It is absolutely amazing how Benchcraft continues on a daily basis to rip people off. It is almost like people are too stupid to even know that its happening. They sell golf course advertising on Tee signs, Benches, Scorecards and Display Boards. It is assumed they have 1500 Golf Courses. However many times they have more than one rep calling for the same course or area. They have about 100 employees about 60 are sales reps. 1500 divided by 60 = 25. There should be 25 golf courses per sales person. Hmmm that's interesting.
1.) When you buy advertising with Benchcraft they are trained to say your ad will be up and running in about 6-8 weeks.in reality most ads are 6-18mos or more. They get away with this by having no posting date on the contract. Only very few clients actually refuse to purchase unless they see the contract and the supposed posting date beforehand.
2.) All products are paid up front then Benchcraft will do art work for your sign. They then send a proof to you. Most people believe that because they got an art proof that they are posted on the golf course. On average after a client receives the art proof it is the 6-18mo's.
3.) Upon receiving your contract you will see the statement " This contract shall not be altered or canceled". There is a 99.99% No refund EVER policy in place. So if you decide five minutes after hanging up the phone you want to cancel. Your up a creek. The rep's obviously never mention this. However it is rare but there are some refunds. Which means they credit back the clients credit card then charge the rep for the cost of advertising, even if they didn't even do the art work yet they still charge the rep! Thats Nice!
4.) " Create the Problem", Says the Sales Manager." I don't care what you have to do to get the sale". Lie, Cheat, or Steal It's all the same to them. Then we will deal with the conflicts later. This is where point # 3 comes into play.
5.) Most of Benchcrafts's Golf Courses are over sold. With Years of advertisers inline waiting they will still continue to sell on that course. They double dip their ad's. Meaning on a posting sheet for a golf course it will show 2 advertisers for the same product. One is really on the course. The other is just having the time burnt, acting as if they were posted at the course! Isn't that Fraud???
6.) Once a golf course is overwhelmed with advertisers and some people have waited longer than 18 mo's they do whats called a handicapping. They do not give the clients their money back but simply remove them from the list. They never get posted! So they can make more room for more advertisers on the posting sheet only to handicapp again down the road. They also do what is known as ghosting. They call clients back and tell them it's time to re up the ad. When its really only half way through the clients ad length. They charge them for more advertising and include the other half of the original invoice in the sale. Basically paying double for something that already exists. That is stealing. Ocassionally people catch on and look at their original invoice. They call back saying they were ripped off. Again see point #3
7.) On average the over all rating for Benchcraft and the bbb is poor to say the least. They also receive anywhere from 8-15 Urgent merchant charge back requests from clients credit cards on a daily basis. There is about 100-120 contracts they run each day mon-fri. I would take a very educated guess thats 20-25% of what they sell is PIE IN THE SKY!
8.) They Also treat their Reps Horrible as well. They are screamed at on a daily basis with foul language. Called COCK SUCKERS, FAG'S, PIECES OF SHIT and so and so on. They also post signs in various parts of the office threatening rep's jobs on a daily basis.
9.) There is a laundry list of things wrong within benchcraft's walls. I believe Fraud is high on the list. Unethical sale's tactics. Complete failure to satisfy the customers order. Harassment to employee's bordering sexual harassment.intimidating and hostile work environment. I encourage the district attorney of multinomah county to investigate this company and their actions. Mr. Cobb himself has said that the information and data on the computers are damning! Everyone at the company Knows it WRONG!
10.) Finally one last thing " Leadership reflects performance", It all filters from the top man to the newest sales rep!
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