- Report: #32111
Complaint Review: Bernard Haldane Associates - Atlanta Georgia
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Bernard Haldane Associates
4360 Chamblee Dunwoody Road Suite 100 Atlanta, 30341 Georgia, U.S.A.
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707-455-1244
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Bernard Haldane Associates Deceptive Business Practice Judgement Atlanta Georgia *UPDATE ..Deceptive Business Practice Article
Before you use Bernard Haldane Associates, you should read what the Attorney General in Kansas said about this company - my husband's experience with the Atlanta office was exactly the same.
It is too bad Georgia's government does not look out for its citizens like Kansas, New York, California and the eight other states investigating this New York Based company - otherwise we would not be out over $4,000 while my husband is unemployeed. In reading the Rip Off Report, I also see from another Rip Off Report that there has been articles in the New York Times & Seattle Times warning people about this company.
I wish I had read the Rip Off Report before agree to have my husband sign up with this company.
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STOVALL AND CAREER COUNSELORS AGREE TO JUDGMENT
Attorney General Carla J. Stovall announced today that an agreement has been reached between her office and two companies doing business as Bernard Haldane Associates which she alleges engaged in deceptive business practices. The agreement, in the form of a consent judgment, was filed September 13, 2002, in Johnson County District Court.
Defendants in the case are DRB, Ltd., d/b/a Bernard Haldane Associates in New York, New York, and Reed Freeman Management Group, Inc., which runs Bernard Haldane Associates franchise offices in Overland Park and Wichita, Kansas.
"In today's tight job market, it is understandable that so many people are using the services of career counselors," Attorney General Stovall said. "Adding to the stress of finding employment, these job seekers were unfairly taken advantage of due to the false representations made by these Bernard Haldane companies."
Attorney General Stovall alleges that the companies engaged in numerous deceptive acts and practices when providing career counseling services to their clients, in violation of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. She alleges that they "willfully used exaggeration, falsehood, innuendo or ambiguity as to a material fact" in the following ways:
representing that they could bypass the normal human resources and personnel departments of employers when they could not; claiming that their services were tax deductible when, in some cases, they were not;
representing that they had access to the "hidden job market" which they did not; posting solicitations disguised as job openings in newspapers to recruit clients; gathering prospective clients' resumes from the internet and contacting those individuals for a "job interview" which was in fact a sales presentation; and
charging clients for the production of a videotape of the clients when that service was not provided.
The companies deny the allegations.
As per the consent judgment, the companies agree to pay up to $300,000 in restitution, plus $100,000 in penalties and fees. Any consumer who paid for services provided by Bernard Haldane Associates offices in Overland Park or Wichita, and who alleges the same violations outlined in the consent judgment, may be eligible for a refund. Eligible consumers may file a complaint and make a refund request with Attorney General Stovall's Consumer Protection Division by calling 1-800-432-2310. The deadline to file a complaint and make a refund request is Monday, October 28, 2002. Any refund request made after that date will not be eligible under the consent judgment.
Assistant Attorney General David Harder handled the case on behalf of Attorney General Stovall.
M.
Atlanta, Georgia
Click here to all the others who have been victimized by Bernard Haldane Associates'>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
It is too bad Georgia's government does not look out for its citizens like Kansas, New York, California and the eight other states investigating this New York Based company - otherwise we would not be out over $4,000 while my husband is unemployeed. In reading the Rip Off Report, I also see from another Rip Off Report that there has been articles in the New York Times & Seattle Times warning people about this company.
I wish I had read the Rip Off Report before agree to have my husband sign up with this company.
==============================================
STOVALL AND CAREER COUNSELORS AGREE TO JUDGMENT
Attorney General Carla J. Stovall announced today that an agreement has been reached between her office and two companies doing business as Bernard Haldane Associates which she alleges engaged in deceptive business practices. The agreement, in the form of a consent judgment, was filed September 13, 2002, in Johnson County District Court.
Defendants in the case are DRB, Ltd., d/b/a Bernard Haldane Associates in New York, New York, and Reed Freeman Management Group, Inc., which runs Bernard Haldane Associates franchise offices in Overland Park and Wichita, Kansas.
