ACE Executive Careers

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I will address the response directly point by point and as well give additional insight and rational to further explain my original complaint. As per the response dated 11/23/2014 from Ace  Executive search, I will address in order of their document. Initially  however, I will state that even in the name of the company, [redacted] profile and titling and the documents that were provided, each and everyone of those indicate in some fashion and surely imply Executive search or job search or referrals. The major part of my complaint is that none of that occurred with any integrity or professional skill at all and in fact in her first sentence of her reply indicates job search to be one of two pieces (50%) of the value she provides.  
 
With regard to her responses. I will start again with sentence number one. She indicates that career and job search service is what she does. I have agreed that career service ( resume writing and interview preparation and follow up) were done. I also have previously eluded to the fact that before I ever contracted with Ace and [redacted], I actually walked away from them due to being unsure of the service. At that time I expressed concern of paying fees for no apparent hard results. When I returned to Ace to reconsider , we met at her office and specifically discussed referrals and what I believed I needed the most assistance with. It was at that meeting that I agreed to the service which I believed I would receive. Specifically  stating the uncovering of the unadvertised job market and those referrals and contacts. [redacted] also made it clear that my resume should be reworked and to review and recommend updates to my Linkedin.  I was fine with all of that , however, not to lose sight of the major topic of referrals to that unpublished and referrals avenue.
 
Secondly, she asserts that I was on the cusp of job offers. I flatly deny that , and therefore it truly tells me how out of touch she truly has been with me and that she is concocting answers solely to justify her lack of effort and results.  First of all, any offers that possibly might have been there were not from her efforts, in fact not one single application , interview or discussion with a potential employer came from anything she provided, as she has provided not a single contact. Secondly, the two positions she is referring to never got beyond the obligatory phone interview. The only discussion we had beyond that is that if an offer would come , would she be available to speak with for salary negotiation proposes.  Again, the two positions she eludes to as "on the Cusp of an offer" never advanced beyond a phone interview. For her to make any other assertion is both false and unethical. She was not involved in either of those discussions with the companies. Going forward with her allegation to meet or speak by phone , while she did offer this, there is no quality reason for that to happen. For her to spend more time meeting, so that she can only have a documented file of time is both not serving me well and provides nothing but an unethical method to her business. I sent her a letter with a specific request to resolve this and not go further, she chose completely ignore that and propose "MEETING". I have already indicated that the meeting or Webex that she does was both unproductive and not a value, why would I continue to do that? Moreover it did not achieve any of the results I was desiring. I find the offering to meet both disingenuous as well as just window dressing to actually achieving results. With regards to the last two sentences of the first paragraph , I will merely state that her documented chronology of times of Webex as well as phone calls does not justify lack of effort or results in providing legitimate and useful professional contacts , appointments and opportunities. She fails the test of providing this. 
 
As to her assessment of "The Facts " I will say that are rather interesting in that in all of her material some of which she provided in her answer but also her [redacted] profile and as well her Twitter, she identifies herself as a career search entity as well as a [redacted] Expert/teacher. She states that [redacted] made a mistake and posted  a new job to her profile. I submit , if she is a [redacted] expert and teacher, would she not know how to remove misinformation on her profile? From a business correctness and integrity perspective, wouldn't you immediately address this issue if in fact it did occur? In fact it was more then 5 hours before a public statement was posted by her , but NO removal of the posting.  Additionally , later in her "Facts" she states that a 60's year old woman is hardly going to relocate and embark on a new career. I find this statement prejudicial and flatout false. If she is a [redacted] expert and more , then there is nothing to say that she could look for and pursue other positions. To make the statement that common sense, as if to say I do not have any , would not let that happen.  I have merely entered a business relationship, I do not know her personally and would have no way to know what knowledge, further expertise  or desires she may or may not have. Moreover, at that point, based on the lack of results and lack of progress she made with me , it would not be ANY stretch to think she could have taken a new job or career. I find her comments with regard to this particular topic, appalling. Her only true response to me at that point was lets have a meeting , which I have derived no value from prior and will not continue to spend time doing.
 
