Has anyone dealt with these guys before? All the reviews make them sound like they perform miracles, but I had a recent interaction with them that really turned me off.
I’m co-owner of a stone fabricator and my business partner came to me with this company because someone stopped by to introduce themselves. He walked in unannounced even though we only do appointments due to how busy we’ve been. He put the hard sell on and promised my partner all sorts of tips and tricks for $2500, we just need to meet with his “coworker” to review our business. And how lucky are we that someone happened to be in the area the very next day. I had to be a part of this so I told my partner I would take the meeting.
The “co-worker” came from a few states over, had a different company on his business card (global solutions) and posted up in our office the entire day. Nice guy, but never delivered these “tips and tricks”, just random numbers on a piece of paper. We paid him the $2500 to receive these “tips and tricks”, because I was honestly curious – but in reality we just wanted him gone. He said consultants will be in touch and we can apply the $2500 to their services if we want and don’t have to pay for a thing if we don’t want. To be nice we said sure, have them call and set up an appointment, we’ll think about it (not really)
When you read the fine print, they charge $7000 for the first day and cost should be around $80,000 to “fix our business.”
Wouldn’t you know it, the next day, 2 “consultants” waltzed into our office saying we paid for their services. I wasn’t there but my partner told me they were extremely pushy and “fake nice”. He kindly asked to reschedule and they said they can just go down the street to work, because we paid for them.
We kindly asked them to leave again and thought that was it. Until we received a bill from them in the mail. Long story short, don’t engage with them, and they’ll hear from my lawyer.
Yes, this company scammed my small business in the most devious way possible. At first, they called and claimed to be from the “Norfolk County Tax Attorneys Office.” They said they were a voluntary service focused on informing small businesses about the new tax initiative from the Trump administration designed to help us save money. They asked if they could come by and explain the different changes in tax laws, assuring me that it was a free service.
As a veteran-owned business, I felt encouraged when they sent a representative who identified himself as a “Veteran” to discuss these initiatives. The gentleman sat down with me and took up a couple of hours of my time, convincing me that for $2,500, they would conduct a detailed analysis of my business. He even made some phone calls during our meeting and claimed that because I am a “Veteran-owned business,” they would do the analysis for half the price. They kept insisting that there would be no charge if I wasn’t satisfied with their service. Who wouldn’t be excited about such a deal, right? However, I eventually found out the hard way.
The following day, they sent another representative, who also claimed he was “just in the area.” He performed a full analysis of our accounting and then told me they could fix our entire operation for another $2,500. Before I go any further, let me provide some context: I have been out of my business for the past year due to the tragic loss of my wife to suicide. This has been the most horrific experience I’ve ever faced, even as a combat veteran who served during the bloodiest periods of the Afghan War. Suddenly, I became a single dad, and my kids and I ended up living with a complete stranger who took advantage of us. She initially promised us love and care and offered business consulting, but that’s a whole other story for another thread. Ultimately, she took advantage of us, too, and then kicked us to the curb when she was done.
As you can see, I have been ruthlessly taken advantage of. I don’t like to play the victim, and I generally don’t consider myself foolish. I have always managed to stand back up after being knocked down, but this experience has been exceptionally difficult to recover from, especially with the challenges I faced after my wife’s passing and the situation with this company. My business has been around for almost 15 years and had been okay for the most part—until these guys showed up.
Continuing with the story, I thought it might be good to involve others with experience in helping businesses grow. I looked them up online, and they seemed to have good reviews, although we all know that can easily be manipulated these days. They sent out two people the following day: a salesperson and an accounting expert who had just joined the company.
They ended up getting me alone that day to address our capital issues. The loan was through a company called Sampson Funding. Looking back, I realize I wasn’t paying attention to the predatory tactics they used. For example, while we were trying to secure a loan for $70,000, the lead sales guy, Robert, claimed he had a flight to catch and would miss it if we didn’t finalize everything quickly. They spent an entire day with me and my manager, overwhelming us with sympathy and compassion. I shared my personal story, including details about my wife’s suicide and how I had been struggling to think clearly while learning to navigate single parenthood. I even faced four months of homelessness with my seven-year-old at one point.
Robert went as far as giving me a small card with a tiny cut-out of Mother Teresa’s bonnet, which he presented as a gesture of support. The loan came through within about an hour and a half. My bank was funded, and we were ready to rebuild my struggling business. However, Robert quickly returned, demanding a post-dated check for approximately $14,000. I asked why the amount was so high when I thought the service cost $2,500. He laughed and informed me that he and his colleague charged $500 an hour for their time. This crucial piece of information had never been disclosed at the beginning of our discussion, so I was surprised to learn that I was now paying over $1,000 for a single day’s work.
Feeling cornered, I wrote the check, believing this would lead to a beneficial outcome. His partner, Tom, who claimed to have started working with the company just three months prior, was empathetic and appeared to genuinely want to help. Fast forward one week, and I caught onto the scam when they began asking for more checks..