I’ve ranted before about eLance, which for me is an okay place to go to find low-cost graphics and design people for quick jobs. Over time, I’ve found some good sources on eLance, but rarely for jobs over $1,000. But, as noted previously, it is a challenge to get noticed as a professional on those sites when you are bidding for small jobs against numerous competitors.
Prosavvy (http://www.prosavvy.com) has provided me with a higher calibre of professional, for larger jobs. Typically Prosavvy provides me with no more than 7 bids or so, unlike eLance which can provide me with unlimited (literally) bids.
Wondering if any of you have tried ProSavvy as a place to bid on projects, and what your experience has been….
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I have thought about them extensively, but never pulled the trigger. Not only do you have to pay several thousand dollars just to be allowed to bid on things, you then have to give them a percentage of each job won. All of this w/o any gaurantee that you will actually get any work. I’m into taking a risk, but I’m not into spending several thousand just to get a chance to bid. They need to lower that initial cost, it makes it too hard to stomach, and it makes it seem like a scam–no matter how it is, they get a few thousand before you even start. They should back-end it, or raise the % they take, or lower the start-up cost to few hundred dollars. I think a lot more people would use it then….
May 1st, 2005 at 2:17 pm
To be honest I never heard of them, although I have heard about eWork (a company that bought ProSavvy).
Now that you have mentioned them I have registered and I am about to see what’s the price to become an Affiliated Supplier. I just think that I will probably be disappointed with the price if it is as bad as DrBigFresh says it is.
On the other hand, Andy is right about Elance (although, you were talking from Buyers perspective). I believe we provide a quality service, but it is hard to bid seriously on most Elance projects. Our prices are low (compared to prices in USA), but there is always some low budget/low quality bids that promise state-of-the-art work with all the bells and whistles (not to mention that most of them have problems with communicating in English). That make it virtually impossible for us to justify the client why our price is that much higher when others are willing to do it for few bucks.
Anyway, that is why I am looking for serious Elance alternative. (btw, for all people saying that offline leads are the best and that Elance-like sites are bad – unfortunately some of us don’t live in countries where we can charge enough for our services, despite the fact that we deliver quality services).
May 2nd, 2005 at 12:00 pm
I would not recommend Prosavvy. Our small consulting firm has used it for almost a year and we have responded to numerous projects. Except for one, all of the clients that have ’short-listed’ us never returned our phone calls or emails. In the one that responded, the client requested a full-blown proposal (background, methodology, project plan, staffing, costing, etc.) only to grant the project to a firm who was not subscribing Prosavvy and who did not participate in the Prosavvy-generated process. We spent more $5K and significant staff time on this ’service’ and received absolutely no value.
May 23rd, 2005 at 3:14 pm
ProSavvy is currently approaching me not good to hear such a neagative experince
May 26th, 2005 at 10:12 am
DO NOT sign on with Prosavvy! Do yourself a favor and run the other way! Consider this: they list about 200 leads per month, and they claim that they have “2000+ consulting firms with 20,000 consultants”. Do the math. Something is very wrong. Not one marketing promise has panned out. Here is something else to consider: go to their website and try to find out who in on their management team. What legitimate business does not even list their officers and executives? They are unresponsive and deceptive and this is a classic bait-and-switch scheme. Do yourself a favor and visit this site before you do anything: http://209.197.88.166/forums/index.php?showtopic=9
There are many dissatisfied customers out there. This is as close to the perfect rip-off scheme as you can get.
After two months, I got one “qualified lead” and it turns out that the guy has no moeny at all. Some lead!
June 17th, 2005 at 11:50 pm
I recommend staying far away from ProSavvy! Becoming an affiliate was a huge mistake for our young firm. You commit to paying close to $4000 with no guarantee of work. The “leads” are clearly unscreened, frequently demand ridiculous amounts of work for tiny (sub-$5,000) budgets, and often come with bizarre conditions (”must have 15 years experience marketing above-ground swimming pools in Central America”). We’ve spent dozens of hours this year answering ProSavvy “leads” for which we are extremely well qualified but have never scored any work and made only two actual contacts. One was a crazy self-styled “inventor” with no money who wanted lots of free advice, the other a mystery man who claimed to have cornered the market on Chinese mangoes, then disappeared without a trace. Search for more web comment on ProSavvy; it’s scathing. There are numerous BBB complaints, threats of lawsuits, and a possible class action by frustrated consultants pending (I’ve checked in with the lawyer). Based on my own experience I give ProSavvy a very negative rating.
June 30th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
Thanks for all the informative comments. I have also been approached and hounded by Prosavvy to sign-up. They claim 56% of their projects are real and get awarded. Hard to believe.
I signed up with Guru.com and have been very disappointed with all the listings that want the world for $250. At least it only cost $200 to join.
I guess there isn’t a legitimate online consulting source at there yet.
July 8th, 2005 at 4:39 pm
3-4 years ago I was using Elance and got a bid from ACTIVEUNIT:
http://www.equay.com/warning.htm
Unfortunately I did not have a good experience with Active Unit.
Recently I posted another project on Elance.com. Again – bad luck, this time I’m being terrorized by their Pakistani member and Elance.com does nothing to stop him:
http://www.equay.com/artologi.htm
August 15th, 2005 at 11:39 am
November 2004 I contacted Prosavvy. I was told I could put the $3,999 on a credit card, and they would draw $1,000/month. I opped a amall credit acount to draw from. The credit account was frozen after only $2,000 was drawn (because of a Bank consolidation, not because of Prosavvy). Although I participated fully and actively for 3 months, I didn’t get any work and was concerned abut what I was seeing and hearing. I was reluctant to to continue paying, but agreed to continue participating and even to pay a higher percent on any contract. They froze my Prosavvy account and turn it over to Dunn and Bradstreet for colection. I and Prosavvy are both rregistered with D&B. I’m am in the process of derminating my affiliation with Prosavvy. I even listed my affiliation with Prosavvy on all my Business cards and communications – I ws willing to let my potential clients to go to Prosavvy for competitve bids. Now I recommend to everyone to learn more about using Prosavvy (an any risks) before using them as a supplier or as an affilite. AnonymousB
October 4th, 2005 at 1:18 am
Is there any continuing word as to whether eworkmarkets is legitimate or not?
November 9th, 2005 at 9:45 pm
Prosavvy, is now known as eWork Markets. My advise: look for other ways to market your business.
The initial sales pitch from eWorks compared to the reality of being a member of the eWorks Affiliate program is hugely disappointing and in my case horribly misleading.
On several occasions I thoroughly discussed the details about the eWork program: type of projects my firm is interested in; size of projects we are looking for; number of opportunities routinely available; availability of assistance from eWork project managers; communication of details about projects that we submit a proposal to; etc. The eWork marketing associate I spoke with assured me a wonderful experience with dedicated project managers that provide ongoing assistance and the availability of loads of projects that fit the profile I communicated to her.
