Complaint Review: JK HARRIS

John K Harris and his 3 companies filed bankruptcy in October, 2011, couldn't find a buyer, and changed to a Chapter 7 in January 2012. They had about 3 mil in assets, and 12 mil in payables. The fat b*****d didn't even pay his employees. Though I feel bad for all the people he ripped off (and should go to jail and share a cell with a guy named Bubba), I don't feel bad for the Harris family, they got what they deserved.

The bankruptcy courts should seize all his personal belongings as well, but unfortunately, the fat b*****d can hide behind the bankruptcy laws of this country. This business spent more time ripping off the public than it did service people. What goes around comes around, I only wish I could say it to their faces.

Let's raise our glasses and salute the end of the fat tax man, and his rip off company. May he and his management team rot in h**l!

Judy:

Follow my advise, call your local TV consumer reporter. They eat this stuff up. Was ean Heistand your consultant? If so, he works for Debbie Bush, go figure.

All ex- employees, tell your stories. They won't come after you if you tell the truth. They know in Charleston what is going on within their company, and how it's run.

Judy,

Sorry that you were taken in too.

You should be able to speak with your bank to get the automatic drafts stopped. Please be aware that JK Harris will probably put negative info on your credit report as a result of such action.

A class action suit is where a lawyer gets wind of some company taking advantage of consumers, files suit on their behalf and then keeps most of the money for himself. Not really a good way to go for the consumer but a great way to go if you are an attorney looking for a quick score.

Your best course of action is taking JK Harris to small claims court in your state. There is a fellow named Peter who has posted numerous times on this site with information on how to do this successfully.

Best of luck.

Knows Better

Oh my goodness, I wish I would of did this research 8 months ago!!!!

My husband and I hired JK Harris to help resolve some of his tax debt owed to the IRS and the state of Indiana by filing an OIC. We are withing the statistics of the consumers who are VERY UNHAPPY. I can't beleive this is legal. We borrowed the money to pay these people in full which totaled $4600 up front and thereafter $50.00 per month. This is such a mess... I'm appauled. We haven't had any luck with our "case manager" either.

It's a very long story as to the run around and BS that we've put up with and to top it all off, we were told yesterday that we have to pay another $150.00 + 20% of something because they F'd up and didn't put 2007 in with our offer. We had to withdraw our offer from the IRS and the state and now we are blinded with what to do next. I told Chris (my husband) that we need to fire this fraudulent company and try a different approach with handeling out tax issues.

I have a couple of questions to all of you EX-Employees.....

One: could you tell me how to officially fire them? And when I do , will they stop really stop debiting my bank account? I've read several statements from people in the same situations (consumeraffairs.com) where JK Harris wouldn't stop taking money out of thir accounts. :(

Two: What's the probability of me getting my money back? Do you have any idea?

this is all very fresh and real to use right now, we thought there was something fishy about them when we would call and never get a response or even the same person at that, then the misled information and all the crap that we submitted, again and again and again. I'm sooooooo upset and lost.

I think it takes a big person to step up like you guys have and take a stand for what you beleive in. I'm sorry you had to deal with Ms. bush ( she sounds terrible) To everyone else who might be thinking about hiring JK Harris... DON"T!!!!

Thank you all so much for reading this, I know it's a little scrambled up but I can hardly think straight.

P.s. What is a class-action lawsuit?

To Ex-Employee in Lawrenceville, Georgia,

Thank you for speaking out and validating what Spidy, Julie and I have posted.
It is good to know that there are men and women in this world that still have ethics and are not willing to do anything for a buck.

The unfortunate thing is that there is a new training class for sales reps starting up at least once a month. I don't know about you, but I was told in the initial interview process that I would be helping people solve major financial problems and giving them their lives back. Sounded like a noble undertaking at the time.

To other Ex-Employees who have yet to speak out,

Why not? If you are afraid that JK Harris will come after you, I have been posting for months and have not heard from them. You can be as anonymous as you would like on this site.

Finally, does anyone have any news regarding the investigations that might be underway that Spidy mentioned in a previous post?

Knowsbetter

I as well worked for JK Harris for a little less than one year. I will say this to all the people who have complained about JK Harris on this site: for the most part you made your own bed by not paying your taxes, and now you are sleeping in it. It was just a mistake to got to JK Harris for help.