I would like to address the referrals, interviews and opportunities topic.  There have never been even 1 interview or opportunity which Ace/[redacted] has sourced or provided. Every single phone interview , in person or contact I have had has been self sourced. I do not need to pay $2750 to just continue to source my own. Additionally, there have been two referrals that were provided however, I will submit these were merely professional courtesies and obligatory in nature, I will explain. The first one was a gentlemen who I met for coffee, which I paid for. During that meeting he committed to working on my behalf and assisting me . I immediately followed up with him with a thank you note and then gave him time to "go to work" . To this day I have never received a follow up contact much less any results. [redacted] was made aware of this on multiple occasions and also attempted to follow up with him. She too was unsuccessful in receiving email responses or return phone calls. After multiple attempts on her part to reach him , she had a per chance contact with him in which he apologized stated he would reach out , but to date has not. Additionally, he invited her and I to join him for his regular cigar/business club. Of course this is not free and would only further require more out of pocket expense. This was done merely, in my opinion , as a obligatory  gesture and lacked all sincerity to truly help me. In fact would cost me money with no implied results. [redacted] is asserting that this is a legit and formidable referral and I entirely dispute that  as they were not even willing to truly follow up with her let alone me.  The second person , also set a coffee meeting with me , which I paid for. This meeting was less then an hour and was specifically due to that persons not for profit  BOD positions in addition to her career position. During the discussion it was brought to light that she would very soon be in a new career search and would not be able to be of much help. The not for profit aspect , she flat out told me she did not know anyone that was able to help. I in fact had done my research before the meeting and had applied to a position available within that non profit, in order that I could provide that information during the meeting. After the meeting  I again sent a thank you to her and once again no follow up or contact. In fact [redacted] also attempted to contact her and was unsuccessful. Again, I will assert this was a professional courtesy , in order that Ace / [redacted] can merely have a journal entry that she referred someone. There is no anticipation of results from this and in fact the person stated she would not be able to help. During the coffee meeting, we did briefly discuss a networking group she attends and she did invite me to this group. Once again , a situation where there will be more out of pocket expense to me , adding to the total cost I have already incurred and feel there has been no return. I find that both of these so called referrals were favors to her and were not even remotely sincere and in one case was told they could not help.
 
With regards to the Quickstart program as she likes to refer. Item number 4 is referrals. I will maintain that this is the single area which measures the success of all the other parts of the program. Ace/ [redacted] have provide nothing in this area of credible account.  The measure to any Career / Job Search is the ability to actually get in front of hiring managers. Ace has not provided even 1 of those opportunities much less multiples. It is very clear by her statement of misunderstanding that there is no intention of doing this either, much less obtaining placement or actual interviews. Yet it is very clear within that document as well as ALL of the other materials she provides and her profiles, titles and "expertise" that those are functions and services that are provided. It is these reasons and justification that I have asked for a 50% return of the fees. I fully acknowledged that there has been some work that was done. Had I known upfront that the only role Ace would play would be to adjust ( not write) my resume, conduct phone meetings to review only MY efforts, I would never have agreed to this relationship. For the services of a resume review and these webex meetings I feel that $1370 ( half of the total fee) is very fair and even excessive, but will agree to that number.
In conclusion, Ace has not provided all and arguably the most important service, that being the contacts of the unadvertised marketplace and professional contacts. While I agree that some services have been provided, they truly are not worth half of the fee to me but I will agree to settling at that number, $1370. In addition, the fiasco regarding the new career for [redacted] is one which was handled with a lack of business integrity or business ethics. If she is an expert at [redacted] and there is a mistake she should then know and correct this flat out. The lack of removal of that posting , while knowing that it was affecting her business indicates to me that something is askew. During that whole time many people are congratulating her on her new position. Again, her expertise was then not used very well and then calls into question her true abilities and/or attention to detail , which further gives cause to question her ability to provide me with the COMPLETE service I expected to obtain.  I continue to call for us to split the difference on this issue and for ACE to provide me with $1370, representing half of the fee. They arguably did half a job , but yet can show absolutely no tangible results from their efforts. In fact, if the fine tuning of my resume was a major accomplishment and yet I still have struggled to get interviews , then one could even question the quality of the work completed. This further is a reason that a 50% refund is in order.  Without legitimate justification of why meeting would be valuable , I do not consider this offer by [redacted] as serious. This entire issue can be resolved and no further action taken with the above requested settlement. I have only requested half due to the fact that I acknowledge that some effort and time has been spent , without regard to measured results or quality. For the purpose of settling , I am not factoring those issues into the amount. I will not agree to anything less then this amount and fully assert that ACE and [redacted] has not acted with Business Ethics or integrity as your agreement with the Revdex.com requires. Furthermore, using facts which are only marginally correct but with no measurement of results demonstrates lack of values. I stand by my requests and anticipate that we will be able to settle this matter very soon. 

Regards,[redacted]

Due to client and company holding widely differing perceptions of their business agreement, which appeared to be irreconcilable, and to avoid the further investment of time and resources in this matter; client and company agreed to a partial refund which was processed on December 4, 2014.Respectfully,[redacted]

Client has been provided with a detailed accounting of all services provided which are in accord with his signed agreements, including documentation regarding phone, email, text, virtual and in-person communications that controvert client’s erroneous assertions of time-lines, service delivery and...

communications.Client call and email about an issue on 11/11/14 that precipitated his complaint were documented to have been responded to in less than 90 minutes. A company representative has offered to meet and/or talk with client via phone several times between 11/11/14 and last week, offering four different dates and times. Client has refused all offers to meet and or talk about his complaint and any resolution.Even though services contracted for were provided and no refund is due, the company offered client a “goodwill” refund of $500.00, which client refused on November 24, 2014. ACE Executive Careers, LLC is agreeable to participate in and abide by the results of the Revdex.com arbitration process with this client, and welcomes the opportunity for an impartial evaluation of the facts in this matter.

