Ageras

Mikkel J from Ageras sent us an email requesting a meeting to provide some leads in spring 2019. The meeting took place in our office in New Jersey, USA. In our meeting, he mentioned that they are an established company in the North and Central Europe. They were starting operations in United States and through the *** searches linking CPAs (Certified Public Accountants), Enrolled Agents, accountants, etc. with clients. Maybe because I am European myself like him, I agreed to give them a try for a couple of months. Ageras promised to provide accounting and tax leads on a monthly basis. A minimum of three leads a month and there should be at least one client out those referrals, but that was the minimum so it would cover the monthly fee. Mikkel from Ageras asked what kind of referrals we were interested on, but the majority of the referrals were not even related to our description. The referrals were not even responding our calls or our emails. In general, they were just potential clients checking for prices without any real intention of establishing a client relationship. In the few months that we tried it out, we did not get any business and what it was promised did not happen. Mikkel and I had communications on what was going on and how they were not delivering any of their promise, how their website to keep leads was not working, etc. We had lunch around summer in Philadelphia (USA) and decide to end the relationship. We had a good discussion over family, difficulty to find employees, etc. We even had an email at the end of June where I cancel our agreement and he acknowledged receipt. We kept good relationships as he tried but it did not work for us, as a business owner, I understand that sometimes you put the effort, but you do not get the desired outcome. My surprise came on October 22, 2019 when I get an email stating that I own $500 for outstanding invoices "your account is now past due and you owe a total of $500". He received payments for two months but requested an additional payment even if his company did not deliver any of his promises. In that email, he also menaced to take legal action "... turn your invoice over to a collection agency and/or our attorney" and impact my credit "... avoid damage to your credit rating..." My response was that we cancelled at the end of June and he accepted our notification back in June. He was asking for July payment, but it was cancelled before July. Additionally, I communicated that we already paid more than we should as we paid for a couple of months and he provided no service whatsoever plus we cancelled our subscription months before. To make things even more interesting, on November 19, 2019, I got a letter from a debt collection agency in Baltimore asking for $1,000 against myself personally and my company. I disagree with the $500 invoice for July as it was already cancelled at the end of June, but I do not even know how it got to $1,000. Furthermore, the debt collection agency tried to trick the receiver with a CERTIFIED MAIL green border, while they sent it as ordinary email (cost of mail was ordinary mail 50 cents).
In this situation, the supporting documents proof on how Mikkel J from Ageras used unprofessional practices to conduct business in United States. I was going to let it go, until I received today the letter from the collection agency and I wanted other accountants, tax preparers, Enrolled Agents, Certified Public accountants, lawyers, ... and the public to be aware of these abusive practices which impacts small business like mine. I have to admit that it might be easier to have paid the $500 but I consider that we need to report these unprofessional practices so other business owners will avoid them in the future.

Ageras, Specificalyy the Director Mikkel and Account Executive Lucas hold them out as referrals agency for accounting services. They are not professionals. They do not hold CPA licenses yet are advertising as referring Companies and individuals for Accounting Services and Audits and bill monthly fees for such services. The referrals they provide are not bonafide customers and Agreas is not qualified to provide such referrals. For instance they have tried to refer individuals to accountants and CPAs for assistance with completing employee withholding statements (form W-9). This is not a billable service by a professional. Ageras is holding itself as a referring services that are unethical according to the AICPA and the NJ State Board of Accountancy code of conduct and ethics as they are not CPA's and do not possess the expertise or knowledge to refer such services. They charge a monthly fee for such referrals that do not materialize.