We are increasingly disappointed in the eWork Markets program. There have been 3 projects in the 6 months since we paid the Affiliate fee that fit the description I described. There has been no feedback on projects we have submitted a proposal to, leaving us in the dark about what happened with the projects. On three occasions I have communicated these concerns to eWorks with the assurance someone would get back to me, which never happened.
The bottom line: projects that fit the description I communicated are rare; prospects are encouraged to have eWork manage the process which adds an additional fee to the Affiliate; the Affiliate receives no usable communication or information about the disposition of the project; the Affiliate is working blind with little possibility of actually landing a project; and no point of reference to modify future proposals.
Please spread the word to prevent people from being duped out of thousands of dollars.
December 13th, 2005 at 12:37 pm
Prosavvy eWorks markets suck.
I have been an affiliate since spring of 2005 and have yet to get any business from them.
I reitterate the messages posted above because they are all on point. I have had the exact same (negative) experiences as the others and I wouldn;t reccomnd any firm donate any money to them.
January 31st, 2006 at 11:31 am
It is amazing to me that these people are still in business – I was an affiliate in 2003 and nothing has changed – this is still a scam!!!!
May 9th, 2006 at 3:31 am
Folks,
Apparently the e-Works thing is not going much better? Hans, the owner of the co that merged with ‘em, said that he thought the issue regarding the complaints lies with the consultants. “They really don’t know how to market themselves…”
What was Prosucky and eWoks for then? They are supposed to be a marketing service. That’s like a parachuting instructor explaining that the newbie jumper died because “he didn’t how to parachute.”
June 28th, 2006 at 1:09 am
I registered for eworkmarkets after having seen a great lead for which I decided to bid. I was informed the registration only entitles you to see the project opportunities and I would have to become an affiliate to bid. I was uncomfortable with a first year investment of almost $4000 + a 12% commission rate without knowing more about the company. Unfortunately I’ve only seen negative feedback from consultants/consulting firms. I contacted the ework rep to discuss my findings but told her I’d be willing to increase the commission rate if she waived the first year investment. That would make me far more comfortable considering the comments I’ve read on the blog. The response … no go! The representative merely offered to send me positive references. I declined. Cherry picked references isn’t the solution.
August 8th, 2006 at 2:56 am
Thank you. Thank you all. I was really close to getting muscled in by a very good eWork salesman. I had strong reservations and this forum was just the thing to save me the money I really don’t have. Thank you all! Mike
August 26th, 2006 at 9:50 pm
I recently signed up with Guru.com. Very disappointing to date. I have bid on many projects for months (and not at the top price range). I have yet to receive even an indication that anyone has even seen any of my bids.
I would like to hear from anyone who has used this site with success. If so, how long did it take (months, years) to land work or how many bids did you submit before scoring a job?
September 12th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
We have used Guru.com in the past as well but find t very difficlt to close business there. The problem is that many of the porjects never get awarded. Guru.com seems like a good place for people to go when they want to get ideas, estimates, and proposals for stuff they are thinking about dong, and never planning on doing once they get the bids.
Secondly, a lot of firms on Guru.com are from India and other developing countires. Not only are you bidding against other talented developers in the U.S. but you have to deal with lower price points as well since you have competition bidding solely on the fat that they can do it cheaper than you.
Honestly, they best way to get projects is by word of mouth or professioanl referrals. It is possible to get projects from Guru.com but you better have a really good proposal does an amazing job of highlighting the value of your product/service, be prepared for a lot of competition, and bid on hundreds of projects a month.
All in all I’ve been a memeber of ProSavvy eWorks Markets and Guru.com and I would say I am more satisfied with Guru.com because Guru.com doesn;t ame all these great promises about the business I will get from their service and Guru.com is a much cheaper route than eWorks Markets.
September 13th, 2006 at 12:58 am
Thanks a lot guys, I was starting to seriously consider trying out eWorkMarkets, but after reading this, I understand this would have been a major waste of time and money.
September 17th, 2006 at 8:01 am
Let me add my thanks for all the above information. I head a small Packaging Development/Project Management consulting firm, and have been solicited heavily by Ework Markets. I was just about to pay up, but decided to check a little further into their history and others’ experiences. The above comments have “sold” me! I will delete their messages and move on. Maybe we ought to find a way to work together to help one another – there’s plenty of work out there, it’s finding/having the right contacts. Any takers? Contact me at personal@e-l-consulting.com and let’s see what we can do!
October 11th, 2006 at 10:23 pm
I have read the above comments and cannot believe the mis-information that is being fed to everyone.
We are a Consulting firm who have been in business for 7 years. We have been an affiliate Consulting firm (RJR Consulting, Inc.) with e-Work Markets, Inc. (previously ProSavvy)for over 4 years. In that timeframe, we have closed over 70 projects with them. They are the REAL DEAL! The projects are very effectively screened by Project Managers, before they are even posted on the site. I would say that they are 90% effective in weeding out those who are not serious.
I see comments posted about “not getting a response after 3 postings” and “I still haven’t gotten any business from them”. Let me respond to each of these statements. First of all, it may take several postings to receive back a client’s contact information. This is not e-Works deciding this, it’s the clients. They simply felt they had better choices on responses. Secondly, you have to compete and win the client over; nothing is going to drop in your lap– e-Works system or not!
If you’re good at your areas of expertise, plus are a good business-person, e-Works offers you a fantastic opportunity of pre-screened projects looking for the right person or firm to help them and bring business into you.
For those of you thinking about joining e-Works, I would highly recommend it, if you meet the two criteria above. We have received over a 1000% return on our investment and plan to be an affiliate for as long as we are in business. Feel free to check out our Consulting site at http://www.rjr-consulting.com. I hope I have offered some balanced perspective to the fantastic service that e-Works offers and to the very dedicated people who work there.
October 12th, 2006 at 7:47 am
We have been an member of the EWork network for over six years and are very satisfied with the service. We normally get 10-15 projects a year out of places that we would never in our wildest dreams had a chance to get into with any other method of marketing.
If you are a real consulting operation, ProSavvy or EWork is a great deal. If you are a pretender as a consultant and can’t compete, you will fail. All ProSavvy can do is to give you the opportunity to sell. If you cannot sell, you will starve. Its that simple folks.
We have ongoing communications with the people at EWork all the time. If I win, they win, is the way I look at it.
As far as cost, the first project usually pays for any fees during the year. Getting a one project payback, thats pretty good in my opinion. So for all you people who want projects dropped in your lap, forget it. You have to work to get the projects. For those out there who are not real consultants, keep your day job. This type of work calls for many extra hours of work, day and night.
With EWork, one can work hard and be rewarded with great projects and satisfied clients at the same time.
A Satisfied Client,
Steve Gravely, President
The Consulting Group of Jocassee, Inc.
http://www.JocasseeConsulting.com
October 12th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Group50 Consulting has been an affiliate with EWork for two years. I too was concerned about the cost of the program and then I thought about the cost of a salesperson and my time selling. We have about a 10% hit rate on projects we respond to and have landed both large projects and small ones. Earlier this year, Group50 became a life member of Ework. I have spoken to most of the executive team members and get great service from the project managers.