"In today's tight job market, it is understandable that so many people are using the services of career counselors," Attorney General Stovall said. "Adding to the stress of finding employment, these job seekers were unfairly taken advantage of due to the false representations made by these Bernard Haldane companies."
Attorney General Stovall alleges that the companies engaged in numerous deceptive acts and practices when providing career counseling services to their clients, in violation of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. She alleges that they "willfully used exaggeration, falsehood, innuendo or ambiguity as to a material fact" in the following ways:
representing that they could bypass the normal human resources and personnel departments of employers when they could not; claiming that their services were tax deductible when, in some cases, they were not;
representing that they had access to the "hidden job market" which they did not; posting solicitations disguised as job openings in newspapers to recruit clients; gathering prospective clients' resumes from the internet and contacting those individuals for a "job interview" which was in fact a sales presentation; and
charging clients for the production of a videotape of the clients when that service was not provided.
The companies deny the allegations.
As per the consent judgment, the companies agree to pay up to $300,000 in restitution, plus $100,000 in penalties and fees. Any consumer who paid for services provided by Bernard Haldane Associates offices in Overland Park or Wichita, and who alleges the same violations outlined in the consent judgment, may be eligible for a refund. Eligible consumers may file a complaint and make a refund request with Attorney General Stovall's Consumer Protection Division by calling 1-800-432-2310. The deadline to file a complaint and make a refund request is Monday, October 28, 2002. Any refund request made after that date will not be eligible under the consent judgment.
Assistant Attorney General David Harder handled the case on behalf of Attorney General Stovall.
M.
Atlanta, Georgia
Click here to all the others who have been victimized by Bernard Haldane Associates'>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
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Follow up to Deceptive Business Practice Article
#20
Tue, December 17, 2002
Below is a follow up to the article I posted on Kansas City judgment against Haldane for Deceptive Business Practices The Kansas City state government seems to care about its people not like Georgia.
Maybe this is another reason the Democrats got booted out of Georgia this election they talk the talk of Consumer Protection and making sure the unemployed do not get taken advantage of but they do not walk that talk.
People like John S. Smith, III of the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs or Thurbert E Baker, who has the gall of saying on his web site "Our office works hand-in-hand with the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs in prosecuting businesses that engage in deceptive marketing practices aimed at Georgia consumers.... We have initiated and won a number of criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits against those who would prey on Georgia consumers. Our office will continue to work to put those who aim at our pocketbooks behind bars, but we need the help of Georgia citizens in our fight ....."
Ya right . . . I wrote a letter to his office about Haldane here in Georgia, I never got a response back.
Thanks Rip Off Report for at least trying we need all the help we can get down here in Georgia.
PS - be sure to read the section on the "hidden job market" - sales pitch, that is how they got my husband.
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Posted on Tue, Dec. 17, 2002
Haldane clients to share in settlementBy PAUL WENSKEThe Kansas City Star
Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall's office has notified 452 persons they will share in a $300,000 settlement with career counseling giant Bernard Haldane over consumer complaints.
Although Haldane clients said they paid $4,000 and more in advance fees, they will receive individual refunds amounting to 13 percent of what they paid Haldane for job counseling. The refunds are in the process of being mailed to affected consumers.
Mark Ohlemeier, a spokesman for Stovall's office, said the attorney general was overwhelmed with requests for refunds after she announced that Haldane agreed in September to refund $300,000 to former clients at Haldane offices in Overland Park and Wichita.
Without admitting wrongdoing, Haldane agreed to a settlement to resolve a two-year investigation of claims that Haldane cheated clients out of thousands of dollars with false promises they would gain an inside track to a "hidden job market" that didn't exist.
Ohlemeier said Stovall's office expected no more than 60 complaints from Haldane clients. But the actual number filed by the deadline of Oct. 28 "far exceeded our expectations," he said.
Ohlemeier said if his office receives new complaints alleging violations since the settlement, it could return to court to seek new remedies against Haldane. "We could petition the court to find Haldane in contempt of court," he said.
