Hi,
This was a really bad experience.
Really upset at referral
After a continual eroding relationship with Mike Murdock at TechnologyLifeCoaching.com and DocMurdock.com, I feel really upset, and I need to speak up. Although I am still trying to make my relationship with him work, it has been a horrible process of listening to his denials, accusations and a constant stream of telling me 'no' upon any and every request I've made of him this year that I hired him for.
I hired him primarily because of a recommendation from IBI Global, now called CEOSpace. When I asked him for client referrals, they were weak. And the deliverables in his advertising were also unclear. Despite this, I mistakenly moved forward because I trusted the referral.
No guarantees and a lot of shirking responsibility
What I constantly asked him for before hiring him was a relationship of accountability - that's what I asked for - a coach. He said he could provide that along with all these other SEO services. My first red flag was that he wouldn't put these verbal agreements in writing, and now I know why.
We signed a one-year membership agreement to work together. And his entire format for 'coaching' me was to tell me that he wasn't doing anything until I sent him an article or press release. Ya, that's not really helpful, and certainly doesn't motivate someone to start writing: no accountability and no support.in fact, I asked for a monthly coaching and accountability call several times, and there were always excuses why he wasn't interested in talking to me.
And then, with 4 months left in our 1-year contract, and right when I started publishing articles to send him (yay!), he is invoking a 'you snooze you lose' policy in the fine print. So after no motivation, no support and no coaching, I get a no-refunds and "I'm tired of you" departure from our 1-year member agreement, just when I needed him most.
Frustrating attitude, no warnings, no grace periods
I think his "no" attitude is the worst part for me. Its one thing to feel like you wasted your money because you didn't take advantage of an opportunity. It's another to feel that your investment actually made you feel more negative, frustrated and slapped in the face by all the things he wouldn't do. I guess this flies in the face of my own service-oriented attitude, and it's really upsetting!
In the middle of the year, I asked him for a temporary respite from our working together so I could find the coaching to get articles done (since he wasn't providing that at all). He said that we could absolutely take a break while I figured things out and found a 'boss' to hold me accountable to get the work done. Resuming a membership that you've already paid for in advance is a standard and ethical business practice for any membership service. If my clients buy 3 months, and they want to pick back up the last month, that's perfectly fine.instead, I get an email from Mike, just one in a long string of negative responses to work.
I've watched him destroy several business relationships, and I thought I was the exception - because of my charm and persistence, I could somehow make it work, and even make a profit from the $1200 investment I made in him.
Although I wanted to make this relationship last (or at least work at all), it's probably better to just take my medicine, like any other bad business decision. I could probably work really hard to charm him, but I think I'm all outta steam (which says a LOT for me to be outta steam!) It has been a slow evasive negative feeling from him, ever since the "honeymoon" of our 12-month relationship wore off in February last year (the 2nd month). I'd rather just let the money and relationship go, and be glad to have learned a good lesson in clearer deliverables and getting specific client referrals before hiring someone.
Rebecca
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