Complaint Review: BERNARD HALDANE ASSOCIATES

FIRST OF ALL--THANK YOU FOR THIS WONDERFUL SITE!!

To Quote (perfectly) another who posted on this site, also about the Bellevue, Washington office: "All I can say about the Bernard Haldane concern is that they occupy a large office on a top floor of a large business building. They are all adept at selling a non-existent service, even used car salesmen at least will give you something for your money. What a way to make a living."

This is my Bernard Haldane "rippped off and screwed" story. I went to their office after being out of work in June 1999. I had also interviewed with the Carlyle Group but I guess Lew Carlson was a better salesman than the guy at Carlyle. Seems like there was an awful lot of activity in the Pacific Northwest back in 1999, with Boeing having massive layoffs. What more fertile ground could there be for scam artists like Haldane and Carlyle?

After making my "decision" between the two, I was given the opportunity to come in and talk to the Vice President of Haldane, Lew Carlson. When I met with Mr. Carlson I was given all of the same yada-yada that others got about how hard it would be to compete with all of the other job seekers on the Internet, and I was thoroughly convinced my the inimitable Mr. Carlson that Haldane would provide me with all of the resources I needed to succeed in my job search. My experience was so VERY similar to others that have posted here, that I wonder what "schooling" the BHA VP's get to be so consistent in their approach...or is this just an elaborate Ponzi scheme???

I should have known I was about to be scammed when I saw the contract I was given to pay for the services--a poorly photocopied contract (wouldn't a "real" business actually have some decent "original" contracts printed up?). Something struck me as wrong as soon as I saw that photocopied contract, and I should have immediately left the office, but alas, in the end I sold out to BHA for $5500. I am REALLY pissed about that amount when I see how little some of the others on this site paid to them, although there is comfort in knowing I wasn't the only one that got screwed.

The decision to commit our financial resources was not an easy one, but Lew and Gary had me convinced that they could help. After being unemployed for three months and with jobs becoming scarce in the Pacific Northwest, this seemed like a step in the right direction. What it proved to be was a costly lesson in deceptive business practices and misrepresentation. With great expectations, I went in and signed the contract, then handed them my credit card to save some money, (5% deducted if paid in full) for a total of $5500.00.

I was immediately put in to the "mill" with Gary Penner as my "advisor." Another real smooth talker, that Mr. Penner. All promises and no results. Every time I made a direct request (like, "Can you have someone type up and copy my resume?") I was given the runaround and told I needed to "contact (him) so we could discuss this further" (or something to that effect) or "you're not quite ready for that just yet" or given another "assignment" to complete.

I spent so much time redoing my resume, preparing a focus sheet, developing my "chain of friendliness" contacts (friends and business people I had done business with, which in theory would provide referrals that would lead me to people who could either hire me or give me names of other persons who possibly could), that I wasn;t spending ANY time actually trying to find a job. To add to my furstration, there was not so much as one lead or referral from anyone at or through Haldane Associates.

One notable and significant moment: After going through a great deal of rehearsal and preparation for my taped "interview," I was especially pissed when, after all that preparation, the resulting vidoetape "review" was rushed through and put aside as seemingly insignificant. I guess Gary was too busy that day to give it any more than that. Amazing for a company that is "committed to client results."

It should also be noted that Gary Penner had me CONVINCED that I could easily make a career change into a similar pay scale ($75K) job as a Project Manager when my background had little in it to convince any company of my PM abilities. I have spent almost 30 years in various aspects of manufacturing, less than 6 months of that being directly related to project management.

I consider myself quite web-savvy, and felt that I knew my way around the job sites at the time, so I spent LOTS of time doing my own job hunting and resume posting while I was plodding along the Haldane path to nowhere. I can say, with confidence, that NOT ONE of the leads for valid job offers I received came from the CS2K site. In fact, my listing on that site never resulted in even a single response or lead, forget an interview. My "personal mailbox" on the CS2K site would be LOADED with potential jobs, and I NEVER RECEIVED EVEN ONE RESPONSE to any of the contacts that I tried to make from a Haldane CS2K lead.

Let me reitereate: My posting on the CS2K web site, on the Haldane sites, whatever BHA called it reulsted in NO VALID LEADS, NO JOB OFFERS, NO RESPONSES. NEVER. NADA, NOT ONE.

On the telephone interviews I did get (from MY work using the Monster.com site, Management Recruiters International (brilliantpeople.com) site, NationsJob.com site), NOT ONCE was it ever mentioned by any recruiter or headhunter that they had gotten my information from the Haldane web site. Most of the other interviews I got locally were by going to the local agencies (VOLT, Manpower, etc.) that were trying to find employment for the flood of laid-off aerospace workers.

So after all these appointments and no referrals and no job leads from Haldane, and no luck with any of the local agencies, my wife and I decided to sell our home in Washington and move back to California, where we had family we could stay with while I continued my job search. I contacted Gary Penner when I got to California, and informed him that I still expected assistance with my search, and was told that I would now need to go to either the San Diego office or the Los Angeles office--each of which is at least an hour to an hour and a half from where I was living--to continue my "plan for achievement" with Haldane.

At one time I told Gary Penner that I though that AT LEAST, for all of the money I gave them, they could type up and copy some resumes for me to use in my search. Unbelievably (and the Washington office had ALL of the "employment" information about me that they needed to be able to prepare my resumes), I was told that I would need to contact one of the two offices in California before that could be done.

I have copies of e-mail that was sent to the Bellevue Haldane staff in the past, expressing my frustrations with their lack of service and requesting a refund of my monies. I have sent them a new e-mail tonight informing them that I intend to get my money back from them. I will be mailing them a written request for the refud this week, and I will also be filing a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General's office.

Jim R
Anaheim, California
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Bernard Haldane Associates

CLICK HERE, You must read this!! ..Financial Post Article LINK - Haldane not up to the job ..exposing this company for what it really is - a huge scam

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