Smart health care solutions, aka team benefits, llc is the biggest scam & ripoff for non payment of renewal commissions on the face of this earth, with the owners themselves being the biggest crooks & morons, along with a really bad staff!
Mark Lastovica, CEO
Carl Schenkle, President
Myron Halbin, Minority owner/VP James Lilly, Ex Executive VP
Hi folks: I was recruited by Smart Health Care Solutions thru Mr. Jim Lilly in May as a Divisional Manager, to RECRUIT other agents, as well as to sell the Healthcare Benefits Plans that the Company offered.
First of all, the 1st RED flags came in about a month, when no one could get a hold of any of the staff or Management of the Company.in spite of leaving several messages on voicemail, none of the management or staff would return calls. Now when we finally reached them on the phone, most of the Reps were treated like dogs. It was a classic case of the Company being right 100% of the time, and all the Customers and the Reps were wrong and making ALL the mistakes.
In 4 months, I and my Team of agents across the country sold about 164 Benefits Plans to Customers, and recruited over 175 Agents, and in spite of that, the Company was always bithching about the fact that we should stop recruiting, and sell more Memberships. Well, what happened was that out of 164 Memberships sold, approximately 85 to 90 customers CANCELLED their Memberships within the first 30 60 days, which means that the Company had about a 52% attrition rate on their Customers. When the Reps talked with their respective Customers, they were told that the Customer Care Department:
A: Never returned their calls, B: Were very rude to the customers, C. DID NOT negotiate the best deals for them on the Patient Advocacy side, D: Didn't get their Membership cards and/or Member Handbooks at all, OR ON TIME, &E: Membership dues were not refunded after the Customers had cancelled as per company policy, and customers were sometimes also DOUBLE billed.
We were then later told that the Company had cancelled their contract with the Patient Advocacy Group in Atlanta, GA, to save about $25,000 per month, and had brought the Advocacy Group in the hands of amateurs in the Home Office, and that was a major factor in Customers canceling their Benefits Plans, because these 6 people in the Advocacy Group were NOT doing their job. I and my partner, Larry had the chance to meet the owners and the staff at the Home Office in late September.
What we found out was HORRENDOUS and mind boggling. The CEO of the company, Mr. Mark Lastovica had declared Personal Bankruptcy', and the President of the company, Mr. Carl Shenkle was an alchoholic as well as a race prejudiced and biased weasel. This man, Mr. Shenkle, has personally said in front of a whole group of about 10-12 people, I hate
, I hate, I hate Hindus, I hate, I hate Buddhists, etc., etc.
The owners of this company are spending money like water to support their respective exotic lifestyles. Even though the CEO, Mr. Lastovica just declared personal bankruptcy', he just bought a Mercedes car for $55,000, and Mr. Shenkle, the President spends $300-$400 per day in alchohol drinks before noon on most days at the Legacy Resort in Tempe, Arizona.in 3 days, this company spent over $10,000.00 on food, drinks, rooms and other frivolous expenses, when they could have accomplished their task in 1 day at their Corporate offices for the price of a $10.00 lunch each.
There are also NO CLEAR CHANNELS in this company for Reps as well as BAD Policies in place including for Structure, Commissions and Overrides.
The worst part is, this is not even their money. They're SCREWING the Reps across the country, and NOT paying them their Renewal Commissions to support their exotic lifestyles. They are also ILLEGALLY distributing other people's Reps to other Reps (YES men) in the company, saying that there was no Training given to them, when in fact each and every Rep IS given a one-half day training the very next day, always, as per Mr. Jim Lilly, the ex Executive Vice-President of the company.
They don't even have money to pay their existing bills ON TIME, but they make ALL the promises in the world.in a period of 5 months from June thru October their website was shut down 3 times due to non-payment of bills on time. They promised that every Rep will have a Back office with GENEALOGY reports, so that Reps could manage their Teams better in July but they never had the intention of doing that, and until today they do not have this feature.
This is so that they could skim off the top, and not pay the Reps all the Commissions that was due to them on their Renewals and override commissions. This company has also been participating in ILLEGAL activities in the near past.
One of the benefits of the Plans we were selling was a Doctor's Office visit for just $50.00. Now this is an INSURANCE Benefit which can be administered ONLY by an Insurance company or a TPA (Third Party Administrator). However, as per Mr. Jim Lilly, ex Executive Vice-President, the owners decided to pay out this Benefit to Customers thru their own offices, even though it was ILLEGAL to do so, and most of the time, a lot of the customers were never sent these checks, even after several phone calls to the company.
There has also been several DISCREPENCIES where Reps have NOT been paid on the Reps they recruited, and/or some of the Memberships they've sold. Policies as well as rules and regulations have constantly been changed to accommodate the company's favor, for e.G., Reps were getting paid once in 2-3 weeks for their recruiting, instead of every week as per company rules. And some Reps NEVER got paid on the Reps they recruited.
The President was looking out for a $2 Million dollar boat to be docked in San Diego, CA, instead of spending money on upgrading the company's websites, or having Genealogy built in the back office, or even spending money to create better videos, or to have better web-based Presentations.
Last, but not the least, they have NOT paid the Renewal Commissions to several Reps across the country, citing an excuse of fiduciary responsibility. There are Reps in that company that have spent every dime in the business they owned to earn the Income they had coming to them, and had nowhere else to go. However, the owners' MODUS OPERANDI seems to be to CHEAT the existing Reps out of their RENEWAL Commissions, and just bring in NEW Reps to screw over, again and again.
The owners know that it takes a lot of money, time and effort for lawsuits, which most Reps don't have, so they're taking advantage of that loophole, and just stopping to send the checks to the Reps, without any notification or justification. Also, they have a FRONT company, (Smart Health Care Solutions), and a holding company, (Team Benefits, LLC), which is a Limited Liability company, so that there is not much financial responsibility, and is incorporated in a state where the laws favor the owners, and they're judgement proof. Every move the owners have made so far in killing the customers and/or the Reps has been pre-meditated.
BE WARNED OF THIS company, or YOU will end up either a VERY dissatisfied Customer, or a Rep that has been screwed over and over.
Sincerely, Michael
P.S. If you've been burnt by this company, I'm looking for people for a class action lawsuit. Please contact me at the above email address.
MichaelDallas, Texas
U.S.A.
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