All of us get frustrated about the work we put into a client when we don’t get the bid. It happens. At the end of the day, the amount of reward is a function of the work you put into it. We are very satisfied with EWork and recommend it to anyone who asks, even at the risk of inviting more competition.
Jim Gitney
Group50 Consulting
October 13th, 2006 at 4:45 am
I wouldn’t put it past the folks at ProSavvy/eWorks to be soliciting their choice clients to post these positive reviews. It is well known that there are a few “select” eWorks partners whom get work for that site.
It’s peculiar, almost Carl Rove-ish, that the only 2 positive responses about the company have come in 2 consecutive days.
This page must be getting pretty popular on the search engines and now eWorks is doing damage control……..
October 13th, 2006 at 4:54 am
PS…..There are sentences in these positive reviews that are eerily similar to the sales pitch that their sales people give when trying to get your money.
October 13th, 2006 at 4:57 am
What I have read above causes me great concern and I am most happy that such persons are no longer members of the network. This is not meant to be a wholesale endorsement of eWork Markets, rather is meant to be an objective, non-biased review of our experience. Here in Canada, we use a government operated system which posts projects within government, this system too has “ridiculous” qualification requirements, costs money to use on a monthly basis, requires extensive work to respond to projects and it is usually some time before you successfully land a project. Does this mean the government of Canada is attempting to defraud me of money? eWork Markets offers professionals such as us the opportunity to have access to projects we would otherwise not have access to, but simply bidding on a project is no carte blanche guarantee that you will be awarded the project. I know all of the project managers and work very closely with them, because, like any consultant is supposed to, you get to know the players in the process, networking 101. Ework Markets is meant to augment your existing efforts, NOT replace them. I dare say these rantings sound much like the unhappy fox who when he could not reach the low hanging grapes, called them sour and said they were no good anyway. We have spent over $4000 on newspaper ads for specific marketing functions, they did not work out so well, but does that mean I blame the newspaper because it told me I would reach 2 million readers on a certain day. At the end of the day, you remain accountable for your success, not eWork Markets!
A Raoul Nembhard
Cheif Executive Officer
Nembhard & Nembhard Group
October 14th, 2006 at 12:24 am
Raoul,
I fully understand everything you are saying. However, when you sign up for eWorks the sales people make it seem that you are only going up against 3 or 4 other companies when bidding. When I joined I fell for the same sales pitch. It simply isn’t true, you go about against many other companies, just like n eLance.
I have followed up with at least 5 potential clients from eWorks and I was told by them that they decided to go with firms they found OUTSIDE of the eWorks markets partnerships.
Hence, there is nothing keeping potential clients from actually following through with awarding the project to an eWorks partner.
eWorks is nothing more than a glorified way to get POTENTIAL leads (not clients) in front of you. It’s far overpriced than other resources that provide the same service. The problem I have with eWorks is that they misrepresent themselves by saying they only send out WELL QUALIFIED leads, which is just simply B.S. when these projects are being awarded to companies outside the network, or never even getting awarded.
Secondly, as an eWorks provider I was able to see how many projects were awarded versus not awarded an a great many (about 60 – 70%) were never awarded and on top of that you would get an e-mail months after a project bidding period expired stating that the project owner ended the project and the reason provided is “no reason”, this is VERY TYPICAL with eWorks. Getting a number of these e-mails prompted me to do my own investigating about why these clients weren’t awarding the project.
Now that this page is #1 on Google for eWorks markets, eWorks is doing damage control and asking the handful of satisfied clients (who most likely specialized in some obscure technical area). No one has posted anything positive on this forum in over 2 years about the company until 4 days ago, and now we see a positive response each day.
This type of practice is typical for eWorks.
Look, most of the people who will read this are small business owners with very little cash flow. If your looking to not waste your money on something that sounds too good to be true then use the comments here to make your decision. In my experience with eWorks they seemed more concerned with getting my initial payment than helping me get any business.
And for those who say that we are the ones who just can’t “close the deal” why is it that my company can get work from other avenues, like through search engines and word-of-mouth, but not eWorks.
eWorks should stop promising the world to providers and st charging outrageous fees upfront for a misrepresented service.
Why doesn’t eWorks charge a commission on the projects they award? Why is there a need for an upfront fee if the services is generating so much business?
I think the answers are pretty clear.
October 14th, 2006 at 1:01 am
I was taken in by this outfit when it called itself Prosavvy. Cost me $3,500. They have no integrity. I would rather have burned the money than give it to these jerks.
October 27th, 2006 at 11:31 am
The Prosavvy program
It all starts with the Adwords campaign on Google and spam selling the idea that if you join Prosavvy as an affiliate consultant you will have the opportunity to bid on “hundreds” of “projects” that are posted at Prosavvy’s web site. The hustle to get you in as an “affiliate” goes from the hype in print to emails from sales people like Katherine Barnes that begin to haunt you until you either block them or make an inquiry. The Prosavvy spam usually highlights a “project” or two that remotely relates to your specialty. I say remotely because most all of the so-called “projects” that arrive at Prosavvy are low paying, obscure, often offshore, and sometimes downright bizarre.
Even though the sample “projects” in the spam emails were not even remotely related to my field, which is product development, I made that one stupid error in judgment that many of us make in marketing our trades. “Gee, if I only get one project from these guys it will pay for itself”. Well out of nearly 70 applied for “projects” not one materialized. Not to say that some of the offerings never went to someone, but many were cancelled, closed, or?
I was told by one of the “clients” that posted one of the “projects” I responded to that the listing was far more speculative than my contact at Prosavvy made it sound. In other words the “client” was simply on a fishing expedition.
Back to the sales pitch. The Prosavvy sales person always uses a deadline where a discount will expire if you fail to act. Of course the discount never actually expires but it is used to set the hook and cause the potential buyer to act under duress.
One of the more laughable claims at Prosavvy is that you will have to submit several references that will vouch for your integrity and indicate that you finish what you start and at a value and so on. This claim is made to “clients” that post “projects” at Prosavvy. They are assured that their affiliates are screened and pre-qualified as part of their “quality” program.
Well, once your check clears in the amount of $3,150.00, they are not about to risk giving it back so the strict regimen of screening goes right out the window. This should have been the first warning flag that this was likely what the FBI calls a 419 or a “pay in advance” scam but I was eager to play along and earn my investment back.
When I first joined Prosavvy I was shocked and disappointed by how few “projects” were appearing daily and the ones that did appear were so obscure in scope like bridge engineering in India that I couldn’t imagine that anyone could possibly be interested in them. I remained cautiously optimistic and over the next year some relevant “projects” did start to trickle in and I diligently responded to every one averaging about two hours per response. Well after dozens went by without a single close I started getting very concerned and started getting vocal. I complained and asked for help. I asked if there was anything I could do to improve my odds or my presentation. I was getting desperate and started feeling like one of those guys who bought into one of those Nigerian 419 scams where someone says they have twenty million dollars tied up in a Nigerian bank and if you just send them ten grand they will give you 30% for the effort.