I should have known what I was getting into during training. The manager who trained us, David Wise, was one of the the biggest jerks I'd ever met. One of the guys in my class bragged that when he was in the car business, he made 8K selling a car to his own mother. I tiold him he was going straight to he** for that, and he laughed. Josh Baker came by, and instructed us on how to deal with the media should they show up. Nothing more than CYA for the company. The bulk of the class was done by the compliance officer, Charlie Jones, a retired IRS guy, who basically taught us how to be legal, while walking a very tight rope. Of the six people in my training class, at least three of us are gone, two are car salesman, and one was brainwashed to be a good salesman. Shows you about who stays, and the turnover rate.

I was a good salesman for a while. As I was getting on in the job, I was starting to get calls from the people I sold, complaining about no service. It got old real fast. I was even threatened once with physical violence. I worked for Debbie Bush also. The first time I actually met her was three months into the job, and only saw her in person one other time. I received the phone messages Julie was talking about every morning. I just deleted them, as it wasn't worth listening to. Debbie was a nice person, but no manager. Look who trained her, ex- car salesmen. There were people on my team who were nice and helpful, but they didn't care for her or her style either. Trey Harris was once on my team, but he called Daddy and got switched because he couldn't stand her either. One day I was talking to him, told him I was having a bad day, and he told me to go smoke a bowl.

The way the system was set up, you sold ten month paymnet plans, told your clients it takes nine to twelve months for the process to go thru, they get all the clients money, and then avoid them as much as possible. As a consultant, I sold over 65% of the people who walked in my door. I was charged against for people who didn't show as a no sale, even though I was not the one who qualified them for their appointments. I also had the poorest people in my city, the most irresponsible. More than half of them, 53%, did not show up. I ahve all my paperwork to back this up. I thought about suing them for wrongful termination, but I wasn't going to Charleston to do it. I stuck it out as long as I could, while looking for a new job. I even bought the laptop they insisted on everyone having(by the way, my new job provides laptops to their employees, as does 99% of companies in America) just so I could send resumes and search for a job.

Thankfully, I am away from these people now, who believe it or not call themselves Christians(Debbie Bush does). For those looking for retribution, they have already settled one class action suit, but my best advise is call your state's attorney general, tell them your situation, document everything, and if you get any money back from them, consider it a blessing. Also, consider using your local television consumer advocates, they love stories of people being ripped off.

Josh, you don't need to respond to this, because anything you say would be a lie, like all the other postings you have put on this sight. Your consultant turnover rate is well over 50%, the one's that are successful have no conscience, and yes, Debbie Bush did scream at her team and call them anmes and threaten them with their jobs on conference calls when other team members were able to hear. I don't know where you've worked at, but that type of behavior does not make "the consumate professional."

To all the people I sold who are having trouble with these people, I'm sorry. To the JK Harris management team, remember that what goes around, comes around, and St.Peter will not have a spot for you when you go to meet him.

I as well worked for JK Harris for a little less than one year. I will say this to all the people who have complained about JK Harris on this site: for the most part you made your own bed by not paying your taxes, and now you are sleeping in it. It was just a mistake to got to JK Harris for help.

I should have known what I was getting into during training. The manager who trained us, David Wise, was one of the the biggest jerks I'd ever met. One of the guys in my class bragged that when he was in the car business, he made 8K selling a car to his own mother. I tiold him he was going straight to he** for that, and he laughed. Josh Baker came by, and instructed us on how to deal with the media should they show up. Nothing more than CYA for the company. The bulk of the class was done by the compliance officer, Charlie Jones, a retired IRS guy, who basically taught us how to be legal, while walking a very tight rope. Of the six people in my training class, at least three of us are gone, two are car salesman, and one was brainwashed to be a good salesman. Shows you about who stays, and the turnover rate.

I was a good salesman for a while. As I was getting on in the job, I was starting to get calls from the people I sold, complaining about no service. It got old real fast. I was even threatened once with physical violence. I worked for Debbie Bush also. The first time I actually met her was three months into the job, and only saw her in person one other time. I received the phone messages Julie was talking about every morning. I just deleted them, as it wasn't worth listening to. Debbie was a nice person, but no manager. Look who trained her, ex- car salesmen. There were people on my team who were nice and helpful, but they didn't care for her or her style either. Trey Harris was once on my team, but he called Daddy and got switched because he couldn't stand her either. One day I was talking to him, told him I was having a bad day, and he told me to go smoke a bowl.

