Thanks in part to the reports available on this site, I was able to safely cancel my written agreement with Bernard Haldane Associates within the 3 day "cancel this contract [...] without penalty or obligation" period. I now feel I have dodged a bullet and saved a pile of money.
My experience with Haldane was similar to that of others.
The first meeting was framed as an interview. Upon arrival, I was given a form to fill out. It seemed a little odd that the form requested my social security number, but I shrugged off any questions about that and went forward with the "interview." At the end of this meeting, I was told that I had done well and they would be doing a market evaluation (read: credit check) on me; if the "market evaluation" checked out, I would be asked back.
The second meeting could be described as an aggressive sales pitch. After an hour or two of flattery, browbeating, and hearing about how Haldane could provide access to the "hidden" job market, I hesitantly signed up for Haldane's "counseling" service.
Being somewhat ill at ease with my decision, I talked it over with a friend and his clear point of view was that I had fallen for a "sales job." He felt that employee paid services such as Haldane's might be worth the first month's salary, but should definitely not be paid up front.
Later, I searched the internet for negative reports on Haldane and found this site. Other people's experiences and perceptions of Haldane were remarkably similar to my own.
I cancelled my contract with Haldane. Although I was receptive to the idea of hiring Haldane to help me, there were a two main problems that, for me, proved fatal:
1. The service is too expensive.
2. The agreement does not require Haldane to produce any results before being paid.
If Haldane were to fix these problems, they might even be able to convince me to do future business with them.
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