Review: I contracted with ACE Executive Careers, LLC and [redacted] for career search and coaching. We entered into this agreement in July 2014. Prior to the agreement we had met and I expressed my concern with all of the fees upfront and yet no guarantee of results within a period of time. Initially , I walked away with no agreement. Three weeks later we met again and discussed further the agreement and I again expressed my concern , that what I needed from her and her company was the contacts and exposure to the unpublished or advertised job market. She assured me that along with the weekly meetings , she would have contacts who in turn could open their networks of people to me. I accepted this and contracted with her to provide these services.

In reading her website, [redacted] pages and her material ...all of her published information indicates she is a search entity, coach , provides referrals and Intensive Job Search. We have gone more then 3 months now into this and I have not received even 1 single legitimate referral or interview. She did send me to two individuals who met with me for merely coffee and once that was done they did not follow up with me or return attempts to reach them. More disturbing was when she attempted to reach them, they also did not respond to her. The second one, is actually in the throngs of working on her own career search and is in absolutely no position to help me. If these are the quality of referrals she provides , then she has none. I have addressed this with her on more then once occasion, letting her know that I was not happy with the results of what is happening, that there has been no progress in the unpublished market and that she has not provided any contacts. Her response was an analogy of being a bridesmaid not a bride.

The weekly meetings she has have all been done by webex, even though her office is 2 blocks away. This is true with one exception. During these meetings, we go over the leads I have networked and pursued as she has brought nothing to the table. I have on more then a couple occasions , sent her job descriptions and specifically asked for contacts at these companies. In every single instance she either does not answer those emails, suggests she has none or on one instance told me all she had was 2nd degree contacts via Linkedin. My answer to that is, that is better then nothing and you are being paid to provide contacts, work them.

About a week and half ago , we had one of these weekly webex meeting scheduled and she contacted me on a friday to ask if we could adjust the time. I agreed to do this but told her I have nothing new to report. Her answer to me was well, then lets just cancel it and you contact me when you have something to discuss. I find this to be avoiding your duties and what you were contracted for. If we are only going to talk when I have something, then where is the value of her services? She is suppose to be bringing opportunities to my table. It was the following week that I noticed on her Linked in page, she had posted an update to her profile of her obtaining a new job. This job was located in San Francisco as an software engineer. I posted on her page about this and to contact me to talk. I waited a half hour and heard nothing from her so I called her and got voice mail, which I could tell she was on her phone. After another half hour , I decided to send her an email expressing my concern about this as well as my loss of total confidence in her ability to help me and the lack of business integrity. Eventually , later that day I received an email asking to meet either by phone or in person. In my letter I called for ending our agreement and a refund of 50% of the fees I paid. Mind you this entire time she is receiving messages on [redacted] congratulating her on the new position. This lasted for more then 2 hours. After 5 hours , she posted a statement saying this was a mistake and she did not have a new job, however, to this date that posting is still on her page and she has done nothing to remove it. I do not believe she is being forthright and honest.Desired Settlement: I have issued a certified letter requesting a 50% refund , $1350. I had prepaid $2750 to her for her services. I also gave her 14 days to provide this which expires on the 25th of November. I have followed up via email asking her intentions and the only thing I receive back from her is a request to meet. I will not meet with her and will be referring this matter to my attorney on November 25th, if I do not receive the refund check by that date.

Business

Response:

Client has been provided with a detailed accounting of all services provided which are in accord with his signed agreements, including documentation regarding phone, email, text, virtual and in-person communications that controvert client’s erroneous assertions of time-lines, service delivery and communications.Client call and email about an issue on 11/11/14 that precipitated his complaint were documented to have been responded to in less than 90 minutes. A company representative has offered to meet and/or talk with client via phone several times between 11/11/14 and last week, offering four different dates and times. Client has refused all offers to meet and or talk about his complaint and any resolution.Even though services contracted for were provided and no refund is due, the company offered client a “goodwill” refund of $500.00, which client refused on November 24, 2014. ACE Executive Careers, LLC is agreeable to participate in and abide by the results of the Revdex.com arbitration process with this client, and welcomes the opportunity for an impartial evaluation of the facts in this matter.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I will address the response directly point by point and as well give additional insight and rational to further explain my original complaint. As per the response dated 11/23/2014 from Ace Executive search, I will address in order of their document. Initially however, I will state that even in the name of the company, [redacted] profile and titling and the documents that were provided, each and everyone of those indicate in some fashion and surely imply Executive search or job search or referrals. The major part of my complaint is that none of that occurred with any integrity or professional skill at all and in fact in her first sentence of her reply indicates job search to be one of two pieces (50%) of the value she provides.