The way the system was set up, you sold ten month paymnet plans, told your clients it takes nine to twelve months for the process to go thru, they get all the clients money, and then avoid them as much as possible. As a consultant, I sold over 65% of the people who walked in my door. I was charged against for people who didn't show as a no sale, even though I was not the one who qualified them for their appointments. I also had the poorest people in my city, the most irresponsible. More than half of them, 53%, did not show up. I ahve all my paperwork to back this up. I thought about suing them for wrongful termination, but I wasn't going to Charleston to do it. I stuck it out as long as I could, while looking for a new job. I even bought the laptop they insisted on everyone having(by the way, my new job provides laptops to their employees, as does 99% of companies in America) just so I could send resumes and search for a job.

Thankfully, I am away from these people now, who believe it or not call themselves Christians(Debbie Bush does). For those looking for retribution, they have already settled one class action suit, but my best advise is call your state's attorney general, tell them your situation, document everything, and if you get any money back from them, consider it a blessing. Also, consider using your local television consumer advocates, they love stories of people being ripped off.

Josh, you don't need to respond to this, because anything you say would be a lie, like all the other postings you have put on this sight. Your consultant turnover rate is well over 50%, the one's that are successful have no conscience, and yes, Debbie Bush did scream at her team and call them anmes and threaten them with their jobs on conference calls when other team members were able to hear. I don't know where you've worked at, but that type of behavior does not make "the consumate professional."

To all the people I sold who are having trouble with these people, I'm sorry. To the JK Harris management team, remember that what goes around, comes around, and St.Peter will not have a spot for you when you go to meet him.

I as well worked for JK Harris for a little less than one year. I will say this to all the people who have complained about JK Harris on this site: for the most part you made your own bed by not paying your taxes, and now you are sleeping in it. It was just a mistake to got to JK Harris for help.

I should have known what I was getting into during training. The manager who trained us, David Wise, was one of the the biggest jerks I'd ever met. One of the guys in my class bragged that when he was in the car business, he made 8K selling a car to his own mother. I tiold him he was going straight to he** for that, and he laughed. Josh Baker came by, and instructed us on how to deal with the media should they show up. Nothing more than CYA for the company. The bulk of the class was done by the compliance officer, Charlie Jones, a retired IRS guy, who basically taught us how to be legal, while walking a very tight rope. Of the six people in my training class, at least three of us are gone, two are car salesman, and one was brainwashed to be a good salesman. Shows you about who stays, and the turnover rate.

I was a good salesman for a while. As I was getting on in the job, I was starting to get calls from the people I sold, complaining about no service. It got old real fast. I was even threatened once with physical violence. I worked for Debbie Bush also. The first time I actually met her was three months into the job, and only saw her in person one other time. I received the phone messages Julie was talking about every morning. I just deleted them, as it wasn't worth listening to. Debbie was a nice person, but no manager. Look who trained her, ex- car salesmen. There were people on my team who were nice and helpful, but they didn't care for her or her style either. Trey Harris was once on my team, but he called Daddy and got switched because he couldn't stand her either. One day I was talking to him, told him I was having a bad day, and he told me to go smoke a bowl.

The way the system was set up, you sold ten month paymnet plans, told your clients it takes nine to twelve months for the process to go thru, they get all the clients money, and then avoid them as much as possible. As a consultant, I sold over 65% of the people who walked in my door. I was charged against for people who didn't show as a no sale, even though I was not the one who qualified them for their appointments. I also had the poorest people in my city, the most irresponsible. More than half of them, 53%, did not show up. I ahve all my paperwork to back this up. I thought about suing them for wrongful termination, but I wasn't going to Charleston to do it. I stuck it out as long as I could, while looking for a new job. I even bought the laptop they insisted on everyone having(by the way, my new job provides laptops to their employees, as does 99% of companies in America) just so I could send resumes and search for a job.