After nearly 70 attempts to use their system and not one resulting in a “project” I realized that I was had. The irony here is that I am a due diligence expert! I get paid to perform due diligence as a service for many clients. I have saved others tens of millions spotting frauds and scams but I couldn’t save myself! It’s the story about the plumber whose faucets all leak at home!
Before you think I am the biggest sap on the planet you need to understand why I never saw any red flags in searching news groups and the web. They were smart in spamming the web with meaningless posts to obscure or reduce the rank of negative posts. Prosavvy was very shrewd in setting up a guaranty that states “If you can’t close at least $30,000.00 worth of projects we will allow you to stay in our system free of renewal fees until you do” or something to that effect. This is a very cute way of silencing dissent. After you have been hosed for three grand you are going to want to hang in there to get it back. I equate this psychology with gambling. How many people park in front of a slot machine in Vegas or Atlantic city and feed and feed the hungry machine unable to leave because they think that if they just hang in there they can at least recoup their investment. Well we all know how that story ends.
The Prosavvy approach is to get as many front-end investments of $3,100.00 or more depending on the commission structure as possible and if they never see another dime from commissions they still have the front end annuity stream. They claim over 2,000 affiliates. At an average of say $3,300.00 (a mix of commission plans) that is a modest sum of $6,600,000.00.
Now do I believe that they really have 2,000 affiliates? No, but even 2,000 victims yields 6.6 million! Can you spell P-O-N-Z-I ?
Do I believe their claim of $450,000,000.00 worth of projects have been passed through Prosavvy? Yes. The carefully worded claim very likely means that $450,000,000.00 passed right on through like butter on a hot tin roof, without much of it being peeled off for affiliates!
Why did I continue to put the terms PROJECT and CLIENT in quotes throughout this story?
Well, unlike Prosavvy’s claim that their affiliates are all screened their clients are not. Neither are the projects. In other words, the clients and their projects are allowed, at no cost or obligation of any kind, to come into the Prosavvy site at will, and post any project they wish regardless of merit.
This sloppy procedure contributes to the reason why so many of the so-called projects never seem to materialize. Anyone, regardless of qualification can post a project for any reason. It could be for simply pricing information as a fishing expedition, it could be to flush out competition, or worse, it could be a Prosavvy accomplice “bulking” up the postings roster. There is no way of knowing since very few responses result in a contact with the client or project post originator.
In summary, I close nearly every one of my bids. I have only lost a couple of bids since 1978. My background is strong and my hourly rate is fair and honest. As you can see I can convey a thought on paper. How is it that with all these fundamental requirements to enter into a business relationship with someone that I was unable to close a single transaction out of nearly seventy attempts?
I will let you be the judge.
If you would like further information I can be reached at jdurban@vorel.com.
The above statement is my opinion, protected by the first amendment, based on my personal experiences and information available at the time of this writing. Others may have experienced more favorable results than I and hundreds of others.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:55 am
Thank you so very much. We were being pursued with rebates and discounts – a little bit of research says ework markets is a total fraud.
November 30th, 2006 at 1:44 am
Has anyone here had a bad thing happen after joining? So far I’ve read a lot about positive expectations not being met, but in life, that’s hardly news. Has anyone had their credit card information or identity sold or stolen? Has anyone has an experience where one of their prospects was warned against using you for some reason that was other than your suitability for the job? Has anyone here been treated badly? I’m seriously considering joining and a “Stan” there has been pretty persuasive. I filled out their little registration in August and the e-mails have been pretty much non-stop since then. I’ve never written in one of these blogs before so I will try to lay out my dilemma a clearly as I can.
My company works with group dynamics in the post merger and acquisition environment. Among other things, we come in and clean up after a merger, buyout or re-organization. Our services are largely in the Human Resources and organizational dynamics areas; helping newly formed groups start being productive again. Like many others it seems, I found this blog after googling the company. I asked “Stan” to give me some background on some of the consultants who have blogged here, both those with good things to say and the few naysayers who’ve identified themselves. I also spoke with one of the handpicked references they send out. It was pretty interesting.
Without getting specific with what I learned about the naysayers, three things really stand out. First, in any competitive setting, with the lone exception being a single session presentation forum that’s less than 2 hours in length, being the last to present is NOT to your benefit. I’ve known for a long time that when I get a chance to present to a prospect, I’d better be quick, concise and responsive or I’m going to be sitting in the dust. The second is that if you’re given tools to use and are told that those tools will help you to be considered by more prospects, you should actually use those tools before complaining about bad results. The third is pretty basic…using abusive language with prospects is definitely not cool.
As to the hand picked “super consultant” I was put in contact with, during a short conversation, I was re-acquainted with a feeling I haven’t felt in a long time…talking to someone who was actually more interested in me and my business than in himself. Validation is the best name for what I experienced. I felt validated.
Finally, to the blogger who added a long letter here on November 22, Mr. Durban. Mr. Durban, I found out that your experiences with Prosavvy happened way back in 2001 and 2002. I also learned that you did get a job with a Prosavvy client to design a decorative LED lighting system. eWork informed me that after neglecting them for six months, you approached the client one day suggesting a new, under the table agreement so you wouldn’t need to pay Prosavvy’s commissions. Probably because you’d already angered them with your neglect, the client turned you in and your access to jobs was terminated. Why are you bringing that up now after over four years have passed? Doesn’t that seem obsessive to you? I know that most people who blog are obsessive-compulsive insomniacs and blogging can be very therapeutic. Considering the fact that an anonymous audience will actually read what you write, it’s lots more exciting than keeping a journal or diary. Some blogging behaviours however can point to more serious problems and those really should be addressed.
December 4th, 2006 at 11:00 am
I HOPE EVERYONE READS THIS WHOLE ACCOUNT. ALL THOSE WHO FELL FOR THE LIES OF EWORK AND ESPECIALLY KATHLEEN BARNES AS A SALES REP. …RAISE YOUR HAND!
First off, It is very simple to see that the ” consultant from Texas” as well as others above are ework individual’s. He admits to not being a member so where are his facts coming from? I too listened to the propoganda, especially from Kathleen Barnes and Neil Walker.
The walls are closing in on a fairly large Law Suit against eWork and for this to occur, a court of competent jurisdiction must be preseted evidence of wrong doing. Courts do not just hear these types of cases based on here say. Do a bit of digging and you will find strong evidence of this.
As for our groups background, we are a consultant group of 9 highly qualified and accomplished individuals. 4 of our members come from Fortune 500 backgrounds and we have a minimum of 20+ years experience delivering services to companies such as Sony, Coors, Smirnoff, Nestles, BP and many others. In addition, we have offices world wide.
We joined eWork to expand our reach into small to medium size contracts/clients and we fell hook, line and sinker for the BS of eWork. Like others, we jumped feet first into responding to projects..over 40 in just the first 60+ days.
FACT…Our very first release to a client resulted in weeks of contact effort and no response. We contacted the project manager and we were eventually called back and told that the person who listed the project had abandon that idea and was on to other ideas.
