An individual from Merritt Hawkins and Associates - MHA Group kept contacting me to see if I would use their services for physician recruitment assistance. Finally I agreed. I made it very clear when speaking with this individual that I wanted the costs limited as I had heard horror stories about Merritt Hawkins and Associates charging ridiculous amounts. I agreed to the traditional completion fee and retainer as I believe this is standard in the industry.
I was soon introduced to my recruiter and the search began. Pretty quickly I started to become worried as my recruiter was slow to return my calls. I received a few CV's and there was one candidate who I stated I would be interested in speaking with further. The recruiter though took this statement as me meaning I was ready to interview and hire the individual. The recruiter arranged travel for the candidate and his wife and two children without my knowledge. I agreed to see the candidate as I didn't want to be rude. The candidate though wasn't a fit.
Three weeks later I received an invoice totalling over $4,000 for the candidate and his family's travel though I never agreed to it in the first place. Then I received an invoice for the recruiter to travel to meet with the candidate that I was never fully interested in.
I kept placing phone calls to address my concerns with the recruiter and couldn't get a response. Finally he returned my calls and reviewed the invoices with me. The recruiter stated he was on vacation, though I was being billed for time he was supposidly working on my account. How could this be? This invoice regarding for "time spent" totaled over $4000.
I called the main line and asked to speak with a supervisor who told me it was a part of the contact and I merely needed to pay. Great service!
The invoices continued to add up to over $30,000 spent and we have no valid candidate. I've placed this search on hold with Merritt Hawkins and have sought the services of another firm.
I feel that this firm is shady in its billing practicies and I will never use Merritt Hawkins again.
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