The following is a letter sent to Hyperion for work I performed on their business ethics eLearning program as a sub-contractor for AEC - Advanced Educational Corporation:
To You Hyperion People:
I'm very happy that you are happy with the ELearning program on Business Ethics that I created for you. I do suggest however, that you might want to consider getting at least a portion of your cost refunded.
Here's the back-story:
I was brought on-board during a panic when Ginny (Heenan) was having difficulty finding people that were willing to work with the proprietary authoring tool AEC (Advanced Educational Corporation) had been committed to (developed by Skillsoft). I recall Ginny agreeing that the tool limited product quality in such a way as to be sub-standard when contrasted against many other offerings in the market. We laughed about the comparison with the Yugo automobile.
I agreed to learn to use the tool because I had been offered an opportunity toward creating a new and technologically up-to-date product and so viewed this as reciprocity. I was interested in a long-term relationship.
I learned to use their proprietary authoring tool and created your program within 70% of the allocated budget. Ginny claimed, "it was a miracle that it was done at all". Pleased as punch, she encouraged me onto the new stuff and apologized for AEC's 45 day payment policy on their invoices.in an effort to establish a positive relationship with me, she "pushed my deposit through" within 30 days and alas, after 8 months I have yet to see the remainder.
So, not only did they save 30% on what they had "expected" to pay but they have also saved thousands of dollars by stiffing the guy that helped them make a profit during a time when they were desparate for someone to help them live up to their commitment to you.
Advanced Educational Corporation's - AEC's total bill for this work as well as for the upgrades to their elearning system is $8,820.68. All of my hours have been recorded by a third-party timekeeping system (http://www.clicktime.com) and there is absolutely no doubt as to the validity of my claim.
Their (AEC's) only response to my phone calls and emails has been to hire Canada's largest legal firm, Fraser Milner Casgrain (Jacqueline Hughes - jacqueline. Hughes) and send me a letter threatening litigation if I didn't desist my collection efforts.
Ginny Heenan - (ginny_heenan)
is the Project Manager responsible for the initial breakdown in communication, but as I understand the corporate structure, it has been (either or both) Duncan Thomas (duncan_thomas) and Robert Moore (robert_moore) whom are directly responsible for the decision to stiff me.
The above aliases are linked to the domain extension of at_aecorp_dot_biz
Advanced Educational Corporation is an international firm with offices in 4 cities and 2 countries that does business with very large firms and can easily pay their bill, but have chosen to ignore their responsibilities.
It's been over 8 months since this conflict began and I believe their strategy is to simply ignore me until I go away. I think they believe that an independent who's struggling to pay his own bills is not a threat to their business.
Anyone who reads this and can empathize with my situation, please forward your comments to either of these deadbeats. If you know anyone who works in the elearning industry, particulary sub-contractors, please be sure to warn them of the despicable behaviour that Advanced Educational Corporation indulges in.
I doubt that I'm the only one who's been ripped off by them, and I doubt I will be the last.
Tony
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
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