FACT…We contacted a day later and asked for the statistics of projects to be reviewed again by Neil Walker. We wanted to see if the statistics provide by Kathleen Barnes matched that of Neil Walker. You guessed, they did not. Not only could they not produce the statistic until days later regarding % of projects listed vs % won by members, I have an email from kathleen Barnes stating that on average, 4 or less members respond/selected for projects where Neil Walker states nearly double…I guess they didnt get their lies coordinated.
Fact… In under 3 months, we have responded to over 40 projects. Nearly half we were passed on to the client and the other half we were not selected. I will lay blame to us on the not selected ones as geographic location came into play on some. Of those selected and which we can document, the following reasons or excuses were encountered:
1. Moved on to new idea
2. I was just looking for information
3. I was not aware that I had to pay for time/information
4. Tell me everything you know about this and I will tell you if I am interested
5. Project put on hold
6. Project cancelled – no reason given
7. There was a death – project moved to 2007
8. After 6 weeks of discussing with client and proposal – eWork sends us “project Cancelled” notification
9. I was just seeing what consultants were out there, I will notify you
FACT…we have well over 100+ hours of response, RFP and proposal writing to date, and this is a significant cost to our company. This comes with the territory however, if the territory is comprised of truly non qualified leads and a support team who cannot seem to get their stories straight, you are destined to fail. Note: call Neil Walker on the carpet about an issue and present the facts, my bet is he will not respond…this has happened 3 times in just the past month.
Fact…Out of the 1/2 of the projects we were selected for, the closest we have been so far is a cancelled project. As an example, I have white papers, case studies and a 60+ page proposal that I will match head to head with any individual/group/company for our services used to win eWork clients.
If you really want to help others from getting sucked in by eWork, stick to the facts and be able to support your claims. My Texas friend above from eWork simply has no facts as he is not an affiliate.
Stop opening the door with opinion to eWork…present the facts!
December 8th, 2006 at 2:53 am
I believe it may be time for eWork to change their name or pull off one of their miracle mergers to change their name. How about Cheatham, Dewey & Howe?
I find it very interesting that even after a planted positive feedback is written, that another member steps up to dispute the claims of eWork…check the previous 4 postings.
December 8th, 2006 at 3:12 am
Anyone who is considering eWork should read this. He is a small intro into my nine month long saga of my endeavor with eWork Markets.
It all started when I was sucked into the sales pitch of eWorks about nine months ago. The sales pitch was very good and I was promised a lot by Heather Stauffer only to find it all complete garbage once I signed the contract.
For starters the contract basically protects them in every way shape and form, and provides no protection for you, the consultant. There is no way out of the contract, and no provisions for court costs to be paid if you ever end up going to court with these people. The contract basically states that you have to pay them no matter what.
Second, in the sales pitch they claim they will be your partner, and there if you ever have any problems. However the moment you you question ANYTHING once you sign the contract, they become completely different people.
In the sales pitch, they claimed that each lead through eWorks is throughly checked by the staff to ensure that it is legit, and that the company has a budget and is ready to hire. This is a complete lie. I decided to put through several different posts, and the only communication I had was them asking me how many leads did I want to receive at first.
Once I signed, I ended up getting passed around to two different representatives. I had Neil Walker and Melissa Sibley, Once I realized that I was lied to completely about what they offer, and their “screening” approach, I immediately tried to back out. I asked that they not charge my card anymore, etc…, only to be told that I signed the contract, and that they were going to continue to charge it. I ended up working my way up to one of their VP’s, Mary Ann Vetter, who basically told me there was nothing that I could do, and if I wanted to dispute it go ahead. She was by far one of the most rude people I had delt with there, to date. Long store short, after seven agonizing months on the phone with my credit card company, they will not honor this dispute. I didn’t even fill out my credit card number on the contract, but my credit card company would not back me up. I ended being taken for $3500.
In desperation I finally worked my way up to be able to talk to the president of eWorks, David Proestos. I explained to him the problems, and that I hadn’t closed anything yet, so I wanted to work out a deal to walk away. At first he was completely against the idea, and said that I was just like everyone else that wanted to get out of the contract. I explained to him the many problems I had, and the empty promises his people made, and then he finally offered to only charge two of the payments, and then we would walk away. I counter offered that they should just take the first months payment, since I didn’t use it beyond the first month, but he said he needed to think about it. He asked me to think about his offer as well, and I agreed. A few days went by and he emailed me and said that since he hadn’t heard from me, the deal was off the table. I tried writing him back immediately to say that I was waiting for him to answer me on my counter-offer as well, but he blew me off. They ended up not refunding the charges, and turned the last installment over to a collections agency.
I again tried to call him to clear this up, but he basically told me to get lost, then hung up on me.
All in all this has been the worst experience with this kind of firm I have ever had. It has also been the costliest. I agree with one of the prior posters, I would have rather burnt the money.
All I can say is that if you really want to work with these people, do some serious thought and research. If you have no problem losing $5k, then go take the chance. I will say that their BBB record shows over 150 complaints in three years. It also looks like due to their contract wording that the BBB has had to find in favor of them, almost every time.
December 14th, 2006 at 3:30 am
Guys, I saw a project opening on EWork site for CMS Compliance project, which is vertical application for US Pharmaceuticals, working with Medicaid. The project on the site was already overdue when I contacted EWork. I told them that our company owns the complete solution for CMS Compliance program working for years, as well as Chargebacks, Rebates and other complimentary products for this industry. I suggested EWork to get up to 50% of the first sale, instead of 5K in advance + 12%/year.
The answer from EWork was:
No, we are not willing to sacrifice the commissions owed to us. That is how we make our money.
Considering, that each application is priced above 40K, one can only wonder to such love for small fee rather than to the big chunks of commission coming from a certain deal! There was nobody else bidding for the job and they were about to lose the project anyway – and still they did not want to work on percentage from a sale, insisting on initial flat fee.
That’s all folks. Looks like the only money they make is coming from initial fees.
My deep gratitude to everybody who posted here, you definetely save me from lots of troubles.
In case of any questions, please call me at 416-783-1027.
Cordially yours,
Dr. Alexander Werner
Project Manager
Relasoft Solutions Inc
December 15th, 2006 at 7:07 am
Hi All,
Thanks for all your help. I was contemplating the opportunity and even consulted with my business partner. I do agree with the basic premise of steep upfront fees with no gurantee. Eventually I see this company getting sued for mis-representation. I think now would be the time to develop an open-source consultant database.
Lambert Fooks
iDesign Learning, Inc.
951.296.0660
December 29th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Let me clarify….. I DO NOT AGREE…..:) I spent several months looking at EWORK off and after searching the web..the only useful information about the company was from this blog. All of the other ework links seem to be advertising.. I am steering of this company.
December 29th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
I have been following this company closely since they were called ProSavvy – the concept sounded great to me.
The reality is different… a bunch of salesman chasing commission. Once they have your $$$ they are off to the next sale.
Honestly, consultants have to market themselves the old-fashioned way. There is no magic “eWork” formula that you can pay for. But they know… a sucker is born every minute!
