus and Assistant Attorneys General Anshuman Vaidya, Katrina Wanzer Derhake and Joshua Orenstein are handling the case for Madigan's Consumer Fraud Bureau |
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I just want to prove something. The following portion if from the BBB in Chicago in reference to Burgess
On a scale of A+ to F Reason for RatingBBB Ratings System Overview
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Home?Collections?Sexual Harassment
After nearly 10 years, sex-harassment suit may finally be settled
Buffalo Grove-based International Profit Associates admits pervasive sexual harassment in workplace
February 22, 2011|By Ameet Sachdev | Chicago Law
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is about to conclude what its attorneys suspect is the longest discrimination lawsuit in the history of its Chicago office. It's not a record they are proud of.
The case dates to June 12, 2001. The EEOC brought a class-action suit on behalf of more than 100 women against International Profit Associates Inc., a Buffalo Grove consulting business, alleging a pattern of sexual harassment.
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Nearly 10 years later, the two sides are hammering out details of a settlement in which the company has agreed to pay the class $8 million. International Profit Associates, known as IPA, also has acknowledged in court papers that an "unlawful pattern or practice of tolerating sexual harassment" existed from Nov. 25, 1997, to Feb. 14, 2005.
What transpired over a decade vividly illustrates how the civil legal system can make victims feel like they have been victimized again. Wendy Commander, one of two women who brought complaints about International Profit Associates to the EEOC that launched the government's investigation in 1998, said she feels no satisfaction in the proposed settlement.
"My wrongs have not been made right, " Commander said.
She is so upset about the way the case has played out that she wrote an angry letter to the federal judge presiding over the suit. Her ire is not limited to her former employer. (Commander worked at the company from 1994 to 1998.) She also blames the EEOC for acting too slowly and keeping individual class members in the dark about the case's progress. Citing the proposed settlement, Commander wrote that "being told this is a success is insulting!"
John Hendrickson, the EEOC's regional attorney in the Chicago office, acknowledged that the case is an unfortunate example of the legal maxim "justice delayed is justice denied."
"We've done our best throughout this long litigation to keep (the class) apprised of significant developments as they occur, " Hendrickson said. "They and we have been frustrated and unhappy about the length of the case."
He blames International Profit Associates for dragging out the suit for years with unnecessary legal briefs and requests for sanctions.
"Their strategy has been one of delay and obstruction from the first year of the lawsuit, " Hendrickson said.
The company's attorney, Ronald Bell, declined to comment on the length of the suit because the case is pending. For most of the EEOC case, IPA was represented by Myron Cherry, a Chicago lawyer. Cherry, who withdrew from the case in November with the company's consent, did not return messages seeking comment.
In this case, like in any high-stakes litigation, the gloves came off, which wasn't surprising given the severe nature of the EEOC's allegations.
U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall summed up the accusations: Women were regularly propositioned for sex and even offered money for sex. More than 40 women reported being sexually assaulted in one manner or another — including everything from slapping, pinching, touching and grabbing to outright attempted rape. Graphic pornography was displayed on office walls. Strippers and prostitutes were hired to perform for male employees' birthday parties at company offices during business hours.
According to the EEOC, IPA management, led by John Burgess, who founded the company in the early 1990s, was complicit in the egregious behavior.
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When the case was filed in 2001, the class had 150 to 200 women, according to Diane Smason, the EEOC's supervisory trial attorney in the case. Depositions and evidence-gathering took nearly four years, and dozens of women dropped out, Smason said.
During discovery, the company asked the judge to impose sanctions against the EEOC for violating court orders on evidence gathering. The company lost. It tried again and lost.
After rejecting IPA's fourth request for sanctions, Gottschall chastised the company in a 2006 ruling: "Although this is IPA's fourth bite at the apple, it continues to do a poor job presenting the issues to the court."
After discovery, IPA began filing motions in 2006 to dismiss several of the 113 remaining class members from the case, arguing that their discrimination claims could not prevail under the law. The last of the motions were summary judgments that were resolved in August 2009, leaving 81 class members. The case was set for trial the following summer.
In June 2010, IPA made a huge concession, admitting in court papers that it tolerated a pattern or practice of sexual harassment for nearly eight years. On July 6, as the jury was being selected, the parties announced a tentative settlement in court.
But the fighting has not stopped. The two sides have been arguing over the terms of the settlement. They agreed in July that the $8 million would be paid in four installments over three years, according to court papers.
But in December, the company said in court papers that it could not make the $3 million initial payment and "meet its continuing business obligations at this time."
Bell said Monday that the company intends to pay the $8 million over three years as it agreed to do in July. He said he expects a court-approved agreement within a week or two.
But as Hendrickson conceded, "It's too late for a happy ending here."
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| Correction, The SAM is the sales person, the BC (business consultant) is the one who sets up the appointments for the SAM's to go out and sell out company. I am one of those BC's and I make very good money. Last year we grossed almost $300mil is sales, there is plenty of money to be made here. My SAM and I make a good living cause I know how to set good solid appointments and he knows how to sell them. Just because you were probably not good at what you do, that doesn't give you the right to talk shit. It's your fault you didn't make any money |
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