Career Agents Network Sucks Blog

There was an interesting post in the “NEWS” section today on the CAN site touting the addition of seven more “verticals” available.  These would include: banking, construction, food and beverage, government, insurance, information technology and legal.  That would mean that these additions are now being rolled out almost two years after they made their corporate statement that they were already involved in many of these “verticals”.  As a matter of fact Charlotte Byndas, the Chief Operating Officer of this less than a half dozen employee company stated in her sworn statements that:  ”CAN has member offices specializing in placing top-notch candidates in industries such as medical, health care, IT, healthcare IT, Internet, alternative energy, heavy construction, corporate turnaround, and credit collections”.  So, more lies from the CAN propaganda machine that these are “new” verticals.  I’d suspect they will be “new” again when they try to roll them out in their next company incarnation. 

More about their 2011 “plan” in a future post. 

Remember that the word vertical denotes a straight line up and down.  You can rest assured that just as an elevator follows a vertical path, investing in this business opportunity will probably lead you to the basement of failure, financial loss, and wasted time.

A MILLION dollars in split placement job opportunities!

WOW!  Sounds like a fortune doesn’t it?  Either they have really poor participation or a very bad ability to perform simple math.  They frequently state that the placement fees received go as high as 30, even 40-thousand dollars.  At 40 thousand dollars that would mean there are 25 split placement jobs available on their new and improved database.  It must also mean that the one member that had represented more than 50% of all split placement opportunities last year is not posting them anymore.

Again, and I’ve said it many times before, investing in the Career Agents Network business opportunity model is a waste of money and a scam (using their own word).

Those are the words of wisdom that hundreds of people would recommend when reviewing this or any ”business opportunity”. 

STOP!  Don’t be lured into a business opportunity with come-ons such as “Hurry up and join now so we can get you into a training session scheduled for August 27-28th”, “This is a limited time offering at a reduced price and is limited to the first X number of applicants”, “This is a streamlined version of our full program and offered at a substantially reduced price for the remainder of the month”, “We are offering a ’scholarship’ to a specific group”, “You can buy a ’shell’ company and receive the full benefits for a huge discount”, or any other special deal that is just for you, a time limited offering, or substantial discount off what “others” will pay. 

THINK!  Consider the ulterior motives in offering these “call to action” specials.  Why are they being offered?  Why do they need to offer incentives to entice people to buy in?  What do they fear in you taking a lengthy period of time to evaluate them, their process, and their record of failing people that bought in before you?  Why did the company change its name and what are the underlying facts behind this sort of “business opportunity”?  If a company is a continuation of a flawed business model, a predecessor sued for alleged fraud,  or founded by a drug felon, is it something you want associated with your name?  If you are REALLY going to make the tens of thousands of dollars per month in their business opportunity what difference will it make in the long run if you take your time, perform a thorough due diligence and it costs more money?  If they are stating that one $15,000 per month placement is $180,000 per year, you should ask how many of their members (past and present) are achieving that number.  When they say they can’t provide those kind of statistics you should ask how they are then able to state those numbers.

INVESTIGATE!  Understand that meaningless badges on their website don’t legitimize a flawed business model.  Understand that when you are given people to speak with in the organization they will necessarily paint a glowing picture for you (after all they’re being compensated for “interviewing”).  Check with your State’s Attorney General for complaints.  Check with the State of Missouri for litigation against the predecessor company https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do?searchType=name .  Check http://www.bluemaumau.com , http://www.scam.com , http://www.fraudster.com , http://www.ripoffreports.com and any number of other web reporting places for articles, comments, and discussion about their “business opportunity” and record.  Ask for a copy of their balance sheet to determine the financial strength.  Ask how they fund day-to-day operations.  Some businesses actually rely on new member sign-ups to pay this month’s electric bill and rent rather than revenue from continuing operations supplied by members making money from their plan.  Ask about the company in forums and blogs while trying to avoid their “shills” that toe the company line.  Check out the company and how it treats those that voice critical commentary as it may portend of the treatment you’ll receive when you become dissatisfied.  Avoid paying a large amount of money upfront, deferring the majority of money (without obligation) until after they have assisted you in becoming successful.  The golden rule: “He who has the gold rules”, so keep most of your money until the “plan” is proven with your bank account deposits.  Question EVERYTHING!

CHOOSE WISELY!  Learn from others mistakes.  If you see a red flag – bail out.  There are many different “business opportunity” ventures to choose from in many different spheres of industry.  Sometimes when you are reviewing and investigating a potential business opportunity you just need to grab a couple of beers, deploy the emergency exit chute, and move on to another opportunity.

