ComplaintsforCSS Consulting Group

• Initial Complaint

  05/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ****** ******* has an independent contractor agreement in effect with ***** ***** of CSS Consulting Group. ***** ***** has failed to act "in good faith" in fulfilling the terms of the agreement. 1. The contract calls for payment ($***** draw on future commissions) from CSS Consulting Group to *** ******* by the 10th of the month. CSS Consulting ignores this commitment and makes payments later in the month. 2. ****** ******* provides on a voluntary participation basis, networking events with healthcare financial decision-makers. This is on a shared expense basis with 3 other vendor/partners of mine. ***** ***** has participated in two such events: (a) $****** reimbursement received for the travel to and dinner party /convention around **** ****************** (b) ***** ***** has stated that he refuses to pay for the recent ******'s event in *********** in spite of having attended the event. The CSS Consulting Group portion was $****** for travel expense and $**** for event sponsorship. ***** ***** was aware of the terms of the participation in the networking event; all other vendor/partners have complied with this understanding. 1. Budget for event shared 90 days prior 2. Update on advertising including CSS Consulting as a host on weekly basis 3. Guest list shared on weekly basis 4. Table assignment for ***** ***** at event as host shared prior to event ***** ***** made no protest after ********************** convention or dinner party. He participated in a more costly *********** networking event and no pleads no responsibility for CSS Group paying their fair share of the event. The voluntary networking events are provided on an "optional basis" and only vendor/partners that participate are included in the shared expenses. The purpose of this complaint is as a warning to other independent contractors that "business ethics" is not a strong suit for CSS Consulting Group.

  Business response

  07/08/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 17, 2022/06/02) */ Thanks for the note. Mr. ******* has misstated the situation. His agreement called for him to provide commission based marketing services. In anticipation of a successful effort on his part he was paid $***** a month as an advance on commissions. That was the sole obligation of our agreement. There was no contractual obligation of any kind in our relationship. After nine months of "efforts" by Mr. *******, he has never produced any new business qualifying for commissions, and his services were terminated. It became clear that his marketing efforts were spasmodic, involving communications with prior relationships in unrelated business segments, and that he really had no capabilities to satisfy his obligations under our agreement. In addition, Mr. ******* has repeatedly engaged in alleged promotional programs that were not described in our agreement nor contractually agreed to, and that were totally worthless. At the national **** meeting he declared he had many executive contacts that were to be attending the event, which I attended at my own expense because of his promises in this regard. Not a one - not a single person - appeared at his event. There were similar experiences at other events Mr. ******* organized and it became clear that despite his promises to the contrary, he simply does not have business relationships of a kind and nature to be successful in marketing the services of our firm. The last straw was when he arranged a significant dining event in ******* on a river cruise. There were a number of client prospects, almost all of which were not of a nature or position to represent valid prospects for our services. Mr. ******* was advised of this well in advance of the event and he produced many more names - which I now know were falsified - that were going to attend and would make ti worth my while to participate in the event. At the final count the weekend before the event, there were to be five (5) executives, all in positions to engage our firm. The day of the event Mr. ******* notified me that Unfortunately many of the attendees had "cancelled" at the last minute and we were down to four prospects, which might have been worthwhile if they had been properly vetted which Mr. ******* apparently failed to do. At the event itself only three (3) prospects actually were at our table, which I had to share with two other vendors. For this marketing event Mr. ******* attempted to bill over $****, including travel expenses for himself and his wife. Our agreement does not reflect any obligation for marketing events such as this and specifically states no travel expenses will be billed. We have paid Mr. ******* over $****** as an advance on commissions that have never been earned at this point in time. We intend to pursue collection of these unearned commissions Mr. ******* is a fraud. He has no relevant contacts for marketing our services, and has repeatedly lied about his efforts and results during the time he was engaged by us. In nine months he produced no - zero - new business for our firm and his services were therefore terminated. The ******* dinner, which cost $*** per person, which included dinner, boat services, and all other costs associated therefrom. I was billed over $****, for a dinner event that I attended with three prospective clients and two other vendors, who were I presume paying for their own meals and their share of the meals with the prospective clients. My portion of the event should be no more than $*** (my meal and the meal costs of one of the prospective clients). This is just an example of the fraudulent behavior of Mr. *******. Consumer Response /* (3000, 19, 2022/06/12) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) As a prospecting support company, ******* and ********** provides introductions to key hospital decision makers. Examples of this with ***** ***** included an in-person dinner with a Vice president from ******* Health and a **** phone call with the *** from ***** for *** Consulting Group. ******* and Associates strongly endorsed *** Consulting group and these two prospects had strong business relationships with our team. ***** ***** failed in both "high opportunity situations" to "take the lead and close the deal." At the ******* **************************** Cruise, there were over 50 guests in attendance. ***** ***** only managed to meet 3 CFOs at his table; there were 8 tables of guests. As a "low-energy guy," ***** ***** was unable to take advantage of the situation. Our team has generated over 1 million pieces email solicitations (to hospital decision makers) that included reporting to ***** ***** of prospects that "clicked" on the *** Consulting Group webpage. ***** ***** ignored these motivated prospects. The contractual balance has been referred to a collection agency for their followup and legal action. During 2021, ******* and Associates received commissions on over ********** of sales by our vendor partners. Business Response /* (1000, 27, 2022/06/27) */ Thank you for sending me this statement. 1. I did provide a response approximately a month ago. 2. ****** ******* was not our consumer. He was a provider of services who failed to accomplish his primary tasks and was terminated. ***** ***** *** ********** Group

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