Complaint Review: The Keane Organization

BBB membership is meaningless-you pay your dues and you get whatever rating you want.  They don't actively investigate any complaint and have no ability to punish any members for misconduct.

I still haven't found my money and it can only be in either of 2 states.  I call every several months to both states lost money offices.  My dad died in 2006 and they have 5 years in these states to turn the money over.   My dad had meticulous records, nothing was missing.   Makes me wonder if the money really existed or they were just hoping I turned over the power of attorney and then they could claim any money in any leftover accounts.

 AGAIN... After multiple rebuttals of not wanting to sign their POA the original rep stated the account had doubled because the stock had split.   The number of shares double in a split not the total value.  Also researched during that time period and their weren't any splits done!!!

I would believe the reps are compensated on the amount of money they bring in so some may say things the company doesn't even know.   They later changed reps on me to a more seasoned rep.... sound like a car dealer tactic to you????

No they didn't rip me off, only because I didn't give them a chance to do it!!!   They may do legitimate transactions, and you may want/need to pay them their 35% finder's fee (they later reduced it to 25% after I told them I would give them 10%)...  but some dealings may also be in the grey area.  

MY MAIN POINT IS BUYER BEWARE WITH KEANE AND OTHER'S LIKE THEM AND DON'T RUSH AND SIGN THE PAPERWORK... SEE AN ATTORNEY FIRST OR WAIT AND LOOK FOR THE LOST MONEY IN THE RESPECTIVE STATE(S)!!!

Any way you slice it, this company is like the ones promoting diet fads, getting rich, wrinkle creams, etc. They use deceptive and misleading tactics which walk the fine line of legality in order to make money off your money. They don't cross the line to the extent that they would likely  be prosecuted but their noses aren't clean either. They don't practice blatant fraud but what they do is unethical, at least in the manner which their employees conduct themselves. They will take advantage of your naivete or ignorance. There may be funds readily available to you that they will claim only they have access to. Do your homework and you can track down your own funds. If these guys got the info then you should be able to get it. Go to the IRS and look for tax records on these funds in the name of your deceased. Same with state taxes. Assets don't exist in a vacuum. I got enough clues from these guys to figure out that they had info on an account which had been distributed more than 3 years prior. The money was no longer there. I caught them in a whole bunch of lies. The lady claimed that the info was given to her just as she gave it to me. They are not particularly competent. Quoting from a previous writer " They're only mad that they can't get the money for free and are trying to make the company look bad." . I don't think so. When you smell a rat there's usually a good reason. When someone is preventing access to funds which belong to you and refuses to disclose details unless you pay them, in addition to which they play deceptive games and spout doubletalk to rope you in, I'd say you have a right to be suspicious and to get mad. The percentage that they try to get from you is ridiculous. If someone suddenly plants a tollbooth in front of you and says you have to pay to get somewhere you have a right to go, what do you think and say? My suggestion is ask as many questions as you can get them to answer, consult an attorney or your state's attorney general, find out what they MUST disclose to you, and track down your own assets

You can check on WWW.BBB.ORG and enter "Keane aka Venio LLC doing business as Keane". The Keane co. was recently purchased by Venio LLC. Keane is an accredited member of the BBB and in the last 3 years has had 6 complaints, only one in 2010. All were closed by this date. Considering how many accounts they must process, 6 problems doesn't sound that bad. Concerning the Power of Attorney, read it closely; it is a "limited Power of Attorney" and only covers the actual transaction that they contacted you about. Do your own research. Compare the negative comments. They're only mad that they can't get the money for free and are trying to make the company look bad. Not one of them stated that they were cheated, only that they thought were going to be cheated. I'm not an employee of the company, but I have worked for companies that located missing heirs to probate.   

I'm posting more, having re-read one of the comments above and posted elsewhere.

This company is incredibly dangerous from what I've read about the contract they require you to sign. You give your power of attorney to them.

Do not, under any circumstances ever give your power of attorney to this company or any other. It's like handing the keys to your car to a stranger off the street. You have no idea of the damage that can result from giving some unknown entity the keys to your legal identity.

I'm posting more, having re-read one of the comments above and posted elsewhere.

This company is incredibly dangerous from what I've read about the contract they require you to sign. You give your power of attorney to them.

Do not, under any circumstances ever give your power of attorney to this company or any other. It's like handing the keys to your car to a stranger off the street. You have no idea of the damage that can result from giving some unknown entity the keys to your legal identity.

I hope the author GMF will post the story of their conversation with company.

I too, as well as all my sibs, received the bulk mailed letter about riches to be found in a deceased parent's estate. My parents' final exit was less than 9 months ago. That was the first of many red flags indicating this is a complete scam.

