I was out of work and desperate to find a job. It was a long time that I had been out of work and I one day received a call at home from A Thomas Verzi, Phd out of their White Plains office.
They had arranged to have a secretary call me, who then put me in touch with him. The first conversation with him was extraordinarily elusive. I couldn't find out what type of a company this was. Whether it was a solution provider or an employment agency or what. I hesitated and decided to go one day.
I met Mr. Verzi who told me that their program works on a cycle which co-incides with the capital budget of large fortunee 500 companies, so that I would want to participate in their program now, so I could get placed sooner.
I knew this was a line and I left. I was contacted shortly thereafter by Joseph Kran, President of Phoenix Executive Group (PEG). He mentioned to me how wonderful their training program is and that I would be placed in a high paying contract position for a period of time, till I was able to find a full time job.
As a requirement, I had to bring my spouse along for the meeting. Talk about a wonderful sales tactic. My wife was a recruiter and she knew that I was desperate for a job. She accompanied me where I met Mr. Joseph Kran at the White Plains office who proceeded to take my wife and I into a room.
In there he discussed my background and made observations about the level or plateau my career would reach. He read me like a book after looking at my resume. I had asked what type of consulting there is and how soon I would be able to take advantage of that and I was told very soon.
I was shown a not up to date copy from the Better Business Bureau which made me curious. But Mr. Kran was the ultimate smooth voiced used car salesman that could sell air if he had to. I was promised verbally in front of my wife a job that would pay me more and give me part time work as sooon as possible. All that was necessary was to depart with $5,310, which was called an initial retainer.
This was the first page of the 2 page contract and it was titled "THREE YEAR CAREER ADVANCEMENT PROGRAM WITH PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE FEE $7,965"
The remaining $2,655 was to be paid within 30 days of starting a position with a base salary of at least $125,00 (which was filled in by Joseph Kran personally) per year and a hiring bonus of at least $10,000. (again, the amount was written in pen by Joseph Kran)
After he had pumped me up about how many contacts they have and how extensive "their old boy network" is, that it would be a cinch to land a job very quickly.
The logic as it was explained to me by Mr. Kran was that since PEG had placed so many executives, (and made me feel special that I was being allowed to participate in their "executive" program) that it wouldn't be a problem to call upon their extensive contact list and get a job, no a career for me. That was what Mr. Kran really promised. Was a career track, and he completely understood how I could have gotten off the beaten path of executive status, but how Phoenix Executive Group was the right company who would polish my image, get me in front of the right people and get me contract work all at the same time.
I thought to myself that nobody can lie this good. It has to be true. I mean here is a signed contract, how can they lie? Well, my wife didn't tell me at the time because she saw how excited Joseph Kran made me, but she was completely against me signing this contract.
I had asked Joseph if I could pay half now and the remaining half when I get a job. I was told that it would have to be paid upfront, the whole enchilida. Well, not working I had one choice. I put it on the credit card. He passed it thru the swiper and I never even got a copy then and there from Mr. Kran for the bill.
I started attending and they have this attendance clause where you have to initiate contact with your advisor at least every 2 weeks. I didn't take notice of the statement in small letters that said "Phoenix Executive Group is not an employment agency".
Had I not been pressured right then and there into signing and had been given the opportunity to look the contract over in my own time and come back with questions, I would NEVER have signed with them.
A few weeks later I was full of anticipation and met my counselor who went by the name of Patrice Matzinger who seemed to know a decent amount of information about IT. So Patrice and I had met for several weeks and I was given her email in which I could correspond with her if I had any questions. At the time, I didn't think it was strange but she had given me an AOL address, which had her initials and nothing else relating to Phoenix Executive Group.
Out of the blue, Patrice gets fired and I get a call from their main headquarters out in Iselin, NJ informing me that I would be assigned another counselor. I was furious and upset. I knew that I was going to lose time, because timing was a critical element of the overall job package and I had been promised that absolutely no time was going to be lost as a result of the transfer.
I wasn't too happy with this because I met this man, Bart Gerardi, who was a kind and decent fellow, but knew absolutely nothing about information technology. He had originally been a baseball coach and somehow got into this business. Time went by, I questioned why I was not getting a consulting job. I was told that there were jobs but they were paying too little for me! I was adament, that they show me the jobs so that I could go on an interview but I never did get to go on an interview as a consultant.
During this time I spent with Bart, we were initially meeting weekly which then eventually changed into once every two weeks. Then our meetings would be even less frequent because nothing new was occurring. It was funny how they could postpone my meetings so that they could fit in new people to solicit and take their money. They already had my money and I had to forcefully push and request that maillings occur. Bart was more than willing and nice enough to assist, however it took a long period of time to get anything into my hands. When I told Bart, that the cover letters that I had received contained mistakes, he said not to worry about it and that people don't look at them.
Never was it mentioned in my meeting with Mr. Kran that I would be responislbe for the postage, folding, mailling and signing of every single piece of postage. This amounted to hundreds of dollars and countless hours spent.
I had asked them to redo my resume on multiple occasions. What I received intermittently was the work of an amateur resume writer. I later found out that it fell on Bart Gerardi to prepare the resumes and that his knowledge about my profession was quite limited. Still, I pressed on hoping to get a break.
In the end, I had not gotten one phone call, one interview, one job offer as a result of their work. When I bitterly complained that I wanted my money back, Bart laughed and said Joseph Kran would never part with my money. I brought up the fact that a company of their size and supposed stature should have a full time editor and certified professional resume writer on board. But they didn't. When I wrote them a letter, about their various infractions and lack of due diligence in helping me to obtain a job, I was verbally told that I would probably not have to pay the $2,655 in lieu of my efforts.
After I started complaining and posting to various boards, I never ever heard from Bart Gerardi or anyone at Phoenix Executive Group again. If's funny how my contract is still in effect and runs through July of this year. However, I would never waste my time with them. They amounted to a complete waste of lies and an effort in futility because nothing ever came about.
Numerous maillings that I had made and was given the companies contact information from Phoenix resulted in a return rate of at least 10%. They would come back postmarked "unaddressable, person no longer is here".
During this time I realized that I had been completely swindled because they offered no valuable service or quantifiable service. The contract did not have the option of allowing me to gracefully back out or to be allowed to take it home and think about it before signing it. I lost over $5,000 and they were laughing at my expense all the way to the bank.
Thinking about it, they played very dirty pool, knowing that I was out of work and not earning a penny. Yet their fee had to be automatically paid up front before anything could happen.
They switched counselors on me without my approval or knowledge, and never sent me out on 1 single interview. Meetings became less and less as a result of my lack of obtaining interviews and their need to generate revenue.
The only way they generate revenue is by placing more seats in their chairs.By me not having weekly meetings provided them with the opportunity to generate income and also to push my information further and further in the background.
I have been on many boards where countless people have been victimized the same way I have been with no recourse. Since they operate across state lines and in multiple states and are a subsidiary of another company, there should be an investigation into why they are allowed to get away with this kind of blatant ripoff of those people who can least afford it.
They now attend job fairs and the people who coordinate these fairs and the hotels that put them up should be held accountable if any contract is signed on site at the job fair. They need to tell people in bright bold visible letters that they are NOT an employment firm and should clearly state that. I was made to believe by Joseph Kran in front of my wife that they were a full fledged executive search firm AKA employment firm.
If your smart, you will stay away from them like the plague. They provide nothing of value, in return for taking your money.
A PEG VICTIM
Osh Kosh
U.S.A.
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