I was recently reviewing a franchise opportunity in completely different industry when I learned about the parent organization’s oppressive litigation against one of their franchisees for voicing dissatisfaction.  That was the only red flag I needed, because if the company can’t address their flaws without going to court in an attempt to persecute and silence one of the people that bought into their plan, it’s counter to the principles of enterprise.

More thoughts and opinion about reviewing a potential business opportunity can be found at http://www.scaminacan.com

An article worth reading from a Franchise Newsletter

http://www.bluemaumau.org/9211/court_protects_blogger_gripe_site

Or… why you need to read the fine print.

A mere listing with D&B and D-U-N-S number has nothing to do with helping you determine the integrity, investment worthiness, or ethical conduct of a business.  Provided they pay their bills on time, repay creditors, and honor the terms of their vendors agreement any ultra-left wing or ultra right-wing company could have a listing from D&B.  Pay your $24.95 per month and you can get a listing for virtually any business.  Listing doesn’t mean credit-worthy and definitely does not mean a seal of approval.  As a matter of fact the fine print in the D&B Seal when executing the link from the Career Agents Network website clearly states:

“D&B D-U-N-S Registered Smart Seal does not imply an endorsement by D&B of this business nor does it any way imply or suggest the credit worthiness of the business.”

You’d also think that when a company is paying $24.95 per month for the privelege of placing the seal on their website that they would actually review the information it displays.  Here’s a couple of quick items that display the sloppiness of Career Agent Networks listing.

1. What the heck is “Lauch entrepreneur into the search industries”?  Even when they correct the word “Lauch” to “Launch” should we reserve real estate in Cape Canaveral, Florida as they put some unsuspecting schlubs into orbit? 

2. Shouldn’t they accurately display their new corporate digs address?  You know, the office space between the veterinarian and the auto glass repair shop?

3. Principal, President, Consultant?  You get to use all capitals in your name when it’s in the “Principal” position but have to use mixed case and two titles on one line when you can’t decide if you’re the President or a Consultant.

I’m certain that these will be corrected now that I’ve brought them to public attention, but I made a screen shot for my collection.  Just another example of hastily prepared information that is placed forward in the hopes you’ll gain some trust from an implied representation that has no bearing in fact.  I wish them good Lauch with that.

Note: D&B and D-U-N-S are registered marks of the Dun & Bradstreet Company.  As with any mention of trademarked, copyright, or intellectual property, it is done in an editorial, critical, commentary, or formative manner which is protected  under 17 U.S.C. § 107

In their periodic propaganda publication, the August 11, 2010 Newsletter, Career Agents Network President Paul Helm finally admitted that “The Career Agents Network model isn’t about making a lot of money”.   Strangely enough it coincides with a telephone call I received from a fairly new CAN member dissatisfied with their program seeking information on our class-action efforts against the predecessor company, Health Career Agents.  The CAN member was not grandfathered into the Career Agents Network scam, but apparently missed or disregarded information posted on the internet during their due diligence process and purchased a membership.  After giving the “agent approach” full-throttle efforts, paying close attention to their training, and attempting to utilize the crappy software; they threw in the towel after roughly 4 months and returned to another job in order to continue eating.  For this individual, as it has been for the vast majority of Health Career Agents Network, they simply couldn’t make ANY money in the recruiting business.

Something else struck me as odd during my phone conversation.  Although Career Agents Network has emphasized that they work in multiple verticals such as Medical, Health Care IT, Internet, Renewable Energy, Heavy Construction, Corporate Turnaround, and Credit/Collections it appears as though they steer any new members into health care recruiting just as a continuation of Health Career Agents.

Looking at their “Entrepreneurs” page at the CAN site alone should raise suspicion. Compare it to the the pictures used on “Career Networking Pro” (put those 3 words into a Google search to find the site since I won’t give them a link).  They hold those pictures up on the web with masking tape just like CAN’s “representative placement fees”.  I’d like the Federal Trade Commssion to demand the contact information for the four placements prominently displayed on the CAN website since there isn’t any sort of disclaimer stating that the photos aren’t the actual individuals, when the placements occurred, if the placements were actually made by a Career Agents Network member, or how many different offices were involved in the placements.  Unless one office was involved in all four placements, it seems, in my opinion to be false, misleading, and deceptive to suggest “How many placement fees like these do you need to reach your goal?”.

At least for now, they are beginning to admit the reality, that “The Career Agents Network model isn’t about making a lot of money” and for most it will be about not making any money.

Career Agents Network proudly displays the Better Business Bureau “shield” on their website.  For many people this would have a tendency to create an illusion of credibility for the organization and even when reviewing the information on the BBB website and seeing they have a rating in the “A” category, might instill some sort of trust.  