Thankfully, I am away from these people now, who believe it or not call themselves Christians(Debbie Bush does). For those looking for retribution, they have already settled one class action suit, but my best advise is call your state's attorney general, tell them your situation, document everything, and if you get any money back from them, consider it a blessing. Also, consider using your local television consumer advocates, they love stories of people being ripped off.

Josh, you don't need to respond to this, because anything you say would be a lie, like all the other postings you have put on this sight. Your consultant turnover rate is well over 50%, the one's that are successful have no conscience, and yes, Debbie Bush did scream at her team and call them anmes and threaten them with their jobs on conference calls when other team members were able to hear. I don't know where you've worked at, but that type of behavior does not make "the consumate professional."

To all the people I sold who are having trouble with these people, I'm sorry. To the JK Harris management team, remember that what goes around, comes around, and St.Peter will not have a spot for you when you go to meet him.

I unfortunately worked there for a short period as well and both Spidey and knowsbetter are right.

Basically they have a one page pricing sheet with bare minimum charges per service, and they tell you use that as a bare bones minimum and to charge as much as possible after going through the client's finances.

Debbie Bush was the worst. She was fairly new to management and was probably getting hammered by the higher ups, and didn't know how to handle it. So my best guess is that she thinks it is good to cuss, scream, and belittle the people who are a part of her team to get results. You have to call in to your "mailbox" every morning where you get a recording of what she thought of the teams results from the day before. That was a wonderful start to the day as 95% of the time she was ripping everybody a new one. Honestly, I think there was maybe two days during my tenure when she didn't threaten our jobs during this "morning motivator".

Trey Harris is a good guy and tried to sell me some pot while I was in SC for training, so that was nice.

Oh yeah, I had two separate occasions when cops came to serve me papers, I lost count of people calling my base office threatening the guy that apparantly got fired before me, and two occasions of grown men literally crying to me on the phone that they were now way overdrawn on their bank account because JK took money on the wrong day/took too much. On the crying guys' accounts, the home office wouldn't respond to them. The h*o called me and told ME to tell the client "tough luck".

I can't tell you how horrible I felt once I finally connected the dots and saw what was going on.

I apologize for the error on the family tree. And I would agree with the assessment that Trey Harris is a pretty good guy.

I would be interested to hear if you (other ex employee) agree with my other statements / accusations. And also if you know anything about Spidy's information about current ongoing investigations.

There might be something to that since Josh Baker has popped up again offering to help dissatisfied customers with refunds rather than to tell them how wrong they are.

Trey Harris is NOT Debbie Bush's son, he is though the son of Bob Harris, via a second marraige. Debbie Bush is Bob's first wife, and now boss, also the mother in law of Eric Peterson. John Harris(JK) is brother of Bob, uncle of Trey(who happens to be a good guy), ex brother in law of Debbie. Eric is married to Bob and Debbie's daughter, John's niece. Yes, all in the family.

Trey Harris is NOT Debbie Bush's son, he is though the son of Bob Harris, via a second marraige. Debbie Bush is Bob's first wife, and now boss, also the mother in law of Eric Peterson. John Harris(JK) is brother of Bob, uncle of Trey(who happens to be a good guy), ex brother in law of Debbie. Eric is married to Bob and Debbie's daughter, John's niece. Yes, all in the family.

I have heard though a very reliable source that several agencies have investagations going on at this time,concerning,both clients and employees. The agencies reportly have people on the inside of JK Harris gathering damaging infotmation against JK Harris. Rumor has it some AG's have people there and at least one reporter from a national paper.



This might be the one to take them down.

Isn't it interesting how JB (Josh Baker???) pops up periodically to try to put a good spin on this travesty of a company, gets shot down by the facts that he cannot dispute, and then goes back to his burrow until good old JK asks him what he is being paid for? At which point he pops up again to take another verbal whacking.



Perhaps JB should be interviewed for one of the segments of "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel. His job has to be more repulsive and objectionable than any I have seen on that show.

Just for the record, I have never done business with JK Harris, nor, after reading 196 posts about this crooked outfit, will I ever in the future.

However, my question to Mr. JB is this: Just how do you explain the 196 former clients who have posted against your company on THIS site alone ???? You must be doing something crooked. I wouldn't believe you if you told me the sky was blue. To have so many ex-employees to back up the crookedness of your company pretty much validates the claims. Crawl back into your hole, JB. That is most certainly where you belong.

