March 19
Beginning in February of this year, I began receiving phone calls from IPA telling me that they would like to do an analysis on my small business. After numerous calls, I finally agreed to setting an appointment.
After numerous missed appointments, I finally was able to sit down with the analyst. Keep in mind this appointment was only supposed to take an hour of my time and it was to be free. After spending several hours with the analyst listening to all the things that I was doing wrong, I was convinced to show some financial reports on the business so the analyst could come back the next day and give me a game plan to fix the problems.
The following day, the analyst and myself began talking about the numbers and the problems that I face in the business. Again, after several hours, I finally asked the analyst how I could correct the problems. The response I received was shocking. This guy tells me that he can not give me those answers, but a "project manager" will give me the answers the following day and then he presents me with a $400.00 invoice for his work. What really gets me, is that when I tell him that my bookkeeper is not at my location and I do not write checks from my business, he asks if I would go to the bank and withdraw the $400.00. The light bulb finally came on, I did not pay the man any money. This analyst then goes on to tell me that the project manager is already enroute and will arrive at my store the next day at 8:00 am. The analyst goes on to ask that I have a check for the project manager the next morning, and that he will have the information on the cost to get the answers to the questions I had from the analysis. Of course, the analyst could not give me any information on the cost.
I arrive the next morning at 7:50. I begin checking my messages and have a message from "Steve" with IPA stating that the project manager will not arrive until 11:00 am. This change in the schedule was not acceptable to me, so I called IPA and asked them to get in touch with the project manager and let him know that I would not make the 11:00 am appointment, and that I was no longer interested in what IPA had to offer.
At 11:00 am, the project manager shows up at the store while I am on customer appointments. My employee calls me and explains to me that this guy from IPA is at the store. I instructed my employee to let him know that the appointment was for 8:00 am and that I would not meet with him as I was busy. A few minutes later, my employee called to let me know that this guy was going to wait for me. Again, I instructed my employee to let him know that I would not meet with him. Once again, my employee called to let me know that this guy was not leaving. I immediately rearranged my schedule, drove back to my store and had a very short unpleasant conversation with the IPA employee and escorted him out of my business.
The just of this complaint is that IPA does not act in a professional manner. They "strong arm" people in to believing that they can help a small business owner overcome problems within their company. What they are really doing is giving very little information and then expecting a large pay out for little effort. I urge all business owners that come in to contact IPA to turn the other direction. I believe that IPA is a large scam. Business owners, keep your money to yourself and use it for your benefit not the people at IPA.in short, don't waste your time.
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