It is not a scam, but rather a sucker magnet!
January 9th, 2007 at 6:50 am
Thanks much to everyone here who has poured their hearts out. Even the EWorks apologists tried so hard that their true intent is transparent! Yes, reading everything above makes the investment decision clear.
In talking with the EWorks salesperson on Friday, the hair on the back of my neck was fluttering. I could not put my finger on it. But, after reading this blog, I’m reminded of what my father used to say. “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is…”
February 12th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
thank you, and I am sorry so many of you have not had positive experiences. From what I can tell, if you are consulting in some niche area, this may work for you, if not forget it.
For anyone arguing that the lack of a bad experience is justification for joining, I would rather enjoy the lack of bad experience with my $4K+ then enjoy it without my 4K+.
February 17th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Hey All,
We are a “Cinderella story” for former Prosavvy. I didn’t get a lick o’ work after busting our collective humps, but we got something nearly as good: our money back.
It wasn’t easy, and from what I can tell written here, eWorks has the same M.O. as Prosavvy. They are fully prepared to blow-off your complaints. Its contract is mostly legally defendable.
I know a lot about the organization, and it wasn’t legit before it became eWorks. It seems Hans was dragged down versus pulling them up. I reckon some companies get some business, but it’s probably not going to be yours. How many big firms are going to use them to find a consultant after a little Googling? Just for fun, go to http://www.ask.com and key in Prosavvy. What returns is “Prosavvy complaints” and “Prosavvy fraud.”
I still follow Prosavvy, aka eWorks, just for grins. Run…don’t walk away from this bunch. I don’t know how these folks live with themselves. They must surely have grown pointy tails by now.
Please note that we got our money back, and I’m still that smoked at them. We wasted hundreds, thousands, who knows the number of people-hours. I don’t want to think about it. We even started sending in ridiculously low quotes, like under $100 or even free. There was nary a nibble or even an irate project mgr asking what the heck were we doing.
The above is just my opinion and experience. Of course, I may be as inept as they claim. But the class-action lawyer that was pursuing Prosavvy informed me that PS had hired some high-end legal guns to defend them, but they may not have the collectable assets to make a class-action feasible. So, I’m probably smarter than I look.
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:44 am
Thanks all who have posted honestly. Reading this has saved me a great deal of trouble.
March 14th, 2007 at 5:01 am
Just a recap after visiting this topic after a year. The post above from a poster above “Consultant in Texas” reveals a CYA story that Prosavvy cooked up after I saved hundreds of potential victims from signing with them. After nearly 70 “projects” came and went I joined forces with several other victims and started an all out web campaign to let everyone know about these cons. The truth is that long after my falling out with Proponzi we almost did take a project on with a crippled guy in San Diego that had no money. This poor guy thought he invented the LED Candle and just need a little hand holding. The fact was that he was not the true inventor of the product and after an exhaustive patent search I told him that we could not help him even on a contingency since there was no hope of recouping our investment. He was less than happy with this outcome and even though there was no agreement in place and all expenses were absorbed under our outreach program that caters to these types of situations he contacted Prosavvy and complained!
The fact is that this occurred long after the failings of Prosavvy and is yet another example of how they screen “projects”. This project was submitted without any due diligence or qualification process. Here was a guy who albeit crippled and penniless, had no product and no means of paying for any services, period. We have and continue to help many inventors through the “patenting to market” process but they do have to at least meet the minimal requirement of being the true inventor of what they represent as their invention!
Why would I take the time to write a response to post that questioned my honesty? I have maintained a flawless record of integrity in my personal and business life. I have been in business since 1984 have no “ripoff report”, BBB complaints, or any other such posting other than the false claims made by proponzi that were parroted by the poster from Texas.
Go to the BBB or ripoff report site and see if our good friends at prosavvy or whatever name they use today is listed and we will see who the crooks are.
The proponzi theft of my $3,100.00 may have indeed occurred several years ago but the pain remains and I will continue this effort until I see these guys and gals marched out of their building in cuffs with their heads hung in shame as 20/20 cameras shoot the whole event!
Nigerians aren’t the only purveyors of the 419 scam. There are plenty of 419′rs right here in the good ol’ USA.
I am always available to share my prosavvy experience with anyone that emails me. I have owned http://www.conjob.com for years and after reading this thread today I am going to develop it soon with prosavvy as our showcase operation.
All the best,
Jack Durban
jdurban@vorel.com
March 20th, 2007 at 6:37 am
wow! I did not know nearly enough about Pro Savvy after reading all these blogs. We signed up with them at the suggestion of another agency to see if we could hook up with someone who would help us find a manufacturer to work with in Mexico.
The gentleman who contacted us with an offer to help agreed to hold off on any money exchanging hands as we were a very small business with virtually no cash flow. He did some foot work for us and then sent us a whopping bill for almost 3K with a list of all he had “accomplished” on our behalf. Needless to say we were neither helped nor satisfied with his efforts and sometimes weeks would go by before we would hear anything from him. Long story short we quit communicating shortly after we sent him a token payment with a note stating we did not know if and when the rest would ever be paid. He had said something along the lines of he was not worried about it and let’s get our project into production first and foremost. None of this ever happened by his efforts. 21/2 years later we get an email from his bookkeeper out of the blue asking when we would settle the balance that has been due since 2004? You can only imagine our suprise at this since there has been virtually no contact from him or anyone in his office for since November of 2004!
Now he is threatening to sue us for this and says it does not matter that he never sent anymore invoices to us because we had an oral agreement. He also states Prosavvy will back him up on this. We haven’t gone to the prosavvy site in all this time either until now and that is how I found this blog!
March 22nd, 2007 at 12:22 pm
I’d like to share my advice for those of you considering joining eworkmarkets…… RUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN !!!!!
After they worked on me for 5 years (originally as ProSavvy) , I finally capitulated and subscribed. I must admit the “jobs out for bid” descriptions sounded like we would be able to clean up.
THANK GOD I negotiated for a series of payments instead of putting up the entire amount up front. As many of the bloggers on here have stated, it is one of the biggest misrepresentations you can find on the web. I didn’t do a Google search on “scam eworkmarkets” beforehand and I’m kicking myself for it.
Of all the jobs I put responses in for, I had ONE guy call me back and this is no bull…..the guy called me on his cell phone from the cab of his tractor/combine. His 5k – 10k project turned out to be a web site name he had reserved for used tractor parts. The deal was this – we design and code the site and he would split the revenue with us.
Other than that one person, not one single “buyer” ever responded to my bids or repeated phone calls. Fortunately I had the forethought to call the bank and cancel the company credit card before they could get the next payments.
Their president wrote me a couple of nasty notes which I responded to. I asked that we be relieved of our obligation and they just keep the first payment. But nooooooo…they now have about 3 different collection agencies bugging the crap out of us. Fortunately my partner is an attorney so any foolishness they start with us will cost them dearly. We have in fact discussed counter-suing for fraud and misrepresentation if they have their legal eagles file suit against us.