Until you realize that on July 12th of this year and through July 20th when it was exposed, that the Better Business Bureau also gave a rating in the “A” category to the Sunni Muslim Palestinian extremist group based in the Gaza Strip known as Hamas.  They also gave a rating in the “A” group to a fictitious business called Moore’s Sushi; while giving the very real business of Google a “D”, Disneyland an “F” and Walt Disney World a “B”.

In my opinion, while a company that you knowingly pay for an amusement ride through Fantasyland and another that helps you find answers to a search receive low scores, others that are obviously “fishy”, completely bogus, and extremist are given high marks.  Wear that “A” group rating proudly CAN!

For more on the value of the Better Business Bureau accreditation and rating visit:

http://www.bbbroundup.com/

I suspect that in fairness I should mention that the BBB did get one thing right.  On February 19, 2010 Health Career Agents accreditation in BBB was revoked by BBB’s Board of Directors and they have been assigned a rating of “F”.  It only took them 6 years, close to 1,000 people being hoodwinked, and more than a year after they “transferred” their assets to Career Agents Network before they took action.  Great job BBB!  Right on top of stuff!

Can makes a big deal about their support for Hire Heroes USA and how it assists veterans in finding employment.  We certainly believe that HHUSA is a very valid, useful, and empowering entity.  Why they would want to have their name associated with these people is beyond me. 

Publicity articles touting CAN’s involvement have peppered the internet for the better part of 2 months, CAN displays the HHUSA badge on their  website and even posts press releases about the efforts.  One of the press releases on their (CAN) website even displays something called a “leader board” with the names of those companies and individuals making donations.  On the Hire Heroes USA website it displays the amount raised by each individual and/or company.  On the Career Agents Network site, the dollar amounts are missing.  A little more digging and you’ll find that the entire donation and fundraising efforts of CAN resulted in TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS of the more than 60 Thousand that was raised.  Since it spends about $2,000 on each veteran they assist, CAN’s 2 month fundraising effort resulted in approximately 1/10 of one person being helped.  CAN also vowed to donate $100 for each new member that signed up… so only two people missed the available due diligence information and signed up anyway?

Could they have gotten away any cheaper?  I’m sure they would have if they could have.

Compare them for yourself, the one for CAN’s is on their website (or will be until they read this and remove or edit it with an “Oh that was just a glitch” comment), and Hire Heroes USA is located here:

http://www.hireheroesusa.org/events/golf-fundraisers

On June 29th, Judge Robert Cleland ruled on our motion for attorney fees.  The vast majority of the dollars we were seeking to recover were granted and some were denied. You can read the entire Opinion and Order by following this link:

http://www.careeragentsnetworksucks.com/motionforfees.pdf

It probably will come as no surprise, as it certainly wasn’t a revelation to me, that Career Agents Network is a deadbeat.  It is now THREE MONTHS since they were ordered by the court to pay me $775.65 for the court costs associated with their failed attempt to sue me into submission.

Perhaps my previous assumption that they just don’t have any money or their financial condition is in dire straits is more accurate than previously considered.  My attorney has notified their counsel, Joan Lowenstein that they haven’t paid on more than one occasion.  These advisories were ignored, until we submitted a writ to the court expressing our intent to have the bailiff seize assets at their corporate offices on Pontiac Trail (located between the veterinarian and an auto glass repair shop) to satisfy this obligation; whereupon we were informed by Lowenstein that “You should have a check for the costs sometime next week”. [italics added]  Isn’t it comforting to know that we SHOULD get paid for the costs ordered by the court more than 3 months ago SOMETIME next week?

If it takes this long and requires this much effort to get them to fulfill a court mandated financial obligation for $775.65, I pity anyone trying to collect without a talented lawyer on their side.

Deadbeats….

Shortly after this was posted, and more than 90 days after a court order, CAN’s check number 5385 in the amount of $775.65 arrived at my attorney’s office.  So, perhaps even a deadbeat will pay up after being “called out” and having a writ of enforcement filed with the court.

Just an update to let those of you that have demonstrated an interest in pursuing the possibility of initiating class action litigation against Health Career Agents, Brian Marchant-Calsyn, and it’s representatives that there is new information on the alternate website. 

For the most part, our legal counsel has suggested pursuing individual complaints against HCA, it’s representatives, and Brian Marchant-Calsyn rather than allowing everyone a chance to “feed at the trough” since this would provide greater individual compensation than a class-action. 

We have entertained discussions with some prosecutors regarding non-civil litigation and continue investigating those avenues of actionable cause.

Feel free to contact me to get a list of the attorneys in St. Louis County with whom we have had discussions and demonstrated interest or download the .pdf file from  the alternate “private” website.