Jb is right when he says that JK has a review process. They periodically send a "spy" to meet with a sales person. This spy secretly records the meeting and the tape is then reviewed by the Head of Compliance. If my memory is correct, this program was initiated after JK got in a jam with a few Attornies General of several states and it was a way to show that they really didn't try to roll people up. Sales people are told that they will get the spy twice per year. They are told by the Regional Managers that the spy will attempt to get them to do something out of line or assist them in providing false information, etc. Something illegal, unethical on its face so that it is pretty obvious, and to be careful if it just seems too wierd.



Jb is also right when he says people would not work under such conditions. The turnover rate proves his point and I am exhibit A.



The telling parts of his post are the things I mentioned that he didn't address.

Other things that people should know about JK Harris -



Maybe it would be beneficial for jb (Josh Baker???) to post photos of the processing area at corporate HQ where all of the paperwork sent in by the duped customers is stored. You would see rows and rows of desks, like an office out of the 1950's, with stacks and stacks of paper 2-3 feet high. No wonder paperwork gets "lost" so often.



And maybe jb would want to address the issue of personnel turnover. If the rate of turnover with the inside processing folks is anything like the rate of turnover with the outside salespeople, then it is surprising that anyone gets anything accomplished. During the 6 weeks or so I was with the company, at least 1/3 of the 50 or so salespeople either left or were fired for not soaking the clients for enough money, only to be replaced by newly trained salespeople.



Lets do the math:



Josh Baker used to send out a voicemail to the salespeople once or twice a week to tell us of the great things that JK Harris had done for clients in getting Offers in Compromise accepted on behalf of clients. Some weeks there were 5-7 announced, some weeks there were none.



But, just to give the benefit of the doubt, lets assume that the average was a very generous 10 per week. That would be 520 successes per year.



Now, lets assume that each of the 50 salespeople duped 2 people per week into signing up. That would be 5200 new cases per year.



5200 new less 520 completed equals a backlog that is growing at a minimum rate of 4680 cases per year.



What a great cash cow errrrr business model.

In response to Knowsbetter, the former JK Harris employee:



I challenge the fact that JK Harris Sales Consultants are "constantly hammered, insulted, harassed, threatened and humiliated" by their Regional Managers. Many of our consultants are long-term employees with the company and no one would work under the conditions that you describe. It is the goal of our Regional Managers to drive sales, but not to drive our consultants to be unethical or to sell products that a client clearly may not need. Our Sales Consultants are trained to know about the various services that JK Harris provides. It is the Consultant's duty to use that knowledge to determine 1) if they can help the client they are meeting with and 2) what service(s) that client may or may not need. In addition, our company has a very comprehensive review process, as most other legitimate businesses have, to make sure that our Consultants are acting in a moral, ethical manner which is directed right from the top of our organization. Those who violate the rules are disciplined up to the point of termination.

As another ex-employee of this company (less than 2 months because I quickly caught on to how they do business) I can confirm that Spidy is correct.



By the way, you don't suppose that jb stands for Josh Baker, the in-house p.r. flak that good old J.K. pays to respond to complaints.



I can confirm that salespeople are constantly hammered to squeeze as much money as possible out of the poor souls that come to J.K. Harris as a last hope to get them out of a jam.



I can also confirm that salespeople are penalized for not selling to a particular potential client, even if that client had no hope of getting an Offer in Compromise. Even if said client owed the IRS $500 and the fees to get the problem resolved were in excess of $2,000. You do the math.



I can also confirm that the Regional Managers (Ms. Bush in particular) regularly harrass, insult, humiliate and threaten the salespeople in their charge.



I can also confirm that Ms. Bush is the ex-wife of Bob Harris (J.K.'s brother and the V.P. of sales). In addition, another regional manager, Eric Peterson, is the son-in-law of both Bob Harris and Ms. Bush. And, Tre Harris, son of Ms. Bush and Bob Harris is a J.K. Harris sales person, or was at one time. Keep it in the family.



I can also tell you that each sales person hired by J.K. Harris must first pass a psychological profile test in which they are looking for aggressive, desperate people who would have no problem sucking every penny out of a customer. Probably not too surprising since the sales organization is headed by a former used car salesman.