Similar to GMF's story, I was in complete control of my parent's finances for the past 15 years. There's simply nothing that escaped me,  I knew every detail. Thanks to this crap company, siblings with less education and knowledge believe there is something I've held out on. They're the same lovely bunch that allowed me to pick up the care tab after our parent's money ran out and pay for the funeral.  My parent was extremely elderly, 95, at the time of death, and sadly didn't have two nickles to rub together at the end. Most don't realize how quickly you can deplete a nice little estate, Assisted Living and Nursing homes can wipe out a lifetime of savings in no time at all.

This is a scam, there's no doubt about it.

Please post the conversation you had with the company rep, GMF, I'm curious.

The so called "former employee" is a liar. They are NOT accredited with the BBB of Pennsylvania, location of their headquarters. There are two consumer complaints listed however. They are NOT accredited with the New York BBB, where their main office operates. I have a recording of my phone call to them which I will transcribe and post here.

Ex employee my a*s! Like many companies out there they send out phony testimonials after falling under scrutiny for deceptive and fraudulent practices. I am the executor of my mother's estate, it was very simple, savings, checking, and money market accounts & A house which was paid off and probated without an attorney. I got a letter from them addressed to "G*** F****. That is my casual nickname, not my full legal name, G******* M.  F****. All of my legal, bank, and such matters use my legal name, and if there were legitimate business connected with my mother's estate they would have my full name. Obviously they do not. I have not spoken with them yet. This is clearly a fishing expedition and a cleverly baited trap. Not clever enough however. I managed 100% of both my parents' affairs for 10 years until my mother's passing in 2004. There was absolutely nothing pertaining to them that did not pass through my hands. I'm looking forward to my conversation in which I am going to bait and lead them on, and record the conversation. Then I will publish a transcript of that conversation here in this forum, as well as send it of to twitterland.

I've been dealing with two different representatives from Keane (I suspect a high turnover with this type of work) and I am refusing to sign their contract. My father passed away nearly a year ago and the estate was distributed in Dec. 2010. Almost immediately, I received a phone call and letter from this company claiming they had two IRA Mutual funds belonging to my late father and they were categorized as "dormant"; myself and a sister were the beneficiaries. When I asked about the sister who was the estate administrator I was told she had received a distribution. I've been working with that sister and I have seen all the paperwork and tax returns and we are stumped. If she did receive a distribution from an IRA mutual fund it was put into the collective pot and shared. There was no indication there was other money outstanding and it is obvious that the client of Keane that sent them my name and that of my sister did nothing to try and contact us. All they had to do was ask my sister they allegedly gave the distribution to and they would have found us. Instead, they forwarded the claim to this bunch of scavengers who want to keep 1/3 of my father's hard earned money. He would be totally appalled at this and extraordinarily angry with the financial institution he trusted to distribute these assets.

I've made a number of phone calls to possible institutions that held this fund but have not been successful in locating them.  Today, I spoke with the Keane representative and I told her I was refusing to sign their contract, that I found their 1/3 take appalling and that they can just let the asset go to the state. She replied that because it was an IRA the financial institution did not send the money to the state and they would keep it.  I find this incredulous first of all and my research on the internet seems to support my belief that even unclaimed IRA money goes to the state. Perhaps I have misunderstood what I've read on the relevant state sites but my fear is this company may give out bad information in an attempt to get their victims to sign their contracts.   Beware and do your own research and perhaps contact an attorney if the amount is worth it. I still don't know how to find this money - it hasn't gone to a state site yet and I continue to do my own research. When I find out what financial institution forwarded my name to Keane I am going to do everything in my power to let their customers know how they betray their trust!

I used to work for the Keane Organization and this is a legitmate company.  I was charged with the locating and compliance/risk management of finding individuals and reviewing probate documents if necessary.

Keane has a relationship with many of the Fortune 1000 companies.  Believe it or not, when one of these Fortune 1000 companies have a bunch of shareholders on their books who they have "lost" (either by the shareholder not updating their contact information when they move or has passed on) they contact a third party like Keane and ask for them to find that person.  If the shareholder is deceased, they are charged with locating the legal heirs to the unclaimed property by way of probate documents (Trusts, Wills etc.) 

This is different than unclaimed property that is with the state.  The Fortune 1000 companies send Keane these lost shareholders in hopes of finding them and getting the asset back in the rightful hands.  Few people know that once an asset "escheats" to the states, you only get the amount that the asset was worth at the time.  Any interest accrued or increase in share price (in the case of stocks) goes to the state. 

So, the reason Keane is so cryptic is because if they tell you the asset, you can update the account yourself with the Transfer Agent.  If you know the asset in question and tell the person at Keane who called you, they will confirm this and will update the asset free of charge.  The fee Keane charges (which varies) is to cover the upfront costs used in locating and determining the shareholder or rightful heir and submitting all pertinent docs to the Transfer Agent.  It is also so you (the heir or shareholder) dont have to deal with the Transfer Agent as that process can take months or years if you don't know what you're doing. 

If you still have concerns, they are listed on Philadelphia's BBB site with the highest rating you can get.  On a personal note, I really enjoyed my time with Keane.  Hope this eases minds.