I hope that if anyone does get a class action suit going against them they notify me at wdg1258@hotmail.com , as I would like to participate. eWorkMarkets can have the rest of their money when they pry my cold dead hands open and take it.
March 25th, 2007 at 10:40 am
You guys are all a bunch of whiners aka consultants who do not know how to close business. I know for a fact that there are many firms closing millions of dollars in business with Eworkmarkets. You guys on here wasting your time blogging instead of working definitely fall into the 80 of the 80-20 rule.
March 30th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Really? I’d sure like to talk to them and find out who they are blowing at EWM to get the qualified leads.
March 30th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
My name is Colin Valencia. I am a managing partner of a small Texas IT/Design firm. I was about to get with these people but will not be doing so, after reading all of this. I’m sorry for all of your troubles and thank you for speaking out. Would anyone happen to, then, know of a good place to get IT leads, etc.?
Thank you in advance.
Colin Valencia
http://www.urbnmedia.com
cvalencia@urbnmedia.com
April 8th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Colin – I don’t know how it is from the suppliers (coder) side, but we have used rentacoder.com to find talent. They really have their act together and it’s free to join. They hold escrow, manage arbitrations, and just generally make the whole process pretty smooth.
The down side may be that you are competing with coders worldwide who will work for very little….but it’s still worth a shot.
April 8th, 2007 at 8:13 am
The info you have all provided has helped me decide NOT to go with eWorks. I spoke with a representative today and have a conference call at 9:00am tomorrow (that will not take place) I started a construction consultant firm US wide and this company looked like the best way to market it. If anyone knows of a reputable way of marketing please advice. I will monitor this site and forward any leads that come my way.
The web is great; with all this talent I don’t understand why we can’t put together all our efforts and start a free website for consulting. Just a thought
April 11th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Ken,
I am a long time construction industry software consultant on Timberline. Can you drop me an email at wdg1258@hotmail.com with a way to contact you? We might be able to help each other out.
April 12th, 2007 at 1:44 am
DO NOT GO WITH EWORKS. We paid several thousands of dolars with certain assurances of refunds etc if not satisfied. I am about to get involved in a lawsuit with them as they di nothing for us. We did everything they said and did not get a single contract. Now that we want the refund, they are now suddenly unaware of any obligation to do so. Quite a scam.
April 25th, 2007 at 4:17 am
Just a little common sense for anyone thinking about joining. Any firm that charges huge upfront fees is likely a scam. This pertains to proponzy or whatever name they go by now or tomorrow and most all invention submission firms. There is only one reason for charging huge fees in advance and that is when someone does not believe that they will see a ROI the old fashioned way, earning it. If these bozos really believed in what they are shoveling they would just drop the huge front end fees and just increase commission fees.If the projects were real everyone would share the harvest. If they tell you that the fees are for setting up your “web page” don’t be fooled. Their idea of a web page can be had for ten bucks on scriptlance.com. This is just like the invention submission firms that rip off inventors. In this scam huge up front fees are collected and boiler plate template reports and “brochures” are created to make it look like they actually performed. To the ininformed it appears that the firm is going to fulfill their agreement. After months and finally years of broken promises the client just tires and goes away. Sound familiar?
I think these types of scam artists know going in that most victims will just go away and as long as they can keep fooling new ones to join with aggressive marketing, the cash will just keep rolling in.
In closing always avoid the cons that ask for the big deposit. Once they have your cash there is no incentive to perform. If you want to get projects use Google adsense and learn the art of SEO optimization. Once you get well ranked on the search engines you can drop the Adsense campaigns.
All the best,
Jack
Oh, to all you proponzy shills posting here get a real job and sleep nights instead of worrying about the marhalls finally showing up with the search warrants.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
I too joined eWork Markets and have regretted my decision ever since. I was misled by a smooth talking grandmotherly type named Leslie McKenzie. She told me that on average 300 projects posted each month and about 50% of those closed with a consultant. She told me the average closed value of the projects were $20,000. When I responded to project after project and never was contacted by a client I called my rep Melissa. She told me that in reality approximately 10% of posted projects closed with consultant who paid fees to eWork Markets. The other 40% of projects closed with consultants who clients already were using and who never paid the fees to join eWork Markets. I am ashamed that I paid $5,000 to join a network of projects of which maybe 30 close each month with a paying customer. I do not know if Leslie lied to me or misled me but either way she did get me to pay the money. I have since found out that Melissa no longer works at eWork Markets maybe because she was telling the truth. Watch out!
May 15th, 2007 at 3:36 am
I hate this service. Their sales-person lied to get me in saying that I might be able to get a refund if I didn’t get any business, 1 year, 40-worthless leads, many phone calls and $3,500 later I asked for my refund and low and behold a very seasoned jerk of a account payable guy referenced a confusing section of the contract which I guess says that they won’t give any refund. There is a silly amount of competition and the people who use the service ARE NOT SERIOUS about working with anyone, they are just fishing and eWork makes money 2 ways- 1. by Signing new vendors! 2. By commissions that they somehow finneagled between very large companies that would have worked together anyway like: Microsoft and OmniCom, good job guys, you setup a worthless service and stole money from your affiliates. Spare yourself the heartache and go join your chamber of commerce instead.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:05 am
Reading this site is like watching a good episode of Jerry Springer. I just closed my 3rd project through eWork. Granted, it was a small $25,000 contract but it has paid for my fee and then some. I keep reading about a lawsuit against eWork. Where does that stand Jack or was it thrown out based on fruitless claims? Just curious.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:41 am
Dear Closed another One,
We’re all really glad you got the contract. I don’t understand why you would even take the time to post here….you need to get to work!
Please if you have a bone of compassion in you…we beseech you…go,make us wrong man…..prove to us that it is just our laziness and that we aren’t really as dumb as we feel. Our sincerest hope is that we are the only few that felt like ProPonzi was bangin’ us like a screen door in a hurricane.
June 15th, 2007 at 2:03 am
Thanks guys for the heads up. I found the info very informative to my decision for my SEO Company to join eWorks or not join.
Like they say, it sounds great but if nobody is closing, then it doesn’t matter.
Jon
SEO Consultant
June 26th, 2007 at 6:21 am
Dear wdg1258,
I understand. I guess what I didn’t say is that I have responded to 562 projects in 2 years to land these three. If you add all the time it takes to respond, then I probably am in reality losing money. I read sites like these to see where my vendors are as far as business is concerned. The lawsuit talk scared me a bit as I am up for renewal and just want to make sure that I am not throwing money away if eWork is indeed in pending litigation. I did not mean to offend anyone with my Jerry Springer comment, I just try to focus on the positive but at the same time, I do not want ANYONE losing good hard earned money.
June 27th, 2007 at 2:03 am
Thanks for the posts. I, too, almost signed up for eWork Markets and I’m glad I didn’t shelve the money that I don’t have. I’m an independent consultant who just left a permanent job to pursue consulting and I’m still learning the ropes. I specialize in training, change management and organizational development and so some of the sites that were provided in earlier posts don’t seem to have very few (if any at all) leads for me.