For the record, I needed a job, had seen such tests in the past, and could quickly ascertain what they were looking for and answered accordingly. After being there for less than 2 months, I got tired of having to leave my conscience at home when I went to work and decided that holding up a sign on the freeway was a more honorable way to make a living.



My apologies to anyone who dealt with me and is now getting hosed by this less than honorable company.

I would love for you to be wrong, however you are speaking from a corp level,not out in the field. Please explain why consultants are charged for ALL leads, good or bad, bad phone #'s and more. As for Ms. Bush stop covering for her. If you want to see the REAL truth, you need to be in the field without corp knowledge.

I would love for you to be wrong, however you are speaking from a corp level,not out in the field. Please explain why consultants are charged for ALL leads, good or bad, bad phone #'s and more. As for Ms. Bush stop covering for her. If you want to see the REAL truth, you need to be in the field without corp knowledge.

I would love for you to be wrong, however you are speaking from a corp level,not out in the field. Please explain why consultants are charged for ALL leads, good or bad, bad phone #'s and more. As for Ms. Bush stop covering for her. If you want to see the REAL truth, you need to be in the field without corp knowledge.

I would love for you to be wrong, however you are speaking from a corp level,not out in the field. Please explain why consultants are charged for ALL leads, good or bad, bad phone #'s and more. As for Ms. Bush stop covering for her. If you want to see the REAL truth, you need to be in the field without corp knowledge.

Are YOU telling me that this person is making this up????

hhhmmmm...its gotta be MONICAS slug talking!!!!

GOOD for YOU!!!! Hope YOU are happy!! WE are NOT buying it!

I am disappointed to read something like this because I know that it is false. Since I don't know the identity of Spidy44, I can only ascertain that he or she is a disgruntled employee one who did not follow the rules of accountability and expectations that our company strictly adheres to. Our Consultants are expected to sell services to clients who need them, and who have expressed a desire to resolve their tax problem. If we find that a client does not qualify for our services, our Consultants know to inform them and provide available options.



Ms. Bush has been with JK Harris since 1998, a year after the company's inception. Ms. Bush has always been the consummate professional and if she behaved anything like Spidy44 alleges, she would have been in violation of company policy and would have been terminated. As it is, she has been a loyal employee of JK Harris for nine years.

I am disappointed to read something like this because I know that it is false. Since I don't know the identity of Spidy44, I can only ascertain that he or she is a disgruntled employee one who did not follow the rules of accountability and expectations that our company strictly adheres to. Our Consultants are expected to sell services to clients who need them, and who have expressed a desire to resolve their tax problem. If we find that a client does not qualify for our services, our Consultants know to inform them and provide available options.



Ms. Bush has been with JK Harris since 1998, a year after the company's inception. Ms. Bush has always been the consummate professional and if she behaved anything like Spidy44 alleges, she would have been in violation of company policy and would have been terminated. As it is, she has been a loyal employee of JK Harris for nine years.

I am disappointed to read something like this because I know that it is false. Since I don't know the identity of Spidy44, I can only ascertain that he or she is a disgruntled employee one who did not follow the rules of accountability and expectations that our company strictly adheres to. Our Consultants are expected to sell services to clients who need them, and who have expressed a desire to resolve their tax problem. If we find that a client does not qualify for our services, our Consultants know to inform them and provide available options.



Ms. Bush has been with JK Harris since 1998, a year after the company's inception. Ms. Bush has always been the consummate professional and if she behaved anything like Spidy44 alleges, she would have been in violation of company policy and would have been terminated. As it is, she has been a loyal employee of JK Harris for nine years.

I am disappointed to read something like this because I know that it is false. Since I don't know the identity of Spidy44, I can only ascertain that he or she is a disgruntled employee one who did not follow the rules of accountability and expectations that our company strictly adheres to. Our Consultants are expected to sell services to clients who need them, and who have expressed a desire to resolve their tax problem. If we find that a client does not qualify for our services, our Consultants know to inform them and provide available options.



Ms. Bush has been with JK Harris since 1998, a year after the company's inception. Ms. Bush has always been the consummate professional and if she behaved anything like Spidy44 alleges, she would have been in violation of company policy and would have been terminated. As it is, she has been a loyal employee of JK Harris for nine years.