GSA Applications cold called me and told me that I was "eligible for a five year contract with the federal government". I'd considered doing business with the government before, but it seemed really complicated. They said they could guarantee me federal business, if I paid them a $7500 fee.
I checked around with their competitors, and GSA Application Services' fees were less than half. Some of the competitors charged as much as $23,000.
I went the GSA Applications, and it was a painful process that went on for over 2 years. They would not return my calls after they got my money, and I had to get my lawyer involved to get them to do the work I paid them for.
When I finally did get my contract, it wasn't 'business', it was a contract to allow me to go get contracts.in other words, after I paid them, I still had to go out looking for business. I had to convince the government to 'use' the contract. After a lot of hard work, I was able to get some contracts.
After I had been working with the governmetn for 18 months, an auditor showed up at my door. He went through all my paperwork, told me that a lot was missing, and told me that because of the shoddy work that GSA Applicaitons did, I owed the government a penalty of more than $85,000.
I tried to contract GSA Applications for help with the audit, but they have not responded to my calls, and left me holding the bag.
I thought I would save money by using GSA Applications, but in the end, I had to do a lot more work, I had to pay my lawyer, and I had to pay the government. My total cost is approacing $100,000. It's been an awful experience.
If I had just bitten the bullet and paid the higher-priced consultant with the real references, I would have saved a lot of money in the long run.
0 comments