It was by accident and coincidence that I found usacomplaints.com filed by Pumped Media and Mr. Ken Jakubowsky against Ryk Oliver Corporation and its principal, Robert Van Eyk. I decided to file a similar report on Mr. Van Eyk as my experiences with him were very similar to those of Mr. Jakubowsky.
Several years ago I was investigating a number of business and investment opportunities, primarily in renewable energy and the emerging wind energy market. I met Mr. Van Eyk at a business function and we began talking. As he did with Mr. Jakubowsky, Mr. Van Eyk claimed to be very knowledgeable and experienced at fundraising and particularly at raising funds from the many
governmental sources of funding for wind and solar energy which were newly introduced at the time.
I decided to use Mr. Van Eyks services as I was pressed for time and time was of the essence in some of the opportunities I was exploring. Mr. Van Eyk and I established a statement of work upon which we both agreed upon. Mr. Van Eyk asked for a retainer in an amount slightly more than the $3,000 paid by Mr. Jakubowsky.
After the retainer was paid, a few pieces of rather shoddy analysis were presented to me, much of which was comprised of nothing more than print-outs of government web sites. There were promises of more work to come. No more was forthcoming.
My phone calls and emails went un-returned. When I finally did catch up with Mr. Van Eyk, he simply laughed and said that if I wanted his services for the balance of the statement of work, I would have to pay him.
I walked away from making any claim against Mr. Van Eyk and Ryk Oliver. I made a foolish choice in
consultants and I paid the price. The amount of money involved was not insubstantial but it was also not exorbitantly large. I simply chalk this up to one of those unfortunate experiences in business where one hires someone that they shouldn't have.
Still, it is nice to file this report years later. Mr. Van Eyk is at best a shoddy consultant and at worst a fraud.
I am filing this report anonymously as I do not wish to have my name associated with Mr. Van Eyk and Ryk Oliver.
Mr. Jakubowsky's complaint against Ryk Oliver can be found here:
Http://usacomplaints.com/business-consultants/ryk-oliver-corporati/ryk-oliver-corporation-robert-440da.htm
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