I have posted at guru.com and sologig.com but that doesn’t seem to generate any response for me. This might work for some of you so, good luck. And if you find another venue to search for contracts please share.
June 27th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Ok, so if prosavvy is bad, lets list others:
elance.com
getafreelancer.com
guru.com
getacoder.com
scriptlance.com
rentacoder.com
Anyone have good luck with any of these? Have some additional suggestions?
July 20th, 2007 at 8:19 am
Joe,
Haven’t posted here in a while…I’ve used Rent-a-coder as a buyer and had incredibly good luck. Don’t know much about the others, just eScam Markets.
An update to those of you who might owe EWM some money….when there collection law firm called on us we practically begged them to sue us (it would have to be in Georgia
). My attorney says that opens up the avenue for counter-suing and a possible class action….they havent contacted us since.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:59 pm
I wish I would have seen this site before signing up with eworks. I was told repeatedly that I would receive 5-10 quality projects in which I could bid on. Leslie McKenzie told me she would be SHOCKED if I didn’t get enough just within CA to work on. In the 5 months since I have joined, there have been exactly 3 projects that I was qualified to bid on. I was chosen as one of the short list companies for 2 of the projects. These two wonderful projects were
always too busy to get to the project they posted. After much time spent following up with them; I understand they were simply unqualified leads.
I would be very interested in participating in any type of lawsuit.
I would be happy to hear from anyone pursuing this form of action.
LockL4@yahoo.com
Thanks
and RUN RUN RUN if you are considering signing up with eWorks!
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:45 am
Dear All, thanks a ton for all the information mentioned above, I have just decided NOT to go ahead with EWM. I think its been a major scam for quite a long time now.. (looking at the posts since 2003) But how is it they are sending such wonderfully convincing & practical-sounding emails to my inbox? I think there’s more dough in having yet another version of EWM than trying to bid for projects in one such!!
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:30 pm
They burned us for $7K, wasted a lot of time, did nothing for us. We got one client thourgh them but they already knew about us from another source.
run away from these assholes. Their money back gaurantee is full of loopholes that allow them to keep your money.
Steve
August 24th, 2007 at 1:18 am
What most people fail to realise, is that while most of these consultant clearing house organizations require a contract that contains a non-compete and hold harmless clause together. The implications of this are actually quite comprehensive. The same companies often have agreements with offshore outsourcing sites that are the real benefactors to the whole scheme. By signing a non-compete agreement you are essentially saying, that if they choose to in reality only allow business with the offshore bunch, that you can’t go to an alternative firm without possible litigation. The hold harmless clause basically allows them to hurt your own prospects without consequence. Many states have been slowly catching up to these jokers.
If you have to go to a contract auction site then you have probably already felt the pinch, and I feel sorry for you. There is a general rule of thumb: If a business relationship requires an NRE (nonrecoverable expense) up front, and they are not actually manufacturing anything and thus need it to begin work, then they are either ripping you off, or they are taking the actual contracts to their outsourcing firm and using the idea of a low price auction to get you in the door. Either way it is no good, and certainly illegal in more than a few states.
Either it is a Ponzi scheme or it is fraudulent advertising and representation. For the person who was told they had to pay according to the contract another month’s installment, don’t call the BBB call the FBI instead. I’m sure with a little digging, the FBI frequently investigates these matters and either refers them to local jurisdiction or in the case where the crime crosses state boundaries, will pursue it themselves.
Once again, if they want the money up front for a broker service they rarely deliver on, then you have other avenues of defense. Better Business Bureau in your town is not a legal organization, and while the contract may appear legitimate in in all likelihood is not fully compliant with state and federal law.
Try to avoid signing something before you get a lawyer to look at it, since while the initial contract may be for a small sum, if you are forced to continue the relationship against your will and after receiving poor service, you may be into it for more than just money.
August 30th, 2007 at 10:53 am
Is there a way to file consumer suit against this people?
September 7th, 2007 at 7:48 am
Wow, I didn’t send any money to eworksmarkets and I’m glad I found this blog…. I was working with a Kathleen Barnes, who at one point mentioned that they had 100,000 consultants working for them. I asked for a couple of phone numbers to chat with others who have been successful and got no reply. I even copied the link to this blog and got no comments.
I agree, I was assuming a ton of risk by sending in an upfront fee, and even asked for this fee to be pulled from future work found from the company… as I expected… no reply.
I would recommend avoiding this firm.
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:17 am
A complete waste of money. I thought this might work, but I should have known that the 3900 dollars was a complete waste (not including all time spent answering the RFQ’s) The “clients” drain you upfront, only to either realize that good talent is too expensive, or, as in most cases, deal away. Stay away, stay far, far away.
October 15th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Stay away from these idiots. Google, Yahoo them with eWork Markets you’ll only see positive results (in the 1st few pages). Do the same with their “former name” and everything is negative…
We signed-up for service with them without doing our homework and based on a HEAVILY modified agreement with our attorney. We paid them only 1 of 3 payments because after the 1st month of service our account representative Melissa never called us back (although she would mark in her CRM system that she did) and each time we would bid on projects they would be closed.
I even had one of my employees sign-up as a client and submit project details that fit with our EXACT qualifications in our exact region and we never received the lead nor was she given our companies name as an option to bid on (with their “premium” service).
So we continue to not pay them based on not getting any emails or calls returned (I’ve got the phone logs to prove it) and they then have a Senior account representative Mike McMurray contact me by email saying I have 2 weeks to pay or they’ll close my account.
I emailed him back and we agreed on a payment arrangement where the same account representative will contact us, help us setup our account so that we can receive bids (the excused on our own internal test was because “we failed to complete our setup”) and we would pay them 1 of the 2 remaining payments. This account representative NEVER called back.
The next call was made to us by their collections agency where I explained the situation to her and she divulged that they are in similar situations with other consultants and she’s seen them sue for less.
Close to one year later I emailed them saying that I would like to give them one more chance to see if their services have changed and this idiot Mike McMurray emails me back saying the account is with his collections agency and he’s going to file lawsuit.
I emailed him reminding him that he was the one that agreed to our payment arrangement and that this written arrangement was never fulfilled because this “dedicated” account representative STILL has not contacted me although I sent several emails and even demanded to work with someone more responsive.
I explained to him that my offer still stands true however he will need to act on our agreement before they see a dime from our company. He replied back saying “so be it”… we’ll see you in court.
I’ve explained the situation to our attorney, forwarded him all emails that we have with eWork Markets and he feels we have a very strong defense against them based on them failing to fulfill their agreed upon obligations.
I decided to email the “President” of the company David Proestos dproestos@eworkmarkets.com to explain him the situation with Mike McMurray but he never replied back, so now it seems we’re going to have to deal with this situation the good old fashion way through the legal system.
My advise to anyone reading this is to stay clear of this company. Do yourself a favor take the $4000.00 and put it into a good old fashion marketing campaign of appointment setting you’ll see a better return on your investment than with this company.
STAY AWAY!!!!
October 30th, 2007 at 8:12 am